is equally explicit, in his sermon on the wordsUpon this rock which thou hast confessed, upon this rock which thou hast known, saying, Thou art the Son of the living God, I will build my church; upon me will I build thee, not me upon thee."*

We must now consider the part of our Lord's address which contains the promise of a peculiar honour, not of any kind of authority over his brethren, to Peter. It respects the power of the keys, "binding and loosing." The expressions are entirely figurative, and to be explained only by reference to Jewish customs. The key is used as an emblem of authority, a signal of office, as "The key of the house of David," the indication of some valuable trust, an instrument of power to confine and let loose. Dr. Adam Clarke on this passage remarks, "That binding and loosing were terms in frequent use among the Jews, and that they meant bidding or forbidding, granting and refusing, declaring lawful or unlawful," &c. The power which the apostles had to forgive sins in the name of Christ, to heal diseases, and cast out devils, was common to them all. There was no pre-eminence in this respect assigned to Peter. The keys therefore do not mean this power which they all exercised, for the keys were given to Peter alone. They

* Quoted by Dr. Fletcher, Select Works, vol. ii. p. 107.

were only designed to represent a temporary, not a perpetual authority.*

We are indebted to the learned and eloquent Bishop Horsley, for the following clear and scriptural explanation of the subject, "The kingdom of heaven upon earth is the true church of God. It is now therefore the Christian church, formerly the Jewish Church was that Kingdom." The true church is represented in this text, as in many passages of holy writ, under the image of a walled city, to be entered only at the gates. Under the Mosaic economy these gates were shut, and particular persons only could obtain admittance,Israelites by birth or by legal incorporation. The locks of these gates were the rites of the Mosaic law, which obstructed the entrance of aliens. But after our Lord's ascension, and the descent of the Holy Ghost, the keys of the city were given to St.

* Perhaps no single metaphor has been more abused than this. Upon the plea that the keys were intended to represent the authority to exercise church discipline; the right to make laws for the government of a Christian Church, to admit and to exclude members, has been claimed by synods, presbyteries, deacons, and even individual ministers. Now it is a fact worthy of remark, that in the only instance in which our Lord introduces "the binding and loosing" in connection with discipline, no mention is made of the keys; and whatever authority he designed to sanction over the individual offender, was granted not to apostles, or elders, or superiors of any kind, but to the whole church or congregation. He concludes his address with the memorable scripture, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them." Matt. xviii. 20. The apostle Paul when requiring the Corinthians to exercise an important act of discipline, evidently devolved the duty upon the whole Church, "When ye are gathered togather." Cor. v. 4. All the institutions of the Saviour are directly opposed to spiritual despotism in every shape.

Peter, by that vision which taught him, and authorised him to teach others, that all distinctions of one nation from another were at an end. By virtue of this special commission, the great apostle applied the key, pushed back the bolt of the lock, and threw the gates of the city open for the admission of the whole Gentile world, in the instance of Cornelius and his family. To this and to this only our Lord prophetically alludes when he promises to St. Peter the custody of the keys.

With this the second article of the promise, the authority to bind and loose is closely connected. This being again by virtue of our rule of interpretation peculiar to St. Peter, must be a distinct thing from the perpetual standing power of discipline conveyed upon a later occasion to the church in general, in the same figurative terms. St. Peter was the first instrument of providence in dissolving the obligation of the Mosaic law in the ceremonial, and of binding it in the moral part. The rescript, indeed for that purpose, was drawn by St. James, and confirmed by the authority of the apostles in general, under the direction of the Holy Ghost; but the Holy Ghost moved the apostles to this great business by the suggestion and the persuasion of St. Peter, as we read in the fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and this was his particular and personal commission to bind and loose.

I must not quit this part of my subject without observing, that no authority over the rest of the

apostles was ever given to St. Peter, by the promise made to him, in either or in both its branches; nor was any right conveyed to him which could descend from him, to his successors in any see. The promise was indeed, simply a prediction that he would be selected to be the first instrument in the great work of Providence, which was of such a nature as to be done once for all; and being done, it cannot be repeated. The great apostle fulfilled his commission in his life time. He applied his key, he turned back the lock, he loosed, -he bound. The gates of the kingdom of heaven are thrown open, the ceremonial law is abrogated the moral is confirmed; and the successors of St. Peter in the see of Rome, can give neither furtherance nor obstruction to the business." Sermons No. xiii., Edition, 1836, p. 160, 161.* It is remarkable that immediately after this conversation, our Lord should begin to speak to his disciples, so pointedly on the subject of his humiliation and

* Dr. Fletcher, though differing in part from the Bishop, quotes almost the whole of this extract, and says, I must frankly acknowledge that he (Peter), obtained distinguished honour, from the full and explicit confession he delivered in answer to the inquiry of our Lord. This was the honour of priority in first "opening the door of faith," in first preaching the gospel both to Jews and Gentiles; in first admitting converts of each class to the privileges of the Christian dispensation. It was Peter who delivered that memorable discourse, by which three thousand Jews were added to the number of the disciples. It was Peter whom God directed by a special vision to preach to the Gentiles. While the keys," or the privilege of first admitting persons to the Christian church was conferred only on Peter, all were afterwards invested with the power of loosing and binding.

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sufferings, as to draw from Peter that striking proof of his frailty, when he ventured presumptuously to rebuke his divine Master and received the somewhat severe reproof "Get thee behind me Satan." &c. And it is still more worthy of note, that instead of dwelling on the official prerogatives and honour of Peter, or the other disciples, he should go on to say, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me, v. 21. Such solemn admonitions as these, occurring as they do frequently in the discourses of the Saviour, sweep away all pretensions to spiritual supremacy of all kinds in the church of Christ.

Another text relied on by Romanists in support of the papal supremacy, is contained in John xxi. 15, 17. By the command "feed my sheep," "feed my lambs," they contend, Jesus confers upon Peter the care and superintendance of the whole body of the faithful. He divides the flock into two distinct and separate parts, into lambs by which he means the ordinary faithful, and sheep, by which he means the pastors of the faithful. It is ingeniously pleaded that Peter was thus singled out from the other disciples, and the question "Lovest thou me?" three times repeated; in order to mark more strongly, the supremacy, honour, and dignity now conferred upon him. Alas how different were the feelings with which Peter himself regarded the frequent repetition.

Peter was