knows that God will remember his sins and iniquities no

more.

Where this is the case all the appliances of Popery have no possible place. But how few of those opposed to Ritualism are there! A Jew had his sacrifice for every sin; a Roman Catholic has his absolution when occasion arises; the Christian has by one offering been perfected for ever, though he may humble himself and make confession to God for every failure. But the evangelical world will speak of re-sprinkling with the blood of Christ; or, if Calvin be listened to, be taught, where failure has occurred, to look back to baptism, or will account the Lord's supper a means of forgiveness, for for giveness of sins is attributed to sacraments in Reformationtheology. On these subjects the Protestant theology is too vague and too inconsistent to meet the positiveness of the deadly and faith-denying errors of Popery. The cardinal point of complete redemption, of Christ's having by one offering perfected for ever them that are sanctified, of our being accepted in the beloved, of Christ's appearing in the presence of God for us our abiding righteousness, is unknown or feared; and you have the pretension of positive priestly absolution in an uncertain conscience: in both an uncertain salvation; the doctrine of scripture is lost. We cannot insist too much on the godly life of the redeemed, but Scripture will never use it to weaken the truth or completeness of redemption. Sacraments are most precious, in their place, but not to undo or neutralise the efficacy of that of which they are the signs; warnings and exhortations are, thank God, abundantly given for our path, as redeemed, through the wilderness, and as to our dependance every instant on grace to carry us through, but never to make us doubt the faithfulness of Him who exercises it in bringing us to the end of our journey, confirming us to the end that we may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our sin and condemnation has been learned, but also Christ's substitution for us and the truth that we are made the righteousness of God in Him; so that the question of our righteousness before God never can be raised again, for Christ is it always, and always before

God for us. Our weakness we learn every day, but to know that Christ's strength is made perfect in weakness; failure alas! may occur; but it gives occasion to Christ's intercession, to His washing our feet; chastening may be needed from our not judging ourselves, but it is applied that we may not be condemned with the world. There is abundant exercise and testing and trying of the life given, but because Christ lives we shall live also. My object is not now however to pursue the testimony which Scripture gives of a complete and accomplished redemption into the enjoyment of which in its sure efficacy we now enter by faith (in itself a far more interesting subject), but passages and subjects which might perplex the mind in reference to forgiveness and ecclesiastical authority. It will lead us into some enquiry as to the government of God and the discipline of His house; the kingdom of God and the so-called power of the keys. We may take the well-known passage in Matt. xvi. as our point of departure.

The essential difference of the synoptical gospels and John's is that the three former show us Christ presented to the responsibility of man, and especially of the Jews in this world, with the result. While John's assumes the Jews to be reprobates, and develops sovereign grace and electing love in connection with the person of the Son of God as a man in this world, which, and not merely Judaism, is now seen as its sphere, and the gift of the Holy Ghost consequent on His going away. There is this peculiar to Luke amongst the three first, that in the first two chapters we have the deeply interesting picture of the godly remnant in Israel; then Christ traced up to Adam (not from Abraham and David)-and grace comes out as revealed to man in Him more fully. In the Gospel of Matthew (which especially speaks of Christ as Emmanuel, Messiah), the narrative, which develops great principles more than facts in historical order, is arrived, in the chapter I refer to, at the point where the Jews had practically rejected the Saviour; so that (verse 20) He charges the disciples that they should no longer tell that He was the Christ, and proceeds to show His disciples that He must suffer, and the substitution of the

Church and the kingdom of Heaven for the Jewish system (in chap. xvi.), and the coming glory of the Son of man in His kingdom (in xvii.) are brought before us by the spirit of God. The Church and the kingdom of heaven form, consequently, the weighty revelation of the Lord in chap. xvi. On this let us dwell for a moment.

All is founded on the revelation of the person of the Son of God. Various opinions were formed by men as to Him, but the Father himself had revealed to Simon Barjonas that Jesus was the Son of the living God. On this rock Christ would build His Church. The true force of v. 18 is: "and I say also." That is, The Father had told Simon what Christ was, Christ tells him what he Simon is. He is Peter, or a stone. But on the doctrine of His person as Son of the living God Christ would build His Church. It was on a risen Christ, for this was the public witness that He was Son of the living God, and all the power of Satan, who has the power of death, should not prevail against what Christ thus built. The important thing here to note is that Christ and Christ only is the builder. No man has anything to do with it, nor is that which Christ builds, yet finished. It is a building which continues till the whole temple is complete according to the mind of God. So when Peter speaks in his Epistle (1 Peter ii. 4, 5), he says, Unto whom coming as unto a living stone, ye also as living stones are built up a spiritual house. We have no human builder. So in Eph. ii., Ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone. In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. In all this, we have no builder save Christ, and the building is only growing up to a temple in the Lord. I have spoken elsewhere of the contrast of this with 1 Cor. iii. where we have the agency and Paul is a wise master builder; some might build with wood, hay and stubble, but be themselves saved, others corrupt the temple of the Lord and be themselves destroyed. Into this I do not enter further here. But they are looked at here as the temple of the Lord already, and God's building, not merely growing to it.

responsibility of man.

What we learn from Matt. xvi. is that in the building against which the gates of hell do not prevail, man takes no part. It is Christ who builds; while in that in which man's responsibility is engaged, wood and hay and stubble may be built in and the work destroyed by fire. To confound these two things (a confusion on which the whole pretensions of Popery and Puseyism are built up) is most mischievous, and makes God answerable for man's evil work, and bound to maintain and sanction it. It is a very wicked doctrine.

Further, there are no keys to the Church. It and its building have nothing to do with the keys. Christ builds and does not build with keys. The keys are the insignia of the administration of the kingdom. These were in a special manner entrusted to Peter individually; but the passage gives him nothing to do with building the Church at all, nor does he pretend to it when he refers to this passage in his Epistle. He partakes in a remarkable manner of that on which the Church is founded. He is a stone, has part in the nature of the living stone, the Son of the living God, the truth on which the Church rests, but that is all. Of the kingdom of heaven he had the administration specially entrusted to him. The kingdom is not the Church, and never will be. In a general way we may say, those who compose it have a part in the kingdom, will hereafter reign in it as they now suffer for it. It is the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ now; hereafter the kingdom and glory. Christ had, as John the Baptist had, preached the kingdom of heaven as at hand, as did the twelve (Matt. x. 7). When at length it was set up, though in no outward power, Peter had in an especial manner the administration of it as we see in the Acts. The Lord added to the Church daily (then openly) such as should be saved. This was His own work; but we see Peter, whether in testimony to Jews or Gentiles, or ordering the choice of deacons, or dealing with Ananias and Sapphira, having the administrative lead in the work. And what he preaches is the lordship of the ascended Man as a present thing (in chap. ii.), and His return in power to accomplish the prophecies (in chap. iii.) The assembly was there, and the Lord added to it; but the testimon

was to the lordship of Christ, made Lord, and returning in power. In the case of Cornelius, the Church does not come in question. Peter never preaches once that Jesus is the Son of God. He is exalted, made Lord and Christ. In this administration of the kingdom, Heaven put its seal on his acts. Whatever he bound or loosed was bound or loosed with an authority which heaven sanctioned. I will speak of forgiveness in a moment, but in general what was established by Peter's apostolic authority in the administration of the kingdom, had heaven's seal put upon it. But in the xvi. of Matthew, the keys have no connection with the Church, and Peter has nothing to do with building that church against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. Scripture never confounds the Kingdom and the Church.

Further, binding and loosing is not confined to forgiveness, even if, in a collateral a collateral way, it may include it, and it is only in such a way that it does. Whatever Peter established by the authority committed to him was sanctioned in heaven, as was also whatever two or three did, as really met in Christ's name. That too was sanc

tioned in heaven as much as Peter's administrative acts. But only what was within the competency or left to the service of the place he was put in, or of the two or three gathered in Christ's name. Heaven's sanction on what they did does not mean that they could determine all that heaven could. The sanction of all that an inferior authority does, is not saying that that inferior authority can do all that its superior is entitled to do or has to do. Many things may not be left to it. It is a question of what is rightly left. Thus "What you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" does not include binding anything in heaven. Whatever in Christianity belonged to heaven itself, whatever was done there, Peter and the Church had no power whatever. He bound things on earth and only there; his commission did not go further; what he did in these that heaven sanctioned; but he had nothing to say to what was bound or loosed in heaven itself. And this is of all importance when we come to certain points. He, Simon Barjonas, had the administration of the kingdom confided to him, backed