word church in this place. Instead of, tell it to the church,' suppose the direction had been, tell it to the state-to whom would a man think he was to enter his complaint? to every member diffusively? or to all the members collectively? or to the governors of it? Most certainly to these last, because they only have power to take cognizance of crimes. Why then, when Christ directs, that in case the offending brother prove refractory, the person injured should tell it-make his complaint-to the church, should we not understand him of the governors of the church? But who are the governors of the church? They only whom Christ has appointed to be so. In truth, all power of government in the church, wherever it be lodged, or however high its pretensions, which cannot be traced up to Christ for its origin, is mere usurpation.

The sense of the passage under consideration appears, therefore, to be this:. If thy christian brother do thee an injury, remonstrate with him by himself alone. If he hear thee, and amend his fault, be it thy comfort that thou hast recovered thy brother from his evil course, and gained him over to a due sense of his duty as a christian man. If he will not hear thee, admonish him before one or two christian brethren, that, by their interference, he may be made ashamed of his evil conduct, and brought to repentance; or that, if he prove refractory, there may be proper witnesses of his perverse obstinacy. If this last be the issue, and he will not regard them, complain to the governors of the church, and prove thy complaint by the witnesses thou hast provided. If he refuse to abide. by their decision, let him be expelled from the church, and turned out to the world, to which he properly belongs; and then, regard him no longer as a christian, but treat him as a heathen man and a publican are treated by your countrymen. And I assure you, that the sentence which, in virtue of the authority I shall give you, shall, in such cases, be duly pronounced by the governors of the church, will be ratified by God himself.'

I trust, I have given a fair interpretation of these two

places in St. Matthew; and, if I have, it cannot be doubt ed but that they relate to the same thing with the text, that is, the government and discipline of the christian church; the power of admitting members into it, of inflicting censures on them for their unchristian conduct, of absolving them from censure upon their penitence, and of finally turning them out to the world, for their obstinately persisting in their evil deeds. This authority was, on two different occasions, promised by Christ to his apostles; or spoken of as a power with which they should be invested, and was, at length, amply conferred on them. by Christ, when he said to them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.'

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Let us now see in what cases this power could properly be exercised, that is, so as to answer the end proposed by it-the enforcing repentance and holiness of life on all the members of the christian church.

One case has been already particularly considered, namely, that of trespasses committed by one christian person against another. And certainly no method can be devised, which will so effectually restrain men from mutual injuries, and rancorous resentments, and keep them quiet and inoffensive members of the church, as that which Christ has directed, was it fully carried into execution. How many vexatious and ruinous law-suits would it prevent; and how strongly would it bind chris. tians together in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life! God send the time, when the members of his church shall think less of gratifying their own wills and passions, and more of the obligations they are under to comply punctually with the directions of their Lord and Master.

Another instance of the exercise of the power of the keys is in holy baptism, the sacrament of our initiation into the family of Christ. The power of administering baptism was given by Christ to his apostles, when he said to them, Go, and make disciples of all nations,

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baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,' and of the Holy Ghost.* In the administration of this sacrament, the kingdom of heaven,' the church of Christ, is opened to the believer, and he is loosed from his sins; in the words of St. John, they are remitted unto him. For Christ has said, He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved.'+ If so, there must be forgiveness of sins in baptism, because without forgiveness there can be no salvation. Ananias, under the immediate influence and direction of the Holy Ghost, teacheth us the same thing, in his address to Saul: Arise, and be baptised, and wash away thy sins.'

And, as in the administration of baptism, the kingdom of heaven is opened to the believing penitent, and he is loosed from his sins; so, when a person is rejected from baptism, for want of the proper qualifications of faith and repentance, or for any just cause, the kingdom of heaven, the church of Christ, is shut against him; he is bound with the chain of his sins, and they are retained; that is, he is left in his natural state, a child of the world, and under the penalty of the wrath of God.

Another instance of the exercise of this power is the administration of the holy eucharist. That the worthy communicant obtains the forgiveness of sins, when he receives the body and blood of Christ in the celebration of those sacred mysteries, waving all other arguments, appears from this circumstance, that he is permitted by God's minister to eat of God's food, and at his table; and, therefore, must be at peace, and in friendship with him. But, without remission of sins, there can be no peace or friendship with God. On the contrary, when God's minister, for just and sufficient reasons, repels any one from the holy communion, and puts him under the censure of the church, his sins are retained, and he is left in the bonds of his iniquity, till, by a due sense of his evil state, he is brought to repentance and amendment; obtains the benefit of absolution; and is restored to the company of the faithful. Then he is loosed from his † Mark xvi. 16. + Acts xxii. 16.

* Matt. xxviii. 19.

sins-ey are remitted unto him. And we have authority to say, that what God's minister does, in these and similar cases, justly, and in consequence of the authority which Christ has committed to him, shall be ratified in heaven.

More instances will be unnecessary. These, in the general terms in which I have mentioned them, are sufficient to give an idea of the nature and use of binding and loosing, remitting and retaining sins, which Christ gave to his apostles. And, it will appear from the view we have taken of it, that only open and known crimes and immoralities, such as dirturb the peace of the church, and bring scandal on our holy religion, can be cognizable by the governors of it. As to secret sins, they can be known only to him who searcheth the hearts, and he will give unto every one according to his works.* Exhortations to purity of heart and holiness of life, to constant penitence, and lively faith in the atonement of the Redeemer, to a steady attention to the means of grace, with proper cautions against the danger of resting in them, without the inward sanctification of the heart; together with plain instructions in christian knowledge and virtue, are all that a christian minister can, in this respect, do for his flock : and, if he add the force of his own example, and become their pattern in holiness and piety, he fulfils his duty, and will receive the approbation of his Lord.

Having thus seen the powers which Christ left with his apostles, it will not be improper, before an end be put to this discourse, to inquire, whether that power was occasional, to answer a present emergency, and then to cease; or whether it was to be of perpetual standing in the church? Some observations have already been made on the subject, but it deserves a more particular consideration. Repetitions will be unavoidable, but they cannot be long, and the candid inquirer after truth will bear with them.

It has been observed, that in some respects, namely, as they were witnesses of Christ's transactions, particu

* Rev. ii. 23.

larly of his resurrection-workers of miracles---writers of holy scripture---the apostles were extraordinary ministers, intended to serve an extraordinary purpose--to prove the divine original of the christian religion, and their own mission from God to propagate it in the world, and to leave directions in their writings, and an authentic ́ example in their practice, for the future management of the church of Christ. In these respects, it is readily acknowledged, they could have no successors. But the church was to continue to the end of the world; Christ had promised, that even the gates of hell should not prevail against it. It was, therefore, necessary that there should be governors of its polity, preachers of its doctrines, administrators of its ordinances, and dispensers of its discipline, always subsisting in it; otherwise, it must have had an end soon after the decease of the original apostles. This is a strong presumption, that the apostolical office, as far as these ends required, was to have a permanent continuance in the church. And we shall find this presumption brought to a certainty, by attending to two things; the commission of Christ to his apostles, and their practice in consequence of it.

The commission is express: As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.' Now, that the Father sent Christ to send others, is evident from this circumstance, that he did send others; for he did nothing but according to the will and commandment of the Father.* If, then, the Father sent Christ to send others, and Christ sent his apostles as his Father sent him, he sent them to send others. Their successors also must have had the same power of sending, and it was their duty to use it, as the exigencies of the church should require. Thus the perpetual continuance of the apostolical power in the church would be secured by a perpetual succession of governors in it with apostolical authority. Nor is there any other way by which the promise of Christ to his apostles, when he invested them with their commission, as it is, related by St. Matthew, can be made good: Lo, I am with you,

John xiv. 31.