convinced that both the declarations of our Lord, and the example of the apostles and early Christians, pronounce in favour of it. We then proceeded to answer our second question, what purpose such an ecclesiastical discipline as the early Christians used, could and should have, and found that this purpose was no other than to bring those who, in consequence of denial of their faith, or their sinful lives, had been excommunicated from the church, to a knowledge of their sins, a consciousness of their guilt, repentance and penance for their falling away, and humble conversion from their errors, so that there should be no hesitation in receiving them back to church communion, when they had given sufficient proof of true repentance and real change of heart.

By this conduct the church was completely fulfilling her intention, that of being an institution to train up men for the kingdom of God. In as far, indeed, as it is an external manifestation, an external union of men, who have been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and acknowledge his gospel, it must always be a mixture of believers and unbelievers, of good and evil, of genuine and false Christians. But the real kingdom of God can impossibly consist of such a mixture of worthy and unworthy members, it must rather be a holy church, into which nothing unclean and sinful can enter, but of which all the members follow the Lord in heart and life, and are all governed and led by his spirit. True Christians manifest themselves always by incessantly and earnestly striving after holiness. Now the external and visible church should and will form all her members into such true and genuine Christians, by a faithful and conscientious administration and application of the means of grace given her by the Lord. But as it is in the nature of all instruction to exercise a wholesome degree of severity, when it becomes necessary, against such as contend against her purposes, so likewise must the church, in as far as it is an institution of instruction, have the right and the power to exercise a strict discipline, where there is need, provided that it never lose sight of the principle, that her only

purpose in this discipline must be the improvement of erring sinners.

But, undoubtedly, we cannot deny the possibility of misconceptions on this subject, my brethren. How easily may this system of penance be converted into a a mere external form? How easily may all that is essential in it be overlooked, and the unessential overvalued? Errors and abuses may arise, and they have arisen. This the history of the Christian church amply testifies. Nay, more, the germs of these errors are to be found even in the earliest times of the church, and later ages give us a fearful proof, and a wholesome warning, what prejudicial and dangerous results have ensued from it. It shall be our business to-day to examine into these errors, and afterwards to investigate as to the conduct of our church with regard to this discipline, and with this we will conclude our considerations concerning the ecclesiastical life of the first Christians; and may the Lord bless us in this our task. Amen.

TEXT. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.-1 John, i. 9.

Even regenerate Christians, my brethren, dare not consider themselves to be completely without sin. St Paul was, without doubt, a regenerate Christian,-and yet we hear from his own mouth the lowly confession, "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect." Therefore, St John declares immediately before our text, " If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." “So long as man bears flesh about with him," writes the father of the church, Augustine," he has always sins, though it may be light ones. But beware of despising those that we call light. If thou despisest them, when thou weighest them, be terrified when thou countest them. Many light things make a heavy one; many drops make a river." But if we confess our sins,-and this confession includes hearty repentance and penance, as well

as a longing for forgiveness and grace,-God is " faithful," He always holds fast to what he has promised, that he will forgive sins; and at the same time he is "just," whereby his faithfulness is still more accurately described as one entirely untainted, unspotted, and pure. The faithful and holy God will make all his word to us sure. He forgives us our sins, drives us not away from the fellowship of his grace, and purifies us, that is, takes the guilt of every trespass away from our consciences, that we may come into his presence, as his children, with joy; and that, as the apostle reminds us, for the sake of the blood of Jesus Christ. If the church hold fast to this apostolic declaration, she will be preserved from all errors as regards penance and church discipline. But where this truth is forgotten, the most grievous abuses may creep into the church, as, in fact, with the course of time, has been the case. Let us, therefore, in conformity with the words of our text, and the course of our considerations concerning the ecclesiastical discipline of the first ages of the church, go on to answer the remaining two questions, which we had yet to consider, for the conclusion of this subject, by investigating,

3. What errors are possible, and are to be avoided, with reference to the exercise of this church discipline? and, 4. How church discipline is conducted among ourselves?

Holy Father, sanctify us with thy truth; thy word is truth. Amen.

III. The first error into which men stood in danger of falling through the church institution of penance, and into which it actually did fall, was the interchange of the internal and external, of the invisible and visible church, and the over value attached to communion with the latter, whereby men completely lost out of sight the peculiar and highest purpose of church discipline. We have indeed seen how very earnest the teachers of the first centuries were in holding fast to the right point of

view, and calling the attention of Christians especially to this, that all salvation depended not on this external union with the church, but far more upon true fellowship of faith and life with the Redeemer, and that every thing hinged upon this alone, namely, membership of the invisible church of God. According to this view, which has its sure foundation in the gospel itself, it is only exclusion from the invisible church which can prejudice the eternal salvation of man, and this can neither be made nor removed by any external force. In this nothing decides, but the mind and life of the individual, so that a man may easily belong to the external church, and yet be excluded from the kingdom of God, as also a man may be converted and become a blessed partaker in the kingdom of God, even if those who hold the government of the church, and who are subject to error, cut him off from communion with the visible church. Thus there were innumerable instances of men, who, in the later centuries, were regarded as heretics, and condemned as such by the Romish church, of whom I will only adduce a Huss and a Luther, who yet were doubtless genuine members of the kingdom of God, notwithstanding the excommunication which they suffered. There is but one way by which a man can obtain communion with the invisible church, attain to a participation in the blessings of God's kingdom, and find grace and forgiveness, and that way is repentance in faith. As want of faith, want of penitence, and obstinate love of sin, shut us out from God, and a participation in the riches of his salvation, so also do we by repentance and faith appropriate to ourselves all that Christ has merited and earned for us. He who in this way seeks to be united with his Redeemer, really belongs to Him, and is a blessed participator in that kingdom, whether he be received or not into any visible church. This is what St John intends, when he assures us in our text, "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Every thing, therefore, depends on the internal repentance of the heart, and nothing external has any

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value, except in as far as it is the fruit and expression of this internal repentance. On the other hand, a man may confess his sins with his lips, publicly humble himself, and subject himself to all kinds of exercises of nance, without thereby pleasing God, that is, if the decisive internal sense of sin is wanting, if his external acts proceed not out of an upright heart, if it is nothing but show, falsehood, and hypocrisy, which no one has the power to decide, save He that cannot be deceived,— the searcher of hearts. And how easy is it for men to confound the confession of sins before the church, which the pænitentes had to make, and which is no sure and incontrovertible sign of true repentance, with the internal confession of sins to God; how easy to confound humiliation before men with humiliation of the heart before God, without which there is no true repentance: how easy to forget, in the exercises of penance ordained by the external church, and which may all be hypocritical, that true and hearty repentance which is the indispensable condition of forgiveness of sins, and reception again into the fellowship of God? And unhappily this was the case, my brethren. In progress of time men began to overvalue communion with the visible church, and to regard it as all that was essential, and real repentance was forced to retire into the back ground as an unessential thing.

A second error, not less dangerous than the first, was the manner in which the power of the priesthood was overrated. This false idea arose from the notion of a priesthood of the New Testament answering to that of the Old. Men separated in a most unevangelical manner, the priesthood from the laity, as being a peculiarly holy and exalted station, and forgot that, according to the gospel, all Christians are a priestly nation. They therefore attributed a peculiar importance to the priestly absolution or declaration of forgiveness of sins, and confused it with that forgiveness which God alone can grant. Was it then strange, if the claims of the clergy continually rose higher, and if they took their stand haughtily on the power which they exercised of loos