stead of saying " I forgive you," he referred Cornelius and his company to the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only source of hope and peace ; saying, " To HIM give all the prophets wit- ness, that, through his name, whosoever believeth m him shall receive remission of sins1." When our blessed Lord himself forgave sins, the surrounding Jews, conceiving of him as a mere man, accused him of blasphemy. And their accusation was just, if he was not God; for, " who can forgive sins, but God onlys?"]
What, then, is the true import of the passage ? [The authority vested in the Apostles was not personal, but official ; or rather, I should say, did not exist at all in them- selves, but only as declaring the character of those whom God would accept or reject in the day of judgment. So far as this power was exercised in inflicting or removing censures from any members of the Church, it had relation only to this world. So far as it related to the eternal world, it was alto- gether declarative, and in no respect judicial. It accorded exactly with the authority of the priests under the law, when they were called upon to judge respecting lepers : there were given marks, whereby they were to try every case that came before them : where those marks were found, they pronounced the person leprous: and where they were not found, they absolved him from the charge of leprosy K So the Apostles have laid down, with the utmost clearness, the marks whereby a child of God may be discerned, and be distinguished from an hypocritical professor: and according to what they have declared shall every case be decided in the day of judgment: those whom they have pronounced forgiven, shall be forgiven ; and those to whom they have assigned a sentence of con- demnation, shall assuredly be condemned. This was the power which they exercised: and this power still resides in those who, as God's ambassadors, are authorised by him to declare his will to men. So far as they judge according to the written word, the sins of men, as remitted or retained by them, shall be remitted or retained in heaven.]
That we may bring this subject home for more gene- ral use, I would call you to notice from it, 1. What aid is reserved for you in the discharge of your duties —
[You need, in your respective callings, the influence of the Holy Spirit, as much as ever the Apostles did. And to you shall it be given, as freely as ever it was conferred on them The Lord Jesus Christ has " the residue of the
r Acts x. -13. s Mark ii. 7. l Lev. xiii. 38— 4G.