thus say-Unto the name of the unknown Father of all; unto Truth, the mother of all; un, to Him who came down on Jesus." This form, and the confession which our Lord here enjoins on the Apostles, are obviously levelled against each other; and accordingly assist us to ascertain with precision the sense which the words of Jesus are intended to convey. For the surest way of ascertaining a doubtful passage is to learn the error to which it is opposed. The deceivers denied, that the Creator of the world was the Supreme and the only God; that Christ was his son and servant; and that the Holy Spirit descended on the faithful believers, to attest the resurrection of Jesus, and his second coming to judge the world; and in order to subvert the Gospel from its very foundations, they substituted in the first article their unknown God; in the second, the God that descended on Jesus; and in the third, what they called Alethia, or mother of all things.

Οι δε αγουσι εφ ύδωρ, και βαπτίζοντες όντως επιλεγουσι εις ονομα αγνωςου πατρος των όλων, εις Αληθειαν μητέρα παντων, εις τον κατελθοντα (θεον) εις Ιησουν. They lead the disciple to the water, and on plunging him, they thus say, unto the name of the unknown Father of all, unlo truth, mother of all, unto the God which came upon Jesus. Iren. p. 91.

Those of the impostors, who classed under the denomination of Cainists, or Ophita, rejected the ceremony of baptism as administered by the Apostles in compliance with the command of their Master. This is attested by Tertullian, in his Treatise de Baptismo, p. 224. By Jerome, in his Epis tle to Oceanus, and by Irenæus, p. 91.

It is to be observed, that Jesus enjoins on his Apostles the duty of imposing on the converts only such things as he had imparted to them, and which were contained in the Gospel, thus excluding all articles of faith, which he foresaw would be superadded by false or mistaken teachers of his religion in subsequent ages. He adds, " And, lo, I am always with you to the end of the age;" that is, to the end of the old dispensation, the period during which spiritual gifts were to be communicated in the name of Jesus to his faithful followers, and at the end of which Jerusalem was to be destroyed. Jesus is said to be with his disciples, when it is meant only that he would endow them with divine power, by the same figure of speech, as he is said to come to destroy the Jewish community, where he merely intended to signify that his prediction. should be fulfilled, at the time and in the manner foretold.

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Verily I say unto you whatever things ye bind on earth, will be bound in heaven; and whatever things ye loosen on earth will be loosened in heaven. Again I say unto you, that when two of you agree on earth concerning every thing that they should ask, it shall be given to them by my Father in heaven; for where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them." Mat. xviii. 18.

From these words, the advocates of the Trini-, tarian faith have inferred the omnipresence of Jesus Christ; an attribute which belongs only to the infinite and eternal Jehovah: but the humble prophet of Nazareth had no such presumptu

ous idea. He is speaking in the context not of his own person, but of the authority he should delegate and leave with his apostles, when he should be with them no longer in person. His language is judicial, borrowed from certain forms in the Jewish law. To bind and to loosen are phrases which mean to condemn and to acquit; and he mentions two or three, because this last was the number which, under the Mosaic code, was necessary to give satisfactory evidence in cases of judicial guilt. His words are to this effect: "Whenever you assemble to examine and judge the conduct of certain members of my church, your sentence shall carry all the authority that I can give to it. Whether, therefore, you acquit, or whether you condemn, there shall be no appeal from your decision: and as the power of my Father will ever accompany you, it will be as valid when formed by you, as if it had been formed and ratified in heaven. Nor is it necessary that all of you should concur in this sentence, to give it authority and effect. The local nature of a particular church, and your distance from each, may render your concurrence impracticable; nor will it be necessary : for if two or three of you will have an opportu. nity to form a proper verdict, I will be with you in spirit, and the power I bequeath you will warrant its execution."

Mat. ix. 2.-" And they brought to him a paralytic laid on a couch. And Jesus seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee."

The Jews supposed that God alone could forgive sin; and because Jesus on this occasion ex

ercised this power, his enemies accused him of making himself one with God. Remarkable is the manner in which our Lord repels this serious charge. In the estimation of a Jew, every disease was the effect of some sin; and therefore to heal the disease, and to forgive the sin supposed to be its cause, were, in the estimation of a Jew, ideas of the same import. The lawyers hearing his address to the paralytic, said within themselves, "It is easy to say so; the difficulty is to prove that his sins are forgiven, by removing the disorder." To shew that he acted with the power and wisdom of God, he penetrated their minds; and he exhibits to the people the ideas which passed through their bosom, or died in secret whispers on their lips. His words to them are to this effect-" You think within yourselves, it is easy for me to assert that the man's sins are forgiven; but I say, it is equally easy to justify the assertion by healing the complaint." Accordingly he gave the command, and the effect instantly followed.

Thus did our Lord acquit himself of the charge of making himself one with God, which was blasphemy in the eyes of the Jews, and which was punishable with instant death by the law of Moses. His enemies did not attempt to have him stoned; nor did they even repeat the accusation. The evidence of divine wisdom which darted into the dark recesses of their own bosoms, and of divine power which must have illumined every countenance but their own, compelled them to acquiesce in silence. The adver- › saries present in all probability were spies of the rulers, who wished to have some specious pretext

for arresting and putting him to death. The charge of blasphemy here alleged would have been the very thing they wanted; but though they were at a loss for some pretence to condemn him, not a word was said of it at his trial.

Matthew was aware, that some handle might be made of the right which Jesus claimed to forgive sin. He therefore brought forward the people, who had witnessed the cure, to attest that he exercised it only in the name and with the authority of God. But when the people saw it, they marvelled and glorified God which had given such power unto men." Which is to this effect: "The people wondered at this extraordinary display of divine power; but they praised God, on account of the cure, and not Jesus, who was a man, in himself destitute of such power, and who had received it from his Almighty Father.

No question of greater moment is connected. with the Christian religion than what are the terms on which we may reasonably expect to be saved. The grounds of forgiveness and the hope of eternal life comprehend the great end of the Gospel and it is not to be supposed that he who brought life and immortality to light, should be silent or ambiguous as to the way of attaining them. Besides, the Gnostic teachers, whose object was to undermine the Gospel, denied the necessity of repentance and reformation, and substituted divine grace, spiritual seed, supernatural faith, &c. as the means of acceptance with God. Our Saviour throughout his ministry had these dangerous impostors in view, and he was indispensably called upon to state, with the ut