however comforts him with the promise: "Thou shalt not die."

Thus we see how the authority of the apostles is not applied in worldly affairs, which merely pertain to the outward life of man, nor only to such transgressions as the civil government judges and punishes, but that it exerts its power over sin, which is regarded and held as such by God and man. Yea, the sins of the whole world are thus under the control of the apostles and of all ministers of the Gospel, even of every Christian in case of necessity; so that we can be fully assured of the forgiveness of our sins when our pastor, or, in case of his absence, when any Christian declares it unto us in the name of Jesus Christ. Such a declaration will be as valid as if Christ were personally present to pronounce it, or had sent an angel from heaven to proclaim it unto us.

Such authority and power is however not given to the apostles and ministers that they on that account should be overbearing and proud. It is not their own power which they exercise; they are simply servants of God to bring help to their fellowmen, to rescue them from the mighty thralldom of the enemy of their souls' salvation. It is a great and glorious achievement when a man, himself a poor, miserable sinner, exercises this power and puts to flight an enemy so strong that otherwise the whole world combined could not rout him. Christ says: "Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them," and again: "Whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Since then these words: "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you," are so plain, no one should

doubt that his sins are really forgiven as soon as the absolution is pronounced.

For this reason we so frequently exhort you to apply these glorious gifts which Christ has left to His Church and never to despise them. Christ has instituted the office of the ministry to battle against sin and to remit it wherever it really exists and is confessed in true faith. With those so-called sins, invented by men, we have here nothing to do; we mean sins which are such and which move the heart with terror.

Adam preaches the same doctrine to his son Cain, in Genesis, where he tells him: "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." Thou art a sinner, but art not aware of it: sin, as it were, slumbers, but in a very unquiet place; if it is aroused thy condition will be greatly changed. Sin, though dormant now, will not sleep on forever; it will awake and torment thy conscience with terrible stings, driving thee to despair. Those persons who do not concern themselves about sin are sinners indeed, but they cannot be absolved; their sins will be retained, for they desire no remission and prefer to continue in their evil ways.

The doctrine of the papists in this regard was: Let him who desires forgiveness meditate upon his sins and be penitent. On this penitence they then based the remission of sins. It is possible that this practice arose from an imitation of the example of the fathers, who insisted upon it, just as we now do, that whosoever wished to be absolved must first be truly penitent and ready to confess his sins. This is right, and just as it should be; but it is

entirely false when such penitence is regarded as meriting forgiveness, when it is made the ground of the remission of sins. Penitence has no merits; it is simply a realization of the enormity and power of sin, which makes itself felt in the heart. Hence it is wrong to trust in penitence, as if it were sufficient to bring remission of sins.

Previous to this penitence there is no account made of sin. It is indeed present, but man is dead to it; it sleeps; it is sin deprived of vitality, as Adam tells Cain in the words quoted above. But when sin revives and makes itself felt, it disturbs the heart and conscience; yet we cannot call these manifestations a meritorious work; it is simply, as St. Paul calls it, living sin. And surely, it would be foolish to assert that sin can merit grace.

The people under the papacy were therefore greatly deceived when absolution was given them on account of their penitence, as being some merit or good work. All the papal bulls conveying forgiveness of sins are directed to the "contritis et confessis," to the penitent and those who have made a confession. Penitence, if real, is nothing but sin acknowledged, and surely there is no merit in this. We have remission of our sins when we have faith in the words of Christ, and accept implicitly the declaration made in His name, that our sins are forgiven, not on account of our penitence, which is only sin experienced and confessed, and on which we can build no hope of remission, but on account of the Word of Christ, in which we trust.

Mere penitence, or feeling sin, has the effect to drive us away from faith and from God, of whom we are afraid. This makes sin more terrible and

more effective, and causes in the end agony and despair, which is but a multiplication of sins. The thief, who has fallen into the hands of the executioner, increases his crimes by adding to his theft a revengeful feeling against those in authority and against God. St. Paul speaks pertinently of this, Rom. 7, when he says: "Sin by the commandment becomes exceeding sinful," that is, sin becomes strong and overwhelming in its effects. This they called penitence, when to one sin many others were added, so that the whole world is filled with sins, and peace and rest are nowhere to be found. Where the heart is in such a condition as this, despair must follow. Judas the betrayer had such penitence as this. Christ, with His cheering word and command respecting the remission of sins, must also be present, else all is dark and hopeless.

Where there is penitence and fear, Christ approaches and says: Thou art full of sins, and in misery turnest away from me; I cannot absolve thee on this account. Penitence and sorrow are necessary, for without them there can be no sincere hatred of sin and no longing desire to be freed from it; but do not confine thyself to this lamentation; come to me, hear and accept my word in true faith, and thou shalt have remission of sins.

This indeed was not the style of preaching among the papists; they sent the penitent to St. James, to Rome, or other sacred places, telling them to trust in their penitence and to do good works. The word and commandment of Christ in reference to the remission of sins was entirely disregarded by them. But this command stands here immovable: "Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto

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them, and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained." This is plain enough. Nowhere else but in the words of Christ our Saviour can we find forgiveness of our sins. Go for this purpose whereever else you please, you will surely go amiss. What did we gain by it when we tortured ourselves with fasting, singing, prayer, vigils, reading mass, and the like? Were our sins remitted on that account? Surely not. Is it not a shame and an abomination that we were taught to seek remission of sins by means of penitence, which by itself is only sin aggravated? If my works, my penitence and confessions can do it, of what value is the word of Christ, and what need is there of His command in regard to the remission of sins? We might as well be Jews and Turks, who also desire to be saved, though they reject Christ. The Pope is really worse than the Turk and Jews, because he abuses the name of Christ in teaching his false doctrine.

We ought ever to remember that Christ makes remission of sins dependent upon His Word, and not upon pilgrimages, masses, alms or other socalled good works, of whatever kind they may be. Whoever now desires remission of sins, let him go to his minister or to some other fellow Christian who has God's Word, and he will surely find consolation there. It is certain that by no exertions of our own can we overcome sin, and everything we do, even if we torture ourselves to death, will be in vain. This was often experienced in popery. When one was troubled in his conscience and went into a monastery, or performed some other penitential work, for the purpose of earning peace and