said: "You are Peter, and on this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."-Matthew xvi. 18, 19. The theme the Lord is here speaking on is the foundation of the Church, or the rock on which it should be built. The inquiry leading to this is found further back in the narrative. "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" The answer was given to this, and the Lord then propounded the question: "Who do you say that I am?"-Matthew xvi. 15. Peter answered, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." This sentence has in it the foundation of the Church. Hear the Lord, in response to this: "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven." Hath not revealed what to you? That he was "the Christ, the Son of the living God." This is the foundation truth of the New Institution. It did not come from flesh and blood, or from man, but from God. As the Lord stood on the bank of the Jordan, the Almighty Father, with his own lips uttered the oracle, "Thou art my Son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased." Here he revealed the great truth; the oracle, on which all the truth of divine revelation rests, and all the hopes of the human race beyond this life. This was virtually revealed again in the mountain of transfiguration; but not till after the conversation on which I am commenting, when the Father said, in the presence of Peter, James and John: "This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased: hear you him." It still further shows the

prominence the Father intended this wonderful statement to have.

But any one can see that, in the nature of the case, the whole rests on this. This is seen in many of the clearest Scriptures. It is in the "good confession," which the Lord made before Pontius Pilate; in the good confession made by Timothy before many witnesses, and the confession to which Paul refers: "If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved." "Other foundation," says Paul, "can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Christ is the foundation, and the truth that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God," is the truth concerning the foundation, on which the whole rests. Overthrow this one truth and the whole is gone forever. The Lord recognized this when he said, "On this rock will I build my Church." The clause that follows shows that he saw the crucifixion, and that he would enter Hades; but the gates or powers of Hades should not prevail against him, or against the rock, or foundation; that he would rise and triumph over the powers of Hades. The great struggle was over his rising. "Will he rise?" His declaration is the triumphant language of victory. He will rise and vanquish all his enemies.

In view of his triumph over death, in his glorious resurrection, he proceeds: "And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and watever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Many have perplexed their minds over this, trying to explain unimportant matters, and missed the great matter. Much labor has been expended to find "keys" in

the plural, and some have supposed that one key was used in opening the kingdom to the Jews, and the other in opening the door to the Gentiles. But this does not explain the matter; for there is but one kingdom, and one door to it, and finding different peoples to enter it, finds no use for two keys, specially when it is explicitly stated that God "made no difference between them and us"-the Jews and the Gentiles. If there is no difference, the same key will open the door to both. There is nothing in the circumstance of keys being plural, only that keys have generally been kept in a bunch, on a ring, or string, tied together, so that when a door, or any apartment, was to be opened, the keys were called for. The word keys, in this Scripture, is not literal. It stands for power. The power to open the kingdom and it shall be ratified in heaven. Peter had the authority to open the kingdom of heaven, and the assurance is given that whatever he shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever he should loose on earth should be loosed in heaven.

Here, then, is the man that has the authority to open the kingdom of heaven. How does he open it? Not with a literal key, for it had no literal door. The kingdom is the Church, and it has no literal door, and is opened by no literal key. How, then, is it opened? When the Lord commissioned the apostles, he commanded them to "preach the gospel to every creature." They, then, were to preach the gospel. We have seen that the Lord gave them the word of reconciliation, or the law. This word of reconciliation is the gospel, and contains the terms of reconciliation. The terms of reconciliation are precisely the same as the terms of pardon, or the terms of admission into the kingdom of God. The setting forth of these terms of reconciliation,

terms of pardon, or admission into the kingdom, so that men and women could understand how to enter, was using the keys of the kingdom, or opening the door. When these terms were declared, it was all bound in heaven-ratified; and whoever were received on these terms were acknowledged in heaven. Till this day these terms stand ratified in heaven, and will till the last trumpet shall sound.

No man now has the keys of the kingdom, in any sense, only as he may refer to and set forth the original terms, as set forth by Peter and the rest of the apostles. These terms are the keys that open the door of the kingdom, and they are ratified in heaven. He who has remission of sins, according to these terms, has the assurance of the great King that his sins are remitted; but he who has not remission, according to these terms, has no assurance from the Lord that he has remission of sins at all.

If we would know how the door was opened, we should go to him who has the keys of the kingdom, and see him open the door to those who come to him, inquiring, "What shall we do?" The amount is the same, whether we take this inquiry to mean, "What shall we do" to obtain pardon, salvation from sin, be reconciled to God, or to enter into the kingdom of God; for the man reconciled to God was pardoned, saved from sin, and received into the kingdom. The persons making this inquiry were seeking reconciliation and acceptance with God. They desired to cease their alienation, enmity, and wandering away from the Lord; to be reconciled to him, to receive pardon, be united with God and accepted by him. Their inquiry related to this. The answer covered this ground. It opened to them the door of the kingdom, showed them the way to

God, how to be made one with God, or how to be united with him. Opening the way to them, or the door, was exercising the power indicated by the keys of the kingdom, or, so to express it, using the keys of the kingdom; or, to express the same in other words, opening the way to them to be reconciled to God. Any person desiring to know how to be reconciled to God, only need go to him who had the keys of the kingdom, and see how he opened the way to the three thousand on Pentecost, the five thousand in Solomon's porch, and the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius, and to the allusions of the apostles to cases where persons had already been reconciled, and learn how they were reconciled under the immediate directions of the inspired apostles. Here the whole matter may be learned. Those who will not come here will never learn the way of salvation, but will be fit subjects for any delusion that may chance to come along.

One thing worthy of note is, that we have a command from the holy book, "Be you reconciled to God." -See 2 Corinthians v. 20. This is important on several accounts. Paul did not beseech men to do what they could not do. They could, then, be reconciled to God. It was not something for God to do; and no matter how much they might desire reconciliation, they could not obtain it till the Lord's own good time, and thus be excused from guilt. But the way is open, and the alien is besought to be reconciled to God, and censurable if he does not do it. He is left without excuse, and has no cloak for his sins. This Scripture is important on another account. It does not speak of reconciling God to man, but man to God. "Be you reconciled to God.” Some have Christ reconciling his Father to us; but this is in another book, and not the one the Lord gave. The