now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved'." While they" of the household of Cæsar," not less nor more esteemed, from the comparative superiority of their worldly station, may be honoured by the special salutation of an apostle. For whatever we do at all, we may do unto the Lord, and as one of his own people. But some are called to the peculiar service of the Temple. Matthew must leave sitting at the receipt of custom, not merely that he may follow Jesus as his disciple, but that he may be made his apostle and official witness. There are those whose sole vocation is to be "fishers of men." In the descriptions of the Church, contained in the writings of its founders, these naturally hold a prominent place. Now, although every Christian calling exercised under the general sanction of the Head of the Church, in so far as the sublime relation in which he stands to the several members of his body, is in each particular case personally recognised and asserted; yet the direct ministry of the Gospel appears placed under his more immediate regulation and control. We do not appear left in this instance to our own discretion, as in the ordinary affairs of life, to adopt such methods as we may deem most conducive to the end in view. It would seem that the plan devised by infallible Wisdom for the salvation of mankind, has not been wholly abandoned to the prudence or virtue of those human agents, which are nevertheless employed in the work. A definite arrangement appears to have been established, at the first foundation of the Church, the main lines of which may be ascertained with certainty, and from these we may reasonably conclude, it is neither lawful nor expedient to swerve. 1 Philem. 16. 158 THE NATURE OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH. [SER. IX. Such, at least, is the position which it will now be my business to maintain. Thus far I have attempted to set forth the incorporative union of the saints in one body, from which alone, as we learn from Scripture, is derived whatever efficacy or lively power is justly attributed to the appointed ministry of the Gospel. It has appeared from the language of St. Paul, to be nothing less than the outward manifestation of an indwelling life, invigorating every separate member, and fitting it for its appointed work, but more especially is it imparted to those who, by the express enactment of God, are " set in the Church," to rule, to instruct, and to serve it. Our next inquiry will carry us further. We shall see that certain precise and immutable forms were impressed upon the Church by the apostles, partly to be gathered from their writings, partly exhibited in the Church itself, as it appears in primitive times, and as it has continued uninterruptedly to the present day. In a word, having considered the nature of the Apostolic Church, we shall now treat of its constitution. 159 SERMON X. THE SAINTS, OR THE CHURCH OF CHRIST AS DELÍNEATED IN THE APOSTOLIC SCRIPTURES. PART II. THE CHURCH ADMINISTRATIVE, AND THE CHURCH COLLECTIVE. REVELATIONS i. 5, 6. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 66 IN seeking to ascertain from Scripture the formal constitution of the Christian Church, as originally established by the apostles, our attention is naturally directed to the offices borne, or at least to the functions discharged, by those members of the Christian body whom St. Paul distinguishes under the name of " spiritual';" persons, namely, possessing spiritual gifts," and discharging spiritual duties. A remarkable passage, in which the apostle enumerates and distinguishes the several “ gifts," "ministeries," and "operations," exhibited by different functionaries in the Church of Corinth, has already come under our review': and with this we may compare the language of the same apostle in his Epistle to the Ephesians. Christ," he observes, in reference to a remarkable prophecy of David, "when he had ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto 21 Cor. xii. 1-31. 66 1 1 Cor. xiv. 37. men. And he gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ'." Thus it appears beyond controversy, that the constitution of the apostolical Church was a gift from Christ himself, solemnly conferred upon mankind after his ascension: another proof, if any were needed, that a distinction of offices prevailed from the first, in the Christian community, by the express appointment of its Divine head; and that, for the same purposes which the ministerial economy of our own, and every other Church, is still intended to serve. And, indeed, nothing less was to be expected, for the same, or at least a similar order, was to be observed, "till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ"." Thus far the resemblance between the Church of the apostles, and that of modern times, is perfect. The several members of the body being united together by an unseen, but most real and effectual connexion, were consequently to exhibit an outward and formal unity, as an evidence of their Christian calling, appreciable by the world, as well as by themselves. So prayed the Saviour himself. Holy Father, keep through thine own name, those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are," that is, by a vital and mystical union. "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee; that the world may 66 that they also may be one in us: 1 Eph. iv. 11, 12. 2 Eph. iv. 13. believe that thou hast sent me." So that we can have no doubt either as to the extent or the object of this great confederacy. It is "a sensibly known company," including every true believer from the beginning to the end of that dispensation under which it exists; and is intended to be a witness for Christ in the world, through the union of all its members in one body': a body limited neither by time nor place, yet cognizable as one and the same, in all places, and throughout all times; one in its nature, uniform in its tendencies, the same in its functions, similar in its characteristic forms. Further, with a view to general edification, that the unity of the faith, "once delivered to the saints," might be preserved, religious knowledge increased, and heretical divisions avoided, or, as this last object is stated by the apostle, "that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lay in wait to deceive:" our ascended Lord is said to have bestowed upon his Church that disposition of holy offices, and edifying ministries, to which we find such frequent allusion in the latter books of the New Testament, the groundwork of a sacred polity intended to endure till the consummation of the Christian scheme. Thus far all is clear: and when we see the Church, as it 1 John xvii. 11, 20, 21. 2 See HOOKER, book iii., sect. 3. 3 Hence is the visible Church of Christ properly defined in the Nineteenth Article, as 66 a congregation of faithful men," though in the same fold with the true Israelites there be found many, in their individual character, utterly faithless. Of the communion of the saints" as it subsists spiri- M |