and decorum while so many varieties are to be intermingled in our social transactions,-to effect this, I say, in the simplest and best form, in our religious associations, is the great end of church government. God has not created offices in his house, to afford to one man an opportunity to grow more important than another man; but to furnish every one with an occasion of doing all the good he can: and each minister, instead of growing supercilious because of his official distinction, might say with Moses, "would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them." The good of the whole then is the benevolent object which Jehovah has proposed;—personal importance is the invention of human pride,—a sophism which calls ambition philanthropy. Church officers are forbidden to be lords over God's heritage, and have been expressly warned not to think of themselves more highly than they ought to think; but to think soberly, "according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Considerations like these would induce us to suppose, that we ought to have in the church as little government as possible; and that we should seek for a reformation which would be achieved by a little more love, and a little less rule.

Refraining from any further general remarks, excepting so far as the discussion of our present subjects may require as we shall proceed, let us now turn to the immediate consideration of those subjects. Our first inquiry is into

THE OFFICE AND DUTIES OF AN ELDER?

This same apostle tells us in another of his epistles, that when our Lord ascended up on high, like a mighty conqueror leading captivity captive, he gave gifts unto men: i. e. as he himself explains, "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 minis

try, for the edifying of the body of Christ." At the time when Matthias was chosen to occupy the place of Judas, the eleven state the qualification of an apostle in the following language;-"of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection." Their proceedings afterwards further reveal, that an apostle must be chosen by the Lord himself;* and they assign as the reason for their using any instrumentality at all about this matter, that the spirit of prophecy had declared that the "bishoprick" of Judas should be given to another. We must then leave them on their thrones, in the enjoyment of unenvied glory, as those who had followed the Redeemer "in the regeneration." prophet nor evangelist, nor teacher, in their own days, claimed their titles, nor sought to defraud them of their honours; while Paul, brought in afterwards by an express provision made by the Lord himself, magnified his office.

No

Prophets in like manner were introduced into the church, according to the master's good pleasure. Their official attribute consisted in this, that they possessed the spirit of prophecy, and were thus qualified to utter some immediate revelation they had received, or to foretell some future event that was made known to them. If men should now appear, evidently distinguished by like official attributes, we should be under an obligation to yield to them their place in the church even in the present day.-But church courts can no more make prophets, than they can make apostles.

Evangelists were men who laboured in word and doctrine, They appear, however, to have been created for a particular occasion: i. e. in the introduction of the new dispensation, churches were to be planted where no preachers were to be

*Acts, ch. 1, v. 20-26.

found, and the gospel was to be preached to sinners who had no pastors nor teachers. The apostles were sent every where, and finding, as Moses had done before them, the labours of their office too heavy for them, they selected some others as their companions, who might be "profitable" to them in their peculiar "ministry." They were men, in all probability, of talent, of enterprize, of popular address, whose feelings and circumstances qualified them to meet an emergency. They could consent to be detached from any local associations; and having imbibed, what in modern times we would call a missionary spirit, they could labour in any community where labour was wanted. And if in this city, or in the adjacent country, like difficulties existed, a similar officer might now be ordained by "the laying on of the hands of the presbytery," and sent out to minister in a like manner. Or, if there be any thing particularly imposing in the title itself, a presbyter or elder, might be so ordained, to render any special service of this kind. All that can be wanted would be, a sphere of action, and an individual qualified to fill it. Why not? It belongs to the church to instruct the world, where God has placed her as a burning and a shining light; and surely we may not justify any ecclesiastical legislation which would put her light under a bushel.

Pastors and teachers we may very readily conceive to be the officers of a particular church, because such officers every particular church needs; and because, while it is required in our text that elders shall be ordained in every city, their official duties are frequently stated in the scriptures to be precisely those which are pastoral in their nature. With these, on the present occasion, we are chiefly concerned; as, having chosen a number of elders to serve in this church, you have set them before your executive officers to be ordained. We then inquire after the character of their office, and the extent of their duties.

Frequent reference is made both in the old and the new testaments to the elders of the Jews; from whose ecclesiastical constitution both the title and the office appear to have been derived, and thence transferred to the new dispensation. God had consecrated the family of Aaron and the tribe of Levi for official service under the mosaic economy. But then they were priests, and their concern was with the temple and the altar. The temple was at Jerusalem; there sacrifices were offered, and the whole ritual was presented in full and distinct form. But all the Jews did not live in Jerusalem, neither were sacrifices the only acts of religious worship they were required to render. They had social ordinances of a much more limited character, and suited to the circumstances of their local situation. In addition to the temple, synagogues were erected throughout Judea; they were to be found in every town and village, or wherever a regular assembly of convenient size could be collected. In these synagogues prayer and praise were offered up, and the scriptures were read and expounded,-religious services, which, you know, characterize the worship ' of believers in the new testament church.

In the synagogue, as we are informed by those who have made jewish antiquities their study, there were a bishop, a bench of elders, and deacons. The bishop was a presbyter, or elder, and his official duty appears to have called upon him to take the lead in the services of the synagogue;-to offer up public prayer, and to expound the scriptures. He also sat in council with the other presbyters or elders, and along with them exercised whatever authority was necessary to maintain the due order and decorum of the synagogue.

From these things, as has already been remarked, it would seem that the organization of the new testament church was derived from this simple form of ecclesiastical administration existing in the jewish synagogue. In consistency with

this, Paul directs Titus to ordain elders in every city, without making the smallest allusion to any superior grade of officers; thus rendering it evident that elders are perfectly competent to manage the spiritual concerns of the church. And he himself, we are told in the history of his apostolic labours,* associated with Barnabas, ordained elders in every church. Hence also, when from Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the elders, he gave them a solemn exhortation, sufficiently indicating, that the affairs of the church had been committed to their hands as a spiritual charge. † Peter in like manner, addressing the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, especially exhorted the elders, as having the spiritual charge in all those places, to "feed the flock of God, to take the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock:" and then, as though elders had the rule entrusted to them until Christ's second coming, he adds, "and when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." And James, addressing the twelve tribes as scattered abroad, directs them, that if any were sick, they should send for the elders of the church, who should esteem it to be their official work to pray over them. This might seem general enough, as it includes all those who could be brought out from among the Jews, and inserts them in their own proper place, and under proper ecclesiastical government, in the new testament dispensation. If we desired any thing more general, we have merely to refer to our text, and to ask you to attend to its terms: "ordain elders," says the apostle, "in every city." No legislative enactment could be more distinct.

Perhaps it may here be worthy of remark, that there is no single individual alluded to as selected, and advanced above