as we journey on amid the gloom and trials of this lower world. We can adopt, we trust, alike the feelings and the language of the Apostle and say,-"What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." Yet still, we may be clearly sensible of the errors of those, who thus in a greater or less degree have departed from that standard which our Lord left for his followers. Let our motto then be expressed in the words of an ancient writer-" Unity, in things that are necessary-liberty, in things that are unnecessary-charity, in all things."* Again it shall be my endeavor to speak plainly. The trumpet should never utter an uncertain sound. There is no use on this point, or on any other, of that smooth and equivocal preaching which leaves the hearer in doubt as to the practical conclusion. The pulpit is no place from which to utter dark sayings, or to address you in the language of parables. I shall endeavor, therefore, fully and faithfully to lay before you the distinctive principles of the Church -showing that she is now, in her form and ministry, as founded by Christ and his Apostles eighteen centuries ago, and that this view is confirmed alike by the voice of Scripture and of History. And if the conclusions to which we come should strike at the very foundations of the claims of those who surround us, we are not responsible for the result. We must interpret the word of God in accordance with the light we have deliver faithfully the message with which He has charged us-and then leave consequences to Him. It was not always with pleasant minstrelsy that the prophets of old approached those to whom they were sent. Often they were charged with a sterner message, as they rebuked their infatuated countrymen for abandoning the Holy Temple Preserv❜d a salutary faith that wrought, Maugre the alloy, the saving end it sought. Benevolence Lad gain'd such empire there, That even superstition had been brought An aspect of humanity to wear, And make the weal of man its first and only care Southey's Tale of Paraguay, Cant. IV 10. "In necessariis, unitas-in non necessariis, libertas-in omnibus, Witsius ap Turretin, de Fund. p. 45 charitas." at Jerusalem, and worshipping in groves and high places which their own hands had made. WHY THEN SHOULD YOU SEEK TO UNDERSTAND THE REASONS FOR BEING CHURCHMEN ? The first I shall mention is-because our Divine Master when on earth certainly founded and established a Church. Had He not done so- -Had he merely inculcated the general principles of His faith, and left each body of believers to regulate their own ecclesiastical government-the obligations resting on us would be widely different. Then, we might justly consider every self-constituted society, and every assembly professing itself to be Christian, as a regular and duly organized Church of Christ. Then every individual who imagined himself moved to preach the Gospel, or who was asked to do so by any number who had chosen thus to unite together as a congregation, would be fully entitled to ministerial authority, and as much qualified to administer the sacraments, as if he had received a direct commission from heaven. You perceive, then, that there must have been some visible Church established by our Lord, and some regularly constituted ministry, or every thing has been left entirely unsettled, subject to the caprices of man. And you will readily see, to what fluctuations and changes the want of this established system would necessarily give rise. If at any particular time-take that of the Reformation in the sixteenth century for example-a body of men, for some reason which seemed sufficient to themselves, had a right to abandon that ministry which was derived in uninterrupted succession from the Apostles, and without any new commission from our Lord, to constitute another ministry of their own, then any individuals have at any time a right to do the same. Either the ministry of the Church must have been handed down from our Lord and his apostles, through the long line of those who succeeded them—and it is from this fact that I star. before you your authorized teacheror else there is no law at all on this subject, and each one who occupies these pews has as much right as I haveshould his fancy lead him to do so-to stand at this altar, and minister to you in holy things. There is, therefore, no middle gound in this matter. But our Lord did not, we believe, thus abandon the precious truth He came to communicate, to be, through all the following ages, swept about upon the surging, changing sea of popular will. He formed also the casket, and left it to contain and guard the precious treasure, until His coming again. He constituted His Church to be, in the Apostle's words, "the pillar and ground of the truth." He fourd His disciples living under the Mosaic ritual-under a well defined, strictly organized plan of government, and is it to be supposed that He released them from this, and yet substituted nothing in its place?. While the Christian faith was but the continuation, the perfection of the Jewish, was it to have no restrictions-no form of polity whatever? Our reason would dictate to us, that this cannot be. Our Lord knew too well what was in man, thus to abandon him to his own idle caprices. It was after our Master had burst the bonds of death and triumphed over the grave-while for a time He was still lingering on the earth to cheer His disciples, and fit them for the trials and labors which were at hand-that He gave them the high commission to go forth and lay the foundations of that spiritual kingdom which was to embrace within its fold, "all nations, and kindreds, and tongues." His clear and unequivocal language was: "Peace be unto you; as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when He said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in Heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."* The general belief has been, that during the forty days which intervened between our Lord's resurrection and ascension, while He instructed His disciples in "the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God," He also inculcated the organization of the Church He had founded. It is evident, that when * John xx. 21, 22, 23. Matt. xxviii. 18, 19, 20. immediately afterwards they commenced their ministry there was no doubt, no hesitation on their part. They a once proceeded to develope this plan-to fill the vacancy in the number of the Apostles-"to ordain them elders in every Church "*-and to constitute the order of Deacons.t This then was the three-fold ministry of the Church. * Acts xiv. 23. † Bishop H. U. Onderdonk argues, (Epis. Examined, p. 234,) that this was not the first appointment of Deacons, but that they existed "in 1e," at least, long before. He derives this conclusion from the following arguments-1. The Apostles, even before this time, could not have attended personally, as is generally supposed, to the distribution of alms. The work was too extensive from the first, and they would have had to "leave the word" altogether, had they discharged this lower office. 2. Had this work been in the hands of the Apostles, they would hardly have shown partiality. It must, therefore, have been previously committed to other agents. 3. If this was the beginning of the order of the Diaconate, seven would have been hardly enough for the converts, daily increasing by thousands. There must, therefore, have been others also. 4. The Jewish converts were of course much the most numerous. They did not, however complain of any neglect. The murmuring came from the foreign converts. There does not, however, appear to have been one native Hebrew among "the seven;" an omission which, without the construction before us, would have invited a "murmur" from the party before favored. The probability therefore is, that this was no new order at that time in the Church, but that additional deacons, selected from foreigners, were then ordained to minister to the foreign converts who had begun to increase. They were added to provide for a special emergency. Such also is the view of Mosheim. He says "The first deacons of the Church, being chosen from among Jews who were born in Palestine, were suspected by the foreign Jews of partiality in distributing the offerings which were presented for the support of the poor. To remedy, therefore, this disorder, seven other deacons were chosen by order of the Apostles, and employed in the service of that part of the Church, at Jerusalem, which was composed of the foreign Jews converted to Christianity. Of these new ministers, six were foreigners, as appears by their names; the seventh was chosen out of the prose lytes, of whom there were a certain number among the first Christians at Jerusalem, and to whom it was reasonable that some regard should be shown in the elections of the Deacons, as well as to the foreign Jews. Comm. de Rebus Christ. p. 1 .8. If, therefore, a Church was founded with its valid mir. istry, is it not our duty to seek out this fold and unite with it? Christ-the Apostle tells us- "is Head over all things to the Church, which is His body."* Now the Body can no more be divided than the Head. Again, he says-" There is one Body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism." It is indeed a common opinion, and one which we often hear announced, that "as long as an individual is truly religious, it is a matter of no importance to what body of Christians he belongs." But if this be of no consequence, why was a Church established at all? And-to go a step farther—if a Church has been established, and that Church is the body of Christ, unless we are members of her fold, how can we be members of Christ? Divisions certainly were not regarded by the Apostles, as matters of but little moment. The declaration of St. Paul is "That there should be no schism in the body," and when the Corinthian converts, in their dissensions, began to arrange themselves under the party names of Paul and Apollos, and Cephas, they were most sternly rebuked by the great Apostle of the Gentiles. His indignant inquiry was-"Is Christ divided?" and the exhortation which he wrote them. was "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions (xiouarα) among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment." So fearful did he regard this sin of schism, that the authors of it were not to be treated as Christians. His instructions on this head were- "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid .hem, for they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ."|| And so St. Jude speaks of those "who separate themselves," as "having not the Spirit." Is it not, then, a matter of importance to belong to tha Church which our Lord founded? And if you are now numbered with her members, * Eph i 22, 23. + Eph. iv. 4. + 1 Cor. xii. 25. |