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others counsels and sympathies, and thus become more successful co-workers in advancing the cause of truth.

The call which the Apostles received, and their formal consecration to the sacred office, is the second particular that demands our attention.

By the call which was addressed to the Apostles, and which is referred to by each of the Evangelists who have alluded to the transaction which we are now contemplating, is meant a ministerial call. Previously to this, with the exception of Judas the traitor, they had unquestionably been effectually called into the kingdom of Christ by the operations of divine grace upon their hearts. It is not for a moment to be admitted, as some have inconsistently contended, that any of the Apostles, who were ever the subjects of regeneration at all, were unconverted at this period, and that the immaculate Saviour would have sent forth, from under his own eye, and clothed with a portion of his own authority, a company of men with the professed intent of bringing others to repentance, while they themselves were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Called, therefore, to be heirs of the heavenly inheritance they must already have been. But now their Divine Master calls them to him in their collective capacity, and for the purpose of formally and authoritatively investing them with the ministerial office. The Evangelist Mark, in describing the circumstances of this interesting transaction says, that our Lord went up into a mountain, and called unto him whom he would; and they came unto him. And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach :-But Luke, whose expression

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is more emphatic still, says, that it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day he called unto him his disciples; and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named Apostles. These retired and protracted devotions of the Saviour, in anticipation of the approaching ordination, evince with what intenseness of interest he looked forward to the event, and furnish at the same time an example and an argument for fervent and importunate prayer whenever his people are about to engage in similar solemnities.

With some formalities that were probably observed in the mode of the Apostles' ordination, the inspired writers have not thought it necessary to acquaint us. There is, however, reason to conclude that the ceremony was accompanied by the imposition of hands, which is a practice that evidently obtained the sanction of the Apostles, as appears from the exhortation to Timothy, that he should not neglect the gift that was in him, which was given him by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery ;as also from the direction that was given him, to lay hands suddenly on no man. A practice of this nature, in setting apart individuals to the ministerial office, it can hardly be supposed, would have prevailed in the church at this early period, unless countenanced, in the first instance, by the example of Christ himself. And though it is not pretended that the miraculous endowments, which originally attended the observance of this usage, are at present communicated by those who adhere to it, still its continuance is considered as highly expedient and proper,

inasmuch as it serves as an impressive sign to convey an idea of ministerial authority that is conferred with it.

A question concerning what constitutes a call to enter the sacred ministry, will here very naturally arise, and it may not be amiss to bestow on it a passing notice. The following requisites, in those who aspire to the sacred office, it is believed, will be considered by all evangelical and well-informed christians, to be absolutely indispensable. Piety, prudence, aptness to teach, good natural abilities, and a respectable share of literary and theological attainments; of which requisites, the constituted authorities of the church are to be the judges.

Not every good man, who happens to think his endowments sufficient, and that he is moved by an impulse from above, has either a call or a warrant to be a preacher of the gospel. He must pass through the ordeal which the church has established to decide on the qualifications of candidates for Holy Orders. No man taketh this honour unto himself but he that is called of God as was Aaron. He must be officially invested as well as spiritually furnished.— The impulse to which he is trusting may be all a delusion. He must not, like a thief and a robber, climb up some other way, but must enter in at the door. He must be clothed with the priestly garments before he can lawfully wait at the altar. The Levites must carry the ark, as God has most awfully decided by the breach which he made upon Uzzah, who rashly put forth his hand to prevent its jostling. A little attention to the sad history of this presumptuous intruder upon the prerogatives of the priesthood, (who, it does not appear, had any evil design against the Levites,

but probably thought that he was strengthening their hands and doing God's service,) it would seem, were sufficient to fill the conscientious layman with dread when he thinks of assuming the station, and performing the services of a minister of religion;-a station, it is to be recollected, which is vastly more difficult to be occupied under the christian dispensation, than that which fell to the lot of the sons of Levi under an Economy of outward rites and ceremonies.

In vindication of the practice of lay-preaching, it is not unfrequently said, that some laymen appear to be as competent to give religious instruction as the regular ministers of Christ. If it be so, which is a position we are not at present inclined to controvert, let them enter in at the door.-Let them be made ministers. But this, it is said, is not practicable in all cases; and shall the church lose the labours of these men, which appear to be signally blessed, merely because they are not officially invested? We answer, most certainly. It is better to lose the labours of these men in the instance supposed, and the labours of thousands besides, if their number should happen to be so great, than to go in opposition to the express declarations of heaven.No man taketh this honour unto himself but he that is called of God as was Aaron;-and as long as this passage remains an unsuspected portion of Divine Inspiration, we should conceive ourselves bound to maintain that lay-preaching is unlawful, even should an angel from heaven come down to us and declare the reverse.

Of laymen, who think they may preach, we ask for information,-who hath required this at your hand? It is our unwavering conviction-and

we are conscientious in the expression of it—that no real blessing can eventually result from unauthorized and unscriptural practices. Present appearances of good are often extremely deceptive, and measures, which at one time may seem to be powerful in advancing the cause of truth, in the end may be productive of consequences the most disastrous. But may not laymen exhort one another? Yes, and daily; for it is the commandment of God. But mutual exhortation among christians, in the common intercourse of life, or in small circles for social worship, which is the duty that is principally enjoined in the passage referred to,-is a concern that is totally distinct from attempting to communicate religious instruction with an air of ministerial authority, and in formal and set discourses,—which is the encroachment on ministerial prerogative that we would condemn. Even the allowed privilege of addressing small religious assemblages, which we would have extended to laymen, is one that more properly belongs to the officers of the church, who are associated with the pastor in the spiritual oversight of the same, and should always be exercised with great circumspection, and a due regard to those restraints which are imposed by the word of God. The occasions which shall justify the interference of other laymen, it is conceived, are rare, and if such interference be permitted, the circumstances should be strikingly peculiar.

It is sometimes asserted as an apology for laypreachers, that they do not take texts. To this, it is sufficient to reply-neither did the Apostles. And again, that they do not pronounce the Apostolic benediction. If they did, this, we conceive, would

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