since, where the Apostolic rule has been observed, through the highest order of Ministers in the Church, till, at last, it is held by the present Bishops throughout the world, who have been regularly ordained to their high and holy office". Q. How many orders of Ministers are there in the Christian Church? A. From its first establishment to the present day, there have been three distinct orders in the Priesthood. b No one who believes that a commission derived from Christ, is necessary to authorize a man to act as an ambassador for the Redeemer, will suppose that a mere layman could give such commission. It is necessary that he who gives it, have himself received authority to transmit it to others. But for 1500 years, neither layman, deacon, nor presbyter, ever received such authority, nor pretended to such a thing. It is therefore obvious, that no layman, deacon, or presbyter, could take upon himself the power of granting a power which he had never received any authority to grant. Those who argue that, in the Apostolic age, Presbyters had a right to ordain, appear to forget that, even on the supposition that their assertion is true, this right could not be laid down and taken up again at pleaThe commission must descend in an unbroken line. But the line, in the case of Presbyters, is beyond all dispute wanting for fifteen centuries; during this long period, no Presbyter in the Church was commissioned to ordain another to succeed him in his sacred office. In this respect, the Presbyter stood on the same grounds as the layman. Were Bishops to neglect, for a single generation, to transmit the commission of Christ, there is not a power on earth which could restore the authority. When Presbyters began to ordain, they assumed a power with which they were not entrusted: laymen were in the same situation. sure. Q. What have these been named? A. During our Lord's stay on earth, He was the great High-Priest. He alone had an inherent right to act in this capacity. He alone could offer sacrifices for sin, and make reconciliation for man. He alone had power to grant a commission. All others, whether before or since our Lord's incarnation, are merely His humble representatives, acting in His name, and by His authority. This our great High-Priest, had under Him twelve Apostles, and seventy Disciples. During the Apostles' days, the highest order consisted of the Apostles; the second order, of those called Bishops, Elders, or Presbyters; and the third, of those styled Deacons. From the Apostles' time to the present, the highest order has been named Bishops, Archbishops, Patriarchs; the second order has been denominated Presbyters, Priests, or Elders; and the third has always been named Deacons. But it is not by names, but by offices, that the orders of the Christian Priesthood are best distinguished. A name is nothing; it is the authority and office which distinguish the order. Even before the Christian era, the Church of God was distinguished by a threefold order of Priesthood; and so as a shadow exhibited exactly what we now see in substance. By Divine appointment, Aaron had under him Priests and Levites; and when Christ came, there was made a change of the Priesthood: it was no longer confined to the house of Aaron, nor to the tribe of Levi. Christ, the true High-Priest, even the Lion of the tribe of Judah, became the Priest of the Most High God, and admitted the Gentile as well as the Jew into the courts of His Church. But the type which had been shewn on the mount, was not to be without its antitype. God is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; and so is His holy Church. The highest order, holds Christ's commission to act in His stead, and to employ others, and give them authority to act as its assistants. The second order has the cure of a congregation of Christians committed to his charge by his Bishop, who is in a peculiar manner the Pastor of the Diocese-even as the twelve Apostles were appointed by our blessed Lord, who is the great Bishop of souls-to assist him in his work and labour of love, and report unto him their success. The third order is ordained to assist the Bishop, or the Priest, in the discharge of various sacred offices, and to attend to the necessities of the sick and the poor.-Thus the three offices have ever been distinct. To the highest order, belongs not only the office of preaching and baptizing, authoritatively pronouncing God's pardon to faithful penitents, administering the Holy Communion, and attending to the necessities of the sick; but also the peculiar office of the ordaining of Christian Ministers, the confirming of baptized persons, and the jurisdiction or government of the Church. To the second order, as Messengers, Watchmen, and Stewards of the Lord, it belongs "to teach and to premonish, to feed and provide for, the Lord's family; to seek for Christ's sheep that are dispersed abroad, and for His children who are in the midst of this naughty world, that they may be saved through Christ for everf;" or, more particularly, it belongs to them to proclaim to the penitent the forgiveness of sins, through our Lord Jesus Christ; to dispense the Word of God, and His holy Sacraments; and to minister, in all things, as faithful servants of God in the congregations severally committed to their charge; and, when present, they are commonly requested to lay on hands along with the Bishop, in the ordaining of Presbyters h. The office of the third order, is distinct from both these. "It appertaineth to the office of a Deacon, in the 'Church where he shall be appointed to serve, to assist the Priest in Divine Service, and specially when he ministereth in the Holy Communion, and to help c Tit. i. 5. e 1 Tim. i. 3; 2 Tim. iv. 2. d Acts viii. 14; xix. 6. f Vide Ordinal. h 1 Tim. iv. 14. him in the distribution thereof; and to read Holy Scriptures and Homilies in the Church; and to instruct the youth in the Catechism; in the absence of the Priest to baptize infants; and to preach, if he be admitted thereto by the Bishop: and, furthermore, it is his office, where provision is so made, to search for the sick, poor, and impotent people of the parish, and to intimate their estates, names, and places where they dwell, unto the Curate, that by his exhortation, they may be relieved with the alms. of the parishioners, or others." This order of things continued without the least interruption till the middle of the sixteenth century, when many, as I have already mentioned, took upon themselves a commission to act. But in the Episcopal Church, the commission of Christ continued to be transmitted with religious exactness, through the hands of the highest order of the Priesthood. The language of the Church, in regard to this important matter, is very remarkable. "It is evident unto all men, diligently reading Holy Scripture and ancient authors, that, from the Apostles' time, there have been these orders of Ministers in Christ's ChurchBishops, Priests, and Deacons. Which offices were evermore had in such reverend estimation, that no man might presume to execute any of them, except i Vide Ordinal. |