"Deacons, the officers appointed to ma66 nage the secular concerns of the Church, "more especially to take care of the poor. "On this point they are at issue with Episcopalians, who contend for three "orders of Clergy, as of apostolic insti"tution, under the threefold distinction "of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons." There is, however, a "sect, or at least a part of it," which "thinks, that there are "three orders of ministers in the Church 66 1 Conder, p. 176. "These three orders are in fact only "three gradations of rank: the same office, with the "exception of certain prerogatives arbitrarily attached "to each, being common to all the three. That distinc❝tion which we observe broadly laid down in Scripture. "between the province of the Pastor and that of the "Deacon on the ground of office, is, upon the Epis"copalian hypothesis, made to consist entirely in sub"ordination.... The hierarchy, however, instead of "consisting of only three orders, is found to be com 66 posed of Archbishops, Bishops, Deans, Prebendaries, "Archdeacons, Presbyters, and Deacons; the latter "two classes being distributed into Rectors, Vicars, and "Curates, so that the question of the Apostolic origin ❝ of three orders, except as respects their supposed sub"ordination of rank, becomes wholly irrelevant." Ibid. Bicheno, p. 18. n. Winter, p. 42. Flower, p. 18. "of Christ; Deacons, who may baptize; "Elders, who may, beside baptizing, do "what pertains to the Sacrament; and Messengers, who have a supervision of 66 Churches, though those Churches do not "devolve on them exclusively the ordi"nation of the other functionaries. In "fact, they are Episcopalians or Lutherans "in Church discipline, without adopting "the name of Bishops, and without 66 66 claiming for the Messengers the exclusive right of ordination"." It is however the exclusive right of ordination, even more than the right of ruling and judging in the Church of Christ, which distinguishes a true apostolical episcopacy from the Superintendents of the Lutherans, or the Messengers of the Antipædobaptists. We read that the great Apostle and High Priest of our profession called both the Twelve, the Seventy°, and the Apostle of the Gentiles"; that the Apostles laid Luke m Life of a Dissenting Minister, p. 110. Comp. p. 108. n Matt. x. 1. Mark iii. 14. vi. 7. Luke ix. 1, 2. P Acts xxii. 21. xxvi. 17. 1 Tim. i. 12. x. 1. hands upon the seven Deacons1; that the Apostle Paul, in conjunction with Barnabas, “ordained elders in every Church'; and that he also ordained Timothy, “with "the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." We read also, that Timothy and Titus, not distinguished in scriptural language, but by primitive writers called Apostles', were appointed and in 66 9 Acts vi. 6. r Acts xiv. 23. s 1 Tim. iv. 14. "The Apostles however sustained an office and a "character altogether peculiar, and, in the nature of "things, untransferable" ... and "distinguished from "that of all succeeding ministers by another circum"stance of equal importance. They acted not only "under a commission, received immediately from the "hands of Christ; but with that certain knowledge of “his will, which they derived from inspiration ... There " is however an inferior sense in which we may extend the designation of an Apostle to every faithful teacher of the "Gospel, whom we may consider as the Sent of Christ; " but the word, in this acceptation, is significant not of "either rank or peculiarity of office, but simply of the "ministerial character. Among the ministers of Christ, "as such, there is no possible room for gradation of rank, "because the ministerial office itself admits of no such " modification: it consists of preaching the Gospel; "and if the Gospel is faithfully and intelligibly promul R structed to ordain the future elders of Ephesus and Crete". The office of ordination, as far as scriptural authority extends, was exclusively appropriated to Apostles, and none but Apostles presumed to exercise it. The delegation of Paul and Barnabas from the Church of Antioch* cannot be confounded with an original conveyance of ministerial power. 66 8. "When by death or removal the pas gated, the office is fulfilled ... The ministry is of ne❝cessity one in kind; it must, therefore, as regards the "discharge of it by any individual, be either that of "the spirit of truth,' or of the spirit of error; it is "either efficient as the preaching of Christ, or it is "wholly inefficient and unauthorized. Official designa❝tion, ecclesiastical dignity, can make no difference in "the character of the ministry exercised by any man in "the Church of Christ. The humblest self-constituted "teacher, who is possessed of the appropriate credentials "of the ministerial character, in the purity of his doc"trines, the success of his labours, and the unblemished " tenor of his life, is invested with an authority to which "no circumstantial additaments of human appointment 66 are requisite to impart validity: it requires no sanction "from man, for with man it does not originate." Conder, p. 162. 163. 165. 167. 2 Tim. ii. 2. Titus i. 5. x Acts xiii. 3. "toral office in any of" their "Churches "becomes vacant, the choice of a suc66 cessor rests with those who have sustained "the loss"." "No man has a right to impose these pastors and teachers; they "are to be freely chosen by the people, who "are the sole judges of their qualifications, ❝ and of their abilities for their own particu"lar edification"." "Every member of the Church, at any rate, but usually, I believe, "each particular subscriber, (however small a sum he contributes,) has confessedly an equal right to vote in choosing or dis 66 66 66 missing the pastor. It is, I apprehend, "a principle commonly admitted, and of "which we boast as an inestimable privilege, that no minister can be imposed 66 66 upon us, nor yet taken from us, without a majority of voices so determine." Thus does it appear, that "the government of Congregational Churches is strictly po 66 y Winter, p. 99. z Bicheno, p. 23. a "The right "of every one to choose his own minister:" "this "natural right of every Christian to choose his spi"ritual instructor." Conder, p. 235. 238. p. 80. b Fielding, |