tisms were administered to the disciples of Moses, including, till after the crucifixion, those of John and Christ. He (John) did not, however, adopt a rite entirely new, but applied one that already existed, and was in high repute among the Jews. From the fact that children were at that time the subjects of the Mosaic baptism.The promise of the divine favor to those who hear the gospel is equally extensive with that which was made under the law.—It [i. Mr. Sawyer's pedobaptist church] was organized within the Jewish church, and continued to be a branch of it, &c. Judaism and Christianity, therefore, are two successive dispensations of the same religion."— Critical Dissertation, pp. 1, 2, 7, 13, 14.

e.

The Mid

From the above it is obvious that before the covenant of Moses the Jews had no church. Melchisedee was a gentile priest at Salem, Gen. xiv. 18: Heb. vii. 1. Pharaoh had pagan priests, Gen. xlvii. 22. ianites had priests, Ex. ii. 16.; but the Jews had no priests, no sanctuary, no oracles, no Sabbath, nor any of the above named essentials of a church, till organized at Sinai. That there were believers scattered

among the Jews, is true. And so there were among other nations at the same time, and long before the birth or being of Abraham or the Jews. But what we say is, that God never organized a body of people which he called a church, until the Jews left Egypt. Now remove from the Park-street Church, 1. all her called; 2. her baptism, subjects and modes; 3. her passover, or Lord's supper; 4. her church covenant and articles of faith; 5. her oracles, or Bible; 6. her sanctuary; 7. her priest and elders; 8. her Sabbath; 9. her discipline; 10. her singing; 11. her doctrines and practices, taught by the written word of God; 12. the church; and then how much of a church would Mr. Sawyer have left? Answer. Just as much as the Jews had before the Mosaic covenant.

CHAPTER III.

THE CHURCH.

SECTION I.

The Church of God.

THE word church is not found in the Old Testament, and but once in the New Testament with reference to the Old, Acts vii. 38, "This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness. I follow Beza Heinsius and the Prussian translators in rendering exxora, assembly, as our translators do, (Acts 19,) because I am persuaded it refers not in the general to their being incorporated into one church, in the appropriate sense of that word, but to their being assembled round the mountain on the solemn day when the law was given. Ex. xix. 17."-Doddridge's Expos. Note.

The word church is very indefinite without an adjective. Hence we say the brick church, the white church, the Baptist church, the church of England, &c. So with the exxλnoi, concio, &c. of other languages. In the Bible it means 1. simply a convocation of people, of any character, for any purpose, good or bad. Acts vii. 38: xix. 32, 39, 41. 2. When pointed out by the connection of its history, or by adjectives to that effect, it means a nnmber of Christ's disciples, jointly believing and practicing his revealed will, as at Acts xx. 28, "Feed the Church of God." 1 Cor. i. 2: x. 32: xi. 22: xv. 9: Gal. i. 13: 1 Tim. iii. 5 Mat. xvi. 18: Acts ii. 47: Eph. iii. 10: v. 24. 3. In some few instances it refers to all of the redeemed, as at Eph. v. 25-33: Col. i. 18-24: but those theological terms, church militant, church triumphant, mystical church, &c., are not found in the Bible, and only tend to confuse and lead the mind astray. The words kingdom, kingdom of God, king

dom of heaven, &c., have different meanings. Sometimes they refer to heaven, as at Mat. xiii. 43: Mark x. 14: 1 Cor. xv. 50: and sometimes they mean the church of God, as at Dan. ii. 44: vii. 22: Mat. iii. 2: Luke xii. 32; and at other times they refer to Christ and his disciples on earth, without any reference to their organization as a church, and are thus often used with reference to them before the church of God had its visible organization. Mat. xi. 12: xii. 28:

xxiii. 13: Luke xi. 20: xvii. 21.

In further noticing the Church of God, I shall speak,

1. Of JESUS CHRIST, the Head, Priest and King. It is beyond the limits and design of this work to notice the supreme divinity and glorious attributes of our common Savior. I only call your attention to Jesus at this time, to correct one gross error which pedobaptists have published; i̇. e. that he was a Jewish priest, and was therefore baptized at the age of 30, to induct him into that office; affirming that this was the age at which the Jewish priests were set apart to their work. But the Scriptures declare that Jesus Christ was not a Jewish priest, Heb. vii. 11, 12, but a priest after the order of Melchisedec, Heb. v. 6-10. Only three of the sacred pen men speak of Melchisedec, viz: Moses, David and Paul. At Gen. xiv. 18, when Abraham returned from the battle with Chedorlaomer, "Melchisedec, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine; and he was the priest of the Most High God." Here we have the time when he lived : in Abraham's day, 1911 before Christ; and his place of residence and temporal office, king of Salem; his spiritual office, priest of the Most High God.

Thus we find that God had an established priesthood 3700 years since, and at least 420 years before the Aaronic priesthood began. 1490 years before Christ, God established the Jewish priesthood. Aaron

was high priest, and his sons subordinates, Lev. viii. From this time there was a succession of priests and high priests among the Jews. There was also another order of officers called Levites, whose dutyit was to serve as burden bearers in the tabernacle of the congregation. Num. i. 50-54. They were to begin an apprenticeship at the age of 25 years, Num. viii. 24, and be fully inducted at the age of 30, Num. iv. 23, and continue in office to the age of 50, and no longer. Num. iv. 23: viii. 25. This law belonged exclusively to the Levites; for Aaron was made a priest at the age 83, Ex. vii. 7, and officiated till he died at the age of 123. Num. xxxiii. 39.

Thus we could show you from Scripture that Eleazer, Phineas, and all the priests successively, did not begin at the age of 30, or leave at 50. Hence, those who say that Jesus was baptized at the age of 30 to consecrate him to a Jewish office, make him a mere Levite-a servant and burden-bearer of the congregation. While the Aaronic priesthood was in its glory, their royal prophet, David, said, Psa. cx. 4, "The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchisedec." This is the second place where Melchisedec is spoken of in the Bible, and evidently refers to what Christ should be in his priesthood. The third and last who speaks of Melchisedec is Paul, at Hebrews v. 6-10: vi. 20: vii. 1, 2, 10, 11, 15, 17, 21. Paul's argument in these three chapters is based upon the fact that Jesus Christ was not a Jewish priest, but of an order which God established nearly 400 years before Moses or Aaron had birth or being. It is true that our Savior was a Jew, John iv. 22, and attended to all the ceremonies of the Mosaic religion until they were abrogated. But when he entered upon his public ministry he left the Mosaic religion, and was ordained a priest after the order of Melchisedec's gentile priest

hood, Heb. vii. 11-17; and if he had wished to be a Jewish priest, their law forbade it, for "he sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning the priesthood." Heb. vii. 14. When he officiated he never clothed himself with their priestly robes. He never officiated in their temple as a priest. He never claimed or received the emoluments of a priest. The Jews would not receive his new kind of religion, but "rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized" with the same baptism which Christ received. Luke vii. 30. The whole Jewish priesthood opposed him, and he opposed them, and frankly and constantly told them if they did not forsake their religion and embrace his, they would all go to hell. Mat. xxiii. 13-33: Luke xi. 44-49: John viii. 21. Christ was introduced into the priestly office without any of the Levitical ceremonies, but xata duvar (by virtue of) an endless life; and the oath of God. Heb. vii. 16-21. When he had instituted his own religion, which was adapted to the wants of both Jews and Gentiles, he abolished the Jewish priesthood, Jer. xxxi. 32: Zech. xi. 10-14: 2 Cor. iii. 13: Eph. ii. 15, and practiced exclusively his own, which was after the order of Melchisedec, which was as independent of the Mosaic when Christ officiated, as it was in the days of Melchisedec, 400 years before Moses; and this Jesus Christ, who is God's high priest, was not ordained to offer Jewish sacrifices, but to offer himself as the great substance of which the Mosaic sacrifices were but shadows, and has established a new and more excellent ministry, by a new covenant with (not the old Jewish, but) the church of God, Heb. viii. 2-13, which is the body of which he is head. Eph. i. 20--23: iv. 15: Col. i. 18.

2. When was the Church of God set up? The Scriptures must determine this.

We shall