Sermon declaring is in the Church of Christ. how necessary the Order of Priests CHAP. VIII. HOOKER, III. XI. 18. We hold that God's clergy are a state which hath been and will be (as long as there is a Church upon earth) necessary by the plain Word of God Himself, a state, whereunto the rest of God's people must be subject as touching things that appertain to their soul's health. Q. 7. You spoke of special persons, lawfully called and sent; who are they? A. Those "who are tried, examined, and known to have such qualities as are requisite for their office, and are also, by public prayer and imposition of hands, approved and appointed thereto by lawful authority.' 1 Pref. to ORDINAL of the Church of England. XXXIX ARTICLES, Art. xxiii. CANONS of 1603, xxxiii. xxxiv. xxxv. Q. 8. You mean, therefore, that no man may undertake of himself the duties of the Christian Ministry? 1 Jer. xxiii. 21. Heb. v. 4. Num. iii. 10. xviii. 3-6. A. I do. "No one taketh this honour unto him- Isa. xlix. 1. self, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." Gal. i. 15. Aaron and his sons were appointed by God to Ex. xxviii. 1. wait on the Priest's office; and "the stranger that came nigh" was to be put to death. "A man can John x. 1. receive nothing unless it be given him from above." "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." The sons of Sceva who Acts xix. 14. assumed Apostolic functions were overcome by the Evil Spirit. And an awful warning against any such assumption is contained in the history of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, who were destroyed by God for invading the priestly office, and of Num. xvi. 32 King Uzziah, who was smitten with leprosy for 2 Chron. so doing. Nay, more, Uzzah was smitten by God 2 Sam. vi. 6. for touching the ark, (which, not being a Levite, he io." -34. xviii. 3. xxvi. 16. 19. 1 Chron. xiii. PART I. Lev. viii. 1 36. could not lawfully do,) though he put forth his hand with a good intention to stay it. 1 S. CYPRIAN. de Unit. Eccl. p. 111. Hi sunt qui se præpositos sine ullâ ordinationis lege constituunt, qui, nemine Episcoporum dante, Episcopi sibi nomen assumunt. S. CYPRIAN. Ep. 69, p. 182. Quomodo Pastor ille vocari potest qui, manente vero Pastore et in Ecclesiâ Dei ordinatione succedaneâ præsidente, nemini succedens, et a se ipso incipiens, alienus sit et Dominicæ pacis ac divinæ unitatis inimicus? Bp. BARROW, on the Necessity of a Lawful Call to the Ministry. Remains, p. 613. See also chap. xi. Q. 9. But if Aaron was called by God, why may not a person who believes that he has a Divine call take upon him this function? A. Aaron was not only called by God, but, at Eccl. xlv. 16. God's express command, was visibly ordained by Moses. And St. Paul asks, "How shall they Preach except they be sent ?"1 Rom. x. 15. 1 XXXIX ARTICLES, Art. xxiii. HOOKER, III. XI. 18. A solemn admittance to charge in the Church is of such necessity, that without it there can be no Church Polity. LESLIE, Discourse on the Necessity of an outward Commission. Q. 10. Does the necessity of a due visible mission Is. xlvii. 16. appear from the New Testament? lxi. 1. 17. Matt. iii. 16, A. Yes. Even Christ glorified not Himself, to Luke iv. 18. be made an High Priest. He did not enter on Matt. iv. 19. His office till He was visibly and audibly commissioned to do so. And in the same way the Twelve and the Seventy were chosen, called, and sent by Him.1 21. x. 40. Xv. 24. John i. 32. Acts i. 24. 1 Tim. ii. 7. 1 S. AMBROS. Epist. xliv. Q. 11. Does this further appear from the titles of Christ's Ministers? A. Yes. An Apostle (Aлóστoλos) does not VIII. John X. 8. 2 Tim. i. 11. signify one who comes, but one who is sent; so CHAP. Ministers are called in Scripture Kpuxes, namely,, Heralds, and Пpéoßes, Ambassadors; that is, they are persons who do not present themselves on their v. 43. own authority, but who come with a commission 2 Pet. ii. 5. publicly given them by others;1 and their office 2 Cor. v. 20. is named in the New Testament a diaxovía, necroupyía, Jer. xxiii. 21. and oixovouía, that is, a ministry, service, and stew- Rom. xii. 7. ardship, not an independent function. 32. 1 Cor. iii. 5. xii. 5. xvi. 15. 2 Cor. v. 18. 1 Tim. i. 12. 1 Cor. ix. 17. 'S. AUG. iv. 1375. Dixit Christus, "Omnes qui venerunt Col. iv. 17. fures sunt et latrones;" id est qui venerunt suâ sponte, a Me 2 Tim. iv. 5. non sunt missi, qui venerunt sine Me, in quibus Ego non fui. Phil. ii. 17. S. AUG. in S. Joann. xlv. Non præter Christum sed cum Eph. iii. 2. Illo Prophetæ venerunt. Venturus Christus illos præcones 2 Cor. ix. 12. misit.-c. Faust. xvi. 12. THEOPHYLACT in 1. c. λῃσταὶὅσοι ἦλθον, οὐχ S. Joann. p. 645. κλεπταὶ καὶ ὅσοι ἀπεστάλησαν, οἱ μὲν γὰρ προφῆται ἀποσταλέντες παρεγένοντο, οἱ δὲ ψευδοπροφήται ολοι καὶ οἱ ῥηθέντες στασιασταί, μηδενὸς ἀποστείλαντος ἦλθον, ἐπὶ διαστροφῃ τῶν ἀπατωμένων. S. HIERON. Prooem. in S. Matth. In venientibus est præsumptio temeritatis, in missis est obsequium servitutis. Q. 12. Since, then, a man cannot take this office upon himself, but must receive it visibly from some lawful authority, what is that lawful authority? XX. 21. 20. Acts xiii. 3. v. 22. A. First, in the beginning, that of Christ Him- John xvii. 18. self; and then after Him, that of those whom Matt. xxviii. Christ sent, saying unto them, "As My Father 1 Pet. i. 1. hath sent Me, even so send I you:" "and lo, I am xiv. 23. with you alway, even to the end of the world," 1 Tim. iv. 14. and who, therefore, being thus sent, were commis- 2 Tim. ii. 2. sioned to send others, in a never-ending succession, as Christ, Who sent them, was sent of God. Christ was ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ ̓Απόστολος; the Twelve were Christ's Apostles; and every Minister, lawfully See above ch. ordained, is an 'Axooroos of the Apostles.1 1 S. CLEMENS, Ep. ad Cor. cap. xlii. ¿§exéμpon : Xpio vii. ans. 8. PART Matt. xxviii. 19. 23. xiv. 27. τὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἀπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, οἳ κατὰ χώρας καὶ πόλεις κηρύσσοντες καθέστανον τὰς ἀπαρχὰς αὐτῶν εἰς Ἐπισκόπους καὶ Διακόνους. HOOKER, V. LXXVII. 1. In that they are Christ's Ambassadors, who should give them authority, but He Whose most inward affairs they manage? What angel of heaven could have said to man, as our Lord did unto Peter, "Feed My sheep; preach,-baptize;-do this in remembrance of Me;-whose sins ye retain, they are retained; and their offences in heaven pardoned, whose faults ye shall on earth forgive?" Q. 13. Together with a lawful call and visible mission, what else is necessary to constitute a person duly and fully a Minister of Christ? A. He must also receive the ordaining grace of John xx. 21. the Holy Spirit of God, investing him with the Matt. x. 13. power of dispensing God's word and sacraments; of remitting and retaining sins; of praying for God's people, and of blessing them in His Name; and this the Holy Spirit1 confers by the hands of the successors of the Apostles, in the Office of Ordination." 1 Bp. BILSON, Perpetual Government of Christ's Church, p. 160. To create Ministers by imposing hands, is to give them not only power and leave to preach the Word and dispense the Sacraments, but also the Grace of the Holy Ghost, to make them able to execute both parts of their function. This can none give but they that first received the same. HOOKER, V. LXXVII. 8. When we take ordination, we also receive the presence of the Holy Ghost. Whether we preach, pray, communicate, condemn, give absolution, or whatsoever we do, as disposers of God's mysteries, our words, judgments, acts, and deeds, are not ours, but the Holy Ghost's. Bp. PEARSON on the Creed, Art. viii. It is the office of the Holy Spirit to sanctify and set apart persons for the duty of the Ministry, ordaining them to intercede between God and His People, to send up prayers to God for them, to bless them in the Name of God, to teach the doctrine of the Gospel, to administer the Sacraments instituted by Christ, Eph. iv. 12. to perform all things necessary "for the perfecting of the ON THE THREE ORDERS OF MINISTERS, ETC. 95 saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the CHAP. body of Christ." 2 On the Subject of this Chapter, see further below, Part ii. Chapter vi. IX. CHAPTER IX. ON THE THREE ORDERS OF MINISTERS IN THE Q. 1. ARE all ordained Ministers of equal rank and dignity? A. No. Q. 2. How many degrees are there of them? A. There are Three Orders in the Christian Church, as there were three in the Church of the Jews. Q. 3. What are they called? A. The orders of BISHOPS, PRIESTS, and DEACONS,1 corresponding to those of High Priests, Priests and Levites. 1 S. IGNAT. ad Trall. iii. χωρὶς τούτων (Επισκόπου, Πρεσ βυτέρων καὶ Διακόνων) Εκκλησία οὐ καλεῖται. OPTATUS de Schismate Donatist. ii. 14. Certa membra sua habet Ecclesia, Episcopos, Presbyteros, Diaconos, Ministros, et turbam fidelium. OPTATUS, ii. 24. Cum sint (sicut supra dixi) quatuor genera capitum in Ecclesiâ Episcoporum, Presbyterorum, Diaconorum, et Fidelium, nec uni parcere voluistis, evertis animas hominum. Agnoscite vos animas evertisse. Invenistis Diaconos, Presbyteros, Episcopos: fecistis Laicos. Agnoscite vos animas evertisse. See above, chap. viii. ans. 6, notes. BINGHAM II. xix. 15. 2 S. HIERON. Ep. lxxxv. ad. Evag. Ut sciamus traditiones Apostolicas sumptas de vetere Testamento, quod Aaron et Filii ejus atque Levitæ in Templo fuerunt, hoc sibi Episcopi, et Presbyteri, et Diaconi, vindicent in Ecclesiâ. |