and this power has been handed down from man to man, through successive ages.

Well has it been observed, and by onea not anxious to exalt the priesthood, "that it was not enough to authorize Paul to preach the word, that he had been struck blind by the immediate and supernatural power of God; that the general designs of Providence had been expressly communicated to him by a voice from Heaven; that Ananias had been sent to him as to a chosen vessel unto God to bear his name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel to deliver him from his blindness. This chosen vessel must still be consecrated by men; men must fast and pray, and lay their hands upon him before he could be a legitimate preacher of the gospel; that person must be commissioned by the instrumentality of men, who could say of himself, that he was an apostle, not of men, neither by man."

"No man taketh this honor to himself except he be called of God," and no man can bestow upon another that which he cannot take to himself. The power to institute sacraments as means of grace and salvation can rest in Christ alone; and in him alone must also rest the power of sending those who can minister them. That authority then of serving in Christ's Church can only be had by an uninterrupted succession of persons empowered by Christ to qualify

a Dr. Hey, B. iv. Article 23.

b See Note.

others. If the succession be once broken, no earthly power can restore that which no earthly power could give. Is it by the congregation or by the civil magistrate that the attempt could be made? As well might they attempt to enlarge the means of grace and add a new sacrament to convey spiritual advantages, as commission a person to officiate in the name of Christ. To change the sacraments ordained by Christ will be readily acknowledged a monstrous act of presumption; yet a moment's consideration will show that the obligation to preserve the ministry, rests upon the same foundation. We do not feel justified in changing the sacraments, because they were instituted by the Lord himself, because without his authority they are mere empty rites, no longer means of grace; the ministers of Christ are equally positive ordinances, and can only be distinguished from the laity by a separation made under the authority of Christ; they act as ambassadors from Christ, and can only act authoritatively, as they have a commission from their King. The sacraments which they offer will be the seals of the covenant only, when the Almighty, by their instrumentality, condescends to bind himself to fallen man; the engagement they make will be ratified only when they proffer the boon in the name and by the command of the Most High. Thus our Church declares in her Articles, the sacraments to be effectual, because of Christ's institution and promise, inasmuch as the officiating Priests" do not the same in their own name, but in Christ's, and do minister by his commission and au

thority." This commission and authority can no longer be derived from a direct appointment, made by Christ himself, it must therefore be derived through those who have been commissioned to communicate it. If it be once admitted that this succession has been interrupted, if it be once admitted that the mode of transmitting this succession can be changed, can be placed in other hands than those in which the Apostles placed it, the Church is no longer built upon the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; the Church no longer enjoys the promise that the gates of hell shall never prevail against it; the Church has lost its divine character, possesses no constitution, no power but what man can give it, retains for its ministers and its sacraments, officers, and ordinances merely human.

But it will be said, it has been said, if such the importance, such the necessity of this uninterrupted succession, why is it not mentioned in Scripture? The simple answer is, we cannot tell. We are sure that it was not distinctly revealed, for wise reasons; but if by the question it be meant to doubt the truth of the doctrine, because it is not expressly mentioned in holy writ, the answer is not difficult. A similar analogy to that I already used, will show the weakness of the objection. Does not the same difficulty occur with respect to the sacraments? Where in Scripture is the command that they should be continued through every age of the Church; where are a See Note.

they enjoined as the ordinary means of grace? But on the Sacraments, and on the Apostolic succession, the holy Scriptures do give sufficient information; the instructions given in what our Lord said to his Apostles, and in what they did in consequence of his directions, enabled the primitive Church perfectly to understand the plan laid down, and exactly to fol-. low the forms which the Apostles had begun. The words of my text were held by a leader of the Independents as alone sufficient to prohibit the undertaking of any office without a divine call; and what an array of passages can we bring forward as strong: "how shall they preach," asks the Apostle,

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except they be sent ?" "Are all Apostles, are all Prophets, are all teachers?" In short, every passage in the New Testament which alludes to the existence of Christ's ministers, speaks of them either as directly and miraculously appointed to the office in the Church, or as deriving their commission from those who were authorized to send labourers into the vineyard of the Lord. And that we give no novel interpretation to these passages is evident from the whole stream of ecclesiastical history. From the ordination of the seven Deacons, down to the period of the Reformation, no man was permitted to assume the office of the Priesthood without the sanction of divine authority, conveyed by prayer and imposition of handsthe essential parts of a valid ordination. To these

a See Note.

Owen, Gospel Church, ch. 4.

directions of Scripture, to what the Almighty has been pleased to reveal, we are bound to pay implicit attention; for how can any effort of human reason determine the manner in which he wills that he should be approached? how ascertain what particular means will secure an attendant blessing? It is then a matter of prudence not less than of duty for us to "turn neither to the right hand nor to the left," in a case where nothing depends upon our own exertions, every thing upon the free grace of the Most High.

But those who entertain latitudinarian opinions with respect to the Christian ministry are ever ready to bring forward against us arguments derived from the twenty-third article of our Church, which merely declares, that "it is not lawful for any man to take upon him the office of ministering the Sacraments in the congregation before he be lawfully called and sent to execute the same, and those we ought to judge lawfully called and sent which be chosen and called to the work by men who have public authority given unto them in the congregation to call and send ministers into the Lord's vineyard." These words are certainly very guarded, and do not appear to make any positive decision beyond an exclusion of all erroneous notions about the rights of self-appointed teachers. But it is to be remembered that there were many circumstances which led the compilers of our articles

a See Note.