THE CHURCH.

"Built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone."-Eph. ii. 20.

TRANSLATED

NOVEMBER, 1854.

THE DOMESTIC PRIESTHOOD.*

FROM THE GERMAN OF THE LATE DR. FRIEDR. STRAUSS, COURT CHAPLAIN TO THE LATE KING OF PRUSSIA. "There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee," &c.—John ii. 1—11.

The evangelist here teaches us how the Lord, by a miracle of his grace, has sanctified domestic life. In treating here, therefore, of the domestic life of the christian, we would show in what respect it is a christian life. How it constitutes the DOMESTIC PRIESTHOOD, in its constitution, its form, and its operation, the narrative of the evangelist will aid us to unfold. The Lord bless this attempt which we begin in his name!

It may be supposed that to many the expression, "Domestic Priesthood," conveys no clear idea; it is therefore my duty to explain it, and thereby, first, to unfold the CONSTITUTION of the DOMESTIC PRIESTHOOD.

When the priesthood is in a christian household, it shows itself in the character of those who are invited to the celebration of its rites. Our Gospel tells us that at a marriage in Cana of Galilee the mother of Jesus was present. It is worthy of remark, that, except Jesus himself, Mary is the chief person, and not the bridegroom or bride, in the narrative of the evangelist. From whom may we learn the nature of the domestic priesthood better than from her? The wife is ever the true centre of the family, and the domestic life is seldom more or less than what she knows to make it. But here are the sayings of one who was the mother of the Saviour, of her whom the angel of the Lord saluted as the highlyfavoured, to whom he announced that the Lord was with her, and hailed as "Blessed above women!" The reverence due to this remarkable woman has, indeed, in some quarters, overstepped those bounds which the Word of God has drawn with so much precision; nor dare we pass undenounced the unscriptural error that teaches us to honour her as sinless, and as a mediator between Christ and us. Nevertheless, this is sure, that the Word of God declares her the first and most blessed of all her She is not unfrequently introduced in the evangelical history, and when we there meet her, usually in some domestic matter, we ever behold in her a peculiar dignity. In what does this consist? In the outward

sex.

This is the first of a series of similar translations, which we hope occasionally to present in "The Church." The way in which the translations from Dr. Thöluck, which will also be continued occasionally, have been appreciated, proves to us that these valuable translations will not be lost upon our readers.

VOL. VIII.

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glory of a king's daughter of the house of David? Alas, through the oppression of the nation, and through personal poverty, that glory has passed away! Or was hers the majesty of the priestly order which alone was illustrious in Israel now? Nor was it this. Her friend Elizabeth is the wife of a priest, and of the lineage of Aaron, but Mary is not. On the contrary, she everywhere reminds us of the saying of Peter, "Ye are a royal priesthood." The apostle there calls every christian, male or female, servant or master, child or adult, a royal priesthood, and marks by this expression the highest honour which is bestowed on man in the church of Christ. According to the doctrine of the New Testament, priests are not the ministers of the Word, the teachers of the congregation, or those clothed with a church office. That was the case only under the old covenant, in the worship of God at Jerusalem; and the sons of Aaron are called priests, because in that age, which was instructed by types, they were a type of the invisible church of Christ, wherein the members conjointly are priests to God. In the patriarchal age it was otherwise, and its original priesthood instructs us still more clearly on the true constitution of the priesthood. The father of the family, the first-born who conducted the sacrifice, and called on the name of the Lord in the domestic circle, was the priest; and as we behold him standing yonder in the midst of it, so is every christian in the church of Christ, which is also a family, a priest of the Lord.

But in what does the universal priesthood of all the domestics consist? John wrote to the seven churches in Asia, "Jesus Christ has made us priests to God, even his Father." He is the eternal High Priest, who constitutes all who hang on him priests to God. Luther justly remarks, that the priesthood depends on the birth, and as in the Old Testament on the natural birth, so in the New Testament on the spiritual. Whoever is born again, whoever believes on the name of the Son of God, whoever is rightly consecrated through faith in him, he is a priest of the New Testament. For by his one-offering has Jesus Christ for ever consecrated those who are sanctified, and by his strength they can bring their spiritual offerings which God accepts. When they offer the fruit of their lips, giving thanks to his name,-present their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, and forget not to do good, and to communicate,with such sacrifices God is well pleased. One such priestess was Mary when she believed in Jesus; such priests were his disciples; and such priests also shall we be when we become members of the family; and we shall be so, when that takes place inwardly in our house which took place outwardly in the house of Cana. It is said, that "Jesus and his disciples were also called to the marriage." Wherever he is present in a house, wherever he is called to its festivities, wherever he sanctifies through his presence the doing and the suffering of the domestics, there is a "Domestic Priesthood." Family conduct is the surest sign of the spiritual priesthood. He who is not a priest in his own house, is so nowhere else; and a faith that proclaims itself ever so loud in social, civil, or ecclesiastical life, but gives no proof of its presence at home, is only a dead faith. The deeper we look into the nature of the priesthood, the clearer every time it appears that the domestic life is its peculiar province. Or, if we consider them conjointly, the very expression, Domestic Priesthood," implies that that only is christian housekeeping where the members of the family have become priests to God; and they are so, when by faith in Jesus Christ and his all-perfect atonement, they 'know themselves to be ready to present their whole lives as a sacrifice to him. This is the Constitution of the "Domestic Priesthood."

There was no wine at the marriage in Cana. We are not informed of

the circumstances by which this want had arisen. But it is evident that there was found there that which exists in every house-trouble and want. Our old people were wont to say, that wedded life was woful life, nor is it going too far to call home the stage of human suffering. Were we to call upon you who are here to recount to us your family troubles, beginning with the poor and lowly, and going on to the rich and great, what a host of troubles, straits, debts, sicknesses, and discomforts, would pass before us! But still, though home is the stage of human suffering, it may also be considered the stage of human glory. Even among unregenerate men, sometimes a love and a sympathy, a selfyielding and self-sacrificing, a patience and forbearance, are displayed in domestic life as in no other. And all this is but a shadow of the spiritual glory which we see in the priests of God. What we mean is illustrated in the mother of Jesus. "She saith unto Him, They have no wine." By this she distinguishes herself as a priestess of God; that she not only takes a portion of the trouble, but hastens with it to Jesus, for by both of these must every faithful member of the family show himself to be such. The trouble of one affects the others; and where one member suffers, there all the members suffer. But none of the members know any other hope in their trouble but in the Lord. Put yourself in the place of her of whom we now speak, dear hearers, for in exhorting you to confidence in the grace of God, we know of no better argument than to invite you to follow us in spirit, either to where alone a solitary domestic pours out his bleeding heart before the Lord, or to where the father of a family, with his own domestics around him, bows the knee before the Lord, and cries for mercy. Hitherto we have only spoken of outward trouble. In the inward, this glory appears still more clearly. Outward trouble is by far the lightest; the heaviest, and in our time, a time, alas! of unhappy marriages, the most abundant, is that which arises from domestic sins. The Lord must have marked something in Mary which was not altogether right, for he answered her, "Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." Though these words sound harsher in our translation than in the original,-though He whose love and obedience were perfect spoke them in the mildest and kindest man. ner, and though nothing is found in them that contradicts this, yet it cannot be denied that a reproof lies in them. Even the mother of Jesus, blessed above women, the pattern of domestic priestesses, shall appear to us, at least in one instance, as worthy of reprehension. But though in fault, still she discovers her priesthood in the manner she takes the reproof. She is silent. She forgets that she is the human mother of Him who reproves her, because in Him she honours his higher dignity as the Son of God. That alone stands before her soul, therefore his word can humble her, and she is silent. In no house does the chastisement of the Spirit of God fail. Sometimes he speaks through our conscience, sometimes by his written Word, and sometimes by the admonitions of other domestics. A man with priestly feeling receives them without resistance; he will not withstand what is just; he does not go about to make himself appear pure and faultless; he owns his transgression; feels the necessity of owning it; and he does this because he trusts the mind of the Lord more than his own. This confidence, which in outward trouble leads him to hope in the salvation of Jesus' grace, humbles him before the majesty of Jesus in the inward trouble of sin.

But wherever this first sign of the priesthood is found, the second never fails. The mother of Jesus saith to the servants, "Whatsoever he saith unto you, do," Such advice is daily followed in christian families. All the information, encouragement, and exhortation given by the members

of the family to one another run in this direction. Nor does it stand in word only, but flows over their silent arrangements, in their powerful example, and in their prevailing intercessions. The consequence is, that the obedience required by the Lord is always yielded. In a priestly house every one fulfils his duty with joy, and does what he ought, because it is the will of Christ. The father provides for and rules the house. The mother puts it in order and brings up the children. The servants are industrious and faithful. The children follow the example of their parents. Each shows a cordial kindness, friendship, humility, sweetness of temper, and forbearance, as a chosen child of God. They bear one another's burdens. Each forgives the faults of each; and no one knows a greater joy than the happiness of the other. Whatsoever is true, honourable, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, or praiseworthy, they think on these things. Every one rises in the morning cheerful and serene, and, ere he assembles with the rest round the family altar, prays in stillness for himself and them. And as the father looks on all his own, preserved through the night, and strengthened by God's goodness, his heart ascends in gratitude, and his morning salutation lights up his eyes sooner than his lips can express it. Now, they all go to work, and though separated for a while, their hearts are still nigh, and their loving thoughts of care for each other's welfare rise up in prayer to their common Lord. Again they meet at noon, and while they surround the family table, not only the body, but the soul, is refreshed by united praise to the Lord. Once more they separate for a few hours to pursue their callings, and see with increasing joy how, in a life such as this, every one is blessed and pros pered. At length the sweet hour of release from labour unites them. Whatever subject, human or divine, pleasing or plaintive, engages their conversation, it is done in love, as before God. And when the father of the family, lifting his hands over his beloved household, pours out the evening blessing, he knows that they are blessed of Him in whose name he pronounces the Amen.

Hitherto, dear hearers, we have pourtrayed only the external form of the "Domestic Priesthood." But is not this picture a correct representation of its hallowed working? Indeed, we feel it difficult to repress our admiration of its operation; and we rejoice that our text invites us, in unfolding its results, to unburden our hearts. Oh, that we could express, in human language, the heavenly grace!

Jesus commands the six water-pots, which, according to the Jewish custom of purification, stood in the house at Cana, to be filled with water to the brim. He then bids the servants draw, and bear it to the master of the feast, who, when he had tasted this wine, which had been water, could not express, in language strong enough, his astonishment at its excellence. Jesus had brought relief. By a miracle of his aid, he had discovered his glory; and we must not overlook the circumstance, that this was the first miracle that Jesus wrought, and thereby conferred a peculiar glory on domestic life. He would have us by this observe that the HOUSE is the spot where the Lord, by the wonders of his aid, every now and then displays his glory in a wider sense. We call upon you, dear hearers, now to bear witness to the truth of this by your own experience, on you, ye mothers! that ye may tell us how you stood at your children's sick-bed, and your prayers were often heard ere you had brought them to a close; or on you, ye fathers! how you have come home weary and worn-out with care and toil, and watched through a part of the night in supplication and sighs, while your family, devoid of care, were fast asleep, and then oft in the morning assistance appeared ;-or on you, ye children! ye early-made orphans, how ye afterwards, in many a well

remembered hour of blessing, were forced to exclaim, "Truly, the Father's benison builds up the children's house!" Oh, if ye could speak, ye miserable abodes of the poor among the people! If a voice were given you, ye walls of the nursery and sick-chamber! If ye could tell what ye have beheld of divine support, ye chambers of prayer and toil! we should always be hearing anew how the water is turned into wine. Here is a type which clearly and comprehensively represents the glory of Jesus in the deliverances he often works on earth. Water is that pure earthly element, out of which all earthly things were formed when the Spirit of God moved on the face of the deep; and wine, in the church of Christ, in the cup of blessing, is the type of the highest heavenly good. And in a peculiar way does it not daily happen that earthly trouble produces spiritual joy; worldly pain, heavenly peace; and out of human frowardness comes eternal love?

When the Lord had manifested his glory at the marriage in Cana, his disciples believed on him. Wherever our heavenly High Priest appears, there the priesthood must spread abroad from the heart of one domestic to that of another. He fills the hearts of the priests with the joy of his salvation, and this joy shall serve to replenish his people with his gifts. He who believeth on him, out of him shall flow, as himself hath said, rivers of living water. No one can live by faith without being willing to spread abroad the life of faith; and no one is a priest without bearing witness of the High Priest to his brethren. As when the jailor at Philippi yields himself to baptism, and all his family follow him forthwith; as when Cornelius invites the apostle, and his domestics receive the Holy Spirit along with him; as when the Lord opens the heart of Lydia, and her whole house become believers in the Lord; the same disposition to preach Christ to their own, and the same result that such family-preaching is far more blessed than any other, is daily seen in the "Domestic Priesthood." We shall first speak of those who form the centres of the domestic circle. The Apostle Paul asks the believing wife, "What knowest thou, oh, wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband?" And to the believing husband, "What knowest thou, oh, man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?" Let those speak who often stand at the death-bed of the married, and inform us whether this apostolic word is not fulfilling every day. They will tell you that even still in many instances, one takes leave of the other with the declaration, Thou, my husband, thou, my wife, wert the instrument, in the hand of God, of my conversion and sanctification. Behold, how the dying one commends the survivor, at a throne of grace, to God's requital! or, how the survivor drops the tear of imperishable gratitude on the cold hand of the dying!

We would mention another domestic relation, that of master and servant. Indeed, an earnest word of reproof is loudly called for respecting this relation, which in the wealthier houses of the modern day is sadly deteriorated, and the curse of which makes itself everywhere felt. But though in some houses the master first corrupts, and then annoys, the servant, who retaliates the annoyance on the master; yet it is not so in those families in which, as in the days of our pious forefathers, the servants shared the parental care of the master, and the master found filial fidelity in the servants. There, we hear the man servant or the maid, in after years, bless the house of their servitude, as the birth-place of their spiritual life.

But we turn, lastly, to that domestic tie, which more than both of these is appointed to enlarge the kingdom of God. Of Abraham, God said, "I know that he will command his children and his household after him, to observe the ways of the Lord." Out of the father's mouth, and from