tism, to admit all those into it who should believe in him; and to instruct them in its nature and their duty :* to work all miracles in proof of their divine mission; and to be witnesses to the world of what their Lord and Master had said and done,† particularly of his resurrection, the great miracle on which his divine mission and authority depend, and by which he hath given to the world assurance of life and immortality.

See, now, whether all this be not fairly included in the commission and directions which Christ gave to his apostles. 'Go ye, and teacht all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.'s To this commission, in St. Mark's gospel, this promise is subjoined: These signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and, if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.' And that they were to be witnesses of what Christ did and taught, particularly of his resurrection, is evident from Christ's discourse to his apostles, a little before his ascension: Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and, that repentance and remission of sins should be preached, in his name, among all nations and ye are witnesses of these things.'¶

It would be easy to prove from the conduct of the apostles, that they understood their Lord in the sense which I have given of his directions. For though their national prejudices did, for a time, prevent their extending the knowledge of salvation through Christ, to any but Jews, yet these prejudices were at length overcome; and they did go among all nations and preach the gospel, declaring remission of sins and eternal life, through Christ, to all

The Greek word signifies also, to be a disciple or hearer-to be admitted as a scholar to be taught; and that is undoubtedly its meaning in this place.

Chap. xvi. 17, 18.

$ Matt. xxvii. 19, 20. 47, 48. See also Acts i. 8. ii. 32. v. 32.

Luke xxiv. 46,

who would hear them; they did bear witness to the truth and reality of his resurrection; they did admit those who believed into his church by baptism, and instruct them in all the duties of the christian life, teaching them to ob-. serve all things whatsoever Christ had commanded.' And whenever they were questioned upon the matter, they always pleaded his authority and direction, as the ground and reason of their conduct. It ought also to be remarked, that as Christ declared he came not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him ;'* so the apostles declared, that they followed not their own will and inventions, but the directions of him who sent them, and the inspirations of the Holy Ghost, whom he had given to be with them. 6 We,' saith St. Paul, preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus ;'t and he affirms that his preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power.

米

2. Christ was anointed of the Father and sent to be his Priest-to make atonement for sin by once offering himself' a sacrifice for it, and to intercede for his people. And the apostles were sent to be Christ's priests to his church, to offer the commemorative sacrifice of the atonement which he had made; and to intercede with him, and, in his name, and through his merit, with the Father, for his people. This they did every time they celebrated the holy communion; which probably was, every time they assembled for christian worship; the phrase for which, in the new testament, seems to be, Coming, or meeting together to break bread. That at this celebration, prayers and intercessions were made for the whole church. of Christ, by the first christians, must be known to every person moderately acquainted with christian antiquities. Probably, St. Paul refers to this practice, when he directs the church of Ephesus to make supplications for all saints; and enjoins it on Timothy, that supplications, and prayers, and intercessions, and giving of thanks, be

Acts ii. 42, 46. xx. 7.

1 Corinthians ii. 4,

¶ Eph. vi. 18.

made for all men for kings, and for all that are in authority.'*

The style of High-Priest, which is so frequently applied to Christ by St. Paul, implies a lower order of priests in his church, who are subject to him, and act by his authority and direction. The term is undoubtedly taken from the gradation of the priesthood in the family of Aaron. And as the whole law, and all the institutions of Moses, were typical of Christ and his church, the Aaronical priesthood must have been typical of the christian. And the relative terms of priest and high-priest are just as compatible, in the christian, as they were in the Jewish church, and the latter as necessarily implies the former. Besides ;

Christ speaks of an altar in his church, and cautions us, if we bring our gift to the altar, not to offer it while we are at variance with our brother, but first to go and be reconciled to him.† And St. Paul says, We,' christians, have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat, which serve the tabernacle.' Now, where there is an altar, there must be a sacrifice, and a priest to offer it. And as Christ's apostles were, at its institution, authorised by him to offer the christian sacrifice of bread and wine, no doubt can remain of their being the priests of the christian church, in the most proper sense.

3. Christ was sent by the Father to be the king, head, or governor of his church; consequently he had authori ty to institute its government, appoint its officers, and settle its economy. That Christ did delegate a similar power to his apostles is evident, not only from his declaration to them, 'As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you,' but from his promise to them, Ye shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel's And also from his commanding them to admit men into his

* 1 Timothy ii. 1, 2. The Greek word for giving of thanks, is that by which the primitive christians called the holy communion, viz. eucharist; and the verb is used by St. Luke to express our Redeemer's consecrating the bread, at its institution. But I here drop this subject, as it is fully considered in the discourse on the eucharist; as is also the subject of the next paragraph, viz. the christian altar. Heb. xiii. 10. § Matt. xix. 28. Luke xxii. 30.

Matt. v. 23, 24.

*

church by baptism, which is in itself an instance of gov. ernment. The power of loosing and binding which Christ first gave to St. Peter, in consequence of his noble and ready declaration, Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God; and afterward to all his aposles,† though it may be thought to relate more particularly to the priesthood, yet evidently contains in it the powers of government; authority to admit members into the church, to censure the disorderly, and to cast out refractory delinquents from it.

If we attend to the conduct of the apostles, after our Lord's ascension, and the descent of the Holy Ghost on them, we shall find that they did exercise all the powers of government in those churches which they planted, till age or distance rendered their occasional visits impracticable; and then, successors were by them appointed to take the charge and oversight of them. Thus Timothy at Ephesus, and Titus in Crete, were, by St. Paul, appointed apostles of those churches, when he could not longer superintend them. Ancient tradition and history inform us, that the same thing was done in many other places; so that immediately after the death of the first apostles, all the considerable churches had apostolic men, under the style of bishops, presiding in them; and, for some centuries after, the christian bishops proved their succession from the apostles, and their unity with the catholic church, by tracing their episcopacy up to them, or to some church founded by them. But, till the apostles resigned their charge, they exercised the full powers of government; they admitted men into the church, either personally, or by the ministry of the subordinate clergy, who acted by authority from them; they directed the conduct of both clergy and laiety, and for obstinacy in disorderly conduct, turned them out to the world.‡

Thus it appears from the commission and declarations of Christ, and from the conduct of the apostles, that they were delegated by him, to be chief governors in his church. The position, therefore, that the apostles were Chap. xviii. 18.

Matt. xvi. 16, 19.

+ Acts xx. 28. 1 Cor. v. 5.

sent by Christ to be his prophets, priests, and governors, in his church, is fully established: As his Father sent him, even so sent be them. We will now consider,

II. The meaning of Christ's breathing on his apostles, and saying to them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.'

From what was said of the appointment of Christ to the offices he sustained, namely, that it was by the descent and abode of the Holy Ghost on him, and the voice which came from heaven, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased;' it will appear that his breathing on his apostles, and saying, Receive ye the Holy Ghost,' was intended to express and convey that presence of the Holy Spirit, which was necessary to the appointment they received, when he said to them, As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.' It was their unction, or anointing to their office. He received his appointment, by unction of the Holy Ghost, immediately from the Almighty Father They received their appointment, by unction of the Holy Ghost, immediately from him, and mediately, through him, from the Father. But it was the unction of office only.

A commission, or appointment to an office, and ability to execute it effectually, and credentials to prove its authenticity, are different things, and, in the case before us, required different gifts and qualifications. God is the God of order, and confers his gifts in such order and degree, as he sees most proper to produce the effect proposWhen Christ breathed on his apostles, they received that anointing of the Holy Ghost which was necessary to constitute them witnesses of Christ to the world, preachers of his gospel, priests and governors of his church. But to enable them to execute this commission, or fulfil this appointment effectually, something further was ne

ed.

cessary.

They were to be witnesses for Christ, of all that he had done and taught from the beginning.* But how could they be effectual witnesses of those things, unless they had a perfect remembrance of them all? Human memory is

* Luke xxiv. 48. John xy. 27. Acts i. 8,