byters, and taking cognizance of them.

1

*4 So

ordain I," says he, "in all the churches;" that is, all which he had planted (1 Cor, vii. 17, and 2 Cor. xi. 28), He sent for the presbyters of Ephesus to meet him at Miletus, and there delivered to them his episcopal charge (Acts, xx. 17). Was this the act of a temporary chairman, appointed by these Ephesian presbyters, like the Moderator of the General Assembly in Scotland ? At Corinth, too, where several evangelists and prophets were present, Paul being absent, excommunicates, absolves, and enacts laws (1 Cor. xiv. 29-37).

St. John, in the same manner, possessed the authority of writing to the seven churches that are in Asia (Rev. i. 4); St, Peter, to the strangers scattered through Pontus, Galatia, &c. How these facts will comport with the hypothesis of separate, independent churches, or with that of a temporary and elected moderator, I confess myself at a loss to discover,

The episcopal authority, thus exercised for some time by the Apostles, was at length, for the sake of perpetuating the Church, by them delegated to others. Titus was, beyond all question, a bishop, in the strictest modern sense of the word. He was more than a presbyter, exercising aets of discipline and censure over a single congregation. He was left in Crete by St. Paul, not chosen by the Cretan people, to govern the clergy of the

whole province; to ordain elders in every city; and to admonish and reject heretics (Tit. i. 5, and iii. 10)*. All antiquity concurs in calling him the first bishop of Crete ; των επι Κρητης εκκλησιων επισκοπήν ειλήχενα (Euseb. lib. iii. ch. 4). Now, if there were presbyters previously in Crete, and if they had the power of ordaining, there was no occasion for Timothy's being settled there; and if there were none, it was not in the co-imposition of hands by a presbytery, but in an individual, that the power of ordination was vested.

Timothy, as we learn from the first Epistle addressed to him, was, in like manner, set over the house of God in Ephesus, to ordain elders, to consecrate deacons, to charge preachers, to judge and censure offenders; and not to suffer others to despise his authority †. This authority was not derived by Timothy from any vote of the people, but from the imposition of St. Paul's hands (2 Tim. i. 6; 1 Tim. iv. 14). The ancient Fathers invariably call Timothy the bishop of Ephesus and twenty-seven bishops are numbered as his successors, down to the council of Chaleedon +.

Now this church of Ephesus, in all probability,

* To the Independent we would submit, that the expres sion," Set in order things," i. e. spiritual things, " in every city" (Tit. i. 5), įmplies jurisdiction over a variety of churches ; as also does the twy ɛxxλngion above.

† 1 Tim. i. 3, and v. 19; 2 Tim. ii. 2.

Potter, p. 143.

CA

comprehended more congregations than one. We deduce this inference from the circumstance above mentioned, of St. Paul's sending for the Ephesian elders to meet him at Miletus; which seems to indicate, that, in the former city, a nursery was reared for surrounding churches. At any rate, we are certain, that presbyters were there settled previous to Timothy's appointment; a superfluous appointment, if the presbyters there established had, in themselves, the power of ordaining (Acts, xx. 30, 31; 1 Cor. iv. 15, and xvi. 8, 9).

Again; St. Paul, in writing to the Philippians, joins Timothy with himself, as a person of the same order: Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints that are in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons" (Phil. i. 1). Here the three orders are distinctly mentioned: Paul and Timothy, of the first; the bishops, i. e. presbyters, of the second; and deacons, of the third. In the whole New Testament, indeed, no intimation occurs of any other kind of ordination *,

From the foregoing instances, therefore, it may be concluded, against the Presbyterians, that the superiority of one pastor over others is conformable to evangelical discipline; that it is conferred by ordination, not by election or assumption; that it is an indelible order; not a temporary or permanent degree. We may conclude, against the See Hooker's Preface..

Independents, that an exercise of jurisdiction over more churches than one, is agreeable to the practice of the primitive church; and against both, that the apostolical power of ordaining elders, and of governing churches, might be, and was communicated and that that same episcopal power, the power of ordaining, confirming, and governing, might be delegated by those on whom it was conferred (Tit. i. 5—7; 1 Tim. iii. 5).

V. On the Succession and Perpetuity of the Christian Ministry...

When our blessed Lord declared to his Apostles, that on them, as on a foundation, his church should be built, he added an assurance that the gates of hell should never prevail against it (Matt. xvi. 18), signifying that it should last for ever, This perpetuity was farther secured, by the promise of its Founder's continual protection and presence. He will be in the midst of its congregations, gathered together in his name (Matt. xviii. 20). He is with his disciples alway, even unto the end of the world (John, x. 28): they shall never perish; a promise addressed to the Apostles, the first bishops; but signifying that he would be with their successors in the episcopal office; and thus implying a power in them to set apart successors for its discharge. In conformity with this promise, as God the Father had first delivered the authority of the Christian ministry to the Son; so by him it was communicated to his Apostles: "As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you"

(John, xx. 21); and by inversion, he that re ceiveth you, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth Him that sent me (Matt. x. 40).

Here let it be observed, that the apostolic office was not personal and temporary. It was matter of succession, as evidently appears in the cases of Matthias and Barnabas of Matthias, whose election, or taking of the "bishopric" of Judas, was declared by St. Peter to be a necessary matter (Acts, i.); of Barnabas, who had been one of the Seventy, but was separated, together with St. Paul, for the work, by prayer and imposition of hands *; who is called an Apostle † ; and who performed apostolic works.

After the first descent from Christ, the ministerial authority was again transmitted by the Apostles, as they had received it, to those whom they intrusted with the government of the infant church; as, for example, to Timothy and Titus (1 Tim. iv. 14; explained by 2 Tim. i. 6; Tit. i. 6).

Now we further read, that Timothy, commissioned in this manner, by the imposition of St. Paul's hands, delivered the same authority, by the same laying on of hands, "to other faithful men" (2 Tim. ii. 2; 1 Tim. v. 22). To these (Ignatius, Polycarp, Clemens Romanus, and others, all bishops), and not to the presbyters at large, were committed in succession, not diocesan jurisdic*Acts, xiii. 2, 3. † Acts, xiv. 14. + Acts, xiv. 23; 1 Cor. ix. 4-6; 2 Cor. viii. 25; Phil. ii. 25.