eminence, either in perfection or variety, in those gifts, which were common to them and other spiritual men; that they possessed the sole power of conferring upon others these supernatural gifts; and that, whilst they had a perfect knowledge of the ancient scriptures and of the history and instructions of our LORD, they alone were authorized to receive and communicate all the additional revelations of the Divine will. In consequence of this preeminence, they were the living standard of truth to their own age, and, by their writings, are an infallible one to all succeeding ages. They received a special Commission from our LORD for this very purpose. They were his accredited witnesses. By this standard, all those, who might pretend to be Apostles or original instructors, as well as others, were to be tried. The decisions or commands of the Apostles bound the consciences of all spiritual men, as much as the other members of the Church. "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual," says St. Paul, "let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the LORD,"* The authority of the Apostles was strictly the authority of the Holy Spirit. Like those "holy men of God," who were inspired in ancient time, they spake as they were moved by the HOLY GHOST." Or, in the emphatical language of our Saviour, "It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you." This was an authority paramount to all other in the Church. It was superior not only *1 Cor. xiv. 37. 2 Pet. i. 21. to that of the ordinary ministry, but to that of all the other extraordinary ministers of the age.* The Apostles were likewise invested with a corresponding power of enforcing their authority in the Church. As their authority was the same as that of the HOLY GHOST, they were enabled, as occasion required, to inflict miraculous punishments. Thus, Ananias and Sapphira fell down dead at the feet of the Apostle Peter, and Elymas the sorcerer was smitten with blindness by the word of St. Paul. And this power, without any reasonable doubt, was the "rod," which they held over the churches, to chastise, in cases of necessity, those who were contumacious. With this chastisement the Apostle Paul threatened the factious leaders among the Corinthians. "I will come to you shortly," he declared, "if the LORD will, and will know, not the specch of them which are puffed up, but the power.” By this he explicitly informed them, that he would try the pretensions of those deceitful and aspiring leaders; and that they need not imagine that they could impose upon him by the showy display of Gre cian eloquence. He would give them an opportu *We do not mean that any other spiritual man, se far as he spake by the HOLY GHOST and could verify the fact, was not entitled to credit and obedience. But as the HOLY GHOST cannot contradict himself, and as the Apostles were the authorized witnesses to receive in due time, and to communicate the whole will of CHRIST, no man, however high his pretensions, who in any manner contradicted them, was entitled to any credi or respect. nity to try their power to resist his power as an Apostle of CHRIST. And as he introduced and established the gospel among them, by the exercise of his miraculous power, so, as he clearly intimates to them, he possessed the same power to defend it by punishing the refractory. "For," he adds, "the kingdom of GOD is not in word but in power. What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love and in the spirit of meekness?" Do you wish to try the power with which I am invested for the punishment of obstinate offenders? or, do you choose to avert it by seasonable repentance?* And with direct reference to this threatening, he tells them, in his second epistle, "I told you before, and foretell you as if I were present the second time, and being absent, now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that if I come again I will not spare, since ye seek a proof of CHRIST speaking in me." If any are not satisfied with "the signs of an Apostle," which I have already shown you, but continue contentious and disobedient, it will be necessary that I give them "a proof of CHRIST speaking in me" by inflicting upon them miraculous punishment. For, let me assure them, that we "have in readiness to revenge all disobedience.” "Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness" in punishing the offenders, " according to the power which the LORD hath given me," the ultimate design of which is "to edification" of the Church," and not to destruction" of the members by any wanton exercise of it.t #1 Cor. iv. 19-21. †2 Cor. xiii, 2, 3, 10, & Xn Or From this view of the subject, it is obviously impossible, that the Apostles should have any successors to their superior authority. Their preeminence consisted in the authority of the HOLY GHOST, agreeable to the special Commission of CHRIST;* attested by peculiar miraculous powers, and enforc ed, as occasion required, by miraculous punishments. What claim has the most exalted prelate in the Christian world to this preeninence? In consequence of their preeminence, the Apostles' instructions are the oracles of GOD; their doctrines constitute the canon of evangelical faith; their precepts are the commandments of the LORD; their institu tions are ordinances in the Church. Their authority binds to obedience the consciences of all men in all ages. Their superior authority was, therefore, totally distinct from their transmissible character, as members or representatives of the permanent ministry. The diocesan bishop can claim no superiority from the preeminence of the Apostles. They possessed superior authority, because they spake by the HOLY GHOST. But to substantiate his claim, the diocesan bishop must prove, that the Apostles possessed superior authority, at least over the laity and inferior clergy, because they did NOT speak by the HOLY GHOST. *John xx 21-23. SERMON IV. MATT. XXviii. 18, 19, 20. "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things what soever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you. alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." YOU are requested, my brethren, to bear in mind, that the deacon has no part in the functions of the sacred office; that neither the classification nor prerogatives of extraordinary ministers or spiritual men have any relation to the permanent ministry; and that the superior authority of the Apostles, be ing the same as that of the HOLY GHOST, Could not possibly be transmitted to any successors. Neither of these properly forms any part of the particular subject of our inquiries. Our business is with the ordinary or permanent ministry; and we have no concern with the ministers of the Apostolic age, but as members or representatives of that ministry. We shall now proceed to some auxiliary argu ments in confirmation of the conclusion from the general Commission, that the ministers of the gospel are all of one order and vested with equal powers. It appears, 1. That ministers of one order were by the Apos tles set over the churches. |