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inseparable from the power before mentioned, and can consequently be held and exercised no otherwise than by commission from God, and in perpetual dependance upon the control and co-operation of his Holy Spirit.

3. That the ministerial authority so held and exercised in the church is not of one kind only, but that there are by divine appointment "differences of administrations" under "the same Lord."

We have thus traced the position occupied by the trustees of that blessed trust, of which fellowship with Christ, membership of the church, and communion with the Holy Spirit constitute the substance, and Scripture the document; and it follows as a matter of course from the propositions above stated, that their trust, to be executed faithfully, must be executed in strict conformity with the provisions of the trust-document, or in other words, that the authority of the church as regards her internal government by her ministers, as well as her authority in regard to the world to whom she is a witness of God's truth, is in every sense ministerial to her trust.

It will be observed, that what has been said, is applicable only to those matters of church-government which are essentially connected with, and

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necessarily arise out of, the administration of the word and sacraments, in regard to which the written word is the sole rule, and the divine commission the sole warrant, by which the ministers of the church are called upon and entitled to act. There are other matters, in regard to which the document of our faith allows the exercise of a discretion to every individual, and by consequence to the whole body of the church; some of these matters requiring regulation for the sake of uniformity, have also in the natural course of things become the subject of ministerial authority, exercised, as the case may be, by individual ministers in such matters as concern their own flocks in particular, or by the body of the ministry in any branch of the church under the superintendence of their pastors the bishops, in such matters as concern all the congregations in common. Into these matters, as no way connected with the essentials of the church constitution, it is unnecessary here to institute a minute inquiry. The fact, that in them the ministry for the most part take the lead, is the obvious result of the authority with which on other and weightier points they are invested; and the more faithfully they execute their strictly divine commission, the more readily will the members of the church entrust them with such of their interests, as are in a measure left to their

own charge. No difficulty can arise out of matters of this kind, as long as the ministry are careful to bear in mind, and to impress on the minds of the people, the broad distinction between the authority derived from divine commission, which is inseparable from their office, and the authority conceded to them by the people themselves in regard to subordinate and discretionary matters, which may either be connected with, or separated from, the ministerial office, without affecting the essential constitution of the church.

THE CHURCH'S RESPONSIBILITY.

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CHAPTER X.

The Responsibility of the Church for her Trust perpetual throughout her generations.

66 BEHOLD, ALL SOULS ARE MINE; AS THE SOUL OF THE FATHER, SO ALSO THE SOUL OF THE SON IS MINE; THE SOUL THAT SINNETH, IT SHALL DIE THE SON SHALL NOT BEAR THE INIQUITY OF THE FATHER, NEITHER SHALL THE FATHER BEAR THE INIQUITY OF THE SON; THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL BE UPON HIM, AND THE WICKEDNESS OF THE WICKED SHALL BE UPON HIM."-Ezek. xviii. 4, 20.

THERE is no irresponsible power but the sovereign power of God, because there is no being except God, whose nature affords, as does the infinite perfection of Godhead, an intrinsic guarantee for the right exercise of power. Every other power but that of God, is derived directly or indirectly from Him; and to Him directly or indirectly all are responsible for the exercise of such power as has been entrusted to them. Furthermore, the degree of responsibility is proportionate to the measure of power placed in trust; "unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required:"" and in like manner, the

" Luke xii. 48.

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more directly the power is derived from God, who is the primary source whence all power flows, the more direct is the weight of the responsibility, the more searching the account to be rendered to Him who is the final Judge of all; "if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward, how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord ;" and again, "if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven." This great principle of divine government, which not less forcibly recommends itself to our conscience, than it is plainly set forth in Scripture, it is most important for us to bear in mind at that part of our inquiry which we are now approaching. That Christianity is a trust in the hands of the church, documentary as regards Scripture, substantial as regards the fellowship of the divine nature through grace and the communion of the Holy Spirit, has been demonstrated; and it has been further shown, that for the exercise of that trust an authority, necessarily ministerial to the Author of that trust, and to his written word, which is its standing document, an authority inseparable from the pur

Heb. ii. 2, 3.

» Heb. xii. 25.

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