New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1844-01-24

this organization? The Confession Of Faith
chapter XIV section III, replies -" Unto ms
catholic visible Church CHRIST HATH GIVEN tne
ministry, oraces and ordinances of God, ior tl'e
gathering and perccting of the saints, IN TINS NE
to the end Of the world and doth by MS own
presence and spirit, according 10 his pron'lso
make them effectual thereunto' NOW ~ M,
pave the ministry" Just as he gave the oiacles
and ordinances and his presence ana spun. arc
equally promised TO all. 1t Is styled tue hiiiiS'
try of Cod Just as the Scnpturs are s'yieu t'i'
..oracles of God" No man. no BODY OF men, ilo"
ever learned or pous, could lndlte othef oraces VI
sanction other ordinances, and by parity Oh rea-
son they could not appoint any other ministry
And he has left the ministry IN no painful dooot
as to its continuance; for when ne gave II us
Grand commission he said, Lo am with you
always even unto the end OF the world he
ministry must be derived from Christ or 1t IS no
valid ministry at all. AS he hath conveyed hls
word 10 us through long succession of ages,
and preserved it in periods Of ignorance, con-
fusion and darkness, SO hath ne conveyed
to us the ministry and so preserved 1t; and
the same line of proof and argument which
traces back the F" oracles" and ordinances" to
the Apostles days. traces back the ministry
and proves that it is divinely appointed.
But here we touch upon the question OF sue
eession-which, however, mean to reserve tor
future and fuller consideration. The present ar
gument is preliminary for if you can set ASIDE
the necessity of ministry dlrinety dPPolnteo'
in the sense that | have attached to the "oros'
the question of succession is an idle one.
I next quote the Confession Of Faith, chaPler
rrv; section a. "There be only two sacra-
ments ordained by Christ our Lord IN the Cos
pel, that is to say, baptism and the supper OF the
Lord: neither of which may be dispensed by any
but by minister of the word, lawfully ordained
In SUPPORT of the condition that this minister must
be zqavfully ordained, the Episte to the Hebrews,
chap " verse 4, is quoted And no man taketh
this honor unto himself, but he that is called of
God as was Aaron Now, that the Confession OF
Faith is right in thus considering the divine call
of Aaron as an external CALL is manifest IN that,
according to Scripture, it was not simple spirit
uaI preparation for the sacred office, nor was 1t
designation by the choice of the congregation OF
Israel but, having been selected by God, he was
visibly set apart and consecrated by divine au-
thority. And moreover, the Confession OF Faith
might greatly have strengthened It's position, had
its compllers thought 1t neediul, by referring 10
the following verse; so also Christ glorlhed
not himself to be made an high priest but he
that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to-day
have | begotten thee If the blessed Saviour,
prepared as he was by the indwelllng of all the
fullncss of Gods spirit for his great work of the
ministry, did not enter upon it without an exter-
nal ordination can we doubt OF It's necessity to
the complete organization of his Church to all fu
ture time
But power greater even than that of admins
terng the sscremcnts is conceded to the ministry
by the Confession of Faith, Chapter XXX, sec
tons | and 2 "Thc Lord Jesus, King and
head of his Church, hath therein appointed 60
vernment in the hand of Church offices, distinct
from the civil magistrate. To these officers the
KEYS Of the kingdom of heaven are committed,
| by virtue whereof they have power respectively
to retain and remit sins, to shut that kingdom
against the impenitent both by the word and GEN.
sures; and to open it unto pentent sinners by the
ministry of the Gospel, and by absolution from
censure as occasion shall require"
Here are powers which no man certainly would
take unto himself, and which it would be reck-
less contempt for the prerogatives Of God forany
congregation Of men to pretend to confer. Nor
is the Presbyterian Church guilty Of such awful
presumption, for it is expressly acknowledged
that these powers are derived from the Lord Jesus,
and they are exercised in virtue of authority
from him-and not by any delegated authority
from the Church.
go forward now with the Larger Catechism.
Question SO is as follows: &c What are the spc-
cial privileges of the visible Church. ?"
AnSlcer-" The visible Church hath the prlvi-
lege of being under Gods special care and gov
eminent; OF being protected and preserved IN all
ages, notwithstanding the opposition of all cue
miles, and of enjoying the communion of saints
the ordinary means of salvation, and offers Of
grace by Christ to all members of it, IN THE MIN
l. rUE (,pSpEI ;, S-r The ,Sblr ('bnrch
beng thus under Gods spccia! care, and being
oectcd and preserved IN all ages, can we
suppose that he would suffer the I" ministry
which he originally gave to 1t through Christ, TO
be lost any more than the "oraclcS and ordl-
nances which he also gave? Again, the com
mualun of saints, the ordinary means of saliva
ton, and offers of grace by Christ, are enjoyed in
the Ministry of the Gospel. If these blessings
are to be enjoyed in the ministry of the Gospel,
this Is the channel through which they are con-
veyed; and the channel must be as permanent
and continuous the stream which is TO flow
through it, and therefore both channel and stream
are of divine appointment.
In the Larger Catechism, question l5S is as
follows: BY whom is the word of God to be
preached ~ AnSrer.-' The word of God is
to be preached by such are sufficiently gifted,
and also duly approved and called to that Office y
The inward gift alone, then, is not sufficient nor
the approval of this gift by the Church, but there
must be call to the Office. Of what nature is
this call The text referred TO answers the CUES
ton -" And man taketh this honor unto
himself, but he that is called of God as was
Aaron" Observe that this same text was cited
in the Confession Of Faith, in explanation of
what lawful ordination is. To be duly approved
and called then, is to be lawfully ordained, and
to be lawfully ordained is to be set apart outwardy
by those possessing authority to this end by d.
vine appointment.