The Press., 1890-12-04

Issued Every fhurslay Evening.
 THE RELATION OF THE PASTOR TO HIS
 PEOPLE.
 SERMON rKEAoHED BY REV. o. H. RICKETTS,,
 ksoMERs, CONN.,, NOV. 16TH, 1890.
 'But thou shalt appoint the Levtes over the taber and over ali things that belong to it, they sha bear the tabernacles and a the vessels thereof and they shall minister unto it, aad shall encamp round about the tabernacle. ."-Nsmbers list, 50.
 It does not require an extended search in the Divine Word to find theme such as I wish to develop in this discourse. Every book in the Bible has something important to say in regard to the relation ship existing, or rather subsisting, be- tween the clergy and the laity. It is very pleasant to go back into the dim regions of human history and find that this very ten. der relationship between pastor and peo- pie has outlived the changes of thirty five centuries. The chain of divinely organ ized and supported priesthood reaches back over period of 3,5O0 years, without a broken or missing link. The work in volyed in the ministry, as to it's outward form, has changed with the ages, and yet the fundamental idea of the spiritual guide or leader has been the same from the days of Aaron till now. Throughout this pe- riod, in which empires have risen and fall en, and even the granite face of the earth has visibly changed, this Levitical or priestly idea has continued with scarcely an interruption. As the tabernacle or church is divine in its origin, so also is the order of priesthood. In the early pa. triarchial days the father, who was the judge and law giver in his own family, was also commissioned to exercise priestly functions. Aud yet the priesthood, as a regular established order, was not insti- tuted until after the Exodus. There is no record of consecrated order of ministry until it was made hereditary in the family of Aaron, and during..the first withdrawal of Moses to the solitudes of Sinai, Aaron belonged to the tribe of Levi, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, and from the Levites the priesthood was composed. The selec- tion of Aaron for this important office was not an idle choice. He was an orator of distinguished ability, and swayed Israel with great power. As Moses was chosen for his pre-eminent military talents, SO al- so was Aaron chosen for his ministerial gifts. The priesthood, thus instituted, continued in unbroken succession until the Babylonial captivity, during which it was suspended, but, after the peoples deliver ance from Belshazzar's yoke, it was imme- diately resumed. Continuing to the times of Christ it meets with it's first important change. Christ exercised in his own per on and work the functions of the priest, but called together his apostles to do the general work of the christian ministry. As Christ assumed the three-fold offices of prophet, priest and king ln the historical work of redemption, these offices are nc longer demanded of man, notwithstanding the Romish idea of priesthood. Ever since our Lord reconstructed the clerical system it has been the minister's duty to present Him, who, through the atone ment, has become our great High Priest once and forever. This idea of the minis. try was strictly adhered to during the apostolic age, and those immediately fof lowing. But when the church became worldly minded, and began to thirst fo, worldly power, the old Jewish idea of the priesthood was restored, and has been con tinued by the Roman Catholic church down to the present day. It has also come down to us in it's pure New Testamen conception through Luther and the worl of the German Reformation. Thus tho idea of being set apart for clerical dutie, has existed in uninterrupted succession since the days of Moses.
 Let us now consider some of the origina duties that devolved on the priesthood The leading duty was that of offering sac | rifces. As the sacrifices were various tn, work involved became very arduous Tn, priests were the natural custodians of tho tabernacle and it's sacred utensils. Thei hands alone could move them from plac, to place. Their hands alone could toucl the ark of the covenant. Their presenc, alone was permitted in the Holy of Holies When the Jewish religion was merged in to the Christian faith it lost its externa form of worship. As the Christian religion is purely spiritual, the functions of it ministry are spiritual likewise. In tn Roman Catholic priesthood, which is GU rious mixture of the Jewish priest and tn Christian minister, the clergy not only ad minister the spiritual functions of the ol flee, but the temporal as well. They con trol the finances, repair the buildings, d. all the buying and selling, which are. no legitimate part of the christian minis ter's work. Why because the kingdor of our Lord is not secular in it's nature and because the minister in his officia character is the ambassador of that king dom, and the representative of those prir ciples on the earth. How long did ou Lord labor with his disciples, trying t drill into their dull comprehension Una this kingdom was not of this world ?" was not until the crucifixion and resurret tion had emphasized this point that the
 clearly saw the distinction between tn ltemporal and the eternal. Suppose tn IUnited States minister should represent g the court of St. James principles that wer
 foreign to the government of Washington
 how quickly he would be recalled frol his post. The Christian minister, lik'
 wise, is to represent only the principles ( the kingdom of which he is the accredite
 minister-and those principles are th spiritual.
 l We are coming now to the real theme
 this sermon j: The Relation of the Paste
 to his People. What is it?
 N Ss the clear and honest aoresentotso lof Christ Christ who is the chief corne
 stone" and the absolute head of the kin,
 dom of which he is the minister. He
 to be in perfect sympathy with the aim
 that government which he is to so perm
 ate material things that they shall be ac
 ually saturated with holiness. He mu
 preach Christ in, all the manifoldness
 his character. He must present Him adaptive to every conceivable want ar : condition of the human family. He mu : present Him as the only hope of the livir l. kA- IL AZ