dom in this world; together with the form of its constitution, and the orders of its ministry, in all the countries wherever it was planted. It would be unreasonable; indeed it would be lamentable; it would seem as if God had mocked us, contrary to the nature of his mercy, that he should publish a way of salvation, and leave it uncertain where it is to be found.

From what is said of it in the Gospel, it is impossible that the Church should be a society obscure and hard to be distinguished. Ye are the light of the world, said Christ to his disciples, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Light is sure to shew itself; and it comes in strait lines, which direct us to its source. A city placed upon a mountain is so elevated above other objects, that it cannot be difficult to find it; rather, it is impossible to miss it; it cannot be hid : and Christian people in all ages seem to have agreed, that it shall not be hid: for when we approach a city in any part of Christendom, the churches are generally first seen towering over all other buildings.

Christ has given us a precept, that under certain circumstances, we should tell our case to the Church: but unless it be known what and where the Church is, this cannot be done. The precept therefore supposes, that the Church must be known to us. The same must follow from the injunction of St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews.-Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account. Chap. xiii. 17. The Rulers of the Church must therefore be known to us: for it is impossible we should do our duty, and submit ourselves to them, unless we are sure who they are.

The Church then must, in its nature, be a society manifest to all men. Some may slight it, and despise

it, and refuse to hear it; but they cannot do even this, unless they know where it is to be found.

When we enquire more particularly what the Church is, it may be best to proceed as we are obliged to do in some other cases; first, to learn what it is not; that we may go upon right ground, and understand with more certainty what it is.

The Church then, as a society, is not the work of man; nor can it possibly be so. I have laid the foundation of all my reasonings upon this subject, in the distinction betwixt the Church and the World, as two separate parties. The Church is so named, because it is called or chosen out of the world. 'Till it is so called out of the world, it hath no being; but it cannot call itself, any more than a man can bring himself into the world.

Our Christian calling is as truly the work of God, and as much independent of ourselves as our natural birth. The Church must have orders in it for the work of the ministry: but no man can ordain himself, neither can he (of himself) ordain another, because no man can give what he hath not. How shall they preach, saith the Scripture, unless they be sent? And again, no man taketh this honour to himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. Nay, even Christ glorified not himself to be made an High Priest, but he that said unto him, thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. The Church must have promises; without which it can have no reason or encouragement to act: but no man can give it those promises; which are exceeding great and precious. The Church must have power, without which it can do nothing to effect but there is no power but of God. It must have power to forgive sins; the forgiveness of sins in

any

* In Greek Exxλnzia.

the Holy Catholic Church, being an article of the Apostles Creed: but who can forgive sins, but God only? It must act in the name of God, or not at all; because it acts for the salvation of man: but no man can act in the name of God, but by God's appointment. No ambassador ever sent himself, or took upon him to sign or seal treaties and covenants (such as the Sacraments of the Church are) without being sent; that is, without receiving authority so to do, from an higher power. The act would be so far from beneficial, that it would be treasonable. If an army were to raise itself without commissions, what would such an army be but a company of banditti, leagued together to plunder and destroy the honest subjects of an established community?

Nothing therefore is plainer, on these considerations, than that the Church neither is, nor can be from man. It is no human institution; and as it acts under God, if it acts at all, it must act by his authority and appointment. It is properly called the Church of God, (of the living God, in opposition to the profane societies self-erected for the worship of dead idols) and mankind might as reasonably presume to make God's World as to make God's Church.

Farther enquiry will shew us that the Church is no confused multitude of people, independent of one another, and subject to no common rules: but a regular society, like to other societies, in some respects, and unlike them all in others. It is called a body, a family, a city, a kingdom. A body is a regular structure, the limbs of which being joined together, are subordinate and subservient to one another, and are animated by the same soul or spirit. So saith the Apostle, for by one spirit we are all baptized into one body. 1 Cor. xii. 13. It being also called a family, the

the members of it must have some common relation to one another: being called a city, it must be incorporated under some common laws; and being a kingdom, it must have some form of government and magistra cy. Families, cities, and kingdoms are societies; and the Church, being represented by them, must be a regular society. But in this the Church differs from all other societies, because they belong to this world, and their rights and privileges are confined to it; whereas the Church extends to both worlds, the visi ble and the invisible, and is partly on earth, and partly in Heaven. In its earthly members it is visible; in its rulers, it is visible; in its worship, it is visible; in its sacraments, it visible. But being also a spiritual society, it hath a life which is hidden, and in the inward and spiritual Grace of all its outward ordinances it is invisible. As a kingdom in which God is Judge, and Christ is a Mediator, and Angels and Saints departed, are members; it takes in the heaven itself, and is the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all; insomuch, that when we are admitted into it, our conversation is in Heaven, and the Angels of Heaven are our fellow-servants; all making one great family under Jesus Christ, in whom all things are gathered together in one, both which are in Heaven, and which are on earth: on which consideration, what is rightly done in the Church on earth, stands good in Heaven, as if it had been done there; and the Apostles of Christ received from him the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, with a power of binding and loosing, which extends to Heaven itself: and when Christians go to Heaven, they are not carried into a new society, for they are already, by the grace God, translated into it by baptism; whence the Apostle speaks of their translation, not as a thing expected

of

but even now brought to pass. He hath translated us, &c. Col. i. 13.

The Church doth also differ from other societies, in that it is catholic or universal; it extends to all places, and all times, and is not confined to the people of any nation, or condition of life, but takes in Jews, Greeks, and Barbarians, the rich and the poor, the bond and the free; and is therefore properly signified in one of our Saviour's parables by an inn, where all that offer themselves are accepted. The commission of Christ to his Apostles, was to teach and baptize all nations.

The Church being a kingdom, not of this world, is of a spiritual nature, and in that capacity it is invisible; but as a kingdom in this world, it is visible, and must have a visible administration. To know what this is, and whence its authority is derived, we must go back to the Gospel itself.

Jesus Christ was sent from Heaven by the Father, and invested with the glory of the priesthood by an actual consecration, when the spirit descended upon him. As the Father hath sent him, so did he send his disciples, and gave them authority to send others: so that the Church which followed, derived its authority from the Church which Christ first planted in the world; and the Church at this day must derive its authority after the same manner, by succession from the Church which went before; the line extending from Christ himself to the end of the world: lo, said he, I am with you always, unto the end of the world: certainly, not with those very persons, who all soon died, but with those who should succeed, and be accounted for the same; for a body corporate never dies, till its succession is extinct *.

"Take away this succession, and the Clergy may as well be ordained by one person as another: a number of women inay as well give them a divine commission;but they are no more