496 OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS. [BOOK IX.
others to act for them, and as it were in their stead, so as that the call to office should yet be valid, and provided the former rules be ob- served, I will not much dispute with any, though I approve only of what maketh the nearest approaches to the primitive pattern that the circumstances of things are capable of. [4.] The Lord Christ continueth his bestowing of this gift by the solemn ordinance of setting apart those who are called in the manner declared, by " fast- ing and prayer, and imposition of hands," Acts xiii. 2, 3, xiv. 23 ; 1 Tim. iv. 14. By these means, I say, doth the Lord Christ continue to declare that he accounts men faithful, and puts them into the minis- try, as the apostle speaks, 1 Tim. i. 12.
There are yet remaining sundry things in the passage of the apostle which we now insist on, that declare the eminency of this gift of Christ, which may yet be farther briefly considered, as, —
6. The end why it is bestowed ; and this is expressed, — (1.) Posi- tively, as to the good and advantage of the church thereby, Eph. iv. 12; (2.) Negatively, as to its prohibition and hinderance of evil, verse 14.
(1.) In the end of it as positively expressed three things may be considered: — [1.] That it is irphg rbv xa,raprifyj,bv ruv ayicuv, — that is, for the gathering of the saints into complete church-order. The sub- ject-matter of this part of their duty is the saints; that is, by calling and profession, such as are all the disciples of Christ. And that which is effected towards them is xarapng/Mg, their coagmentation, joint- ing, or compacting into order. So the word signifies, Gal. vi. 1. And this effect is here declared, Eph. iv. 1 6. It is true, the saints men- tioned may come together into some initial church-order by their consent and agreement to walk together in all the ways of Christ, and in obedience unto all his institutions, and so become a church essentially before they have any ordinary pastor or teacher, either by the conduct of extraordinary officers, as at first, or through obe- dience unto the word (hence elders were ordained among those who were in church-state, that is, thus far, before, Acts xiv. 23); but they cannot come to that perfection and completeness which is designed unto them. That which renders a church completely orga- nical, the proper seat and subject of all gospel worship and ordinances, is this gift of Christ in the ministry.
But it may be asked, Whether a church before it come unto this Tiaraprig/Mos, or completeness, before it hath any minister in office, or hath by any means lost the ministry among them, may not dele- gate and appoint some one or more from among themselves to ad- minister all the ordinances of the gospel among them and unto them, and by that means make up their own perfection?
[2.] The church being so completed, these officers are given unto
CHAP. VI.] THE INSTITUTION OF THE MINISTRY. 497
it " for the work of the ministry." This expression is comprehensive, and the particulars included in it are not in this place to he inquired into. It may suffice unto our present purpose to consider that it is a work, not a preferment ; and a work they shall find it who design to give up a comfortable account of what is committed unto them. It is usually observed that all the words whereby the work of the ministry is expressed in the Scripture do denote a peculiar industrious kind of labour, though some have found out ways of honour and ease to be signified by them. And, — [8.] Both these are directed unto one general issue. It is all e/g ohobofiYiv rou awparog rov Xpiarou, — " unto the edification of the body of Christ/' Not to insist on the metaphors that are in this expression, the excellency of the ministry is declared, in that the object of its duty and work is no other but the body of Christ himself; and its end, the edification of this body, or its increase in faith and obedience, in all the graces and gifts of the Spirit, until it come unto conformity unto him and the enjoyment of him. And a ministry which hath not this object and end is not of the giving or grant of Christ.
(2.) The end of the ministry is expressed negatively, or with respect unto the evils which it is ordained for our deliverance from, Eph. iv. 14. [1.] The evil which we are hereby delivered from is, the danger of being perniciously and destructively deceived by false doc- trines, errors, and heresies; which then began, and have ever since, in all ages, continued to infest the churches of God. These the apostle describes, — 1st. From the design of their authors, which is " to deceive;" 2dly. Their diligence in that design, "They lie in wait to accomplish it;" odly. The means the}7 use to compass their end, which are " sleights and cunning craftiness," managed sometimes with impetuous violence, and thence called a " wind of doctrine." And, [2.] The means hereof is our deliverance out of a child-like state, accompanied with, — 1st. Weakness; 2dly. Instability; and, Sdly. Wilfulness. And sad is the condition of those churches which either have such ministers as will themselves toss them up and down by false and pernicious doctrines, or are not able by sound instructions to deliver them from such a condition of weakness and instability as wherein they are not able to preserve themselves from being in these things imposed on by the " cunning sleights of men that lie in wait to deceive." And as this ministry is always to continue in the church, verse 13, so it is the great means of influencing the whole body, and every member of it, unto a due discharge of their duty, unto their edification in love, verses 15, 16.