3 26 TRUE NATURE OF A GOSPEL CHURCH.
another. (2.) Each of the duties mentioned and given in charge is sufficient for a distinct officer, as is declared Acts vi. 1-4.
7. In particular, " He that ruleth" is a distinct officer, — an officer, because rule is an act of office or office-power; and he is expressly dis- tinguished from all others. But say some, " ' He that ruleth' is he that doth so, be who he will, — that is, the pastor or teacher, the teach- ing elder," But the contrary is evident : — (1 .) He that says, "He that exhorteth," and then adds, " He that ruleth," having distinguished before between prophecy, whereunto exhortation doth belong, and ministry, whereof rule is a part, and prefixing the prepositive indi- cative article to each of them, doth as plainly put a difference be- tween them as can be done by words. (2.) Rule is the principal work of him that ruleth, for he is to attend unto it h ff'Troudfj, " with diligence," — that is, such as is peculiar unto rule, in contradistinction unto what is principally required in other administrations. But rule is not the principal work of the pastor, requiring constant and con- tinual attendance; for his labour in the word and doctrine is ordi- narily sufficient for the utmost of his diligence and abilities.
8. We have, therefore, in this context, a beautiful order of things in and of the church, — all the duties of it, with respect unto its edi- fication, derived from distinct differing spiritual gifts, exercised in and by distinct officers unto their peculiar ends, the distinction that is in the nature of those gifts, their use and end, being provided for in distinct subjects. The mind of no one man, at least ordinarily, is meet to be the seat and subject of all those differing gifts in any emi- nent degree. The person of no man being sufficient, meet, or able, to exercise them in a way of office towards the whole church, espe- cially, "those who labour in the word and doctrine" being obliged to " give themselves wholly thereunto," and those that " rule" to attend thereto with " diligence," so many distinct works, duties, and opera- tions, with the qualifications required in their discharge, being incon- sistent in the same subject, all things are here distributed into their proper order and tendency unto the edification of the church. Every distinct gift, required to be exercised in a peculiar manner, unto the public edification of the church, is distributed unto peculiar officers, unto whom an especial work is assigned, to be discharged by virtue of the gifts received, unto the edification of the whole body. No man alive is able to fix on any thing which is necessary unto the edi- fication of the church that is not contained in these distributions, under some of the heads of them; nor can any man find out any thing in these assignations of distinct duties unto distinct offices that is superfluous, redundant, or not directly necessary unto the edifica- tion of the whole, with all the parts and members of it; nor do I know any wise and sober man, who knows any thing how the duties enjoined are to be performed, with what care, diligence, circumspec-
OF THE RULE OF THE CHURCH, OR OF RULING ELDERS. 127
tlon, prayer, and wisdom, suited unto the nature, ends, and objects of them who can ever imagine that they can all of them belong unto one and the same office, or be discharged by one and the same person.
Let men advance any other church-order in the room of that here declared ; so suited unto the principles of natural light, operations and duties of diverse natures, being distributed and assigned to such distinct gifts, acted in distinct offices, as renders those unto whom they are prescribed meet and able for them ; so correspondent to all institutions, rules, and examples of church-order in other places of Scripture; so suited unto the edification of the church, wherein nothing which is necessary thereunto is omitted, nor any thing added above what is necessary, — and it shall be cheerfully embraced.
The truth is, the ground of the different interpretations and appli- cations of this [text and] context of the apostle ariseth merely from the prejudicate apprehensions that men have concerning the state of the church and its rule ; for if the state of it be national or diocesan, if the rule of it be by arbitrary rules and canons, from an authority exerting itself in courts ecclesiastical, legal or illegal, the order of things here described by the apostle doth no way belong nor can be accommodated thereunto. To suppose that we have a full de- scription and account in these words of ail the offices and officers of the church, of their duty and authority, of all they have to do, and the manner how they are to do it, is altogether unreasonable and senseless, unto them Avho have another idea of church affairs and rule conceived in their minds, or received by tradition, and rivetted by interest. And, on the other hand, those who know little or nothing of what belongs unto the due edification of the church be- yond preaching the word and reaping the advantage that is obtained thereby, cannot see any necessity of the distribution of these several works and duties unto several officers, but suppose all may be done well enough by one or two in the same office. Wherefore, it will be necessary that we treat briefly of the nature of the rule of the church in particular, and of what is required thereunto ; which shall be done in the close of this discourse.