mind, we shall never be able to do the will of God aright ; nor will Christ ever be glorified by us as he ought to be. Hence the Apostle, after exhorting the Ephesian converts to walk worthy the vocation wherewith they had been called, reminds them, that, so far as they had been enabled to do this, they had done it through grace received from the Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to the predictions concerning him, had ascended up to heaven, and bestowed it upon them. One particular prediction to this effect he specifies ; and then, commenting upon it, declares, that Jesus, having triumphed over all his enemies, had, after the manner of conquerors, who scattered gifts and largesses amongst their followers, conferred these and other blessings upon them. Of the other blessings he had bestowed upon his Church, the Apostle mentions some which were extraordinary and temporary, as apostles, prophets, and evangelists; and some which were ordinary and permanent, as pastors and teachers, whose office was to be con- tinued for the benefit of the Church in all succeeding generations.
What the particular benefits were which the Church was to derive from these pastors and teachers, he then proceeds to notice, and sets them forth under a variety of most beautiful and instructive images. That we may enter more fully into the subject, we shall endeavour to shew,
I. The ends for which a stated ministry was ordained —
These were,
1. The perpetuating of a succession of duly qualified instructors in the Church —
[This seems to be the import of those words which first occur in our text, and which might perhaps have been more properly translated, " For the fitting of holy men for the work of the ministry for the edification of the body of Christ." Amongst the Jews, especial care was taken that the know- ledge of the true God should be transmitted to the latest generations : as David says ; " God established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their