has been sadly obscured and overlooked. And there is, therefore, the greater necessity of distinctly setting forth the faithful exercise of discipline, as among the essential marks of the church of Christ.

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III. The invisible church. All who bear the name of Christ, who have been baptized unto him, and profess his religion, are denominated the visible church, because to the of men they compose his church. It is not, however, to be supposed, even in the utmost stretch of charity, that these all are what they profess to be. As in the vision of Ezekiel there was a wheel within a wheel, so there may be said to be a church within a church-those whom men see to be outwardly Christian, and those whom God sees to be inwardly and really Christian. And as the former are called the visible church, because appearing to be such to men the latter are called the invisible church, because men cannot certainly perceive their real principles, and they are really known only to God. It is not meant hereby that there is nothing in them to distinguish them from others. On the contrary, they are a peculiar people, and may be known to be such, But it is meant that all others may mistake in their judgments of them, and that they are infallibly known to God only.

It is a solemn duty which all the members of the visible church owe to themselves, carefully to examine their state and character before God, and to take care that they are not putting the name for the reality of religion, nor substituting the profession for principle. In such an exercise there is perhaps no method more likely to be suitable and successful than to select the addresses of the apostles to the several churches, in the beginning of the epistles, diligently consider their meaning, and make a faithful self-application of them. These charactéristics are the following: "beloved of God-called to be saints," Rom. i. 7; "the church of God-sanctified in Christ Jesus-that call upon the name of Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. i. 2; "the faithful in Christ Jesus," Eph. i. 1; "faithful brethren in Christ," Col. i. 2; the church in God the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thess. i. 1;"elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ," 1Pet. i. 2; they that have obtained like precious faith with us, (the apostles) through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, 2 Pet. i. 1. In these addresses the members of the church are treated according to their profession. They declared themselves to be the

followers of Christ, and, in the judgment of charity, the writers addressed them as such. They did not assuredly declare that they were what they professed and appeared to be. That judgment they left with him who searcheth the hearts and trieth the reins of the children of men. This much, however, we learn from their addresses, that we see what Christian professors ought to be, and who are, in the eye of God, real members of his Son's church. We are furnished with a series of tests, by which every member, of the church ought faithfully and diligently to examine himself. Let him ponder well the meaning of each-let him consider what it was intended to express in those to whom it was first addressed-let him then apply it to himself, and enquire whether he could be so addressed whether he is what it describes whether he perpetuates the character of the first christians. It is thus every, member of the visible church should examine whether he be also a member of the invisible church-a Christian not merely, in the eye of men, but in the judgment of God also.

IV. The government of the church. That Christ has invested certain persons with office, and called them to the exercise of government in the church, is most clearly established on the authority of the Scriptures. Let the reader consult the following, among other passages that might be quoted :Mat. xvi. 19; xviii. 15-20; John xx. 21-23; Acts, xx. 28; 1 Tim. iii. 4,5; Heb. xiii. 7; xvii. 24. Nothing is more certain than that there is a distinct office of ruling in the church.

As for the persons by whom that office is sustained, it may easily be shown that these are not all the members of the church; for in several of the passages quoted, a distinction is stated between the rulers of the church and the members who compose it. Neither is this authority committed to any one individual; for the language of the Scriptures is, not the ruler, but the rulers of the church. A number are supposed to bear rule in every church. The general name for these persons is elders. And this is adopted with much propriety, the idea being thereby implied, that the rulers of the church are persons endowed with the wisdom, experience, and gravity of age. This term is used to denominate all who rule, and includes the pastors or bishops as well as other rulers. Hence a distinction is made in the elders, between those who rule only, and those who, besides ruling, exercise the office of preaching. 1 Tim. v. 17. The sum of the Scripture testimony on this subject seems to be,

that every church shall select out of its own members a competent number of persons distinguished by piety and prudence, and that these, being solemnly ordained to the office of ruling, shall be associated with the pastor in that work. This work embraces three parts, which we shall notice separately.

1. To the elders or rulers of the church it belongs to admit candidates into its fellowship. All who think proper are not to obtrude themselves there. Certain qualifications are necessary in the candidate, and these it is the duty of the elders to enquire after. In the Scriptures several examples of admission into the church are recorded, as in Acts ii. 41; viii. 36-8, from which it appears to have been the primitive practice to enquire simply into two things, the soundness of the faith, and the blamelessness of life in the candidate. It is into these two things enquiry should be made still, and into nothing farther; because man can judge only of the outward profession, and the outward conduct, and it belongs to God: only to judge the heart.

2. It is the duty of elders to maintain a careful oversight of the members of the church. This is implied in the very nature of their office, and in the several names by which they are designated. They are called overseers, implying that they shall know and observe the faithfulness of the members or the reverse; elders, implying that they shall counsel, exhort, and admonish; and rulers, taking for granted they will interpose their authority when that should seem to be necessary.

3. The exclusion of the unworthy from the membership of the church. This is not an undue stretch of power. It is authorized and required by the Scriptures. 1 Cor. v. 1-5; xi. 13; 2 Thess. iii. 6; 1 Tim. vi. 3-5. The reasons for such a procedure are stated too. They are the good of the unworthy member, that hereby he may be led to repentance, 1 Cor. v. 5, for an example of warning to others, Ì Tim. v. 20, and the credit of religion and the honour of Christ in the world. No power is given to the church to visit any of its members with temporal injury. All its power is exclusively spiritual; and while such ought to be exercised, that limit must not be passed. Were such government as we have described faithfully exercised in the church, it is easy to apprehend how blessed would be its influence. There is reason for humiliation that it has been so much neglected. And it is only when it shall be faithfully ministered, we may expect to see the purity of the church foretold by the prophet,-"Awake, awake;

put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.'

V. The purpose of God in forming and establishing a church upon the earth. The ends accomplished by such a providence are every way worthy of God, and the remarkable dispensation itself. We shall name some of them.

1. The first is the edification of the church itself. In this dispensation the love of man for society is laid hold of, sanctified, and made tributary to the purposes of godliness. A number of persons, through their common love to Christ, are united in love to one another, and ready for all the offices of brotherly affection. They are a band of brethren devoted to the interests of one another, counselling, or warning, or encouraging, or reproving, as need may be. The law of the society is, that no one shall suffer sin upon his brother. And the issue uniformly is, that "as iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." Religion may live, and piety may grow, even in solitude, and in total, seclusion from Christian fellowship, but this is not the general rule, for God has made Christians dependant on one another; and that they might be helps meet for one another, associated them in the relation of a church.

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2. Another design in the establishment of the church is the extension of its principles in the world. It has been so ordered, that whenever a sinner becomes truly a Christian, he is animated with a desire to bring all men to a saving knowledge of the truth. Much, however, as may be effected by individual zeal, it can do little in missionary enterprise, It needs the co-operation of others. Union is strength. And it is when the members of the church become united in counsel, and labour, and prayer, that inroads may be expected to be made on the territories of Satan. The church is designed to be a missionary society; and it is the duty of every member to kindle the flame of zeal in all, until the Gospel shall have been carried to the utmost habitations of men, and the cry shall be taken up, over a reclaimed world, "the kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ." The design of God in the formation of the church shall not be fully answered until individual piety shall be carried to the highest perfection, and the whole world shall be visited with his saving health. Then the language of inspiration shall have its full meaning and accomplishment," he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and

some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Eph. iv. 11—13.

3. Nor was it man only that God designed to benefit by this dispensation; it was intended to give new and interesting views of himself to the inhabitants of heaven. "Unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places is known, by the church, (by means of this dispensation towards the church,) the manifold wisdom of God." Hence the whole dispensation is represented to be the subject of intense interest and study to the angels. 1 Pet. i. 12. They have watched its progress from the beginning taken a lively interest in its advancement-and rejoice in its consummation. Thus the whole created intelligence will be affected by it, and the purpose of God fully cleared and justified in the establishment of the church.

VI. The history of the church. The student of the history of the church will probably find the following division of time to be convenient and distinct, and so helpful to him in his investigations: the antedeluvian age, from the flood till the time of Abraham; from Abraham till the birth of Christ; from the birth of Christ till the establishment of christianity under Constantine; from Constantine till the Reformation; and from the Reformation till the present time. A minute study of the history of the church, under all these periods, will be found most interesting and instructive. All we can do at present is to suggest a few observations applicable to the state of the church at all times.

1. A church has always existed. God has never left himself without this witness. And however few or obscure, still God has preserved a seed upon the earth. Under every period there are some distinguished servants of God, whose names have been handed down to us in honour. Such are Abel, Enoch, and Seth under the first period; Noah, Lot, and Abraham in the second; Moses and many of the people of Israel in the third; and these succeeded by a goodly number of apostles, and reformers, and holy men down to the present time. The preservation of the church is a remarkable circumstance, and is a standing lestimony to the truth, and power, and wisdom, and love of