INSTITUTION OF THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 1. COR. 9:14 "Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel."

It has often been asked with anxiety, why has the church been so slow in extending the influence of divine truth throughout the world? When our Savior ascended to heaven he left a commission binding the whole church, to go "and preach the gospel to every creature," and the prophecies of Scripture assure us, that the time will come, when all nations shall be brought into the church; and why is it, then, that for eighteen hundred years, the church has made so little progress?

Sometimes this whole subject has been resolved into the sovereignty of God; God has his "set times to favor Zion." There can be no doubt, that a belief in divine sovereignty, and a constant dependence upon it, is one of the most important exercises of religion, and whenever a church loses its disposition to look to God for all its success, its efficiency will be crippled; still, however, it will not do to resolve this subject into divine sovereignty in such a manner, as to excuse the deficiency of the church. God has appointed means-has promised his blessing upon them, and whenever these means are faithfully used, the prosperity of religion is to be expected.

When the church shall arise, in the true spirit of Christian obedi. ence, to search out her errors by comparing her practice with the word of God, and with a determination to reform whatever may be found amiss, we may then believe, that "the set time to favor Zion,” and to make her a praise in the earth, is come. And such an examination is one of our most important duties in the present day. We have every reason to believe that whenever the prosperity of the church falls below what the promises of Scripture would teach us to expect, there is something wrong in the church herself, from which she ought to be purified-something which has offended God, and caused the Holy Spirit to forsake her.

In reviewing the history of former times, we think we can see causes in every age and century, which in a Scriptural view, were sufficient to prevent the prosperity of religion. Paul tells us, that in his time the mystery of iniquity had begun to work; and in subsequent periods the

church was almost entirely overspread by the spirit and corruptions of the world. Indeed, in surveying the history of the church generally, with the exception of a short period during the reformation, the causes of the church's spiritual weakness and decay is most apparent in the corruptions of the church itself; and we are not tempted to wonder why God did not bless her with a more remarkable prosperity: the cause of wonder rather is, that a merciful God should have sustained her in existence at all.

But it is easier to see the errors of former times, especially when they have been condemned and laid aside, than to see the errors of our own times. We cannot always see ourselves as others see us, and the errors which are near ourselves are concealed by the same causes of delusion. It is not my intention to go into a general enumeration of the errors which may exist in our own denomination, and prevent its prosperity; our text will turn our attention to one matter of prime importance, "Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel." Now if it be asked, why is the preaching of the gospel of so little efficacy, or why its success so much below what we would hope and desire? it would seem to be a pertinent, and at the same time a mortifying answer, that the great ordinance of God which relates immediately to the ministry of the gospel is too much neglected; is overlooked and trampled on by the church. In treating this subject I shall,

I. GIVE SOME EXPLANATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF GOD AS TO THE INSTITUTION OF THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.

II. MAKE SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE IMPORTANCE AND THE MEANS OF SUSTAINING THAT INSTITUTION.

In the first place, then, I shall give some explanation of the appointment of God as to the institution of the gospel ministry. In this place it is not my intention to discuss the subject of the ministry at large, and to show its different bearings on the church. The text turns our attention principally to one point-the separation of the ministry from secular occupations. And for this circumstance, or for this part of the ordinance, the apostle draws his authority from the Old Testament dispensation. He informs us that in this respect, the will of God is the same in all ages of the church. "Do you not know," says he, "that they which minister about holy things, live of the things of the temple, and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel." This mode of exhibiting the subject seems to give it a double claim on the attention of the church, as it establishes the truth by a twofold sanction. The matter is first propounded on the authority of Moses and the Prophets, and then established by Paul, with the authority of an inspired apostle. And the apostle does not even leave the subject here; he gives it a further confirmation, by a moral argument, which addresses itself to the feelings of justice in every human mind. "If we have sown unto you spiritual things," says he, "is it a

great thing if we reap your carnal things." This is an argument of special force, an argument drawn from a comparison of the greater with the less. If the minister had conferred only a temporal favor, justice could not have withheld the remuneration. But spiritual advantages were conferred-advantages which outweigh temporal things as eternity outweighs time, and how then would the receiver hesitate to make a suitable return? The hearer of the gospel, after the best return he can make, is still a debtor. Paul says to one of his converts, "thou owest me even thy ownself;" this is the ground on which the apostle's argument places the claim of those who sow to us spiritual things. In point of justice it gives a claim, compared to which, other claims appear insignificant. But if the faithful minister should sometimes find this claim withheld, even to his embarrassment and distress, let him not be discouraged; he serves the Lord Christ, and his reward will not always be withheld.

وو

Under the Old Testament economy, to which the apostle refers us, the separation of religious teachers from secular pursuits, was as complete as divine arrangements without miracles could made it. God says expressly to the tribe of Levi, "I will give you no inheritance among your brethren, the Lord God is your inheritance. This, when applied to the gospel ministry, is not only full of encouragement and beauty, but it shows infinite wisdom in arranging the plans of the church. The teacher of religion is not to be secularized; even his constitutional feelings, and natural desires for property, are to be consecrated, and turned into a holy channel. "The Lord God is his inheritance"-the prosperity of the church is his prosperity. What wiser provision could have been made to save the ministry and the church from that most baneful of all principles, a worldly spirit-a spirit which in our day is destroying the very vitals of religion?

In the first epistle to Timothy, 4th chap. and 15th verse, the apostle lays this injunction on his disciple and fellow laborer, "Meditate on these things and give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all." And towards the close of the second epistle, he charges him, "before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to preach the word; be instant in season and out of season.' It appears from this, that if the rule of ministerial duty is the same for all who sustain the sacred office that it was for Timothy, entire and unreserved devotedness to the work is required.

The directions which our Savior gave to the apostles and seventy disciples, when he sent them forth to preach, is expressly to the same point. In the tenth of Luke we have his instructions to the seventy disciples, "Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes, and salute no man by the way." The admonition, to salute no man by the way, or to spend no time in useless salutations, shows the intensity with which they were bound to give themselves to their sacred employment, and the injunction to carry no raiment or provision which was not of immediate use, is given on the principle, that "the laborer is worthy of his hire." When any house or city should receive those disciples, they were to exercise their ministry among the people: "But into whatsoever city ye enter and they receive you not, go your ways out into

the streets of the same and say, Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, do we wipe off against you. But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable in that day, for Sodom than for that city." A very important question here presses on the mind-what does our Savior mean by the receiving or not receiving of his disciples? Does he mean that the people were bound to receive them, according to their ability, on the principle that "the laborer is worthy of his hire," and that those who do not so receive them, incur the guilt of rejecting This question places the subject in a very serious light; there may be much more guilt than is generally imagined, in those parts of the church where the clergy are much secularized, and without any necessity, turned into mere farmers and teachers.

If the separation of religious teachers, from worldly employments, is to be as complete in the gospel church, as it was under the law, which is certainly the apostle's argument, it will then follow, that the commands, threatenings, and promises of the Old Testament writers, respecting the maintenance of religious ordinances, are still in force, when applied in accordance with the change of circumstances. It must be recollected, however, that the law is always spoken of in com. parison with the gospel as a burdensome dispensation. For support. ing their different religious services, the Jews or Israelites gave a double tithe, and the first fruits of all their produce, amounting altogether to more than twenty per cent. on their annual income. Much less than this, or less than the half of this, would place our clergy in a situation to devote themselves entirely to this sacred calling, and would also give energy to all the other institutions of the church.

To prevent misconstruction on this subject, I think it necessary to observe, that when I speak of separating the clergy from temporal avocations, I would not, as has sometimes been done, pronounce it wrong for a minister to live on a farm. In country places, such arrangements might be made on a farm as would leave a clergyman as much liberty to attend to the duties of his calling, as he could enjoy in any other situation; the common marketing for a family, living without a farm, would probably produce more embarrassment. I would also think it rash to assert, that it was in all cases criminal for a minister of the gospel to teach a school. A minister is not, by his office, released from the obligation to "provide things honest in the sight of all men;" and from Paul's example we infer, that he may be thrown into a place, which duty does not require him to leave, but in which he is called upon to minister to his own necessities; and in such a situation, perhaps a school would be the best expedient which he could adopt. And above all things, I should deprecate any attempts for the reformation of our present errors, which went to remove the clergy from the superintendence of our colleges and literary institutions; a college is perhaps one of the best fields for pastoral usefulness.

But whilst I admit the propriety of the things just mentioned, I think the Bible clearly shows, what the will of God requires, as to the institution of the gospel ministry. It appears to me that the separation of religious teachers from wordly avocations, where it can be effected, is as much the law of the Christian as it was of the Mosaic dispensation;

and that the contrary practice is as plainly forbidden, as ecclesiastical tyranny, or religious persecution. The error of the Romanist consists in yielding too much to the unscriptural demands of the church; in departing from that system, we have gone into the contrary extreme, and given too little. They destroyed religion by a superstitious profusion; we have greatly injured it by an excess of parsimony; the rule of the Bible, is in direct opposition to both extremes. I remarked before, that it is much casier to see the errors of distant ages, than of our own times; perhaps a period may come, in which the church may view our mistakes and infatuations, with the same kind of wonder which we bestow on the mistakes of the dark ages. I shall now proceed,

II. TO MAKE SOME OBSERVATIONS, ON THE IMPORTANCE, AND THE MEANS OF SUSTAINING THE SCRIPTURAL INSTITUTION OF THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.

My first observation as to the importance of sustaining the divine institution, is simply this, that it is and must be the only way in which we can please God. God, of his infinite mercy, has given us a church and a ministry-has established rules for conducting the ministry; and in all this he has not been trifling with us, nor docs he allow us to trifle with him; and to follow out the divine appointment in this matter is the only way in which we can please God. This is an argument for duty superior to all others, for it comprehends every thing. Unless we act so as to please God, the church or the ministry can be no blessing to All the promises of God are made to those who walk in his ways; who take their rules of duty from his word, and if we willingly depart from the plain directions of his word, the promises are forfeited.

us.

These observations are the more applicable, from the consideration, that the institution of the ministry is the most important organ of the church. The preaching of the gospel by the living voice of a faithful and able ministry, is the great appointed means of forming and edify. ing the churches. It is plain from the history of past times, that the ministry will always impress its character on the churches under its care. If the ministry be faithful and holy the church will be pure; if the ministry falls into heresy, the church will be corrupted; if the clergy be lukewarm the people will be formal; and if worldly minded, the people will be covetous. The high importance of the ministry to the church-its natural tendency to spread its influence through the whole body and conform every thing to itself, is no doubt the reason, why God has given such plain directions for the management of this institution, and for keeping the clergy, as a consecrated order, devoted to himself and to his work; but in the extent to which our ministry has been secularized, there has been a sad departure from the plans of infinite wisdom.

In the next place, I will observe, that the importance of sustaining this institution, appears from its adaptation to the circumstances of the case. The ministerial services of a congregation will give full employment to the time of a pastor; and no material deduction can be made from those services, without serious injury to the cause of reli