Wi\soo, S.T 
 
 The elder 
 
 ( 1854 

 
 3 mSTOfflCAl SURVa,
 
 
 ►> " ♦•» 'i 
 
 THE ANNUAL SERMON 
 
 ON 
 
 church: polity. 
 
 PREACHED BEFORE THE PRESBYTERY OF ROCK RIVER, AT 
 
 FREEPORT, OCT. 13, 1856. 
 
 ALSO 
 
 PREACHED, BY REQUEST, BEFORE THE SYNOD OF CHICAGO, AT 
 
 leRINCETON, OCT. 16, 1856. 
 
 BY THB 
 
 J^ 
 
 REV. SrTy 'WILSON, 
 
 PASTOR OP THE FIRST PBESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 
 ROCK ISLAND, ILL. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF PRESBYTERY AND RECOMMENDED FOR CIRCULATION BY 
 
 SYNOD. 
 
 « ♦ » » » 
 
 ROCK ISLAND: 
 
 PERSHING & CONNELLY, PRINTERS, ROOK ISLANDER OFFICE. 
 
 18 57.
 
 
 TO 
 
 MY VENERABLE FATHER AND DEAR BROTHER, 
 
 TO 
 THE BELOVED ELDERS OF MY OWN PASTORAL CHARGE, 
 
 AND TO 
 THE MOST WOKTHY ELDERS OF THE PRESBYTERY OF ROCK RIVER 
 
 THESB PAGES ARE 
 AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. 
 
 I- 
 >^ 
 
 o 
 
 k 
 
 o
 
 There is no claim made to originality in the following pages. They simply 
 contain a little of the "Old Wine" from the <' Old Bottles," drawn lor our 
 present refreshment.
 
 THE ELDER., 
 
 " The Elders lohom are among you 1 exhort^ whom am also an 
 Elder." — I. PETER VI. 
 
 The Lord Jesus Christ is the King and Head of the Church ! 
 "He hath purchased it," saith the Apostle, "with his own blood.'* 
 
 In its visible form the Church consists of " all those, throughout 
 the world, who profess the true religion, together with their children." 
 According to this definition, the Church is a body of individuals 
 associated together by the authority of Jesus Christ, and subject to 
 his government and laws, for the purpose of divine worship and 
 spiritual edification. Wherever men are associated together, and 
 for whatever purpos3, government and laws are indispensable ; for, 
 saith the Saviour, " It is impossible but that offences will come." 
 This fact involves the further necessity of officers who shall apply the 
 laws and administer the government, so as to secure the ends of their 
 establishment, and promote the highest interests of the governed. — 
 The Church of Jesus Christ is no exception to this universal necessi- 
 ty. In all ages and under all dispensations, it has had its constitu- 
 tion, prescribing the character and form of its government, and the 
 character and functions of its officers. This is clearly manifest in 
 connection with the Patriarchal and National forms of the Church 
 under the old dispensations ; and no less so in connection with its 
 Apostolic organization under the new dispensation. Accordingly 
 Paul testifies concerning Jesus Christ as the King and Head of the 
 Church, that when he ascended "he gave some, apostles; and some, 
 prophets ) and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers ;" 
 ''after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diver-
 
 sity of tongues'' — "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 
 fullness of Christ." 
 
 There has been, however, much diversity of opinion and of prac- 
 tice in the Christian Church itself on this subject of its government 
 and officers. 
 
 It is usually said that there are four radically different theories of 
 ecclesiastical polity. 
 
 The Firzt of these is the Papal theory, which we may characterize 
 as a sort of spiritual monarchy^ insisting upon the necessity of one^ 
 supreme, universal, infallible head of the whole body throughout the 
 world, who is the authorized Vicar of Christ ! 
 
 The Secondj is the Episcopal, which is a spiritual prelacy, con- 
 tending for an order of clerical prelates, who are above the rank of 
 ordinary ministers of the Word, being alone empowered to perform 
 ordination, and whose presiding agency is indispensible to the exis- 
 tence of the church. 
 
 The Third, is the Independent, a spiritual democracy, which vests 
 all ecclesiastical power with the people in such a sense, that all acts 
 of ecclesiastical authority must be performed immediately by them. 
 
 The Fourth, is the Presbyterian, a spiritual repuhlicanism, in the 
 legitimate sense of the term ; the distinguishing features of which 
 are these three. — 1. That the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Head of the 
 Church, has made all ministers of the Word and Sacraments perfectly 
 equal in official rank and power. 2. That the government of the 
 Church and all exercise of ecclesiastical power is vested in a body of 
 representatives, whom the Scriptures call ^'presbuterot," or Elders, 
 including the '^ Bishop '' or "Pastor" of the Church and such others, 
 distinguished for their zeal, wisdom and godliness, as have been 
 chosen from among the people, and solemnly set apart and ordained 
 to bear rule in God's house. Or in other words; a body of represen- 
 tatives consisting of the "presbuteroi," or ''Elders," who do, and 
 who do not, "labor in the word and doctrine," as St. Paul charac- 
 terizes them. 3. That the whole visible Church is one) not only in 
 name and theory, but in fact and operation; all its ^'many members "
 
 being, by a series of autlioritative ecclesiastical assemblies, so united 
 together in vital dependence ; having one faith, one order, one oper- 
 ation ; moved by the same common life, walking by the same common 
 rule, and voluntarily, yet authoritatively, governed by the same con- 
 stitution and laws — as to constitute, in exact conformity to the beau- 
 tiful imagery of the Saviour, om living, spiritual body, of which 
 Himself is the Head ! 
 
 The Presbyterian system of Polity differs, therefore, from the Papal 
 and the Episcopal, as it relates to the ministry; and from the Inde- 
 pendent, or Congregational, as it relates to the office of Kuling Elder, 
 and the real and authoritative unity of the Church. The term Pres- 
 byterian, therefore, which is frequently used in a wide and general 
 sense, to designate the whole system of doctrine, government and 
 worship which is peculiar to this branch of the Christian Church, is 
 in strictness, applicable only to that particular theory of ecclesiastical 
 government just referred to. And wherever this system of ecclesi- 
 astical polity exists, we have Presbyterianism properly so called, 
 whether it be among the Reformed Churches of Germany, or Switzer- 
 land, or France, or Holland, or Scotland, or the various members of 
 the great family in our own country. 
 
 AYhile we do not contend for any one form of government, as essen- 
 tial to the existence of the Church, yet, it would seem to be the dic- 
 tate, alike, of reason and the whole analogy of faith, that, that which 
 received the sanction of the inspired Apostles in the first establish- 
 ment of the church, should be regarded as most agreeable to the mind 
 of CHirist, and in so far binding upon the Church, and best calculated 
 to promote the great ends for which it was established. The Pres- 
 byterian Church, recognizing and acting upon the great fundamental 
 maxim, that the Scriptures are the only and the sufficient rule of 
 faith and order, professes to derive her constitution and form of 
 government from this source alone ; and believing that all the great 
 features of her system are authorized by Apostolic precept and 
 Apostolic practice, she cannot but regard them as having the highest 
 possible sanctions, and as being best calculated to secure the great 
 ends, and promote the great objects of the Church's establishment. 
 
 It is not my purpose, however, to discuss this Presbyterian and — as 
 we think — Scriptural system of ecclesiastical organization ; but simply
 
 8 
 
 and briefly to consider that single feature of it, to wit : the office of 
 Ruling Elder. This I shall do under the following heads — 
 
 I. The Scriptural warrant for the office, as existing in the Presby- 
 terian Church. 
 
 II. The true nature of the office. 
 
 III. The proper duties of the office. And 
 
 IV. The qualifications necessary for the right discharge of these 
 duties. And, as appropriate to this subject, I have selected the 
 passage before quoted. 
 
 The simple propositions of our standards, as bearing upon this sub- 
 ject, are these : "The ordinary and perpetual officers of the church 
 of Christ are Bishops or Pastors ; the representatives of the people, 
 usually styled Ruling Elders, and Deacons*" "Ruling Elders are 
 properly the representatives of the people, chosen by them for the 
 purpose of exercising government and discipline in connection with 
 pastors or ministers.'' The thing to be established is "That in the 
 divine and Apostolic constitution of the church there is an order of 
 officers who, while they are not authorized to administer the Word 
 and the Sacraments, are yet, as the representatives of the people, set 
 apart and associated with the Bishops or Pastors in the administration 
 of the government and the exercise of the discipline of the church.'' 
 The proof of this proposition is to be derived mainly from the Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 In doing this I may assume what, perhaps, no one here will deny : 
 That the church of Christ in all ages and under all dispensations is 
 owe. As a consequence of this, such elements of the Church's con- 
 stitution and the government under the former dispensations as have 
 not been abrogated or supplanted by the new dispensation, still belong 
 to its present organization and are in full force. This principle 
 involves some most vital consequences in connection with other ele- 
 ments of the Church's constitution, and the recognition of it is of the 
 utmost importance. 
 
 But without stopping to consider its application to other depart- 
 ment of ecclesiastical economy, we claim only that the government 
 and discipline of the Church, as vested in a bench of Elders — the 
 question now under consideration — was a prominent feature in the 
 Churche's organization from the very beginning, and up to the time
 
 9 
 
 of the introduction of the new dispensation ; that it was not abroga- 
 ted either then, before, or since ; and, consequently, it remains an 
 element of the Church's organization yet. It cannot be doubted that 
 the government of the Church under the old dispensation, and the 
 entire control of ecclesiastical affairs among the ancient people of 
 God, except in so far as administered by God himself, or by his special 
 ministers the Prophets, was by that class of representatives who are 
 uniformly caWed Elders ; the "Elders of the people;" the "Elders 
 of the congregation ;" the " Elders of the Synagogue," &c.; and 
 this was continued through all the vicissitudes of the nation, and of 
 the Church, up to the very time of Christ. While the people of God 
 were yet in Egypt, they had their Elders ; men of experience and 
 wisdom who exercised authority among them, and were recognized 
 in this official character, not only by the people, but even by Jehovah 
 himself, who addressed the people, made known unto them his will 
 and directed their movements throng the medium of these Elders. 
 Almost innumerable passages of Scriptures might be adduced in proof 
 of this, but a single one will suffice. "Go gather the Elders oi 
 Israel," saith Jehovah to Moses, (Ex. 3: 16, &c.) " and say unto 
 the77i, The Lord God of your Fathers, the God of x\braham, of Isaac 
 and of Jacob appeared unto me saying I have surely visited you and 
 seen that which is done to you in Egypt — and the^ — the Elders — 
 shall hearken to thy voice and thou shalt come, thou and the Elders 
 of Israel unto the King of Egypt, and 7/e shall say unto him, the 
 Lord of the Hebrews has met with us," &c. How clearly and fully 
 are the Elders in their official character and their representative 
 relations to the people of Israel, the Church of God, recognized in 
 this divine commisssion ! In like manner when the ritual dispensa- 
 tion was introduced, and the ecclesiastical system of the Jews fully 
 organized, the same method of dispensing justice, of executing dis- 
 cipline and of conducting the affairs of the congregation was estab- 
 lished throughout the nation. During the long period of the Judges 
 and the Kings — during the time of the Babylonish Captivity, — and 
 afterwards, how frequent, almost innumerable are the references to 
 the Elders, as the representatives of the people, acting in an authori- 
 tative capacity in ecclesiastical matters ! The fact upon which this 
 argument rests, becomes more and more manifest with every step as 
 
 A
 
 10 
 
 we approach the period of transition from the old to the new dispen- 
 sation ; and as a consequence, the argument itself becomes far more 
 manifest, and far more valuable and authoritative. Especially is this 
 the case after the establishment of the Synagogues, and the intro- 
 duction of the Synagogue worship, which, we have every reason to 
 regard, as the fuller development of the religious and spiritual ele- 
 ments of the Jewish dispensation in contradistinction to the ritual 
 and ceremonial ; and, therefore, as the Church of God assuming, 
 more and more, its present form and character. Indeed, the Syna- 
 gogues have been, with great force and beauty, characterized as '^ the 
 parish Churches of the Jews ;" and at the advent of Christ, they 
 had come to embody the entire religious and spiritual elements of the 
 Jewish ecclesiastical ins titutions, to such a degree, and to constitute 
 the Church of God, in such a sense, that, to ^' put a man out of the 
 Synagogue,^' was to excommunicate him from the body of the pro- 
 fessing people of God ! The conclusion, therefore, is legitimate and 
 unavoidable, that the Synagogues, built in every city and village, 
 and dotted all over the land, were the Churches of that day, precisely 
 as these edifices, in which the people of God assemble from time to 
 time for the exercise of his worship, are the Churches of this day. 
 But the leading officers of the Synagogues, these '' parish Churches 
 of the Jews/' as is manifest from their whole history, were a Bishop 
 or Ruler, by pre-eminence, who presided over the public exercises, 
 and conducted the religious worship of the people : and a company 
 of Elders chosen to bear rule in the congregation : and these formed 
 a kind of ecclesiastical session to receive applications for admission 
 into the Church, and as the representatives of the Church to preserve 
 its purity, to watch over the conduct of its ministers, and to conduct 
 its worship, its government and its discipline; and to do all that was 
 necessary to be done to preserve the ordinances of God, and to pro- 
 mote the religious and spiritual welfare of His people. Nor can it be 
 said that these were merely civil officers, and this the discharge of 
 their duties as such ; for it is admitted by writers of the yery highest 
 authority on all sides, such as Stillingfleet, Rutherford, Gillespie and 
 others, that the civil and ecclesiastical offices were entirely distinct ; 
 and that the latter existed long after the former had almost entirely 
 passed away. It may safely be affirmed that there is not to be found
 
 11 
 
 on recordj an instance where a matter calling for ecclesiastical action, 
 was referred to tlie people for adjudication, hut ahvai/s to their repre- 
 sentatives, the Elders. And this fact, it seems to me, must carry 
 with it into the consideration of the question before us immense 
 weight, when we remember that the New Testament Church, as estab- 
 lished by the Apostles and as transmitted to us, was modelled imme- 
 diately after these Jewish Synagogues. Indeed the transition was so 
 easy and the change so natural, from the Synagogue Church of the 
 old dispensation, to the Gospel Church of the new dispensation, in 
 all that concerned its outward organization, government, officers and 
 worship, as scarcely to be a change at all. It seems much more like 
 the natural and easy advancement of the same spiritual organization 
 from aiji imperfect to a perfect development — a change similar to that 
 which is constantly going on under our own eyes, of the embryo 
 Presbyterian Church, into that which is fully organized and equipped. 
 When we take into consideration the fact, that the first Churches 
 formed by the Apostles, were made up entirely of Jews, and by men 
 who were themselves Jews, and who had always been accustomed, in 
 their ecclesiastical affairs, to the government and control of Elders 
 chosen for that purpose, it will seem no more than natural, — yea will 
 it not seem unavoidable ? that these Churches should be organized 
 and established on the same principles, and perpetuating all the same 
 great features, not incompatible with the spiritual nature of the dis- 
 pensation, of that organization and government with which they had 
 always been familiar, and the only one about which they knew any 
 thing at all ! This consideration will have great additional weight 
 when we remember with what stubborn, inveterate tenacity, that 
 people clung to all the established forms of their spiritual and relig- 
 ious things, and how sternly they resisted every change, however 
 small, of those institutions, which came to them with the impress, 
 in any form, of the divine sanction, and hallowed by all the traditions 
 of their fathers. Nor do the facts, as they are on record, disappoint 
 this "a priori" expectation. The very moment we cross the thresh- 
 hold of those early Churches of the Apostles, and the models of all 
 Churches, we begin to detect the presence of familiar forms and hear 
 the sound of familiar names. As we had become familiar with the 
 ^'Rulers of the Synagogue*' and the ^'Elders of the people"
 
 12 
 
 and of the "Congregation,'* and had seen them presiding over the 
 worship of God's people, and administering the government and 
 discipline of his house ; so here, we meet with the " Bishops and 
 Elders of the Church," still presiding over the worship, administer- 
 ing the discipline, and hearing rule in God's house. We read of 
 ** Elders heing ordained in every Church ;" of *' Elders who ruled 
 well but did not labour in the word and doctrine ;" of Elders sent 
 for to visit and pray over the sick ;" of ** Elders being called 
 together to receive the Apostolical charges ;'* of the " Elders and 
 Bishops called to consider of important ecclesiastical questions;" and, 
 of a case of much difficulty and delicacy being referred to ** the 
 Apostles and Elders for their decision," &c., (fee. These facts, taken 
 in connection with that opposite fact, before referred to, that there 
 is no recorded instance of the entire membership of the Church, 
 sitting in judgment on a case of government or discipline, or of their 
 assuming or exercising the functions of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in 
 any form, have, it seems to me, immense weight and unanswerable 
 authority, as bearing upon the whole question of the existence, and 
 the official character and functions of Kuling Elders in the primitive 
 Churches as organized and established by the Apostles of our Lord. 
 But the argument for the office of the Ruling Elder need not stop 
 here. If I had the time and inclination, and if it comported with 
 the present design, it might be easily shown, upon the fullest and 
 clearest testimony of those early Christian Fathers, whoso writings 
 constitute the great treasure house of early church history, that in 
 the period immediately succeeding the times of the Apostles, — con- 
 fessedly the purest period of the Church's history, — the Churches 
 which then existed were organized under the pastoral care of a single 
 Bishop, with Ruling Elders and Deacons ; and this continued to be 
 the case till the times of the Church's corruption, in doctrine and 
 government. There is a mass of evidence in proof of this position 
 to be derived from the early writers, which would fill a volume. The 
 same also is true of those later and darker periods of the Church's 
 history, when true religion and the pure ordinances of God's house 
 had iled like the frightened and wounded dove, to the wilderness and 
 the waste places, with the persecuted Waldenses, Albigenses, (fee. — 
 Paring that long period, when the pall of an Egyptian night spread
 
 o 
 
 over the Christian world, this " Church in the wilderness,'* still 
 adhered to her ancient and Apostolical constitution, with its pure 
 doctrines and simple polity — its Pastors and Elders and Deacons. 
 And when the voice of Luther and his compeers called the apostate 
 Church to that glorious " Eeformation " of the sixteenth century, 
 the leaders of that great movement, almost without an exception, 
 expressed a preference for this ancient and authoritative polity, which 
 we claim as our birthright and boon ! 
 
 Such, very briefly and very inadequately exhibited, is the line of 
 the historical argument for the office of Ruling Elder as set forth in 
 our Standards ; and for the Presbyterian Church polity so far as 
 this goes. And to my mind this historical argument, thus so im- 
 perfectly indicated, as it lies mantling upon the surface, and flows 
 through all the arteries of the Church's history, is at once convinc- 
 ing and unanswerable ! 
 
 But to return to that which is more properly the Scriptural argu- 
 ment. 
 
 We said before, that whenever the Apostles began, in the execu- 
 tion of their great commission, to organize Churches, we find the 
 officers of these to be almost the very same, both in their titles and 
 the functions of their offices, with those which belonged to the Syna- 
 gogues of the old dispensation. We immediately find in all the 
 Churches ** Bishops" or *♦ Teachers," *' Elders" or "Rulers" or 
 *' Overseers," and Deacons. The Elders are exhorted to take the 
 oversight of the flock and to bear rule in the Church; while the 
 members are exhorted to be in subjection to them, as those set over 
 them in the Lord; to honor them very highly for their work's sake, 
 and to love and obey them in all good things. 
 
 But in addition to this strong inferential argument, there are certain 
 passages in the New Testament which, as bearing upon this subject, 
 not only illustrate each other, but, taken together, form a chain of 
 argument in support of this element of our ecclesiastical polity which, 
 certainly, seems to be convincing and unanswerable. Wishing to 
 show unto his Corinthian brethren how abundant and appropriate the 
 provisions were, which God had made for the establishment of his 
 Church, and the spiritual nurture and edification of his people; the 
 Apostle says to them; (1 Cor. 12: 28) **God hath set some in the
 
 14 
 
 Church, first Apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers: after that, 
 miracles; then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of 
 tongues;" for, says he, ** There are diversities of gifts, bnt the same 
 Spirit; and the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to 
 profit withal." From this passage we see very clearly what officers, 
 both ordinary and extraordinary, God hath ordained for his Church, 
 to establish, perpetuate and govern it, and to execute its discipline 
 and preserve its purity. And because the wants of the Church are 
 diSerent, and the gifts of the Spirit are different, the officers are of 
 necessity, different, and their functions different, and their operations 
 different; but all indispensible to the existence and welfare of the body. 
 To illustrate his arguments he compares the church, in its organized 
 capacity, to the human body, and asks, " If the foot should say, be- 
 cause I am not the hand I am not of the body; is it therefore not of 
 the body? And if the ear should say, because I am not the eye, I 
 am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole 
 body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hear- 
 ing, where were the smelling? And if they were all one member, 
 where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but 
 one body^ And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of 
 thee; nor again the head to the foot, I have no need of thee." Un- 
 der this beautiful and appropriate figure the Apostle represents the 
 Church as having many members, and many departments, and many 
 officers; ** some Apostles, some prophets, teachers, miracles, helps, 
 governments, tongues;" and all in their own departments, and in the 
 exercise of their own functions, indispensible to the existence and 
 welfare of the body; for ** Ye are the body of Christ and members in 
 particular." This passage, therefore, as we will perceive, clearly rec- 
 ognizes ** helps'^ and '•' governments,'* as distinct officers in the Church; 
 as much so as Apostles, or Prophets, or Teachers; and although very 
 different from these in the character and functions of their offices, yet 
 equally indispensible to the welfare of the Church, '* That there should 
 be no schism in the body!" We might not be able, indeed, to arrive 
 at any very definite conclusion, from the passage itself, as to the pre- 
 cise nature, or f auctions of the offices indicated by these terms: but 
 the fact of there being such officers, and that they belonged to the 
 primitive and apostolic constitution of the Church, is made clear.
 
 15 
 
 Again, therefore, Paul says to Timothy, " Let the Elders that rule 
 well be counted worthy of double honor especially they who labor 
 in the word and doctrine." This passage interprets the former one, 
 in so far as to show us, that the "governments" spoken of in the 
 Epistle to the Corinthians, are the same as those who are spoken of 
 here as "ruling well," and are called presbuteroi or Elders; and that 
 they are not " Teachers," or ministers of the word and sacraments, 
 the Apostle is careful to show by using such a form of expression, 
 as clearly distinguishes between the two classes; characterizing the 
 one as "ruling well," and at the same time '* laboring in the word 
 and doctrine;" and the other as "ruling well," and not "laboring 
 in the word and doctrine/' It would surely be difficult to conceive 
 how two classes of officers, the functions of whose offices are in part 
 the same, and in part different, could be characterized, so as to mark 
 and define, at once the coincidence, and the difference, more fully, 
 and in fewer words than in the language of the Apostle. And I may 
 be allowed to say, it would be difficult to conceive how the very let- 
 ter, and spirit, and substance of the Presbyterian Church doctrine on 
 the subject of Ruling Elders, could be more clearly, more fully, or 
 more concisely stated, than in these words of the great Apostle. I, 
 at least, should be willing to take this passage alone, as my deffini- 
 tion of, and my warrant for the office of Ruling Elder. The great 
 Owen calls the evidence afforded by this passage, " incontrolahle ev- 
 idence;" and, verily it is so. Can it be supposed for a moment that 
 Paul did not mean to designate by that emphatic "especm//y," two 
 distinct classes of Elders, the functions of whose offices were not co- 
 incident? When Paul said to Titus, " There are many unruly and 
 vain talkers and deceivers, especial! >/ they of the circumcision;" did 
 he not design to say that there were two classes of " talkers and de- 
 ceivers," one Jewish and the other Gentile? Assuredly he did. — 
 Just so when Paul says, " especially those who labor in the word and 
 doctrine," he means to say, and to be understood as saying, that there 
 are two classes of Elders; one " ruling well" and not teaching, the 
 other " ruling well" and " teaching well," too! Let us therefore, as 
 Paul did, recognize the divine warrant for, and do honor to that noble 
 class of Church officers who " rule well" in God's house! 
 
 But the argument for the office of Ruling Elder, as contained in
 
 16 
 
 these passages, receives a strong additional confirmation from the 
 12th chapter of Romans; where the Apostle, addressing those whom 
 God had set in the Church for its edification, and exhorting them to 
 diligence and fidelity in the discharge of their ofiicial duties, uses 
 such language as clearly indicates and defines three distinct classes 
 of perpetual officers, as belonging to the Church's organization. And 
 it is pleasing to notice the almost perfect correspondence of these 
 three classes, with those which are defined and provided for in the 
 Standards of the Presbyterian Church. To make this correspondence 
 the more manifest, and the argument from the passage the stronger, 
 the Apostle indicates the several officers, not by their titles, but by 
 the functions of their offices. ^^For,'' says he, ''as we have many 
 members in one body, and all members have not the same office; so 
 we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one 
 of an other. Having then gifts difi'ering according to the grace that 
 is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the pro- 
 portion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he 
 that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation; he 
 that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that rideth with dili- 
 gence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.'' Here, then, are 
 the three classes of perpetual officers, with which the Great Head of 
 the Church has furnished her for edification: — here are the "Bishops" 
 or ^'Pastors," with their ^'teachings" and their "exhortations;" here 
 are the "Deacons" "giving with simplicity;" "showing mercy with 
 cheerfulness:" and here are the "Elders," "ruling with diligencel" 
 
 That which is of special importance in connection with this pas- 
 sage, and deserves our special notice, is the fact that the Apostle 
 makes no mention whatsoever, of those temporary officers, which 
 were provided for the emergencies of the Church's first establish- 
 ment; and who, for this purpose, were endowed with special and 
 temporary gifts, as apostles, prophets, workers of miracles, &c., &c. 
 He may therefore be considered as indicating, what were the perpet- 
 ual officers of the Church; and as defining those offices, and their 
 functions, which are 'perpetually necessary to the Church's complete 
 organization. 
 
 Upon the strength and value of the arguments derived from these 
 passages, therefore, we might be willing to rest the question of the 
 Scriptural warrant for the office of Ruling Elder.
 
 IT 
 
 Still, howeveFj there are other arguments to be drawn from the 
 Scriptures, which, perhaps, are equally conclusive. For example 
 there is a peculiar form of expression which is common to all the 
 New Tesiament writers, and which cannot but be significant and in- 
 structive as bearing upon this question. What I refer to, is that almost 
 invariable use of the plural form of expression, when speaking of 
 this officer of the Church. It is not Elder^ but Elders in all cases. 
 Thus in Acts 14: 28. "And when they had ordained them Elders/^ 
 ke. ^'Elders in every Church" great and small ! 15: 6. "And 
 the Apostles and Elders came together:" 20: 17, 28. ''And 
 Paul sent to Ephesus and called the Elders of the Church:'* 
 I Thess. 5: 12. "We beseech you, brethren, know ihe77i which labor 
 among you:" I Tim. 5: 17. "Let the Elders that rule well:" 
 Titus 1: 5. "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou 
 shouldst ordain Elders in every city, as I have appointed thee:'' 
 Heb. 13:17. "Remember ^Aew which have the rule over you:" 
 James 5: 14. "Is any sick among you? let him call for the Elders 
 of-the Church" and I Peter 5: 1, 2, 3. " The Elders which 
 are among you I exhort, whom am also an Elder.. .feed the flock 
 of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by con- 
 straint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither 
 as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock." 
 
 Indeed, I believe it to be true that every Church that is addressed 
 in such a way as to call forth an expression on this subject at all, is 
 addressed as having a jBlurality of Elders; and these "Elders" are 
 represented as sustaining such relations to the Church; as being 
 clothed with such authority; and as being charged with such duties and 
 responsibilities; and in such terms, too, as to force upon us the conclu- 
 sion, either that they were all "Pastors," or "Teachers;" clothed with 
 all the functions of the Gospel ministry, and authorized to preach 
 the word and to administer the sacraments: or that they were that 
 body of men spoken of in the Presbyterian Standards, and held by 
 us as belonging to the primitive and apostolic constitution of the 
 Church, including the "Pastor" or "Teacher" of the Church, 
 and those "Governments" spoken of by Paul as being set by 
 the Holy Ghost as "overseers" to the flock. That they were all 
 "Pastors" or "Teachers" is simply inconceivable, as being at once 
 
 3
 
 16 
 
 nnneec'ssarj and impossiblo. Sound judgmenf, tlieroforo, will Ieii(] 
 us back and confine us to the conclusion above; that the "Elders of 
 the Church," so frequently referred to, were the teaching Elders and 
 the ruling Elders, in their associated and official capacity, as the 
 '•'Overseers" of the ( 'hurch. This interpretation, and I believe it is 
 the only one that vrill, meets all the conditions of the passages, and 
 removes all that obscurity and confusion otherwise attending them. 
 
 Another argument is to be drawn from the very common habit of 
 the New Testament writers, of freely interchanging the names, and 
 titles, and functions of the several ofhcers of the Church; calling the 
 same officers at one time, -'liishops;" at another, "Overseers;" at an 
 other, "Rulers;" at another, "'JCkiers;" and characterizing them, at 
 one time, as "feeding the flock;" at an other, as, "Overseers" in the 
 house of God;" at auother, as "ruling well," &c., kc. This is a fact 
 that is frequently overlooked, and yet, to my mind, it has very great 
 weight as bearing upon the question of the Elder in the apostolic 
 (Jhurches. Thus, in writing to Titus, Tit. 1: 5, Paul says, "For 
 this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldst set in order 
 the things that are wanting, and ordain Elders, "presbuterous," 
 in the original, in every city: if any be blameless, the husband of 
 one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot not unruly. 
 For a Bishop, "epi.skopon" in the original, "must be blameless," 
 &c. Thus characterizing the very same persons, and in the same 
 sentence, both as "Elders'' and as "Bishops." 
 
 Again, Acts 20: 17, 28. "Paul sent to Ephesus and called the 
 Elders of the Church — "presbuterous;" and in the 28 verse of 
 that most affectins; address which he delivered to them, he desig- 
 nates them as "episkopous" Bishojis, whom the Holy Ghost had 
 ' made Overseers of the flock. And again Peter says, I Peter 5: 1, 2, o, 
 " The Elders, presbuterous, which are among you, I exhort, 
 whom am also an Elder, feed the flock of God, which is among you, 
 taking the oy^rsi'^/iUhereof," "episkopountes;" that is, 'performing 
 the part of ^^ Bishops" towards them. 
 
 Now from these, and many similar passages, it becomes clearly 
 manifest that the New Testament writers were in the habit of using 
 those official titles, "Bishop," "Overseer," ''Elder," &c., inter- 
 changedly; and of refering the functions of the one to the other.
 
 1\J 
 
 Heace, again, therefore, we must conclude, either, that these persons 
 were all ^'Pastors" and "Teachers" of the Churches over which they 
 are represented as being set by the Holy Ghost, and that the names 
 Blsliopj Overseer and Elder , are only different names for the same 
 officer; and as a consequence, that all the early Churches, whether 
 large or small, had a plurality of Pastors and 31inisters — or we must 
 accept the far more reasonable and natural conclusion, that these 
 officers of the Churches, sometimes called "Bishops," sometimes 
 "Overseers," and sometimes "Elders," included the "Pastor," or 
 "Pastors" of the Church, if its size and necessities required more 
 than one; and those "Elders," or "Governments" of whom Paul 
 speaks, as the co-workers with the pastors in the care, oversight and 
 government of the flock. These, therefore, in their united official 
 capacity, are called, indiscriminately, "Bishops," "Overseers," or 
 "Elders" — terms which express the functions of inspection^ super in- 
 tendence, guardianship, (jovernmentj discipline, &c. — because the 
 "Pastors," being rulers and overseers, as well as teachers, were 
 always associated with the other officers, and designated by the same 
 common terms: t&e offices of both being coincident throughout, with 
 the exception only, of preaching the word and administering the 
 sacraments. 
 
 This, therefore, brings us again upon that "iacontrolable" passage 
 of Paul, as Owen calls it; "Let the Elders that rule well be counted 
 worthy of double honor, especially/ they who labor in the word and 
 doctrine." 
 
 The simple fact of the case, so far as this proof is concerned, 
 seems to be this: in every apostolic Church there was a plurality of 
 "Elders," with whom was lodged the government and discipline of 
 the Church; who presided over its outward interests, and who were 
 responsible for its purity and spiritual edification: these are called 
 "Bishops," "Overseers," "Elders," indiscriminately, but more fre- 
 quently the "Elders of the Churches." One of these, or perhaps 
 in special cases, more than one, was the "Bishop" by pre-eminence; 
 or, as our Baptist brethren would say, the "Elder;" or as Paul char- 
 acterizes them, "The Elders who labor in the word and doctrine." 
 These, however, are more commonly called the "Pastors," or "Teach- 
 ers.'^
 
 20 
 
 If, therefore, these positions be 6orrect, we have the very same 
 warrant for Ruling Elders, that we have for Pastors and 3Iinisters 
 of the word. 
 
 And if these arguments be legitimate, may we not confidently rest 
 upon them, as affording us ample Scriptural warrant for this import- 
 ant ojB&ce, as belonging to the apostolical organization of the Church? 
 And with this Scriptural warrant for it, I proceed to consider in the 
 second place, the true nature of the office. 
 
 It has been urged as an argument against the whole doctrine of 
 our Church, on this subject of the Eldership, that the nature of the 
 office is not defined in the Scriptures, nor its duties marked out. 
 This objection is without the least foundation in fact. The passages 
 of Scripture which teach the doctrine, also define its nature, and the 
 duties and qualifications of those called to serve in it. One passage, 
 for example, informs us, negatively, that it is noi "to labor in the 
 word and doctrine," and affirmatively, that it is '' to rule well " in 
 God's house : — Another, that it is to exercise government in the 
 Church, ^'Ruling with diligence :*' — another, that it is ''to feed 
 the flock of God.. .taking the oversight thereof... not as lords over 
 God's heritage, but as ensamples to the flock." And the whole tenor 
 of the Scriptures, in their use of the terms which designate the 
 office, as well as in every reference to it, conveys the clear and distinct 
 impression of the office, as one of superintendence, guardianship, gov- 
 ernment, discipline and guidance in the Church, and among the people 
 of God. Especially is this the case in the New Testament Scriptures, 
 where the office is commonly designated by the same terms which 
 designate the office of the ministry, from which it differs only as 
 regards the preaching of the word, and the administration of the 
 sacraments; and hence, the conclusion is a legitimate and unavoida- 
 ble conclusion, that as it regards the oversight, government, discipline, 
 &c., of the flock, the nature and duties of this office, are coincident 
 with those of the ministry I 
 
 But more particularly as it regards the nature of the office. It is 
 ever to be borne in mind, that the Church is not a human expediency, 
 but a divine institution ; — not a self-constituted and self-governed 
 society, but a divine and spiritual organization, having, as its only 
 and all=gufficicat constitution, the revealed Word of God, and its
 
 21 
 
 government in the "hands of those spiritual officers, whom God, by 
 his spirit, qualifies and calls. The Church is, in the highest sense of 
 the term, a Theocracy, of which Jesus Christ himself, is the King 
 and Head. It follows, therefore, from this theocratic character of 
 the Church, that all the officers of the Church, are the ministers and 
 servants of Christ, and derive their authority immediately from Him. 
 Christ has not only determined the character of the officers of his 
 Church, but he specifies their duties ,* defines their prerogatives j 
 gives them the requisite qualifications, and calls them into his Church; 
 and in this way gives them their official authority ! This fundamen- 
 tal and most glorious truth, against which even the gates of hell shall not 
 prevail, is manifested, not only from this theocratic character of the 
 Church, but from the whole tenor of Scripture. How express and 
 reiterated is the testimony of God's word, that He ''set some in the 
 Church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, after that 
 miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, govenimenfs, diversities of 
 tongues:" &c. That Chinst "gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; 
 and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for the per- 
 fecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying 
 of the body of Christ : till we are 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 fullness of Christ I" 
 
 More than this in the way of explicit testimony, that all the officers 
 of the Church derive all their official authority, and all their official 
 inspiration, immediately from Jesus Christ, is not needed ; and more 
 could not, in reason, be asked. And believing, as we have attempted 
 to show, that we have the same warrant for the office of Ruling Elder, 
 that we have for the office of the minister of the Word, — that both arc 
 included under, and expressed by, the same Scriptural titles — we 
 claim, that this office is the appointment of Christ in the same sense, 
 and to the same extent precisely, as the office of the ministry. 
 
 But, as the Lord Jusus Christ is not personally present with his 
 Church, to select and ordain her officers and ministers, he has dele- 
 gated this interesting and important function of the government to 
 the Church herself. Hence, our Standards, with a comprehensive 
 brevity, which we believe expresses every element of the doctrine; 
 and the very teaching of the word of God on the subject, aay, con-
 
 22 
 
 cerning this office, ^' Iluling Elders are properly the represeutatives 
 of the people, chosen by them for the purpose of exercising govern- 
 ment and discipline, in conjunction with pastors or ministers ;" for 
 '^ The Lord Jesus, as King and Head of his Church, hath therein 
 appointed a government in the hand of Church-Oificcrs/' *' To these 
 officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven arc committed," ''And 
 it belongeth to these, overseers and other rulers of the particular 
 Churches, by virtue of their office^ and the power which Christ hath 
 j:;iven them for edification... to appoint assemblies, and to convene 
 together as often as they shall judge it expedient for the good of the 
 Church/' 
 
 Here then, are the two great principles entering into the nature of 
 this office — its divine appointment, and its representative character. 
 
 Like the minister of the Word, the Eider comes to us bearing the 
 commission of the Lord Jesus Christ, and clothed v/ith his official 
 prerogatives by the Holy Ghost ; yet as the representative of the 
 people. He may not appropriate this office to himself ; he does not 
 inherit it; but he is called to it by the voice of the Church ! A cor- 
 rect apprehension, therefore, of the office of the representative, and of 
 his relation, at once to the people whom he represents, and to th e 
 constitution under which he acts, will do much towards giving us a 
 fuller and clearer understanding of the nature of the office itself. 
 
 The Representative is one chosen by the people, to discharge the 
 functions of a ruler, under some established and recognized constitu- 
 tion or code of laws. This constitution may be either the enactment 
 of the people themselves, or otherwise, according to circumstances. 
 A representative government is, therefore, necessarily, a constitutional 
 government, and the relations of the representative to the people and 
 to the constitution are such, that the very moment a man is chosen 
 by the people, according to the provisions of the constitution, to any 
 office under it, he ceases to be the servant of the people, passes en- 
 tirely beyond their control, and becomes the officer of the constitu- 
 tion, and the executor of its provisions. There is a wide and funda- 
 mental distinction to be drawn between the mere deputy, who is the 
 servant of the people; — the organ of the popular will and the pop- 
 ular execution; — doing in his official capacity only what the 
 people depute him to do, and what they might do themselves in their
 
 28 
 
 organic capacit}'; — and tlie representative^ who, as W3 have said, is 
 the servant of the constitution, and the executor of its provisions; 
 deriving all the inspiration of his office from that instrumeut : and, 
 whether the constitution under which he acts, emanates from the 
 people them?elves, or from some power extraneous to the people; 
 possessing under it powers, and discharging functions, to which the 
 people as such, can lay no claim whatever. In this exercise of his 
 official prerogatives he is entirely above, and independent of, the 
 popular will. The constitution being fixed, and the government 
 thereby lodged in the hands of representative officers, the people are 
 not only excluded from all immediate participation in the government; 
 but the constitution, and not the people, becomes thenceforward, the 
 immediate source of all the powers, and all the prerogatives of the 
 representative. To this, and this alone, does he look for authority, 
 and direction in the exercise of his privileges, and in the discharge of 
 his duties. This relation of the representative to the constitution, 
 places him immeasurably above the position of any mere organ, or 
 exponent of the popular will, and makes him the/;*«e, conscientious^ 
 responsible executor of that which is superior even to the popular will. 
 Now, this constitution under which the representative acts, and to 
 which alone he is responsible, may be, as I have said, the enactment, 
 either of the people themselves, or of some power higher than the people. 
 In the former case, all power vests in the people, till they circumscribe 
 and limit their power in the constitution ; thenceforward the consti- 
 tution becomes the repository, and the source of all official functions, 
 official powers, and official responsibilities. In the latter case, how- 
 ever, there is a power above the people, from which emanates that 
 constitution which, with authority supreme, defines at once the rela- 
 tions, duties, and prerogatives of representatives and people. In this 
 latter case, therefore, the people have no voice even in the enactment 
 of that constitution, which excludes them from the exercise of gov- 
 ernment, and vests it in the hands of representative officers. And 
 this latter, is precisely the government of the- Church of Christ ; 
 " The Lord Jesus Christ as King and Head of the Churchy hath 
 therein appointed a governments IN THE HANDS OF CiiURcn-OFFl- 
 CERs !" It follows, therefore, that not ministers of the Word only, 
 but also all Church-officers, who are not intruders upon holy things,
 
 24 
 
 not onlj hold their office by divine appointment, in the sense in 
 which civil powers are ordained of God, but in the higher and more 
 important sense of being the ministers of Jesus Christ, deriving all 
 their authority, not from the people, but from Christ himself, who 
 specifies their duties, defines their prerogatives, and, by qualifying 
 and calling them by the voice of his Church, which is the voice of 
 his own Spirit, he imparts nuto them all their official authority. 
 " The function of the Church in the premises, is not to confer the 
 office, but to sit in judgement on the question, whether the candidate 
 is called of Grod ; and if satisfied on this point, to express its judge- 
 ment in the public and solemn manner prescribed in the constitution 
 of the Church'^— the Word of God. 
 
 In the hands of these officers thus originated, ^' The Lord Jesus 
 as King and Head of the Church,^' has lodged its government. The 
 people, therefore, do not and cannot exercise government in the 
 Church of Christ, either directly or indirectly, any further than this- 
 ihei/ choose the oncers, 2chile Christ creates the ojice, defines its func- 
 tions, calls the incumbent, fits him for his duties with gifts and graces, 
 and sends him into his church clothed ivith official authority, to ^'ride 
 with diligence," and to feed — "potmanate," ^^icatch, protect, guide, 
 rule — the flock oj God^'' " over lohich the Holy Ghost hath made 
 them overseers !" In all these important respects, God has excluded 
 the people, by the very constitution of his Church, from any exercise 
 of its government whatever I All the people, and all the Churches 
 in the world, cannot — dare not — add a single article to the Church's 
 constitution, nor subtract one: — cannot add or subtract one office; or 
 exercise one function of legislative or judicial government not defined 
 in her Great Charter. For it is a fundamental principle, not only of 
 Presbyterianism, but of all true religion, that Jesus Christ himself 
 is the only Head and Lawgiver of the Church ; his written word her 
 only constitution, and the authoritative and infallible rule of her 
 faith and order. In this constitution, therefore, Jesus Christ has 
 drescribed the officers of his Church, defined their functions, &c.; and 
 these officers, acting under this constitution, are responsible, not to 
 the people, but immediately to those whose prerogative it is to ''rule" 
 and "discipline;" and, i^epresentatively through these to the people 
 and to Christ — not, however, in such a sense as to divest them of their
 
 2 
 
 r 
 
 higher, personal and official responsibility, immediately to Christ, as 
 the King and Head. 
 
 In this sense, and only in this sense, is the Elder the representative 
 of the people ; and precisely in the same sense, so far as the func- 
 tions of his office are coincident with those of the Ruling Elder, the 
 minister of the "Word, is also the representative of the people. They 
 are both representative officers, only as being chosen by the people, to 
 the exercise of an office which they have neither created nor defined; 
 and that, too, only on the ground of evidence afforded sufficient to 
 satisfy the Church, that Christ has already called them to this office, 
 by fitting them with graces for it, and giving them an inward prompt- 
 ing of his spirit towards it ! 
 
 To say, therefore, as it has been said recently in high places, that 
 '^ A representative is one chosen by others, to do, in their name, what 
 they are entitled to do in their own persons," and, therefore, that 
 '^The powers exercised by our Ruling Elders — as being ^The rep- 
 resentatives of the people ' — are powers which belong to the lay 
 members of the Church," is to assert a principle which is fundamen- 
 tally at variance with the plain teachings of our Standards, and of the 
 Scriptures, as interpreted by them. And to say, hence, " That it is 
 the right of the people to exercise government in the Church through 
 their divinely appointed officers," is, as I humbly conceive, either, a 
 sad misnomer, the effect of which is to vitiate the mind of the 
 Church as to the true nature, and the real importance and dignity of 
 this office of the Church; and to destroy that high respect and rev- 
 erence for it, which the people of G-od should ever cherish. Or, it 
 is the virtual abandonment of the whole ground to the Independents, 
 
 If it be ^'the right of the people to exercise government " in the 
 Church, in any i^roper or commonly understood sense of the terms, 
 then there is some point where they may interpose their prerogative 
 to arrest the government and make it different. 
 
 But this is assuredly not the case in the government of the Church ; 
 nor is the principle, from which this consequence must necessarily 
 flow, true ; to wit : " That it is the right of the people to exercise 
 government in the Church." The government of the Church is the 
 government of Christ, in " the hands of Church-Oeficers I" 
 Elders, therefore, are Rulers under Christ, whose duty it is to study 
 
 C
 
 26 
 
 the peace and prosperity and edification of his body, the Church, 
 by diligent oversight, wholesome government, and salutary discipline: 
 and they are representatives of the people, simply as they are chosen 
 by them to the exercise of these functions, under that constitution of 
 the Church which Christ has ordained, in the exercise of a high, per- 
 sonal responsibility to the Great Head of the Church. Their relations, 
 therefore, both to Christ and to his people, are precisely the same as 
 those of the minister of the "Word j and so far as it goes, i. e. so far 
 as the minister is a ^'Euler'' in the Church — their office is the same 
 also. They do not '^ labour in the word and doctrine,'^ it is true, 
 but, as " Kulers in God's house," ministers and Elders have precisely 
 the same office ; the same divine warrant j the same authority imme- 
 diately from Christ; the same responsibility; and the same obligations 
 laid upon them '^ to rule with diligence,'' and " to feed the flock of 
 God Avhich is among them f " and over which the Holy Ghost 
 hath made them overseers !" 
 
 III. Having thus developed, what I conceive to be the true sense 
 of Scripture, and the teaching of our Standards, concerning these 
 two departments of my subject, I come now, in the third place, to 
 consider more fully of the duties of this office. As to the general 
 principles, however, I have already anticipated this department of 
 my subject; for the inference will be immediately drawn, by every 
 mind, that, if the views here presented, as to the divine warrant for 
 this office, be correct; and if the nature of it, as shown by the Scrip- 
 tures and the Standards of our Church, be, as I have represented, the 
 great duties of the office are, necessarily, the same as those of the 
 ministry, so far as the two offices are coincident. The offices are not 
 coincident throughout, but so far as they are, the duties are the same. 
 If this office was included among those who, in the New Testament, 
 are so frequently addressed as the '^ Elders of the Church ;" the 
 " Overseers of the flock," &c. — if the Apostle described two classes 
 of officers, when he said, ^' Let the Elders that rule well be counted 
 worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and 
 doctrine," — if the New Testament writers were in the habit of 
 referring the official titles, and the official functions, of the one office 
 to the other — and if these " Elders who do not labour in the word 
 and doctrine," are yet charged with the guardianship, government
 
 27 
 
 and discipline of the Churcli; and with the oversight, care, direction 
 and edification of the flock of God, "over the which the Holy Ghost 
 hath made them overseers,'' — in the same sense as the Ministers and 
 Pastors ; then, this conclusion is unavoidable: that in all the great 
 features of his office, the Ruling Elder sustains the same relations to 
 the Church and people of God, that the minister of the Word sus- 
 tains ; and his duties and responsibilities are the same also. 
 
 In reference to his particular duties, however, I may say further, 
 that apart from the general idea of supervision and guardianship, as 
 an officer of the Church of Christ, and necessary to its complete or- 
 ganization, perhaps the most characteristic and important duty of his 
 office, is the exercise of government and discipline. The Scriptures, 
 throughout, clearly identify him with the government of the Church; 
 and the Apostle, when indicating (Rom. 12: 8.) the permanent officers 
 of the Church, defines this one as, " He that 7'idctJi." Manifestly, 
 therefore, his first duty is to " rule well;" not as " Lords over God's 
 heritage," but as the servants of Christ, with humility, tenderness 
 and love ; faithfully and diligently conducting the government, and 
 executing the laws of his house. 
 
 The divine exhortation to you, my brethren, is that ye "rw/c ivith 
 diligence." And this exhortation includes the idea, not only of 
 executive authority and activity, but also of official responsibility for 
 the purity and well-being of the Church, and for the peace and comfort 
 and edification of its members. 
 
 As the highest end of government, is the prosperity and well-being 
 of the governed, and, as the highest end of discipline, is the refor- 
 mation and salvation of the offender, therefore, to '* rule with dili- 
 gence," in the sense of the Apostle's exhortation, is so to superintend 
 the affairs of the Church, so to administer its government, and, when 
 the circumstances require it, so to execute its discipline, as best to 
 subserve these ends. And the duty of the Elders, as '* rulers" of 
 the Church, is to watch and labor, with all wisdom, and kindness, 
 and self-denial, and zealous effort for the accomplishment of these 
 ends. 
 
 Another duty cf the Elder is that of co-operation with the minister 
 or pastor of the Church, in all his plans and active efforts for advanc- 
 ing the cause of Christ; and his diligent improvement of all the
 
 appointed means, for promoting the outward prosperity, and the inward 
 purity and edification of the Church. 
 
 The minister, it is true, stands alone as authorized to preach the 
 Word and administer the Sacraments ; but in all other departments 
 of his official labor, he has associated with him these representatives 
 of the people, to co-operate in the common efforts and common respon- 
 sibilities, for the welfare of the flock. In all that concerns the over- 
 sight and government of the Church, and the watch and care of its 
 members, the minister is not distinguished from the Elder: both 
 have the same authority, the same functions, and the same responsi- 
 bilities ; and both sustain the same relations to the Church, on the 
 one hand, and to Christ, the Head of the Church, on the other hand. 
 Hence, active and zealous co-operation with the minister or pastor, in 
 all that is calculated to promote the temporal and spiritual interests 
 of the Church, in the widest and most laborious sphere of activity 
 and self-denial, is no less his duty, than it is the duty of the minister. 
 
 He may not preach the Word, nor administer the Sacraments, but 
 in every other department of the Church's interests, he may operate 
 as immediately, as efficiently, and as authoritatively ; and he should 
 operate as earnestly and as actively, and with as deep a sense of his 
 responsibility, as the Pastor. Yea, he may operate even more widely 
 and efficiently than the Pastor himself; for he sustains relations to 
 the people which the Pastor does not; and has their sympathies, and 
 knows their wants and their peculiarities as the Pastor, ordinarily, 
 cannot; and hence, he has a wide field of spiritual labor and influ- 
 ence which is all his own. Indeed, there is no estimating the influ- 
 ence, for good, in all the departments of the Church, which an active 
 and devoted Eldership may wield ; and would, if once brought to 
 realize, fully, the authority, nature, duties and responsibilities of their 
 office. I have no doubt, the Great Head of the Church, in establish- 
 ing this class of officers, contemplated a far wider field of labor and 
 usefulness than is now occupied by them : nor do I doubt that he will 
 hold them strictly responsible for the very great neglect which every 
 where prevails, and for the desolations of Zion,and the languishing con- 
 dition of his Church, consequent thereon. Instead of rolling the 
 whole burden and labor over upon the Pastor, as is commonly done, 
 the Elder should assume his full share, and co-operate in conducting
 
 all the more private and social exercises of religious worship ; and by 
 his presence, activity and fervency, contribute to make these the 
 means of rich grace, and the channels of precious spiritual blessings, 
 to all that can be induced to attend upon them. And that Elder is 
 inexcusably culpable, in the neglect of a weighty duty, who habitu- 
 ally absents himself from these meetings. 
 
 Again, the Elder should co-operate with the Pastor, by assuming 
 the general direction and supervision of the religious instruction and 
 spiritual training of the children and youth of the Church. The 
 children of the Church, are the lambs of the flock, '' over which the 
 Elders are set by the Holy Ghost,'^ as guardians and overseers. And 
 surely towards these he should ever cherish the most tender and 
 affectionate interest, watching over them with the utmost solicitude 
 and carefulness. 
 
 Still again, the Elder should, actively and faithfully, co-operate 
 in the visitation and spiritual care of the sick and the afflicted. 
 There is a very high value placed upon this duty, even as a charac- 
 teristic of a living Christianity, but a still higher value, as a duty 
 devolving upon those whom the Holy Ghost has made responsible for 
 the care of the flock. " Is any sick among you ? let him call for 
 the Elders of the Church; and let them pray over him... and the 
 prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; 
 and if ho have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." 
 
 Closely allied to this, is the duty of regular visitation, from house 
 to house, to become acquainted with, and to inquire after, and inter- 
 est themselves in the religious and spiritual welfare of the scattered 
 members of the flock. There is a wide field of practical usefulness 
 here, which the Pastors cannot possibly occupy; and which the Elders, 
 as the overseers of the flock, and co-workers with him, should. 
 These two things are represented in the Scriptures, as among the 
 most important of the duties of those who are ^^ to take the over- 
 sight of the flock !" The Elders, therefore, should be, characteris- 
 tically, the household, and hearth-side, and sick-bed teachers and 
 preachers, and the ministers and almoners of sympathy, and solace to 
 all those who mourn in Zion. 
 
 But there is another department of this subject, relating to the 
 duties of the Ruling Elder, which is of great practical importance.
 
 30 
 
 It often happens^ especially in this western country, that particular 
 Churches are, for a longer or shorter period, left without Pastors or 
 Ministers of the Word ; and the question arises — What are the 
 duties of the Eldership under such circumstances ? If the question 
 were to be answered from prevailing practice, we should say, their 
 duties were very few, and their responsibilities very light. The 
 views, however, which have been presented, as to the divine institu- 
 tion, the spiritual nature, and the representative character of the 
 office, will lead us to very different conclusions. Every inference 
 drawn from these conclusions, together with the express letter of the 
 Scriptures, show the '' Elders of the Church,'^ — as that expression 
 is so frequently used by the inspired writers, — to be the permanent 
 and responsible overseers, aad guardians, and rulers of the Church ; 
 charged by the Holy Grhost, " to feed the flock," watching and labor- 
 ing with zeal and fidelity, and self-sacrifice to promote its welfare, 
 and spiritual edification. This is the official charge given by the 
 Holy Ghost, both to the " Ruling Elders," and the ^' teaching 
 Elders ;" and the duties involved in this charge, are the permanent 
 duties of the office ; peculiar, neither to the Minister, nor to the 
 Elder, but common to both, and equally obligatory upon both ; being 
 the functions of the common office of^^ Ruler,'^ and ^'Overseer." The 
 charge is given to the ^' Elders of the Church;" and the duties indi- 
 cated, are those appertaining to the office of the ^^ Elders of the 
 Church." But we have before shown that, except as it regards the 
 functions of preaching the Word, and administering the Sacraments, 
 all the Elders, whether they be, as Paul characterizes them, those 
 who teach and rule, or those who rule simply, sustain the same rela- 
 tions to the Church, and to Christ its Head; and have the same office, 
 the same duties, and the same responsibilities on behalf of the Church 
 and people of God ; to watch over them, to exercise authority among 
 them, to labor for them, and to nourish and edify them with the ordi- 
 nances of worship and the means of grace. These are relations, and 
 duties, and responsibilities of which the Elders cannot divest them- 
 selves ; and which they may not neglect without guilt. When, there- 
 fore, the Pastor, or Minister, or, as Paul describes him, the ^' Elder 
 who labors in tlie Word and doctrine," is removed by death, or other- 
 wise, from the midst of his associate Elders, and Overseers of the
 
 81 
 
 flock ; and the Churcli is left " vacant/^ as we are pleased, with 
 much impropriety, to term it, the Kuling Elders are not thereby 
 absolved from their duties, or their responsibilities on behalf of the 
 Church and people over which Christ hath set them. If their rela- 
 tions are at all affected, they are only rendered the more intimate ; 
 and if their duties and obligations are at all affected, they are only made 
 the more numerous and weighty. The attention, oversight, care, 
 government, discipline, &c., of the flock, now devolve wholly upon 
 them ; and, as the flock still requires to be fed with the truth, and 
 nurtured with the ordinances, and " led amid the green pastures, 
 and by the still waters,'' of spiritual nourishment, they become 
 responsible now, for this additional work, and these more extended, 
 and more difficult duties. Instead, therefore, of falling back, when- 
 ever the Pastor or Minister is removed, — as is so commonly the case, 
 — into entire inactivity, and fancied irresponsibility, in reference to 
 these spiritual interests of the flock ; suffering tbe appointed ordi- 
 nances of worship to cease, the house of Grod to be closed up for 
 weeks, or months ; and the sheep and lambs of Christ's flock to be 
 scattered abroad, with none " to care for their souls," it is the 7nan- 
 ifest, and the imperative duty of the Eiders to use double diligence 
 in their watch of the flock ) to gather them into the sacred sanctuary 
 from Sabbath to Sabbath, that their feet stray not into devious paths; 
 and there to nourish and refresh them with the simple, '^ sincere 
 milk of the G-ospel /' and faithfully, and tenderally, and authorita- 
 tively, go in and out among them, feeding them '^ amid the green 
 pastures and by the still waters." The Elders muU provide for the 
 hungering, thirsting souls of God's people, spiritual meat, and spiri- 
 tual drink, and spiritual nourishment and edification; or be guilty 
 before God, if they do not I This may, and will^ involve labor, time, 
 expense, self-denial, and self-sacrifice, but no matter ; these things 
 m,ust be provided, or the people perish, and the Elders are Christ's 
 officers, called, commissioned and qualified, to do it ! It is the very 
 beauty, and excellency, and glory of the Presbyterian system of Church 
 polity, that the Church and the flock, are never left without the 
 guardianship of spiritual officers, whom the Holy Ghost, and not 
 man, has set as overseers of the flock ; and who are clothed, by Christ, 
 with all the functions necessary for their control, government, and
 
 82 
 
 spiritual nourisliment. The Pastor or Minister may be removed, but 
 the "Elders'' remain; and these are their duties, at such times, 
 and under such circumstances : — the duties with which Christ has 
 clothed them, for the government and edification of his Church. 
 " The Elders,'' therefore, " I exhort, who am also an Elder; feed 
 the flock of Grod which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, 
 not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready 
 mind ; neither as being lords over G-od's heritage, but being ensam- 
 ples to the fiock. And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye 
 shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away !" 
 
 Again, as the Church is onej the Elders are, as a consequence, 
 officers, not alone of the particular Churches where they serve, but 
 of the Church at large; and hence, are responsible to the utmost of 
 their ability and active influence, for the general welfare and pros- 
 perity of the whole Church. Therefore, another most important duty, 
 is their regular attendance upon the various ecclesiastical meetings. 
 The importance of this duty will be appreciated, only as we realize 
 the true nature of the Church, and the close relation, and intimate 
 dependence, of the several members upon each other. Our Presby- 
 terian system of Church Polity, is one of rigid, logical, and vital 
 consistency. Her members are scattered everywhere, yet the Church 
 is onc^ having but one Head, one life, one operation, and one com- 
 mon mission. Through all her various organizations, from the 
 Church session up to the highest judiciatory, flow the same vital 
 currents; and all are moved by the same vital impulses; and are so 
 united together, as the same body, that "if one member sufi'er, all 
 the members sufi'er with it; and if one member be honored, all the 
 members re^ice with it." 
 
 If, therefore, we are faithful to our noble system, and to ourselves 
 under it — if there be warmer life; if there be stronger faith, or 
 purer love, or deeper devotedness; if there be more of the spirit of 
 missions — which is the very spirit of Christianity — in any one part 
 of the Church, we come in contact with it, and are quickened, 
 warmed, benefitted by it. Hence it is found to be true, not in 
 theory only, but in sad and discouraging reality, that Just in the 
 degree that officers and Churches separate themselves, by negligence 
 or otherwise, from this union of fellowship, life and operation, their
 
 83 
 
 vitality, power and efficiency, dwindle and decay. We cannot live 
 alone; we cannot work alone; we cannot rear up, strong and beauti- 
 ful, the walls of Zion, without the fellowship and co-working of 
 many hearts and many hands. Hence, my brethren of the Elder- 
 ship, the importance of these ecclesiastical meetings, and of your 
 punctual attendance upon them. As office-bearers in the Church of 
 Christ, and influential and responsible as such, there is much for 
 you to learn here which can be learned nowhere else. Information 
 as to the religious wants of the world, and the Church's correspond- 
 ing obligations; and the demands upon her for expansion in every 
 department of her operations; for more strength of faith, more earn- 
 estness of zeal and love; and for more entire consecration of herself 
 to the accomplishment of her great mission. And as we have 
 seen the parched earth fertilized and enriched by the dews and 
 showers, so our parched souls are moistened and enriched by those 
 choice spiritual influences, so often shed forth where God's servants 
 are assembled, planning, consulting, laboring and praying for the 
 prosperity of Zion. At such times, the truth will force itself upon 
 the conscience, as we come in contact with the labors and struggles, 
 the conflicts and the accomplishments, of those who are our fellow- 
 laborers in the cause of Christ, that there is much yet for us to do; 
 that there are positions of onward advancement, heights of elevated 
 attainments for us yet to reach; that there is yet a faith, a love, a 
 zeal, a devotednesg, a character and kind of Christian working, far 
 above and beyond anything that we have yet attained. Surrounded 
 by such an atmosphere, the heart must be enriched and benefitted. 
 Come with me, ^'who am also an Elder," to one of these eccleseasti- 
 cal meetings; mingle in their councils; unite in the prayers there 
 ofi'ered; listen to the simple, unvarnished narratives of God's deal- 
 ings with others; bring your hearts into sympathy and contact 
 with hearts that are warmer than yours; bring your Christian 
 faith and life into contact with a faith that is stronger, and a life 
 that is more earnest; and if you do not return better men — more 
 earnest men; better officers in the Church of Christ; quickened and pre- 
 pared to take a higher stand, and to do a greater and better work, 
 then I have studied human nature in vain, and pondered the spirit 
 in man to no purpose! 
 
 D
 
 34 
 
 But fail in your attendance upon these meetings, and you not only 
 fail of all these benefits yourselves, but the Church also, which you 
 should represent, is cut off from the union, sympathy, and co-opera- 
 tion in the work, the conflict, and the onward progress of her sister 
 Churches, and of the Church at large; and as a consequence, she 
 falls out of rank, and out of connection with the great reservoir of 
 life and energy, and becomes, like the hand or the foot, when the 
 arteries which convey into it the life of the head or the body, are 
 cut off. 
 
 The Elder, in a sense that is entirely peculiar, and eminently 
 vital, are the media of connection, and the channels of spiritual 
 influences, flowing from the Church at large, in her assembled wis- 
 dom, earnestness, and authority, into the particular Churches of 
 which they are the officers. 
 
 The Elder is not an officer in the Church of Christ, solemn- 
 ly set apart and ordained, merely to participate in occasional 
 meetings of session, and to distribute the elements in the adminis- 
 tration of the Sacraments. No, my brethren, Christ has laid upon 
 you a much higher office, and a much wider and^more weighty respon- 
 sibility. The life of the Church is represented in you — the life of 
 the Church is reached and influenced through you. You come out 
 from the membership of the Church; your sympathies are with them; 
 your hearts beat in unison with theirs; your life, as a development of 
 vital Christianity, is in constant contact with theirs; while the 
 authority, the influence, and the prestige of a divinely appointed office, 
 are vested in you. The interefcts of the Churches, therefore, which 
 you represent, the character of their piety and zeal; the character 
 and extent of their efficiency, as organized agencies for the advance- 
 ment of the Redeemer's Kingdom, are all, to a large extent, under your 
 control. Is there benefit of any kind, flowing to the Churches from 
 these stated eccleseastical meetings? That benefit, whatsoever it may 
 be, flows through you! Is it knowledge of the Churches workings? 
 Is it faith? Is it the renewed kindlings of zeal and love? Is it a higher 
 consecration? Is it more earnest desires for the salvation of the 
 heathen? Is it some deeper and repentant convictions of the Church's 
 short-comings? Whatsoever it may be, you, yoii, are the channels 
 of communication; as, from attendance upon these meetings, you
 
 35 
 
 return with your minds informed, your hearts warmed, and your 
 souls stirred within you, and, to use the beautiful figure of Scripture, 
 with your hands dripping with this spiritual myrrh, and alloes, and 
 cassia, to mingle again with the people, over whom the Holy Ghost 
 hath made you overseers; to impart unto them of these good things, 
 these rich treasures, this sweet spicery. But all this, in a great 
 measure, is lost if you represent them not: therefore, to the full 
 extent of these considerations, is the responsibility laid upon you. 
 Our Presbyterian system of church polity is no expediency, no device 
 of man's wisdom; but comes to us with all the wisdom and authority 
 of the divine institution, and the divine sanction. Believing, there- 
 fore, that we hold that system of polity which most nearly accords 
 with the divine word, we believe that the Presbyterian Church is, 
 just in so far, qualified to take her position in advance of every 
 other Church; and we believe that G-od will hold her responsible if 
 she does not! And could we see those officers whom the Great Head 
 has appointed for her, realizing the true nature and character of 
 their office, and beginning earnestly and fully to perform the duties 
 thereof, we should soon see her marching forward to assume her 
 commanding position among the Churches, like Judah among the 
 tribes of Israel, and '^glorious things would be spoken of her!'' 
 
 IV. Having thus imperfectly indicated the most important duties 
 of the office; I come now, in this fourth and last place, to speak, 
 briefly as I can, of the qiialijications necessary to a proper dis- 
 charge of these duties. 
 
 The views which I have presented, of the nature and duties of 
 the office, will, almost of themselves, suggest what are the necessary 
 qualifications. Surely those who are invested with the functions 
 of an important spiritual office; and one so essential to the organiza- 
 tion and government of the Church of Christ; and to the comfort 
 and edification of his people, should be possessed of character and 
 qualifications corresponding, in some degree, to the position which 
 they occupy, and the duties which they are called to perfom. 
 
 As the office is a spiritual office; and its duties those of govern- 
 ment and discipline in the House of God; and as those who are 
 called to the exercise of this office are, from the very nature of the 
 office itself, '^overseers," and ^^ensamples to the flock;" it will be
 
 36 
 
 manifest at once, that sincere piefi/ is the very first and most import- 
 ant qualification. This, indeed, is that pure and loving spirit which 
 must animate and sanctify every other qualification before it is '^fit 
 for the Master's use," or for the service of God's house! The ques- 
 tion has been well asked: ^^Gan he who is either destitute of piety, 
 or who has but little of it, engage in the arduous and deeply spiritu- 
 al duties of the Ruling Eider, with comfort to himself, or with any 
 reasonable hope of success?" 
 
 The example of Christ, and the teachings of his holy word, are 
 the only tests of genuine piety: according to these it is neither the 
 correctness of a cold outward conformity to the law of God, or the 
 precepts of right action, — that scrupulosity which would "tythe mint, 
 anise, and cummin;" nor is it the wild efi'ervescence of excited feel- 
 ing; but a permanent habit of holiness — the soul's own calm, deep, 
 conscious realization of the principles of a new and spiritual life, 
 from which, as from a fountain of living waters, opened up by the 
 spirit of God, flow those peaceable fruits of "love, joy, peace, long- 
 suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." 
 
 Those who bear rule in God's house, and are, from the very 
 nature of their office, '^ensami)les to the flock," should possess this 
 fundamental element of official qualification in an eminent degree: 
 its sincerity should be clearly manifested; its light should shine 
 brightly; its tone should be deep and clear; and its full, strong pulsa- 
 tions should be felt by every member, and to every extremity of the 
 whole body. Yes, my brethren, its light should shine — shine 
 brightly, and shine with the warm radiance of deep, earnest spiritu- 
 lity. This should be the most impressive feature of their piety — its 
 spirituality. The religion which they profess with their lips, being 
 deeply infused into the very elements of their being, sanctifying and 
 spiritualizing the entire moral and spiritual man, till at the bar of 
 God's word and their own omniscience, and before the tribunal of 
 the world's closest scrutiny, they stand confessed, ^'men of God;" 
 "Servants of Christ;" ^'Holy men," ^^whom to live is Christ!" 
 
 Ah! my brethren of the Eldership, to live in the world as ^'burning 
 and shining lights," "showing forth Jesus Christ, and him Crucified," 
 is the Elder's first, and highest, and holiest duty." "Heavenly 
 mindedness," as one hath said, "should ever characterize him. He
 
 3T 
 
 V 
 
 should be knowa as a man of grayer; as a man of the Bible; as a 
 man deeply and devoutly engaged for Christ and his cause. It is his 
 reproach to display greater zeal in politics, than in religion; to be 
 more concerned with his interest table, than with his Bible; to mani- 
 fest greater eagerness in the marts of traffic, than in the assemblies 
 of the Saints;'' or to be more deeply imbued with the spirit of the 
 world, than with the spirit of Christ. 
 
 This living, spiritual piety, should mellow the harsh asperities 
 and quick irritabilities of his natural self; and make him a model of 
 gentleness and kindness, and Christ-like forbearance and long-suffer- 
 ing; so that all who see him may ''take knowledge of him that he 
 has been with Jesus," and has learned of Him. 
 
 Again, this deep, controlling piety should make the Elder prudent, 
 discreet and loise in all his private and public relations. Oh! how 
 indispensable are these Christian vir tues, and graces of the spirit 
 to *'rule well" in the house of Grod! In view of untold evils, constant- 
 ly resulting from a want of these qualifications, we aro constrained to 
 believe that that sound discretion, genuine prudence, and practical 
 wisdom which flow from an understanding enlightened, and a heart 
 sanctified by the Spirit of God, are among the most essential quali- 
 fications of the Eldership: and to possess these, in large measure, 
 amid the difficult emergencies of the Church's government and dis- 
 cipline, is a qualification of the rarest value. 
 
 And still again, this earnest piety should move the Elder with 
 active, burning zeal for the cause of Christ, and on behalf of all the 
 interests of pure religion in the world. Not the zeal of the fanatic 
 or wild enthusiast, but the ardent zeal of truth, and love, and God's 
 Spirit, kindled with coals from tha t "Most Holy Altar," laid glow- 
 ingly upon the heart! That zeal which "endureth hardships, as 
 good soldiers," and "counteth all things but lost for Christ," and 
 his cause. Oh, my brethren of the Eldership! 'you are the leaders 
 and ensamples of the flock in all these respects; the exponents to 
 them of the religion of Jesus Christ, in its inward spirit, and its 
 outward manifestations; and the spirituality, and zeal, and activity, 
 and liberality, and devotedness of the people will rise no higher, 
 than yours. 
 
 But a second general qualification for the office of Ruling Elder,