•'siBWBmsasussr!^ DISCOURSE, delivered in St, John's Church, in Portsmouth, Newhampshire : at the conferring the order of priesthood on the Rev Robert Fowle, A.M. of Holderness. On the festival of St. Peter, 1791, By the Right Rev. Samuel Seabury, D.D. Bishop of Connecticut CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924104035963 DISCOURSE, DELIVERED IN ^ St. y O UN's C H U R C H^ I N i*ORTSMOUTHi NEWH AM P S HlkE, At thfe toriferririg the Order of PRIESTHOOD oil The Rev. ROBERT FOWLE, A. M; 7 ' ■ bij HOLDERNESS. On the FESTIVAL of St. PETER, 17^1, By the Right Rev. SAMUEL SEABURY, D. D. Bishop of CorfiiECTicuT. Am I therefore become your enemy, becaufe I tell you the truth ?— Gai. iv, 16. the devil— ^.i-is a liarj and the father of it.— St. John, viiii 44. the Church of the living Godj the pillar and ground of the truth.-^ i. Tim. iii. 15. PRINTED AT BOSTON, BY ISAIAH THOMAS and EBENEZER T. ANDREWS, F JUST'S STATUE, No. 45, Newbury Street. For Geokgi; Jekky Osbornej jun. Printer, ia'P'orlfmouti. "i^ DCCXCI. ADVERTISEMENT. CT''H E mijreprefentaiion of a pajjage in the following Ser- ■ moriy and the publi(k abufe of the author, are the reafins of its publication. Jsfar as it goes, it contains his deliberate fenti- ments on thefubjeli, which he has no difpojition p retraEi. He has expreffed them freely, becaufe he thought it his duty ; and be~ caufe in a free country, he fuppofed he had a right to do fo. And hejiill hopes he has as undoubted a privilege to explain and eftablijh the Epijcopacy of the Church, as others claim to revile and deftroy it. Should any one be dijbofed to nibbl? at particular fentiments and exprejjions, he is heartily welcome : The principles, he flatters hirnfelj, will abide the trial of reafon and fripfure. Nonfenfe, he knows, will have its paroxyfms, and that they will fimetimes be violently abujive, efpecially when the fecrecy of a newspaper can effeHually conceal an author in venting his igno- rance and malice. The bleffed Redeemer was reviled as a drunk- ard — the holy Baptift as a demoniack-r-St. Paul as a babbler — . They were defamed — made as the filth of the world^^^the off-fcour- ing of all things-r-and by whom ? Irifuch company it is the au- thor's highefl honour to be found, fuffering reproach as they did in. the caufe of truth. DISCOURSE, ?^c. . . ■^ ■oi^^&yy® <^^^ ®<-i St. matt. XXVIII. 18, 19, 20. JESUS CAME, AND SPAKE UKTO THEM, SAYING, ALL POWER IS GIVEN UNTO ME IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH. GO YE, THEREFORE, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN- THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY GHOST : TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER I HAVE COMMANDED YOU : AND, LO, I AM WITH you AtWAY, EVEN UNT.O THE END OF THE WORLD. AM£W. Xl AV I N G been engaged in the folemn fervice of conferring the order of Priefthood, and thereby fending another labourer into God's har- veft, to gather men into his church, and prepare them for future happinefs in his eternal kingdom, I think it my duty to call your attention to the com- miflion which our Saviour gave to his Apoftles juft before his afcenfion ; becatife that commiffion, being the foundation of all authority which ever did, or can fubfifl; in his Church, it is a matter of import- ance to us rightly to underftand it, and conform our to it. In In a country where religious opinions and pro- feiBons are fo various, and in an affembly fo large as this to which I now addrefs tnyfelf, it cannot be fuppofed that a difcourfe on this fubjed: can be e- qually acceptable to every one — -fome will condemn what others may approve. The boaft of the pref- ent age, and particularly of this country, is liberali- ty of fentiment, and candour to thofe who diflFer from us. Permit me then to avail myfelf of thefe difpofitions ; and to hope, that while I endeavour,, in truth and fincerity, to explain the commiffion which Christ gave his Apoftles, as I underftand it, I fliall efcape the cenfure of thofe who differ from me in opinion, feeing I take no greater privi- lege in difienting from them than they do from me. Humbly trufting in the grace of God's holy Spirit to preferve me from all error in dofilrine, and intemperance in expreffion, I novy apply myfelf to the bulinefs before me. All power y faid our R e d e e me r, if ghcn to me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teaeh all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,, anil of the Son, and of the Holy Ghofh : Teaching, them, to chferve all things whatfoever I have commanded you : And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of thi world. Here a power is claimed by Christ, an au- thority is delegated to his apollles, a duty is enjoin- ed on them, and a promife of fupport is annexed to 1. to it^ The power claimed by Chris* is unlimit- ed — allpotuer is given to me in heaven- and in tartjii As Christ is the fon of God, this plenitude of power is inherent in him by his divine nature^ and was fo from eternity. As he is the fon of man, and the mediator of the new covenant between God and man, this power was conferred on him by the Al- mighty Father. The power, therefore, which Christ poffeffes in heaven, comprehends the power of fending the Holy Ghoft, of commanding the fervice of the holy An- gels, and all the hoft of heaven, and of giving heav- en itfeif to all who believe in him and obey him. His power on earth includes authority to gather his Church out of the nations, to rule and govern it by his will, to proteft itby his might, to fanftify it by hrs Spirit. This privilege Christ obtained by his refurreftion and afcenfion. The great end of Ch r i s t's coming into the world was tb make atonement for fin, and, through that atonement, to put man under a new covenant, even the covenant of grace and mercy, becaufe he was become incapable of fulfiling the original covenant of perfedl; obedience, byreafonof the apoftacy of human nature from God. Christ, therefore, in- ftitutcd his Church to be a holy fociety, confifting, in every age, of all thofe who, through faith in him, and dependence on his atonement, fliould renounce the apoftacy of human nature, and fhould live in obedience obedience to the laws and conditions of the new covenant of grace and mercy, which accepted of re- pentance inftead of innocence, of earneft endeav- ours after holinefs inftead of that which is perfeflt,' and of unfeigned obedience inftead of that which is unfinning. Though Christ's Church is not of thii world, but is taken out of the world, and feparated froth it, and therefore, is not to be governed by worldly policy^ but by the laws of C h r i s t j its members not to^ive by worldly maxims and principles, but by the rules and direftions of the Gofpel j not by the fpirit of the worldj but by the fpirit of God ; yet as it is made up of membersj coUefted out of the na- tions of the world, and brought into it by converfion from the fervice of fin to the fervice of God, it muft, at leaft, for a jime and in party viz. while this life continues, be in the world. The inftituted means of converfion was the preaching of the Apoftles, and of thofe who were commiflioned by them — Go ye and teach all nations, that is, preach the Gofpel to all nations : Or, as Sti Mark expreflesit. Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gofpel to every creature — to all who will hear you. The appointed mode, or inilrument of admiffieri into the Church upon their converfion, was Baptifm — Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghofl. The Tii E rtjle of life to thofe who were converted to the faith, and baptized into the Church, was the Commandments vj Christ — teaching them to obferve all things whatfoever I have commanded you. The end of their faith and obedience, as we learn from St. Mark, was eternal life — He that helieveth and is baptized Jhall befaved. The fupport the Apoftles and their fucceflbrs were to receive in the execution of their commiffidn, was the prefence of Christ — Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Holy Scripture informs us that Christ pur- chafed this Church by his death ; that it is made fubjefl: to his authority by him who hath put all things under his feet ; that it is animated and fanc- tified by his fpirit. On all thefe accounts, then, it muft be his Church, and his only ; and no man can have a right to interfere in its government or difci- pline, but by commiffion from him ; becaufe he is its head and king, its proprietor and fupreme gov- ernor. That he did give a commiffion, or delegated a power to his Apoftles to govern his Church under him, when he faid to them. Ail potver is given to me in Heaven and in earth. Sec. has been already obferv*- ed, and further appears from St. John, As my Father hath fent me, even fo fend I you. Let us then fee what this commiffion empowered and required them B to lO to do, and then we fhall be able to form a judgment of its extent and limitation — whether it was given to the Apoftles in fuch a manner as to exclude all others, except thofe to whom they communicated it according to the will of Christ ; or whether it be left common to all men, fo that every one who choofes may validly interfere in its government and ofiEces ? By their commiffion, the Apoftles were empower- ed and commanded to preach the Gofpel to all na- tions. To them our Saviour's words are par- ticularly direfted ; and from comparing together the accounts which St. Matthew and St, Mark have given us of this tranfaflion, it appears that none were prefent but the eleven Apoftles : to them, therefore, the commiffion muft be reftrained. By a former commiffion, they had been fent to preach to the loft flieep of the houfe of Ifrael, but were forbidden to go into other nations. Here their commiflion was enlarged, and made to extend to all the nations of the world. That God originally intended, that the bleffings of redemption through Messiah fhould extend to all nations, appears from the promife made to Abra- ham, that in his feed all the families of the earth fhould be blefled. It was, therefore, neceffary that the knowledge of redemption through him fliould be preached to all nations, that they might believe in him, and in his Church obtain falvation through his .11 his mediation : but how fhould they believe in him of whom they have not heard ? Without faith, faid an 'Apoftle, it is imfoffihle to pkafe God. He faith, too, that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. His argument proceeds in this manner — Whofoever fhall call upon the name of the Lord Jhall befaved. They cannot call upon him in whom they have not believed : They cannot believe in him of whom they have not heard : They can- not hear without a preacher : They cannot preach except they hefent. So that there can be no faith in God, but what is founded on fome declaration which God hath made. But how fhall we know what God hath declared except fome one inform us ? And who can inform us except they whom God hath commiffioned to do fo? He whom God hath fent, can a£l in the name of God, and make known to us the will of God in thofe particulars for which God hath fent him. But fhould one come without being fent of GoD,though what he fhould fay might be reafonable and true, our belief of it would not be faith in God, becaufe not founded on his author- ity. The neceffity, therefore, of a commiflion from God to preach his word, and make known his will, that we may believe in him and obey him, is evi- dently apparent. Another power, which the Apoftles received by their commiflion, was that of admitting, perfons in- to Christ's Church by baptifm. The Church be- ing Christ's, he only can have power to appoint its 12 its government and officers : he only can prefcribe the mode of receiving members into it, becaufe he only is its king and head. No man, therefore, can have authority to receive perfons into Christ's family — his kingdom, and make them members of his body — (for by all thefe titles is his Church diftin- guifhed) — but by commiffion from him, and in the way which he hath commanded. Suppofe a man takes upon himfelf to make members of Christ's Church, by fome other mode than Baptifm ; Do they, in confequence, become members of it ? Or fuppofe he baptizes with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; Is the Baptifm he adminifters, Christ's Baptifm, when he has no authority from Christ to adminifter it ? Baptifm is a covenant be- tween God, and the party baptized. It includes engagements on both fides. The party baptized afts for himfelf, or his fureties, who are his repre- fentatives, a£l for him. God's minifler is his rep- refentative, and afts in his name, by virtue of the authority he has received from Jesus Christ, the mediator of the Covenant. The valid adminiftra- tion of Baptifm, therefore, depends on a valid com- milHon from Christ. The other power, which the Apoftles received by their commifiion was, to inftruft thofe who had been baptized, and thereby admitted into the Church of Ch R I ST, in the direftions And commands which he had given for the regulation of their con- duft. !1 dud;> that they might live fuitably to the folemn engageme"nts into which they had entered. They were to teach them all things tuhatfoever Christ had commanded. The exercife of this power cdnfiiled in their de- claring and explaining the principles and doflrines of Chriftianity ; in their inculcating and enforcing the praftice of virtue and holinefs j and in their ad- miniftering, according to Christ's will, the facra- ments and difcipUne of his, Church. To convey thefe powers, in the whole, or in part, is the defign of Ordination; which is no more than the communicating fuch a portion of Christ's commiffion, as that order of the Clergy requires, to which the perfon ordained is appointed. That our Lord intended the Apoftolic office fhould continue to the end of the world, is plain from the text, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. He knew the Apoftles were not to live to the end of the world, and had warned them to expe£l, not only perfecution, on account of their preaching the Gofpel, but death alfo^ Christ's promife, therefore, to be with his Apof- tles to the end of the world, was not only perfonal- ly to them, but included their fucceflbrs alfo — all who fhould hold their commiffion to the end of the world : And indeed, may be faid to have been made rather to their commiffion, than to their perfons ; , for it was only in the difcharge of the duties of their commiffion. II commiffion, that they were the objeSs of the pro- mife. If, then, the Apoftolical commiffion ceafed with the lives of the firft Apoftles, as fome have taught, the promife of Christ, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world, has failed ; for the Apoftles have been long dead, and the end of the world is not yet come : Then, too, there is no au- thority from Christ fubfifting in the Church; and of confequence, Christ has no Church : The gates of Hell have prevailed againft it, and 'it is ex- tinft. For a Church, in which Christ has no au- thority, cannot be his Church : It may be the Pope's Church, or Luther's Church, or Calvin's Church, or Wefley's Church — his Church, whoever he was, who inftituted its government and miniftry : But Christ's Church it cannot be, unlefs it be founded on his authority, and governed by his com- miffion. If, now, it be abfurd to fay that Christ has no Church in the world, it is abfurd to fay, that the Apoftolical commiffion ceafed with the lives of the firft Apoftles ; for if that commiffion ceafed, the Church founded under it ceafed of courfe. Takin G it then for an eftabliffied point, that the Apoftolical commiffion was to continue to the end of the world, it will follow that the government of the Church is, at leaft ought to be, the fame now, it was in the time of the Apoftles, a(ter they had fettled it ac-cording to the will of Christ, and by virtue of hie 11 his commiflion : No human authority can have power to alter it ; and in whatever degree it has been any where altered, in the fame degree it ceafes to be the Church of Christ, and becomes a Church of human invention. For, the Apoftles being divinely infpired, and afting under the im- mediate direftion of the Holy Ghost, in all things neceffary to the eftablilhment of the Church accord- ing to the will of Christ, none of their fucceffors could have authority to change the governmejit they had eftabliflied, unlefs they could plead the authority of Christ for the change, with as much certainty as the firft Apoftles could for the original eftablifliment, and could give the fame proof of di-- vine infpiration as thofe Apoftles had given. The power, therefore, of their fucceffors could go no further than to the adminiftration of the govern- ment the Apoftles had inftituted : — The doftrines, facraments, government, and difcipline of the Church were the depojitum, the facred tmft commit- ted, to them, which they were to guard and admin- ifter, not to corrupt, or change. Notwithstanding the different opinionswhich have been entertained, and the many altercations which have in confequence enfued, it ftill remains a pofition capable of folid proof, that the government and offices of the Church were, in the time of the firft Apoftles, adminiftered by three orders of Clergy in fubordinate degrees. The Apoftles, by Christ's appointment, held the higheft ftation, and, under him. i6 him, were the fouTce of all ecckfiaftical pO'Wet. Subordinate to them were the Prefbyters, foiiie- times called Bilhops : While the Deacons Hood iii the loweft rank, and were properly the affiHants o^ the higher Clergy in the adminiftration of their ofBccj^ That thefe three orders tvere in the Church, in the time of many of the firft ApoftleSj has never been denied by the mofl; zealous oppofers of Epif- copal government that I can recollefl. They in- deed fay, that the apoftolic office was temporary, and ceafed at the death of the original Apoftles^ But it has been proved, that this opinion has no foundation to Hand upon ; bdcaufe if it be admit, ted, it will follow that Christ's promife, Zo, I am with you alv/ay, even unto the end of the world,, has failed. But if it be impious to fay fo, it is nonfenfe to fay that the apollolical pffice has ceafed. With regard to Prejhyters there is no difpute, unlefs it be about the names by which they are de^ noted. That Prefbyter and Bilhop are in feveral inftances ufed in the New Teftament, to exprefs the fame office or degree of Clergy, is readily granted. But this conceffion, if our opponents choofe to con- fider it as one, hurts not our argument, nor helps theirs, Suppofe both terms to denote one and the fame office, you muft, at the fame time, fuppofe the office denoted by thofe terms to have been in the Church, or it could not have been denoted by any terms 11 t&tths dt air. Now, if there were fuch officers in file cAil'rch in th'e titrieS of the Apoftlesj as were: ftittd Prefbytei'S or Bifllops, it is eafy td prove tha£ iiky \f6tt fut)brainate, ndt only t6 the brigihal A- pdftMs, St. #eter, St. Piiul, &c. but alfo to thofe who were ordained Apqftles fay them, St. Timothy and St: Titus. Should any one doubt the fafl:, let hin^ read St, Paul's Epiftles to Timothy and to Titus, ahd then let him doubt if he cap. So that whether we can give a decided reafon for the appropriation Cf the name of Biihop to the fucceffors of the A- pofttes; or point out the precife time when it hap- pe/jedj; or not, our afgument is unimpaired, while it can be proved, that thofe Prefbyters or Bifhops were fctlt'letOndary officers in the Church, and did not M th^ higheft featsl. With regard' to the Deacohs,' the enemies of E- ^fcopacy have reduced thit order down to be of no "degree of Clerg/ at alL They have fome per- fOMS,^ it is true, ifrhom they ftile Deacons^ who are choHett by a pluifallty of lay voices, and enter on their offide withaiit even the pretence of an ordina- tibh. Whereas in the apoftdlical times> their titlfe to be confidd-ed as an order of the' Clergy is incon- teftiblfe. They were drdain^d to their office by the laying on 6f the hands of the Apoftles : Ahd be- fides their miniftration at the holy communion and love feafts, aiid their fuperintending the char- itable funds of tiie Church, they preached and bap- tized— witne'fs St. Stephen arid St. Philip. C ANOTiflER i8 Another proof of the Deacons being an order of Clergy may be taken from St. Paul's firft Epiflile to Timothy, where they are mentioned in fuch terms, and fuch diredlions are gfven concerning them, as can comport with no order of laymen. If then it wasneceflary the Deacons fliould have thofe powers in the time of the Apoftles, why is it not neceETary they fhould have the fame powers how ? And if ordination, by the hands of the Apof- tles, was then neceflary to confer thofe powers, why is -not ordination, by the hands of thofe who fucceed to the Apoftles in conveying Christ's commiffion, now neceflary to communicate the fame powers ? I T has, I truft, been proved, that there were, in the time of the Apoftles, three oi'ders of Clergy in the Church, by their inftitution under the immedi- ate infpiration and direftion of the Holy Ghdft. That they, who have departed from the Epifcopal government of the Church, have but one oifder, needs no praof-^That there ought to be but one order is the ground of their fyftem. However, therefore, it may be with the Epifcopal Churchy they who rejeO: Epifcopacy (to fey nothir^ of the invalidity of Prefbyterian ordination) have hot that Church government, which the firft Apbftles fettled smd left in the Church. Tnys it appears to have been the intention of Christ, when he commiflioned his Apoftles to preach the Gafpel to al^ nations, that their com- miffion miffion flibuld continue to the end of the world. It appears alfo, that the Apoftles, by virtue of that coimmiffion, and under the infpiration and direc- tion of the Holy Ghoff, did leave in the Church three orders of Clergy, then ftiled Apoftles, Pref- byters, or Bifhops, and Deacons ; now called BiQi- pps, Prefbyters or Priefts, and Deacons. Our du- ty, therefore, requires^:hat we abide by that Church government which they inftituted according to the will of CHRIST ; becaufe no pow.er on earth has authority to change it ; becaufe too, if we do change it, and fubftitute another government in its ftead, we have no warranted claim to the privileges and bleflings which Christ has annexed to it. The duties, which belong to the ofEce of Prel- byters in the Churc^ of Christ, have been partic- ularly fpecified, and the obligations they are under to fidelity and diligence in the difcharge of thofe duties, have been ftrongly enforced in the fblemh fervice which has been before you. It is to bfe hoped, that all who enter into this holy order, will ever remember the awful engagements they are un- der, to execute their office in the fear of God, to his glory, and the edification of his Church ; know- ing that they muft give account to God of their conduft, both as Clergymen and Chriftiaris, For their encouragejnent let them remember, that the Prefbyters who rule well that part of the Church which is committed to their charge, and labour'in the ' 20 the preaching of ifie word md doSrine, (ire worti^ of double honour, an4 A