I.

SERM. but one Episcopal office, a part whereof is wholly possessed by every Bishop;' which, as it quite overthrows the supremacy which the Bishop of Rome pretends to over all other Bishops, so it sufficiently proves the true sense and meaning of the words in my text. For, seeing the office is still one and the same now which it was in the Apostles' days, and so will continue to the end of the world; seeing also there always will be such Apostles in the Church, our Saviour, speaking to the Eleven as Apostles, might well say, "Lo! I am with you to the end of the world."

Having thus discovered in what sense the Apostles were to continue in the Church to the end of the world, we are now to consider in what sense our Lord here promises to be always with them. To find out which, we need not have recourse to the wild and extravagant opinion of the Ubiquitarians, asserting the human nature of Christ to be every where present. Neither is it sufficient to observe that His Divine essence is present with them; for so it is with every creature, no creature being able to subsist without it. Whereas our Saviour here promiseth to be with His Apostles in some such peculiar sense as can belong only to them, and to them only as His Apostles. And that we might not be mistaken in a matter of such consequence as this, He himself hath elsewhere explained himself, and left upon record how these words are to be understood. For, as He here promises His Apostles, that He will be with them to the end of the world, so He elsewhere tells them that His Holy Spirit shall be John 14. 16. always with them. "And I will pray the Father," saith He, "and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of Truth;" which is the same in effect with His own being always with them. For the Spirit, proceeding from the Son, as well as from the Father, and being of the same nature and essence with Him, Wheresoever the Spirit is, there is Christ also. So that, in short, our Saviour here promiseth His Apostles, that He will be always with them to the end of the world, by His Holy Spirit accompanying and assisting of them in the discharge of their Apostolical office. In the discharge, I say, of their Apostolical office; for we are still to remember what I observed before, even that these words were spoken to the

Apostles and their successors only as such; and therefore Christ's presence with them by His Holy Spirit, here promised, cannot be understood only of His illuminating, or sanctifying, or comforting presence, which He vouchsafeth to all believers, as well as unto them; but it must be understood in such a sense as is proper to the Apostles, Pastors, and Governors of the Church in all ages: which, in brief, amounts to no more nor less than this, even that Christ, having constituted such an office in His Church for the government and edification of it to the end of the world; He here promiseth that He himself, by His Holy Spirit, will be always present at the execution of it, so as to make it effectual to the great ends and purposes for which it was designed.

22.

To explain this more fully to you, it will be necessary to instance in the several parts of the Apostolical office, and to shew how Christ, according to His promise, is always present, by His Spirit, at the performance of them. Now the first and principal part of this office is the ordaining others into it, and giving them power to ordain others, and so successively to the end of the world; which is necessarily supposed in the promise itself, as that without which it could never be fulfilled. The first, therefore, that were ordained into this office, were ordained by Christ himself. The form and manner of which ordination is set down, where it is said that Christ, John 20. 21, coming to His Apostles, said to them, " Peace be with you; as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost;" where we may plainly see how our Saviour would be with His Apostles, after His body was removed from them, even by His Holy Spirit, which He therefore breathes from Himself into them, by that means consecrating them His Apostles and vicegerents upon earth; telling them withal, that as "the Father sent Him, so He sent them." Whereby He certifies them, that whatsoever power He had received from the Father for the instruction and government of His Church, He now left the same with them, or rather with the Holy Spirit which He breathed into them; and by consequence, that as He sent them, so were they to send others, by conferring the Spirit upon them, and so from one to another all along, that the Spirit

SERM. which they now received might continue with them and I. their successors, and so supply His place upon earth until His coming again.

Hence the Apostles, being thus ordained and instructed by our Lord, took special care to transfer the same Spirit to others which they had received from Him. But this they could not do after the same manner as Christ had done it to them, even by breathing upon them; for that way was peculiar to Christ, from whom the Spirit proceedeth. Wherefore, they being doubtless directed thereto by the same Spirit, transmitted it to others by laying their hands upon them, which was the old way that had been used in the Church before; for so Moses communicated the spirit of wisdom to Joshua, thereby constituting him his successor in the government of Deut. 34. 9. Israel, even by laying his hands upon him. Thus Paul and Barnabas were ordained by the special appointment of the Acts 13. 3. Holy Ghost himself; for it is said, that they having "fasted and prayed, laid their hands upon them," and so sent them out; who, thereupon, are said in the next verse to be sent by the Holy Ghost; it being now conferred upon them by the imposition of hands. Thus St. Paul communicated xágioua 2 Tim. 1. 6. To sou, as he calls it, the gift of the Spirit, unto Timothy. And wheresoever we read that the Apostles ordained any, they still did it after this manner, even by laying their hands upon them; and that too whether they ordained them into their whole office, or else into any part of it. For the whole care of the Church being committed unto them, they had power to constitute what officers they thought fit under them but still they did it by laying their hands upon them, and so communicating of the same Spirit unto them which they had received from Christ. As when they found it necessary to have Deacons in the Church, to take care of the widows, they ordained them by laying their hands upon Acts 6. 6. them, thereby transferring so much of the Spirit upon them as was necessary for that office. And when they afterwards saw it very necessary that there should be other officers in the Church, which we now call Presbyters, that should have power under them to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments in places where they themselves could not be always present; upon these also they laid their hands, and

by that means communicated so much of the Spirit unto them as was necessary for the due and effectual execution of the said office.

Thus, therefore, it is, that the Apostolical office hath been handed down from one to another, ever since the Apostles' days to our time, and so will be to the end of the world, Christ himself being continually present at such imposition of hands; thereby transferring the same Spirit which He had first breathed into His Apostles, upon others successively after them, as really as He was present with the Apostles themselves, when He first breathed it into them. Insomuch, that they who are thus ordained are said to be made Bishops by the Holy Ghost himself, as well as the Apostles were. Acts 20. 28. By which means the Holy Catholic Church always hath been, and still is, truly Apostolical, as it is called in the Nicene Creed. And the several parts of the Apostolical office are now as effectually performed by their successors, and others ordained under them, as they were while the Apostles themselves lived. For it was not the persons of the Apostles, but their office, influenced and assisted by the Spirit of God, that made the Sacraments they administered to be valid, and their preaching of the Gospel so prevalent upon those that heard it. Though Paul himself planted and [1 Cor.3.6.] Apollos watered, it was God only that gave the increase.

And so it is to this day: all the efficacy that there is or can be in the administration of any ecclesiastical office, depends altogether upon the Spirit of God going along with the office, and assisting at the execution of it; without which, the Sacraments we administer would be but empty signs, and our preaching no more than beating of the air. Whereas on the other side, Christ, according to His promise, being always present by His Holy Spirit at the administration of the several offices which He has ordained in His Church, they can never fail of their designed effect, if the persons to whom they are administered be but rightly disposed and qualified for it. By this means, they that are duly baptized are “born again, not only of water, but of the Spirit also ;" and John 3. 5. so together with the "washing of regeneration, they have the renewing of the Holy Ghost." Hence also, in the Sacra- Tit. 3. 5. ment of the Lord's Supper, the worthy receiver does really

I.

[Rom. 1.

16.]

SERM. by faith partake of the mystical body and blood of Christ, and of such influences of the Holy Spirit as shall enable him to walk as becomes a member of Christ. And whensoever we read, preach, or publish the Gospel as Christ taught it, the Holy Spirit goes along with it, so that it becomes the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. And seeing our Lord thus continually accompanies the Apostles and their successors, so as to vouchsafe His Spirit to those on whom they lay their hands, and to co-operate by the same spirit with those who are so ordained by them, in their administration of the word and Sacraments; hence He may well be said to be always with them, according to the promise He makes them in my text.

But besides that imposition of hands, whereby the Apostles transmitted the Spirit they had received, together with their Apostolical office, down to succeeding ages, we find them sometimes laying their hands on believers baptized, that thereby the Holy Ghost might come upon them, not with respect to any office, but only to confirm and strengthen them in the Christian faith.

For when the Samaritans had received the word of God, and were baptized by Philip, who was no Apostle, but only a Deacon, the Apostles at Hierusalem hearing of it, sent Peter and John unto them, who having laid their hands upon Acts 8. 17. them, they received the Holy Ghost. Philip indeed, having had the Apostles' hands laid upon him, had thereby received power to baptize them with water and the Holy Ghost; but it seems he had no power to lay his hands upon them, and by that means to confer any greater measure of the Spirit upon them. No, that was to be done only by the Apostles themselves; who therefore sent two of their own body, as far as from Hierusalem to Samaria, on purpose to do it; which certainly they would never have done, had this been an useless ceremony, or if Philip, or any one under an Apostle, could have done it. So that this instance is of itself sufficient to prove that this was an act peculiar to the Apostolical office; and that our Saviour, according to His promise, was really present at the performance of it, seeing the Apostles had no sooner laid their hands upon them, but they immediately received the Holy Ghost. Another instance of the