Mediator between God and Man, the man Christ Jesus," who is the propitiation for our sins.

And yet this was not from any contempt on the part of the Apostles for regularity of institutions, from any neglect of appointing men to particular offices. On the contrary, we find them ordaining "Elders in every city;" appointing various Orders of Ministers, who were afterwards distinguished from each other by those titles (which, at first, were employed indiscriminately) of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons. We read, in later times, of Catechists, of female ministers bearing the title of "Widows," and many others now altogether obsolete; but no Order of Priests, in the sense of Hiereus, answering to the sacrificing Priests of the Jewish and of the Pagan Religions. And the same observations will apply to the Temple. The term was familiar to the New Testament writers; but it is never once applied by them to a Christian place of worship; always to the worshippers themselves, collectively;-to the Christian congregation: as, for instance, "Know ye not that ye are the Temple of the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in you?" "Your

"Ye,

body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost." as lively (i. e. living) stones are builded together into an holy Temple."

All this is indeed perfectly intelligible to any one who understands the character of our religion. It is perfectly consistent with the Gospel scheme; but it is utterly at variance with the notions which would naturally have occurred to the unassisted mind of man.

A further proof of this, if further could be needed, is furnished by the changes which were introduced in after-ages. The very institution, which Christianity in its pure state had abrogated, was grafted into it, as it became corrupted with human devices. An order of Priests, in the ancient sense, offering pretended Sacrifices, on a pretended Altar, in behalf of the People, was introduced into the Christian scheme; in such utter contradiction both to the spirit and the very letter of it, that they were driven to declare the bread and wine of the Eucharist miraculously changed into literal flesh and blood, offered up, day by day, repeatedly although the founders of our religion had not only proclaimed the perfection of the

66

one oblation of our Lord, by Himself, but had even proved the imperfection of the Levitical Sacrifices, from the very circumstance of their being repeated " year by year continually;" inasmuch as " they would have ceased," (says the Apostle)" to be offered," if, like the Sacrifice of Christ, once for all," they could have "made the comers thereunto perfect." Now if, when the religion had actually been established without a literal Temple and Altar,—without Sacrifice, without Priest on earth, all these were introduced into it, in opposition to its manifest character, through the strong craving (if I may so speak) of the natural man after these things, how much more might we expect, with what complete certainty, that men brought up Jews, and having never seen or heard of any religion, true or false, without Temples, Altars, and Priests, would have instituted, had they been left to themselves, a Temple or several Temples, and an Order of Sacrificing Priests in their new religion. And how certain, that since they carefully abstained from this, and provided against it in the terms they employed,-how certain that

they were not left to themselves, but proceeded under the guidance of a divine director!

If, then, we were even unable to perceive in the Institutions of the Christian Religion any mark of Divine wisdom, still it would not be the less clear that they could not have been framed by human wisdom;-that the Religion, in short, is not such as could have been devised by Man. But, in truth, we may learn by a careful study, and comparison together, of several parts of Scripture, what was, in part at least, the Lord's all-wise design in making that important change, from the Mosaic Institutions to the Gospel.

The religion of the Mosaic Law was intended for a single nation. And as it was particularly important to impress on the minds of a barbarian and superstitious people, surrounded by Pagans,-worshippers of many Gods,-the Unity of Him whom, alone, they were to worship, (which doctrine is accordingly inculcated in the very first of His Commandments) hence, to guard them the more effectually from sliding gradually into error on this point, they were strictly enjoined to offer their Sacrifices only

in the one appointed Tabernacle or Temple, which was called, "the place which the Lord shall chose to cause his name (i. e. the Manifestation of his power) to dwell there." But the Gospel dispensation being designed to be universal, it was, of course, fitting that its worship should not be dependent on any particulár place. And yet it was designed as much as ever, not only to keep up among Christians the same habitual conviction of the Unity of their God, but also to impress them strongly with a sense of mutual brotherhood, as children of the same Father, heirs of the same promises, purchased by the same Redeemer; and as sanctified and led to Christian holiness of life, by the same divine Spirit; that they might accordingly "abound in brotherly love," as joint partakers of what the Apostle calls "the fellowship of the Holy Ghost"-members of what is called in one of our creeds, "the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints." It is the same word in the original that is here rendered "communion;" and, in the translation of the New Testament,