But these difficulties are now, we trust, in some good measure to be obviated, by the consecration of those brethren to the work and office of the eldership whom you have with so great unanimity appointed.

AN ADDRESS TO RULING ELDERS;

Wherein is exhibited the relation of Ruling Elders to the people, to the Ministry, and to the Church at large.

CHRISTIAN BRethren,—Allow me, in the name of this church and of my brtehren in the ministry, to welcome you to the honor, the responsibility, and the labors of the office of Ruling Elder. The nature, end, and object, for which this office has been instituted in the church you have already heard. It stands in a threefold relation; first, to the people; secondly, to the pastor; and thirdly, to the church at large.

YOUR PRIMARY RELATION IS TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH. Of these you are the representatives. From their number, and by their free votes, you have been called to this honorable office. To you they have delegated in a great measure, the exercise of their ultimate rights, in the government and discipline of the Church. You are, therefore, truly THEIR REPRESENTATIVES, and are responsible to them, and to Him who is their and your common Lord, for the manner in which you discharge your functions. For it is provided in our Form of Government, (chap. xiii. § vi.) that an elder may not only become incapable of performing the duties of his office, by age or infirmity, but may also become unacceptable in his official character to a majority of the congregation to which he belongs, though not chargeable with either heresy or immorality; and that, in such a case, the members of the church may request, or if necessary require, him to "cease to be an active elder." You will, therefore, pay all due regard to your spiritual constituents, by whom, in accordance with the example of Apostolic Christians, and the practice of the primitive and reformed churches, you have been so honorably elected to office. Ever cherish the remembrance of this relation which you sustain towards them, and the correspondent obligations under which it lays you to seek their best spiritual and Christian welfare. They have given you the highest possible testimony that they have confidence in you as Christian men, and that they esteem you very highly in love. Reciprocate these feelings in your conduct towards them. Be kindly affectioned towards them. Make their acquaintance. Visit them in their houses. Cultivate kind and friendly dispositions. Let them feel that you take an interest in them; in their children; and in all their spiritual troubles. Give them your advice, when it is desired, in reference to any worldly matter which may perplex or

trouble their minds. Especially regard the young members of these families, and by your interest in their education, prospects and happiness, endeavor to secure their affection for the church of their fathers; and their hearts and lives and services for the cause of Christ, in the morning of their days. Be present, as far as practicable, at all their meetings, both on the Sabbath and in the week; and let nothing short of necessity satisfy you as an excuse for forsaking the assembling of yourselves in their meetings for prayer as well as for more public worship. Frequently visit the Sabbath School, if you can do no more, and let every meeting for the improvement of the young have peculiar claims on your attention and presence. If possible, be ready to offer prayer when necessary or desirable, by the bedside of the sick, the sorrowful, and the dying; or whenever and wherever you may be desired; and be ready also to give a reason to every man that asketh you of the hope that is in you; to counsel the ungodly; or to direct the awakened and inquiring sinner.

Remember, however, that while you are the representatives of the people, you represent not their WISHES and OPINIONS, but their DUTIES and OBLIGATIONS, THEIR RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES, as these are laid down in those heavenly laws to which you and they are both alike subject, and which no power on earth can either alter, modify, abridge, or enlarge. Cherish therefore, exalted views of your SPIRITUAL INDEPENDENCE AND AUTHORITY. You are officers of Christ, and in his kingdom; and within this jurisdiction no laws of man, and no whims, caprice, or passions of men, have any right to enter. Your instructions come not from man, but from Him to whom the highest among the sons of men are subject, whose will is the law of the universe, and whose word is the exposition of his will respecting the inhabitants of this lower world.* Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free, and be brought into bondage by no undue regard either to the favor or the frowns of men. Be ye wise as serpents; so as to avoid giving any offence either by pride, or sycophancy; by harshness or indifference; by severity or laxity of discipline. Be very scrupulous and conscientious in discovering the path of duty; and as fearless in pursuing it, whether men will praise or whether they will condemn. Seek not popularity at the expense of fidelity; nor provoke jealousy and displeasure through any vain and wanton assumption of a reckless bluntness and harshness, either of manner or of speech. And remember that to your own Master you stand or fall, and that accordingly as you commend yourselves to His approval, will you be either condemned or rewarded, whatever may be the opinion of men.

*See the Divine Right of Church Government, page 270.

So much for your relation to the members of the church. BUT YOU STAND ALSO RELATED TO ITS BISHOP OR PASTOR. For you are "the representatives of the people, chosen by them for the purpose of exercising government and discipline in conjunction with the pastor." The grand, primary, and characteristic office of the bishop is authoritatively to teach whatsoever Christ has commanded. But as the highest office includes the less, and implies the authority necessary to discharge all its functions, so does the ministry include not only the function of teaching, but also the office of ruling; not only what pertains to the office of the bishop, but also what pertains to the office of the elder and the deacon; and not only what relates to the spiritual interests of the church, but also to the general superintendence of the temporal affairs, and whatever concerns the welfare of the church. But in order that the bishops of the Church might give themselves supremely to the ministry of the word and to prayer, these other offices were created in order to aid and assist them in these several spheres; the elders in all that relates to the spiritual government of the church, and the deacons in all that has regard to the temporal interests of the congregation. And hence in the Reformed churches, in the Scotch church formerly, (and in the Free church of Scotland now,) there existed in every church, not only a spiritual court called the Session, but also what is called the Deacon's Court, composed of the pastor, elders, and deacons. So that while the pastor was recognized as head of the church in all its relations, the elders represented the interests of the people in the same various aspects; while the deacons after receiving counsel from both, carried out the common views of the whole body in all that pertained to the poor, and the outward expenditures of the church.

Such, then, is another aspect, my dear brethren, of your high calling. Your office is second in dignity and importance only to that of the bishopric; and you are associated with the pastor in taking the entire oversight of the flock "over which the Holy Ghost has appointed you." Much of the authority and power of your office has, by an evil and disastrous custom, fallen into other hands, or is no longer exercised at all; but it is not the less-BUT THE MORE-necessary to bring forward their nature and their claims, that, with the reviving spirit of Presbyterianism, the office of ruling elder may be generally restored to its true elevation, and to the exercise of all its functions. The great object, therefore, of your office, so far as it respects the congregation over which you preside, is to constitute, with the pastor or bishop, a spiritual court for all matters of government and discipline; a common council by whom all its interests may be guarded and advanced; and a body of assistants and

co-workers by whom the labors of one minister may suffice instead of many; his labors being subdivided and his time principally given to the pulpit, to the visitation of the sick, the inquiring and the spiritually distressed; to the public business of the church; and to the defence of the truth, not only in the pulpit but through the press, which has become, next to the pulpit, the mightiest instrumentality either for good or for evil. On you, therefore, must your minister lean as his Aarons and Hurs when wearied and faint. To you must he seek for counsel in times of perplexity and doubt. In you must he find strength and influence in carrying out the discipline of the church, and enforcing the obligations of Christian discipleship. To you must he especially look for AN EXAMPLE OF CONSISTENCY AND DEVOTEDNESS BOTH AS HEARERS AND DOERS OF THE WORD, both in your personal walk and conversation; in the Christian regulation of your families; and in your willing and ready co-operation, to the utmost of your ability, in every cause of benevolence and Christian charity.

This leads me to remind you, that by the constitution of our church YOU BEAR ALSO AN IMPORTANT RELATION TO THE CHURCH AT LARGE. For as the representatives of the people you are entitled to sit as delegates in all our ecclesiastical courts, and there to deliberate, speak, and vote, on all matters that can come before the body, and also to carry into execution all their determinations, except where they imply functions peculiar to the office of the ministry, such as presiding in any court, preaching, administering sacraments, ordaining, or pronouncing sentence of suspension, and final excommunication. In this way, the popular character of the church is effectually secured; the rights and liberties of Christ's elect people maintained inviolate; the encroachments of a spiritual hierarchy and priestly despotism checked; and the free, public, and open constitution of all our ecclesiastical proceedings perpetuated. The recent history of our own church, and that also of our sister churches in Scotland and in Ireland, will prove to you how potent is the influence which an enlightened and devoted eldership can exert, in withstanding the attacks both of external and internal foes; in arousing a sleeping church to a due sense of its danger, and to a full exercise of its powers; and in thus lifting up a standard against the enemy, when he rushes in like a flood, either in the form of heresy, or error, or cold Laodicean formalism, or in Erastian conspiracy with the powers of this world to betray into their hands the crown and prerogatives of the only King and Head of the church. And, in other days too, as you retrace the footsteps of the flock, upon the bleak and barren moors, and by the deep and secluded valleys, or the midnight gathering by the light of lantern or torch

3-VOL IV.

under heaven's open canopy, you will find that had not the pastors of the church been aided by bold and fearless undershepherds, they never could have preserved through such bloody and fiendish persecutions, and against such fearful odds, that little flock whom God has preserved upon the mountains of Piedmont, in Scotland, in Ireland, and in this wide empire, and to whom he has yet purposed "to give them the kingdom.'

To you then, ye elders of the church, are committed the oracles of God. You too are set, like ministers, for the defence of the truth, and purity and liberty of the gospel. And upon you, in no inconsiderable measure, hangs the destinies of the church. Estimate then as you ought, the privilege of occupying your place when delegated to it, on the high field of our ecclesiastical legislatures and general assemblies, the exalted councils of the church. Be ready to meet every such opening by any reasonable sacrifice of time and expense. Interest your hearts in all the business and proceedings of the church. Study thoroughly its doctrines, its history, its polity, and its welfare. And whenever the war-cry of danger is heard upon its borders, be ye ready to come up as standard-bearers of the cross to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

And let this cheer and encourage you, brethren, in this arduous, self-denying, but glorious labor, that He who has called you to the work will also fit, qualify and inspirit you for its discharge; be present with you in every emergency; guide and direct you in all time of perplexity; make you bold as lions, and harmless even as doves; give you a heart to love him, and a tongue to pray for and to praise him; fill you with joy and satisfaction in discharging your Master's work: and when the day of toil is over, and the night of rest is come, recompense you a hundred-fold for all your labors, welcome you as good and faithful servants into the joy of the Lord, and encircle your brow with a crown of glory that shall never fade away.

Neither will he leave you alone and unaided, to undertake all the duties involved in this labor of love. He who has overcome your reluctance, and silenced your objections,and put it into your hearts to enter into the vineyard, and, as He shall enable you, labor in its cultivation; he who stirred up the heart of Zerubbabel and others, in his day, will, if we pray to him in earnestness and importunity, lead others also to awake from their slumbers, and to come forth at the voice of their brethren, saying, "Here Lord are we, send us." With these encouragements, therefore, and in this hope and expectation, "be ye therefore, brethren, steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor will not be in vain in the Lord."