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apply'd to us by the intermediate Office of Men! Men of like Infirmities and Paffions with Ourselves, who have this Treasure in Earthen Veffels, as St Paul speaks, that still the Excellency of the Power may be of God and not of Us!

Befides, as it was neceffary in refpect of the great Ends and Heavenly Purposes, that have been Mention'd, that this Power should be Originally from God, so very fit and congruous alfo was it, that it should be mediately by Men, to the end that it might be Openly and Vifibly conferr'd. For no inward Call, tho' never fo importunate, no Pretence to a Private Miffion from the Spirit, no Measure of real Knowledge, or Wifdom, or Gifts, or Sanctity can excufe, much lefs authorize the affuming of this Character, without being legally call'd and outwardly fent from thofe, who have been in like manner Legally, and Openly, and Solemnly impower'd to Call and Send. For if this were allow'd, what a door would it open to all the Enthufiafm, and Folly, and Madness, and Blafphemy in the World! and what is more Horrible, all thefe would be Father'd upon the Holy Spirit by whoever was Wicked, or Impudent, or Distracted enough to give Out, he was Sent by him. Therefore Chrift himfelf took not on him the Office of a Preacher, till he was Outwardly commiffionated to it.

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We were told before by the Apostle, That he Glorify'd not himself to be a High Priest, but he that faid unto him, Thou art my Son, this Day have I begotten thee. This was in Heaven the Eternal Defignation of him to the Priefthood in the fecret Councel of God. But the Publick Commiffion, which he receiv'd in Time, was the Voice from Heaven, This my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; and till publickly own'd by the Audible Voice of the Almighty Father, and the Vifible Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Son himself enter'd not upon his Ministerial Office, But from that Time Jefus began to Preach, Mat. 4. 17. And St Luke tells us he was then about Thirty Years of Age; and fure none can doubt of His being Qualify'd long before, both for Sanctity and Wisdom, who from his very Birth was the Holy Child Fefus, and at Twelve Years old difputed with the Doctors in the Temple, fo that all that heard him were aftonifh'd at his Understanding and Anfwers, Luke 2. 26. And as Chrift did not take this honour to himself, till Outwardly call'd, as was Aaron, fo did he not leave it to the inward Call of any of his Difciples, to make themselves Apoftles. But he first Openly call'd and chofe by Name Twelve, whom he ordain'd to that high Office, and after chofe Seventy others into an inferior Degree, their Commiffion to Preach and to Baptize

Baptize was the fame, which the Apostles themselves had. And 'tis notorious, that the Apostles after his Afcenfion, as the Encrease of the Church requir'd, chose others, and after Fafting, and Prayer, and folemn Impofition of hands, fent 'em forth to exercife the feveral Powers they had receiv'd; and by fuch an outward Ordination, Regularly and Lineally continu'd, has the fame Commiffion, which they receiv'd from Chrift, defcended to Us, and our Lord's Promise been exactly Verify'd, that he would be with them, which could no otherwife poffibly be, but by their lawful Succeffors, to the end of the World. And if these things be fo, Is it not a deplorable thing to confider the flight Regard that is had among fome to this Miffion, which both Scripture, Antiquity and Reafon tell us is fo neceffary to the very being of a Church? Is it not a matter of juft Indignation to find Men in defyance of this carnal Ordinance, as they call it, venting their own abfurd Whimseys, and execrable Blafphemys, under the pretence of new Light and immediate Impulses of the Spirit? And is it not a matter of as juft Pity. to see a poor Company of deluded, or rather bewitched, Wretches following eagerly and dancing after this falfe light, till they drop at laft into the bottomless Pit! And among others, that pretend to be somewhat more

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in their Wits, we find, that a good Affurance, a voluble Tongue, and efpecially an irreverent Contempt of the Only Power that can Authorize to Teach, is enough to fet up a Teacher! That if a Man has but the knack of Haranguing the People plaufibly, has an Edifying Powerful way with him, and a great flock of Gifts, he may, without the low formality of being Call'd or Sent by any but himself, mount the Pulpit, and Difpenfe; which is just as reasonable as it had been under the Law, when it was one part of the Minifterial Office to Kill, to Cut up, and Divide the Sacrifice, that any one that took himself for a more Dextrous Butcher, fhould immediately have fet up for a Prieft, and fell a trying his skill at the Altar! But if he had, if the Earth had not fwallow'd him up, or Fire from Heaven confum'd him, he would have been fton'd to Death by the Congregation!

But leaving the wild Enthufiafts with our hearty Prayers, that God would send a better Mind and a right Understanding among them, Let us fee what the Sober, the Rational Socinian fays to this matter; and if we look into the Racovian Catechifm, we may presently find both what they think, and how they argue. The Queftion there being put, Whether They who Teach in the Church have any need of being Sent by Others?

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The Catechumen pofitively and shortly an fwers, Non habent, and has these wise Reafons put in his Mouth for it: Because they Preach no New or Unheard of Doctrine, and because the Apostle, defcribing every thing that is Neceffary to this Office, makes no mention of fuch a Miffion. Where first we may take Notice, that the whole Business and Duty of a Minifter of Chrift (as was before hinted) is by them dwindled into Preaching, and then if he has no News to bring, he need have no new Commiffion to tell over an old Story! Is not this á Glorious Character both of a Minister, and of the Gospel itself? But have They then, that bring a New and Unheard of Doctrine, need of being Sent? Yes, This they allow, Nay, This, as in the Cafe of the Apoftles, they tell us is neceffary. If so, if a New and Unheard of Do&trine requires of Neceffity, that they that publifh it should have a Miffion, then of all that ever have Preach'd fince the begining of Chriftianity, the Socinians need One moft; But whence fhould they have it? from the Holy Spirit they cannot, for they deny any fuch Perfon. They muft then be fent by fome other Spirit, whom yet tho' they Obey, they are as Loath to Own, as him they refift. But the Apostle, it seems, in defcribing every thing that is necessary to his Office makes no mention of fuch a Miffion. That

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