tered unto, but to minister to the spiritual exigencies of perishing sinners. They are, however, entitled to attention and obedience to their spiritual ministrations. Heb. xiii. 17: "Obey them that have the rule over you in the Lord," &c. But still they can exercise no compulsion upon the persons of men. This belongs exclusively to the civil magistrate. And whereas civil rulers may and ought to punish transgressions, as crimes dishonouring to God, as King of nations, and prejudicial to the state; church rulers are to consider them as scandals, wounding to the honour of Jesus Christ, dishonouring to God, in him, and ruinous to the souls of men.

4. They differ in their proper end. The immediate and proper end of all civil power, is, that the good of the commonwealth may be provided for, their temporal security and civil liberty secured upon the footing of the moral law, Rom. xiii. 4. The magistrate is accordingly called a "minister of God for good" to men. The ultimate end to be attained is the advancement of the glory of God, as King of nations, and a concern to promote the prosperity of the church; and the propagation of truth should be exercised as the means best calculated to obtain that end. Or the good of the church may be considered as an accessary end. The more faithful the administration of justice, the fewer will be the violations of the divine law; and consequently the fewer scandals to annoy the peace and happiness of the church.

But the proper and immediate end of all ecclesiastical power is, that the conviction, conversion, and edification of the souls of men may be promoted, Eph. iv. 11, 12. Here we find that the

immediate end of appointing all church officers was, "For the perfecting of the saints, and the edifying of the body of Christ." The ultimate end is the glory of God, as he is "in Christ reconciling the world unto himself," 2d Cor. v. 19. The welfare of the state is only an accessary end, at which the church officers, as subjects of the state, ought to aim. The better they discharge their ecclesiastical functions, the fewer will be the crimes in the state, and the more faithfully will every civil relative duty be performed, and thus the welfare of the nation greatly promoted.

5. They differ in their effects. The effects of all civil powers are either proper or redundant. The proper effect of civil power is, the temporal safety and welfare of the commonwealth, together with the undisturbed enjoyment of all civil privileges.

The redundant effect is the good of the church, as far as this may result from the righteous administration of the divine law in rewarding the righteous, and punishing offenders, Rom. xiii. 3. And in removing all impediments that would obstruct the propagation of the religion of Jesus; like as Josiah and other reforming kings of Israel did.

But the proper effect of all ecclesiastical power is wholly spiritual, agreeable to the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom. John xviii. 36: "My kingdom is not of this world." It is spiritual, and its exercise produces spiritual effects, operating on the souls and consciences of men.

The welfare of the state, as such, is only a redundant or accessary effect. It may, however, be very considerable. The amelioration of character, produced by the benign influences of the re

ligion of Jesus, upon the human heart, may be highly advantageous to national prosperity: as true godliness has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come.

6. They differ in their subjects. Civil power may be vested in one or more. This is left to the discretion of the body politic, and is hence called "an ordinance of man." 1st Pet. ii. 13. Whatever the particular form be, whether monarchical or republican, it is legitimate, and entitled to obedience, provided the constitution be agreeable to the moral law.

It may also be delegated from one to another. 1st Pet. ii. 14. We are commanded to yield conscientious obedience, not only to the supreme magistrate, but also to his delegates. "Unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him, for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well."

But ecclesiastical power of jurisdiction cannot vest in one. 2d Cor. ii. 6. When speaking of the restoration of the incestuous person, who had been excommunicated, the apostle informs us, that his censure "was inflicted by many."

Though the power of ORDER, or the administration of the word and sacraments, belongs to every regular gospel minister, yet the power of jurisdiction belongs exclusively to a consistory of presbyters. Neither can one ecclesiastical officer delegate authority to another, to perform ministerial functions. It can only come from Christ, the head, by the medium of proper officers. See Matt. xvi. 19, compared with Titus i. 5.

7. They differ in their correlatives, or the persons on whom they are exercised respectively. The civil power extends to all persons, resi

dent within the realm, be their estate, character or condition what it may. Rom. xiii. 1: "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers." there is no exception of any class or condition of

Here

Ecclesiastical jurisdiction extends only to those who are professed members of the mystical body of Jesus Christ, and operates upon them exclusively under that character, 1st Cor. v. 12, 13, where we are informed, that all church power of jurisdiction is confined solely to those that are within. Hence those who are not church members, if guilty of any thing scandalous, requiring public censure, must become members of the church, before they can become proper objects of ecclesiastical censure. Church jurisdiction extends not beyond the walls of the house of God.

8. They differ in their distinct and divided exercise. Thus, should the one neglect the performance of duty, that is no reason why the other should be remiss, but rather the contrary. Should the state take no notice of the murderer, or the adulterer, their neglect by no means unnerves the arm of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, neither should it relax the rigour of church censure. The same.

will hold equally in a change of cases. Again, when either has done what is just and right, by a process issuing in the acquittal or condemnation of the person arraigned, the other is bound to take cognizance of the offence, and proceed accordingly. Thus, when a church member has satisfied the civil law for a crime committed against the state, the ecclesiastical authority ought to prosecute him for it, as a scandal, and deprive him of privileges, until he give due evidences of contrition, and satisfy the laws in that case made and pro

vided. Thus both the civil and ecclesiastical authority may, and in many cases ought, to punish for the same offence; yet the process ought to be entirely distinct, and the powers independent of each other.

But as we have endeavoured to show wherein they differ, it will be necessary also in the III. Place, to show wherein they agree.

1. They agree in this, that God the Father, Son, and Spirit, is the original fountain from which they flow. To suppose any power or authority whatever not originating from God, essentially considered, would necessarily lead to atheistical principles. It must, therefore, emanate from him. Rom. xiii. 1: "There is no power but of God.” To the same purpose is 2d Cor. v. 18: "All things are of God." Civil power was already shown to originate from God, as Creator, and to be founded on his universal dominion, as the King of nations, Jer. x. 7. And though all ecclesiastical power flows immediately from Christ, as Mediator, yet it is radically and fontally in a three-one God. All the right and authority of Christ, as Mediator, is originally derived from God, as well as civil power.

They are, to be sure, under different regulations: these have been already stated. By virtue of this derived right, Jesus is constituted the sole Legislator in Zion, and is the immediate, as the Father is the ultimate, source of all ecclesiastical authority. Hence the authority of church officers is analogous to that of Christ himself, namely, by delegation. John xvii. 18. Christ himself states his own and his ambassador's commission, as being parallel in this particular point, "as thou has sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world."