pressed upon the minds of his followers, and constantly regarded by them? It is true, that the language here used was not addressed by our Lord to all his followers indiscriminately, but still it is of such moment that all are highly concerned in the important doctrines it embraces, as we shall immediately discover by considering the characters of the persons to whom it was originally spoken. By reading the sixteenth verse just before the text-" Then the eleven Disciples went away into Galileo into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them,"- -we find that the eleven Apostles, and they alone, were the persons to whom our Lord addressed the words of the text.

To his eleven Apostles then,-those whom he had invested with the Apostolic office, he graciously promised that he would be present with them alway, even unto the end of the world. But it may be asked how could our Lord be with those eleven Apostles-those very persons to whom he was speaking; for he, who knew all things from the beginning, certainly knew that they would not live to the end of the world, as the event has proved, for they are not alive now, and have been dead above seventeen hundred years? This, my brethren, is an important question, and contains the very point which it is requisite we should well understand. We cannot, of course, suppose for a moment that our blessed Saviour was making an unmeaning promise-a promise which he knew he could not fulfil; and therefore the promise was a faithful one, and one which he has been fulfilling ever since he made it, and is fulfilling it now, and will continue to fulfil it even unto the end of the world: in other words, he has been with his Apostles ever since, and blessed be his holy name, is with them now, and ever will be, even unto the end of the world and it only remains to be decided in what way our Lord meant that he would fulfil this his gracious promise. There are only two ways in which this could be done; the one, that he would be with them as men; and the other, that he would be with them as Apostles. That he did not mean that he would be with them to the end of the world as men, is very clear; because he knew that, as men, they would not live so long, and therefore the only sense in which he could be with them, and in which he could mean that he would be with them, was, that he would be with them as Apostles; as those commissioned and authorised by him to go and convert all nations to the Christian faith, and to baptize such converts, and teach them all the commandments which he had given them. Lo, said he, I am with you,-you my eleven Apostles, -with you whom I have invested with the Apostolic Office,-with you, in your official character, wheresoever you are, and whensoever you execute any of the sacred duties of your office, as my ministering servants. It was as Apostles that our Lord promised to be with the eleven; for although, as men, they would die; yet, as Apostles, they would live, and continue to exist unto the end of the world. If Apostles were not to exist to the end of the world, it would have been impossible for our Lord to be with them so long as he said he would be. And, therefore, notwithstanding what some will affirm, that there are not any Apostles now, and that the Apostolic Office has long since ceased, the words of our Lord assure us that there are Apostles at the present time, and will be to the very end of the world. The promise was made to them as invested with the Apostolic Office, and, by consequence, to all those who should ever

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have that holy office conferred on them. The necessity for the existence of the Apostolic Office is as great now as during the primitive age. Men are now to be converted and brought into Christ's fold, the Church; and it is now as necessary as ever that the Church be guided and governed, and provided with a succession of ministers to preach the everlasting Gospel, to administer the holy Sacraments, and to build up the children of God in their most holy faith; and the presence of Christ is now as necessary as ever to the fulfilment of that other promise of his that he would preserve his Church, that the gates of hell should not prevail against it.

The eleven Apostles did not mistake their beloved Master's meaning and design, in conferring upon them the Apostolic office, for they proceeded to confer it upon others to succeed them; and these, again, conferred it on others; and thus they faithfully transferred their office to future ages. And all those who are now in the regular unbroken line of succession from those on whom the Apostolic Office was originally conferred, and to whom our Lord's promise was originally made, have the blessed assurance that their Lord is present with them to bless their ministrations to the souls of those to whom they minister. The first and principal of these ministrations is Ordination, and thereby conferring the power of ordaining others, and so on successively to the end of the world, which is necessarily implied in the promise itself, as that, without which, it would never be fulfilled. The first that were ordained to this office were ordained by Christ, when he breathed on them, and said unto them, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Not that they were previously without the Holy Ghost; for they were, by his sacred influence, brought to the knowledge of the truth, and preserved therein; but he then conferred on them the Holy Spirit in a higher and more peculiar sense, which enabled them to perform the duties of their sacred office, with the accompanying blessing of his presence, which he promised to them, to guide and assist them in governing his Church, and doing all things necessary for its preservation and welfare. To the same effect are his words in St. John: "I will pray the Father," saith he, "and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, the Spirit of Truth, (xiv. 16.) For wheresoever the Spirit is, there is Christ. It is by his Holy Spirit that he is present at the execution of any part of the ministerial office to make it effectual for the great ends and purposes for which it was designed. Our Lord himself conferred the office on the Apostles by breathing on them, which was a way peculiar to him but the Apostles themselves ordained their successors by "the laying on of hands," and this mode of ordination is that which has existed from the time of the Apostles, and by it the Apostolic Office has been handed down from one to another to the present time, and will continue to be so, even unto the end of the world, Christ himself being continually present at such laying on of hands, and thereby transferring the Spirit upon all thus ordained, as really as he at first did, when he "breathed upon his Apostles, so that they who are thus ordained, are said to be made Bishops by the Holy Ghost himself, as well as the Apostles were. And although they have not the name of Apostles, as that has

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Bishop Beveridge.

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been dropped by all their successors, out of reverence for the first Twelve; yet the Bishops of the Church of England hold the Apostolic Office-the very same office which was sustained by those immediately appointed by our Lord; and, with the exception of the power of performing miracles, which was not peculiar to the Apostolic office, our Bishops possess the same power and authority in (not over) the Church of Christ, as the Twelve Apostles themselves possessed.

This doctrine of the Apostolical succession has been believed and acted upon by the whole Catholic Church of Christ in every age, and is essential to the very existence of a Church,-so much so, that no communion has ever long maintained much purity of doctrine on other points without it, as is now unhappily exemplified by the religious communities on the Continent, and most of those in our own country. Nor is any man, whatever be his pretensions, to be considered a minister of Christ, who has not been thus ordained in regular succession.

It is impossible to produce a single instance from all the word of God, of any man having ever assumed the office of a minister of Christ without ordination; and no ordination can be of any avail unless it has been regular in its succession from the Apostles; for if any man's line of ordination has had a later beginning it is utterly useless, for any man at this day has just as much right to begin a new line of ordination as any man had to do so ten, fifty, or a hundred years ago. It will not avail a man to say that he possesses the inward call, because we can have no other evidences of that, than his own word, and if we had, the outward call, as it is sometimes termed, is as necessary as the inward. "What God hath joined together let not man put asunder." Besides, it will not be denied that our blessed Lord possessed the inward call long before he received the outward call, which was by the voice from heaven at his baptism when he was thirty years of age; and yet he only then commenced his ministry. St Paul also received the inward call at his conversion when he was told that he should bear Christ's name to the Gentiles, and yet he did not commence his ministry until three years afterwards. In short, the inward call moves a man to take the office, but does not confer it; the actual conferring the office, or the outward call or appointment, is by ordination; and to be of any spiritual benefit either to the minister himself, or to those to whom he ministers, that ordination must be of unbroken descent from the Apostles; to whom and to their successors by them, the promise of the presence of Christ was given. For be it observed that having committed authority and power to his Church to perform all things necessary for the accomplishment of his great work, our Lord does not now work without the Church, but by and through the Church, as in the cases of the conversion of St. Paul and Cornelius. He might have told them his will concerning them, but he refers them to the Church as having been appointed by him, and as quite competent to the work for which he had designed it. He teaches none now but by and through the medium of his Church, or which is the same, the ministers of the Church. To do otherwise would imply that his Church has proved insufficient for the accomplishment of the work for which he institututed it; but this would be derogatory to his Omniscience, and the remedy would produce infinite discord and confusion amongst his followers. All this the Great Head of the Church has wisely pre

vented by the institution of ordination, as his mode of conferring the ministerial office, and as the only bond of unity to his Church.

Those, therefore, who have not thus duly received commission and authority to preach the Gospel, and to administer the holy Sacraments, whatever may be their pretensions, have, spiritually, no right or authority to perform any such offices, and cannot expect Christ's presence and blessing to rest upon their performances; but have great cause to apprehend his high displeasure. How necessary then is it, my Christian brethren, for all people to ascertain whether those who minister to them are really and truly ministers of Christ appointed by him, in the way of his own institution, or only self-sent preachers, pretending to possess the office while utterly destitute of it; because it is only with his real ministers, that Christ has promised to be present, to bless their ministrations, and make them effectual to the souls of those who partake of them. Now it is the privilege of all the members of our Apostolical Church to be in communion with ministers who have all received their commission and authority down, in a regular unbroken line of succession, from Christ and his Apostles. This is acknowledged by all our enemies who are unhappily destitute of such a blessing. We are thus in communion with all the glorious company of the Apostles, the goodly fellowship of the Prophets, the noble army of Martyrs, the Holy Church throughout all the world, and with the assembly and Church of the first born, now triumphing in heaven. And well would it be for us, if this and all our other glorious privileges and blessings were valued by us as they ought to be. We have, in our ancient and venerable Church, which has descended down to us from the Apostolic age, every thing necessary for our spiritual and eternal welfare, as even our enemies will confess; and what more can be wanted, and where then is there any necessity,― nay, even any excuse for the numerous schisms and divisions which so unhappily distract the minds of men, and disturb the peace of our Church and nation? Let each one then, in whatever station of life God in his providence may have placed him, not only value and enjoy the blessings conrrected with our holy Church, but also pray earnestly and unceasingly that God would in mercy lead into the way of truth, all such as have erred and are deceived, and induce all to hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life.

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And if the words of my text contain that which is of so much importyou, my brethren, to know and understand, how full of support and consolation they are to us, who have, resting upon us, the awful responsibilities of the ministerial office! Without the gracious promise contained in this text, we should indeed labour utterly in vain. But here, amidst all our errors and infirmities, to which, like yourselves, we are too often subject, we fly for support. If the validity and spiritual effect of our official acts depended upon our own goodness, when would our people be benefited by our ministrations?-when would the word preached by us take hold of your hearts?-when would the Holy Sacraments strengthen your faith and cherish your love and piety to God? Alas! Paul may plant and Apollos may water, but it is God only that can give the increase. All the efficacy of our official duties, as servants of Christ, depends altogether on the Spirit of God-upon the presence of Christ being with us, and assisting us in the execution of our sacred

functions. Without this presence, the Sacraments we administer would be no more than empty signs, and the word we preach no better than beating the air. How much soever we might gratify the itching ears of our hearers, they would have only husks instead of the bread of life, and leanness would remain in their souls. But with the presence and blessing of Christ accompanying the performance of our duties, whether administering his Holy Sacraments, leading the devotions of his worshipping people, reading and preaching his Holy Word, sinners are convinced and converted, the preparation for believers for eternity is forwarded, and God is thereby honoured and glorified. Always remember, my Christian friends, that we do not execute the duties of our office in our own name, nor in virtue of our own inherent goodness, but in the name of the sacred Trinity, and in virtue of the office we hold. We are the representatives and ambassadors of Christ, and as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead to be reconciled to God. In his stead we call upon you to hear, “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest his Holy Word," and to unite with us in earnest supplications to the throne of grace, that it may be engraved by the finger of God upon the fleshy tables of your hearts, and thus influence and guide all your thoughts, words, and deeds. Keep the eye of your faith steadily fixed upon Christ as all your trust;-rely upon him, and upon him alone, for the salvation of your never-dying souls ;-place no confidence in the flesh, nor in any of your performances for acceptance with God;-plead the sacrifice and atonement and righteousness of the blessed Redeemer, as the foundation of all your hopes of eternal life ;-pray to him for faith, if you are without it, and to strengthen it if you possess it, and for grace to enable you to keep his Sabbaths, to walk in all his statutes, and to observe his precepts, and to delight to do them.

And in these evil days of spurious religious liberalism, and latitudinarianism of principle, which are too often followed by licentiousness of conduct, hold fast the profession of your faith without wavering, and be not carried about with every wind of doctrine. Take heed that you have not men's persons in admiration, so as to think the word and sacraments in the slightest degree the better or worse, because administered by one person rather than another; for they who do so, regard the person more than the office, and need not wonder if they receive no benefit or advantage from it. All the hopes and expectations that we have from the exercise of the duties of our office rest entirely upon Christ's promise to accompany us in the performance of its duties. Let us then bless and praise the name of the Most High God, that we were born in a land, and still live in a Church, wherein the Apostolic line of succession has been throughout all ages graciously preserved to us, and by consequence his presence and blessing fully secured to us. Let us take great care that we forfeit not the spritual privileges and religious liberties which we enjoy, by our disregard of them. Let us pray to God that he would be pleased not only to continue his Church to us in all its purity, but his spirit to our Church, so that we may always enjoy the fulfilment of the promise in my text of the gracious presence and blessing of Christ,—“ Lo! I am with you always even unto the end of the world.”

Now to God the Father, &c.