recorded, that they baptized those whom they had previously converted by their preaching. St. Paul in his travels was usually accompanied by one of this order, which was considerably enlarged after its institution by the ordination of other persons; and the perpetuation of the office, and the importance attached to it in the Church of Christ, appear from the instructions given to Timothy, concerning the qualifications of those who undertook the Deaconship, and from the trial which they were to undergo : "Likewise must the Deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience; and let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a Deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all. things. Let the Deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well; for they that have used the office of a Deacon well, purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus "." Their office was of a probationary nature; and if they were found faithful and worthy in the execution of it, they were to be advanced to a higher degree of ministerial power. Of this order, besides the seven who were first ordained, were Luke and Mark', Paul's companions in his travels; Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus " at Corinth; Tychicus, a messenger on various occasions at Ephesus; the Deacons at Philippi; Epa

S

r 1 Tim. iii. 8-13.

9 Acts viii. 12, 13, 38. iv. 11. t Acts xii. 25. xiii. 5. vi. 21. Col. iv. 7. y Philip. i. 1.

1 Cor. xvi. 17.

• 2 Tim.

* Eph.

phras, and perhaps Onesimus at Colosse, and Archippus at Laodicea a.

The office of Deaconesses or Widows was also included in the constitution of the Apostolic Church; but it was liable to abuse, and was of short duration. Certain qualifications were required of them, and they were allowed to partake of the bounty of the Church.

Col. i. 7. iv. 8.
2-16.

1 Tim. v.

a Col. iv. 17.

b Romans xvi. 1.

SECTION IV.

UNITY, DIVISION, UNIFORMITY, AND COMMUNION OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCHES, AND PERPETUITY OF THE ORDER ESTABLISHED BY THE APOSTLES.

BY these different orders of Apostles, Presbyters, and Deacons, were the affairs of the Apostolic Church administered, and the fellowship and doctrine of the Apostles were maintained. The unity of each separate congregation was preserved by the respectful and affectionate attention which the private members paid to those who were over them in the Lord; and they were united, as members with the body, with the whole society of their fellow Christians, by the mutual dependence of the several orders upon each other, of the people on their proper ministers, of the ministers on the Apostles, and of the Apostles on Christ, who was the Head over all. The unity of Christians was unity of faith and profession, with one mind and one mouth glorifying God, and being perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment": unity of practice, walking by the same rule; unity of sacraments, for there was but one baptism, and all were baptized by the one spirit into the one body; and being many, they were but one bread and one body, for they were all partakers of the one bread '; and unity of order, keeping the ordinances which were delivered to them, and not setting minister in opposition to

b 1 Cor. i. 10.

a Rom. xv. 6. iv. 8. e 1 Cor. xii. 13.

c Phil. iii. 16. d Eph. 1 Cor. xi. 2.

f 1 Cor. x. 17.

minister". This unity is illustrated by the unity of members in a body, of branches in a tree, and of a building constructed of various materials, and divided into different apartments, resting on one common foundation': by the unity of Christ with God", and by the unity of the Spirit"; and the Apostle enforces his recommendation to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, on the argument, that there is but one body and one Spirit, even as we are called in one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in allo: an argument which is followed by an exposition of the order of the Church, from its first institution to its final establishment in universal unity and perfection P.

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Schism, which in its original sense "evidently describes a wilful separation, effected by violence, rending that which was before entire," in its scriptural use may be defined, an open violation of Church unity, when individuals assume to themselves a power either of forming new communions, or of instituting new rites, or of creating a new ministry, in opposition to such as have been established by regular authority, as being the ministry and ordinances originally of Apostolic institution." The nature of it may be collected from the first four chapters of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, whose schismatical disposition and prac

tices had been reported to the Apostle, who took immediate occasion of exposing the sinful and pernicious quality of schism, and of adjuring them in the most earnest and affectionate manner that it might not prevail among them, and that they would be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. He reproves them for being carnal, and walking as men', and not after the ordinance of God; for withdrawing themselves from their proper ministers, and following favourite teachers', after their own choice and discretion; for attributing to them extraordinary powers, instead of ascribing the effect to God's blessing on their common endeavours; instead of esteeming them as labourers together with God ", and holding them all in equal estimation, as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God *. In a subsequent part of the Epistle, he resumed the subject as it affected their public assemblies in the Church, and their manner of celebrating the Supper of the Lord, and as it interrupted and destroyed the mutual connection and dependence which had been established and were necessary in the spiritual body of the Church'; and he teaches them, that the extraordinary and miraculous gifts of their teachers, for which they so highly valued them, would profit them nothing, if they were without charity a, and tended to dissolve the unity of the Church. In the Epistle to the Galatians, under the name of contentions or variance, he places it among those works of the flesh, which he that

1 Cor. i. 12. iii. 4. t 1 Cor. * 1 Cor. iv. 1. y 1 Cor. xi. a 1 Cor. xiii. 1, 2, 3. b Galat.

41 Cor. i. 10. 1 Cor. iii. 3. iii. 5-10. " 1 Cor. iii. 9. 17, 18. * 1 Cor. xii. 25. v. 20. Compare 1 Cor. i. 11. iii. 3.

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