faith of Christ more publicly, and have taken a good degree, or a good step, towards the office of a ruling, or a teaching elder, in the church.

And this is a very proper expression concerning those times, when christian churches were the only schools for the education of ministers; and the exercise of gifts, in and for the service of the church, was one chief means of their preparation for it. I confess in our day, since we have many outward advantages for the education of ministers in learning, and their improvement in knowledge, and in all gifts, it is not so usual, nor so necessary, that a deacon should grow up into an elder, or bishop. Yet in some churches, such persons have been found in late years, who have been deservedly called to the office of the ministry, by the great improvement of their gifts in the church, their uncommon degree of knowledge and grace, and the peculiar blessing of God. After all, this is certain, that those that grow old in such an office, well performed, grow honourable in the sight of God and man; for God is not unrighteous, my friends, to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name; in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister, and we desire that every one of you would shew the same diligence unto the end; Heb. vi. 10-12.

Inferences.-I. We may see something of the beauty of gospel-order, in the several offices of a church of Christ; but I shall now remark it only in these two respects-1. That as the visible church here on earth, and the members of it, have many bodily necessities and conveniences to be supplied, as well as their souls to be instructed and edified; so there are distinct persons of divine appointment commissioned to manage these affairs, and fulfil these services, viz. pastors and deacons.-2. Another part of the beauty of that order consists herein, that the one is to act in subordination to the other; the deacons are chosen for the assistance of the elders, and thus acting together by a sweet concurrence, the church is preserved in peace, the necessities of it are supplied, and the gospel honoured.

II. See here the tenderness of Christ, the great head of the church towards his ministers, and his poor: He has instituted officers to take care of their outward subsistence, as well as required the church to contribute for that end. Hereby the poor will not be left to perish, nor ought they to be exposed to extreme hardships, if the church can prevent it: Hereby ministers are secured from a too great solicitade about their own maintenance, and from interruptions in their more proper work, as well as from the malicious censures of the world, which would fall upon them, if they were over-burdened with secular cares and concerns, either for the church, for the poor, or for themselves.

III, Learn from my text, that the services which are done

for Christ and the church, have their rewards annexed to them for their encouragement in this world, besides the infinite recompence of reward in the world to come. Faithful deacons in a church, obtain a good degree of honour and esteem.

IV. From the deacons of a particular visible church, we may raise our thoughts unto our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the great minister; and bishop of souls; and I may call him too, the great and universal deacon of God the Father in the church invisible. The Father has given into his hand the riches of his grace, the treasures of his love, divine food and spiritual clothing, mansions of glory and inheritances in light; to be distributed amongst his poor saints, that they may be nourished and brought through this wilderness, and that they may be enriched with grace, be brought home to heaven, and be for ever blessed. He is diligent and faithful, he is wise, and gentle, and compassionate, and answers all the characters of a deacon in the highest degree. He spreads a table for starving sinners, and furnishes it with his own flesh and blood; he feeds us with the bread of life, and with living water, that we may eat, and drink, and live for ever. And in this sense, when the deacons are serving tables, and supplying the wants of the poor, and the church visible, out of what is trusted with them; let them remember and rejoice, that they represent the character of our Lord Jesus, as he is entrusted with all supplies from the hands of the Father, and distributing unto the church invisible. To him let the eyes of your faith be lifted for wisdom, for gifts and grace, to manage the affairs with which you are entrusted, and he shall fulfil the pramises of a large reward. Amen.

DISCOURSE III.

Invitations to Church-fellowship.

PSALM Ixv. 4.-Blessed is the Man whom thou chusest and causeth to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy Courts: We shall be satisfied with the Goodness of thy House, even of thy Holy Temple.

THE latter words of the verse shall be the subject of our present meditations, wherein we shall consider what is meant by dwelling in the courts of God, and what is the goodness of his house wherewith his favourites shall be satisfied. There are three senses of this sacred phrase, dwelling in the courts of God; and the persons who are favoured to inhabit the sanctuary in either of these senses, may have the blessing of the Psalmist pronounced upon them.

The first, and the most obvious meaning of the words, dwelling in the courts of God, is, a continual attendance on him in the ministrations of his temple, and the discharge of some holy office there. This was the felicity of several of the priests and the Levites of old under the Jewish dispensation: And this is the happiness of the ministers of the gospel now, who are continually employed in the things of God, and the affairs of religion; who give themselves up, as the apostles did, to the ministry of the word and prayer; Acts vi. 4. Whose business it is to attend to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine, to meditate on God and Christ and salvation, to converse with the glorious invisibles of the upper world, and give themselves wholly to them, as the apostle charges Timothy the young evangelist; 1 Tim. iv. 13, 15. Blessed is the man whom God chuses for a christian and a minister, whose general calling, in common with the rest of christians, is to save his own soul, and whose particular employment as a minister is to save the souls of others. This order of men are utterly unworthy of their privilege, if they do not prize it highly, set a just value upon it, and confess their own happiness. But I have shewn elsewhere, that this sense of the words, which is limited to priests and Levites, could never include the whole meaning of David; for then he had excluded himself from this blessedness, who was not of the tribe of Levi, nor capable of priesthood; and yet he declares with holy joy, that he would dwell in the house of the Lord for ever; Psal. xxiii. 6.

The second sense of the words therefore, and which seems to be the very design of the Psalmist is this; Blessed are they "whose habitation is near to the ark of God, and the tabernacle," and thereby " they are made capable of frequenting the

house of God, and of waiting upon him with great constancy in the holy ordinances of his worship." These are the persons whom my text pronounces happy: There was but one tabernacle, and one ark in the days of David, and but one temple in succeeding ages appointed for all the inhabitants of the land of Canaan; but one place where God had recorded his name, and appointed the public sacrifices, and peculiar solemnities of worship, on which all the men of Israel, who lived at the farthest distance, were obliged to attend three times a year: But those whose habitation was near the place where the ark resided, and these solemnities were performed, had more frequent opportunities of such attendance. The doctrine, which we may derive from this sense of the words, may be thus expressed." Happy are those persons whose circumstances and stations of life, are appointed by providence in so favourable a manner, as to give them liberty to come up constantly to the house of God, and wait upon him in all his institutions:" And the instances of their happiness are evident enough. For

Instance I." These are nearer to the visits of God, and may see him oftener than others." These may have such a frequent sight of his power and glory, as they are to be seen in the sanctuary; Psal. Ixiii. 2. It is a pleasure to be near our best friend, to be near our dearest Father, to be near our own God. When we have a relation dwells near us, how often we are present with them! And they that dwell near the court, have opportunity of seeing the king upon every occasion.

II. "These have more external helps towards heaven, than others have." It is true, we have a glorious mercy in this respect, that the scriptures are every where in our hands, and many labours of holy men in writing, who being dead, yet speak; but the ministry of the word in the house of God, is the great ordinance for conversion and edification. It is the chief standing institution of Christ for this purpose, even to the end of the world.

III." These persons have supplies of their wants nearer at hand; and whatsoever their burdens be, they are nearer to relief;" whether their complaints are of a spiritual or temporal kind. How often has the soul that was in the dark and perplexed, received hints of direction in the ministry of the word! How often has the tempted christian been strengthened and supported there! And the mourning saint has been often comforted. And even when we labour under temporal necessities and sorrows, though the sanctuary is not furnished to supply every thing of this kind, yet the words of grace and consolation that have been heard in the church, have often borne up the spirit of the poor and the afflicted; they have been led to the mercy-seat, the spring of all supplies, and they have gone away patient under their burdens, and rejoicing in hope of deliverance here, or full salvation here

after. We in this world are travelling through a wilderness, a dry land: Now to be near a sweet fountain, or rather to have a sweet stream flowing by us all the way, is a choice comfort; while those that are afar off die for thirst, or go many a long hour without supply; see Psal. Ixiii. 1, 2. where David being afar off from the house of God, cries out aloud after him; O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see thy power, and thy glory, &c.

Happy those who dwell near the celebration of divine ordinances, for these are the persons who stand fair to obtain all advantages of the house of God, and "to be satisfied with the goodness of his holy temple." Before I dismiss this second sense of the words, I shall make these two or three reflections:

Reflection I. "How much do these fellow-creatures want our pity, and our prayers, whose station places them afar off from the courts of God," and who are deprived of all the blessed advantages that are to be enjoyed in the church! Let us, whom divine providence has favoured with a nearer approach to God, fill his courts with the voice of joy and praise for our peculiar mercies; and let our hearts at the same time feel a becoming compassion towards those who are afar off. O pity those who dwell in the lands of darkness and heathenism, and have nothing near them that looks like religion, but the courts of idolatry, and their abominable rites and ceremonies; filthy ceremonies, and fantastic or cruel rites with which they worship images of wood or stone, and their brazen or their golden gods. Pity the wretches who dwell under antichristian tyranny, where every thing sacred is over-run with superstition, and the pure ordinances of the gospel are daubed over so thick with various painting, and so buried under a load of human inventions, as to diminish, if not utterly destroy, all their use and power. Pity the protestants whose places of worship are demolished, and the sanctuaries are thrown down all over their land. Pity the holy confes sors that are banished from the courts of God and his beloved worship; and those who are shut up in prisons, inclosed in dungeons, under heavy bonds of iron; and those also who groan in secret in their own houses, under the terror of watchful and malicious persecutors. Let us put our souls in their soul's stead, and say then, "Would we not think ourselves fit objects for pity? And should we not desire the prayers of the saints of God?" Think then, christians, let you and I think with ourselves, who made the dreadful and the happy difference? Happy for us indeed, but dreadful for our brethren, who endure these banishments, or heavy bonds!

II. Here let us reflect again," how much more excellent is the gospel-state, than that of the Levitical law! And how much