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NICHOLAjJ STREET. 1863. ^ EottJ ISisfjop oC fflontreal, anb .etropoUtan of CanaUa, ^ublisficU at |}is request, laespectfuHs UcUicateti. SERMON. I "The mystery of the seven stars whicli thou sawcst in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks; The seven stars are the Angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest arc the seven churches." Revelation i. 20. The occasion on which wc arc here assembled, my Chris- tian brethren, from its unusual interest and importance must, in any cusq, have rendered the office of the preacher one of considerable difficulty and delicacy. But in the present instance when the preacher who has been selected belongs to the second order of the ministry only, he cannot fail to be possessed with an almost overwhelming sense of this difficulty and responsibility, and may Avell pause on the threshold of his subject to ask for an indulgent consideration. When a Presbyter rises in the pulpit to deliver words of exhortation or advice to candidates for the Diaconate or the Priesthood, he may be supposed to draw from the depths of his experi- ence ; ho addresses them at least from the level of that order to which they aspire ; and the weigM of knowledge, of age, and of position, is on his side. In tho^o instances, moreover, the Church has pointed, by an express rubric, to the leading topics of the discourse : the duty and office of such as come to be admitted priests and deacons ; how necessary these orders are in the church of Christ, and how the people ought to esteem them in their office. But in the consecration of a bishop, she has given the preacher an unlimited discretion ; for doubtless she felt that it would be invidious and unseemly to call upon one who might be merely of Prosbyteral rank to Bpeak with authority on the duties of an office of which he 6 could have no experience, and that too in the preacncc of the fathers of the Clmrch, men whoso tcini)le3 have grown grey in the active discharge of those very duties of wliich a mere ideal was being drawn. But of the office itself, of the authority which it claims and of the advantages which that form of government confers upon the Church, there is no reason why we should not speak. It seems on the contrary to be our proper tlicme and subject at this time when a new member is about to be grafted into the Episcopate. We seem called upon to state the commission by which we act, and to remind all present of the light in which they are to regard him who is so soon to become their Father-in-God. Whatever temptation there may have been in times past to dwell on matters of Church polity from the pulpit, that su])ject is now but seldom handled. To bring it prominently forAvard, unless the occasion should so demand, is felt by many to be an assault on those who differ from us, or an undue magnifying of ourselves. Some value their own privileges so cheaply that they hardly care to dwell upon them ; others are so strongly convinced of the primitive and scriptural character of their polity that they are disposed to think that the truth can take care of itself. But whatever may be the reason, there can be no doubt that many of our lay brethren have been hitherto but imperfectly awake to the strong, I might say the impregnable position of their Church, and have in consequence withheld from her much of that zeal and confidence and love which she so fully merits and demands. But now the line of our Canadian bishops is no longer to be continued from the other side of the Atlantic. The Church, complete in her organization and machinery, has taken root in our midst ; she stands boldly forward to court observation, to challenge inspection, to demand scrutiny. And we cannot but hope that the great event of this day will not only tend to knit together more closely the bands of union between the several dioceses of Canada, but will create in the minu.1 of all who have taken part in this ceremonial an intellif^cnt and reverent appreciation of the ofliee and work of a hishop, which will make them hotter and moro attached memhern of the Church all their life Ion;;. We shall not, however, attempt in thin dinconrse a view of the whole art^ument for Episcopacy. Such a review would of itscU* a(*((uire no ordinary powers of compression, covering as it must needs do so p;rcat a space both within and without the books of the New Testament. The subject has moreover been so thoroughly handled in a discourse whicli nmst be fresh in your memory, that it would be presum})tuous in me to attempt to follow in the same footsteps. Let it sulfice us to select the latest period of the Inspired Record, and en- deavour to ascertain how far the present form of our Church polity may be traced therein. If we shall find that some- thing very like it in its essential features was there perman- ently established, and that it received indirectly at least the stamp of the Divine approval, then surely for all thoughtful and earnest minds the (question will be solved. And even if the evidence be insufficient to carry absolute conviction to the mind, still, if it is of such a character as to render it probable in a high degree that Episcopacy has the sanction of Christ, the duty of adhering to it will be nearly as stringent as would arise from an entire certainty ; for where there is a doubt, it is the part of faith and love to take that side which on the whole appears most in accordance with the will of our Blessed Redeemer. The book of Revelation stands in marked contrast to the other books of the New Testament, and even to the other writings of the same inspired author. It is the link Avhich connects the prophetical elements of the two covenants. Abandoning the simple practical style of the Gospels and Epistles, the Revelation introduces us into a region of visions and symbols, by which arc shadowed forth the great mysteries of God's dealings with His Church. Nor are the Epistles 8 to the seven cliurclies any exception. They aro not to be viewed as ;i distinct and dctaclied portion of the hook. Sim- ple as they ap[)ear, they are full of niystenous and syniholieal Dieanin^H. The very number chosen (»it of so many Asiatic cliurcheH, — tlie Hmall rehitivc importance of some of them, — the solemn ap])eal so often renewed, " he tliut hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saitli to tlie churches," — all ^o to prove that these churches are selected as representatives of the Cluirch Universal. In some way or other their distin- guishin;:; characteristics arc more or less repeated in all tlie churches of Christendom. They are a summary, an epitome of church life and decay ; and every diocese of (Jhrist's Holy Catholic Church may hehold in one or other of this mystical seven its own features, with the appropriate warning or pro- mise that belongs to it. Another (juestion now presents itself. The messages of Christ are not sent directly to the churches, but arc addressed in every instance to the Angel of the church. In what sig- nification are we to understand this term V Is a member of the heavenly hierarchy intended ? or is it a mere pcrijjhrasis for the church itself ? or can we hence deduce any conclusion as to the constitution of these churches which are thus set forth as types of the Church Universal ? It belongs to tlie mystical and prophetical character of this book that the ordinary and familiar 'lamos of things are not employed. There is no evidence, I believe, that the name " angel " was ever in use in the church for any grade of church officer, unless with conscious reference to this passage.* • It was however well adapted to express the office and function of the ministry, as bearing God's commission, and bound to labour in His ser- vice witli zeal, constancy, patience and perseverance, like their heavenly prototypes, The very terra had indeed been already used in the Greek version of Malachi (ii. 7), "The priests' lips should keep knowledge, and the people should seek the law at his moulh, for he is the messen- ger (&yyf\os, angel) of the Lord of Hosts." 9 The word tlion ia one wliioh does not intorprct itself, and wo arc left to fall hack ujion sii(!}i internal and external cvid- once as may be available , if we would fix the nature of the an^^el to uliom the meHsa;^o is sent. Perhaps some one will maintaiti that '' an;^el.s," properly 80 called, ai-e here intended, the invisihle ministers of the Almighty, aii>sioued to address an;i;els whose place is in heaven before (lod's throne ? A^ain, this invisihle ])atron or president (tf the church must assuredly he one of the holy angels, one of that •j;lorii)Us company who are held up in the Lord's l*rajer itself for our encouragement and imitation. But how can the praise and blame bestowed upon those officers suit the character of the holj angels ? Here are promises of a crown of life, if faithful unto death, rebukes for suftering the unchecked growth of heresy; threats of total and absolute rejection. How could it be said to an angel of heaven " I have somewhat against thee because thoii hast left thy first love ? " We may theref()re safely dismiss from our encjuiry the id(!a that a guardian angel (so to speak) over the several churches iw to be here understood. But perhaps by the angels are meant the churches them- selves. Thus it would not be the angel, some particular officer, that is addressed, but the clmrch itself, viewed as God's angel or messenger to the world. But a distinction is drawn between the stars which are the angels, and the candle- sticks or lamps which represent the cluwches. Besides if this were the meaning, the epistles would l)c throughout forced and unnatur-al. If the angel is a mere synonym for the church, how vague and indirect is the message ! We lose our grasp of its meaning, and become enveloped in a -haze of obscurity. We may then at once set aside this interpretation as the least likely of ail that have been suggested. Shall we then see, as some German commentators have 10 recently seen, in these angels the messengers, literally ao called, who were deputed by the several churches to lay their state before the apostle, and to request his assistance as the channel of intercommunion between themselves and the en- throned Saviour? If these messengers were indeed respon- sible for the government of the churches, — if they were the chief men in each, on whoso shoulders rested the keys of doc- trine and discipline, — there might be something in this view. But there is no trace of such an embassage ; it is a mere im- agination, and the only supposition which could explain the style and tone of the replies vouchsafed Avould leave these angels in possession of that dignity and authority with which the ordirarily received explanation would invest them. Since then we cannot discover in the angels cither mem- bers of the celestial host, or messengers from the chiir^hos, or a circuitous mode of expression for the church itself, the conclusion is unavoidable that some kind of church officer is meant. Indeed the " stars " to which they are compared would of themselves lead us to this result. '" As the lamps represent the churches," actual vessels containing light, so the stars which are "concentrated sparks of light" represent actual persons in or connected with the churches. " The star in scripture is the recognized symbol of authority whether ecclesiastical or civil. Thus the highest dominion of all was typified by the star which should come forth out of Jacob ! . . Faithful teachers are stars which shall shine for ever ; false teachers are wandering stars or stars that fall from hea- ven." (Trench.) Shall Ave say then that each of these churches represented one congregation only, and that the pastor or minister or elder of this congregation is the " angel " of the apocalypse ? But this view will hardly suit the case of Ephesus, where many years before there were several Presbyters, whom St. Paul summoned to Miletus, and to whom he addressed a partuig charge. Again some years later we find that Timothy 11 has authority given him over a number of teachers of various ranks and orders. We have moreover the non-inspired testi- mony of St. Ignatius, who himself wrote Epistles to three of the seven churches not long afterwards, that there were in Ephesus, Smyrna, and Philadelphia many Priests and Deacons. So that the hypothesis that the " angel " is the pastor of a single congregation is inconsistent with the known facts of the case Perhaps it will be said that the star is put for the collective body of the clergy. No doubt it includes them. All who have directly or indirectly a share in building up the body of Christ are amenable to the censure or partakers in the praise. But it is as connected with the one head, as virtually con- tained in him. For it is a star that is spoken of, not a con- stellation. And though the star might stand for a series of men, continued by succession, it would not be a very apt figure for a body of individuals. Moreover the " angel " is addressed as solely and individually responsible for the state of the whole church, which would not hold of a body of pas- tors who could only be responsible each for his own share, and of whom a portion by their lukewarmness might thwart and neutralize the energies of the rest. Again, elsewhere in the Revelation the titles of " angel " and " star " are never fig- uratively applied to bodies of men, but always denote single persons. And lastly, if we suppose the ministry collectively to be meant, that would be to take for granted what it is im- possible to prove, that those ministers were united in