Trait 7.

TRAIT 7.

His power to bind, to loose, and to bless, in the name of the Lord. THE armour of God, described in the preceding article: is common to all Christians; but the true minister is girded with weapons of a peculiar temper. As a Christian, his sword is the word of God in general; but, as a minister, it is especially those parts of the Gospel by which he is invested with authority to preach the word of God, and to perform the functions of an ambassador of Jesus Christ. “Go,” said our blessed Master to his first disciples, “and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth my doctrine shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be damned,” Mark 16:15, 16. “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with yea alway, even unto the end of the world,” Matthew 28:18. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth Him that sent me,” John 13:20. “Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth,” according to the spirit of my Gospel, “shall be loosed in heaven,” Matthew 18:18.

Behold from whence the ministers of Christ have authority to absolve true penitents, and to excommunicate obstinate sinners. An authority which some have called the power of the clergy; a power which unrighteous pastors so much abuse, and which the faithful never presume to exercise but with the utmost solemnity: a power which, nevertheless, belongs to them of Divine right, and which can be denied them with no more reason than they can refuse the sacramental cup to the people. Such, at least, is the judgment of many excellent and learned divines, among whom may be reckoned Mons. Ostervald and Mons. Roques. It may, however, be inquired with propriety in this place, Can ecclesiastics be justified in still making use of their authority in these respects, unless they do it with prudence and impartiality? And would it not become them to exercise the ecclesiastical discipline, in an especial manner, upon unworthy pastors, following the maxim of St. Peter, “The time is come, that judgment must begin at the house of God!” 1 Peter 4:17.

Invested with the authority which Christ has conferred upon him, the true minister is prepared to denounce the just judgments of God against obstinate sinners, to console the dejected, and to proclaim the promises of the Gospel to every sincere believer, with an energy unknown to the worldly pastor, and with a power which is accompanied by the seal of the living God. Thus, when such a minister clearly discerns the profound malice of another Elymas, he is permitted to say, with the authority of an ambassador of Jesus Christ, “O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? Behold! the hand of the Lord shall be upon thee,” Acts 13:10, 11. But the true minister is careful never to abuse this lawful power. “We can do nothing,” says St. Paul, “against the truth, but for the truth; I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use harshness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction,” 2 Corinthians 13:8, 10. The denunciation of vengeance is to the minister of Christ what the execution of judgment is to the God of love, his painful and strange work. The good pastor, conscious that the ministration of mercy exceeds in glory the ministration of condemnation, places his chief glory and pleasure in spreading abroad the blessings of the new covenant. He knows that the promises are yea, and amen, in that beneficent Redeemer, who gave the following charge to his first missionaries: “Into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him: if not, it shall turn to you again,” Luke 10:5,

6. The wishes and prayers of a minister who acts and speaks in conformity to the intent of this benign charge, really communicate the peace and benediction of his gracious Master to those who are meet for their reception: and, according to the degree of his faith, he can write to the faithful of distant Churches with the confidence of St. Paul,—I am persuaded that “when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ,” Romans 15:29. Whenever he salutes his brethren, his pen or his lips become the channel of those evangelical wishes which flow from his heart: “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ,” Philippians 1:2. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all,” 2 Corinthians 13:14. Thus the true minister approves himself a member of the royal priesthood, a priest of the Most High, “after the order of Melchisedec,” who blessed the Patriarch Abraham: or rather, a ministering servant of the Son of God, who was manifested in the flesh, that “in him all the families of the earth might be blessed.”

Great God! grant that the whole company of Christian pastors may be men after thine own heart. Leaving to the ignorant those compliments which a slavish dependence has invented, may thy ministers perpetually carry about them the love, the gravity, and the apostolic authority, which belongs to their sacred character. May all the benedictions which thou hast commissioned them to pronounce, cause them still to be received “as angels of God,” Galatians 4:14. Far from being despised as hypocrites, shunned as troublesome guests, or feared as men of a covetous and tyrannical disposition, may that moment always be esteemed a happy one, in which they enter any man’s habitation: and whenever they make their appearance upon these charitable occasions, may those who compose the family, each seeking to give the first salute, cry out, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace!” Romans 10:15. The power of pronouncing exhortations and blessings is not the exclusive privilege of pastors, but belongs to all experienced believers. The patriarchs had a right to bless their children; and Jacob blessed not only his sons and grandsons, but also the king of Egypt himself. If the followers of Christ, then, are deprived of this consolatory power, the children of ancient Israel were more highly privileged than the members of the Christian Church, who are called, nevertheless, to receive more precious benedictions, and to be, as our Lord expresses it, “the salt of the earth,” and “the light of the world.” When St. Paul writes to believers, “Desire spiritual gifts; but rather that ye may prophesy: for he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, to exhortation, and comfort,” 1 Corinthians 14:1, 3, he doubtless excites them to ask of God that overflowing charity, and that patriarchal authority, without which it is impossible for them fully to comply with the following apostolic injunction, “Bless and curse not, knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing;” and without a high degree of which they cannot sincerely obey those distinguished precepts of our blessed Lord, “Love your enemies; do good. to them that hate you; and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you,” Romans 12:14; 1 Peter 3:9; Matthew 5:44.