I. The Foundation of the Ministry

As we have already seen, when Jesus Christ came, the Jewish Church, with its divinely-appointed ministry, existed in its full strength. God had taken one tribe out of the twelve to be the priestly tribe, and one family of that tribe to bear the highest office of the priesthood. His choice fell upon the tribe of Levi, and, in it, on the family of Aaron.[1] Members of this tribe and family alone formed the divinely-appointed ministers of the Jewish Church.

But this order, which typified the priesthood of our Lord, was not intended to continue when He came. It was the will of God that the Aaronic priesthood should pass away, and that a better and more enduring priesthood should take its place. The priesthood which was to supplant it was that which had been prefigured in the days of Abraham by the mysterious Melchisedec, of whom we read in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis.

i

It is important that we should see wherein the difference between the priesthood of Aaron, and that of Melchisedec lay. In what way was the latter superior to the former, that it should supplant it?

The priesthood of Aaron was hereditary, being handed down from father to son; it was but for a time, and was destined to pass away. The priesthood of Melchisedec was inherent in himself, and independent of others; it was to endure unto the end of time. Moreover, there was a feature in the priesthood of Melchisedec which was wanting in that of Aaron. Aaron was a priest simply: Melchisedec was a king as well as a priest. Melchisedec is described as “king of Salem, priest of the most high God.”[2]

ii

The priesthood of Melchisedec was fulfilled in our Lord. In the Psalms, He is described as a “priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”[3] In the Epistle to the Hebrews, He is five times spoken of by the same title.[4]

When our Lord came, He took upon himself for our salvation the threefold office of prophet, priest, and king. He was anointed by the Holy Spirit in his incarnation, and at his baptism, to be:

  • The prophet, who should teach man about God.

  • The priest, who should reconcile man to God.

  • The king, who should subdue man to God.

These three offices were summed up in his own person: and were bestowed upon him never to be taken from him. Now, in heaven, at the Father’s right hand, Jesus Christ is still the prophet, the priest, and the king of his Church.

He no longer exercises these offices towards the Church on earth in visible presence, but through a divinely-appointed ministry. He has been pleased to choose and to set apart a certain order of men, to represent him in his Church below.

The first of this long series of representatives to whom He gave authority to act for him, were the twelve apostles whom He chose out of the body of believers.[5] Our Lord gave them the title of ‘apostles,’ i.e., those who are sent forth. The twelve apostles were men sent forth by Christ to be the prophets, or teachers, priests, and rulers of his Church. To the twelve our Lord said,-” As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”[6] Jesus chose these men to be with him, and so trained them to take, in some sense, his place when He should leave the earth.

In like manner, the apostles were divinely instructed to choose others to take their place, and to succeed to their office at death. In this way provision was made for the continuation of the ministry founded by our Lord, and for the perpetuation in the Church of his threefold mission as prophet, priest, and king.

On the eve of his ascension into heaven, He bestowed mission or authority upon the ministry whom He had chosen, saying,-” All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”[7]

To shew how truly Jesus Christ intended the Christian ministry to represent him in the world, He declared to its first members,—“He that receiveth you receiveth me,”[8] and “He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me.”[9] It is impossible to find words which shall set forth more strongly the divine origin and authority of the Christian ministry.

iii

In the words, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you,”[10] Jesus Christ taught that the Christian ministry is derived from above, and not from below. Of the Christian ministry, as well as that of the Jewish Church, the words of God are true,— “I have given your priest’s office unto you.”[11]

The term clergy is now used in speaking of the Christian priesthood. This word signifies those upon whom the sacred lot has fallen,— those chosen by God to a sacred office. The clergy are not only the organs of the people, they are much more than this; they are the ministers of Christ.[12] Thus it is their first duty to represent God to the people as his ambassadors. An ambassador is one who represents the king who sends him. The clergy can say,—” We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”[13]

It is most important to notice this. The members of parliament who govern our land, receive their authority from below,—from those who choose them as their representatives: they represent the people. But the ministers of the Church receive their authority by commission from Jesus Christ, whom they represent. They are the messengers, watchmen, and stewards of the Lord. Thus the authority of the priesthood of the Church of God is derived from above. The clergy are sent by God to the people. Every minister of the true Church can say,—Christ has sent me to represent him: I speak and act for him: I am his minister: I am come to minister “ in the person of Christ.”[14]

It is important also to notice that when Christ sends men to be his representatives, He does not part with his power; He only puts it forth. When the deputies of the king administer law in distant lands, they do not dethrone the king; they maintain and exercise his authority. It is so with the Christian ministry. Christ keeps the power in his own hands, putting it forth by means of his ministers. This truth gives the explanation of the old saying, ubi sacerdos, ibi Christus, i.e., where the priest is, there is Christ.

The very greatness of the claim of the clergy to act ‘in the person of Christ,’ is their safeguard against pride. What room is there for self-exaltation in a system in which self is merged and lost in another, and in which the man fades and the Lord is more and more? The priesthood must never lose sight of St. Paul’s teaching,—“We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”[15]