against any refractory individuals among his flock. The rubric respecting the three Communions of the laity remains a dead letter on the Statute Book, as none of these rubrics and canons can practically be enforced as regards the laity. And, moreover, there is the rubric which commands the would-be communicant to give notice the day before of his intention to the priest; but who can enforce respect for it? It, as well as other rubrics, are, indeed, more honoured in the breach than the observance. The priest, therefore, under these circumstances, can do no more than give notice of a Celebration, and when the time for executing his Holy Office arrives, he may proceed to the end of his Celebration, though none be present; and yet he may lawfully expect or look for some of his flock to appear at any moment of time during the service, without their having given the priest any previous notice. Alas! that we should come to such a state of things within our own communion! And this state of things only goes to prove, I apprehend, that our present parochial organization is an anachronism, and not in accord with the spirit of the times. CHAPTER VII. THE PRINCIPLE THAT PREVAILED UNDER THE HEBREW DISPENSA - "Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn."-NUMB. iii. 12. "I will give him unto the Lord ALL the days of his life."1 SAM. i. 11. "Jesus called a little child unto Him."-S. MATT. xviii. 2. "Whoso shall receive one such little child in My Name receiveth Me."-S. MATT. xviii. 5. IN the following pages much of the matter there treated of can only be conceived of as necessary under an abnormal state of things, as, for instance, in time of great social disturbance or revolution, when all the ties, bonds, and rules of our present social system and civilized institutions are completely undermined or overturned, or at a time when a great upheaval of kingdoms and all forms of government will take place throughout the world. That any or all these things may take place we have the authority of God's Word in testimony. But, without considering these disturbances as far-reaching and world-wide, and merely confining them to one country or state or kingdom, they would be of serious character enough to justify every precaution and every means taken beforehand to preserve amid any such disorder the Christian faith and worship, and so keep alive the sacred fire of a holy life and belief which may be handed down to other generations, who might better appreciate them and thank God for them with grateful hearts. Now, from the arguments we have brought forward in the foregoing chapters, we think it must be seen how necessary it is that we should have more ministers for the service of the sanctuary, and, above all, more priests who shall be placed in the cure of souls, and who shall offer up continual sacrifices. And the next point to be considered, therefore, is, where and how are these to be procured, and how maintained in the execution of their holy ministry. There are several portions of Holy Scripture which may be applied to this sacred duty of providing for the wants of the Church by supplying candidates for the service of God's sanctuary. They are so many and so various, directly and indirectly intimating our duty in this respect, that it is not the easiest matter in the world to make a selection of those passages which are strongest in support of what we can but consider to be a paramount duty incumbent upon all the Faithful. Can we for a moment call to question the fact that, both in the Old and New Testaments, God has impressed upon His people the truth that they are "an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. ii. 5)? "Jesus Christ . . . hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father" (Rev. i. 6); "And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and The Levitical Tribe. 61 an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel" (Exod. xix. 6). We note, then, that in the early days of God's Church, after they had gone out of Egypt, a whole tribe was set apart for the service of His sanctuary, and, roughly speaking, we may say that one-twelfth of the people were thus devoted to the sacred ministry. But, strictly speaking, we find that all the males of the tribe of Levi were to supply the lack of service on the part of the first-born sons among the children of Israel. Previous to this enactment, the rule had been that the first-born son should be considered the priest of the family to offer up the usual sacrifices. But now and henceforth, until the advent of our great High Priest, the male members of the tribe of Levi were to perform the services of the sanctuary instead of the first-born of the children of Israel. In the numbering, however, of the Israelites, on the occasion of the setting apart of the Levitical tribe for God's ministry, it was found that the firstborn of the Israelites exceeded the males of the tribe of Levi by 273. In order to redeem these, God commanded that five shekels should be charged for each head of the overplus, and the sum to be paid over to Aaron and his sons the priests. In this manner, then, were the Israelites regarded as a holy nation, a kingdom of priests to offer up acceptable sacrifices to God through faith in the coming atonement of the Messiah. But as, before, the head of each family was to be considered the priest, now, on the other hand, a substitute was found for the first-born male of the family in the dedication of a whole tribe to the peculiar work of the sacred ministry, and the males of this tribe were in future to perform the work which God had formerly expected from the head of each household now and henceforth to be exempted from this particular service. But" whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning " (Rom. xv. 4), and what had then been ordained by God by special enactment we may safely conclude is not intended to be thrown into the background now that we live in a better and more perfect dispensation. Our zeal and love in the present should be more perfect, and more intense also. What had been done under the Mosaic dispensation by direct revelation and injunction from God was, however, to be considered in the light of a willing service; and yet we cannot forget that the children. of Israel were chosen from all nations upon earth to keep alive the knowledge and worship of the true God, which, otherwise, would have been lost; and these Divine ordinances and enactments may be looked upon in the nature of a special provision, to last till the fulness of time should come, and God should reconcile His people to Himself by the one sacrifice on the Cross. While, then, it was willing service on the part of these Israelites, yet it was one that was secured, if we may not say compelled, by specially Divine ordinances and injunctions. In time, however, and, indeed, we may say at intervals during the whole course of their history, the majority of the nation became corrupt, and succeeded in severing the spirit from the letter of the Divine law, and ended in giving a slavish adherence to the empty and dead letter of the law, with a fanaticism which at last impelled them to crucify the Lord of Life and seal their own doom. |