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divine revelation proceeds upon the assumption that the primitive church was composed almost exclu- sively of such members as have now been described. Thus, for instance, the Apostle Peter describes church members as having purified their souls by obeying the truth through the Spirit—as being liv- ing stones built up into a spiritual house—an holy priesthood, a chosen generation, and as having ob— tained like precious faith. The Apostle Paul de— scribes them in equally characteristic terms, as hav- ing been “called to be saints,” as having “Come to Mount Zion,” and it seems to have been more par— ticularly with reference to their character in this point of view, that he here declares in our text that he was with the Colossian church “in Spirit, joying and beholding their order.”

Third. Let us now attend to the office bearers ap— pointed in the church as it was completely organized or constituted under the apostolic example. When Christ ascended up on high we are told that he gave gifts unto men, “And he gave some to be apostles, and some to be prophets, and some evan- gelists, and some pastors and teachers for the per— fecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edification of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowl- edge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” “God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, after that mir— acles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, di-

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