e proved, and be found blameless,
before they exercise rule; and that ministers be examined, and found
blameless, before they be ordained to or execute the ministerial
function, for these offices are of greater and higher concernment than
the deacon's office.

2. Mediate divine commands, which are mediately from God, but
immediately from men; and these come under a double consideration, being
either,

1. Such commands whose general principles are immediately the Lord's,
yet accommodations and determinations of particulars are from men, by
apparent deductions from those grounds. Of such the apostle saith, "But
to the rest speak I, not the Lord," 1 Cor. vii. 12; not that Paul
delivered any commands merely of his own head, (for he had "obtained
mercy of the Lord to be faithful," ver. 25, and did _think that he had
the Spirit of the Lord_, ver. 40,) but grounded his commands upon the
word of God, whereof the apostle was the interpreter. The case is
concerning divorce when it fell out that believer and unbeliever were
married together: the Lord had given general rules about divorce, but no
particular rule about this case, (it being not incident to the Jews;)
the apostle, therefore, accommodates the general rule to the particular
case; he, not the Lord, determined the particular. This sound
interpreters conceive to be the apostle's meaning: Thus the apostle,
treating of order in public assemblies, saith, "The prophet and the
spiritual man must acknowledge the things which I write, to be the
commandments of the Lord," 1 Cor. xiv. 37. Understand it mediately, as
being agreeable to the Lord's principles revealed: for otherwise how
should the prophet know what the Lord immediately revealed to the
apostle? or why should we think it probable that what Paul here speaks
of order and decency in church assemblies, was immediately and expressly
delivered him by speech or revelation from the Lord, seeing these
particulars have such easy and apparent deduction from general
principles, and revelations are not unnecessarily multiplied? Yet these
particular deductions and determinations are here styled the
commandments of the Lord.

2. Such commands, which are accidental and occasional, whose grounds and
general principles are also the Lord's; yet determination or deduction
of particulars can hardly be made, but in such emergent cases and
occasions accidentally falling out, as necessitate thereunto. As in that
case, Acts xv., when the sy