2. It is a communication of special blessing. Gen. xlviii. 14. Mark x.
16.
3. It is a mean of imparting the power of miracles—the gifts of the
Holy Ghost. Acts viii. 17.
4. And it is a communication of ministerial authority. Numb. xxvii.
18. 23. Deut. xxxiv. 9. 1 Tim. v. 22. Physical strength, special
blessing, miraculous power, and moral authority, have, according to
divine appointment, been communicated by the laying on of hands. These
things have also been otherwise communicated. God selects means
adequate to the end.
All the communications mentioned in scripture as made by the
imposition of hands, are of an extraordinary kind, except one—that of
authority. This is alone capable of being regulated by ordinary
agency.