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private rebuke, or admonition, in order to bring him to repeatance; nor, upon his obstinate refusal thereof, would the church have ground to proceed in excluding him from its communion nevertheless, we are not to suppose the crime to be of such a nature, as is, in itself, inconsistent with a state of grace, or af fords matter of open scandal to the Christian name; as if a person were guilty of adultery, theft, or some other notorious crime; for, in this case, it would not be sufficient for the person, who is apprised of it, to give him a friendly and gentle reproof; so that, upon his confessing his fault, and repenting of it, all farther proceedings against him ought to be stopped; for herein, I humbly conceive, that he that has received information concerning it, ought to make it known to the church, that so the matter might not only be fully charged upon him, but his repentance be as visible, as the scandal he has brought to religion, by his crime, has been. If I know a person to be a traitor to his Prince, a murderer, or guilty of any other crime, whereby he has forfeited his life, it is not sufficient for me to reprove him privately for it, in order to bring him to repentance; but I must discover it to proper persons, that he may be brought to condign punishment: So, in this case, if a person be guilty of a crime, that in itself disqualifies for churchcommunion, and brings a reproach on the ways of God, the church ought to express their public resentmt against it, wich will end to secure the honour of religion; and thereIn Iage x Secagt before them immediately, and they V FAVOL BOLI, by excluding him from their commuHOT, INECL see the present, he seem to express some depe i series crime, as being made public; and if ti mut his repentance is sincere, and the world has Softcore Cube ecclude it to be so, then they may express Mer Regienos Tierect, and so withdraw the censure they

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its a lesser nature than these, a private adstas de given; and if this be to no purpose, but as whereby it appears to be habitual, and 1 sincere, after this, the cause is to be brought , but, in order hereunto, the person that first 41, must take one or two more, that they may join scend reproof; and, if all this be to no purpose, then o appear as evidences against him, and the church is bu a public admonition; and, if this solemn ordinance electual, then he is to be excluded, and his exclusion vd his being to them as an Heathen-man, or Publican, la, we have no farther relation to him any more than they De Escher or Publicans, or no immediate care of

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him, any otherwise than as they are to desire to know whether this censure be blessed for his advantage. And this leads us,

(4.) To consider the temper with which this censure ought to be denounced, and the consequences thereof, with respect to him that falls under it. The same frame of spirit ought to discover itself in this, as in all other reproofs, for sin committed, in which there ought to be a zeal expressed for the glory of God, and, at the same time, compassion to the souls of them, who have rendered themselves obnoxious to it, without the least degree of hatred redounding to their persons. The crime is to be aggravated in proportion to the nature thereof, that so he that has committed it may be brought under conviction, and be humbled for his sin, and yet he is to be made sensible that his spiritual advantage is intended thereby.

This is very contrary to those methods which were taken in the corrupt state of the Jewish church, who, when they excommunicated persons, denounced several curses against them; and their behaviour consequent thereupon, was altogether unjustifiable. We have an account, in some of their writings, of two degrees of excommunication practised among them, one of which only deprived them of some privileges which that church enjoyed, but not of all. Another carried in it more terror, by reason of several anathemas annexed to it, which contained a great abuse and perversion of the design of that law relating to the curses that were to be denounced on mount Ebal, mentioned in Deut. xxvii. which was not given as a form, to be used in excommunication, but to shew them what sin deserved, and that this might be an expedient to prevent those sins, which would expose them to the divine wrath and curse*. And though they pretend to have a warrant for this from Deborah, and Barak's cursing Meroz, Judges v. 23. or Joshua's denouncing a curse upon him that should rebuild Jericho, Joshua vi. 26. yet this does not give countenance to their proceedings herein; for we must distinguish between those anathemas, which were denounced by immediate divine direction, by some that had the spirit of prophecy, and those curses which were denounced by others who were altogether destitute thereof f.

Moreover, as the Jews, in the degenerate ages of that church, abused the ordinance of excommunication, as above-mentioned; so they discovered such a degree of hatred to those whom

• The former of these Jewish writers call 17 Niddui; the lutter they call Cherem, or ♡ Scammatha, and was performed with several execrations, by which they, as it were, bound them over to suffer both temporal and eternal punishments. See Lightfoot's Hora Hebr. & Talmud. in 1 Cor. v. 5.

See more on this subject in Vitringa de Synagog. Vet. Pag. 745. and also the form used, and the instrument drawn up, when a person was excommunicated and anathematized, in Selden de jure Nat. & Gent. Lib. IV. cap. 7 and Buxt. Lex. Talm. in voce CHEREM.

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they excommunicated, as ought not to be expressed to the vilest of men. An instance of this we have in their behaviour towards the Samaritans, who, according to the account we have from Jewish writers, were excommunicated in Ezra's time, for building a temple on mount Gerizzim, and setting up corrupt worship there, in opposition to that which ought to have been performed in the temple at Jerusalem. For this they were justly excluded from the Jewish church *; but their morose behaviour towards them was unwarrantable. That there was an irreconcilable enmity between them, appears from the woman of Samaria's answer to our Saviour, when desiring her to give him water; from whence it is evident that he was far from approving of this behaviour of the Jews towards them: the woman was amazed that he should ask water of her, and hereupon says to him, How is it, that thou, being a few, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans, John iv. 9. that is, they retain that old rancour and prejudice against them, that they will not have any dealings with them which contain the least obligation on either side. These things were consequences of excommunication which they had no ground for in scripture.

As for the Christian church, they seem to have followed the Jews too much in that, in which they are not to be imitated. Hence arose the distinction between the greater and the lesser excommunication, which is agreeable, though expressed in other words, to that which was before mentioned; and those anathemus, which were denounced against persons excommunicated by them, how much soever it might have argued their zeal against the crimes they committed, yet it is no example for us to follow. It is beyond dispute, that they endeavour to make this censure as much dreaded as was possible, to deter men from committing those crimes that might deserve it. Tertullian calls it, An anticipation of the future judgment ; and Cyprian supposes such an one to be fur from a state of salvation ‡.

And some have supposed, that persons, when excommunicated, were possessed by the devil, which they conclude to be the sense of the apostle, 1 Cor. v. 5. when he speaks of delivering such unto Satan §; and that Satan actually seized, and took possession of them; and that God granted this as an expedient, to strike a terror into the minds of men, to prevent many See an account of the manner of their excommunication, and the curse denounc ed against them at that time, and the first cause of it, taken from Josephus, and other Jewish writers, in Lightfoot's Works, Vol. II. Pag. 538–540. and Vol. I. Pug. 599.

Vid. Tert Apol. cap. 39. Summum futuri judicii præjudicium.

Vid. Cypr. de Orat. Dom. Timendum est, & orandum, ne dum quis abstertus separatur a Christi corpore, procul remaneat a salute.

Vid. Cave's Prim. Christ. Prvt. III. cap. 5.

sins being committed; and that this was more necessary at that time, when they were destitute of the assistance of the civil magistrate, who took no care to defend the church, or to punish those crimes that were committed by its members: but I cannot think that there was ever such a power granted to the church, how much soever the necessity of affairs be supposed to require it. We read nothing of it in the writings of those Fathers, who lived in the early ages thereof; such as Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, or Cyprian, who would, doubtless, have taken some notice of this extraordinary miraculous punishment attending excommunication, had there been any such thing. Some of them, indeed, speak of the church's being favoured, in some instances, with the extraordinary gift of miracles, and particularly that of casting out devils, after the apostles' time; but we have no account of the devil's possessing any, upon their being cast out of the church.

We read, in scripture, of delivering a person excommunicated to Satan, 1 Cor. v. 5. but I cannot think that the apostle intends any more by it, than his being declared to be in Satan's kingdom, that is in the world, where he rules over the children of disobedience; and, if his crime be so great, as is inconsistent with a state of grace, he must, without doubt, be reckoned a servant of Satan, and, in this sense, be delivered to him. And there is a particular end thereof, mentioned by the apostle, namely, The destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus; so that the person's good is to be intended by it, that he may be humbled, brought to repentance, and afterwards received again into the bosom of the church.

Justin Martyr tells the Jews, (Vid. ejusd. Colloq. cum Tryph.) that the church, in his time, had the gift of prophecy; which Eusebius (in Hist. Eccles. Lib. IV. cap. 17.) takes notice of, and, doubtless believed it to be true in fact, though it be very much questioned whether there were any such thing in the fourth century, in which he lived. Gregory Nyssen, and Basil, who lived a little after Eusebius, assert, that there were many miracles wrought in the third century, by Gregory of Neo-cesarea, for which reason he is called Thaumaturgus; though it is not improbable that they might be imposed on in some things, which they relate concerning him, especially when they compare him with the apostles, and ancient prophets, not excepting Moses himself in this respect; and, it is certain, many things are related, of his miracles, which seem too fabulous to obtain credit; yet there is ground enough, from all that they say, to suppose that he wrought some, and that therefore, in his time, they were not wholly ceased, (Vid. Greg. Nyss. in cit. Greg. Thaum, and Basil de Sp. Sanct. cap. 29.) And Origen affirms, that, in his time, the Christians had a power to perform many miraculous cures, and to foretell things to come, (Vid. Lib. I. contr. Cels.) Kas i ίχνη το αγια εκείνε Πνεύματος παρα χρισιανοις σώζεται εξεπάδεσι δαίμονας και πολλές βάσεις επιλελησε και ορωσι τινα καλα το βέλημα το λόγο περί μελλοΐνων. If this had not been true, Celsus, who wanted neither malice, vor a will to oppose, would certainly have detected the fallacy. And Tertullian, (Vid. Apologet. cap. 23.) appeals to it for the proof of the Christian religion, offering to lay his life and reputation at stake, if the Christians, when publicly calling upon God, did not cure those who were possessed with devils.

Thus we have considered the general description of a church, the matter and form thereof, and the power granted them of receiving persons into, or excluding them from communion. Now from hence we may infer,

1st, That nearness of habitation, how much soever it may contribute to answer some ends of church-communion, which cannot be attained by those who live many miles distant from each other, is not sufficient to constitute persons church-members, or to give them a right to the privileges that attend such a relation. Parochial churches have no foundation in scripture, for they want both the matter and form of a church; nor are they any other than a human constitution.

2dly The scripture gives no account of the church, as National or Provincial; and therefore, though persons have a right to many civil privileges, as born in particular nations, or provinces, it does not follow from thence, that they are professedly subjects to Christ, or united together in the bonds of the gospel. Therefore if a church, that styles itself National, excludes persons from its communion, whether it be for real or supposed crimes, it takes away that right which it had no power to confer, but what is founded on the laws of men, which are very distinct from those which Christ has given to his churches. And this leads us,

5. To consider the government of the church, by those officers which Christ has appointed therein. Tyranny and anarchy are extremes, inconsistent with the good of civil society, and contrary to the law of nature, and are sufficiently fenced against by the government which Christ has established in his church: he has appointed officers to secure the peace and order thereof, and has limited their power, and given directions that concern the exercise thereof, that so it may be governed without oppression, its religious rights maintained, the glory of God, and the mutual edification of its members hereby promoted.

We have already considered those extraordinary officers which Christ set over the gospel-church, when it was first constituted, namely, the apostles and evangelists: (a) But, besides

(a) “The Amoçoxoç is an extraordinary ambassador of Christ. He was commissioned for extraordinary purposes. Like the generals of a victorious army, the apostles exercised, in the name of their King, authority throughout all parts of the vanquished empire, until the regular magistracy was organized and fully settled. They have no successors in this respect. The presbyter is fully competent to all ordinary administrations. In relation to such cases, the apostles themselves are no more than presbyters. 1 Pet. v. 1.

Church government is subordinate to evangelic doctrine. The power given to the apostles, was intended solely for subserviency to their preaching. 2 Cor. xiii. 8. Teaching is the highest dignity in the church, because it is the most useful and laborious service. Preaching was the principal work of the apostles. The ambition of prelates has inverted this divine order. Preaching is the meanest service

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