excision of unholy men, who bear office in the church, from the corrupt ftock, to which they naturally belong; and, which is the fertile fource of all their errors fpeculative and practical.-In other words, they may wish and pray for their converfion, from a finful state and practice, to the life and exercife of new and holy obedience. Where men's being in the "gall of bitternefs and bond of iniquity," is the caufe of their troubling the church of God; then, praying for their converfion, is a laying the ax to the root of the tree;" it is aiming a ftroke at the caufe; and if that is thereby removed, the effects must neceffarily fubfide.

66

It may, at firft fight, wear an uncharitable aspect to fuppofe that office-bearers, in God's house, can be in an unholy ftate: but, when the Christian world is furveyed at large, in as far as men's ftate may be judged of from their principles and converfations, that fuppofition will be fully justified; nay, the truth of the thing fuppofed will bear no difpute. When the Chriftian world is furveyed at large !-why appeal to the records of uninspired churches, when the cleareft evidence of the fact is tranfmitted to us in the facred records ?-If men's being fons of Belial, and not knowing the Lord; if deliberate profanenefs refpecting the divine worship, and monftrous acts of uncleannefs perfifted in, will inftruct an unholy, unconverted ftate; then were Eli's two fons evidently graceless, though employed in the priest's office, 1 Sam. ii. 12, 17, 22.-If covetoufnefs, treachery, and fuicide, meeting in one perfon, will prove the badnefs of his covenant state; then, without all peradventure, Judas Iscariot, though one of our Lord's apostles, was an unconverted man, Matth. xxvi. 15, 49. -xxvii 5.-And if cruelty, avarice and oppreffion, exercised against the members of Chrift, are

fufficient

fufficient to deftroy any fcriptural pretenfions to true holiness; then were Paul's fucceffors at Ephefus, unregenerated and in their fins: for, the apoftle called them "grievous wolves, not sparing "the flock," A&s. xx. 29.

Wherever, therefore, it appears, from the fruit, that the tree is corrupt; it is certainly both lawful and laudable for Chriftians to pray, that-by being ingrafted into another, a better flock, the tree may be good; and to pray for this, as the best fecurity, that the fruit fhall likewife, in the qualities of it, be changed to the better.

However improbable, and hopeless-like the converfion of particular church officers may appear; wishing and praying for their excifion, in this view, fhould be the exercife of Christians::- nor need they, altogether, in any, whatever, inftance, despair of fuccefs, after the excision of our apostle himself from the wild olive. Inftead of a blafpheming, a perfecuting, and an injurious Saul; he became, upon his union with the true vine, a godly, a loving, and a charitable Paul, "Old things were done a "way, and all things made new."

2. Chriftians may with and pray for the excifion of unholy men, who are troublers of the church, from their particular offices, by depofition. Who are troublers of the church, we faid; because unconverted men may not trouble the church, in any of the refpects condefcended upon; nay, men of that character may be useful in the church of Chrift; and are, therefore, Chriftians leaving them to stand or fall to their own masters, intitled to honour for their work's fake:-but where, as the fruits of their unregeneracy, they act in the manner reprefented under the last head, making the offices they bear an occafion of trial and disadvantage to thofe among whom they exercife them; depofition from H 2 these

thefe offices may certainly be the fubject of wifhes and prayers. In the civil world, it would be counted no great feverity to deprive any one of a commiffion, which he employed to the dishonour of his conftituent, or ruin of fociety; nor, in the military world, is the difarming of an enemy, within our power, reckoned cruel or unjuft: the contrary is fo much the truth, that duty would dictate the former; fafety, the latter; and justice, both. -And fhall the Chriftian fociety alone be obliged to fuffer defolation, and go to wreck, through thofe who bear office in it ?-Has the Head of his church left no laws, eftablished no rules, fuited to the prefervation of his peoples rights, the fecurity of their privileges?If he has, may not Chriftians, confiftently with the meeknefs and gentleness of their cha racter, humbly with, and earncftly pray, that Christ's own laws may be carried into execution?—If, for inftance, a bishop must be, know, have, and do, according to the apoftolic rule; 1 Tim. iii. 2, etc. will it not follow, by an undeniable confequence, that one, remarkable for any of the oppofite blemishes, fhould be no bithop; or, if he is, that he fhould be deprived of his bifhopric,-depofed from his office ?-Would an external defect have 'been a fufficient ground of depofition under the law; and fhall whole fhoals of moral evils be infufficient to deprive men of their office under the gofpel* ? Impoffible !-And therefore, agreeable

*The apoftle's characteiftics are, • Blameless

-

to

The oppofite blemishes are, to be blame-wor

chafte vigilant -fober- thy-unclean - indolent of good behaviour-given intemperate-irregularto hofpitality not given inhofpitable- drunkenwine-no ftriker-not quarrelfome-worldly

greedy

to the New-Teftament occonomy, it can never be wrong in Chriftans to wish and pray for excifion, in this view, against fuch troublers of the church; nor in Chrift's faithful fervants to use their influence and authority towards it. Regard to the Redemer's honour; concern for the purity and enlargement of the church; zeal for the spiritual good of the rifing generation and pofterity; as well as the love they should have to the comfort of their own fouls; will prompt holy perfons to adopt the words of our text: nay, with propriety, we may likewife add, that compaffion for the very perfons who trouble, the church, may, with Chriftians, be a motive for wishing they were cut off, in this view; because fuch excifion would put it out of their power to fin, to provoke Heaven, and to treafure up higher degrees of wrath to themfelves, by a criminal continuance in the breach of truft, as office-bearers in the church of Chrift.

But, if the ends of edification, the fecurity of Christian liberty, and other gospel privileges, can be no otherwise effected; we will venture to add, in the

3. Place, that it may be lawful for chriftians to with and pray for the excifion of fuch office-bearers from the church of Chrift intirely, by excommunication. When we fay from the church of Christ, we only mean, from his church on earth, as to the name, immunities, and privileges, peculiar to church

greedy of filthy lucre patient-not a brawlernot covetous one that ruleth well his own house

that is not a noviceand that has a good report of them which are without."

H 2

members;

members; which is perfectly confiftent with a cons cern for their converfion, and eternal falvation; nay, confiftent with a difpofition to receive them a gain into the church here, upon their exhibiting proper evidences of that repentance which is not to be repented of.

With regard to the nature of excommunication, it feems to be a cenfure not peculiar to the churches, but common alfo to civil focieties: hence it is competent for any fuch fociety to expel members who rebel against their conftitution, or act unwor thy of it; and to expel them, by banishment, for a fhorter or longer time, with leffer or greater marks of infamy: nay, Selden quotes a passage from the manufcript of a Caraite *, affirming, "That excom"munication was introduced into the Jewish repub "lic, under the government of foreign princes +." As if that ufage, in the Jewish church, had taken its rife from the practice of banishment in civil so:

cieties.

In the writings of the Jews themfelves, fo much is faid of this punishment, and fuch various ac counts of it are given, that the detail would be an endlefs, and, perhaps, ufelefs, talk. It amounts, in general, to this, that the perfon was expelled from the communion of that church; and from fuch external privileges too, as were connected with church communion §.

Belides

* A religious fect amongst the Jews, who rejec rabbinical interpretations of fcripture.

See dictionary of the Bible, on the word excommunication.

The Jews, inflicted three different kinds of excommunication. The Greek and Latin churches, copying probably from the Jews, had likewife a three

fold