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On the part of the church, there is sometimes a very unscriptural reluctance to receive persons into membership, till after they have had a long trial of their christian steadfastness and integrity. It is very common for some members to exclaim in surprise, when the name of a candidate is mentioned to them in secret, "What, is he going to be proposed to the church? why, he has not been converted three months." I wish these over-cautious Christians to tell me, what length of time ought to elapse after conversion, and before the individual is introduced to communion? Has Jesus Christ stated any term of probation, which we must pass through, before we are received into the church? Certainly not. What right then have we to fix upon any? Is it not establishing terms of communion, which he has not established ? Is not this a direct invasion of his authority? If we consult the precedents furnished by the practice of the apostles, they most decisively condemn the overstrained caution of those, who would put a Christian upon the trial of a year or two, before he is admitted to communion. The very day in which a man professed himself a Christian, he was added to the church. In fact, his joining himself to the church, was his profession. would have every step taken to inquire into the knowledge, faith, and conduct of an individual who proposes himself for fellowship; and if they are satisfactory, I would admit him, although he had been converted but a single month; and I call upon the person who would refuse to join in such admission, to show on what ground he acts. Let him not talk about the necessity of caution,

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and the possibility of being deceived; this is very true, but it must not be allowed to interfere with the rules, which Christ has laid down for the government of his church. Our views of policy cannot improve his institutions, and ought not to oppose the practice of his apostles. The rule of our proceeding is simply this, "We must receive those whom we think the Lord hath received." Abandon this rule, and we have no directory for our conduct. One person may think a year's trial enough, but another may think two year's necessary. It is truly shocking, to see how many excellent and exemplary Christians, are kept by some churches month after month, at a distance from the fellowship of the faithful, under the pretence of trying their steadfastness. "We must not take the children's bread," say these ultra cautious disciples, "and cast it to the dogs." Nor have you a right to starve the children, any more than you have to pamper the dogs. Our rule is this, "evidence of personal religion, whether that evidence be the result of a month or a year."

The Lord's supper is intended no less for babes, than fathers in Christ; and who will contend that the right way to treat a new born infant, is to neglect him, and leave him to himself, to see whether he will live? to nurse and feed him is the ordained means to preserve his life. It is precisely the same in spirituals as in temporals. And if it be proper to say of a child that died in consequence of neglect, that he would have lived if proper care had been taken, it is not less correct to say of some persons that once appeared hopeful, but afterwards returned to the world, they would have

proved honourable Christians, had they not been neglected by the church.

The same unscriptural caution is sometimes displayed towards those converts, who are young in years. It is surprising to see what a panic some members are thrown into, when a young person is proposed as a candidate for fellowship; and if they happen to discover that the youth is only fifteen or sixteen years of age, they seem to feel as if the church was either going to be profaned or destroyed. Is there then a canonical age of membership? Is the same rule established in the kingdom of Christ, which is observed in the kingdoms of the world, and every one considered as unfit for the privileges of citizenship, till they arrive at the age of one and twenty? If not, what right have we to speak or think about the age of a candidate? Piety is all we have to inquire into; and whether the individual be fourteen, or fourscore, we are to receive him, provided we have reason to suppose, "that Christ has

received him."

The MODE OF ADMISSION is various in different churches. The church is to receive the member, and any mode which they may adopt to ascertain the sincerity of his piety, is lawful, provided, that it is not so rigid, as to deter persons from applying for admission. In every case, the church ought to have the means of ascertaining the piety of the individuals; without this there can be no real communion. In some churches the pastor only, examines the candidate: but this is too great a power to delegate to any man, and too

great a responsibility for any man willingly to incur.* It is deeply interesting to hear a simple, artless account of a sinner's conversion from his own lips; and then by his particularizing the very sermons which were the means of his conversion, he helps in no small degree to raise the pastor in the estimation of the church, by these proofs of his usefulness and success, and to endear him to their hearts.

On Discipline.

By discipline, is meant, the right treatment of offending members. The church which neglects this duty, resembles a state in which the administration of justice is omitted, and crime is permitted to be practised with impunity. That part of the design of church union, which consists in mutual watchfulness, is lost; backsliders are encouraged to go farther astray, hypocrites are patronized in their self-delusion, the ruin of men's souls abetted, the society is corrupted, and the honour of religion is compromised. It is this sin which the apostle describes in those awful words, "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy." The church is that temple, and to defile it, is to introduce improper members to its communion, or to tolerate them in the practice of sin. To suffer offences to be committed from time to time,

*In most of our American churches, candidates are required to appear before the assembled church, and detail the methods of grace by which God brought them to his knowledge and service.

Ed.

without being noticed and removed, must be as displeasing in the sight of God, as it would have been, if the Jews had permitted any filthy substances to remain in the temple of Solomon, or had swept the impurities of the sacrifices into the holy of holies. A single unpunished transgressor troubled the whole camp of Israel, and brought calamity upon a nation; nor could the favour of God rest upon the people, till Achan was discovered and destroyed. Nothing can be conceived of, more likely to grieve the Holy Spirit, or to induce him to withdraw his gracious influence from a church, than the neglect of scriptural discipline. And it is worth while to examine, whether this is not one of the causes of the declining state of many Christian societies.

The advantages of discipline are obvious and nu merous. It reclaims backsliders, it detects hypocrites, it circulates a secret and salutary awe through the church, supplies an additional incentive to watchfulness and prayer, by exhibiting at once the most affecting proofs of human frailty, and the painful consequences resulting from its exposure; while in addition, it is a public testimony, borne by the church, against all unrighte

ousness.

Here several things deserve particular consideration.

I. What offences should become subject to discipline.

1.

Of course, all scandalous vices and immoralities. "Not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother, be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such

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