to others. And we do earnestly beseech him, for the sake of his own soul, that he will consider what it is that he can gain by his sin and impenitency, and whether it will pay for the loss of everlasting life; and how he thinks to stand before God in judgment, or to appear before the Lord Jesus, when death shall snatch his soul from his body, if he be found in this impenitent state. And I do beseech

him, for the sake of his own soul, and require him, as a messenger of Jesus Christ, as he will answer the contrary at the bar of God, that he lay aside the stoutness and impenitency of his heart, and unfeignedly confess and lament his sin before God and this congregation! And this desire I here publish, not out of any ill-will to his person, as the Lord knoweth, but in love to his soul, and in obedience to Christ, who hath made it my duty; desiring, that if it be possible, he may be saved from his sin, and from the power of Satan, and from the everlasting wrath of God, and may be reconciled to God, and to his church; and, therefore, that he may be humbled by true contrition, before he be humbled by remediless condemnation."

To this purpose I conceive our public admonitions should proceed; and, in some cases, where the sinner considereth his sin to be small, it may be necessary to point out the aggravations of it, particularly by citing some passages of Scripture which describe its evil and its danger.

With these reproofs and exhortations, we must combine the prayers of the congregation in behalf of the offender. This should be done in every case of discipline, but particularly if the offender will not

be present to receive admonition, or gives no evidence of repentance, and shows no desire for the prayers of the congregation. In such cases, especially, it will be necessary that we beg the prayers of the congregation for him ourselves, entreating them to consider what a fearful condition the impenitent are in, and to have pity on a poor soul that is so blinded and hardened by sin and Satan, that he cannot pity himself; and to think what it is for a man to appear before the living God in such a case; and, therefore, that they would join in earnest prayer to God, that he would open his eyes, and soften and humble his stubborn heart, before he be in hell beyond remedy. And, accordingly, let us be very earnest in prayer for him, that the congregation may be excited affectionately to join with us; and who knows but God may hear our prayers, and the sinner's heart may relent under them, more than under all our exhortations?

It is, in my judgment, a very laudable course of some churches, that use, for the next three days together, to desire the congregation to join in earnest prayer to God for the opening of the sinner's eyes, and the softening of his heart, and the saving of him from impenitence and eternal death.

If ministers would be conscientious in performing this duty entirely and self-denyingly, they might make something of it, and expect a blessing upon it but when we shrink from all that is dangerous or ungrateful in our work, and shift off all that is costly or troublesome, we cannot expect that any great good should be effected by such a carnal, partial use of means; and though some may here and there be

wrought upon, yet we cannot look that the Gospel should run, and be glorified, when we perform our duty so lamely and so imperfectly.

3. We must restore the penitent to the fellowship of the church. As we must not teach an offender to make light of discipline by too much facility, so neither must we discourage him by too much severity. If he appear to be truly sensible of the criminality of his conduct, and penitent on account of it, we must see that he confess his guilt, and that he promise to fly from such sins for the time to come, to watch more narrowly and to walk more warily, to avoid temptation, to distrust his own strength, and to rely on the grace which is in Christ Jesus.

We must assure him of the riches of God's love, and the sufficiency of Christ's blood to pardon his sins, if he believe and repent. We must see that he beg the communion of the church, and their prayers to God for his pardon and salvation.

We must charge the church that they imitate Christ, in forgiving and in retaining the penitent person; or, if he were cast out, in receiving him into their communion; and that they must never reproach him with his sins, nor cast them in his teeth, but forgive them, even as Christ hath forgiven them.

Finally, we must give God thanks for his recovery, and pray for his confirmation and future pre

servation.

4. The last part of discipline, is the excluding from the communion of the church, those who, after sufficient trial, remain impenitent.

Exclusion from church communion, commonly

called Excommunication, is of different kinds or degrees, which are not to be confounded; but that which is most commonly to be practised among us, is, only to remove an impenitent sinner from our communion till it shall please the Lord to give him repentance.

In this exclusion or removal, the minister or governors of the church are authoritatively to charge the people, in the name of the Lord, to have no communion with him, and to pronounce him one whose communion the church is bound to avoid; and it is the people's duty carefully to avoid him, provided the pastor's charge contradict not the word of God.

We must, however, pray for the repentance and restoration even of the excommunicated; and if God shall give them repentance, we must be happy to receive them again into the communion of the church.

Would we were but so far faithful in the practice of this discipline, as we are satisfied both of the matter and manner of it; and did not dispraise and reproach it by our neglect, while we write and plead for it with the highest commendations! It is worthy of our consideration, who is like to have the heavier charge about this matter at the bar of God,-whether those who have reproached and hindered discipline by their tongues, because they knew not its nature and necessity; or we who have so vilified it by our constant omission, while with our tongues we have magnified it? If hypocrisy be no sin, or if the knowledge of our Master's will be no aggravation of disobedience, then we may be in a better case than

they; but if these be great evils, we must be much worse than the very persons whom we so loudly condemn. I will not advise the zealous maintainers, and obstinate neglecters of discipline, to unsay all that they have said, till they are ready to do as they say; nor to recant their defences of discipline, till they mean to practise it; nor to burn all the books which they have written for it, and all the records of their cost and hazards for it, lest they rise up in judgment against them to their confusion. would persuade them, without any more delay, to conform their practices to these testimonies which they have given, lest the more they are proved to have commended discipline, the more they are proved to have condemned themselves for neglecting it.

But I

It hath amazed me to hear some that I took for reverend, godly divines, reproach, as a sect, the Sacramentarians and Disciplinarians. And, when I desired to know whom they meant, they told me they meant them that will not give the sacrament to all the parish, and them that will make distinctions by their discipline. I had thought the tempter had obtained a great victory, if he had got but one godly pastor of a church to neglect discipline, as well as if he had got him to neglect preaching; much more if he had got him to approve of that neglect: but it seems he hath got some to scorn at the performers of the duty which they neglect. Sure I am, if it were well understood how much of the pastoral work consisteth in church guidance, it would be also discerned, that to be against discipline, is, tantum non, to be against the ministry; and to be against the ministry, is, tantum non, to be absolutely against the