EXERCISE DISCIPLINE. The proper subjects of discipline those who walk disorderly; and excellent rules in those painful cases, may be found in the Book of Discipline, provided by the Church. On this subject, we can do no more than offer a few brief hints. There should be caution in selecting the subjects of discipline. Every case which may be censurable, does not demand a formal process. The interests of the Church are jeoparded by multiplying the cases of discipline, and accordingly, proceedings should be instituted only, when the peace and purity of the Church may evidently require them. In prosecuting discipline, there should be no undue severity. The chief design of Church authority is to benefit, and not to crush those under its exercise; and an Elder should never take pleasure in stretching its cords to their utmost tension; and much less should he suffer any private pique, or personal feeling to in fluence him in pronouncing judgment. The authority of the Church is impiously perverted, when used as an instrument of gratifying personal malice. There should, farther, be no improper partialities. Whatever be the station and relation of the disciplined, let equal justice be rendered. Private considerations of friendship should not interfere with public duty; and there should be no shrinking because the offender may hold a high rank in society, and may possess an extended influence. To the poor and to the rich, to the obscure and to the conspicuous, the measure of justice should be dealt out with the same impartial hand. Finally, there should be no needless exposures. The great objects of discipline are often better accomplished by private rebuke and censure, than by public exposure; and the acts of Session should never be blazoned abroad, unless the purity of the Church evidently requires it. And much less should the officers of a Church make the failings of Christians the topic of public discourse, or the theme of private gossip. They compromise their dignity, and injure their usefulness by condescending to such improprieties. Such are the prominent duties which an Elder owes to his particular Church, and for the faithful discharge of which, he needs the illuminating and strengthening grace of God. Having enumerated the principal duties devolving upon Elders in relation to their particular Church, we will in the second place, briefly advert to those which they owe to the Church in a more general sense. Whatever is obligatory on private Christians in this respect, is in a more emphatic sense obligatory upon them. Zion should be near and dear to their hearts; it should be their chiefest joy to promote its interests, and enlarge its boundaries. Their prayers, their wealth, their talents, their time, their influence, should, in no small measure, be devoted to God in the service of the Gospel. But in addition to the duties which rest upon them in common with private Christians, there are others which are particularly connected with their official station. We will speak of but two. The first is, PROMPTNESS AND ZEAL IN SUSTAINING RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS. Some of these are more general in their character, founded on a liberal basis, and embracing Christians of different denominations. And where Christians can meet without the compromise of principle, and cooperate with each other on common grounds, it is not only pleasing but highly desirable. In the distribution of the Bible, this may be done without conflict. The Bible, without comment, is the standard of every Christian's faith, and therefore all may safely unite in its wide circulation. Other institutions are established upon the same principle, although not with the same unanimity. But whilst we heartily commend a catholic spirit, we believe it to be perfectly consistent with strong partiality for a particular branch of the Church. Such partialities we know are decried as sectarian, but the designation of them by an odious name will never prove them to be wrong. Every Christian exercises his right in selecting the denomination under which he wishes to be embraced; he does it too under a persuasion that it is to be preferred on account of some peculiar features which recommend it above others; and whilst he thus prefers, he cannot but desire in a very particular manner, the prosperity of that denomination. This, instead of infringing upon the rights of others, is no more than the assertion of individual right, and is both honest and proper. The charity which can be offended at it must be of a sickly temperament. Presbyterianism is preferred by many, and of this preference none have a right to complain; and Presbyterianism has her peculiar institutions, around which her attached friends should rally, and to the support of which they should apply their resources. Elders, as officers in this Church, are particularly obliged by their station to promote its interests, to foster its institutions, and to guard against such insidious representations as would be calculated to weaken their sectional attachments. If young men are to be educated for the ministry of our Church, is it not important that they should be trained in our own Seminaries, and under the superintendence of our own Education Societies? Shall their instruction be committed to voluntary associations, composed of different denominations, under which they are likely to imbibe sentiments contradictory to our standards? And if our missionaries are to be sent forth to supply the wants of our Church, should they be commissioned by similar associations, which act upon the liberal basis of sending men without much regard to their doctrinal principles? We earnestly protest against a catholi cism of this kind, and remind the Eldership of our church to be Awake to the danger of countenancing such principles. The Presbyterian Church has her Boards of Education and Missions, and with the success of these her prosperity is identified. In the various sections of the Church, the Eldership may essentially contribute to their efficiency by their personal influ ence and exertion; and if they withhold these, they fail in their duty to the church of which they are officers. We appeal to them from a conviction that their agency is important, if not essential to the welfare of these interesting institutions, which, if properly sustained and managed, may send forth streams of spiritual life and health to the remotest limits of our Church. The other duty which Elders owe to the Presbyterian Church at large, is a PUNCTUAL AND FAITHFUL ATTENDANCE UPON THE HIGHER JUDICATORIES. The regular attendance upon Sessions is not all their duty; their obligation extends to Presbyteries, Synods, and when specially appointed, to General Assemblies. If these Judicatories are really necessary to the good government of the Church, those who are properly the representatives of the people, should not absent themselves. They are established for important purposes, and the interests intrusted to them are not only local but general. They are courts of appeal and review; the rights of individuals, the rights of particular congregations, as well as general principles relating to doctrine and discipline, are brought before them for adjudication; and in all these cases, the counsel and votes of the laity may be very important to a right decision. In relation to this point, there is a very observable remissness in the Eldership, and that equitable balance of power contemplated by our Constitution, is often affected by it. The lay delega tion, to Presbyteries, Synods, and Assemblies, is always inadequate, and yet Elders are bound, by the requirements of their office, to fulfil this duty, and the people whom they represent have a right to expect it from them. We are well assured, that if this duty was estimated as it ought to be, the usual apologies for neglect would lose their weight, and sacrifices would be encountered, if sacrifices were called for, in its performance. Such are the qualifications, and such are the duties pertaining to Elders. How important and responsible their station! Le those who occupy it, take heed to themselves and to the flock of which they are overseers; and as they are stewards of God may they strive to be found faithful. THE END. |