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way opened in which mercy, unlimited and free, may be extended to the vilest and most unworthy;-to a multitude that no man can number. Here, especially, he learns new lessons of divine wisdom, and enjoys peculiarly intimate communion with heaven; a communion as transforming as it is enchanting, as sanctifying as it is delightful. Here, with deepening emotions of gratitude and love, he renews his profession of religion, and the dedication of his entire existence to that Saviour who has redeemed him, at an expense which angels cannot compute. Here, he virtually avows his cordial, complacent, and adoring attachment to the grand and peculiar doctrines of the gospel. Here, he presents himself in obedience to the command of his ascended Master; deeply conscious, that to neglect the ordinance, would be no less ungrateful to his Lord, than injurious to himself. Here, in a word, he most emphatically and eloquently, though with meekness and silence, declares his eternal obligations to the cross of Christ; pointing to it as the spring of all his joys, the source of all his moral excellence, the centre and repose of all his affections, and the foundation upon which he is erecting the lofty fabric of his immortal hopes.

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I might still enlarge on this interesting theme; and, all I could say would go prove, how natural and proper it is, that Christians should frequently attend this solemn and improving ordinance; and, that no human obstacles should be interposed to prevent them from discharging so important a duty, or to deprive them of the enjoyment of so exalted a privilege.

Now, it is well known, that many of our Independent churches, which are destitute of pastors, of which they are deprived by death, or from which they are debarred by their incapacity to support a minister,-are obliged, for long intervals, from three to six, nine, twelve months, and even longer, to omit the celebration of this divine ordinance; and, indeed, they must omit it altogether, but for the kind and occasional assistance of the pastor of some neighbouring church; being ordinarily supplied, churches of the latter class especially, by young ministers from our academies, or others, also unordained.

These supplies, I believe, do not administer the Lord's Supper, because they are taught, that to do it, unordained, would be a violation of the discipline of our churches; which, so far as it is scriptural, must be held to be sacred. If every one called to preach the gospel, ordained or not, might also administer this ordinance, the disadvantage now frequently complained of, would be obviated, and those destitute churches night, with others, equally share in all the privileges of Christian communion.

The question I wish to propose, then, is-" Whether ordination be considered by our churches as a pre-requisite, in a minister, to his dispensing this ordinance? and, if it be, Whence does such a law derive its sanction,from long established custom or authority, or from the express requirement of the New Testament?" If but one passage of this evangelical record,—the only source and guide of all our religious knowledge, sentiments, and conduct, be found to prohibit the practice by unordained ministers, it must by no means be introduced or tolerated; but, if it be forbidden by mere custom, or human authority, however ancient and general, perhaps the sooner the practice is resorted to, the better. No such qualification is, I believe, demanded by our Independent brethren, north of the Tweed; and, perhaps, it may appear by your answer to this, that they are right; and that the southern churches, where it is necessary, might follow their example.

By the insertion of these lines in your Magazine, you will much oblige, dear Sir, one who wishes your good undertaking increasing reputation and

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POSTSCRIPT BY THE EDITOR.

Respect for an esteemed correspondent, induces the Editor to give place to the preceding enquiry; though he thinks it necessary to accompany it with an intimation, that he must be allowed to exercise his own discretion about the admission of answers to it. Any thing that appears to himself to be immediately to the point, and drawn up with a be

*Of course this term includes both Baptists and Pædobaptists.

coming deference to the authority of the word of God, shall certainly receive attention; but, whatever substitutes human opinion, in place of express precept, or approved example, will assuredly be rejected. The enquiry is an important one; but, to discuss it properly, will require the examination of several other points intimately connected with it; such as, the scriptural idea of a Christian church-whether the Lord's Supper be, or be not, a church communion ordinance-the qualifications and peculiar duties of the pastoral office—with various points that might be enumerated, but which all have a bearing on the proposed question. We are induced to throw out these hints, from a conviction that few of the English Independents are at all aware of the bearings of the present enquiry, or what is necessary to a scriptural answer to it. A few years ago, the subject underwent a most rigid examination among the Scotch Baptists; and, to look back, at the present day, to the controversy, (which has long since exhausted itself) and calmly review the wild and extravagant conceits that then found admission into the heads of some good men, and from thence, through the medium of the press, were seen flying abroad, like rockets in the air, to the amusement of some, and the dismay of others, is affecting enough! In the list of these, we may specify the following items-viz. that two or three believers, male or female, uniting together for worship, constitute church"-that such a church has the very same authority and warrant for "breaking bread," that it has for engaging in prayer and praise, and giving instruction to one another-that Societies, destitute of office bearers, are competent to do every thing without elders, which they could do with them— consequently, that pastors or elders are not necessary to any part of the church's order or worship. Nor, did they rest here; for some were actually found contending for the right of a solitary individual to take the Lord's Supper alone, if not privileged with an associate while the authority and appropriate duties of the pastoral office, were cried down, and every man made a preacher of the gospel, who could only read to his fellow mortals the apostolic sermons recorded in the Acts of the Apostles!! Such extravagarcies have

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actually been contended for by sensible men-and, what is worse, they were found necessary in order to defend the practice of taking the Lord's Supper out of an organized body. In Scotland and England this frenzy has long since spent its effervescence, and given place to a more sober way of thinking on the subject; but, in Ireland, where it equally raged, its effects have been nearly to annihilate the elder's, or pastor's, office. Edit.

CHRISTIAN DISCIPLINE:
A view of 1 Cor. chap. v. throughout.

IF we attend to the strain of the apostle's discourse in the four preceding chapters, we shall find him strongly censuring the party divisions which unhappily prevailed in the Corinthian church; and, in the beginning of this fifth chapter, he proceeds to shew the baneful effects which these schisms had upon their discipline.

Ver. 1. It is commonly reported, (says he) that there is fornication among you.

The word "fornication" is frequently used in an extended sense, unless when distinguished from adultery. Here, it includes incest, or criminal commerce, between persons of near kin; and, if the husband of the mother-in-law were living, it includes adultery too; and, it is probable that he was alive; otherwise, how could he be said to have suffered wrong? 2 Cor. vii. 12.

—not so much as named among the Gentiles, i. e. it was not countenanced among civilized heathens. It was forbidden by the laws of the Greeks and Romans. Cicero terms it an unheard-of wickedness. The Persians, indeed, are accused of it; and some philosophers taught that it was lawful; but, it is likely, that this abominable wickedness was patronized by the Jewish doctrine, concerning proselytes, viz. "that they were as persons new born, and had lost all their kindred they had before;" so that, by the law, as the Rabbins expounded it, they might marry either their mother or sister.

Ver. 2. Ye are puffed up, i. e. ye glory in him as the champion of your party, on account of his wisdom and eloquence, or as favouring your factious designs, which makes you overlook or excuse his crime.

—and have not rather lamented, that he

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that hath done this deed, might be taken away from among you. Instead of being puffed up, they ought to have been deeply concerned for the delinquent for the disgrace he had brought upon the church, and upon the name and ways of the Lord. They ought to have lamented over him, as one dead to God, and dangerous to the body, and so have united in the instituted discipline to have him removed from among them.

Ver. 3. For, I verily, as absent in body, but present in Spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed;

They were to proceed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, i. e. by his authority, who hath appointed the discipline of his house in such cases, and hath given his church power to exercise it upon all necessary occasions, Matt. xviii. 17. and also invoking his name to ratify and bless his own institution, that it may produce the ends of its appointment. They were to proceed to this when they were gathered together in a church capacity; for, it must be the deed of the whole-a punishment inflicted of many, 2 Cor. ii. 6. Some make too little conscience of this, as if they were not concerned in such matters; and, therefore, can be ab-present in spirit. Though spirit here sent, or go out at pleasure. He adds, be opposed to body, yet it cannot mean and my Spirit, with the power of our Lord his soul; for, if that had been present Jesus Christ. If nothing extraordinary with them, while his body was absent, be intended here, then it only means, it must have been separated from his the consent or concurrence of the body; therefore, some explain it, of his apostles' mind, and the assistance of mind and consent; as when one heartily the Lord Jesus Christ, in their proceedagrees to, and heartily concurs with ings, and ratifying in heaven what they what he knows is doing at a distance. do according to his will. But, I cannot But, most of the ancient interpre- think that this is all that is meant by ters, as well as many of the modern, these expressions. I apprehend, that understand by spirit here, the gift of the what the apostle calls my spirit, was his Spirit, by which the apostle was enabled extraordinary spiritual gift of judging to discern things done at a distance in the case, and using the rod in a mira the churches, and to judge concerning culous way, with which he threatens them, as if he had been present-as some in this church, ch. iv. 21.; 2 Cor. Elisha did the actions of Gehazi, by his xiii. 2.; and, as by this Spirit, he had prophetic spirit, 2 Kings, v. 26. and, as judged the person already, so if they Ezekiel in Babylon saw what was done acted according to that judgment, the in secret at Jerusalem, Ezek. viii. and same Spirit would concur with their ix. and, as Peter discerned the secret sentence. This was to take effect with transaction of Ananias and Sapphira, the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Acts v. 3. It is highly probable, that word duris, translated power, is seldom Paul, who had the care of all the if ever used concerning any ordinary or churches, might on this, and some simple act of discipline; but is exother important occasions, be favoured pressive of a miraculous or extraordiwith such an extraordinary discern-nary power, as might be shewn at ment, as he seems to intimate, Col. ii. large. In the faith of this extraordinary 5. and, by this Spirit, he had already concurrence, they were judged the incestuous person, though he was absent; and, therefore, he directs the church to pronounce that judgment upon him directly, and expel him from their communion.

Ver. 4. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Ver. 5. To deliver such an one unto Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Here he shews them, first, with what solemnity, and by what authority, they were to set about this awful business.

-to deliver such an one unto Satan, for the destruction of the flesh. By delivering unto Satan, some understand, only casting him out of the church into the world, which is the kingdom of Satan, from whence he came; and, by the destruction of the flesh, they understand, the mortification of the corruptions of his heart and life, whereby he is brought to repentance, and his spirit saved at last. But, I apprehend, that delivering unto Satan was more than bare exclusion from the church. seems to have been one of the mira culous powers of Christ, which attended the first preaching of the gospel, and to

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have been peculiar to the apostolic age. The apostle's spirit, with the power of the Lord Jesus, was necessary to it. It seems by this delivering up, Satan was permitted to have a certain power over them. The end of this delivering of them up, was for the destruction of the flesh. Flesh here is evidently opposed to the spirit, which is supposed to be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus, and therefore cannot mean sin, or corruption, but the body, the corporeal part of man. Besides, it is not the province of Satan to subdue sin or corruption in men; but he may be permitted to punish and afflict their bodies, as in the case of Job; and Paul also had a messenger of Satan to buffet him, which seems to be some bodily weakness, for he calls it a thorn in the flesh, 2 Cor. xii. 7. The Corinthians, also, for the abuse of the Lord's Supper, were punished with bodily weakness and sickness, and some of them with death, 1 Cor. xi. 30. So that I take the destruction of the flesh to mean some bodily distress, inflicted by Satan through divine permission; and that this, when reflected upon by the guilty person as the punishment of his sin, and the effect of his being delivered up to the power of Satan, would have a tendency to strike him with conviction, and lead him to repentance, that his spirit may be saved. Thus, we see, that the apostle delivered Hymenæus and Alexander to Satan, and the end of it was, that they might learn not to blaspheme, 1 Tim. i. 20. i. e. that they might repent of their error and blasphemy. From this view of the passage, in which I have the concurrence of most of the primitive commentators, I have never been clear in my own mind, to use the form of delivering to Satan, in cutting off persons from the church; because, I think it was a miraculous power, which was exercised only upon some flagrant offenders, in the apostolic age, and chiefly by the apostles themselves; but is not so much as hinted at, in our Lord's rule of discipline, Matt. ch. xviii.

Ver. 6. Your glorying is not good, i. e. it is not right nor justifiable, but is altogether preposterous, unseasonable, and unbecoming; while the church is defiled by such wickedness, and others in danger of being infected.

know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Amidst all your boasted wisdom, do ye not know, that

VOL. VIII.

this single crime, if neglected, will taint and defile the whole church.

Ver 7. Purge out, therefore, the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. He means, that they should free and cleanse the church communion from the forementioned wicked person, and all such scandalous persons and sins. The allusion is to the command given to Israel, to purge their houses of all leavened bread when they kept the feast of the passover, Exod. xii. 15-21. That ye may be a new lump, i. e. an unmixed, uncorrupted society, pure from such defilements. As ye are unleavened, viz. by profession, and therefore, ought to be so in reality. The argument by which he enforceth this is,

-For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. This argument supposes that Christ is the antitype of the paschal lamb, (see also John xix. 36.) This lamb was sacrificed for Israel; so says the apostle, Christ was sacrificed for us, i. e. as a propitiatory sacrifice to God for our sins. Its blood sprinkled upon the lintel and door-posts of their houses was to be their protection from divine punishment; "the blood," says the Lord, "shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are; and, when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt," Exod. xii. 7-13. So, in like manner, Christ's blood shed for our sins, and sprinkled upon us through the application of it to our souls by the Holy Spirit, is our protection from the wrath to come, as well as from the tormenting fear of it. God looks to this blood, and passes over us; and we look to it as our security, that covert which he himself hath appointed for us. Again, the paschal lamb was to be feasted upon, and wholly eaten by the Israelites, Exod. xii, 9, 10. So the use to be made of Christ is frequently held forth under this figure; he himself says, "Except ye eat the flesh, and drink the blood, of the Son of man, ye have no life in you. Whoso cateh my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him,” John vi. 53, 54-56. This imports, a believing application of him to ourselves, and à satisfaction of soul in the perfection and all-sufficiency of his sacrifice to cleanse

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ends. And, if the Jews were commanded, under pain of being cut off from the congregation of Israel, to put away leaven from their houses, when their passover was sacrificed; how much more ought they to purge out this old leaven, of uncleanliness, malice, hypocrisy, and wickedness, since even Christ their passover was sacrificed for them; considering the dignity of his person, the greatness of the salvation he hath obtained, the superior purity which becomes those who feast upon him, and the more dreadful judgment that will overtake such as sin against so much grace. Of this the apostle cautions them, when speaking of their abuse of the Lord's Supper, ch. xi.

Ver. 8. Therefore let us keep the feast, i. e. the antitype of the passover feast, and its memorial in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper.- Not with the old leaven of uncleanness, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. This malice and wickedness is the reverse of brotherly love; and, as it is opposed to sincerity and truth, it must have been connected with dissimulation and deceit, see 1 Pet. i. 22. ch. ii. 1, 2. But they must keep the feast with sincerity and truth, sincerely loving one another for the truth's sake, and purifying the communion from every thing that had a tendency to corrupt them.

us from sin, deliver us from wrath, and Procure for us eternal life. Further, Israel were commanded to keep up the feast of the passover, as a feast to the Lord, throughout their generations, and by an ordinance for ever. It was to be a constant memorial of their deliverance by means of blood, when the Lord passed over their houses, and smote the first-born of Egypt, Exod. xii. 14-27. In like manner, the sacrifice of Christ, which was once offered, and hath obtained eternal redemption for us, must be kept in perpetual remembrance; and that, not only by individual believers, who are constantly to live by the faith of his atonement, as their only refuge from divine wrath; but also by a public ordinance for ever to be observed in the churches of the saints; viz. the ordinance of the Supper, which Christ instituted after the passover, as that which was to supersede and succeed it, as a memorial or commemorative ordinance to be observed in remembrance of him whose body was broken, and blood shed for us; and that, until he come again, Luke xxii. 19, 20. 1 Cor. xi. 23— 27. Lastly, Israel were strictly commanded to put away all leaven out of their houses during the seven days of the passover feast; and whosoever ate leavened bread during that time, that soul was to be cut off from Israel, Exod. xii. 15-19. So the apostle here exhorts the Corinthians to purge out the old leaven, by which he means sin and im- Ver. 9. I wrote unto you in an epistle purity, both of the flesh and spirit. The not to company with fornicators. Some Jews use this metaphor for uncleanness, think he refers to a former epistle and say, "as a little leaven leaveneth which he had written to them, and the whole lump, so concupiscence cor- which is now lost. But, as none of the rupts the whole man." It was, there- earliest writers mention any more than fore, a command to put away the in- two epistles of Paul to the Corinthians, cestuous person. The metaphor is also and fourteen in the whole, so all the used for filthiness of the spirit; and so Greek commentators upon this passage we read of the leaven of the Pharisees, conclude, that he wrote what he here which is hypocrisy and deceit, Luke xii. mentions, not in another, but in this 1. and of the leaven of the Pharisees epistle, viz. what is contained, ver. 9, 10. and Sadducees, which is false doctrine, but that upon hearing farther of the Matt. xvi. 6-12. and the apostle men- state of matters among themselves, he tions here the old leaven of malice and added what we have in ver. 11. I shall wickedness, and opposes to it sincerity not determine which of these opinions and truth; and, therefore, we are also to is right, the sense of the exhortation understand him as exhorting them to does not depend on this. He forbids purge out all wicked and malevolent them to company with fornicators, i. e. to dispositions towards each other, which associate themselves with persons adwere kept up by their different factions-dicted to uncleanness, in a free, famiall hypocrisy in the various pretensions they had for these things-and all corruptions and deceitful handling of the word of God, to gain their particular

liar, and complacential manner, lest they should be thought to countenance them in their sin, or be led to think lightly of it, and perhaps to follow their

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