a majority of votes, or universal consent of a particular church, it equally serves the purpose of my argument in most of the following questions upon this subject. I put this note only to secure my readers against any prejudice or hasty judgment against the following parts of the book, though they should happen to differ from me in the present question.

QUEST. III.—What are the Particular Terms of Christian Communion? Or, what things are necessary to make the Profession of Christianity credible?

SECT. I. Having enquired who are the persons that must Judge of the credibility of our profession in order to christian communion, we proceed next to enquire, "What things go to make up a credible profession?" and we must take great care in this matter not to make new terms and conditions of our own, which Christ the Lord and king of his church has not made; nor to insist upon any thing as necessary to render a profession credible, which may not be fairly deduced from the rules and examples recorded in the New Testament, and the application of them to our present age, according to the different circumstances of times, places, and persons. It must be granted that there are several parts of necessary conduct in christian churches and ordinances, that arise from the very nature and reason of things, from the very being of societies, and from the circumstances of all human affairs; and we must not expect that all these should be dictated by divine revelation, and written down with all their minute particulars in express words of scripture. It would be endless for the sacred writers to have attempted it, and most unreasonable for us to expect it: For the light of nature and reason is given us by God himself for our direction, as well as the light of revelation; and whatsoever rules may be drawn by plain reasoning, and by easy and necessary inference from the comparison of scripture-times with our own, may and ought to be esteemed a part of our direction in these affairs, as well as the express words of scripture; for scripture itself often gives us but very short and imperfect hints of the whole process of civil or ecclesiastical transactions. This shall be more fully made appear, when I come to answer an objection raised from primitive practice.

After a diligent search into the holy scripture, and careful observation of christian churches and their affairs, these three things appear to me to be necessary, at least in our times, to make a profession of christianity sufficiently credible for christian

communion.

First, A confession of all the necessary articles of christian religion. Secondly, A professed subjection to all the necessary rules of christian duty. Thirdly, Such a blameless and holy practice. in life, as may make the profession of the lips appear, in the common judgment of men, to be the sincere sense of the heart.

NOTE, under the first head, I say, a confession of all the necessary articles of christian religion, rather than the christian faith, that I may plainly include the practical articles of repentance and new obedience, &c. as well as the doctrinal ones. Reason and revelation, nature and scripture, seem to make these three things necessary to a credible profession of christianity. For if a man makes never so fair an appearance of christian duties in his practice, yet if in words he refuses to profess the christian faith, or deny any necessary doctrine or duty of it, he is not worthy of christian communion. Or if a man give tver so good an account of his knowledge and belief of all the articles of the christian religion, and his moral conversation and carriage towards men, has been generally blameless in the eye of the world; yet if he utterly refuse to declare his sincere intention to practise any of the plain and necessary duties of the christian religion, he cannot be accounted worthy of christian communion. Or if his words make never so full a confession of all the doctrines and duties of christianity, and profess a sincere belief of and submission to them, yet if in his constant practice he be a liar, an adulterer, a drunkard, a known cheat, or a robber, &c. his wicked practice makes his profession incredible, he is not worthy of christian communion.

SECT. II. But I would deliver my thoughts more fully on these three particulars that make up the credibility of a profession, and shew what is implied in each of them. First, a confession of all the necessary articles of christian religion, includes in it those articles that are necessary to salvation, and those that are necessary to maintain and practise this communion; which two are certainly different from each other. Though it has been often said in a charitable way, and with very good reason in general discourse, that "there should be nothing required in order to christian communion which is not necessary to salvation," yet this cannot exclude the knowledge of what christian communion is. The very nature of the thing requires that we should know how to practise this communion, before we can actually practise and enjoy it. Now as the Lord's-supper itself is not of absolute necessity to salvation, the things necessary to communicate in the Lord's-supper, must imply something more than merely the things necessary to salvation; as I shall also make plainly appear under the seventh question, which will be entirely employed on this first part of christian profession, and therefore I proceed to the second.

SECT. III.-Secondly, a professed subjection to all the necessary rules of christian duty, includes in it not only those duties that are necessary to salvation, but those duties that are necessary to practise christian communion. The first sort of christian duties are those that are necessary to salvation, such as the fear, love and worship of God; faith, love, and obedience towards our Lord Jesus Christ: repentance of sin, and a bumble trust or hope in the promises of the gospel, as shall be shewn at large under the seventh question, Now this profession does not signify a mere engagement or promise hereafter to fulfil these duties, but also a profession that we have begun to practise them already for we are not received into a church in order to receive Jesus Christ the Lord, bat upon a credible profession that we have recived Jesus Christ already; Rom. xv. 7. Receive ye one another as Christ has received us. We must have therefore some evidence and hope that we have received Christ in all his necessary offices, as our Lord and Saviour, and consequently that he has received us before we should propose ourselves to be received by any visible church.

Now if a man professes repentance, it implies that he has been made sensible of sin, that he has been taught the evil of it, that he mourns for what is past, and is daily watching against it. If a man profess faith in Christ as a propitiation and atonement, it implies that he is acquainted with his guilt in the sight of God, that he is in danger of divine wrath, and that he is not able to make atonement for his own sins, and therefore he flies for refuge to Jesus Christ, that he may obtain peace with God. If he professes a hope of heaven, it implies in it that he is endeavouring to prepare for this heaven; for every man that hath this hope purifieth himself; 1 John iii. 3. If he professes to take Christ for his example, it implies a desire and attempt to imitate our blessed Lord in self-denial, patience, zeal, &c.

In order to make this profession of our faith and hope credible, it is the custom of some churches to require no more than the person's own general profession that he does believe, and repent, and hope, as in Acts viii. 37. I believe, &c. It is the custom of other churches to desire also some further evidences of the truth of his faith, hope, and repentance, by a more particular account of some of those things which are implied in the exercises of those graces; and this has been usually called, though not properly, the rendering a reason of the hope that is in him; as 1 Pet. iii. 15.

The first of these methods hath considerable advantages towards the enlargement of particular churches; and, so far as I can judge, such churches seem to require all that is absoVOL. IV.

E

lutely necessary to the nature and being of a church of Christ. The second has also some valuable advantages towards the wellbeing of a church, and the purity and the profit thereof in the inward and experimental parts of christianity, though some persons of extreme bashfulness may have been hereby discouraged and hindered from christian communion. Both of these methods have some advantages, and some inconveniences; and it is not my design at present to decide which of the two has the greatest; but this is certain, that every church must judge for itself how large, or how narrow; how general, or how particular a profession of christianity must be, in order to render it credible to themselves; yet let each church take heed that they make not the door of admission larger or straiter than Christ has made it.

The second sort of christian duties are those that are necessary to practise christian communion, especially if constant communion be desired, such as, to meet at the same time, and in the same place with some church of Christ, to perform christian worship, with them there, to agree to the general methods of worship, the customs, order, and discipline that are practised in that church, so far as they can find them agreeable to the will of Christ in his word, or so far as they are necessary to maintain the being, order and peace of all religious societies. This is so much, and so plainly implied in the very nature of communion or fellowship, that it is always supposed to be consented to, even where it is not expressly mentioned; this will appear more evident under the next question.

This profession of consent to the worship or order of that church, does not forbid or prevent any person from attempting to reform any mismanagements in the worship or discipline of the church by argument and friendly persuasions; but only it restrains him from all tumultuous and irregular proceedings, in order to such reformation; according to the great canon of the apostle, let all things be done decently, and in order;" 1 Cor. xiv. 40. It is upon this account he forbids the Corinthians to speak with unknown tongues without interpretation, to break in upon the public worship, or for several persons speak all at once, &c. and such natural rules of decency as these, may, in some sense, be called the commands of our Lord, ver. 37. to which we owe a professed subjection. But if a man cannot consent to the most constant and essential forms of ministration, worship and discipline, as practised in that church, it is far better that he should join himself to some other society, whose chief practices and government are more agreeable to his own senti

ments.

SECT. IV. The third thing that goes to make up the credibility of our profession, is such a blameless and holy

practice in life, as may make the profession of the lips appear, in the common judgment of men, to be the sincere sense of the heart:" By which we are not to understand a perfection of virtue, or a freedom from every vice: for there is no man living on earth, that doth good, and sinneth not; in many things we offend all; and the best of men have reason to complain, that the evil they would not do, sometimes prevails over them, and they are led captive to the law of sin; James iii. 2. Rom. vii. 19, 20.

But it is necessary that persons professing christianity should be free from all gross and scandalous sins, nor be guilty of those crimes in their allowed practice, which in many places of scripture exclude men from the kingdom of heaven; 1 Cor. v. 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God; 1 Cor. v. 11. I have written unto you 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 an one, no not to eat: And if this text forbids us to keep free and sociable converse with such persons, or to sit down at our tables with those who profess christianity, and practise wickedness, much more 'does it become a church to exclude them from its sacred society and fellowship, and to forbid them to sit down at the table of the Lord. Common railers and slanderers, such as the apostle James describes, are to be shut out from communion; James i. 26. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain; that is, his religious performances are evidently ineffectual for his own salvation; therefore while he indulges his tongue in a scandalous liberty, his pretences and profession of christianity are vain and incredible, and consequently he has no right to christian communion. The glory of God who is holy, the honour of our Lord Jesus Christ who is our pattern of holiness, the credit of the gospel which is a doctrine according to godliness, as well as the common sense of mankind, exclude all such persons from societies of strict and pure, religion.

In the very first dawning of the gospel, John the Baptist, the fore-runner of Christ, forbid the professing Pharisees from baptism, for want of fruits of repentance answerable to their profession; Mat. iii. 7, 8. And in following times the Ephesian converts made their faith appear by confessing what they believed, and shewing their deeds; Acts xix. 18, 19. And if there be not a frequent account of such instances in scripture, it is because the nature and reason of things render the necessity of it suffi