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I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye feparate, faith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye fhall be my fons and daughters, faith the Lord Almighty."

Quest

SECTION VII.

Of Drefs.

HOULD we infift on the rules concerning drefs?

SHO

Anfw. By all means. This is no time to give any encouragement to fuperfluity of apparel. Therefore give no tickets to any, till they have left off fuperfluous ornaments. In order to this, 1. Let every one who has the charge of a circuit, read the thoughts upon dress, at least once a year in every large fociety. 2. In vifiting the claffes, be very mild, but very ftrict. 3. AF low of no exempt cafe: Better one fuffer than many. 4. Give no tickets to any that wear high heads, enormous bonnets, rufiles, or rings.

NOTE S.

As our one aim, in all our economy and minifterial labours, is to raife a holy people, crucified to the world, and alive to God, we cannot allow of any thing which has an immediate tendency to defeat our main defign, and to strengthen and puff up the carnal mind. Few things, perhaps, have a greater tendency to this than gay apparel, which is exprefsly and repeatedly forbidden by the fcriptures. We endeavour to follow the Word of God; and whilft we have that on our fide, we must go on, and leave all confequences to the Lord. 1 Tim. ii. 8-10. "I will-in like manner alfo, that women adorn themselves in modeft apparel, with fhame-facednefs and fobriety: not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or coftly array; but (which becometh women profelling godlinefs) with good works." 1 Pet. iii. 3-5. "Whole adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel: but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet fpirit, which is in the

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fight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time, the boly women also, who trufted in God, adorned themselves,” &c. Ifai. iii. 6-24. " Moreover, the LORD faith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-forth necks and wanton eyes, walking, and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: Therefore, the LORD will finite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion.In that day the LORD will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, the chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the head-bands, and the tablets, and the ear-rings, the rings, and nose-jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping-pins, the glaffes, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. And it fhall come to pass, that instead of fweet fmell, there fhall be stink; and instead of a girdle, a rent; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and inftead of a ftomacher, a girding of fackcloth; and burning inftead of beauty." In this last quotation we have, 1. the crimes of luxury and wanton haughtiness described; and, 2. the punishment denounced, with which God would pursue thefe crimes. There is a peculiar emphasis in referring these vices of haughtinefs, luxury, wantonnefs, and the love of fuperfluous ornament, to the daughters of Sion, that is, to the matrons and virgins of the holy city, chofen by God the hater of luxury and vanity; a mountain and city, which those daughters of Abraham inhabited, whom, above all others, outward adorning became not;-the plaiting of the bair, &c. but the bidden man of the heart, modesty and: humility.

SECTION VIII.

Of bringing to Trial, finding Guilty, and reproving, fufpending, or excluding diforderly Perfons from Society and Church Privileges.

Queft. HOW ball a fufpected member be brought to

trial?

Anfw. Before the fociety of which he is a member, or a felect number of them, in the presence of a bishop, elder, deacon, or preacher, in the following manner; Let the accufed and accufer be brought face to face:

but if this cannot be done, let the next beft evidence be procured. If the accufed perfon be found guilty, and the crime be fuch as is exprefsly forbidden by the word of God, fufficient to exclude a perfon from the kingdom of grace and glory, and to make him a fubject of wrath and hell, let the minifter or preacher who has the charge of the circuit, expel him. If he evade a trial by abfenting himself after fufficient notice given him, and the circumstances of the accufation be strong and prefumptive, let him be efteemed as guilty, and be accordingly excluded. Witneffes from without, fhall not be rejected.

But in cafes of neglect of duties of any kind, impru dent conduct, indulging finful tempers or words, or difobedience to the order and discipline of the church,

-Firft, let private reproof be given by a preacher or leader; and if there be an acknowledgement of the fault and proper humiliation, the perfon may remain on trial. On a fecond offence, the preacher or leader may take one or two faithful friends. On a third offence, let the cafe be brought before the fociety or a felect number; and if there be no fign of real humiliation, the offender must be cut off.

If there be a murmur or complaint from any excluded perfon in any of the above-mentioned inftances, that justice has not been done, he fhall be allowed an appeal to the next quarterly meeting; and the majority of the minifters, travelling and local preachers, exhorters, ftewards and leaders prefent, fhall finally determine the cafe.

After fuch forms of trial and expulfion, fuch perfons fhall have no privileges of fociety or of facraments in our church, without contrition, confeffion, and proper trial.

N. B. If a member of our church fhall be clearly convicted of endeavouring to fow diffentions in any of our focieties, by inveighing against either our doctrines or discipline, fuch person fo offending shall be first re

proved by the senior minister or preacher of his circuit, and, if he afterwards perfift in fuch pernicious practices, he fhall be expelled the fociety.

NOTE S.

The prefent fection requires a very full explication: not because fcripture and reafon do not fully discover to us the truth on the prefent fubject, but because many have objected to our discipline in the inftance before us.

The grand point to be determined, is this: whether the final judgment of an offender in respect to both the guilt and the cenfure, fhould be invested in the minister, or the people. We shall therefore take a view of this part of our economy, first, in the light of fcripture, and, fecondly, in that of reafon.

First, in the light of fcripture. Here we must confine our-felves of course to the New Teftament, as living under the chriftian difpenfation. 1. The firft fcripture we shall confider is the declaration of our Saviour in Matt. xviii. 15-17. " Moreover, if thy brother fhall trefpafs against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he fhall hear thee, thou haft gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three wit-neffes every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." These words were addreffed to the apostles, and through them to all the minifters of Chrift to the end of the world. This is evident from the words immediately following the quotation, and which are a continuation of the fame paragraph, and could not belong to the private members of a church.

The first step then which is to be taken, is to tell the offender of his fault in private without any witness. Here is the fecret reproof of the minifter himself. But if he will not hear and amend, the second step is, that the minister take with him two or three witneffes. Here is the reproof of the minister before witneffes. "And if he shall neglect to hear them," fhall these two or three witneffes proceed to exclude him? No: they have no fuch authority: but" tell it unto the church." This is the third ftep. Has the church then any authority to punish him? No : their whole authority lies in advifing and reproving him. "But if," after fuch advice and reproof," he neglect to hear the church, let bim he UNTO THEE as an heathen man and a publican. Can any one imagine that the minifter only is to treat the offender thus; and that the reft of the church are to give him the right hand of fellowhip? This cannot be. The minifter is undoubtedly to exclude

Kim from the communion of the church. This is the last step Then follow immediately those words of our Lord, "What fo ever ye fhall bind on earth, fhall be bound in heaven: and whatfoever ye fhall loose on earth, fhall be loofed in heaven: which words, as we before observed, confine the power to ministers, whofe church-cenfures as far as they are confiftent with the word of God (for we cannot fuppofe the authority goes further) shall be confirmed and fupported in heaven: and the faithful ministers of God, who have been more or lefs invested with the superintendency of the church have found this promise verified. The latter words cannot be supposed to relate to an eternal exclufion from glory, for that would preclude the neceffity of the day of judgment in respect to those so excommunicated. But we repeat, Here is not a word faid of the church's authority either to judge or to cenfure. On the contrary, the whole authority is exprefsly delivered into the hands of the minifter.

But we may add, that this paffage speaks of offences, which have not yet brought a public difgrace on the church of God. The church or fociety of which the offender is a member, is not even supposed to be generally acquainted with the fault till after the failure of the first and fecond attempt for his reformation. Surely, if the offence be of a fcandalous nature, and has already difgraced the cause of God by its public notoriety, the offender ought to be immediately removed, after clear conviction, for the honour of God and his caufe: much more fo ftill, if the offender has been found guilty of fome grofs crime. For could any one think of having communion with a murderer, adulterer, or thief, even for a moment, though the crime was not known to any but the offender and himself: and fo we may obferve of many other crimes.

But it may be urged, that the offence mult first be mentioned to the church, before the offender can be fcripturally excluded.

Tell it to the church," fays our Lord. And fo we do. It is merely for the fake of convenience, that in large focieties we tell it only to a committee or representation of the fociety, or do a bundantly more, even make them the witneffes of the whole trial. But if fuch focieties were to defire it, we would tell the whole unto the church at large. But ftill we must declare, from the plain fense of the word of God, that our Lord invests the minister with the whole authority both of judgment and cenfure,

2. Another fcripture worthy of confideration on this subject, is I Cor. v. I-5. "It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and fuch fornication as is not fo much as named amongst the gentiles, that one fhould have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed, might be taken away from among you. For I verily as abfent in body, but present in spirit, HAVE

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