But this I must say, as the result of a good deal of experience and observation, I have invariably found that where a person was enabled to look at the matter simply in reference to Christ and His glory, all difficulty vanished. But on the other hand, if personal feeling, affection for individuals, anything merely natural, be allowed to operate, the spiritual vision is sure to be clouded, and a divine conclusion will not be reached…

   But then it is often said, when a person is put away or refused, “Do you not consider him a child of God?” I answer, No such question is raised. “The Lord knoweth them that are his; and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” We are not called upon to pronounce as to a man’s secret relations with God, but simply as to his public walk before men. If an assembly denies its responsibility to judge the doctrine and walk of those “within,” it is not an assembly of God at all, and all who would be true to Christ should leave it, at once…

   He continues to say, “That there are two things which must never be lost sight of, in connection with the question of reception at the Lord’s table, and these are, first the grace which will not allow of the exclusion of any who ought to be admitted; secondly the holiness which cannot allow the admission of any who ought to be excluded.  

The Life And Times of Charles Henry Mackintosh - Edwin Cross