Answ. You must distinguish, 1. Of excommunication. 2. Of the person that is to judge. 1. There is an excommunication which censureth not the state of the sinner, but only suspendeth him from church communion as at the present actually unfit for it: and there is an excommunication which habituately or statedly excludeth the sinner from his church relation, as an habituate, impenitent, obstinate person. 2. Some persons have no opportunity to try the cause themselves, being strangers, or not called to it; but must take it upon the pastor's judgment: and some have no opportunity to know the person and the cause, whether he be justly excommunicated or not. Now, 1. Those that know by notoriety or proof that the person is justly excommunicated with the second sort of excommunication, must not, nor cannot love him as a godly man. 2. Those that know by notoriety or proof that the person is unjustly excommunicated, are not therefore to deny him the estimation and love which is due to a godly man: though for order sake they may sometimes be obliged to avoid external church communion with him. 3. Those that know nothing of the cause themselves, must judge as the pastor judgeth, who is the legal judge; yet so, as to take it to be but a human, fallible, and no final judgment.
Quest. X. Can an unsanctified hypocrite unfeignedly love a godly man?
Answ. There is no doubt but he may materially love him, on some other consideration; as because he is a kinsman, friend, benefactor, or is witty, learned, fair, &c.
Quest. XI. But can he love a godly man because he is godly?
Answ. He may love a godly man (at least) as he may love God. An unholy person cannot love God in all his perfections respectively to himself, as a God who is most holy and just in his government, forbidding all sin, and condemning the ungodly; for the love of his sins is inconsistent with this love. But he may love him as he is most great, and wise, and good in the general, and as he is the Maker and Benefactor of the world and of the sinner; yea, and in general as his Governor; and so he may verily think that he loveth God as God, because he loveth him for his essentialities; but indeed he doth not, (speaking strictly,) because he leaveth out some one or more of these essentialities; even as he that loveth man as rational, but not as a voluntary free agent, loveth not man as man: and as a heretic is no christian, because he denieth some one essential part of christianity; even so as to the love of godly men, an ungodly man may believe that they are better than others, and therefore love them; but not as godliness is the consent to that holiness and justice of God, which would restrain him from his beloved sins, and condemn him for them. So far as they are simply godly to themselves, without respect to him and his sins, he may love them.
Quest. XII. May he love a godly man as he would make him godly, and convert him?
Answ. He may love him as a better man than others, and in general he may wish himself as good, and may love him because he wisheth him well; but as he cannot be (or rather is not) willing himself to leave his sins and live in holiness, so another is not grateful to him, who urgently persuadeth him to this.
Quest. XIII. Doth any ungodly person love the godly comparatively more than others?
Answ. So far as he doth love them as godly, so far he may love them more than those that are not such; many a bad father loveth a religious child better than the rest; because they think that wisdom and godliness are good; and they are glad to see their children do well, as long as they do not grate upon them with troublesome censures: for another man's godliness costeth a bad man little or nothing; he may behold it without the parting with his sins.
Quest. XIV. Doth every sincere christian love all the godly with a special love? even those that oppose their opinions, or that they think do greatly wrong them?