to express our Desires in or enables us to make one 't is sufficient and we ought to be thankful 7. In confirmation of this Account of the Spirit of Prayer we may further observe 1. That no Worship is Acceptable to God that is not offer'd to Him in Spirit and Truth John iv 24 and therefore the Scripture recommends to us prayers in and by the Spirit but that praying with the Spirit doth not signifie extemporary unpremeditated prayers or exclude Forms will appear from 1 Cor. xiv 15 I will pray with the Spirit I will pray with the Vnderstanding I will sing with the Spirit I will sing with the Vnderstanding also Here we find singing with the Spirit as well as praying with it and whoever sings otherwise doth not worship God as he ought but tho' we are obliged to sing with the Spirit yet we must and ought to sing in the Congregation with a set Form of Words and therefore for the same reason tho' we pray with the Spirit we may pray by a set and prepared Form of Words The most spiritual Songs consist of a set Form of imposed Words and so may the most spiritual Prayers Praying therefore with the Spirit in this place is so far from meaning or being an Argument for the Use of extemporary unpremeditated prayers that it is rather an Argument against them For either we are obliged by it to sing to God in extemporary Hymns or we are not obliged to pray to Him in extemporary Prayers since it is Unreasonable to interpret singing with the Spirit in one sense and praying with the Spirit in a contrary 2. And to confirm this further we find the most spiritual Persons addressing themselves to God in Forms so did Moses so did David as I observed before and so did our Saviour himself on the Cross when in his Agony he repeated the first Verse of Psal. xxii in Syriack and as some believe the whole Psalm by which Act He recommendeth to us Forms of Prayer in his Dying Breath as the most proper means of expressing our condition to God and as most suitable to the Divine Majesty and therefore praying in the Spirit Ephes. vi 18 Praying in the holy Ghost Jude 20. and with the Spirit 1 Cor. xiv 15 signifie praying with Grace in our Hearts by the Assistance and Motion of the Holy Spirit And a man may as well pray with Grace in his Heart when he prays by a Form as sing with Grace in his Heart when he sings by a Form 3. We have a Promise that God's Spirit will assist us with this Grace in our Hearts but we have no Promise that He will help us to Words without the Use of Forms as will appear from Rom. viii 26 The Spirit also helpeth our Infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered those inward motions in the Heart called here groanings are that Grace in the Heart with which we ought to pray and to which the Spirit of God doth and indeed only can help us and to pray with this Grace is to pray in and with the Spirit whether we use words or no and if we do use them whether we reduce them into a Form first or pour them forth as they present themselves to our Minds but we have no Promise that the Holy Ghost will always furnish us with fit words on all occasions and therefore ought not to presume that He will 4. T is certain that he did furnish some with such words for we find both Prayers and Hymns dictated immediately by him of which we have Examples in the Hymns of the Blessed Virgin and Zacharias and in the Song or Prayer of Simeon and in Acts iv 24 But then it is manifest that this was an extraordinary Gift of God and a part of Prophecy and we may not depend on the holy Ghost for this Gift more then for any other Extraordinary Gift till it be made appear that it was to continue alwaies in the Church and to be communicated to All the Children of God Praying and singing the Praises of God are Duties incumbent on all Christians but we are no more obliged to pray Extemporary Prayers from any Example of inspired Men in Scripture than to sing Extemporary Hymns from the like Examples to which yet none I think pretend 5. 'T is very observable that even those who composed their Prayers and Hymns by immediate inspiration did not generally offer them to God in the Congregation till they had first reduced them into a Form Thus David first penned his Psalms and then delivered them to be sung 1. Chron. xvi 7 and 't is probable the Prophets 1. Cor. xiv 26 did the same for they are supposed every one to have a Psalm a Doctrine a Tongue a Revelation c. that is to have them ready and reduced into Form for the use of the Church when they came together That this is the meaning of having a Psalm c. in this place will appear very probable not only from the words which naturally import this and can hardly be otherwise interpreted but likewise from the Apostles making a difference between what these Prophets had prepared and what was revealed immediately at the time of their being together vers 30. If any thing be revealed to another that siteth by let the first hold his peace Which shews that these Psalms c. were to give place to such as were immediately inspired So far were these inspired Men from countenancing an extemporary unpremeditated way of serving God except where there was an immediate Revelation for it and so utterly void of Scripture-proof is this great principle of the Dissenters Worship that the Spirit of prayer is given to every one of the Faithfull to enable them to conceive with the Heart and express with their Tongues their necessities to God without a Form of Prayer 8. It lies therefore my Friends on your Teachers who are of this persuasion to produce plain Scripture for your principles or else to confess that you have laid aside Prayers by Forms commanded by God and practised by holy Men in Scriptures to make room for this way of Praying of Men's own invention But further that place Eccl. v. 1.2 seems to me to afford a strong Argument against such Prayers When thou goest to the House of God Be not rash with thy Mouth and let not thy Heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in Heaven and thou upon Earth Therefore let thy words be few It is hard to say what it is to be rash with our Mouths or hasty to utter any thing before God if it be not rashnesh to trust the expressing all our desires to such uncertain and unpremeditated words as our invention suggests unto us when we come before him which as I have shewed the Scriptures give us no promise of being supplied to us
the way of his own appointment and complain of it as dull and tedious so Mal. i. 13 Ye said also what a weariness is it and ye snuffed at it And the reason is because the way of God's appointing is always more Spiritual in respect of that which is of Man 's own Invention and therefore it cannot be so easy or agreable to the Carnal minds of Men. 4. It ought therefore to be considered by you when people complain of being dull and unaffected by meer Hearing the Word of God read whether this do not truly proceed from a Carnal and Wicked Heart estranged from the Spirit of God and whether the reason that Sermons please and affect more then a Chapter out of the Bible be not the novelty and outward Ornaments of them rather than the Spiritualness of the discourse We are sure St. Paul supposeth such as are not affected with the Words of God to be meer Natural or Carnal Men 1 Cor. ii 13 where having taken Notice of speaking Not in Words which Man's Wisdom Teacheth but which the Holy Ghost Teacheth he adds but the Natural Man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God For they are foolishness to him neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned From whence it clearly follows that the reason why Men do not understand or receive the things of God delivered to them in the Words of Scripture dictated by the Holy Ghost is because they are meer Natural Men and want the Spirit of God Whoever therefore is more affected or delights more in a Sermon then in a Chapter of the Bible has reason to look into his Heart and examine himself whether he have the Spirit of God Those mentioned in Scripture that had that Spirit delighted in the Law of God It was the joy of their Hearts they preferred it to all things they meditate in it Day and Night And were so far from turning it out of their Publick Assemblies that the Hearing it read was a great part of their Worship Whoever therefore lays aside this practise have reason to suspect that they want that Temper and Spirit with which those Holy Men were inspired and notwithstanding all their pretences to a more then ordinary Spiritualness and Reformation are little advanced above the Natural Men that neither receive or relish the things of God at least not as they ought I find it alledged as a Sixth pretence for not Reading the Word of God in your Meetings That a Child may read them and perform this Duty and then what need it take up the Ministers time To which there needs no other answer then that the Service of God is not less his or the less to be valued because it is easy On the contrary 't is the more sinfull to neglect it the more easy it is Ministers are not set apart for difficult things only which others cannot perform but they are to execute the Office that God has imposed on them whether it be easy or difficult As for Example God has Commanded his Ministers to Baptise In the Name of the Father c. Now to pour on Water in this Form is no such difficult thing but a Child or any else might perform it Neither is there any greater difficulty in the Sacrament of the Lord's-Supper as to the Essentials of it Yet I suppose it will be granted by all that it belongs only to the Minister's Office to perform these and that they must not delegate them or any part of them to others or omit them because they are easy And that they have a quite different Sacredness Efficacy and Force when performed by a Person Ordained and Authorized to this purpose then when performed by another and the same Rule holds in offering up our Prayers and in Reading the Scriptures A Man may read them at home a Child may read them in Church but they have not the same assurance of Efficacy and a blessing as when they come from the Mouth of a Person set a-part by God's Ordinance for this purpose I make no doubt but the Experience as I have said of most Christians from what they have felt in their own Hearts in Hearing the Word of God publickly read will attest the Truth of this Now if you my Friends know and own this as I hope the generality of you do you must see the unreasonableness of this pretence If any of you do not know it you must give me leave to say that I fear it is from ignorance and not considering the Scriptures And 't is your Teachers Duty to inform you better Reading the Scripture being allowed by their Directory to be a part of God's Publick Worship We have this Rule there in express words That it is requisite that all the Canonical Books be read over in order that the people may be better acquainted with the whole Body of Scriptures Now if you can shew but one Meeting in the last Age in which this has been duly performed we will not accuse you so generally of violating God's Command in this point but if there be not one such Meeting you ought to consider how you will excuse your selves before God And I think it necessary here to observe to you how insignificant general Rules are without descending to a particular Determination of Circumstances Here we have in your Dirâ—ctory a general Rule such as it is for Reading the Scripture but for want of being particular as the Calender in our Common-Prayer-Book is I question if it yet was ever once observed or indeed that it is Practical to observe it And it is so almost in every other general Rule and therefore to leave the Service of God to be Ordered by such general Rules only is in effect to Teach people to neglect it V. These are all the Reasons that I can possibly think of or have heard urged for Your practice in this point I will not say but others may be pretended but I must profess that I do not remember to have met with them if I had I would have given them a due consideration I am perswaded that they cannot be of greater force than those I have examined And that they can never excuse You in this matter from manifest breach of God's Command in preferring Mens Inventions to his Institutions After all I must profess to You That I look on all these to be only Pretences and that the true Reason of Mens Negligence in this Duty is given us 2 Tim. iv 3 For the time will come saith the Apostle when they will not endure sound Doctrine but after their own Lusts shall they heap up to themselves Teachers having itching Ears An itching Ear here can signifie nothing so properly as an Ear that loves Novelty and Variety Because therefore our Church gives the people little that is New in her Prayers or Reading the Scriptures but retains a Form of sound Words in the one and the plain Word of God in the other Hence
the Man of God When such a person by the Inspiration of the holy Ghost used and left to be used by us in our Supplications such a set and prepared Form of Words we ought not to doubt but that manner of Address is acceptable to God 3. The third part of Prayer is Intercession in the behalf of others Now Blessing is an eminent sort of Intercession and for the use of a set Form of Words in this we have likewise the Command of God Numb vi 23 On this wise ye shall bless the Children of Israel saying unto them The Lord bless thee and keep thee c. Here we have not onely a Blessing but an earnest Intercession with God for his people and the Form and Words prescribed by Himself which were not to be used by mean ignorant people who are only now supposed by some to need the help of Forms but by Aaron and his Sons the Chief Priests From which we may be assured That God approves that manner of Address in our Blessings and Intercessions for one another not onely from mean people but from the greatest 4. The fourth part of Prayer consisteth in Petitions for averting evil commonly called Deprecation and for this purpose we have several Forms prescribed by God Joel i. 14 Gather the Elders and all the Inhabitants of the Land into the House of the Lord your God and say unto the Lord Alas for the day the day of the Lord is at hand c. We have God's Commandment for another Form Joel ii 17 Let the Priests the Ministers of the Lord weep between the Porch and the Altar and let them say Spare thy people O Lord and give not thine heritage to reproach c. From whence it clearly follows that God approves the use of a Form in this part of Prayer tho' commonly the most earnest and importunate and such as seems least to admit of being bounded by a Form so that we have the Approbation and Commandment of God for the use of a set Form of Words in all the parts of Prayer II. And accordingly we find Holy Men of God tho' full of Wisdom and of his Spirit using the same set Form of Prayer always on the same occasion Thus the Scriptures inform us concerning Moses Num. x. 35 When the Ark set forward Moses said Rise up Lord and let thine Enemies be scattered and let them that hate thee flee before thee And when it rested he said Return O Lord unto the many Thousands of Israel From whence it appears that God approves the use of one set constant Form of Words in our Prayers as long as the occasion of repeating them is the same for I presume none will suspect it was for want of Words or of the Spirit of Prayer that Moses confined himself to this Form I shall add further that the whole Book of Psalms is a Collection of Prayers of all sorts And there are few of them but what are most Excellent Forms of Prayer expressed in such pathetick significant and moving words that we have great reason to thank God for furnishing us with them and which we can never hope to equal by any of our own invention such are the 4 5 6 7 9 10 12 c. On this account they were used by the Jews as the constant Service and Liturgy performed in their Temple as we may gather from what I formerly quoted 2 Chron. xxix 30. III. But perhaps some may think these Commands and Examples of set Forms of Prayer not to be a sufficient Warrant to Christians because they are taken out of the Old Testament before the Spirit was poured out in so plentiful a measure as under the Gospel I shall therefore proceed to examine the Commands and Examples of the New Testament and here 1. I think it is certain that our Saviour and his Apostles prayed by a Form for they joyned in the Worship of the Temple and Synagogues which consisted in Psalms as I have already shewed and in some certain Forms of Prayers added to them and constantly used in their daily Service as we learn from those that give an Account of the Jewish Worship at that time Now our Saviour and his Apostles being frequently present at their Service both in the Temple and Synagogues 't is manifest they approved the manner of Addressing themselves to God in a set Form of Words 2. But our Saviour has put this matter out of all dispute with impartial Men by prescribing a Form to his Disciples when they desired him to teach them to pray as John taught his Disciples For we find his way of Teaching them was not by directing them to wait for the impulses of the Spirit and immediate Inspiration from God of what they were to offer up to him We do not find him saying When ye pray speak what shall then come into your minds or what shall be given you in that hour without taking thought about what they should say as He did in another case that is when they should be brought before Governours and Kings for his sake Mat. x. 19 But in addressing themselves to God he prescribed them a Form of Words and Commanded them to use it Luke xi 2 And he said unto them When ye pray say Our Father which art in Heaven c. Here is an express Command of Christ to his Disciples to use these Words when they pray Our Father c. A Command for the use of a Form so plain that it is impossible to express it in clearer terms 'T is not to be doubted but Religious Persons among the Jews offer'd up constantly prayers to God We see it in David Psal. lv 17 and in Daniel Chap. vi 10 And no doubt the Disciples of our Saviour were not wanting in this Duty nor in skill to perform it since we find that other devout Persons of their time had their hours of Prayer as we see in Acts iii. 1 Therefore what they desired of our Saviour was not to teach them absolutely or in general to pray but to teach them to pray as John also taught his Disciples that is to give them a Form of Prayer proper to His Institution as they saw the Disciples of Moses and John had proper to theirs Upon which our Saviour gave them the Lord's-Prayer as a summary of the main points of his Doctrine and as a constant badge of their being his Disciples As if he should have said When ever you offer up to God your usual Prayers which Religious Custom has taught you as Jews and Disciples of Moses or of John whether in Secret or Publick add this always to your other prayers for a continual Remembrance to you of those Duties Priviledges and Qualifications which belong to you as My Disciples and as a means of obtaining Grace from your Heavenly Father to enable you to persevere in them The Lords-Prayer is therefore a badge of Our Profession imposed by Christ himself and to be used by Us
the Spirit and hinder Men from stirring up or using the gift that God has given them 2. Others of you go further and affirm that all Forms of Prayer are unlawful to Christians and that therefore it is a sin to join in a Worship where they are used or to be present at it 3. That the Minister is the mouth of the Congregation and that he only is to speak publickly to God in the behalf of the people and that they are not to join their Voices but their Hearts only with him Upon these principles you forsake our Worship and many of you think it is a sin to be so much as present at our Religious Assemblies It is of great importance therefore that you should understand what the Scriptures determine in this matter for if our Worship which you thus forsake be plainly enjoined by Scripture as I think I have made it sufficiently appear and these principles of Your Worship and Your Practice pursuant to them have no Foundation in Scripture I cannot see how You can answer your forsaking Our Assemblies to God and your own Consciences Let us then consider each of these Principles apart II. And first for that position of your Directory That the Spirit of Prayer is given to all the Children of God in some measure for enabling their Hearts to conceive and their Tongues to express convenient Desires to God I intreat you to consider what Promise or Foundation it has in Scripture I profess to you seriously That upon the strictest Enquiry I could make I never could find any such Promise made to all the Children of God in the Old or New Testaments neither did I ever meet any Dissenter that was able to shew any such Exclusive of the Use of Forms If then there be none such as we may be well assured there is not was it not too much presumption in the Compilers of your Directory to obtrude this Doctrine on the World or perswade people to depend on it and neglect the help of Forms which the Scripture prescribes and recommends to us Nay as there is no Promise for such extraordinary Assistance to all the Children of God to conceive prayer so neither is there any Command in Scripture requiring us to worship or pray to God in a conceiv'd extemporary or unpremeditated prayer or so much as an Example in a settled ordinary Congregation where it was practised If then you can shew none of these in the holy Scriptures neither Promise nor Command 't is a plain case that this Doctrine is a meer Invention of Men and the Worship built on it a Vanity in the sence of our Saviour Mark vii 7 If my design were only to confute an Adversary what I have already said were sufficient but this Spirit of Prayer is a point of such Consequence that I hope it will be both grateful and instructive to the Readers of all sorts to explain it to them and set it in as clear a light as I can which I shall do under the following Heads III. 1. First therefore I doubt not but it will be granted That whoever prayeth to God with Faith Sincerity Fervency Love Humility Conformity to God's will Vnderstanding and Decency of Expression prays Acceptably to Him and is endowed with the Spirit of Prayer and whoever prays without these does want it 2. I suppose no man of himself can attain these Graces that are requisite to make our prayers Acceptable and that therefore we must have the Assistance of Gods Spirit to beget them in us 3. I suppose that it is possible for a man to acquire by natural means an ability to express himself decently in prayer tho' he cannot so acquire Faith or any other inward Grace so that Decency of Expression is the lowest part of the Gift of Prayer and not alwaies a part of it 4. I say that one praying by a Form may have all these Qualifications and therefore his prayer may be acceptable to God and proceed from his Spirit This may be proved to the Dissenters 1. From the Assembly's Larger Catechism which acknowledges it For when the Question is put How is the Lord's Prayer to be used The Answer is The Lord's Prayer is not only for Direction as a pattern according to which we are to make other prayers but may be also used as a prayer so that it be done with Vnderstanding Faith Reverence and other Graces necessary to the right performance of the Duty of prayer 2. Many of the Psalms are as I observed before Forms of Prayer and the Dissenters make no scruple to turn these Forms of Prayers into Meetre and then sing them Line by Line after the Minister As for Example The first Verse of the fifth Psalm runs thus in the Translation they use Give ear unto my words O Lord My meditations weigh Hear my loud cry my King my God For I to theé will pray This is as much a Form of Prayer as any in the Litany and by their using it as they do they plainly practise praying by a Form And do further also allow that prayers as well as praises may be offered to God with singing and that they may repeat their Forms of prayer after the Minister With what reason then can it be said against us That a Form of Prayer sung in Verse and after the Minister's Reading it is Commendable but the same said or sung in Prose is Unlawful 5. Extemporary conceived prayers may want these spiritual qualifications of prayer as I believe will not be denied by those that contend most for them and they often are manifestly deficient being sometimes performed without Reverence or Decency of Expression and by some even without Understanding and where these qualifications are found others may be wanting The Scriptures observe That a man may make long prayers and yet have a mind dispos'd to devour Widows Houses He may want Faith Humility Fervency and Affiance in God and yet be able to pray without a Form And therefore such prayers are not always Acceptable to God 6. Therefore when God promises the Spirit of Grace and of Supplications to his people Zach. xii 10 this Promise doth not extend to enable all men who are God's Children to conceive with their Hearts and express with their Mouths convenient Desires without a Form for as I shewed before every one to whom God gives a Heart and Disposition to pray has the Spirit of Prayer and he who from this principle offers up his desires to God in a Form prays Acceptably and he that offers them without that principle tho' he do it in unpremeditated and extemporary words is rejected and therefore the Spirit of prayer is the grace the heart the disposition and ability to pray and whether it be with or without a Form such a Man's prayers are acceptable to God and 't is greatly superstitious to think or teach otherwise If God give us a heart to pray and by his providence hath provided us a Form
iv 16 When this Epistle is read amongst you cause that it also be read in the Church of the Laodiceans and that ye likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea And it was but reason since the Gospel contained the Christian Law that it should be read in the Christian Assemblies as well as the Law of Moses was in the Synagogues And that it was so read in the first Christian Assemblies I might shew by many instances out of the Antient Fathers if there were occasion IV. This publick Reading the Law was of so great Reputation that it is termed Preaching it as we may see from Acts xv 21 For Moses of old time hath in every City them that preach him being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath day The word Preaching has a peculiar sense in the New Testament and signifies properly to Declare or Proclaim the Word of God as a Herauld or Cryer proclaimes the Laws or Orders of a King Hence only those that Proclaim'd the Gospel to such as had not heard it before or read the Old Testament to the people are said to Preach Preaching is distinguished from Teaching and Exhortation and 't is observable that in the whole New Testament tho' reading the Scriptures is called Preaching yet interpreting them applying them or exhorting the people from them in a Christian Auditory is never called by that name If it be objected that St. Paul is said to preach to the Disciples Acts xx 7 when he only in probability made a Sermon or Exhortation to Believers as is usual now I answer that the Original of this Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is never translated preach in any other place of the New Testament and should not have been here but discours'd disputed spake or reason'd so it is translated in Acts xvii 2 17. xviii 19 xix 8 9. Heb. xii 5 c. for the Original Words which properly signifie preaching are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 From all which it is manifest that there are only two ways by which the Word of God is properly preached the first is when it is declared to those that never heard of it before and the second is when the very words of the Scripture are read publickly to the peodle as a Cryer doth a Proclamation which he doth not word himself but reads it in the words in which it is delivered to him In short The Scriptures are Sermons out of the Mouth of God being dictated by his Holy Spirit for the Reading of which to the People for their Conviction and Instruction there is a peculiar Command of God and where this Ordinance is duely observed they are sure of the Word of Life and 't is impossible they should be ignorant of their Duty for the Scriptures are sufficient to mak◠them wise to Salvation and the hearing them with Humility and Attention is a means sufficient to beget Faith in the Hearts of those that hear them for they are profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect thorowly furnished to all good Works as we see 1 Tim. iii. 16 17. V. We find in Holy Scripture that the Publick Reading of the Word of God was with great Solemnity 'T is observed Nehem. viii 5 When Ezra opened the Book all the people stood up and Ezra blessed the Lord the great God and all the people answered Amen Amen with lifting up their hands and they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground and I find it generally agreed that both the Readers and Hearers stood up whilst the Law was read tho' not when other things were read or taught hence it is observed Luke iv 16 that our Saviour stood up for to read and Vers. 20. after closing the Book that he sat down to teach Hence Rev. v. God is represented in allusion to the High-Priest with a Book in his Right Hand containing the Revelations of his Will and the Lamb as his Minister takes it out of his Hand to declare the Contents of it and Vers. 8. When he had taken the Book the four Beasts and four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb And they sung a New Song The Angels joyn with them Vers. 11. and the whole Creation Verse 13. From whence we see the Scriptures teach us to receive the Revelations of God's Will out of the Book of Life with Adoration and Praises And therefore we find that at the Reading the Law Confessions and Praises of God were intermixed and succeeded one another Neh. ix 3 And they stood up in their place and read in the Book of the Lord their God one fourth part of the Day and another fourth part they Confessed and Worshiped the Lord their God VI. We find that the Word of God is to be read in such a Language as the People understand After the Captivity the People being Born and Educated in a strange Land their Language was changed and they did not understand at least Universally the pure Hebrew in which the Law was first written therefore when Ezra read in the Law a certain number of the Priests and Levites interpreted the Words of the Law as Ezra read them to the People Neh. viii 7 And they caused the people to understand the Law and the people stood in their place so they read in the Book in the Law of God distinctly and gave the sence and caused them to understand the reading And this Custom continueth among the Jews to this Day first the Hebrew Text is read and then a Translation or Paraphrase in a Language understood by the Hearers And indeed there may be good reason for reading the Originals in Publick Assemblies such a Custom being an effectual means to preserve the knowledge of them but they cannot be useful to the People without a Translation Therefore St. Paul doth not absolutely forbid speaking in Unknown Tongues in the Church but orders 1 Cor. xiv 27 Let one interpret but if there be no Interpreter let him keep silence in the Church VII We find that after reading the Word of God there was sometimes an Enlargement or Comment on some part of it and an Exhortation to the People Thus when our Saviour had read a portion of Scripture He applied it to the people in a Discourse to that purpose But it doth not appear that this was constantly done on the contrary it is rather probable that it was not For had there been a constant Provision for such Enlargement and Exposition of the Law and Exhortation from it there had been no occasion for the Rulers of the Synagogue Acts xiii 15 to send to St. Paul and Barnabas after the reading of the Law and Prophets that Message we find there Ye Men and Brethren if ye have any Word of Exhortation for the People say on St. Paul supposes him who Teaches and him whose Office it was to Exhort distinct from him that Ruled
understand and not by thrusting Bibles privately into their hands of the ineffectualness of which we have had an Experiment of 150 Years 6. But lastly Instead of all other Arguments None of us are ignorant that the Word of God cannot be presumed to have the same Efficacie when read privately as it hath when read in the Assemblies of Christians according to God's appointment Since he has given us a peculiar promise to be present in such Assemblies And there are no diligent Hearers of the Word Publickly read but are able from their own experience to testify that they often find it to have a different force and efficacy when they hear it read as a part of his Ordinance in the Publick Assemblies in which he has peculiarly promis'd his presence than when they read it in private by themselves The Third pretence I have found alledged for omitting the regular reading the Bible in your Meetings is That it takes up too much time and is a hindrance to the more profitable Duty of what you commonly call Preaching 1. I intreat you to consider That there is a time for every thing and since God has appointed reading his Word a time and room in our Publick Assemblies who are we that we should presume to throw it out This surely is to set up our selves against God and to think that we are able to Order things better for the Edification of his Church then he has done Surely we ought rather to take care so to dispose our Sermons that they may not interfere with any other Institution of God But that whatever time we allow them there may remain sufficient for reading God's Holy Word Which I have proved is in Scripture Language Preaching And therefore to justle this out to make our own discourses longer is plainly to prefer our way of Preaching to God's If there were a necessity that one or the other must be omitted Modesty ought to Teach us to omit our own Words rather then God's 2. Suppose that upon some Extraordinary Occasion it may be Lawful to omit Reading God's Word in our Assemblies that we may have the more time to manage a discourse for the Instruction of the People yet it can never be justifiable to make this a common practise which is to put a manifest Contempt on the Word of God A Fourth Pretence against reading the Scriptures publickly in a Regular Method is That they are hard to be understood or applyed and therefore only so much of them ought to be read at a time as the Minister may explain and apply to his Auditory And that one Verse thus Applyed is better than many Chapters read without such Application 1. It is to be consider'd First That it is against the general opinion of the Reformed Churches who universally teach that the Scriptures are plain in all things necessary to Salvation And therefore there is not that universal necessity of an explanation of every place of Scripture that is to be read as is pretended 2. The Holy Scriptures when heard with Humility and Attention apply themselves better then any Man can do it The Words of them are the Words of God and they have a plainness force and spirit in them which no Humane Eloquence can improve and therefore it is a great affront to them to say that they have little efficacy except a Minister apply them 3. Suppose one verse well applied to be better than many Chapters for which there is no colour yet this would not justifie the omission of reading them publickly for no Application can be so well made of them whilst people are not thoroughly acquainted with them It ought therefore to be our first care to read them to the People often and solemnly that they may be acquainted with the whole Body of them and then one word of Application may do more good then many Sermons to People not so prepared with the general knowledge of them The literal knowledge of the will of God must always go before the saving and is the best Introduction to it Now the reading the Law in the ears of the people is the means appointed by God to teach them that literal knowledge and therefore while your Teachers have laid aside this means of God's Appointment they have in a great measure debarred people of the Spiritual and Saving knowledge of his Will 4. Fourthly Reading a verse or two and trusting to the Ministers Application without the peoples being acquainted with the whole body of the Scriptures does put Christians too much in the power of their Teachers and makes them liable to be seduced by them This is the very Artifice whereby the Romish Priests keep their people in ignorance and your Teachers using the same Method while it is manifest that so great a part of their people either do not or cannot read them at home seems too like a design on their Hearers and tempts the World to suspect that they are affraid of the naked simplicity of the Scriptures since they dare not trust their people with Hearing them Publickly read except they add their own glosses to them The Fifth Pretence that I have met with for laying aside the publick reading the Word of God is That the dead Letter as some call it is a dull formal thing without Spirit or Life where it is not applied to the Souls of Men by the Spirit of God speaking in his Ministers and that without such Assistance the Scriptures have little Efficacy on the Heart I hope there are few of any Communion will own this pretence since it is so horrid a Reflection and affront on the Word of God I will however in answer to it offer these following Considerations 1. That the Holy Scriptures give a Character of themselves very different from this They represent the Word of God as the Sword of the Spirit as quick and powerfull as able to make a Man wise to Salvation as giving wisdom to the simple as Converting the Soul with many other Expressions to denote the Efficacie thereof on the hearts of Men and therefore to reflect on the Word as dull and formal as a meer dead Letter that cannot engage the attention of the Hearers or reach their Hearts is too near Blasphemy 2. We are certain that God speaks to us immediately by his Holy Spirit in his Word And where the Spirit of God is there is Power But when Men speak their own Words or pretend to apply the Words or Passages of Scripture tho' they seem to do it with the greatest Zeal and Learning yet they may be mistaken nay they may decieve us And therefore wholly to lay aside the immediate dictates of the Holy Ghost recorded in the Scriptures for any pretended Explication or Application made by Men is manifestly to exchange God's undoubted Words and Command for what may be a meer Humane Invention 3. 'T is to be considered that the people have always been apt to grow weary of the Service of God in