Co 288 Chap.6. Offan5ifyino the day, m,{. of it when it is read , and be the better confirmed in what we hear preached. The Jews had their e<s- goreo,y the preparationof the Sabbath, andabout the-ninth hour of it (which is our three of theclock in the afternoon) they ufually met, and'fpent their time in reading of the : criptures, that they might be the better fitted againft the Sabbath. The publick readingof theWord in the congregation on the Sabbathday, is war, ranted by diverspaffages in holy writ ; as bythat in the Alb of the Amities, where it is faid, that when Paul and his company came into the Synagogueat Antioch on Ad :3. 14,15. theSabbath day, the Rulers of the Synagogueafter the reading of the Law and the Prophets, fent to them , faying, Ye men andbrethren, if .ye have anyword of cx. hortation, fay. on. And by,another pafl'age, in the. fame Chapter, whereat is Paid. 27 That the Prophets were read every Sabbath day. And by another a little.after, which T 5.27. faith 'thus, That Mofes (that is; the Law) was read ià theSynagogue everySab- t Thee 5 72. bathday. And laftly, Saint Paul gives a fpecial charge by the Lord to the Theffa- Ionians, that his Epiftle to thembe read unto all the holybrethren. Joh.539 There is a ufealto of private reading, and that of great confequence, for Chrift Ts,ay 8. t9, xo. faith plainly that his witneli'es be the Scriptures, and therefore will he.have them 3°'`' S' fearched, becaufe they teftifieetand prophectedof him. That this exercife is profi- table, the Prophet maketh plain by a queftion, Should not a people enquire at their God ? whichhe explains in the next verfe by feeking To the Law and to theT-efti- mony. And again, Seek in thebook of the Law and read. And thereforewe fee , AR.171 T. that the Bereans were much commended, and ftoried for wirerand nobler than other people, why ? becaufe they fearched the Scriptures daily, to confirm their faith in the points preached to them. There are other ufes alto in reading. In the Revelation there is a blellingpro - Ap5Cr3 nounced to thofe that read or hear thewords of that prophecy, becaufe it might ex- cite men to praife Godwhen they fee all fulfilled. Man feeing the prophecies ful- filled, may thereby give him praife. And for this caufe therewere (anciently) Mo- numents kept in Churches, which preferved and fet forth the accomplifhingof Gods ptlbmifes or threatnings :, As-heMemorials of the Wars of Godon the behalf of the NumS.st.t4. ffraelites, which was called Liber BellorumDei, theBook of the Bartels of the Lord ; and their Verbs Dierum, or Chronicles ofNarhan, Gad, Shemaiah, &c. thefe they permitted in a holyufe to beprivately read, that feeinghis promifes and his threat- nings denounced in them to have been fulfilled, men might the better be flirted up to thepraife and fear ofGod. Dear.9 x- 2. Another ufe was, the underflanding of hard places in theScripture. It is re- corded of Daniel, that while he was reading the Book of yeremyabout the accom- plifhment of the number of the 70 years captivity mentioned by the faire Prophet, A&$ 28. GodPentan Angel to him to informhim in that great myflery about thetimeof Chrifls fufferings. So the Eunuchwhile he was reading in the Bookof Efay, had the expo fitionofChritts fufferings from the Apoftle Philip, fent for that purpofe by God; and becaufeGod cloth not now by fuch extraordinarymeans inform us in the true fence of Scriptures,thcrefore we areto read fuch as have writtenExpofitions upon fuch places;. and fo no doubt but ifPhilip had written any thing at that time uponEfay, that the Eunuch would haveread it, and made ufe of his writing as he didof his verbal ex- Jofh.ro.r ;. pofition. Therefore hathGod ordained Expofitions, fuch as the Book yafher, which as fome think wasa Commentary upon the Law, written for this end, to explicate the hard Texts of Scriptures, and expound them. 2. Another means to fandification, is the Word preached,of which the Apoftle fpeaks to the Romans, How fillet they hear without a Preacher ? and this is one of the ttomao.r 5. ordinarymeans of faith, and fo of fanftification. The Apoftle in that place quoteth Era), 52.7. out of two of the Prophets this text, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach Numb.1.15 the Gofpel`of peace, and bringglad tidings ofgoodrisings ? Andour Saviour Chrift in his leh.17a7. prayer (beforehis pailion) for his Apoftles, who were to be fuch Preachers, faith, Santlife themwith thy truth, and thyword is truth ; and by his own pradife in preach Mg he fandified this means of preaching. And the Apoftle tells us, that the wrf- dom of God :Nth appointed by the foolifhnefs of preaching to fave them that be- lieve ; this way of faying men, thewifdom of God hath pitcht upon, which is not to be altered but to continue to the end of the world. For though reading tlo&
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