Ibe Introduaioñ. Chap. it í3; faith thePreacher, and when can this be better, than when God fpeaks to us. Keep Ef. 47. r. filence before me, faith God. And the ProphetHabakkuk fpeaks home to this point. zach, z. 13 TheLord is in his hely Temple, let all the earth keep filencebefore him. It was the Ab z..Q. pra¿tife in the Primitive Church, the difciples were filent, when the Apoftles preach. . ed. All the multitude kept filence, and gave audience toBarnabás and Paul. Nay the Aft '5. I. very Heathen, before their facrifices and myfteries began, had an Officer that cryed to the Affembl y, Hoc agite, ( intend this only ) Leave talking and be 'till. q The next is, Aufcultatefineaberrarione ócularunt, hearken without gating; Our eyes muff not wander every where, as if we were in amarket-place. We fee the Di A&:.r. rr. fciples were blamed for gazing. ' It is left upon record for our inftruûion, that when Luke s. so, ourSaviour preached,the eyesofall the hearers were faftned upon hiin;whichJargued a ftayednefs in them, and a refolution to take noticeof what they heard. When we come to hear, we mutt makea covenant withour eyes, as labdid. Betides we are to note, that there is more cmphafrs in the word Aufediatethen in Audite, the one being job. 3 2. but the hearing of a noife or found, and the other to hear with attention,, to liften and mark diligently. This difference we may obferve in divers places.of Scripture. When God promifedblcffings to the obedient Jews, he faith not : If thou [halt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, but, ifthou (halt hearken diligently unto;the voice of the Lord thy God, And the prophet, Theears ofthem that hear that! hearken, tonote zs r,n. the difference between hearing and hearkning.Now if the eyes wander,it is impoffible E 3Z' 3' that the ears fhouldhearken, or the mind obferve, what is fpoken. And when the eyes are fixed,t here's great hope that they all cohcur.Therefore it is that theW ifeman prov, z ;.ic.. faith, Let thine eyes obferve my ways. And theeyes of a fool are in the ends of the 17. z4. earth, every where wandring. g. Laftly, Aufculrare ut retineatie, Hearken to keep; not to forget what you hear: thisvirtur retentivaretentive faculty makesa hearer compleat: Bleffed are they(faith Luken.. ss. our Saviour ) that heir the wordof God and keep it. fo faith Saint ?ohn, Blefied are Rev. I.;. they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep thofe things that are written therein. On the contrary, If any bea hearer of the word; and nót a doer, he is like unto a James I. t3: man beholding his natural face in glafs; &c. So may we fayof them that hear, and lay not the wordsup in their hearts. ARabbin compares fuch ears to an hour-glafs, that when one glafs is full of fand; it is turned, and the latid returneth into theother. Thefe kinde of ears, are ever the tt orft, not worthy to participate the myfteries of God. There 'tuft not be only a laying up inour memories,butin our hearts too;till the z Per, , *; day Star arife in our hearts. Among the School-men there is an opinion quad eor nonfacit non fir, that which Exod. 7 53 theheart doth not, is not doneat all. Pharaoh returned to his houfe, but the thinghe heard did notenter intohis heart And therefore it was that God fail¡ The words Dear. 6.6. which I command thee (hall be in thine heart : and in that place, this order of cam, chizing is prefcribed plainly. We are in thefe days for the moll part greedy oft»#.- pcv s»v yr& ».'» a vain fuperficial kinde of knowledge, but our knowledge fhould be, to Prov. z.4. give to the fimple fharpnefs of wit, to theyoung man knowledge and difcretion. Andz 1O ¡1 when wifdom entreth into thine heart; and knowledge is pleafantunto thy Soul,: di- fcretion fhail preferve thee; and under(landing (hall keep thee. to that the writing; committing tomemory, and talkingof that which we hear, fhouldbe to this end, to workdeeper impreflion in our hearts, topraelife it. Andthat we may do this thebetter, there are three things required in us. i. )±xa- minarion. 2. Meditation. 3. Conference. I. For thefirft, it is to be done by following our Saviourscounfel, Searching theJohn y ;g; Scriptures, not runningafter, Diviners, and Soothfayers, but theLaw and the Tefli- &faa, i9. mony according to that of the Prophet. Saint Luke teftifieth of the Pereañi, that they were more noble then they of Theffalonica, why ? becaufe.they fearched the Scriptures dayly. The Preacher or Catechizer, muff not do all for us; fomething we ÁEf, 17. Ir.' are to do for our felves; If we mean to attain to the knowledge óf God, let us fearch, faith the Prophet. And the preacher gave his heart to fearchout wifdoni, that Lai-3. 49 is by the holy fcriptures, That which I knew not (filthholy 3o6)1 fearchedout. Saint ccfef ar3; Peter gave teftimoay of the Prophets, that ;they fearched and enquired diligentlJoÿf=o. I the thingswhichconcerned their faivation, Thus mull heaters fearch the Scriptures, I pet. I. ro not
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=