service of our Godh. We do not say, that the education of youth is incompatible with the ministry : but it should never be suffered to make void the superior obligations which we owe to God, and to the souls of men. It may be made subservient to the ministry ; but must never supersede it.]
From the duty of those who preach the Gospel, we pass on to consider that,
II. Of those who hear it —
We should " take heed how we hear it" —
[We should be extremely careful what we hear1; lest we be led astray by those who profess to guide us into the way of peace k. We must also be duly attentive to the manner in which we hear. We must not be indulging a vain curiosity, or a disposition to cavil ; but must receive the word humbly, as the word of God himself1; attentively, in order to retain itm; and obediently, with a view to practise all that it enjoins". If, like those to whom this injunction was given, we be already in the ministry, or are preparing for it, our obligations to profit by the word, whether in the Church or in the closet, are greatly increased.]
An attention to this duty is of infinite importance —
1. We shall invariably receive benefit in proportion as we do attend to it —
[Who that has ever searched the Holy Scriptures in pri- vate, and waited diligently on the public ministration of the Gospel, has not found that, together with increasing views of the truth, his faith, his hope, and all his graces, have been strengthened and confirmed0? ]
2. We shall assuredly suffer loss in proportion as we neglect it —
[From whatever cause we are led to slight the ordinances of religion, or to decline from the study of the sacred oracles, we shall soon find occasion for regret and sorrow. We may ask of all who have experienced such declension, Have you not lost much of the light and liberty which you once enjoyed in your souls ? have not your graces languished ; your corrup- tions gathered strength ; your difficulties increased; your com- forts vanished ?
God has inseparably connected prosperity with diligence, and with remissness wantp.]
h 1 Tim. v. 23. Paul does not say, Leave off preaching ; but, Take care of your health.
1 Mark iv. 24. k Prov. xix'. 27. > 1 Thess. ii. 13.
™ Heb. ii. 1. n Jam. i. 21, 22. ° Acts xvii. 11, 12.
p Prov. x. 4. Matt. xxv. 28, 29.
1505.] directions how to hear sermons. 375
Application —
[If the true light now shine around you, be thankful for it, and walk in the light, lest the candlestick be removed*1, and ye be left in utter darkness1 : and " let all make their light to shine before men ;" that, being " as lights in the world," they may " win by their holy conversation " those who have resisted the light of the written word, and shut their ears against the preached Gospel s.]
4 Rev. ii. 5. r John xii. 35.
8 1 Pet. iii. 1, 2. Phil. ii. 15, 16.