whose fulfilment, unless something be radically wrong, no true Christian could contentedly forego, even if it had no immediate connexion with the answer to his prayers. Faith waits for the fulfilment of the promise in the prescribed place. It is presumption, and not faith, to alter the terms of the promise, and yet to expect its fulfilment. It is presumption, and not faith, to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, and yet look for that peculiar manifestation of His presence, which he has promised to the congregations of His saints.

2. Jesus Christ has promised to be with His Apostles and their successors, and those who are by them entrusted with any part of the apostolical office, "always even unto the end of the world 1." In other words, He promises to all the ministers of His Catholic Church, to assist them by the presence and influence of His Holy Spirit, in the discharge of their several offices; to accept their sacrifices of

1 Matt. xxviii. 20.

prayer, and praise, and intercession; and to render their administration of His word and sacraments, effectual to the salvation of our souls. When, therefore, the minister of Christ stands in the house of God to execute his office, or any part of it, Christ is present with him, and blesses what he does, to the souls of His true and spiritual worshippers. For this reason the public reading of Holy Scripture, by one authorized to read it to the church of God, is a very different matter from the private reading of it at home. It is a ministerial act of faith and worship, which, consequently, claims the fulfilment of Christ's especial promise, and on which we may fairly ex pect to receive, as by God's ordinary and appointed instrument, the life-giving illumination and benediction of his Holy Spirit.

When the Holy Scripture is read in a language not understood by the people, then, indeed, it is presumptuous to expect a blessing on the act. For, the word of God is there only effectual, where it is believed; and there only believed, where it

is understood. "For he never works upon our minds, but in a way suitable to our natures, as we are rational creatures, so as first to clear up our apprehensions of the good he propounds to us, and so incline our wills to the embracement of it. But where the word of God is propounded in an unknown tongue, it is impossible for the people to have any apprehensions of it at all, for the Spirit of God to work upon, and to clear up so as to influence the will by them 1." When, on the contrary, the Holy Scripture is read in the vulgar tongue, as it was in the primitive churches, and now is in our own church; then the public reading of it, in time of divine service, is one of the means of grace, and is as certainly accompanied by the divine blessing, as any other ministerial action. I gladly avail myself, once more, of the observations of Bp. Beverege, to corroborate the view I have here taken.

1

'Bp. Beverege. Serm. on Matt. xxviii. 20. vol. ii. p. 105. Lond. 1824.

5

"As for....the public and solemn reading of the word of God, by a minister of Christ, lawfully ordained and appointed thereunto, I look upon it as a thing of much greater consequence, than it is commonly thought to be yea, I cannot but reckon it amongst the most useful and prevalent means of grace that we do or can enjoy. For although it be our duty to read the Scriptures in private, which I hope you all do, yet none of you but may find by experience, that a chapter once read in public, as before described, is of greater force, and makes deeper impressions upon you than if you run it ten times over by yourselves. And the reason is, because the same Spirit, which indited the Scriptures, accompanies such solemn reading of them, and sets it home upon the hearts and consciences of them that hear it. So that, besides the majesty and authority that appears in the Scriptures themselves, as they are the very word of God, much more than any exposition of them can be; there is likewise at such a time the power and efficacy of the Spirit of Christ then present, to press and

enforce it upon the minds of all such as duly attend to the reading of them 1."

If this then be true; if it be even probable; if it be, in any degree, reasonable, to expect this effectual energy of the Spirit of Christ, to give illuminating, converting, and sanctifying power to His own most holy word, when read in his own house, by his own appointed minister, in the midst of the congregation which he has positively promised to bless with his mysterious and efficacious presence; if it be, in any degree or sort, a duty to read the word of God in public at all; if there be any sense or plausibility in expecting any advantage whatever, however small, however undefinable, from this solemn, authorized, and ministerial promulgation of God's word, at a moment when he is absolutely bound by his own gratuitous offers and inviolable engagements to sanction the act with his immediate presence; if, in fine, faith be that, which acts upon the

ii.

1 Bp. Beverege.-Serm. on Matt. xxviii. 20. vol. P. 104. Lond. 1824.