A30574:1028
An exposition with practical observations continued upon the eighth, ninth, & tenth chapters of…
An exposition with practical observations continued upon the eighth, ninth, & tenth chapters of the prophesy of Hosea being first delivered in several lectures at Michaels Cornhill, London / by Jeremiah Burroughs ; being the seventh book published by Thomas Goodwin ... [et al.]An exposition with practical observations continued upon the eighth, ninth, & tenth chapters of the prophesy of Hosea being first delivered in several lectures at Michaels Cornhil, London / by Jeremiah Burroughs ; being the seventh book published by Thomas Goodwin ... [et al.]
London: printed by Peter Cole, 1650
AN EXPOSITION Of the PROPHESY of HOSEA. › Chapter 10 › Verse 1 › He bringeth forth fruit to himself.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
And God doth not love to see us trading for our selves, but only as we trade for him, and so account that to be for our selves. And here is an evident demonstration that your selvishness will make you empty for God;1 how many are there that complain of emptiness? Oh! they cannot do this, and they cannot do that, why? because except they find comfort, and that coming in which they aim at, they have no mind to any duty, they go to prayer, and strive to pray, and they come away and say, Oh! the empty prayers that we make; but what is the reason that you cannot pray as you would? you have no heart to pray, if you would have enlargement in prayer, and present answer of your prayer to get what you would have, Oh! then your hearts would be much let out in prayer, and then you would have a mind to pray; but now though it be your duty to pray, because you shall tender up the worship that a creature owes to God, that is no argument that puts you upon prayer, so it appears that it is selvishness that appears in prayer;2 but now try this way, try this way but to get above your selves once, and be emptied of your selves, and look with a more single eye to God when you go to prayer, let this be the great motive, O Lord, this is that Worship that I as a Creature owe to thee, and the strength of my body and ⟨p. 317⟩soul is due to thee, and I let out what I can, though I have not enlargements and comforts, though I feel not that I get by duty to my self, yet in obedience to thee, and that I might lift up thy Name, and that I might worship thee, I am resolved to go on in such duties as thou requirest of me; try but this way, and see whether you will not grow more fruitful in prayer than you did before.3
And God doth not love to see us trading for our selves, but only as we trade for him, and so account that to be for our selves. And here is an evident demonstration that your selvishness will make you empty for God;1 how many are there that complain of emptiness? Oh! they cannot do this, and they cannot do that, why? because except they find comfort, and that coming in which they aim at, they have no mind to any duty, they go to prayer, and strive to pray, and they come away and say, Oh! the empty prayers that we make; but what is the reason that you cannot pray as you would? you have no heart to pray, if you would have enlargement in prayer, and present answer of your prayer to get what you would have, Oh! then your hearts would be much let out in prayer, and then you would have a mind to pray; but now though it be your duty to pray, because you shall tender up the worship that a creature owes to God, that is no argument that puts you upon prayer, so it appears that it is selvishness that appears in prayer;