A77979:207
An exposition with practical observations continued upon the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters…
An exposition with practical observations continued upon the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of the prophesy of Hosea· Being first delivered in several lectures at Michaels Cornhill London. By Jeremiah Burroughs. Being the fifth book, published by Thomas Goodwin, William Greenhil, Sydrach Simson William Bridge, John Yates, William Adderly.An exposition with practical observations continued upon the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of the prophesy of Hosea· Being first delivered in several lectures at Michaels Cornhil London. By Jeremiah Burroughs. Being the fifth book, published by Thomas Goodwyn, William Greenhil, Sydrach Simson William Bridge, John Yates, William Adderly.
London: printed for Peter Cole, 1650
Title page typeset from the transcription.
AN EXPOSITION Of the PROPHESY of HOSEA. › Chapter 4 › Verse 4
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.
Fifthly, There is a time when men may, you men should Obs. 5 leave their striving and admonishing and reproving of others, when they should let them alone. Especially in these two cases; when those that they should admonish scorn their admonition, when they grow scorners; when they trample ⟨p. 72⟩their admonitions under their feet as swine, or turn again upon them and rend them as dogs. There are two sorts not to be admonished or reproved, Swine, and Dogs. When they grow to be swine and dogs then you may leave, yea you ought to leave admonishing them. For admonitions and reprehensions are precious things, they are pearls, they must not be cast to swine, Mat. 7.6.1 Give not holy things to dogs, neither cast pearls before swine; they are holy things and precious things; For I do not take that place to be meant of the Sacrament only, it may be by an argument a minori ad majus applied to it, but that place, Give not holy things to dogs, and cast not pearls before swine, is meant of admonition and reprehension.2 So that admonition is to be looked upon as a holy thing, as a pearl, you are to prize it and therefore not to be angry when we come to admonish you, but you are to look upon the holiness of God in it & so reverence it, and look upon it as a mercy of God and bless God for it. There are many in Heaven now blessing God for the admonitions which they have received from others, as David blessed God for Abigail and her counsel. Many think it a great happiness unto them that they can reject admonition and counsel, and when they are gone from such as have admonished them and are among their companions they can boast and say, Oh such a one came and reprehended me, but I said thus and thus to him, and so rejoice how they have rejected admonition. But if they knew all they have cause to mourn, it is a great misery for them when as it comes to that, that God shall bid those that have to deal with them to strive no more with them; when as men have rejected the admoniti•• of others, that they think they have stopped their mouths, I'll warrant you say they, such a one will neve• come to me more; Oh your misery is the greater. F.