A77979:229
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.
If they look upon them as true Officers (whether they be or no yet if they look upon them as such) the rule will take hold of them, Receive not an accusation against an Elder without two or three witnesses, You must not be so ready to strive with those that you look upon as officers. And rebuke not an Elder, but entreat him as a father; It must not be in a male pert way but with respect and reverence; And when you have done that, contended by witnesses, and spoken to them with reverence as owning the place wherein he standeth, you have liberty then if he bring ill Doctrine, or if his life be naught, to strive with him and contest with him in the Name of the Lord, and not to suffer your selves to be under such bondage as to believe what ever they would have you, and they never to be called to any account at all. There was wont robe crying out of people if they went from their parish Churches (as they called them) Oh it could not be suffered, and yet they ⟨p. 84⟩themselves would be away a whole year together, as if the relation were not mutual, and they bound as much to continue with their people as the people tied to keep unto them; If the Minister may have leave to go away, certainly the people may have the same freedom; whereas indeed neither of both ought to go away, so long as the one is looked upon as an Officer and the other as under that Officer. But I speak of that bondage that they would have brought you into whereby in time they would wholly have freed themselves that you should have had nothing to do with them in Church power. And then they would be t•e Clergy, whereas it is an absurd thing that they should be accounted the Clergy, for the Scripture speaking of the people in distinction from the Ministers, calls the people the Clergy,1 Let them not lord it over Gods Clergy, so the word is there. But they would be accounted the Church and the Clergy, as if the people were no part of the Church at all, all Church power must come into their hands. And then they endeavoured to free themselves from all Civil power too, as the Papists you know do, so they aimed at it and were going many steps in it; therefore they would send forth things in their own names, and in time they would have wrought themselves free from all Civil power and have had all Church power in their hands, and so indeed you could not strive with them.