Prayer Meeting 7/2/2023
- The Courageous Heart Of Hosea

Tonight I want to look at the work of Jeremiah Burroughs, who was born 1599, died 1649. He was part of those who wrote the Westminster confession of faith, and was known as ‘the morning star of Stepney’, where he preached in London. He was part of the many puritans who studied at Emmanuel college Cambridge. He was known for his peace-making but also his preaching. He was a nonconformist and was exiled to Holland, where he preached for a few years. He was also one of the main preachers for a few years at the Cripplegate in London.

What I want to draw from in Burroughs is from his commentary of the book of Hosea. It's probably my favourite book on the minor prophets in the old testament. It’s a massive work. I’ve no idea how many words, I think well over a half a million. John Owen’s commentary work on Hebrews is 1.5 million words. Puritan William Gurnall wrote 3/4 of a million words on Ephesians 6:10-20 which are the ‘armour of God’ verses.

Burroughs’ work is not just vast, it was also very unique at the time for sure. This is because the puritan writers who wrote commentaries did so purely systematically, theologically, by exegeting line by line, as most commentaries are today. Burroughs broke ground - not deliberately but he simply could not keep relating to the parallels of the times he lived in, and couldn’t help but bring so much of what was written in Hosea to the people he preached to. Hence it’s a commentary that was birthed and wrote purely from his sermons. Therefore it is one that speaks into the hearts of the people, and doesn’t just share the verse alone, as the scripture commentaries do. This was really ground-breaking.

What Burroughs writes at the start helps explain this:

You have in these lectures as they were from me preaching. I perused the notes but could not bring the style to the succinctness that I desired, except I had to write them all over again, for which I had no time.
 

He adds:

My perusal was but cursory, therefore many things have slipped me… (meaning he simply, in his preaching and teaching, was not so much reminded to expound every detail of every line) …You have in them as I preached them, without any considerable alterations. I had thought it would have been far briefer, but as I met with many things almost in every lecture so nearly concerning present times, it caused me to go something beyond an expository way.

He then humbly concludes by saying:

In the remaining part of the prophecy (the book of Hosea) if God gives life to go through it, I shall keep myself more closely to exposition.

He finishes:

What you have here, take it as you find it, what good you meet with, receive in it. This will be the encouragement of thy friend in Christ J. B. Jeremiah Burroughs.

Burroughs never did get to finish the book. He died a few weeks after falling from his horse. Such was his heart to preach everywhere. It is not known really if it was a plague that killed him, or wounds from the horse fall. Burroughs only put together the first three chapters. However, from chapter four to ten other puritans of the time, Thomas Goodwin, William Bridge and some others, got a hold of all Burroughs’ sermons and writings on them and painstakingly put them in order and added them.

Here is what they say about him. This is coming from revered and highly respected puritans. So that you get how they thought about his preaching and teaching. They first tell us that they can honestly vow that all the content comes directly from Burroughs’ notes. They say this about the man. I think this speaks volumes of what they thought of Burroughs and his work, and his heart and mind. They write:
 

The worthy author was one of the most accurate spectators in his time, that with a curious and searching eye beheld what God was doing in the world. He is one of those ‘wise men who knew the times’.

The only chapter that does not use all of Burroughs’ direct work is the last one. It was by bishop Reynolds of Norwich, another puritan of the time. Think of the effort men went through to write this. Think of how so much could have been destroyed or lost. Yet here it is. Isn’t it wonderful? Now, I’m sure like me you want to delve in. Of course we won’t be going through it all but I would like, over the next few prayer meetings at least, to give us at least a taste from it and draw from it.

However we will start with a prayer from one of our puritan prayer books. What’s more fitting than a Jeremiah Burroughs prayer. It’s from the book ‘Piercing Heaven’, page 29 - the prayer is called ‘I Will Wait for You to Lead Me’.

Lord, I am hungry for righteousness but I cannot find it, and I hope this will be my concern forever. Whatever becomes of me, I will reject unrighteousness. I pray that I will not meddle with it and will have nothing to do with it. Through your mercy I hope to keep that prayer forever in my heart. Lord, if there be but one drop of mercy in me to show pity to others, is there not an infinite ocean of mercy in you? And Lord, you who know the secrets of all hearts, you know the desire of my soul; to know your will. Whatever help you make known to me, I am ready to make use of it, that I may not be led aside into error. And if you are pleased to reveal your mind further to me, I am ready to submit to it. I recount it greater happiness than all the comforts the world can afford, simply to know your mind. But Lord, as yet I cannot do this thing without sinning against you. You know it, yet you also know that I want to walk humbly and peaceably with others in all meekness, submissiveness and quietness of spirit. I will wait until you further reveal your mind to me; your light will turn my spirit the way you want it to go.

- Jeremiah Burroughs

Okay, I will but read but chapter 1, verse 1 of Hosea. All I draw from Burroughs tonight, and I’ve scraped it, is his thoughts on verse 1.

Hosea 1:1

¹The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

To understand the prophets and the books that contain them, is to draw so much in understanding God Himself. Hosea would be known as one of the minor prophets. Whereas Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Daniel etc. would be more major prophets. But Burroughs knows that nothing in scripture is not vitally important. And it’s one of the reasons he chose a minor prophet to preach on, and not a major one. Because he believed no matter the scripture, it carried such weight. He said this about scripture:

Take away the scripture and you even take away the sun from the world. What is the world without scripture but hell itself?

However, Burroughs, in using that statement, was making a point: that even though the sun rises and shines, yet how often does the mist hide it? His point was that the same is true when the Word is not preached and taught – that it covers the eyes and the hearts of God’s people. They know the sun rises and it’s there, yet its hidden.

Burroughs writes:

In the scripture the great God in heaven has sent his mind to the children of men, he has made known the counsel of his will, and opened his very heart to mankind.

Hosea the prophet was sent by God to the people of Israel, around 800 B.C. - so around the time of Ahaz and Hezekiah - predominantly the tribes of Israel who rebelled, who turned from God, and were full of sin and wickedness. He preached and prophesised for around 80 years; a long time. Again, Burroughs draws on this by reminding us Hosea is only 14 chapters But he took eighty years to say it. Sometimes, as Burroughs alludes to when he says:

Let the ministers of God, be faithful in their work.

Sometimes, when we are not given, or don’t have whole lot to say, we just need to keep saying what we have got. I think too often we get inpatient and jump around wanting results, you see this in the pragmatic church, one thing after the other, after the other. Hosea did the work of the Lord in good seasons and bad, more bad. Hezekiah was a good king, but Jeroboam and Ahaz were not.

A lot of nothing happened, no great results. Which really makes me think that the modern church is somehow out of touch with the Word. If it’s not positive, if it’s not working fast, they change the message and the last thing is just pushed aside. We can be like that also, we don’t get the result and we quit. In fact, in most of Hosea’s ministry, things never improved; they got worse. Not unlike today. Not unlike throughout the scripture. Yet we see churches acting constantly like they are in a perpetual blessed season, mostly faked.

Burroughs writes:

God may continue a prophet a long time amongst a people and yet they may not be converted. It is a distemper (disease) in a ministers heart to incline to abandon their work because they see not a desired success.

One of the things that we as believers need to be very wary of is that distemper in the heart: lack of success, lack of change, lack of progress, lack of breakthrough, in ourselves or others, can truly negatively infect our hearts - to the point that we inject other things into it to take it away, or we chose to quit to change the feeling or result. This is a huge battle in the hearts of many a minister. They won’t talk much about it but it is. I love when I sit with a brother and he just pours his heart out about his, as it were, ‘distemper’. You feel you get closer to the man and his heart. Of course there is way, way too much fixing that in the church, and Job’s friend’s wisdom, that forces us to stop being vulnerable. I don’t mean self-pity.

For me, I have had to learn to totally trust God with the results and be faithful to the instruction. I’ve heard people say: it must be so encouraging when a new person or bunch come, and I’m like: no not really, I’m neither over encouraged, or demoralised, because I’m not in charge of that part, and to get caught up in it would put me in a harder to manage condition during trials. I’m not saying we don’t praise God for it, but we should not make it about us.

Burroughs says:

It is an honour to ministers of God who meet with many difficulties and discouragement’s in their way, yet continue fresh and lively to the very end.

Continue fresh and lively to the very end. There is the spirit of the man, or women who lets not results affect them. I think this is the key for all us as believers, and to be honest one thing I think that pours out of this congregation - that we don’t allow ourselves to be to discouraged; challenged but not discouraged.

Burroughs alludes to ministers who lose that zeal as being:

Like soldiers who at the first are forward and active in service, but afterwards come to live upon their pay and can do no service.

Oh how many are so discouraged, it’s nothing more than a job to them, where they get paid at the end, and not a labour of service for the Lord. Of course, we get older and can’t do as much as we once did. However, Burroughs, who knows Hosea wasn’t always young, considering his 80yr ministry says:

It is true nature and natural abilities may decay, but spiritual freshness may appear when natural abilities are decayed.

Let me move on and say that during Hosea’s time prior to this, Israel was in a long season of hardship, but now they were in a long season of prosperity. It’s in this non-battle time, and time of relative peace, that they started to go awry. Jeroboam being the king who led them to that sin. Because of that affliction, Israel, the people ‘were left without a helper’ as Burroughs says - there was no one to protect them and keep them safe. But Burroughs writes: ‘then comes this jeroboam’. I just love how he says that.

Jeroboam fought the enemies and brought the people of Israel back to safety and prosperity, but he did not have a heart after God. And this prosperity let to rebellion, and sin. Don’t presume those that free you love you, or them that warn you don’t. Many church leaders whom we challenge must think: why are you challenging me, we are prospering as a church and people, they are better than when I met them. I’m sure they think that, just as Burroughs says about Jeroboam:
 

Jeroboam might think why does he come to contest with me, and tell me of my sin and wickedness, and to threaten judgement? Have not I continued these forty years as king and prospered?
 

But Burroughs adds:

A people in flourishing condition when they prosper most, and overcome their enemies, and have all according to their hearts desire, even that may be a time for God to appear in wrath against them.

Burroughs adds that:

God does not always act thus, but sometimes he is pleased as here, to stay till sinners are at the height of their prosperity, and then comes upon them.

Totally profound. Sometimes we get away with our schemes and plans, and our worldly pursuits, and God allows it, until we think we are going to be totally satisfied, or got away with it, or found so called freedom in that pursuit, only for it to come crashing down all at once. For it is in that, we often see the fullness of our rebellion.

In Hosea, as the chapters unfold we see this, where God allows Hosea’s wife to take the riches from God, and use them for herself. He doesn’t stop her. He allows it to un-fulfil her. For her to go full-pelt into her pursuit, before he pulls the rug away, as it were. I think again Burroughs makes a wonderful point when he says Hosea wasn’t fooled by the outward prosperity. I do not believe those who are faithful, who follow God’s instruction, are as near as impressed, or fooled by people’s outward prosperity.

Burroughs writes, and I will conclude with this thought for the time:

It’s a sign of the special insight the soul has in the ways of God, that it can see misery under the great prosperity. The prophet did not think Israel in a better condition because of their outward prosperity: a sign his prophecy was from God.
 

How much can prosperity give us a false sense of well-being? How much harder is it to notice sin when we have much to hide behind? As Burroughs says:

Great prosperity raised up, and hardened their hearts with pride.
 

Brothers and sisters, its without doubt when we speak against this prosperity, it will be met with: well we are doing amazing, we are growing, our lives are better, we are better off now than we ever were. How can you say we are not blessed? We have property, buildings, packed ministries, stadium conferences. Burroughs reminds the reader, his listeners that Hosea was the first of the minor prophets to bring this message, this challenge to the rebellious of the church, and as a result, it was harder to receive, he was more shunned and mocked.

It does make me think of the comfortableness of the reformed church, who haven’t been challenged for a long time. Who have lived challenge and fight free for years. Yet now they are also so comfortable that to say anything is like being harsh and unloving, and not Christ centred. Who are you to bring challenge to us?  Or in their personal life they might say: I’ve got a lot in my life, who are you to tell me I’m not living well?

As Burroughs concludes verse one, he talks of the message and warning that Hosea brings. He says that the people of Israel were saying to themselves: no one has told us this before, why are you being so severe? And Burroughs highlights that when no one else brings truth and you’re the first, then it’s going to be met mostly with hostility. But to soften it, will turn it into novelty and no seriousness will be landed.

He says:

We know if a minister comes with anything that seems to be new, if he presents any truth to you that has put a show of novelty, though it never be good or comfortable, he finds little encouragement.
 

Brothers and sisters, if we want to continue to serve the Lord, if we want to stand on His truth and His precepts, we must not expect the world to simply receive it with gladness. The world is being told daily that they are good, and accepted, and sin is not an issue, but that it’s rather a lack of love, and care, and acceptance. Every moment of almost every day, the world is forcing acceptance of sin down people’s throats, and its making the truth more volatile, and people hostile to it. To the point that most the church have no stomach for the truth and no courage to face the backlash, they simply fold and bring a much more accepting approach.

We however, are not called to a life of comfort, or acceptance but one of obedience. Therefore let us be secure in Christ, that when we do we won’t buckle under the onslaught, and compromise; either in the world, or in God’s house when believers rebel.

Amen.