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2 lines
1.3 KiB
HTML
<p>Note, 1. It is good for us to be reproved, and told of our faults, by our friends. If true love in the heart has but zeal and courage enough to show itself in dealing plainly with our friends, and reproving them for what they say and do amiss, this is really <i>better</i>, not only than secret hatred (as <a class="bibleref" title="Lev.19.17" href="/passage/?search=Lev.19.17">Lev. 19:17</a>), but <i>than secret love</i>, that love to our neighbours which does not show itself in this good fruit, which compliments them in their sins, to the prejudice of their souls. <i>Faithful are the reproofs of a friend</i>, though for the present they are painful as <i>wounds</i>. It is a sign that our friends are faithful indeed if, in love to our souls, they will not suffer sin upon us, nor let us alone in it. The physician’s care is to cure the patient’s disease, not to please his palate. 2. It is dangerous to be caressed and flattered by <i>an enemy</i>, whose <i>kisses are deceitful</i> We can take no pleasure in them because we can put no confidence in them (Joab’s kiss and Judas’s were deceitful), and therefore we have need to stand upon our guard, that we be not deluded by them; they are to be deprecated. Some read it: <i>The Lord deliver us from an enemy’s kisses, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue</i>.</p>
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