The Works of Jeremiah Burroughs 9-11, Treatise 1 · Chapter 14
CHAP. XIV.
Use 1. Faith is a rare thing. Use 2. Is of comfort to tho…e on whom God hath bestowed Faith. Use 3 Is of Encouragement to those that are seeking after Faith. Use 4. Be so in love with this Grace of Faith, as to be restless till you know you have it.
Ʋse 1 NOW then to wind up all in a little further Application of all, besides that which we have said already, That if this be the Faith that is spoken of, then certainly Faith is very rare, and we might make it to be one particular for the opening of the preciousness of Faith, it may appear to be precious that it is so rare; as precious stones you know are accounted precious for their rarity: And from what hath been said, we may very well conclude, that Faith is Precious; as in 1 Sam. 1. at the beginning, it is said that the Word of God was precious in those daies: Is it not Precious in these daies? Oh yes, it's a Precious Jewel: but in those daies the Word was Precious, that is, it was very rare, there was very little of the Word of God in those daies, and therefore precious: so we may well say, that Faith is a Precious Grace, because there is very little of it, yea, and when the Son of man shall come, shall he find Faith upon the Earth? little Faith will be found upon the Earth when Jesus Christ shall come, we all Prof…ss our selves to beleeve in Je…us Christ, but when as Christ, that great Lapidary (a… I may so say) shall come to try our precious stone whether it be right or no, most wil prove to be false, and all these Particulars that I have opened in the preciousness of Faith wil be as …o many Particulars to try our Faith.
Ʋse 2. Ʋse of Comfort. But in the Second place, The Consideration of this Point is a matter of exceeding Comfort to all the people of God, to all Beleevers upon whom the Lord hath bestowed this Precious Faith; perhaps the Lord hath not bestowed upon you Gold or Silver, and given you Jewels to hang about your necks to adorn you as others have; I but he hath given you this Jewel of Faith, and indeed this is instead of all, all Riches are comprehended in this Jewel of Faith, and many a poor man or woman that God gives but little of outward things, yet in giving them Faith the Lord makes such a one to be rich; hence in the second chapter of James, the fift verse, Hearken, my beloved Brethren; as a thing that should comfort the hearts of poor people, as a thing of wonder, and of great comfort, Hearken, my beloved Brethren, so I say to you that are poor in the world, and have little of the riches of the world, hearken to this consolation, Hath not God chosen you that are poor to be rich in Faith? Suppose God had given you all the riches of the World and denied you this Pearl, you had been a miserable Creature without it, but certainly this makes you happy, it's better than all, and by this thou mayest have a supply of all; do but consider of these Particulars in this use of Comfort. This precious Jewel of Faith, it's instead of all Riches, it's better than all the Riches in the world, it's that which gives thee right to all the Riches of the World, and it's that whereby thou mayest have a supply of all things according to thy necessity, and thou needest not fear any evil, for thou hast that within thee that may help against any kind of evil that thou conceivest thy self to be in danger of. God hath laid that within thine own soul that may help against any kind of evil that possibly can befal thee here in this Life, and therefore thy heart may be com…orted. God doth expect that his Saints on whom he bestows this precious Jewel, though they find little elie that they have from God, he doth expect that they should be satisfied in this, and accompt it a good Portion, and a goodly Inheritance in that they have such a Jewel as this is.
Use 3. Of Encouragement. Further, It may be a mighty Encouragement to all those that are seeking after this Grace of Faith, when they hear what a precious Jewel this Grace is: Is there any one whose heart the Lord hath begun to strike, that now he is seeking after to get Faith? they see the breach that sin hath made between God and their souls, and they hear that God hath made a gracious Covenant of Life and Salvation to Beleevers, and they think with themselves, Oh that they had Faith, Oh that we were but sure that we had Faith, and now thou art seeking after it, and wouldest give a thousand worlds if thou hadst them at thy dispose, so that thou wert sure that thou hadst this Grace of Faith; it may be thou hast been seeking long, and thou hast not abilities yet to beleeve, be not discouraged in seeking it; though God makes thee wait for it a long time in seeking after it, for it's worth the seeking, if thou canst have it at last thou art a made-man for ever, thou hearest how precious it is, and therefore do not grudg thy pains and thy labor that thou art put upon in seeking after this Grace of Faith: Consider what a deal of labor men take in seeking after Pearls, they go to the uttermost parts of the Earth, and into places where they endanger their lives by the extremity of the heat, and compass the world up and down to enrich themselves with Pearls and precious Stones? Certainly then thou that art seeking for this Pearl, as the Merchant that we read of in Mat. 13. 45. he was seeking for goodly Pearls, and at length he found a Pearl of great price, and went and fold all that he had and bought it: it's true, Jesus Christ is the Pearl, and Faith is the next, because by Faith we come to have our interest in Jesus Christ, and if thou be willing to part with all, that thou mightest have this Pearl, and so the other, though thou art a longtime under the Spirit of Bondage, and endurest much trouble of conscience for many yeers together, yet if God be all this while in a way of working this Grace in thy soul, thou hadst need be quiet, and not to murmur; Oh the trouble of conscience that I have, Oh the long time that I have sate in darkness, and I pray, and nothing comes: well, i… God be work…ng this Grace in thy soul, though it cost th…e deer it will pay the charge, Faith will make amends for all, and therefore when you read or hear any thing o… this precious grace of Faith (any of you that God is now working upon) God hath you under his hand in working upon your hearts; now I say be willing to go on, and though it be many yeers together before thou gettest it, yet when it doth come, it will quit all he cost, and pay all the charges, for it's that which will enrich thy soul with spiritual Riches to all Eternity.
Ʋse 4. Further, Upon the hearing of the Preciousness of this Grace, let us all be so in love with it, as to be restless till we do come to know whether we have it yea or no: for Evidences and signs I intend not to give any now, because the opening of it included the Signs and Evidences; what are the signs of a precious Stone, but the very glory and lustre of it? so the very glory and lustre of Faith that I have opened are Evidences and signs enough; now let us be restless till we come to find these working, for the truth is, without this grace of Faith all the Truths of God vanish and come to nothing; you come to hear excellent Truths, but they all pass away from you as meer tales till you come to have it, you will certainly depart from your Profession if you meet with afflictions, and troubles, and d…fficulties; if you have not Faith in there times in which God hath cast you, you are unfit to live in these times if you have not his precious Grace of Faith, and therefore be restless in your spirits till you have it.