The Works of Jeremiah Burroughs 9-11, Treatise 1 · Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
The Preciousness of Faith discovered: First, It's the fruit of Gods eternal Election. Secondly, It's Precious because it's Faith that first discries land in the storm of a troubled Conscience. Thirdly, Faith is Precious in regard of it's Object.
WHy? you wil say, wherein doth appear the Preciousness of this Grace, that it is worth so much? 1 In the first place it is the friut of Gods Election and therefore Precious, it is the lot (as you heard in the opening of the words) that God in his Free Grace grants to these Souls more than to others, and therefore that place I suppose cannot but be known in the Acts, where it is spoken of those that did beleeve, the Lord added to the Church such as should be saved, in Acts, 2. 41. But in another place it is said those that were ordained to life beleeved; it's the fruit of Gods ordination to life, And in the 1 Tit. 1 vers. It's called there the faith of Gods Elect; so that it's the first discovery that God from all eternity did separate this creature to do it good; what a Precious thing is that, that which is the first discovery of those eternal thoughts and counsels of love, that God had for the good of such a soul, that he did seperate this soul for himself to eternal life, is not that a precious thing? I say the first discovery of those eternal counsels of God, that he had thoughts concerning thy soul to do it good everlastingly. The soul that God hath set apart for himself from all eternity is in a blessed condition: I, but how can it be konwn, who can know whom God from all eternity, before the foundations of the Earth were laid, did Elect to himself? who can know this? If any one of you could know the Election of another, and the other party did not know it, you would think if I could but go and declare to this soul, that God had eternally Elected him, and make it sure to him, certainly I should be a most acceptable messenger of good news to him; Now Faith is the first thing that God sends to proclaim what these Determinations and Decrees and Counsels of God were for everlasting welfare of this soul from all eternity. God that keeps in his own bosom as I may so say, his eternal purposes a long time, yet when the time comes for him to work Faith, now saith God I will unbosom my loves to this soul, and tell it what my heart hath been towards him to al eternity, and I wil send him a Jewel whereby he shal come to understand, that I from al eternity have Elected him to life. Suppose that the greatest man living, should set his heart upon such a man, and resolve that he will employ his Power and Honor and Riches to make such a man his Companion, but alass, the man is in the Prison all this while, well, this great man sends him a Diamond out of his own Crown, and sends it by his own Son to this man in the Prison, go saith he and carry him this Diamond, and tell him that this Diamond is to testifie to him, that I have set my heart upon him, and if I have any Power, Honor, or Riches, to make him great I wil lay it out for him; would not this be a Precious Diamond indeed to this man, if it should come upon such terms as these are, yea if it were but a little peice of Silver, if it came as a token of such a thing, as an earnest penny, it would be more worth than thousands of pounds. Certainly where ever God savingly works Faith in the soul, and sends to this soul and that by the spirit of his own Son; he sends it as a testimony to him, that he hath set his heart upon such a soul and intends for ever to do it good, when ever God wrought Faith in thy soul, he did as much as if he should say to thee, here, take this Grace for a certain argument, that I have set and fixed my heart upon thee from all eternity, and if I have any Power, and Mercy, if I have any Happiness in my self to make thee happy thou shalt be a happy Creature for ever, and take this as a testimony of it and make much of it, now is not this Precious, what's this worth that comes thus unto a soul? All you that have known experimentally, what the work of Faith hath meant in your own souls, take it thus as a sure pledg of Gods infinit eternal loves, and every time you meditate and think on the way of Gods working this Grace in your hearts, be raised in your thoughts to prize and esteem of it, as that that hath come from God as the fruit of his eternal Election: It is the Faith of Gods Eelect, God may give unto a man Riches, and Ships, and good Voyages, and Kingdoms, and this no argument of his eternal love, if he should give him Kingdoms whats that? he might give a man or woman to be King or Queen of all the World, and yet such a one may be the object of his eternal hatred for all that, a vile person, the basest of men. Therefore there is not so much Preciousness in al these things, but when the Lord gives Faith, this is the Evidence of his eternal love, and that's the first thing.
Secondly, For the work of it, it is the first grace that doth discry (as I may so say) Land; when the soul is in the tempest and storm of a troubled conscience (you may make this as a branch of the former) it is the first grace that doth discry Land in the time of the extremity that the soul is in, and therein the preciousness of it doth consist; the soul that doth understand its own misery, the danger that it is in, the wrath of God that hangs over it, & then trouble of conscience, so that it is as a man in the midst of a storm and tempest at Sea, and ready to be swallowed up in the waves of woful troubl… of conscience, it is faith that doth get up upon the top of the mast, and cries, I see Land: you account that a precious thing if you be at Sea, & ready to perish there, and do not know but that you are many hundred Leagues from Land, and yet if when you are ready to perish one get up upon the top of the Mast, and cries, Oh be of good comfort, I see Land, I see such a place, Oh you account that more to you than if so be you had had never so much money given you at that time, this is the work of faith, when the soul is in the midst of afflictions and troubles and waves of a troubled conscience tossing of it up and down that it doth apprehend its self ready to be swallowed up in the gulf of eternal dispair, sees it self ready to be plunged into, and swallowed up of the bottomless gulf of eternal misery, at that very time Faith is the grace that gets up upon the Mast, gets up upon some promise or other, and cries to the soul, I see Land, I discry hope of mercy, yet hope of help, though my condition be miserable, though I do apprehend a most dreadful breach between God and my soul, I have apprehended God as an eternal Enemy unto me, and have been afraid that I should have been the soul that should have lyen under the eternal curse of an infinite God, and have been fuel for his provoked wrath to all eternity; but blessed be God I see Land, I discry a way of help for such a soul as I am. Oh how precious is this Faith that doth enable the soul (I say) to discry hope in the time of the greatest extremities of all; God gives this Grace to the soul to discover hope when the heart is never so low, and ready to be overwhelmed.
Thirdly, Faith is a most precious Grace in this, That it hath the most excellent and glorious objects that can be, the preciousness of the objects of Faith, shews the preciousness of this Grace. The Object of Faith, what is it? God himself, nay, in a peculiar manner, God reconciled, it is God in Christ, it is God manifesting himself in his Son, and so God comes to be a more glorious object unto the soul than God taken meerly as he is in himself, the First-being of all things. And except God were an object to Faith, First, he could not be an object to the exercise of any other Grace, but in a natural way: as now, if there be not Faith to make God thus to be the object of the soul, if the soul did love God, or fear God, suppose any other grace exercised, if first Faith hath not presented God in this manner, how doth the soul love God? only as the First-Being, and as the Fountain of all Good, and fears God as the great and mighty God of all the World? But now Faith doth present God to the soul as an object in an higher way than otherwise he could be, and so indeed it is Faith that doth form the object for all other Evangelical graces. Faith is exercised upon God in a way of a Mystery, not in a Natural way; the object of Faith, it is the Son of God, the Second Person in Trinity, God-man, God reconciling the world unto himself, all the mysteries of the Gospel they are the Objects of FAITH, and the Glorious Counsels of God about Mans Eternal Estate, are the objects of FAITH, Such things as eye hath never seen, nor ear hath heard, neither can it enter into the heart of man; that is but a meer man, that hath but Naturals to perceive: These are the things that are the objects of Faith, and indeed till Faith comes into the soul, and presents these glorious objects that are the most immediate objects of its self, presents them for other graces to work upon, till that time, those that we call graces of Love, and Fear, and Humility, and all those they did but work in a Natural way before: There was a kind of Love, and Fear, and Humility before; but what makes the difference between that love that is but a common grace, or humility a common grace, for there is a kind of love and fear of God, and humility just like unto the true saving grace of God; Love, and Fear, and Humility, I say, there is the like to them, yet common graces, and common gifts; but here lies the difference, that before these graces (so we may call them, though but common) they did act upon God in a Natural way; but now Faith doth present God and the mysteries of the Gospel in a supernatural way, in a mysterious way to the soul, so that that love that was acted upon God but meerly as he was the First-Being of all things in a Natural way, now it acts upon God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; before the soul did fear God but only as a great God, and infinitly above him, now the soul doth fear God as he doth reveal those glorious things in his Son, fears God as a Father, with a filial fear, as being reconciled to him in his Son, So that Faith is a precious grace because the objects of it are so precious, and it is that that doth present the objects of all other graces to them in a supernatural way, and indeed doth make their objects to be supernatural to them, therfore a most precious grace is this grace of Faith.