The Works of Jeremiah Burroughs 9-11, Treatise 3 · Chapter 12
CHAP. XII.
Saints expect greater Glory than they understand: The Ground of Faith is Divine Revelation, and this is different from Knowledg, though Sanctified, which must be done away, when we shall understand not by way of Reason as now, but by the immediate presence of God.
ONly this now for the working upon your hearts by it, there's this useful and fruitful Note.
That certainly there are greater things that the Saints by Faith are taught to expect, and that by faith are made evident to them, greater things than ever they knew or could reach to by any Spiritual Understanding: we can by our Spiritual Understanding come to know that there is a great good in communion and enjoyment of God; but Faith makes good to us a greater good than we can know; we have some Notions about God and Heaven; but Faith is higher than all our Knowledg, therefore the Saints may expect greater happiness and glory in Heaven than ever they understood. The weakest Christian that hath his understanding elevated by Spiritual Illumination, is able to understand such things as the strongest man in the world that is ripest in his Natural Parts cannot reach unto: but ye… by the exercise of thy Faith thou maiest bring home to thy soul …he comfort of things beyond all thy Spiritual understanding, and so thou maiest pray to God that he would do thee good beyond what thou canst ask or think: I, this is the life indeed of a Christian; when a Christian doth not only make use of Natural understanding, and rise as high as he can there: But then when a Christian is illuminated by Spiritual illumination, and so comes to understand the things of God, and then comes with an Act of Faith; I but there are things that are beyond all these things that I know: For Knowledg is by the Causes or by the Effects; but now Faith goes beyond the taking in things by Causes and Effects, it takes in meerly by Revelation, so that Faith brings to the soul things that are unutterable; as Paul saith of himself when he was caught up into the third Heavens, there he heard words that were unutterable: and so Faith doth raise the souls of men to converce with the things of Heaven that are unutterable, and inconceivable to their understandings. And this is the excellency of a Christian; when he can walk thus, he can walk on high. This is to walk with God indeed.
Grace doth raise Reason higher than it was, and doth take away much corruption from Reason; but yet the Principle of the Saints in their walks is beyond their Sanctified Reason: that's thus, The main thing that dot… guide and carry on the Saints in their way is that which is beyond what can be known by Reason in this world, elevated to the greatest height, as for instance, The Principal things of Christian Religion that the good of the Saints consists in, cannot be known by Reason, though elevated by Grace, it must be in a way of Faith and Beleeving: As one God in three Persons, we beleeve it, but we cannot know it that there is One in Three, Father, Son, and holy Spirit, Reason can never reach to this, no, though …t be Sanctified. That the way of Salvation is by a Mediator, God and Man, this is beyond Reason in the greatest height of it: The Glory of the Body, That it should be made more glorious than the …un in the Firmament; the way of our Communion with God and Christ in Heaven, for God to be all in all; one cannot apprehend this by Reason, but it must be by a Principle of Faith: Let our Knowledg be raised by grace to the height, we can never come to know the causes of such things as these are: but the ground of our Faith is meerly Divine Revelation; now to receive a thing upon Divine Revelation, is different from the receiving of it in a way of Knowledg; the Scripture is cleer in this, and for it take these two or three Texts:
The first is in 1 Cor. 2. 9. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor Ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prrpared for them that love him: Eye hath not seen, Ear hath not heard, neither hath it entred into the heart of Man, no not into the hearts of the Saints by any way of Knowledg; But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit, it is by Revelation: There's a great deal of difference between having things by way of Knowledg, and Revelation: When I have things in a way of Knowledg, I come to understand them upon such Principles as are written in mans Nature, or when I know that the whole is greater than any part, I do not say that I beleeve it, but I know it; but that which I come to beleeve, it's that which we have no evidence of by any way of Reason, but only by Revelation: There may be many Reasons given in a way of helping and strengthening us to beleeve the Scripture, and many things in Religion; but that which is the ground and bottom of all, must be a Rvelation by the holy Spirit, for Reason can never reach to those things that are the very Principles of Faith, they are beyond Reason: such things as eye hath not seen, nor Ear hath heard, neither hath entred into the heart of man.
And that place in 2 Cor. 4. 18. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; they are not seen by us, neither by Sence, nor any kind of Reason, though never so elevated by Grace; they are not seen, but beleeved.
And so that in 1 John, 3. 2. saith he, Beloved, we are now the Sons of God, we are sanctified by the Spirit of God; but it doth not yet appear what we shall be: we cannot understand by Reason, not by any kind of elevation of Reason what we shall be; But we know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for then we shall see him as he is. We do not now see God in any way of Reason so as we shall then, only we beleeve great things about God, but we are not able to behold him; therefore in 1 Pet. 1. 8. Whom having not seen, ye love, in whom, though now you see him not, yet beleeving: You see how Beleeving is opposed to Seeing of God: therefore it's said of Moses, He saw him that was invisible; he was invisible in a way of Reason, but he was seen in a way of Faith: Faith doth rise higher than Sanctified Reason. We have some kind of knowledg of some Spiritual things; but this knowledg that we have must be done away, therefore certainly there are things that we beleeve, that are beyond our knowledg, beyond the knowledg of the Saints; for the Apostle in 1 Cor. 13. 8. speaks of the knowledg of the Saints there, and saith, Love never faileth: but whether there be Prophesies, they shall fail; whether there be Tongues, they shal cease; whether there be Knowledg, it shall vanish away.
It's a very strange Expression, Whether there be Knowledg, it shall vanish away: What our Knowledg vanish away! Shall not the Saints have Knowledg in Heaven? Surely their Knowledg, you wil say, should be encreased in Heaven: But the Text saith here, that Knowledg shall vanish away; that is, the things that we shall come to see in Heaven, they are things that are so high and great, that are beyond the coming to understand in that way of Reason as now we understand things in this world. We come to have Knowledg, How? By the Sences; for so the Phylosopher saith, Nothing goes into the Understanding, but first comes into the Sence: We come to have Knowledg from without, and we come to work from what is presented from without us; but this same kind of Knowledg shall be done away, we shal then only be swallowed up in God himself, in the Beatifical Vision of the most High; we shall see as we are seen: Certainly we are seen, that is, God knows us not in the way as we know things in this world, and we shall know God as he knows us, we shall have our Understandings inlightened with an immediate presence of God shining upon the Understanding, and the Understanding even swallowed up in God himself, so that Knowledg shall be done away: So then, there are things it seems in Heaven that are beyond our Knowledg, for when we come to enjoy those things, our very knowledg shall be done away. I remember that Mr. Calvin upon this Scripture saith, That all the Natural Excellencies of men here in this world, the excellent Parts and Gifts they have in the knowledg of Arts and Sciences, shall be done away; and therefore those that have weak Natural Parts, may have as cleer a sight and vision of God as the greatest and most learned men in the world: Our Natural abilities that we have here, wil not be any way helpful to us to the knowledg of God when we come to Heaven; but the poor weak people that are of low Understandings, so that they scarce understand any thing in a way of common Reason, yet they shall have as much Knowledg of God, and as cleer an Inlight into the Nature of that pure Being of Beings, and into the glorious things of God, as the greatest Rabby that ever was upon the face of the Earth, for Knowledg shall be done away. There are therefore things that are beyond Sence, beyond our Reason that is elevated to the greatest height here in this world: and we walk by Faith. This might be of great comfort to those that have weak Parts here in this world; though their Parts be weak, yet that will not hinder them in the receiving of the glorious things of Heaven.
But I shall leave that about walking by Sight, and come to treat about that which is the Principal Truth in the Text: For we walk by Faith, and not by Sight.