The Works of Jeremiah Burroughs 9-11, Treatise 3 · Chapter 17
CHAP. XVII.
An Exhortation to strengthen Faith by looking to the grand Covenant, when we cannot apply particular Promises, and when we can neither apply particular nor absolute Promises, by casting our selves upon Gods Attributes.
LEt us improve this a little to stir up Saints to the strengthening Faith above al: This I find, that many souls are very careful to strengthen other Graces, and make great complaints of the want of them; but they are not so careful of this, neither do they make such complaints of the want of this; few are so much troubled for the want of this, as for the want of humility, and meekness, and Heavenly-mindedness: You shal have many complain thus; Oh that I could get my heart more humble, and more broken, then I should be happy, but Oh I have a hard heart: But get thy heart more beleeving than it is, and thou wilt be as happy: And so another complains, Oh if I could but overcome my Passion, get the mastery of my self, and to be meek in my carriage; but if thou couldest get more Faith, that would do better, and would help against thy Passion: Oh if I could but overcome my evil thoughts, and pray better, how happy were I? but rather say, Oh that I could beleeve more, and exercise Faith more, Oh that I could get influence from Jesus Christ more; and this would make thee happy: If you walk not by Faith, you wil lose your way quickly, you wil lose the sight of the end of your Faith, and that wil discourage you; and then you wil lose your very way its self, and you wil be mightily ensnared, and be ready to be drawn out of your way, and stumble therin, if you exercise not Faith: But by faith you wil keep the sight of the end of your way, and keep in your way, and be delivered from stumbling blocks, from snares in your way.
Now to the end you may strengthen your Faith, remember to practice this choyce Rule:
When you cannot put forth your Faith in a particular Promise, yet hold to the main Covenant, to the great and the grand Promise; and when you cannot put forth Faith in a conditional Promise, yet put it forth in an absolute Promise; somtimes I cannot see particular Promises that I can act upon, but what's the Covenant of Grace, look upon the infinite freeness and the fulness of the Covenant of Grace then.
Object. But it may be some wil say, I know not whether it belongs to me or no.
Answ. Consider, There's Fulness of Grace, and Freeness of Grace in the Covenant; and therefore say, Why may it not belong to me? I am not excluded, therfore let me keep that before my soul in al my distresses, and the sure keeping and presenting of it before the soul, is a special means to draw forth the vertue of Faith.
And then, though I do not see a conditional Promise, I cannot apply that; as thus: When God saith, Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall br comforted, and blessed are the poor in spirit; Oh I do not mourn, nor am poor in spirit; I do not find the Condition of those Promises in me; yet there are other Promises that are absolute, and carry the Condition of those Promises in them; as, I will take away the heart of stone; he doth not say, I wil take away the stony heart if you wil do thus and thus; but it's an absolute Promise to all that can cast themselves upon it, and it requires no preceding Conditions: This▪ is a mighty help in our Walk by Faith.
First, By Faith look to the grand Promise, and the Covenant in general, when you cannot apply Particulars.
Secondly, Though I cannot apply a conditional Promise, yet let me look unto an absolute Promise, and let my soul hang there, and that's enough to support for the present, and let me exercise Faith there: But more of this, and the helps of Faith I shal come to treat of in the next Head; that is, What the soul should do when there is the want of Sence, when God absents himself, and the soul hath lost the sence of God, and his Love, and Mercy; and when Gods Works do not seem to go with him, but rather against him; how the soul should help and relieve it's self in that condition; for here indeed is the only act of Faith, when al Sence fails: Oh that's the soul that walks by Faith, that knows how to make use of it when al the props of Sence fails. But of that in the following Discourse.
The Life of a Saint on Earth is a mystery, for it is to walk by Faith, and no marvel though the men of the world do not understand the way of a Saint, they wonder at what they mean in denying themselves, so much as they do, and doing things that they can see no reason for: hence it appears then, that it must needs be a mystery to the world, because it's a walk by faith, Gal. 2. 20. is a very remarkable place for this; saith the Apostle there, I am crucified with Christ: as for al the Honors and Preferments in the world, they take nothing with me, I am crucified to them al: those that liv'd with him might stand and wonder, What's the matter? why should Paul be crucified to al the Preferments he might have had? for he was a man of great Esteem and Credit, yet he was crucified to al things; though I be crucified, yet I have a life, though I am crucified with Christ, yet I live, I have a life beyond al the things in the world; what's that? Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God; I am crucified, and am willing to be dead to al the things in the World; it is because▪ I have another life, the life of the Son of God, which I have by Faith: Oh the way of Godliness is a great mystery that the world do…h no… know, the world looks upon them as a company of dead Creatures; but they have a Principle by which they live, that is beyond the thoughts of men▪ This I shal pass from, and proceed.
Suppose you cannot for the present have use either of Conditional Promises, or absolute Promises, yet there is some help, The Soul is to endeavor to cast it's self upon Gods Attributes, that is, to work after God that way, and do▪ what it can to close with Gods Name; I confess we can never have any assurance of Gods Love and his Mercy, til we have it in the way of the Covenant: But it's one means to help the soul after God, when it is out of the sight of a Promise, for to venture its self upon the Attributes of God; as upon the Mercy of God, as God is infinitely Merciful in himself; and the Power of God, and the Goodness of God: I confess these things can never fully satisfie the soul except it knows God in Christ, yet they may be some helps to keep the soul off from departing from God; it's true, the Attributes of God in themselves, can never be a sufficient object for saving Faith, yet they may be some stay of the heart for the present to keep it from departing from God, and in such a way wherein it may come to find God so much the sooner, and that was the support of the poor woman of Canaan that we read of in the 15. of Matth. the poor woman there had no Promise to rest upon, neither Conditional, nor Absolute; for when she came in the 22. ver. she cryed to Christ, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David, my daughter is grievously vexed with a Devil: But he answered her not a word: And then his Disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away: But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. What have I to do with you? I am not come to you: And then he duplicate page duplicate page told her, That the childrens bread must not be given to dogs: Christ did stave her off from all kind of Promises, But Lord help me: Lord, she look'd upon him as a Lord, as one that had infinite power; she could not stand reasoning that the Promise belong'd to her; as if she should say, Though I acknowledg I cannot tell how to rest upon any Promise, yet thou art good and merciful, and Lord help me. It were more comfortable if we could pitch upon a particular Promise, and anchor there, or upon the Covenant in general, or upon a Conditional Promise; but if we be barr'd off from all that we have, neither Conditional, nor Particular, nor Absolute, yet still there is somthing to help us in looking upon God in his Attributes, though not sufficient to make it to be the object of a saving Faith.