The Works of Jeremiah Burroughs 9-11, Treatise 3 · Chapter 28
CHAP. XXVIII.
USE.
Exhortation to exercise Faith in the Evil Day.
I Shall draw all to a Close about this Point for the present, and that is, To labor with you to exercise Faith in the evil Day, walk by Faith when the clouds are over you: What do you think that Faith is of no other use than a Sun-Dyal, only in time of fair weather; surely it is not so with Faith, to be of use only in a Sun-shine day; but it is of use specially in stormy winter weather: And take this one Note from this Scripture that you have in 1 Pet. 1. 5. that all the power that there is in God will not help you any further, or you cannot expect help from all the power there is in God any further than there is an exercise of Faith, Who are KEPT foreign, as with a Guard, or in a garison that is well fenced with walls and works, and so is made impregnable.(saith the Apostle) by the mighty Power of God, but how? through Faith unto Salvation: we are kept by the Power of God, but through Faith: 'Tis not enough for you to say, that there is an Infinite and Glorious God, that hath all Power and Excellency in him; but there's none of this Power that will be let out to you, but through Faith, it must be through an Act of Faith: Oh what hath God laid upon this Grace of Faith, that though he hath so much Power to help the Creature, yet he saith all my Power shall wait upon the exercise of Faith, I wil stay till I see Faith be put forth, before I will put forth Power in any extremity: you know what Christ saith, He could not do any great work, because of their Ʋnbelees: why blessed Savior? what is thy Power lessened that thou canst not do any great work? It is because of their Unbeleef; Unbeleef comes and stops, as it were, the Arms of an Infinite Power: Thou art a poor weak Creature, and art afraid that thou shalt fall off, Oh how shall I be kept through all the tryals, and dangers, and discouragements I meet withal in my wilderness travels? God is able to do it; but how shalt thou have the use of this Power? It must be through Faith. Oh the necessity that there is of Faith then in an afflicted condition: And this exercise of Faith will mightily quiet the soul in the time of affliction: In Psalm, 62. you have an excellent Scripture for the quieting of your hearts in the daies of affliction by the exercise of Faith; My soul, wait thou upon God: it may be read according to the Original thus, My soul, do thou keep silent to God, for my expectation is from him. By the exercise of Faith the soul is Silent. But that which I would further note from this Scripture, is this: It may be you will say, I have endeavored to put forth an act of Faith in the time of my affliction, and yet for all that I do not find my heart quiet. Though thou hast endeavored once, yet do it again.
You shall observe how the soul gets ground by the exercise of Faith in the time of affliction, if you compare the beginning of this 62. Psalm with the middle, Truly my soul waiteth upon God, from him cometh my Salvation; he only is my Rock, and my Salvation: He is my desence, I shal not be greatly moved: At first he was only able to say thus, He is my defence, and my rock, I shall not be greatly moved: But remember, after he had been exercising Faith, he hath a higher expression than before, in the 6. verse. He only is my Rock, and my Salvation; he is my Defence, I shall not be moved: Now I am sixt, whatsoever storms and troubles come, I am i… a safe condition, I shal not be mov'd at all. Oh that you would but lay up these things that you may have Faith in a readiness whensoever it should come to act: as that place in the Psalms that speaks of David in the trouble of his Spirit, he saith, That at what time he was afraid, he would trust in God: not only this, that David was afraid, but at what time he was afraid, he would trust in God: so against what time thou art afflicted, thou shouldest lay up these things that thou mayest have use of them, as Mary hid Christs sayings in her heart: At the time when thou art afflicted, the time when temptation comes, the time when God hides himself, the time when God appears as an enemy; now know that God calls thee to the exercise of this glorious Grace of Faith, Which is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped Heb. 11. 1. foreign.for, the EVIDENCE of things not seen, as the Apostle describes it. That so thou mayest walk with God by Faith here on Earth, and hereafter enjoy him by Sight in Heaven; where we shall know him as we are known, and behold him face to face, and shall see him as he is, so far as Creatures are capable of that Blissful, Beatifical Vision, in the great day of Revelation of Jesus Christ, the only King of Saints.
FINIS.
End of the text · Jeremiah Burroughs, The Works of Jeremiah Burroughs 9-11 (1655)