The Works of Jeremiah Burroughs 9-11, Treatise 3 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IV.
The Saints walk not by Sence. 1 They give no liberty to the eyes of their Bodies or thoughts to behold vanity, but pluck out the corruption of their Eyes. 2 They hold on their course though things seem to go never so cross according to sence. 3 They cannot by sence apprehend those great things that take their hearts most. 4 They walk not by Sence in respect of spiritual things, but by Faith, in the exercise whereof, God hath his chief glory upon Earth.
WELL, But though thou doest walk thus, yet the Saints do not; they judg not of things according to what they see with their Eyes, nor according to what they feel; but they judg as Christ judged, for the Saints certainly are acted by Christs Spirit; and see what the Spirit of Jesus Christ is in the 11. of Isa. in verse 2. it's said, That the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of Wisdom and Ʋnderstanding, the Spirit of Counsel and Might, the Spirit of Knowledg of the fear of the Lord: here's the Spirit of a Saint, for they have a measure of the Spirit of Christ: Now in verse 3. this, saith the Text, shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, and he shall not judg after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his Ears: he shal not be carried according to what appears to Sence, But with Righteousness shall he judg the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the Earth, and he shall smite the Ea…th with the rod of his mouth. If he should judg after the sight of his Eyes, then those that are poor people, he would despise; those that are meek ones, and do put up wrongs, he would not regard; what's the reason that people that are mean and poor, though never so godly, are so despised by those that are Carnal? this is, because they judg by the sight of their eyes: But now saith the Text, Christ shall not judg by the sight of his Eyes; How then? But with Righteousness shall he judg the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek: he shall esteem them as high and honorable as the greatest and mightiest men in the world, and therefore you see how this was fulfilled in the 5. of Math. when Christ came to shew who were blessed, he begins thus, Blessed are the Poor, and the Meek, and the Mourners: If Christ had judged by the sight of his Eyes, he would never have judged so: I make no question but he means those that are outwardly poor, and yet those that are godly; that is, those that are outwardly poor, and yet have a Spirit to glorifie God in that poor condition: for you shal find in the 6. of Luke, where …hat Sermon is again, he doth not say poor in spirit there, but blessed are ye poor; he saw that the Disciples were to suffer much afflictions, and to be poor; therefore in preparing of them, for that he saith, blessed are ye poor; that is, though ye …e poor in this world, yet having hearts willing to submit to God, & to honor God in that poor condition, blessed are ye poor, ye are more blessed than if you had the greatest Honor and Riches in the world: he did no… judg by the sight of his eyes. So Christians that are baptized with Christs Spirit, walk as Christ walked: therfore you find Job professing how … he was from b…ing acted by sight in his way, in Job, 31. 7. If my step hath turned out of the way, and my heart walked after mine eyes, &c. Then let me sow, and let another reap: and in the beginning of the Chapter there he professes that he had made … Covenant with his eyes: Oh its a notable Scripture this. He made a Covenant with his eyes, and his heart walked not after his eyes: but mark verse 2. For (saith he) what portion of God is there from above? and what Inheritance of the Almighty from on high? this Scripture if God would but transcribe it on our spirits, it might be a means of a great de…l of good, for I verily am perswaded, though some may be guilty more grosly than others, yet there is never a one in this place, but are very guilty of the evil of following the sight of their eyes, and abundance of sin hath been let in by the sight of the eyes, as you have read already. Now look to it, do not think it's a light matter, though perhaps you think, Oh God forbid that I should commit such an act of sin as the sight of mine eyes doth occasion, no, I hope I am far from that: but mark what Job saith, For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? As if he should say, Lord, if I did give liberty to this, I were in danger never to have any portion from thee, nor ever to have any inheritance from the most high. And what doth it give you so much content to wander after the sight of your eyes, as that you wil venture your portion in the Almightie, and lose your inheritance in the most High, never to have any good in him? this were a desperate thing, and yet truly so you do; those men and women that follow the sight of their eyes, I say, so they do; and if there were no other sin but this, this were enough for ever to deprive you of God, that you should never have any portion in him: Oh learn upon this Scripture to do as Job did then, to make a Covenant; no marvel though he made a Covenant, for he speaks as if so be he should express himself thus, I indeed have been convinced divers times, That to follow the sight of mine eyes, is a dangerous evil, yet I sind my heart would be working that way until I was fain to come to a peremptory resolution, that I would not (the Lord assisting me) do so, and to make a Covenant, for I see I am undone else: Oh that God would but cause this thought to stick in the heart of some man or woman, to conclude with themselves, Indeed, I confess my conscience tels me, that my eyes have let in a great deal of evil to me, and I have thought that I would not take that liberty as formerly I have done; but now I see I am a lost soul for ever, except I be more careful of the sight of mine eyes: Job when he was in his greatest afflictions, one would have thought, if at any time his Conscience would have stir'd to have accused him for walking after the sight of his eyes, it would have been now; no, but in his greatest afflictions, and when his friends did charge him of so great evils that he was guilty of because they did walk according to the sight of their eyes; no, but he could say, If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walk after mine eyes, &c. Oh that you could but say so, and that you would be now so careful of the sight of your eyes, that when you shall he upon your dying pillow, you may be able to appeal to God, Lord, thou knowest I have not▪ walked according to the sight of mine eyes: So that you see the Saints do not walk according to the sight of their eyes, nor according to Sence, no, they have mortified the flesh, and crucified the lusts of it; the work of Grace consists in mortifying the flesh, and beating down the body; and so David saith in Psal. 119. Lord, turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity: it's a very excellent Scripture, and you should do well to take Davids Prayer, and this one Petition to God dayly, in vers. 31. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way: David would fain walk with God; Oh Lord, when I am in the way walking with thee, I find this hinders me very much, Lord, my eyes will be wandering after vanity, and I am dull in thy way, but Lord, turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; it is not said, Lord, keep me that my heart shall not be taken with vanitie; but Lord, turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity: David was careful not so much as to look at vanitie; there's many have their Consciences so far convinc'd, Oh I wil not follow vanity, I but they do not make conscience of having their eyes turned away from vanitie: this holy man was necessitated to pray to God, and without Gods great help you wil not be able to do this, for the eye is a quick thing: O Lord turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken me in thy way; as if he should say, O Lord, it's this that makes me so dull that I cannot walk with thee: you somtimes have wondered at your selves, what a dead heart have I in the waies of God, though God hath convinc'd me of the excellencie of them, and I have had some sence of the sweetness, and goodness of them heretofore, but O Lord what's the matter? Do you ask what's the matter? truly I hope God wil tel you this, what it is, your eyes run after vanity, it m…y be not after filthiness and uncleanness, as the eyes of some, but vanitie, you have given libertie to your eyes to look after vanitie, to the eyes of your bodie, and the eyes of your thoughts, after this idle thing, and the other vain thing; this is enough to dead your hearts in that which is good, and you will never have a quick and lively spirit in that wh…ch is good till you come to make conscience of looking after vanity; and therfore pray to God to turn away your eyes from beholding vanitie, that so you may be more quick in the Law of God, in the waies of Holiness.
And you know what a charge our Savior gives, If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out: our Savior doth express the [right Eye] to shew that men may be carried many times by the eye to things that are evil, and it's very pleasing to the eye; but though it be thine eye that is set upon things never so dear; better be without thine eye than to suffer thine eye to run after that which is vanity, not that he should pluck out his bodily eye, that's not the meaning, but get out the corruption of the eye: And so far as to account it a better thing to be without the eye; it were better for many men and women, that they were blind than that they should give so much libertie to their eyes, to look after such vanities as indeed they do; Though Christ would not have us to lay violent hands upon our selves, yet he so speaks that we should be very careful, though we get never such content by it, and though it be very deer to us, yet to labor to pluck out the corruption of our eyes: A Godly man we see therefore walks not according to the sight of his Eyes.
As thus, Further, Though things seem to the eye to go never so cross yet a godly man doth not alter his way; as if Paul should say, I confess if we should walk according to what we see in the world, we should never hold our course of Christianity, we see the Promises are not fulfill'd, but quite contrary: we see the waies of God as they appear to the eye to be quite contrary to what he hath said in the Word, we should be at amaze now if we should look according to what we see with our eyes; we see that the most precious Saints of God are persecuted, and hated, and if we should look at things according to the eye we should quite change our course; we see the wicked and ungodly prosper, and what now should we go according to the sight of our eyes? Oh no, let us see the wicked prosper never so much, and the Godly afflicted and persecuted, it's all one to us, we go on in our way. Oh it's this that keeps the hearts of the Saints close to God and to his waies, when they do not judg of things according to the eyes; and therefore if you would keep close, and deliver your selves from temptations, consider seriously from this; and blessed be he that can beleeve although he sees not.
But many have not such power of Faith as to get beyond the Eyes; surely that Faith that cannot get beyond Sence, is a poor and a weak Faith; there is not that preciousness in thy Faith, as the Scripture speaks of if it cannot overcome the eyes.
Furthermore, We walk by Faith, and nor by Sence; we by our Sences do not apprehend those great things that take our hearts most; we cannot by our eyes see God, we may see some works of his indeed; we cannot see those Mantions that are prepared for us; we cannot see Jesus Christ our Savior, our Husband, our Head; we cannot see those Crowns of Glory: we do not walk by sight, that is, Because we cannot see those Spiritual things, therfore to be discouraged in our way; what though God, and Christ, and Heaven, and those Mantions, and Crowns of Glory be not objects of our eyes, yet we go on in our way for all this.
I, saith a Carnal heart, if we could see these things, you speak of Heaven, but can you see any thing beyond the Sun, Moon, and Stars? you speak of the place of the blessed, I but who ever saw it? and of Mansions and Crowns of Glory, but who ever saw them? Now because they cannot be seen, therefore carnal hearts do not regard them: I but though our eyes cannot act upon Spiritual things, yet we go on in our way: You know the people of Israel came to Moses and said, Make us gods that may go before us; they would have somthing that they might see: Now saith he, we do not walk according to the sight of our eyes; though we cannot see God, yet we beleeve in him; though we canot see Christ, yet we love him; though we cannot see those Mantions, yet we beleeve them, and they are real to our Faith though we have not the sence of them: As now, God promi…es great things, yet many times we have not the sence of Gods Love, and we have not the sence of those Spiritual things that God hath promised, we do not feel them in our hearts, indeed somtimes God doth reflesh us with the sence of his Love, and somtimes our eyes are even open, as Stephen can see Christ at the right hand of the Father, but at other times in regard of Spiritual Sence, we are in darkness, and God seems to appear against us as an enemy: now if we had nothing to walk by but by Sight, what should we do? We find that somtimes God seems to come against us, we find in our souls mightie griefs, and sorrows, and troubles, and the Joyes of God are gone from us; Oh now we were undone if we walked according to sence: Oh no, but we have help of our Faith, when al Sence and Sight fails. And I mention this now, because we shall ground much upon it when we come to shew how the Saints do walk by Faith; when they do want sence, not only outward sences to encourage them, but the inward sence of the Love and favor of God, yet then they walk by Faith: It's true, the men of the world know not any thing but by the outward sences; when they are afflicted, and feel pain in their bodies, then they feel by sence that which is very grievous to them; but the Saints are afflicted in their sences with Spiritual things, that is, they feel the want of Gods Love, and of Mercy, and Sweetness; they feel the want of the presence of God, and yet we go on, we have not only help to our selves when the things to our bodies seems to go cross; It's true indeed that Godliness hath the promise of this Life, and of that which is to come, but we find according to our sences otherwise; well, Faith wil help there, and we walk by Faith.
And then to the sence of our souls, in respect of the loss of Gods presence, that's more grievous, and the sadness of our Spirits that comes that way; Oh the dark daies that we have when we lose al sight there, yet there comes in Faith and help too, for we walk by faith, and not by sight: As now, here I shall shew by divers examples how the Saints have not walked by sight in respect of Spiritual things: Consider, Abraham, if he had walked by sence, it had been ill with him; no, but it was by Faith: when God made these two great Promises to Abraham, That he would give him the Land of Canaan, and make his Seed as the Stars of Heaven: If after these two were made, he had walked by Sight or Sence, he had been in an ill case: For the first thing that we reade of Abraham after God had made that Promise to him; Abraham as soon as ever he went into the Land of Canaan was ready to starve and was forced to fly into the Land of Egypt to keep himself from starving, and yet this was the Land that should flow with Milk and Honey, as a motive to him to forsake his Fathers House and Kindred: I but Abraham had Faith to help him here. And …o for the other Promise, that he would make his Seed as the Stars of Heaven; Abraham, after this Promise was made to him, was twenty years, and had never a Child: now if he had walked by sight, what would have been become of him, both he and his wife being grown old? And after Isaac was born that was the only Son of the Promise, yet Isaac must be sacrificed: If he had had no other principle but Sence, what had become of him? he walked not by Sence. And so afterwards Isaac he was forty years before he marries, and was fortie years without a Child. And so I might instance in David, he had the Promise of a Kingdom, and he was accounted to be the King of Israel: the next thing you read of David is, that Saul the King doth persecute him to take away his life, he was hunted up and down like a Partridg in the Wilderness; and at one time Sence began to prevail with David, One day I shall perish by the hand of Saul; And in my hast I did say that all men were lyars; that the Prophet and al were lyars; Oh but it was in his hast: Sence prevail'd now, and Faith seems to be dead: But at other times you shall see his Faith exceeding strong, he walks by Faith, and not by Sence. We shall shew more afterwards when we come to the excellencie of the walk of Faith: And so if you read Psal. 88. of Heman, which was a Godly man, yet he had that which was contrary to Sence all his daies; if he had walked according to sence, he had been the most miserable man that could be▪ he suffered the terrors of God from his youth up, and he was even di…racted again: when he gave but a little way to Sence, yet the Lord carr…ed him on: And so I might hint to you divers Scriptures where the Church is afflicted, and tost up and down, so that if it should have gone according to sence, it would have been undone. Oh the very naming of these things unto you, wil shew the necessitie, and excellencie of the Point of walking by Faith, and not by Sence▪ now this the Lord would have his Servants do, because the more Spiritual Sence they have, the less Faith they have ordinarily, and Faith doth not appear in the acts of it when there is so much Spiritual Sence▪ we would fain have sence, and it is a lovely and excellent thing; but God sees that for the most part, when we have the most Sence, we have the less Faith, and so we are ready to rest upon our Sence: Observe this one thing, There is nothing more in Gods design while we live here upon Earth than the advancing of his Glorie in the work of Faith▪ Though God hath his Glorie in the exercise of al Graces, yet above al in the exercise of Faith. We would fain give God Glory by our enlargements in prayer, and by our joy, and going on cheerfully in the course of our lives, and by prospering in our way, and carrying on all businesses before us: If alwaies the Church might prosper▪ and her enemies be down, and the Saints live joyfully, and all things that they undertake, they might carry before them without any contradiction; you think Gods Glory would be set out that way; Oh you are childish and foolish to think so; no saith God, but rather let me hide my self, and the Saints be in want of my presence, then wil they act Faith, the naked acts of Faith wil then appear, Faith wil then appear in its own proper vertue: as i… God should say, I do not see Faith in its own Genuine, and naked proper Vertue when there is sence joyned withal. How doth it appear that these live by Faith rather than by Sence, when they have such encouragements by Sence? No, I wil ther…ore take away these things, and that for this end, That I may have my Name glori…ed by the work of Faith: And this I verily beleeve is the cause of the sad conditions of the Saints in this world, and why things go so cross, and the Saints are persecuted, and the wicked prevail so in their designs, It is upon this ground, That God may advance Faith: From the infinite delight that God hath in the Grace of Faith rather than in o…her Graces; and the rather because it is a Grace that God shall have the Glory of in this life only, it wil cease in the life to come: Now God having the Glory of this only▪ in this world, therefore it is that he wil put them much to the actings of it: which will be discovered more when we come to shew the walking of the Saints by Faith.
To conclude this for the present about walking by this Spiritual Sence.