Jeremiah Burroughs On Worship

By James Davison

How God is to be worshiped is an important subject for Jeremiah Burroughs, and one he gave much attention. The reason is well stated by Burroughs in one of his sermons: “As God is glorious in holiness, so set Him out in His glory by keeping His worship pure.” “Especially look to your heart, to cleanse it when you draw near to this holy God in this holy worship.” [1]

That holiness is the jewel in the crown of worship for Burroughs is clearly evident when he says, “God’s ordinances are the beauty of His holiness. Therefore we must labour to come pure and clean to them.” And again, “If we would honour and magnify God in His holiness, let us keep His worship pure, for holiness becomes the worship of God forever.” Burroughs makes the point that “there is nothing in the world that has the power to humble the heart as much as God’s holiness.” Indeed, the very consideration of this, Burroughs urges, “should humble us and make us ashamed for the remainder of the unholiness that is in our hearts,” and that because “there is more dreadful evil in unholiness than reprobation.” [2]

The subject of worship is expounded in detail by Burroughs in fourteen sermons based on Leviticus 10:3: “Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified.” These sermons, which were first published in 1648 as Gospel Worship, emphasize the proper manner of worshiping God in hearing the Word, receiving the Lord’s Supper, and prayer. But first, Burroughs begins with a general introduction to worship. This is based on the occasion of the words of the text, which are the result of Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu, offering incense with “strange fire” unto God, for which God struck them dead.

In opening up his text, Burroughs notes two ways by which God will be sanctified: 1) “by the holiness of His people in their carriage before Him, holding forth the glory of God’s holiness”; and 2) “in ways of judgement upon those who do not sanctify His name in ways of holiness.” Following this Burroughs notes that, in God’s worship, “there must be nothing tendered up to God but what He has commanded. Whatever we meddle with in the worship of God must be what we have a warrant for out of the word of God.” [3] This is followed by multiple points of a general nature, including the following: “those who enter into public places, and especially such places as do concern the worship of God, they need have the fear of God upon them”; “God would have us all pick out His mind from dark expressions in His word”; “God is very quick with some in the ways of His judgement”; “Though the lives of men are dear and precious to God, yet they are not so precious as His glory.” [4]

These general remarks, which continue into the third sermon, conclude with this comment: “If in the duties of worship we are near to God, then hence appears the great honour that God puts upon His servants that do worship Him. Certainly the worshipers of God have great honour put upon them because the Lord permits them to draw near unto Him.” At this point, Burroughs extends his net further than his immediate hearers when he says, “Herein any man, woman, or nation, may be said to be great, that is, greatly honoured by the Lord God, in that they have the Lord near unto them and they are near unto Him. Here is the greatness of a nation.” [5] This comment about a nation’s greatness draws our attention to the situation in England at the time the sermons were preached. Such was the situation that Burroughs and his fellow Puritan ministers were advocating to Parliament the need to cleanse the nation of all ungodliness and to establish true religion in it. [6]

Returning to his immediate hearers, Burroughs writes: “This is the dignity that God has put upon you, that you are separated by His grace to be one near to Him.... This is your privilege, and you should count it your great honour.... You are one of God’s separated ones, you who are near to Him.” The privilege of drawing near to God, however, carries with it the necessity of doing so in a proper manner. Burroughs states this unambiguously when he stresses the need for “due preparation of the soul unto the duties of God’s worship.” First, because “that God we come to worship is a great and glorious God”; and second, “the duties of God’s worship are great duties. They are the greatest things that concern us in this world.” Indeed, argues Burroughs, “it is a sign of a very carnal heart to slight the duties of God’s worship, to account them as little things.” [7] Burroughs recognizes that many do not understand the duties of God’s worship as great matters and makes this plea:

My brethren...learn this lesson this morning.... [Learn] to account the duties of God’s worship as great matters. They are the greatest things that concern you in this world, for they are the homage that you render up to the high God...and those things wherein God communicates Himself in His choice mercies [to you].... Christians, I beseech you to account highly your time of worship. [8]

Burroughs insists that “due preparation of the soul unto the duties of God’s worship” is “a special part of sanctifying...God’s name in drawing nigh unto Him.” [9] One reason, among many, given to support the need for preparation for worship is worthy of quoting in full as it shows clearly Burroughs’s estimation of human nature:

There must be preparation because our hearts are naturally, exceedingly unprepared for every good work. We are all naturally reprobate to every good work. The duties of God’s worship are high and spiritual and holy things, but by nature our hearts grovel in the dirt and we are carnal, sensual, drossy, dead, slight, sottish, and vain, altogether unfit to come into the presence of God. Oh, that we were but apprehensive and sensible of the unfitness of our hearts to come into God’s presence. Perhaps because you do not know God you can rush into His presence without any more ado, but if you know yourself and God, you could not but see yourself altogether unfit for His presence, so as to wonder that the Lord should not spurn you out of His presence every time you come unto Him. There needs to be, then, preparation because we are so unfit to come into His presence. [10]

Recognizing the natural inclinations of the human heart leads Burroughs to suggest some ways by which the soul may be prepared for worship, namely, meditation on the person of God, the turning from sinful ways, the disentangling of the heart from worldly affairs, and watchfulness and prayer. By such preparation, says Burroughs, “we come to make every duty of worship easy to us.” Burroughs, however, accepts that there is a cost to such preparation for worship, but he believes it is a cost worth paying: “When the heart is prepared for that which is good, when it comes into the presence of God, it is able to lift itself up without fear in a steadfast, comfortable way...this will quit the cost of any labour.” By grace, “where the heart is prepared to duties, there the Lord will pass by weaknesses and imperfections in duties.” [11]

In this last comment Burroughs shows his concern for those who have a tender conscience. To such people Burroughs gives two pieces of advice. The first relates to “whether we ought to at all times to set apart some time for preparation to every duty of God’s worship”; the second relates to whether it would be better to put off some duty in worship, if it was felt that the heart was not prepared for the duty. Burroughs’s treatment of the first of these issues, while indicating the necessity of a positive response, also recognizes that “it is possible to keep the heart so close to God as to be fit for prayer, and the hearing of the word, and for receiving the Sacrament every day, or any hour of the day.” However, to be in this condition, as Burroughs notes, “needs a very close walking with God and communion with God, and, the truth is, this is very rare, [for] most men let out their hearts so much to other things.” [12]

The second query is whether holy duties may be set aside if “we do not find our hearts prepared according to that which we desire.” Burroughs gives four reasons why it would be wrong to “let the duty go for that time and forbear the performance of it.” The first is that “the omission of a duty, or the laying aside of a duty, will never fit the soul for a duty afterwards.” Indeed, “to forbear a duty for want of preparation...will never help to further preparation, but will make the soul more unfit for duty.” A second reason is to understand this way of thinking as “a temptation to keep you from it [the duty], to tell you that you are not prepared,” but in doing this “you do gratify the devil...and so [he] would be encouraged to tempt you at another time.” Burroughs concludes with this plea: “Oh, let us take heed of gratifying the devil in his temptations” [13] to draw us from holy duties.

The third reason given by Burroughs highlights the need for sincerity in worship: “if anyone performed a duty of worship in that sincerity and strength that he is able to do, though he is not as prepared as he ought, yet it is better to do it than to neglect it.” It is also true, argues Burroughs, that as “one sin prepares the heart for another sin, so one duty prepares the heart for another.” For Burroughs, because sin becomes easier the more you do it, it follows that the more we perform duties of worship, the resolve not to neglect those duties will strengthen. Fourth, Burroughs gives advice to those who may be “struggling with their souls and the corruption of their own hearts,” which is keeping them from holy duties. Such people, says Burroughs, should “call in the help of God and of Jesus Christ” for this is the “best way to fall upon a duty.” Finally, says Burroughs, “[t]hough you cannot find your heart prepared as you desire, the very falling upon it [holy duty] will fit you for it.” [14]

So far in these sermons on gospel worship, Burroughs has been emphasizing the need to have the heart prepared, or sanctified, for duties of worship. This insistence on proper preparation for worship has as its foundation the majesty and glory of the God who is being worshiped. In Burroughs’s theology, as with nearly all Puritans, God must have first place in life. Failure to give God the honor that is due to Him is an affront to His incomparable excellency. For this reason it is not difficult to understand why Burroughs refers to the subject of God in His majesty and in doing so gives his hearers some guidance on how this glorious God is to be approached. This we find in sermons five, six, and seven of his Gospel Worship.

God’s majesty is clearly exalted by the way Burroughs instructs his hearers as to their behavior when worshiping God: “Look upon the Lord lifted up in glory, not only above all creatures, but above all excellencies that all angels and men in heaven and earth are able to imagine.” Continuing with his eulogy, Burroughs exhorts his hearers, “Look upon the Lord as having all excellencies in Himself, joined in one, and that immutably. Look upon Him as the fountain of all excellency, good, and glory that all creatures in the world have.” Furthermore, urges Burroughs, “Look upon the Lord every time you come to worship Him as that God whom angels adore and before whom the devils are forced to tremble.” [15]

Finally, “when we are worshiping God,” says Burroughs, “we should have our hearts set above all creatures and above ourselves.” God being holy and all glorious, great care must be taken that “we do not subject the worship of God unto our lusts.” Neither must we subject “the duties of God’s worship to the praise of men...for the esteem of men,” nor should we make “self our end.” These important warnings are followed by Burroughs’s exhorting his hearers to come into the presence of God with “much reverence and much fear”—not “a servile fear, but a filial and reverential fear...a sanctifying fear.” Burroughs also makes the point that the worship of God who is infinite in power and glory must be full of strength, that is, “strength of intention...the strength of affection...the strength of all the faculties of the soul and the strength of the body too, as much as we are able.” This being said, however, Burroughs is also insistent that coupled with these strengths there must be “a humble frame of spirit...with much humility of soul.” [16]

To further encourage his hearers to exercise proper behavior in worshiping God, Burroughs sets out twelve characteristics of God, namely, God as Spirit, as eternal, as incomprehensible, as unchangeable, as the living God, as Almighty, as omniscient, as of infinite wisdom, as holy, as merciful, as just, and as faithful. [17] In concluding his treatment of these characteristics, Burroughs says: “Now, then, put all these attributes of God together and there you have His glory, the infiniteness of His glory. The shine and lustre of all the attributes together is God’s glory.” Since we have to deal with such a glorious God, let us “labour to perform such services as may have a spiritual glory upon them, that some image of the divine lustre that is in God” may be upon our services. [18]

In the eighth sermon of Gospel Worship, Burroughs considers some of the duties required in worship, namely, the hearing of God’s Word, receiving the sacraments, and prayer. Each of these three topics is given detailed treatment. While recognizing the importance of each of the topics, we will concentrate only on the first of them [19] because, for Burroughs, indeed for the whole Puritan movement, the preaching of God’s Word was the means of drawing individuals to Christ and exhorting people to live a life of godliness. For these men and women, preaching was nothing less than God’s Word being directly communicated to them via the sermon.

Hearing God’s Word

Burroughs acknowledged that “God is pleased at the willingness of people to come to hear His word,” but he warns his hearers that they “must not rest barely in hearing.” They must take heed how they hear it, for “it is part of the worship of God.” In coming to hear the Word of God, “we profess,” says Burroughs, “that we depend upon the Lord God for the knowing of His mind and the way and rule of eternal life.” For this reason the hearer must be in a readiness of mind to receive God’s Word, as Acts 17:11 confirms: “These were more noble than those of Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness.” [20]

In commenting on Acts 17:11, Burroughs gives us a glimpse of the situation in his own day—at least in respect of those who attended his preaching of God’s Word at Stepney, where the sermons that make up Gospel Worship were preached. It should be noted that, although the phraseology used by Burroughs at this point could be seen as indicating some prejudice against those who are not “better bred,” this would be a false interpretation of his comments. Burroughs suggests that more noble (better bred) people, people “who are exercised in arts and sciences, who have some understanding and some ingenuity in them will hearken unto reason.” Whereas a “rude people who never had any good breeding...will behave themselves rudely, they slight the word, and like swine, regard acorns rather than pearls.” [21]

Burroughs is making the general point that it is “a sign of good breeding of men of ingenuity to be willing to hear the word.... Preached as the word of God to them, they will grant their presence at least.” Contrary to these people “are those in a parish that so disregard the word so as not to hear it.” They are “the ruder sort” who “would rather be in alehouses drinking and swilling,” than hear the Word preached. In referring to his own locality, Burroughs may be giving an indication of the sort of people who attended his own ministry when he puts this question to his hearers: “What place is there more full of miserable, poor people than this place, and yet what a poor attendance is there of such people at the hearing of the word?” [22]

Turning then to the necessity of having the heart ready to receive the Word of God, Burroughs makes the point that his hearers do not come to hear a man preach, but to receive the Word preached as the very Word of God: “It is not the speaking of a man that you are going to attend...you are now going to attend upon God and to hear the word of the eternal God. Possess your souls with this. You will never sanctify God’s name in the hearing of His word otherwise.” [23]

This comment emphasizes to us again Burroughs’s understanding of what he, or any other minister of God, was about when he preached, that is, he was functioning as a conduit through which God communicated His Word to the hearers. Indeed, Puritan ministers, including Burroughs, would not have regarded the phrase “Thus says the Lord” used by the Old Testament prophets as misapplied if it was applied to their own preaching.

Burroughs accepts that it is profitable to read sermons at home, but he insists that, “the great ordinance is the preaching of the word.” Burroughs notes: “Faith comes by hearing, the Scriptures say, and never by reading.” This is, undoubtedly, a very bold statement, but it is one that goes to the very core of the Puritan theology of preaching. On the premise, then, that preaching is “the great ordinance for the converting and edifying of souls in the way of eternal life,” and “the great ordinance that God has appointed for the conveyance of spiritual good,” it is important that those who come to hear the Word should “come with longing desires after the word.” In other words, “there must be an opening of the heart to receive what God speaks.” [24]

This comment must not be understood as if Burroughs is saying that men of themselves can open their hearts to God. What Burroughs means is clearly stated: “It is true that it is the work of God to open the heart, but God works upon men as rational creatures, and He makes you to be active in opening your hearts so that when you should have any truth come to be revealed, you should open your understandings, your consciences, your wills and affections.” [25]

But the hearers must not stop at receiving the Word, “an applying of the heart to the word”; there must also be “an applying of the word to the heart.” Here, again, we hear Burroughs echoing his fellow Puritan ministers as he urges his hearers to make use of the Word preached: “The application of the word to the heart is of marvelous use.... [Therefore] apply it to your own souls.” Applying God’s Word has a twofold purpose in the thought of Burroughs: “My brethren, there is no such way to honour God or get good to your souls as the application of the word unto yourselves.” The contrary is also true, however, for “you do not worship God,” if “you do not apply it to yourselves,” [26] nor reap any benefit from it.

In identifying different ways of coming to hear God’s Word, Burroughs notes that the hearers of sermons “must mix faith with the word or else it will do us but little good.” In other words, “there must be a mixture of faith to believe the word that the Lord brings to you,” but this does not mean that everything must be believed “merely because it is spoken.” Here Burroughs assists us in determining if what is said in the name of God is indeed of God and as such may be believed: “Do not cast off anything presently that comes in the name of God...until they have [been] examined and tried whether they are so or not.” Likewise, “grant enough respect to the word that is spoken to you” for such respect “has been the beginning of the conversion of many souls.” Finally, “my brethren,” says Burroughs, “until we come to believe the word, though we sit under it for many years, it will do us little good and we shall never sanctify the name of God in the hearing it.” [27]

These aids to believing the Word are immediately followed by several directions on “the right behaviour of the soul in sanctifying God’s name.” Here Burroughs notes “meekness of spirit,” “a trembling heart,” “a humble subjection,” “with love and joy,” and a willingness “to hide the word in our hearts,” as proper behavior. Burroughs urges a quietness of spirit “in attending upon the word” because “it is a dreadful thing to have the heart rise against the word.... It is a great dishonour to the name of God for men to give liberty to their passions to rise against the word.” [28]

Those who would allow their passions to rise above the Word are such who “have some trouble of conscience in them.... [And] their spirits are in a discontented, wicked humour because they do not have that comfort they desire.” Then, because they have no “present comfort by it,” their “spirits are in a distemper and a perverseness and they cast it off.” Another sort who allow their passions to rise up are “those who, when they find the word come near unto them relating those sins that their consciences tell them they are guilty of, their hearts rise against God and His word, and ministers too.” Indeed, argues Burroughs, because the Word preached “would pluck away some beloved corruption, because it rebukes them of some habitual practice of evil...it puts a shame on them.” [29]

As it is a dishonor to God not to receive His Word with a spirit of meekness, so it is a dishonor to God not to have “a humble subjection to the word that we hear.” In other words, as God’s Word is above us in authority, “so our hearts must bow to it, must lie under the word that we hear.” “Let God speak and we will submit had we 600 necks, we will submit all we are or have to this word of the Lord,” for to “lie down under the word of God which is preached...is a most excellent thing, and God’s name is greatly sanctified.” Such submission should be comprehensive: “Know then that God expects that you should submit your estates, your souls, your bodies, [and] all that you have to this word.” Importantly, Burroughs reminds his hearers that they must examine what they hear “to see whether it is according to God’s word or not.” [30]

Simply to acknowledge the authority of the Word of God over you, however, falls short of what is necessary if it is not accompanied with love and joy: “It is not enough for you to be convinced of the authority of it...[you must] receive the word with love and with joy.” “You must receive the word not only as the true word of the Lord, but as the good word of the Lord.” Burroughs sees salvation as more than simply escaping the fire of hell: “It is not enough, my brethren, to receive the truth that we might be saved, but we must receive the love of the truth if ever we would be saved.” When we receive the Word of God with joy, it increases our “apprehensions of the spiritual excellencies that are in the word,” because the Word “reveals God and Christ” to the soul. The point is well made by Burroughs when he says, “I see the image of God in His word, I see the very glass of God’s holiness in His word. I feel that in the word that which may bring my soul to God, wherein my soul enjoys communion with God and Jesus Christ, and it is this that gladdens my soul.” [31]

For Burroughs, therefore, recognizing what was preached as the pure Word of God should be a means of drawing from the hearers a desire to hide God’s Word in their hearts. By so doing, it will sanctify God’s name for it gives “testimony to the excellency of the word and manifest[s] the high esteem” the hearers have for it. It also recognizes the benefit that may be gleaned from the Word in the days that lie ahead, “against the many temptations you meet with.” Furthermore, “those who have the word of God abiding in them overcome the wicked one.” Finally, says Burroughs, “If ever you would expect to receive any good from the word or to look upon the face of God with comfort...do not be a shame to His word.” [32]

One of the reasons given by Burroughs why God would have “His name sanctified in the ordinance of hearing His word” is because it is “the great ordinance to convey the special mercies that He intends for the good of His people.” This last point, however, has a flip side attached to it as Burroughs warns his hearers that their failure to “sanctify God’s name in hearing His word in those ways that have been opened...[will] lose [them] the greatest and happiest opportunity for good that ever creatures had for an outward opportunity.” “Know,” says Burroughs, “this word that is appointed by God for the conveyance of so much mercy to the elect will prove to be the greatest aggravation of your sin that can be.” And further, “when the word works not upon men it is a dreadful sign of reprobation.” But, always the encourager, Burroughs exhorts his hearers to think that when “God shall magnify His word before men and angels,” they could be in a position to say, “This is the word that spoke to my heart...that I reverenced, that I obeyed, that I loved, that I made to be the joy of my heart.” And such thinking “will be comfortable to your soul.” [33]

A Trembling Heart

One of the injunctions given for the proper hearing of God’s Word is that it must be done with a trembling heart, for “God has a regard to that soul that trembles at His word rather than to any who should build the most sumptuous buildings in the world for Him.” Burroughs’s emphasis on God being “more magnified in His word than in all His works” is a reminder to us of the importance he placed on the being of God. That emphasis prompts Burroughs to ask his hearers to consider that “the word is that which binds the soul over either to life or death.” Burroughs asserts that such who come to hear God’s Word with a trembling heart “are the most likely of all men and women to understand the mind of God...to understand God’s counsels revealed in His word.” On the other hand, those who “are rich in their own thoughts and understandings, are sent away empty.” [34]

Hearing the Word of God with a trembling heart was so important for Burroughs that he preached three sermons on it from Isaiah 66:2 followed by four sermons on 2 Kings 22:19, which speaks of a tender or melting heart. The seven sermons were published in 1674, twenty-eight years after Burroughs’ death, as Gospel Fear or the Heart Trembling at the Word of God. Both in Gospel Fear and Gospel Worship Burroughs emphasizes again and again that although the Lord is high and mighty, yet “God has a regard to that soul that trembles at His word.” Furthermore, says Burroughs, “it is a very good sign of a spiritually enlightened soul when he can see the name of God more magnified in His word than in all His works.” Indeed, “there is more of His glory in the word than there is in the whole of creation of heaven and earth.” [35] There is “so much of God in His word.” [36]

The wonder of God’s glory, majesty, authority, and holiness are all evident in the Word as are God’s infinite justice, power, and glorious divine mysteries. All these are considered in Gospel Fear, [37] in which Burroughs is a master at showing that God’s Word is “full of efficacy and quickness” as “it works the soul with abundance of quickness one way or the other; to heaven or hell.” The Word is seen by a trembling heart as that which “must be opened to judge it on the Great Day.” Indeed, says Burroughs, “The words that you now hear shall be called all over again, and every sermon that you have heard, every truth that God has caused to come to your consciences shall be called over again, and shall judge you at the Great Day.” And such a prospect cannot but make you to “tremble at the word of God.” [38]

In his application Burroughs gives evidence that there is great comfort to be had in God’s Word, knowledge of which “may help you with other fears you may have,” “help you with comfort against all your weaknesses,” and “give comfort in times of affliction.”

Comfort is also to be found in knowing that those who “would venture anything rather than go against God’s word in any particular” God will surely vindicate. Burroughs presents contemporary proof of this when he says, “these were cast into prison with the pretence, ‘Let the Lord be glorified.’ Now hear you this, ‘He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed’ [Isaiah 66:5]. O how has this been fulfilled! The fulfilling of this one Scripture should make us fall in love with the word of God.” Burroughs concludes his first sermon in Gospel Fear by exclaiming, “O labour to keep your hearts in a constant trembling frame and the word that you do now tremble at will forever hereafter comfort your heart.” [39]

In his second sermon in Gospel Fear, Burroughs deals with a possible query to his insistence that “the heart that trembles at God’s word, God looks upon with affection.” The query relates to the words of James 2:19 “the devils also believe, and tremble,” and asks “does God have affection towards them?” In his reply Burroughs states that there is a great difference between the trembling of devils and some men, who only see the terror of God’s Word, and a sanctified trembling of the heart at the Word of God. This latter trembling is, for Burroughs, “a sign that the word has some power over you more than it did before.” It also suggests “the right setting of fear upon the right object,” but with this qualification: “though there is not a gracious principle to act it in that manner as it should be upon the object.” Yet such fear “may prevent a great deal of evil,” and “may also be a preparation for more good that God may intend towards” such people. [40]

Burroughs then expounds what the sanctified fear of God and the Word is: “True fear and trembling at the word is that which will settle the heart and strengthen the heart against all other fears.” [41] To drive home his point Burroughs sets before his hearers the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk’s description of himself on hearing God’s Word: “when I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself” (Hab. 3:16).

Further, insists Burroughs, “such fear as subdues the heart to the power of the word, subdues the thoughts, the opinions, the conscience, the will, [and] the affections to the power of the word.” Burroughs also emphasizes the point that a truly sanctified trembling of the heart will be habitual and not only on sudden occasions:

Many times God strikes some sudden flashes of terror into the hearts of men and women, but they vanish and come to nothing. But this trembling at God’s word that the Lord so highly esteems is a constant, habitual disposition of soul. It is not, therefore, only at some apprehensions of God’s displeasure, but lets God speak peace to the soul. (I beseech you observe this point). Let God speak peace never so much to this soul, yet still it continues trembling at the word of God. Many men will tremble at God’s word in time of their sickness and affliction, but let them have quiet and outward peace and ease; then their trembling is gone. But a gracious heart trembles at the word of God even when it has a most quiet conscience. [42]

Five reasons are given why God prizes a sanctified trembling heart: 1) it is a disposition that glorifies God’s Word; 2) it is a disposition that greatly honors God; 3) because God loves a broken heart; 4) it is a serious heart, and God loves a serious disposition; and 5) it is a disposition that is teachable. [43] Burroughs then turns to the benefits that flow from applying God’s injunctions to worship. In his application Burroughs shows the graciousness of God towards those who tremble with awe at the Word, by noting that God “does not judge as men judge.” Men call “the proud happy, but God calls the trembling heart the happy man.” Indeed, though despised by the world “there is no object in heaven or earth that pleases God better than such a one that trembles at His word.” [44]

Burroughs is also very aware of his own responsibility as a minister of God’s Word, as he recognizes that if such a disposition so pleases God it is imperative that he or any other minister of God’s Word “must not come to dally and play with men’s fancies nor their own wit.” Preachers must not preach with what the Apostle Paul calls the “enticing words of man’s wisdom” (1 Cor. 2:4). Such preaching may “commend the man, but condemn the word” for it is definitely not preaching in “demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Cor. 2:4). Burroughs is adamant that when “a minister of God comes in God’s name and preaches in the demonstration of the Spirit...he preaches with power, such power as prevails with the consciences of men.” [45]

Likewise, “the ministers of Christ ought to speak in the name of Christ, as being backed with the authority of Christ, as men who have to deal with men’s consciences.” The preacher should labor not to account their honor in “the humms [sic] of people, [or] in their applause, but in their crying out, ‘What must I do to be saved?’” The reason why Burroughs advocated such preaching is to be found in the sufficiency of Scripture: “There is matter enough in the word of God to make any heart tremble if it is delivered as the word of God.” [46]

In his application Burroughs sets out several “streams of consolation” which “flow into the hearts of such as tremble at God’s word.” These streams include a knowledge that “God has begun to enlighten the soul,” and that with the “very words of salvation God intends...in a special manner” to the soul. Such consolation is to be gathered from “the promises in Scripture,” which clearly state that “the Lord will reveal Himself to this soul,” that is, to the soul that trembles at God’s Word. However, it might be, warns Burroughs, that “for the present He does not do it, yet wait upon Him and the Lord will make known the most glorious things to you.” Burroughs also reminds his hearers that “God will honour His word before men and angels.... Be sure that there is a time coming that the Lord will make His word honourable before all the world, and, therefore, happy are those that tremble at it now in reverencing it.” Indeed, says Burroughs, there are those who will say, “blessed be God that while I lived I trembled at the word, that the Lord has now come to make so glorious before men and angels.” [47]

Contrary to this, Burroughs reminds his hearers, are “those who are far from such a disposition of heart as this is” and “go on in a constant way of disobedience against the word of God, in a way of rebellion against the word.” Such make it the foundation of their “peace and present rest and comfort...[that] things will not prove as bad as they are revealed in the word,” “as bad as ministers preach out of the word.” What follows is a stinging reproof from Burroughs: “Cursed be that peace, that comfort...that has no other ground for it but to hope God’s word is not true.” “Cursed is the hope that is grounded on no other ground,” says Burroughs. [48] These are provocative statements, but surely they are uttered in defence of the integrity and authority of God’s Word and with the desire to awaken the impenitent from the fearful slumber they are in.

Furthermore, those who do not reverence, nor tremble at the Word, but “cavil against the word as if the word were their equal,” live “in a way of rebellion against the word,” “have their hearts raised against God’s word,” and who also “rage at the word of God,” well, laments Burroughs, “the Lord cannot but with judgement look upon such object[s]…. O, it is impossible that the Lord should look upon them without destruction.” A further reminder is given to this category of people by Burroughs: “Know that the word you do not fear is working your destruction,” which the glory that God’s sovereignty, majesty, holiness, and justice demand. But not willing to end on such a note, Burroughs urges them: “Entreat God that He would show unto your soul the glory of His name,” not “as a curse” but “as a blessing.” [49]

Conclusions

The sermons of Burroughs we have been considering proclaim an explicit message: the One whom Burroughs describes as “glorious in all His attributes and works” will have from man what man was created for, and in a way that will exalt and glorify God. In other words, “God will be honored in all His works of creation and providence” as a holy God, for “it is the end of the great council of God from eternity, that He might manifest the beauty of His holiness.” And this God will do by those “two great attributes, mercy and justice”: mercy to those who will tremble at the Word of God and reverence the God of the Word. Indeed, declares Burroughs, “it is the great business for which the Son of God came into the world: that He might redeem to Himself a people to serve Him in holiness.” [50] But until that great day when God will be manifested in all His glory, “let us all...labour,” exhorts Burroughs, “for such a blessed disposition of heart...[will] be to the honour of the great God.... Let us lay upon our hearts the meditation of how much there is in the word, and consider the majesty of God that is there.” [51]

Burroughs is also careful in these sermons to strike a balance between his presentation of the excellency of God and its practical application. This balance is articulated clearly in these instructions: “As God is all glorious in His holiness so set Him out in His glory by keeping His worship pure.” “Especially,” says Burroughs in Gospel Fear, “look to your heart, to cleanse it when you draw near to this holy God in this holy worship.” [52] The high esteem for worship that Burroughs portrayed, as we have discovered in our analysis of his Gospel Worship, flows from his concept of God. In this work, Burroughs gives us a penetrating analysis of worship, but even before he comes to define what proper worship is, he is insistent on a proper preparation for worship. This is very important for Burroughs and implies that, for him, proper worship cannot take place without due preparation.

Much can be gleaned from the way Burroughs handles his subject in general and his insistence that worship must be conducted in a proper manner, but none more so than in the way he links the hearing of God’s Word to worship. In Gospel Worship, Burroughs highlights not only the preaching of God’s Word, but the Puritan insistence on how the Word is to be heard: with the heart and with the head. This is an important concept for Burroughs, as is evidenced by the great lengths to which he goes to show the necessity of using both the intellect and the emotions in recognizing the authority of the Word over us in everything—our estates, our bodies, and our souls.

Such preaching was undoubtedly powerful and apt to put the fear of God into those who heard these sermons, but it was not Burroughs’s intention solely to present the awesomeness of God coupled with a warning of judgment. His goal was that those who were given the opportunity of worshiping God in the hearing of His Word would recognize the great privilege that was being accorded to them and glorify God for it. This privilege also showed the graciousness of God towards such people as they are the recipients of genuine comfort and blessing in the hearing of the Word of God preached. This message is so contrary to those which are all about the “feel good” factor and one’s own self-esteem rather than living to the glory of God.

Notes

1. Jeremiah Burroughs, The Saints Treasury (London: for John Wright, 1654), 27, 26.
2. Ibid., 27, 28, 24.
3. Jeremiah Burroughs, Gospel Worship: or The Right Manner of Sanctifying the Name of God (London: for Peter Cole and R. W. 1648), 5, 8.
4. Ibid., 13, 14, 17, 22.
5. Ibid., 39-40.
6. See R. Jeffs, ed., The English Revolution: Fast Sermons to Parliament 1640-1641 (London: Cornmarket Press, 1971), which speaks to this very point. Parliamentarians were also advocating the setting up of true religion in the nation, as may be seen in the many addresses made before Parliament.
7. Burroughs, Gospel Worship, 41, 42, 43, 44.
8. Ibid., 45.
9. Ibid., 42.
10. Ibid., 46.
11. Ibid., 52, 53.
12. Ibid., 55, 56.
13. Ibid., 57, 58, 59.
14. Ibid., 59, 60, 61.
15. Ibid., 71.
16. Ibid., 72, 73, 74, 78, 80, 84.
17. Ibid., 93-103.
18. Ibid., 102.
19. For sermons on the Lord’s Supper, see The Puritans on the Lord’s Supper (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1997). This work consists of sermons by Richard Vines, Edmund Calamy, Thomas Wentworth, Joseph Alleine, and Thomas Watson. For sermons on prayer, see The Puritans on Prayer (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1995), which consists of The Saint’s Daily Exercise by John Preston, The Spirit of Prayer by Nathaniel Vincent, and Secret Prayer by Samuel Lee. Two other important Puritan works on prayer are Gospel Incense, or a Practical Treatise on Prayer by Thomas Cobbet (Pittsburgh, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1993), and The Lord’s Prayer in A Body of Divinity by Thomas Watson (Grand Rapids: Sovereign Grace Publishers, n.d.).
20. Burroughs, Gospel Worship, 162, 163.
21. Ibid., 165.
22. Ibid., 165.
23. Ibid.
24. Ibid., 167, 170, 175.
25. Ibid., 175.
26. Ibid., 175, 176, 177.
27. Ibid., 177, 178, 179.
28. Ibid., 178, 182, 184, 190, 179, 180.
29. Ibid., 179, 180.
30. Ibid., 183, 184.
31. Ibid., 184, 184-185, 185, 186, 187, 186.
32. Ibid., 190, 192, 194.
33. Ibid., 193, 200, 202, 214, 215.
34. Ibid., 181, 182.
35. Ibid., 181, 182.
36. Ibid., 195.
37. Jeremiah Burroughs, Gospel Fear,: or The Heart Trembling at the Word of God Evidences a Blessed Frame of Spirit (London, 1674), 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16.
38. Ibid., 18, 22.
39. Ibid., 23, 24, 25, 29.
40. Ibid., 30, 32.
41. Ibid., 42.
42. Ibid., 45-46.
43. Ibid., 47, 48, 51.
44. Ibid., 53.
45. Ibid.
46. Ibid., 54, 55.
47. Ibid., 56, 57, 59, 62.
48. Ibid., 56, 58, 60.
49. Ibid., 57, 58, 60, 61, 63, 63-64, 65.
50. Burroughs, The Saints Treasury, 15, 18.
51. Burroughs, Gospel Fear, 64.
52. Burroughs, The Saints Treasury, 26, 27.