The Excellency of a Gracious Spirit: Delivered in a Treatise on Numbers 14:24

I highly recommend this book to those who are willing to allow the Lord to use Jeremiah Burroughs to show them the quality of their own spirit - whether it be a base, mean spirit or an excellent, gracious spirit. Otherwise, it is just a "good" book.

Puritan ministers are peculiarly gifted to be soul surgeons. Someone commented on their ability in this area, "Read the Puritans and they will read you." It is one of their specialties to use the Scripture as sharper than double-edged sword to perform Spirit-driven spiritual surgeries, to judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart as the epistle to the Hebrews puts it, to run a diagnosis on the state and the health of the soul; specifically to detect lukewarmness, backsliding, hypocrisy and apostasy. This is what Jeremiah Burrough does here in "The Excellency of A Gracious Spirit" which I observe has a similar content to his other book, "Spots of the Godly and of the Wicked." While there are other passages that teach how to test the sincerity and the genuineness of faith or the reality of grace as the principal ruling power in one's soul such as the words of Christ Himself speaking of the analogy with the way to know the state of a tree by looking at the fruits it produces, or the first epistle of John; replete with the marks of a regenerate soul, or the plethora of dreadful warnings of apostasy scattered throughout Hebrews, here Burrough does the same from a very short, yet loaded commendation that God spoke of Caleb in whom is "another spirit" with him, and as one who has followed Him fully (Numbers 14:24). Half of the book talks about the marks and excellencies of "another spirit" after explaining that "another spirit" is no other than a regenerate spirit. Near the end of the first part he includes a delightful thought; something I can attest its verity in chapter nine, that "communion and conversation with men of such excellent spirits is a most blessed thing," (p.94-96). Though I may not know personally many of these excellent spirits because they either live far away from where I live or are dead, but I have been tremendously blessed from their literatures of solid theology; Burrough being one of them. Just as Luther said that I can relate to that some of his best friends are dead ones. Now out of all the marks covered in the first section, an eminent evidence of a gracious spirit is explored further in the second half of the book, that is, "a gracious spirit is one that follows the Lord fully." While this does not imply a sinless perfection, it does imply a decisiveness of the gracious influence that manifests in lifestyle and worldviews, distinguishing itself clearly from the unregenerate spirits. There is plenty of rich practical theology to savor and ponder on for self-examination. I personally enjoy more of the feast here than in the first part of the book, though I have to say I enjoy it with trembling. Consider, when speaking of one way to know the earnestness in following the Lord being in the midst of adversity, "It is nothing to follow Him when our comforts, peace, ease and honor go along together with Him. It can not then be known whether we follow Him or not, or whether it is our own ends that we follow... When God is follo