A30598:211
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
The rare jewel of Christian contentment wherein is showed, I. What contentment is, II. The holy art or mystery of it, III. Several lessons that Christ teacheth, to work the heart to contentment, IV. The excellencies of it, V. The evils of murmuring, VII. The aggravations of the sin of murmuring / by Jeremiah Burroughs.The rare jewel of Christian contentment wherein is shewed, I. What contentment is, II. The holy art or mystery of it, III. Several lessons that Christ teacheth, to work the heart to contentment, IV. The excellencies of it, V. The evils of murmuring, VII. The aggravations of the sin of murmuring / by Jeremiah Burroughs.
London: printed for Peter Cole, 1649
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
2 There is a burden of danger in it. Men that are in a prosperous condition they are in a great deal of danger, you see some times in the evening when you light up your candles, the moths and the gnats will be flying up and down in the candle, but they scorch their wings, and there they fall down dead; so there is a great deal of danger in a prosperous estate, those men that are set upon a Pinnacle on high, these men they are in greater danger than other men are. Honey we know doth invite Bees and Wasps unto it, and so the sweet of prosperity doth invite the Devil and temptation. Men that are in a prosperous estate are subject to many temptations that other men are not subject to. The Scripture calls the Devil Beelzebub, that is the god of flies, & so Beelzebub come where the honey of prosperity is, they are in very great danger of temptations that are in a prosperous condition. The dangers of men that are in a prosperous estate that have more than others, should be considered of by those that are lower, think with thy self, though they be above me, yet they are in more danger than I am, the tall trees are more shattered a great deal than low shrubs, so you know the ship that hath all the sails up, the top sail & all in a storm, this is in more danger than that that hath all the sails ⟨p. 87⟩drawn in: And so men that have their Top-gallant, and all up and brave, they are more like to be drowned, drowned in perdition than other men are; and therefore you know what the Scripture saith, how hard it is for rich men to go into the kingdom of Heaven: such a text should make poor people to be contented with their estates. We have a notable example for that in the Children of Kohath, you shall find that they were in a more excellent estate than the other of the Levites, but they were in more danger than the other, and more trouble.
2 There is a burden of danger in it. Men that are in a prosperous condition they are in a great deal of danger, you see some times in the evening when you light up your candles, the mothes and the gnats will be flying up and down in the candle, but they scorch their wings, and there they fal down dead; so there is a great deal of danger in a prosperous estate, those men that are set upon a Pinacle on high, these men they are in greater danger than other men are. Honey we know doth invite Bees and Wasps unto it, and so the sweet of prosperity doth invite the Devil and temptation. Men that are in a prosperous estate are subject to many temptations that other men are not subject to. The Scripture cals the Devil Beelzebub, that is the god of flies, & so Beelzebub come where the honey of prosperity is, they are in very great danger of temptations that are in a prosperous condition. The dangers of men that are in a prosperous estate that have more than others, should be considered of by those that are lower, think with thy selfe, though they be above me, yet they are in more danger than I am, the tal trees are more shattered a great deal than low shrubs, so you know the ship that hath all the sails up, the top sail & all in a storm, this is in more danger than that that hath al the sails