A30598:252
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.
Answ. But the Seas they move upon that which is still and immovable, there is nothing moves but it hath something immovable that doth uphold it: The wheels in a Coach they move up and down, but the axletree that moves not up and down; so it is with the heart of a man. As they say of the Heaven, it moves up and down upon a pole that is immovable: so it is in the heart of a man, if he will move to do service to God he must have a steady heart within him, that must help him to move in the service of God, those that have unsteady disquiet spirits that have no steadfastness at all in them, they are not fit to do service for God, but such as have steadfastness in their spirits they are men and women fit to do any service, and that's the reason that when the Lord hath any great work for any servants of his to do, usually he doth first quiet their spirits, he doth bring their spirits into a quiet sweet frame to be contented with any thing, and then he sets them about employment.
Answ. But the Seas they move upon that which is still and immovable, there is nothing moves but it hath something immovable that doth uphold it: The wheels in a Coach they move up and down, but the exletree that moves not up and down; so it is with the heart of a man. As they say of the Heaven, it moves up and down upon a pole that is immovable: so it is in the heart of a man, if he will move to do service to God he must have a steady heart within him, that must help him to move in the service of God, those that have unsteady disquiet spirits that have no steadfastnesse at all in them, they are not fit to do service for God, but such as have steadfastnesse in their spirits they are men and women fit to do any service, and that's the reason that when the Lord hath any great work for any servants of his to do, usually he doth first quiet their spirits, he doth bring their spirits into a quiet sweet frame to be contented with any thing, and then he sets them about imployment.
The Fifth excellency is this, Contentment it doth deliver us from abundance of temptations. Oh the temptations that men of discontented spirits are subject to, the Devil loves to fish in troubled waters. That's our proverb of men and women, their disposition is to fish in troubled waters, they say it is good fishing in troubled waters, this is the maxim of the Devil, he loves to fish in troubled waters, where he sees the spirits men and women troubled and vexed, there the Devil comes, saith he, there's good fishing for me, when he sees men and women go discontented up and down and he can get them alone, then he comes with his temptations, saith he, will you suffer such a thing? take such a shifting indirect way, do not you see how poor you are, others are brave, you know not what you shall do against winter, to provide fuel and get bread for you and your children, and so he tempts them to unlawful courses; this is the special distemper that the Devil fastens upon, when