A30598:290
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. The usual way is for God to make the soul to see and be sensible of the dreadful evil that there is in sin, and the great breach that sin hath made between God and it, for certainly ⟨p. 123⟩Jesus Christ can never be known in his beauty and excellency till the soul know that. I do not speak what secret work of the Holy-Ghost there may be in the soul, but before the soul can actually apply Jesus Christ to its self, it is impossible but it must come to know the evil of sin, and the excellency of Jesus Christ: there may be a seed of faith put into the soul, but the soul must first know Christ, and know sin, and be made sensible of it. Now how contrary is this sin of murmuring to any such work of God; hath God made me see the dreadful evil of sin, and made my soul to be sensible of the evil of sin as the greatest burden? how can I then be so much troubled for every little affliction? certainly if I saw what the evil of sin were, that sight would swallow up all other evils, and if I were burdened with the evil of sin, it would swallow up all other burdens; what am I now murmuring against Gods hand (saith such a soul) when as a while ago the Lord made me see my self to be a damned wretch, and apprehend it as a wonder that I am not in Hell?
Answ. The usual way is for God to make the soul to see and be sensible of the dreadful evil that there is in sin, and the great breach that sin hath made between God and it, for certainly ⟨p. 123⟩Jesus Christ can never be known in his beauty and excellency till the soule know that. I do not speak what secret work of the Holy-Ghost there may be in the soul, but before the soul can actually apply Jesus Christ to its self, it is impossible but it must come to know the evil of sin, and the excellency of Jesus Christ: there may be a seed of faith put into the soul, but the soul must first know Christ, and know sin, and be made sensible of it. Now how contrary is this sin of murmuring to any such work of God; hath God made me see the dreadful evil of sin, and made my soul to be sensible of the evil of sin as the greatest burden? how can I then be so much troubled for every little affliction? certainly if I saw what the evill of sin were, that sight would swallow up all other evils, and if I were burdened with the evil of sin, it would swallow up all other burdens; what am I now murmuring against Gods hand (saith such a soul) when as a while ago the Lord made me see my self to be a damned wretch, and apprehend it as a wonder that I am not in Hell?