A30598:508
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
THE RARE JEWEL OF CHRISTIAN Contentment. › Sermon 11 › Direction 10: The Tenth Direction.
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.
The Tenth Direction.
I beseech you observe this though you should forget many others. Make a good interpretation of Gods ways towards you, if there can be any good interpretation made of Gods ways towards you, make it. Ye think it much if you have a friend that should always make bad interpretations of your ways towards him, you would take that ill: If you should converse with people that you cannot speak a word in their hearing but they are ready to make an ill interpretation of it, and take it in an ill sense, you would think their company to be very tedious to you; it is very tedious to the Spirit of God when we make such ill interpretations of his ways towards us. If God deals with us otherwise than we would have him, if there can be any sense worse than other made of it we will be sure to make it; as thus, when an affliction doth befall you, there may be many good senses made of Gods works towards you, you should think thus, it may be God intends only to try me by this, it may be God saw my heart too much set upon the Creature, and so intends to show me what there is in my heart, it may be that God saw that if my estate did continue I should fall into sin, that the better my estate were the worse my soul would be, it may be God intended only to exercise some grace, it may be God intends to prepare me for some great work which he hath for me, thus you should reason.
I beseech you observe this though you should forget many others. Make a good interpretation of Gods waies towards you, if there can be any good interpretation made of Gods waies towards you, make it. Ye think it much if you have a friend that should alwaies make bad interpretations of your waies towards him, you would take that ill: If you should converse with people that you cannot speak a word in their hearing but they are ready to make an ill interpretation of it, and take it in an ill sense, you would think their company to be very tedious to you; it is very tedious to the Spirit of God when we make such ill interpretations of his waies towards us. If God deals with us otherwise than we would have him, if there can be any sense worse than other made of it we will be sure to make it; as thus, when an affliction doth befal you, there may be many good senses made of Gods works towards you, you should think thus, it may be God intends only to try me by this, it may be God saw my heart too much set upon the Creature, and so intends to shew me what there is in my heart, it may be that God saw that if my estate did continue I should fall into sin, that the better my estate were the worse my soul would be, it may be God intended only to exercise some grace, it may be God intends to prepare me for some great work which he hath for me, thus you should reason.