A30598:575
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 SAINTS DUTY IN TIMES OF EXTREMITY.THE SAINTS DVTY IN TIMES OF EXTREMITY.
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.
5. Reas. This makes people unfit to listen to any thing that is spoken to them; let any thing be spoken to them, that is of any use, they eannor hear it, nor make use of it; as we read of the people of Israel, Exod. 6.9. when Moses came to tell them of their deliverance, the text saith, He spake to the Children of Israel, but they hearkened not to him: why? for anguish of spirit: How many in trouble of conscience, and in other times of extremity, have their spirits in such anguish, that they never hearken ⟨p. 324⟩to any thing that is delivered to them; and therefore they come with the same objection over and over again, a hundred times in cases of conscience.
5. Reas. This makes people unfit to listen to any thing that is spoken to them; let any thing be spoken to them, that is of any use, they eannor hear it, nor make use of it; as we reade of the people of Israel, Exod. 6.9. when Moses came to tell them of their deliverance, the text saith, He spake to the Children of Israel, but they hearkned not to him: why? for anguish of spirit: How many in trouble of conscience, and in other times of extremity, have their spirits in such anguish, that they never hearken ⟨p. 324⟩to any thing that is delivered to them; and therefore they come with the same objection over and over again, a hundred times in cases of conscience.
6. Without this Quietness of spirit, you are mighty hinderers of others, and you daunt and discourage the hearts of others, and many times the cause miscarries merely upon the unquietness of the hearts of men and women in time of danger; therefore you must be quiet, and look up to God for salvation; for Faith hath this excellency, that it is able to bring life out of death, light out of darkness; it hath a kind of creating virtue; as God himself brings one contrary out of another, so faith hath such a kind of working, if faith be of the right stamp, a genuine faith, it hath a mighty power in times of extremity to behold Gods salvation, and make use of it: I'll give you one example of the use of faith in times of extremity; and that is of David, when he fled from Saul, and when he was in the Cave; mark, Be merciful to me O God, be merciful to me, for my soul trusteth in thee, yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge. What was the shadow of Gods wings? poor David was got into the shadow of the Cave, and the Sun did not shine upon him, but he looked upon himself in the Cave, as under the shadow of Gods wings: You poor people that live it may be in Cellars, and in poor dark holes and Lanes, the Sun scarce shines upon you in a year, yet if you be godly, you are under Gods wings by faith.