A30598:99
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.
Obj. But you will say, This that you speak of is good indeed ⟨p. 26⟩if we could attain to it, but is it possible for one to attain to this?
Obj. But you will say, This that you speake of is good indeed ⟨p. 26⟩if we could attain to it, but is it possible for one to attain to this?
Answer. It is if you get skill in the Art of it, you may attain to it, and it will prove to be no such difficult thing to you neither, if you understand but the mystery of it; as there's many things that men do in their callings, that if a country man comes and sees, he thinks it a mighty hard thing, and that he should never be able to do it, but that's because he understands not the art of it, there is a turning of the hand so as you may do it with ease. Now that's the business of this exercise, to open unto you the art and mystery of Contentment: What way a Christian comes to Contentment, there is a great Mystery and art in it, by that hath been opened to you there will appear some mystery and art, as that a man should be content with his affliction and yet throughly sensible of his affliction too, to be throughly sensible of an affliction, and to endeavour the removing of it by all lawful means, and yet to be content, there's a mystery in that, how to join these two together to be sensible of an affliction as much as that man or woman that is not content, I am sensible of it as fully as they, and I seek ways to be delivered from it as well as they, and yet still my heart abides content, this is I say a mystery that is very hard to be understood by a carnal heart; but grace doth teach such a mixture, doth teach us how to make a mixture of sorrow and a mixture of joy together; and that makes Contentment, the mingling of joy and sorrow, of gracious joy and gracious sorrow together, grace teaches us how to moderate and to order an affliction so as there shall be a sense of it, and yet for all that Contentment under it.