The rare jewel of Christian contentment. By Jeremiah Burroughs, preacher of the Gospel to…The rare jevvel of Christian contentment. By Jeremiah Burroughs, preacher of the Gospel to…

Ob. But you will say it is true if I could honour God in my low estate as much as in my prosperous estate then it were somewhat, but how can that be?

Answ. You must know the special honour that God hath from his creatures in this world, it is the manifestation of the Graces of his spirit; It's true, God hath a great deal of honour when a man is in a public place, and so he is able to do a great deal of good, to countenance Godliness, and discountenance Sin, but the main thing is in our showing forth the virtues of him that hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light. Now if I can say that through Gods mercy in my affliction I find the Graces of Gods spirit working as strongly in me as ever they did when I had my estate, I am where I was, yea I am fully in as good a condition, for I have that good now that I had in my prosperous estate, for I accounted the good of it but in my enjoyment of God, and honouring of God, and now God hath blest the want of it to stir up the Graces of his spirit in my soul, and this is the work that now God calls me to, and I must account God is most honoured when I do the work that he calls me to, he set me a work in my prosperous estate at that time, to honour him in that condition; and now he sets me a work at this time to honour him in this condition: Now God is most honoured when I can turn from one condition to another according as he calls me to it; would you account your selves to be honoured by your servants, when you set them about a work that hath some excellency, and they will go on and on, and you cannot get them off from it? Now let the work be never so good, yet if you will call them off to another work you do expect that they should manifest so much respect to you as to be content to come off from that, though they be set about a meaner work, if it be more suitable to your ends. So you were in a prosperous estate, and there God called you to some service that you took some pleasure in; but suppose God saith, I will use you in suffering condition, and I will have you honour me in that way, now here's the honouring ⟨p. 82⟩of God that you can turn this way or that way, as God calls you to it; thus now you having learned this, that the good of the Creature consists in the enjoyment of God in it, and the honouring of God by it, you can be content, because you have the same good that you had before, and that's the fifth Lesson,