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The rare jewel of Christian contentment Wherein is showedThe rare jewel of Christian contentment Wherein is shewed
The rare jewel of Christian contentment Wherein is showed; 1. What contentment is. 2. The holy art or mystery of it. 3. Several lessons that Christ teacheth, to work the heart to contentment. 4. The excellencies of it. 5. The evils of murmuring. 6. The aggravations of the sin of murmuring. By Jeremiah Burroughs. The first of the eleven volumes that are published by Thomas Goodwin, William Greenhil, Sydrach Simpson, Philip Nigh, William Bridge, John Yates, William Adderly.The rare jewel of Christian contentment Wherein is shewed; 1. What contentment is. 2. The holy art or mystery of it. 3. Several lessons that Christ teacheth, to work the heart to contentment. 4. The excellencies of it. 5. The evils of murmuring. 6. The aggravations of the sin of murmuring. By Jeremiah Burroughs. The first of the eleven volumes that are published by Thomas Goodwin, William Greenhil, Sydrach Sympson, Philip Nye, William Bridge, John Yates, William Adderly.
London: printed for Ben. Billingsley, 1666
THE RARE JEWEL OF CHRISTIAN CONTENTMENT. › Sermon 6: SERMON, VI. at Stepney. Aug. 31. 1645.
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 sixth Excellency is, The abundant comforts in a mans life that Contentment will bring: Contentment will make mans life exceeding sweet and comfortable, nothing more than the Grace of Contentment; many ways I will show how it brings in Comfort.
The sixth Excellency is, The abundant comforts in a mans life that Contentment will bring: Contentment will make mans life exceeding sweet and comfortable, nothing more than the Grace of Contentment; many ways I will shew how it brings in Comfort.
1. As first, What a man hath, he hath it in a kind of Independent way, not depending upon any creature for his comfort. 2. A contented man whose estate is low, if God raises his estate he hath the love of God in it, and then it's abundantly more sweet than if he had it and his heart not contented; or if he had not the love of God in it: for it may be God grants to a discontented man his desire, but he cannot say it is from love; if a man hath quieted his spirit first, and then God grant him his desire, he may have more comfort in it, and more assurance that he hath the love of God in it. 3. This Contentment is a comfort to a mans spirit in this, That it doth keep in his comforts, and keep out whatsoever may damp his comforts, or put out the light of them. I may compare this Grace of Contentment to a Mariners Lantern, a Mariner when he is at sea, let him have never so much provision in his Ship, yet if he be thousands of leagues from land, or in a rode that he shall not ⟨p. 111⟩meet with a Ship in three or four months, if he hath never a Lantern in his Ship, nor nothing whereby he may keep a Candle light in a storm, he will be in a sad condition, he would give a great deal to have a Lantern, or something that may serve instead of it. When a storm comes in the night, and he cannot have any light come above board, but it is puffed out presently, his condition is very sad: so many men can have light of comfort when there is no storm, but let there come but any affliction, any storm upon them, their light is puffed out presently, and what shall they do now? when the heart is furnished with this Grace of Contentment, this Grace is (as it were) the Lantern, and it keeps comfort in the spirit of a man, light in the midst of a storm and tempest. When you have a Lantern in the midst of a storm you can carry a light every where up and down the ship to the top of the Mast if you will, and yet keep it light; so the comfort of a Christian when it is enlivened with the Grace of Contentment, it may be kept light whatever storms or tempests come, yet he can keep light in his soul, Oh! this helps thy comforts exceeding much.