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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 8: SERMON, VIII. at Stepney. Sept. 21. 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 Eight evil that there is in murmuring and discontent is this, There is a great deal of folly, extreme folly in a discontented heart, its a foolish sin. I shall open the folly of it in many particulars.
The Eight evil that there is in murmuring and discontent is this, There is a great deal of folly, extream folly in a discontented heart, its a foolish sin. I shall open the folly of it in many particulars.
1. It takes away the present comfort of what you have, because you have not somewhat that you would have. What a foolish thing is this, that because I have not what I would have, I will not enjoy the comfort of what I have? Do not you account this folly in your children, you give them some victuals and they are not contented, perhaps (they say) its not enough, they cry for more, and if you do not presently give them more they will throw away that they have, and though you account that folly in your Children, yet you deal thus with God; God gives you many mercies, but you see others have more mercies ⟨p. 139⟩than you, and therefore you cry for more; I but God gives you not what you would have, and upon that you throw away what you have, Is not this folly in your hearts? It is unthankfulness. 2. There's a great deal of folly in discontentment, for by all your discontent you cannot help your selves, you cannot get any thing by it. Who can by taking any carking care add one cubit to his stature, or make one hair that is white, to be black? You may vex and trouble your selves, but you can get nothing by it. Do you think that the Lord will come in a way of mercy ever a whit the sooner because of the murmuring of your spirits? Oh no, but mercy will be rather deferred the longer for it; though the Lord were before in a way of mercy, yet this distemper of your hearts were enough to put him out of his course of mercy, and though he had thoughts that you should have the thing before, yet now you shall not have it. If you had a mind to give such a thing to your child, yet if you see him in a discontented fretting way, you will not give it him; and this is the very reason why there are so many mercies denied to you, because of your discontentment, you are discontented for want of them, and therefore you have them not, you do deprive your selves of the enjoyment of your own desires because of the discontent of your hearts, because you have not your desires, And is not this a foolish thing? 3. There's a great deal of folly in this, There are many foolish carriages commonly that a discontented hear is guilty of: They carry themselves foolishly towards God and towards men; there are such expressions, and such kind of behaviour comes from them, as makes their friends to be ashamed of them many times; their carriages are so unseemly, they are a shame to themselves, and their friends.