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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 9: SERMON, IX. 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.
A Fourth aggravation is, The consideration of the freeness of all Gods Mercies to us. What ever we have it is of free-cost, what though we have not all we would have, seeing what we have is free? If what we have were earned, then it were somewhat, but when we consider that all is from God, for us to murmur at his dispensations, is very evil. Suppose a man were in a family entertained by a friend, and he did not pay for his board, but he hath it given him for nothing, its expected such a one should not be ready to find fault with every thing in the house, with servants or with meat at table, or the like, if such a one that hath plentiful provision, and all given him gratis, and pays nothing for his diet, should be discontented, if a Cup should not be filled for him as he would have it, or if he should stay a minute of an hour longer for a thing than he would, this we would account a great evil: So it is with us, we are at Gods Table every day, and it is upon free cost whatever we have. It is accounted very unmannerly for a man at his friends table to find fault with things, though at home he may be bold: Now when we ⟨p. 159⟩are at the table of God (for so all Gods administrations to us are his table) and are at free-cost, now for us to be finding fault, and be discontented, this is a great Aggravation of our sin.
A Fifth Aggravation of the sin of murmuring is this, When men and women murmur, and are discontented and impatient, when they have the things that they were discontented for the want of before they had them. So it is sometimes with children, they will cry for such a thing, and when you give it them, they throw it away, they are as much discontented as they were before. So it was with the people of Israel, nothing would quiet them, but they must have a King, Samuel persuaded them to the contrary, and told them what kind of King they should have; and when they had a King, in Hos. 10.3. What shall a King do to us? they were not contented when they had one. So Rachel, she must have children or else she died, and when she had a little trouble she was discontented too; so that we are neither well full nor fasting (as we use to say.)