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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 1: SERMON, I. at Stepney. July 27. 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.
Thirdly, This freedom it is in opposition to stupidness, for a man or woman may be contented merely out of want of sense, this is not free, as a man in a dead palsy that doth not feel you nip his flesh, he is not freely patient; but if one should have his flesh nipped, and feel it, and yet for all that can be able to bridle himself, and do it freely, that is another matter. So it is here, many are contented merely out of stupidness, they have a dead palsy upon them; but now a gracious heart hath sense enough, and yet is contented, and therefore is free.
Thirdly, This freedom it is in opposition to stupidness, for a man or woman may be contented meerly out of want of sense, this is not free, as a man in a dead palsie that doth not feel you nip his flesh, he is not freely patient; but if one should have his flesh nipt, and feel it, and yet for all that can be able to bridle himself, and do it freely, that is another matter. So it is here, many are contented meerly out of stupidness, they have a dead palsie upon them; but now a gracious heart hath sense enough, and yet is contented, and therefore is free.
Sixthly, Freely [submitting] to, and taking complacency in Gods dispose. Submitting to Gods dispose, What is that? The word Submit, it signifies nothing else but to send under; as thus, One that is discontented, the heart will be unruly, and would even get above God so far as discontentment prevails; but now Comes the grace of Contentment and sends it under; to submit, it is to send under a thing; now when the soul comes to see the unruliness that there is in it, here's the hand of God that brings an affliction, and my heart is troubled and discontented; what saith the Soul? Wilt thou be above God? Is it not Gods hand, and must thy will be regarded more than Gods? O under, under O thou soul, get under, keep under, keep low, keep under Gods feet; thou art under Gods feet, and keep under his feet, keep under the Authority of God, the Majesty of God, the Sovereignty of God, the Power that God hath over thee: Keep under, that is to submit; then the Soul can submit to God, when it can send it self under the Power and Authority, and Sovereignty, and Dominion that God hath over it; that is the Sixth Particular: Yea but that is not enough, yet you have not got to this grace of Contentment, except in the next place you take.