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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30598	The rare jewel of Christian contentment wherein is shewed, I. What contentment is, II. The holy art or mystery of it, III. Several lessons that Christ teacheth, to work the heart to contentment, IV. The excellencies of it, V. The evils of murmuring, VII. The aggravations of the sin of murmuring / by Jeremiah Burroughs.	Burroughs, Jeremiah, 1599-1646.	1649 (1649)	Wing B6103; ESTC R32016	217,805	276

immoderately in his own private comforts when the Church is in affliction when the publick suffers grievous and hard troubles if any man shall then rejoyce and give liberty to himself at that time to satisfie his flesh to the uttermost in all outward comforts this is a great aggravation of his sin So on the contrary for any man to be immoderately troubled for any private afflictions when it goes well with the publick with the Churches this is a great aggravation of his sin It may be when the Church of God was lowest and it went worst in other parts yet thou didst abate nothing of the comfort of thy flesh but gavest full liberty to satisfie thy flesh as formerly know this was thy great sin so on the other side when we have received such mercies in publick we should have all our private afflictions swallowed up in the publick merci●s and we should think with our selves though we be afflicted for our particular yet blessed be God it goes well with the Church and with the publick the consideration of that should mightily quiet our hearts in all our private discontents and if it doth not so know that our sin is much increased by the mercies of God that are abroad Now shall Gods mercies aggravate our sins This is a sad thing this is to turne the mercies of God to be our misery Did'st not thou pray to God for these mercies that God hath sent of late to the publick these great victories that God hath given did'st not thou pray for them now thou hast them Is not there enough in them to quiet thy heart for some privat trouble thou meetest withall in thy family Is not there goodness enough there to cure thy discontentment Certainly they were not such mercies worthy to be prayed for except they have so much excellency in them as to countervail some private afflictions Publick mercies are the aggravation of privat discontent as so of publick discontent too if we receive so many publick mercies yet if every thing goes not in the publick according as we desire if we be discontent at that it will exceedingly aggravate our sin God may say what shall I bestow such mercies upon a people and yet if they have not every thing they would have they will be discontent Oh! it's exceeding evil So in particular the mercies that concerns thy self thy family if thou wouldest consider thou hast a great many more mercies than thou had'st afflictions I dare boldly aver it concerning any one in this Congregation suppose thy afflictions be what they will there is never a one of you but that have more mercies than afflictions Object You will say I but you do not know what our afflictions are our afflictions are so as you do not conceive of them because you feel them not Answ Though I cannot know what your afflictions are yet I know what your mercies are and I know they are so great as I am sure there can be no afflictions in this world so great as the mercies you have If it we●e but this mercy that you have this day of grace and salvation continued to you it 's a greater mercie than any affliction set any affliction by this mercie and see which would weigh heaviest this is certainly greater than any affliction that you have the day of grace and salvation that you are not now in Hell this is a greater mercie that you have the sound of the Gospel yet in your ears that you have the use of your reason this is a greater mercie than your afflictions that you have the use of your limbs your sences that you have the health of your bodies health of body is a greater mercy than poverty is an affliction there is no man that is rich but if he be wise if he hath a sickly body he would part with all his riches that he might have his health therefore thy mercies are more than thy afflictions We find in Scripture how the holy Ghost doth aggravate the sin of discontent from the consideration of mercies you have a notable Scripture for it in the 16 of Numb 8. verse c. It 's a speech of Moses to Korah and his company when they murmured And Moses said unto Korah hear I pray you ye sons of Levi there 's somewhat that you are sons of Levi Seemeth it but a small thing unto you that the God of Israel hath separated you from the Congregation of Israel to bring you neer to himself to do the service of the Tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the Congregation to minister unto them Korah and his company were murmuring but mark how Moses aggravates this Seemeth it a smal thing unto you that the God of Israel hath separated you from the Congregation of Israel to bring you neer to himselfe to do the service of the Tabernacle of the Lord c. You see 't is a great honour that God puts upon a man a great mercy that he doth bestow upon any man to seperate him from others for himself to come neer to him to imploy him in the service of the Tabernacle to minister to the Congregation in holy things this is a great mercy and indeed it 's such a mercy as one would think there should be none that God bestows such a mercy upon that should have a murmuring heart for any affliction It 's true many Ministers of God they meet with hard things that might discourage them and trouble and grieve their spirits but now this consideration that God is pleased to imploy them in such a service neer to himself that though they cannot do good to themselves yet they may do good to others this should quiet them And yet in the 10. verse And he hath brought thee neer to him and all thy Brethren the Sons of Levi with thee and seek ye the Priest-hood also have not you enough already but still you are discontented with what you have and must have more seek ye yet more Seek ye the Priest-hood also for which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord And what is Aaron that ye murmur against him what hath God given you such things and yet will you be murmuring because you cannot have more Me thinks that this place should keep Ministers from murmuring though they should meet with never such afflictions and crosses and unkind dealings from men yet still they should go on with hearts quieted and comforted in the work that God hath set them about and labour to countervaile all their Afflictions by being more abundant in the work of the Lord. That is the first text of Scripture that shews how the mercies we enjoy are Aggravations to the sin of murmuring And then a second Scripture is in the 2. of Job 10. vers A speech of Job to his wife what saith Job when his wife would have had him curse God and die that was a degree beyond murmuring saith he Thou speakest

of affliction takes not away sense of mercies Page 165 2 It hinders not Duty ibid 3 It will make us bless God for the mercies of others ibid 2 Plea My trouble is for my sins 1 It is not if you were not troubled for sin before Page 166 2 When the greatest care is to remove affliction ibid 3 If after affliction is removed sin troubles not ibid 4 If there be not care to avoid sin after Page 167 5 There is the more cause to accept of the punishment ibid 3 Plea God withdraws himself 1 We think God is departed when he doth but afflict Page 168 2 Disquiet is a sign and cause of Gods departure ibid 3 If God depart from us we should not from him Page 169 4 Plea I am troubled for mens ill dealing 1 Men are Gods instrrments Page 170 2 We should rather pity them than murmur Page 171 3 We have righteous dealing with God ibid 5 Plea It is an affliction I looked not for 1 It is folly not to look for afflictions ibid 2 We should be more careful of our carriage in it Page 172 6 Plea The affliction is exceeding great 1 It is not so great as thy sins ibid 2 It might have been greater Page 173 3 It is greater for thy murmuring ibid 7 Plea It is greater than others afflictions Answered in 4 things Page 173 8 Plea If any other affliction they could be content Answered in 4 things Page 174 9 Plea My afflictions make me unservicable to God 1 Though thou art mean thou art a member of the body Page 176 2 Thy generall calling is high Page 177 3 Thou art equal with Angels ibid 4 God highly esteems the actions of mean Christians Page 178 5 Faithfulness in a mean calling shall be rewarded ibid 10. Plea My condition is unsetled 1 Every man in his setled estate is vanity Page 179 2 God will have us live in dependance ibid 3 Thy spiritual condition may be setled Page 181 11 Plea I have been in a better condition 1 Thy eye should not he evill because the eye of God hath been good Page 182 2 Prosperity was to prepare thee for affliction ibid 12 Plea I am crost after much pains 1 The greater the cross the more the obedience Page 184 2 Thy pains should be with submission to God Page 185 3 Contentment in such a condition is a testimony of more love to God ibid 13 Plea Distempers of heart accounted as words before God ibid Considerations to work the heart to Contentment 1 Consid The greatness of the mercies we have Page 187 2 God is beforehand with us with mercies Page 188 3 The abundance of mercies we enjoy Page 189 4 All creatures in a visicitude ib. 5 The creature suffers for us ibid 6 We have little time in the world Page 190 7 It hath been the condition of our betters Page 191 8 We were once content with the world without grace and should now with grace without the world Page 193 9 When we had Contentment we gave not God the glory ibid 10 Experience of Gods doing us good in afflictions ibid Directions to Contentment 1 There must be grace to make the soul steady Page 195 2 Not to gripe too much of the world ibid 3 Have a cal in every business Page 196 4 Walk by rule ibid 5 Exercise much faith Page 197 6 Labour to be spiritually minded Page 198 7 Promise not your selves great things Page 200 8 Get mortified hearts to the world ibid 9 Pore not too much on afflictions Page 201 10 Make a good construction of Gods wayes towards us Page 202 11 Regard not others fancies but what we feel Page 205 12 Be not inordinately taken with the comforts of the world Page 206 The CONTENTS of the last Sermon On EXODVS 14.13 STanding still five waies evill Page 304 Good three wayes Page 307 Doct. 1 When God is in a way of salvation he may bring his people into straights Page 311 Reasons 1 Because God will humble them Page 313 2 He delights in the exercise of their faith Page 315 3 He delights in their prayers Page 316 4 To discover those that are evill ibid 5 That the adversaries may vent theie malice Page 317 6 That Christs work may appear the more ibid Use Not to sink because of straights Page 318 Doct. 2. In straights Gods people are mightily troubled ibid Reasons 1 Because there is much flesh in the best Page 319 2 There is a great deal of guilt ib. 3 There is self-confidence ib. Use 1 To blame our selves for sinking in straights Page 320 2 To think what will become of wicked men ibid Doct. 3 In those straits we should quiet our selves and look for Gods salvation Page 321 1. Quiet our selves 1 Because then we are fit to look to the wisdom faithfulness and power of God Page 322 2 Because else we cannot make use of our graces ibid 3 We cannot shew our subjection to God Page 323 4 Nor our reverence to God ib. 5 We cannot make use of that we hear ib. 6 We shall hinder others Page 224 2 To expect salvation from God 1 Hereby we sanctifie Gods Name ib. 2 This shews the excellency of faith Page 325 3 It engageth God in our Cause ib. Doct. 4 The sight of salvation after straits a glorious thing Page 328 FINIS THE RARE JEWEL OF CHRISTIAN Contentment PHILIPPIANS 4.11 For I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content HERE is a very seasonable Cordial to revive the drooping spirits of the Saints in these sad and sinking times For the hour of temptation is already come upon all the world to try the Inhabitants of the earth and in special this is the day of Jacobs troubles in our owne bowels Our great Apostle experimentally holds forth in this Gospel-Text the very life and soul of all practical Divinity wherein we may plainly reade his own proficiency in Christs School and what lesson every Christian that would evidence the power and growth of godliness in his own soul must necessarily learn from him These words are brought in by Paul as a plain argument to perswade the Philippians that he did not seek after great things in the world and that he sought not theirs but them He did not passe for a great estate he had better things to take up his heart withal I do not speak saith he in respect of want For whether I have or have not my heart is fully satisfied I have enough I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content I have learned Contentment in every condition is a great art a spiritual mystery It is to be learned and so to be learned as a mystery And therefore verse 12. he affirms I know how to be ab●sed and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed The word which is translated Instructed is derived from that word which signifies Mystery and it is

as one of the foolish women shall we receive good at the band of God and not evil you see Job did help himself against all murmuring thoughts against the waies of God with this consideration that he had received so much good from the Lord what though we receive evil yet do not we receive good as well as evil let us set one against the other that 's the way we should go In the 17. of Ecclesiastes the 14. vers you have a notable Scripture there whereby you may see what course is to be taken when the heart rises in murmuring In the day of prosperity be joyfull but in the day of Adversity consider what should they consider mark what follows God also hath set the one over against the other to the end that man should find nothing after him God also hath set the one over against the other that 's thus When thou art in prosperity then indeed every man can be joyfull but what if Afflictions befals him what then then consider consider what That God hath set one over against the other thou hast a great deal of Affliction and thou hast had a great deal of prosperity thou hast many troubles and thou hast had many mercies make one column of mercies and one column of afflictions and write one against the other and fee if God hath not fil'd one column as full as the other you look altogether upon your afflictions but look upon your mercies also for instance It may be God hath afflicted you in one child but he hath been merciful to you in another child set one against the other God afflicted David in Absolom but he was merciful to David in Solomon and therefore when David cryed out Oh Absolom my Son my Son if David had thought upon Solomon and cried Oh Solomon my son my son it would have quieted him And it may be God hath been merciful to thee in a wife or in thy husband set that against thy affliction it may be God crosses thee in thy estate but it may be he doth imploy thee in his service it may be thou art afflicted in some of thy friends but thou hast other friends that are great mercies to thee and therefore you should set one against the other and it doth concern you so to do for those mercies will be aggravations of your sins and you had better make Gods mercies a means to lessen your sins than to be the aggravation of your sins If you make not the mercies of God to help you against your murmuring you will make them to be aggravations of the sin of murmuring I beseech you for this take but this one consideration further and if you will but work it upon your hearts I hope you may find a great deal of power in it You find afflictions and your hearts are troubled and murmur consider how Gods mercies doth aggravate this sin thus In the midst of our sins we do make account God should accept of our services do but consider thus if in the midst of our manie sins we hope that God will accept of our poor services why then should not we in the midst of our afflictions blesse God for his manie mercies shall God be thus gracious to us that notwithstanding our many sins yet he will not cast away our poor duties and services that we perform then why should not we in the midst of our sufferings accept of what mercies we have and not slight them and disregard them If thou in the midst of Gods mercies shalt not be willing to bear afflictions that God laies upon thee then it were just with God that in the midst of thy sins he should not regard any of thy duties now is there not as much power in thy manifold sins to cause God to reject thy duties and services as there is power in afflictions in the midst of many mercies to take off thy heart from being affected with Gods mercies And that 's the first aggravation of the sin of murmuring to murmur in the midst of mercies A Second Aggravation of the sin of murmuring is When we murmur for smal things Saith Naamans servant to him Father for so he called him if the Prophet had required you to do some great thing would not you have done it how much more this little thing So I say if the Lord had required you to suffer some great matter would not you have been willing to suffer How much more this little thing I remember I have read in Seneca a Heathen he hath this similitude which is a very fine one to set out the great evil of murmuring upon smaller afflictions saith he Suppose a man hath a very fair house to dwell in and he hath fair orchyards and gardens and set about with brave tall trees for ornament if this man now should murmur because the wind blows off a few leaves off his trees what a most unreasonable thing were it for him to be weeping and wringing his hands because he loses a few leaves off his trees when he hath abundance of all kind of fruit thus it is with many saith he though they have a great many comforts about them yet some little matter the blowing off of a few leaves from them is enough to disquiet them It was a great evil when Ahab having a kingdom yet the want of his neighbours vinyard had such power to disquiet him So for us to murmur not because we have not such a thing as we have need of but because we have not what possibly we might have this is a very great sin Suppose God gives a child that hath all the limbs and parts compleat a child that is very comly and hath excellent parts wit and memory but it may be there is a wart that grows upon the finger of the child and she murmurs at it and Oh what an affliction is this to her she is so taken up with that as she forgets to give any thanks to God for her child and all the goodnesse of God to her in the child is swallowed up in that would not you say this were a folly a very great evil in a woman so to do Truly our afflictions if we weighed them aright they are but such kind of things in comparison of our mercies Rebeckah she had a mighty desire to have children but because she found some trouble in her body when she was with child saith she Why am I thus As if she should say I had as good have none only because she found a little pain and trouble in her body To be discontent when the affliction is small and little that increases very much the sin of murmuring it is to much for any one to murmur upon the heaviest crosse that can befall one in this world but upon some small things to be discontent and murmur that 's worse I have read of one when he lay upon a heap of damask-roses he complained that there was one of the rose

Covenant of grace God makes sure the stock is kept in the hand of Christ and we must go to him for supply continually for Christ keeps the stock perhaps we may trifle away somwhat in our trading but God takes that care still we stall never spend the stock As a man when his Son breaks having squandered away his stock that he gave him before afterwards he puts his stock into a friends hand and saith he you shall keep the stock and it shall not be at his dispose so we are in a more setled condition in respect of our eternal estate then Adam was in innocencie therefore let that comfort us in all our unsetled conditions in the matters of the world A Eleventh Plea But yet there 's another reasoning that many murmuring hearts think to feed their humour withal say they If I never had bin in a better condition then I could bear this affliction if God had alwaies kept me in so low a condition I could be content Oh but there was a time that I prospered more and I had things at more full hand and therefore now it is harder to me to be brought low as in these times perhaps a man that had five or six hundred a yeer but now hath had nothing for a great while if that man had not bin born to so much or never had prospered in any higher degree than now he is in this affliction had bin less perhaps he hath some mony and friends to live upon but if he had never bin in a better condition he would not have accounted it so great a matter to have been without it now This many times is our greatest wound that once we were in a better condition and this is the most unreasonable thing for us to murmur upon this ground of any For first Is thy eye evil because God hath been good to thee heretofore It 's an ill thing for us to have our eye evil because God is good to others but to look upon our condition with an evil eye now because God was once good to us hath God done thee any wrong because he was formerly more good to thee than he was to others Secondly Thou didst heretofore more prosper did God heretofore give thee more prosperity it was to prepare thee for afflictions we should look at all our outward prosperity as a preparation to afflictions if thou hadst done so then it would not have bin so difficult for thee to have indured affliction now when thou hadst a great estate yet if thou hadst made use of this mercy of God to prepare thee for thy afflicted estate then the change of thy estate would not be so greivous That every Christian should do have I an estate now I should prepare for poverty have I health now I should prepare for sickness have I liberty let me prepare my self for imprisonment what know I what God may call me to have I comfort and peace now in my conscience doth God shine upon me while I have this let me prepare for Gods withdrawing from me am I delivered from temptations let me prepare now for the time of temptations If thou wouldest do so the change of thy condition would not be so greivous to thee Marriners that are in a calme will prepare for storms would they say if we never had calms we would bear storms but now we have had calms so many yeers or weeks together this is greivous In thy calme thou art to prepare for storms and the storme would be lesse thou shouldest reason quite contrary and say Now I am in an afflicted condition Oh but blessed be God I was in a comfortable condition and blessed be God that he was a forehand with me in the waies of his mercy this one consideration may help murmuring hearts Dost thou murmur because once thou wert better know God was beforehand with thee in the waies of mercy thou shouldest rather think thus I have lived for these many yeers forty yeers perhaps or more in a comfortable condition I have liv'd in health and peace and plenty what though the remaining part of my time have some sorrow and affliction The Lord hath granted to me a comfortable sunshine all the day long till towards evening and what if at seven or eight a clock at night it begins to rain let me thank God I have had so fair weather all day You that are going a voyage if you have a comfortable wind and very fair for many months together what if you have a little storm when you are within sight of land will you murmur and repine Oh no but rather blesse God that you have had such a comfortable voyage so long Oh this consideration would help us all If it were so that now God should say well you shall never see comfortable day more for outward things in this world Oh then you have cause to fall down and blesse Gods Name that you have had so many comfortable daies Now you reason quite contrary whereas you should blesse God that you have had so much comfort you make what you have had before to be an aggravation of your afflictions now and so murmur and are discontented That which God gave you before upon what terms did you hold it did you hold it so as you have in your writings To have and to hold for ever God gives no such thing God gives to no man I say any thing but grace to run upon that tenour there 's no such thing in all Gods writings for any outward comforts To have and to hold for you and your heirs indeed for grace he doth give it to your selves to have and to hold for ever though not for every one that comes out of your loines to have and to hold for ever God doth not give any outward thing so upon no such tenour as that is if God gives me an understanding of himself and faith and humility and love and patience and such graces of his Spirit he gives them me for ever If he gives me Himself and his Christ and his promise and his Covenant he gives me them for ever what am I therefore that the Sun should alwaies shine upon me that I must have fair weather all my daies that which God gives to me he gave it to me as a pledge of his love let me return it to him as a pledge of my obedience there 's all the reason in the world for it all that a godly man receives from God he receives it as a pledge of Gods love to him therefore when he comes into an afflicted condition saith God Return to me as a pledge for your obedience that that you had from me as a pledge of my love we should cheerfully come in to God and blesse God that we have any thing to render unto him as a pledg of our obedience and say Oh it is thy love O Lord that hath given us any thing that doth enable us to render a pledge of our