Selected quad for the lemma: head_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
head_n	body_n	member_n	mystical_a	10,421	5	11.0632	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

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

be no space nor time for murmuring to work upon thy heart that 's the Fourth Particular The Fift thing in the evil of discontentment Murmuring and discontentment is exceedingly below a Christian Oh! it is too mean and base a distemper for a Christian to give place to it Now it 's below a Christian in many respects 1 How below the relation of a Christian The relation in which thou standest With what relation you will say First The relation thou standest in to God Do'st not thou call God thy father and do'st not thou stand in relation to him as a child what thou murmer In 2 Sam. 13.4 it 's a speech of Jonadab to Amnon Why art thou being the Kings Son lean from day to day wilt thou not tell me and so he told him but that was for a wicked cause he perceived that his spirit was troubled for otherwise he was of a fat and plump temper of body but because of trouble of spirit he was even pin'd away why what 's the matter thou that standest in this relation to the King and yet any thing should trouble thy heart that 's his meaning is there any thing that should disquiet thy heart and yet standest in such a relation to the King the King's Son So I may say to a Christian Art thou the King's Son the Son the Daughter of the King of Heaven and yet so disquieted and troubled and vext at every little thing that falls out as if a King's Son should cry out he is undone for losing a bable what an unworthy thing were this So doest thou thou criest out as if thou wert undon and yet a Kings Son thou that standest in such relation to God as unto a father thou doest dishonour thy father in this as if so be either he had not wisdom or not power or not mercy enough to provide for thee 2. The relation that thou standest in to Jesus Christ thou art the spouse of Christ what one married to Jesus Christ yet troubled and discontented hast thou not enough in him doth not Christ say to his spouse as Elkanah said to Hannah 1 Sam. 1.8 Am not I better to thee than ten sons So doth not Christ thy husband say to thee Am not I better to thee than thousands of riches and comforts such comforts as thou murmurest for want of hath not God given thee his Son and will he not with him give thee all things hath the love of God bin to thee to give thee his Son in way of marriage why art thou discontented and murmuring consider thy relation to Jesus Christ as thou art a spouse and married to him his person is thine and so all the riches of Jesus Christ is thine as the riches of a husband are the wives and though there are some husbands so vile as the wives may be forced to sue for maintainance certainly Jesus Christ will never deny maintainance to his spouse it 's a dishonour for a husband to have the wife go whining up-and down what thou art macht with Christ art his spouse and wilt thou murmur now and be discontented in thy spirit You shall observe among those that are newly matched when there is discontent between the wife and the husband their friends will shake their heads and say they do not meet with that that they did expect ye see ever since they were married together how the man looks and the woman looks they are not so chearly as they were wont to be surely say they it is like to prove an ill match But it 's not so here it shall not be so between thee and Christ Oh Jesus Christ doth not love to see his spouse to have a lowring countenance no man loves to see discontentment in the face of his wife surely Christ doth not love to see discontentment in the face of his spouse 3 Thou standest in relation to Christ not only as a spouse but as a member Thou art bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh and to have a member of Jesus Christ to be in such a condition it 's exceeding unworthy 4. He is thy Elder brother likewise and so thou art a Co heir with him 5 The relation that thou standest in to the Spirit of God thou art the Temple of the holy Ghost the holy Ghost is thy Comforter it is he that is appointed to convey all comfort from the Father and the Son to the Souls of his people And art thou the Temple of the holy Ghost and doth he dwell in thee and yet for all that thou murmur for every little matter 6 The relation that thou standest in to the Angels thou art made one body with them for so Christ hath joyned principalities and powers with his Church they are Ministring Spirits for good to his people to supply what they need and thou and they are joyned together and Christ is the head of you and Angels 7 The relation that you stand in to the Saints you are of the same body with them they and you make up but one mystical body with Jesus Christ and if they be happy you must needs be happy Oh how beneath a Christian is a murmuring Spirit if he considers his relations in which he stands Secondly A Christian should consider That murmuring and discontentednesse is below the high dignities that God hath put upon him Do but consider the high dignitie that God hath put upon thee the meanest Christian in the world is a lord of heaven and earth he hath made us Kings unto himselfe Kings unto God not Kings unto men to rule over them and yet I say every Christian is lord of heaven and earth yea of life and death That is as Christ he is Lord of all so he hath made those that are his members to be lords of all all are yours saith the Apostle even life and death every thing is yours It 's a very strange expression that death should be theirs death is yours that is you are as it were lords over it you have that that shall make death to be your servant your slave even death it 's self your greatest enemies are turned to be your slaves faith makes a Christian to be as lord over all to be lifted up in excellency above all creatures that ever God made except the Angels yea and in some respect above them I say the poorest Christian that lives is raised to an estate above all the creatures in the world except Angels yea and above them in divers respects too and yet discontented that thou who wert as a firebrand of hell and might have been scorching and yelling and roring there to all eternity yet that God should raise thee to have a higher excellency in thee than there is in all the works of creation that ever he made except Angels and other Christians that are in thy condition yea and thou art neerer the Divine Nature than the Angels because thy nature is joyned in an hypostatical union to

upon a mans legs if his legs be sore it will pain him the more if the shoulder be sore the burden is the greater it is because thy heart is so unsound that thy affliction is great unto thee And that 's the sixt reasoning A Seventh Plea But howsoever you may lessen my affliction yet I am sure it is far greater than the afflictions of others First It may be it is thy discontent that makes it greater when indeed it is not so in its self Secondly If it were greater than others why is thy eye evil because the eye of God is good why shouldest thou be discontented the more because God is gracious to others Thirdly Is thy affliction greater than others then in this thou hast an opportunity to honour God more than others so thou shouldest consider Doth God afflict me more than other men God gives me an opportunitie in this to honour him in this affliction more than other men to exercise more grace than other men let me labour to do it then Fourthly If all afflictions were laid upon a heap together It is an notable expression of Solon that wise Heathen saith he Suppose all the afflictions that are in the world were laid upon a heap and every man should come and take a proportion of those afflictions every one equally there is scarse any man but would rather say let me have the afflictions that I had before or else he were like to come to a greater share a greater affliction if so be he should equally share with all the world Now for you that are poor that are not in extremity of poverty if all the riches in the world were laid together and you should have an equal share you would be poorer but take all afflictions and sorrows whatsoever if all the sorrows in the world were laid together in a heap and you had but an equal share of them your portion would be rather more than it is now for the present And therefore do not complain that it is more than others so as to murmur because of that An Eighth Plea Another reasoning that murmuring hearts have is this They think that if the affliction were any other than it is then they would be more contented First You must know that we are not to choose our own rod that God shall beat us with Secondly It may be if it were any other than it is it were not so fit for thee as this is it may be therefore God chooses it because it is the most crosse to thee as seeing it most sutable for the purging out of that humour that is in thee If a patient comes to take phisick and finds himself sick by it shall he say Oh! if it were any other potion I could bear it it may be if it were any other than it is it would not fit thy disease yea if it did not work as it doth it would not fit thy disease so when thou saiest of an affliction if it were any other than it is thou couldest bear it do but answer thy self with this it may be if it were any other than it is it would not be fit for me it would not hit right to that sinful humour that there is in my soul and therefore God sees this to be the fittest and the most sutable for me Thirdly Know that this is the excellency of grace in a Christian to be fitted for any condition not only to say if it were this or that but if it be any As now a Marriner if he hath skil he would not say if it were any other wind but this if the wind did blow in any point but this I could tell how to mannage my ship I could shew skil in other points but not in this would not Marriners laugh at such a one it would be a shame for him to say that he hath skill in any other points but this So it should be a shame for a Christian to say that he hath skill in any other affliction but this a Christian should be able to mannage his ship if the wind blow any way to guide his soul any way The fourth and last answer is this Know that the Lord hath rewards and crowns for all graces and for the honouring them in all conditions It may be in such a way as thou thinkest thou couldest honour God God hath a crown for that and God hath another crown to set upon the heads of those that honour him in such a way as this is yea he hath several sorts of crowns as I may so say in Heaven and those crowns he must put upon some bodies head and therefore he exercises thee in variety of conditions that so thou mightst have the several rewards and crowns that God hath to reward and crown those that are faithful in several conditions A Ninth Plea Oh but the condition that God hath put me in makes me to be unservicable and this troubles me it 's true if it were only an affliction and trouble to my self it were not so much but I am put into such a condition by this affliction as I am unservicable and am like to do God no further service God puts me into a mean estate and what good can I do and how burdensome is my life to me because I can do no service for God! and this is grievous to me Indeed if it he true that this is thy great greife it is a good sign If thou canst say as in the presence of God above all afflictions here in this world to be laid aside not to be imployed in the service of God I account that the greatest Affliction I had rather bear any trouble in the world so I might do more service then to be freed from trouble and to be laid aside and do little service Canst thou say so It is a good sign of grace for a man to account afflictions to be great because he can do the Lord but little service Few men account that no affliction at all But yet there may be a temptation in this To murmur at Gods dispose when your calling is low and mean and you can do little service this is many times a temptation to those that are poor those that are servants and those that are of weak parts and are fain to work hard to provide bread for their families it 's many times a greivous burden to them to think such men the Lord uses in publick service and I live in an obscure way and to what purpose is my life First To help against this temptation that thou mayest not murmur against this condition Do but consider though thy condition be low and mean yet thou art in the Body thou art a member of the Body though thou beest but a mean member the toe and the finger hath it's use in the body though it be not the eye though it be not the head or the heart yet it hath it's use in the body And it is an excellent

expression that I remember Austin hath about this saith he It is better to be the meanest member in the Body than to be the highest member and more excellent and cut off from the Body it is better to be a little sprig in the tree joyned to the Root than to be an arme cut off from the Root Now other men that have but common gifts in the world that are not members of Jesus Christ indeed they seem to have more excellency than those that are godly that are in a mean condition mean parts mean callings but they are not of the Body they are not joyn'd to the Root and therefore their condition is worse As a great arme of a tree when it is cut off it hath a great many leaves upon it and it seems a great deal more glorious than those little sprigs that are upon the tree but that little sprig is in a better condition why Because joyned to the tree and hath sap from the Root and flourisheth but the other will wither and die within a while So it is with the men of the world they be but like great boughs cut off from the tree though they have excellent parts and have great estates and pomp and glory in the world they have no union with Jesus Christ the Root But now others that live in a poor condition a poor tradesman a poor servant a poor labouring-man that labours for his family everyday yet he being godly saith he though I have but little for the present little glory little credit little comfort yet I am joyned to the Body and there I have supply and that that will feed me with comfort blessing and mercy to all eternity So all that are in a poor condition in this world if they be godly do but think of that though thou beest mean yet thou art in the Body and joyned to the Root thou art joyned to the principal of comfort good blessing and mercy that will hold out to eternity when thousand thousands of glorious pompious men in the world shall wither and perish everlastingly and therefore be not troubled at thy mean condition Secondly Though thou hast but a mean calling in this world and so art not regarded as a man of use in the world yet if thou beest a Christian God hath called thee to a higher calling thy general calling it is a high calling though thy particular calling be but low and mean And for that you have a place in the Chapter before my text Phil. 3.14 I press towards the mark saith the Apostle for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus So that every Christian hath a high calling of God in Christ Jesus God hath called him to the highest thing that he hath call'd any creature to that he hath made the Angels in Heaven have not a higher calling than thou hast Thou that perhaps spendest thy time in a poor businesse in the meanest calling if thou beest a dung-raker to rake channels or cleanse places of filth or any other thing in the world that is the meanest that can be conceived of thy general calling as a Christian doth advance thee higher than any particular calling can advance any man in the world others indeed that are cal'd to mannage the Affairs of the State they are in a high calling or Ministers they are in a high calling but thine in some respect is higher A poor servant that must be scraping all day about poor mean things many times may have such a temptation as this is Oh what a poor condition hath God disposed me to will God have regard to such a one that is in such a poor low place as I am Oh yes Christ hath regard to the meanest member as a man hath as true regard to the toe if it be in pain and will tender that as truly and verily as any other member so Christ hath regard to his lowest and meanest ones Thirdly thou art in a high calling though thy outward calling be low in respect of men yet in respect of God thou art in the same calling with the Angels in Heaven and in some degree cal'd to that that is higher for the Scripture saith that the Angels come to understand the mysterie of the Gospel by the Church thou that art a Christian in that general calling of thine thou art joyned with Principalities and Powers and with Angels in the greatest work that God hath called any creature to and therefore let that comfort thee in this Fourthly Thy calling is low and mean yet be not discontented with that for thou hast a principle within thee if thou beest a godly man or woman of Grace that doth raise thy lowest actions to be higher in Gods esteem than all the brave glorious actions that are done in the world the principle of faith doth it for any man or woman to go on in obedience to God in a way of faith in the calling that God hath set them I say doing this through a principle of faith it doth raise this action and makes it a more glorious action than all the glorious victories of Alexander and Caesar than all their Triumphs and glorious pomp that they had in all their conquests it was not so glorious as for thee to do the lowest action out of faith For as Luther speaks of a poor Milk-maid and yet being a Beleever and doth it in faith he compares that action to all the glorious actions of Caesar and makes that a great deal more eminent and glorious in the eyes of God therefore faith raises thy works that are but mean raises them to be very glorious Yea and the truth is there is more obedience to submit to God in a low calling than to submit to him in a higher calling for it 's cleer obedience meer obedience that makes thee go on in a low calling but there may be much self-love that makes men go on in a higher calling for there 's riches credit and account in the world and rewards comes in by that which doth not in the other to go on quietly in a low calling is more obedience to God Fifthly Know further in the last place there is like to be more reward For the Lord when he comes to reward he doth not come to examine what the work hath been that men and women have been exercised in but what their faithfulnesse hath been Well done good and faithful servant saith the Lord he doth not say wel done good servant for thou hast bin faithful to me in publick works ruling Cities and States and Affairs in Kingdoms and therefore thou shalt be rewarded no but Well done good and faithful servant now thou mayest be faithfull in little as well as others are in more by going on and working thy daies labour when thou gettest but a couple of shillings to maintain thy family thou mayest be as faithful in this as those are that rules a Kingdom now God looks to a mans