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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77996	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.	Burroughs, Jeremiah, 1599-1646.; Goodwin, Thomas, 1600-1680.; Greenhill, William, 1591-1671.; Bridge, William, 1600?-1670.; Nye, Philip, 1596?-1672.; Simpson, Sidrach, 1600?-1655.; Yates, John, d. ca. 1660.; Adderley, William.	1666 (1666)	Wing B6107B; ESTC R201188	189,505	233

understanding every one may understand that this man hath a very strong brain that such things shall not distemper him whereas other people that have a weak brain if they do not digest but one meals meat the sumes that do arise from their stomachs do distemper their brain and make them unfit for every thing whereas you shall have others that have strong heads and strong brains though their stomachs be ill that they do not digest meat yet still they have the free use of their brain this argues strength So it is in a mans spirit you shall have many that have weak spirits and if they have any ill fumes if accidents befall them you shall presently have them out of temper but you shall have other men that though things do fume up yet still they keep in a steady way and have the use of reason and of other graces and possess their souls with patience As I remember it 's reported of the Eagle it 's not like other Fowls other Fowls when they are hungry make a noise but the Eagle is never heard to make a noise though it wants food and it 's from the magnitude of his spirit that will not make such complaints as other Fowls will do when they want food it is because it is above hunger and above thirst So it is an argument of a gracious magnitude of spirit that whatsoever befalls it yet it is not always whining and complaining so as others are but goes on still in its way and course and blesses God and keeps in a constant tenour whatsoever thing befalls it such things as causes others to be dejected and fretted and vexed and takes away all the comfort of their lives it makes no alteration at all in the spirits of these men and women I say this is a sign of a great deal of strength of Grace 3. It 's also an argument of a great deal of beauty of Grace It 's a speech that Seneca a Heathen once had saith he When you go abroad into groves and woods and there you see the tallness of the trees and their shadows it strikes a kind of awful fear of a Deity in you and when you see the vast rivers and fountains and deep waters that strikes a kind of fear of a God in you but saith he do you see a man that is quiet in tempests and that lives happily in the midst of adversities why do not you Worship that man He doth think him a man even to be honored that shall be quiet and live a happy life though in the middest of adversities The Glory of God appears here more than in any of his Works there is no Works that God hath made the Sun Moon and Stars and all the World wherein so much of the Glory of God doth appear as in a man that lives quietly in the midst of adversity That was that that convinced the King when he saw the three children could walk in the midst of the fiery furnace not to be touched the King was mightily convinced by this that surely their God was a great God indeed and that they were highly beloved of their God that could walk in the midst of the furnace and not be touch't whereas the others that came but to the mouth of the furnace were devoured so when a Christian can walk in the midst of fiery trials and not his garments singed but have comfort and joy in the midst of all as Paul in the stocks can sing that wrought upon the Jaylor so it will convince men when they see the power of Grace in the middest of afflictions such afflictions as would make others to roar under them yet they can behave themselves in a gracious and holy manner Oh! it 's the glory of a Christian It is that that is said to be the glory of Christ for so by Interpreters it is thought to be meant of Christ In Micah 5.5 And this man the text saith shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into our Land and when he shall tread in our Pallaces This man shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into our land for one to be in peace when there is no Enemies it 's no great matter but saith the text when the Assyrian shall come into our Land then this man shall be the peace that is when all shall be in an hubbub uproar yet then this man shall be peace That 's the tryal of Grace when you find Jesus Christ in your hearts to be peace when the Assyrian shall come into the Land You may think you find peace in Christ when you have no outward troubles but is Christ your peace when the Assyrian comes into the Land when the Enemy comes Suppose you should hear the enemy come marching to the City had taken the Works and were plundering what would be your peace Jesus Christ would be peace to the soul when the enemy comes into the City and into your houses If there be any of you that have been where the enemy hath come What hath been the peace of your souls That which is said of Christ may be applied to this grace of Contentment when the Assyrian the Plunderers the Enemies when any affliction trouble distress doth befall such a heart then this Grace of Contentment brings peace to the soul at that time brings peace to the soul when the Assyrian comes into the Land The Grace of Contentment it 's an excellent Grace there 's much beauty much strength in it there is a great deal of worth in this Grace and therefore be in love with it The third thing in the Excellency of Contentment is this By Contentment the soul is fitted to receive mercy and to do service I 'le put these two together Contentment makes the soul fit to receive mercy and to do service no man or woman in the world is so fit for to receive the Grace of God and to do the Work of God as those that have contented spirits 1. Those are fitted to receive mercy from the Lord that are contented as now If you would have a vessel to take in any liquor you must hold the vessel still if the vessel stir and shake up and down you cannot powre in any thing but you will bid hold still that you may powre it in and not lose any So if we would be the vessels to receive Gods mercy and would have the Lord powre in his mercy to us we must have quiet stil hearts we must not have hearts hurrying up down in trouble discontent and vexing but we must have still and quiet hearts if we would receive mercy from the Lord If a Childe flings and throws up and down for a thing you will not give it him then when he cries so but first you will have the Childe quiet though perhaps you do intend the Childe shall have the thing he cries for but you will not give it him till he is quiet and comes and

when they are under the power of this sin of murmuring it doth convince them to be ungodly as well as if they were under the power of drunkenness or whoredom or any other sin God will look upon you as ungodly for this sin as well as for any sin whatsoever This one Scripture should make thy heart shake at the thought of the sin of Murmuring Thirdly As it s made a brand of ungodly men so you shal find in Scripture that God counts it rebellion that is contrary to the worship that there was in contentedness that is worshipping of God crouching to God falling down before him even as a dog that would crouch when you hold a staff over him but a Murmuring heart its a rebellious heart and that you shall find if you compare two Scriptures together they are both in the Book of Numb 16.41 But on the morrow saith the text all the congregation of the Children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron saying Ye have killed the people of the Lord They all murmured now compare this with Chap. 17. and verse 10. And the Lord said unto Moses Bring Aarons rod again before the testimony to be kept for a token against the Rebels In the 16. Chap. they murmured against Moses and Aaron and in the 17. Chap. bring the rod of Aaron again before the testimony for a token against the Rebels So that to be a Murmurer and to be a Rebel you see in Scripture phrase is all one it is a rebellion against God as it is the beginning of rebellion and sedition in a Kingdom when the people are discontent and when discontentment comes it grows to murmuring and you can go into no house almost but there is murmuring when men are discontent so that within a little while it breaks forth into sedition or rebellion Murmuring it's but as the smoak of the fire there is first a smoak and smother before the flame breaks forth and so before open rebellion in a Kingdom there is first a smoak of Murmuring and then it breaks forth into open rebellion but because it hath rebellion in the seeds of it therefore it is accounted before the Lord to be rebellion Wilt thou be a Rebel against God When thou feelest thy heart discontented and Murmuring against the dispensations of God towards thee thou shouldest check thy heart thus Oh thou wretched heart what wilt thou be a Rebel against God wilt thou rise in a way of rebellion against the infinite God yet thus thou hast done charge thy heart with this sin of rebellion you that are guilty of this sin of Murmuring you are this day by the Lord charged as being guilty of rebellion against him and God expects that when you go home you should humble your souls before him for this sin that you should charge your souls for being guilty of rebellion against God many of you may say I never thought that I had been a Rebel against God before I thought that I had many infirmities but now I see the Scripture speaks of sin in another manner than men do the Scripture makes men though but murmurers to be Rebels against God Oh this rebellious heart that I have against the Lord that hath manifested it's self in this way of murmuring against the Lord. That 's a third particular in the evil of discontentment A fourth particular in the evil of Discontentment It is a wickedness that is exceeding contrary to Grace and especially contrary to the work of God in bringing of the soul home to himself I know no distemper more opposite and contrary to the Work of God in conversion of a sinner than this is Quest What 's the work of God when he brings a sinner home to himself Answ The usual way is for God to make the soul to see and be sensible of the dreadful evil that there is in sin and the great breach that sin hath made between God and it for certainly Jesus Christ can never be known in his beauty and excellency till the soul know that I do not speak what secret work of the holy Ghost there may be in the soul but before the soul can actually apply Jesus Christ to its self it is impossible but it must come to know the evil of sin and the excellency of Jesus Christ there may be a seed of faith put into the soul but the soul must first know Christ and know sin and be made sensible of it Now how contrary is this sin of murmurring to any such work of God hath God made me see the dreadful evil of sin and made my soul to be sensible of the evil of sin as the greatest burden how can I then be so much troubled for every little affliction Certainly if I saw what the evil of sin was that sight would swallow up all other evils and if I were burdened with the evil of sin it would swallow up all other burdens what am I now murmuring against Gods hand saith such a soul when as a while ago the Lord made me see my self to be a damned wretch and apprehend it as a wonder that I am not in Hell 2. Yea It 's mighty contrary to the sight of the infinite excellency and glory of Jesus Christ and the things of the Gospel What am I that soul that the Lord hath discovered such infinite Excellency of Jesus Christ to and yet what shall I think such a little affliction to be so grievous to me when I have had the sight of such glory in Christ that is more worth than ten thousand worlds for so will a true convert say Oh! the Lord at such a time hath given me that sight of Christ that I would not be without for ten thousand thousand worlds but hath God given thee that and wilt thou be discontent for a trifle in comparison of that 3. A third work when God brings the soul home to himself it is By taking the heart off from the Creature the disingaging the heart from all Greature-comforts That is the Third work ordinarily that the soul may perceive of its self It 's true Gods Work may be altogether in the seeds in him but in the several actings of the soul in turning to God it may perceive these things in it the disingagement of the heart from the Creature that 's the calling off the soul from the world whom the Lord hath called he hath justified What 's the calling of the soul but this the soul that was before seeking for Contentment in the world and cleaving to the Creature now the Lord cals the soul out of the world and saith Oh soul thy happiness is not here thy rest is not here thy happiness is elsewhere and thy heart must be loosned from all these things that are here below in the world and this is the work of God in the soul to disingage the heart from the Creature and how contrary is a murmuring heart to such a thing a thing that is

and as God will and how God will so that our wills are melted into the will of God this is no opposition to the quietness which God requires in a contented spirit Quest But then what is this quietness of spirit opposed unto Answ To murmuring and repining at the hand of God as the discontented Israelites often did which if we our selves cannot endure either in our children or Servants much less can God bear it in us 2 To vexing and fretting which is a degree beyond murmuring It is a speech I remember of a Heathen A wise man may grieve under but not bee vexed with his afflictions There is a vast difference betwixt a kindely grieving and a distempered vexation 3 To tumultuousness of spirit When the thoughts run distractingly and work in a confused manner so that the affections are like the unruly multitude in the Acts who knew not for what end they were come together The Lord expects that you should be silent under his rod and as hee said in Acts 19.36 You ought to bee quiet and to do nothing rashly 4 To unsetledness and un fixedness of spirit whereby the heart is taken off from the present duty that God requires in our several relations both towards God our selves and others We should prize duty at a higher rate than to be taken off by every trivial occasion a Christian indeed values every service of God so much that though some may bee in the eye of the world and of natural reason a slight empty business beggarly rudiments foolishness yet seeing God calls for it the authority of the command doth so over-awe his heart that he is willing to spend himself and to be spent in the discharge of it It is an expression of Luthers ordinary works that are done in faith and from faith are more precious than Heaven and Earth And if this bee so and a Christian know it it is not a little matter that should divert him but hee should answer every avocation and resist every temptation Nehemiah did chap. 6.3 Sanballat Greshem and Tobiah when they would have hindered the building of the wall with this I am doing a great work saith he so that I cannot come down why should the work of the Lord cease 5 To distracting heart-eating cares and fears A gracious heart so estimates its union with Christ and the work that God sets it about as it will not willingly suffer any thing to come in to choak it or dead it A Christian is desirous that the Word of God should take such full possession as to divide between soul and spirit but hee would not suffer the fear and noise of evil tidings to take such impressions in his soul as to make a division and strugling there like the twins in Rebeckahs womb A great man will permit common people to stand without his doors but he will not let them come in and make a noise in his closet or bed-chamber when hee purposely retires himself from all worldly imployments So a well-tempered spirit though it may inquire after things abroad without doors in the world and suffer some ordinary cares and fears to break into the suburbs of the soul so as to have a light touch upon the thoughts Yet it will not upon any terms admit of an intrusion into the privy chamber which should bee wholly reserved for Jesus Christ as his inward Temple 6 To sinking discouragements When things fall not out according to expectation when the tyde of second causes runs so low that we see little left in the outward means to bear up our hopes and hearts That then the heart begins to reason as he in the Kings If the Lord should open the Window of Heaven how should this be Never considering that God can open the eyes of the Blinde with clay and spittle he can work above beyond nay contrary to means hee often makes the fairest flowers of mans endeavors to wither and brings improbable things to pass that the glory of enterprizes may be given to himself Nay if his people stand in need of miracles to work their deliverance miracles fall as easily out of Gods hands as to give his people daily bread Gods blessing is many times secret upon his servants that they know not which way it comes as 2 Kings 3.17 Ye shall not see wind neither shall ye see rain yet the valley shal be filled with water God would have us depend on him though we do not see means how the thing should be brought to pass else we do not shew a quiet spirit though an affliction bee upon thee let not thy heart sink under it So far as thy heart sinks and thou art discouraged under thy affliction so much thou wantest of this lesson of Contentment 7 To sinful shiftings and shirkings out for ease and help As wee see in Saul turning to the witch of Endor and his offering sacrifice before Samuel came Nay the good King Jehoshaphat joyns himself with Ahaziah 2 Chron. 20. ult And Asa goes to Benhadad King of Assyria for help not relying upon the Lord a Chron. 16.7 8 Though the Lord had delivered the Ethiopian Army into his hands consisting of a thousand thousand a Chron. 14 11. And good Jacob joyned in a lye with his mother to Isaac he was not content to stay Gods time and use Gods means but made too great haste and stept out of his way to procure the blessing which God intended for him as many do through the corruption of their hearts and weakness of their faith because they are not able to trust God and follow him fully in all things alwaies and for this cause the Lord often follows the Saints with many sore temporal crosses as wee see in Jacob though they obtain the mercy It may bee thy wretched carnal heart thinks I care not how I bee delivered so I may but get free from it Is it not so many times in some of your hearts when any cross or affliction befalls you Have you not such kinde of workings of spirit as this Oh that I could but be delivered out of this affliction any way I would not care your hearts are far from being quiet And this sinfull shifting is the next thing in opposition to this quietnesse which God requires in a contented spirit The Eighth and last thing that this quietness of spirit is opposite to is desperate risings of heart against God in a way of rebellion That is most abominable I hope many of you have learned so far to be content as to keep down your hearts from such distempers and yet the truth is not only wicked men but sometimes the very Saints of God find the beginnings of this when an affliction lies long and is very sore and heavy upon them indeed and strikes them as it were in the master vein they find somewhat of this in their hearts arising against God their thoughts begin to bubble and their affections begin to stir in rising against

Christian yeilds to Gods hand and makes no noise as when you strike upon a Wool-sack it makes no noise because it yeilds to the stroke so a self-denying heart yeilds to the stroke and thereby comes to this contentment Now in this lesson of self-denial there are divers things I will not enter into the doctrine of self-denial but only shew you how Christ teaches self-denial and how that brings Contentment First Such a one learns to know that he is nothing he comes to this to be able to say Well I see I am nothing in my self now that man or woman which indeed knows that he or she is nothing and hath learned it throughly will be able to bear any thing The way to be able to bear any thing is to know our selves to be nothing in our selves Saith God to us Wilt thou set thine heart upon that which is nothing Prov. 23.5 speaking of riches why blessed God dost not thou do so thou hast set thy heart upon us and yet we are nothing God would not have us set our hearts upon riches because they are nothing and yet God is pleased to set his heart upon us and yet we are nothing that is Gods Grace free grace and therefore it is no great matter what I suffer for I am as nothing Secondly I deserve nothing I am nothing and I deserve nothing suppose I have not this and that that others have I am sure I deserve nothing except it be Hell you will answer any of your servants so that is not content I marvel what you deserve or your children Do you deserve it that you are so eager upon it you think to stop their mouths thus so we may easily stop our own mouths we deserve nothing and therefore why should we be impatient if we have not what we desire if we had deserved any thing we might have some trouble of spirit as a man that hath deserved well of the State or of his friends and he finds not answerable encouragement it troubles him mightily but if he be conscious to himself that he hath deserved nothing he is content with a repulse Thirdly I can do nothing Without me you can do nothing saith Christ Joh. 15.5 Why should I stand much upon it to be troubled and be discontented if I have not this or that when the truth is I can do nothing If you should come to one that is angry because he hath not such diet as he desires and is discontented with it you will answer him I marvel what you do what use are you of Shall one that will sit still and be of no use yet for all that he must have all his supply that possible he can desire Do but consider of what use you are in the world if you consider what little need God hath of you and what little use you are of you will not be much discontented If you have learned this lesson of self-denial though God doth cut me short of such and such comforts yet since that I do but little why should I have much This very thought will bring down a mans spirit as much as any thing Fourthly So vile I am that I can receive no good neither of my self I am not only an empty vessel but a corrupt and unclean vessel that would spoil any thing that comes into it So are all our hearts every one of our hearts is not onely empty of good but are like a musty vessel that if any good liquor be poured into it it spoils it Fifthly If God doth cleanse us in some measure and doth put into us some good liquor some Grace of his spirit yet We can make use of nothing neither can we have it if God doth but withdraw himself If God doth but leave us one moment after he hath bestowed upon us the greatest gifts and whatsoever abilities we can desire If God should say I will give you them now go and trade now I have given you these and these abilities we cannot stir one foot further neither if God doth but leave us Doth God give us gifts and parts Then let us fear and tremble lest God should leave us to our selves for then how foully should we abuse those gifts and parts You think other men and women have memory and gifts and parts and you would fain have them But suppose God should give you these and there leave you you would utterly spoil them Sixthly We are worse than nothing For by sin we come to be a great deal worse than nothing sin makes us more vile than nothing sin makes us contrary to all good now it is a great deal worse to have a contrariety to all that is good than meerly to have an emptiness of all that is good we are not empty pitchers in respect of good but we are like pitchers filled with poyson and is it much for such as we are to be cut short of outward comforts In the seventh place If we perish there will be no loss of us If God should annihilate me what loss would there be of me God can raise up another in my place to do him other manner of service than I have done Now put but these seven thing together and then hath Christ taught you self-denial I may call these the several words in our lesson of self-denial Christ reaches the soul this so that as in the presence of God upon a real sight of it self it can say Lord I am nothing Lord I deserve nothing Lord I can do nothing I can receive nothing I can make use of nothing I am worse than nothing and if I come to nothing and perish there will be no loss at all of me and therefore what great matter is it for me to be cut short here A man that is little in his own eyes such a man or woman will account every affliction to be little and every mercy to be great Saul There was a time the Scripture saith that he was little in his own eyes and then his afflictions were but little to him when some would not have had him to be King but spake contemptuously of him he held his peace but when Saul began to be big in his own eyes then the affliction began to be great upon him There was never any such contented man or woman as this self-denying man or woman There was never any denied himself so much as Jesus Christ did he gave his cheeks to the smiters he opened not his mouth he was as a lamb when he was led to the slaughter he made no noise in the street Oh he denyed himself above all and was willing to empty himself and so he was the most contented that ever any was in the world and the neerer we come to learn to deny our selves as Christ did the more contented shall we be and by knowing much of our own vileness we come to learn to justifie God whatever the Lord shall lay upon us yet righteous is the Lord for he

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 affliction in this world so great as the mercies you have If it were but this mercy That you have this day of grace and salvation continued to you it s a greater mercy than any affliction set any affliction by this mercy 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 mercy that you have the sound of the Gospel yet in your ears that you have the use of your reason this is a greater mercy than your afflictions that you have the use of your limbs your senses 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 Levy 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 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 c. You see 't is a great honor that God puts upon a man a great mercy that he doth bestow upon any man to separate 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 vers 10. 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 seck ye yet more Seek ye the Priesthood 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 Methinks 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 countervail 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 vers 10. A speech of Job to his wife what saith Job when his wife would have had him curse God and dye that was a degree beyond murmuring why saith he Thou speakest as one of the foolish women shall we receive good at the hand of God and not evil you see Job did help himself against all murmuring thoughts against the ways 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. verse 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 joyful 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 joyful but what if afflictions befalls 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 see 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 childe but he hath been merciful to you in another childe set one against the other God afflicted David in Absalom but he was merciful to David in Solomon and therefore when David cryed our Oh Absalom my Son my Son If David had thought upon Solomon and cryed 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

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 business in the meanest calling if thou beest a dung-raker to rake channels or to 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 called 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 called to that that is higher for the Scripture saith that the Angels come to understand the Mystery 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 make 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 Or as Luther speaks of a poor Milk-Maid and yet being a believer 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 its clear 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 faithfulness hath been Well done good and faithful Servant saith the Lord he doth not say well done good servant for thou hast been faithful to me in publick works ruling Cities and States and Affairs in Kingdomes and therefore thou shalt be rewarded No but Well done good and faithful servant now thou mayest be faithful in little as well as others are in more by going on and working thy daies labor when thou gettest but a couple of shillings to maintain thy family thou mayest be as faithful in this as those are that rule a Kingdome now God looks to a mans faithfulness and thou mayst have as great a reward for thy faithfulness that art a poor Servant in the Kitchin all the day as another that sits upon the Throne all day and as great a Crown of Glory thou mayest have at the day of Judgement as a King that sits upon the Throne that hath ruled for God upon his Throne yea thy faithfulness may be rewarded by God with as great glory as a King that hath swayed his Scepter for God because I say the Lord doth not so much look at the work that is done as at the faithfulness of our hearts in doing it then why should not every one of us go on comfortably and cheerfully in our low condition for why may not I be faithful as well as another It 's true I cannot come to be as rich a man and as honorable as others but I may be as faithful as any other man that every one of you may conclude with your selves What doth let but that you that are the poorest and meanest may be as faithful as the greatest yea you may have as glorious a Crown in Heaven and therefore go on comfortably and cheerfully in your way The Tenth PLEA There 's another reasoning that some may have and that is this Oh! I could bear much affliction in some other way but this is very grievous to me the unsetledness of my condition though my condition were but low yet if it were in a setled way I could be content but it is so unconstant and so unsetled that I can never know what to trust to but am tost up and down in the world in an unsetled condition and this is hard to be content with Now to that I answer First that the Psalmist saith That every man in his setled estate is vanity in Psalm 36.5 Your books have it Every man at his best estate is vanity the word is his setled Estate you think if you were but setled Oh then you could be content but the truth is man in his setled estate is vanity Secondly I answer thus That perhaps God sees it is better for thee to live in a continual dependance upon him and not to know what thy condition shall be on the morrow then for thee to have a more letled condition in respect of the comforts of the creatures do but remember that we spake of before that Christ doth not teach you to pray Lord give me enough that wil serve me for two or three years but this day our daily bread to teach us we must live upon God in a dependant condition every day for daily bread Here was the difference that is observable between the Land of Canaan and Egypt the Land of Canaan that depended upon God for the watering of it with showres from

may be happy without these this is a kind of deadness to the world The Ninth DIRECTION Let not men and women pore too much upon their afflictions that is busie their thoughts too much to look down into their afflictions you shall have many people that all their thoughts are taken up about what their crosses and afflictions are they are altogether thinking and speaking of them it 's just with them as with a childe that hath a sore about him his finger is always upon the sore and so men and women their thoughts are always upon their afflictions when they awake in the night their thoughts are upon their afflictions and when they converse with others nay it may be when they are praying to God they are thinking of their afflictions Oh! no marvel though you live a discontented life if your thoughts be always poring upon such things you should rather labor to have your thoughts upon those things that may comfort you You shall have many that if you propound any rule to them to do them good they take it well while they are with you and thank you for it but when they are gone they soon forget it It is very observable of Jacob that when his wife died in Child-birth his wife called the Childe Ben-oni that is a son of sorrows now Jacob he thought with himself If I should call this childe Ben-oni every time that I name him it will put me in mind of the death of my dear wife and of that affliction and that will be a continued affliction to me therefore I will not have my child have that name and so the text saith that Jacob called his name Benjamin and that was the son of my right hand now this is to shew us thus much that when afflictions befal us we should not give way to have our thoughts continually upon them but rather upon those things that may stir up our thankfulness to God for mercies It is the similitude of Basil a learned man saith he It is in this case as it is with men and women that have sore eyes now it 's not fit for those to be always looking upon the fire or upon the beams of the Sun no saith he one that hath sore eyes must get things that are suitable to him and such objects that are fit for one that hath weak eyes therefore they will get green colours as that being a more easie colour and better for weak eyes and they will hang a green Sarsnet before their eyes because it is more suitable to them So weak spirits it 's the very same a man or woman that hath a weak spirit they must not be looking upon the fire of their afflictions upon those things that deject that cast them down but they are to be looking rathe upon that which may be suitable for the healing and helping of them they should be considering of those things rather than the other It will be of very great use and benefit to you if you do lay it to heart not to be poring always upon afflictions but upon mercies The Tenth DIRECTION I beseech you observe this though you should forget many others Make a good interpretation of Gods ways towards you if there can be any good interpretation made of Gods ways towards you make it You think it much if you have a friend that should always make bad interpretations of your ways towards him you will take that ill if you should converse with people that you cannot speak a word in their hearing but they are ready to make an ill interpretation of it and take it in an ill sense you would think their company to be very tedious to you It is very tedious to the Spirit of God when we make such ill interpretations of his ways towards us If God deal with us otherwise than we would have him if there can be any sense worse than other made of it we will be sure to make it as thus When an affliction doth befal you there may be many good senses made of Gods Works towards you you should think thus It may be God intends only to try me by this it may be God saw my heart too much set upon the Creature and so intends to shew me what there is in my heart it may be that God saw that if my estate did continue I should fall into sin that the better my estate were the worse my soul would be it may be God intended only to exercise some Grace it may be God intends to prepare me for some great work which he hath for me Thus you should reason But we on the contrary make bad interpretations of Gods thus dealing with us and say God doth not mean this surely the Lord means by this to manifest his wrath and displeasure against me and this is but a furtherance of further evils that he intends towards me Just as they did in the Wilderness God hath brought us hither to slay us This is the worst interpretation that possibly you can make of Gods ways Oh! Why will you make these worst interpretations when there may be better In 1 Cor. 13.5 When the Scripture speaks of love saith the text Love thinketh no evil Love is of that nature that if there may be ten interpretations made of a thing if nine of them be naught and one good Love will take that which is good and leave the other nine and so though there might be ten interpretations presented to thee concerning Gods ways towards thee and if but one be good and nine naught thou shouldest take that one that is good and leave the other nine I beseech you consider God doth not deal by you as you deal with him should God make the worst interpretation of all your ways towards him as you do of his towards you it would be very ill with you God is pleased to manifest his love thus to us to make the best interpretations of what we do and therefore it is that God doth put a sense upon the actions of his people that one would think could hardly be as thus God is pleased to call those perfect that have but any uprightness of heart in them he accounteth them perfect Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect uprightness in Gods sense is perfection Now alas when we look into our own hearts we can scarce see any good at all there and yet God is pleased to make such an interpretation as to say it is perfect When we look into our own hearts we can see nothing but uncleanness God he calls you his Saints he calls the meanest Christian that hath the least grace under the greatest corruption his Saint you say we cannot be Saints here but yet in Gods esteem we are Saints You know the usual title the Holy Ghost gives in several of the Epistles to those that had any grace any uprightness is To the Saints in such a place you see what an interpretation God puts upon