Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	aaron_n	israel_n	numb_a	32	3	10.1475	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

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

there is in the sin of discontentment The ninth evil of murmuring and discontentment is this There is a mighty deal of danger in the sin of discontentment for it exceedingly provoketh the wrath of God it s a sin that doth much provoke God against his creature we find most sad expressions in Scripture and examples too how God hath been provoked against many for their discontent in Numb 14. you have a notable text and one would think that that were enough for ever to make you fear murmuring in the 26. verse it is said The Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron saying what did he say How long shall I bear with this evil Congregation which murmur against me How long shall I bear with them saith God This evil Congregation Oh that 's an evil Congregation that murmurs against me And how long shall I bear with them they do murmur and they have murmured as those that have murmuring spirits murmuring dispositions they will murmur again and again How long shall I bear with this evil Congregation that murmur against me How justly may God speak of many of you that are this morning before the Lord How long shall I bear with this wicked man or woman that doth murmur against me and hath usually in the course of their lives murmured against me when any thing falls out otherwise than they would have it And mark what follows after I have heard the murmuring of the Children of Israel You murmur it may be others hear you not nay it may be you speak not at all or but half words yet God hears the language of your murmuring hearts and those muttering speeches and those half words that come from you And further observe in this verse how the Lord repeats this sin of murmuring How long shall I bear with this evil Congregation which murmur against me Secondly I have heard their murmuring Thirdly which they murmur against me Murmur Murmur Murmur Three times in one verse he repeats it and this is to shew his indignation against the thing When you express indignation against a thing you will repeat it over again again now the Lord because he would express his indignation against this sin he repeats it over again and again and it follows in ver 28. Say unto them as truely as I live saith the Lord As ye have spoken in mine ears so will I do to you Mark God swears against a murmurer sometimes in your discontent you will be ready to swear it may be do you swear in your discontent So doth God swear against you for your discontent And what was it that God would do unto them ver 29 30. Doubtless your carkasses shall fall in the wilderness and you shall not come into the Land concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein as if God should say if I have any life in me your lives shall go for it as I live it shall cost you your lives A discontented murmuring fit of yours may cost you your lives You see how it provokes God there is more evil in it than you are aware of it may cost you your lives and therefore look to your selves and learn to be humbled at the very beginnings of such distempers in the heart So in Psal 106.24 25. Yea they despised the pleasant Land they believed not his word but murmured in their tents and hearkned not unto the voice of the Lord therefore he lifted up his hand against them to overthrow them in the wilderness Here are divers things observable in this Scripture First That which we spoke to before How a murmuring heart doth slight Gods mercies so it is here They despised the pleasant Land and that a murmuring heart is contrary to faith they believed not his word but saith the text they murmred in their tents and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord. Many men and women will hearken to the voice of their own base murmuring hearts that will not hearken to the voice of the Lord if you would hearken to the voice of the Lord there would not be such murmuring as there is but mark what follows upon it you may not think to please your selves in your murmuring discontentedness and think that no evil shall come of it Therefore he lifted up his hand against them to overthrow them you that are discontented you lift up your hearts against God and you cause God to lift up his hand against you perhaps God laies his finger upon you softly in some afflictions that are upon you in your families or elsewhere and you cannot bear the hand of God that lies upon you as tenderly as a tender-hearted Nurse that laies her hand upon the childe you cannot bear the tender hand of God that is upon you in a lesser affliction it were just with God to lift up his hand against you in another manner of affliction Oh a murmuring spirit provokes God exceedingly There is another place in 16. of Numb compare the 41. vers and the 46. vers together But on the morrow all the Congregation of the Children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron saying Ye have killed the people of the Lord And mark in the 46. verse And Moses said unto Aaron Take a Censer and put fire therein from off the Altar and put on incense and go quickly unto the Congregation and make an atonement for them for there is wrath gone out from the Lord the plague is begun mark how Gods wrath is kindled in the 41. verse the Congregation had murmured and they murmured but against Moses and Aaron perhaps you murmur more directly against God and that was against God in murmuring against Gods Ministers it was against God but not so directly but it may be the murmuring of your hearts is more directly against Gods dealings with you if you murmur against those that God makes instruments because you have not every thing that you would have as against the Parliament or such and such that are publike Instruments it s against God it was but against Moses and Aaron that the Israelites murmured and they said that Moses and Aaron had killed the people of the Lord though it was the hand of God that was upon them for their former wickedness in murmuring It is usual for wicked vile hearts to deal thus with God that when Gods hand is a little upon them for to murmur again and again and so to bring upon themselves even infinite kind of evils but now the anger of God was quickly kindled Oh saith Moses Go take the Censer quickly for wrath is gone out from Jehovah the plague is begun so while you are murmuring in your families the wrath of God may quickly go out against you quickly in a morning or evening when you are a murmuring the wrath of God may come quickly out upon your families or persons you are never so prepared for present wrath as when you are in a murmuring discontented fit those that stand by

his estate in his dealings with men we would not think his condition so happy One may have a very fine new Shoo but no body knows where it pinches him but he that hath it on so you think such and such men are happy but they may have many troubles that you little think of 2. There is a burden of Danger in it Men that are in a prosperous condition they are in a great deal of danger you see sometimes in the evening when you light up your Candles the Moths and the Gnats will be flying up and down in the Candle but they scorch their wings and there they fall down dead so there is a great deal of danger in a prosperous estate those men that are set upon a pinacle on high these men they are in greater danger than other men are Honey we know doth invite Bees and Wasps unto it and so the sweet of prosperity doth invite the Devil and Temptation Men that are in a prosperous estate are subject to many temptations that other men are not subject to The Scripture calls the Devil Beel-zebub that is the God of Flies and so Beelzebub comes where the honey of prosperity is They are in very great danger of temptations that are in a prosperous condition The dangers of men that are in a prosperous estate that have more than others should be considered of by those that are lower think with thy self Though they be above me yet they are in more danger than I am the tall Trees are more shattered a great deal than low shrubs so you know the ship that hath all the sails up the top sail and all in a storm this is in more danger than that that hath all the sails drawn in And so men that have their Top-gallant and all up and brave they are more like to be drown'd drown'd in perdition than other men are and therefore you know what the Scripture saith how hard it is for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven such a text should make poor people to be contented with their estates We have a notable example for that in the Children of Kohath you shall find that they were in a more excellent estate than the other of the Levites but they were in more danger than the other and more trouble First That the Children of Kohath were in a higher condition than other of the Levites that I 'll shew you out of the fourth of Numb 4. vers there you shall find what their condition was This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tabernacle of the Congregation about the most holy things Mark the Levites were exercised about holy things but the sons of Kohath their service was about the most holy things of all and you shall find in the 21. of Joshua vers 10. That God did honor the sons of Kohath in a more special manner than he did honor the other Levites which honor the Children of Aaron being of the families of the Kohathites who were of the Children of Levi had for theirs was the first Lot and they were prefer'd before the other families of Levi those that were imployed in the most honorable imployment they had the most honorable Lot the first Lot fel to them Thus you see God honored the Children of the Kohathites But might other Levites say how hath God preferred this family before us They were honored more than the other were But now mark their burden that comes with heir Honor and that I will shew you out of two Scriptures first is Num. 7.6 7 8 9. And Moses took the Wagons and Oxen and gave them unto the Levites Two Wagons and four Oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon according to their service and four Wagons and eight Oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari according unto their service under the hand of Ithamer the son of Aaron the Priest But saith he vers 9. Unto the sons of Kohath he gave none because the service of the Sanctuary that belonged unto them was That they should bear upon their shoulders Mark the other Levites had Oxen and Wagons given unto them to ease them of their service but saith he to the sons of Kohath he gave none but they should bear their service upon their shoulders and that 's the reason why God was so displeased because that they would have more ease in Gods service than God would have them for whereas they should carry it upon their shoulders they would carry it upon a Cart Mark here you see the first burden that they had beyond what the other Levites had And those that are under them think not of their burden that they are to carry upon their shoulders when as others have means to ease them and many times those that are employed in the Ministery or Magistracy that sit at the Stern to order the great Affairs of the Commonwealth and State you think they live bravely They lie awake when you are asleep if you knew the burden that lies upon their spirits you would think that your labour and burden were very little in comparison of theirs 2. There 's another burden of danger more than the rest and that you shall find in Numb 4.17 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying Cut ye not eff the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites but thus do unto them that they may live and not die When they approach unto the most holy things Aaron and his Sons shall go in and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden but they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered lest they die Mark this text saith the Lord to Moses and Aaron Cut ye not off the tribe of the family of the Kohathites from among the Levites Cut them not off why what had they done had they done any thing amiss No they had not done any thing that provoked God but the meaning is this Take a great care of the family of the Kohathites to instruct them in their duty that they were to do for saith God they are in a great deal of danger being to serve in the most holy things If they should go in to see the holy things more than God would have them it is as much as their lives are worth and therefore if you should but neglect them and not inform them throughly in their duty they would be undone saith God They are to administer in the most holy things and if they should but dare to presume to do any thing otherwise than God would have them about those services it would cost them their lives and therefore be not you careless of them for if you neglect them you will be a means of cutting them off Thus you see the danger that the family of the Kohathites were in they were preferr'd before others but they were in more danger So you think there are such men in a Parish