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
a husband are the wives and though there are some husbands so vile as the wives may be forced to sue for maintenance certainly Jesus Christ will never deny maintenance to his Spouse it 's a dishonor for a Husband to have his Wife go whining up and down what thou art match'd with Christ and 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 cheerily 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 sace 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 onely 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 murmurest 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 On 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 discontentedness is below the high dignities that God hath put upon him Do but consider the high diguity 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 himself Kings unto God not Kings unto men to rule over them and yet I say every Christian is a Lord of Heaven and Earth yea of life and death That is As Christ he is a 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 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 respect too and yet discontented that thou who wert as a firebrand of Hell and might have been scorching and velling and roaring 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 the Divine Nature and in that respect thy nature is more honored than the nature of the Angels And the death of Christ is thine he died for thee and not for the Angels and therefore thou art like to be raised above the Angels in divers respects yea thou art in such an estate as this is thou that art set apart to the end that God might man fest to all eternity what the infinite power of a Deity is able to raise a creature to for that 's the condition of a Saint a Believer his condition is such as he is set apart to the end that God might manifest to all eternity what his infinite power is able to do to make the creature happy art thou in such a condition Oh! how low and beneath this condition is a murmuring and discontented heart for want of some outward comforts here in this world How unseemly is it that thou shouldest be a slave to every cross that every affliction shall be able to say to thy soul Bow down to us We accounted that a great slavery when men would say to our souls Bow down As the cruel Prelates were wont to do in imposing things upon mens consciences they did in effect say Let your consciences your souls bow down to us that we may tread upon them that is the greatest slavery in the world that one man should say to another let your consciences your souls bow down that we may tread upon them but wilt thou suffer every affliction to say bow down that we may tread upon thee Truly it s so when thy heart is overcome with murmuring and discontent Know that those afflictions which have caused thee to murmur have said to thee Bow down that we may tread upon thee nay not afflictions but the very Devil doth prevail against you in this Oh! how beneath is this to the happy estate that God hath raised a Christian unto What! the son of a King shall he have every base fellow to come and bid him bow down that he may tread upon his neck thus doest thou in every affliction the affliction the cross and trouble that doth befall thee saith Bow down that we may come and tread upon thee Thirdly Murmuring its below the spirit of a Christian Below his Spirit the spirit of every Christian should be like the spirit of his father every father loves to see his spirit in his childe loves to see his Image not his Image of his body onely to say here 's a childe for all the world like the father but he hath the spirit of his father too a father that is a man of spirit Loves to see his spirit in his childe rather than the feature of his Body Oh the Lord 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
now when the Soul comes to understand this the Soul then cries out Why am I so troubled that I have not my desires There is nothing that God conveys his wrath more through than a prosperous Estate I remember I have read of a Jewish Tradition that they say of Uzziah when God struck Vzziah with a Leprosie they say that the beams of the Sun was darted upon the forehead of Vzziah and he was struck with a Leprosie with the darting of the beams of the Sun upon his forehead the Scripture saith Indeed the Priests looked upon him but they say there was a special light and beam of the Sun upon the forehead that did discover the Leprosie to the Priests and they say it was the way of conveying of it Whether that were true or no I am sure this is true that the strong beams of the Sun of prosperity upon many men makes them to be leprous Would any poor man in the Country have been discontented that he was not in Vzziahs condition He was a great King I but there was the Leprosie in his fore-head the poor man may say though I live meanly in the Country yet I thank God my body is whole and sound would not any man rather have russet and skins of beasts to cloath him with than to have sattin and velvet that should have the Plague in it The Lord conveyes the Plague of his curse through prosperity as much as through any thing in the world and therefore the soul coming to understand this this makes it to be quiet and content And then Spiritual Judgements are the greatest Judgements of all the Lord says such an Affliction upon my outward estate but what if he had taken away my life A mans health is a greater mercy than his estate and you that are poor people you should consider of that But is the health of a mans body better than his estate what is the health of a mans soul that 's a great deal better the Lord hath inflicted external judgements but he hath not inflicted spiritual Judgements upon thee he hath not given thee up to hardness of heart and taken away the spirit of prayer from thee in thine afflicted estate Oh then be of good comfort though there be outward afflictions upon thee yet thy soul thy more excellent part is not afflicted Now when the soul comes to understand this that here lies the sore wrath of God to be given up to a mans desires and for Spiritual Judgements to be upon a man this quiets him and contents him though outward afflictions be upon him perhaps one of a mans children hath the fit of an ague or the tooth-ach but perhaps his next neighbor hath the plague or all his children are dead of the plague now shall he be so discontented because his children have the tooth-ach when his neighbors children are dead Now think thus Lord thou hast laid an afflicted condition upon me but Lord thou hast not given me the plague of a hard heart Now take these eight things before mentioned and lay them together and you may well apply that Scripture in Isa 29. the last verse saith the text there They also that erred in Spirit shall come to understanding and they that murmured shall learn Doctrine Hath there been any of you as I fear many may be found that have erred in spirit even in regard of this truth that now we are preaching of and many that have murmured Oh that this day you might come to understand that Christ would bring you into his School and teach you understanding And they that murmured shall learn Doctrine what Doctrine shall they learn These eight Doctrines that I have opened to you And if you will but throughly study these lessons that I have set before your eyes It will be a special help and means to cure your murmuring against and repinings at the hand of God And so you will come to learn Christian Contentment The Lord teach you throughly by his Spirit these Lessons of Contentment SERMON VI. at Stepney Aug. 31. 1645. PHIL. 4.11 For I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content I Shall only adde one Lesson more in learning of Contentment and then I shall come to the Fourth Head The Excellency of Contentment The Ninth and last Lesson that Christ teaches those that he doth instruct in this Art of Contentment It is the right knowledge of Gods Providence and therein are these four things 1. The Universality of Providence that the soul must be throughly instructed in to come to this Art to understand the Universality of Providence that is how the Providence of God goes through the whole world extends it self to every thing Not onely that God by his providence doth rule the world and govern all things in general but that it reaches to every particular not onely to Kingdoms to order the great affairs of Kingdoms but it reaches to every mans Family it reaches to every person in the Family it reaches to every condition yea to every passage to every thing that falls out concerning thee in every particular not one hair falls from thy head not a Sparrow to the ground without the providence of God There 's nothing befalls thee good or evil but there is a providence of the Infinite Eternal First-being in that thing and therein indeed is Gods Infiniteness that it reaches to the least things to the least worm that is under thy feet Then much more it reaches unto thee that art a rational Creature the Providence of God is more special towards rational Creatures than any others The understanding in a spiritual way the universality of providence in every particular passage from morning to night every day that there 's not any thing that doth befall thee but there 's a hand of God in it it is from God it is a mighty furtherance to Contentment Every man will grant the truth of the thing that it is so but as the Apostle saith in Heb. 11.3 By faith we understand that the worlds were made by faith we understand it why by faith we can understand by reason that no finite thing can be from it self And therefore that the world could not be of it self but we can understand it by saith in another manner than by reason So whatsoever we understand of God in way of providence yet when Christ doth take us into his School we come to understand it by faith in a better manner than we do by reason 2. The efficacy that there is in providence that is That the providence of God goes on in all things with strength and power and it is not to be altered by our power let us be discontented and vext and troubled and fret and rage yet we must not think to alter the course of providence by our discontent Some of Jobs friends said to him Shall the earth be forsaken for thee and shall the rock be removed out of his place Job
of the duty before many men when they hear of a duty they should perform they will labor to perform it but first you must be humbled for the want of it therefore that 's the thing that I shall endeavor in the Application to get your hearts to be humbled for the want of this Grace Oh had I had this Grace of Contentment what a happy life I might have lived what abundance of honor I might have brought to the Name of God and how might I have honored my profession and what a deal of comfort might I have enjoyed but the Lord knows it hath been far otherwise Oh how far have I been from this grace of Contentment that hath been opened to me I have had a murmuring a vexing and fretting heart within me every little cross hath put me out of temper and out of frame Oh the boisterousness of my spirit what a deal of evil doth God see in my heart in the vexing and fretting of my heart and murmuring and repining of my spirit Oh that God would make you to see it Now to the end that you might be humbled for the want of this I shall endeavor in these particulars to speak unto it First I shall set before you The evil of a murmuring spirit there is more evil then you are aware of In the second place I will shew you some aggravations of this evil It 's evil in all but in some more than in others Thirdly I shall labor to take away the Pleas that any murmuring discontented heart hath for this distemper of his There 's these Three things in this Use of humiliation of the soul for the want of this Grace of Contentment For the first now at this time The great evil that there is in a murmuring discontented heart In the first place This thy murmuring and discontentedness it argues much corruption that is in the soul as Contentment argues much Grace and strong Grace and beautiful Grace so this argues much Corruption and strong Corruption and very vile Corruption in thy heart As it is in a mans body If a mans body be of that temper that every scratch of a pin makes his flesh to rankle and to be a sore you will say surely this mans body is very corrupt his blood and flesh is corrupt that every scratch of a pin shall make it ranckle so it is in thy spirit if every little trouble and affliction shall make thee discontented and make thee murmur and even cause thy spirit within thee to ranckle or as it is in a wound of a mans body the evil of a wound it is not so much in the largness of the wound and in the abundance of blood that comes out of the wound but in the inflammation that there is in it or in a fretting and corroding humor that is in the wound an unskilful man when he comes and sees a large wound in the flesh looks upon it as a dangerous wound And when he sees a great deal of blood gush out he thinks these are the evils of it but when a Chyrurgion comes and sees a great gash saith he this will be healed within a few days but there 's a less wound and there 's an inflammation or a fretting humor that is in it and this will cost time saith he to cure so that he doth not lay Balsom and healing Salves upon it but his great care is to get out the fretting humor or inflammation so that the thing that must heal this wound it is some drink to purge But saith the patient what good will this do to my wound You give me somewhat to drink and my wound is in my arm or in my leg what good will this do that I put in my stomach Yes it purges out the fretting humor or takes away the inflammation and till that be taken away the salves can do no good So it is just for all the world in the souls of men it may be there is some affliction upon them that I compare to the wound now they think that the greatness of the affliction is that which makes their condition most miserable Oh no there is a fretting humor an inflamation in the heart a murmuring spirit that is within thee and that is the misery of thy condition and that must be purged out of thee before thou canst be healed and let God do with thee what he will till he purges out that fretting humor thy wound will not be healed a murmuring heart is a very sinful heart so that when thou art troubled for such an affliction thou hadst need turn thy thoughts rather to be troubled for the murmuring of thy heart for that 's the greatest trouble there is an affliction upon thee and that is grievous but there is a murmuring heart within that 's more grievous Oh that we could but convince men and women that a murmuring spirit is a greater evil than any affliction let the affliction be what it will be We shall shew more afterward that a murmuring spirit is the evil of the evil and the misery of the misery Secondly The evil of murmuring is such that God when he would speak of wicked men and describe them and shew the brand of a wicked ungodly man or woman he instances in this sin in a more special manner I might name many Scriptures but that Scripture in Jude is a most remarkable one in the 14. verse and so forward there it is said That the Lord comes with ten thousands of his Saints to execute judgement upon all and convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodlily committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly finners have spoken against him Mark here in this 15. verse there is four times mentioned ungodly ones All that are ungodly among them all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him This is in the general But now he comes in the particular to shew who these are these are saith he Murmurers that 's the very first Would you know who are ungodly men that God when he comes with ten thousand of Angels shall come to punish for all their ungodly deeds that they do and those that speak ungodly things against them These ungodly ones are Murmurers Murmurers in the Scripture are put in the fore front of ungodly ones it s a most dreadful Scripture that the Lord when he speaks of ungodly ones puts Murmurers in the very fore front of all you had need look to your spirits you may see that this Murmuring which is the vice contrary to this Contentment is not so small a matter as you think you think you are not so ungodly as others because you do not swear and drink as others do but you may be ungodly in Murmuring its true there is no sin but some seeds and remainers of it are in those that are godly but
our Father loves to see his spirit in us Great men love to see great spirits in their children and the great God loves to see a great spirit in his Children we are one Spirit with God and with Christ and one Spirit with the holy Ghost therefore we should have a spirit that might manifest the Glory of the Father Son and holy Ghost in our spirits that 's the spirit of a Christian indeed The spirit of a Christian should be a Lyon-like spirit as Jesus Christ is the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah so he is called so we should manifest somewhat of the Lyon-like Spirit of Jesus Christ he manifested his Lyon-like Spirit in passing through all afflictions and troubles whatsoever without any murmuring against God When he came to drink that bitter cup and even the dregs of it he prayed to God indeed that if it were possible it might pass from him but presently Not my will but thy will be done As soon as ever he did mention the passing of the cup from him though it were the most dreadful cup that ever was drunk since the world began yet at the mentioning of it not my will but thy will be done here Christ shewed a Lyon-like Spirit in going through all kind of afflictions whatsoever without any murmuring against God in them Now a murmuring spirit is a base dejected spirit cross and contrary to the Spirit of a Christian and it s very base I remember that the Heathens account it very base Plutarch doth report of a certain people that did use to manifest their disdain to men that were over-much dejected by any affliction they did condemn them to this punishment To wear womans cloathes all their dayes or such a space of time at least they should go in womens cloaths in token of shame and disgrace to them because they had such effeminate spirits they thought it against a manlike spirit and therefore seeing they did un-man themselves they should go as women Now shall they account it an unman-like spirit to be over-much dejected in affliction and shall not a Christian account it an unchristian-like spirit to be over-much dejected by any affliction whatsoever I remember another compares murmuring spirits to children when they are weaning What a deal of stir have you with your children when you wean them how froward and vexing are they So when God would wean thee from some outward comforts in this world Oh how fretting and discontented art thou Children will not sleep themselves not let their mothers sleep when they are weaning and so when God would wean us from the world and we fret vex and murmur this is a childish spirit Fourthly It s below the profession of a Christian The profession of a Christian what 's that A Christians profession is To be dead to the world and to be alive to God that 's his profession to have his life to be hid with Christ in God to satisfie himself in God What is this thy profession and yet if thou hast not every thing that thou wouldest have to murmur and be discontent thou dost in that even deny thy profession Fifthly It is below that special Grace of Faith Faith is that that doth overcome the world it is that that makes all the Promises of God to be ours Now when thou tookest upon thee the profession of Religion Did God ever promise thee that thou shouldest live at ease and quiet and have no trouble I remember Austin hath such an expression What is this my faith what did I ever promise thee saith he that thou shouldest ever flourish in the world art thou a Christian to that end and is this thy faith I never made any such promise to thee when thou tookest upon thee to be a Christian Oh its mighty contrary to thy profession thou hast never a promise for this that thou shouldest not have such an affliction upon thee And a Christian should live by his faith it is said that the just doth live by faith now thou shouldest not look after any other life but the life that thou hast by faith now thou hast no ground for thy faith to believe that thou shouldst be delivered out of such an affliction and then why shouldest thou account it such a great evil to be under such an affliction Certainly that good that we have in the ground for our faith it is enough to content our hearts here and to all eternity A Christian should be satisfied with that that God hath made to be the object of his faith the object of his faith is high enough to satisfie his soul were it capable of a thousand times more than it is Now if thou mayest have the object of thy faith full thou hast enough to content thy soul and know that when thou art discontented for want of such and such comforts if thou wouldest but think thus God did never promise me that I should have these comforts and at this time and in such a way as I would have but I am discontented because I have not these which God did never yet promise me and therefore I sin much against the Gospel and against the Grace of Faith There is yet another thing It s below the hopes of Christians Oh! the most glorious things that the Saints hope for And against the helps that Christians have Christians have great helps that may help them against murmuring And it is against that which God expects from Christians God expects other manner of things from them than this Yea and it is below that that God hath from other Christians These things I shall open at another time SERMON VIII at Stepney Sept. 21. 1645. PHIL. 4.11 For I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content I Mentioned divers things the last day to set out the evil of discontent I shall name Two or Three more Sixthly It is below a Christian in this Because it s below those helps that a Christian hath more than others have they have the Promises to help them that others have not it s not so much to have a Nabal have his heart sink because he hath nothing but the Creature to uphold him but it s much for a Christian that hath Promises and Ordinances to uphold his spirit which others have not Seventhly It s below the expectation that God hath of Christians for God expects not onely that they should be patient in afflictions but that they should rejoyce and triumph in them now Christians when God expects this from you for you not so much as to have attained to contentedness under afflictions Oh this is beneathe the expectation of God from you Eighthly It is below that that God hath had from other Christians Others have not onely been contented with little crosses but they have triumphed under great afflictions they have suffered the spoiling of their goods with joy read but the latter part of the 11. of the Hebrews and you shall find what great things
God hath had from his people and therefore not to be content with smaller crosses this must needs be a great evil The Sixth evil that there is in a murmuring spirit is this By murmuring you undo your prayers for it is exceeding contrary to the prayers you make unto God When you come to prayer to God you acknowledge his Soveraignty over you you come there to profess your selves to be at Gods dispose what do you pray for except you acknowledg that you are at his dispose except you will stand as it were at his dispose never come to petition to him if you will come to petition to him and yet will be your own carver you go cross to your prayers to come as if you would beg your bread at your Fathers gates every day and yet you must do what you list this is the undoing of the prayers of a Christian I remember I have read of Latimer that speaking concerning Peter that he denied his Master saith he Peter forgot his pater-noster for that was Hallowed be thy Name and thy Kingdom come So we may say when you have murmuring and discontented hearts you forget your prayers you forget what you have prayed for for you must make the Lords Prayer to be as a pattern for your Prayers though you say not alwayes the same words what do you pray but give us this day our daily bread for that 's Christs intention that we should have that as a pattern and is a directory as it were how to make your prayers now God doth not teach any of you to pray Lord give us so much a yeer or let me have such kind of cloth and so many dishes at my table Christ doth not teach you to pray so but he teaches us to pray Lord give us our bread shewing that you should be content with a little What have you not bread to eat I hope there 's none of you here but have that Obj. But I do not know if I should die what should become of my Children Or if I have bread now I know not where I shall have it the next week or where I shall have provision for the Winter Answ Where did Christ teach us to pray Lord give us provision for so long a time no but if we have bread for this day Christ would have us content Therefore when we murmur because we have not so much variety as others have we do as it were forget out Pater-noster It s against our prayers we do not in our lives hold forth the acknowledgement of the Soveraignty of God over us as we seem to acknowledge in our prayers therefore when at any time you find your hearts murmuring then do but reflect upon your selves and think thus Is this according to my prayers wherein I held forth the Soveraign Power and Authority that God hath over me The seventh thing that I adde for the evil of discontentment is The woful effects that comes to a discontented heart from murmuring I 'le name you five There are five evil effects that comes from a murmuring spirit 1. By murmuring and discontent in your hearts you come to lose a great deal of time How many times do men and women when they are discontented let their thoughts run and are musing and contriving through their present discontentedness then let their discontented thoughts be working in them for some hours together and they spend their time in vain When you are alone you should spend your time in holy meditation but you are spending your time in discontented thoughts you who complain that you cannot meditate you cannot think on good things but if you begin to think of them a little presently your thoughts are off from them but if you be discontented with any thing then you can go alone and muse and roll things up and down in your thoughts to feed a discontented humor Oh labor to see this evil effect of murmuring the losing of your time 2. It doth unfit a man for duty A man or woman that is in a contented frame you may turn such a one to any thing at any time he is fit for to go to God at any time but when one is in a discontented condition then a man or woman is exceeding unfit for the service of God And it causes many distractions in duty it unfits for duty and when you come to perform duties Oh the distractions that are in your duties when your spirits are discontented when you hear of any ill news from Sea and cannot bear it or of any ill from a friend or any loss or cross Oh what distractions do they cause in the performance of holy duties When you should be enjoying communion with God you are distracted in your thoughts about the cross that hath befallen you whereas had you but a quiet spirit though there should great crosses befall you yet they would never hinder you in the performance of any duty 3. Consider what wicked risings of heart and resolutions of spirit there are many times in a discontented fit In some discontented fits the heart rises against God and against others and sometimes hath even desperate resolutions what to do to help themselves If the Lord should have suffered you to have done sometimes in a discontented fit what you had thought to do what wonderful misery had you brought upon your selves Oh it was a mercy of God that did stop you had not God stopt you but let you go on when you thought to help your selves this way and the other way Oh it had been ill with you do you but remember those risings of heart and wicked resolutions that somtimes you have had in a discontented mood and learn to be humbled upon that 4. Vnthankfulness that 's an evil and a wicked effect that comes from discontent Unthankfulness the Scripture doth rank among very great sins For men and women that are discontent though they injoy many mercies from God yet they are thankful for none of them for this is the vile nature of discontentment to lessen every mercy of God to make those mercies they have from God to be as nothing to them because they have not what they would have Sometimes it s so even in spiritual things if they have not all they would have the comforts that they would have then what they have is nothing to them do you think that God will take this well If you should give a friend a kinsman a purse of money to go and trade withall and he should come and say What do you give me they are but a few counters they will do me no good you cannot bear this at his hand if he should do so because he hath not so much money as he would So for you to be ready to say All that God hath given me is nothing worth will do me no good they are but counters though they are precious Graces of Gods spirit that are more worth than thousands of worlds yet for
you to say they are nothing they are but common gifts and all is but in hypocrisie all counterfeit Oh! what an unthankful thing is this the Graces of Gods Spirit are nothing to a discontented heart that hath not all that it would have and so for outward blessings though God hath given you health of Body and strength and bath given you some competency for your family some way of lively-hood yet because you are disappointed in somewhat that you would have therefore all is nothing unto you Oh! what unthankfulness is here God expects that every day you should spend some time in blessing his Name for what mercy he hath granted unto you there 's not any one of you who are in the lowest condition but you have abundance of mercies to bless God for but discontentedness makes them nothing It s an excellent speech that I remember Luther hath saith he This is the Rhetorick of the Spirit of God its a very fine speech of his to extenuate evil things and to amplifie good things if there falls out a cross to make the cross to be but little but if there be a mercy to make the mercy to be great as thus If there be a cross if the Spirit of God prevails in the heart such a man or woman will wonder that it is no greater and will bless God that though there be such a cross yet that it is no more that 's the work of the Spirit of God and if there be a mercy wonders at Gods goodness that God granted so great a mercy The Spirit of God extenuates evils and crosses and doth magnifie and amplifie all mercies and makes all mercies seem to be great and all afflictions seem to be little But saith he the Devil goes quite contrary the Rhetorick of the Devil is quite otherwise he doth lessen Gods mercies and amplifie evil things as thus A godly man wonders at his cross that it is no more a wicked man wonders his cross is so much Oh saith he none was ever so afflicted as I am If there be a cross the Devil puts the soul upon musing on it and making it greater than it is and so it brings discontent And then on the other side if there be a mercy then its the Rhetorick of the Devil to lessen the mercy Indeed saith he the thing is a good thing but what is it It is no great matter and for all this I may be miserable Thus the Rhetorick of Satan doth lessen Gods mercies and doth encrease afflictions And for this I 'le give you a notable example that we have in Scripture it is the example of Korah Dathan and Abiram In Numb 16.12 13. And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eltab which said We will not come up Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a Land that floweth with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness except thou make thy self altogether a Prince over us Mark they slighted the Land that they were going into the Land of Canaan that was the Land that God promised them that should flow with milk and hony But mark here their discontentedness because they met with some troubles in the wilderness Oh it was to slay them they made their affliction in the wilderness to be greater than it was Oh it was to kill them though it were indeed to carry them to the Land of Canaan But now their deliverance from Egypt though it was a great mercy they made that mercy to be nothing for say they You have brought us out of a Land that floweth with milk and honey what land was that It was the land of Egypt the Land of their bondage but they call it a Land that flowed with milk and honey though it were the Land of their most cruel and unsupportable bondage whereas they should have blessed God as long as they had liv'd for Gods delivering them out of the Land of Egypt yet meeting with some cross they make their deliverance from Egypt no mercy no it was rather a misery to them Oh say they Egypt was a Land that flowed with milk and honey Oh what baseness is there in a discontented spirit a discontented spirit out of envy to Gods Grace will make mercies that are great to be little yea to be none at all Would one ever have thought that such a word should have come from the mouth of an Israelite that had been under bondage and cried under it and yet when they meet with a little cross in their way to say you have brought us out of the Land that floweth with milk and honey to say they were better before than now and yet before they could not be contented neither this is the usual unthankful expression of a discontented heart And it is so with us now when we meet with any cross in our estates and taxations and troubles especially if any among you have been where the enemy hath prevailed you are ready to say We had plenty before and we are now brought to a condition of hardship we were better before when we had the Prelates and others to domineer and so we indanger our selves to be brought into that bondage again Oh let us take heed of this of a discontented heart there is this woful cursed fruit of discontent to make men and women unthankful for all the mercies God hath granted to them and this is a sore and grievous evil And lastly There 's this evil effect in murmuring It causes shiftings of spirit they that murmur and are discontent are liable to temptations to shift for themselves in sinful and ungodly ways discontent is the ground of shitting courses and unlawful ways How many of you may have your consciences condemn you of this that you in the time of your afflictions have sought to shift for your selves by wayes that have been sinful against God and your discontent was the bottom and ground of it If you would avoid shiftings for your selves by wicked ways labor to mortifie this sin of discontent to mortifie it at the root The Eight evil that there is in murmuring and discontent is this There is a great deal of folly extream folly in a discontented heart it s a foolish sin I shall open the folly of it in many particulars 1. It takes away the present comfort of what you have because you have not somwhat that you would have What a foolish thing is this that because I have not what I would have I will not enjoy the comfort of what I have Do not you account this folly in your children you give them some victuals and they are not contented perhaps they say it s not enough they cry for more and if you do not presently give them more they will throw away that they have and though you account that folly in your Children yet you deal thus with God God gives you many mercies but you see others have more mercies than you
of his spirit have I upon me that can find no rest at all Twelfthly Murmuring and discontent hath this evil in it There is an absolute necessity that thou shouldst have disquiet all the days of thy life As if a man that is in a great croud should complain that other folks touch him While we are in this world God hath so ordered things that afflictions must befal us and if we will complain and be discontented upon every cross and affliction we must complain and be discontent all the days of our lives Yea God in just judgement will let things fall out on purpose to vex those that have vexing spirits and discontented hearts and therefore there is a necessity that they should live disquiet all their days and men will not much care to disquiet those that are continually murmuring Oh they will have disquiet all their days Lastly There 's this dreadful evil in discontent and murmuring God may justly with draw his care of you and his protection over you seeing God cannot please you in his administrations We use to say so to discontented servants Nay if you be not pleased mend your selves when you will If you have a servant not content with his diet and wages and work you say Mend your selves So may God justly say to us we that profess our selves servants to him to be in his work and yet are discontented with this thing or that in Gods family God might justly say Mend your selves What if God should say to any of you If my care over you do not please you then take care of your selves if my protection over you will not please you then protect your selves Now all things that do befall you befall you through a providence of God and if you be those that belong to God there is a protection of God over you and a care of God Now if God should say Well you shall not have the benefit of my protection any longer and I will take no further care of you would not this be a most dreadful judgement of God from Heaven upon you Take heed what you do then in being discontent with Gods will towards you and indeed upon discontent this may befall you And this is the reason why many people though Gods protection hath bin very gracious over them for a time and they have thriven abundantly yet afterwards almost all that behold them may say that they live as if God had cast off his care over them and as if God did not care what befall them Now then my brethren put all these together all that we were speaking of the last day and these particulars that have been added now this morning for the setting out of a Murmuring and Discontented spirit Oh what an ugly face hath this sin of murmuring and discontentedness Oh what cause is there that we should lay our hands upon our hearts and go away and be humbled before the Lord because of this Whereas your thoughts were wont to be exercised about providing for your selves and getting more comforts to your selves let the stream of your thoughts now be turned to humble your selves for your discontentedness Oh that you may have your hearts break before God for otherwise you shall fall to it again Oh the wretchedness of mans heart You will find in Scripture concerning the people of Israel how strangely they fell to their murmuring again and again do but observe three texts of Scripture for that the first in the 15. of Exod. at the beginning there you shall have Moses and the Congregation singing to God and blessing God for his mercy Then sang Moses and the Children of Israel this song unto the Lord and spake saying I will sing unto the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the Sea And then The Lord is my strength and song and he is become my Salvation he is my God and I will prepare him an habitation my Fathers God and I will exalt him and so he goes on And who is like unto thee O Lord amongst the Gods Who is like thee glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders Thus their hearts triumphed in God but mark before the Chapter is ended in the 23. verse When they come to Marah in the same Chapter they could not drink of the waters of Marah for they were bitter therefore the name of it was called Marah and the people murmured against Moses After so great a mercy as this was what unthankfulness was there here in their murmuring Then God gave them water but in the very next Chapter they fell to their murmuring you read not that they were humbled for their former murmuring and therefore they murmur again Exod. 16.1 c. all the congregation of the Children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin c. And the whole Congregation in the second verse of the Children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness and the Children of Israel said unto them would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the Land of Egypt when we sat by the flesh-pots and when we did eat bread to the full Now they want flesh they wanted water before but now they want meat they fell to murmuring again they were not humbled for this murmuring against God neither when God gave them flesh according to their defires but they fell to murmuring again they wanted somewhat else In the very next Chapter they went not far in the 17. of Exod. beginning And all the Congregation of the Children of Israel journyed from the wilderness of Sin and pitched in Rephadim and there was no water for the people to drink Then in the second verse Wherefore the people did chide with Moses and said Give us water that we may drink and Moses said unto them Why chide you with me wherefore do you tempt the Lord And in the third verse And the people thirsted there for water and the people murmured against Moses and said wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our Children and our Cattel with thirst So one time after another still as soon as ever they had received the mercy then they were a little quieted but they were not humbled I bring these Scriptures for this to shew That if we have not been humbled for murmuring the next cross that we meet withal we will fall to murmuring again There are divers Aggravations of this sin of Murmuring I 'le mention but one now and I shall but begin that The first Aggravation is this To murmur when we enjoy abundance of mercy the greater and the more abundant the mercy is that we enjoy the greater and the viler is the sin of murmuring As here now when God had newly delivered them out of the house of bondage for them now to murmur because they want some few particulars that they desire Oh to sin against God after a
of Israel nothing would quiet them but they must have a King Samuel perswaded them to the contrary and told them what kind of King they should have and when they had a King in Hos 10.3 What shall a King do to us they were not contented when they had one So Rachel she must have children or else she died and when she had a little trouble she was discontented too so that we are neither well full nor fasting as we use to say The sixth aggravation of the sin of murmuring is this For those men and women to be discontent and murmur that God hath raised from mean and low estates and conditions This is a very great aggravation if thou be discontent now There was a time when thou wert low enough and perhaps when thou wert so low then thou did'st say O if God would deliver me from such an affliction or give me but a little more in my estate I should think my self in a good condition but if God by his providence doth raise thee thou art as greedy of more still as thou wert before and as much discontented as thou wert before this is an evil thing for people that had mean breeding and poor beginning for them to be so nice and dainty that nothing can please them whereas there was a time not long since that they were low and mean enough But it is very ordinary for those that are raised from a low and mean condition to be the more nice and dainty and more proud when they are raised than others that are of better breeding It s too much for a childe to be discontented in his fathers house but if a man hath taken a poor begger boy if you had taken such a one into your house that lay begging at your door and set him at your own table could you bear that such a one should complain that such a thing is not well drest or the like you could not bear it if your children should do it but you could bear it a great deal better with them than to hear such a one do it but thou art a poor beggar and God hath as it were taken thee into his great Family and if the Lord hath been pleased to raise thee higher that now thou hast a competency that thou mayest live as a man to be of use and service in the place where God hath set thee now wilt thou be discontent because thou hast not every thing that thou desirest we know the Prodigal when he came to imself Oh! saith he In my fathers house is bread enough He did not say there 's good chear enough and a great deal of dainties no he thought of nothing but bread there 's bread enough So its ordinary for men and women when they are in a low condition they think that if they may have bread any competency they will be contented and bless God but when they have their bread and things convenient they must have more or else they are not contented know that this is an exceeding great aggravation to thy discontentment when you are raised from a very low condition and yet you cannot be contented with what you have A seventh aggravation of this sin is this For them to be discontent that have been very great sinners and ungodly in their former time For men and women that have much guiltiness upon them the guilt of very many sins upon them that have provok'd God exceedingly against them and have brought themselves in a most dreadful manner under the sentence of Gods Justice and yet God being pleased to reprieve them for them to murmur and to be discontent with Gods administrations towards them this is exceeding evil Oh it were consideration enough to quiet any murmuring in our hearts to think thus We are but sinners why should not we be sufferers that are sinners But then consider we that are such great sinners guilty of such notorious sins that it is a wonder that we are out of Hell at this present yet for us to be discontent and murmur how exceedingly doth this encrease our sins Consider how we have crossed God in our sins then if God should cross us in the way of our sufferings should not we sit down quiet without murmuring Certainly thou never knewest what it was to be humbled for thy manifold sins that art discontented at any administration of God towards thee The Eight Aggravation of the sin of murmuring is For those men that are of little use in the world for them to be discontented If you have but a beast that you make much use of you will feed it well but if you have but little use of him then you turn him into the Commons little provision serves his turn because you make not use of him If we liv'd so as to be exceeding useful to God and his Church we might expect that God would be pleased to come in in some encouraging way to us but when our consciences tell us we live and do but little service for God what if God should turn us upon the Commons yet we are fed according to our work according to our imployment Why should any creature be serviceable to thee who art so little serviceable to God This one meditation would much help us to think I am discontent because such and such Creatures are not serviceable to me but why should I expect that they should be serviceable to me when I am not serviceable to God And that 's the Eight Aggravation A Ninth Aggravation of the sin of murmuring is this For us to be discontent at that time when God is to humble us It should be the care of a Christian to observe what are Gods ways towards him what is God about to do with me at this time Is God about to raise me to comfort me Let me close with Gods goodness and bless his Name let me joyn with the work of God when he offers mercy to me to take the mercy he offers But again Is God about to humble me Is God about to break my heart and to bring my heart down to him Let me joyn with God in this work of his this is for a Christian to walk with God It is said that Enoch and Noah walked with God walked with God what 's that That is To observe what is the work of God that God is now about and to joyn with God in that work of his so that according as God turns this way or that way the heart should turn with God and have suitable workings unto the workings of God towards him Now then I am discontented and murmure because I am afflicted Therefore thou art afflicted because God would humble thee and the great design that God hath in afflicting of thee is To break and humble thy heart And wilt thou now maintain a spirit quite opposite to the Work of God for thee to murmure and be discontented is to resist the Work of God God is doing thee good
poverty Page 45 See prosperity Prayers How we undo our prayers Page 133 Praise see Had. Profession Profession of a Christian Page 131 Promise Promises performed more litterally to the Jews Page 54 64 Gods liberty in performing temporal promises Page 55 See Covenant Heritage Prosperity Many good men worse for prosperity Page 34 The burden of prosperity Page 85 Prosperity should prepare for afflictions Page 182 See Trouble Danger Protection Protection of God from whom withdrawn Page 147 A great Judgement to be out of Gods protection Page 148 Proud A proud heart never content Page 30 Punishment Ground of accepting our punishments Page 167 Providence Knowledge of Gods providence what it teacheth Page 94 Providence of God not to be altered Pag 95 See Rational Effieacy Variety Universality Purchase see Christ Publike see Discontent Q Quiet Quiet in adversity Page 195 See Content R Rational Gods providence most over Creatures Rational Page 94 Real See Heaven Reason Wherein Natural Reason may quiet the heart Page 14 Rebellion Murmuring accunted rebellion Page 121 Rejoyce How the soul comes to rejoyce in Gods waies Page 72 When a sin to rejoyce immoderately Page 152 Relation Relation of a Christian Page 126 Reprobate No certain sign of a Reprobate in Scripture Page 91 Reward A Christian may expect a reward Page 116 He is rewarded for what he would do ibid. Great Rewards for Christians in low callings Page 178 Rhetorick see Devil Right What Right wicked men have to what they enjoy Page 42 Righteously God deals righteously with us though men do not Page 171 Risings Desperate Risings in the heart against God Page 9 Rule A Christian should walk by Rule Page 196 S Saints A Christian one body with the Saints Page 127 Sanctified What a Christian hath is sanctified Page 41 All afflictions to the godly are sanctified Page 45 See Poverty Disgrace Scorn Scorn Scorn sanctified by Christ Page 46 Self A Christian can make up his wants in himself Page 53 37 See God Self-love Contentment in the creature from Self-love Page 113 Self-denial Self denial the way to contentment Page 68 Christ the pattern of self-denyal Page 71 Sense Gods Children have sense of their afflictions Page 5 Want of sense in afflictions dangerous ibid Serve Service What makes active in Gods service Page 14 What fits the soul for service Page 107 Affliction grievous when it hinders Gods service Page 175 All things serve them that serve God Page 197 Setled Our spiritual condition setled Pag 181 Shifting Shifting opposite to contentment Page 8 Shifting caused by murmuring Page 138 Sight see Sin Silent Grace makes silent in trouble Page 68 Small To murmur for small things Page 157 Sin Sight of Sin in a Christian while he lives Page 125 Great sinners should not murmur Page 160 When trouble for affliction and not for sin Page 166 If trouble be for sin we will not sin after trouble Page 167 See Duty Command Sorrow Sorrow when beyond bounds Page 165 See Joy Soul Contentment spread through the whole soul Page 10 Contentment betters the soul Page 113 It is a blessing on the soul Page 11â— See Heaven Worship Souldiers Every Christian a souldier Page 78 Spirit Spiritual judgements worst Page 91 Spirit of a Christian Page 129 Spirit of the Devil Page 147 Spiritual mind brings content Page 199 See Father Base Spouse A Christian spouse of Christ Page 126 Stilness Stilness Natural Page 13 Steadfast Grace makes the soul steadfast Page 195 Stranger A Christian a stranger here Page 67 Strength Strength from Christ to bear afflictions Page 47 A christian strong by Christs strength Page 48 Stupid Many seem content that are stupid Page 17 Submit To submit to God what Page 17 Pains taken without submission to God not Christian-like Page 185 Substraction Contentment by substraction Page 29 Sweetness Sweetness of mercies eaten out Page 132 T Temple A Christian the Temple of the Holy Ghost Page 127 Temptation How to be delivered from Temptation Page 108 Thorns The things of the world as Thorns Page 196 Time To submit in afflictions in respect of the Time Page 23 Loss of Time by murmuring Page 134 Our Time little in this world Page 190 Trouble Burden of Trouble in prosperity Page 85 See Sin Tumult Tumult of Spirit Page 6 V Vanity Every man in his setled estate is vanity Page 179 Variety To submit in variety of conditions Page 25 Variety of Gods providence Page 95 Unsatisfied A Christian content yet unsatisfied Page 27 Unsearchable Gods ways unsearchable Page 55 Unsetled Unsetledness of Spirit Page 7 Uprightness Uprightness accounted perfection Page 204 Use We can make use of nothing if God withdraw his grace Page 70 Men of little use not to murmur Page 161 Universal Gods providence universal Page 94 Unthankfulness Unthankfulness whence it is Page 135 W Walk To walk with God what Page 161 Want How to possess what we want Page 111 Not to want be content all one Page 207 Waste The affections not to run waste Page 51 Way To interpret well Gods ways Page 203 See Rejoyce Wicked Wicked men may have that that Christians murmur for Page 187 See Murmuring Will. To melt our will into Gods will Page 37 Within Contentment by purging out that that is within Page 39 Without see Within Works Difference between the Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Works Page 181 See One. World A Christians relation in the world Page 76 We were once contented with the world without Grace Page 193 Not to grasp the World Page 195 Not to be much taken with the comforts of the World Page 206 Worship How we give God due Worship Page 101 Worship what it signifies ibid. Soul Worship required Page 102 Worship active and passive ibid. Wrath. Wrath of God how provoked Page 141 Wrong Better to suffer than to offer Wrong Page 171 FINIS
and therefore you cry for more I but God gives you not what you would have and upon that you throw away what you have Is not this folly in your hearts It is unthankfulness 2. There 's a great deal of folly in discontentment for by all your discontent you cannot help your selves you cannot get any thing by it Who can by taking any carking care add one cubit to his stature or make one hair that is white to be black You may vex and trouble your selves but you can get nothing by it Do you think that the Lord will come in a way of mercy ever a whit the sooner because of the murmuring of your spirits Oh no but mercy will be rather deferred the longer for it though the Lord were before in a way of mercy yet this distemper of your hearts were enough to put him out of his course of mercy and though he had thoughts that you should have the thing before yet now you shall not have it If you had a mind to give such a thing to your child yet if you see him in a discontented fretting way you will not give it him and this is the very reason why there are so many mercies denied to you because of your discontentment you are discontented for want of them and therefore you have them not you do deprive your selves of the enjoyment of your own desires because of the discontent of your hearts because you have not your desires And is not this a foolish thing 3. There 's a great deal of folly in this There are many foolish carriages commonly that a discontented hear is guilty of They carry themselves foolishly towards God and towards men there are such expressions and such kind of behavior comes from them as makes their friends to be ashamed of them many times their carriages are so unseemly they are a shame to themselves and their friends 4. There is a great deal of folly in discontent and murmuring for it doth eat out the good and sweetness of a mercy before it comes If God should give a mercy that we are discontented for the want of yet the blessing of the mercy is as it were eaten out before we come to have it Discontent is like a worm that eats the meat out of the Nut and when the meat is eaten out of it then you shall have the shell If a childe should cry for a Nut that hath the meat eaten out or all worm-eaten what good would the child have by having the Nut so such an outward comfort you would fain have you are troubled for the want of it but the very trouble of your spirit is the worm that eats out the blessing of the mercy and then perhaps God gives it you but gives it you with a curse mixed with it that you were better not have it than have it That man or woman that is discontented for want of some good thing if God doth give that good thing to them before they be humbled for their discontent that did proceed from them such a man or woman can have no comfort of the mercy but it will be rather an evil than a good to them And therefore for my part if I should have a friend or brother or one that were as dear to me as my own soul that I should see discontented for the want of such a comfort I should rather pray Lord keep this thing from them till thou wilt be pleased to humble their hearts for their discontent let not them have the mercy till they come to be humbled for their discontent for the want of it for if they have it before that time they will have it without any blessing And therefore it should be your care when you finde your hearts discontented for want of anything to be humbled for it thinking thus with your selves Lord if that that I do so immoderately desire should come to me before I be humbled for my discontent for want of it I am certain I can have no comfort of it but I shall rather have it as an affliction to me Many things which you desire as your lives and think that you should be happy if you had them yet when they do come you find not such happiness in them but they prove to be the greatest crosses and afflictions to you that ever you had and upon this ground because your hearts were immoderately set upon them before you had them As it was with Rachel she must have children or else she died well saith God seeing you must you shall have them but though she had a childe she died according to what she said Give me children or else I die So in regard of any other outward comforts people may have the thing but often-times they have it so as it proves the heaviest cross to them that ever they had in all their lives such a childe as you were discontent for the want of it it may be it was sick and your hearts were out of temper for fear that you should lose it and God restores it but he restores it so as he makes it a cross to your hearts all the days of your lives One observes concerning Manna when the people were contented with their allowance that God allowed them then it was very good but when they would not be content with Gods allowance but would gather more then God would have them then saith the text there was worms in it So when we are content with our conditions and that which God disposes of us to be in there 's a blessing in it then its sweet to us but if we must needs have more and keep it longer than God would have us to have it then there will be worms in it and no good at all 5 There 's a great deal of folly in discontentedness for it makes our affliction a great deal worse than otherwise it would be it no way removes our affliction nay while they do continue they are a great deal the worse and heavier for a discontented heart is a proud heart and a proud heart will not pull down his sails when there comes a tempest and storm If a Martinet when a tempest and storm comes should be froward and would not pull down his sails but is discontented with the storm Is his condition the better because he is discontented and will not pull down his sails Will this help him Just so it is for all the world with a discontented heart a discontented heart is a proud heart and he out of his pride is troubled with his affliction and is not contented with Gods dispose and so he will not pull down his spirit at all and make it bow to God in this condition in which God hath brought him now is his condition the better because he will not pull down his spirit No certainly abundantly worse a thousand to one but the tempest and storm overwhelms his soul And thus you see what a great deal of folly