The Excellency of Contentment, and the Application

PHILIPPIANS. 4.11. For I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

WE proceed now. There are some two or three things more of the excellency of Contentment and then we are to proceed to Applycation of the point.

The Eight excellency is, Contentment is a great blessing of God upon the Soul. There is Gods blessing upon those that are content, the blessing of God is upon them, and their estates, and upon all that they have. We reade in Deut. of the blessing of Judah the principal Tribe; this is the blessing of Judah, And he said hear Lord the voice of Judah and bring him unto his people, let his hands be sufficient for him, and be thou an help to him from his enemies. Let his hand be sufficient for him, that is, bring in a sufficiency of all good unto him that he may have of his own, that’s the blessing of Judah. So when God gives thee a sufficiency of thine own, (as every contented man hath) there is the blessing of God upon thee, the blessing of the principle Tribe of Judah is upon thee. It is the Lord that gives us all things to injoy, we may have the thing and yet not enjoy it except God comes in with his blessing now whatsoever thou hast thou do’st injoy it: Many men have estates and do not enjoy them, it’s the blessing of God that gives us all things to enjoy, it is God that through his blessing, hath fashioned thy heart and made it sutable to thy condition.

The Ninth excellency, Those that are content they may expect reward from God, that God shall give unto them the good of all those things that they are contented to be without, and this brings in abundance of good to a contented spirit: There is such and such a mercy that thou thinkest would be very comfortable unto thee if thou had’st it, but canst thou bring thy heart to submit to God in it? thou shalt have the blessing of the mercy one way or other; if thou hast not the thing it self in re; thou shalt have it made up one way or other, thou shalt have a bill of exchange to receive somewhat in lieu of it, there is no comfort that any soul is content to be without, but the Lord will give either the comfort or somewhat in stead of it: Thou shalt have a reward to thy soul for what ever good thing thou art content to be without. You know what the Scripture saith of active obedience, and the Lord doth accept (of his servants) their will for the deed, though we do not do a good thing, yet if our hearts be upright, to will to do it, we shall have the blessing though we do not do the thing: You that complain of weaknesse, you cannot do as others do, you cannot do as much service as others do, if your hearts be as upright with God, and would fain do the same service that you see others do, you would account it a great blessing of God upon you, the greatest blessing in the world if you were able to do as others do; now you may comfort your selves with this, having to deal with God in the way of the Covenant of Grace you shall have from God the reward of all you will do, as a wicked man shall have punishment for all the sin he would commit, so thou shalt have the reward for all the good thou wouldest do. Now may not we draw an argument from active obedience to passive; there is as good reason why thou shouldest expect that God will reward thee for all that thou art willing to suffer, as well as for all that thou art willing to do, now if thou beest willing to be without such a comfort and mercy when God sees it fit, thou shalt be no looser, certainly God will reward thee either with the comfort or with that that shall be as good to thee as the comfort, therefore consider how many things have I that others want, and can I bring my heart into a quiet contented frame to want what others have? I have the blessing of all that they have, and I shall either possesse such things as others have, or else God will make it up one way or other, either here, or hereafter in eternity to me; Oh what riches are here! with Contentment thou hast all kind of riches.

Tenthly and lastly, By contentation the soul comes to an excellencie neer to God himselfe, yea the neerest that may be, for this word that is translated Content, it is a word that signifies a Self-sufficiencie, as I told you in the opening of the words. A contented man is a self-sufficient man, what is the great glory of God but to be happy and self-sufficient in himself? Indeed he is said to be All-sufficient, but that’s but a further addition of the word All, rather than of any matter, for to be sufficient, is All-sufficient, now is this the glory of God to be Sufficient, to have sufficiencie in himselfe, El-shaddai, to be God having sufficiency in himself? now thou comest neer to this, thou partakest of the Divine Nature, as by grace in generall, so in a more peculiar manner by this grace of Christian Contentment, what’s the excellency and glory of God but this? Suppose there were no creatures in the world, and that all the creatures in the world were anihilated, God would remain the same blessed God that he is now, he would not be in a worse condition if all creatures were gone, neither would a contented heart if God should take away all creatures from him, a contented heart hath enough in the want of al creatures and would not be more miserable than now he is. Suppose that God should continue thee here, and all creatures that are here in this world were taken away, yet thou still (having God to be thy portion) wouldest be as happy as now thou art, and therefore contentation hath a great deal of excellency in it.

Thus we have shewed in many particulars the excellency of this grace, labouring to present the beauty of it before your souls that you may be in love with it.

Now my brethren what remains but the practice of this, for this Art of Contentment it’s not a Speculative thing, only for contemplation, but it is an art of Divinity, and therfore practicall, ye are now to labour to work upon your hearts, that there may be this grace in you, that you may honour God and honour your profession with this grace of Contentment, for there is none doth more honour God, and honour their profession than those that have this grace of Contentment. Now that we may fall upon the practice there, is required,

First, That we should he humbled in our hearts for the want of this, that we have had so little of this grace in us. For there is no way to set upon any duty with profit, till the heart be humbled for the want of the performance of the duty before; many men when they hear of a duty that they should perform, they will labour to perform it, but first thou must be humbled for the want of it, therefore that’s the thing that I shall endeavour 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 honour I might have brought to the Name of God? and how might I have honoured 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 a fretting heart within me, every little crosse hath put me out of temper and out of frame, Oh the boisterousnesse 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 endeavour in these particulars to speak unto it.

First, I shall set before you, The evil of a murmuring spirit, there is more evil than you are aware of.

In the Second place, I will shew you some agravations of this evil, It’s evil in all, but in some more than in others.

Thirdly, I shall labour 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 corruptions 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 ranckle and to be a sore, you will say, surely this mans body is very corrupt, his blood and his flesh is corrupt, that every scratch of a pin shal make it ranckle, so it is in thy spirit; if every little trouble and affliction shal make thee discontented, and make thee murmur, and even cause thy spirit within thee to ranckle, or as it is in a wound in a mans body, the evil of a wound, it is not so much in the largenesse of the wound, and the abundance of blood that comes out of the wound, but in the inflamation that there is in it, or in a fretting and corroding humour 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 Chirurgion comes and sees a great gash, saith he, this will be heal’d within a few daies, but there’s a lesse wound and there’s an inflamation or a fretting humour that is in it, and this will cost time (saith he) to cure, so that he doth not lay balsome and healing salves upon it, but his great care is to get out the fretting humour, or inflamation, 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 arme, or in my leg, what good will this do that I put in my stomack? Yes it purges out the fretting humour, or takes away the inflamation, 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 greatnesse of the affliction is that that makes their condition most miserable: Oh no, there is a fretting humour, 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 humour 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 and 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 evill of murmuring is such, that God when he would speak of wicked men, and describe them, and slew the brand of a wicked and 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 to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners 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 one, it’s a most dreadfull 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, it’s true there is no sin but some seeds and remainers of it are in those that are godly, but 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 drunkennesse, or whordom, 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 the 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 accounts it rebellion, that is contrary to the worship that there was in contentednesse: that’s worshiping of God, crouching to God and falling down before him, even as a dog that would crouch when you hould a staffe over him, but a murmuring heart it’s 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 the Chap. 17. & vers. 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 smoke of the fire, there is first a smoke and smother before the flame breaks forth, and so before open rebellion in a kingdom there is first a smoke 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 exeeeding 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 soule 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 murmuring 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 evill of sin were, 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 infinit excellency and glory of Jesus Christ, and of the things of the Gospel. What am I that soul that the Lord hath discovered such infinit excellency of Jesus Christ to? and yet 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 fight 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 to 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 Creature-comforts: that’s the Third work ordinarily that the soul may perceive of its selfe. 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 calls the soul out of the world, and saith, Oh soul, thy happinesse is not here, thy rest is not here, thy happinesse is else-where, 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 glued to another you cannot take off, but you must rend it, so it’s a sign thy heart is glued to the world, that when God would take thee off, thy heart rends, if God by an affliction should come to take any thing in the world from thee, if thou canst part from it with ease without rending, it’s a sign then that thy heart is not glued to the world.

4. A Fourth work of God in the converting of a sinner, is this, The casting of the soul upon Jesus Christ for all its good: I see Jesus Christ in the Gospel the Fountain of all good, and God out of free Grace tendering him to me for life, and for salvation, and now my soul casts its self, rouls it self upon the infinit Grace of God in Christ for al good; now hast thou done so? hath God converted thee, and drawn thee to his Son to cast thy soul upon him for all thy good, and yet thou discontented for the want of some little matter in a creature-comfort? art thou he that hath cast thy soul upon Jesus Christ for all good? as he saith in another case, Is this thy faith?

5. The Soul is subdued to God; and then it comes to receive Jesus Christ as a King, to rule, to order and dispose of him how he pleases, and so the heart is subdued unto God. Now how opposite is a murmuring discontented heart to a heart subdued to Jesus Christ as a King, and receiving him as a Lord to rule and dispose of him as he pleases.

6. There is in the work of thy turning to God the giving up of thy self to God in an everlasting Covenant? as thou takest Christ the Head of the Covenant to be thine, so thou givest up thy self to Christ; In the work of Conversion there is the resignation of the Soul wholly to God in an everlasting Covenant to be his; hast thou ever surrendred up thy self to God in an everlasting Covenant? then certainly this thy fretting, murmuring heart is mighty opposite to it, certainly thou forgettest this Covenant of thine, and the Resignation of thy self up to God, it would be of marvellous help to you to humble your Souls when you are in a murmuring condition; if you could but obtain so much liberty of your own spirits as to look back to see what the work of God was in converting you, there is nothing would prevail more than to think of that. I am now in a murmuring discontented way, but how did I feel my soul working when God did turn my Soul to himself? Oh how opposite is this to that work, and how unseeming? Oh what shame and confusion would come upon the spirits of men and women, if they could but compare the work of corruption in their murmuring and discontent, with the work of God that was upon their Souls in conversion, now we should labour to keep the work of God upon our Souls that was at our Conversion; for Conversion must not be only at one instant at first: men are deceived in this, if they think their Conversion is finished meerly at first, thou must be in a way of conversion to God all the daies of thy life, and therefore Christ saith to his Disciples, except ye be converted and become as little children: Ye be Converted, why, were they not converted before? Yes they were converted, but they were still to continue the work of Conversion all the daies of their lives, and what work of God there is at the first Conversion it is to abide afterwards. As thus, alwaies there must abide some sight and sense of sin, it may be not in the way which you had, which was rather a preparation than any thing else, but the sight and sense of sin it is to continue still, that is, you are still to be sensible of the burden of sin as it is against the Holinesse, and Goodnesse, and Mercy of God unto thee, and the sight of the excellency of Jesus Christ is to continue, and thy calling out of the Creature: and thy casting of thy Soul upon Christ, and thy receiving Christ as a King, still receive him day by day, and the subduing of thy heart, and the surrendring of thy selfe up to God in a way of Covenant; now if this were but daily continued there would be no space nor time for murmuring to work upon thy heart: that’s the Fourth Particular.

The Fift thing in the evil of discontentment, Murmuring and discontentment is exceedingly below a Christian; Oh! it is too mean and base a distemper for a Christian to give place to it. Now it’s below a Christian in many respects.

1 How below the relation of a Christian? The relation in which thou standest. With what relation (you will say?)

First, The relation thou standest in to God: Do’st not thou call God thy father? and do’st not thou stand in relation to him as a child? what? thou murmer? In 2 Sam. 13.4. it’s a speech of Jonadab to Amnon, Why art thou, being the Kings Son, lean from day to day, wilt thou not tell me? and so he told him; (but that was for a wicked cause) he perceived that his spirit was troubled, for otherwise he was of a fat and plump temper of body, but because of trouble of spirit he was even pin’d away why? what’s the matter? thou that standest in this relation to the King and yet any thing should trouble thy heart, (that’s his meaning) is there any thing that should disquiet thy heart, and yet standest in such a relation to the King, the King’s Son? So I may say to a Christian, Art thou the King’s Son, the Son, the Daughter of the King of Heaven, and yet so disquieted and troubled, and vext at every little thing that falls out? as if a King’s Son should cry out, he is undone for losing a bable, what an unworthy thing were this: So doest thou, thou criest out as if thou wert undon, and yet a Kings Son, thou that standest in such relation to God, as unto a father, thou doest dishonour thy father in this; as if so be either he had not wisdom, or not power, or not mercy enough to provide for thee.

2. The relation that thou standest in to Jesus Christ, thou art the spouse of Christ: what! one married to Jesus Christ & yet troubled and discontented? hast thou not enough in him; doth not Christ say to his spouse, as Elkanah said to Hannah, (1 Sam. 1.8.) Am not I better to thee than ten sons? So doth not Christ thy husband say to thee, Am not I better to thee than thousands of riches and comforts? such comforts as thou murmurest for want of; hath not God given thee his Son? and will he not with him give thee all things? hath the love of God bin to thee to give thee his Son in way of marriage? why art thou discontented and murmuring? consider thy relation to Jesus Christ, as thou art a spouse and married to him, his person is thine, and so all the riches of Jesus Christ is thine, as the riches of a husband are the wives, and though there are some husbands so vile as the wives may be forced to sue for maintainance; certainly Jesus Christ will never deny maintainance to his spouse, it’s a dishonour for a husband to have the wife go whining up-and down; what, thou art macht with Christ & art his spouse, and wilt thou murmur now and be discontented in thy spirit? You shall observe among those that are newly matched, when there is discontent between the wife and the husband, their friends will shake their heads and say, they do not meet with that that they did expect, ye see ever since they were married together how the man looks, and the woman looks, they are not so chearly as they were wont to be, surely (say they) it is like to prove an ill match. But it’s not so here, it shall not be so between thee and Christ: Oh Jesus Christ doth not love to see his spouse to have a lowring countenance: no man loves to see discontentment in the face of his wife, surely Christ doth not love to see discontentment in the face of his spouse.

3 Thou standest in relation to Christ not only as a spouse, but as a member, Thou art bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh; and to have a member of Jesus Christ to be in such a condition, it’s exceeding unworthy.

4. He is thy Elder brother likewise, and so thou art a Co heir with him.

5 The relation that thou standest in to the Spirit of God, thou art the Temple of the holy Ghost, the holy Ghost is thy Comforter, it is he that is appointed to convey all comfort from the Father and the Son, to the Souls of his people. And art thou the Temple of the holy Ghost, and doth he dwell in thee, and yet for all that thou murmur for every little matter.

6 The relation that thou standest in to the Angels, thou art made one body with them: for so Christ hath joyned principalities and powers with his Church, they are Ministring Spirits for good to his people, to supply what they need, and thou, and they are joyned together, and Christ is the head of you and Angels.

7 The relation that you stand in to the Saints, you are of the same body with them, they and you make up but one mystical body with Jesus Christ, and if they be happy you must needs be happy; Oh how beneath a Christian is a murmuring Spirit if he considers his relations in which he stands.

Secondly, A Christian should consider, That murmuring and discontentednesse is below the high dignities that God hath put upon him: Do but consider the high dignitie that God hath put upon thee; the meanest Christian in the world is a lord of heaven and earth; he hath made us Kings unto himselfe, Kings unto God, not Kings unto men to rule over them, and yet I say every Christian is lord of heaven and earth, yea of life and death. That is, as Christ he is Lord of all, so he hath made those that are his members to be lords of all, all are yours saith the Apostle, even life and death, every thing is yours. It’s a very strange expression that death should be theirs, death is yours, that is, you are as it were lords over it, you have that that shall make death to be your servant, your slave, even death it’s self, your greatest enemies are turned to be your slaves; faith makes a Christian to be as lord over all, to be lifted up in excellency above all creatures that ever God made except the Angels, yea and in some respect above them, I say the poorest Christian that lives is raised to an estate above all the creatures in the world except Angels, yea and above them in divers respects too, and yet discontented, that thou who wert as a firebrand of hell, and might have been scorching and yelling and roring there to all eternity, yet that God should raise thee to have a higher excellency in thee than there is in all the works of creation that ever he made except Angels, and other Christians that are in thy condition, yea and thou art neerer the Divine Nature than the Angels, because thy nature is joyned in an hypostatical union to the Divine Nature, and in that respect thy nature is more honoured 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 that art in such an estate as this is, thou that art set apart to the end that God might manifest to all eternity what the infinite power of a Deity is able to raise a creature too; for that’s the condition of a Saint, a Beleever, 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 crosse, that every affliction shal 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 Prelats 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, shal 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 befal thee, saith bow down that we come and tread upon thee.

Thirdly, Murmuring it’s 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 child, loves to see his image, not the image of his body only, to say, here’s a child 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 child, rather than the feature of his body; Oh the Lord that is 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, & 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 cal’d) 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 passe 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 with out any murmuring against God in them: now a murmuring spirit is a base dejected spirit, crosse and contrary to the Spirit of a Christian, and it’s very base. I remember that the Heathens accounted it very base, Plutarch doth report of a certain people that did use to manifest their disdain to men that were overmuch dejected by any affliction, they did condemn them to this punishment, to wear womens cloaths all their daies, or such a space of time at least they should go in womans 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 unmanlike spirit, to be overmuch dejected in afflictions; and shall not a Christian account it an unchristian-like spirit to be overmuch 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, nor 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 doest in that even deny thy profession.

Fiftly, 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 thy 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 it’s 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 do 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 beleeve that thou shouldest 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 he 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.