Part 1 cont'd

Part 1 cont’d

4. Jesus Christ was content to be reproached by us. He "endured the cross, scorning its shame." (Hebrews 12:2) It may amaze us to think that he who was God, could endure to be spit upon, and be crowned with thorns; and when he was ready to bow his head upon the cross, to have the Jews in scorn, wag their heads and say, "he saved others, himself he cannot save." The shame of the cross was as much as the blood of the cross! His name was crucified before his body. The sharp arrows of reproach which the world shot at Christ, went deeper into his heart, than the spear! His suffering was so ignominious, that the sun blushed to behold it. It withdrew its bright beams, and masked itself with a cloud; (and well it might, when the Sun of Righteousness was in an eclipse") All this revilement and reproach, did the God of glory endure for us.

O then let us be content to have our names eclipsed for Christ; let not reproach lie at our heart—but let us bind it as a crown about our head! These who are discontented at a reproach, will avoid any persecution for Christ.

5. Is not many a man contented to suffer reproach for maintaining his lust? and shall not we for maintaining the truth? Some glory in that which is their shame, (Php 3:19) and shall we be ashamed of that which is our glory? Be not troubled at these petty things. He whose heart is once divinely touched with the loadstone of God’s Spirit, does account it his honor—to be dishonored for Christ, (Acts 15:4) and does as much despise the world’s censure, as he does their praise.

6. We live in an age wherein men dare reproach God himself. The divinity of the Son of God is blasphemously reproached by the Socinian. The blessed Bible is reproached by the AntiScripturist, as if it were but a legend of lies, and every man’s faith a fable. The justice of God is called to the bar of reason by the Arminians. The wisdom of God in his providential actings, is taxed by the Atheist. The ordinances of God are decried by the Familists, as being too heavy a burden for a free-born conscience, and too low and carnal for a sublime seraphic spirit. The ways of God, which have the majesty of holiness shining in them, are calumniated by the profane. The mouths of men are open against God, as if he were an hard master, and the path of true religion, too strict and severe. If men cannot give God a good word, shall we be discontented or troubled that they speak hardly of us? Such as labor to bury the glory of true religion, shall we wonder that "their throats are open sepulchers," (Romans 3:13) to bury our good name? O let us be contented, while we are in God’s scouring-house, to have our names sullied a little; the blacker we seem to be here, the brighter shall we shine when God has set us upon the celestial shelf! The sixth apology that discontent makes, is disrespect. "I have not that esteem from men, as is suitable to my worth and grace!" And does this trouble you? Consider,

1. The world is an unequal judge; as it is full of change—as of partiality. The world gives her respects, as she does her places of preferment; more often by favor, than desert. Have you real worth in you? It is better to deserve respect—and not have it; than have it—and not deserve it!

2. Have you grace? God respects you, and his judgment is most worth prizing. A believer is a person of honor, being born of God: "Since you were precious in my eyes, you have been honorable, and I have loved you." (Isaiah 43:4) Let the world think what they will of you; perhaps in their eyes, you are vile; but in God’s eyes, you are his dove, (Ca. 2:14) his spouse, (Ca. 5:1) his jewel. (Malachi 3:17) Others account you the dregs of offscouring of the world, (1 Corinthians 4:14) but God will give whole kingdoms for your ransom. (Isaiah 43:3) Let this content—it does not matter how I am looked upon in the world—if God thinks well of me. It is better that God approves—than man applauds. The world may honor us—and God put us in his black book! What is a man the better that his fellow-prisoners commend him—if his judge condemns him! O labor to keep in with God; prize his love! Let worldlings frown on me—I am contented, being a favorite of the king of heaven!

3. If you are a child of God, you must expect disrespect from the ungodly. A believer is in the world—but not of the world. We are here in a pilgrim condition, out of our own country, therefore must not look for the respect and acclamation of the world. It is sufficient that we shall have honor in our own country. (Hebrews 13:14) It is dangerous to be the world’s favorite!

4. Discontent arising from disrespect, savors too much of pride. A humble Christian has a lower opinion of himself—than others can have of him. He who is taken up about the thoughts of his sins, and how he has provoked God, cries out, as Agur, "I am more brutish than any man!" (Proverbs 30:2) and therefore is contented, though he be set among "the dogs of my flock." (Job 30:1) Though he is low in the thoughts of the ungodly—yet he is thankful that he is not laid in "the lowest hell." (Psalms 86:13) A proud man sets an high value upon himself; and is angry with others, because they will not come up to his price! Take heed of pride! O had others a window to look into their heart, or did your heart stand where your face does—you would wonder to have so much respect! The next apology is, "I meet with very great sufferings for the truth!" Consider,

1. Your sufferings are not so great as your sins! Put these two in the balance, and see which weighs heaviest; where sin lies heavy, sufferings lie light. A carnal spirit makes more of his sufferings—and less of his sins; he looks upon one at the great end of the telescope—but upon the other at the little end of the telescope. The carnal heart cries out, "Take away my affliction!" But a gracious heart cries out, "Take away my iniquity!" (2 Samuel 24:10) The one says, "Never has anyone suffered as I have done!" But the other says, "Never has anyone sinned as I have done!" (Micah 7:7)

2. Are you under sufferings: you have an opportunity to show the valor and constancy of your mind. Some of God’s saints would have accounted it a great favor, to have been honored with martyrdom. One said, "I am in prison—until I be in prison". You count that a trouble, which others would have worn as an ensign of their glory.

3. Even those who have gone only upon moral principles, have shown much constancy and contentment in their sufferings. Curtius, being bravely mounted and in armor, threw himself into a great gulf, that the city of Rome might, (according to the oracle,) be delivered from the pestilence. And we, having a divine oracle, "those who who kill the body, cannot hurt the soul," shall we not with much constancy and patience devote ourselves to injuries for Christ, and rather suffer for the truth—than the truth suffer for us? The Decii among the Romans, vowed themselves to death, that their legions and soldiers might be crowned with the honor of the victory. O what should we be content to suffer, to make the truth victorious! Regulus having sworn that he would return to Carthage, though he knew there was a furnace heating for him there—yet not daring to infringe his oath, he did adventure to go. We then who are Christians, having made a vow to Christ in baptism, and so often renewed in the blessed sacrament, should with much contentment rather choose to suffer, than violate our sacred oath! Thus the blessed martyrs, with what courage and cheerfulness did they yield up their souls to God! When the fire was set to their bodies—yet their spirits were not at all fired with passion or discontent. Though others hurt the body, let them not be discontent; show by your heroic courage, that you are above those troubles, which you cannot be without. The next apology is, "the prosperity of the wicked." "I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked!" Psalms 73:3 It is often that the evil enjoy all the good—and the good endure all the evil. David, though a godly man, stumbled at this, and had almost stumbled because of this. Well, be contented; for remember,

1. Worldly goods are not the only things, nor the best things; they are mere temporal blessings. These are but the acorns with which God feeds swine! You who are believers have more choice fruit—the olive, the pomegranate, the fruit which grows on the true vine Jesus Christ! Others have the fat of the earth—you have the dew of heaven! They have muddied puddles—but you have those springs of living water which are purified with Christ’s blood, and filled with his love.

2. To see the wicked flourish is rather a matter of pity, than envy! This is all the heaven they will have! "Woe to you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now!" (Luke 6:24) Hence it was, that David made it his solemn prayer, "Deliver me from the wicked, from men of the world, who have their portion in this life!" (Psalms 17:15) These words are David’s litany—"good Lord, deliver me!" When the wicked have eaten of their dainty dishes—there comes in a sad reckoning which will spoil all. The world is first musical and then tragical! We should not envy a man who will fry and blaze in hell—let him have enough of the fat of the earth. O remember—for every sand of mercy which runs out of the wicked, God puts a drop of wrath into his vial! "You are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed." Romans 2:5

Therefore as that soldier said to his fellow, "do you envy my grapes? they cost me dear, I must die for them!" So I say, do you envy the wicked? alas their prosperity is like Haman’s banquet before execution! If a man were to be hanged, would one envy to see him walk to the gallows through pleasant fields and fine galleries, or to see him go up the ladder in clothes of gold? The wicked may flourish in their bravery for a while; but, when they flourish as the grass, "it is, that they shall be destroyed forever; (Psalms 92:7) the proud grass shall be mown down. Whatever a sinner enjoys—he has a curse with it, "I will curse your blessings!" (Malachi 2:2) And shall we envy him? Would we envy a dog--if poisoned food was given to it! The long furrows in the backs of the godly have a seed of blessing in them, when the table of the wicked becomes a snare, and their honor their halter! The next apology that discontent makes for itself is "the evils of the times." The times are full of heresy and impiety, and this is that which troubles me. This apology consists of two branches, to which I shall answer in specie; and,

Branch 1. The times are full of HERESY! Error is a touch-stone to discover bad men. This is indeed sad; when the devil cannot destroy the church by violence—he endeavors to poison it; when he cannot with Samson’s foxtails set the corn on fire, then he sows tares. As he labors to destroy the peace of the church by division, so the truth of it by error. We may cry out, "We live in times wherein there is a sluice open to all novel opinions, and every man’s opinion is his Bible!" Well; this may make us mourn—but let us not murmur or be discontent. Consider,

1. Error makes a discovery of men. Error reveals such as are tainted and corrupt. When the leprosy brake forth in the forehead, then was the leper discovered. Error is a spiritual bastard; the devil is the father, and pride the mother! You never knew an erroneous man, but he was a proud man. Now, it is good that such men should be unveiled, to the intent, first, that God’s righteous judgment upon them may be adored; secondly, that others be not infected. If a man has the plague, it is well it breaks forth. For my part, I would avoid a heretic, as I would avoid the devil, for he is sent on the devil’s errand. I appeal unto you; if there were a tavern in this city, where under a pretense of selling wine, many bottles of poison were to be sold, were it not well that others should know of it, that they might not buy? It is good that those that have poisoned opinions should be known, that the people of God may not come near either the scent or the taste of that poison!

Error is a touch-stone to discover good men: it tries the gold: "there must be heresies, that those who are approved, may be made manifest." (1 Corinthians 11:19) Thus our love to Christ, and zeal for truth does appear. God shows who are the living fish; such as swim against the stream: who are the sound sheep; such as feed in the green pastures of the ordinances: who are the doves; such as live in the best air, where the spirit breathes. God sets a garland of honor upon these, "these are those who came out of great tribulation; (Revelation 7:14) so these are they that have opposed the errors of the times, these are they that have preserved the virginity of their conscience, who have kept their judgment sound and their heart soft. God will have a trophy of honor set upon some of his saints, they shall be renowned for their sincerity, being like the cypress, which keeps its greenness and freshness in the winter-season.

2. Be not sinfully discontented, for God can make the errors of the church advantageous to truth. Thus the truths of God have come to be more beaten out and confirmed; as it is in the law, one may lay a false title to a piece of land, the true title has by this means been the more searched into and ratified. Some had never so studied to defend the truth by Scripture, if others had not endeavored to overthrow it by sophistry; all the mists and fogs of error that have risen out of the bottomless pit, have made the glorious Sun of truth to shine so much the brighter. Had not Arius and Sabellius broached their damnable error, the truth of those questions about the blessed Trinity would never have been so discussed and defended by Athanasius, Augustine, and others; had not the devil brought in so much of his princely darkness, the champions for truth had never run so fast to Scripture to light their lamps. So that God with a wheel within a wheel, over-rules these things wisely, and turns them to the best. Truth is a heavenly plant—which settles by shaking.

3. God raises the price of his truth the more; the very shreds and filings of truth are esteemed. When there is much counterfeit metal abroad, we prize the true gold the more; pure wine of truth is never more precious, than when unsound doctrines are broached and vented.

4. Error makes us more thankful to God for the jewel of truth. When you see another infected with the plague—how thankful are you that God has freed you from the infection! When we see others have the leprosy in the head—how thankful are we to God that he has not given us over to believe a lie and so be damned! It is a good use that may be made even of the error of the times—when it makes us more humble and thankful, adoring the free grace of God, who has kept us from drinking of that deadly poison!

Branch 2. The times are full of IMPIETY! I live and converse among the profane: "O that I had wings like a dove, for then would I fly away and be at rest." (Psalms 55:6)

It is indeed sad, to be mixed with the wicked. David beheld "transgressors and was grieved." And Lot (who was a bright star in a dark night) was vexed, or, as the word in the original may bear, wearied out, with the filthy lives of the wicked; he made the sins of Sodom, into spears to pierce his own soul. We ought, if there is any spark of divine love in us, to be very sensible of the sins of others—and to have our hearts bleed for them. Yet let us not break forth into mourning and discontent, knowing that God in his providence has permitted it, and surely not without some reasons; for,

1st. The Lord makes the wicked a hedge to defend the godly; the wise God often makes those who are wicked and peaceable, a means to safeguard his people from those who are wicked and cruel. The king of Babylon kept Jeremiah, and gave special order for his looking after, that he did lack nothing. (Jeremiah 39:11-12) God sometimes makes brazen sinners to be brazen walls to defend his people.

2nd. God does but interline and mingle the wicked with the godly, that the godly may be a means to save the wicked; such is the beauty of holiness that it has a magnetic force in it to allure and draw even the wicked. Sometimes God makes a believing husband a means to convert an unbelieving wife, and vice versa: "How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?" (1 Corinthians 7:16) The godly living among the wicked, by their prudent advice and pious example, have won them to the embracing of true religion. If there were not some godly among the wicked, how in a practical way, without a miracle, can we imagine that the wicked should be converted? those who are now shining saints in heaven, once served diverse lusts. (2 Timothy 3:3) Paul was once a persecutor; Augustine was once a manichee; Luther was once a monk; but by the kind and holy behavior of the godly, were converted to the faith. The next apology that discontent makes, is, smallness of abilities and gifts. "I cannot (says the Christian) discourse with that fluency, nor pray with that elegance, as others."

1. Grace is beyond gifts; you compare your grace with another’s gifts, there is a vast difference. Grace without gifts is infinitely better than gifts without grace. In religion, the vitals are best. Gifts are a more extrinsic and common work of the Spirit, which is incident to reprobates. Grace is a more distinguishing work, and is a jewel hung only upon the elect. Have you the seed of God—the holy anointing? Be content!

(1.) You say, You can not discourse with that fluency as others. Experience in religion, is better than notions; and heart impressions are beyond vocal expressions. Judas (no doubt) could make a learned discourse on Christ—but well-fared the woman in the gospel, who felt virtue coming out of Christ, (Luke 8:47). A sanctified heart is better than a silver tongue! There is as much difference between gifts and graces, as between a tulip painted on the wall, and one growing in the garden!

(2.) You say, you can not pray with that elegance as others. Prayer is a matter more of the heart—than the head. In prayer it is not so much fluency which prevails—as fervency, (James 5:16) nor is God so much taken with the elegance of speech, as the efficacy of the Spirit. Humility is better than fluency; here the mourner is the orator; sighs and groans are the best rhetoric!

2. Be contented, for God does usually proportion a man’s abilities to the place to which he calls him; some are set in a higher sphere and function, their place requires more gifts and abilities; but the most inferior member is useful in its place, and shall have a power delegated for the discharge of its peculiar office. The next apology is, the troubles of the church. "Alas, my disquiet and discontent is not so much for myself, as the church! The church of God suffers."

I confess it is sad and we ought for this "to hang our harps upon the willows." He is a wooden leg in Christ’s body, that is not sensible of the state of the body. As a Christian must not be proud flesh, so neither dead flesh. When the church of God suffers, he must sympathize; Jeremiah wept for the virgin daughter of Zion. We must feel our brethren’s hard cords, through our soft beds. In music, if one string is touched, all the rest sound: when God strikes upon our brethren, our "affections must sound like a harp". Be sensible—but give not way to discontent. For consider,

1. God sits at the stern of his church. (Psalms 46:5) Sometimes it is a ship tossed upon the waves, "afflicted and tossed! (Isaiah 54:11) but cannot God bring this ship to haven, though it meets with a storm upon the sea? This ship in the gospel was tossed because sin was in it; but it was not overwhelmed, because Christ was in it. Christ is in the ship of this church, fear not sinking; the church’s anchor is cast in heaven. God loves his church, and takes much care of it. The names of the twelve tribes were on Aaron’s breastplate, signifying how near to God’s heart his people are. They are his portion, (Deuteronomy 27:9) and shall that be lost? They are his glory, (Isaiah 46:13) and shall that be finally eclipsed? Certainly not! God can deliver his church, not only from opposition—but by opposition; the church’s pangs shall help forward her deliverance.

2. God has always propagated true religion by sufferings. The foundation of the church has been laid in blood, and these sanguine showers have ever made it more fruitful. Cain put the knife to Abel’s throat, and ever since, the church’s veins had bled: but she is like the vine, which by bleeding grows; and like the palm-tree, which the more weight is laid upon it, the higher it rises. The holiness and patience of the saints, under their persecutions, has much added both to the growth of true religion, and the glory of God. Basil and Tertullian observe of the primitive martyrs, that many of the heathen, seeing their zeal and constancy, turned Christians. Religion is that Phoenix which has always revived and flourished in the ashes of holy men. Isaiah sawn asunder, Peter crucified at Rome with his head upside down, Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, and Polycarp of Smyrna, were both martyred for true religion—yet evermore the truth has been sealed by blood, and gloriously dispersed; whereupon Julian did forbear to persecute, not out of pity—but envy, because the church grew so fast, and multiplied, as Nazianzen well observes. The twelfth apology that discontent makes for itself, is this, "it is not my afflictions which trouble me—but it is my SINS which disquiet and discontent me." Be sure it is so; do not prevaricate with God and your own soul; in true mourning for sin when the present suffering is removed—yet the sorrow is not removed. But suppose the apology is real, that sin is the ground of your discontent; yet I answer, a man’s disquiet about sin may be beyond its bounds, in these three cases.

1. When it is disheartening, that is, when it sets up sin above mercy. If Israel had only pored over their sting, and not looked up to the brazen serpent—they would never have been healed. That sorrow for sin which drives us away from God, is sinful—for there is more despair in it than remorse; the soul has so many tears in its eyes, that it cannot see Christ! Sorrow, as sorrow, does not save, that were to make a Christ of our tears! But is useful, as it is preparatory in the soul—making sin vile, and Christ precious. O look up to the brazen serpent, the Lord Jesus! A sight of his blood will revive, the plaster of his merits is broader than our sore. It is Satan’s policy, either to keep us from seeing our sins; or, if we do see them—that we may be swallowed up with sorrow; (2 Corinthians 2:7). Either he would stupify us, or affright us; either keep the looking-glass of the law from our eyes, or else pencil out our sins in such crimson colors, that we may sink in the quicksands of despair!

2. When sorrow is indisposing, it untunes the heart for prayer, meditation, holy conference; it cloisters up the soul. This is not sorrow—but rather sullenness, and renders a man not so much penitential, as cynical.

3. When it is out of season. God made us rejoice—and we hang up our harps upon the willows; he bids us trust—and we cast ourselves down, and are brought even to the margin of despair. If Satan cannot keep us from mourning—he will be sure to put us upon it when it is least in season. When God calls us in a special manner to be thankful for mercy, and put on our white robes—Satan will be putting us into mourning, and instead of a garment of praise, clothe us with a spirit of heaviness; so God loses the acknowledgment of mercy—and we the comfort. If your sorrow has turned and fitted you for Christ, if it has raised in you high prizings of him, strong hungerings after him, sweet delight in him—this is as much as God requires. A Christian does but sin—to vex and torture himself further upon the rack of his own discontent. And thus I hope I have answered the most material objections and apologies which this sin of discontent does make for itself. I see no reason why a Christian should be discontented, unless for his discontent. Let me, in the next place, propound something which may be both as a loadstone and a whet-stone to contentment.