refpect of the comforts of the creature; do but remember that we spake of before, that Chrift doth not teach you to pray, Lord give me enough that will serve me for two or three years, but, this day our dayly bread; to teach us we muft live upon God in a dependant condition every day for daily bread. Here was the difference that is obfervable between the Land of Canaan and Egypt, the Land of Canaan that depended upon God for the watering of it with fhowers from Heaven, but Egypt had a conftant way of watering the Country, that did not fo much depend upon Heaven for water, but upon the river NyLus, which did at fome certain time over-flow the Country: and they knowing that the watering of their country did depend upon that River, and not upon Heaven, they grew more proud: and therefore the Scripture to exprefs Pharaoh's pride, brings him in, faying, The River is mine, he could order the River as he pleased, for it was his: Canaan, which was a Country which was to depend upon God, though they had rain at one time, yet they knew not whether they fhould have it at another time, and liv'd alwaies in a dependance upon God,not knowing what should become of them:Now God thought this to be a better Land for his people than Egypt, and this is given as one reafon among others for it, because the Lord lookt upon this, as more fuitable to the state of his people that were to live by faith, to be continually depending upon Heaven,upon Himfelf, and not to have a conftant setled way in the creature for their outward dependance. And we find it by experience, that when thofe that are godly, live in the greateft dependance upon God, and have setled comings in from the creature, they do exercife Faith more, and are in a better condition for their fouls than before. Oh! many times it falls out,that the worse thy outward eftate is, the better thy foul is, and the better thy out ward estate is,the worse thy foul is. We read in Ezra,4. 13. the objection that the enemies had against the people of Ifraels building of the wall of the Citie their writing to Artaxerxes against them,saith,Be it known unto the King, that if the city be builded, & the walls fet up again,then they will not pay toll,tribute,and cuftom; and fo thou shalt endamage the revenue of the King. If the wall be built (fay they)then they will refufe to pay toll,tribute,and cuftom to the King:that is thus, fo long as they live in fuch a condition, where they have dependance wholly upon the King,and lie at the Kings mercie, that is, they are in no Citie that hath walls built, but the King may come upon them when he will, fo long they will pay cuftom to the King, but if once they come to build a wall, and can defend themselves, and have not their dependance upon the King as before, then they will deny paying toll, tribute, and cuftom. So it is thus for all the world between God and mens fouls when a foul lives in way of meer dependance upon God, that fenfibly he sees God hath him at advantage every moment, Oh! then fuch a foul will pay toll and cuftom, that foul exercises faith, & begs every day his dayly bread; but if God hedges that man about with an estate, with profperity, perhaps he hath an inheritance befallen him,perhaps he hath a conftant Office that brings in fo much yearly to him duly payd,this man is not fo fenfible now of his dependance upon God, he begins now to pay lefs toll & cuftom to God than before,God hath Jefs fervice from this man now than before,God fees it better for people to live

in a depending condition: we are very loth, in respect of God, to be dependant, we would be all Independants this way, we would be of our felves, and have no dependance upon the Lord, but God fees it better for us to live in a depending condition.

Further, This may be thy comfort, though for outward things thou art mightily unfetled, yet for the great things of the foul and eternall eftate, there thou art fetled, thou haft a fetled way, a conftant way of fetching fupply, of his fulness we receive grace for grace, thou haft there abundance of treasure to go to, and fetch all that thou ftandeft in need of; and obferve it, that now thy condition is more fetled in the Covenant of grace than it was in the Covenant of works; in the Covenant of works there God gave man a stock to trade with, but he put it in his own hand, fo that he might trade, and get or lofe; but now in the Covenant of Grace,God makes fure, the stock is kept in the hand of Chrift, and we must go to him for supply continually, for Chrift keeps the ftock;perhaps we may trifle away fomewhat in our trading,but God takes that care ftill we fhall never fpend the stock: As a man when his fon breaks, having fquandred away his stock that he gave him before, afterwards he puts his flock into a friends hand, and, faith he, you fhall keep the ftock, and it shall not be at his difpofe; fo are we in a more fetled condition, in refpect of our eternall eftate, than Adam was in innocencie: therefore let that comfort us in all our uufetled condition in the matters of the world.

The eleventh PLEA.

But yet there's another reasoning, that many murmuring hearts think to feed their humour withall, (say they ) If I never had been in a better condition,then I could bear this affliction, if God had always kept me in folox a condition, I could be content,Ob! but there was a time that I profpered more, and I had things at more full band, and therefore now it is harder to me to be brought low; as in these times, perhaps a man that had five or fix hundred ayaer, but now hath bad nothing for a great while, if that man had not been born to fo much, or never had profpered in any higher degree than now he is in,this affliction had been tefs,perhaps he hath fome mony and friends to tive upon, but if he had never been in a better condition,he would not have accounted it fo great a matter to have been without it now. This, many times is our greatest wound, that once we were in a better condition, and this is the moft unreasonable thing for us to murmur upon this ground of any.

For firft, Is the eye evil, becaufe God hath been good to thee heretofore? It's an ill thing for us to have our eye evil because God is good to others, but to look upon our condition with an evil eye now, because God was once good to us; hath God done thee any wrong, because he was formerly more good to thee than he was to others?

Secondly, Thou didft heretofore more profper, Did God heretofore give thee more profperity? it was to prepare thee for afflictions; we fhould look at all our outward profperity as a preparation to afflictions, if thou hadst done fo the,it would not have been fo difficult for thee to have endured affliction now; when thou hadst a great eftate, yet if thou hadst made use of this mercie :

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of God to prepare thee for thy afflicted eftate, then the change of thy estate would not be fo grievous: That every Chriftian fhould do: Have I an estate. now? I should prepare for poverty. Have I health now? I fhould prepare for fickness. Have I liberty? let me prepare my felf for imprisonment: What know I what God may call me to? Have I comfort and peace now in my confcience? doth God fhine upon me? while I have this, let me prepare for Gods withdrawing from me. Am I delivered from temptations? let me prepare now for the time of temptations; If thou wouldeft do so, the change of thy condition would not be fo grievous to thee. Marriners that are in a calm will prepare for ftorms, would they fay, If we never had calms, we would bear ftorms? buc now we have had calms fo many years or weeks together, this is grievous: In thy calm thou art to prepare for ftorms, and the ftorm would be lefs: thou fhouldeft reafon quite contrary, and fay, Now I am in an afflicted condition, Oh! but bleffed be God, I was in a comfortable condition, and blessed be God that he was aforehand with me in the waies of his mercie, this one confide ration may help murmuring hearts. Doft thou murmur because once thou wert better? know God was beforehand with thee in the ways of merey, thou fhouldest rather think thus, I have lived for these many years (fourty years perhaps or more) in a comfortable condition, I have liv'd in health, and peace, and plenty, what though the remaining part of my time have fome forrow and affliction? The Lord hath granted to me a comfortable fun-fhine all the day long till towards evening, and what if at feven or eight a clock at night it begins to rain? let me thank God I have had fo fair weather all day. You that are going a voyage, if you have a comfortable wind, and very fair for ma ny moneths together, what if you have a little ftorm when you are within fight of land, will you murmur and repine? Oh no, but rather bless God that you have had fuch a comfortable voyage fo long: Oh! this confideration would help us all: If it were fo that now God fhould fay, Well, you fhall never fee comfortable day more for outward things in this world, Oh! then you have caufe to fall down and blefs Gods Name, that you have had fo many comfortable days: now you reafon quite contrary, whereas you should bless God that you have had so much comfort, you make what you have had before to be an aggravation to your afflictions now, and fo murmur and are difcon. tented. That which God gave you before, upon what terms did you hold it? did you hold it fo as you have in your writings, To have and to hold for ever, God gives no fuch thing, God gives to no man (I fay) any thing but grace to run upon the tenour, there's no fuch thing in all Gods writings for any outward comforts, To have and to hold for you and your heirs, indeed for grace he doth give it to your felves, to have and to hold for ever, though not for every one that comes out of your loins to have and to hold for ever; God doth not give any outward thing fo upon any fuch tenour as that is; if God gives me an understanding of himself, and faith, and humility, and love, and patience, and fuch graces of his Spirit,he gives them me for ever,If he gives me Himself, and his Chrift, and his Promife, and his Covenant, he gives me them for e ver, what am I therefore that the Sun fhould allways fhine upon me, that I muft have fair weather all my days? that which God gives to me, he gave it

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to me as a pledge of his love, let me return it to him as a pledge of my obedience, there's all the reafon in the world for it, all that a godly man receives from God, he receives it as a pledge of Gods love to him, therefore when he comes into an afflicted condition, faith God, Return to me as a pledge for your obedience that, that you had from me as a pledge of my love; we should cheerfully come in to God, and bless God, that we have any thing to render unto him as a pledge of our obedience, and fay, Oh! it is thy love O Lord! that hath given us any thing, that doth enable us to render a pledge of our obedience to thee. When God calls for thy estate or any comforts that thou haft, God calls for it as a pledge of thy obedience to him.

The twelfth PLEA.

Another reasoning of a murmuring heart is this. Oh! but after I have taken a great deal of pains for fuch a comfort, yet then I am croft in it; after a great deal of labour and pains that I have taken, now to be crost, Oh! this goes very

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First, I answer, The greater crofs, the more obedience and fubmiffion.

Secondly. When thou didst take a great deal of pains, was it not with submiffion to God? Didft thou take pains with refolution, that thou must have fuch a thing when thou laboureft for it? Then know, that thou laboureft not as a Chriftian, but if thou did'ft labour and take pains, was it not with refignation to God? Lord, I am taking pains in the way of my calling, but with fubmiffion, I depend wholly upon thee for fuccefs and a bleffing; And what was it that thou didst aim at in thy labour? was it not that thou mighteft walk with God in the place that God had fet thee? A Chriftian fhould do fo in his outward calling, I am diligent in my outward calling, but it is, that I might obey God in it; it's true, I do it that I might provide for my family, but the chief thing that I aim at is, That I might yield obedience to God in the way that God hath fet me: Now if God calls thee to another condition to obey him in, though it be by fuffering, thou wilt do it if thy heart be right,

Thirdly, There will be the more teftimony of thy love to God, if fo be thou fhalt now yield up thy felf to God in that that coft thee dear. Sball I offer that to God ( faith David) that coft me nothing? thy outward comforts hath coft thee much, and thou haft taken much pains to obtain them, and now if thou canft fubmit to God in the want of them,(I say) in this thy love is more shown, that thou canft offer that to God that coft thee dear. Now these are the principall reafonings of a discontented heart.

The thirteenth PLEA..

There's one Plea more that may be nam'd, and that is this, faith fome, Though I confess my affliction is fomewhat hard, and I feel fome trouble within me, yet I thank God I break not out in discontented ways to the difhonour of God, I keep in,although I have much ado with my own heart.

Oh!

Oh! do not fatisfie your felves with that, for the diftempers of your hearts, and their finfull workings are as words before God. My foul be filent to God: That we spake of in the beginning of the opening of this Scripture, it is not enough for thy tongue to be filent, but thy foul must be filent, there may be a fullen discontentedness of heart, as well as discontentednefs manifefted in words; and if thou doeft not mortifie that inward fullenness, if thou beeft afflicted a little more,it will break forth at laft.

And thus the Lord, I hope, hath met with the chief Reasonings and Pleas for our discontent in our conditions. I befeech you in the name of God confider these things, and because they do concern your own hearts, you may so much the better remember them; I had thought to have made a little enterance into the next Head,and that is fome way of helping you to this Grace of Contentment. It is a moft excellent Grace, of admirable use as you have heard; and the contrarie is very finfull and vile.

SIMO

Sermon XI.

PHILIPPIANS 4, II.

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

Ow we are coming to the clofe of this point of contentment that Jefus Chrift doth teach those that are in his School: we have opened the point unto you, and fhewed you wherein the Art,and Skill, and Mysterie of Chriftian Contentment lies; and divers things in the way of application rebuking the want of this; and the last day I finished that point of fhewing the feveral Reafonings of a murmuring and discontented heart. Ifhall now (as being defireous to make an end) leave what was faid, and proceed to what remains. There are onely these two things for the working of your hearts to this Grace of Chriftian Contentment.

Firft, The propounding of feveral CONSIDERATIONS for the contenting of the heart in any afflicted condition.

Secondly, the propounding of DIRECTIONS what fhould be done for the working of our hearts unto this.

The First CONSIDERATION.

We fhould confider (in all our wants and inclinations to discontent) The

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