Thirty-Six Sermons, Collection of sermons 2 · Group of sermons 1 · Sermon 5
AD AULAM.
The Fifth Sermon.
GREENWICH, JULY, 1637.
Philip. 4. 11.
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
1. SAint Paul found much kindness from these Philippians; and took much comfort in it: And because it was more than ordinary, and beyond the kindness of other Churches, he doth therefore sometimes remember it with much thankfulness both to God and them. Even in the beginning of Ver. 15.the Gospel; that is presently after his first preaching it among them, (the story whereof is laid down, Acts 16.)Acts 16. 1. when having passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, he came and preached at Thessalonica, which was another principal City of Macedonia: these Philippians 2 Thes. 3. 7, 9.—8.hearing belike that the Apostle had little other means for his maintenance there, than what he got by his hand-labour (wherein both for Examples sake, and because he would not be chargeable to the Thessalonians, he employed himself disigently both day and night;) they sent over, and so did no other Church but they, and that once and again, to supply his necessities there.Ver. 15. 16.
2. And as they began, it seemeth they continued to shew forth the truth of their Faith, and to adorn their Christian Profession, by their chearfulness and liberality, in contributing to the necessities of their brethren upon every good occasion.Acts 18. 11. 1 Cor. 9. 12. 15. For at Corinth also the year following, where for the space of a year and half together he did for good considerations forbear (as he had before done at Thessalonica) to challenge that Maintenance from the people which by Gods Ordinance he had a right unto: the supplies he had, he acknowledgeth—14. 2 Cor. 11. 9.—8. to have come from the brethren of Macedonia; As if he had even robbed the Philippians (it is his own word) in taking wages of them for the service done to other Churches.
3. Not to speak of their great bounty some three or four years after that, towards the relief of the poor brethren that dwelt in Iudea; wherein the wereRom. 15. 26. 2 Cor. 8. 3. willing of themselves without any great solicitation, and liberal (not only to the utmost of, but) even somewhat beyond their power: Now also again, after some three or four years more, St. Paul being at durance in Rome, their former charitable care over him (which had not of a good while shewn it self forth forforeign Vers. 10. lack of opportunity) began to re-flourish, and to put forth with a fresh Verdure, as a Tree doth at the approach of Summer. For they sent him a large benevolence to Rome by Epaphroditus, of the receipt whereof he now certifieth them—18. by the same Epaphroditus at his return; expressing the great joy and comfort he took in those gracious Evidences of their pious Affections, to the Gospel first,—18.—19. and then to him. He highly commendeth their Charity in it: and he earnestly beseecheth God to reward them for it.
4. Yet lest this just commendation of their beneficence, should through any mans uncharitableness (whereunto corrupt Nature is too prone) raise an unjust 2 Cor. 12. 16.—18.opinion of him, as if he sought theirs more than them, or being crafty, had caught them with guile, to make a Prey or a Gain of them; so sinisterly interpreting his extolling of their Charity for the time past, as if it were but an artificial kind of begging for the time to come: He thought it needful for him by way of Prolepsis to prevent whatsoever might be surmised in that kind, which he beginneth to do in the words of the Text, to this effect.
5. True it is, nor will I dissemble it, when I received from Epaphroditus the things that were sent from you: it was no small rejoycing to my heart, to see your V. 10.—19.care of me (after some years intermission) to flourish again: And I cannot but give an Euge to your Charity: for truly you have done well to communicate with my Afflictions. Yea, I should derogate from the Grace of God, which he hath bestowed upon you, and worketh in you, if I should not both acknowledg your free benevolence towards me, and approve it as an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, and well-pleasing to God. Which I speak not out of a greedy mind to make a gain of you, nor for a cloak of covetousness (God is my witness) nor any other way so much in reference to my own private interest, as for the glory of God, and to the comfort of your consciences. In as much as this fruit of your Faith thus working by Love, doth redound to the honour of the Gospel in the mean time, and shall in the end abound to your account in the day of the Lord Iesus. Otherwise as to my own particular, although my wants were supplied, and my bowels refreshed through your liberality, (which, in the condition I was in, was some comfort to me:) yet if that had been all I had looked after; the want of the things you sent me, could not have much afflicted me. The Lord whom I serve is God All-sufficient: and his Grace had been sufficient for me, though your supplies had never come. He that enableth me, (howsoever of my self unable to do anything, yet) to do all things through Christ that strengthneth me, hath framed my heart by his Holy Spirit, and trained me up hereunto in the School of Experience and Afflictions; to rest my self contented with his allotment whatsoever it be, and to have a sufficiency within my self, though in never so great a deficiency of outward things. [Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.]
6. The words contain a Protestation, and the Reason of it. First, because his commendation of their Charity to him might be obnoxious to mis-construction, as if he had some low covetous end therein: to prevent all evil suspicion that way, he disavoweth it utterly by protesting the contrary, in the former part of the Verse, [Not that I speak in respect of want.] And then to make that Protestation the more credible, he assigneth as the Reason thereof the contentedness of his mind [For I have learned, saith he, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.] Concerning which Contentedness in the latter part of the Verse, he giveth a touch what a manner of thing it was; and withal acquainteth us how he came by it: giving us some hint, in that, of the Nature; in this, of the Art of true Contentment. Which are the two things indeed mainly to be insisted upon from the Text. Yet would not the Protestation be wholly slipt over: sith from it also may be deduced sundry profitable Inferences. Some of which I shall first mind you of, with convenient brevity: and then pass on to the main. foreign. Not that I speak in respect of want.
7. Hence learn first, what a base and unworthy thing it is, indeed for any man, for a Christian man much more; most of all for a Church-man, to be covetously minded. Would our Apostle be so careful, to quit himself but of the suspicion, if the crime itself were any whit tolerable? Nor doth he it here only; but upon every needful occasion otherwhere also, using the like preventions and protestations. To the Ephesians: I have coveted no mans Silver, or Gold, or Apparel. Acts 20. 33. 1 Cor. 9. 15. 2 Cor. 12. 14.To the Corinthians: I have not written these things, that it should be so done to me. I was not, neither will I be burthensome to you, for I seek not yours, but you. To the Thessalonians: Neither at any time used we a cloak of covetousness, God is witness. 1 Thes. 2. 5.He calleth God to be his Compurgator: which sure he would not do, nisi dignus vindice nodus; if it did not much concern him to stand clear in the Eye of the world in that behalf. And he speaketh there of a cloak of covetousness too: for who indeed shameth not to wear it outwardly? No man will profess himself covetous, be he never so wretchedly sordid within: but he will for very shame cast as handsome a cloak as he can over it (Frugality, (aNec debitè tanquam frugi audatur avarus. Juvenal Satyr. 14. Psal. 10. 3.) good Husbandry, Providence, some cloak or other) to hide the filthiness of it from the sight of others. But filthy it is still; be it cloaked never so honestly. Still God abhorreth it, as a filthy thing: [He speaketh well of the covetous, whom God abhorreth.] To it in a more peculiar manner hath the very name of Sordidness been appropriated of old, and still is in every mans mouth. Our Apostle hath set a brand of Filthiness 1 Tim. 3. 3, 8. Tit. 1. 7.upon it more than once (foreign) calling it filthy lucre. Yea, so unfit he holdeth it to be found among the Priests, that he would not have it (if it were possible) so much as once (bEph. 5. 3. if that be the meaning of foreign there, as translators have commonly rendred it.) named (at least not with allowance, not without some stigma upon it) among the Saints.
8. There is an honest care to be had, I confess, of providing for a mans self, and those that depend upon him: no less requisite in a Church-man than in every other man; if not (in some respects) even much more: and verily he wanteth either Wit, or Grace, or both, whoever neglecteth it. Yea, further, sith God hath assigned ((aforeign. 1 Cor. 9. 14.) by his own Ordinance) wages to him that laboureth in his work, (and if he be a faithful Labourer he is well worthy of it:) he may without injustice not only expect it, but even exact it, of those that would unconscionably defraud him therein. But why may not all this be done, and that effectually too, without either bearing inwardly, or betraying outwardly, a greedy and covetous mind. Whether then we provide for our own, by well husbanding what we have; or whether we look for our own, by requiring our dues from others: still, still let our Conversation be without covetousness. Take heed and beware of covetousness, Heb. 13. 5. Luke 12. 15.saith our Saviour: doubling his charge, that we should double our circumspection. Which if we do not, and that with more than ordinary heedfulness; the love of the World will creep upon us, and by little and little get within us, and steal away our hearts ere we can think it. Take heed and beware of covetousness. It is an evil spirit, but withal a subtil: and can slyly wind it self in at a little hole; but having once made entrance, and gotten possession, it is not so easily outed again. Rather it will quickly set open a wide door to seven more, and in time to a whole legion of other evil spirits (I cannot say, worse than it self, for there are not many such: but certainly bad enough) to render the end of that man much worse than the beginning. For the love of Money is the root of (very1 Tim. 6. 10. many, and even almost of) all evil: which while some have coveted after, they have erred from the faith; made shipwrack of their Consciences, and entangled themselves in a world of piercing cares and sorrows. But thou, O man of God, fly -11.from these things: fly covetousness. Observe how careful the Apostle is every where to disclaim it: and be thou as careful evermore to avoid it.
9. Observe hence secondly, what an aptness there may be even in very good men (through the remainders of Natural Corruption) to mis-interpret the speeches and actions of their spiritual Fathers: as if in much of what they said or did, they aimed most at their own secular advantage. That these Philippians had charitable hearts, if there were no other proof, their great bounty, both to our Apostles and others so often by him remembred, were evidence enough. Yet surely, if he had not withal known those dregs of Uncharitableness, that (as the sediments of depraved Nature) lurk in the hearts of the most charitable men: he might have saved the labour, that sometimes he is put upon, of his own purgation. Hard the mean while is the strait, men of our cloth are often put unto. If we let all go, and permit it to mens Consciences how they will deal with us, resolving to suffer and say nothing: besides that we expose our selves both to loss and scorn; we also betray Gods and the Churches right; and we are also unfaithful in the work of our Calling, in suffering sin upon our Neighbour for wantLev. 19. 17. of a rebuke. But if we look better about us, and require what of right belongeth to us: then do men set their mouths wide open against us straight; And covetous are we, if we do but speak for our own, (that is the least and best they can say:) but if sue for it, then not covetous only, but contentious also. Yea, and this is often done with such palpable iniquity, that there lieth many times a deeper imputation upon us, for but seeking to right our selves, than upon those who by doing us manifest wrong enforce us thereunto. Alas! is this the double honour you would bestow upon those that labour in the Word: first to rob them of their1 Tim. 5. 17. Maintenance, and then to rob them of their good Names? Do you thus reward the Oxen that tread out the corn for you: First, to muzzle them up, that they cannot 1 Cor. 9. 9.eat; and then to thrust another muzzle upon them, that they may not complain.
10. This is hard, you will say. It is so: but no more than (so long as there is such a proneness in most men, to mis-judg and mis-asperse those that are set over them, especially if they once grow to differ about meum and tuum) we may expect from the men of this Generation, and should prepare for before we put our hand to the plow . It should not therefore much discourage us (St. Paul counted it but a very small thing) so long as we know nothing by our selves, 1 Cor. 4. 3.and do but what we may and ought: if we shall find our selves wrongfully and upon light surmises taxed of Covetousness, of Ambition, of Time-serving, which are the Crimes usually laid in our dish, not only by the scum of the people, men of lower rank and repute, but sometimes even by persons of quality, yea, such as pretend most to Religion. Since holy Paul, than whom never man lived freer from such vicious affections, could not without so many Protestations secure himself from (aNe admittam culp…m ego meo sum promus pectori: Suspicio est in pectore alie… sita Plaut. in Trinum. 1. 2. 1 Pet 3. 16.) the sinister jealousies and censures of those from whom he received maintenance. Rather should their forwardness to judg thus uncharitably of us, make us to walk the more warily and wisely, not to give them cause, but to be sure in our whole course to have both the warrant for what we are to do, and for what we have done, the Testimony of a good Conscience. That if yet they will needs speak evil of us, as of evil doers, they may do it gratis, and to their own shame, and not ours.
11. Observe hence thirdly, with what great caution the Apostle here speaketh; and wheresoever else he is occasioned to speak of himself, or his own Affairs. It were certainly good for us (in the publick exercise of our Ministry at least,) where we may avoid it, not to meddle at all with personal and particular things, that concern either our selves or others. Both because the more we descend to particulars, the more subject we are to mistakings, (for descendendo contingit errare;) and the leaven of a little Error or Indiscretion in the Pulpit, will sower a great lump of Truth and of Wholsom Doctrine: As also because personal matters can hardly be so dealt in, (especially in publick) but that, through prejudices and the partiality of mens Affections, offence and distast will be taken thereat by some or other. It were best for us therefore, (that we either do not mistake, or be not mistaken) to hold us to general Truths, for bearing personal matters, as much as may be. But where a Necessity lieth upon us, not with coveniency to be avoided (as so the Case may be) to speak of our own or other mens particular concernments: it should be our great care by our blessed Apostles example, to ballance well every word we speak, and to use such caution and discretion therein, that we leave nothing (as far as is possible) subject to misconstruction; neither inject scruples into the heads and minds of our Hearers, which we shall not withal have sufficiently removed: and not only to be sure to avoid the just giving, but to use our best diligence also to prevent the unjust taking, of Offence at any thing we shall deliver.
12. Observe Fourthly, how ready the Apostle is upon every needful occasion, as to keep himself from the Crime, so to clear himself from (aOmnes bonos, bonos que accuratè adde rei, Suspicionem & culpam ut ab se segregent. Plaut. in Trinum. 1. 2.) the suspicion of evil. He that is wanting to his own just defence, transgresseth the Law of God, and the Rule of Charity, in bearing false witness against himself. And it is not only cruelty, but stupidity too, for a man wholly to dis-regard what others think of him; Especially pernicious, when their mis-conceits of the Person may draw prejudice upon his Doctrine, and consequently bring scandal unto the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It carrieth with it ever a strong presumption of Guilt, but an infallible argument it is of Vanity howsoever: When a man sweareth to put away a Crime from him, before it be laid to him; and laboureth (as a woman in travel) to be delivered of an Excuse, ere any body have accused him. But, for to stop the mouth of Calumny upon a false charge, or to prevent misprisions where they are likely to ensue, and may do harm if they should ensue: there to justifie our selves, and by publick manifesto (as it were) to disclaim what we might be wrongfully charged withal, is many times expedient, and sometimes necessary. I am become a fool in glorying, saith our Apostle, but ye have compelled me. As2 Cor. 12. 11. who say; your undervaluing of me, to the great prejudice of the Gospel, but advantage of false Teachers, hath made that glorying now necessary for me, which had been otherwise but Vanity and Folly. When his case falleth to be ours; we may then do, as he now doth; purge our selves from false Crimes and Suspicions, and maintain our own Innocency. Only be we first sure, that our Consciences stand clear in the sight of God, before we endeavour to clear our Credits before the faces of men. Lest by justifying our selves before them, we contract a new Guilt before him: and so become indeed worse than we were, by striving to seem better than we are.
All these from the protestation in the former part of the Verse, foreign, &c. not that I speak in respect of want.
13. But the main of our business is (as I said) in the latter part of the verse: concerning the Nature and the Art of Contentment. All Arts have their Praecognita: so hath this. The first and chiefest whereof is (as in all other Arts and Sciences) to understand, Quid sit, Qua de re agitur, what it is that we are to treat of as the subject-matter of the whole discourse: as whereunto all the Precepts, Rules, and Conclusions therein contained, must relate. We shall never learn the Art, unless we first know the Nature of Contentment. Of that therefore first, from these words (very few in the Original) foreign, In whatsoever state I am.
14. Wherein the Nature of true Contentment is (by intimation) discovered from the Object thereof in three particulars: partly limited and partly unlimited. Limited first, in respect of the Person: it must be a mans own Estate. The Verb here is in the first Person, foreign I am. Limited secondly, in respect of the time: it must be a mans present Estate. The Verb here is of the Present Tense, foreign, I AM. But thirdly, for the Kind (high or low;) for the Quantity (great or small;) for the Quality (convenient or inconvenient;) and in every other respect, altogether indifferent and unlimited. So it be a mans own, and present estate, it mattereth not else what it be; foreign indefinite, In whatsoever estate. In these Three joyntly consisteth the Nature of Contentment: in any of which whoever faileth, is short of St. Paul's learning. That man only hath learned to be content, that can suffice himself with his own estate, with the present estate, with any estate. Of these Three therefore in their order. And first of the Limitation in respect of the person, that a man rest satisfied with his own estate.
15. The very thing (to my seeming) principally intended in the last Commandment of the Decalogue, foreign. which forbiddeth expresly the coveting of our Neighbours House, his Wife, his Cattel: and proportionably, the coveting of his Farm, his Office, his Honour, his Kingdom: and generally the coveting of any thing that is anothers. Which is as much in effect, as to require every man to ▪rest fully satisfied with that portion of outward things, which God hath been pleased by fair and justifiable ways, in his good providence to derive upon him, without a greedy desire of that which is anothers. They who conceit, the thing in that Commandment properly forbidden, to be the Primi motus, those first motions or stirrings of sin, which we call Concupiscence, arising in the sensual Appetite (corrupted through Adam's fall, as all other faculties of the soul are) before any actual deliberation of the understanding thereabout, or actual consent of the Will thereunto: I must confess do not satisfie me. For those motions or stirrings (supposing them sinful) are according to their several objects (so far as they can be supposed sinful) forbidden in every of the Ten Commandments respectively: even as the Acts are, to which they refer; and from which they differ, not so much in kind, as in degree. I much rather incline to their judgment, who think the thing properly and principally there forbidden, to be an inordinate desire after that, which by right or property is Anothers, and not Ours.
16. And then these words of the Apostle, Heb. 13. may serve for a (short, but full) Commentary upon that last Commandment: both in the Negative, and in the Affirmative part thereof. Let your Conversation be without Covetousness, Heb. 13. 5.the Negative: and be content with such things as ye have, the Affirmative. When we endeavour or desire to get from another that which is his, by any fraudulent, oppressive, or other unjust course; we are then within the compass of the Eighth Commandment, Thou shalt not steal: as is evident from the Analogy of our Saviours Expositions upon the other Commandments, wherein Murther and Adultery are forbidden, Mat. 5. But the last Commandment, Thou shalt not Covet, cometh more within us: condemning every inordinate desire of what is not ours, albeit we have no actual intention to make it ours, by any unlawful (either violent or fraudulent) means. The bare a—foreign. Eurip. Hecub. Act. 5.wishing in our hearts, that what is our Neighbours were Ours; his Wife, House, Servant, Beast, or his any thing Ours; without considering whether he be willing to part with it or no, or whether it be meet for him so to do or no: is a cursed fruit of corrupt self-love, a direct breach of the holy Law of God in that last Commandment, and flatly opposite to that foreign or self-sufficiency, wherein true contentment consisteth.
17. Ahabs sin was this, when first his teeth began to water after Naboth's Vin…ard. He went indeed afterwards a great deal farther. He brake the Eighth 1 King. 21. 1, &c.Commandment, Thou shalt not steal; and he brake the Sixth Commandment also, Thou shalt not kill: when he took Naboth's both Life and Vineyard from him by a most unjust and cruel oppression. All this came on afterwards. But his first sin was meerly against the last Commandment: in that he could not rest himself satisfied with all his own Abundance, but his mind was set on Naboth's plat; and unless he might have that too (lying so conveniently for him) to lay a—ô si angulus ille Proximus accedat; qui nunc denormat agellum! Horat. 2. satyr. 6.to his demesnes, he could not be at quiet. He had not as yet (for any thing appeareth in the Story) any setled purpose, any resolved design, to wrest it from the owner by Violence, or to weary him out of it with injust Vexations: So he might but have it upon any fair terms; (either by way of Sale, he would give him full as much for it as it could be worth of any mans money; or by way of Exchange, he would give him for it a better plat of ground than it was; either way should serve his turn:) Naboth should but speak his own Conditions, and they should be performed. Many a petty Lord of a Hamlet with us, would think himself disparaged in a Treaty of Enclosure, to descend to such low Capitulations with one of his poor Neighbours, as the great King of Israel then did with one of his Subjects, and to sin but as modestly as Ahab yet did. Here was neither Fraud nor Violence, nor so much as Threatning used: but the whole carriage outwardly square enough, and the proposals not unreasonable. All the fault (as yet) was within. The thing that made Ahab even then guilty in the sight of God, was the inordinacy of his desire after that Vineyard, being not his own: which Inordinacy, upon Naboth's refusal of the offered Conditions, he farther bewrayed by many signs, the effects of a discontented mind. For in he cometh, heavy and displeased; taketh pet, and his bed; looketh at no body, and out of sullenness forsaketh his meat. Had he well learned this piece of the lesson in the Text, to have contented himself with his own, both his body had been in better temper, and his mind at better quiet, and his conscience at better peace than now they were.
18. Abraham it seemeth had learnt it. Who was so far from all base desire of enriching himself with the King of Sodom's Goods, that he utterly refused them,Gen. 14. 21, &c. when he might have taken them, and held them without any injustice at all. He had, or might have had, a double Title to them. They were his aforeign. Arist. 1. Polit.Iure belli, by the Law of Arms and of Nations; having won them in the field, and in a just war: and they might have been his jure donationis, by the Kings free donation [Give me the Persons, take the Goods to thy self] if he had been minded to accept the offer. But Abraham would none: contenting himself with what the Lord had blessed him withal, he did not desire, neither would he take from a thread or a shooe-latchet, of any thing that appertained to the King of Sodom.
19. But what need we seek any other (indeed where can we find a better) Example to instance in, as to the matter we now treat of, than this our Apostle: if we do but recall to mind that Protestation of his once before mentioned, made before the Clergy of Asia in his Visitation at Miletum, Acts 20. [I have coveted Acts 20. 33.no mans Silver, or Gold, or Apparel.] Brave and noble was the challenge, that1 Sam. 13. Samuel made in a full Assembly of the whole people of Israel, [Behold here I am, witness against me before the Lord, and before his Anointed. Whose Oxe have I taken, or whose Ass have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or of whose hands have I received a Bribe?] Possibly there are Iudges and Officers in the World, that would be loth to make so bold a Challenge, and venture a fair trial upon it. Yet cometh that Challenge far short of this Protestation: Samuel speaketh only of not taking; St. Paul also of not coveting: according to the express letter of the prohibition in the Decalogue. foreign, Thou shalt not covet, saith the Law: his Conscience answereth, foreign, I have not coveied. So good a Proficient was he, so perfect a Scholar in this holy learning, that he con'd it Verbatim. foreign might he well say and truly: for he had indeed learned to be content with his own.
20. And might not we learn it too, think ye, as well as he? Sure we might: for what should hinder? Only if we would but tie our selves strictly to those Rules (those I mean of Iustice and Charity) which are the first Elements of this learning. For Iustice first: the Rule is, Suum cuique, That every man have what of right to him appertaineth. Now every mans right unto any of the things of this World ariseth from Gods disposal thereof by such ways and means (ordinarily) as by the general Law, and common consent of all civil Nations, or by the positive Laws of particular Kingdoms and Common-wealths (not repugnant thereunto) are allowed for that end: as Descent, Gift, Purchase, Industry, &c. Whose distributions, however unequal they may seem to us, are yet evermore just in themselves, and as they come from him. So that every man is by us to be accounted the just owner and proprietary of that whereof he is the legal possessor: yea, though it do appear to us to have been very unjustly gotten, either by himself, or by any of those from whom he had it. His very possession I say, although without a justifiable Title, is yet sufficient to make it his, as to the intendment of the Law in that behalf; that is to say, so far forth as to render our desiring of it from him unlawful in foro interno: unless in that one Case only, when the right is in us, though he be in possession. In all other Cases possession is a good plea: the Title of Possession being in all reason to be esteemed good against him, that is not able to shew a better.
21. If then we be at any time carried with a restless and immoderate desire after that, which the hand of Providence hath been pleased to dispose otherwhere, (and our selves have no Antecedent right, whereby to entitle it Ours:) do we not take upon us (after a sort) to controll the holy and wise Appointments of our good God? For if it were indeed fitter for us than him, and not in opinion only: could not the Lord by his Almighty power, and would he not in the dispensation of his good providence, have by some honest means or other disposed it upon us rather than upon him? By this extreme partiality to our selves we become unjust Iudges of evil thoughts: in setling that upon our selves in our own thoughts; as fittest for us, which God hath thought fit to settle rather upon another. The Story in Xenophon, how young Cyrus was corrected byLib. 1. foreign. his Tutor, for bestowing the Two Coats upon Two of his School-fellows, according to the fitness thereof to their Two Bodies in his own discretion; without enquiring first (as he should have done) who was the right owner of either; is so well known, and withall pertinent to our present purpose, that I shall not need either to relate it, or apply it. When Almighty God then, by disposing of these outward things, hath manifested his pleasure to give our neighbour a property in them: it is an unjust desire in us to covet them from him, and to wish them transferred upon our selves.
22. The other Rule I told you of, is that of Charity. Which binding us to love our neighbour as our selves, must needs bind us consequently to rejoyce in his good, as in our own; and not wish any thing to his prejudice, no more than to our own: and consequently to these, to be content that he should enjoy that which God hath allotted him with our good wills, as we desire to hold that which is in like manner allotted us with his good will. There is no such Enemy to Brotherly love as is Self-love. For look how much we bestow upon our selves more than we should, we must needs leave to our brother so much less than we should. And it is nothing but this overmuch love of our selves, that maketh us so much covet to have to our selves, that which belongeth not to us. If ye fulfil Jam. 2. 8.the Royal Law according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self, ye do well, saith St. Iames: Very well this. But if ye have respect to Persons, —9.(especially if ye become partial once to your own persons;) that is not well: then you commit sin; saith he, and are convinced of the Law as transgressors.
23. But this is Durus sermo, may some say. It were hard so to confine mens minds to that which is their own, as not to allow any desire at all of that which is anothers. If we should conceive the Law thus strict: it would destroy, not only all Humane Ordinances, that concern Trading and Commerce, as buying, selling, exchanging, &c. (without which publick Societies cannot subsist;) but even the Divine Ordinance also, of earning our livings by labour and industry. Then might no man endeavour by honourable and vertuous atchievements to raise himself a fortune, or make way for his future advancement, or do any thing whatsoever, whereby to acquire or derive upon himself a property in any thing that were not his own already: Since none of all this can be done without a desire (in some degree or other) of that which is anothers.
24. This Objection need not much trouble us▪ Nor justice, nor Charity, nor the holy Law of God, which giveth rules to both, condemn all desire of that which is anothers: but an inordinate desire only: that which is orderly and rightly qualified, they all allow. All the difficulty in this matter will be, (and that will make us some business) how to discern between an orderly, and an inordinate desire: that so we may be able to judge rightly concerning our own desires at all times; whether they be such as are allowed, and may consist with contentment, or such as are forbiden, and cannot consist therewith. Which is to be done by duly considering of those three especial Qualifications, which are all requisite (the concurrence, I mean, of the whole three) to the making up of an orderly desire: in any of which if there be a failure▪ the desire becometh inordinate and sinful. These three are in respect; First, of the Object; Secondly, of the Act; Thirdly, of the Effect of the desire.
25. For the Object first. If I desire but that from my neighbour (say it be his House, Land, Beast, or other Commodity) which I find him willing, or may reasonably presume he will not be unwilling (for that I see no cause why he should be so) to part withal; especially if the having thereof be visibly so much greater advantage or convenience to me, than the parting therewith could be loss or inconvenience to him, that I should be as ready to pleasure him with mine, were my case his, as I am now desirous he should pleasure me with his: If all this be done and meant by me bonâ fide, and that I am willing withal to make him a valuable compensation to the full, for whatsoever loss or inconvenience he shall sustain thereby, and according to the worth of the thing: my desire is thus far regular. In this manner Abraham desired of Ephron the Hittite, a spare portion in one end of his field for a burying-place for Sarah: whenGen. 23. 4, &c. as, being a stranger, he had no possession among them wherein to bury his dead, Gen. 23.
26. But if I should desire to have that from him, which probably is as useful and expedient for him, as it can be for me, or which he taketh some pleasure or content in, or is very unwilling howsoever (though for no great reason perhaps, but for his minds sake only) to part withal; or which (if it were mine own case) I should be loth to forego to another, that should in the like kind desire it from me: If yet, when all this appeareth to me, I persist in my former desire notwithstanding, and thirst after it still; this is an uncharitable, and so an inordinate desire in me. Ahabs desire was such. After he saw Naboths heart so set upon his ancient inheritance, that he would not part with it upon any terms; For he had given him a flat denial, and rejected all Motions for an alienation with an Absit (the Lord forbid it me, that I should part with the Inheritance 1 King. 21. 3.of my Ancestors;) yet he must have it tho; nothing will content him without it. That for the Object.
27. Secondly, For the Act, or more imediate Effect of the Desire. If I desire any thing that is my neighbours with a moderate and sober desire; so as I can set my heart at rest, fall out as it will, and compose my affections to an indifferent temper whether I obtain my desire or no, (If I may have it well and good; if not, no great harm done, I am but where I was:) my desire is also thus far regular, and hindreth not but that I may be well enough content notwithstanding.
28. But if my desire raise mud and perturbations in me, and breed troubled and confused thoughts, so as to disquiet me in my sleep, distract me in my devotions, disturb me that I cannot walk in the ways of my Calling, or perform the common offices of life with any chearfulness, or any other way distemper the calm tranquility of my mind and soul: then is my desire so far forth ān inordinate and covetous desire, and inconsistent with true Contentation. And such again was Ahabs. When he could not have his longing, Nec manus, nec pes; He could1 King. 21. 4. neither eat, nor drink, nor sleep, nor enjoy any thing he had, nor do any thing he should for thinking of it: nothing but lowre, and tumble, and fret for grief and despight: have it he must, or he should never be well.
29. There are thousands, that would loth be reputed Covetous, yet have a grudging of his disease: and it is an evil disease. For tell me (to close a little with thee, thou that scornest the name of Covetous) whence is it, that thou either pinest away with envy at the Greatness of thy neighbours, or repinest with murmuring at the scantness of thy own portion? These are parlous symptoms. Why art thou ever and anon maundering that his a—majorque videtur Et melior, vici…a seges. Juv. sat. 14.Farm is better than thine, his Meadows greener than thine, his Corn ranker than thine, his cattle fatter than thine, his Ware-house fuller than thine, his Office gainfuller than thine, his service better rewarded than thine, his trading quicker than thine; and I know not how many things more;
Quodque capella aliena gerat distentius uber
Tabescas?—Hor. 1. Serm. 1.
Must thine eyes needs be evil towards him because the hand of God hath been good to him? Tolle quod tuum, & vade. Take that is thine, and go thy way, and rest quiet with it. Be thankful to him that gave it, (it was more, I ween, then he owed thee:) and in Gods name make the best of it (Spartam quam nactus es, hanc orna.) But do not desire that inordinately, which thou canst▪ not compass honestly, and which (if dishonestly gotten) thou shouldest have little joy of, when thou hadst it. Say thy lot be not all out as thou couldst wish (indeed what mans almost is so?) yet take comfort in it onward, till better come. Better may come, when God seeth thee fit for better: but fit thou art not, so long as thou art not contented with what thou hast.
30. Lastly, for the consequents, or remoter effects of the Desire. Desire looketh ever at the end, carrying the mind and thoughts thither with some eagerness: and therefore stirreth endeavour in the use of such means as are likely to bring men to the desired end the soonest, and so putteth them upon Action. Whence commonly such as the desire is, such is the endeavour also: and that, both for Quantity and Quality. According to the strength of the desire is the bent also of the endeavour: and according as the Desire is qualified (Morally qualified, I mean, that is, either good or bad;) the endeavour also is conditioned much what like it. If then I can so bound my desire of something which another hath, as to resolve and hold, not at any hand to attempt the obtaining thereof by any other than by fair, and warrantable, and conscionable means: my desire is also thus far a regular and lawful desire. So David, though he could1 Sam. 24. 4. & …0. 8. not but desire the accomplishment of Gods gracious promise of advancing him to the Kingdom, which was not his yet (otherwise than in Gods designation) but anothers: yet when he was urged by his followers, to lay hold of1 Sam. 24. 6. & 2…. 11. a fair opportunity, which (as they thought) God had put into his hand for the effecting thereof: his soul did so much abhor the very mention of such a fact, that at two several times, he would not so much as take the advice into the least deliberation, but rejected it with an Absit too. Shall I lay these hands upon the Lords Anointed? God forbid. No saith he, I will not do it for a Kingdom. Such wicked facts I leave for wicked men to act. God can and will I know in his due time make good his own promise without my sin. I shall be content1 Sam. 24. 13. to wait his leisure, and to remain in the sad condition I am now in, till it shall please him to bring me out of it, rather than clog my conscience with the guilt of such a horrid crime.
31. But if my desire shall prompt me to that resolution so common in the World, (rem si possis, rectè; si non, quocunque modo rem) I would rather have itHor. 1. Ep. 1. Unde habeat quaerit nemo, sed oportet habere. Juven. sat. 14. fairly, if it might be; but if it will not come so, yet would I have it howsoever: my desire becometh an unjust and inordinate desire. Such was Ahabs still: his example, you see, furnisheth us at every turn. He must have the Vineyard: yea, that he must.
Cujus si dominus pretio non vincitur ullo, &c.Juven. ibid.
If money will fetch it, Naboth shall have his own asking: But if that will not do the deed, something else must. Letters shall be written, Witnesses suborned, Iudges awed, Iustice perverted, and an innocent person (If the situation if his Vineyard had not made him guilty) in a goodly formal pageant of a legal proceeding with much base hypocrisie, and in a most undue unworthy manner, accused, condemned, executed. Quid non mortalia pectora cogis? Stand amazed, and consider, what a mass of sin and mischief, the least indulgence to a vicious inordinate desire may lead you to at the last, more than perhaps you could at the first suspect your self capable to fall into.
32. What should I say then, Brethren? Even what our Lord hath said before me, Take heed and beware of Covetousness; Look upon all aInde fere scelerum causae: nec plura quam saeva cupido Immodici census. Juv. sat. 14. 1 Tim. 6. 10.the frauds that are practised every where among the sons of men; take a survey of all the oppressions, the greater and lesser oppressions, that are done under the Sun: you shall find the most of them to owe both their first-birth and after-growth to this cursed root of Covetousness. Extortion, Bribery, Flattery, Calumny, Perjury, Simony, Sacriledge, unjust Wars and Suits: Do they not all come from hence? False weights and measures in the Markets; false lights and wares in the Shops; false Pleas and Oaths in the Courts; exhaunsing of Fees, trucking for Expedition, racking of Rents, cracking of Bankrupts, depopulating of Towns, projecting of Monopolies, and God knoweth how many more, (my breath would fail me, and the time, but to name them) are they not all from hence? And doth not the riseness of them abroad in the World, unanswerably convince the men of this Generation of much injustice and uncharitableness, in coveting other mens goods, and not being content with their own?
33. Upon this first point I have stood the longer, being the Principal of the three, and the foundation of the other two. That now setled, we shall be like to come off with quicker dispatch in the rest. The object of Contentment, as it is limited in respect of the Person; It must be a mans own estate (of which hitherto:) so is it limited in respect of the Time; It must be a mans present Estate, (of which next.) The Text hath not foreign in the preter, In what state I have been; nor foreign in the future, In what state I shall be: but in the present foreign, In whatsoever state I am Look what God (who is Lord of all, and dispenseth to every man severally as he will) disposeth upon him for the present; although perhaps far short of what he may have had in some times heretofore, or of what he may probably have in possibilities and reversions hereafter: he that hath a contented mind doth not afflict himself, either with pensive thoughts, at the remembrance of what he hath been or with suspenceful thoughts, in forecasting both his hopes and fears what he may be: But he giveth himself up to the Lords present disposal, and resteth satisfied with the portion that is before Heb. 13. 5.him. foreign, saith the Apostle expresly. Heb. 13. being content a—foreign. Isocrat. orat. de pace. 1 Tim. 6. 8.with the present things: and elsewhere, Having food and Rayment (foreign in the present tense still) let us be therewith content.
34. Grant but the former part, already made good, That we are to be content with our own; and this will follow of it self, That we are to be content with the present: because nothing can be truly said to be our own, but the present. What is past and gone, perhaps it was ours; but we cannot say, It is ours now: and what is future, and to come, perhaps it may be ours, (and perhaps it may not too;) but we cannot say, It is ours yet. Panem nostrum quotidianum, our daily bread; or (as some translate it) hodiernum, our this days bread: so we are taught to stile it, when we beg it. Nostrum and Hodiernum may be well put together: for it is only this days bread that is our bread. Another days bread may be another mans bread, for ought we know.
Nam propriae telluris herum natura, nec illum,Horat. 2. sat. 2.
Nec me nec quenquam fecit—
All these things pass to and fro in the world from one hand to another, and so to another, and another, ever and anon, uponsome casualty or other, many times a—tanquam Sit proprium cuiquam, puncto quod mobilis horae Permutet dominos & cedat in altera jura. Horat. 2. Epist. 2. Prov. 23. 5. Luke. 12. 20.in a moment, shifting Masters; and seldom stay long in a place. When one would think we had them fast, either they take them wings and flye away, and leave us behind; or our thread is cut, and we drop away, and leave them behind. And how suddenly this may be done, who knoweth? Perhaps before to morrow, (stulte, hac▪ nocte:) and then what was ours goeth another way, who knoweth whither? Perhaps to a meer stranger (cujus erunt?) Thou fool, this night thy Soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall these things be, thou now callest thine? Nothing is certainly ours, but the present: and of that we have no farther certainty than the present. So that unless we can frame our minds to be content with the present, we shall never be able to find any certainty whereon to rest.
35. Add hereunto secondly, that all solicitous looking forward and beyond the present, doth ipso facto and of it self take off so much from our content. It raiseth up many foggy mists of hopes and fears, and other perturbations, that disquiet the mind wonderfully, and torture it with suspencefulness and anxiety. Spem que metum que inter dubii. Whilst men, through the desire of having, hang in▪ suspence betwixt the hope of getting, and the fear of missing; they cannot chuse but pierce themselves through with many sorrows, and create themselves1 Tim. 6. 10. much unrest.
Laetus in praesens animus, quod ultra estHor. 2. Carm. 16.
Oderet curare;
And again,
Dona praesentis cape laetus horoe, &—3. Carm 8.
Linque futura.
These and sundry other like passages we meet with in the Poets, together with those phrases so usual with them,
a—foreign. Anthol. 2. Epigr. 47.—Ide potens sai, L…tusque vi…et, cui licet, In di…m dixisse vixi. Horat. 3. od. 29.In diem vivere, &c.—
would be good meditations for us: if we should understand them in that Christian sence, whereto we now apply them, and which the words themselves will bea…; and not in the Epicures sence, wherein for the most part they that used them meant them. But I rather give it you in our Saviours words; Take Mat. 6. 34▪therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of it self, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, Mat. 6.
36. A third consideration there is, nothing less available than either of the former, but rather much more, to them that can lay hold of it (for it is above the reach of Poets and Philosophers, and beyond the ken even of professed Christians that want the eye of Faith ) to frame us to contentment with the present, arising from the contemplation of the infinite love of our gracious Lord God, joyntly with his infinite wisdom. By these, as many as are truly the Children of God (by faith, and not titulo tenùs only) are assured of this most certain truth; That whatsoever their heavenly Father in his wisdom seeth best for them, that evermore in his love he provideth for them: From which Principle every man that truly feareth God, and hath fixed his hope there, may draw this infallible conclusion demonstratively, and by the Laws of good discourse, (per viam regressus.) This my good God hath presently ordered for me▪ and therefore it must needs be he saw it presently best for me. Thus may we sugere mel de petra; gather grapes of thorns, and figs of thistles, and satisfie our selves with the honey of comfort out of the stony rock of barrenness and adversity.
37. Where are they then, that will tell you, On the one side, what jolly men they have been: But miserum est fuisse. Having been born and bred to better fortunes, their spirits are too great to stoop to so low a condition as now they are in. If it were with them, as in some former▪ times, no men should lead more contented lives than they should do. Or that will tell you on the other side, what jolly men they shall be: when such fortunes as they have in chase or in expectation shall fall into their hands; they doubt not, but they shall live as contentedly as the best. Little do the one sort, or the other, know the falseness of their own unthankful and rebellious hearts. If with discontent▪ they repine at what they are; I shall doubt they were never truly content with what they were, and I shall fear (unless God change their hearts) that they will never be well content with what they shall be. He that is indeed content when the Lord giveth, can be content also when the Lord taketh away; and with Iob bless the holy Name ofJob 1. 21. God for both. He had a mind contented in as good (though perhaps not in so high) a measure, when he sate upon the dunghil, scraping himself with a potsheard, in the midst of his incompassionate friends; as he had when he sate in the gate, judging the people in the midst of the Princes and Elders of the Land.
38. It were certainly therefore best for us to frame our minds now the best we can to our present estate, be it better or worse: that whether it shall be better or worse with us hereafter, we may the better frame our minds to it then also. We should all do in this case, aforeign. Plato. Num. 9. 15. &c.following the Lord which way soever he leadeth us, as the Israelites followed the guidance of the cloudy-fiery-pillar. When it went, they went; when it stood, they stood: and look which way it went to the North, or to the South, the same way they took: and whether it moved swiftly or slowly, they also framed their pace accordingly. We are in like sort to frame our selves and wills to a holy submission, to whatsoever the present good pleasure of his will and providence shall share out for us.
39. Which yet let no man so desperately mis-understand, as to please himself hereupon in his own sloth and supinity, with Solomons sluggard, (whom that wise man censureth as a fool for it) who foldeth his hands together; and lettethEccl. 4. 5.—6. the world wag as it will, without any care at all what shall become of him and his another day. And yet, as if he were the only wise man (Sapientum octavus, wiser than seven men that can render a reason) he speaketh Sentences, Prov. 26. 16.—7.(but it is like a Parable in a fools mouth, a speech full of reason in it self, but by him witlesly applied) and telleth you, that Better is a handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travel and vexation of spirit. Would you not think him the most contented soul that lives? But there is no such matter. He is as desiring, and as craving, as the most covetous wretch that never ceaseth toyling and moyling to get more, if he might but have it, and never sweat for it.
40. Nor yet Secondly so, as to pass censure upon his brethren, as if it were nothing but Covetousness or Ambition, when he shall observe any of them by their providence, industry, and good endeavours in a fair and honest course, to lay a foundation for their future better fortunes: as the currish Philosopher snarled at his fellow.
Si pranderet olus sapienter, regibus utiHor. 1. Ep. 17.
Nollet Aristippus—
For so long as the ways we go are just and straight, and the care we take moderate, and neither the things we look after unmeet for us, nor the event of our endeavours improbable; if withal the minds we bear be tempered with such an evenness, as to expect the issue with patience, and neither be puft up beyond measure with the good success of our affairs, nor cast down beyond measure if they hap to miscarry: it hindereth not, but we may at once both be well aforeign. Eurip. in Jon. act. 2.contented with the Present, and yet industriously provident for the future. The same Poet hath meetly well expressed it there, speaking again of the same person, Omnis Aristippum decuit color, & status, & res. Tentantem majora, ferè praesentibus aequum. It is a point of wisdom, not a fruit of discontent, when God openeth to a man a fair opportunity of advancing his estate to an higher or fuller condition than now he is in, to embrace the opportunity, and to use all meet diligence in the pursuit, for the obtaining of his lawful desires. Rather it is a fruit either of Pride, or Sloth, or both, to neglect it, though upon the pretence of being content with the present.
41. Pass we now on from this Second, to the Third and last points observed concerning the object of true Contentment: which was the Indifferency of it, as it standeth in the Text, for the kind, quantity, quality, and every other respect (except the before excepted) altogether unlimited. foreign, indifferently. Be it high or low, rich or poor, base or honourable, easie or painful, prosperous or troublous; all is a point: all that God sendeth is welcom. He that hath learned St. Pauls Lesson, can make a shift with any state, and rest satisfied therewithall. The Apostle a little enlargeth himself in the next verse: shewing that in the change of outward things, his mind yet continued unchanged, and was still the same under the greatest contrarieties of events. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both …o abound and to suffer need. And elsewhere he saith of himself and his fellow-labourers in the Gospel, that in all things they had been careful to approve themselves as the Ministers of God, by the armour 2 Cor. 6. 4. 7, &c.of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report, &c. As indeed it is a point of the same skill, to know how to abound, and how to want: and equally hard to bear prosperity without insolence, and adversity without impatience. The wise Son of Agur was thereforeProv. 30. 8. equally afraid of both, when he prayed that God would neither give him excessive Riches, nor extreme Poverty; As one that well knew, there was great and equal danger in the one Extreme, as well as in the other; if God should leave us to wrestle with the temptations, that may arise from either of them, by our own strength alone without the aidance of his grace. But he whose heart is established with grace, can sort his mind to any estate, and find content in any. He can sleep, both securely in a Palace, and thankfully in a Cottage.
42. Reasons are: for I must hasten. First, Contentment cometh from the mind within, not from the things without.—Non res praestat, sed animus, If the things Seneca.themselves were enough to afford content, or breed discontent: then should all men that enjoy them alike, be alike contented therewith; and all men that want them alike, be alike discontented thereat. Whereof daily experience sheweth the contrary. It is therefore from the different furniture of the mind, that men are differently affected both with plenty and want. Now the mind of a godly man, being setled upon God by a holy dependance upon his providence: hence it is, that neither height nor depth, neither want nor abundance, neither things present, nor things to come, nor any worldly accident can drive him from thatPsal. 112. 6, 7. hold. He shall not be moved for ever, neither shall be daunted with any evil tydings, because his heart is fixed, and his trust is in the Lord, Psal. 112.
Si fractus illabatur orbisHor. 3 Carm 3.
Impavidum ferient ruinae.
43. Secondly, such a vast disproportion there is between the reasonable soul of man, and the sublunary Creatures, that the appetite of that cannot be filled with any of these. Capacem Dei non implet nisi Deus. The soul being capable of a Communion with God by grace, and the fruition of him in glory, cannot be satisfied with any thing that is less than God; nor therefore with any thing but God. At the last day, when the Saints shall enjoy fulness of glory in the presence of God, their souls shall be compleatly satiated with joy and happiness to their utmost capacity (Satiabor cum apparuerit gloria, When I awake, I shall be satisfied with Psal. 17. 15.thy likeness, Psal. 17.) In the mean time they are satisfied with a kind of fulness, according to the measure of their present capacity: such a fulness as sufficeth for the sustaining of their Souls with patience and comfort, (Sufficet tibi gratia: Till that sa…iety of Glory come, my grace is sufficient for thee onward.) Hence2 Cor. 12. 9. groweth another difference between the godly, and the worldly man. The one is content with nothing: because for want of Grace he hath not a sufficiency within, to quiet the desires of his soul, not to be satisfied with outward things. The other is content with anything: because he hath a sufficiency of grace within him, whereof (so long as he persisteth in that state, and but by his own default) no creature in the world can deprive him.
44. Again thirdly, the encrease of outward things rather provoketh the appetites of the soul, than stilleth them: and by that means rather putteth a man further off from content, than he was before.
Et minus haec optat, qui non habet.
Iuven. sat. 14.He that loveth silver, saith Solomon, shall not be satisfied with silver: nor he that loveth Eccl. 5. 10.abundance with encrease. As a River, the greater it groweth by receiving in little brooks, the wider and the deeper it weareth the channel: so all outward things, the more they encrease, the more they enlarge the desires, still to their own proportion. Was ever Voluptuous, or Ambitious, or Covetous, or Malicious man so glutted either with pleasures, or preferments, or riches, or revenge, as not to desire more? Only the Godly mans hopes are not so nipt with the decay, nor his desires so extended upon the encrease of these outward things; as to hinder his content. Because neither his hopes, nor desires are set upon the world, or the things of the world: but upon God, and his Christ, and his Spirit, and his Promises.
45. First, then (to infer somewhat, briefly) why shouldst thou that livest in a low and mean estate, envy him that hath a far greater: which yet is as far from giving him content, as thine would be if it were his? When riches encrease, they Eccl. 5. 11.are encreased that eat them: and what profit (or pleasure either) is there to the owner thereof, save the beholding them with his eyes? All the advantage he hath is but this: that he can say, All this is mine. The Sun is as warm to thee as to him: the air as sweet. Thy fare, though not so costly, yet as savoury: thy body as healthy, thy mind as free, as his: thy sleep as soft, though upon a harder bed: thy rest as safe, though under a meaner roof. If there be any difference, here it is. That as his estate is greater; so his charge is greater; and his cares greater, and his fears greater; and his troubles greater: and at the last great day, his …eckoning shall be greater. Therefore envy him not.
46. Secondly, In this, as in most other things, most of us (God help us) make our selves a great deal of work more than needs, because we go the wrong way to work. For the bringing of our minds and our estates together, (for that is in a manner the whole business: till they meet, there can be no true Contentment:) we commonly begin at the wrong end, and so lose our labour. We strive to sit all things to our minds: which (so long as our desires are vast and boundless) is a tedious and bootless work.
——Non si te ruperis—
Horace.We may tug hard at it; sweat till our hearts ake: but it will not be. Why do we not rather begin at the other end? Do that rather, which is not only possible, but (the grace of God assisting) easie also? In striving to fit our minds to the things. Non augendae res, sed minuendae cupiditates: that is the way. To work ourSeneca. own Contentment, we should not labour so much aforeign. Plaut. 7. de legib. Gen. 28. 20.to encrease our substance (that is a preposterous course;) as to moderate our desires: which is the right way, and the more feasible. Iacob did not propose to himself any great matters; fat revenues, and large possessions: but only bread to eat, and rayment to put on, Gen. 28. No matter of what course grain, so it were but bread to give nourishment, and maintain life. No matter for the stuff, or fashion, so it were but raiment to cover nakedness, and to keep off heat and cold. Neither doth St. Paul speak of any choicer or costlier matters. Having food and raiment, saith he, let us be therewith content. 1 Tim. 6. He saith not foreign, delicates; but foreign,… Tim. 6. 8. food: nor foreign, ornaments; but foreign raiment, coverings. Any filling for the belly, any hilling for the back, would serve his turn.
47. Thirdly, since it is a point of the same skill to do both, to want, and to abound; we should do well, whilst the Lord lendeth us peace and plenty, to exercise our selves duly in the Art of abounding; that we be the better able to manage the Art of wanting, if ever it shall please him to put us to it. For therefore especially are we so much to seek, and so puzled, that we know not which way to turn us, when want or afflictions come upon us: because we will not keep within any reasonable compass, nor frame ourselves to industrious, thrifty, and charitable courses, when we enjoy abundance. It is our extreme insolency and unthankfulness when we are full, that maketh our impatience and discontentedness break forth with the greater extremity, when the Lord beginneth to empty us.
Quem res plus nimio delectavere secundae,Horat. 1. Epist. 10.
Mutatae quatient.
As in a Feaver, he that burneth most in his hot fit shaketh most in his cold: so no man beareth want with less patience, than he that beareth plenty with least moderation; if we would once perfectly learn to abound, and not riot, we should the sooner learn to want, and not repine.
48. But how am I on the sudden, whilst I am discoursing of the Nature, fallen upon some of the Rules of the Art of Contentment? And yet not besides the Text neither: the word foreign containeth that too. Yet because to lay down the grounds and method of that Art, and to do it to purpose, another hours work would be but little enough: I shall therefore forbear to proceed any further at this time. Now to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, &c.