Sermon Preached Several Times, Title page 4 – Dedication 4
True Contentment IN THE GAINE OF GODLINES, With its SELF-SUFFICIENCIE.
A MEDITATION on 1 TIMOTH. 6.6.
By THOMAS GATAKER B. of D. and Paſtor of Rotherhith.
LONDON, Printed for EDWARD BREWSTER. 1637.
TO THE RIGHT WORthy and his much honoured Lady, the Lady DOROTHIE HOBART, Wife to the Right Honourable and his ſingular good Lord, Sr. HENRY HOBART, Knight and Baronet, Lord Chiefe Juſtice of the Common Pleas, True Contentment in the Gaine of Godlineſſe, with its Self-Sufficiencie.
GOOD MADAME,
IT is a point by all generally agreed upon, thataforeign. Ariſtot. ethic. Nicom. l. 1. c. 2, 4, 7. foreign. Stob. tom. 1. l. 2. c. 3. Happineſſe is the maine end and aime of all mens Actions. And it is a Truth no leſſe generally confeſſed and acknowledged, thatbforeign. Ariſt. ethic. Nicom. l. 1. c. 7. Non est beatus, eſſe ſe qui non putat. P. Syr. Si cui ſua non videntur ampliſſima, miſer est. Epicur. Miſer est, qui ſe non beatiſſimum judicat. Sen. ep. 10. Nemo foelix est, qui judicio ſuo miſer eſt. Salv. de prov. l. 1. Without Contentment of Minde there can be no true Happines. It iscOmnium certa ſententia eſt, beatos eſſe omnes homines velle. Aug. de civ. Dei l. 10 c. 1. & Epiſt. 21. & 121. Miſerè vivere nemo vult. Idem de lib. arb. l. 1. c. 14. Happines then that all men without exception deſire, and Contentment that all conſequently ſtrive to attaine. But herein the moſt faile, that they are miſtaken in the meanes, that they take wrong courſes for the compaſſing of this their end and aime, and ſo vainly weary and tire out themſelves in*foreign. Arrian. diſſert. l. 2. c. 16. ſeeking Happines and Contentment there, where neither of them is to be had. To reforme this error, the Spirit of God in the Word hath directed us the right way to either; to wit,dPſal. 86.11. & 144.14. by conjunction with God, the author & fountaine of all good,eDeut. 30.20. Pſal. 73.26, 28. Bonum noſtrum nullum eſt aliud q…m Deo adhaerere, cujus unius anima intellectualis incorporeo amplexu impletur. Aug. de civ…t. Dei l. 10. c. 4. by adhering unto him, in whom only the ſoule of man can find ſure and ſound contentment. Now this is donefDeut. 30.20. Adeum dilectione tendimus, ut perveniendo quieſcamus, ideò beati, quia illo fine perſecti. Aug. ibid. by loving him,gPſal. 112.1. & 128.1. Deut. 10.…0. & 5.29. & 6.24. Eccleſ. 12.13. by fearing him,hPſal. 73.28. & 84.12. by truſting in him,iDeut. 11.27. & 30 20. foreign. Stob. tom. 2. c. 2. by obeying him,kMatth. 5.48. 1 Ioh. 3.3. foreign ſtatuunt Pythagoras, Socrate… Plato. Stob. tom. 1. l. 2. c. 3. by conformitie unto him; or more briefly in a word, bylLevit. 11.44 & 19.2 & 20.7. 1 Pet. 1.11. holineſſe, bym1 Tim. 4.8. godlineſſe: for theſe two are in ſubſtance one and the ſame. So that there isnforeign. Menand. no compaſſing of Contentment or Happineſſe without God, and there is no way unto God but by Godlineſſe. ForoNutat omne conſilium, nec implere nos ulla ſoelicitas poteſt, donec pervenerimus ad bonum illud immenſum & inſuperabile, ubi neceſſe eſt reſiſtat voluntas noſtra, quia ultra ſummum non eſt locus. Sen. epiſt. 74. God alone being the chiefeſt good, and the chiefeſt good each ones utmost aime; our deſires cannot be ſtayed till we come home unto him, beyond whom wee cannot poſſibly go. Hee being onlypGen. 17.1. Nec niſi beatitudine animae indigentia expletur: nec eidem explendae, niſi Deus, ſufficit. Aug. de civ. l. 12. c. 1. All-ſufficient; (and there can be no Contentment where any want is, nor freedome from want where Sufficiencie is not;) we can have no true Contentment, till we have once gained Him; we can have no full Contentment, till we come wholly to enjoy Him, that he may beq1 Cor. 15.28. all in all unto us. And this beingrNeceſſe eſt ut homo inde beatus fit, unde fit bonus. Aug. ep. 121. by Holineſſe, by Godlineſſe only effected, it muſt needs follow, that the holier men are, the happier they are; and the more Godly they are, the more true and ſound Contentment they are ſure of.ſApoc. 20.6. Pſal 119.1. Matth. 5.8. Wee ſhall never be truly Happy, till we be ſincerely Holy, nor fully Happy, till we be perfectly Holy. We ſhall never attaine true Contentment till wee be truly Religious, nor full Contentment till wee be conſummate in Godlineſſe. The conſideration whereof ſhould encite all, that deſire Happineſſe and Contentment, (andtVitam beatam omnem hominem mod…s omnibus velle quis dubitat? Aug. de lib. arb. lib. 1. c. 14. Beatitudinem nemo eſt qui non expetat. quis enim vel poteſt, vel potuit, vel poterit inveniri, qui eſſe nolit beatus? Aug. in Pſal. 118. conc. 1. who is he, be he never ſo brutiſh, that doth not?) to bend their maine ſtudy and endevour this way, for the compaſſing of this Grace and profiting in it; as the only meanes availeable to bring them to that end;uOmnes beatitudinem concupiſcunt: ſed quomodò ad eam perveniatur, plurimi neſciunt. Idem ibid. which, howſoever they may wander from, miſtaking the way, their whole deſire is to attaine unto. To provoke all ſorts hereunto, is the maine project propounded in this preſent diſcourſe. Which (what ever it be; and I wiſh it were much better;) I humbly preſent to your Ladiſhip, deſiring that it may helpe to ſupply ſome part of that duty and ſervice, which partly mine owne infirmitie and imbecillitie of body, and partly alſo other neceſſarie and unavoidable imployments, will not ſuffer me to performe anſwerably to mine owne deſire, and mine Honourable Lords and your Ladiſhips deſert. And ſo wiſhing againe and againe unto your Ladiſhip, (for what other, or what better thing can I wiſh?) that which the worke it ſelfe importeth, true Contentment from God in this life, and full Contentment with God after this life; I take my leave for the preſent, but ceaſe not to continue
Your Ladiſhips ever to be commanded in the Lord, THOMAS GATAKER.