Quote 3175
If the children of God have their little taken from them, they can make up all their wants in God Himself… If anything is cut off from the stream (a godly man) knows how to go to the fountain, and makes up all there. God is his all in all.
Jeremiah Burroughs
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment ExcerptsOther Quotes from the Author & Topic
But where contentment of heart springs from grace, the heart is very quick and lively in the service of God. Yea, the more any gracious heart can bring itself to be in a contented disposition, the more fit it is for any service of God. And just as a contented heart is very active and busy in the work of God, so he is very active and busy in sanctifying God's name in the affliction that befalls himThe Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
Contentment is not merely one act, just a flash in a good mood. You find many men and women who, if they are in a good mood, will be very quiet. But this will not hold. It is not a constant course. It is not the constant tenor of their spirits to be holy and gracious under affliction. Now I say that contentment is a quiet frame of spirit and by that I mean that you should find men and women in a good mood not only at this or that time, but as the constant tenor and temper of their hearts. A Christian who, in the constant tenor and temper of his heart, can carry himself quietly with constancy has learned this lesson of contentment. Otherwise his Christianity is worth nothing, for no one, however furious in his discontent, will not be quiet when he is in a good mood.The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
To be content as a result of some external thing is like warming a man's clothes by the fire. But to be content through an inward disposition of the soul is like the warmth that a man's clothes have from the natural heat of the body. A man who is healthy in body puts on his clothes, and perhaps at first on a cold morning they feel cold. But after he has had them on a little while they are warm. Now, how did they get warm? They were not near the fire? No, this came from the natural heat of his body. Now when a sickly man, the natural heat of whose body has deteriorated, puts on his clothes, they do not get hot after a long time. He must warm them by the fire, and even then they will soon be cold again. The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
Let me explain myself. Someone is disturbed, suppose it to be a child or a man or a woman. If you come and bring some great thing to please them, perhaps it will quiet them and they will be contented. It is the thing you bring that quiets them, not the disposition of their own spirits, not any good temper in their own hearts, but the external thing you bring them. But when a Christian is content in the right way, the quiet comes more from the temper and disposition of his own heart than from any external argument or from the possession of anything in the world. The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
Though a Christian ought to be quiet under God's correcting hand, he may without any breach of Christian contentment complain to God. As one of the ancients says, Though not with a tumultuous clamor and shrieking out in a
confused passion, yet in a quiet, still, submissive way he may unbosom his heart to God. Likewise he may communicate his sad condition to his Christian friends, showing them how God has dealt with him, and how heavy the affliction is upon him, that they may speak a word in season to his weary soul.
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
A shoe may be smooth and neat outside, while inside it pinches the flesh. Outwardly there may be great calmness and stillness, yet within amazing confusion, bitterness, disturbance and vexation.
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
Since God is contented with Himself alone, if you have Him, you may be contented with Him alone, and it may be, that is the reason why your outward comforts are taken from you, that God may be all in all to you. It may be that while you had these things they shared with God in your affection, a great part of the stream of your affection ran that way: God would have the full stream run to Him now.The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment Excerpts
A contented man, just as he is the most contented, so he is the most unsatisfied man in the world. You will say, 'How is that?' A man who has learned the art of contentment is the most contented with any low condition that he has in the world, and yet he cannot be satisfied with the enjoyment of all the world… though his heart is so enlarged that the enjoyment of all the world and ten thousand worlds cannot satisfy him for his portion; yet he has a heart quieted under God's disposal.The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment Excerpts
A Christian may lack the comforts that others have—the land, and possessions; but God has instilled into his heart that contentment which is far better: in this sense that saying of our Savior is true, "he shall receive a hundred fold." (Mat. 19:29) Perhaps he who ventured all for Christ, never has his house or land again: yes—but God gives him a contented spirit, and this breeds such joy in the soul, as is infinitely sweeter than all his houses and lands which he left for Christ.https://gracegems.org/Watson/art_of_divine_contentment2.htm
A contented Christian carries heaven with him. For, what is heaven—but that sweet repose and full contentment that the soul shall have in God. In contentment there are the first-fruits of heaven.https://gracegems.org/Watson/art_of_divine_contentment2.htm
Contentment is a flower which does not grow in every garden. You would think it were excellent if I could prescribe a remedy or antidote against poverty. Behold, here is that which is more excellent, for a man to be poor—and yet have enough! Contentment teaches a man how to abound—in the midst of poverty. Contentment is a remedy against all our trouble, an alleviation to all our burdens, the cure of to every worry. Contentment, though it be not properly a grace (it is rather a disposition of mind,) yet in it there is a happy mixture of all the graces: it is a most precious compound, which is made up of faith, patience, meekness, humility, etc. which are the ingredients put into ithttps://gracegems.org/Watson/art_of_divine_contentment2.htm
If God be our God, let us learn to be contented, though we have the less of other things. Contentment is a rare jewel, it is the cure of care. If we have God to be our God, well may we be contented.The Ten Commandments, 21
It is not enough for Christians to have knowledge and to be able to speak of the gospel, and have some striving of affection, but they must look to how they live.Gospel Conversation, Pg. 3
Top Authors
1. Charles Spurgeon (113)
2. J.C. Ryle (111)
3. Thomas Watson (107)
4. John Piper (82)
5. John Calvin (82)
6. J.I. Packer (75)
7. George Swinnock (69)
8. Louis Berkhof (62)
9. A.W. Pink (60)
10. C.S. Lewis (51)
11. Francis Schaeffer (47)
12. Gerald Bray (46)
13. B.B. Warfield (45)
14. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (43)
15. John Owen (43)
16. Tim Keller (42)
17. Joe Boot (42)
18. Abraham Kuyper (40)
19. John Flavel (38)
20. Thomas Brooks (36)
2. J.C. Ryle (111)
3. Thomas Watson (107)
4. John Piper (82)
5. John Calvin (82)
6. J.I. Packer (75)
7. George Swinnock (69)
8. Louis Berkhof (62)
9. A.W. Pink (60)
10. C.S. Lewis (51)
11. Francis Schaeffer (47)
12. Gerald Bray (46)
13. B.B. Warfield (45)
14. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (43)
15. John Owen (43)
16. Tim Keller (42)
17. Joe Boot (42)
18. Abraham Kuyper (40)
19. John Flavel (38)
20. Thomas Brooks (36)
Top Topics
1. Sin (158)2. Prayer (117)
3. Preaching (103)
4. Scripture (99)
5. Faith (92)
6. Gospel (76)
7. Suffering (62)
8. Law (57)
9. Church (56)
10. Justification (49)
11. Truth (45)
12. Salvation (39)
13. Love (36)
14. Theology (35)
15. Grace (34)
16. Sanctification (31)
17. Apologetics (30)
18. Fear (30)
19. Holiness (30)
20. Unbelief (29)
21. Creation (27)
22. Marriage (27)
23. Pride (27)
24. Worship (27)
25. Eternity (26)
26. Government (26)