Sermon 4

Philippians 4:11. For I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

In the last Exercise we spoke of diverse things in the Mystery of Contentment, and in the close we spoke of two more, but we could not have time to open either of them. I shall open them a little more largely, and then proceed to some few more, and so to other things in the point.

That is the next then; a Christian heart has not only Contentment in God (and certainly, he who has God must have all; he who has Him who hath all, he has all), but he is able to make up all his outward wants of creature-comforts from what he finds in himself: That may seem to be more strange. It is true, perhaps we may convince men though they do not feel by experience what it is to make up all in God, yet we may convince them that if they have Him that hath all things, then they have all; for there is such a fullness in God, He being the infinite first-being of all things that may make up all their wants. But here is another thing that is further. I say a godly man can make up whatsoever he wants without the creature; he can make it up in himself, in the 14th of Proverbs, verse 14: A good man is satisfied in himself. As now, if he wants outward comforts, good cheer, feasting, a good conscience is a continual feast; he can make up the want of a feast by that peace he has in his own conscience. If he wants melody abroad, he has a bird within him that sings the most melodious songs that are in the world, and the most delightful. And then does he want honor? He has his own conscience witnessing for him, that is as a thousand witnesses; the Scripture says in the 17th of Luke, verse 21: Neither shall they say, Lo here, or lo there, for behold the Kingdom of God is within you. A Christian then, whatsoever he wants, he can make it up, for he has a Kingdom in himself; the Kingdom of God is within him. If one that is a King should meet with a great deal of trouble when he is abroad, yet he contents himself with this: I have a Kingdom of mine own. Now here it is said the Kingdom of God is within a man. Truly, upon this Scripture of the Kingdom of God being within, those that are learned, if they would but look into that comment upon the Gospel that we have of a learned man, they shall find a very strange conceit that he has about this very text. He confesses indeed it is unutterable, and so indeed it is. The Kingdom of God is within you; he makes it that there is such a presence of God and Christ within the soul of a man, that when the body dies, he says that the soul goes into God and Christ that is within him. The soul's going into God and Christ, and enjoying of that Communion with God and Christ that is within itself, that is Heaven to it (says he); he confesses he is not able to express himself, nor others cannot understand fully what he intends. But certainly for the present before death, there is a Kingdom of God within the soul, such a manifestation of God in the soul that is enough to content the heart of any godly man in the world. The Kingdom that he has now within him, he shall not stay till afterwards, till he goes to Heaven, but certainly there is a Heaven in the soul of a godly man; he has Heaven already. Many times when you go to comfort your friends in their afflictions, you will say Heaven will pay for all; nay, you may certainly find Heaven pays for all already. There is a Heaven within the souls of the Saints, that is a certain truth; no soul shall ever come to Heaven, but that soul that has Heaven come to it first. When you die you hope you shall go to Heaven. But if you shall go to Heaven when you die, Heaven will come to you before you die. Now this is a great Mystery to have the Kingdom of Heaven in the soul; no man can know this but that soul that has it. That Heaven which is within the soul for the present (I say) it is like the white stone and the new name, that none but those that have it can understand it. It is a miserable condition my brethren to depend upon creatures altogether for our Contentment. You know that rich men account it a great happiness, if they need not go to buy things by the penny as others do; they have all things for pleasure or profit upon their own ground, and all their inheritance lies entire together; they have nobody comes within them, but they have all within themselves; there lies their happiness. Whereas other poorer people are fain to go from one market to another to provide them necessities, but yet great rich men they have sheep and cattle, corn and clothing, and all things else of their own within themselves, and herein they place their happiness. But this is the happiness of a Christian, that he has that within himself that may satisfy him more than all these. That place that we have in the first of James seems to allude to that condition of men that have all their estates within themselves, James 1:4: But let patience have her perfect work that we may be perfect, and entire, wanting nothing. The word there used signifies to have the whole inheritance to ourselves, not a broken inheritance, but that where all lies within themselves; as a man that has not a piece of his estate here, and a piece there, but he has it all lie together. And the heart being patient under afflictions finds itself to be in such an estate as this is, finds his whole inheritance to be together, and all entire within itself. And now still to show this by further similitudes, it is with him being filled with good things, just like as it is with many a man that enjoys abundance of comforts at home, at his own house. God grants to him a convenient habitation, a comfortable yokefellow, and fine walks and gardens, and has all things at home that he could desire. Now this man cares not much for going abroad; other men are fain to go abroad to take the air, but he has a sweet air at home, and they are fain to go abroad to see friends, because they have railings and contendings at home. Many ill husbands will give this reason (if his wife make any moan, and complaint of his ill husbandry) of their bad husbandry, and will make that their excuse to go abroad, because they can never be quiet at home. Now we account those men most happy that have all at home. Those that have close houses that are unsavory, and smell ill, they delight to go into the fresh air. Ay, but it is not so with many others that have these at home; those that have no good cheer at home, they are fain to go abroad to friends, but those that have their tables furnished, they had as lief stay at home. So a carnal man he has but little Contentment in his own spirit. It is Austin's similitude (says he): an ill conscience is like a scolding wife; a man (says he) that has an ill conscience he cares not to look into his own soul, but loves to be abroad, and look into other things, but never looks to himself. But one that has a good conscience he delights in looking into his own heart; he has a good conscience within him. And so a carnal heart, because there is nothing but filthiness, a filthy stink in himself, nothing but vileness and baseness within him; upon this it is that he seeks his Contentment elsewhere. And as it is with a vessel that is full of liquor, if you strike upon it it will make no great noise, but if it be empty then it makes a great noise. So it is with the heart; a heart that is full of grace and goodness within, such a one will bear a great many strokes, and never make any noise. But an empty heart if that be struck that will make a noise; those men and women that are so much complaining, and always whining, it is a sign that there is an emptiness in their hearts. But if their hearts were filled with grace they would not make such a noise as now they do. As a man that has his bones filled with marrow, and veins filled with good blood, he complains not of cold as others do. So a gracious heart having the Spirit of God within him, and his heart filled with Grace, he has that within him that makes him find Contentment. It is a speech of Seneca: Indeed those things that I suffer will be incredibly heavy when I cannot bear myself; but now if I be no burden to myself, if I have all quiet within mine own heart, then I can bear anything. Many men through their wickedness they have burdens without, but the greatest burden is the wickedness of their own hearts; they are not burdened with their sins in a godly way, that would ease their burden, but they have still their wickedness in the power of it, and so they are burdens to themselves. The distempers of men's hearts are mighty burdens to them. Many times a godly man has enough within to content him; virtue it is content with itself, for to live well (it is a speech of Cicero, and it is in one of his Paradoxes); it finds enough within its own sphere for the living happily. But how few are acquainted with this Mystery? Many think, O if I had that that another man has, how happily and comfortably should I live. Oh but if you be a Christian, whatsoever your condition be, yet you have enough within yourself. You will say such and such men that have all things they need not be beholden to anybody; you shall have many that will labor and take pains when they are young, that they might not be beholden to others: I love to live of myself. Now a Christian may do so; not that he does not live upon God (I mean not so) but upon that that he has of God within himself, that he can live upon, although he does not enjoy the comforts that are without himself, that is it which I mean. And those that are godly and keep close to God in their Communion with Him, they understand what I mean by this, that a Christian has supply of all his wants within himself. And here you may see that the spirit of a Christian is a precious spirit, a godly spirit is precious; why? Because it has enough to make him happy within himself.

The next thing that the Mystery of Contentment consists in is this: That a gracious heart fetches supply of all from the Covenant and so comes to have Contentment; which is a dry thing to a carnal spirit. Now there are two things here.

First, he fetches Contentment from the Covenant in general, that is from the great Covenant that God hath made with him in Christ.

Secondly, from the particular promises that God hath made with him in the Covenant.

First, from the Covenant in general. I'll give you one Scripture for that, it is very remarkable, in the second of Sam. 23 verse 5. Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. It is a most admirable Scripture of David, that yet had not the Covenant of Grace opened so fully as we have. But yet mark what David says, Although I find not my house so, that is, so comfortably every way as I would, although it be not so, what has he to content his spirit? Says he, He hath made with me an everlasting Covenant; this is that that helps all: I am not (may some men say) thus and thus with God, I do not find God come in so fully, or it is not with my house and family as I hoped it might be, perhaps there is this or that affliction upon my house; suppose you should have the plague come into your house, and your house is not safe, and you have not that outward comfort in your house as formerly you had, but can you read this Scripture, and say, Although my house be not so blessed with health as other men's houses are; although my house be not so, yet He hath made with me an everlasting Covenant, I am one yet in Covenant with God, the Lord hath made with me an everlasting Covenant: as for these things in this world, I see they are but momentary, they are not everlasting, I see in a family when all was well but a week ago, now all is down, and the plague has swept away a great many of them, and the rest are left in sadness and mourning: we see there is no resting in the things of this world, yet the Lord hath made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things: I find disorder in my heart, in my family; but the everlasting Covenant, that is ordered in all things; yea, and that is sure: alack, there is no sureness here in these things, I can be sure of nothing here, especially in these times, we know that a man can be sure of little that he has, who can be sure of his estate? Perhaps some of you here that have lived well and comfortably before, and all was well about you, and you thought your mountain was strong, but you see within a day or two all taken away from you, so that there is no sureness in the things of this world: But says he the Covenant is sure, what I venture to Sea that is not sure, but here is an assurance Office indeed, here is a great assurance Office for the Saints, and they are not at charge, but only the exercising of Grace, for they may go to this Assurance Office to assure every thing that they venture, either to have the thing itself, or be paid for it: In an assurance Office you cannot be assured to have the very goods come in that you insured, but if they be lost the Insurers do engage themselves to make it good to you. And this Covenant of grace that God hath made with His people, it is God's Assurance Office, and the Saints in all their fears may and ought to go to the Covenant to assure all things to them, to assure their estates and assure their lives. You will say, how are they sure, their lives and estates go as well as others? But God engages Himself to make up all: And then mark what follows, This is all my Salvation, Why David will you not have salvation from your enemies and outward dangers, from pestilence and plague? The frame of his spirit is quieted, as if he should say, if that Salvation comes, well and good, I shall praise God for it, but that that I have in the Covenant, that is my salvation, I look upon that as enough: Yea and then further, This is all my salvation, and all my desire, Why David is there not something else that you would have besides this Covenant? No says he, it is all involved in this. Now surely those men or women must needs live contented lives that have all their desires; now says the holy man here, this is all my desire, And though he make it not to grow. But for all this Covenant perhaps you will not prosper in the world as other men do, true, but I am at a point for that: Though God does not make my house to grow, I have all my desires.

Thus you see how a godly heart finds contentment in the Covenant, many of you speak of the Covenant of God, and of the Covenant of grace, but have you found it so effectual to your souls? Have you sucked this sweetness from the Covenant and content to your hearts in your sad conditions? It is a special sign of the truth of grace in any soul, that when any affliction does befall him, in a kind of natural way he does presently repair to the Covenant; just as a Child as soon as ever it is in danger, you shall not need to tell him and say, when you are in danger you must go to your father or mother, nature tells him so: so it is with a gracious heart, as soon as it is in any trouble or affliction there is a new nature that does carry him to the Covenant presently, and there it finds ease and rest: and if you find that your hearts do thus work, presently to be running to the Covenant, it is an excellent sign of the truth of grace: that is for the general.

But now for particular promises in the Covenant of grace. A gracious heart looks upon every promise as coming from the Root of the great Covenant of grace in Christ. Other men look upon some particular promises, that God will help them in straits, and keep them and the like; but they look not upon the connection of such particular promises, to the root, the Covenant of grace: Now Christians do miss of a great deal of comfort they might have, from the particular promises in the Gospel, if they would look upon their connection to the root, the great Covenant that God hath made with them in Christ. Now I remember I spoke a little about that, that in outward promises in the time of the Law, they might rest more upon them than we can in the time of the Gospel. I gave you the reason why we that live in the time of the Gospel cannot rest so fully, for a literal performance of outward promises that we meet withal in the Old Testament, as they might in the time of the Law: for there was a special Covenant, that God pleased to call a New Covenant by way of distinction from the other Covenant that is made with us in Christ for eternal life: And so even the Law was given to them in a more peculiar way for an external Covenant of outward blessings in the land of Canaan; and so God did deal with them in a more external covenant than He does now with His people. Yet godliness, has the promise of this life, and that which is to come. We may make use of the promises for this life, but yet not so much to rest upon the literal performance of them as they might; but that God will make them good some way or other, in a spiritual way, if not in an outward way. We must lay no more upon outward promises than this, and therefore if we will lay more, we make the promise to bear more than it will bear out. For to give some instance; to believe fully and confidently, that the Plague shall not come nigh such a house (I say) it is to lay more upon such a promise than it will bear. I opened that promise in Psalm 91. now if I had lived in the time of the Law, perhaps I might have been somewhat more confident of the literal performance of the promise, than I can now in the time of the Gospel; the promise now bears no more than this, that God has a special protection over His people, and that He will deliver them from the evil of such an affliction; and if He does bring such an affliction it is more than an ordinary providence, it is some special providence that God has in it. I had thought to have given you diverse promises for the contentment of the heart in the time of affliction. Isaiah 43.2. When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not over-flow thee; when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Certainly though this promise was made in the time of the law, yet it will be made good to all the Saints now, one way or other, either in the letter or some other ways. For so we find it plainly, that promise that was made to Joshua, I will not fail thee nor forsake thee, Joshua 1.5. It is applied to the Christians in the time of the Gospel. So that here is the way of faith in bringing Contentment by the promises, that all the promises that ever were made to our forefathers, from the beginning of the world, the Saints of God have an interest in them, they are their inheritances, and so goes on from one generation to another, and by that they come to have Contentment, because they do inherit all the promises made in all the book of God, So Hebrews 13.5. shows plainly, that it is our inheritance, and we do not inherit less now than they did in Joshua's time, but we inherit more; for you shall find in that place of the Hebrews there is more said than is to Joshua; to Joshua God says, He will not leave him nor forsake him; now in that place in the Hebrews in the Greek there are five negatives, I will not, not, not, not, not again, there is the elegancy of it very much, in the Greek (I say) there are five negatives in that little sentence; as if God should say, I will not leave you, no I will not, I will not, I will not, with such earnestness five times together: So that we have not only the same promises that they had, but we have them more enlarged and more full, though still not so much in the literal sense, for that indeed is the least part of the promise, In Isaiah 54.17. there God made a promise, That no weapon formed against his people should prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against them in judgment thou shalt condemn, (and mark what follows) This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me saith the Lord: this is a good promise for a soldier, though still not to lay too much upon the literal sense: True, it holds forth thus much, that God's protection is in a special manner over soldiers that are godly, And every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn: and this is against false witness too: Oh you, that your friends never left you any thing, you will say, my friends died and left not me a groat, but I thank God, God hath provided for me; But though your father or mother died and left you no heritage, yet you have a heritage in the promise, This is their heritage. So that there is no godly man or woman, but is a great heir. Therefore when you look into the Book of God and find any promise there, you may make that your own. Just as an heir that rides over diverse fields and meadows, says he, this meadow is my heritage, and this corn-field is my heritage; and then he sees a fair house, and says he, this fair house is my heritage; and he looks upon them with another manner of eye than a stranger that shall ride over those fields. So a carnal heart reads the promises, and reads them but merely as stories, not that they have any great interest in them: But a godly man every time he reads the Scriptures (remember this note when you are reading the Scripture) and there meets with a promise, he ought to lay his hand upon it and say, this is a part of my heritage, it is mine, and I am to live upon it, and this will make you to be Contented. Here is a mysterious way of Contentment, So in Psalm 34.10. and 37.6. there are diverse other promises that brings Contentment. In Isaiah 58.10. And thus much for the Mystery of Contentment by way of the Covenant.

There are two or three things more that show how a godly man has Contentment after another kind of way than any Carnal heart in the world has; it is a mysterious way, as thus.

He has Contentment by realizing the glorious things of heaven to him, he has the Kingdom of heaven as present, and the glory that is to come, by faith he makes it as present. So the Martyrs they had Contentment in their sufferings, for said some of them, though we have but a hard breakfast, yet we shall have a good dinner, we shall presently be in heaven; do but shut your eyes (says one) and you shall be in heaven presently. 2 Corinthians 4:16. We faint not (says the Apostle) Why? Because these light afflictions that are but for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. They see heaven before them and that contents them. You Mariners when you can see the haven before you, though you were mightily troubled before you could see any land, yet when you come near the shore and can see such a landmark, that contents you exceedingly: a godly man in the midst of the waves and storms that he meets withal, he can see the glory of heaven before him and so contents himself; one drop of the sweetness of heaven is enough to take away all the sour and bitter of all the afflictions in the world. Indeed here we know that one drop of sour, or one drop of gall will make bitter a great deal of honey, put a spoonful of sugar into a cup of gall or wormwood, that will not sweeten it, but if you put a spoonful of gall into a cup of sugar it will embitter that. Now it is otherwise in heaven, one drop of sweet will sweeten a great deal of sour affliction, but a great deal of sour and gall will not embitter a soul that sees the glory of heaven that is to come. Now a Carnal heart has no Contentment but from what he sees before him in this world but a godly heart has Contentment from that that he sees laid up for him in the highest heavens.

The last thing that I would name is this, A godly man has Contentment by opening and letting out of his heart to God, other men or women they are discontented, but how do they help themselves? By railing, by ill language, such a one crosses them, and they have no way to help themselves but by railing and by bitter words, and so they ease themselves that way when they are angry, but a godly man when he is crossed, how does he ease himself? He is sensible of his cross as well as you, and he goes to God in prayer, and there opens his heart to God, and lets out his sorrows and fears, and then can come away with a joyful countenance; now do you find that you can come away from prayer and not look sad? As it is said (in 1 Samuel 1:18) of Hannah, that when she had been at prayer her countenance was no more sad, there she was comforted; and this is the right way of Contentment. Thus we have done with the Mystery of Contentment. Now if you can but put these things together that we have spoken of, you may see fully what an Art Christian Contentment is; Paul had need learn it; you see Contentment is not such a poor business as many make it, to say, you must be content etc. But it is a great art and mystery of godliness to be contented in the way of a Christian, and it will appear yet further to be a mystery, when we come to the Third Head; and that is to show what those lessons are that a gracious heart does learn when it learns to be contented. I have learned to be Contented; Learned, what lessons have you learned? As now a Scholar that has great learning and understanding in Arts and Sciences, how did he begin it? He began (as we use to say) his A B C, and then afterwards he came to his Testament, and Bible, and Accidence, and so to his Grammar, and afterwards to his other books; so he learned one thing after another: So a Christian coming to Contentment is as a Scholar in Christ's School, and there are diverse lessons to teach the soul to bring it to this learning: every godly man or woman is a scholar, it cannot be said of any Christian that he is illiterate, but he is literate, a learned man, a learned woman: now the lessons that Christ teaches, to bring us to Contentment, are these:

The First great Lesson is, The lesson of Self-denial: and though it be a great lesson and hard; as you know a child at first cries, It is hard. It is that that I remember Bradford the Martyr says, Whosoever has not learned the lesson of the Cross, has not learned his A B C in Christianity. Here Christ begins with his Scholars, yea those in the lowest form must begin with this; if you mean to be Christian at all, you must buckle to this or you can never be Christians: There is none can be a Scholar except he does learn his A B C: so you must learn the lesson of self-denial or you can never come to be a Scholar in Christ's School, to be learned in this mystery of Contentment. That is the first lesson that Christ teaches any soul: Oh self-denial that brings Contentment, that brings down and softens a man's heart; a thing (you know) that is soft if you strike upon it it makes no noise, but if you strike upon a hard thing it makes a noise; so the hearts of men that are full of themselves, and hardened with self-love, if they have any stroke they make a noise, but a self-denying Christian yields to God's hand, and makes no noise; as when you strike upon a woolsack it makes no noise because it yields to the stroke; So a self-denying heart yields to the stroke and thereby comes to this Contentment. Now in this lesson of self-denial there are diverse things, I will not enter into the Doctrine of self-denial, but only show you how Christ teaches self-denial, and how that brings Contentment.

First, Such a one learns to know that he is nothing, he comes to this, to be able to say, Well, I see I am nothing in myself, now that man or woman which indeed knows that he or she is nothing, and has learned it thoroughly will be able to bear anything: The way to be able to bear anything, it is to know ourselves to be nothing in ourselves. Says God to us, Will you set your heart upon that which is nothing? Proverbs 23:5. speaking of riches; Why blessed God dost thou not do so? Thou hast set thy heart upon us and yet we are nothing. God would not have us set our hearts upon riches because they are nothing, and yet God is pleased to set his heart upon us, and yet we are nothing, that is God's grace, free grace, and therefore it is no great matter what I suffer for I am as nothing.

Secondly, I deserve nothing. I am nothing, and I deserve nothing: suppose I have not this and that that others have, I am sure I deserve nothing except it be Hell: you will answer any of your servants so that is not content, I marvel what you deserve? Or your children, Do you deserve it that you are so eager upon it? You think to stop their mouths thus; so we may easily stop our own mouths, we deserve nothing, and therefore why should we be impatient if we have not what we desire, if we had deserved anything, we might have some trouble of spirit, as a man that has deserved well of the State, or of his friends and he finds not an answerable encouragement, it troubles him mightily, but if he be conscious to himself that he has deserved nothing he is content with a repulse.

Thirdly, I can do nothing. Without me you can do nothing, says Christ John 15:5. Why should I stand much upon it to be troubled and discontented if I have not this and that, when the truth is I can do nothing? If you should come to one that is angry because he has not such diet as he desires, and is discontented with it, you will answer him, I marvel what you do, what use you are of? Shall one that will sit still and be of no use, yet for all that he must have all the supply that possibly he can desire? Do but consider of what use you are in the world; if you consider what little need God has of you, and what little use you are of, you will not be much discontented: If you have learned this lesson of self-denial though God does cut you short of such and such comforts, yet since that I do but little why should I have much, this very thought will bring down a man's spirit as much as anything, That is the Third.

Fourthly, So vile I am that I can receive no good neither of myself, I am not only an empty vessel, but a corrupt and unclean vessel that would spoil anything that comes into it: so are all our hearts, every one of our hearts is not only empty of good, but are like a musty vessel that if any good liquor be poured into it it spoils it, And that is the Fourth thing.

Fifthly, If God does cleanse us in some measure, and does put into us some good liquor some grace of his Spirit: yet in the fifth place, We can make use of nothing neither when we have it, if God does but withdraw himself; If God does but leave us one moment after he has bestowed upon us the greatest gifts, and whatsoever abilities we can desire, if God should say, I will give you them, now go and trade now I have given you these and these abilities, we cannot stir one foot further neither if God does but leave us. Does God give us gifts and parts? Then let us fear and tremble lest God should leave us to ourselves, for then how foully should we abuse those gifts and parts, you think other men and women have memory and gifts and parts and you would fain have them, But suppose God should give you these and there leave you, you would utterly spoil them.

Sixthly, We are worse than nothing. For by sin we come to be a great deal worse than nothing; sin makes us more vile than nothing, sin makes us contrary to all good: now it is a great deal worse to have a contrariety to all that is good, than merely to have an emptiness of all that is good, we are not empty pitchers in respect of good, but we are like pitchers filled with poison, and is it much for such as we are to be cut short of outward comforts?

In the Seventh place, If we perish there will be no loss of us. If God should annihilate me what loss would there be of me? God can raise up another in my place, to do him other manner of service than I have done. Now put but these Seven things together and then hath Christ taught you Self-denial: I may call these the several words in our lesson of Self-denial; Christ teaches the soul this, so that as in the presence of God upon a real sight of itself it can say, Lord I am nothing, Lord I deserve nothing, Lord I can do nothing, I can receive nothing, I can make use of nothing, I am worse than nothing, and if I come to nothing and perish, there will be no loss at all of me, and therefore what great matter is it for me to be cut short here? A man that is little in his own eyes, such a man or woman will account every affliction to be little, and every mercy to be great: Saul, There was a time (the Scripture saith) that he was little in his own eyes, and then his afflictions were but little to him, when some would not have had him to be King but spoke contemptuously of him he held his peace, but when Saul began to be big in his own eyes, then the affliction began to be great upon him. There was never any such contented man or woman as this self-denying man or woman: There was never any denied himself so much as Jesus Christ did, he gave his cheeks to the smiters, he opened not his mouth, he was as a lamb when he was led to the slaughter, he made no noise in the street, Oh he denied himself above all, and was willing to empty himself, and so he was the most contented that ever any was in the world, and the nearer we come to learn to deny ourselves as Christ did, the more contented shall we be, and by knowing much of our own vileness, we come to learn to justify God, whatever the Lord shall lay upon us, yet, righteous is the Lord, for he hath to deal with a most wretched creature. A discontented heart he is troubled because he hath no more comfort; but one that is a self-denying man he rather wonders that he hath so much as he hath: Oh saith one, I have but a little; Ay but saith he that hath learned this lesson of Self-denial, I rather wonder that God bestows upon me the liberty of breathing in the air, knowing how vile I am, and knowing how much sin the Lord doth see in me: And that's the way of Contentment, by learning Self-denial.

Eighthly, There is a further thing in self-denial which brings Contentment, Because thereby the Soul comes to rejoice and take satisfaction in all Gods ways, (I beseech you observe this) If a man be selfish and have Self-love prevail in his heart, those things that suits with his own ends he will be glad of them, but a godly man that hath denied himself he will suit with and be glad of all things that shall suit with Gods ends: Saith a gracious heart, Gods ends are my ends, and I have denied mine own ends, and so he comes to find Contentment in all Gods ends and ways, and his comforts are multiplied, whereas the comforts of other men are single, it's but very rare that Gods ways shall suit with a mans particular end, but always Gods ways suit with his own ends; Now if you will only have contentment when Gods ways suits with your own ends, you can have it but now and then, but a Self-denying man denies his own ends and only looks at the ends of God and therein is contented: When a man is selfish he cannot but have a great deal of trouble and vexation, for if I regard myself, my ends are so narrow that I shall have a hundred things will come and jostle me, and I cannot have room in those narrow ends of mine own; As you know in the City what a deal of stir there is in narrow streets, as Thames street being so narrow they jostle and wrangle and fight one with another because the place is so narrow, but now in the broad streets there they can go quietly; So men that are selfish they meet and so jostle one with another, one man is for self in one thing, and another man is for self in another thing, and so they make a great deal of stir, but those whose hearts are enlarged, and make public things their ends, and can deny themselves, they can walk at breadth and never jostle one with another so as the other do. The lesson of Self-denial is the first lesson that Jesus Christ doth learn men in the seeking of Contentment.

The Second lesson is, The vanity of the Creature. That's the Second lesson in Christs School that he teaches those that he would make Scholars in this Art: The vanity of the Creature, That whatsoever there is in the Creature hath an emptiness in it, Vanity of vanities all is vanity, that's the lesson that the Wise-man learned, that the Creature in itself can do us neither good nor hurt, but it is all but as wind, there is nothing in the Creature that is suitable to a gracious heart to feed upon for the good and happiness of it. My brethren the reason why you have not Contentment in the things of the world, it is not because you have not enough of them, that's not the reason, but the reason is because they are not things proportionable to that immortal soul of yours that are capable of God himself; Many men think when they are troubled and have not Contentment that it is because they have but a little in the world, and if they had more then they should be content. That were just thus, suppose a man is hungry, and so satisfy his craving stomach he should gape and hold open his mouth to take in the wind, and then should think the reason why he is not satisfied is, because he hath not enough of the wind; no, the reason is because the thing is not suitable to a craving stomach, truly there is the same madness in the world; The wind that a man takes in by gaping will as soon satisfy a craving stomach which is ready to famish, as all the comforts in the world can satisfy a soul that knows what true happiness means. You would be happy, and you seek after such and such comforts in the Creature; well, have you got them, do you find your hearts satisfied as having that happiness that is suitable to you? No, no it is not here, but you think it is because you want such and such things: O poor deluded man, it is not because you have not enough of it, but because it is not the thing that is proportionable to that immortal soul that God hath given you. Why do you lay out your money for that which is not bread, (Isaiah 55:2.) And your labor for that which satisfies not? You are mad people, you seek to satisfy your stomachs with that that is not bread, you follow the wind, you will never have Contentment, all creatures in the world say, Contentment is not in us, riches saith Contentment is not in me, pleasure saith Contentment is not in me, if you look for Contentment in the creature you will fail; No, Contentment is higher: When you come into the School of Christ, Christ teaches you that there is a vanity in all things in the world, and the soul that by coming into the School of Christ, by understanding the glorious mysteries of the Gospel comes to see the vanity of all things in the world, that's the soul that comes to true Contentment. I could tell you of abundance of sentences from Heathens that shows the vanity all things in the world, and yet they did not learn the vanity of the Creature in the right School. But now when a Soul comes into the School of Jesus Christ, and there comes to see a vanity in all things in the world, then such a soul comes to have Contentment. If you seek Contentment elsewhere, you do like the unclean spirit, seek for rest but find none.

A Third lesson that Christ teaches a Christian when he comes into his School is this, He teaches him to understand what that one thing is that is necessary which he never came to understand before: You know what he said to Martha, O Martha you cumber yourself about many things, but there is one thing necessary. The Soul before sought after this and the other thing, but now saith the Soul I see really that it is not necessary that I should be rich, but it is necessary that I should make up my peace with God, it is not necessary that I should live a pleasurable life in this world, but it is absolutely necessary that I should have pardon of my sin, it is not necessary that I should have honor and preferment, but it is necessary that I should have God to be my portion, and have my part in Jesus Christ, it is necessary that my soul should be saved in the day of Jesus Christ; The other things are pretty fine things indeed, and I should be glad if God would give them me, a fine habitation, and incomings, and clothes, and promotion for my wife and children, these are comfortable things, but these are not the necessary things, I may have these and yet perish for ever, but the other is absolutely necessary; No matter though I be poor so be it I may have that that is absolutely necessary; thus Christ instructs the Soul. There's many of you have had some thoughts about this that it is indeed necessary for you to provide for your Souls, but when you come into Christs School, there Christ causes the fear of eternity to fall upon you, and there he causes such a real sight of the great things of eternity and the absolute necessity of those things, that possesses your hearts with fear, and that takes you off from all other things in the world. Now I should have shown you how that will bring Contentment to the Soul when it comes to be instructed in the thing that is absolutely necessary; but thus much for this time.

Philippians 4:11. For I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content.

In the last session we spoke of various aspects of the mystery of contentment, and toward the end we mentioned two more things that we had no time to open. I will open those more fully now, and then move on to a few more points before turning to other matters.

Here is the next point: a Christian heart has not only contentment in God — and certainly, whoever has God has everything, since he has the One who has all things — but he is also able to make up all his outward lacks of created comforts from what he finds within himself. That may seem even more surprising. We may be able to convince people, even without their feeling it by experience, that if they have the One who has everything, then they have everything — for there is such fullness in God, the infinite source and being of all things, that He can supply all their lacks. But here is something further still. A godly person can make up whatever he lacks without any created thing — he can supply it from within himself. Proverbs 14:14: 'A good man is satisfied from himself.' If he lacks outward comfort and good fellowship, a good conscience is a continual feast — he makes up the lack of a feast by the peace he has in his own conscience. If he lacks music and pleasantness around him, he has a bird within him singing the most melodious and delightful songs in the world. Does he lack honor? He has his own conscience bearing witness for him — worth a thousand witnesses. As Luke 17:21 says: 'The kingdom of God is within you.' Whatever a Christian lacks, he can supply it, for he has a kingdom within himself — the kingdom of God. If a king meets with great trouble when he is abroad, he can comfort himself: 'I have a kingdom of my own.' Here it is said that the kingdom of God is within a person. Learned men who have studied the commentaries on this Gospel text will find a remarkable thought there about this verse. The commentator admits it is beyond expression — and so it is. 'The kingdom of God is within you': he suggests that there is such a presence of God and Christ within the soul that when the body dies, the soul enters into God and Christ who are within it. The soul's entering into God and Christ — and enjoying that communion with God and Christ already present within itself — is heaven to it. He confesses he cannot fully express what he means, nor can others fully understand it. But certainly, before death, there is a kingdom of God within the soul — such a manifestation of God in the soul as is enough to content the heart of any godly person in the world. The kingdom he has within him now — he need not wait for it until he goes to heaven. There is certainly a heaven in the soul of a godly person right now. When you comfort a friend in affliction, you say, 'Heaven will make up for all of this.' But you may say more: heaven is already making up for it. There is a heaven within the souls of the saints — that is a certain truth. No soul will ever enter heaven unless heaven first comes to that soul. When you die you hope to go to heaven — but if you will go to heaven when you die, heaven will come to you before you die. Now this is a great mystery: to have the kingdom of heaven in the soul. No one can know this but the soul that has it. The heaven that is within the soul is like the white stone and the new name in Revelation — none but those who receive it can understand it. My friends, it is a wretched condition to depend entirely on created things for contentment. Rich people count it a great happiness not to have to go and buy things piece by piece as others do. They have everything they need for pleasure and profit on their own land, their whole estate lying together in one place. No one needs to come in to supply them — they have everything within themselves. Poorer people must go from market to market to provide for their needs, but great and wealthy people have sheep, cattle, grain, clothing, and everything they need from their own resources. But this is the happiness of a Christian: he has within himself something that satisfies him more than all of that. That passage in James 1:4 seems to point to the condition of those who have everything within themselves. 'And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.' The word translated 'complete' means to have the whole inheritance to oneself — not a scattered inheritance, but one where everything lies together within. The heart that is patient under affliction finds itself in such an estate: it finds its whole inheritance complete and together, all within itself. To illustrate this further: it is with the contented soul as it is with many a man who enjoys great abundance of comforts at home. God has given him a comfortable home, a good wife, pleasant walks and gardens, and everything at home that he could desire. Such a man does not much want to go out. Other men go out to get fresh air — but he has sweet air at home. They go abroad to see friends because there is quarreling and strife at home. Many bad husbands use this as their excuse for going out constantly, telling their wives they can never find peace at home. But we rightly count those most happy who have everything at home. Those whose houses are close and stale love to go out for fresh air. But those who have good things at home have no such need. Those with nothing good on their table must go to friends for a meal — but those whose tables are furnished are just as happy to stay home. So a worldly person has little contentment in his own spirit. Augustine compared a bad conscience to a nagging wife: a person with a bad conscience cannot stand to look inward — he loves to be out and about, looking at other things, never looking at himself. But the person with a good conscience takes delight in looking into his own heart. So a worldly heart — because there is nothing within but filth and vileness — seeks contentment elsewhere. And as it is with a vessel full of liquid: if you strike it, it makes little sound — but if it is empty, it makes a loud noise. So it is with the heart. A heart full of grace and goodness within can bear many strokes without making noise. But an empty heart — strike it, and it rings loudly. Those who are always complaining and whining — it is a sign there is emptiness in their hearts. If their hearts were filled with grace, they would not make such noise. A person whose bones are filled with marrow and whose veins are filled with good blood does not complain of cold as others do. So a gracious heart, having the Spirit of God within and being filled with grace, has that within which produces contentment. Seneca said: 'The things I suffer will seem incredibly heavy when I cannot bear myself. But if I am no burden to myself — if I have all quiet within my own heart — then I can bear anything.' Many people through their sin carry burdens from without, but the greatest burden is the wickedness of their own hearts. They are not burdened with their sins in a godly way — which would actually ease their burden — but carry the power of their wickedness unbroken, and so they are a burden to themselves. The disorders of men's hearts are crushing burdens to them. Many times a godly person has enough within to content him. As Cicero says in one of his paradoxes: virtue is content with itself, finding enough within its own sphere to live happily. But how few understand this mystery. Many think, 'If only I had what that other person has, how happily and comfortably I would live.' But if you are a Christian, whatever your condition, you have enough within yourself. People admire those wealthy enough not to have to depend on anyone else. Many work hard in their youth so they will not be beholden to others: 'I love to live independently.' A Christian can do the same — not that he does not live upon God (I do not mean that), but upon what he has of God within himself. He can live upon that even when he does not have outward comforts. Those who are godly and who keep close to God in their communion with Him understand what I mean by this: that a Christian has the supply of all his needs within himself. You can see from this that the spirit of a Christian is a precious spirit, a godly spirit is valuable — precisely because it has enough within to make the person happy.

The next element in which the mystery of contentment consists is this: a gracious heart draws its supply of all things from the covenant and so finds contentment. This is a dry thing to a worldly spirit. There are two things here.

First, he draws contentment from the covenant in general — from the great covenant God has made with him in Christ.

Second, from the particular promises God has made to him in the covenant.

First, from the covenant in general. I will give you one remarkable Scripture for this: 2 Samuel 23:5. 'Truly is not my house so with God? For He has made an everlasting covenant with me, ordered in all things and secured; for all my salvation and all my desire, will He not indeed make it grow?' This is a remarkable verse from David, who did not have the covenant of grace opened as fully to him as we have it. Notice what David says: 'Although my house is not so' — that is, not in every way as I would like — 'He has made with me an everlasting covenant.' Someone might say: things are not well with me and God; I do not find God coming in fully as I hoped; my household is not in the condition I had hoped — perhaps the plague has come into my house, and it is not comfortable as it once was. But can you read this Scripture and say: 'Although my house is not so blessed with health as others'; 'Although it is not as it was' — 'yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant'? I am still in covenant with God. The Lord has made an everlasting covenant with me. As for things in this world — they are momentary, not everlasting. I see how a family that was fine only a week ago is now struck down, swept away by plague, the survivors left in sorrow and mourning. There is no resting in the things of this world. Yet the Lord has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things. I find disorder in my heart and in my household — but the everlasting covenant is ordered in all things. Yes, and it is sure. There is no sureness in anything of this world — especially in these times. No one can be sure of anything they have. Who can be sure of their estate? Some of you who were living well and comfortably, with everything around you stable, thought your mountain was strong — and then within a day or two it was all taken away. There is no sureness in the things of this world. But the covenant is sure. What I venture at sea is not sure — but here is the great insurance office for the saints. They are not charged for it — it costs nothing but the exercise of grace. They may go to this assurance office and insure everything they venture: either they will receive the very thing they insured, or God will compensate them for it. In an ordinary insurance office, you cannot be guaranteed to have the actual goods arrive safely — but if they are lost, the insurer undertakes to make good the loss. The covenant of grace that God has made with His people is God's insurance office. In all their fears, the saints may and should go to the covenant to have everything assured to them — their estates, their lives. You may say: 'How are they assured? Their lives and estates are at risk just like others.' But God commits Himself to make up all. And then notice what follows: 'For this is all my salvation.' David, will you not have salvation from your enemies, from outward dangers, from plague and pestilence? His spirit is settled, as if to say: if that kind of salvation comes, well and good — I will praise God for it. But what I have in the covenant — that is my salvation. I look on that as enough. And then further: 'This is all my salvation, and all my desire.' David, is there nothing else you want beyond this covenant? No — he says — it is all contained in this. Those men and women must live contented lives who have all their desires. Here the holy man says, 'This is all my desire.' 'And though He does not make it grow' — even if God does not cause me to prosper in the world as others do — I have made my peace with that. Though God does not cause my house to increase, I have all my desires.

So you can see how a godly heart finds contentment in the covenant. Many of you speak of God's covenant and the covenant of grace — but have you found it this effectual in your souls? Have you drawn this sweetness from the covenant and found contentment for your heart in your difficult conditions? It is a special evidence of the reality of grace in any soul that when affliction comes, in a kind of natural movement it immediately goes to the covenant. Just as a child in danger does not need to be told, 'When you are in danger, go to your father or mother' — nature tells him so. So it is with a gracious heart: as soon as it is in any trouble or affliction, a new nature carries it immediately to the covenant, and there it finds ease and rest. If you find your heart working this way — immediately running to the covenant — that is an excellent sign of the reality of grace in you.

Now for the particular promises of the covenant of grace. A gracious heart looks on every promise as flowing from the root of the great covenant of grace in Christ. Other people look at certain particular promises — that God will help them in difficult straits, that He will keep them, and so on — but they do not see how those particular promises are connected to the root, the covenant of grace. Christians often miss a great deal of comfort they could draw from particular promises in the Gospel, simply because they fail to see how they connect to the root — the great covenant God has made with them in Christ. I mentioned earlier that in the era of the law, people could rest more confidently on the literal fulfillment of outward promises than we can in the era of the Gospel. The reason is that God made a special covenant — which He called a new covenant, distinct from the covenant for eternal life in Christ — that was expressly for outward blessings in the land of Canaan. Even the law was given to them in a more particular way as an external covenant of outward blessings. So God dealt with them in a more external and visible covenant than He does with His people now. Yet godliness has the promise of the present life and of the life to come. We may use the promises for this life — but not resting so much on their literal fulfillment as they could. Rather, we trust that God will make them good in some way — in a spiritual way, even if not in an outward way. We must not place more weight on outward promises than they are designed to bear, or we will make them carry more than they can. For example, to believe confidently that the plague will not come near a specific house — that is placing more on such a promise than it can support. I opened Psalm 91 earlier. If I had lived in the time of the law, I might have been somewhat more confident of a literal fulfillment of that promise. But in the era of the Gospel, the promise carries no more than this: that God has a special protection over His people, and that He will deliver them from the evil of such afflictions. And if He does bring such an affliction, it is more than ordinary providence — it is some special purpose that God has in it. I had intended to give you several promises for the comfort of the heart in times of affliction. Isaiah 43:2: 'When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.' Certainly, though this promise was made in the era of the law, it will be made good to all the saints now — either in its literal sense or in some other way. We also see this plainly in the promise made to Joshua: 'I will not fail you or forsake you' (Joshua 1:5). That promise is applied directly to Christians in the era of the Gospel. So here is the way that faith brings contentment through the promises: all the promises ever made to our forefathers from the beginning of the world, the saints of God have an inheritance in them. They pass down from one generation to the next, and by them the saints come to have contentment — because they inherit all the promises in the whole book of God. Hebrews 13:5 makes this plain: it is our inheritance. And we do not inherit less now than they did in Joshua's time — we inherit more. In that passage in Hebrews, the promise is stated with more force than it was to Joshua. To Joshua, God said He would not leave him or forsake him. But in the Hebrews passage, in the Greek, there are five negatives in that short sentence — 'I will not, not, not, not, not' — five times over, with great intensity. As if God were saying with great earnestness, five times in a row: 'I will not leave you!' So we not only have the same promises they had, but we have them expanded and fuller — though still not primarily in the literal, outward sense, which is in fact the smallest part of the promise. In Isaiah 54:17: 'No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me, says the Lord.' That is a good promise for a soldier — though still not laying too much on the literal sense. It holds forth this much: God's protection is in a special way over godly soldiers. 'Every tongue that rises against you in judgment you will condemn' — this applies against false witnesses too. Some of you may say: 'My parents died and left me nothing — not a penny. But I thank God, God has provided for me.' Even if your father or mother died and left you no inheritance, you have an inheritance in the promises: 'This is their heritage.' So there is no godly man or woman who is not a great heir. Therefore, when you open the book of God and find any promise there, you may make that promise your own. Just as an heir riding over various fields and meadows says, 'This meadow is my inheritance, this field is my inheritance,' and then sees a fine house and says, 'This house is my inheritance' — viewing it all with very different eyes than a stranger riding over the same ground. So a worldly heart reads the promises as mere stories, without feeling any real claim in them. But a godly person, every time he reads the Scriptures and meets a promise, should lay his hand on it and say, 'This is part of my inheritance. It is mine, and I am to live upon it.' Remember this when you read Scripture. This will make you contented. Here is a mysterious way of contentment. Psalm 34:10, Psalm 37:6, Isaiah 58:10 — there are various promises there that bring contentment. So much for the mystery of contentment by way of the covenant.

There are two or three more things that show how a godly person finds contentment in a way entirely different from any worldly heart. It is a mysterious way.

He finds contentment by making the glorious things of heaven real to himself — holding the kingdom of heaven and the glory to come as present realities. By faith he makes it present. This is how the martyrs found contentment in their sufferings. Some of them said: 'Though we have a hard breakfast, we shall have a good dinner — we shall presently be in heaven. Just close your eyes,' said one, 'and you shall be in heaven.' 2 Corinthians 4:16: 'We do not lose heart.' Why not? 'For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.' They see heaven before them, and that contents them. When sailors can see the harbor ahead — though they were greatly troubled before they could see any land — as they draw near the shore and spot a landmark, it brings them great relief. A godly person in the midst of waves and storms can see the glory of heaven before him, and that contents him. One drop of the sweetness of heaven is enough to take away all the bitterness of every affliction in the world. In ordinary life, we know that one drop of something bitter will make a great deal of honey bitter too — a spoonful of sugar cannot sweeten a cup of gall and wormwood. But one spoonful of gall put into a cup of sugar will embitter it. Yet it works the other way in heaven: one drop of the sweet will sweeten a great deal of bitter affliction — but no amount of bitterness can embitter a soul that sees the glory of heaven that is to come. A worldly heart finds contentment only from what it sees before it in this world. A godly heart finds contentment from what it sees laid up for it in the highest heavens.

The final thing I want to name is this: a godly person finds contentment by opening his heart to God. When other people are discontented, how do they help themselves? By railing — by harsh words. Someone has crossed them, and their only relief is bitter speech and complaining. That is how they ease themselves. But when a godly person is crossed, how does he find ease? He feels his trial just as keenly as you do — and he goes to God in prayer, opens his heart to God, pours out his sorrows and fears, and then comes away with a cheerful face. Do you find that you can come away from prayer and not look sad? As it says of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:18 — after she had been at prayer, her face was no longer sad. She was comforted. That is the right way of contentment. So we have finished with the mystery of contentment. If you put together everything that has been said, you may see fully what a great art Christian contentment is. Paul had need to learn it. You can see that contentment is not the simple thing that many make it out to be when they say, 'You must just be content.' It is a great art and mystery of godliness to be content in the Christian way. And it will appear even more to be a mystery when we come to the third heading: what are the lessons that a gracious heart learns when it learns to be content? 'I have learned to be content.' Learned — what lessons have you learned? A scholar with great knowledge of arts and sciences — how did he begin? He started with his ABCs, and then moved to his primer, his Bible, his grammar, and then to other books. He learned one thing after another. So a Christian coming to contentment is like a student in Christ's school. There are various lessons that teach the soul to arrive at this learning. Every godly person is a scholar. It cannot be said of any Christian that he is unlearned — every Christian is a learned person. Now the lessons Christ teaches to bring us to contentment are these:

The first great lesson is the lesson of self-denial. It is a great and difficult lesson — as a child at first cries and finds it hard. Bradford the Martyr said: 'Whoever has not learned the lesson of the cross has not learned his ABCs in Christianity.' Here is where Christ begins with His students. Even those in the lowest form must start here. If you mean to be a Christian at all, you must buckle down to this — or you can never truly be one. No one can be a scholar without learning his ABCs. So you must learn the lesson of self-denial, or you can never be a student in Christ's school, or grow learned in this mystery of contentment. Self-denial is the first lesson Christ teaches any soul. Self-denial brings contentment. It brings the heart down and softens it. A soft thing, when you strike it, makes no noise — but strike a hard thing and it rings out. Hearts that are full of themselves and hardened by self-love cry out at every stroke. But a self-denying Christian yields to God's hand and makes no noise. Just as striking a bag of wool makes no sound because it yields to the blow — so a self-denying heart yields to the stroke, and by that comes to contentment. Now in this lesson of self-denial there are several things. I will not open the full doctrine of self-denial, but only show how Christ teaches it and how it produces contentment.

First, such a person learns that he is nothing. He comes to be able to say genuinely: 'I see I am nothing in myself.' The person who truly knows he is nothing — and has thoroughly learned it — will be able to bear anything. The path to being able to bear anything is knowing we are nothing in ourselves. God says to us in Proverbs 23:5: 'Will you set your eyes on something that is not there?' — speaking of riches. And we might well say back to God: 'Blessed God, have You not set Your heart on us, and yet we are nothing?' God would not have us set our hearts on riches because they are nothing. And yet God is pleased to set His heart on us, even though we are nothing. That is God's grace — His free grace. And so it is no great matter what I suffer, for I am as nothing.

Second, I deserve nothing. I am nothing, and I deserve nothing. Suppose I do not have what others have — I know I deserve nothing but hell. You would answer a discontented servant that way: 'I wonder what you deserve?' Or a child — 'Do you deserve it that you want it so badly?' We think such an answer would silence them. So we may easily silence ourselves: we deserve nothing. Then why should we be impatient when we do not have what we want? If we had deserved something, we might have some grounds for distress. A person who has served the government or his friends well, and receives no corresponding recognition, is understandably upset. But if he knows in his own heart that he has deserved nothing, he accepts rejection without complaint.

Third, I can do nothing. 'Apart from Me you can do nothing,' says Christ in John 15:5. Why should I be troubled and discontented because I do not have this or that, when the truth is I can do nothing? If someone is angry because he does not have the food he wants, you might say to him: 'I wonder what you actually do? What use are you?' Should someone who sits idle and is of no use still demand every comfort he desires? Consider what use you actually are in the world. If you consider how little God needs you, and how little you actually contribute, you will not be very discontented. If you have learned the lesson of self-denial — though God cuts you short of this or that comfort — since I do so little, why should I have much? That thought alone will bring a person's spirit down as much as anything.

Fourth, I am so corrupt that I cannot receive good from God without spoiling it. I am not only an empty vessel — I am a corrupt and unclean vessel that would ruin anything poured into it. This is the condition of every human heart: not only empty of good, but like a musty container that sours any good thing poured into it.

Fifth, even if God cleanses us to some degree and fills us with some measure of His grace, we cannot make good use of even that without His continued presence. If God were to withdraw Himself even for a moment — even after bestowing the greatest gifts and every ability we could desire — we could not move a single step forward. If God were to say: 'I have given you these abilities; now go and use them' — and then leave us, we could do nothing. Does God give us gifts and capacities? Then let us fear and tremble lest God leave us to ourselves. For if He did, how shamefully we would abuse those gifts. You may think another person has a good memory, good gifts, and abilities, and wish you had them. But suppose God gave you those things and then left you — you would utterly ruin them.

Sixth, we are worse than nothing. Through sin we have become far worse than nothing. Sin makes us more corrupt than emptiness — it makes us contrary to all that is good. It is far worse to be actively opposed to all good than merely to be empty of all good. We are not empty pitchers in regard to good — we are pitchers filled with poison. Is it so much, then, for people like us to be cut short of outward comforts?

Seventh, if we perish there will be no loss in us. If God were to remove me entirely, what loss would there be? God can raise up another in my place who will serve Him far better than I have. Now put these seven things together and you will see what it means for Christ to teach self-denial. These are, as it were, the several words in our lesson of self-denial. Christ teaches the soul, so that in God's presence, with a real sight of itself, it can say: 'Lord, I am nothing. Lord, I deserve nothing. Lord, I can do nothing. I cannot receive good. I cannot make good use of anything. I am worse than nothing. And if I come to nothing and perish, there will be no loss at all.' Therefore, what does it matter that I am cut short here? A person who is little in his own eyes will count every affliction small and every mercy great. Saul, at one point in his life, was little in his own eyes — and in that season his afflictions seemed small to him. When some despised him and would not have him as king, he held his peace. But when Saul began to be great in his own eyes, the afflictions became great upon him. There was never a more contented person than the self-denying person. There was never anyone who denied himself as much as Jesus Christ. He gave His cheeks to those who struck Him. He opened not His mouth. He was like a lamb led to slaughter. He made no noise in the streets. He denied Himself above all — He willingly emptied Himself — and so He was the most contented person who ever lived. The nearer we come to learning to deny ourselves as Christ did, the more contented we will be. And by knowing much of our own sinfulness, we come to justify God in whatever He lays upon us. Whatever the Lord brings, we can say: 'Righteous is the Lord, for He is dealing with a most wretched creature.' A discontented heart is troubled because it has no more comfort. But a self-denying person wonders that he has as much as he does. 'Oh,' says one, 'I have so little.' 'Yes,' says the one who has learned self-denial, 'but I rather wonder that God gives me the very breath I breathe — knowing how vile I am, and how much sin the Lord sees in me.' That is the path of contentment: learning self-denial.

Eighth, there is a further aspect of self-denial that brings contentment: by it the soul comes to rejoice and find satisfaction in all God's ways. Please take note of this. A selfish person — one in whom self-love rules — will be glad of things that suit his own purposes, but troubled by everything else. But a godly person who has denied himself will be glad of everything that suits God's purposes. A gracious heart says: 'God's purposes are my purposes. I have denied my own ends, and so I find contentment in all of God's purposes and ways.' His sources of comfort are multiplied — while the comforts of other people are few and rare, since it is uncommon for God's ways to align with a person's selfish ends. But God's ways always align with His own purposes. If you will only be content when God's ways match your own ends, you will find contentment only occasionally. But a self-denying person gives up his own ends and looks only at God's ends, and is content in that. When a person is selfish, he cannot help but have great trouble and irritation — because if I care only about myself, my ends are so narrow that a hundred things will crowd in and bump against me. As in the city, narrow streets like Thames Street cause jostling and fighting — there is no room. But on the broad streets, people can walk quietly. So selfish people jostle and clash with one another, each pursuing their own narrow ends and creating great disorder. But those whose hearts are enlarged — who make God's purposes their own ends, and who can deny themselves — they walk freely and do not collide with one another in the same way. The lesson of self-denial is the first lesson that Jesus Christ teaches men in the pursuit of contentment.

The second lesson is the vanity of created things. That is the second lesson in Christ's school for those He would make skilled in this art. The vanity of created things — that whatever is found in created things has an emptiness in it. 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity' — that is the lesson the wise man learned. Created things in themselves can do us neither real good nor lasting harm; they are all as wind. There is nothing in created things that suits the gracious heart for its true good and happiness. My friends, the reason you have no contentment from the things of this world is not that you do not have enough of them. That is not the reason. The reason is that they are simply not fitted to that immortal soul of yours that is capable of God Himself. Many people, when they are troubled and have no contentment, think it is because they have too little in the world — and if they had more, they would be content. Consider: suppose a hungry person, to satisfy his aching stomach, opened his mouth and tried to swallow the air — and then thought the reason he was not satisfied was that he had not swallowed enough air. No — the problem is that air is not suited to a craving stomach. And there is the same madness in the world: all the air a person could breathe will satisfy a starving stomach no more than all the comforts of the world can satisfy a soul that understands what true happiness means. You want to be happy, and you seek this or that comfort from created things. Have you gotten what you sought? Do you find your heart satisfied — having found the happiness suited to you? No — it is not there. But you think it must be because you still lack this or that. Poor deceived person — it is not that you do not have enough of these things. It is that these things are simply not fitted to that immortal soul God has given you. 'Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?' (Isaiah 55:2). You are chasing wind. You will never find contentment in created things. All the creatures in the world declare: contentment is not in us. Riches say contentment is not in me. Pleasure says contentment is not in me. If you look for contentment in the creature, you will fail. Contentment is found higher. When you come into the school of Christ, He teaches you that there is vanity in all things in this world. The soul that comes into Christ's school — that through understanding the glorious mysteries of the Gospel comes to see the vanity of all earthly things — that is the soul that comes to true contentment. Many pagan philosophers spoke extensively about the vanity of all things in the world — yet they did not learn it in the right school. When a soul comes into the school of Jesus Christ and there comes to see the vanity of all things in the world, that soul finds contentment. If you seek contentment elsewhere, you do as the unclean spirit did — seeking rest but finding none.

A third lesson that Christ teaches a Christian in His school is this: He teaches him to understand what the one truly necessary thing is — something he never truly understood before. You know what Christ said to Martha: 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things, but only one thing is necessary' (Luke 10:41-42). Before, the soul chased after this and that. But now the soul says: 'I see clearly that it is not necessary for me to be rich — but it is necessary for me to be at peace with God. It is not necessary for me to live a comfortable life in this world — but it is absolutely necessary for me to have pardon for my sin. It is not necessary for me to have honor and advancement — but it is necessary for me to have God as my portion, to have my share in Jesus Christ, to have my soul saved on the day of Christ.' The other things are fine and pleasant enough, and I would be glad if God gave them to me — a comfortable home, income, clothing, and good prospects for my wife and children. These are welcome things. But they are not the necessary things. I may have all of them and still perish forever. The other is absolutely necessary. No matter if I am poor, as long as I have what is absolutely necessary. This is how Christ instructs the soul. Many of you have had some thoughts that you should indeed be providing for your souls. But when you enter Christ's school, He causes the weight of eternity to fall upon you. He causes such a real and vivid sight of the great things of eternity — and of their absolute necessity — to fill your heart with holy awe. And that takes you off from all other things in the world. I should have shown you how this brings contentment to the soul when it is instructed in what is absolutely necessary — but that must wait until next time.