Th~ rare J~wel ~~ chr-ifliatJ Cqrttentment. 19~ fl:orrn a coming, imd if thout~eeR in ·thy grearShip, thou maielt be fplit upon rocks and fands, God therefore 'doth put thee imo a leffer ve{fel that thoumayfl be more faf~. We WJlf Jay . a fide the fpeaking of thofe conGderations now, but I I'Voald not have you lay them afide, and put them out of your thoughts, but labour ( thofe efpeciall y that mofl concern you) to make ufe of them in the needful time when you find any difcontentednefle of fpirit to a rife in you , But the main thing that I intend for this.Exercife, It 'is propounding DireCtions what to do 'for the helping of our hearts to contentment. For as for any further confi.deration<, we have prevented the fpeaking largely of them, becaafe we have opened the moll thirgs in !hewing what tbe leffons are that Chriti: teaches men, when be brings them ioto his School, to teach them this Art. I fay there 1ve have fpoken of the fpecial things that are moll conG.derable for the helping of us to this Grace of Contentment, Taerefore no1v all that I !hall further do about this point, !hall be the giving of fome DireCtions what courfe te take that we may come to attain this Grace of Contentmen_t. The FirA: DIRECTION. The FirG is tbi$, All tbe rules and helps in the World will do us little good except we get agood temper within our Hearts ; you can never make aShip go Heady with propping of it without, you knovv there mul.l be baltafl within the Ship, that mul.l make it go fieady : And fo there is nothing without ns that can keep our hearts in a fieady con~ant way but that which is within us, Grace is within the foul, and that will do it. The Second DIRECTIO~. Secondly, If you would get acontented life, do not gripe too much of the world, do not take io more of the bu6nefs of the world than God calls you to, be not .greedy of raking in a great deal of the World, if a man will go among Thorn~ when he may ge in a plainer way, there is no·· reafos that thi~ D d ~ ma~e
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=