Three Cautions
never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income." (Ec. 5:10) And is not this a curse!
It was a severe judgement upon the people of Judah, "You have food to eat, but not enough to fill you up. You have wine to drink, but not enough to satisfy your thirst." (Haggai 1:6) O let us take heed of this plague! Did not Esau say to his brother, "I have enough, my brother,"
(Gen. 33:9); and shall not a Christian say so much more. It is sad that our hearts should be dead to heavenly things—that they are a sponge to suck in earthly vanities!
All that has been said, should be sufficient to work our minds to heavenly contentment.
Three Cautions In the next place, I come to lay down some necessary cautions.
Though I say a man should be content in every estate—yet there are three estates in which he must not be contented.
I. He must not be contented in a NATURAL estate. Here we must learn not to be content.
A sinner in his natural state, is under the wrath of God, (John 3:16) and shall he be content when that dreadful vial is about to be poured out upon him! Is it nothing to lie forever under the scorchings of divine fury? "Who can dwell with everlasting burnings!"
A sinner, as a sinner, is under the power of Satan, (Ac. 26:18) and shall he be content in this dreadful state! Who would be contented to stay in the enemies' quarters? While we sleep in the lap of sin, the devil does to us as the Philistines did to Samson— he cut out the lock of our strength, and put out our eyes! Be not content, O
sinner, in this estate! For a man to be in debt, body and soul; in fear every hour to be arrested and carried prisoner to hell—shall he now be content? Here I preach against contentment. Oh get out of this condition! I would hasten you out of it—as the angel hastened lot out of Sodom; (Gen. 19:15) There is the smell of the fire and brimstone upon you!
The longer a man stays in his sin, the more does sin strengthen.
It is hard to get out of sin, when the heart as a garrison is supplied and fortified by sin. A young tree is easily removed—but when the tree is once rooted, there is no stirring of it. Just so, you who are rooted in your pride, unbelief, impenitency, it will cost you many a hard pull before you are plucked out of your natural estate! (Jer.
6:16) It is a hard thing to have a brazen face and a broken heart! "He travails with iniquity;" (Psalm 7:14) be assured, the longer you travail with your sins, the more and the sharper pangs you must expect in the new birth. O be not contented with your natural estate! David says, "why are you cast down, O my soul?" (Psalm 43:5) But a sinner should say to himself, why are you not disquieted, O my soul? Why is it that you lay afflictions so to heart, and can not lay sin to heart? It is a mercy when we are disquieted about sin. A man had better be at the trouble of setting a bone, than to be lame, and in pain all his life.
Blessed is that trouble that brings the soul to Christ! It is one of the worst sights to see a bad conscience quiet. Of the two, better is a fever than a lethargy. I wonder to see a man in his natural estate content. What! content to go to hell!
II. Though, in regard of externals, a man should be in every estate content—yet he must not be content is such a condition wherein God is apparently dishonored. If a man's trade be such that he must trespass upon a command of God, and so make a trade of sin—he must not content himself in such a condition; God never called any man to such a calling as is sinful; a man in this case, had better lose some of his gain, so he may lessen some of his guilt.
So, for servants who live in a profane family—the suburbs of hell— where the name of God is not called upon, unless when it is taken in
vain—they are not to content themselves in such a place, they are to come out of the tents of these sinners; there is a double danger in living among the profane.
1. Lest we come to be infected with the poison of their evil example. Joseph, living in Pharaoh's court, had learned to swear
"by the life of Pharaoh." (Ge. 42:15) We are prone to suck in example: men take in deeper impressions by the eye—than the ear.
Dives was a bad pattern, and he had many brethren that seeing him sin, trod just in his steps, therefore says he, "I beg you to send him to my father's house—because I have five brothers—to warn them, so they won't also come to this place of torment!" (Lu. 16:27,28) Dives knew which way they went. It is easy to catch a disease from another
—but not to catch health. The bad will sooner corrupt the good—than the good will convert the bad. Take an equal quantity and proportion, so much sweet wine with so much sour vinegar; the vinegar will sooner sour the wine than the wine will sweeten the vinegar.
Sin is compared to the plague, (1 Ki. 8:37) and to leaven, (1 Cor. 5:7) to show of what a spreading nature it is. A bad master makes a bad servant. We do as we see others do before us, especially those who are above us. If the head is sick, the other parts of the body are distempered. If the sun shines not upon the mountains, it must needs set in the valleys. We pray, "lead us not into temptation!" Lot was the world's miracle, who kept himself fresh, in Sodom's salt water.
2. By living in an evil family, we are liable to incur their punishment. "Pour out Your wrath on the families that don't call on Your name." (Jer. 10:25) For lack of pouring out of prayer, the wrath of God was ready to be poured out! It is dangerous living in the tents of Kedar. When God sends his flying scroll, written within and without with curses, it enters into the house of the thief and the perjurer, "and consumes the timber and the stones thereof." (Ze. 5:4)
Is it not of sad consequence to live in a profane family, when the sin
of the master pulls his house about his ears? If the stones and timber be destroyed, how shall the servant escape? And suppose God does not send a temporal scroll of curses in the family, there is a spiritual scroll, and that is worse. "The Lord's curse is on the household of the wicked!" (Proverbs 3:33) Be not content to live where religion dies.
"Salute the brethren, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house." (Col. 4:15) The house of the godly is a little church—but the house of the wicked is a little hell. (Proverbs 7:27) Oh, incorporate yourselves into a pious family; the house of a godly man is perfumed with a blessing. "The Lord's curse is on the household of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous." (Proverbs 3:33) When the holy oil of grace is poured on the head, the savor of this ointment sweetly diffuses itself, and the virtue of it runs down upon the skirts of the family. Pious examples are very magnetic and forcible. Seneca said to his sister, "though I leave you not wealth—yet I leave you a good example." Let us ingraft ourselves among the saints. By being often among the spices—we come to partake of their fragrance.
III. The third caution is, though in every condition we must be content—yet we are not to content ourselves with a little grace. Grace is the best blessing. Though we should be contented with a competency of estate—yet not with a competency of grace. It was the end of Christ's ascension to heaven, to give gifts; and the end of those gifts, "that we may grow up into him in all things who is the head, even Christ. (Ep. 4:15) Where the apostle distinguishes between our being in Christ, and our growing in him; our maturing, and our flourishing. Do not be content with a little piety.
It is not enough that there is life—but there must be fruit. Barrenness in the law was accounted a curse: the further we are from the fruit, the nearer we are to cursing. (He. 6:8) It is a sad thing when men are fruitful only in the unfruitful works of darkness. Be not content with a grain or two of grace. "My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples." (John 15:8) O covet more grace! never think you have enough. We are bid to covet
the best things. (1 Cor. 12:31) It is a heavenly ambition, when we desire to be high in God's favor. It is a blessed contentment when all the strife is "who shall be most holy". Paul, though he was content with a little of the world—yet not with a little grace. "I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ
Jesus." (Ph. 3:13,14) A true Christian is a wonder; he is the most contented—and yet the least satisfied. He is contented with a morsel of bread, and a little water in the cruise—yet never satisfied with his grace; he pants and breathes after more. This is his prayer, "Lord, more conformity to Christ, more communion with Christ!" He would sincerely have Christ's image more lively pictured upon his soul.
True grace is always progressive. As the saints are called lamps and stars, in regard of their light—so they are called trees of righteousness, (Is. 61:3) for their growth. They are indeed like the tree of life, bringing forth several sorts of fruit.
A true Christian grows in beauty. Grace is the best complexion of the soul; it is at the first plantation, like Rachel, fair to look upon; but still the more it lives, the more it sends forth its rays of beauty.
Abraham's faith was at first beautiful; but at last did shine in its orient colors, and grew so illustrious, that God himself was in love with it, and makes his faith a pattern to all believers.
A true Christian grows in sweetness. A poisonous weed may grow as much as the corn; but the one has a harsh sour taste, the other mellows as it grows. A hypocrite may grow in outward dimensions, as much as a child of God, he may pray as much, profess as much: but he grows only in magnitude, he brings forth only sour grapes, his duties are leavened with pride; the other ripens as he grows; he grows in love, humility, faith, which do mellow and sweeten his duties, and make them come off with a better relish. The believer grows as the flower, he casts a fragrancy and perfume.
A true Christian grows in strength: he grows still more rooted and settled. The more the tree grows, the more it spreads its root in the earth: a Christian who is a plant of the heavenly Jerusalem, the longer he grows, the more he incorporates into Christ, and sucks spiritual juice and sap from him. He is a dwarf in regard of humility
—but a giant in regard of strength—he is strong to do duties, to bear burdens, resist temptations.
He grows in the exercise of his grace; he has not only oil in his lamp—but his lamp is also burning and shining. Grace is agile and dexterous. Christ's vines flourish; (Ca. 6:11) hence we read of "a lively hope, (1 Pe. 1:3) and "a fervent love;" (1 Pe. 1:22) here is the activity of grace. Indeed sometimes grace is a sleepy habit of the soul, like sap in the vine, not exerting its vigor, which may be occasioned through spiritual sloth, or by reason of falling into some sin; but this is only for a while: the spring of grace will come, "the flowers will appear, and the fig-tree put forth her green figs." The fresh gales of the Spirit sweetly revive and nourish grace. The church of Christ, whose heart was a garden, and her graces as precious spices, prays for the heavenly breathings of the Spirit, that her sacred spices might flow out. (Ca. 6:16) A true Christian grows both in the kind and in the degree of grace.
To his spiritual living he gets an augmentation, "Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Pe. 1:58) Here is grace growing in its kind. And he goes on "from faith to faith;" (Ro. 1:17) there is grace growing in the degree; "we are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, because your faith grows exceedingly;" (2 Th. 1:3) it increases over and above.