consider tlie evil of discontent. Mal-con- tent hath a mixture of grief and anger in it, and both these must needs raise a storm in the soul. Have you not seen the posture of a sick man? Sometimes he will sit up on his bed, by and by he will lie down, and when he is down he is not quiet ; first he turns on the one side and then on the other ; he is restless; this is just the emblem of a discontented spirit. The man is not sick, yet he is never well ; sometimes he likes such a condition of life but is soon weary ; and then another condition of life ; and when he hath it yet he is not pleased ; this is an evil under the sun. Now the evil of discontent appears in three things.
Evil \sL The sordidness of it is unwor- thy of a Christian.
1. It is unworthy of his profession. It was the saying of an heathen, bear thy con- dition quietly, — nosce te esse hominem, 'know thou art a man :' so I say, bear thy condi- tion contentedly, nosce te esse Chrislianum, — ' know thou art a Christian.' Thou pro- fessest to live by faith, — what ? and not con- tent ? Faith is a grace that doth substan- tiate things not seen, Heb. xi. 1. Faith looks beyond the creature, it feeds upon promises ; faith lives not by bread alone ; when the water is spent in the bottle, faith knows Avhither to have recourse ; now to see a Christian dejected in the want of visi- ble supplies and recruits, where is faith ? " O," saith one, " my estate in the world is down." Ay, and which is worse, thy faith is down. Wilt thou not be contented unless God let down the vessel to thee, as he did to Peter, " wherein were all man- ner of beasts of the earth, and fowls of the air?" Acts. x. 12. Must you have the first and second course? This is like Thomas, " unless I put my finger into the print of the nails, 1 will not believe," John xx. 25.: so, unless thou hast a sensible feeling of out- ward comforts, thou wilt not be content. True faith will trust God where it cannot trace him, and will adventure upon God's bond though it hath nothing in view. You who are discontented because you have not all you would, let me tell you, either your faith is a nonentity, or at best but an embryo; it is a weak faith that must have stilts and crutches to support it. Nay, discontent is
not only below faith, but below reason why are you discontented ? Is it because you are dispossessed of such comforts ? Well, and have you not reason to guide you? Doth not reason tell you that you are but tenants at will ? And may not God turn you out w^hen he pleases ? You hold not your estate jVe, but gratia; not by juridical right, but upon favour and courtesy.
2. It is unworthy of the relation we stand in to God. A Christian is invested with the title and privilege of sonship, Eph i. 5. He is an heir of the promise. O consider the lot of free-grace is fallen upon thee, — thou art nearly allied to Christ, and of the blood royal, — thou art advanced in some sense, above the angels ; " why art thou, being the king's son, lean from day to day?" 2 Sam. xiii. 4. Why art thou discontent- ed ? O, how unworthy is this ! As if the heir to some great monarch should go pin- ing up and down because he may not pick such a flower.
Evil 2d. Consider the sinfulness of it ; which appears in three things, (I.) The causes; (2.) The concomitants; (3.) The consequences of it.
(1.) It is sinful in the causes, which are these.
1. Pride. He that thinks highlv of his deserts, usually esteems meanly of his con- dition : a discontented man is a proud man, he thinks himself better than others, there- fore finds fault with the wisdom of God, that he is not above others. Thus the thing formed, saith to him that formed it, " AVIiy hast thou made me thus ?" Rom. ix. 20. Why am I not higher ? Discontents are no- thing else but the estuations, and boilings over of pride.
2. Tlie second cause of discontent is, en- vy, which Augustine calls the sin of the devil. Satan envied Adam the glory of paradise, and the robe of innocency : he that envies what his neighbour hath, is never contented with that portion which God's providence doth parcel out to him. As envy stirs up strife, (this made the Ple- beian faction so strong among the Romans) so it creates discontent : the envious man looks so much upon the blessings which an- other enjoys, that he cannot see his own
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mercies, and so dotli continually vex and torture himself. Cain envied that his bro- ther's sacrifice was accepted, and his re'ject- ed ; hereupon he was discontented, and presently murderous thoughts began to a- rise in his heart.