The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

De: Jeremiah Burroughs

Narrado por: Derek Perkins

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs is a classic work featuring clear and simple instructions on how to be content as a Christian. Burroughs will teach you that contentment lies in subtraction, not addition; that the workings of Christianity are nothing like what you thought them to be; and that once you have learned the way from Christ's word, you will be able to attain contentment as you never before imagined.

Public Domain (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Truly a jewel of a book to the Christian

Burroughs is clear and plain in his description of what lies as the basis for the contentment of a Christian - it is Christ himself. Burroughs has many good analogies to how a Christian should view his state as a recipient of the infinite mercy of almighty God.
Mr. Perkins as sublime in his reading as always.
Highly recommended book in general and audiobook in particular.

Beautiful Truth

Truly an almost essential book. This topic is so neglected yet so necessary in the Christian life. My only complaint is the excessive use of word pictures, the ideas almost get lost in the long lines of them for each point. But it’s worth overlooking in pursuit of this book’s teachings from Scripture.

Must Have

Took a difficult to read book and converted it for all to enjoy. A real masterpiece. Excellent narration. Thank you to all involved.

most excellent

most excellent and essential christian reading. let your heart not be troubled, but may it lie convicted before the Lord.

A Rare Jewel Indeed

Contentment, priceless as well rare. Great insight for a better life. Enjoyed every word.
In a world of self-help and how to better your life, this book is where the rubber meets the road. It is a compilation of true Christianity and what it means to be a true follower of Messiah. Would we sell all we own for 1 jewel of contentment? Listen to the book and make your decision. Well done and articulated.

Great Book

Extremely educational and helpful in understanding yourself relative to Christian Contentment.
A good read.

Let us learn the skill of Christian contentment

This is a book you could read everyday and never be finished with. Equivocal to the Valley of Vision, is the Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment!

Wonderful book on being content in life.

This is book on living in contentment and joy. I highly recommend it for Christians at any spiritual maturity. Although written in the 17th century, it is as relevant today as any book I have ever read on living the Christian life.

Blessings,
Pastor Paul Trimble

In a world of discontent

Discontent is all around us. We rant to friends on FB. We complain about life and the world to friends in coffee shops. There is always something else we want. Ads for the next cool thing cultivate it in us. In one of the most prosperous societies ever, discontent rages. It’s common to every group in society, every social class, every political persuasion, and it is common to Christians as well, even those who consider themselves driven to a life of commitment to following God’s will. Take that as a confession, not just a statement of judgment.
And toward the end of the year, I read “The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment” by Jeremiah Burroughs, a Puritan pastor. Yes, when I say “Puritan,” I mean that in the literal sense. This book was first published in 1648 and that is the biggest problem with the book. I usually start with the positives about a book but since that is almost the only real negative, I might as well get it out of the way now. It can be a bit tedious to read. It tends to be a bit word and it is written in a didactic style of question and answer, almost like a confession. He asks a rhetorical question and then he answers it. He answers any arguments with another rhetorical statement, usually like, “You may then say, but what about…” and then give state whatever objection he suspects a reader might have and then gives you his answer. This style makes his reasoning very clear and easy to follow, but it is so foreign to the modern ear, at least as the format for an entire book, that it can begin to cause one to lose focus. There were times when I found myself reading (actually listening, since I have the audiobook version) without thinking and had to back up and listen again. But even if it were on a page, I can imagine myself having the same problem. I might say that, in this audiobook, the reader didn’t make it any easier either for he read it as if he was a teacher with only the basic inflection that language requires and not the kind that invites holds the listener’s interest. But, all other things considered, those are not very serious issues. If content is king, this book is royal.
The book is a series of sermons that are mostly based on the writings of Paul but which pull in scriptures from all over the Bible, Old and New.
The first four chapters of the book are focused on what Christian contentment is. At the beginning, he states that, “Contentment is to be learned as a great mystery,” and by that he means that it is not something that comes naturally and not something that is easily explained. In fact, he says that it is mysterious because it doesn’t make sense and quotes from Philippians 4:7 where Paul speaks of the “peace of God that surpasses human understanding.” So, how does he define it (Hmm. It seems I’ve even started copying his style)? Burroughs says, “Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, freely submitting to, and taking complacency in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.”
But to him, that also means that contentment is not something that we can drum up all on our own and that leads into a more detailed discussion in the second part of the book. Contentment is not like we might think, maybe as we imagine some people who are just naturally optimistic or have never cared about having a lot of things. It’s not an inherited personality trait. It’s not something that you can just decide to have. An peace that doesn’t come from God is not real peace at all. It’s a shallow veneer or a naive view of the world, and is not worth having. True conentment is from God and it is developed and learned over time, even over a lifetime, as we continually attempt to allow God’s Spirit to work in our lives, as we continually work to apply, not just rules, but the truth of the Gospel to our lives and understand the providence and sufficiency of God and Christ’s work in everything. It is not learned when everything is smooth and there are no troubles. It is learned through exercise, as he says, “when the Assyrian comes into the land.” And with that, he comes back to the mystery, that it does not make sense without assuming a complete and total trust in the goodness and providence of God. It is submission.
And so he gives us a variety of lessons that we must learn if we are going to develop true Christian contentment. He goes through many lessons relating to God’s providence, to developing real trust, to understanding our role as “Sons of God” and as the “Bride of Christ.” He reminds us that the verse that we often hear quoted in dealing with challenges “I can do all things through him who strengthens me,” is prefaced by, “In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of placing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.”
But one that he puts a lot of focus on is a “murmuring spirit” and how we tend to justify the sin of murmuring. We think that grumbling is verbal and if we aren’t speaking out feelings of discontent, then we aren’t committing this sin. Burroughs takes us to Psalm 62 and argues that it is not just the mouth but the soul that must be silent before God. He argues that the sin of murmuring and grumbling is much worse than we think. It was one of the main criticisms of the people of Israel during the Exodus and it is, at its root, an expression of our dissatisfaction with the providence of God and our lack of trust in his love and grace as well as his sovereignty. He warns that it is a common reason for God’s judgment and that reminder should cause us all to consider ourselves.
Burroughs doesn’t leave us there. He ends with a remedy. What should we do when we are tempted to grumble, when we discover a sense of dissatisfaction rising in our souls? We are a people prone to discontent–with our financial situation, with our jobs, with our families, with the many things that we feel that others have and that we don’t, with the political situation, with the trends of our society and culture, with the way our church is run, even little things such as the “wrong” choice of carpet color for the church. The solution is not to change the circumstances around us. That’s often our first thought. We try to escape the situation or change the person who is causing our problems. Burroughs reminds us to remember that the answer is in the truth of the gospel, that there is nothing that we deserve but that God has blessed us with his grace. He asks us to remember that, is there anything that a gracious and loving God would withhold if it were to our benefit? If not, then we must accept that there is nothing good that I lack and that which God has withheld has be kept back for a reason. He spends a good deal of time on this topic.
There are a few other little things and my review is based on its relevance for today but also with some understanding of the time when it is written. There are several places in which his remarks state fairly directly that women are weaker than men and even are more like children in their ability to withstand temptation. I remind myself that this was the viewpoint of basically everyone at that time, not just Jeremiah Burroughs. While that is not a good excuse, it does make it much easier to look past these statements and remember that many will also look at me and my generation and wonder how we could have been so wrong about certain things. Overall, the book is of so much value that it’s worth the effort. It’s also a good way to start the year, learning and applying the lesson of Christian contentment.

Highly recommended!

i can't recommend this book enough.
its an essential subject for every young believer.
the temptation to discontentment are every bit as real now, and more so, than the times in which this was written. its practical, pastoral and relevant.