4  There is beauty in contentment.

A.  What is the relationship which Burroughs implies between “beauty” and “glory?” What sort of glory is displayed in contentment — whose beauty shines in contentment?

B.  What is the point of Burroughs quoting a pagan philosopher at the beginning of this section?

C. The furnace of Daniel 3: Read and recount the story. What did the contentment of these three do to the king? Dan. 3:28. Whose beauty was displayed — what did the king see?

D.  Read Acts 16:16-40: recount the story. Why would Paul & Silas be tempted to despair and discontentment? How did they respond to trial? v. 25. See Acts 5:41. How is God shown to be beautiful in this event? How do we know that God’s glory was displayed and found beautiful? Acts 16:30.

E.  What is the effect upon as we see God’s beauty? 2 Cor. 3:18.

Some quotations about spiritual beauty:

The beauty of a Christian is borrowed:

Ans. It comes from without. It is borrowed beauty, as you have it, Ezek. 16:1, 2. By nature we lie in our blood. There must be a beauty put upon us. We are fair with the beauty that we have out of Christ’s wardrobe. The church shines in the beams of Christ’s righteousness; she is not born thus fair, but new-born fairer. The church of Christ is all glorious, but it is within, not seen of the world, Ps. 45:13. She hath a life, but it is a hidden life, ‘our glory and our life is hidden in Christ,’ Col. 3:3. It is hid sometimes from the church itself, who sees only her deformity and not her beauty, her death but not her life, because her ‘life is hid.’ Here is a mystery of religion, The church is never more fair than when she judgeth herself to be most deformed; never more happy than when she judgeth herself to be miserable: never more strong than when she feels herself to be weak; never more righteous than when she feels herself to be most burdened with the guilt of her own sins, because the sense of one contrary forceth to another. The sense of ill forceth us to the fountain of good, to have supply thence. ‘When I am weak, then am I strong,’ saith Paul, 2 Cor. 12:10. Grace and strength is perfect in weakness.

 Richard Sibbes, The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 2 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet And Co.; W. Robertson, 1862), 135.

The beauty of holiness:

Tenthly, Consider, that of all things, holiness will render you most beautiful and amiable. As holiness is the beauty of God,1 and the beauty of angels, so it is the beauty and glory of a Christian too. Holiness is a Christian’s greatest honour and ornament: Ps. 93:5, ‘Holiness becometh thine house’—that is, thy church—‘O Lord, for ever.’ There is no garment that suits the church, that becomes the church, like the garment of holiness. It is sanctity that is the church’s excellency and glory; it is purity that is the church’s ornament and beauty. Holiness is a beauty that beautifies the church; it is the gracefulness and comeliness of the church. Holiness is so beautiful a thing that it puts a beauty on all things else. As holiness is the greatest ornament of the church triumphant, so it is the greatest ornament of the church militant, Eph. 5:26, 27. The redness of the rose, the whiteness of the lily, and all the beauties of sun, moon, and stars, are but deformities to that beauty that holiness puts upon us. If all natural and artificial beauty were contracted into one beauty, yet it would be but an obscure and an unlovely beauty to that beauty that holiness puts upon us: Ps. 29:2, ‘Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness:’ Ps. 96:9, ‘O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness:’ Ps. 110:3, ‘Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauty of holiness.’ You see beauty and holiness is by God himself still linked together; and those whom God hath so closely joined together, no man may put asunder. The scripture last cited doth not only speak out holiness to be a beautiful thing, but it speaks out many beauties to be in holiness. Those Christians that are volunteers in the beauties of holiness, they shall be very beautiful and shining through holiness.

Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 4 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1867), 171.

Contentment makes one beautiful and fit for service (which is the same point made by Burroughs):

O then, how excellent is contentment, which doth prepare, and as it were, string the heart for duty? Indeed contentment doth not only make our duties lively and agile, but acceptable. It is this that puts beauty and worth into them; for contentment settles the soul. Now, as it is with milk, when it is always stirring, you can make nothing of it, but let it settle a while, and then it turns to cream: when the heart is over-much stirred with disquiet and discontent, you can make nothing of those duties. How thin, how fleeting and jejune are they! But when the heart is once settled by holy contentment, now there is some worth in our duties, now they turn to cream.

Thomas Watson, The Select Works of the Rev. Thomas Watson, Comprising His Celebrated Body of Divinity, in a Series of Lectures on the Shorter Catechism, and Various Sermons and Treatises (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1855), 703.

This section replaces a previous version of this study guide found here

There is a Great Deal of Grace in Contentment:

The second point made by Burroughs has to do with the “grace” which is poured out in contentment.

To understand this argument, it will be necessary to understand that the Puritians routinely used the word “grace” in a different manner than it is typically used by contemporary Christians. In contemporary usage, the word “grace” often refers only to the initial act of God’s saving work, “For by grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:8). More broadly, it is God’s mercy towards our remnant sin.

When Puritans used the word, they routinely referenced God’s grace as the various operations of God’s good will toward us and work in us.

Consider the following passage from John Owen:

If we neglect to make use of what we have received, God may justly hold his hand from giving us more. His graces, as well as his gifts, are bestowed on us to use, exercise, and trade with.

John Owen, The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, “The Mortification of Sin,” vol. 6 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, n.d.), 13. And:

By causing our hearts to abound in grace and the fruits that are contrary to the flesh, and the fruits thereof and principles of them. So the apostle opposes the fruits of the flesh and of the Spirit: “The fruits of the flesh,” says he, “are so and so,” Gal. 5:19–21; “but,” says he, “the fruits of the Spirit are quite contrary, quite of another sort,” verses 22, 23. Yea; but what if these are in us and do abound, may not the other abound also? No, says he, verse 24, “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” But how? Why, verse 25, “By living in the Spirit and walking after the Spirit;”—that is, by the abounding of these graces of the Spirit in us, and walking according to them.

John Owen, at p. 19. Grace is something that God does in us and through.  Grace is not merely the disposition of God nor just our realization of God’s disposition, but grace God’s good work. That is why Burroughs writes in this section, “That in Contentment there is much exercise of grace“.

Contentment is to be prized by the believer, because in action evidences much of God’s good work in our lives.

Before we analyze Burroughs’ argument, why would evidence of God working in one’s life be desirable? In this prayer from The Valley of Vision, the unknown author refers to his preconversion life as “graceless”:

O Lord, I am astonished at the difference between my receivings and my deservings,

between the state I am now in and my past gracelessness,

between the heaven I am bound for

and the hell I merit.

Edited by Arthur Bennett. The Valley of Vision (Kindle Locations 213-215). The Banner of Truth Trust. What does “graceless” mean? Does that help understand what clear knowledge of God’s grace would be a comfort and encouragement?

Burroughs writes:

Much exercise of grace, There is a composition of grace in Contentment, there is faith, and there is humility, and love, and there is patience, and there is wisdom, and there is hope, all graces almost are compounded, it is in oil that hath the ingredients of all kind of graces, and therefore though you cannot see the particular grace, yet in this oil you have it all;

A  What are the various things which Burroughs lists as separate graces? What makes up the “composition of grace”?

B  Use your knowledge and a concordance to find passages in the Bible which extol each faith, humility, love, patience, wisdom.

C Exercise of faith:

1  What must one believe to exercise contentment when the present circumstances do not support any contentment? What must one believe about a difficult circumstance to be able to exercise contentment?

2  Read 1 Peter 1:3-9: What basis does Peter provide for the believer to exercise contentment in the midst of trials?

3  Read 2 Corinthians 4:7-18: What basis does Paul provide for the believer to exercise contentment?

4 Think of what makes it difficult to exercise contentment in the midst of difficulties: how then to do Peter & Paul provide a basis for contentment? How do the promises of God answer the trouble such that one can be contentment now where troubles are great?

5 What made the disciples troubled? Mark 4:35-41.

D  Humility. How do you think that humility relates to the question of contentment? Consider it the opposite way, how does pride spur discontentment?

1  Read Isaiah 66:1-3. What makes a person humble? How is humility described in this passage?

2  Compare this aspect of humility (trembling) with faith which supports contentment: how does humility support faith and contentment?

E  Wisdom:

1 Read Proverbs 1:20-33. What is promised here by humility?

2  Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.

a  What is the wisdom of this world when faced by trouble?

b  How does God’s wisdom display itself in this world: what did God’s greatest act of “wisdom” look like when played out on earth? (Read Psalm 2 and realize that the Psalm refers to the crucifixion of Christ. How did Christ’s death look to God (when on earth it looked like defeat)?

c  How then does such wisdom relate to a contentment which is not dependent upon present appearances? Phil. 1:27-30, 3:7-11; 2 Corinthians 12:10

F  Hope:Read Romans 5:1-5

1  What is the hope which Paul identifies in this passage

2  What produces this hope?

3  Understand that hope controls human direction, motivation, conduct, et cetera. We do what we hope. Hope is not merely motivation for something which we otherwise desire: hope is bound up in the desire itself. Our will is formed by our greatest desire/hope. We are discontentment, because our hope has been thwarted. (Imagine you wanted to get a ticket for some event. If you do not get the ticket, you are disappointed. Imagine now you hear some “sold-out” event which did not want to attend. You are not disappointed. This is a trivial example, but it helps illustrate the point).

4  Read Col. 1:24-28, compare this Paul’s words in Romans 5:1-5. Are suffering and hope contrary? If we obtain that for which we hope, how can be not be content?

5 Read 2 Corinthians 1:8-8, what does suffering produce? Do you see how suffering causes the loss of one hope so that it will be substituted by a better hope?

G How then do these elements help produce contentment in the believer?

H  If our hope and faith are set upon God’s provision of what God promises, and if we are sufficiently humble to not substitute our own goals for God, will that produce contentment?