I'd like to, if you don't mind, Chris, open us in prayer before we start. Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth, we pray that you would bless this time of fellowship with a better attitude. Guide Aaron in teaching us this Sunday. Help this time to be fruitful and productive. of the children present today to gain discernment and wisdom, and see things from an eternal perspective, to pray that you bless this time, and also pray that you bring peace to the African-American family, and also with healing. Just cherishing the time that we have together as a family. We pray that you would just agree with us that we have time together to bring those who do not know the Christ into salvation. We pray for those who continue to be healing from their illnesses in our congregation, that this series of contentment help us so that we could live to you our All right, so this is chapter 3 or section 3. This was distributed in an email in an abbreviated fashion. And then there was also a book right there. And we had some copies. I don't know if there's any more copies left. I would really encourage everyone who hasn't Take a deep dive within it. Jesse did a great job last week of pointing out how it was intended, a moment of meditation. Your words were spot on on that. I can't remember exactly how you phrased it, but I appreciated it. So take this and take it as a moment to reflect on the statements. It's written with scripture references, interspersed, not quite as densely as it would be written today. So it's a different style. This was written in the early 1600s. So this is full of quotes from Jeremiah Burroughs. So how Christ teaches contentment. So the first thought is where to begin with this. is take a scholar who has great learning and understanding in arts and sciences. How did he begin? He began, as we say, his ABC. And then afterwards, he came to his Testament, and Bible, and accidents, and so to his grammar. So a Christian coming to contentment is as a scholar in Christ's school. Every godly man or woman is a scholar. So consider yourselves a scholar and a learner this morning in this and throughout your life. And then he goes on, you know how when you strike something soft, it makes no noise? But if you strike a hard thing, it makes a noise. So with the hearts of men who are full of themselves and hardened with self-love, if they receive a stroke, they make a noise. But a self-denying Christian yields to God's hand. So the first big point Jeremiah Burroughs makes is self-denial. And he continues on in this thought and analogy with ABCs and basic learning. There are statements within this which are convicting and hard. And they're also nuanced. So I would encourage kids, talk to your parents about these things. They're not as straightforward and as easy to grasp as maybe some other things. But these are the beginnings of the basics as far as statements. You know that when a child is first taught, he complains. This is hard. It is just like that. I remember Bradford the Martyr said, whoever has not learned the lesson of the cross has not learned his ABC in Christianity. This is where Christ begins with the scholars. And those in the lowest form must begin with this. If you mean to be Christians at all, you must buckle to this or you can never be Christians. Just as no one can be a scholar unless he learns his ABC, So you must learn the lessons of self-denial, or you can never become a scholar in Christ's school and be learned in this mystery of contentment." I didn't cover all of the points that he made. There's quite a few, and they're detailed. So these are some of the highlights of what he, Jeremiah Burroughs, concluded was kind of the tenets or pillars of self-denial within Christendom. So firstly, I am nothing. Well, I see I am nothing in myself, and that's he in myself, that man or woman who indeed knows that he or she is nothing and has learned it thoroughly will be able to bear anything. God would not have us set our hearts upon riches because they are nothing. And yet God has pleased and set his heart upon us, and we are nothing. That is God's grace, free grace. And therefore, it does not much matter what I suffer, for I am as nothing. You should take that as a comfort and a conviction. Secondly, I deserve nothing. Suppose I lack this and that thing which others have. I am sure that I deserve nothing except it be hell. We deserve nothing, and therefore, why should we be impatient if we do not get what we desire? I can do nothing. John 15, verse 5, I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. Why should I make much of it? To be troubled and discontented if I have not got this and that. when the truth is that I can do nothing. We desire nothing, and therefore, why should we be impatient if we do not get what we desire? Sorry, we deserve nothing. We desire a lot. I am so vile that of myself, I cannot receive any good. I am not only an empty vessel, but a corrupt and unclean vessel. Now, this particular quote here from the book. There's, I think, a whole page or two pages surrounding just that subject there. So again, I would really, this is the surface of what this book contains. And I hope some of these really drive you into deeper meditation and really pick at your heart in the way that they've resonated with me over the past week or two. We are worse than nothing by sin. we become a great deal worse than nothing. Sin makes us more vile than nothing and contrary to all that is good. It is a great deal worse to have a contrariety to all that is good than merely to have an emptiness of all that is good. We are not empty pitchers in respect to good, but we are like pitchers filled with poison. Is it much for such as we are to be cut short of outward comforts? Again, the phrasing, take a second to read it because it's not as natural as we would speak or read today. But the title there, really, is what you should take away from this. If we perish, we will be no loss. If God should annihilate me, what loss would it be to anyone? God can raise up someone else in my place to serve him in a different way. Comes back to our purpose as a humanity, as people, and people that are created in God's image. So it should be read and thought of in that respect. So. And again, this is an abbreviation, self-denial. I am nothing. I deserve nothing. I can do nothing. We are worse than nothing. If we perish, we will be no loss. So I have a question for you. I struggle with this sometimes. I did struggle with it in terms of I believe all those things. But now I have my grandchild in front of me, and looking at how he journeys through this world. And I give him the message of nothing. You deserve nothing. You can do nothing. You're worse than nothing. And if you perish, there's no loss. It's not necessarily about anything. nature to speak that way, and even to a broader audience. So then, how do we get to that point? So those are not offensive sayings. They're very glorious sayings, looking to the audience in part. Do you have anything to add? You have to ask the question in less than 10 words. And I you. It hurts. It does hurt because I am much to myself. I mean, I think it was a painful read for me. I mean, I would think that it would be a painful read for most people. This is particularly hard and a struggle for myself. If we perish, we will be no loss. But to consider our purpose and what the scripture says about why we were created and what we're intended to do, I think it makes sense. But it sure doesn't feel that way every day. That is all true, what we are. But our focus is not on ourself. Our focus is Christ. We are born and conquered in Christ Jesus. He has made us everything we can be. We are inclined, and that's our focus. Yes? Well, I mean, the point of the sermon, I think, This meditation, this book, and this study, it's not our focus. Our focus is typically our self. That's what we find within, what we find in the Christian intent. And so this is the best thing, I think, about spiritual discipline, where we think highly of ourselves, and we are dissatisfied with ourselves. The aspect of helping a child, obviously, there's an abusive nature that brings the mind and you say, you're nothing, you're equal to nothing, you're worth nothing, you should be happy, I can give you anything. But when a human obligates to a child, it's wonderful. Well, it's undoubtedly wrong. It's undoubtedly wrong. Well, right. It feels like, you know, pragmatism tells you that's not how you speak to a child. But there's something in the Gospels that says, here's the good news. But we can't have the good news until we get the bad news. The bad news is that we aren't deserving of love. The good news, what gains us content, is that despite our sin, God loves us, and despite his utter holiness and lack of a need for us. He doesn't need us in the least. And yet, he sacrificed his son to watch over our sins, even though he adopted children. And so the idea that he, an encouragement, I think, is accurate. But you can't take it all the way to the whole of scripture. You can't stop that. I mean, I think these statements are not as clear as they could be, and it's removing some of the context that these were written around. These are statements to the man as a man. I think you mentioned CMR. You've got it outside of Christ. You have the priorities that you need. It frees you to enroll in your children, be equipped to do the best that they can in this world. But I think it should pluck and resonate, and it's not wrong for it to hurt a little. We don't want to raise our kids in a state of paralysis where they feel like there is nothing beyond. Well, let's keep going. I also just want to put that when you look at the entirety of the book, I think that you find yourself, Christ is not required to take on the cross. So when I take those statements and I look at those statements and say, outside of Christ, I am nothing. I can take each one of those statements and if I put the elements of Christ in, I think it starts moving toward this basic foundation of his Lord in terms of, because I have Christ, he is contentious and I am contentious. He continues on through self-denial, and this is included under the section of self-denial. No one has denied himself as much as Jesus did Christ did. I think this is the least controversial of what we've covered so far, maybe in total. Somebody mind reading the first one on the left? I gave my life as opposed to strife. I Jesused those with wild fear, and did not my face with disgrace and fear. Somebody else want to read this on the right? Nathan, do you mind? land of the living, stricken for the transgressions of men, and they made his grace great with wicked and with the rich man in his death. Although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth, yet at least a little of the Lord's corruption, he has put them to grief when his soul makes an offering for God. Thank you So we look to Christ as an example of self-denial and we consider where we are within that Continuing on from self-denial into vanity the vanity of the creature And I appreciated that word specifically, the creature. I thought that was apt. Whatever there is in the creature has emptiness in it. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. That's the lesson that the wise man learned. There is nothing in the creature that is suitable for a gracious heart to feed upon for its good and happiness. The reason why you do not have contentment in the things of the world is not that you do not have enough of them. The reason is that they are not things proportional to that immortal soul of yours that is capable of God himself. And I didn't include it, but I really appreciated the analogy he gave. He said it's like trying to satisfy yourself by opening your mouth and taking in wind. And then you're just astonished that the wind, you need more wind. And you're just never enough wind. I could just picture a gate mouth out the side of a car, And as a child, trying to figure out why he wasn't full. And that's really where we are. You are mad people. You seek to satisfy your stomach with that which is not bread. You follow the wind. You will never have contentment. All creatures in the world say, contentment is not in us. Riches say, contentment is not in me. Pleasure says, contentment is not in me. If you look for contentment in the creature, you will fail. So from self-denial, vanity, the one thing necessary. Luke 10, verse 41, 42. Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her. It is not necessary that I should live a pleasurable life in this world. But it is absolutely necessary that I should have pardon of my sin. The other things are pretty fine indeed, and I should be glad if God would give me them, a fine house, an income, and clothes, and advancement for my wife and children. These are comfortable things, but they are not the necessary things. I may have these and yet perish forever. No matter how poor I am, I may have what is absolutely necessary. This is the soul's relation to the world. So self-denial, vanity, the one thing necessary, the soul's relation to the world. While I live in the world, my condition is to be but a pilgrim, stranger, traveler, and soldier. When sailors are at sea, they do not care what clothes they have. Though they are pitched and tarred, but a clout around their necks, and any old clothes, they think of when they come home. You are, as it were, only lodging here for a night. If you were to live 100 years in comparison to eternity, it is not as much a night. 2 Timothy 2, verses 3 and 4. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. Who do you serve? A soldier is content to endure hardness, though he does not know that he shall have the victory. But a Christian knows himself to be a soldier and knows that he shall conquer and triumph with Jesus Christ to all eternity. And I just appreciated the note at the bottom. OK, so self-denial, vanity, one thing necessary, soul's relation to the world, and then the burden of a prosperous outward condition. Luke 12, 48. Somebody mind reading this? The top one there. Thank you. 1 Timothy 6.10, for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many necks. And this, thirdly, this was something that, this is a verse that I had never personally examined, or passages. This is in reference to, of the house of Levi, children of Coath, Numbers four and number seven here. They were given the service of the most holy things at the most highest, most prominent service in the temple. And others, all of the other levels of service were given oxen and other things to lighten their load. And it's specifically because they were charged with the service of the holy things, that had to be carried on the shoulder. they had an extra burden at the highest position, specifically. So, self-denial. I am nothing. I deserve nothing. I can do nothing. We are worse than nothing. We perish. We will be no loss. Vanity, soul's relation to the world, the burden of a prosperous outward condition. That leads us into the right knowledge of God's providence. So there's a couple main points that Jonathan Burroughs makes with us. The universality of God's providence. The providence of God goes through the whole world and extends itself to everything. Not only that God by his providence rules the world and governs all things in general, but that it reaches to every detail. Not only to order the great affairs of kingdoms, but it reaches to every man's family, it reaches to every person in the family, it reaches to every condition, yea, to every happening, to everything that falls out concerning you at every particular. Not one hair falls from your head, not a sparrow to the ground without the providence of God. And the references here are contained. Then when I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters, and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, hallelujah, for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Matthew 10, 29, 30. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. The efficacy that is in providence. What shall the providence of God change its course for you? Do you think it's such a weak thing that because it does not please you, it must alter its course? Whether or not you are content, providence of God will go on. It has an efficacy of power, of virtue, to carry all things before it. And this was an interesting verse in Job. This was in response to Job as he's lamenting his state. You who tear yourself in your anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you, or the rock be removed out of its place? So his phrasing here was just, I couldn't paraphrase it, I just had to copy it. The infinite variety of the works of providence, and yet the order of things, one working towards another. So it's how things lead into another. I'll let him speak through here. We indeed look at things by pieces. We look at one detail and do not consider the relation that one thing has to another. But God looks at all things at once. He sees the relation that one thing has to another. In a clock, stop but one wheel, and you stop every wheel, because they are dependent upon one another. So when God has ordered a thing for the present to be thus and thus, how do you know how many other things depend upon this thing? God may have some work to do, 20 years hence, that depends on this passage of providence that falls out this day or this week. What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. I think that should be a specific comfort. The knowledge of providence. We do not understand their way. So it is with you. Those who are but as strangers to God and do not understand the way of God are troubled with the providence of God. And they think them very strange and cannot tell what to make of them, because they do not understand the ordinary course and way of God towards his people. God's ordinary course is that his people in this world should be in an afflicted condition. When he intends the greatest mercies to his people, he first usually brings them into very low condition. the greatest good that God intends for his people. He many times works out of the greatest evil. It is the way of God to bring all good out of evil, not only to overcome the evil, but to make the evil work towards the good. Now when the soul comes to understand this, it will take away our murmuring and bring contentment into our spirits. But I fear there are but few who understand and are right. Perhaps they read of such things and hear such things in a sermon, but they are not instructed in this like Jesus Christ. That is, that this is the way to God, to bring the greatest good out of the greatest evil. All right. Pretty fast. So is there anything, any questions or statements that we haven't already made on self-denial that we want to continue on? Yes. I mean, if we look at that in isolation, we've just had something in place that said, my ordinary course is going to be eclipsed my greatest mercy from God is going to come and put me in the lowest of conditions. And then, oh, by the way, God's greatest good is going to be formed when I'm surrounded by the darkest of evil. That's kind of tough. Yeah, I agree. So change it for me. Wish I could. It'd be a lot easier, right? I mean, is there a discussion of contentment with everything that you want to do? I mean, how is there... There's that tension between if I praise God when everything is great all the time for me and I never have to struggle, does that really test the limits of your trust in God's providence and His providence? I mean, the one good thing that we can all relate to is that nobody has it that way in this life. Well, it depends on what you mean when you say it's going right, right? Because healthy family, comfortable living, right? So then we come back to the burden of a prosperous outward condition. Much is given, much is required. There is a duty, there is a biblical duty, to a prosperous outward condition, and difficulties and trials within that. I mean, in a modern world, no matter how great your condition is, there's still suffering. There's still misery. There's still something that's necessary. And then outside of a hospital doctor, someone's going to get surgery. Yes. Or you had to get the car that you wanted. Right. Yeah. It wasn't the color. Right. Exactly. There's always going to be something because we're assuming that it's going to be tested. how much we really do believe in God's work and that his will is always good. So those three points, those three points, for instance, I'm with the I wouldn't see that I would pray that I'd be afflicted, that I'd be brought to those conditions, and that I'd be surrounded in evil. I think from a biblical principle, you know, when I get, when we were teaching through First Peter, when Peter said, you are going to suffer. You are going to suffer. I'm not going to pray for that suffering. It will come. It will come. And when it comes, if Christ is all I need, then my contentment is failed because I am in Christ and I am settled in Him. And in the midst of the, you know, it's that old song that says, you know, he can choose to calm the storm or calm me in the midst of the storm. You know, the belief that in the most afflicted conditions, when I am the lowest, when I am surrounded by evil, God is still God. He is still sovereign. And I've been placed exactly where I'm supposed to be. And I find contentment in knowing that it is written. I don't know if I remember this correctly, but I think it's in the first chapter where he actually says, let's talk about what we mean by contentment and what we don't mean by contentment. The other thing is specifically, it doesn't mean that I pray for bad things to happen all the time. So again, taking it out of context, Yeah. And also, I think also in the first chapter, it talks about praying for relief is not a sin. So those as well. But to understand God's providence in all things, that there is not an exception to the providence. in the midst of great evil and a crime committed, horrendous things that I don't even want to say out loud. God is providential in that moment, which is contrary to our natural state. It's like when the apostles said to us, Jesus, who sinned? This guy was born blind. Was it him, or was it his parents that he became punished for sinning? He said neither. It's so that the power of God can be shown. So I think that lines up with the type of eagle or the lounder that we're talking about. Yeah. Christ said that he is grievous, and focus on the grievous, knowing that evil is going to come, but Christ is so afraid to worry about that. Right. I mean, I hope, and I apologize if it was, I don't mean to detract the gospel from this. Right? It's not apart from this. Right? That's still integral to how we understand these things. And it should not be, when we think of these things and we meditate on them, they should be attached and firmly gripped together. Yes? I appreciate that. And I think, you know, I don't hear it that way. In fact, I mean, I'm, I mean, think about where our church is, just that these three points aren't so crucial or necessary. We have children that have been diagnosed with cancer. So when you look at this, it's almost a reminder, even in the midst of this, this is the ordinary way of ultimately showing us his race and ethnicity. I think we look at this not as, okay, every day we look at these three points and say, okay, this is my lot. I think we walk through life and we hurt and we lament. And even in the grace of laments, you know, we can say, okay, God's God's ordinary way of growing people is through election. It's one of the ways he grows us. And to be on that number two, when the intent is to raise mercy to his people, he usually brings them into very low conditions. I mean, we are going as a people to experience God's mercy in a very unique way because people in our midst are suffering. And so I actually think this is very timely for us. Because ultimately, all of the things we're going through as a church, people praying for loved ones, lots of loved ones, sending friends away, these fuel light for us. They're not the greatest people, but they hurt a lot. we can rest and enforce the spiritual economy. Even in these things, you know, God intends good for us. And in fact, there's hope in that. But I like what you said. I mean, it's the Apostle Paul, one of the most content people we could look at. You know, he said, I'm content in all things. But he was sorrowful, and it hurt. So I think this is actually a good way of seeing God's mercy, not just in the mountaintop, but in the valley as well. Yeah, I agree. It's critical. One of the things that I, there was one point that I had to keep coming back to, as I definitely struggled through this, was the one thing necessary. So that was the one point where, when I revisited others and had to read more scripture and soften my heart through this, this is where I ended back. I think it's worth considering one more time before one last thing. So it is not necessary that I should live a pleasurable life in this world, but it is absolutely necessary that I should have pardon of my sin. One thing I think about, too, is all the things that we go through, everybody in the world goes through them. People without parents, business people, Yes. I think that's definitely biblical. Definitely. So a lighter note here. think about how to apply these thoughts to the abstract, and there's nothing more abstract than Calvin and Hobbes. So these are the main points here. It's a funny world, Hobbes, true, but it's not a hilarious world unless you like sick humor. The world is probably funnier to people who don't live here. Now, in what ways does this demonstrate a poor understanding or a denial of contentment and how we've set this up this morning. Any ideas? Any thoughts on this? Like, what does it deny? Yes? Say it again. not bothering to understand. So that would be not understanding God's providence, maybe. You're fallen. You're beaten. You're on the ground. You're there, and God has ordained it. Anything else? Desire something else. That's a denial of the one thing necessary. The one thing necessary is pardon for his sin, not being out of a low place. Anything else? All right. Can everybody read that? I've decided to stop caring about things. If you care, you just get disappointed all the time. If you don't care, nothing matters, so you're never upset. From now on, my rallying cry is, so what? That's a tough cry to rally around. So what? So in what ways does this deny? I think this can be a natural state for a lot of people if we're not careful ourselves on a bad day. So in what ways does this deny failure? Well, I think it denies any sense of failure. Christian contentment. It's very much Zen. This doesn't matter. Nothing matters. Everything, nothing matters. What does, God has ordained it. He put you there. Yes. Yes. I couldn't hear. Yes. Yes. When things hurt, we like to put on the mute button. That's why people in down and desperate places do a lot of drugs. Things to numb because it hurts a lot. It's easier to not engage than engage. It also assumes a place for himself. I think if you care, you just get disappointed all the time. Well, what does he deserve? What does he really deserve? Eternal damnation unto himself. Right? I think there's any number of things here. Anybody else on this one? One of the points I didn't end up including in this was Jeremiah Burroughs' statement on rationality and faith, and that rationality without faith is empty. So you can walk through and say these things and repeat a mantra, but without the faith, there's no life there. All right, last one. Look at this. You call this snow? It's not even an inch high. What good is less than an inch of snow? Well, it's pretty. Nobody ever closed a school on account of prettiness. Anybody want to take a stab at this? I couldn't quite hear that. Mm-hmm. That's true. All right, so what does Calvin assume he deserves? He deserves a day off from school. Well, that's certainly not what he deserves or what's good for him, right? He's looking at a piece, at a small piece. He's not seeing anything beyond himself. It's totally self-centered point of view. It's the opposite. It's as far as you can go from self-denial as possible. Everything unto himself. Let's see. All right. I think we're good. Thank you. Appreciate one last bit of humor. Would you mind praying for us? And I'm just proud of what you're doing now with the worship and the view of our body. Because Jesus' heart can be changed. If you were a Christ-like, you would appear to the gospel in a way that soothes out your thoughts. What would you do in order to serve Jesus with all of the things I've been teaching you? Thank you. I'll listen. Go ahead. It's like a disturbance. You can get everything. Thank you. Thank you.