“I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” These familiar words from Paul’s letter to the Philippians contain within them both the promise of the Gospel and the call for sanctified Christian living in accordance with God’s Holy Word. To put it into terms of the Reformed theologians, Philippians 4:11 reveals both gospel and law, held together in perfect harmony—here we see that Christ is the ultimate man of contentment, who truly learned to be content in all things because of the great love he has for his Father and for all those who call upon the name of the Lord. But here in Paul’s statement we also see that it is the duty of Christians to be content in whatever situation God has put us in; no matter what circumstances, hardships, trials, or blessings God has brought our way, we must rest in the finished work of Christ and follow the example of the great man of true contentment, Jesus Christ. Without Christ we cannot be truly content in all things. Philippians 4:11 shows us both our great need for Christ and calls Christians to action, spurning us on toward greater godly contentment. But what is true Christian contentment, and how can you and I learn how to, like Paul, be content in any situation?

In 1648, two years after the death of its author, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs (c.1600–1646) was published as a boon and blessing for Puritan-minded Christians. Burroughs was born in England sometime around the turn of the seventeenth century (we know that he was baptized as an infant in 1601, but there is debate as to whether he was born in 1599 or 1600). His life revolved around Christ’s church, and after completing his studies he entered into pastoral ministry in 1627 at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. From there he went on to pastor another church in England before setting sail for the Continent and pastoring a church in the Netherlands. In 1642 he returned to England to preach the Gospel in London and participate in the deliberations of the Westminster Assembly. It was while he was on a journey home from the Assembly’s meetings that Burroughs was thrown from his horse; he died two weeks later due to complications from that fall. Jeremiah Burroughs was a faithful man of God, proclaiming the truths of God’s Word and standing upon those truths even in the face of rejection and persecution. He was passionately committed to restoring peace and unity within Christ’s church, and much of his work later in life was aimed at the goal of reconciling all the groups of Puritans who separated themselves from others for different reasons.

In The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, Burroughs takes Christians on a soul-stirring journey, calling on all of us to take up our pickaxes and join him in the mines of Scripture. Here we are brought by our Puritan forebear to the precious jewel of contentment and are shown its beauty, depth, and necessity, as well as how we can attain it for ourselves, what it looks like to be content in all things, and, conversely, how to spot and root out discontent when it rears its ugly head in our hearts. Through our study of the Puritan classic, you will be brought back once again to the awesome and dearly precious promises that God has given us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. We will see the greatness of our sin, the holiness of our God, and how the holy incarnate Son of God bore the wrath for our sins on the cross. Through studying Burroughs’s Rare Jewel you and I will learn what it means to trust God in all things, to cry out to him in praise, adoration, and thanksgiving because of the wonderful promises which are ours in Christ Jesus. Whether we are suffering through the difficulties of life, or God is blessing us in various ways, we must be content, knowing that our worth is not in what we own, but in the very blood of Jesus Christ.

For the next few weeks, I will be leading us through a study of The Rare Jewel. If you do not already own it, I would highly encourage you to have a copy of this wonderful little book that you can read along with me. I will walk us through the Banner of Truth’s Puritan Paperbacks edition, which can be purchased here. Each entry in this study will reflect on Burroughs’s work, and I will seek to draw out many practical implications and contemporary applications of the book so that we might all learn true and lasting contentment, always with the aim of knowing our great Triune God even more and following in the footsteps of our beloved Savior Christ. Burroughs’s opening words in the first chapter of the book are incredibly prescient for all Christians today: “This text contains a very timely cordial to revive the drooping spirits of the saints in these sad and sinking times.” As was the case in the middle of the seventeenth century, we too live in sad and sinking times, and my hope is that this study will prove to be a balm to weary souls, that it will indeed revive the drooping spirits of the precious saints of Christ Church Presbyterian. May the Spirit of Christ guide us as we study this wonderful book.