"Mute
Christian under the Smarting Rod" or,
"The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes"
by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.
"I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for
You are the one who has done this!" Psalm 39:9
IV. WHY must Christians be mute and silent under
the greatest afflictions, the saddest providences, and sharpest
trials which they meet with in this world?
I answer,
Reason 1. That they may
the better hear and understand the voice of the rod. As
the word has a voice, the Spirit a voice, and conscience
a voice—so God's rod has a voice. Afflictions are the
rod of God's anger, the rod of his displeasure, and his rod of
revenge. God gives a commission to his rod—to awaken his
people—to reform his people—or else to revenge the quarrel of
his covenant upon them, if they will not hear the rod, and kiss the
rod, and sit mute and silent under the rod—Micah 6:9, 'The voice
of the Lord calls out to the city (and it is wise to fear Your
name,) "Pay attention to the rod and the One who ordained
it." God's rods are not mutes, they are all vocal, they are all
speaking as well as smiting. Every twig has a voice. 'Ah! soul,'
says one twig, 'you say it smarts. Well! tell me, is it good to
provoke a jealous God?' Jer. 4:18. 'Ah! soul,' says another twig,
'you say it is bitter, it reaches to your heart; but have not your
own doings procured these things?' Rom. 6:20, 21. 'Ah! soul,' says
another twig, 'where is the profit, the pleasure, the sweet that you
have found in wandering from God?' Hosea 2:7. 'Ah! soul,' says
another twig, 'was it not best with you, when you were high in your
communion with God, and when you were humble and close in your
walking with God?' Micah 6:8. 'Ah! Christian,' says another twig,
'will you search your heart, and try your ways, and turn to the Lord
your God?' Lam. 3:40. 'Ah! soul,' says another twig, 'will you die
to sin more than ever, and to the world more than ever, and to
relations more than ever, and to yourself more than ever?' Rom.
14:6-8; Gal. 6:18. 'Ah! soul,' says another twig, 'will you live
more to Christ than ever, and cleave closer to Christ than ever, and
prize Christ more than ever, and venture further for Christ than
ever?' 'Ah! soul,' says another twig, 'will you love Christ with a
more inflamed love, and hope in Christ with a more raised hope, and
depend upon Christ with a greater confidence, and wait upon Christ
with more invincible patience?'
Now, if the soul be not mute and silent under the
rod, how is it possible that it should ever hear the voice of the
rod, or that it should ever hearken to the voice of every twig of
the rod? The rod that is in the hands of earthly fathers has a
voice—but children hear it not, they understand it not, until they
are hushed and quiet, and brought to kiss it, and sit silently under
it; no more shall we hear or understand the voice of the rod that is
in our heavenly Father's hand, until we come to kiss it, and sit
silently under it. But,
Reason 2. Gracious souls
should be mute and silent under their greatest afflictions and
sharpest trials—that they may difference and distinguish
themselves from the men of the world, who usually fret and fling,
mutter or murmur, curse and swagger, when they are under the
afflicting hand of God.
"They will wander through the land, dejected
and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and,
looking upward, will curse their king and their God. They will look
toward the earth and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of
affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness."
Isaiah 8:21-22. Ah! how fretful and froward, how disturbed and
distracted, how mad and forlorn—are these poor wretches under the
rebukes of God! They look upward and downward this way and that way,
on this side and on that, and finding no help, no support, no
support, no deliverance, like Bedlams, yes, like incarnate
devils—they fall upon cursing of God!
"We all roar like bears; we moan mournfully
like doves. We look for justice—but find none; for
deliverance—but it is far away." Isaiah 59:11. They express
their inward vexation and indignation by roaring like bears. When
bears are robbed of their whelps, or taken in a pit, oh how
dreadfully will they roar, rage, tear, and tumble! So when wicked
people are fallen into the pit of affliction, oh how will they roar,
rage, tear, and cry out! not of their sins—but of their
punishments; as Cain, 'My punishment is greater than I am able to
bear!' Gen. 4:13; Isaiah 51:20, 'Your sons have fainted, they lie at
the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net—they are full
of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of your God.' When the huntsman
has taken the wild bull in his net, and so entangled him, that he is
not able to wind himself out, oh, how fierce and furious will he be!
how will he spend himself in struggling to get out! Such wild bulls
are wicked men—when they are taken in the net of affliction.
It is said of Marcellus the Roman general, that
he could not be quiet—neither conquered nor conqueror! It is so
with wicked men; they cannot be quiet, neither full nor fasting,
neither sick nor well, neither in wealth nor want, neither in bonds
nor at liberty, neither in prosperity nor in
adversity—"Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of
jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives.
Her people all roar like young lions, they growl like lion
cubs." Jeremiah 51:37-38. When the lion roars, all the beasts
of the field tremble, Amos 3:8. When the lion roars, many creatures
that could outrun him are so amazed and astonished at the terror of
his roar, that they are not able to stir from the place. Such
roaring lions are wicked men, when they are under the smarting
rod—"They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the
name of God, who had control over these plagues—but they refused
to repent and glorify him. Men gnawed their tongues in agony and
cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their
sores—but they refused to repent of what they had done."
Revelation 16:9-11
And therefore gracious souls have cause to be
silent under their sorest trials, that they may difference and
distinguish themselves from wicked men, who are 'like the troubled
sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt',
Isaiah 57:20. The verb rasha signifies to make a stir, to be
exceeding busy, unquiet, or troublesome. Ah! what a stir do wicked
men make, when they are under the afflicting hand of God! Ah! the
sea is restless and unquiet when there is no storm; it cannot stand
still—but has its flux and reflex; so it is much more restless,
when by tempest upon tempest it is made to roar and rage, to foam
and cast up mire and dirt. The raging sea is a fit emblem of a
wicked man, who is under God's afflicting hand.
Reason 3. A third reason why gracious souls
should be silent and mute under their sharpest trials is, that
they may be conformable to Christ their head, who was dumb and
silent under his sorest trials.
"He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did
not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a
sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open His mouth. Isaiah
53:7. Christ was tongue-tied under all his sorrows and
sufferings—"He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in
His mouth; when reviled, He did not revile in return; when
suffering, He did not threaten—but committed Himself to the One
who judges justly." 1 Peter 2:22-23. Christ upon the cross did
not read us a lecture of patience and silence—but he has also set
us a copy or pattern of both, to be transcribed and imitated by us
when we are under the smarting rod. It will be our sin and shame if
we do not bear up with patience and silence under all our
sufferings, considering what an admirable copy Christ has set before
us.
It is said of Antiochus, that before going to
battle, he showed unto his elephants the blood of the grapes and
mulberries—to provoke them the better to fight. So the Holy Spirit
has set before us the injuries and abuses, the sorrows and
sufferings, the pains and torments, the sweat and blood of our
dearest Lord, and his invincible patience, and admirable silence
under all—to provoke us and encourage us to imitate the Captain of
our salvation, in patience and silence under all our sufferings.
Jerome having read the life and death of Hilarion—one
that lived graciously and died comfortably—folded up the book,
saying—Well! Hilarion shall be the champion that I will follow;
his good life shall be my example, and his good death my precedent.
Oh! how much more should we all say—We have read how Christ has
been afflicted, oppressed, distressed, despised, persecuted, etc.;
and we have read how speechless, how tongue-tied, how patient, and
how silent he has been under all; oh! he shall be the copy which we
shall write after, the pattern which we will walk by, the champion
which we will follow! But, alas! alas! how rare is it to find a man
that may be applauded with the eulogy of Salvian—an excellent
disciple of a singular master. The heathens had this notion among
them, as Lactantius reports, that the way to honor their gods was to
be like them; and therefore some would be wicked, counting it a
dishonor to their gods to be unlike to them. I am sure the way to
honor our Christ, is in patience and silence to be like to Christ,
especially when a smarting rod is upon our backs, and a bitter cup
put into our hands.
Reason 4. The fourth reason why the people of God
should be mute and silent under their afflictions, is this, because
it is ten thousand times a greater judgment and affliction, to be
given to a fretful spirit, a froward spirit, a muttering spirit
under an affliction—than it is to be afflicted. This is
both the devil's sin, and the devil's punishment. God is still
afflicting, crossing and vexing him; and he is still a-fretting,
repining, vexing, and rising up against God. No sin like the devil's
sin, no punishment like the devil's punishment. A man were better to
have all the afflictions of all the afflicted throughout the world
at once upon him—than to be given up to a froward spirit—to a
muttering, murmuring heart under the least affliction. When you see
a soul fretting, vexing, and stamping under the mighty hand of God,
you see one of Satan's first-born, one that resembles him to the
life. No child can be so much like the father, as this froward soul
is like to the father of lies.
Though he has been in chains almost this six
thousand years, yet he has never lain still one day, nor one night,
no nor one hour in all this time—but is still a-fretting vexing,
tossing and tumbling in his chains, like a princely bedlam. He is a
lion—not a lamb; a roaring lion—not a sleepy lion; not a lion
standing still—but a lion going up and down; he is not satisfied
with the prey he has already gotten—but is restless in his designs
to fill hell with souls, 1 Pet. 5:8. He never lacks an apple for
an Eve, nor a grape for a Noah, nor a change of clothing for a
Gehazi, nor a wedge of gold for an Achan, nor a crown for an
Absalom, nor a bag of silver for a Judas, nor a world for a Demas.
If you look into one company, there you shall find Satan a-dishing
out his meat to every palate; if you look into another company,
there you shall find him fitting a lace to every shoe; if you look
into a third company, there you shall find him suiting a garment to
every back. He is under wrath, and cannot but be restless. Here,
with Jael, he allures poor souls in with milk—and murders them
with a nail! There, with Joab, he embraces with one hand—and stabs
with another! Here with Judas, he kisses—and betrays! And there,
with the whore of Babylon, he presents a golden cup—with poison in
it! He cannot be quiet, though his bolts be always on!
And the more unquiet any are under the rebukes of
God, the more such resemble Satan—whose whole life is filled up
with vexing and fretting against the Lord. Let not any think, says
Luther, that the devil is now dead, nor yet asleep, for as he who
keeps Israel, so he who hates Israel, neither slumbers nor sleeps.
But; in the next place,
Reason 5. A fifth reason why gracious souls
should be mute and silent under the greatest afflictions and
sharpest trials that do befall then is this—because
a holy, a prudent silence under afflictions, under miseries, does
best capacitate and fit the afflicted for the receipt of miseries.
When the rolling bottle lies still, you may pour into it your
sweetest or your strongest waters; when the rolling, tumbling soul
lies still, then God can best pour into it the sweet waters of
mercy, and the strong waters of divine consolation. You read of the
'peaceable fruits of righteousness'—Heb. 12:11. 'Now no chastening
for the present seems to be joyous—but grievous; nevertheless,
afterwards it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto
those who are exercised thereby.' James 3:18, 'And the fruit of
righteousness is sown in peace, by those who make peace.'
The still and quiet soul is like a ship that lies
still and quiet in the harbor; you may take in what goods, what
commodities you please, while the ship lies quiet and still—so
when the soul is quiet and still under the hand of God, it is most
fitted and advantaged to take in much of God, of Christ, of heaven,
of the promises, of ordinances, and of the love of God, the smiles
of God, the communications of God, and the counsel of God. But when
souls are unquiet, they are like a ship in a storm, they can take in
nothing.
Luther, speaking of God, says, God does not dwell
in Babylon—but in Salem. Babylon signifies confusion, and Salem
signifies peace. Now God dwells not in spirits that are unquiet and
in confusion—but he dwells in peaceable and quiet spirits. Unquiet
spirits can take in neither counsel nor comfort, grace nor peace,
etc.—Psalm 77:2, 'My soul refused to be comforted.' The inpatient
patient will take down no cordials; he has no eye to see, nor hand
to take, nor palate to relish, nor stomach to digest—anything that
makes for his health and welfare. When the man is sick and froward,
nothing will relieve him; the sweetest music will make no melody in
his ears—"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the Lord,
and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I
will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with
an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take
you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know
that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke
of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with
uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give
it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.' Moses reported this to
the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their
discouragement and cruel bondage." Exodus 6:6-9.
The choicest cordials and comforts that heaven or
earth could afford are here held forth to them—but they have no
hand to receive them. Here Moses' lips drops honey-combs—but they
can taste no sweetness in them. Here the best of earth and the best
of heaven is set before them—but their souls are shut up, and can
receive nothing. Here is such ravishing music of paradise as might
abundantly delight their hearts and please their ears—but they
cannot hear. Here are soul-enlivening, soul-supporting,
soul-strengthening, soul-comforting, soul-raising, and
soul-refreshing words—but they cannot hearken to
them—"Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not
listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel
bondage." They were under their anguish feverish fits, and so
could neither hear nor see, taste nor take in—anything that might
be mercy or a comfort to them. They were sick with impatience and
discontent—and these humors being grown strong—nothing would
work with them, nothing would agree with them. When people are under
strong pangs of passion, they have no ears neither for reason nor
piety.
Reason 6. A sixth reason why gracious souls
should be silent under the smarting rod, is this, namely—because
it is fruitless, it is futile to strive, to contest or contend with
God. No man has ever got anything, by muttering or
murmuring under the hand of God, except it has been more frowns,
blows, and wounds. Such as will not lie quiet and still, when mercy
has tied them with silken cords—justice will put them in iron
chains! If golden fetters will not hold you, iron fetters shall!
If Jonah will vex and fret and fling; justice will fling him
overboard, to cool him, and quell him, and keep him prisoner in the
whale's belly until he is vomited up, and his spirit made quiet
before the Lord. What you get by struggling and grumbling—you may
put in your eye, and weep it out when you are done—"But am I
the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather
harming themselves, to their own shame? Therefore this is what the
Sovereign Lord says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on
this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the
fruit of the ground, and it will burn and not be quenched."
Jeremiah 7:19-20. 'Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we
stronger than he?' 1 Cor. 10:22. Zanchy observes these two things
from these words:
1. That it is foolish to be provoking God to
wrath, because he is stronger than we.
2. That though God be stronger than we, yet there
are those who do provoke him to wrath. And certainly there are none
that do more provoke him than those who fume and fret when his hand
is upon them!
Though the cup be bitter—yet it is put into
your hand by your Father! Though the cross be heavy—yet he who has
laid it on your shoulders will bear the heaviest end of it himself!
Why, then, should you mutter? Shall bears and lions take blows and
knocks from their keepers, and will you not take a few blows and
knocks from the keeper of Israel? Why should the clay contend with
the potter, or the creature with his creator, or the servant with
his master, or weakness with strength, or a poor nothing creature
with an omnipotent God? Can stubble stand before the fire? Can chaff
abide before the whirlwind? Can a worm ward off the blow of the
Almighty?
A froward and impatient spirit under the hand of
God will but add chain to chain, cross to cross, yoke to yoke, and
burden to burden. The more men tumble and toss in their feverish
fits, the worse they distemper; and the longer it will be before the
cure be effected. The easiest and the surest way of cure is to lie
still and quiet until the poison of the distemper be sweat out.
Where patience has its perfect work, there the cure will be certain
and easy. When a man has his broken leg set, he lies still and
quiet, and so his cure is easily and speedily wrought; but when a
horse's leg is set, he frets and flings, he flounces and flies out,
unjointing it again and again, and so his cure is the more difficult
and tedious. Such Christians that under the hand of God are like the
horse or mule—fretting and flinging—will but add to their own
sorrows and sufferings, and put the day of their deliverance further
off.
Reason 7. A seventh reason why Christians should
be mute and silent under their afflictions is, because
hereby they shall cross and frustrate Satan's great design and
expectation. In all the afflictions he brought upon Job,
Satan's design was not so much to make Job a beggar—as it was to
make him a blasphemer; it was not so much to make Job outwardly
miserable—as it was to make Job inwardly miserable, by occasioning
him to mutter and murmur against the righteous hand of God, that so
he might have had some matter of accusation against him to the Lord.
Satan is the unwearied accuser of the brethren—Rev. 12:10, 'The
accuser of the brethren is cast down, who accuses them before our
God day and night.' Satan is the great tempter and accuser between
God and his children. He has a mint constantly going in hell,
where, as an untiring mint-master, he is still a-coming and
hammering out of accusations against the saints. First, he tempts
and allures souls to sin—and then accuses them of those very sins
he has tempted them to—that so he may disgrace them before God,
and bring them, if it were possible, out of favor with God. And
though he knows beforehand that God and his people are, by the bond
of the covenant, and by the blood of the Redeemer—so closely
united that they can never be severed—yet such is his rage and
wrath, envy and malice, that he will endeavor that which he knows he
shall never effect!
Could he but have made Job froward or fretting
under the rod, he would have quickly carried the tidings to heaven,
and have been so bold as to have asked God whether this was a
posture befitting such a person, of whom God himself had given so
glorious a character! Satan knows that there is more evil in the
least sin—than there is in all the afflictions which can be
inflicted upon a person; and if he could but have made a breach upon
Job's patience, ah, how would he have insulted over God himself!
Could he but have made Job a mutineer, he would quickly have pleaded
for martial law to have been executed upon him; but Job, by
remaining mute and silent under all his trials, puts Satan to a
blush, and spoils all his projects at once. The best way to outwit
the devil, is to be silent under the hand of God; he who mutters is
foiled by him—but he who is silent overcomes him; and to conquer a
devil is more than to conquer a world!
Reason 8. The eighth and last reason why
Christians should be silent and mute under their sorest trials, is
this—that they may be conformable to
those noble patterns that are set before them by other saints, who
have been patient and silent under the smarting rod. As
Aaron, Lev. 10:3; so Eli, 1 Sam. 3:18; so David, 2 Sam. 16:7-13; so
Job, chapter 1:21, 22; so Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joab, Isaiah 36:11,
12. So those saints in that Acts 21:12-15; and that cloud of
witnesses pointed at in Hebrews 12. Gracious examples are more
awakening, more convincing, more quickening, more provoking, and
more encouraging—than precepts; because in them we see that the
exercise of grace and godliness is possible, though it be difficult.
When we see Christians, who are subject to like
infirmities with ourselves, mute and silent under the afflicting
hand of God—we see that it is possible that we may attain to the
same noble temper of being—tongue-tied under God's smarting rod.
Certainly it is our greatest honor and glory, in this world, to be
eyeing and imitating the highest and worthiest examples. What
Plutarch said of Demosthenes, that he was excellent at praising the
worthy acts of his ancestors—but not so good at imitating them—may
be said of many in these days. Oh! they are very forward and
excellent at praising the patience of Job—but not at imitating it;
at praising the silence of Aaron—but not at imitating it; at
praising David's silence—but not at imitating it; at praising
Eli's muteness—but not at imitating it. It was the height of
Caesar's glory to walk in the steps of Alexander; and of Selymus, a
Turkish emperor, to walk in Caesar's steps; and of Themistocles to
walk in Hiltiades's steps. Oh! how much more should we account it
our highest glory to imitate the worthy examples of those worthies,
of whom this world is not worthy! It speaks out much of God within,
when men are striving to write after the fairest copies. And thus
much for the reasons of the point. I come now to the,
V. APPLICATION
You see, beloved, by what has been said, that it
is the greatest duty and concernment of Christians to be mute and
silent under the greatest afflictions, the saddest providences, and
the sharpest trials that they meet with in this world. If this be
so, then this truth looks sourly and wistly upon several sorts of
people. As,
1. First, This looks
sourly and sadly upon murmurers, upon such as do nothing but mutter
and murmur under the afflicting hand of God. This was
Israel's sin of old, and this is England's sin this day. Ah! what
murmuring is there against God, what murmuring against instruments,
and what murmuring against providences—is to be found among us!
Some murmur at what they have lost, others murmur at what they fear
they shall lose! Some murmur that they are no higher, others murmur
because they are so low! Some murmur because such a party rules, and
others mutter because they themselves are not in the saddle! Some
murmur because their mercies are not so great as others' are; some
murmur because their mercies are not so many as others' are! Some
murmur because they are afflicted, and others murmur because such
and such are not afflicted as well as they. Ah, England, England!
had you no more sins upon you—your murmuring would be enough to
undo you, did not God exercise much pity and compassion towards you!
But more of this hereafter, and therefore let this touch for the
present suffice.
2. Secondly, This truth
looks sourly upon those who fret, chafe, and vex when they are under
the afflicting hand of God. Many, when they feel the rod
to smart—ah, how they do fret and fume! Isaiah 8:21, 'Distressed
and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished,
they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king
and their God.' Prov. 19:3, 'A man's own folly ruins his life, yet
his heart rages against the Lord.' The heart may be fretful and
froward when the tongue does not blaspheme. Folly brings man into
misery, and misery makes man to fret. Man in misery is more apt to
fret and chafe against the Lord, than to fret and chafe against his
sin which has brought him into sufferings, 2 Kings 6:33, Psalm 37:1,
7, 8.
A fretful soul dares fly at God himself! When
Pharaoh is troubled with the frets, he dares spit in the very face
of God himself—'Who is the Lord, that I should obey him?' Exod.
5:2. And when Jonah is in a fretting humour, he dares tell God to
his face, 'that he does well to he angry,' Jonah 4:8. Jonah had done
well if he had been angry with his sin—but he did very ill to be
angry with his God! God will vex every vein in that man's heart,
before he has done with him, who fumes and frets, because he cannot
snap in sunder the cords with which he is bound, Ezek. 16:43.
Sometimes good men are sick of the frets—but when they are,
it costs them dear, as Job and Jonah found by experience. No man has
ever got anything by his fretting and flinging, except it has been
harder blows or heavier chains; therefore fret not when God strikes!
3. Thirdly, This truth
looks sourly upon those who charge God foolishly in the day of their
adversity. "Why should any living man complain when
punished for his sins?" Lamentations 3:39. He who has deserved
a hanging—has no reason to charge the judge with cruelty if he
escapes with a whipping! And we who have deserved a damning—have
no reason to charge God for being too severe, if we escape with a
fatherly lashing! Rather than a man will take the blame, and quietly
bear the shame of his own folly—he will put it off upon God
himself, Gen. 3:12. It is a very evil thing, when we shall go to
accuse God, that we may excuse ourselves and unblame ourselves; that
we may blame our God, and lay the fault anywhere rather than upon
our own hearts and ways.
Job was a man of a more noble spirit—Job 1:22,
'In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.' When God
some men—then they presently charge God foolishly; they put him to
bear the brunt and blame of all; but this will be bitterness in the
end. When you are under affliction, you may humbly tell God that you
feel his hand heavy; but you must not blame him because his hand is
heavy. No man has ever yet been able to make good a charge against
God; and will you be able? Surely not! By charging God foolishly in
the day of your calamity, you do but provoke the Lord to charge you
through and through, more fiercely and furiously, with his most
deadly darts of renewed misery! It is your greatest wisdom to blame
your sins, and lay your hand upon your mouth; for why should folly
charge innocence? That man is far off from being mute and
silent under the hand of God—who dares charge God himself for
laying his hand upon him! But,
4. Fourthly, This truth
looks sourly and sadly upon such as will not be silent nor satisfied
under the afflicting hand of God, except the Lord will give them the
particular reasons why he lays his hand upon them. Good
men sometimes dash their feet against this stumbling stone—Jer.
15:18, 'Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable?
Will you be to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails?'
Though God has always reason for what he does—yet he is not
bound to show us the reasons of his doings. Jeremiah's passion
was up, his blood was hot; and now nothing will silence nor satisfy
him but the reasons why his pain was perpetual, and his wound
incurable. So Job, chapter 7:20, 'Why have you set me as a mark
against you, so that I am a burden to myself?' It is an evil and a
dangerous thing to cavil at, or to question God's proceedings, who
is the chief Lord of all, and who may do with his own what he
pleases, Rom. 9:20, Dan. 4:3, 36. He is unaccountable and
uncontrollable; and therefore who shall say—Why are you doing
this? As no man may question God's right to afflict him, nor his
righteousness in afflicting of him; so no man may question the
reasons why he afflicts him. As no man can compel God to give a
reason of his doings, so no man may dare to ask him the particular
reasons of his doings.
Kings are not bound to give their subjects a
reason of their doings; and shall we bind God to give us a reason of
his doings, who is the King of kings and Lord of Lords, and whose
will is the true and only rule of justice? Eccles. 8:4, Rev. 1:5.
The general grounds and reasons which God
has laid down in his word why he afflicts his people, as—that is
for their profit, Heb. 12:10; for the purging away of their sins,
Isaiah 1:25; for the reforming of their lives, Psalm 119:67, 71; and
for the saving of their souls, 1 Cor. 11:32—should work them to be
silent and satisfied under all their afflictions; though God should
never satisfy their curiosity in giving them an account of some more
hidden causes which may lie secret in the abysses of his eternal
knowledge and infallible will.
Curiosity is the spiritual drunkenness of the
soul; and as the drunkard will never be satisfied, be the cup ever
so deep, unless he see the bottom of it—so some curious
Christians, whose souls are overspread with the leprosy of
curiosity, will never be satisfied until they come to see the
bottom and the most secret reasons of all God's dealings towards
them. But they are fools in folio, who affect to know more than God
would have them. Did not Adam's curiosity render him and his
posterity fools in folio? And what pleasure can we take to see
ourselves every day fools in print? As a man's eyes, by gazing at
the sun, may grow dark and dim, and see less than otherwise he
might; so many, by a curious prying into the secret reasons of God's
dealings with them, come to grow so dark and dim, that they cannot
see those plain reasons that God has laid down in his word why he
afflicts and tries his children!
I have read of one Sir William Champney, who was
the first man that ever built a turret on the top of his
house—that he might the better overlook all his neighbors. But so
it happened, that not long after he was struck blind—so that he
who would not be satisfied to see as others saw—but must see more
than others—saw nothing at all, through the just judgment of God
upon him! And so it is a just and righteous thing with God to strike
such with spiritual blindness, who will not be satisfied with seeing
the reasons laid down in the word why God afflicts them—but they
must be curiously prying and searching into the hidden and more
secret reasons of his severity towards them!
Ah, Christian! it is your wisdom and duty to sit
silent and mute under the afflicting hand of God upon the account of
revealed reasons, without making any curious inquiry into those more
secret reasons which are locked up in the golden cabinet of God's
own bosom! "The secret things belong to the Lord our God."
Deuteronomy 29:29
5. Fifthly, This truth
looks sourly and sadly upon those who, instead of being silent and
mute under their afflictions, use all sinful shifts and ways, to
shift themselves out of their troubles; who care not
though they break with God, and break with men, and break with their
own consciences—so long as they may but break off the chains that
are upon them; who care not by what means the prison door is opened,
so long as they may but escape; nor by what hands their bolts are
knocked off, so long as they may be at liberty. Job 36:21, 'Beware
of turning to evil, which you seem to prefer to affliction.' He
makes but an ill choice—who chooses sin rather than suffering!
And yet such an ill choice good men have sometimes made, when
troubles have compassed them round about. Though no lion roars like
that in a man's own bosom—conscience; yet some, to deliver
themselves from troubles without, have set that lion a-roaring
within! Some, to deliver themselves from outward tortures, have put
themselves under inward torments. He purchases his freedom from
affliction at too dear a rate—who buys it with the loss of a good
name or a good conscience.
Now, because there is even in good men sometimes
too great an aptness and proneness to sin and shift themselves out
of afflictions, when they should rather be mute and silent under
them, give me leave to lay down these six
considerations to prevent it:
(1.) First Consider,
that there is infinitely more evil in the least sin—than there is
in the greatest miseries and afflictions which can possibly come
upon you! Yes, there is more evil in the least sin than
there is in all the troubles that ever come upon the world; yes,
than there is in all the miseries and torments of hell. The least
sin is an offence to the great God; it is a wrong to the immortal
soul; it is a breach of God's righteous law; it cannot be washed
away but by the blood of Jesus; it can shut the soul out of heaven,
and shut the soul up as a prisoner in hell forever and ever! The
least sin is rather to be avoided and prevented—than the greatest
sufferings. If this cockatrice be not crushed in the egg—it will
soon become a serpent! Sin, if but thought on and pondered—will
break out into action—action into custom—custom into habit—and
then both body and soul are lost irrecoverably to all eternity! The
least sin is very dangerous. Caesar was stabbed to death with a
small needle; Herod was eaten up by small worms; Pope Adrian was
choked with a gnat; a mouse is but little, yet kills an elephant if
he gets up into his trunk; a scorpion is little, yet able to sting a
lion to death; though the leopard be great, yet he is poisoned with
a head of garlic; the least spark may consume the greatest house;
the least leak will sink the greatest ship; a whole arm has been
gangrened by a pick of the little finger; a little opened door may
betray the greatest city; a pinch of poison diffuses itself into all
parts, until it strangles the vital spirits, and turns out the soul
from the body. If the serpent can but wriggle in his tail by an evil
thought, he will soon make a surprise of the soul—as you see in
that sad instance of Adam and Eve.
'The trees of the forest,' says one in a parable,
'held a solemn parliament, wherein they addressed the innumerable
wrongs which the axe had done them. They therefore made an
act, that no tree should hereafter lend the axe-head even a twig.
The axe-head traveled up and down the forest, begging wood from the
cedar, oak, ash, elm, even of the poplar; but not one would lend him
a chip. At last he asked for just a small twig from each the
trees—so he could cut down the briars and bushes—alleging, that
such shrubs did but suck away the juice of the ground, and hinder
the growth, and obscure the glory of the beautiful and goodly trees.
Upon these terms, the trees all agreed to give him a twig. The
axe-head pretends a thorough reformation—but behold a sad
deformation, for when he had got the twigs made into a handle—down
went the cedar, oak, ash, elm, and all that had stood in his way!
Such are the subtle reaches of sin; it will
promise to remove the briars of afflictions and troubles, which
hinder the soul of that juice, sweetness, comfort, delight, and
contentment, which otherwise it might enjoy. Oh! do but now yield a
little to sin, and instead of removing your troubles—it will cut
down your peace, your hopes, your comforts, yes, it will cut down
your precious soul! What is the scratch on the hand—to a stab at
the heart? No more are the greatest afflictions to the least sins!
And therefore, Christians, never use sinful shifts to shift
yourselves out of troubles—but rather be mute and silent under
them, until the Lord shall work out your deliverance from them. But,
(2.) Secondly, Consider
it is an impossible thing for any to sin themselves out of their
troubles. Abraham, Job, and Jonah attempted it—but
could not effect it. The devils have experienced this for nearly
this six thousand years. They had not been now in chains—if they
could have sinned themselves out of their chains. Could the damned
in hell, sin themselves out of everlasting burning, there would have
been none now a-roaring in that devouring unquenchable fire! Isaiah
33:14. Hell would have no inhabitants, could they but sin themselves
out of it! Ah! Christians, devils and damned spirits shall as soon
sin themselves out of hell—as you shall be able to sin yourselves
out of your afflictions. Christians! you shall as soon stop the sun
from running her course; fit the sea in a nut-shell; compass the
earth with one step; and raise the dead at your pleasure—as ever
you shall be able to sin yourselves out of your sufferings! And
therefore it is better to be silent and quiet under them—than to
attempt that which is impossible to accomplish. This second
consideration will receive further confirmation by the next
particular—
(3.) Thirdly, As it is
an IMPOSSIBLE thing, so it is a very DAMAGING, a very DANGEROUS
thing—to attempt to sin yourselves out of your troubles;
for by attempting to sin yourselves out of your trouble—you will
sin yourselves into many troubles, as Jonah and Jacob did; and by
laboring to sin yourselves out of less troubles—you will sin
yourselves into greater troubles, as Saul did; and by endeavoring to
sin yourselves from under outward troubles—you will sin yourselves
under inward troubles and distresses, which are the sorest and
saddest of all troubles. Some there have been, who, by laboring to
sin themselves out of their present sufferings, have sinned
themselves under such horrors and terrors of conscience, so that
they could neither eat, nor drink, nor sleep—but have been ready
to lay violent hands upon themselves.
Cyprian speaks of those who, forsaking the faith
to avoid sufferings, were given over to be possessed by evil
spirits, and died fearfully. O man! you do not know what deadly sin,
what deadly temptation, what deadly judgment, what deadly
stroke—you may fall under—if you attempt to sin yourself out of
troubles. What is it to take Venice—and then to be hanged at the
gates thereof? It is better to be silent and mute under your
afflictions, than by using sinful shifts to sin yourself under
greater afflictions.
(4.) Fourthly, Consider
it is a very ignoble and unworthy thing to go to—to sin yourselves
out of your troubles and straits. It argues a poor, a
low, a weak, a dastardly, and an effeminate spirit, to use base
shifts to shuffle yourselves out of your troubles. Men of noble,
courageous, and magnanimous spirits will disdain and scorn it. As
you may see in the three Hebrew children, David, and those worthies,
in that 11th of the Hebrews, of whom 'this world was not worthy.'
Jerome writes of a brave woman, who, being upon the rack, bade her
persecutors do their worst, for she was resolved to die rather than
lie. And the prince of Conde, being taken prisoner by Charles the
Ninth, king of France, and put to his choice whether he would go to
a Catholic mass—or be put to death—or suffer perpetual
imprisonment; his noble answer was, that by God's help he would
never choose the first; and for either of the latter, he left to the
king's pleasure and God's providence.
A soul truly noble will sooner part with all,
than the peace of a good conscience. Thus blessed Hooper desired
rather to be discharged of his church office, than yield to certain
unbiblical ceremonies.
I have read of Marcus Arethusus, all eminent
servant of the Lord in gospel-work, who, in the time of Constantine,
had been the cause of overthrowing an idol temple; but Julian,
coming to be emperor, commanded the people of that place to build it
up again. All were ready so to do, only he refused it. Whereupon his
own people, to whom he had preached, fell upon him, stripped off all
his clothes, then abused his naked body, and gave it up to children
and school-boys to be lanced with their penknives. And when all this
would not change his mind, they tied him up, having his naked body
poured all over with honey, that so he might be bitten and stung to
death by flies and wasps, while baking under the sun! All this
cruelty they exercised upon him, because he would not give anything
towards the rebuilding of that idol temple! No, they went so far,
that if he would but give one halfpenny towards the temple, they
would release him. But he refused it with a noble Christian disdain,
though the advancing of an halfpenny might have saved his life. And
in so doing, he did but live up to that noble principle that most
commend—but few practice, that is—that Christians must choose
rather to suffer the worst of torments, than commit the least of
sins, whereby God should be dishonored, his name blasphemed, true
religion reproached, profession scorned, weak saints discouraged,
men's consciences wounded, and their souls endangered.
Now tell me, Christians, is it not better to be
silent and mute under your sorest trials and troubles, than to sin,
and shift yourselves out of them—and so proclaim to all the world,
that you are people of very low, poor, and ignoble spirits? But
(5) Fifthly, Consider—sinful
shifts and means, God has always cursed and blasted. Achan's
golden wedge was but a wedge to cleave him—and his garments a
shroud to shroud him. Ahab purchases a vineyard with the blood of
the owner—but presently it was watered with his own blood,
according to the word of the Lord. Gehazi must needs have the silver
and two changes of clothing—obtained with a lie, I say with a lie.
Well! he has them, and he has with them a leprosy which cleaved to
him and his children forever, 2 Kings 5:22-27. With those very hands
that Judas took money to betray his master—with those very hands
he fitted a noose to hang himself. The rich and wretched glutton
fared sumptuously, and lived opulently every day—but the next news
you hear of him, is of his being in hell, crying out for a single
drop of water, who, when he was on earth, would not give a crumb.
The coal that the eagle carried from the altar to
her nest, set all on fire. Crassus did not long enjoy the fruit of
his covetousness, for the Parthians capturing him—poured melted
gold down his throat. Ah! Christians, Christians, is it not far
better to sit quiet and silent under your afflictions, than to use
such sinful shifts and means which God will certainly blast and
curse? But,
(6.) Sixthly and lastly, Consider this, that your
very attempting to sin and shift yourselves out of troubles and
afflictions, will cost you dearly. It will cost you many
prayers and tears, many sighs, many groans, many gripes, many
terrors, and many horrors. Peter, by attempting to sin himself out
of trouble, sins himself into a sea of sorrows—Mat. 26:75, 'He
went forth and wept bitterly.'
Clement observes, that every time he heard a cock
crow, he would fall upon his knees and weep bitterly. Others say,
that his face was furrowed with continual tears. Were Abraham,
David, Jacob, and Jonah now alive, they would tell you, that they
have found this to be a truth in their own experience. Ah!
Christians, it is far better to be quiet and silent under your
sufferings, than to pay so dear for attempting to sin and shift
yourselves out of your sufferings. A man will not buy gold too dear,
and why then should he buy himself out of troubles at too dear a
rate?
But now I shall come to that use that I intend to
stand most upon, and that is, a use of EXHORTATION. Seeing it
is the great duty and concernment of Christians to be mute and
silent under the greatest afflictions, the saddest providence, and
sharpest trials which they meet with in this world—oh that I could
prevail with you, Christians, to mind this great duty, and to live
up and live out this necessary truth. I now propound twelve
considerations, to engage your souls to be mute and silent under
your greatest troubles and your saddest trials.
1. Consider first, the
greatness, sovereignty, majesty, and dignity of God—and let that
move you to silence, Jer. 10:7; 5:22. "Come and see
the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and
shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. Be still, and
know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be
exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:8-10. Who can cast his eye upon
the greatness of God, the majesty of God, and not sit still before
him? Zeph. 1:7, 'Hold your peace at the presence of the Lord God.'
Oh, chatter not, murmur not, fret not—but stand mute before him!
Shall the child be hushed before his father, the servant before the
master, the subject before his prince, and the guilty person before
the judge, when he majestically rises off his judgment seat, and
composes his countenance into an aspect of terror and severity, that
his sentence may fall upon the offender with the greater dread?
Shall the sheep be hushed before the wolf, birds before the hawk,
and all the beasts of the field before the lion? And shall not we be
hushed and quiet before him, who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah?
Rev. 5:5. God is mighty in power, and mighty in counsel, and mighty
in working, and mighty in punishing; therefore be silent before him.
It appears that God is a mighty God, by the
epithet that is added unto El, which is Gibbon—importing
that he is a God of prevailing might. In Daniel he is called El Elim—the
mighty of mighties. Moses magnifying of his might, says, 'Who is
like unto you among the gods?' Now certainly this epithet should be
a mighty motive to work souls to that which Habakkuk persuaded
to—Hab. 2:20, 'The Lord is in his holy temple—let all the earth
keep silence before him.' Upon this very consideration Moses
commands Israel to hold their peace, Exod. 14:13, 14.
It is reported of Augustus the emperor, and
likewise of Tamerlane that warlike Scythian, that in their eyes sat
such a rare majesty, that many in talking with them, and often
beholding of them, have become speechless. O my brethren, shall not
the brightness and splendor of the majesty of the great God, whose
sparkling glory and majesty dazzles the eyes of angels, and makes
those princes of glory stand mute before him—move you much more to
silence, to hold your peace, and lay your hands upon your mouths.
Surely yes! But,
2. Secondly, Consider,
That all your afflictions, troubles, and trials shall work for your
good—Rom. 8:28, 'And we know that all things shall work
together for good to those who love God.' Why then should you fret,
fling, fume—seeing God designs you good in all? The bee sucks
sweet honey out of the bitterest herbs; so God will by afflictions
teach his children to suck sweet knowledge, sweet obedience, and
sweet experiences, sweet humility—out of all the bitter
afflictions and trials he exercises them with. That scouring and
rubbing, which frets others, shall make them shine the
brighter; and that weight which keeps others crushed, shall
but make them, like the palm tree, grow better and higher; and that hammer
which knocks others all in pieces, shall but knock them the
nearer to Christ, the corner stone.
Stars shine brightest in the darkest night;
torches give the best light when beaten; grapes yield most wine when
most pressed; spices smell sweetest when pounded; vines are the
better for bleeding; gold looks the brighter for scouring; juniper
smells sweetest in the fire; camomile, the more you tread it the
more you spread it; the salamander lives best in the fire; the Jews
were best, when most afflicted; the Athenians would never mend,
until they were in mourning. Christ's cross, says Luther, is no
letter in the book, and yet, says he, it has taught me more than all
the letters in the book. Afflictions are the saints' best
benefactors to heavenly affections. Where afflictions hang heaviest,
corruptions hang loosest. And grace that is hid in nature, as sweet
water in rose leaves, is then most fragrant when the fire of
affliction is put under to distill it out. Grace shines the brighter
for scouring, and is most glorious when it is most clouded.
Pliny in his Natural History writes of certain
trees growing in the Red Sea, which being battered by the roughness
of the waves, stand like a rock, immovable. In the sea of
afflictions, God will make his people stand like a rock; they shall
be immovable and invincible, and the more the waves of afflictions
beat upon them, the better they shall be, the more they shall thrive
in grace and godliness.
Now how should this engage Christians to be mute
and silent under all their troubles and trials in this world,
considering that they shall all work for their good! God chastises
our carcasses—to heal our consciences; he afflicts our bodies—to
save our souls; he gives us gall and wormwood here—that the
pleasures which are at his right hand may be more sweet hereafter;
here he lays us upon a bed of thorns, that we may look and long more
for that easy bed of down—his bosom in heaven.
As there is a curse wrapped up in the best things
he gives the wicked—so there is a blessing wrapped up in the worst
things he brings upon his own, Psalm 25:10, Deut. 26:16. As there is
a curse wrapped up in a wicked man's health—so there is a blessing
wrapped up in a godly man's sickness; as there is a curse wrapped up
in a wicked man's strength—so there is a blessing wrapped up in a
godly man's weakness; as there is a curse wrapped up in a wicked
man's wealth—so there is a blessing wrapped up in a godly man's
wants; as there is a curse wrapped up in a wicked man's honor—so
there is a blessing wrapped up in a godly man's reproach; as there
is a curse wrapped up in all a wicked man's mercies—so there is a
blessing wrapped up in all a godly man's crosses, losses, and
changes! Why then should he not sit mute and silent before the Lord?
But,
3. Thirdly, Consider,
That a holy silence in that excellent precious grace—which lends a
hand of support to every grace, Rom. 15:4. Silence is the
helper of all other virtues; it lends a hand to faith, a hand to
hope, a hand to love, a hand to humility, a hand to self-denial etc.
A holy silence has its influences upon all other graces that are in
the soul; it causes the rosebuds of grace to blossom and bud forth.
Silence is a grace that keeps a man gracious in all conditions. In
every condition silence is a Christian's right hand; in prosperity,
it bears the soul up under all the envy, hatred, malice, and
censures of the world; in adversity, it bears the soul up
under all the neglect, scorn, and contempt that a Christian meets
with in the world. It makes every bitter, sweet; every burden,
light; and every yoke, easy. And this the very heathen seemed to
intimate in placing the image of Angeronia with the mouth bound,
upon the altar of Volupia to show that silence under sufferings was
the ready way to attain true comfort, and make every bitter, sweet.
No man honors God, nor no man justifies God at so high a rate—as
he who lays his hand upon his mouth, when the rod of God is upon his
back. But,
4. Fourthly, To move you to silence under your
sorest and your sharpest trials, consider,
That you have deserved greater and heavier afflictions then those
you are under, Lam. 3:39; Micah 7:7-9. Has God taken away
one mercy? You have deserved to be stripped of all. Has he taken
away the delight of your eyes? He might have taken away the delight
of your soul. Are you under outward wants? You have deserved to be
under outward and inward together. Are you cast upon a sick bed? You
have deserved a bed in hell. Are you under that ache and that pain?
You have deserved to be under all aches and pains at once. Has God
chastised you with whips? You have deserved to be chastised with
scorpions, 1 Kings 12:14. Are you fallen from the highest pinnacle
of honor to be the scorn and contempt of men? You have deserved to
be scorned and condemned by God and angels. Are you under a severe
whipping? You have deserved an utter damning. Ah Christian! let but
your eyes be fixed upon your demerits, and your hands will be
quickly upon your mouths; whatever is less than a final separation
from God, whatever is less than hell, is mercy; and therefore you
have cause to be silent under the sharpest dealings of God with you.
But,
5. Fifthly, Consider, a
quiet silent spirit is of great esteem with God. God sets
the greatest value upon people of a quiet spirit—1 Peter 3:4.
'your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit,
which is of great worth in God's sight.' A quiet spirit is a spark
of the divine nature, it is a ray, a beam of glory; it is a
heaven-born spirit. No man is born with a holy silence in his heart,
as he is born with a tongue in his mouth. This is a flower of
paradise; it is a precious gem which God makes very great estimate
of. A quiet spirit speaks a man most like to God; it capacitates a
man for communion with God; it renders a man most serviceable to
God; and it obliges a man to most accurate walking with God. A meek
and quiet spirit is an incorruptible ornament, much more valuable
than gold.
(1.) First, There is a mutual quietness,
which proceeds from a good temper and constitution of body.
(2.) Secondly, There is a moral quietness,
which proceeds from good education and breeding, which flows from
good injunctions, instructions, and examples.
(3.) Thirdly, There is an artificial quietness;
some have an art to imprison their passions, and to lay a law of
restraint upon their anger and wrath, when they are all in a
flame within—as you may see in Cain, Esau, Absalom, and Joab, who
for a time cast a thick cloak over their malice, when their hearts
were set on fire of hell. So Domitian would seem to love them best,
whom he willed least should live.
(4.) Fourthly, There is a gracious quietness,
which is of the Spirit's infusion, Gal. 5. Now this quietness of
spirit, this spiritual frame of heart, is of great price in the
sight of God. God values it above the world, and therefore who would
not covet it more than the world, yes, more than life itself?
Certainly the great God sets a great price upon nothing but that
which is of an invaluable price; what stretching, struggling, and
striving is there for those things that the great ones of the earth
do highly prize! Ah! what stretching of wits, interests, and
consciences is there this day, to gain and hold up that which
justice will cast down! How much better would it be, if all people
would in good earnest struggle and strive, even as for life, after a
quiet and silent spirit, which the great and glorious God sets so
great a price upon! This is a pearl of greatest price, and happy is
he who purchases it, though it were with the loss of all. But,
6. Sixthly, Consider,
That if you do not sit silent and quiet under your greatest troubles
and your sorest trials, you will be found fighters against your own
prayers. How often have you prayed that the will of God
may be done, yes, that it may be done on the earth, as the angels,
those glistering courtiers, those princes of glory, do it now in
heaven! Mat. 6:10. When troubles and afflictions come upon you, the
will of God is done, his will is accomplished. Why then should you
fret, fling, and fume, and not rather quietly lie down in his
will—whose will is a perfect will, a just and righteous will, a
wise will, an overruling will, an infinite will, a sovereign will, a
holy will, an immutable will, an uncontrollable will, an omnipotent
will, and an eternal will? Certainly you will but add affliction to
affliction, lay fighting against your own prayers—by vexing and
fretting yourselves when the will of God is done.
It is sad to see a man to fight against his
friends; it is sadder to see him fight against his relations; it is
saddest of all to see him fight against his prayers. And yet this
every Christian does, who murmurs and mutters when the rod of God is
upon him. Some there be that pray against their prayers, as
Augustine, who prayed for patience with a proviso—Lord! give me
patience—but not yet! And some there are who fight against their
prayers, as those who pray that the will of God may be done, and yet
when his will is done upon them, they are like the troubled sea when
it cannot rest—they are still fretting against the Lord. Ah,
Christians! have you not sins to fight against, and temptations to
fight against, and a devil to fight against, yes, a whole world to
fight against? Why then should you be found fighting against your
own prayers? But,
7. Seventhly, Consider,
A holy silence under the heaviest burdens, the greatest afflictions,
the saddest providences and changes—will make all tolerable and
easy to a Christian. The silent soul can hear a
burden—without a burden. Those burdens and troubles that will
break a froward man's back—will not so much as break a silent
man's sleep. Those afflictions which lie as heavy weights upon a
murmurer—will lie as light as a feather upon a mute Christian,
Micah 7:7-10, Psalm 92:1, 6. That bed of sorrow, which is as a bed
of thorns to a fretful soul—will be as a bed of down to a silent
soul. A holy silence unstings every affliction; it takes off the
weight of every burden; it adds sweet to every bitter; it changes
dark nights into sunshiny days, and terrible storms into desirable
calms. The smallest sufferings will easily vanquish an unquiet
spirit—but a quiet spirit will as easily triumph over the greatest
sufferings. As little mercies are great mercies; so great
sufferings are but little sufferings—in the eye of a silent soul.
The silent soul never complains that his affliction is too great,
his burden too heavy, his cross too weighty, his sufferings too
many; silence makes him victorious over all. Therefore, as ever you
would have heavy afflictions light, and be able to bear a burden
without a burden—labor as for life after this holy silence!
8. Eighthly, Consider
that a holy silence under afflictions will be your best armor
against those temptations, which afflictions may expose you to. Times
of afflictions often prove times of great temptations, and therefore
afflictions are called temptations—James 1:12, 'Blessed is the man
which endures temptations, for when he is tried he shall receive the
crown of life,' etc. The Greek word peirasmon, is to be
understood of temptations of probation, of afflicting temptations,
and not of temptations of suggestion, of seduction; for they are not
to be endured—but resisted and abhorred, James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:9.
Now, affliction is called temptation,
(1.) Because, as temptation tries what metal a
Christian is made of, so do afflictions.
(2.) Because, as Satan usually has a great hand
in all the temptations that come upon us—so he has a great hand in
all the afflictions which befall us; as you see in that great
instance of Job.
(3.) Because, as temptations drive men to God, 2
Cor. 12:7, 8, so do afflictions, Isaiah 26:16, Hosea 5:15.
(4.) But mainly because Satan chooses times of
afflictions as the fittest seasons for his temptations. When Job was
severely afflicted in his estate, children, wife, life—then Satan
lets fly, and makes his fiercest assaults upon him. Now, Satan
tempts him to entertain hard thoughts of God; to distrust, to
impatience, to murmuring and muttering. As when Israel was feeble,
faint, and weary—Amalek assaulted them, and smote them Deut.
25:17, 18; so when Christians are most afflicted, then usually they
are most tempted.
Luther found this by experience when he said, I
am without set upon by all the world, and within by the devil and
all his demons. Satan is a cowardly and loves to strike us and
trample upon us when afflictions have cast us down. When besieged
towns, cities, and castles are in greatest straits and
troubles—then the besiegers make their fiercest assaults; so when
Christians are under the greatest straits and trials—then Satan
assaults them most, like a roaring lion. Now, silence under
afflictions is the best antidote and preservative against all those
temptations which afflictions lay us open to. Silence in afflictions
is a Christian's impregnable armor; it is that shield that no spear
or dart of temptation can pierce. While a Christian lies silently
under the rod, he is safe. Satan may tempt him—but he will not
conquer him; he may assault him—but he cannot vanquish him. Satan
may entice him to use sinful shifts to shift himself out of
trouble—but he will choose rather to die, yes, die, in trouble,
than get out upon Satan's terms. But,
9. Ninthly, Consider,
That holy silence under afflictions and trials will give a man a
quiet and peaceable possession of his own soul—'In
patience possess your souls', Luke 21:19. Now, next to the
possession of God, the possession of a man's own soul is the
greatest mercy in this world. A man may possess honors, and riches,
and dear relations and the favor and assistance of friends under his
trials—but he will never come to a possession of his own soul
under his troubles until he comes to be silent, and to lay his hand
upon his mouth. Now what are all earthly possessions to the
possession of a man's own soul? He who possesses himself possesses
all; he who possesses not himself possesses nothing at all. He
possesses not the use, the sweet, the comfort, the good, the
blessing of anything he enjoys—who enjoys not himself. That man
who is not master of himself—he is a master of nothing. Holy
silence gives a man the greatest mastery over his own spirit; and
mastery over a man's own spirit is the greatest mastery in the
world, Prov. 16:32.
The Egyptian goddess they paint upon a rock
standing in the sea, where the waves come roaring and dashing upon
her, with this motto—'Storms shall not move me'. A holy silence
will give a man such a quiet possession of his own soul, that all
the storms of afflictions shall not move him; it will make him stand
like a rock in a sea of troubles. Let a man but quietly possess
himself, and troubles will never trouble him. But,
10. Tenthly, Consider
the commands and instructions that God in his word has laid upon you
to be silent, to be mute and quiet, under all the troubles, trials,
and changes that have or may pass upon you—"Let
all people be silent before the Lord, for He is coming from His holy
dwelling." Zechariah 2:13. Isaiah 51:1, 'Keep silence before
me, O islands.' Hab. 2:20, 'The Lord is in his holy temple; let all
the earth keep silence before him.' Amos 5:13, 'Therefore, the wise
person will keep silent at such a time, for the days are evil.'
Psalm 44:10, 'Be still, and know that I am God.' Psalm 4:4, 'Commune
with your heart, and be still.' Exod. 14:13, 'Stand still, and see
the salvation of God.' Job 37:14, 'Hearken unto this, O Job; stand
still, and consider the wondrous works of God.'
It is a dangerous thing for us to neglect one of
his commands, who by another is able to command us into nothing, or
into hell at pleasure. To act or run cross to God's express command,
though under pretense of revelation from God, is as much as a man's
life is worth, as you may see in that sad story, 1 Kings 13:24, etc.
Divine commands must he put in speedy execution, without denying or
delaying, without debating or disputing the difficulties that may
attend our subjection to them. God's commands are spiritual, holy,
just, and good; and therefore to be obeyed without muttering or
murmurings. Divine commands are backed with the strongest reason,
and attended with the highest encouragements.
Shall the servant readily obey the commands of
his master, the subject the commands of his prince, the soldier the
commands of his general, the child the commands of his father, the
wife the commands of her husband—and shall not a Christian as
readily obey the commands of his Christ? No, shall vain men readily
and willingly obey the sinful and senseless commands of men, and
shall not we be willing to obey the commands of God? "Now
Absalom commanded his young men 'Watch Amnon until he is in a good
mood from the wine. When I order you to strike Amnon, then kill him.
Don’t be afraid. Am I not the one who has commanded you? Be strong
and courageous!' So Absalom’s young men did to Amnon just as
Absalom had commanded." 2 Samuel 13:28-29 They made no bones of
obeying the bloody commands of Absalom, against all law, reason, and
religion.
I have read of one Johannes Abbas who willingly
fetched water from two miles away every day for a whole year, to
pour upon a dry stick—upon the bare command of his priest.
I have also read of the old kings of Peru, that
they were used to use a tassel or fringe made of red wool, which
they wore upon their heads, and when they sent any governor to rule
as viceroy in any part of their country, they delivered unto him one
of the threads of the tassel, and for one of those simple threads he
was as much obeyed as if he had been the king himself. Now, shall
one single thread be more forcible to draw infidels to obedience,
than all those golden commands, last cited, shall be of force to
draw you to be quiet and silent under the troubles and changes you
meet with in this world? The Lord forbid!
Shall carnal and wicked people be so ready and
willing to comply with the bloody, and senseless, and superstitious
commands of their superiors? And shall not Christians be more ready
and willing to comply with the commands of the great God, whose
commands are all just and equal, and whose will is the perfect rule
of righteousness. The chief reason of obedience is the authority of
the Lord—not the utility of the servant. Ah, Christians! when your
hearts begin to fret and fume under the smarting rod, charge one of
those commands last cited upon your hearts; and if they mutter,
charge another of those commands upon your hearts; and if after
this, they vex and murmur, charge another of those commands upon
your hearts; and never leave charging and rubbing those commands one
after another upon your hearts, until you are brought to lay your
hands upon your mouths, and to sit silent before the Lord under your
greatest straits and your sorest trials.
11. Eleventhly, Consider,
That mercy is nearest, deliverance and salvation is at hand—when a
Christian stands still, when he sits quiet and silent under his
greatest troubles and his sorest trials. In Exodus 14,
they were in very great straits. Pharaoh with a mighty army was
behind then, the Red Sea before them, mountains on each side of them
and no visible means to deliver them. But now they stand still to
see the salvation of the Lord, ver. 13, and within a few hours their
enemies are destroyed, and they are gloriously delivered, ver. 24,
et seq.
Psalm 39:9, David is dumb, he sits mute under his
sharp afflictions; but if you look to the second and third verses of
the fortieth Psalm, you shall find mercy draw near to him and work
salvation for him. 'I waited patiently for the Lord, and He turned
to me and heard my cry for help. He brought me up from a desolate
pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my
steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our
God.' Psalm 40:1-3.
And so when Absalom has made a great conspiracy
against him, and his subjects fell off from him and he was forced to
flee for his life, David's spirit was quiet and calm. "Then the
king instructed Zadok, 'Return the ark of God to the city. If I find
favor in the Lord's eyes, He will bring me back and allow me to see
both it and its dwelling place. However, if He should say, 'I do not
delight in you,' then here I am—He can do with me whatever pleases
Him." 2 Samuel 15:25-26.
And the same calmness and quietness of spirit was
upon him when Shimei bitterly cursed him, and railed upon him, 2
Samuel 16:5-14; and within a few days, as you may see in the two
following chapters, the conspirators are destroyed, and David's
throne more firmly established. Mercy is always nearest when a man
can in quietness possess his own soul. Salvation is at hand when a
Christian comes to lay his hand upon his mouth. Mercy will be upon
the wing, loving-kindness will ride quickly to put a period to that
man's troubles, who sits silent in the day of his sorrows and
sufferings. Ah, Christians! as you would have mercy near, as you
would see to the end of your afflictions, as you would have
deliverance come flying upon the wings of the wind—sit mute and
silent under all your troubles. As wine was then nearest when the
water-pots were filled with water; even to the brim; so when the
heart is fullest of quietness and calmness, then is the wine of
mercy, the wine of deliverance, nearest.
12. The twelfth and last motive to work you to
silence under your greatest trials is this, seriously
consider the heinous and dangerous nature of murmuring. Now
that you may, let me propose these following particulars to your
most sober consideration.
(1.) First, Consider
that murmuring speaks out many a root of bitterness to be strong in
your soul, Heb. 3:12. Murmuring speaks out sin in its
power, and corruption upon its throne, Heb. 12:1. As holy silence
argues true grace, much grace, yes, grace in its strength and in its
lively vigor; so murmuring, muttering under the hand of God, argues
much sin, yes, a heart full of sin; it speaks out a heart full of
self-love, Exod. 15:24; 16:7, 8; and full of slavish fears, Numb.
13:32, 33; 14:1-3; and full of ignorance, John 6:41, 42; and full of
pride and unbelief, Psalm 106—'yes, they despised the pleasant
land,'—there is their pride. 'They believed not in his
word'—there is their unbelief. What follows? They murmured in
their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of God. They were sick
of the sullens, and preferred Egypt before Canaan, a wilderness
before a paradise. As in the first chaos there were the seeds of all
creatures, so in the murmurer's heart there is not only the seeds of
all sin—but a lively operation of all sin. Sin is become mighty in
the hearts of murmurers, and none but an almighty God can root it
out. Those roots of bitterness have so spread and strengthened
themselves in the hearts of murmurers, that everlasting strength
must put in, or they will be undone forever, Isaiah 26:4. But,
(2.) Secondly, consider,
That the Holy Spirit has set a brand of infamy upon murmurers. He
has stigmatized them as ungodly people—Jude 16, 16, 'To execute
judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them
of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of
all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against
him.' But who are these ungodly sinners? 'They are murmurers,
complainers, walking after their own lusts,' etc.' ver. 16. When
Christ comes to execute judgment upon ungodly ones, murmurers shall
be set in the front, they shall experience the fierceness of his
wrath and the greatness of his wrath. The front, you know, is first
assaulted, and most strongly assaulted. Christ will bend all his
power and strength against murmurers; his little finger shell be
heavier upon them, than his loins shall be upon others, 1 Kings
12:11, 14. Other sinners shall be chastised with whips—but ungodly
murmurers shall be chastised with scorpions. If you can rejoice in
that black character of ungodly sinners, be murmurers still; if not,
cease from murmurings.
Where murmuring is in its reign, in its
dominion—there you may speak and write that person as ungodly. Let
murmurers make what profession they will of godliness, yet if
murmuring keeps the throne in their hearts—Christ will deal with
them at last as ungodly sinners. A man may be denominated ungodly,
as well from his murmuring, if he lives under the dominion of it, as
from his drunkenness, swearing, whoring, lying, stealing, etc. A
murmurer is an ungodly man, he is an ungodlike nan; no man on earth
more unlike to God than the murmurer; and therefore no wonder if
when Christ comes to execute judgment, he deals so severely and
terribly with him.
In the wars of Tamberlain, one having found a
great pot of gold, that was hid in the earth, he brought it to
Tamberlain, who asked whether it had his father's stamp upon it? But
when he saw that it had not his father's stamp—but the Roman stamp
upon it, he would not receive it—but cast it away. The Lord Jesus,
when he shall come with all his saints to execute judgment, Oh! he
will not receive murmurers; no, he will cast them away forever,
because they have not his Father's stamp upon them. Ah, souls!
souls! as you would not go up and down this world with a badge of
ungodliness upon you—take heed of murmuring.
(3). Thirdly, Consider
that murmuring is the mother-sin; it is the mother of
harlots, the mother of all abominations; a sin that breeds many
other sins, that is, disobedience, contempt, ingratitude,
impatience, distrust, rebellion, cursing, carnality. Yes, it charges
God with folly, yes, with blasphemy, Num. 16:41, 17:10, Judges 17:2.
The language of a murmuring, a muttering soul is this—Surely God
might have done this sooner, and that wiser, and the other thing
better, etc. As the river Nilus brings forth many crocodiles; and
the scorpion brings forth many serpents at one birth, so murmuring
is a sin that breeds and brings forth many sins at once. Murmuring
is like the monster hydra; cut off one head, and many will rise up
in its place. Oh! therefore, bend all your strength against this
mother-sin.
As the king of Syria said to his captains, 'Fight
neither with small nor great—but only with the king of Israel', 1
Kings 22:31, so say I, Fight not so much against this sin or
that—but fight against your murmuring, which is a mother-sin. Make
use of all your Christian armor, make use of all the ammunition of
heaven, to destroy the mother, and in destroying of her, you will
destroy the daughters! Eph. 6:10, 11. When Goliath was slain, the
Philistines fled. When a general in an army is cut off, the common
soldiers are easily and quickly routed and destroyed. So, destroy
but murmuring, and you will quickly destroy disobedience,
ingratitude, impatience, distrust, etc. Oh, kill this
mother-sin—that it may never kill your soul.
I have read of Sennacherib, that after his army
was destroyed by an angel, Isaiah 37, and he returned home to his
own country, he inquired of one—what he thought the reason might
be why God so favored the Jews? He answered that there was one
Abraham, their father, that was willing to sacrifice his son to
death at the command of God, and that ever since that time God
favored that people. Well, said Sennacherib, if that be so, I have
two sons, and I will sacrifice them both to death, if that will
procure their God to favor me; which, when his two sons heard, they,
as the story goes, slew their father, Isaiah 37:38, choosing rather
to kill than to be killed. So do you choose rather to kill this
mother-sin than to be killed by it, or by any of those vipers that
are brought forth by it, Psalm 137:8, 9.
(4.) Fourthly, Consider
that murmuring is a God-provoking sin; it is a sin which
provokes God not only to afflict—but also to destroy a
people—Num. 14:27-29, 'How long shall I bear with this evil
congregation which murmurs against me? I have heard the murmuring of
the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them,
As truly as I live, says the Lord, as you have spoken in my ears, so
will I do to you. In this desert your bodies will fall—every one
of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and
who has grumbled against me.' 1 Cor. 10:10, 'Neither murmur you, as
some of them also murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer.'
All our murmurings do but provoke the Lord to strike us and destroy
us.
I have read of Caesar, that, having prepared a
great feast for his nobles and friends, it so fell out that the day
appointed was extreme bad weather, that nothing could be done to the
honor of their meeting; whereupon he was so displeased and enraged,
that he commanded all those who had bows to shoot up their arrows at
Jupiter, their chief god, as in defiance of him for that rainy
weather; which, when they did, their arrows fell short of heaven,
and fell upon their own heads, so that many of them were very
severely wounded. So all our mutterings and murmurings, which are as
so many arrows shot at God himself, they will return upon our heads
and hearts; they reach not him—but they will hit us; they hurt not
him—but they will wound us—therefore it is better to be mute
than to murmur; it is dangerous to provoke a consuming fire! Heb.
12:29.
(5.) Fifthly, Consider,
That murmuring is the devil's image, sin and punishment. Satan
is still a-murmuring; he murmurs at every mercy that God bestows, at
every drop of grace he gives, Job 1:8, 9; he murmurs at every sin he
pardons, and at every soul he saves. A soul cannot have a good look
from heaven, nor hear a good word from heaven, nor receive a
love-letter from heaven—but Satan murmurs at it! He murmurs and
mutters at every act of pitying grace, and at every act of
preventing grace, and at every act of supporting grace, and at every
act of strengthening grace, and at every act of comforting
grace—which God exercises towards poor souls. He murmurs at every
sip, at every drop, at every crumb of mercy that God bestows.
Cyprian, Aquinas, and others conceive that the
cause of Satan's banishment from leaven was his grieving and
murmuring at the dignity of man, whom he beheld made after God's own
image, insomuch that he would relinquish his own glory, to divest so
noble a creature of perfection, and rather lie in hell himself, than
see Adam placed in paradise. But certainly, after his fall,
murmuring and envy at man's innocence and felicity put him upon
attempting to plunge man into the bottomless gulf of sin and misery.
Satan, knowing himself to be damned, and lost forever, would needs
try all ways how to make happy man eternally unhappy.
Mr. Howell tells it as a strange thing, that a
serpent was found in the heart of an Englishman when he was dead;
but, alas! this old serpent was by sad experience found to have too
much power in the heart of Adam while alive, and while in the height
of all his glory and excellency. Murmuring is the first-born of the
devil; and nothing renders a man more like the devil, than
murmuring. Constantine's sons did not more resemble their father,
nor Aristotle's scholars their master, nor Alexander's soldiers
their general—than murmurers resemble Satan.
And as murmuring is Satan's sin, so it is his
punishment. God has given him up to a murmuring spirit; nothing
pleases him; all things go against him; he is perpetually
a-muttering and murmuring at people or things. Now, oh what a
dreadful thing is it to bear Satan's image upon us, and to be given
up to be the devil's punishment! It were better not to be, than thus
to be given up! Therefore cease from murmuring, and sit mute under
your sorest trials! But,
(6.) Sixthly, Consider,
That murmuring is a mercy-embittering sin, an mercy-souring sin;
as put the sweetest things into a sour vessel, it sours them; or put
them into a bitter vessel, and it embitters them. Murmuring puts
gall and wormwood into every cup of mercy that God gives into our
hands. As holy silence gives a sweet taste, a delightful relish, to
all a man's mercies—so murmuring embitters all. The murmurer can
taste no sweetness in his sweetest morsels; every mercy, every
morsel, tastes like the white of an egg to him, Job 6:6. This mercy,
says the murmurer, is not very tasty; that mercy is not wholesome;
here is a mercy lacks salt; and there is a mercy needs sauce. A
murmurer can taste no sweet, can feel no comfort; he can take no
delight in any mercy he enjoys. The murmurer writes marah,
that is, bitterness, upon all his mercies; and he reads and
tastes bitterness in all his mercies. All the murmurer's grapes are
grapes of gall, and all their clusters are bitter, Deut. 32:23. As
to 'the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet', Prov. 27:7, so to
the murmuring soul every sweet thing is bitter. The mute Christian
can suck sweetness from every breast of mercy—but the murmurer
cries out, 'Oh it is bitter! Oh these breasts of mercy are dry!'
(7.) Seventhly, Consider,
That murmuring is a mercy-destroying sin, a mercy-murdering sin. Murmuring
cuts the throat of mercy; it stabs all our mercies at the heart; it
sets all a man's mercies a-bleeding about him at once—Num. 14:30,
'Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to
make your home, except Caleb and Joshua.' God promises them that
they would possess the holy land upon the condition of their
obedience. This condition they broke; and therefore God was
faithful, though he cut them off in the wilderness, and kept them
out of Canaan, Deut. 31:16, 17. But what is the sin that provokes
the Lord to bar them out of the land of promise—and to cut them
off from all those mercies which they enjoyed which entered into the
holy land? Why, it was their murmuring! as you may see in Numbers
14:1-3, 26-29. As you love your mercies, as you would have the sweet
of your mercies, and as you would enjoy the life of your
mercies—take heed of murmuring!
Murmuring will bring a consumption upon your
mercies; it is a worm that will make all your mercies to wither.
There are some who murmur their mercies into the grave. As you would
have your mercies always fresh and green, smiling and thriving, as
you would have your mercies to bed and board with you, to rise up
and lie down with you, and in all conditions to attend you—murmur
not, murmur not! The mute Christian's mercies are most sweet and
most long-lived; the murmurer's mercies, like Jonah's gourd, will
quickly wither. Murmuring has cut the throat of national mercies, of
domestic mercies, and of personal mercies; and therefore, oh how
should men fly from it as from a serpent! as from the avenger of
blood, yes, as from hell itself!
(8.) Eighthly, Consider,
That murmuring unfits the soul for duty, Exod. 6:7-10. A
murmurer can neither hear to profit, nor pray to profit, nor read to
profit, nor meditate to profit. The murmurer is neither fit to do
good, nor receive good. Murmuring unfits the soul for doings of
duties; it unfits the soul for delighting in duties; it unfits the
soul for communion with God in duties. Murmuring fills the soul with
cares, fears, distractions, vexations—all which unfits a man for
duty 1 Cor. 7:33-35. As a holy quietness and calmness of spirit
prompts a man to duty, as it makes every duty easy and pleasant to
the soul Prov. 3:17; so it is murmuring which unhinges the soul, and
indisposes the soul—so that it takes off the chariot wheels of the
soul, that the soul cannot look up to God, nor do for God, nor
receive from God, nor wait on God, nor walk with God, nor act faith
upon God, etc.' Psalm 90:12. Oh! therefore, as ever you would be in
a blessed preparedness, and a blessed fittedness for duty—take
heed of murmuring, and sit mute and silent under the afflicting hand
of God, Isaiah 26:9-11.
(9.) Ninthly, Consider,
That murmuring unmans a man; it strips him of his reason
and understanding; it makes him call evil good, and good evil; it
puts light for darkness and darkness for light, bitter for sweet and
sweet for bitter; it calls saviors destroyers, and deliverers
murderers Isaiah 5:18-20, as you see in the murmuring Israelites,
Murmuring uncrowns a man. The murmurer may say, 'My crown is fallen
from my head', Lam. 5:16. Murmuring strips a man of all his glory;
it spoils all his excellency; it destroys the nobility of man; it
speaks him out to be a base ignoble creature. Murmuring clouds a
man's understanding; it perverts the judgment, it puts out the eye
of reason, stupefies his conscience; it sours the heart, disorders
the will, and distempers the affections; it be-beasts a man, yes, it
sets him below the beasts; for he were better be a beast, than be
like a beast.
The murmurer is the hieroglyphic of folly; he is
a comprehensive vanity; he is a man and no man; he is sottish and
senseless—he neither understands God nor himself nor anything as
he should; he is the man that must be sent to school, to learn from
the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air, and the creeping
things of the earth—how to cease from murmuring, and how to be
mute, Isaiah 3:8, Jer. 7:6. Ah! sirs, as you would have the name,
the honor, the reputation of being men, I say men—Take heed of
murmuring, and sit silent before the Lord!
(10.) Tenthly, Murmuring
is a time-destroying sin. Ah! the precious time that is
buried in the grave of murmuring? When the murmurer should be
a-praying, he is a-murmuring against the Lord; when he should be
a-hearing, he is a-murmuring against the divine providences; when he
should be a-reading, he is a-murmuring against instruments. The
murmurer spends much precious time in musing; in musing how to get
out of such a trouble, how to get off such a yoke, how to be rid of
such a burden, how to revenge himself for such a wrong, how to
supplant such a person, how to reproach those that are above him,
and how to affront those that are below him; and a thousand other
ways murmurers have to expend that precious time that some would
redeem with a world; as Queen Elizabeth on her deathbed cried out,
'Time, time, a world of wealth for an inch of time!'
The murmurer lavishly and profusely trifles away
that precious time, which is his greatest interest in this world to
redeem, Eph. 5:16. Every day, every hour in the day, is a talent of
time, and God expects the improvement of it, and will charge the
non-improvement of it upon you at last, Rev. 2:21, 25; 1 Peter 4:2.
Caesar observing some ladies in Rome to spend much of their time in
making much of little dogs and monkeys, asked them, Whether the
women in that country had no children to make much of? Ah!
murmurers, murmurers, you who by your murmuring, trifle away so many
godly hours and seasons of mercy—have you no God to honor? have
you no Christ to believe in? have you no hearts to change, no sins
to be pardoned, no souls to save, no hell to escape, no heaven to
seek after? Oh! If you have, why do you spend so much of your
precious time in murmuring against God, against men, against this or
that thing? Eternity rides upon the back of time. This is the
moment—if it be well improved, you are made forever; if not, you
are undone forever.
I have read of Archias a Lacedaemonian, that
while he was rioting and quaffing in the midst of his cups, one
delivers him a letter, purposely to signify that there were some
that lay in wait to take away his life, and withal desires him to
read it immediately, because it was a serious business and matter of
high concern to him. Oh, said he—I will think of serious things
tomorrow; but that night he was slain! Ah! murmurer, cease from
murmuring today, or else you may be forever undone by murmuring
tomorrow. The old saying, 'now or never'—so say I, 'Now or never,
now or never give over murmuring, and let it swallow up no more of
your precious time!' What would not many a murmurer give for one of
those days, yes, for one of those hours which he has trifled away in
murmuring—when it is a day too late!
The Rabbis glory in this conceit, that a man has
so many bones as there are letters in the Decalogue, and just so
many joints as there are days in the year; to show that all our
strength and time should be expended in God's service. Ah,
murmurers, you will gain more by one day's faithful serving of God,
than ever you have gained by murmuring against God. But,
(11.) Eleventhly, Consider
this, Christians, that of all men in the world, you have least
cause, yes, no cause, to be murmuring and muttering under any
dispensation that you meet with in this world. Is not God
your portion? Chrysostom propounds this question, Was Job miserable
when he had lost all that God hall given him? and gives this answer,
No, he had still the God who gave him all. Is not Christ your
treasure? Is not heaven your inheritance? and will you murmur? Have
you not much in hand, and more in hope? Have you not much in
possession—but much more reserved in heaven—and will you murmur?
Has not God given you a changed heart, a renewed nature, and a
sanctified soul—and will you murmur? Has he not given you himself
to satisfy you, his Son to save you, his Spirit to lead you, his
grace to adorn you, his covenant to assure you, his mercy to pardon
you, his righteousness to clothe you—and will you murmur? Has he
not made you a friend, a son, a brother, a bride, an heir—and will
you murmur? Has not God often turned your water into wine, your
brass into silver, and your silver into gold—and will you murmur?
When you were dead, did not he quicken you; and when you were lost,
did not he seek you; and when you were wounded, did not he heal you;
and when you were falling, did not he support you; and when you were
down, did not he raise you; and when you were staggering, did not he
establish you; and when you were erring, did not he correct you; and
when you were tempted, did not he support you; and when you went in
dangers, did not he deliver you?—and will you murmur? What! you
who are so highly advanced and exalted above many thousands in the
world? Murmuring is a black garment, and it befits none so ill as
saints.
(12.) Twelfthly, and lastly, Consider
that murmuring makes the life of man invisible miserable. Every
murmurer is his own executioner. Murmuring vexes the heart; it wears
and tears the heart, it enrages and inflames the heart, it wounds
and stabs the heart. Every murmurer is his own martyr, every
murmurer is a murderer; he kills many at once, that is—his joy,
his comfort, his peace, his rest, his soul. No man so inwardly
miserable as the murmurer; no man has such inward gripes and griefs
as he, such inward bitterness and heaviness as he, such inward
contentions and combustions as he. Every murmurer is his own
tormentor. Murmuring is a fire within that will burn up all, it is
an earthquake within that will overturn all, it is a disease within
that will infect all, it is a poison within that will prey upon all.
And thus I have done with those motives that may
persuade us not to murmur nor mutter—but to be mute and silent
under the greatest afflictions, the saddest providences and sharpest
trials that we meet with in this world.
Return to The Mute Christian INDEX
Go on to Part 3