and instructing of others when we are afflicted. The words of the
this cup is so bitter, this pain so grievous, this loss so great, this
disease so desperate, this wound so incurable; it is mine own self,
mine own sin, that hath caused these floods of sorrows to break in
upon me. But,
4. Fourthly, A holy, a prudent silence doth not exclude the teaching
and instructing of others when we are afflicted. The words of the
afflicted stick close; they many times work strongly, powerfully,
strangely, savingly, upon the souls and consciences of others. Many
of Paul's epistles were written to the churches when he was in bonds,
viz., Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon; he
begot Onesimus in his bonds, Philem. 10. And many of the brethren
in the Lord waxed bold and confident by his bonds, and were
confirmed, and made partakers of grace by his ministry, when he was
in bonds, Philip. 1:7, 13, 14. As the words of dying persons do many
times stick and work gloriously, so many times do the words of
afflicted persons work very nobly and efficaciously. I have read of
one Adrianus, who, seeing the martyrs suffer such grievous things for
the cause of Christ, he asked what that was which enabled them to
suffer such things? and one of them named that 1 Cor. 2:9, 'Eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.' This
word was like apples of gold in pictures of silver, Prov. 25:11, for it
made him not only a convert, but a martyr too. And this was the
means of Justin Martyr's conversion, as himself confesseth).
Doubtless, many have been made happy by the words of the afflicted.
The tongue of the afflicted hath been to many as choice silver. The
words of the afflicted many times are both pleasing and profitable;
they tickle the ear and they win upon the heart; they slide insensibly
into the hearers' souls, and work efficaciously upon the hearers'
hearts: Eccles. 10:12, 'The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious,'
or grace, as the Hebrew hath it; and so Jerome reads it, Verba oris
sapientis gratia, the words of the mouth of a wise man are grace.
They minister grace to others, and they win grace and favour from
others. Gracious lips make gracious hearts; gracious words are a
grace, an ornament to the speaker, and they are a comfort, a delight,
and an advantage to the hearer.
Now, the words of a wise man's mouth are never more gracious than
when he is most afflicted and distressed. Now, you shall find most
worth and weight in his words; now his lips, like the spouse's, are
like a thread of scarlet; they are red with talking much of a crucified
Christ, and they are thin like a thread, not swelled with vain and
unprofitable discourses. Now his mouth speaketh of wisdom, and his
tongue talketh judgment, for the law of the Lord is in his heart, Ps.
37:30; now his lips drop as honey-combs, Cant. 4:11; now his tongue
is a tree of life, whose leaves are medicinable, Prov. 12:18. As the
silver trumpets sounded most joy to the Jews in the day of their
gladness, so the mouth of a wise man, like a silver trumpet, sounds
most joy and advantage to others in the days of his sadness, Num.
10:10.
The heathen man could say, Quando sapiens loquitur, aulea animi
aperit, when a wise man speaketh, he openeth the rich treasure and