Front matter (continued, part 2)
It was a good saying of one, 'I hide not my sins—but I show them. I wipe them not away—but I sprinkle them; I do not excuse them—but accuse them. The beginning of my salvation is the knowledge of my transgression.' When some told Prince Henry, that darling of mankind, that the sins of the people brought that affliction on him, Oh no! said he, I have sins enough of my own to cause that. 'I have sinned,' says David, 'but what have these poor sheep done?' 2 Sam. 24:17. When a Christian is
under the afflicting hand of God, he may well say, 'I may thank this proud heart of mine, this worldly heart, this froward heart, this formal heart, this dull heart, this backsliding heart, this self-seeking heart of mine—for this cup is so bitter, this pain so grievous, this loss so great, this disease so desperate, this wound so incurable! It is my own self, my own sin— which has caused these floods of sorrows to break in upon me! But,
4. Fourthly, A holy, a prudent silence does 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 prison, that is, 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 people do many times stick and work gloriously, so many times do the words of afflicted people 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 has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.' This word was like apples of gold in pictures of silver, Prov. 25:11, for it made hint not only a convert—but a martyr too. And this was the means of Justin Martyr's conversion, as himself confesses.
Doubtless, many have been made happy by the words of the afflicted. The tongue of the afflicted has 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.' Jerome reads it, "the words of the mouth of a wise man are grace." They minister grace to others, and they win grace and favor 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 speaks of wisdom, and his tongue talks judgment, for the law of the Lord is in his heart, Psalm 37:30. Now his lips drop as honeycombs, Cant. 4:1l; now his tongue is a tree of life, whose leaves are medicinal, 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—'when a wise man speaks, he opens the rich treasure and wardrobe of his mind'; so may I say, 'when an afflicted saint speaks, Oh the pearl, the treasures that he scatters!' But,
5. Fifthly, A holy, a prudent silence does not exclude moderate mourning or weeping under the afflicting hand of God. Isaiah 38:3, 'And Hezekiah wept sore', or, as the Hebrew has it, 'wept with great weeping.' But was not the Lord displeased with him for his great weeping? No! ver. 5, 'I have heard your prayers, I have seen your tears— behold, I will add unto your days fifteen years.' God had as well a bottle for his tears—as a bag for his sins, Psalm 56:8. There is no water so sweet as the saints' tears, when they do not overflow the banks of moderation. Tears are not mutes; they have a voice, and their oratory is of great prevalence with the almighty God. Therefore the weeping prophet calls out for tears—Lam. 2:18, 'Let your tears flow like a river day and night; give yourself no relief; let not the apple of your eye cease;' or, as the Hebrew has it, 'Let not the daughter of your eye be silent.' That which we call the pupil or apple of the eye, the Hebrews call the daughter of the eye, because it is as dear and tender to a man as an only daughter; and because therein appears the likeness of a little daughter. Upon which words, says Bellarmine—'cry aloud—not with your tongue—but with your eyes; not with your words—but with your tears; for that is the prayer that makes the most forcible entry into the ears of the great God of heaven.'
When God strikes, he looks that we should tremble; when his hand is lifted high, he looks that our hearts should stoop low; when he has the rod in his hand, he looks that we should have tears in our eyes, as you may see by comparing of these Scriptures together, Psalm 55:2, 38:6, Job 30:26-32. Says the Greek poet—'the better any are—they are more inclining to weeping, especially under affliction.' As you may see in David, whose tears, instead of gems, were the common ornaments of his bed; as Jonathan, Job, Ezra, Daniel, etc. How, says one, shall God wipe away my tears in heaven, if I shed none on earth? And how shall I reap in joy, if I sow not in tears? I was born with tears, and I shall die with tears—and why then should I live without them in this valley of tears?
There is as well a time to weep, as there is a time to laugh; and a time to mourn, as well as a time to dance, Eccles. 3:4. The mourning garment among the Jews was the black garment, and the black garment was the mourning garment—Psalm 43:2, 'Why do you go mourning?' The Hebrew word signifies 'black'. Why go you in black? Sometimes Christians must put off their gay ornaments, and put on their black—their mourning garments, Exod. 33:3-6. But,
6. Sixthly, A gracious, a prudent silence does not exclude sighing, groaning, or roaring under afflictions. A man may sigh, and groan and roar under the hand of God, and yet be silent. It is not sighing—but muttering; it is not groaning—but grumbling; it is not roaring—but murmuring—which is opposite to a holy silence—Exod. 2:23, 'And the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage.' Job 3:24, 'For my sighing comes before I eat.' His sighing, like bad weather, came unsent for and unsought—so Psalm 38:9, 'Lord, all my desire is before you; and no groaning is not hid from you.' Psalm 102:5, 'By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin.' Job 3:24, 'And my roarings are poured out like the waters.' Psalm 38:8, 'I am feeble and sore broken; I have roared by reason of the disturbance of my heart.' Psalm 22:1, 'My, God! my God! why have you forsaken me? why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my roaring?' Psalm 32:3, 'When I kept silence, my bones waxed old, through my roarings all the day long.' He roars—but does not rage; he roars—but does not repine.
When a man is in extremity, nature prompts him to roar, and the law of grace is not against it. And though sighing, roaring, groaning, cannot deliver a man out of his misery, yet they do give some ease to a man under his misery. When Solon wept for his son's death, one said to him, Weeping will not help. He answered, 'Alas! I weep, because weeping will not help.' So a Christian many times sighs, because sighing will not help; and he groans, because groaning will not help; and he roars, because roaring will not help. Sometimes the sorrows of the saints are so great, that all tears are dried up, and they can get no ease by weeping; and therefore for a little ease they fall a-sighing and a-groaning. And this may be done, and yet the heart may be quiet and silent before the Lord. Peter wept and sobbed, and yet was silent. Sometimes the sighs and groans of a saint do in some manner, tell that which his tongue can in no manner utter. But,
7. Seventhly, A holy, a prudent silence, does not exclude nor shut out the use of any just or lawful means, whereby people may be delivered out of their afflictions. God would not have his people so in love with their afflictions, as not to use such righteous means as may deliver them out of their afflictions. Mat. 10:23, 'But when they persecute you in this city, flee into another.' Acts 12:5, When Peter was in prison, the saints thronged together to pray, as the original has it, and they were so instant and earnest with God in prayer, they did so beseech and besiege the Lord, they did so beg and bounce at heaven-gate, that God could have no rest, until, by many miracles of power and mercy, he had returned Peter as a bosom-favor to them. "After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him—but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall." Acts 9:23-25
The blood of the saints is precious in God's eye, and it should not be vile in their own eyes. When providence opens a door of escape, there is no reason why the saints should set themselves as marks for their enemies to shoot at. 2 Thess. 3:1, 2, The apostles desired the brethren 'to pray for them, that they may be delivered from absurd and wicked men; for all men have not faith.' It is a mercy worth a seeking, to be delivered out of
the hands of wicked, villainous, and troublesome men.
Afflictions are evil in themselves, and we may desire and endeavor to be delivered from them, James 5:14, 15, Isaiah 38:18-21. Both inward and outward means are to be used for our own preservation. Had not Noah built an ark, he would have been swept away with the flood, though he had been with Nimrod and his gang on the tower of Babel, which was raised to the height of some 2000 feet. Though we may not trust in means; yet we may and ought to use the means. In the use of them, eye that God that can only bless them, and you do your work. As the pilot that guides the ship has his hand upon the rudder, and his eye on the star that directs him at the same time; so when your hand is upon the means, let your eye be upon your God, and deliverance will come. We may neglect God as well by neglecting of means, as by trusting in means. It is best to use them, and in the use of them, to live above them. Augustine tells of a man, that being fallen into a pit, one passing by falls to questioning of him, as to how he got into the pit. Oh! said the poor man, ask me not how I came in—but help me and tell me how I may come out! The application is easy. But,
8. Eighthly, and lastly, A holy, a prudent silence, does not exclude a just and sober complaining against the authors, contrivers, abettors, or instruments of our afflictions. 2 Tim. 4:14, 'Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done.' This Alexander is conceived by some to be that Alexander that is mentioned, Acts 19:33, who stood so close to Paul at Ephesus, that he ran the hazard of losing his life by appearing on his side. Yet if glorious professors come to be furious persecutors, Christians may complain—2 Cor. 11:24, 'Five different times the Jews gave me thirty-nine lashes.' They inflict, says Maimonides, no more than forty stripes, though he be as strong as Samson—but if he be weak, they abate of that number. They scourged Paul with the greatest severity, in making him suffer so often the utmost extremity of the Jewish law, when as those who were weak had their punishment mitigated—ver. 25, 'Thrice was I beaten with rods,' that is, by the Romans, whose custom it was to beat the guilty with rods.
If Pharaoh makes Israel groan—Israel may make his complaint against
Pharaoh to the Keeper of Israel, Exod. 2. If the proud and blasphemous king of Assyria shall come with his mighty army to destroy the people of the Lord—Hezekiah may spread his letter of blasphemy before the Lord. Isaiah 37:14-21.
It was the saying of Socrates, that every man in this life had need of a faithful friend and a bitter enemy; the one to advise him, and the other to make him look about him; and this Hezekiah found by experience.
Though Joseph's bow abode in strength, and the arm of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. Yet Joseph may say, that the archers, (or the arrow-masters, as the Hebrew has it,) have severely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him. Gen. 49:23, 24. And so David sadly complained of Doeg. Yes, Christ himself, who was the most perfect pattern for silence under sorest trials, complains against Judas, Pilate, and the rest of his persecutors, Psalm 69:20, 30, etc. Yes, though God will make his people's enemies to be the workmen that shall fit them and square them for his building; to be goldsmiths to add pearls to their crown; to be rods to beat off their dust; to be scullions to scour off their rust; to be fire to purge away their dross; and water to cleanse away their filthiness, fleshliness, and earthliness; yet may they point at them, and pour out their complaints to God against them, Psalm 132:2-18. This truth I might make good by over a hundred texts of Scripture; but it is time to come to the reasons of the point.
Why Must Christians be Mute and Silent
Under the Greatest Afflictions
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, soulstrengthening, 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—tonguetied 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 axehead 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?
Exhortation
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 selfdenial 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,