£^° // J*s*.7//%!L *XDcJlU< l-rr/i't *=Afc.. _'___ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ' THI MUTE CHRISTIAN UNDER THE SMARTING ROD SOVEREIGN ANTIDOTES FOR EVERY CASE. By the Rev. Thomas Brooks, Of Lohdok, 16 6 9. BOSTON: SETH GOLDSMITH, CROCKER & BREWSTER, GOULD, KENDALL & LINCOLN, AND TAPPAN & DENNETT. 1841. 4- «*«.■ J, Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1841, Br Seth Goldsmith, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. The original title page of this work, from a copy in my possession, is, "The Mute Chris- tian under the Smarting Rod : with Soveraign Antidotes against the Most Miserable Exigents : or, A Christian with an Olive Leaf in his mouth, when he is under the greatest afflictions, the sharpest and sorest tryals and troubles, the saddest and darkest providences and changes ; with Answers to divers Questions and Objec- tions that are of greatest importance : all tend- 11 INTRODUCTORY NOTE, ing to win and work souls to be still, quiet) calm, and silent under all changes that have, [passed] or may pass upon them in this world, &c. By Thomas Brooks, late Preacher of the Word at St. Margaret's New Fish Street, London, The Lord is in his holy Temple : let all the earth keep silence befort him, Hab. ii. 20. London, Printed for John Hancock, and to be sold at the first Shop in Popes Head Alley, next to Cornhil, 1669. " The London w Religious Tract Society,' 5 in 1826, reprinted this work. A copy of this reprint, and of the old edition, having come into my hands, I have been led by the pleasure and instruction which the book afforded me to obtain its republication in this country. I have used the Tract Society's edition in this reprint, but have compared it with the original work, and have restored many of the author's illustrations, and some of his idiomatic words. The first thing which interested me in read- ing the preface of this book, was the simplicity INTRODUCTORY NOTE. HI and earnestness of the writer. His style is a good specimen of plain Saxon English. There seemed to be, moreover, a directness and force of expression in it, which makes the book ex- tremely suitable for general readers. The mode of address and of application seems to be that which in preaching is usually most ac- ceptable, and which properly distinguishes the manner of a sermon from that of an essay. But these things, though interesting and im- portant, are of small value in the book com- pared with its rich, christian instruction, drawn from a remarkable acquaintance with the word of God, and from deep religious experience. The writer tells us, in his preface, with evident simplicity, "There hath not any author come to hand that hath handled this subject as I have done ;" and the reader will find that this book is, in many excellent things, unlike other trea- tises on this subject, and second to none. There is a singular copiousness of illustra- tion in the book which will interest every reader, IV INTRODUCTORY NOTE. and although some of the illustrations are quaint and fanciful, they are so unaffected and original, that no one can read them but with pleasure. I would go far to find another book which would excite the same interest with which I first read this volume, and it is with great pleas- ure that I think of the instruction and consola- tion which it will afford to many of the sons and daughters of sorrow. N. ADAMS. Boston, Oct. 12, 1841. CONTENTS The Author's Preface, - - - - - rx The words opened, and the doctrine raised — That it is the great duty and concernment of gracious souls to be mute and silent under the greatest afflictions, the saddest providences, and sharpest trials, they meet with in this world, 19* For the opening of the point : I. There is a sevenfold silence, - - - 21 II. What a prudent, a gracious, a holy silence doth in- clude, ------- 27 III. What a prudent, a holy silence, under affliction* doth not exclude, ----- 45 IV. Eight reasons why christians must be mute and si- lent under their greatest afflictions, &c, - 60 Use. This truth looks sadly upon five sorts of persons, 76 Considerations to prevent men from using sinful shifts and courses to deliver themselves out of their afflictions, 83 Considerations to prevail with christians to be mute and silent under the sharpest afflictions, &c, that they may meet with in this world, - - - - 91 VI CONTENTS. The heinous and dangerous nature of murmuring discov- ered, ------- 108 Object. 1. Did I but know that my afflictions were in love, I would be quiet, I would hold my peace, &c. answered, - - - - - -122 Object. 2. The Lord hath smitten me in my nearest and dearest comforts and contentments, and how can I then hold my peace ? answered, - 132 Object. 3. Oh! but my afflictions, my troubles, have been long upon me, and how then can I hold my peace ? answered, ------ 149 Object. 4. I would be mute and silent under my afflic- tions, but they daily multiply and increase upon me, &c how then can I be silent ? answered, - 161 Object. 5. My afflictions are very great, how then can I hold my peace ? answered, - - - - 166 Object. 6. Oh ! but my afflictions are greater than other men's, &c, how then can I be silent? answered, 171 Object. 7. I would hold my peace, but my outward afflictions are attended with sore temptations, &c, how then can I be silent ? answered five ways ; where- in eight advantages are discovered that saints gain by their temptations, - - - - -176 Object. 8. Oh! but God hath deserted me, he hath for- saken me, and hid his face from me, &c. how then can I be silent ? answered; also, advantages the saints gain by their being clouded, - - - 188 Object. 9. Oh ! but I am falsely accused and sadly charged and reproached in my good name, &c, how then can I be silent ? answered, - 203 CONTENTS. Vll Object. 10. I have sought the Lord, in this my affliction, for this and that mercy, and still the Lord delays me, and puts me off, &c, how then can I hold my peace ? how then can I be silent ? &c. answered, - 217 Quest. But what are the reasons that God doth so delay and put off his people ? answered, - - 222 Quest. What are the means that may help persons to be silent and quiet under their greatest afflictions, their sharpest trials, &c, answered from page 227 to the end of the book. ----- AUTHOR'S PREFACE. ALL. AFFLICTED AND DISTRESSED CHRIS- TIANS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. DEAR BRETHREN, The choicest saints are born to troubles, as the sparks fly upwards, Psa. xxxiv. 19; Job v. 7; Psa. lxxxviii. 3, 4. Many are the troubles of the righteous. If they were many, and not troubles, then, as it is in the pro- verb, the more the happier; or if they were troubles, and not many, then the fewer the better. But God, who is infinite in wisdom, and matchless in goodness, hath ordered troubles, yea, many troubles, to come trooping in upon us on every side. As our mercies, so our crosses, seldom come single; they usually come treading one upon the heels of another; they are often like April showers, no sooner is one over, but another comes. And yet, Christians, it is mercy, it is rich mercy, that every affliction is not an execution, that every cor- rection is not a damnation. The higher the waters rose, the nearer Noah's ark was lifted up to heaven; the more thy afflictions are increased, the more thy heart shall be raised heavenwards. 1 x author's preface. The reasons of my sending this piece into the world are these: 1. The afflicting hand of God hath been heavy upon myself, and upon my dearest relations in this world, and upon many of my precious Christian friends, whom I much love and honor in the Lord; which put me upon studying the mind of God in that scripture, which I have made the subject matter of the following discourse. Luther could not understand some Psalms till he was afflicted. The Christ -cross is no letter in the book, and yet, saith he, it hath taught me more than all the letters in the book. Afflictions are a golden key, by which the Lord opens the rich treasures of his word to his people's souls; and this in some measure through grace my soul hath experienced. When Samson had found honey, he gave some to his father and mother to eat, Judg. xiv. 9, 10. Some honey I have found in the following text, and therefore I may not, I cannot be, such a churl, as not to give them some of the honey to taste, who have drank deep of the gall and wormwood. Austin observes on Psa. lxvi. 16, " Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul." He doth not call them, saith he, to acquaint them with spec- ulations, how wide the earth is, how far the heavens are stretched out, what the number of the stars is, or what is the course of the sun; but come, and I will tell you the wonders of his grace, the faithfulness of his promises, the riches of his mercy to my soul. Gracious experi- ences are to be communicated. We learn that we may teach, is a proverb among the rabbins: and I therefore, lay in, and lay up, that I may draw forth again, and lay out for the good of many. When God hath dealt boun- tifully with us, others should reap some noble good by us; the family, the town, the city, the country, where a man lives, should fare the better for his faring well. Our mercies and experiences should be as a running spring at our doors, which is not only for our own use, but also for our neighbors, yea, and for strangers too. author's preface. xi 2. What is written is permanent, and spreads itself further by filr, for time, place, and persons, than the voice can reach. The pen is an artificial tongue; it speaks as well to absent as to present friends; it speaks to them that are afar off, as well as those that are near; it speaks to many thousands at once; it speaks not only to the present age, but also to succeeding ages. The pen is a kind of image of eternity, it will make a man live when he is dead. Though the prophets do not live forever, Zech. i. 5, yet their labors may. A man's writings may preach, when he cannot, when he may not, and when, by reason of bodily distempers, he dares not; yea, and that which is more, when he is not. 3. Few men, if any, have iron memories. How soon is a sermon preached forgotten, when a sermon written remains! Augustine, writing to Volusian, saith, « That which is written, is always at hand to be read, when the reader is at leisure." Men do not easily forget their own names, nor their father's house, nor the wives of their bosoms, nor their offspring, nor to eat their daily bread; and yet, ah! how easily do they forget that word of grace that should be dearer to them than all! Most men's memories, especially in the great concernments of their souls, are like a sieve or boulter, where the good corn and fine flour goes through, but the light chaff and coarse bran remains behind; or like a strainer, where the sweet liquor is strained out, but the dregs are left be- hind; or like a grate, that lets the pure water run away, but if there be any straws, sticks, mud, or filth, these it holds, as it were, with iron hands. Most men's mem- ories are very treacherous, especially in good things. Few men's memories are a holy ark, a heavenly store- house, or magazine for their souls; and therefore they stand in the more need of a written word. But, 4. Its marvellous suitableness and usefulness under those great turns and changes that have passed upon us. As every wise husbandman observes the fittest seasons to sow his seed; some he sows in the autumn and fall Xll AUTHOR'S PREFACE. of the leaf, some in the spring of the year, Isa. xxviii. 25; some in a dry season, and some in a wet; some in a moist clay, and some in a sandy, dry ground; so every spiritual husbandman must observe the fittest time to sow his spiritual seed in. He hath heavenly seed by him for all occasions and seasons, for spring and fall, for all grounds, heads, and hearts. Now, whether the seed sown in the following treatise be not suitable to the times and seasons wherein we are cast, is left to the judgment of the prudent reader to determine. 5. The good acceptance that my other weak labors have found. God hath blessed them, not only to the conviction, the edification, confirmation, and consolation of many, but also to the conversion of many. God is a free Agent, to work by what hand he pleases, and some- times he takes pleasure to do great things by weak things, " that no flesh may glory in his presence," 1 Cor. i. 27- 29. God will not despise the day of small things; and who or what art thou that darest despise that day? The Spirit breathes upon whose preaching and writing he pleases, John iii. 8, and all prospers according as that wind blows. 6. That all afflicted and distressed Christians may have a proper salve for every sore, a proper remedy against every disease at hand, Prov. xxv. 11. As every good man, so every good book, is not fit to be the afflict- ed man's companion; but this is adapted to his case. Here he may see his face, his head, his hand, his heart, his way, his w©rks. Here he may see all his diseases discovered, and proper remedies proposed and applied. Here he may find argumen s to silence him, and means to quiet him, when it is the wo st with him. In every storm, here he may find a shelter, and in every danger, a city of refuge; in every difficulty, here he may have a light to guide him, and in eve y peril, a buckler to defend him; in every distress, here he may find a cordial to strengthen him, and in every trouble, a staff to support him. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. Xlll 7. To satisfy some bosom friends, some faithful friends. Man is made to be a friend, and apt for friendly offices. He that is not friendly, is not worthy to have a friend; and he that hath a friend, and doth not show himself friendly, is not worthy to be accounted a man. Friend- ship is a kind of life, without which there is no comfort of a man's life. Christian friendship ties such a knot, 1 Sam. xxii. 1, 2, that great Alexander cannot cut. Sum- mer friends I yaluenot, but winter friends are worth their weight in gold; and who can deny such any thing, espe- cially in these days, wherein real, faithful, constant friends are so rare to be found?* The friendship of most men is like Jonah's gourd ; now very promising and flourishing, and anon fading and withering. It is like some plants in the water, which have broad leaves on the surface of the water, but scarcely any root at all; their friendship is like lemons, cold within, hot without; their expressions are high, but their affections are low; they speak much, but do little: as drums, and trumpets, and ensigns in a battle, make a great noise, and a fine show, but act nothing, so these counterfeit friends will compliment highly, bow handsomely, speak plausibly, and promise greatly, and yet have neither a hand nor heart to act any thing cordially or faithfully. From such friends it is a mercy to be delivered. But for all this, there are some that are real friends, faithful friends, active friends, win- ter friends, bosom friends, fast friends; and for their sakes (especially those among them that have been long, very long under the smarting rod, and in the fiery fur- nace, and that have been often poured from vessel to ves- sel) have I once more appeared in print to the world. 8. Lastly, there hath not any author come to my hand, that hath handled this subject as I have done, and there- fore I do not know but it may be the more grateful and acceptable to the world ; and if by this essay others that * Oh, my friends ! I have never a friend, said Socrates. A friend is a very mutable creature, said Plato. l* XIV AUTHOR'S PREFACE. are more able shall be provoked to do more worthily upon this subject, I shall therefore rejoice. Thus I have given you a true and faithful account of the reasons that have prevailed with me to publish this treatise to the world, and to dedicate it to yourselves. I would now give you a little good counsel, that you may so read the following discourse, as that it may turn much to your souls' advantage. Many read good books, and yet get nothing, because they read them over curso- rily, slightly, and superficially; but he that would read to profit, must, 1. Look up for a blessing. Paul may plant, and Apol- los may water; but all will be to no purpose, except the Lord give the increase, 1 Cor. iii. 6, 7. God must do the deed, or else all that is done will do you no good. If you would have this work successful and effectual, you must look offfrom man, and look up to God, who alone can make it a blessing to you; as, without a blessing from Heaven, thy clothes cannot warm thee, nor thy food nourish thee, nor physic cure thee, nor friends com- fort thee; so without a blessing from Heaven, without the precious breathings and influences of the Spirit, what here is done will do you no good, it will not turn to your account in the day of Christ; and therefore cast an eye Heaven-wards. How many are therein these days, who when they go to read a book, never look up for God's blessing ! Seneca observes, that the husbandmen in Egypt never look up to heaven for rain in time of drought, but to the overflowing of the Nile. How many there are, who when they read a book never look after the rain of God's blessing, but look to the river. They only look to the wit, the learning, the arts, the parts, the eloquence, &c. of the author; they never look so high as Heaven ; and hence it comes to pass, that though these read much, yet they profit little. 2. He that would read to profit, must read and medi- tate. Meditation is the food of your souls; it is the very stomach and natural heat whereby spiritual truths are author's PREFACE* XV digested. A man shall as soon live without his heart, as he shall be able to get good by what he reads, without meditation. Prayer, saith Augustine, without medita- tion, is dry and formal; and reading without meditation is useless and unprofitable. He that would be a wise, a prudent, and an able, experienced statesman, must not hastily ramble and run over many cities, countries, cus- toms, laws, and manners of people, without serious mu- sing and pondering upon such things as may make him. an expert statesman; so he that would get good by read- ing, that would complete his knowledge, and perfect his experience in spiritual things, must not slightly and hastily ramble and run over this book or that, but ponder upon what he reads; as Mary pondered the saying of the an- gel in her heart. " Lord," saith Augustine, " the more I meditate on thee, the sweeter thou art to me;" so the more you shall meditate on the following matter, the sweeter it will be to you. They usually thrive best who meditate most. Meditation is a soul-nourishing duty, a grace-strengthening duty. Gerson calls meditation the nurse of prayer; lerom calls it his paradise; Basil calls it the treasury where all the graces are stored up; The- ophylact calls it the very gate and portal by which we enter into glory; and Aristotle, though a heathen, places felicity in the contemplation of the mind. You may read much, and hear much; yet without meditation you will never be excellent, you will never be eminent christians. 3. Read, and try what thou readest; take nothing upon trust, but all upon trial, 1 John iv. 1, as those noble Bereans did, Acts xvii. 10, 11. You will try, and tell, and weigh gold, though it be handed to you by your fathers; and so should you all those heavenly truths that are handed to you by your spiritual fathers. I hope, upon trial, you will find nothing but what will hold weight in the balance of the sanctuary; and though all be not gold that glitters, yet I judge that you will find nothing here to glitter, that will not be found, upon trial, to be true gold. XVI AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 4. Read, and do; read, and practise what you read, or else all your reading will do you no good. He that hath a good book in his hand, but not a lesson of it in his heart, or life, is like that ass that carries rich burdens and feeds upon thistles. Jn divine account, a man knows no more than he doth. Profession, without practice, will but make a man twice told a child of darkness. To speak well is to sound like a cymbal; but to do well is to act like an angel. He that practices what he reads and un- derstands, God will help him to understand what he un- derstands not, John vii. 16, 17; Psa. cxix. 98, 99, 100. There is no fear of knowing too much, though there is much fear in practising too little. The most doing man shall be the most knowing man; the mightiest man in practice, will, in the end, prove the mightiest man in scripture. Theory is the guide of practice, and practice is the life of theory. Salvian relates how the heathen did reproach some christians who by their lewd lives made the gospel of Christ to be a reproach. Where (said they) is that good law which they do believe? where are those rules of godliness which they do learn? They read the holy gospel, and yet are unclean; they hear the apostle's writings, and yet live in drunkenness; they follow Christ, and yet disobey Christ; they profess a holy law, and yet lead impure lives. Ah! how may many preachers take up sad complaints against many readers in these days! They read our works, and yet in their lives they deny our works; they praise our works, and yet in their con- versations they reproach our works; they cry up our la- bors in their discourses, and yet they cry them down in their practices. Yet I hope better things of you into whose hands this treatise shall fall. The Samaritan wo- man did not fill her pitcher with water that she might talk of it, but that she might use it. The application is easy. 5. Read and apply. Reading is but the drawing of the bow; application is the hitting of the mark. The author's preface, xvii choicest truths will no further profit you, than they are applied by you; you had as good not read, as not apply what you read. The plaster will not heal, if it be not applied. No man attains to health by reading Galen, or by knowing Hippocrates' aphorisms, but by the practical application of them. All the reading in the world will never make for the health of your souls, except you ap- ply what you read. The true reason why many read so much, and profit so little, is, because they do not apply and bring home what they read to their own souls. But, 6. Read and pray. He that makes not conscience of praying over what he reads, will find little sweetness or profit in his reading. No man makes such earnings of his reading, as he that prays over what he reads. Luther professeth, that he profited more in the knowledge of the scriptures, by prayer, in a short space of time, than by study in a longer. John, while weeping, had the sealed book opened. Men would gain much more than they do, by reading good men's works, if they would but pray more over what they read. Ah, christians! pray before you read, and pray after you read, that all may be blessed and sanctified to you. When you have done reading, usually close up thus: " So let me live, so let me die, That I may live eternally." And when you are in the mount for yourselves, bear him upon your hearts, who is willing to spend and be spent for your sakes, for your souls. O pray for me, that I may more and more be under the rich influences and glorious out-pourings of the Spirit; that I may be an able minister of the New Testament, not of the letter but of the Spirit, 2 Cor. iii. 6; that I may always find an everlasting spring, and an overflowing fountain within me, which may always make me faithful, constant, and abun- dant, in the work of the Lord; and that I may live daily xviii author's preface. under those inward teachings of the Spirit, that may en- able me to speak from the heart to the heart, from the conscience to the conscience, and from experience to ex- perience; that I may be a burning and a shining light; that everlasting arms may be still under me; that whilst I live, I may be serviceable to the glory of God, and his people's good; that nothing may discourage me in my work; and that when my work is done, I may give up my account with joy, and not with grief. I shall follow these poor labors with my weak prayers, that they may contribute much to your internal and eternal welfare; and so rest, Your souls' servant in our dearest Lord, Thoma.s Brooks. THE MUTE CHRISTIAN THE SMARTING ROD. PSALM XXXIX. 9. J was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it This Psalm consists of two parts : a narra- tion and prayer take up the whole. In the former you have the prophet's disease discov- ered, and in the latter the remedy applied. My text falls in the latter part, where you have the way of David's cure, or the means by which his soul was reduced to a still and quiet temper. I shall give a little light into the words, and then come to the point that I in- tend to stand upon. " I was dumb." The Hebrew word signi- 20 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN fies to be mute, tongue-tied, or dumb; it signi- fies also to bind, as well as to be mute and dumb, because they that are dumb are, as it were, tongue-tied, and bound up. The sight of God's hand in the affliction that was upon him, makes him lay a law of silence upon his heart and tongue. u I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it." He looks through all secondary causes, to the First Cause, and is silent ; he sees the hand of God in all, and so sits mute and quiet. The sight of God in affliction, is of an irre- sistible efficacy, to silence the heart, and to stop the mouth of a gracious man. In the words you may observe three things : 1. The person speaking, and that is David ; David a king, David a saint, David a man af- ter God's own heart, David a christian. And here w T e are to look upon David, not as a king, but as a christian, as a man whose heart was right with God. 2. The action and carriage of David under the hand of God, in these words, " I was dumb, and opened not my mouth." 3. The reason of this humble and sweet carriage of his, in these words, u because thou didst it." The proposition is this : Doct. u That it is the great duty and con- cernment of gracious souls to be mute and silent under the greatest afflictions, the saddest UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 21 providences, and sharpest trials that they meet with in this world." For the opening and clearing up of this great and useful truth, I shall inquire, I. What this silence is that is here pointed at. II. What a gracious, a holy silence doth include. III. What this holy silence doth not ex- clude. IV. The reasons of the point : and then bring home all by way of application to our own souls. I. For the first, What is the silence here meant ? I answer, There is a seven-fold si- lence. 1. There is a stoical silence. The stoics of old thought it altogether below a man, that hath reason and understanding, either to rejoice in any good, or to mourn for any evil. But this stoical silence is such a sinful insensible- ness, as is very provoking to a holy God, Isa. xxvi. 10, 11. God will make the insensible sinner sensible, either of his hand here, or of his wrath in hell. It is a heathenish and a hor- rid sin, to be without natural affection, Rom. i. 31. Of this sin Quintus Fabius Maximus seems to be guilty, who, when he heard that his mother and wife, whom he dearly loved, were slain by the fall of an house, and that his younger son, a brave, hopeful young man, died at the same time in Umbria, never changed his 2 22 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN countenance, but went on with the affairs of the commonwealth as if no such calamity had befallen him. This is a sottish insensibleness, Job xxxvi. 13. If the loss of a child in the house be no more to thee than the loss of a chick in the yard, thy heart is base and sordid, and thou mayest well expect some sore awa- kening judgment. Aristotle speaks of fishes which, though they have spears thrust into their sides, yet awake not. God thrusts many a sharp spear through a sinner's heart, and yet he feels nothing ; he complains of nothing. These men's souls will bleed to death. Such stupidity is a curse, which many a man lies under. This stoical silence, which is but a sinful sullenness, is not the silence here meant. 2. There is a politic silence ; many are si- lent out of policy. If they were not silent, they would lay themselves more open, either to the rage and fury of men, or else to the plots and designs of men ; to prevent which, they are silent, and will lay their hands upon their mouths, that others may not lay their hands upon their estates, lives, or liberties. " And Saul also went home to Gibeah ; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched. But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us ? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace," or was as though he had been deaf, 1 Sam. x. 26, 27. This new king, being but UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 23 newly entered upon his kingly government, and observing his condition to be but mean and low, his friends but few, and his enemies many and potent, sons of Belial, that is, men without yoke, (as the word signifies,) men that were desperately wicked, who would neither submit to reason nor religion, nor be governed by the laws of nature, nor of nations, nor yet by the laws of God ; this young prince, in order to prevent sedition and rebellion, blood and de- struction, prudently and politically chooses rath- er to lay his hand upon his mouth, than to take a wolf by the ear or a lion by the beard. He therefore turns a deaf ear to all they say ; his unsettled condition requiring silence. But this is not the silence the text speaks of. 3. There is a foolish silence. Some fools there be, that can neither do well nor speak well ; and because they cannot word it, neither as they would nor as they should, they are so wise as to be mute. "Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise ; and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of un- derstanding," Prov. xvii. 28. As he cannot be wise that speaks much, so he cannot be known for a fool that says nothing. There are many wise fools in the world. There are many silly souls, who, by holding their tongues, gain the credit and honor of being discreet men. He that doth not discover his want of wisdom, by foolish babbling, is accounted wise, 24 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN though he may be otherwise. Silence is so rare a virtue, where wisdom doth regulate it, that it is accounted a virtue where folly doth impose it. Silence was so highly honored among the old Romans, that they erected al- tars to it. Tliat man shall pass for a man of understanding, who so far understands himself as to hold his tongue ; for though it be a great misery to be a fool, yet it is a greater, that a man cannot be a fool but he must needs show it. But this foolish silence is not the silence here meant. 4. There is a sullen silence. Many, to gratify a humor, are sullenly silent. These ;are troubled with a dumb devil, which was the w r orst of all the devils you read of in the scrip- ture, Mark is. 17 — 29. There is a generation amongst us, who., when they are under the afflicting hand of God, have no mouth to plead with God, no lips to praise God, no tongue to justify God ; these are possessed with a dumb devil : and this dumb devil had possessed Ahab for a time: "And Ahab came into his house, heavy and displeased, and laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread," 1 Kings xxi. 4. Ahab's ambitious humor, his covetous humor, being crossed, he is resolved to starve himself, and to die of the sullens. A sullen silence is both a sin and a punishment; oo devil frets and vexes, wears and wastes the UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 25 spirits of a man like this dumb devil, like this sullen silence. But this is not the silence here meant. 5. There is a forced silence. Many are silent perforce. He that is under the power of his enemy, though he suffer many hard things, yet he is silent under his sufferings, because he knows he is liable to worse. He that hath taken away his liberty, may take away his life; he that hath taken away his money, may take off his head; he that hath let him blood in the foot, may let him blood in the throat, if he will not be still and quiet ; and this works silence perforce. So when many are under the afflict- ing hand of God, conscience tells them, that now they are under the hand of an enemy, and the power of that God whom they have dis- honored, whose Son they have crucified, whose Spirit they have grieved, whose righteous laws they have transgressed, whose ordinances they have despised, and whtise people they have abused and opposed ; and that he that hath ta- ken away one child, may take away every child ; he that hath taken away the wife, might have taken away the husband ; he that hath taken away some part of the estate, might have taken away all the estate ; and he who hath inflicted some distempers upon the body, might have cast both body and soul into hell-fire for- ever; he that hath shut him up in his cham- ber, may shut him out of heaven at pleasure. 2* 26 THE MUTE CHRISTIAK Thoughts of these things make many a sinner silent tinder the hand of Gad. The eye that sin shuts, afflictions open. But this is but & forced silence. Such was the silence of Philip II. of Spain, who, when his invinci- ble Armada, that had been three years a fit- ting, was lost, gave command that, all over Spain, they should give thanks to God &nd the saints that it was no more grievous. As the cudgel forces the dog to fee quiet and still, and the rod forces the child to be silent and mute ; so the apprehensions of what God hath done,, &nd of what God may do, force many a soul to be silent. Bat this is not the silence hem meant. A forced silence is rro silence m the the despairing soul sits silent, being filled with amazement and astonishment. "I am so troubled that I cannot speak," Psa. Ixxvii. 4. But this is not the silence here meant. But, 7. Lastly, There is a prudent silence, a holy, a gracicms silence, that springs from prudent prin- ciples, from holy principles, and from gracious causes and considerations; and this is the silence here mennt. And this I fully discover in my answers to the second question, which is this, II. What doth a prudent, a gracious, a holy silence include? Arts. It includes these eight things: 1. It includes a sight of God, and an ac- knowledgment of God, as the Author of alt 28 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN the afflictions, that come upon us; and this you have plain in the text, u I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it," The psalmist looks through secondary causes to the First Cause, and so sits mute be- fore the Lord. In second causes, many times a christian may see much envy, hatred, malice, pride, &c; but in the First Cause he can see nothing but grace and mercy, sweetness and goodness. There is no sickness so little that God does not send, though it be but the aching of the little finger. As the scribe is more eyed and properly said to write, than the pen; and he that maketh and keepeth the clock, is more properly said to make it go and strike, than the wheels and weights that hang upon it; and every workman is more eyed, and prop- erly said to effect his works, than the tools which he useth as his instruments; so the Lord, who is the chief Agent and mover in all actions, and who hath the greatest hand in all our afflictions, is more to be eyed and owned, than any inferior or subordinate causes what- soever. So Job beheld God in all; " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away," Job i. 21. Had he not seen God in the afflic- tion, he w T ould have cried out, Oh these w r retched Chaldeans! they have plundered and spoiled me! these wicked Sabeans! they have robbed and wronged me! Job discerns God's commission in the Chaldeans' and the Sabeans' UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 29 hands, and then lays his own hand upon his mouth. So Aaron, beholding the hand of God in the untimely death of his two sons, held his peace, Lev. x. 3. The sight of God, in this sad stroke, is a bridle both to his mind and mouth, he neither mutters- nor murmurs. So Joseph saw the hand of God in his breth- ren's selling him into Egypt, Gen. xlv. 8, and that silences him. Men that see not God in an affliction, are easily cast into a feverish fit; they will quickly be in a flame; and when their passions are up y and their hearts on fire, they will begin to be saucy, and tell God to his teeth, that they da well to be angry, Jonah iv. 8, 9. Such as- will not acknowledge God to be the Author of all their afflictions, will be ready enough to fall in with that mad principle of the Manichees, who maintained the devil to be the author of all calamities; as if there could be any evil (or affliction) in the city, and the Lord have no hand in it, Amos iii. 6. Such as can see the ordering hand of God in all their afflictions, will, with David, lay their hands upon their mouths, when the rod of God is upon their backs, 2 Sam. xvi. 11, 12. If God's hand be not seen in the affliction, the heart will do nothing but fret and rage under affliction. 2. It includes some holy, gracious appre- hensions, of the majesty, sovereignty, dignity, authority, and presence of that God under 30 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN whose afflicting hand we are. u But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep si- lence before him," Hab. ii. 20. When God would have all the people of the earth to be hush- ed, quiet, and silent before him, he would have them to behold him in his temple, where he sits in state, in majesty, and glory. "Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God," Zeph. i. 7. Murmur not, repine not, quarrel not: stand mute, and be silent, lay thy hand on thy mouth, when his hand is upon thy back, who is all eye to see, as well as all hand to punish. As the eyes of a well drawn picture are fastened on thee which way soever thou turnest; so are the eyes of the Lord, and therefore thou hast cause to stand mute before him. Thus Aaron had an eye to the sovereignty of God, Lev. x. 3, and that silences him. And Job had an eye upon the majesty of God, Job xxxvii. 23, 24, and that stills him. And Eli had an eye upon the authority and pres- ence of God, 1 Sam. iii. 11 — 18, and that quiets him. A man never comes to humble himself, nor to be silent under the hand of God, till he comes to see the hand of God to be a mighty hand. u Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God," 1 Pet. v. 6. When men look upon the hand of God as a weak hand, a feeble hand, a low hand, a mean hand, their hearts rise against his hand: " Who is the Lord," said Pharaoh, UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 31 "that I should obey his voice?" Exod. 5. 2. And till Pharaoh came to see the hand of God, and to feel it as a mighty hand, he would not let Israel go. When Tiribazus, a noble Per- sian, was arrested, at first he drew out his sword, and defended himself; but when they charged him in the king's name, and informed him that they came from the king, and were commanded to bring him to the king, he yielded willingly. So, when afflictions arrest us, we shall murmur, and grumble, and strug- gle, and strive even to the death, before w r e shall yield to that God that strikes, till we come to see his majesty and authority, Isa. xxvi. 11, 12, till we come to see him as the King of kings, and Lord of lords, Rev. xix. 16. It is such a sight of God as this, that makes the heart to stoop under his almighty hand. The Thracians being ignorant of the dignity and majesty of God, when it thundered and lightened used to express their madness and folly in shooting their arrows against heaven, threatning-wise. As a sight of his grace cheers the soul, so a sight of his great- ness and glory silences the soul. But, 3. A gracious, a prudent silence includes a holy quietness, and calmness of mind and spirit, under the afflicting hand of God. A gracious silence shuts out all inward heats, murmurings, frettings, quarrellings, wranglings, and boilings of heart, " Truly my soul keepeth 32 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN silence unto God," Psa. lxii. 1, or is silent or still ; that is, my soul is quiet, and submis- sive to God ; all murmurings and repinings, passions, and turbulent affections, being al- layed, tamed, and subdued. This also is clear in the text, and in the former instances of Aaron, Eli, and Job ; they saw that it was a Father that put those bitter cups into their hands, and love that laid those heavy crosses upon their shoulders, and grace that put those yokes about their necks, and this caused much quietness and calmness in their spirits. Mari- us bit, in his pain, when the chirurgeon cut off his leg. Some men, when God cuts off this mercy and that mercy from them, bite, in their pain, they hide and conceal their grief and trouble ; but could you but look into their hearts, you would find all in an uproar, all out of order, all in a flame ; and, however they may seem to be cold without, yet they are all in a hot, burning fever within. Such a fever- ish fit David was once in, Psa. xxxix. 3. But certainly a holy silence allays all tumults in the mind, and makes a man in patience to possess his own soul, Luke xxi. 19; which, next to his possession of God, is the choicest and sweetest possession in all the world. The law of silence is as well upon that man's heart and mind, as it is upon his tongue, who is truly and divinely silent under the rebuking hand of God. As tongue-service, abstracted from UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 33 heart-service, is no service in the account of God, Isa. xxix. 13 ; Matt. xv. 8, 9, so tongue- silence, abstracted from heart-silence, is no si- lence in the esteem of God. A man is then graciously silent, when all is quiet within and without. David by his harp could allay the tumul- tuous motions of Saul's mind. When God's people are under the rod, he makes, by his Spirit and word, such sweet music in their souls, as allays all tumultuous motions, passions, and perturbations, Psa. xciv. 17 — 19; cxix. 49, 50 ; so that they sit quiet and still, and in peace possess their own souls. 4. A prudent, a holy silence, takes in a humble justifying, clearing, and acquitting of God of all blame, rigor, and injustice, in all the afflictions he brings upon us. u That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest," Psa. li. 4, that is, when thou correctest. God's judging his peo- ple, is God's correcting or chastening of his people. u When we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord," 1 Cor. xi. 32. Da- vid's great care, when he was under the afflict- ing hand of God, was to clear the Lord of in- justice. "Ah! Lord," saith he, " there is not the least show, spot, stain, blemish, or mixture of injustice, in all the afflictions thou hast brought upon me ; I desire to take shame to myself, and to set to my seal, that the Lord 3 34 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN is righteous, and that there is no injustice, no cruelty, no extremity, in all that the Lord hath brought upon me." And so in Psa. cxix.*75, 137, he sweetly and readily subscribes unto the righteousness of God in those sharp and smart afflictions that God exercised him with : " I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments." God's judgments are always just ; he never afflicts but in faithfulness. His will is the rule of justice ; and, therefore, a gracious soul dares not cavil nor question his proceedings. The afflicted soul knows, that a righteous God can do nothing but that which is righteous ; it knows, that God is incontrolla- ble, and therefore, the afflicted man puts his mouth in the dust, and keeps silence before him. Who dare say, " Wherefore hast thou done so ?" 2 Sam. xvi. 10. Silently to kiss the rod, and the hand that whips with it, is the noblest way of clearing the Lord of all injus- tice. The Babylonish captivity was the sorest, the heaviest affliction, that ever God inflicted upon any people under heaven, Lam. i. 12, and Dan. ix. 12, &c. Yet, under those smart afflictions, wisdom is justified of her children. " Thou art just in all that is brought upon us ; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly," Neh. ix. 33. " The Lord is right- UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 35 eous, for I have rebelled against him," Lam. i. 18. A holy silence shines in nothing more, than in a humble justifying and clearing of God from all that which a corrupt heart is apt enough to charge God with in the day of afflic- tion. God, in that he is good, can give noth- ing, and do nothing, but that which is good. 5. A holy silence includes gracious, blessed, soul-quieting conclusions, about the issue and event of those afflictions that are upon us, Lam. iii. 27 — 34. In this choice scripture, you may observe these five soul-stilling con- clusions : (1.) (And that more generally,) That they shall work for their good. " It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth," ver. 27. A gracious soul secretly concludes, as stars shine brightest in the night, so God will make my soul shine and glitter like gold, whilst I am in, and when I come out of this furnace of affliction. " He knoweth the way that I take ; and when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold," Job xxiii. 10. Surely, as the taste of honey did open Jon- athan's eyes, so this cross, this affliction, shall open mine eyes ; by this stroke I shall come to have a clearer sight of my sins, and of my- self, and a fuller sight of my God, Job xxxiii. 27, 28 ; xl. 4, 5 ; xlii. 1—6. Surely this affliction shall issue in the pur- ging away of my dross, Isa. i. 25. 36 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN Surely, as ploughing the ground killeth the weeds, and harrowing breaketh hard clods, so these afflictions shall kill my sins, and soften my heart, Hos. v. 15; vi. 1 — 3. Surely, as the plaster draws out the core, so the afflictions that are upon me shall draw out the core of pride, the core of self-love, the core of envy, the core of earthliness, the core of formality, the core of hypocrisy, Psa. cxix. 67—71. Surely by these the Lord will crucify my heart more and more to the world, and the world to my heart, Gal. vi. 14 ; Psa. cxxxi. 1,2. Surely by these afflictions the Lord will hide pride from my soul, Job xxxiii. 14 — 21. Surely these afflictions are but the Lord's prnning-knives, by which he will bleed my sins, and prune my heart, and make it more fertile and fruitful ; they are but the Lord's portion, by which he will clear me, and rid me of those spiritual diseases and maladies which are most deadly and dangerous to my soul. Affliction is such a potion as will carry away all ill humors. Surely these shall increase my spiritual ex- periences, Rom. v. 3, 4. Surely by these I shall be made more par- taker of God's holiness, Heb. xii. 10. Sharp afflictions make holy hearts. UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 37 Surely by these God will communicate more of himself unto me, Hos. ii. 14. Surely by these afflictions the Lord will draw out my heart more and more to seek him, Isa. xxvi. 16. " In their afflictions they will seek me early, 5 ' Hos. v. 15; or, as the Hebrew hath it, they will morning me. In times of affliction, christians will industriously, speedily, early seek unto the Lord. Surely by these trials and troubles the Lord will fix my soul more than ever upon the great concernments of another world, Rom. viii. 17, 18; 2 Cor. iv> 16—18. Surely by these afflictions the Lord will work in me more tenderness and compassion towards those that are afflicted, Heb. x. 34 ; xii. 3. The Romans punished one that was seen looking out of his window with a crown of roses on his head, in a time of public ca- lamity. Surely these are but God's love tokens. " As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten," Rev. iii. 19. Seneca persuaded his friend Polybius to bear his affliction quietly, because he was the Emperor's favorite, telling him it was not lawful to complain while Cesar was his friend. O my soul! be quiet, be still; all is in love, all is a fruit of Divine favor; I see honey upon the top of every twig ; the rod is but a rosemary branch ; I have sugar with my gall, and wine with my wormwood ; therefore, 3* 88 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN be silent, O my soul ! And this general con- clusion, that all shall be for good, had this blessed effect upon the church, " He sitteth alone, and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him," ver. 28. Affliction abases the loveliness of the world without, that might entice us ; it abates the lus- tiness of the flesh within, which might else en- snare us ; and it abates the spirit in his quarrel against the flesh and the world ; by all which it proves a mighty advantage unto us. (2.) They shall keep them humble and low : " He putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope," ver. 29, Some say, that these words are an allusion to the manner of those that, having been conquered and sub- dued, lay their necks down at the conqueror's feet, to be trampled upon, and to lick up the dust that is under the conqueror's feet. Others of the learned look upon the words as an allu- sion to poor petitioners, who cast themselves dow x n at princes' feet, that they may draw forth their pity and compassion towards them. Aristippus fell on the ground before Dionysius and kissed his feet when he presented a petition to him, and gave as the reason, u He hath ears in his feet." Take it which way you will, it holds forth this to us, " that holy hearts will be humble under the afflicting hand of God." When God's rod is upon their backs, their mouths shall be in the dust. A good heart UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 39 will lie lowest, when the hand of God is lifted highest, Job xli. 1—7 ; Acts ix. 1 — 8. (3.) The third soul-quieting conclusion you have in ver. 31, " For the Lord will not cast off forever ;" the rod shall not always lie upon the back of the righteous. " At even-tide, lo ! there is trouble ; but afore morning it is gone," Isa. xvii. 14. As Athanasius said to his friends, when they came to bewail his mis- ery and banishment, It is but a little cloud, said he, and will quickly be gone. There are none of God's afflicted ones, that have not their intermissions, respites, breathing* whiles ; yea, so small a while doth the hand of the Lord rest upon his people, that Luther cannot get diminutives enough to extenuate it ; for he calls it "a very little cross that we bear." " Come, my people, enter thou into thy cham- bers, and shut thy doors about thee : hide thy- self, as it w r ere, for a little moment, (or for a little space, a little w 7 hile,) until the indignation be overpast," Isa. xxvi. 20. The indigna- tion doth not pass, but overpass. The sharp- ness, shortness, and suddenness of the saints' afflictions, is set forth by the travail of a wo- man, John xvi. 21, which is sharp, short, and sudden. (4.) The fourth soul-silencing conclusion you have in ver. 32, u But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion, according to the multitude of his mercies." In wrath 40 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN God remembers mercy, Hab. iii. 2. u Weep- ing may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning," Psa. xxx. 5. Their mourn- ing shall last but till morning. God will turn their winter's night into a summer's day, their sighing into singing, their grief into gladness, their mourning into music, their bitter into sweet, their wilderness into a paradise. The life of a christian is filled up with interchanges of sickness and health, weakness and strength, want and wealth, disgrace and honor, crosses and comforts, miseries and mercies, joys and sorrows, mirth and mourning. All honey would harm us, all wormwood would undo us ; a composition of both is the best way in the world to keep our souls in a healthy constitu- tion. It is best, and most for the health of the soul, that the south wind of mercy, and the north wind of adversity, do blow upon it : and every wind that blows, shall blow good to the saints; yet certainly their sins die most, and their graces thrive best, when they are under the drying, nipping north wind of calamity, as well as under the warm, cherishing south wind of mercy and prosperity. (5.) The fifth soul-quieting conclusion you have in ver. 33, "For he doth not afflict wil- lingly, (or, as the Hebrew hath it, from his heart,) nor grieve the children of men." The church concludes, that God's heart was not in their afflictions, though his hand was ; he takes UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 41 no delight to afflict his children, it goes against his heart ; it is a grief to him to be grievous to them, a pain to him to be punishing them, a death to him to be striking them ; he hath no will, no motion, no inclination, no disposition, to that work of afflicting his people; and, therefore, he calls it his strange work, Isa. xxviii. 21. Mercy and punishment flow from God, as the honey and the sting from the bee : the bee yielded] honey of her own nature, but she doth not sting but when she is provoked. He takes delight in showing mercy, Mic. vii. 18. He takes no pleasure in giving his people up to adversity, Hos. xi. 8. Mercy and kind- ness flow from him freely, naturally ; he is never severe, never harsh ; he never stings, he never terrifies us, but when he is sadly provo- ked by us. God's hand sometimes may lie very hard upon his people, when his heart (at those very times,) may be yearning towards his people, Jer. xxxi. 18 — 20. No man can tell how the heart of God stands, by his hand: his hand of mercy may be open to those against whom his heart is set ; as you see in the rich (poor) fool, and Dives, in the gospel ; and his hand of severity may lie hard upon those on whom he hath set his heart, as you may see in Job and Lazarus. And thus you see those gracious, blessed, soul-quieting conclusions, about the issue and event of afflictions, that a holy, a prudent silence doth include. 42 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN 6. A holy, a prudent silence, includes a strict charge, a solemn command that con- science lays upon the soul, to be quiet and still. " Rest in the Lord, (or, as the Hebrew hath it, be silent to the Lord,) and wait pa- tiently for him," Psa. xxxvii. 7. I charge thee, O my soul ! not to mutter, nor to mur- mur. I command thee, O my soul ! to be dumb and silent under the afflicting hand of God. As Christ laid a charge, a command upon the boisterous winds, and the roaring, raging seas, " Be still, and there was a great calm ;" so conscience lays a charge upon the soul to be quiet and still. " Wait on the Lord : be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart: wait, I say, on the Lord," Psa. xxvii. 14. Peace, O my soul, be still ; leave your muttering, your murmuring, your complaining, your chafing and vexing, and lay your hand upon your mouth, and be silent. Conscience allays and stills all the tumults and uproars that be in the soul, by such like reasonings as the town clerk of Ephesus stilled that uproar ; " For we are in danger to be called in question for this day ? s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an ac- count of this concourse," Acts xix. 40. O my soul ! be quiet, be silent, else thou wilt one day be called in question for all those in- ward mutterings, uproars, and passions that are in thee, seeing no sufficient cause can be UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 43 produced why you should murmur, quarrel, or wrangle, under the righteous hand of God. 7. A holy, a prudent silence, includes a surrendering, a resigning up of ourselves to God, whilst we are under his afflicting hand, James iv. 7. The silent soul gives himself up to God, 1 Sam. iii. 18. The secret lan- guage of the soul is this, Lord, here am I, do with me what thou pleasest, 2 Sam. xv. 25, 26 ; Acts xxi. 14. Write upon me as thou pleasest, I give up myself to be at thy dis- posal. There was a good woman, w 7 ho, when she was sick, being asked, whether she were wil- ling to live or die ? answered, " Which God pleaseth." But, said one that stood by, "If God should refer it to you, which would you choose?" "Truly," said she, "if God should refer it to me, I would even refer it to him again." This w r as a soul worth gold. Well, saith a gracious soul, the ambitious man gives himself up to his honors, but I give up myself unto thee ; the voluptuous man gives himself up to his pleasures, but I give myself to thee ; the covetous man gives himself up to his bags, but I give myself to thee ; the drunkard gives himself up to his cups, but I give my- self to thee ; the papist gives up himself to his idols, but I give myself to thee ; the Turk gives up himself to his Mahomet, but I give up myself to thee ; the heretic gives up him- 44 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN self to his heretical opinions, but I give up myself to thee. Lord, lay what burden thou wilt upon me, only let thy everlasting arms be under me : strike, Lord, strike, and spare not,* for I lie down in thy will, I have learned to say Amen to thy Amen ; thou hast a greater interest in me than I have in myself, and there- fore, I give up myself unto thee, and am wil- ling to be at thy disposal, to receive what im- pression thou shalt stamp upon me. O blessed Lord ! hast thou not again and again said unto me, as once the king of Israel said to the king of Syria, "I am thine, and all that I have," 1 Kings xx. 4. I am thine, O soul ! to save thee ; my mercy is thine to pardon thee ; my blood is thine to cleanse thee ; my merits are thine to justify thee ; my righteousness is thine to clothe thee ; my Spirit is thine to lead thee ; my grace is thine to enrich thee ; and my glory is thine to reward thee. And, there- fore, saith a gracious soul, I cannot but make a resignation of myself unto thee. "Lord, here I am, do with me as seemeth good in thine own eyes. 57 I know the best way to have my own will is to resign up myself to thy will, and to say Amen to thy Amen. I have read of a gentleman, who, meeting with a shepherd in a misty morning, asked him what weather it would be ? It will be (saith * Lulher. * UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 45 the shepherd) what weather pleaseth me : and being corteously requested to explain his mean- ing, Sir, (saith he,) it shall be what weather pleaseth God, and what weather pleaseth God pleaseth me. When a christian's will is mould- ed into the will of God, he is sure to have his will. But, 8. Lastly, A holy, a prudent silence, in- cludes a patient waiting upon the Lord under our afflictions, till deliverance comes. "My soul wait thou only upon God, for my expec- tation is from him. Psa. xl. 1; lxii. 5. "It is good that a man should both hope, and quietly (or, as the Hebrew hath it, silently) wait for the salvation of the Lord," Lam. iii. 26. The husbandman patiently waiteth for the precious fruits of the earth, James v. 7, 8 ; the mariner patiently waiteth for wind and tide ; and so doth the watchman for the dawning of the day ; and so doth the silent soul, in the night of adversity, patiently wait for the dawn- ing of the day of mercy. The mercies of God are not styled the swift, but the sure mercies of David, and therefore a gracious soul waits patiently for them. And thus you see what a gracious, a prudent silence doth include. III. The third thing is to discover what a holy, a prudent silence, under affliction, doth not exclude. Now, there are eight things that a holy patience doth not exclude. 1. A holy, a prudent silence under afflic- 4 46 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN tion, doth not exclude and shut out a sense and feeling of our afflictions, Psa. xxxix. Though he was dumb, and laid his hand upon his mouth, ver. 9, yet he was very sensible of his affliction : u Remove thy stroke away from me : I am consumed by the blow of thine hand. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth : surely every man is vanity," ver. 10, 11. He is sensible of his pain, as well as of his sin ; and having prayed off his sin in the former verses, he labors here to pray off his pain. Diseases, aches, sick- nesses, and pains, are all the daughters of sin; and he that is not sensible of them as the births and products of sin, doth but add to his sin, and provoke the Lord to add to his sufferings, Isa. xxvi. 10, 11. No man shall ever be charged by God for feeling his burden, if he neither fret nor faint under it ; grace doth not destroy nature, but rather perfecteth it; grace is of a noble offspring, it neither turneth men into stocks or into stoics ; the more grace, the more sensible of the tokens, frowns, blows, and lashes of a displeased Father. Though Calvin, under his greatest pains, was never heard to mutter or murmur, yet he was heard often to say, How long, Lord, how long? A religious commander being shot in battle, when the wound was searched, and the bullet cut out, some standing by, pitying his pains, UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 47 he replies, Though I groan, yet I bless God I do not grumble. God allows his people to groan, though not to grumble. It is a God- provoking sin, to be stupid and senseless under the afflicting hand of God. God will heat that man's furnace of affliction sevenfold hotter, who is in the furnace, but feels it not. "Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the rob- bers ? did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned ? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle : and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not ; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart," Isa. xlii. 24, 25. Stupidity lays a man open to the greatest fury and severity. The physician, when he finds that the po- tion which he had given his patient will not work, seconds it with one more violent. If a gentle plaster will not serve, then the sur- geon applies that which is more corroding ; and if that will not do, then he makes use of his cauterizing knife. So when the Lord afflicts, and men feel it not ; when he strikes, and they grieve not ; when he wounds them, and they awake not: then the furnace is made hotter than ever ; then his fury burns, then he lays on irons upon irons, bolt upon bolt, and chain upon chain, until he hath made their lives a hell. Afflictions are the saints' diet-drink ; and 48 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN where do you read, in all the scripture, that ever any of the saints drank of this diet-drink, and were not sensible of it ? 2. A holy, a prudent silence doth not shut out prayer for deliverance out of our afflic- tion. Though the Psalmist lays his hand upon his mouth, in the text, yet he prays for deliver- ance ; w Remove thy stroke away from me," ver. 10; and ver. 12, 13, " Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry ; hold not thy peace at my tears ; for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence and be no more." "Is any among you afflicted ? let him pray," Jam. v. 13. "Call upon me in the day of trouble : I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me," Psa. 1, 15. Times of affliction, by God's own injunction, are special times of supplication. David's heart was more often out of tune than his harp ; but then he prays, and presently cries, u Return to thy rest, O my soul ! " Jonah prays in the whale's belly, and Daniel prays when among the lions, and Job prays when on the dunghill, and Jeremiah prays when in the dungeon, &c. ; yea, the heathen mariners, as stout as they were, when in a storm, they cry every man to his god, Jonah i. 5, 6.* To call upon God, especial- * It is an old saying, Qui nescitorare, discat navigare: He that would learn to pray, let him go to sea. UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 49 ly in times of distress and trouble, is a lesson that the very light and law of nature teaches. The Persian messenger, (though a heathen,) as iEschylus observeth, saith thus : " When the Grecian forces hotly pursued our host, and we must needs venture over the great water Stry- mon, frozen then, but beginning to thaw, when a hundred to one we had all died for it : with mine eyes, saith he, I saw many of those gal- lants, whom I had heard before so boldly main- tain there was no God, every one upon his knees, and devoutly praying that the ice might hold till they got over." And shall blind na- ture do more than grace ? If the time of affliction be not a time of supplication, I know not w T hat is. There are two kinds of antidotes against all the troubles and afflictions of this life, namely, prayer and patience ; the one hot, the other cold ; the one quickening, the other quenching. Chrysostom understood this well enough, when he cried out, It is more bitter than death to be spoiled of prayer : and thereupon observes, that Daniel chose rather to run the hazard of his life, than to lose his prayer. Well, this is the second thing ; a holy silence doth not ex- clude prayer. But, 3. A holy, a prudent silence doth not ex- clude men's being kindly affected and afflicted with their sins, as the meritorious cause of all 4* 50 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN their sorrows and sufferings.* "Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the pun- ishment of his sins ? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord," Lam. iii. 39, 40. " Behold, I am vile, what shall I answer thee ? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer; yea, tw T ice, but I will proceed no further," Job xl. 4, 5. "I will bear the in- dignation of the Lord, because I have sinneu against him," Mic. vii. 9. In all our sorrows we should read our sins ; and, when God's hand is upon our backs, our hands should be upon our sins. 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 man- kind, that the sins of the people brought that affliction on him ; O no, said he, I have sins enough of my own to cause that. I have sin- ned, said David, but what have these poor sheep done ? 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 that this cup is so * Read Ezra ix., Neb. ix ., Dan. ix., Psa. li., Job vii. UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 51 bitter, this pain so grievous, this loss so great, this disease so desperate, this wound so incura- ble ; it is mine own self, mine own sin, that hath caused these floods of sorrows to break in upon me. But, 4. A holy, a prudent silence doth not ex elude the teaching and instruction of others, when we are afflicted. The words of the afflicted stick close ; they many times work strongly, powerfully, and savingly, upon the souls and consciences of others. Many of Paul's epistles were written to the churches when he was in bonds, namely, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Collossians, 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 con- firmed, and made partakers of grace, by his ministry, when he was in bonds, Phil. i. 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 in the cause of Christ, asked, What was that which enabled them to suffer such things ? and one of them named, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God bath prepared for them that love him." 1 Cor. ii. 9. This word was like ap- 52 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN pies of gold in pictures of silver ; for it made him not only a convert, but a martyr too, Prov. xxv. 1 1 . 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 afflict- ed 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 insen- sibly into the hearers' souls, and work effica- ciously upon the hearers' hearts. u The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious," (or grace, as the Hebrew hath it, and so Hie- rom reads it,) Eccl. x. 12. The words of the mouth of the 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 man's mouth are nev- er more gracious than when he is most afflict- ed and distressed. Now you shall find most worth and weight in his words. Now his mouth speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment, for the law of the Lord is in his heart, Psa. xxxvii. 31. Now his tongue is a tree of life, whose leaves are medicinal, Prov. xii. 18. As the silver trumpets sounded joy UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 53 to the Jews in the day of their gladness, Numb. x. 10, so the mouth of a wise man, iike a silver trumpet, sounds joy and advantage to others in the days of his sadness. The heathen could say, When a wise man speaketh, he openeth the rich treasures and wardrobe of his mind : — so may I say, When an afflicted saint speaks, oh ! the pearls, the treasures that he scatters ! But, 5. A holy, a prudent silence doth not ex- clude moderate mourning, or weeping, under the afflicting hand of God. u And Hezekiah wept sore ;" or as the Hebrew hath it, " wept with great weeping," Isa. xxxviii. 3. But was not the Lord displeased with him for his great weeping? No: U I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears : behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years," ver. 5. God had a bottle for his tears as well as a bag for his sins. 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 prevalency with the Almighty God. And, therefore, the weeping prophet calleth out for tears. " Their heart crieth unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night ; give thyself no rest, let not the apple of thine eye cease," Lam. ii. 18. Upon which words, saith Bellarmine, " Cry aloud, not with thy tongue, but with 54 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN thine eyes ; not with thy words, but with thy tears ; for that is the prayer that maketh 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 hath the rod in his hand, he looks that we should have tears in our eyes ; as you may see by comparing these scriptures together, Psa. lv. 2; xxxviii. 6; Job xxx. 26 — 31. Good men w T eep easily, saith the Greek poet ; and the better any are, the more inclined to weeping, especially under afflictions ; as you may see in David, (whose tears, instead of gems, were the ornaments of his bed,) Jona- than, Job, Ezra, Daniel, &c. How (saith 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 a time to weep, as well as there is a time to laugh ; a time to mourn, as well as a time to dance, Eccl. iii. 4. The mourning garment among the Jews was the black garment, and the black garment was the mourning gar- ment. " Why go ye mourning ?" Psa. xliii. 2. The Hebrew word signifies black, u Why go in black?" Sometimes christians must put off their gay ornaments, and put on their UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 55 black, their mourning garments, Exod. xxxiii. 4—6. But, 6. A gracious, a prudent silence doth not exclude sighing, groaning, or even roarings, under affliction. 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, that is opposite to holy si- lence. You may see much of this by com- paring the following scriptures, Lam. i. 4, 11. 21, 22; Psa. xxxi. 10; Jer. xlv. 3; Exod. ii. 24 ; Job xxiii. 2; Psa. vi. 6. " And the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bond- age," Exod. ii. 23. u Lord, all my desire is before thee ; and my groaning is not hid from thee," Psa. xxxviii. 9. " By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin," Psa. cii. 5. " And my roarings are poured out like the water," Job iii. 24. " I am feeble and sore broken ; I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart," Psa. xxxviii. 8. u My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?" Psa. xxii. 1. " When I kept si- lence, my bones waxed old, through my roar- ing all the day long," Psa, xxxii. 3. He roars, but doth not rage ; he roars, but doth not repine : when a man is in extremity, na- ture prompts him to roar, and the law of grace 56 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN is not against it ; and though sighing, groaning, roaring, cannot deliver a man out of his mis- ery, 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 ! therefore do I weep, because weeping will not help. So a christian many times sighs, because sighing will not help ; and he groans, because groan- ing will not help ; and he roars, because roar- ing 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 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 sort, tell that which his tongue can in no sort utter. But, 7. A holy, a prudent silence doth not ex- clude, nor shut out the use of any just or law- ful means, whereby persons may be delivered out of their afflictions, 2 Kings v. 10 — 14 ; Matt. iv. 6, 7 ; xxii. 4, 5. 8 ; Luke xiv. 16 — 24 ; Acts xxvii. 24, 25. 31. God would not have his people so in love with their afflic- tions, as not to use such righteous means as may deliver them out of their afflictions. " But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another," Matt. x. 23. When UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 57 Peter was in prison, the saints thronged to- gether to pray, (as the original has it,) Acts xii. 12 ; and they were so instant and earnest with God in prayer, they did so beseech and besiege the Lord, they did so beg at heaven's gate, ver. v, that God could have no rest, till, by miracles of power and mercy, he had re- turned Peter as a bosom-favor to them. " And, after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him ; but their lying in wait was known of Saul ; and they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket," Acts ix. 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 es- cape, there is no reason why the saints should set themselves as marks and butts for their enemies to shoot at. The apostles desire the brethren "to pray for them, that they may be delivered from unreasonable men ; for all men have not faith," 2 Thess. iii. 1, 2. It is a mercy worth seeking, to be delivered out of the hands of absurd, villanous, and trouble- some men. Afflictions are evil in themselves, and we may desire and endeavor to be delivered from them, James v. 14, 15 ; Isa. xxxviii. 18 — 21. Both inward and outward means are to be used for our own preservation. Had not 58 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN Noah built an ark, he had been swept away with the flood, though he had been with Nim- rod and his crew on the tower of Babel. Though we may not trust in means, yet we may, and ought to use means ; in the use of them, eye that God that can only bless them, and you do your work. As a pilot that guides the ship hath 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 deliver- ance will come. We may tempt 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 a questioning of him, what he did there, and how he came in ? Oh ! saith the poor man, ask me not how I came in, but help me, and tell me how I may come out. The ap- plication is easy. But, 8. Lastly, A holy, a prudent silence doth not exclude a just and sober complaining against the authors, contrivers, abettors, or instru- ments of our afflictions. " Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil : the Lord re- ward him according to his works," 2 Tim. iv. 14. u Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one," 2 Cor. xi. 24. They in- flict, saith Maimonides, no more than forty stripes, though he be as strong as Samson ; UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 59 but, if he be weak, they abate of that number. They scourged Paul with the greatest severity, in making him suffer so oft the utmost extremity of the Jewish law, when they that were weak had their punishment mitigated. " Thrice was I beaten with rods," ver. 25 ; that is, by the Romans, whose custom it was to beat the guilty with rods. If Pharaoh make Israel groan, Israel may make his complaint against Pharaoh to the Keeper of Israel, Exod. ii. 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 blas- phemy before the Lord, Isa. xxxvii. 14 — 20. It was the saying of Socrates, that every man, in his 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 Jo- seph's bow abode in strength, and the arms 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 hath it) have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him, Gen. xlix. 23, 24. And David sadly complained of Doeg, Psa. lii. Yea, Christ himself (who was the most perfect pattern for dumbness and silence, under the sorest trials) complains against Judas, Pilate, and the rest of his persecutors, Psa. (JO THE MUTE CHRISTIAN Ixix. 20—30, &c. Yea, though God will make his people's enemies to be the workmen that shall fit them and square them for his build- ing, to be gold-smiths to add pearls to their crown, to be rods to beat off their dust, scul- lions to scour off their rust, fire to purge away their dross, and water to cleanse away their filthi- ness, fleshliness and earthliness ; yet may they point at them, and pour out their complaints to God against them, Psa. cxlii. 2 — 7. This truth I might make good by above a hundred texts of scripture ; but it is time to come to the reasons of the point. IV. Why must christians be mute and si- lent under the greatest afflictions, the saddest providences, and sharpest trials that they meet with in this world ? I answer, Reas. 1. That they may the better hear and understand the voice of the rod. As the word hath a voice, the Spirit a voice, and conscience a voice, so the rod hath a voice. Afflictions are the rod of God's anger, the rod of his displeasure, and his rod of revenge ; he gives a commission to this 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. w The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name : hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it," Micah vi. 9. God's rods UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 61 are not mutes, they are all vocal, they are speaking as well as smiting ; every twig hath a voice. Ah, soul ! saith one twig, thou sayest it smarts ; well, tell me, is it good provoking a jealous God, Jer. iv. 18. Ah, soul! saith another twig, thou sayest it is bitter, it reach- eth to thy heart ; but hath not thine own doings procured these things ? Rom. vi. 21. Ah, soul ! saith another twig, where is the profit, the pleasure, the sweet, that you have found in wandering from God ? Hos. iii. 7. Ah, soul ! saith another twig, was it not best with you, when you were high in your commu- nion with God, and when you were humble and close in your walking with God ? Micah vi. 8. Ah, christian ! saith another twig, wilt thou search thy heart, and try thy ways, and turn to the Lord thy God ? Lam. iii. 40. Ah, soul ! saith another twig, wilt thou die to sin more than ever ? Rom. xiv. 7,8; and to the world more than ever? Gal. vi. 14; and to relations more than ever, and to thyself more than ever ? Ah, soul ! saith another twig, wilt thou 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 ! saith another twig, wilt thou 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 5* 62 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN invincible patience ? &c. 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 hath a voice that is in the hands of earthly fathers ; but children hear it not, they understand it not, till 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, till we come to kiss it, and sit silently under it. But, Reas. 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 un- der the afflicting hand of God. " And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hun- gry : and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look up- ward. And they shall look unto the earth ; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish ; and they shall be driven to darkness,' 7 Isa. viii. 21, 22. Ah! how fretful and fro- ward, 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 UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 63 and on that, and finding no help, no succor, no support, no deliverance, like bedlams, yea, like incarnate devils, they fall upon cursing of God and their king. " We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves : we look for judg- ment, but there is none ; for salvation, but it is far from us," Isa. lix. 11. They express their inward vexation and indignation, by roar- ing like bears. When bears are robbed of their whelps, or taken in a pit, oh how dread- fully will they roar and rage, tear and tumble ! * So, when wicked persons are fallen into the pit of affliction, oh how will they roar, rage, tear, and cry out, not of their sins, but of their punishment; as Cain, "My punishment is greater than I am able to bear ! " " Thy 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 thy God," Isa. li. 20. When the huntsman hath taken the wild bull in his toil, and so en- tangled 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 and striving to get out ! Such wild bulls are wicked men, when they are taken in the net of affliction. * The bear, as Aristotle observeth, licketh her whelps into form, and loveth them beyond measure, and is most fierce, roaring, and raging, when she is robbed of them. 64 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN 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. " And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for drag- ons, an astonishment and an hissing, without an inhabitant. They shall roar together like lions, they shall yell as lions' whelps," Jer. li. 37, 38. When the lion roars, all the beasts of the field tremble ; 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 gnaw their tongues for pain, and they blaspheme the God of heaven, because of those sores, pains, and plagues, that are poured upon them ; and they repented not of their deeds, to give him glory, Rev. xvi. 10, 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, Isa. Ivii. 20. Ah ! what a stir do wicked men make, when they are under the afflicting hand of God ! As the sea is restless and unquiet when there is no UNDER THE SMARTING ROD, 65 storm — it cannot stand still, but hath its flux and reflux — 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 that is under God's afflicting hand. Rcas. 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. u He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he openeth not his mouth : he is brought as a lamb to the slaugh- ter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth," Isa. liii. 7. Christ was tongue-tied under all his sorrows and sufferings. " Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps : who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth : who, when he was reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered, he threat- ened not ; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously," 1 Pet. ii. 21 — 23. Christ upon the cross has not only read us a lecture of patience and silence, but 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 hath set before us. The 66 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN Holy Ghost hath set before us the injuries and contumelies, 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 encourage us to imitate the Captain of our salvation, in patience and silence, under all his sufferings. Jerom having read the life and death of Hi- larion, (one that lived graciously, and died comfortably,) folded up the book, saying, Well, Hilarion shall be the champion that I will fol- low, his good life shall be my example, and his good death my precedent. Oh ! howmuch more should we all say, We have read how Christ hath been afflicted, oppressed, dis- tressed, despised, persecuted, &c. and we have read how dumb, how tongue-tied, how patient, and how silent he hath been under all. He shall be the copy w T hich we will write after, the pattern which we will walk by, the cham- pion which we will follow ! The way to hon- or Christ, is, in patience and silence, to be like Christ, especially when a smarting rod is upon our backs, and a bitter cup put into our hands. Reas. 4. A 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 up to a fretful spirit, a froward spirit, a muttering or murmuring spirit, under an afflic- UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 6? tion, 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 fretting, repining, vexing, and rising against God. No sin is equal to the devil's sin ; no punishment to the devil's punishment. A man had better 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 thou seest a soul fretting, vexing, and stamping under the mighty hand of God, thou seest one of Satan's first- born, one that resembles him to the life. No child can be so like the father, much as this froward soul is like to the father of lies ; though he hath been in chains almost six thousand years, yet he hath never lain still one day, nor one night, no, not one hour, in all this time ; but is still fretting, vexing, tossing, and tum- bling, 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 hath got, but is restless in his designs to fill hell with souls. He never wants an apple for an Eve, nor a grape for a Noah, nor a change of raiment for a Gehazi, nor a wedge of gold for an Achan, nor a crown for an Absa- lom, nor a bag for a Judas, nor a world for a Demas. If you look into one company, there 68 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN you shall find Satan dishing out his meat to every palate ; if you look into another company, there you shall find him fitting a last 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 with milk and murders with a nail ; there, with Joab, he embraces with one hand, and stabs with ano- ther ; or, with Judas, kisses and betrays ; and there, with her 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 to the life, whose whole life is filled up with vexing and fretting against the Lord. Let not any think, saith Luther, that the devil is now dead, no, nor yet asleep ; for as He that keepeth Israel, so he that ha- teth Israel, neither slumbereth nor sleepeth. But, in the next place, Reas. 5. A fifth reason why gracious souls should be mute and silent, under the greatest afflictions and sharpest trials that befall them, is this, because a holy, a prudent silence under afflictions, doth best capacitate and fit the afflict- ed for the receipt of mercies. 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 > UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 69 and the strong waters of Divine consolation. You read of the peaceable fruits of righteous- ness. "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous : never- theless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby," Heb. xii. 11. "And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace," James iii. 18. 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, whilst the ship lies quiet and still ; so when the soul is quiet and still, under the hand of God, it is most fit to take in much of God, of Christ, of heaven, of the promises, of the ordinances, and of the love of God, the smiles of God, the commu- nications and the counsel of God ; but when souls are unquiet, they are like a ship in a storm, they can take in nothing. Luther saith, God doth not dwell in Baby- lon, but in Salem. Babylon signifies confu- sion, 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, &c. " My soul refused to be comforted," Psa. lxxvii. 2. The froward patient will take down no cordials ; he hath no eye to see, nor hand to take, nor palate to relish, nor stomach 6 70 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN to digest any thing, that makes for his health and welfare : when a sick man is impatient, nothing will go down, the sweetest music can make no melody in his ears. " Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the bur- dens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm, and with great judgments : and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God : and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, con- cerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob ; and I will give it you for an heritage : I am the Lord," Exod. vi. 6 — 8. 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's lips drop 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 nothing will go down ; 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-refresh- ing words, but they cannot hearken to them. UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 71 "And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel, but they hearkened not unto Moses, for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage," ver. 9. They were under their anguish, feverish fits, and so could neither hear nor see, taste nor take in any thing that might be a mercy or a comfort to them ; they were sick of im- patience and discontent. And these humors being grown strong, nothing would take with them, nothing would agree with them. When persons are under strong pangs of passion, they have no ears, either for reason or religion. Reas. 6. A sixth reason w T hy gracious souls should be silent under the smarting rod, is this, namely, because it is fruitless, it is bootless to strive, to contest or contend with God. No man hath ever got any thing by muttering or murmuring under the hand of God, except it hath been more frowns, blows, and wounds. Such as will not lie quiet and still, when mercy hath tied them with silken cords, justice will put them in iron chains ; if golden fetters will not hold you, iron shall. If bedlamites will not lie quiet, they are put into darker rooms, and heavier chains are put upon them. 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, till his spirit be made quiet before the Lord. u Do they provoke me to anger? saith the Lord : do they not provoke themselves 7? THE MUTE CHRISTIAN to the confusion of their own faces ?" Jer. vii. 19. By provoking of me, they do but pro- voke themselves ; by angering me, they do but anger themselves ; by vexing me, they do but fret and vex themselves. "Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy ? are we stronger than he ? " 1 Cor. x. 22. Though God be stronger than we, yet there are those who provoke him to wrath ; and cer- tainly there are none that do more to 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 that hath laid it on your shoulders will bear the heaviest end of it himself; and why then should you mutter ? Shall bears and lions take blows and knocks from their keepers, and wilt thou not take a few blows and knocks from the Keeper of Israel ? Why should the clay con- tend with the potter, or the creature with his Creator, or the servant w T ith his lord, or weak- ness with strength, or a poor nothing creature with an omnipotent God ? Can stubble stand be- fore the fire ? can chaff abide the whirlwind ? or can a worm ward off the blow of the Al- mighty ? 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 more they strengthen UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 73 their 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, where patience hath its perfect work, there the cure will be certain and easy ; when a man hath 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. Reas. 7. A seventh reason why christians should be mute and silent under their afflic- tions, is, because hereby they shall cross and frustrate Satan's great design and expectation. In all the afflictions he brought upon Job, his 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. He is the unwearied accuser of the brethren : " The accuser of the brethren is cast down, which accuseth them before our God day and night," Rev. xii. 10. Satan is 6* 74 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN the great make-hate between God and his chil- dren ; he hath a mint constantly going in hell, where, as an untired mint-master, he is still coining and hammering out accusations against the saints. First, he tempts and allures souls to sin, and then accuses them of those very- sins he hath tempted them to, that so he may- disgrace them before God, and bring them, if it were possible, out of favor with God ; 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. Could he but have made Job fro ward or fretful under the rod, he would have quickly carried the tidings to heav- en, and asked God whether this was becoming such a person of whom He had given such a glorious character. Satan knows that there is more evil in the least sin, than there is in all the afflictions that can be inflicted upon a person. If he could have made Job a mutineer, he would quickly have pleaded for martial law to have been executed upon him. That devil that accused God to man, Gen. iii. and Christ to be an impostor, will not fail to accuse the saints when they miscarry under the rod. The best way to outwit the devil, is to be silent under the hand of God ; he that mutters is foiled by him ; but he that is mute overcomes him ; and to conquer a devil, is more than to conquer a world. UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 75 Reas. 8. The eighth and last reason why christians should be silent and mute under their sorest trials, is this, that they maybe conform- able 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, x. 3; Eli, 1 Sam. iii. 18; David, 2 Sam. xvi. 7 — 13 ; Job, chap. i. 21, 22 ; Elia- kim, Shebna, and Joah, Isa. xxxvi. 11, 12. So those saints in Acts xxi. 12 — 14, and that cloud of witnesses pointed at in Heb. xii. 1. Gracious examples are more awakening, more convincing, 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 that are subject to like infirmities with ourselves, mute and silent under the afflict- ing hand of God, we see that it is possible that we may attain to the same noble temper of being tongue-tied under a smarting rod. Cer- tainly 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 at imitating them, may be said of many in these days. They are very forward and excellent at praising the patience of Job, but not at imi- tating it ; at praising the silence of Aaron, but not at imitating it; at praising David's dumb- 76 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN ness, but not at imitating it ; at praising Eli's muteness, but not at imitating it. It was the height of Cesar's glory to walk in the steps of Alexander ; and of Selymus, a Turkish em- peror, to walk in Cesar's steps ; and of Them- istocles, to walk in the steps of Miltiades. Oh ! how much more should we account it our highest glory to imitate the examples of those worthies, of whom this world is not worthy ! It speaks 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 application. You see, beloved, by what has been said, That it is the great duty and concernment of christians, to be mute and silent under the greatest afflictions, the saddest providences, and the sharpest trials, that they may meet with in this world. If this be so, then this truth looks sadly upon several sorts of persons. As, 1. This looks 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, Exod. xvi. 6 — 9 ; Numb, xiv. 27. 29; chap. xvii. 5. 10; Exod. xv. 24 ; Deut. i. 27 ; Psa. cvi. 25 ; and this is our sin at this day. Ah ! what murmuring is there against God, against instruments, and against providences, to be found amongst us ! Some murmur at what they have lost, others UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 77 murmur at what they fear they shall lose ; some murmur that they are no higher, others mur- mur because they are so low ; some murmur because such a party rules, and others murmur because themselves are not in the saddle ; some murmur because their mercies are not so many as others ; and others murmur because their mercies are not as others are ; some murmur be- cause they are afflicted, and others murmur be- cause such and such are not afflicted as well as they. Hadst thou no more sins upon thee, per- haps thy murmuring were enough to undo thee, did not God exercise much pity and compassion toward thee. 2. This truth looks sadly upon those that fret, chafe, and vex, when they are under the afflicting hand of God. Many, when they feel the rod smart, ah, how do they fret and fume! "When they are hardly bestead and hungry, they fret themselves, and curse their king and their God," Isa. viii. 21. "The foolishness of man perverteth his way; and his heart fretteth against the Lord," Prov. xix. 3. The heart may be fretful and froward, when the tongue doth not blaspheme. Folly brings man into misery, and misery makes man to fret, 2 Kings vi. 33; Psa. xxxvii. 1. 7, 8. Man in misery is more apt to fret and chafe against the Lord, than to fret and chafe against his sin that hath brought him into sufferings. A fretful soul dares attack God himself. 78 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN When Pharoah is troubled and frets, he dare fly in the very face of God himself: " Who is the Lord that I should obey him ?" And when Jonah is in a fretting humor, he dares tell God to his face, that he doth well to be angry, Jonah, iv. 8, 9. 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 hath done with him, who fumes and frets, be- cause he cannot snap asunder the cords with which he is bound, Ezek. xvi. 43. Some- times good men are sick of the frets ; but when they are, it costs them dear, as Job and Jonah found by experience. No man hath ever got any thing by his fretting and flinging, except it hath been harder blows, or heavier chains ; therefore fret not when God strikes. 3. This truth looks sadly upon those who charge God foolishly in the day of their ad- versity : u Why doth a living man complain ?" Lam. hi. 39. He that hath deserved a hang- ing, hath no reason to charge the judge with cruelty, if he escape with a whipping ; and we that have deserved condemnation, 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. hi. 12. It is a very evil thing, when we accuse God, hat we mav ex- UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 79 cuse ourselves, and lay the fault any where rather than upon our own hearts and w T ays. Job was a man of a more noble spirit: " In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly," Job. i. 22. When God charges many men home, 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 thou art under affliction, thou mayst humbly tell God, that thou feelest his hand heavy ; but thou must not blame him because his hand is heavy. No man hath ever been able to make good a charge against God ; and wilt thou be able ? Surely no. By charging God foolishly in the day of thy calamity, thou dost but provoke the Lord to charge thee through and through, more fiercely and furiously, with his most deadly- darts of renewed misery. It is thy greatest wisdom to blame thy sins, and lay thy hand upon thy mouth; for why should folly charge innocence ? That man is far enough off from being mute and silent under the hand of God, who dares charge God himself for laying his hand upon him. But, 4. This truth looks 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 thern. Good men sometimes dash their feet against this stumbling stone. " Why is 80 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable ?" Jer. xv. 18. Though God hath always rea- son for what he doth, 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 or satisfy him, but the reasons why his pain was perpetual, and his wound incurable. So Job, chap. vii. 20. "Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?" It is an evil and a dangerous thing to cavil at, or to question, his proceedings, Rom. ix. 20 ; Dan. iv. 34, 35, who is the chief Lord of all, and who may do with his own what he pleaseth. He is unaccountable and uncontrollable ; and therefore who shall say, What dost thou ? As no man may question his right to afflict him, nor his righteousness in afflicting him ; so no man may question the reasons why he afflicts him. As no man can compel him to give a reason of his doings, so no man may dare to ask him the particular reasons of his doings. Kings think themselves not bound to give their subjects a reason for their doings, Eccl. viii. 4 ; and shall we bind God to give us a reason of his doings, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, and whose will is the true reason and only rule of justice ? The general grounds and reasons that God hath laid down in his word, why he afflicts his people, as, namely, for their profit, Heb, xii. 10, for the purging UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 81 away of their sins, Isa. i. 25, for the reform- ing of their lives, Ps. cxix. 67, 71, and for the saving of their souls, 1 Cor. xi. 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 abyss 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 sees the bottom of it ; so some curious christians, whose souls are overspread with the leprosy of curiosity, will never be satisfied till they come to see the bottom, and the most secret reasons of all God's dealings towards them ; but they are the greatest fools, who affect to know more than God would have them. Did not Adam's curiosity render him and his posterity fools ? As a man by gazing and prying into the body of 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 which God hath laid down in his word, why he afflicts and tries the children of men. I have read of one Sir William Champney, (in the reign of King Henry III.) once living in Tower-street, London, who was the first 7 82 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN man that ever built a turret on the top of his house, that he might the better overlook all his neighbors ; but so it fell out, that, not long after, he was struck blind ; so that he who could not be satisfied to see as others did see, but would needs see more than others, saw just 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 he afflicts them, but they must be curiously prying and searching into the hidden and more secret reasons of his severity towards them. Ah, christians, 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, that are locked up in the golden cabinet of God's own breast, Deut. xxix. 29. 5. This truth looks sadly upon those who, instead of being silent and mute under their afflictions, use sinful ways to get out of their troubles ; who care not though they break with God, with men, and with their own conscien- ces, so that they may but break off the chains that are upon them ; who care not by what means the prison door is opened, so they may' but escape ; nor by what hands their bolts are knocked off, so they may be at liberty. UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 83 u Take heed, regard not iniquity ; for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction," Job xxxvi. 21. 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 pur- chases 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 considerations to prevent it. (1.) Consider, that there is infinitely more evil in the least sin, Jam. iii. 5 — 10, than there is in the greatest miseries and afflictions that can possibly come upon you ; yea, there is more evil in the least sin, than there is in all the troubles that ever came upon the world, Prov. viii. 36 ; 1 John iii. 4 ; Rev. xxi. 8 ; yea, than there is in all the miseries and tor- ments of hell. The least sin is an offence to the great God, it is wrong to the immortal 84 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN soul. It is a breach of a righteous law, it can- not be washed away but by the blood of Jesus, it can shut the soul out of heaven, and shut the soul up a close prisoner in hell for ever and ever. If you consider sin strictly, there can- not be any little sin, no more than there can be a little God, a little hell, or a little damnation ; yet, comparatively, some sins may be said to be little. 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, the very thought of sin, if indulged in, will break forth into ac- tion, action into custom, custom into habit, and then both body and soul are lost irrecoverably, to all eternity. The least sin is very dan- gerous. The least spark may consume the greatest house, and the least leak sink the great- est ship. A little postern opened may betray the greatest city. A dram of poison diffuseth itself to all parts, till it strangle the vital spirits, and turn out the soul from the body. If the serpent can but wriggle in by an evil thought, he will soon make surprisal of the soul ; as you see in that great instance of Adam and Eve. The trees of the forest, saith one in a parable, held a solemn parliament, wherein they con- sulted of the innumerable wrongs which the axe had done them ; therefore they made an act, that no tree should hereafter lend the axe a helve, on pain of being cut down. The axe travels up UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 85 and down the forest, begs wood of the cedar, oak, ash, elm, even of the poplar; not one would lend him a chip. At last he desired so much as would serve him to cut down the briers and bushes, alleging, that such shrubs as they did but suck away the juice of the ground, and hinder the growth and obscure the glory of the fair and goodly trees. Hereupon they were all content to afford him so much : he pretends a thorough reformation, but, be- hold a sad deformation ; for when he had got his helve, down went both cedar, oak, ash, elm, and all that stood in his way. Such are the subtle reaches of sin, that it will promise to remove the briars and bushes of afflictions and troubles, that hinder the soul of that juice, sweetness, comfort, delight, and content, that it might otherwise enjoy. But now yield a little to it, and, instead of removing your troubles, it will cut down your peace, your hopes, your comforts, yea, it will cut down your precious souls. What is the breathing of a vein to the being let blood in the throat ? or a scratch in the hand to a stab at the heart ? No more are the greatest afflictions to the least sins ; and therefore, christians, never use sin- ful shifts to get yourselves out of troubles, but rather be mute and silent under them, till the Lord shall work out your deliverance from them. But, (2.) Consider, it is an impossible thing for 7 # 86 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN any to sin themselves