2 Ps. xlii. 1-5, lxiii. 1, 2, 3. 8 ; Jer. xxxi. 18, 19 ; Hosea vi. 11 with 1. 2 ; Ps cxvi. 3, 4 and cxlv. 6, 7. 3 God will reward his people secundum laborem. — Bernard.
858 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXI X 9
religious services will be multiplied, and the more they are multiplied, the more his glory at last will be increased, then the longer a saint is afflicted on earth, the more glory he shall have when he comes to heaven. But,
[3.] Thirdly, The longer any saint Is afflicted, the more into the image and likeness of Christ he wiU be transformed.1 It is one of God's great designs and ends in afflicting of his people, to make them more conformable to his Son; and God will not lose his end. Men often lose theirs, but God never hath nor will lose his ; and experience tells ns that God doth every day, by afflictions, accomplish his end upon his people. The longer they are afflicted, the more they are made con- formable to Christ in meekness, lowliness, spirit nulness, heavenliness, m faith, love, self-denial, pity, compassion, &c. Now certainly, the more like to Christ, the more beloved of Christ." The more a Christian is like to Christ, the more he is the delight of Christ ; and the more like to Christ on earth, the nearer the soul shall sit to Christ in heaven. Nothing makes a man more conformable to Christ than afflictions. Justin Martyr, in his second Apology for the Christians, hath observed, that there is scarce any prediction or prophecy concerning our Saviour, Christ the Son of God, to be made man, but the heathen writers, who were all after Moses, did from thence invent some fable, and feign it to have been acted by some one or other of Jupiter's sons ; only the pro- phecies about the cross of Christ they have taken for the ground of no fable. They have not, among all their fictions, told us of any one of Jupiter's sons that was crucified, that acted his part upon the cross. - Many would wear the crown with Christ, that do not care for bearing the cross with Christ. But,
(8.) Eighthly, The longer they have been, the greater cause thou hast to be silent and patient, for impatience will but lengthen out the day of thy sorrows. Every impatient act adds one link more to the chain ; every act of frowardness adds one lash more to those that have already been laid out; every act of muttering will but add stroke to stroke, and sting to sting; every act of murmuring will but add burden to burden, and storm to storm. The most compendious way to lengthen out thy long afflictions is to fret, and vex, and murmur under them. As thou wouldst see a speedy issue of thy long afflictions, sit mute and silent under them.
(9.) Ninthly, God's time is the best time; mercy is never nearer Salvation is at hand, deliverance is at the door, when a man's heart is brought into such a frame as to be freely willing that God should time his mercy and time his deliverance for him, Acts xxvii. 13—44. The physician's time is the best time for the patient to have ease. The im- patient patient cries out to his physician, Oh ! sir, a little ease, a little refreshment ! Oh the pains, the tortures, that I am under ! Oh, sir, I think every hour two, and every two ten, till comfort comes, till refresh- ment comes ! But the prudent physician hath turned the hour-glass, and is resolved that this physic shall work so long, though his patient frets, flings, roars, tears. So, when we are under afflictions, we are apt
1 Rom. viii. 28, &c. ; 2 Cor. i. 5-7; Philip, iii. 10; Heb. ii. 10; 2 Tim. ii. 12.
2 Gale's 'Court of the Gentiles' is an elaborate demonstration of this remark of Brooks. For the non-imitation of the crucilixion, see Justin Martyr : Apol. §72. — G.
PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 359
to cry out, How long, Lord, shall it be before ease comes, before deliver- ance comes ? Oh the tortures, oh the torments, that we are under ! Lord, a little refreshment ! Oh how long are these nights ! oh how tedious are these days ! But God hath turned our glass, and he will not hearken to our cry till our glass be out. After all our fretting and flinging, we must stay bis time, who knows best when to deliver us, and how to deliver us, out of all our troubles, and who will not stay a moment when the glass is out that he hath turned.1 But,
(10.) Tenthly, and lastly, They shall last no longer than there is need, and then they shall work for thy good. It is with souls as it is with bodies ; some bodies are more easily and more suddenly cured than others are, and so are some souls. God will not suffer the plaster to lie one day, no, not one hour, no, not a moment, longer than there is need. Some flesh heals quickly ; proud flesh is long a-healing. By affliction God quickly heals some, but others are long a-healing : 1 Pet. i. 6, ' If need be, ye are in heaviness, through manifold temptations,' or through various afflictions. The burden shall lie no longer upon thee than needs must ; thy pain shall endure no longer than needs must ; thy physic shall make thee no longer sick than needs must, &c. Thy heavenly Father is a physician as wise as he is loving. When thy heart begins to grow high, he sees there is need of some heavy affliction to bring it low ; when thy heart grows cold, he sees there is need of some fiery affliction to heat it and warm it ; when thy heart grows dull and dead, he sees there is need of some smart affliction to enliven and quicken it. And as thy afflictions shall continue no longer than there is need, so they shall last no longer than they shall work for thy good. If all along they shall work for thy good, thou hast no cause to com- plain that thy afflictions are long. That they shall thus work, I have fully proved in the former part of this book. And thus much for answer to the third objection.
Obj. 4. I would be mute and silent under my afflictions, but my afflictions daily multiply and increase upon me ; like the waves of the sea, they come rolling over the neck of one another, &c. ; and how then can I hold my peace ? How can I lay my hand upon my mouth, when the sorrows of my heart are daily increased? To this I answer thus :
(1.) First, Thy afflictions are not so many as thy sins, Ps. xl. 12. Thy sins are as the stars of heaven, and as the sand upon the sea, that cannot be numbered. There are three things that no Christian can number: J, his sins ; 2, divine favours ; 3, the joys and pleasures that be at Christ's right hand ; but there is no Christian so poor an accountant, but that he may quickly sum up the number of his troubles and afflic- tions in this world. Thy sins, O Christian, are like the Syrians that filled the country, but thy afflictions are like the two little flocks of kids that pitched before them, 1 Kings xx. 27 ; therefore hold thy peace.