(4.) Fourthly, Our Lord Jesus Christ was sadly reproached and falsely accused. His precious name, that deserves to be always writ in characters of gold, as the Persians usually writ their king's, was often eclipsed before the sun was eclipsed at his death. His sweet name, that was sweeter than all sweets, was often crucified before his body. Oh, the stones of reproach that were frequently rolled upon that name by which we must be saved, if ever we are saved ! Oh, the jeers, the scoffs, the scorns that were cast upon that name that can only bless us ! The name of Jesus, saith Chrysostom, hath a thousand treasures of joy and comfort in it. The name of a Saviour, saith Bernard, is honey in the mouth, and music in the ear, and a jubilee in the heart ; and yet where is the heart that can conceive, or the tongue that can express, how much dung and filth hath been cast upon Christ's name ; and how many sharp arrows of reproach and scorn hath been, and daily, yea, hourly, are, shot by the world at Christ's name and honour ? Such ignominious reproaches were cast upon Christ and his name in the time of his life and at his death, that the sun did blush, and masked himself with a cloud, that he might no longer behold them.1 Mat. xi. 19, 'The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.' But was he such an one ? No : ' Wisdom is justified of her children.' Wisdom's children will stand up and justify her before all the world. Mat. xxvii. 63, 'Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days, I will rise again.' But was he a deceiver of the people ?2 No, he was the faithful and true witness, Rev. i. 5, chap. iii. 14. John vii. 20, ' The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil ; who goeth about to kill thee?' chap. viii. 48, ' Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well, that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil V chap, x. 20, ' And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad ; why hear ye him V It was a wonder of wonders that the earth did not open and swallow up these monsters, and that God did not rain hell out of heaven upon these horrid blasphemers ; but their blasphemous assertions were denied and disproved by some of wisdom's children: ver. 21, 'Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil : can a devil open the eyes of the blind V The devil hath no such power, nor any such goodness, as to create eyes to him that was born blind.
1 It is a foolish thing, saith Cato, to hope for life by another's death. The world prac- tically speaks as much every day.
2 The Greek word signifies one who doth profess an art of cozening people to their faces.
382 THE MUTE CHRISHAM [Ps. XXXIX 9.
Will you yet see more scorn, dirt, and contempt cast upon the Lord of glory? Why, then, cast your eyes upon that: Luke xvi. 14, 'And the pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things, and they derided him ;' or as the Greek reads it, ' They blew their noses at him in scorn and derision.'1 The pharisees did not only laugh, fleer, and jeer at Christ, but they have also external signs of scorn and derision in their countenance and gestures ; they blew their noses at him, they contemned him as a thing of nought. And in chap. xxv. 35, both people and rulers blew their noses at him ; for the original word is the same with that in the fore-mentioned chapter. John xix. 12, he is accused for being an enemy to Caesar. Now, who can seriously consider of the scorn, reproach, and contempt that hath been cast upon the name and honour of our Lord Jesus, and not sit silent and mute under all the scorn and contempt that hath been cast upon his name or person in this world ?
(5.) Fifthly, To be well spoken of by them that are ill spoken of by God, to be in favour with them who are out of favour with God, is rather a reproach than an honour to a man. Our Saviour himself testifieth that in the church and nation of the Jews, they that had the most general approbation and applause, they who were most admired and cried up, were the worst, not the best, men ; they were the false, not the true, prophets : Luke vi. 26, ' Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.'2 Austin feared the praises of good men, and detested the praises of evil men. I would not, saith Luther, have the glory and fame of Erasmus ; my greatest fear is the praises of men. Phocion had not suspected his speech had not the common people applauded it. Antisthenes mis- trusted some ill in himself for the vulgar commendations. Socrates ever suspected that which passed with the most general commendations. To be praised of evil men, said Bion, is to be praised for evil doing; for the better they speak of a man the worse, and the worse the better. The Lacedaemonians would not have a good saying sullied with a wicked mouth. A wicked tongue soils all the good that drops into it. It is a mercy to be delivered from the praises of wicked men ; wicked men's applauses oftentimes become the saints' reproaches. The heathen [Socrates] could say, Quid mali feci ? what evil have I done, that this bad man commends me. There is a truth in that saying of Seneca, Recti argumentum est, pessimis displicere, the worst men are com- monly most displeased with that which is best. Who can seriously dwell on these things, and not be mute and silent under all the re- proaches and scorn that is cast upon his name and credit in this world ? (6\) Sixthly, There will come a day when the Lord will wipe off all the dust andfdth that wicked men have cast upon the good names of // is people.3 There shall be a resurrection of names as well as of bodies ; their names that are now buried in the open sepulchres of evil throats
1 Read this, Mark xv. 19 ; Isa. lvii. 4 ; Mat. xxvii. 2, 29. [The word is jg^uxr.-^ov, sneered with outward marks of derision ; fivxrrio, nams, as in Horace, S. i. 6. 5, ' Naso sus- pended adunco,' which Brooks probably had in mind. — G.]
* The tongues of wicked men are like the Uuke of Medina Sidonia's sword, that knew no difference hetwecn a catholic and an heretic. The lashes of lewd tongues is as impos- sible to avoid as necessary to contemn.
3 Isa. lxv. 15, lxi. 7 ; Ps. lxviii. 13 ; Mai. iii. 17, 18.
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