The Silent Soul, Objections · Objection 4
Object. 4. I would bee mute and ſilent under my afflictions, but my afflictions daily multiply and encreaſe upon mee; like the waves of the Sea, they come rouling one over the neck of 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 encreaſed?
To this I anſwer thus, Firſt, Thy afflictions are not ſo many as thy ſins; thy ſins are as the ſtars ofPſa. 40. 12 Heaven, and as the ſands of the Sea, that cannot bee numbred;Pſal. 16. ult. there are three things that no Chriſtian can number; 1 His ſins. 2 Divine favours. 3 The joys and pleaſures that bee at Chriſts right hand; but there is no Chriſtian ſo poor an accountant, but that hee may quickly ſum up the number of his troubles and afflictions in this world; thy ſins, Oh 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▪ King. 20. 27. therefore hold thy peace.
Secondly, If ſuch ſhould not bee mute and ſilent under their afflictions, whoſe afflictions are increaſed and multiplied upon them, then there are none in the world who will bee found mute and ſilent under their afflictions: for certainly there are none who do not finde the waters of affliction to grow daily upon them; if this bee not ſo, what means the bleating of the Sheep, and the lowing of the1 Sam. 15. 14. Oxen? what means the daily ſighs, groans, and complaints of Chriſtians amongſt us? if their troubles, like the waters in Ezekiels Sanctuary,Ezek. 47. 1,—20 bee not ſtill encreaſing upon them; every day brings us tidings of new ſtraights, new troubles, new croſſes, new loſſes, new trials, &c.
Thirdly, They are not ſo many as God might have exerciſed thee with; God could as eaſily exerciſe thee with ten, as with two, and with a hundred as with ten, and with a thouſand as with a hundred; let thy afflictions bee neverLam. 3. 39. Luk. 23. 41 ſo many, yet they are not ſo many as they might have been; had God either conſulted with thy ſins, with thy deſerts, or with his ownWhat are the number of Princes to the ſubjects that are under them, or what are the number of Generals, to the number of ſouldiers that are commanded by them? no more are thy afflictions to thy mercies juſtice; there is no compariſon between thoſe afflictions that God hath inflicted upon thee, and thoſe that hee might have inflicted; thou haſt not one burden of a thouſand that God could have laid on, but hee would not; therefore hold thy peace.
Fourthly, Thy afflictions are not ſo many as thy mercies, nay, they are not to bee named in the day wherein thy mercies are ſpoken of, what are thy croſſes to thy comforts, thy miſeries to thy mercies, thy daies of ſickneſs to thy daies of health, thy daies of weakneſs to thy daies of ſtrength, thy daies of ſcarcity to thy daies of plenty? and this is that the wiſe man would have us ſeriouſly to conſider, Eccleſ. 7. 14. In the day of adverſity conſider, but what muſt wee conſider, that God hath ſet the one over againſt the other. As God hath ſet winter and ſummer, night and day, fair weather and foul, one over againſt another: So let us ſet our preſent mercies over againſt our preſent troubles, and wee ſhall preſently finde that our mercies exceed our troubles, that they mightily over-ballance our preſent afflictions; therefore let us bee ſilent, let us lay our hands upon our mouths.
Fifthly, If you caſt up a juſt and righteous account, you will findeRead but the ten perſecutions, and thou wilt be full of this opinion. that they are not ſo many as the afflictions that hath befallen other Saints; have you reckoned up the afflictions that befell Abraham, Jacob, Joſeph, Job, Aſaph, Heman, the Prophets and Apoſtles; if you have, you will ſay that your afflictions are no afflictions to thoſe that have befallen them; their lives were filled up with ſorrows and ſufferings, but ſo are not yours; therefore kiſs the rod and bee ſilent. It may bee if thou lookeſt but upon thy relations, thy friends, thy neighbours, thou mayeſt finde many whoſe afflictions for number and weight do much ou… weigh thine; therefore bee ſilent, murmure not, hold-thy peace.
Sixthly, Not ſo many as attended our Lord Jeſus, whoſe whole life, from the cradle to the croſſe,Iſa. 53. read the whole chapter. was nothing but a life of ſufferings. Oſorius writing of the Sufferings of Chriſt, ſaith, that the Crown of Thorns bored his head with ſeventy two wounds. Many ſeventy two afflictions did Chriſt meet with whilſt hee was in this world; none can bee ignorant of this, who have but read the new Teſtament; he is called a man of ſorrows, his whole life was filled up with ſorrows, when hee was but a little paſt thirty years of age, ſorrows, pains, troubles, oppoſitions, perſecutions, had ſo worn him, that the Jews judged him towards fifty, John 8. 57. a man were as good compare the number of his b… ſome-friends with the ſtars of Heaven, as compare his afflictions and the afflictions of Chriſt together.
Seventhly, Muttering and murmuring will but add to the number; when the childe is under the rod, his crying and fretting doth but add laſh to laſh, blow to blow; but of this enough before.
Eighthly and laſtly, Though they are many, yet they are not ſo manyPſal. 16. ult. Iſa. 64. 4. 1 Cor. 2. 9 as the joys, the pleaſures, the delights that bee at Chriſts right hand: as the pleaſures of Heaven are matchleſs and endleſs, ſo they are numberleſs. Auguſtine ſpeakingAuguſt. de Triplici habitu. cap. 4. concerning what we can ſay of heaven, ſaith, that it is but a little drop of the Sea, and a little ſpark of the great Furnace; thoſe good things of eternal life, are ſo many, that they exceed number, ſo great, that they exceed meaſure, ſo precious, that they are above all eſtimation; …c Chriſtus, nec coelum patitur hyperbolem, neither Chriſt nor Heaven can bee hyperbolized; for every affliction many thouſand joyes and delights will attend the Saints in a glorified eſtate; what will that life bee, or rather what will not that life bee (ſaith one ſpeaking of Heaven) ſince all good either is not at all, or is in ſuch a life? Light which place cannot comprehend, Voices and muſick which time cannot raviſh away, Odours which are never diſſipated, a Feaſt which is never conſumed, a Bleſſing which eternity beſtoweth, but eternity ſhall never ſee at an end; and let this ſuffice for anſwer to this fourth Objection.