The Heinous and Dangerous Nature of Murmuring

12. The last motive to work you to silence under your greatest trials, is this — Seriously consider the heinous and dangerous nature of murmuring. Now, that you may, let me propose these following particulars to your most sober consideration:

(1.) Consider, that murmuring speaks out many a root of bitterness to be strong in the soul; murmuring speaks out sin in its power, corruption upon its throne. As holy silence argues true grace, much grace, yea, grace in its strength, and in its lively vigor; so murmuring, muttering under the hand of God, argues much sin, yea, a heart full of sin; it speaks out a heart full of self-love, Exod. xv. 24; xvi, 7, 8; and full of slavish fears, Numb. xiii. 32, 33; xiv. 1 — 3; and full of ignorance, John, vi. 41, 42. 71; and full of pride and unbelief, Ps. cvi. 24, 25; yea, they despised the pleasant land, or the land of desire, there is their pride; they believed not in his word, there is their unbelief; what follows? They murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of God; they preferred Egypt before Canaan, a wilderness before a paradise. As in the first chaos there were the seeds of all creatures, so in the murmurer’s heart there are not only the seeds of all sin, but a lively operation of all sin. Sin is become mighty in the hearts of murmurers, and none but an almighty God can root it out; those roots of bitterness have so spread and strengthened themselves in the hearts of murmurers; Isa. xxvi. 4, that everlasting strength must be put forth, or they will be undone forever. But,

(2.) Consider, that the Holy Ghost hath set a brand of infamy upon murmurers, he hath stigmatized them for ungodly persons, Jude 15, 16. “To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of

* Ps. lxviii, 19, 20. Unbelief is virtually all ill.

all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” But who are these ungodly sinners? They “are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts,” &c. When Ghrist comes to execute judgment upon ungodly ones, murmurers shall be set in the front; they shall experience the first of his wrath, and the fierceness of his wrath, and the greatness of his wrath. The front, you know, is first assaulted, and most strongly assaulted; Christ will bend all his power and strength against murmurers; his little finger shall be heavier upon them than his loins shall be upon others. 1 Kings xii. 11. 14; other sinners shall be chastised with whips, but ungodly murmurers shall be chastised with scorpions. If you can joy in that black character of ungodly sinners, be murmurers still; if not, cease from murmuring. Where murmuring is in its reign, in its dominion, there you may speak and write that person ungodly. Let murmurers make what profession they will of godliness, yet if murmuring keeps the throne in their hearts, Christ will deal with them at last as ungodly sinners. A man may be denominated ungodly, as well from his murmuring, if he lives under the dominion of it, as from his drunkenness, swearing, whoring, lying, stealing, &c. A murmurer is an ungodly man; no man on earth more unlike to God than the

UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. Ill

murmurer; and therefore no wonder if, when Christ comes to execute judgment, he deals so severely and terribly with him. In the wars of Tamerlane, one having found a great pot of gold that was hid in the earth, he brought it to Tamerlane, who asked, Whether it had his father’s stamp upon it? but when he saw it had not his father’s stamp, but the Roman stamp upon it, he would not own it, but cast it away. The Lord Jesus, when he shall come with all his saints to execute judgment, oh! he will not own murmurers; nay, he will cast them away forever, because they have not his father’s stamp upon them. Ah, souls! souls! as you would not go up and down this world with a badge of ungodliness upon you, take heed of murmuring.

(3.) Consider, that murmuring is a mother sin; it is the mother of harlots, the mother of all abominations, a sin that breeds many other sins, namely, disobedience, contempt, ingratitude, impatience, distrust, rebellion, cursing, carnality; yea, it charges God with folly, Numb. xvi. 41; xvii. 10. The language of a murmuring, a muttering soul, is this, Surely God might have done this sooner, and that wiser, and the other thing better, &c. Murmuring is a sin that breeds and brings forth many sins at once. It is like the monster Hydra; cut off one head, and many will rise up in its room. Oh! therefore, bend all thy strength against this mother sin. As the king of Syria said to his captains, “Fight neither with small nor great, but with the king of Israel,” 1 Kings xxii. 31; so say I, Fight not so much against this sin or that, but fight against your murmuring, which is a mother sin; make use of all your christian armor, make use of all the ammunition of heaven, Eph. vi. 10, 11, to destroy the mother; and in destroying her, you will destroy the daughters. When Goliath was slain, the Philistines fled; when a general in an army is cut off, the common soldiers are easily and quickly routed and destroyed; so destroy but murmuring, and you will quickly destroy disobedience, ingratitude, impatience, distrust, &c. Oh! kill this mother sin, that this may never kill thy soul.

(4.) Consider, that murmuring is a God-provoking sin; it is a sin that provokes God, Numb. xxvi. 65; xii. 9, 10; Rev. xvi. 9 — 11, not only to afflict, but also to destroy a people. u How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me? I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,” Numb. xiv. 27 — 29. “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer,” 1 Cor. x. 10. All our murmurings do but provoke the Lord to strike us, and destroy us.

All our murmurings are as so many arrows shot at God himself, and they will return upon our own hearts; they reach not him, but they will hit us; they hurt not him, but they will wound us; therefore it is better to be mute than to murmur; it is dangerous to provoke a consuming fire, Heb. xii. 29.

(5.) Consider, that murmuring is the devil’s image, sin, and punishment. Satan is still murmuring; he murmurs at every mercy that God bestows, at every grace he gives, he murmurs at every sin he pardons, and every soul he saves. A soul cannot have a good look, nor hear a good word from heaven, but Satan murmurs at it; he murmurs and mutters at every act of pitying grace, of preventing grace, of supporting grace, of strengthening grace, and of comforting grace, that God exercises towards poor souls; he murmurs at every sip, at every drop, at every crumb of mercy that God bestows. Murmuring, and envy at man’s innocencyand felicity, put him upon attempting to plunge man into the bottomless gulf of sin and misery; he knowing himself to be damned, and lost forever, would needs try all ways how to make happy man eternally unhappy. This old serpent was, by sad experience, found to have too much power in the heart of Adam whilst yet in the height of all his glory and excellency. Murmuring is the first-born of the devil, and nothing renders a man more like to him than murmuring. And as murmuring is Satan’s sin, so it is his punishment. God hath given him up to a murmuring spirit; nothing pleases him, all things go against him; he is perpetually muttering and murmuring at persons or things. Now, oh what a dreadful thing it is to bear Satan’s image upon us, and to be given up to the devil’s punishment! It were better not to be, than thus to be given up; and therefore cease from murmuring, and sit mute under your sorest trials. But,

(6.) Consider, that murmuring is a mercyimbittering sin, a mercy-souring sin. As to put the sweetest things into a sour vessel, sours them, or, into a bitter vessel, imbitters them; so murmuring puts gall and wormwood into every cup of mercy that God gives into our hands. As holy silence gives a sweet taste, a delightful relish, to all a man’s mercies, so murmuring imbitters all; the murmurer can taste no sweetness in his sweetest morsels; every mercy, every morsel, tastes like the white of an egg to him, Job vi. 6. A murmurer can taste no sweet, he can feel no comfort, he can take no delight in any mercy he enjoys. The murmurer writes Marah, that is. Bitterness, upon all his mercies, and he reads and tastes bitterness in them all. All the murmurer’s grapes are grapes of gall, and all their clusters are bitter, Deut. xxxii. 32. As, to the hungrysoul every bitter thing is sweet, so to the murmuring soul every sweet thing is bitter. The mute christian can suck sweetness from every mercy, but the murmurer cries out, Oh, it is bitter! Oh, it is dry!

(7.) Consider, that murmuring is a mercydestroying sin, a mercy-murdering sin; murmuring cuts the throat of mercy, it stabs all our mercies at the heart. “Doubtless, ye shall not come into the land concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun,” Numb. xiv. 30. God promises them that they should possess the holy land, upon condition of their obedience; this condition they brake, and therefore God was not forsworn, though he cut them off in the wilderness, and kept them out of Canaan, Ps. lxxxix. 30 — 32; Deut. xxxi. 16, 17. But what is the sin that provokes the Lord to bar them out of the land of promise, and to cut them off from all those mercies that they enjoyed, which entered into the holy land? Why, it was their murmuring. — As you love your mercies, as you would have the sweet of your mercies, and as you would enjoy the life of your mercies, take heed of murmuring.

Murmuring will bring a consumption upon your mercies; it is a worm that will make all your mercies to wither. As there are some that love their mercies into the grave, and others that plot their mercies into the grave, so there are some that murmur their mercies into the grave. As you would have your mercies always fresh and green, smiling, and thriving; as you would have your mercies to bed and board with you, to rise up and lie down with you, and in all conditions to attend you; murmur not, murmur not. The mute christian’s mercies are most sweet, and most long-lived; the murmurer’s mercies, like Jonah’s gourd, will quickly wither. Murmuring hath cut the throat of national mercies, of domestic mercies, and of personal mercies; and, therefore, oh! how should men fly from it as from a serpent! as from the avenger of blood! yea, as from hell itself!

(8.) Consider, that murmuring unfits the soul for duty. A murmurer can neither hear, nor pray, nor read, nor meditate to profit; the murmurer is neither fit to do good nor receive good; murmuring unfits the soul for performing duties, for delighting in duties, and for communion with God in duties. Murmuring fills the soul with cares, fears, distractions, and vexations; all which unfits a man for duty. As a holy quietness and calmness of spirit prompts a man to duty, Prov. iii. 17, as it makes every duty easy and pleasant to the soul; so murmuring unhinges the soul, indisposes the soul, and takes off its chariot- wheels, Ps. xl. 12, so that the soul cannot look up to God, nor do for him, nor receive from him, nor wait on him, nor walk wTith him, nor act faith upon him, 2 Kings, vi. 33. Oh! therefore, as ever you would be in a blessed preparedness, and a blessed fitness for duty, take heed of murmuring, and sit mute and silent under the afflicting hand of God, Isa. xxvi. 9 — 11.

(9.) Consider, that murmuring unmans a man, Isa. v. 18 — 20, it strips him of his reason, and understanding; it makes him call evil good, and good evil; it puts light for darkness, and darkness for light; bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter; it calls saviors destroyers, and deliverers murderers; as you see in the murmuring Israelites, Exod. xiv. xv. xvi. Murmuring uncrowns a man; the murmurer may say, u The crown is fallen from my head,” Lam. v. 16. Murmuring strips a man of all his glory, it spoils all his excellency, it destroys the nobility of man, it speaks him out to be a base, ignoble creature. Murmuring clouds a man’s understanding, it perverts his judgment, it puts out the eye of reason, it stupifies his conscience, it sours the heart, disorders the will, and distempers the affections; it brutifies a man, yea, it sets him below the beasts that perish; for a man had better be a beast, than be like a beast. The mnrmurer is the hieroglyphic of folly; he is a comprehensive vanity; he is sottish and senseless; he neither understands God nor himself, nor any thing as he should, Isa. Hi. 8. He is the man that must be sent to school, to learn of the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the earth, Matt, vi., Prov. vi., how to cease from murmuring, and how to be mute. Ah, sirs! as you would have the name, the honor, and the reputation of being men, take heed of murmuring, and sit silent before the Lord.

(10.) Murmuring is a time-destroying sin. Ah, the precious time that is buried in the grave of murmuring! When the murmurer should be praying, he is murmuring against the Lord; when he should be hearing, he is murmuring against Divine providences; when he should be reading, he is murmuring against instruments. The murmurer spends much precious time in musing how to get out of such a trouble, how to cast off such a yoke, how to be rid of such a burden, how to revenge himself for such a wrong, how to supplant such a person, how to reproach those that are above nim, and how to affront those that are below him; and a thousand other ways murmurers have to expend that precious time that some would redeem with a world: as queen Elizabeth on her death-bed cried out, Time, time, a world of wealth for an inch of time! The murmurer lavishly and profusely trifles away that precious time that it is his greatest interest in this world to redeem, Eph. v. 16; Rev. ii. 21. Every day, every hour in the day, is a talent of time, and God expects the improvement of it, 1 Pet. iv. 2. 5, and will charge the non-improvement of it upon you at last. Ah. murmurers! murmurers! you who by your murmuring trifle away so many golden hours and seasons of mercy, have you no God to honor, have you no Christ to believe in, have you no hearts to change, no sins to be pardoned, no souls to save, no hell to escape, no heaven to seek after? Oh, if you have, why do you spend so much of your precious time in murmuring against God, against men, against this or that thing? Eternity rides upon the back of time; this is the moment; if it be well improved, you are made forever; if not, you are undone forever.

I have read of Archias, a Lacedemonian, that whilst he was rioting and quaffing, in the midst of his cups, one delivers him a letter purposely, to signify that there were some that lay in wait to take away his life, and withal desires him to read it presently, because it was a serious business, and matter of high concernment to him. Oh! said he, I will think of serious things to-morrow; but that night he was slain. Ah, murmurer! cease from murmuring to-day, or else thou mayst be forever undone by murmuring to-morrow. The old saying was, Now or never; so say I, now or never give over murmuring, and let it swallow up no more of your precious time. What would not many a murmurer give for one of those days, yea, for one of those hours, which he hath trifled away in murmuring, when it is a day too late! Ah, murmurers! you will gain more by one day’s faithful serving of God, than ever you have gained by murmuring against God. But,

(11.) Consider this, christians, that of all men in the world you have least cause, yea, no cause to be murmuring and muttering under any dispensations that you meet with in this world. Is not God thy portion? Lam. iii. 24; Eph. iii. 8; 1 Pet. i. 3, 4. Chrysostom propounds this question, “Was Job miserable when he had lost all that God had given him? and gives this answer: No; he had still that God who gave him all.’’ Is not Christ thy treasure? is not heaven thine inheritance? and wilt thou murmur? Hast thou not much in hand, and more in hope? hast thou not much in possession, but much more in reversion? and wilt thou murmur? Hath not God given thee a changed heart, a renewed nature, and a sanctified soul? and wilt thou murmur? Hath not God given thee himself to satisfy thee? his Son to save thee? his Spirit to lead thee ;?

his grace to adorn thee? his covenant to assure thee? his mercy to pardon thee? his righteousness to clothe thee? and wilt thou murmur? Hath he not made thee a friend, a son, a brother, a bride, an heir? and wilt thou murmur? Hath not God often turned thy water into wine, thy brass into silver, and thy silver into gold? and wilt thou murmur? When thou wast dead, did not he quicken thee? and when thou wast lost, did not he seek thee? and when thou wast wounded, did not he heal thee? and when thou wert falling, did not he support thee? and when thou wert down, did not he raise thee? and when thou wert staggering, did not he establish thee? and when thou wert erring did not he reduce thee? and when thou wert tempted, did not he succor thee? and when thou wert in dangers, did not he deliver thee? and wilt thou murmur? What! thou that art so highly advanced and exalted above many thousands in the world? Murmuring is a black garment, and it becomes none so ill as saints.

Lastly, Consider, that murmuring makes the life of man miserable. Every murmurer is his own executioner. Murmuring vexes the heart; it wears and tears, enrages and inflames, wounds and stabs the heart. Every murmurer is a murderer; he kills many at once, namely, his joy, his comfort, his peace, his rest, his soul. No man is so inwardly miserable as the murmurer; no man hath such inward gripes and griefs, such inward bitterness and heaviness, such inward contentions and combustions as he. Every murmurer is his own tormentor; murmuring is a fire within, that will burn up all; it is an earthquake within, that will overturn all; it is a disease within, that will infect all; it is a poison within, that will prey upon all. And thus I have done with those motives that may persuade us not to murmur or mutter, but to be mute and silent under the greatest afflictions, the saddest providences, and sharpest trials that we meet with in this life.