Christians should be mute and silent under their
afflictions, because hereby they shall cross and
frustrate Satan's great design and expectation.
In all the afflictions he brought upon Job, Satan's
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.
Satan is the unwearied accuser of the brethren.
Rev. 12:10, "The accuser of the brethren is cast
down, who accuses them before our God day and
night." Satan is the great tempter and accuser
between God and His children. He has a mint
constantly going in hell, where, as an untiring
mint-master, he is still coming and hammering
out of accusations against the saints! First, he
tempts and allures souls to sin—and then accuses
them of those very sins he has tempted them to—
so that he may disgrace them before God, and
bring them, if it were possible, out of favor with
God. And 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—yet such
is his rage and wrath, envy and malice, that he will
endeavor that which he knows he shall never effect!
Could he but have made Job froward or fretting under
the rod, he would have quickly carried the tidings to
heaven, and have been so bold as to have asked God
whether this was a posture befitting such a person, of
whom God Himself had given so glorious a 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; and if he could have but made a breach
upon Job's patience, ah, how would he have insulted over
God himself! But Job, by remaining mute and silent under
all his trials, puts Satan to a blush, and spoils all his
projects at once. The best way to outwit the devil, is to
be silent under the hand of God. He who mutters is foiled
by Satan—but he who is silent overcomes him; and to
conquer a devil is more than to conquer a world!
Be the first to react on this!
Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680)
Much of what is known about Thomas Brooks has been ascertained from his writings. Born, likely to well-to-do parents, in 1608, Brooks entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1625, where he was preceded by such men as Thomas Hooker, John Cotton, and Thomas Shepard. He was licensed as a preacher of the Gospel by 1640. Before that date, he appears to have spent a number of years at sea, probably as a chaplain with the fleet.After the conclusion of the First English Civil War, Thomas Brooks became minister at Thomas Apostle's, London, and was sufficiently renowned to be chosen as preacher before the House of Commons on December 26, 1648. His sermon was afterwards published under the title, 'God's Delight in the Progress of the Upright', the text being Psalm 44:18: 'Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Thy way'. Three or four years afterwards, he transferred to St. Margaret's, Fish-street Hill, London. In 1662, he fell victim to the notorious Act of Uniformity, but he appears to have remained in his parish and to have preached as opportunity arose. Treatises continued to flow from his pen.[3]
Thomas Brooks was a nonconformist preacher. Born into a Puritan family, he was sent to Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He soon became an advocate of the Congregational way and served as a chaplain in the Civil War. In 1648 he accepted the rectory of St. Margaret's, New Fish Street, London, but only after making his Congregational principles clear to the vestry.
On several occasions he preached before Parliament. He was ejected in 1660 and remained in London as a Nonconformist preacher. Government spies reported that he preached at Tower Wharf and in Moorfields. During the Great Plague and Great Fire he worked in London, and in 1672 was granted a license to preach in Lime Street. He wrote over a dozen books, most of which are devotional in character. He was buried in Bunhill Fields.