Two Treatises, Treatise 1 · Chapter 5
CHAP. V.
Containing a Fourth Argument from the Saints Experiences.
THe Fourth and laſt Argument ſhall Arg 4 from Saints Experiences.be drawn from the Saints particular Experiences. Their Experiences are grounds of ſingular conſolation and incouragement. So Hezekiah, after a ſignal deliverance from a great Sickneſs, makes a grateful acknowledgment, Iſa. 38. 16. O Lord, by theſe things Men live, and in all theſe things is the Life of my Spirit, ſo wilt thou recover me, and make me to Live. The Seventy render the words foreign. Per promiſſa tua & facta, So Grotius. Men live by promiſes and providences. The experience of theſe things keeps the Children of God alive and revives their Spirits in the midſt of their ſoreſt Afflictions. Now Hezekiah had ſingular experience of God▪s Faithfulneſs, in recovering him from Sickneſs (which was, as is thought the |Cum ficus a medicis etiam noſtris adhibeantur ad peſtem maturandam, fieri poteſt ut dominus medici…am promiſſione adjuvaret. Calv. in Iſ. 38. 21.Peſtilence) and granting him a Leaſe of Fifteen Years for his Life, he makes a Poem of Gratitude, and communicates his experience to Poſterity. * It'sQuia celebris etiam erit futurae atati & ſemper vigebit in omnium memoria. Calv. a ſtrong Reaſon which Calvin gives on the Place. Becauſe this Hiſtory will be Famous to future Ages, and be kept freſh upon Record. And as Hezekiah, ſo David draws grounds of ſupport and comfort from former Experiences. When David was to Encounter with Goliah |Saul lookt for one as much Higher than himſelf, as he was Taller than the reſt, he expected ſome auſtere Face and brawny Arm; young rudly David is ſo far below his thoughts, that he receives rather contempt than thanks. B. Hall's Contemplat.(Impar congreſſus, a moſt unequal Encounter in humane Conjecture) yet David hath recourſe to Faith and Experience, which were Armour of Proof: He had given his probatum eſt, as you may Read, how ſtrongly he urgeth an Argument from 1 Sam. 17. 34, 35, 36. And David ſaid unto Saul, thy Servant kept his Fathers Sheep, and there came a Lion and a Bear, &c. After David had eſcaped out of Abimelech's Court (that was his appellative name) or Achiſh King of Gath, you Read, what good uſe David made of this Experimental deliverance Pſal. 34. 6. This poor Man cryed and the Lord heard him, and ſaved him out of all his Troubles. David himſelf, was that poor diſtreſſed Man, that received ſuch a ſignal Deliverance, whereupon he calls others to joyn with him in Praiſing of God, v. 3, 4. By this Example Exemplo ſuo perſuadere conatur reliquis, pollicens illis ſi properent ad Dominum certe fore exaudiendos.he perſwades others, Promiſing them, that if they make hast to God, certainly they ſhall be heard. So Muſculus on the place. And as this Holy Man tells his own Experiences, and how Graciouſly God dealt with himſelf; ſo he Muſters up admirable Experiences of God's Dealings with others, as ſo many Incentives, for his faith and recumbency upon God. There's an eminent Inſtance, which I ſhall mention, of great Conſequence, as the Pſalmiſt expreſſeth it, Pſal. 74. 13. Thou didſt divide the Sea by thy Strengh, thou brakeſt the Heads of the Dragons in the Waters. How the Sea was divided, is mentioned, Exod. 14. 21, 22. God cauſed the Sea to go back▪ by a ſtrong Eaſt Wind all that Night, and made the Sea Dry Land, and the Waters were Divided. And the Children of Iſrael went into the midſt of the Sea, upon the Dry Ground; and the Waters were a Wall unto them, on their Right Hand, and on their Left. Here's one great Experience, that the Sea was dried up, and became paſſable for the Iſraelites; Another is, that the Heads of the Dragons were Nominat Principes & proceres exercitus pharaonis Dracones, hoſque ita a truculentia, & ſaevitia quam exercuerunt in …ſraelitas, appellat. Moll.broken in the Waters. What were theſe Dragons? Anſw. They were Princes▪ and Captains in Pharaohs Army, who for their fierceneſs, and cruelty againſt Iſrael, were like Dragons. What became of theſe Dragons, and furious Enemies? See Exod. 15. 4. Theſe were Pharaohs choſen Captains, that were Drowned in the Sea. The Pſalmiſt goeth on in the ſame Pſalm, 74. 14. Thou brakeſt the Heads of Leviathan in pieces, and gaveſt him to be Meat to the People, Inhabiting the Wilderneſs. Hence ariſe Three Queſtions. (1.) What's meant by this Leviathan? (2.) How his Heads were broken in pieces? (3.) How he came to be Meat to the People, Inhabiting the Wilderneſs?
Queſt. What's meant by this Leviathan?
Anſw. By Leviathan, we underſtand Pharaoh. Calvin obſerves upon the Place, Leviathan non abs re vocatur Pharao, propter commoditates maris, quia illic regnum ſuum quaſi Balaena exerceat.
Quest. 2. What's meant by breaking of the Heads of Leviathan?
Anſw. The Forces, Strength, and Power of Pharaoh, were all broken to pieces; not one of the Egyptians Eſcaped, Exod. 14. 28. Exod. 15. 19. Now that the great, Proud Leviathan Pharaoh was Deſtroyed, and his Captains, Horſemen, and all his Hoſt; theſe were great Deliverances.
Queſt. But 3ly. How did this Leviathan become Meat to the People, Inhabiting the Wilderneſs?
Anſw. Some underſtand it of the Spoils, and Prey which theſe Iſraelites got from the Dead Bodies, and that theſe Dead Bodies were Meat to Wild Beaſts and Fowls. But I conceive there's yet a further meaning of theſe Words: God gave the Leviathan to be Meat to the Iſraelites, for their Faith, Security, and Dependence, and in the exerciſe of their experience and recumbence upon God; to this purpoſe, Calvin gives the Senſe of the Words, Victuals were then laid in Annon… fuit tunc repoſita, qu… veſceretur populus; quia extinctis hoſtibus, ſecuritas non aliter ac cibus vitam protraxit. Calv.for their Food, becauſe when the Enemies were Deſtroyed, Security as well as Food protracted their Life.
A few parallel Inſtances I ſhall Select. St. Peter was delivered from the Fury of Herod, Act. 12. 11. And hence he took a ground of Incouragement, to go on reſolvedly in the Work of the Miniſtry. St. Paul makes a Catalogue of his Sufferings, 2 Cor. 11. How often was he delivered from perils of Robbers, perils of Waters, perils among falſe Brethren? He was delivered out of the Mouth of the Lion, i. e. Nero, that cruel Man. And by all deliverances he was a Gainer, and lays down his Experience, 2 Cor. 1. 4, 5. Who comforteth us in all our Tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any Trouble, by the Comfort wherewith we our ſelves are Comforted of God. For as the Sufferings of Chriſt abound in us; ſo our Conſolation alſo aboundeth by Chriſt. It would be a large Work (though it may be worth the while) to reckon up the comfortable Experiences of the Children of God. I ſhall only Inſtance in ſome choice Servants of God, who Experimentally reaped much benefit by Afflictions. David joyns the Rod and Staff together, for his Comfort, Pſal. 23. 1. and Pſal. 119. 67. he confeſſeth, Before I was afflicted I went aſtray, but now I have kept thy Word. Luther profeſt, that Afflictions taught him to underſtand the Scriptures. How many have been brought home by Afflictions, who in their Proſperity went aſtray? Iſiodor. ſaith, Adverſa corporis, remedia ſunt animae. Aegritudo carnem vulnerat, mentem curat, i. e. Corporal Adverſities are Spiritual Remedies; Sickneſs woundeth the Fleſh, but healeth the Mind. Beza, one of the moſt pious, learned, and orthodox Criticks (that I know of) ſpeaks of a great Sickneſs, wherewith he was Viſited, Morbus iſte (inquit) verae fuit ſanitatis principium, i. e. That Sickneſs was the beginning of true Spiritual Health. It is not Dr. Arrowſmith chains of Principles. vid. melch. Adam in vit. Exterorum.(as a reverend Divine obſerves) more uſual for Children to ſhoot up in length, than with Christians to wax taller in Grace, in, or after Sickneſs. Rolloc ſaid upon his Death Bed, I am not aſhamed to profeſs, that I never reached to ſo high a pitch of the Knowledge of God, as I have attained in this Sickneſs. Olevian ſaid upon his Death Bed, In this Diſeaſe, I have learned to know aright what Sin is, and what the Majeſty of God is. I ſhall mentionId in vit. German. but one Example more, and that is of Learned Rivet, who ſaid upon his Death Bed, In the ſpace of Ten Days, Dauber. 9. in orat. funeb.ſince I kept my Bed, I have learned more, and made greater progreſs in Divinity, than in the whole courſe of my Life before. What further inlargement may be required, I leave to the Saints particular Experiences, and ſhall add no more concerning this particular Head.