A Divine Cordial, Chapter 11 – Chapter 12
EFFECTUAL CALLING.
CHAP. XI. Concerning Effectual Calling.
THe second Qualification of the persons to whom this priviledge in the Text belongs, is, They are the called of God: All things shall work for good foreign, to them who are called. Though this word [called] be placed in order after loving of God, yet in nature it goes before it: Love is first named, but not first wrought; we must be called of God, before we can love God.
Calling, is made in the 30. verse of this Chapter, the middle link of the golden chain of Salvation; it is placed between Predestination and Glorification; and if we have this middle link fast, we are sure of the two other ends of the Chain. For the clearer illustration of this, there are six things observable.
SECTION I. A Distinction about Calling.
1. I Shall lay down a Distinction. There is a twofold call. 1. An outward call, which is nothing else but Gods blessed tender of grace in the Gospel, his parlying with sinners, when he woes them to come in and accept of mercy: Of this our Saviour speaks, Mat. 20.16. Many are called, but few chosen. This external call is insufficient to salvation, yet sufficient to leave men without excuse.
2. There is an inward call, when God doth wonderfully over-power the heart, and draw the will to embrace Christ; This is, as Saint Austine speaks, Vocatio alta, & efficax, an Effectual call. God, by the outward call, blows a Trumpet in the ear; by the inward call, he opens the heart, as he did the heart of Lydia, Acts 16.14. The outward call may bring men to a profession of Christ, the inward call brings them to a possession of Christ: The outward call doth curb a sinner, the inward call doth change him.
SECTION II. Our deplorable condition before we are called.
2.WHAT we are before this call. 1. We are in a state of vassalage. Nihil du…ius servitute. Cic.Before God calls a man, he is at the Devils call. If he saith go, he goes: The deluded sinner is like the Slave that digs in the Mine, hews in the Quarry, tugs at the Oar; he is at the command of Satan, as the Ass is at the command of the Driver. 2. We are in a state of darkness, Ephes. 5.8. Ye were sometimes darkness. 1. Darkness is very disconsolate. A man in the dark, is full of fear, he trembles every step be takes. 2. It is dangerous: He who is in the dark, may quickly go out of the right way, and fall into Rivers and Whirlpools; So in the dark of ignorance, we may quickly fall into the Whirl-pool of Hell. 3. Before we are savingly called, we are in a state of impotency, Rom. 5.6. foreign, When we were without strength: No strength to resist a temptation, or grapple with a corruption; sin cut the lock where our strength lay. Nay, there is not only impotency, but obstinacy, Acts 7.51. Ye do alwayes resist the Holy Ghost. Besides indisposition to good, there is opposition. 4. We are in a state of pollution, Ezek. 16.6. I saw thee polluted in thy blood. The phansie mints earthly thoughts, the heart is the Devils Forge, where the sparkles of lust flye. 5. We are in a state of damnation; we are born under a sad Planet, 1 Iohn 3.36. The wrath of God abideth on us. This is our condition before God is pleased by a merciful call to being us near to himself, and free us from that misery in which we were before ingulphed.
SECT. III. The Means of our blessed Call.
3. THe means of our Effectual call. The ordinary means which the Lord useth in calling us, is not by raptures and revelations, as the Familists hold, but is,
1. Partly by his Word, which is Virga virtutis, The Rod of his strength, Psal. 110.2. The voyce of the Word is Gods call to us; therefore he is said [now] to speak to us from Heaven, Heb. 12.25. that is, in the Ministry of the Word. When the Word calls from sin, it is as if we heard a voyce from Heaven.
2. Partly by his Spirit; this is the loud call. The Word is the instrumental cause of our conversion, the Spirit is the efficient. The Ministers of God are only the pipes and Organs; it is the Spirit blowing in them, that doth effectually change the heart, Acts 10.44. While Peter spake, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the Word *Nisi spiritus adsit cordi audientis, inan… est labor docentis.. It is not the Husbandmans industry in plowing and sowing, will make the ground fruitful, without the early and latter rain. So it is not the seed of the Word will effectually convert, unless the Spirit put forth its sw…et influence, and drops as rain upon the heart: Therefore the help of Gods Spirit is to be implored, that he would put forth his powerful voice, and awaken us out of the grave of unbelief. If a man knock at a gate of Brass, it will not open; but if he come with a key in his hand, it will open: So when God, who hath the key of David in his hand*Rev. 3.7., comes, he opens the heart, though it be never so fast locked against him.
SECTION IV. Gods Method in calling Sinners.
4. THe Method God useth in calling of sinners. The Lord doth not tye himself to a way, or use the same order with all; he comes
1. Sometimes in the still voyce. Such as have had godly Parents, and have sat under the warm Sun-shine of Religious education, know not many times how or when they were called; the Lord did secretly and gradually instill grace into their hearts, as the dew falls insensibly in drops; they know by the Heavenly effects, that they are called, but the time or manner they know not. The finger moves on the Dial, but we are not sensible when it moves. Thus God deals with some.
2. Others are more stubborn and knotty sinners, and God comes to them in a rough wind; he useth more wedges of the Law to break their hearts; he deeply humbles them, and shews them they are damned without Christ; then, having Ploughed up the fallow ground of their hearts by humiliation, he sows the seeds of consolation; he presents Christ and mercy to them, and draws their wills, not only to accept Christ, but passionately to desire, and fiducially to rest upon him. Thus he wrought upon Paul, and called him from a Persecutor to a Preacher. This call, though it be more visible than the other, yet not more real. A Fontinel may be made in the body as well by corrosive as incision. Gods Method in calling sinners may vary, but the effect is still the same.
SECTION V. The properties of the divine call.
5. THe Properties of this call. 1. It is a sweet call. God doth so call as he doth allure; he doth not force, but draw. The freedom of the will is not taken away, but the stubbornness of it is conquered *Actio haec non fit coactio; Deus non torquet, sed trahit., Psal. 100.3. Thy people shall be a willing people in the day of thy power. After this call there are no more disputes, the soul readily obeys Gods call: As when Christ called Zacheus he did joyfully embrace him into his heart and house.*foreign.
2. It is an holy call. 2 Tim. 1.9. Who hath called us with an holy calling. This call of Gods calls men out of their sins; by it they are consecrated and set apart for God. The Vessels of the Tabernacle were taken from common, and set apart to an holy use; so they who are effectually called, are separated from sin, and consecrated to Gods service. The God whom we worship is holy, the work we are imployed in is holy, the place we hope to arrive at is holy; all this calls for holiness. A Christians heart is is to be the Presence-Chamber of the Blessed Trinity; and shall not Holiness to the Lord be written upon it? Believers are Children of God the Father, Members of God the Son, Temples of God the Holy Ghost; and shall not they be holy? Holiness is the Badge and Livery of Gods people, Isa. 63.18. foreign The people of thy holiness. As chastity distinguisheth a vertuous woman from an harlot: So holiness distinguisheth the Godly from the wicked. It is an Holy calling: Let not any man say he is called of God, that lives in sin. Hath God called thee to be a Swearer, to be a Drunkard? Nay, let not the moral person say he is effectually called: What is civility without sanctity? It is but a dead carkass strawed with flowers. The Kings picture stamped upon Brass will not go current. The civil man looks as if he had the King of Heavens Image stamped upon him; but he is no better than counterfeit mettal, which will not pass for current with God.
3. It is an irresistible call. When God calls a man by his grace, he cannot but come. You may resist the Ministers call, but you cannot resist the Spirits call: The Finger of the blessed Spirit can write upon an heart of stone, as once he wrote his Laws upon Tables of stone. Gods words are Verba creativa, Creating words; when he said, Let there be light, there was light; and when he saith, Let there be faith, it shall be so. When God called Paul, he answered to the call, Acts 26.19. I was not disobedient to the Heavenly vision *foreign. Chrys.. God rides forth conquering in the Charet of his Gospel; he makes the blind eye see, and the stony heart bleed. If God will call a man, nothing shall ponere obicem, or lie in the way to hinder; difficulties shall be untied, the Powers of Hell shall disband, Rom. 9.19. Who hath resisted his will? God bends the Iron sinew, and cuts asunder the Gates of Brass, Psal. 107.16. When the Lord toucheth a mans heart by his Spirit, all proud imaginations are brought down, and the Fort-Royal of the Will yeilds to God. I may allude to that, Psal. 114.5. What ailed thee, O thou Sea, that thou fleddest? and thou Iordan, that thou wert driven back? The man that before was as a raging Sea, foaming forth wickedness, now on a sudden he flyes back and trembles, he falls down as the Iaylor, What shall I do to be saved? What ailes thee, O Sea? What ailes this man? the Lord hath been effectually calling him, he hath been a working a work of grace, and now his stubborn heart is conquered by a sweet violence.
4. It is an high calling, Phil. 3.14. I press toward the mark, for the price of the high calling of God. It is an high calling; 1. Because we are called to high exercises of Religion; to dye to sin, to be crucified to the world, to live by faith, to have fellowship with the Father, 1 Joh. 1.3. This is an high calling, here is a work too high for men in a state of nature to perform. 2. It is an high calling, because we are called to high Priviledges, to Justification and Adoption, to be made Co-heirs with Christ *Rom. 8.17. foreign Aeternae vitae & gloriae participes; aperiuntur, hic nobis limpidissimi fontes, &c. Beza.. He that is effectually called is higher then the Princes of the earth.
5. It is a gracious call, it is the fruit and product of free-grace. That God should call some, and not others; some taken, and others left; one called who is of a more rugged mo…ose disposition, another of acu…er parts, of a sweeter temper, rejected, here is free-gracē: That the poor should be rich in faith, heirs of of a Kingdom, Iam. 25. And the Nobles, and Great ones of the world for the most part reprobated, 1 Cor. 1.26. Not many Noble are called. What is this free and rich grace? Mat. 11.26. Even so Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. That in the same Sermon one should be effectually wrought upon, another, no more moved then a dead man with the sound of Musick; that one should hear a Spirits voyce in the Word, another not hear it; that one should be softned and moistned wi…h the influences of Heaven; another, like Gideons dry fleece hath no dew upon him; behold here distinguishing grace! The same affliction converts one, hardens another? affliction to one, is as the bruising of Spices, which cast forth a fragrant smel; to the other is as the stamping of Weeds in a Mortar, which are more unfavoury; whence is this, but the foreign, the free-grace of God? It is a gracious calling, it is all enameld and inter-woven with free-grace, Si cogitare coeperis O anima mea, quot, & quales sint qui hanc quae tibi data est gratiam consequi non potuerunt; audisti certe quod muliae gentes pertransierunt, quae omnes sine cognitione Dei in interitum sempiternum dilapsae sunt omnibus illis redemptor tuus te praetulit, gratiamque ejus largitus est; & quare hoe? nullam praeter salvatoris Charitatem, invenire poteris Causam; elegit te in omnibus, assumpsit te ex omnibus, amavit te pre omnibus, ut memoriale ejus semper esset apud te *Austin..
6. It is a glorious call, 1 Pet. 5.10. Who hath called us into his eternal Glory. We are called to the glorious enjoyment of the ever-blessed God: As if a man were called out of a Prison to sit upon a Throne. Quirtus Curt…us writes of one, who …igging in his Garden was called to be King. Thus God calls us to Glory and Vertue, 2 Pet. 1.3. First, to Vertue, then to Glory. At Athens there were two Temples, the Temple of Vertue, and the Temple of Honour; and no man could go to the Temple of Honour, but through the Temple of Vertue. So God calls us first to Vertue, and then to Glory. What is the glory among men, which most so hunt after, but a feather blown in the Air? what is it to the weight of glory? I… the…e not great reason we should follow Gods call? He calls to preferment; can there be any loss or prejudice in this? God would have us part with nothing for him, but that which will damn us if we keep; he hath no design upon us, but to make us happy; he calls us to salvation, he calls us to a Kingdome: Oh how should we then, wi…h Bartimeus, throw off our ragged coat of sin, and follow Christ when he calls!
7. It is a rare call; but few are savingly called, Matth. 22.14. Few are chosen: Few▪ not Collectively, but Comparatively. The word foreign to call, signifies to choose out some from among others. Many have the light brought to them, but few have their eyes anointed to see that light, Rev. 3.4. Thou hast foreign, few Names in Sardis that have not defiled their Garments. The Devil hath the Vintage, God hath onelyonly a few gleanings. How many Millions sit in the Region of darknes…? and in those Climates where the Sun of Righteousness doth shine, many there are, who receive the light of the Truth, not the love. There are many Formalists, but few Believers. There is something looks like Faith, which is not. The Cyprian Diamond (sayes Pliny) sparkles like the true Diamond, but it is not of the right kind, it will break with the hammer: So the Hypocrites faith will break with the hammer of Persecution. But few are truly called. The number of precious stones are few to the number of gravel-stones. Most men shape their Religion according to the fashion of the times; they are for the Musick and the Idol, Dan. 3.7. The serious thoughts of this, would make us work out salvation with fear, and labour to be in the number of those few, whom God hath translated into a state of grace.
8. It is an unchangeable call, Rom. 11.9. The Gifts and calling of God are foreign, without Repentance; that is (as a learned Writer saith) those gifts which flow from Election Willet.. When God calls a man, he doth not repent of it: God doth not as many freinds, love one day, and hate another; or as Princes, who make their Subjects favourites, and then throw them in Prison. This is the blessedness of a Saint, his condition admits of no alteration. Gods call is sounded upon his decree, and his decree is immutable. Acts of g…ace cannot be reversed. God blots out his peoples sins, but not their names. Let the world ring changes every hour, a believers condition is …ixed and unalterable.
SECT. VI. Shewing the end of Effectual Calling.
6. THe end of our Heavenly Calling, and that is the honour of the High God, Eph. 1 12. That we should be to the praise of his glory. He that is in the state of nature, is no more fit to honour God, then a Bruit is to put forth acts of Reason. A man before conversion continually reflects dishonour upon God. As black vapours which arise out of Fenny Moorish grounds do cloud and darken the Sun. So out of the natural mans heart arise black vapours of sin, which cast a cloud upon Gods glory. The sinner is versed in Treason, but understands nothing of Loyalty to the King of Heaven. I, but there are some whom the lot of Free-grace falls upon, and these shall be taken as Jewels from among the Rubbish, and be effectually called, that they may lift up Gods name and honour in the world. The Lord will have some in all Ages, who shal oppose the corruptions of the times, bear witness to his truths convert sinners from the errour of their ways: He will have his Worthies, as King David had. They who have been Monuments of Gods mercies, will be Trumpets of his praise.
CHAP. XII. Two Inferences drawn from the Proposition.
1. IT shews us the necessity of effectual calling; without it there is no going to Heaven: We must be made meet for the inheritance, Col. 1.12. As God makes Heaven fit for us, so he makes us fit for Heaven; and what gives this idoneity and meetness, but effectual Calling? A man remaining in the filth and rubbish of nature, is no more fit for Heaven, than a dead man is fit to inherit. The High Calling is not a thing arbitrary, or indifferent, but as needful as salvation; yet, alas, how is this one thing needfull neglected! Most men, like the people of Israel, wander up and down to gather straw, but mind not evidences of their effectual Calling.
2 Branch.2. Take notice what a mighty power God puts forth in Calling of sinners! God doth so call as draw ▪ John▪ 6.44. Conversion is stiled a Resurrection, Rev. 20.6. Blessed is he that hath part in the first Resurrection; that is a rising …om sin to grace. A man can no more convert himself, than a d…ad man can raise himself. It is called a Crea…ion, Col. 3.10. To create is above the power of natu…e.
Object.But say the Arminians, the Will is not dead, but sleepe…h, and God by a moral perswasion d…es onelyonly awaken us, and then the will can ob…y Gods call and move of it self to its own conversion.
Answ.To this I answer, Every man is by sin bound in …etters▪ Acts 8.23. I perceive thou art in the bond of iniquity. A man that is in fetters if you use arguments, and perswade him to go, is that sufficient? there must be a beating off his fetters, and setting him free, before he can walk: So it is with every natural man, he is fettered with corruption; now the Lord by converting grace must file off his fetters, nay, give him legs to run too, or he can never obtain salvation.