Gods Call from Heaven Echoed, Part 1 · Chapter 9
CHAP. IX. VIII. The ſubject of effectual calling, or whom God doth call.
IN the next place according to the method propounded, I am to ſhew you who they are, who the Lord doth thus call; for they are not all, but ſome, not many, but a few; and this I ſhall comprize under three heads.
1. His Elect: Thoſe whom the Lord hath S. 1 predeſtinated and elected to glory, thoſe he calleth to grace; whom he hath choſen for himſelf, thoſe he calleth to himſelf: Election was, Praedeſtinatio eſt cauſa gratiae, & gloriae. Aqui.therefore Vocation ſhall be: Vocation is, therefore Election hath been: The one goeth before, the other certainly followeth after; whom he had in his heart by Eternal Predeſtination, thoſe he bringeth to his hand by timely regeneration: The Text ſpeaketh this plain; Whom he did predeſtinate, them he alſo called: And v. 28. foregoing: To them that are the called according to his purpoſe. God Elected but ſome, and therefore doth effectually call but ſome; he calleth homeward many, he calleth home but his choſen; he calleth into the boſome of the Church, even thoſe that are rejected; into the boſome of Chriſt onelyonly thoſe that are elected: He calleth not all in the world, but ſome out of the world: Election and effectual calling though they keep not time, yet they keep Company; what the number of the one is, that is the number of the other: The calling of God hath it's bounds, it's limits, out of which it doth not paſſe: The Lord ſaith to it, as to the waves of the Sea; hitherto ſhalt thou go, and not further: It is not tied to place, Countrey, manners, parts, gifts, or the like, but onelyonly to the Elect; whoſoever are not Elect, ſhall not be effectually called; whoſoever are Elect, ſhall be effectually called: The Lord knoweth who are his, and he will find them out: Firſt their names are written in God's Book, then God's grace is wrought in their hearts; God firſt marks them, and then moulds them: Firſt regiſtreth them, and then reneweth them; firſt takes their names, then turns their natures: multitudes there are, whoſe names are not in Heaven; multitudes there are, who ſhall never attain to true grace: we may ſuppoſe the Lord to ſay, not all men, but all mine ſhall be called; and as Chriſt in another caſe, I ſpeak John 13. 18.not of you all, I know whom I have choſen. And yet we muſt not firſt ſeek for Election, and by that think to make out calling: but muſt firſt look that effectual calling be ſure, and then there is no doubt to be made of Election: If the former, viz. calling, like the premiſes be firme and good: the latter, viz. Election, like the concluſion naturally followes: We muſt begin at that link of the Chain, at that round of the Ladder, that is next to the Earth, and ſo climbe to Heaven: We can more diſtinctly ſee the Heaven, by looking downward into a Well, than by looking upward into the Aire: Election is to be ſeen in the Copy rather than original.
2. Some of all ſorts: Not all of every kind, S. 2 but ſome of every kind: calling is not reſtrained, Genera ſingulorum, non ſingula generum.or tied up to a particular Rank, and degree of people altogether: God hath of all ſorts in the Nurſery of his Church; all kinds of Trees in his Spiritual Eden. He planteth the Cedar, the Shittah, the Myrtle, the Oyle-tree, the Pine, and the Box-tree together: There were brought into the Arke all Creatures in the general, though not in the particular; the kinds of them, though not the individuums: It is, and may be a fit Embleme of the true Church of God: The Lord calleth ſome of every quality, and condition, and yet for all this but a few choſen, and made gracious: he calleth ſome of both ſexes, ſome men, and ſome women, as Luke 1. 5, 6.Zechary and Elizabeth; ſome of great ſ…ure, as it is like the Fathers of the firſt age of the world; ſome of little ſtature and body; 2 Cor. 10. 1, 10. Luke 19. 3. Joſh. 2. Heb. 11. 31.as Paul and Zacheus; ſome Free-men, and ſome bond-men. 1 Corinth. 7. 22. Some that live out of the pale of the Church, as Rahab; others that live in the boſome of the Church, as the truely converted Jews; ſome Preachers, for all Preachers are not converted; the Lord convert the unconverted among them, that while they Preach to others, themſelves may not be 1 Cor. 9. 27.caſt away: and ſome people; as thoſe that were wrought upon. 2 Acts 37. 41. Some great ſinners, 2 Chron. 33. 12, 13.as Manaſſes; ſome leſſe, as Davids and others; of whoſe ſins before converſion, we find little upon record in Scripture.
Some Children of bad Parents, as Joſiah the 2 Chron. 34. 1, 2.Son of evil Amon: as well as Children of good Parents, as Manaſſes the Son of Hezekiah: though this infringeth not that good obſervation, that God keeps up his Church for the greater part of it in the Families, and poſterities of his Saints, and Servants: Some youths as Samuel began with God in his long Coats, D. H.as one ſaith; ſome in their elder years, though the Examples of them be more rare; ſome that lived in the former ages of the world, and ſome that live in the latter age of the world: we find in Scripture David a King effectually called Abijah a Prince, Obadiah a Courtier: 1 Kings 14. 13. 1. Kings 18. 3.The Elect Lady, to whom St. John wrote his ſecond Epiſtle, Theophilus a Gentleman, Rich Abraham, Poor Lazarus: Lois the Grand-mother, Eunice the Mother, Timothy the Grand-Child: Philemon the Maſter, Oneſimus the Servant; Luke the Phyſitian, Zenas the Lawyer; Simon Tit. 3. 13. Acts 9. 43.the Tanner, Joſeph a Carpenter; Cornelius a Captain, Lydia a Purple ſeller; Dorcas a Seamſter, Jacob a Shepherd; Aquila and Priſcilla Tent-makers; yea, and the Jaylor in the Acts of the Apoſtles.Acts 16. 30.
The Lord calls ſome of all ſorts, and Sizes; of all parts, and Profeſſions; ſome of all times and tempers.
3. The inferiour ſort: Though the Lord S. 3 calleth ſome of all ſorts, yet moſtly, and uſually the common & inferiour ſort of people: Not the very rich & mighty ones of the world; nor the beggerly poor; as the Apoſtle tells the Corinthians: For ye ſee your calling Brethren, how that not many wiſe men after the fleſh, nor many mighty, nor many Noble are called: but God hath choſen the fooliſh things of the world to confound the wiſe: And ſo goeth on. 1 Cor. 1. 26, 27. The ſeeds of grace moſt commonly (I ſay moſt commonly, Perk. on Revel. c. 1. v. 6.miſtake me not) fall upon, and thrive in the middle ſort of ground: the rich and wiſe ones of the world are too luſty a ſoile, and Turn all to weeds; the beggerly poor are too lean a ſoile, and bring forth nothing but Briars and Thorns; they being individua vaga: a vagrant idle, wretched, looſe kind of people, incorporated into no Society, either civil or Eccleſiaſtical; as one long ſince very well obſerved; Perkins Treat. of callings.and preſent experience gainſayeth it not: height of wealth and potency; depth of want, and poverty, are great obſtacles to effectual calling and grace; theſe do ponere obicem, Barre the door againſt a calling, and a knocking Chriſt; which made Agur to deſire the mean, between the Pinnacle of dalliancing Proſperity, and the pit of deſperate adverſity; and to live in the middle Region, where he might be neereſt the Spirits breathings. Two things have I required of thee, deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me Vanity and lies: give me neither poverty, nor riches: feed me with food convenient for me; leſt I be full, and deny thee, and ſay, who is the Lord? or leſt I be poor, and ſteal, and take the name of my God in vain. Prov. 30. 7, 8, 9. Fulneſſe uſually foreign.breeds forgetfulneſſe; and therefore the Lord gives his people a caution againſt it. Deut. 6. 11, 12. And what the Fruits are that grow upon the Root of abundance, the Apoſtle ſheweth plainly. 1 Tim. 6. 9, 10. (Though God can put choice graffs into the ſtock of greatneſſe) and therefore counſelleth Timothy to give a charge, and leſſon to rich men by themſeves, Verſe 17. And highly commends the mean, Verſes 6, 7, 8. How few Examples in the word, experiences in the Chriſtian world of very poor ones ſavingly wrought upon: a curſe to be Vagabonds and Beggers. Pſal. 109. 10. The bleſſing of the ſeed of the righteous to be kept from it. Pſal. 37. 25. Not but that upon ſome extraordinary emergencies, they may lie between the teeth of ſome biting hardſhip for a ſeaſon: and did not the Lord take care that there ſhould be no beggerly poor among the Iſraelites. Deut. 15. 4. Which is a Political Appendix to the eighth Commandment: and is underſtood of extream poverty. And wherefore Vid. Cal. & Ainſw. in loc.were all the moral, ceremonial, and judicial Laws among them, but to be meanes to Holineſſe, and props of Piety? Not but that the Lord can work where, and upon whom he will, and can fit any ground to bring forth a good crop: not but that the Lord can go againſt the ſtream, and throw down ſtrong Towers, and break through Walls of Steel and Braſſe. I go not about to weaken the hand, or to ſhorten the Arm of the Lord: Is there any thing too hard for the Lord? Gen. 18. 14. But the Lord worketh by means of his own appointment; and hath no other bonds than what he hath been pleaſed to put upon himſelf: I ſpeak now not of the skill, but of the will of God: not what he can do, but what he doth do; not of his extraordinary power, but his ordinary providence in Spirituals; not of his ſpecial and unuſual operations: but of his general and more common diſpenſations: The Lord can do more than he will, or doth do. Nor do I mean, that all of the middle ſort and ranke are called: but amongſt them doth God pitch his Tabernacle more than among others; nor by the middle ſort do I mean thoſe that are next Neighbours to the wealthieſt, but rather thoſe that dwell upon the Borders of meanneſſe, and ſo for wiſedom and nobility: they think themſelves too high to put their ſhoulders to the work of the Lord; and would be ready to think God were beholding to them for their ſervice: Doth not the Scripture and experience manifeſt this all along? Doth not Chriſt himſelf ſpeak the ſame: I thank thee, O Father; Lord of Heaven and Earth, becauſe thou haſt hid theſe things from the wiſe and prudent, and haſt revealed them unto Babes. Matth. 11. 25. The Diſciples of Chriſt were not rich, nor ragged: were not the Wiſe ones of the world, nor the witleſſe ones: This that I have now laid down doth not daſh, nor jarre with what we ſpake in the former Head: The temperate Zone is moſt inhabited by converts, and changed ones. Grace loves to make it's neſt in this climate, to hatch and brood in this Region: Oh then that the rich were leſſe careful, the poor more cared for, and all more contented with mediocrity.