will that bended to the wrong fide, by a powerful touch of the hand of the fanctifying Spirit gets a fet the contrary way, and is bowed or inclined to the will of God. This David prays for, for himself, Pfal. cxix. 36. Incline my heart unto thy teftimonies; and the apostle for the Theffalonians, 2 ep. iii. 5. The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God. The Holy Ghost working like fire, makes the iron heart firft bowable, and then gives it the bow, Pfal. cx. 3. Thy people fhall be willing in the day of thy power. If any afk how this is done? let them take their anfwer from Eccl. xi. 5. Thou knoweft not the works of God who maketh all. John iii. 8. The wind bloweth where it lifteth, and thou heareft the found thereof, but canft not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth, The works of God in nature are often beyond our reach to account for the way of them, and no wonder his work of grace is fo. The effect is felt, the change is vifible; but how the Spirit worketh it, who can dif tinctly trace that? This we are fure of, it is done in a way agreeable to the rational nature; there is no force or compulfion in the cafe; but he that made the heart, makes it willing, and fweetly yet powerfully conquers it, Pfal. cx. 3. Thus ye have heard that the work of the Spirit is twofold on the elect foul in effectual calling. It remains, that, Laftly, I fhew you the bleffed effect and happy iffue of this twofold work of the Spirit on the elect foul. It is, that the finner is perfuaded and enabled to embrace Jefus Chrift freely offered in the gofpel. And thus the call is effectual. Here we may confider, 1. The effectual clofing with the call. That is the finner's embracing of Chrift by faith, John i. 12. The call of the gofpel comes to poor inners, faying, as Jer. iii. 22. Return, ye backfliding children, and I will heal your backflidings; and when it is effectual, the foul échoes back to the call, Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God, The heart is won to Chritt, the finner is conquered, fays Amen to the covenant, and gives its confent to Chrift, to take him in the offer of the gofpel. It comes out of itself, renounces its own wifdom, and takes Chrift for a Prophet, a Prieft, and a King, for all, and inftead of all. This is the great defign of the call; and whatever length one come, he never anfwers the call, till he come this length. Though people may come the length of mourning for fin, and reformation of life in duties, if they do not embrace Chrift in the gofpel-offer, they stick in the place of breaking forth, 2. The warrant the finner has to embrace Christ, That is the gospel-offer, Prov. viii. 4. Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the fons of man. It would be prefumption indeed for guilty creatures to embrace Chrift, if he were not offered unto them. That is a match which is fo high above us, that we could have no hopes of it, unlefs it were offered to us. But we are bidden to this marriage, Matth. xxii. 4. We are commanded to believe on him, John iii. 2'3. and that on our higheft peril, Mark xvi. 16. He that believeth not, jhall be damned. And do what we will we cannot pleafe God, if we do not that, Heb. xi. 6. For without faith it is impoffible to please him: for that is what the Lord mainly requires of us, John vi. 29. This is the work of God, that ye believe on him, whom he hath fent. 3. How the elect foul is effectually determined to it, The Spirit of the Lord perfuades him to it, John vi, 45. Every man that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. The foul has a bofom-counfellor, that leaves it not till it be won over to give confent to the happy match. The finner may ftand long in fufpenfe, doubting whether to embrace the call or not, and Satan with the corrupt heart will mufter up all the objections they can against it. But the Spirit of the Lord clears all their objections to the foul, fo far as they cannot get them fuftained, and preffes and urges the finner unanfwerably to comply. And this the Spirit does by the twofold illumination fpoken of before. Upon the one hand, the finner is preffed with his loft and undone ftate. He fees that he is undone for ever, if he does not comply. On the other, he is preffed with the fight of Chrift's ability and willingness to fave, and the profpect of perfect happiness, upon his compliance. So that he fees all the reafon in the world for anfwering the call. What This fhews that the Spirit acts in the converfion of a foul in a way fuitable to the rational nature. ftronger arguments are poffible than what are here made ufe of? and how can they fail to determine, when the Spirit of the Lord by his gracious work fets them home on the foul? Can there be any thing inore powerful to determine the flayer to run, than to fee the avenger of blood hard behind him, and the city of refuge hard before him? And fo it is in this cafe. Lastly, How the finner is helped to comply with the call. The Spirit of the Lord enables him, Eph. i. 19. 20. This is abfolutely neceffary, John vi. 44. No man can come to me, except the Father which bath fent me, draw him. In vain will we call the lame man to run for his life, for alas! he cannot do it; or the dead to arife, for they cannot move. But the Lord with the call fends forth a power enabling them to anfwer it, as in the cafe of Lazarus; Phil. ii. 13. For it is God which avorketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. The foul gets life from the Spirit of life, feet to run to Chrift, and hands to receive him, even the faith that is of the operation of God. And fo the work is com pleted. This is done by the renewing of the will in a special manner. The foul being made pliable actually com plies, and having got the new difpofition acts accor dingly, embracing and uniting with Jefus Chrift. I proceed now to the application of this fubject. 1. The happinefs of thofe that are effectually called; they are partakers of Chrift's falvation. He and his redemption are theirs. Their particular privileges will afterwards occur. In the general, (1.) Whatever they meet with in the world, it shall turn to their good, Rom. viii. 28. Their croffes fhall not be curfes, but their curfes be turned into bleffings. The teeth-winds they meet with fhall blow them towards their harbour, and every stone caft at them shall be turned into a precious ftone. They fhall be gainers by all, and lofers by nothing at length. For that eternal purpose by which they are called, has ordered all things for their good. (2.) They fhall furely be fafe for ever: For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance, Rom. xi. 29. They are brought out from among the perifhing multitude, and they fhall never fall back again. Of the fociety they are called into, none can be loft. God will perfect the work which he has begun; and they that are brought up on this firft ftep of the ladder to glory, fhall go from one step to another, till they come unto the hill of God. 2. The misery of those who are not effectually called. They are not partakers of Chrift's redemption. We all have the external call of the gospel: but alas! how few of the called do come in upon the call? O Sirs, see how ye entertain the gospel-call: your all depends on it for falvation or damnation. While ye do not comply with it, ye are in a loft ftate, a ftate of fin and wrath; yea, if ye do not comply with it, it will be worse for you than if ye had never heard the gofpel call, Prov. i. 24. I fhall here, for the conviction of finners, lay down fome evidences of the call of the gofpel's not being effectual to them. (1.) They that never felt a divine power coming alongft with the word into their hearts, are not effectually called, If. liii. 1. Pfal. cx. 3. Think on this, ye that have ftill fat unmoved under the dropping of the gospel, into whole ears the word comes, but it never links into your hearts, I may fay. Ye have never heard the Lord's voice, and therefore are ftill in your fin. (2) They that never had any abiding impreffion made by the word on their fpirits. Many are like the ftony ground on whom the word makes fome impreffion, while they hear it or read it, but prefently it goes away, Matth. xiii. 6. They are like the fieve in the water, full, but immediately lofe all again. Be fure, if ever the Spirit of God deal effectually with you, he will make an impreffion on you that will stick. Ye will carry it home with you, and it will hang about you, till it make you change your way and course, and make you new creatures. (3.) They that are still with the world lying in wickednels; the old men and women they were before, no change, no reformation with them, by all the calls of the gospel founding in their ears, 1 John v. 19. If ever ye comply with the call, ye will come away, and leave that way and that fociety. Such are all profane perfons, grofsly ignorant of the truths of God, prayerlefs perfons, and generally all that are not truly godly. O how easily may moft be known to be of the world! Are there not many whofe fpeech bewrays them? They speak the language of the world, they know not that of Canaan. They keep the way of the world; they are conformed to it, in finful fcandalous practices. They drive worldly defigns as the main defign they have in hand. The conftant language of their practice is, Who will fhew us any good, any worldly or temporal good? They go with cafe the way of the multitude. (4.) They that have never been under convictions of their finful and loft ftate. This is the firft work of the Spirit in effectual calling. What think ye of yourfelves then, who have lived at ease all your days, whose reft has never been disturbed with the thoughts of what shall come of your immortal fouls at death? Luke xi. 21. Have ye never feen yourselves loft and undone under the wrath of God? If fo, it is an evi |