but Christ that liveth in me who loved me and gave himselfe for me There he had a particular assurance that Christ loved him and gave himself for him So 2 Tim. 1.12 I know whom I have believed and I am perswaded also that what I have committed to him he will keep till the last day So 2 Tim. 4.8 I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is a Crown laid up for me Nay not onely Paul but Job also Job 19.25 I know that my Redeemer liveth and I shall stand up before him at the last day he knew Jesus Christ was his Redeemer And so David also saith Thou art my God and I will praise thee Psal 118.28 and Psal 23.6 Surely the goodnesse and mercy of God shall follow me all the daâ—es of my life So that put these together God commands it it is the Spirits office to work assurance in the heart and particular servants of God have had this assurance therefore why may it not be obtained But if you say these were not ordinary servants of God these were servants of a higher rank and form but may ordinary weak Christians know this also Yes Therefore Fourthly Not onely particular Saints have had this but the people of God in General they have declared in Scripture that they have enjoyed this particular assurance of their effectual calling and safety of their condition by Christ Instance in a few Isa 63.16 Doubtlesse thou art our Father They made no doubt of it they were so perswaded they feared it not Isa 45.24 Surely shall one say In the Lord have I righteousnesse and strength Surely a word of confidence they were assured they had righteousnesse for their justification in Christ Jesus So 2 Cor. 5.1 We know that if our earthly Tabernacle be dissolved we have a building of God eternal in the heavens They knew that when they died they should see God in Heaven not only Paul but other godly Christians with him So Heb. 10.34 You know in your selves that God hath provided for you a better and more enduring substance They were assured within themselves that when they should die or lose their Estates here God had provided for them a more enduring substance So 1 John 3.19 Hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before God So ver 14. We know we are translated from death to life c. So that what can be more clearly proved then this that this assurance is to be attained in this life because God commands it it is the Spirits office to work it particular Christians have had it and the people of God in General they have enjoyed and profest this Temper Is it so then that Assurance is attainable in this life Then how much too blame are our Adversaries the Papists who hold their followers in suspense that they must live without the assurance of their own estate that their soules must hang in fears and doubts all their dayes that the most they can have is only a conjecture Oh into what a gulph of discomfoâ—ts do they plunge them Beloved the Lord in the Book of Deuteronomy chap. 29. did pronounce it as a curse that their lives should hang in suspense it 's a greater curse that mens souls should hang in suspense that men shall not know whether they shall be saveâ— or damned it 's a hell on this side hell and therefore they are much to be blamed that hold their followers in hand with a peradventure thâ—y shall be saved peradventure not when the Scripture is so clear in this thing Secondly Let not the thoughts either of the impossibility or the difficulty of attaining this assurance discourage you from looking after it It is not impossible though it is difficult indeed and the difficulty should be so far from discouraging you that it should quicken your endeavours to make your calling and election sure Thirdly Seeing assurance is attainable in this life enquire into the cause why you who are effectually called have not attained this assurance before now And this puts me upon handling of the second case of conscience seeing this assurance is attainable Therefore Secondly what is the reason that many Christians who are called effectually by Jesus Christ do live in many doubts and fears about their effectual calling In Answer to this I shall lay down these three particulars that the doubts that do arise in Christians about their calling they flow from this threefold fountain Either first from some seeming defect they apprehend in the manner of their calling Or Secondly some seeming defect they apprehend to be in the means of their calling Or eâ—se Thirdly some seeming defects they apprehend in the effâ—cts of their calling and these three grounds are the rise from whence many Christians effectually called do doubt of their call and are not assured of it First it doth arise from some seeming defect they apprehend to be in the manner of their calling They say I am not called in such a manner aâ— I see others are As thus Think they I see other men when they are converted that their humiliations are great I see that they have horrour of conscience that they are wrought upon by the terrors of the Law that they are exceedingly humbled before God Now for my part I never found this manner of Gods working in my soul I never found that I could see my sins clearly or could bâ— humbled for them greatly I never found those humiliations and legal terrors which I hear many men talk of and this makes me doubt whether I am effâ—ctually called or no. Now to take off this I shall onely speak three things by way of Answer First That it is true God doth proceed after this manner with some yet God is not tiâ—d and confinâ—d to one and the same way of working with all What if he come to you in a calm when he comes to others in a Tempest if God come to me to you in a more peaceable and peaceable and quiet way What if God do not pierce your heart as he did those 3000 in the Acts if he kindly open thy heart like Lidia's without noise God is not to be tied to one and the same way in converting all As 't is said John 3.8 The wind bloweth where it listeth so how it listeth also Secondly You have no cause to doubt for this because it 's Gods usual manner to proceed after this way only with such men who have been loose in their lives who have been obstinaâ—e in their wils who have been very scandalous in conversation before their conversion and call But it is not Gods usual way to work thus upon Christians who have been religiously brought up from their youth it is not Gods way to dowse them into such a pit of horror and plunge them into such a depth of fears that have been of a fair and ingenuous and moral life before their
grace to be the multiplying of peace The more you multiply and grow in grace the more you will increase peace inward peace of conscience they are both joyned together You have a passage 2 Pet. 1.5 11. compared together Adde to your faith vertue c. The Apostle there urgeth our diligence to adde grace to grace that is to live in the improvement of grace And what wil follow ver 11. If you doe these things you shall never fall for so an entrance shall be ministred unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdome of our Lord Iesus Christ You shall not onely goe to heaven but you shall have an abundant entrance ministred before you come there you shall have abundance of assurance and inward peace before you come there And here to give you a more particular direction there are these foure graces chiefly you are to improve First Improve the grace of humility Isa 57.15 The Lord doth promise there to revive the spirit of the humble It is a particular promise to that grace that God will revive you and give you a new life if you have it And reviving there is not meant of the first life of grace but of a life of comfort They had grace before but God would give them a life of comfort he will restore your consolation to you in case you are an humble people Hence it is Iam. 4.6 The Lord gives grace to the humble Yea he gives more grace The Lord gives more grace to the humble person then to any man in the world Now the more grace you have the more comfort you must needs have Humility is a foundation of more grace therefore needs must be a foundation of more comfort That building whose foundation is laid lowest is of all the most beautiful and comely Fabrick above ground So those Christians that lay a foundation low in humility they are likely to reare up a most beautiful Building in way of comfort Secondly Improve the grace of faith in beleeving and that is the way to increase comfort 1 Peter 1.8 Whom though you have not seen yet believing you rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Though they did never see Christ yet believing in Christ and improving their faith they had not onely an ordinary measure of comfort but they had more comfort in their hearts then they could utter with their Tongue They rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory So Rom. 15.13 The God of peace fill you with all joy and peace in Believing that you may abound in hope through the Holy Ghost Believing makes you full of all joy and makes you abound in it The more you are in Believing the more you will be in assurance Thirdly Improve the grace of love to Jesus Christ John 14.23 If any man love me my Father shall love him and we will come in unto him and make our abode with him If you improve in your love to Jesus Christ God the Father and God the Son will make their dwelling in your hearts Now he must needs be a comfortable Christian that hath so good a guest as God the Father and Jesus Christ to come in and make their abode with him As you know to your bosome-friend whom you love and you know loves you you will communicate all your secrets Thus will God the Father if he knowes you are his bosome-friends and seeth you love him he will communicate all his comforts to you you shall never want comforts if you increase in love to Jesus Christ Fourthly Improve the grace of godly sorrow you will never finde sweeter musick in comfort then when you are laid down in teares As the sound of the Trumpet is never more pleasant then when they are upon the water so when God seeth you flow with the water of repentance and godly sorrow then you are likely to hear the most melodious harmony in the apprehension of Gods love Psal 126. They that sow in teares shall reap in joy You shall not onely have a dram but a handful of joy as Reapers they cut down handfuls of corn at once And as you know in seed though you sowe but one grain of corn there may a dozen eares come from that one seed so if you sowe but a little godly sorrow a grain of godly sorrow may be a root to a great deal of spiritual joy Secondly If you would improve your assurance preserve a clear conscience both towards God and man A good conscience is a continual Feast Prov. 15.15 Assurance I may say of it as the Father speaks of the Holy Ghost and the comforts thereof The Spirit of God is a very nice thing every thing will give the comforts of Gods Spirit a check and distaste now if you harbour sin upon conscience you will never thrive in comfort every thing will give comfortable motions a check And as Philosophers say when the Aire is foggy it ariseth from vapours that are exhaled from the earth which makes the Aire so cloudy as it is So it is filth drawn from our earthly hearts that makes such foggy mists to arise between our comforts and us and between God and us You must keep conscience clear else you will never keep heaven clear Heaven will be clouded if the heart be filthy Job 11.14 15. If iniquity be in thy hand put it far away If sin be upon the conscience harbour it not for then thou shalt lift up thy face before God thou shalt be stedfast and not fear You shall not onely not fear but you shall have a degree of assurance You shall be stedfast if you put sin far away from you A sullied and a polluted conscience shall never be in a Christian strong in assurance You will not grow in assurance if your conscience harbour guilt Thirdly If you would improve your assurance keep close in communion with God Nothing that feeds comforts so much as a Christians holy walking Esa 32.17 The work of righteousnesse shall be peace and the effect thereof quietnesse and assurance for ever If you walk in works of righteousnesse and in a way of keeping lose communion with God this shall be peace and this shall be quietnesse and great assurance Mark how the Holy Ghost makes a gâ—adation not onely peace and quietnesse but assurance also you shall have the highest degree of peace and the highest step of comfort if you walk diligently in a way of holinesse with your God And thus much be spoken to the first sort of men those that live in the enjoyment of the assurance of their effectual calling I have now a word to those men that live in the want of this assurance who happily have in times past had some glimmering and some dimme sight of comfort touching their everlasting estate and yet are now much clouded and eclipsed in their comforts or have lost the comforts they once hâ—d what they should do to recover it And to these I â—hall by way of direction speak
to salvation Secondly though men have been notoriously wicked in their lives before calling yet if this notorious wickedness doth lay any engagement upon them to make them labour to be more eminent in grace after calling this is rather a sign of election then reprobation It is observable in Paul he was a notorious wicked man before his call but now this exceeding wickednesse of his before call did engage him to labour to exceed all others in goodnesse after he was converted and the more evil he was before the more holy he labours to be after As he laboured before to hale men to prison for professing Jesus Christ he is now as zealous to draw men to Jesus Christ after his call he was very industrious to do evil before his call and this made him after his call as he saith himself I was in labours more aboundant then they all And so Mary Magdalen who before her calling was a vile woman one that was a common harlot a woman out of whom Jesus Christ cast seven devils and yet this woman after her calling she laboured to be more eminent in godly sorrow then any woman before or since she washed Christs feet with her teares and wiped them with the haires of her head The like of which you do not read of any woman in Scripture And this was a very good sign when your notoriousness in waias of sin before calling shall lay such an engagement upon you to become more eminent in grace after calling this is a very good encouragement or evidence that you are within the compasse of Gods election and therefore you have no cause to be discouraged Suppose before the word laid hold upon your conscience you were guilty of filthy sins not fit to be named in the congregation if you will the more honour God and praise God now and walk more humbly and labour to excell each other in grace now as you did in sin in times past This is a great sign that you are in the compasse of Gods Elect ones Thirdly you that have been scandalous in your lives before calling for your comfort know that God in his eternal counsel doth commonly make the profane and wicked and the worst of men the objects of his election rather then civil honest men rather then men that are of an honest and civil and moral conversation here in this world And the Lord doth it upon this ground the more to magnifie the freenesse and the riches of his own grace in electing men to life For should God only chuse moderate and civil honest men in the world men would be apt to think it is that mans morality and that mas civility that was the motice which provoked God to elect them and therefore God to overthrow these thoughts he lets electfon runne rather unto men that have been notoriously grosse and sinful in â—heir lives then other men Manasseh a notorious bloody man yet falls within the compassâ— of Gods election when many a civil man is left out Maâ—y a common harlot yet chosen when many a modest chaste woman was cast into hell Matth. 21.31 32. That Christ urgeth a parable of two men One that said he would go and follow Christ but did not and the other said he would not go but did now which of these twain did the will of Christ and they said the first And Jesus said unto them Verily I say unto you that publicans and harlots shall go into heaven before you But you will say was this common this was onely one single time therefore mark the next words For Johâ— came to you in the way of righteousness and you believed not but the publicans and harlots believed in Christ John came preaching and you would not believe you Phrisees strict moral men that did not flie out into such scandals as other men did you would not believe saith Christ but Publicans men that were most addicted to extortion and unconscionable gain they imbraced Jesus Christ when moral men would not This therefore should be another comfort for you that many times election runns rather to the profaner sort of men then to men that are civil and righteous dealing men here in the world and this God hoth to magnifie the riches of his own grace Fourthly that it is no matter what you were before your callâ—ng if you are a repentant and holy people after your former miscarriages shall no way prejudice your future blessednesse 1 Cor. 6.9 10 11. Neither Fornicator nor Idolater nor Adulâ—erer nor envious nor thiefe nor covetâ—us nor reviler shall enter â—nto the Kingdome of Heaven and such were some of you c. Here you see a Catalogue of vile evils heaped together and such wâ—re some of you but now you are washed now you are sanctified â— So that no matter what you were before conversion though guilty of great sins so you are now a reformed people now a sanctified people Titus 3.3 We our selves were sometimeâ— foolish disâ—bedient decieved serving divers lusts and pleasures and living in malice and envy c. You were so but after the kindness love of God appeared to you after they were converted they were not so So that these four particulars wil clearly take off this objection that no matter what you were before conversion if you are now a repentant people and bewail your evils and reform your waies your former ill led life will be no hindrance at all to your election Indeed this I must needs say that you that have been most notorious in sin God expects this at your hands that you be most eminent in grace most deep in humiliation most eminent in godly sorrow though your former evils do no way prejudice your election Secondly if the devil cannot fasten this upon you he will come upon you with this assâ—ult viz. your frequent falling into scandalous and foul and grosse enormities after you took upon you a profession of Jesus Christ And this the devil will lay close happily sin before conversion was not so great but now since you have followed Sermons and since you have professed Jesus Christ since that time you have fallen foulely into grosse and scandalous sins and surely this is inconsistent with grace and cannot befal persons within the compasse of Gods election And I confesse this is both sad and hazardous yet I shall lay down three things to uphold thee that yet for all this thou maiest be within the compasse of Gods election As First that divers persons that were within the compasse of Gods election have fallen foulely into grosse sins after their call Lot after he was called fell to be incestuous and fell to drunkenesse David after he was called fell into Adultery Peter after he was called fell to a denial of Jesus Christ Yea you read of Solomon 1 Kings 11.9 That his heart was tuâ—ned from the Lord after the Lord had revealed himself unto him twice After God had revealed himself to Solomon and converted him
A TREATISE OF EFFECTUALL CALLING AND ELECTION In XVI SERMONS On 2 Peter 1.10 WHEREIN A Christian may discern whether yet he be effectually Called and Elected And what course he ought to take that he may attain the Assurance thereof Preached by that faithfull Servant of CHRIST Mr. CHRISTOPHER LOVE late MINISTER of Laurence Jury London LONDON Printed for John Rothwell at the Fountain and Beare in Goldsmiths Row in Cheapside 1655. To the Reader Good Reader IT s a true saying that the assurance of an eternal life is the life of this temporal life The Apostle tells us that if in this life only we had hope in Christ we were of all men most miserable None being exposed to so mâ—ny troubles and tribulations in this life as the best Christian And what could sustain and bear us up under them all but the certain hope and expectation of a better Resurrection This makes Christians glory in tribulation despise all the glory of the world run as swiftly in waies of duty as the chariots of Aminadab in a word to enjoy a Heaven upon earth They therefore are the greatest enemies of a Christians comfort that teach a doctrine of doubting that a Christian must alwaies hang in suspense about his eternal state and can never arrive to any certainty whether he shall be saved or no. But as this assurance is excellent so it is hard to come by Difficilia quae pulchar 'T is not to be obtained without a great deal of labour and diligence 'T is usually the fruit of much prayer and care and humiliation and long-waiting those that come by it so easily and get it so soon have great cause to suspect that their assurance is not of the right kinde Carnal security and presumption is eâ—sily attained but Christian assurance not without great difficulty 'T is therefore much to be lamented that there is so littâ—e diligence used for obtaining the assurance of our effectual Calling and eternal Election which iâ— of such great concernment to every Christian What care do men take and what diligence do they give to make sure their lands and goods and worldly estates They cannot be at rest till they have secured these But upon what uncertainties do they venture the salvation of their precious and immortal souls They run the most desperate hazard of their eternal salvation never consider whether they are in the way to heaven or hell until they drop irrecoverably into the bottomlesse pit Oh what a strange madnesse possesseth the mindes of men that they should look no more to their own safety that they think it wisedom to secure every thing except their own soules What evil have they deserved of you that you should neglect them so much The design of this Treatise is to awaken men from their security and to stirre them up to give all diligence to make their Calling and Election sure It was handled by the Author as a just Consectary from the doctrine of the Glory of Heaven and the Torments of Hell which Treatise is already published as appeares in the Introduction to this discourse That seeing there is such glory prepared for the Elect and such torments for the reprobate it concerns every Christian to give all diligence to make sure to himself that he shall attain the one and escape the other So that these three Treatises have dependance upon each other and together make up one compleat Systeme In this last thou shalt finde many practical cases handled of great soul-concernment both for the comfort of such as are sincere and the discovery of those that are unsound If thou wilt reap any profit by the perusal hereof let God have the praise and let them have thy prayers who are Ready to spend and be spent for the good of thy soul Edmund Calamy Jeremiah Whitaker Simon Ashe William Taylor Allen Geere OF THE ASSURANCE OF OUR Vocation and Election SERMON I. 2 Pet. 1.10 Wherefore the rather Brethren give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure TO give you an account why I pitch'd upon these words it is briefly thus Having spent seventeen Sermons in treating of the glory of Heaven for the Elect and of the torments of Hell for the Reprobate I deem'd it most meet to shut up those two Doctrines in the prosecution of this Subject of the Assurance of our Election and Vocation that so if this Doctrine be well improved you may have establishment in your own hearts that you are freed from the torments of the damned and may be confident you shal be stated into the Glory of Heaven which God hath provided for all his Saints And to the end you might have assurance that you shall be freed from the one and shall enjoy the other you must make it your work according to the words of my Text to make your calling and election sure Make but that sure and you are sure of heaven This is the reason why I pitch'd upon this subject And it is my care in preaching the Word not to chuse those Texts that are most for my ease in study but for your profit in hearing that so one Subject might back another and one Subject might strengthen another and being put together might more serve for your edification and knowledge I shall not stand long in Prefacing All that I have to doe in the managing of those words are these three things 1. To shew you the scope and dependance of the words 2. The sense and meaning 3. To draw out those practical observations which naturally flow from them and then apply the observations deduced For the scope and dependance of these words you may discern it lyes thus Peter who is called an Apostle of the Circumcision that is an Apostle whose work and office it was to Preach to the circumcised Jewes as it was Pauls office to Preach to the uncircumcised Gentiles he writ his Epistle to the dispersed Jewes that were scattered throughout the world through Pontus Asia Cappadocia Galacia and Bythinia whence observe Gods people are a scattered people And to them he writes that though they were persons living in different places yet they had the same faith Simon Peter a servant and an Apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained like precious faith So that you see the spirit of God where it works in men though they live in different places yet they shall all believe the same Truth and all receive the same Faith Though different in language yet but one God and one Faith The spirit of God wrought the same Faith among those scattered Christians and the Apostle writing to these Jewes he begins his Epistle 1. By way of salutation ver 2. Grace and peace be multiplyed to you 2. He writes by way of consolation ver 4. telling them that they are Partakers of the Divine Nature that they are called to Glory and shall enjoy all the promises of the Gospel These are the great props with which he bears up their
Grace and Peace be towards you Rom. 1.6 7. Called to be Saâ—â—tâ— Grace and Peace be multiplyed towards you and so in every Epistle besides to note that when a man is effâ—ctually called the more assurance he hath of his calling the more peace he hath in his own conscience It wil greaten your peacâ— and greaten your inward comforts therefore you should labour afâ—er this assâ—rance of your effectual calling And thus having shewn you what effectual calling is and why you â—ust give diligence to make this sure I now passe to a third Qâ—erie What are the Characters or discoveries whereby my soul may be assured that I aâ— effâ—ctually called by Jesus Christ And in the dispatch of this I shall resolve it onely by these two general heads First You may be assured of your effectual calling if God hath â—aken that method with your souls which he doth ordinarily take with those whom he doth effectually call Secondly If the Lord hath wrought in you those saving effects or concomitants which do ordinarily accompany those that are thus effectually called if these two things be done you may have a seal and assurance in your own hearts that you also are effectually called Beloved it is not for Ministers to flatter you there are among many in the world but few that are called among many that are called but few that are elected and therefore do not flatter your selves If upon tryal you finde you are not in the number of Gods called ones go home and bewail your unregenerate and unconverted estate But before I can speak of this method I must first lay downe some mistakes that are held by erroneous mindes about the method God takes in calling a sinner home to himself A fiâ—st mistake is of the Pelagians who hold this that a man is able to call and convert himself Now this opinion doth quite exclude and justle out God from having any hand therein they say a Christian is able to call and convert himselfe having only a general concurrence and assistance from God 2. Of the Arminians and they hold this That effectual calling consists only in moral perswasions and may be resisted by the person that is thus called and that a man being called into a state of grace may fall from his calling and fall from his grace and so have no profit by his calling at all which is a most uncomfortable opinion and surely God would never take this method in calling of his people 3. That of the Papists and they say that God calls and ordains a sinner to glory but it is upon the foresight of his good works God foresaw how good and holy the man would be and therefore God would chuse and call him to glory But this hath no ground from Scripture neither 4. That of the Familists and they hold this That Gods method in calling a sinner is not by the outward Ministry of the Word but it is by Raptures and Revelations and by divine inspirations and extraordinary wayes of working but this is not Gods usual method though God sometimes takes this way as he did by Paul who was called this way after an extraordinary manner Yet this is not Gods ordinary rule 5. There is another mistake and that is of those who presse a necessity of such measures of legal horrour and terrour upon the consciences of men else they can never be saved Sometimes Ministers have been so harsh now and then though indeed no such cause to blame them as is pretended yet sometimes lashes break out that men must be so and so humbled in such a measure and so long for duration Now this is not Gods method to presse for measure but a great mistake about Gods manner of calling a sinner though I must confesse this is the nearest of all the five to that rule God takes in calling a sinner to glory Having thus laid down the mistakes 't is the easier now to finde out the truth I come now to speak of that method God takes in calling a sinner And here I shall lay down a sixfold method in which God proceeds with those whom he doth effectually call which if he doth so with you you may go home with a seal upon your hearts that you are effectually called to grace and you shall one day come to glory First When God goes about effectually to call a poor sinner into a state of grace he puts a clear light into his soul whereby he may see the hainous and aggravated nature of all his sins more then ever he did before Rom. 7.8 9 13. Paul tells you Before the commandment came he was alive and sin was dead that is before the power of the word came upon his conscience to convert him he was alive i.e. he thought he was a good man and a just man and he thought sin was dead sin was destroied he never knew sin so sinful but when the commandment came sin revived and I died but when the word of God came with power upon my conscience and light upon my judgement then I saw I was a dead man sin had kil'd me and I saw sin was raigning and sin was raging in me and what then ver 13. I saw sin exceeding sinful he never saw sin so before conversion before his Call when he was a Pharisee but when the word of God came with power upon his conscience to call him then saith he I saw sin to be exceeding sinful Now O Beloved hath ever God done thus with your souls may be you look upon sin with a transient and general view but do you look upon sin so as to see more evil in sin then ever you saw before This is the course God usually takes Me thinks God deals with a converted sinner as it is spoken in Job 33.27 28. He looketh upon men and if any say I have sinned and perverted that which was right and it doth not profit me he will deliver his soul from going down into the pit and his life shall see the light that is God looks upon the mass of mankind in the world and saith if any man say he hath sinned and it did not profit him that is if he look upon sin as an evil and that he never did get good by it then saith God I will deliver his soul from hell and bring him to heaven Yea but you will say May be sometimes God may do thus to affright men and trouble men in minde make them see their sins but is this Gods usual work Yes it is ver 29. Lo these things worketh God oftentimes with men Mark it is not a seldom work but it is Gods work often he will make you see your sins see them to be fruitlesse and see them to be unprofitable Lo these things God worketh oftentimes with men Hence you read John 16.8 When the Spirit shall come mark his Office he shall convince the world of sin The first act of the Spirit in converting a
in heaven 3. God calls thee from bondage to libertie In the time that thou art uncalled thou art in bondage 2 Pet 2.19 they are the servants of Corruption c. in bondage to thy lusts and bondage to thy Passion and a slave to the world thou art in bondage under the Law under the curse and rigour and condemnation of it but now Jesus Christ if he have called thee he hath called thee to liberty Gal 5.13 You are called to liberty only use not liberty as a Cloak to wickedness Before calling 2 Tim. 2.25 you are in Sathans snares but after calling you are set at liberty you are freed from the guilt and freed from the bondage of your sin 4. You are called from a condition of estrangednesse into an intimate familiaritie and fellowship with Jesus Christ Before calling you are Strangers from the life of grace Ephes 4.18 You are without God in the world strangers to the Commonwealth of Israel Ephes 2.12 But when God calls you he cals you from the condition of a stranger and brings you into friendship and fellowship with Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 1.9 God is faithful by whom you are called into the fellowship of his Son You who were without Christ before calling being called you enjoy neer familiaritie with his Son 5. You are called from Sathan unto God Acts 26.18 He hath sent forth his word among you to bring you from darknesse to light and from the power of Sathan to God Sathan who was thy lord and was thy master and ruler thou art now from under his clutches and brought under the dominion and subjection of thy Goâ— 6. When God effectually calls thee thou art brought from a state of enmitie against God to a state of amitie and reconciliation towards him and Jesus Christ and all the things of God Col. 3.15 Let the peace of God rule in your hearts for to this ye are called and be ye thankful God hath called you to peace he hath not called you to wrath Before Calling God and thy soul were the most inveterate enemies in all the world After Calling God and thou are of enemies become the greatest friends You are called to peace therefore be thankful 7. You are called from state of shame to a state of glory Before you are called you are vile shameful creatures in Gods sight when Gon cals you he cals you into a condition of glory 1 Pet. 5.10 Who hath called us to his eternall glory and 1 Thes 2.12 Since thou wast precacus in my sight and I have loved thee thou becamest honouâ—able Isa 43. 1 Pet. 2.6 To you that beleive Christ is precious or as it is in the Greek he is an honour to you Jesus Christ when once you are called to a believeing state he is not onely precious to you and prizâ—d of you but he is an honour to you This then you are to consider that uncâ—lled you are in a shameful condition â—o badg of honour lies upon you but when once you are called by Christ he becomes an honour to you 8. And lastly which shall be accomplished in the end you shall be called from earth to heaven and from the grave to glory this shall be your call after death Now put all these Eight together To be called from ignorance to knowledge from sin to grace from bondage to liberty from estrangement to fellowship with Jesus Christ from a state of enmitie to a state of amitie and reconciliation with God and man from shame to glory and from earth to heaven and should not this mightily highten your joy and greaten your praises in magnifying the grace of God in your hearts Secondly Again The consideration of this As From what and To what so For what you are called should greaten your praises Now for what are you called You are called meerly according to the purpose of his own grace neither foreseen works nor good education nor grace in you none of all these were motives in Gods brest to call you And hence you may see it was nothing in you because there were many things in us might move God not to call us We have often withstood his call we have often strangled the motions of his Spirit in our hearts we have often carried gain-saying hearts to the wooings of the Ministers of Christ So that it is nothing in us but meerly his own grace that conquers our unholinesse and conquers our unwillingnesse and overcomes that stoutnesse of that is in us meerly the grace and goodnesse of Jesus Christ Now summ up all these together and revolve them in your hearts and you will see what great cause you have to live in magnifying of Jesus Christ SERMON IV. 2. Pet. 1.10 Wherefore the rather Brethren give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure IN the prosecution of these words the Doctrine I drew from the first particular dutie injoyned was this That Christians ought to put forth a great deal of diligence to make this sure to their souls that they are effectually called by Jesus Christ In the handling of which I have gone over several particulars I now come to lay down some Propositions or Conclusions about Effectuall Calling and I shall name twenty in all First Ten sad Conclusions to all those men who are not effectully called Secondly Ten consolatory conclusions to all those men that are effectually called by Jesus Christ and mixing conclusions procuring terror to the wicked and such as procure comfort to the godly one tempered with the other may be good to both I begin with the first 1. The first sad Conclusion I shall lay down is this That there are many men in the world that are called outwardly by the word unto a profession of Christ that are not called effectually by the spirit to a possession of Christ My meaning is this There are many men have the word of God working much upon them to the changing of their lives altering there course and new moulding of them into an external profession that yet notwithstanding all this never had saving grace wrought upon their hearts which is effectual calling Many are called but few are chosen saith Christ Matth. 20.16 And this is a dreadful Conclusion to all you that are professors that have not a saving work upon your hearts to you that flock unto the ministry of the word yet are not called thereby 2. That they who are called outwardly by the preaching of the word to a profession Christ and yet not called inwardly by the spirit they shall endure greater damnation and greater torments in hell then those that never heard a word of Jesus Christ Matth. 8.12 Many shall come saith Châ—ist from the East and from the West and shall sit down with Abraham Isaak and Jacob in the Kingdome of Heaven and what then but the children of the Kingdome shall be cast out into utter darkness where shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth Now who are meant here
by the children of the kingdome not those that have heaven prepared for them but the professing Jewes who are called the children of the kingdome because they enjoyed a greater and clearer and fuller measure of the things of God which shewed them the way to the kingdome of heaven then other men did And when Christ calls them the children of the kingdome he calls the heathen the children of the world Now many of the children of the kingdome shal be cast into utter darknesse If there be any more dismal place then other it shall be for the children of the kingdome those that have been as it were nursed up under Gods elbow by ordinances the children of the kingdome they shall have a more dismal portion and dismal room in hell then other men shall have that never enjoyed the ordinances of Jesus Christ And O what a sad word is this to you that live where ordinances do most abound that you may be called the children of the kingdome and yet you to be thrust into utter darknesse 3. That there are many men who are onely called outwardly into a bare profession that do harbour and nourish perswasions in their own hearts that they are effâ—ctually called by Jesus Christ when they never had any saving work of grace upon their hearts This I spake of some weeks agoe from John 8.41 The Jewes had strong perswasions they had Abraham for their father and when Christ beats them off from that they went higher and said we have God to our father and yet verse 44. Christ tels them they were of their Father the Divâ—l And Beloved you may also be deceived in harbouring strong pâ—rswasions thâ—t you are called effectually when you are oâ—â—ly calleâ— outwardly 4. That they that are conceited the opinion of their own goodnesse without seeing their want and necessitie of Jesus Christ are of all sorts of people in thâ— world most unlikely to be effecâ—ually callâ—d by Jâ—sus Christ This I urge from Matt. 9.13 I câ—me not sâ—ith Christ to call the righteous c. Mark who are they that is Christ came not to call the Pharisees who were riâ—hteous in their own eyes and who had a selfe conceitednessâ— that things went wâ—ll with them aâ—d saw no neâ—d of a Mâ—diator and Intercessor and Redeemer I came not to call the righteous Jesus Christ excludeâ— that sort of men frâ—m being called by him men that are selâ—-opinionated and have a conceit of their own goodnesse wiâ—hout any want of Jesus Christ Wherefore all you that â—â—â—k you have a strong faith towards God ever since you wâ—râ— born that think you live honestly among your neighbours pay every man his due and therefore see no need of Christ all your daies the Lord shew you mercy you are more unlikely to be called then any men in the world Matth. 21.31 There is a parable of a man that had two sons he bid both work in the vineyard one son said he would not work he was obstinate the other son said he would work but did not and so was worse then his word Now these two sons they are the emblem of two sorts of men within the pale of the Church some are profane and obstinate men and they answer as the first son and say they will not work the second are professing men men that make a good professâ—on but do not answer their profession in their practice Now mark Whether of these twain will the father accept and they said unâ—o him the first the most obstinate that said he would noâ— go but went Verily saith Christ so I say unto you Publicans and Harlots shall go into heaven before you Mark how Christ applies the parable from their own mouths you that are Phaâ—isâ—es that are righteous and honest in your own eyes I wil sooner call whores and harlots and the worst of men then I will call you Publicans and Harlots Publicans they were the worst sort of men that were they were sitting at the receit of custome their calling exposing thâ—m to a great deal of extortion and briberie yet these men should go to heaven before others that made a glorious profeâ—sion of Jesus Christ Again 5. A fifth sad Conclusion is this That when others are effectually called before your faces and yet you remain uncalled this should greatly aggravate your sin and condemnation when I say you shall see others that livâ— haply in the same house with you that hear in the same congregation that sit in the same seat with you when you shall hear these effectually called and you remain uncalled thiâ— shall greatly increase your sin and damnation Matt. 21 3â— John came to you in the way of righteousnesse and yâ—â— believed him not that is they were not called by his Ministry what then but the Publicans and Harlots believed what then and you when you had seen it repented not afterwards that you miâ—ht believe Mark how Christ argues he urges that those men that heard the same Sermons that the other men did hear they were converted saith he you see whores and harlots converted alluding to Mary Magdalen and others you see these and yet you repent not and yet you believe not now you see one then another and yet when you see this you repent not that you might believe Beloved This is a sad conclusion to you that shall see others converted when you that haply lie in the same bed sit at the same board and hear the same Sermons in the same Congregation yet they shall be converted and called and you not this wil greatly increase your sin and condemnation 6. That whoever God intends effectually to call it is Gods ordinary way to call them by the Ministry of his word 2 Thes 2.13 14. It s said there that they were called through the Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth to obtain eternal glory by Jesus Christ they were called by belief of the truth that is by believing the word preacht and loving the word preacht faith comes by hearing faith is the first grace of a Christians Call and that comes by hearing Rom. 10.17 so Acts 26.17 18. When Christ would call and convert the Gentiles he doth it not immediatly but he useth the Ministry of Paul Go thou teach the Gentiles and bring them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan untâ— God God doth it still by the preaching of his word Now this is a sad word to three sorts of men First it s a sad word to them that never sat under the powerful preaching of the word they are out of Gods ordinary way of being saved 2. It is a sad word to those that may enjoy the word and yet slight it they also are not likely to be called 3 It s a sad word to those that leave the ordinary way of Gods calling by the preaching of the word and trust to raptures revelations inspirations and extraordniary means for God to call them by alas they
to a profession of Christ and not called internally to a possession of him at one time or other before you die God wil discover the hypocrisie of your hearts and the unsoundness of your call There are many men who now are called a man cannot discerne whether they be effectually called or no but in likelihood before you die you wil discover somewhat or other that may give just ground of suspition you are not savingly called eiby falling into some errour in judgement or running nto some scandalous sin or the like Lastly if God hath not or intends not effectually to call thee thou maiest take this for an undeniable truth God neither intends to justifie thee nor to save thee Whom he calls them be justifies and none else and whom he justifies them he glorifies and none else So that Justification and Glorification depends upon calling Rom. 8.30 And thus I have done with these ten sad conclusions I shal now change my discourse and turn my speech to a second sort of men and to them I shal lay down ten consolatory conclusions for the comfort of you that are the called of Jesus Christ And here before I lay these down I shal first shew you what need there is that Ministers should preach comfortably to you that are effectually called Because first after you are called effectually you are more exposed to meet with persecutions from men Secondly Temptations from the Devil Thirdly The stronger struglings of corruptions from within then ever you were before therefore you had need of comfort 1. I say After calling you are more exposed to meet with persecutions from men then ever you were before Heb. 10.32 33. Call to remembrance the former dayes in which after you were illuminated you endured a sore fight of affliction partly by being reproached and made a gazing-stock c. They endured nothing before but after they were enlightned they endured a great fight of Affliction had not you therefore need of comfort 2. After calling you are more exposed to temptations from the Devil then ever you were before The Devil when he finds all things at peace he lets men alone but when he finds a man comming out of his clutches to be called then Satan troubles and assaults him 1 Pet. 5.8.10 Your Adversary the Devil goes about like a roaring lyon seeking whom he may devoure These were they that the God of grace hath called to eternal glory Yet these were they thay that the Devil rageth so against Had not you therefore need of comfort because you are exposed to more temptations from the Devil And 3ly You are to meet with more strong and vigorous workings of inward corruptions in your own hearts as Paul before his calling was not troubled with his corruptions sin never troubled him the powerful vigorous workings of this lusts never wearied him but when the command came then sin revived When the power of the word came with Authoritie upon his conscience then he saw sin to revive and get strength upon him Beloved I would appeal to any of you whom God hath called to grace and glory whether before you were called you ever found sin so strong as after and ever found the workings of your inward corruptions so violent as after and therefore upon these three grounds you have need that comfort should be preached unto you I now pass to the Conclusions which I shal lay down for the comfort of all them that are effectually called 1. That Jesus Christ doth effectually cal a poor sinner before that sinner doth look after Jesus Christ Should God entail heaven upon this condition that you that had been first in the transgression should be first in seeking reconciliation we should never have the difference ended betwixt God and us but behold here is mercie and here is a ground of comfort that though we are the first in the transgression Christ is the first in suing out Reconciliation Jesus Christ doth effectually cal poor sinners before they either cal or look after Jesus Christ at all Isa 65.1 I am sought of them that asked not for me I am found of them that sought me not I said Behold me Behold me to a Nation that was not called by my name Here you see Jesus Christ goeth out first to cal thee before thou goest out to cal him And O what câ—mfort is this Christ doth not stay til thou look after a Christ but Christ casts an eye upon thee before thou look after him We read of Matthew the Pubcan that while he was looking after his money at the receit of custome at that time Jesus Christ was looking after his soul We read of the Disciples of Christ whilst they were mending their neâ—s and looking after their fish Jesus Christ takes this occasion with the hook of the Gospel to catch them We read of Paul that whilst he was breathing out persecution against the Church of God and raging with malice against the Saints of God at that time he was even called to be a Saint So that this is very comfortable God doth first look after a sinner in his effectual calling before a sinner looks out after Christ God doth first look after thee enlightning thee by a Sermon and seizing upon thy conscience by a command before thou look after him 2. That Jesus Christ hath effectually called thee when he hath left many thousands in the world of better parts and better dispositions more natural good and lesse evil in them then thou hast in thy selfe and yet he hath rejected them and called thee Jesus Christ hath many times rejected a patient heathen when he hath called thee who art of a rigid and passionate disposition Jesus Christ hath left many a curious wit and pregnant Scholar and many of singular parts that had they grace to manage them they might bring God much glory and it may be he hath called thee a poor ignorant sottish creature Jesus Christ it may be hath rejected many that have had less sin then thou hast in thee Jesus Christ did reject many an honest heathen when he would cal Mary Magdalen that had seven Devils in her Christ rejected Simon Magus and rejected Agrippa a half turned Christian and rejected Herod who heard John Baptist glaâ—ly and â—â—â—â—ed Felix that trembled at a Sermon and rejected Abâ—â— that humbled his soule before God when it may be he hath called thee that never hadst such workings in thy heart as these men had And O what ground of comfort is here 3. God in calling thy soul and bringing thee into a state of grace he doth it freely for his own names sake when there was nothing in thee to move him to cal thee when there was much in thee to provoke him never to cal thee yet his own grace compelled him and his own mercie engaged him to cal thee 1 Tim. 2.9 We are called according to the purpose of his own grace not according to our own works 4. That they who
made the streets of Jerusalem run down with blood yet called Paul a pesecutor a blasphemer a man mad with rage against the Church of God yet he obtained mercy and why that he might be an example to them that after should be called So that here is your comfort when Jesus Christ hath an intent to cal you neither your Poverty nor your Impietie shal withstand his cal nor turn the thoughts of his mercy from you 10. That though no man can pry into the Decrees of God about Election and Reprobation yet if you can make good your Effectual Vocation you may be sure of your election and of your glorification Though no man I say can enter into the bosome of God to know his secret decrees yet if you can finde upon good and Scripture grounds that you are â—ffâ—ctually called you may be sure you are eternally elected and shal hereafter live in glory Rom. 8.28 Whom he predestinates them he calls whom he calls them he justifies and whom he justifies them he will glorifie And therefore comfort your hearts in these consolatorie Conclusions about effectual calling SERMON V. 2 Pet. 1.10 Wherefore the rather Brethren give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure THe Doctrine I am yet upon in the prosecution of these words is this That Christians should put forth a great deal of diligence to make this sure to their souls that they are effectually called by Jesus Christ In the managing of which I laid down the last Lords day twenty Propositions ten in relation to wicked men not called and ten Conclusions for the comfort of them that are effectually called by Jesus Christ I am now to proceed in the dispatch of six cases of conscience which I shal handle about effectual calling Three of which concern men not effectually called and three touching Believers who are called by Christ to grace here and to hopes of glory in the world to come The three first cases touching wicked men are these First Whether a wicked man be able to resist his own call Secondly What temptations doth the Devil suggest to keep a wicked man from entertaining and embracing the cal of Jesus Christ Thirdly What delusions doth the Devil use to deceive Hypocrites to make them presumptuously believe that they are effectually called when they are not There are three cases more touching godly men As First Whether may a man that is effectually called be any way assured that he is so Secondly If a man may be assured then what is the reason many a godly man is not assured of his effectual calling And then Thirdly How may he come to get the assurance of his effectual calling I begin with the first about wicked men that are not called and the case is this First Whether may a wicked man a man as yet not called be able to resist and keep off his own cal And that you may understand the answer hereto I must lay down this distinction That there is a twofold callng of Christ A Significative calling and an Operative calling First a Significative calling which is such a calling whereby Christ in the Ministry of the word signifies and declares what he would have men to do Now this kind of cal wicked men may resist this cal I say and this revealed will of God in declaring what grace he would have men act and what sin he would have men forbear Therefore we read Acts 7.5 You stiff-necked people and uncircumcised in heart and eares you have alwaies resisted the Holy Ghost meaning the Preaching of the word by the Ministry of his Apostles So Prov. 1.24 I have called and ye have refused c. But then secondly There is an Operative calling and that is such a call whereby God doth not onely signifie to a man what he must do but with the signification of his wil gives a man a power to do what he cals him to do accompanying the word with his Spirit making the heart stoop and yeild to Jesus Christ Now this cal no man can resist Grace is irresistible and this effectual calling by the operation of the Spirit a man cannot resist Al the gain-sayings of the heart and al the stoutnesse of the will it must stoop and must be brought under subjection to Jesus Christ Iohn 6.37 All that the Father hath given me saith Christ shall come unto me They shal not be able to withstand Jesus Christ but they shal come in unto him So Isa 55.10 As the rain comes down and the snow from heaven and returns not thither again but waters the earth to make it bring forth so shall my word be that goes out of my mouth it shal not return in vain but shall accomplish that which I intended and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it As al the world cannot hinder the rain from coming down on the earth no more can any man in the world if God hath an intent to convert and cal him hinder the benefit of the word from redounding upon his soul Now the answering of this case thus briefly wil admit of a double Use First an Use of Condemnation to wicked men that have often resisted the signicative call of Jesus Christ When Christ hath signified this is my wil I would have you leave these courses and I would have you walk in these waies Christ signifies his will in the Ministry of the Gospel yet let Christ signifie what he wil you wil do what you lift this is for thy great condemnation Secondly The answering this Query is for consolation to elect men who are not yet converted Dost thou belong to Gods Election Why before thou art converted thou hast a stubborn wil thou hast a gainsaying heart thou hast a stout spirit against God thy heart is as hard as an Adamant as hard as the Rocks yet here is thy comfort all the gain-sayings of thy spirit and all the stubbornnesse of thy wil it shal not be able to keep off converting mercy and shall not be able to keep off calling grace from thee When God hath an intent to call thee he wil come with Power by his call and make thee do what he commands thee and make thee embrace what he calls thee to Did not Jesus Christ use an operative call as wel as a significative cal no man in the world would ever be called And this is the reason that in hearing the same Sermon and following the same Preacher one man is converted the other is not The reason is this The cal of the Ministry is onely a significative cal of a Reprobate onely signifying what God would have him do But there is no power conveyed with the invitation to make the man able to do what Christ cals him to and therefore one is called the other is not Thus much in in Answer to the first case Secondly What temptations doth the Devil suggest to men who are uncalled that they should not give entertainment to
to be poor in faith and to be such a beggar as not to be endowed with one dram of grace and then you are beggars indeed As we say he is a poore man that God hates He that hath not Christ and hath not the treasures of heaven in him he is exposed to worse poverty a thousand times then he can be for imbracing the cal of Jesus Christ Rev. 3.17 Yea and he is exposed to worse persecution also that for fear of persecution neglects Jesus Christ Psal 83.5 The Lord will persecute them saith David with fury and wrath speaking of wicked men All persecution from man reaches but to the body but this from God reaches to the soul 7. And then lastly This should not hinder you from following Jesus Christ considering that though you should be poor and should be persecuted yet heaven wil make you amends for all Heb. 11.35 Heaven wil make amends for povertie when you are endowed with all the riches of Christ and Heaven wil make amends for persecution when there the weary shal be at rest and there the troubled shal be at ease And thus much be spoken of the third suggestion of the Devil that if you entertain the cal of Jesus Christ you shal be exposed to much povertie and persecution here in the world SERMON VI. 2. Pet. 1.10 Wherefore the rather Brethren give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure THE Doctrine I am yet upon is this That Christians ought to put forth a great deal of diligence to make this sure to their souls that they are effectually called by Jesus Christ In the prosecution of which I have resolved one case of conscience and am yet upon the second case namely what suggestions the Devil doth use to keep men off from imbracing the cal of Jesus Christ I have laid down and answered three already 4. Now there is one suggestion more When the Devil sees either of these wil take place then he comes in with a fourth to disswade men from imbracing the call of Christ and that is this Why saith the Devil if you wil entertain the call of Christ you wil abridge your selves of all the joy and comfort of your lives you wil never have merry daies while you live upon earth You see men that pretend to be converted and doe hear Sermons what lumpish and melancholy men they are not so jocund and jolly as others are that walk not so precisely if you follow Christ and his Gospel this wil casheer all your merry daies and this wil put you into a sad temper all your jovial daies are gone Therefore to take off this aspersion that the waies of Christ are sad and melancholy waies which hath been an aspersion that from age to age and generation to generation hath been as a Gin the Devil hath used to keep men from Christianity And I remember it is one of the greatest Engines Antichrist useth to support and uphold his Kingdom The Papists to deter men from Christianity and the Protestant Religion they would hold their Disciples in hand with this that the spirit of a Calvinist is a sad and lumpish spirit and therefore they would disswade all Nations from turning to their Religion and this the Priests were to tel in all the Churches of Rome how sad and melancholy they were that turned to the Calvinists religion and this did mightily stay the people from imbracing the truth And this aspeâ—sion hath passed from hand to hand and is many times prevalent upon the spirits of men that are of the true Religion that they must not be too forward in the practice of Religion fearing lest this should work melancholy and sad thoughts in them Now to take off this I shal onely urge four or five heads briefly First Whereas you say they are melancholy sad that are called by Christ to a profession of his waies I would answer thus That they of all people in the world have most cause of mirth gladness and they are the most truly joyful people in the world That they have most cause of rejoycing is apparent When the Disciples came triumphing that they could cast out Devils heal the diseased and work Miracles O but saith Christ Rejoyce not in this but rejoyce that your names are written in the book of life Luke 10.20 As much as if Christ should say All the endowments and extraordinary gifts of the spirit they are no such grounds of joy if you had them all but here is your joy and cause of rejoycing that your names are written in the book of Life that you are in Christ and your souls shal be saved And so Paul tels us Phil. 4.4 Rejoyce in the Lord alwayes again I say rejoyce The Apostle would not speak it to them with a single command but doubtless his expression to shew that they that are people that have their sins pardoned that have their souls reconciled that have a title to glory whose names are written in the book of Life these of all men in the world have most cause of joy and gladness And they have not onely most cause but they doe most truly rejoyce and have more real joy in their hearts in one day then the wicked can have all their lives 1 Pet. 1.8 They rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory What joy you have in the world the tongue is able to speak of it but the tongue is not able to speak of that inward joy that godly men have in their hearts upon the apprehension of the interest they have in Jesus Christ Psal 4.6 Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance And Thou shalt put more gladness in mine heart c. Prov. 14.13 A good conscience is a continual feast Men are never more merry then when they are at a feast godly men they carry clear consciences about them and that makes them as joyous and pleasant as if they were alwayes at a great and sumptuous feast Indeed this is true they do not rejoyce with such exorbitancies of joy as wicked men do Wicked men rejoyce in sin that they cannot do wicked men rejoyce in their lusts in their drunkenesse and their adulteries and wayes of sin that godly men dare not do Such a rejoycing as this is the foundation of sorrow This rejoycing like the Prodigal in a riotous course of living is the foundation of sorrow and will meet with you when you are to die Secondly Grant this should be true yet consider that this sorrow that godly people have it is such a sorrow that they shal have no cause to repent thereof but it is a foundation of future joy to them 2 Cor. 7.9 10. I rejoyce saith the Apostle in that I have made you sorrowful What rejoyce to see them a sad people Yes for the sorrow I made you sorrowful with was a sorrow never to be repented of you wil never repent of that sorrow and therefore Paul would do it because it was a
yoke whip every day and is at daily labour is long-liv'd and in a better condition Those men that the Devil lets alone and never tempts that are as fatted Oxen never come under the whip and yoke and never are troubled it is an argument they are neer the slaughter and under a great deal of danger of their souls but those that are under the yoke that are often tempted and the pricks of Satan lie upon them this is an argument their comforts are right and their evidence good because so assaulted and opposed by the Devil Thirdly true assurance is more or lesse in a mans spirit by how much more or lesse that man keeps in communion with God If a man doth remit in his converse with God and grow carelesse and formal and a stranger to God he shall grow a stranger to himselfe in the end and to his comforts also but if a man keep close to God and keep close to duties can retire and recollect himselfe to converse with God in a more solemn and serious manner is preparedly and fruitfully exercised in Ordinances can poure out his soule into Gods bosome that man is in the way to have his comforts raised up Whereas now for men that have false comfort and perswasions whether they are much or little with God all is one to them their comforts are at the same stand still Come to a man that hath false comforts and at all times he is alike peremptory he is in the same perswasion he was 3.4.7 years ago Ask him any week in the year any day in the week any hour in the day and he will tell you he hath the same comforts and the same evidences still he had a strong faith in God and he hath it still he had strong hopes to be saved and so he hath still he is still peremptory in his comforts though he never so much alter in communion with his God this is an argument thy perswasions are false because a Christians communion and converse with God doth feed his comforts Now as the body by how much the more or lesse it is fed by so much the more it is weakened or strengthened so it is with your comforts so much as they are cherished by your walking with God so much they grow weak or strong Now let a wicked man grow never so vile and never so sinfull it interrupts not his peace he hath hopes and assurance still and he will trust in God still though he sin ever this is an argument his comforts are unsound You have a lively picture of this Mic. 3.11 The heads of the people judge for reward the Priests teach for hire and the Prophets divine for money and yet they will lean upon the Lord and say Is not the Lord among us That is though they have these sins among them and did walk thus and thus yet they would hope in God God to be saved for all this Why Beloved thou wilt finde God to fail thee though he never faild an assured Christian yet he will fail that man that leans upon him when he belongs not to him When thou dost intermit walking with God and dost lanch forth into a gulph and sea of lusts and yet canst still say thou art the same in thy comforts and the same in thy perswasions it is an argument all thy comforts are but false and thy evidence unsound Fourthly Reall assurance of your estate it doth bear up the soule under the greatest outward sorrow and sufferings that it can meet with in this world Heb. 10 34. Thâ—y suffered joyfully the spoiling of their goods knowing in themselves that they had in heaven a better and more enduring substance What made them so to rejoyce to see their houses plundered before them their estates taken from them but this they knew in their own selves and had assurance in their own hearts that Christ was theirs and heaven was theirs and this made them suffer joyfully the spoiling of their goods So Psal 119.50 This is my comfort in affliction that thy word doth quicken me That is this bears up my heart when I am afflicted that I have a word to build upon that I have assurance I have interest in a promise to build upon this quickens and bears me up under my sorrows So Psal 119.81 My spirit had fainted within me onely that I hoped in thy word That is I had hope and confidence built upon thy Word and that kept me from fears and fainting and discouragement under my affliction So Isa 33.24 The Inhabitant shall not say I am sick the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity Beloved Assurance will lift up and bear up the heart under all sorrowes Assurance in a Christian is like oile Now pour oile into a sea or ocean of water and the oile will never be kept under but still be uppermost so this oile of comfort and this oile assurance it will bear thee up on the top though thou shouldst be cast into a flood of troubles and an ocean of sorrowes I have read in Latimers writings a notable saying of his to Ridley that famous Martyr Sometime saith he when I live in a setled and stedfast assurance about the state of my soule me thinks then I am as bold as a Lion I can can laugh at all trouble no affliction daunts me but when I am eclipsed in my comforts I am of so fearfull a spirit that I could run into a very mouse-hole Beloved it is so with godly men when they want assurance of their estate and the soundnesse of their call every affliction daunts and every trouble startles them O but when they can live in a setled assurance of their interest in Christ and calling by him they are as bold as Lions and they are born up with comfort under all the sorrows and sufferings they meet withal But now men that have false perswasions their perswasions can never bear up the heart under a trouble and at a losse and aâ— a pinch because it is not a saving and inward comfort it can never create inward peace The coâ—forts of wicked men when they come to suffer they are like cloth that is ill woven Cloth that is well made let a man be in a showre of rain it will never shrink but ill woven cloth let it be but in a showâ—e it shrinks presently It is so with mens comforts Bring comforts wel wrought into a showre of trâ—uble and that man will not shrink under his trouble but bring an ill wrought unsound assurance and that will shrink and fail and pull in and will not bear up the heart under the sorrows and sufferings he may meet withall Presuming Pindleton that boasted his fat flesh should fry in the fire before he would forsake his Relgion when he came to the trial flagged presently Fifthly Sound assurance whereever it is makes the heart more humble towards God and man and makes men more vile in their own
hath fil'd you with this comfort the more you should shine forth in humility As Paul when he saith Christ loved him and gave himselfe for him when he was most full of comforts he was most fill'd with humility and said I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me Secondly You must manage your assurance with a high valuation of the comforts of God in you A man that hath received a benefit if he do not value it it is a provocation to the man that gave it either to repent of his gift or take it away David when he had assurance mark how he values it Psal 63.3 Thy loving kindness is better then life He valued the comforts of his God and the shinings of Gods countenance better then life And Psal 4.6 Lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me and that shall more glad me then when my corn and wine and oile increaseth David would more value the comforts of Gods Spirit then any other comfort in the world Assured Christians that use assurance rightly they must put a high valuation and worth upon it And the reason is Because you will not then easily part with your assurance for a base and beggerly lust and for a fruitlesse sin if once you know the value and worth of it Thirdly Your assurance must make you to live with a weaned heart from the comforts of this world 2 Cor. 4. the last verse compared with Chapt. 5.1 The Apostle tells you We do not look after the things that are seen that are temporal What made the Apostle not to look after worldly things he gives the reason For when this house of ours is dissolved we have a dwelling with God eternall in the heavens As if he should say That 's the reason we do not look after the world as worldly men do for we know that when we leave this world we have a heaven to go to The assurance of the blessednesse of their future being did make them undervalue the world as a thing not worthy the glance of the eye Persons that have assurance can say as Philip said to Christ John 14.8 Shew us saith Philip the Father and it sufficeth us Thus saith a gracious heart O sweet Jesus shew us but thy favour assure but my soul that thy Father is a reconciled Father to me in thy selfe that he is my Father as well as thy Father Shew me but the Father and it sufficeth me though I have little or nothing in the world this shall suffice me Gracious hearts that live in the enjoyment of assurance they ought to live with a weaned heart from the comforts of this world Men that have tasted hony or some other sweet morsel they do distaste all other things though of themselves very pleasant So men that have tasted of this hony of Gods love and the sweetnesse of this grace of assurance it will make them distaste and disrelish all the things of this world though of themselves pleasant and good If a man look on the Sun it dazles hiâ— eyes that he cannot discern colours about him so he that beholds the light of Gods countenance will not look upon the things here below I may allude to that place Luke 5.39 No man saith Christ having drunk old wine straight way desireth new for he saith The old is better His meaning is this No man that hath had a taste of Jesus Christ and hath had communion and fellowship with Jesus Christ and lain under the Ministery of Jesus Christ no man that hath drunk of this old wine will say new is better to have other comforts and other pleasures is better no man will say this saith Christ And so he compares his Ministery and his Doctrine and the comfort Gods people have thereby to old wine Beloved so I say men that have drunk draughts of this wine of consolation and men that are setledly assured and have had a taste that the Lord is gracious no man will now say that the world is better and the comforts below better No the assuance of Gods love should wean a mans heart from all the comforts of the world As old Jacob said when he saw his sonne Joseph in his old age after he had made many a prayer and shed many a tear O Joseph my sonne is yet alive I have enough As was the carriage of Jacob to Joseph the same should be the carriage of a Christian towards Christ If he can say My Joseph my Jesus is alive in my heart I having him have enough this comfort should ravish his spirit Paul when he was rapt up into the third heaven was so transported that he knew not whether he was in the body or no so are the people of God ravished with heavenly consolations that they minde not these earthly things It is a speech that Bernard hath That to whosoever Jesus Christ once becomes sweet that he can taste the sweetnesse of his love and the sweetnesse of his mercy the very sweetnesse in Christs love will imbitter the world unto him Fourthly you are to manage and use your assurance with tenderness of conscience against sin Assured Christians should be tender-conscienced Christians Psal 85.8 God will speak peace to his people but mark the duty they must not turn again unto folly They must not â—un again into sin they must be tender of sin and then God will speak peace to his people Sin as I once told you will be like winde in the bowels of the earth Philosophers say Eâ—rthquakes and ruptures are occasioned by winde got into the bowels and cavernes of the earth which having no place for vent it overturnes Mountains and Buildings Beloved sin in the heart will do the like it will make the heart quake and tremble if it be there it will prove the grave of thy comforts and the resurrection of thy fears Therefore Christians that are assured they must take heâ—d of sin if they would keep their comforts they must keep their hearts that sin get not into their consciences Beloved they that are assured Christians they know how difficultly they did attain this assurance and they know how sweetly they enjoy this assurance and that will make them very tender that they do not lose a thing so hardly gotten and sweetly enjoyed for a trivial lust that thy lose not their former evidences and revive former terâ—ors Fiftly Assurance musâ— be managed with patience in bearing any outward affliction that you may meet with in the world Assured Christians must be patient Christians Heb. 10.34 They suffered joyfully the spoyling of their goods knowing that they had in heaven a bâ—tter and more enduring substance and that made the Saints of God tush and scorn at all the losses they met with in the world Suppose a man be at Sea and have precious Jewels and Pearles aboard with him if the man can be but sure he shall save his own life and save his Jewels though he lose the Casket though
him to life and glory to live and die in opposition to the word of God Seventhly and this we may speak more confidently and positively that that man is not within the compasse of Gods election who sinnes the sin against the holy Ghost Matth. 12.32 He shall neither be forgiven in this life nor in the life to come This is an unpardonable sin 1 John 5.16 Now I know there are many men who confine this sin only to the Pharisees as if they onely were guilty of it There are others that say this sin is seldome committed and so many Divines speak favourably of it but Beloved I am perswaded this sin is oftner committed then most men in the world dream of and many men are plunged into this sin that think well of their own souls The sin against the holy Ghost is only this It is a wilful and deliberate act in a professor of Religion whereby he doth not onely fall from his profession but he runns into a course of sin knowingly against conscience obstinately against counsel and maliciously against Jesus Christ This is briefly a descrption of this sin Now I am perswaded there are many in the world that have professed Religion that are if not in this sin yet at the very next door to it And if a man be gone thus farre this is called in Scripture a sin unto death a sin which if a man fall into he may be sure he shall be damned And thus I have in breif given you an account of these seven particulars whereby every man may give a guesse in his own thoughts whether he be within the purpose of Gods election unto salvation or no. I have now from this sad Doctrine only a few comfortable positions to lay down and so conclude As 1. That though these partâ—culars may give you a guesse of those that are not within the compasse of Gods election yet no man is bound to make this sure to himselfe that he is not elected You are bound to make your election sure but you are not bound to make your reprobation sure For these heads I have given out not to make any godly man question his election but to startle wicked men who live quite contrary and opposite to the elect of God 2. That a man may come very nigh to the worst of these sins and yet may be an elected man We were saith Paul sometimes disobedient deceived and served divers lusts Titus 3.3 And Eph. 2.2 In times past you walked according to the course of the world according to the power of the Prince of the aire who worketh mightily in the children of disobedience In times past ye were children of wrath as well as others In times past before calling you may come very neer to these evils yet be within the compass of Gods election Provided that you do not live and die in those evils For if so there is no hope of mercy 3. That for men to question their election meerly because they do not finde the saving effects of election in their hearts and lives is rather an argument of their being then of their not being elected Because men not elected they never look after their election to make it sure they will trust all upon the mercy of God and grace of God and never look after holiness sin never troubles them profaneness never grieves them want of holinesse perplexes not them The questioning therefore of your election arising from the evils of your conversation is rather a sign that God hath chosen you to life and glory 4. Election it runnes often times to those that are the worst sort of men in the world Election runnes to them that have been worst in their lives before they were called And thereby God magnifies the riches of his grace Election passeth by civil honest men and ingeniouâ—â—emperate mâ—n and commonly runns to men that have been scandalous loose Atheistical profane livers before they were called Matth. 21.31 Whores and Harlots shall come to Heaven before you Manasseh that was a cruel murderer and Idolater yet election ran to him Mary Magdalen a common strumpet out of whom Christ cast seven Devils yet election ran to her Rahab a Harlot Paul a persecuter a blasphemer a man injurious to the Saints yet Acts 9.15 He was a chosen vessel unto God and obtained mercy God to magnifie the riches of his free grace le ts election run to the worst of men that are in the world And this should be great comfort to you though you have been drunkards and though you have been Sabbath breakers and adulterers and though you have been profane yet if you can but now close with Jesus Christ and look after heaven if you can but now mourn over your condition and repent of your former failings and come in to Jesus Christ Election hath run unto men as bad as you and though you may be now men profane in your lives yet you may be objâ—cts of Gods election SERMON XIV 2 Pet. 1.10 Wherefore the rather Brethren Give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure THe last Doctrin I drew from these words was this That Christians should put forth a great deal of diligence to make this sure to their souls that they are eternally elected by God to life and glory In the prosecution of which I have gone over some queries There are four difficulties or queries I am further to insist upon in treating of this point As namely First whether this election be universal or no Secondly whether a man that is once elected by God to salvation may come to be damned yea or no Thirdly whether God in electing a man to life and glory doth it out of any foresight of faith or any other grace he sees in man And fourthly whether this doctrine of election that God in his own counsel hath determined who shall be damned and who saved doth not take men off from any endeavours after their own salvation to make them desperate and neglect the use of means that they shall say if I shall be damned I shall be damned and if saved I shall be saved let me live as I lift whether this doctrine will favour this desperate conclusion yea or no First whether election be universal or no This is that the Arminians and Papists do mightily drive at And here they lay down this conclusion which they make unquestionable That there is such a thing as a certain universal election of God without limitation or restraint of persons whereby God did determine to save all mankind by Christ who were fallen in Adam This opinion was first drawn from Origen who held that all creatures should be saved and the Papists and Arminians mincing the matter to make it a little more plausible then he did they say that God in his purpose did intend to save all mankind by Jesus Christ but man falling away and walking contrary to their principles the defect lies in them that they are not saved
poor some Princes and some beggars And therefore the Apostle bids them pray for all men Pray saith he for Kings and for them in authority for God will have all men to be saved As much as if he should say Pray for Kings because God of his grace may save Kings as well as poorer men that have lesse incumbrances and lesse imployments in the world and lesse withdrawings in their own soul then they have God will save all salvation shall come to all sorts of men and therefore you may lawfully pray for them And so Calvin judiciously expounds this place that God will have all sorts â—f men to obtain salvation by Jesus Christ but it is not to be extended universally as if every individual man and woman should be saved 3. These words are to be taken with those that follow after God will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowleg of the truth Now that God will be willing to save those that come to the knowledge of the truth is unquestionable all that repent Acts 17.30 all opposition to the time of the old Testament Rom. 16.25 Now is this true that election is not universal but that some men are elected and others reprobated Then to wrap up this quere in a short use this should teach you all who are in the Land of the living not to deceive your selves lull not your selves asleep in security for it may be you may be in Gods counsel to save it may be not Peradventure you may be in Gods thoughts for salvation peradventure you may be in his counsel for damnation and this should put you upon the work my text calls upon you for to endeavour to make your calling and election sure 2. A second Queee is this Whether may one that is an elect man fall away from his election and come to be a damned man or no This the Protestant Divines against the Arminians and Papists have had large controversies about but I will not handle it in a controversal way onely as it best becomes a Pulpit shew you those positive Scriptures and reasons that may clear the truth and then answer the strongest objections they produce to the contrary Whether may a man that is elected fall away and afterward perish To this I answer No. A man that is once elected by God can never perish And this I shall give Scripture and reason to plead for it Matth. 24.24 Christ tels us of errour that it came in so easily that if it were possible it would deceive the elect Intimating that it is impossible so to seduce the elect as to make them finally fall away So John 6.37 All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me that is all that God the Father hath decreed to save by Christ shall come unto Christ Vers 39. This is the Fathers will that haâ—h sent me that of all that he hath given me I should lose none This is the Fathers will and Commission to Christ thâ—t of all those that by his decree he had given to Christ to â—ave by râ—demption he should lose none And saith Christ I â—ave lost nothing So John 10 28 29. I gâ—ve unto my sheep â—ternal â—ife and they shall never perish neither shall any man take â—hem out of my handâ— my Father that gave them me is greater then all and no man shall pluk them out of my Fathers hands By his Fathers hands he meâ—ns his decree God by his decree intended to save so many and Christ to vindicate his Father tels us that so many as God The Father had decreed to salvation neither man nor Devil should prevail to pluck them out of his Fathers hand So Rom. 11.1 God hath not cast away his people whom he foreknew That is whom God did predestinate he casts none of them away none of them shall perish Many many more Scriptures I might multiply to shew that a man once elected can never perish as 2 Tim. 2.19 1 Cor. 18.9.2 Thes 3.3 But I would name reasons as well as Scriptures And First if election were changeable then God must be changeable which to think there is nothing more absurd If Gods decree be changeable Gods essence and nature were so also election being nothing else but God himself cusing for every thing in God is God And this the Scripture tels us is farre from him for there is no variableness or shadow of change in God Jam. 1.17 Isa 46.10 Mal. 3.6 Secondly if the elect could perish then Jesus Christ should be very unfaithful to his father because God the father hath given this charge to Christ that whomsoever he elected Christ should preserve them safe to bring them to heaven Now should not this be accomplished Christ would be unfaithful to his father John 6.39 This is the fathers will which hath sent me into the world that of all that he hath given me I should lâ—se nothing but that I should raise them up at the last day This is the will of God to save many by Christ Now should not this be made good Christ must needs be unfaithful to the Commission of his father Thirdly should this be true then Pauls golden chain should be broken Pâ—â—â— 8.30 Whom he did predestinate them he calls whom he calls tâ—â—â—â—e justifies whom he justifies them he glorifies Now should this chain break that whom he elects them he calls whom he callâ— them he justifies and there cease as the Papâ—sts hold and mâ—n be after daâ—ned then the great and main links would be lost that whom he justifies them glorifies and so bring an obsuâ—dity upon â—he Scripture thereby Now to answer some texâ—s of Scripture they abuse which at first view you would think very plausible to maintain that a man may be an elect man and brought into Christ yet afterward damned The first is John 6.70 Have not I chosen twelve and one of them is a Devil Now say they there were twelve chosen or elected and one of them is a devil did perish intimating that men may be elected yet perish for all this To which I answer That there is a double Electing First a chusing to some peculiar Office Secondly there is an electing to grace life and glory Now when Christ saith Have I not chosen you twelve it is meant of his chusing of them to an Office to the place of an Apostle to be his disciples Now it is true that a man may be chosen to some peculiar Office in the Church of God and yet be a perishing and damned man but this phrase hath no relation to the decree of God from eternity only to a temporal electing of twelve men to a temporal Office to the Office of an Apostle Another Scripture they abuse is Exod. 32.32 it was Moses prayer If thou wilt not saith Moses to God forgive their sins then blot my name out of the book of life Now say they the book of life is Gods election and here Moses prayed
must runne and therefore that is the cause or motive why God did elect them To this we answer That it is true God elects men through sanctification and faith as the end God aimes at in elect persons not as the motive for which he elects them And this answer Rivet gives All elect men shall be sanctified and all elect men shall believe though it is not for this sanctification and belief that they are electâ—d It is not for grace but unto grace they are chosen This distinction the Scâ—ipture gives 1 Pet. 1.2 Ye are elect according to the foreknowledge of God through sanctification unto obedience Nâ—â— for as the motive but to as the end Agâ—in Tâ—t 1.1 iâ— iâ— called the faith of Gods elect Now say they iâ— is callâ—d so bâ—cause God elects them foreseeing their faith To whâ—ch we answer That faith is hâ—re called the faith of Gods Elect not as if Gâ—d foreseâ—ing faith did elect men but because all elect men shall believe because faith is a peculiar priviledge belonging onely to elect men therefore it is called their faith And then lastly one Scripture more they alledge 2 Tim. 2.20 If any â—an shall purge himself from sin he shall be a vessel of honour Now here say they purging that is sanctification and good works it is made a condition of election of being a vessel of honour God makes this condition if he foresee a man will purge himselfe and will live holily that man shall be elected shall be a vessel of honour To which we give this answer That purging and sanâ—tification is here laiâ— down not as the cause but as the signe of their election not as the cause why men are vessels of honour but the signe or evidence that they are so If you are purgâ—d you shall be vâ—ssâ—ls of honour that is if you are sanctified it is a sign to you that you are elected SERMON XV. 2 Pet. 1.10 Wherefore the rather Brethren Give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure THE last Conclusion oâ— Doctrine drawn from these words was this That Christians should put forth a great â—eal of diligence to make this sure to their soules that thâ—y are eternally elecâ—ed by God to life and glory In the prosecution of which I have dispatched several queries I am now to proceed further in the dispatch of what yet remains to be spoken concerning this subject A fourth query follows Fourtâ—ly Whether the decree of Elâ—ctâ—on or Gods purpose to â—ave a company of men being from eternity and being immutable whether doth not this give way to man to be secure and carelesse in the use of the means of grace that they take no care to get grace and to get heaven while they are in the world This is a very useful point to insist upon seeing the Arminians charge us with this that if we hold election without respect to Gods foresight of works in men then this laies open a gap for men to live as they list that they say If God hath determined they shall be saved they shall be saved if that they shall be damned they shall be damned whether they are holy or profane if God hath elected them to life they shall be saved let them live as they lift Thus the Arminians plead This therefore is the quere whether this doctrine of election doth administer any ground for such a cavil as this to be in the minds of men To answer which I shall first lay down this general Conclusion That the decree or the purpose of God about the election of man to life and salvation doth no way administer any iust ground to men to make them live as they list and to make them neglect the means of grace and salvation In the clâ—aring of which I shall lay down three particulars to satisfie you about this matter As First that Gods decree about Civil and Temporal matters doth no way give encouragement to men to neglect the use of means live carelesse of the accomplishment of his decree and therefore not so in spiritual As now for instance God hath determined from all eternity how long every one of us shall live in the world our daies are numbred in his counsel Now though God hath determined how long we shall live this no way gives us encouragement to say therefore I will never put on a rag of cloathes to cover me in Winter and I will never put a morsel of meat in my mouth for God hath determined how long I shall live and therefore whether I eat or no till then I shall not die Again God hath determined from all eternity touching every one of us whether we shall be poor or rich in this world and therefore to draw this conclusion that it is no matter whether I be industrious in following my calling and looking after my trade or whether I spend my estate in rioting and drunkenesse God hath determined whetâ—â—â— I shâ—â—â— be rich or poor if he hath decreed I shall be poor I shall be poor or that I shall be rich I shall be rich let me live as I please this reasoning is very fond and foolish in Temporal things therefore much more in Spiritual God hath determined from all eternity thou shalt be saved or damned and the decree of God cannot be changed but now to draw hence that it is no matter how I live whether in waies of holinesse or in waies of sin this is an abusive collection from Gods decree Because as Dr. Preston saith if a man doth not use those means that may evidence to his soul that he is elected it is an argument he is not elected If thou say if God hath determined it he will save me whether I am holy or prophane and therefore I will never hear Sermon never pray in my family never use holy duties Saith Preston if thou neglect these means it is an argument thou art not elected because as God hath elected thee to the end he hath also ordained thee to use the means I have read a story of an Italian who lying upon his death-bed fent for a Physician the most exquisit and exact Artist in all Italy and this man held this opinion I am now speaking of that seeing Gods decrees were unalâ—erable a man might live as he lift and yet be saved that let a man be as holy as he could be if God had decreed his damnation he should be damned and let a man be never so wicked if God have decreed his salvation he should be saved and that the decree of God took off the use of all means that a man need not use any meanes but onely trust in God The Physician being a man acquainted in the mysteries of Religion after he had asked him the state of his body and where the disease lay the party desiring him to prescribed some physick the Physician gave him this answer saith he God hath determined how long you shall live therefore if I give you
Christ for his election and yet Christs sufferings were so full as if men were not bound to God for their election Thus they are pleased to expresse it And the reason why the Scripture speaks thus that we are onely chosen in Christ not for Christ is to give God the Father his due in electing men to life that God did it meerly of his own grace and thereiâ— Gods love and favour is apparent to all the world that he did elect man without Christ as the motive of his election and yet Jesus Christ being come into the world he carries on our salvation and he is the cause of it though he was not the cause of Gods first thoughts in electing man to life Sixthly All men that are elected by God to life and salvation shall sooner or later before they die be called into a state of conversion and believing Rom. 8.30 whom he did predestinate them be also called and Acts 13.48 As many as were ordained to eternal life believed So that God the father in ordaining man to life hath ordained this also that before they die they shall be a converted and believing people and therefore men remaining unconverted uncalled unbelieving they are not the obiects of Gods election Seventhly that God in chusing or electing men to life doth let his election runne ordinarily unto the meanest and unto the worst sort of men in the world â—en that have least natural endowments least moral excellencies least worldly gallantry ordinarily election runs that way God hath chosen the poor things of this world and things dispised and things that are not hath be chosen 1 Cor. 1.27 Jam. 2.5 Hath not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith Ordinarily the Lord chuseâ—h poor and mean men that have no natural or moral excellencies Hence it was that when Christ left the learned Pharisees and Doctors among the Jewes the ignorant and poor people they flocked after Jesus Christ they looked after Jesus Christ when the rich and great men of the world had no shâ—re in him Eightly that a man may be an elect childe of God and yet not expresse the fruit of his election in many years here in the world and this is a very comfortable point An instance you have of this in Paul It is observable of Paul the Scripture tells us he was a chosen vessel Acts 9.15 and yet Paul lived many years before the fruit of his election appeared in him Some Historians say Paul lived 37. the least say 30 years before the fruit of election appeared in him for he was converted the very year after Christs death and all the while before he did expresse fruit that was seemingly repugnant to an elect estate as if a man could not be an elect vessel that was so vile as he he was a blasphemer a persecuter injurious to the Church â—aled men to prison mad with rage against the professors of Jesus Christ Nay he was a man that had a hand in putting Steven the first Martyr to death So long he lived in a course of iniquity for 30. years together and yet this man was an elect vessel then So the Thiefe upon thâ— Crosse an elect childe of God yet did not expresse the fruit of his election in repentance and conversion until the last hour of his life So that I say a man may be an elect childe of God and yet not expresse the fruit of his election in his life for many years Ninthly that God for the great love he beares to his elect that are in the world lets Reprobates and wicked men enjoy many mercies and outward deliverances for their sakes Mark 13.19 20. There shall be tribulation saith Christ such as was not from the beginning of the world nor shall be the end thereof but for the elect sake those daies shall be shortned For his elect sake God did mitigate did shorten God did take away that trouble from them So Esa 1.9 Had not God left us a small remnant we had been like Sodome yea like unto Gomorrah Had not God left a handful of his elect and godly men amongst them all the rest had been destroyed So Esa 65.8 And the Lord said destroy not the people for a blessing is among them That is my people is among them and my elect is among them therefore destroy them not God did not destroy the Nation of the Jewes because God had his own people mixed among them Lo Job 22.30 And this conclusion administers matter of thankfulnesse to all men upon earth to make you blesse God that he keeps his people alive among you for it is for the elects sake you have all the outward blessings and mercies you do enjoy Tenthly and lastly take in this conclusion That this world shall continue no longer then till the number of Gods elect be accomplished when God hath accomplished and brought in to Christ the number of his elect the world shall not stand one minute longer after this work is done God doth but uphold the world till the full numbers of Jewes and Gentiles be come in If the number were filled Jesus Christ would surrender up the Kingdome to his Father The Heavens should gather together like a scrowle and the Elements should melt with fervent heat and this world should come to a dissolution It is the elect in the world that keep up the world that it doth not fall about our ears And thus having spent these 16 Sermons touching mans Effectual calling and eternal Election I have now brought all unto a conclusion And I earnestly intreat you let it be your work to put forth your diligence to make this sure to your own soules that you are effectually called and that you are eternally elected to obtain life and salvation by Jesus Christ FINIS The Table A WE must give diligence to gain Assurance of our calling p. 21. and why p. 22. seq Whether Assurance of our calling be attainable in this life p. 93. seq Two extreams about this p. 17. Hindrances to be removed in getting Assurance of our Calling p. 115. seq Means to be used to get Assurance p. 119. seq At what time God fils his people with most Assurance p. 128. seq Difference between Assurance and groundless presumption p. 121. seq Directioâ—n to such as have Assurance p. 144 How to use Assurance p. 145. seq How to preserve Assurance p. 152. seq what must be done ibid. what avoided p. 154. seq How to improve Assurance p. 157. seq How to recover Assurance when t is lost p. 166. seq What sins chiefly forfeit our Assurance p. 161 Comforts to those that want Assurance p. 180 We should use diligence to get Assurance of Election p. 165 whether it be attainable in this life p. 166. seq objections against it answered p. 167 Not to be gotten by ascending into Gods decree but descending into our own hearts p. â—73 Afflictions no argument that we are