being predestinated thereto, and neglect the means, to which I am no less predestinated? Is thy purpose concerning my salvation fixed and immoveable? and shall I change every hour, at one time giving my service to thee, and another time to Satan? Shall I not rather cleave to thee with such a firm purpose, as sooner to chuse a thousand deaths rather than perfidiously to revolt from thee? Shall I not be stedfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as I know that my labour is not in vain in the Lord ?* Wilt thou, by thy Spirit, assure me of thy love, which passeth all understanding? and I not love thee again with all my heart, all my mind, and all my strength? Wilt thou make me sure of my salvation? and shall not 1, having this hope, purify myself, as thou art pure ?”† Who that understands these things, can deny, that the doctrine of election, as we have explained it, affords ample matter to a pious soul for these and such like meditations? And who also can deny, that in the practice of these meditations the very kernel of piety and holiness consists ? THE CHAP. V. Of Effectual Calling. HE first immediate fruit of eternal election, and the principal act of God, by which appointed salvation is applied to man, is effectual calling. Of which the apostle says,* Whom he did predestinate, them he also ealled. Now, this calling is that act, by which those * Rom. viii. 30. who are chosen by God, and redeemed by Christ, are sweetly invited, and effectually brought from a state of sin, to a state of communion with God in Christ, both externally and internally. II. The term from which they are called, is a state of sin and misery, in which all men are involved, ever since the sin of our first parents; having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, thro' the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts. For we are reduced to such a pass, that being sunk in the deep gulf of misery, and having lost all notion of true happiness, and wallowing in the mire of the wickedness and vanities of this world without end and without measure, and enslaved to the devil, to whom we have stretched out our hands as conquered captives, we are utterly excluded from the saving communion of God and Christ. All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.t Now, out of this darkness of ignorance, sin, and misery God calleth us unto his marvellous light, and delivers us from this present evil world.§ And we are not to forget our former state; Remember, that at a time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.|| The meditation of this tends to humble us the more deeply before God, who calleth us; the more to prize the riches of his glorious grace, and the more to excite us to walk worthy of our calling, and of God, by whom we are called. III, The term to which we are called, is Christ, and communion with him. For thus he calls out, PENU ELAI, Look to me, or incline yourselves to me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.¶ In this communion * Eph. iv. 18. + Rom. iii. 23. 1 Pet. ii. 9. § Gal. i. 4. Eph. ii. 12. ¶ Is. xlv. 22. with Christ consists that mystical and most delightful marriage of the elect soul with Christ, to which he invites him with all the allurements of his gospel, and whose exalted nuptial song Solomon sung: Wisdom hath builded her house.--She hath sent forth her maidens, she crieth upon the highest places of the city-Turn in hither -come eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled, Prov. ix. 1, 3, 4, 5. IV. From this communion results the communication of all the benefits of Christ, both in grace and in glory, to which we are likewise called. Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.* Thus he calleth us to his kingdom and glory.† V. And since Christ cannot be separated from his Father and his Spirit, we are, at the same time, called to the communion of the undivided Trinity. That our fellowship may be with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ; to which Paul joins the communion of the Holy Ghost. Now, it is the very top of our happiness, to exult in God as ours, and sing aloud to him, My God, while he himself calls to us, My people.|| VI. Moreover, as all the elect are partakers of one and the same grace, they are all likewise called to mutual communion with one another: That ye also may have fellowship with us. Believers of the New Testament with those of the Old; the Gentiles with the Jews, with whom they are of the same body** in Christ, who hath made both one.tt Nay, those on earth with those in heaven. For all things are gathered together in one in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on Is. lv. 2, 3. † 1 Thess. ii. 12. 1 John i. 3. § 2 Cor. xiii. 14. || Hos. ii. 23. ¶ 1 John i. 3. ** Eph. iii. 6. †† Eph. ii. 14. earth, even in him; in whom also we have obtained an inheritance.* And this is that blessed state, to which, by the holy and heavenly calling, we are invited; namely, communion with Christ, and, by him, with the undivided Trinity, and consequently with all the saints, both militant and triumphant, not even excepting the praising assembly of angels, that, with them, we may exult in the most delightful fruition of all the blessings of God. For all who obey this call, are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant.† What grander thing can be spoken? what more noble and divine can be conceived? VII. Now, this calling is given partly externally, by a persuasive power, called moral suasion; partly internally, by a real supernatural efficacy, which changes the heart. The external call is in some measure pub fished by the word of nature, but more fully by that of supernatural revelation, without which every word of nature would be insufficient and ineffectual. The internal proceeds from the power of the Holy Spirit, working inwardly on the heart; and without this every external revealed word, though objectively very suffici ent, as it clearly discovers every thing to be known, believed, and done, yet is subjectively ineffectual, and will never bring any person to the communion of Christ. VIII. Nature itself is not silent, but many ways calls on man, that, laying aside an excessive care and pursuit of earthly things, and of this animal life, he may Heb. xii, 22, 23, 24. * Eph. i. 10, 11. VOL. II. E aspire after better, heavenly, and eternal things. For when, with attentive eyes, he surveys that glittering canopy on high, and consequently the whole heaven, bespangled with so many constellations, and sparkling with so many stars, above which, according to the general belief of mankind, the throne of the Supreme Being is placed, he feels a certain strong desire excited in his breast, that, leaving this earthly dross, he may hereafter be allowed to ascend on high, be admitted into the inmost recesses of nature, and received into fellowship with God. Then, while in his thoughts he traverses the starry tracts, he takes a pleasure to look down with contempt on the pavements of the rich, nay on this whole earth, with all its gold; not only that which it has already produced and furnished for current coin, but that which still lies concealed for the avarice of posterity. Then he learns to despise the most state ly porticoes, cielings inlaid with ivory, woods formed by art, and rivers conveyed home, when he traverses the whole universe, and looking down from on high on this terrestrial globe, which is confined, and covered in a great measure with the sea, and even where it widely extends greatly uncultivated, and either scorched with heat, or frozen with cold, he thus says to himself: "Is this that insignificant spot, which so many nations divide among themselves by fire and sword? When thou hast raised thyself to the contemplation of these things truly great, as often as thou shalt espy armies advancing with banners displayed, and, as if some great project was in agitation, the horse now advancing to gain intelligence, again pouring forth from the flanks, you may well say, The deadly squadron marches over. the plain. This is but the excursion of ants, toiling within a scanty compass. There are vastly extensive regions above, into the possession of which the soul is |