^ Qu. ' called by the gospel to faith and holiness ' ? — Ed.
2 ThES. II. 14.] THE TWELFTH SERMON. 113
govern ns. Our parents are but instruments of liis providence ; they know not how the cliilJ is framed in the womb, &c. Now he calleth upon ns to do our duty with original supreme authority. We may refuse otliers ; if they speak not to us in his name, they liave no riglifc over our consciences, to impose new duties upon us : James iv. 12, * There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.' Now his calling being a powerful excitation to do our duty, it originally be- longeth to God.
(2.) As to privileges : The blessings God ofFereth are so great and glorious, that none else can give us a right to them but God ; and the soul can have no security that it doth not usurp and intrude upon the possession of things that belong not to us till we have his warrant. As the apostle speaketli of an office, Heb. v. 4, ' No man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron ;' so it is true of all prerogatives ; we have no leave to assume and take the honour of them to ourselves till we are called of God : that is our warrant. None came to the wedding-feast till they were bidden, Mat. xxii., or went into the vineyard till they were hired, Mat. XX. This is the difference between duties and privileges : that any man, who will prefer that office of charity and love to us, may excite us to our duties, to unquestionable duties, due from the crea- ture to the Creator ; but no man can assure us of right to privileges without the Creator's leave. Man cannot make that to be a necessary duty to the Creator which is not. But man may warn us of our danger when we disobey God ; but man cannot assure us of our right to such privileges without God's grant. Therefore certainly it is God that must call us
[2.] None else can have power ; for to calling there is necessary not only the invitations of the word, but also the effectual operation of the Spirit. None else can change the heart. A Christian is nothing, and hath nothing, but what God is pleased to work in him by his divine power : 2 Peter i. 3, ' According as his divine power hath given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.' It is a work of an infinite power to give grace to graceless souls, to make those that are sensual and worldly to become spiritual and heavenly, there being so much opposition to hinder that work ; for such is the corruption of men's hearts, the power of Satan over us, that he keepeth possession till a stronger than he overcometh him, Luke xi. 21. Therefore it is always made the work of his power, ' who calleth the things that are not as though they were,' Kom. iv. 17. It is still ascribed to his creating power; either the illumination of the mind, 2 Cor. iv. 6, ' For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ ;' or inclinations of the heart, Eph. ii. 10. We can neither think, nor effect, nor pursue spiritual and heavenly things without it. Therefore certainly it is God that calleth us.
2. The outward means : ' by our gospel.' Where— (1.) Consider the means itself : the gospel ; (2.) The interest which the apostle chal- lengeth in it : our gospel.
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114 THE TWELFTH SERMON. [l! ThES. II. 14.
[1.] The means itself : the «;()si)c'l. Tliis God useth : — (1.) Because it God will call and invite the creature by his duty to liis ha|)i)iness, it is necessary that his call should be evident to the creature by some visible sijj^n. Now, the natural duty of man is much seen by the creation: Rom. i. 19, ' Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them ;' Ps. xix. 1,2,' The heavens declare the ^lory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork : day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.' But this call is made to man fallen, as a remedy to his lapsed estate, which, depending on the free grace of God, can only be known by his revelation, conveyed to us by extra- ordinary messengers, such as Christ, who was the princij)al revealer of the doctrine of Ciod for the saving of the world, and him God authoiised and sealed to this end : John vi. 27, ' Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto ever- lasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you ; for him hath God the Father sealed.' And tlien by the apostles, who were insti- tuted by Christ, and sent forth to proselytise the world to the obedience of God ; and they were also authorised from heaven by divers signs and wondeis, as long as it was necessiiry to use that dispensation for the confirmation of their message, and to show how dangerous it was to neglect a doctrine so useful to mankind, and suitiible to their great necessities, and so owned by God, Heb. ii. 3, 4. Therefore by the gos])el God called them to this grace.