[2.] Internal, not only by the word, but by his Spirit, and the checks of their own conscience, which is a nearer approach of his grace and power to us. By the motions of his Spirit ; how else could it be said, Gen. vi. 3, ' My Spirit shall not always strive with man ' ? and Acts vii. 51, ' Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost ' ? And also by their consciences soliciting them to the performance of their duty, and challenging them for the neglect of it. It is natural duty : Eom. ii. 14, 15, ' The Gentiles do by nature the things contained in the law ; these, having not the law, are a law to themselves, which show the works of the law written in their hearts ; their consciences also bearing ' witness, and their thoughts in the meanwhile accusing or excusing one another.' And for acceptance of the gospel-covenant : 1 John iii. 20, 21, ' If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things ; if our heart condemn us not, then have we con- fidence towards God.'
3. This external and internal calling may be ineffectual or effectual. [1.] The ineffectual call consists in the bare tender and offer of
grace, but is not entertained. God may knock at the door of the heart that doth not open to him ; knock by the word, knock by the motions of the Spirit and checks of conscience ; so, ' many are called, but few are chosen,' Mat. xxii. 14. There is not the fruit of election, nor are these the called according to purpose.
[2.] The effectual call is when God changeth the heart, and bringeth it home to himself by Jesus Christ. We are not only invited to Christ, but come to him by the strength and power of his own grace : John vi. 44, ' No man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent, me, draw him.' When we yield to the call ; as Paul, who was extra- ordinarily called, saith. Acts xxvi. 19, 'I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision;' we have his consent and resignation recorded : Acts ix. 6, 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?' He yieldeth up the keys of his heart, that Christ may come and take possession. In an ordinary call : 2 Cor. viii. 5, ' They first gave themselves to the Lord ;' it is in other places expressed by our receiving or embracing Christ, John i. 12, both'are implied— our thankful accepting of Christ, and our giving up ourselves to him ; they both go together, and where the one is, the other is also. In every covenant there is ratio dati, et ac- cepii, something given and something required : Christ and his bene- fits, and what we have, are, and do, both are an answer to God's call.
Secondly, The properties of effectual calling.
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1. It is a holy calling : 2 Tim. i. 9, ' Who hath called us with an holy calling ;' and it is also a heavenly calling : Heb. iii. 1, ' Partakers of the heavenly calling:' because we are called to duties and privileges, these must not be severed ; some are forward to the privileges of the calling, but backward to the duties thereof. A good christian must mind both, the privileges to take him off from the false happiness, and the duties that he may return to his obedience to God ; the one is the way and means to come to the other ; for it is said, he hath ' called us to glory and virtue,' 2 Peter i. 3 ; meaning by glory, eternal life, and by virtue, grace and holiness. In the way that God olfereth it we embrace it ; we heartily consent to seek after eternal glory in the way of faith and holiness ; and so by it the heart is turned by Christ from the creature to God, from sin to holiness.
Thirdly, The ends of effectual calling, both on God's part and the creature's.
1. On God's part, that God may show his wisdom, power, and goodness.
[1.] His wisdom is seen partly in the way and means that God taketh to convert sinners to himself. There is a sweet contemperation and mixture of wisdom and power ; there is no violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor the liberty of second causes taken away, and yet the effect is obtained. The proposal of good to the understanding and will, by the secret power of the Loi'd's grace, is made effectual ; and at the same time we are taught and drawn : John vi. 44, 45, ' No man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him ; as it is written in the prophets, They shall all be taught of God ; every man therefore that hath heard, and learned of the Father, Cometh to me.' There is opening blind eyes, and turning a hard heart, Acts xxvi. 18. He worketh strongly like himself, sweetly with respect to us, that he may not oppress the liberty of our faculties ; and the convert, at the same time, is made willing by his own choice, and effectually cured by God's grace ; so that Christ cometh conqueringly into the heart, and yet not by force, but by consent. We are trans- formed, but so as we prove what the good and acceptable will of the Lord is, Eom. xii. 2. The power of God and the liberty of man do sweetly consist together ; and we have at the same time a new heart and a free spirit, and the powerful efficacy of his grace doth not destroy the consent and good liking of the sinner. The will is moved, and also changed and renewed. In the persuasive and moral way of working, God taketh the most likely course to gain the heart of man, discovering himself to us as a God of kindness and mercy, ready to pardon and forgive : Ps. cxxx. 4, ' But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared;' for guilty creatures would stand aloof off from a condemning God. No, God hath laid the foundation of the offer of his grace in the highest demonstration of his love and good- ness that ever could come into the ears of man to hear, or could enter into the heart of man to conceive — viz., in giving his Son to die for a sinful world : 2 Cor. v. 19, 20, ' To wit, that God was in Christ, recon- ciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us ; we