2. Observe, the ground of this obedience is God's call. Here are two instances together : Noah's faith wrought by fear, the ground of that was oracle — ' Being warned of God ; ' and Abraham's faith wrought by hope, the ground of it was God's call, 'By faith — Abraham, being called ot God ; ' he had the express command and promise of God. Hence observe, till we have a call we cannot take
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the honour of laying claim to the promises : for no man takes this honour hut he that is called of God, and we shall have no Avarrant for obedience without a call. It is but will-worship without a call, and hope would be but a mere fancy. As those which stood idle in the market-place, when they were asked, Why do not you labour ? they answered, None hath hired us : we were not called to work. Without a call the world would be but a general cell of monks, that leave kindred and father s house without any warrant.
3. Observe, this call consisteth of a command and a promise : 'Go thou,' there is the command — ' and thou shalt receive the land for thy inheritance,' there is the promise. The command is the ground of duty, and the promise is the ground of hope and expectation. And still God dealeth Avith us in the same manner — ' Believe, and thou shalt be saved ; ' with all the commands of God there is a promise annexed. Hence observe, it is God's mercy to propound encourage- ments when he might enforce. God will draw us with the cords of a man, and allure us into obedience by commands and promises. The brute-creatures are ruled by mere sovereignty, but God deals with men as men. We have election and choice ; and therefore there is not only duty laid before us, but death and life. God said to Abraham, Go ; it is a hard duty, but thou shalt not lose by it, for thou shalt have the land of Canaan for thy inheritance.
4. I observe again, this call is brought to men when they are in their worst estate ; for mark, the call was made to Abraham when he Avas at Mesopotamia, Acts vii. 2, in Ur of the Chaldees ; then God said to him, ' Leave thy country and thy father's house.' Therefore, when this call is mentioned. Gen. xii. 1, the phrase there is ' the Lord had said to Abraham ; ' God had spoken to him before he came from Charran. Now in Ur of the Chaldees they were idolaters : Josh. xxiv. 2, 3, ' Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood,' &c. Then Avhen he Avas serving idols, he and all his kindred, then God comes and enters into a treaty of grace with him. That is the reason the apostle makes Abraham to believe in God as 'justifying the ungodly.' Rom. iv. 5. Abraham before grace was, as we all are, ungodh', a Avorshipper of idols. Hence observe, Avhen God comes to call us, he calls us out of mere grace. Consider this, that you may neither despair of mere}', nor yet ascribe grace to any merit or good dispositions of your own. Abraham, that Avas the father of the faithful, the chiefest of believers, when God came to take him to grace, he was as vile a sinner as any. The Avhole land was open to God, but God took Abraham your father. AVas he better than others ? No : he and liis father served idols, the son could not be better than the father by whom he was educated ; but God of his mercy singled him out from the rest. Paul, a persecutor, Abraham, an idolater, obtained mercy of God : 1 Tim. i. 13, ' AVho was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious, but I obtained mercy.'
5. I obserA'e again, that free grace makes a distinction between them of the same line and kindred ; God called him alone, and blessed him — 'Forsake thy country and thy father's house.' None of
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Abraham's kindred, but only Lot were called ; the rest were turned out ; Isa. li. 2, ' Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you ; for I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him ; ' that is, though there were more besides him of his race and family. Thus God can make a difference between brother and brother, and between brother and sister; Jacob was loved, and not Esau; Abel was accepted, and not Cain. God can come into a town, and pick out two or three berries on the top of the uppermost branches — ' One of a city, and two of a tribe,' Jer. iii. 14. God may leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness of the world to seek one sheep. Those that are in the same bed, in the same employment, feeding at the same meal, one shall be taken to grace, and the other shall be left to misery and judg- ment. He can put a distinction between husband and wife ; free grace picks and chooses according to its own pleasure. Eemember this, that thou mayest know who it was that made thee to differ, and admire not only the kindness, but the freedom of his grace : Eom. ix. 18, ' There- fore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy.'