Seçr.,XII. of Pffeoá'uaGCafling. any hopes of thy Jufiification or Glorification, as long as thou ioppeil the ear againit Gods call ifeffecu:aiycalled, thouwouldulcry our, Speak Lord, for thy ferranthearech; when God gave Abrahama call and command to facrifice his'only Sonne, hé ninth ca y in the morning, and can lay his knife co the very throat of hisonly childe ; Even thus whenGod commands thee tomortifie fach a finne; tocrucifiefetchalull, (pare it not, kill it elfe it will kill thee, is will damn thee ; now the effeetuallycalled perfon, hegets up betimes, he layeth his knife ro the throat of his deareft lulls, and now he hatesthis Tamar more then ever be loved her : Oh, hecriech out, I muff either part with God or finne, I mulleither leaveChrift or this tuft, I cannot keep them both together, and then withmuch zeal and deteftation, he calls away his beloved tranfgrcflïons, God then careth not for thy formalities, thy complements, thy duties, but is thy obedience ready ? Godcals thee to love him, to hate fitme; Is this com- mand obeyed ? Obedience nbetter thenSacrifice : Did ft thou obeyGod ingiving overchy fwearing, thy drunkennefs, thy lofts ; This would be more acceptable then ten thoufand Sacrifices, or outward dutiesof Religion. Even thevery in- animatecreatures have obeyed whencalled upon, as when the Prophet cried, 0 Altar, Altar, hear the.Werd of the Lord, and it rent in nieces ; but thoucon- tinueíl obflinace. Secondly, The effeanellycalled, they docarefisly obferve and \5 :cb againlll all thole centrary call, the: woald tarn them out'of.the Way : -For you mull know as Gòd bath his voicecalling; fo fin and the devil they have their (wen Syrenian Songs ;They hare their cals alfo,onecals one way,theother a contraryway.Sole- men tels us of wifdom, that is, Godlinefe uttering her voice in the fireets, crying aloud, Pro,t.¡. Tothefimple end unreifethat they get nnderffanding r and then again he telsus of the whorifh woman, as diligent total I in the fimple man that paffeth by, to defile himfelf. Our Saviour bids us Be Wife as Serpents, Mat. II. 16. Now as he floppeth his ear that he may not hear thecharmérs,though char- ming never fowifely, becaufe it's forhis deftrullion; fo much'rather ought we to clo e up the ear'againft all thole fweet allurements offinne, and temptations thereunto vIyJJ'eshis companions wereall turned intobeaus, (asthey,feign- ed) becaufe theywould drinkof chofe inciting cups,and hearken to the Syrenian Songs. And therefore menare degenerated into all lulls and beaftlineffe, be caufe they hearken to fenfe, to lulls, they attend to their'call and cry. AsEve giving ear to the Serpent, and not refilling him at firft, was immediately de- ftroyed ; now then the truly called ones, they flop the ear againt the world, againfl carnal wifdom, and hearkenonly what God iaich, what the Scripture faith. It is many timesthe profeflionofa Chriftian ; Oh if 1 could but know whenGod cals to me '1 If I could but underhand bis will what hewould have merado, thenI would runafter hiim now there is no fuch way to finde out God calling of thee, as to bid all carnal reafonings , all flefhly confultations hand aloofoff. Ifa man would fee the true reprefencacion of his face in a glaffe; he muff wipe offall thedull and filch, and foif thou ,wouldft difcern Gods cal- lingof thee from all ether falfecals, be (tire that earthly confederations be not laid in the kale : Thus Pau/ refilled that confulcacion which flab and blond profered him, Gal, r.:6. and fo Chrift bid Peter,Drpare for he yeas a Satan tohim, Mat,8.33. anadverfary to him. Thirdly, He that is effeEíually called, it carefulltoWelkin a Worthy and. befeem- ingmannerofir. I befeecbyou, faithPaul, that youWalb`Warthyof your ceiling, Ephefq.r. Every man inany condition or effete, isto look to the ei erpsysve quod decet, what is fitting and becoming him. Thofeaftìonsare befeeming a childe which arenot an oldman; menof betterbreeding have a flitable deportment: . And thus iris in Chriftianity, Thy holy and heavenly calling íhould raifeup thy, 'fpirits, ennoble thy coraverfation. As. Nehemiah argued from the office and 'teuf that was committedto him, Shallfetch a men as1flee ? Thou fhouldft then G g g g 3 confider, 3.
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