Su c r. XII. of £ffetïudl Calling. 6c,; of old, yea, and may in theftdays, that would ftretch thefe Texts toofar, as if the invitation by the creatures, were immediately fairing,. or thatmen' might Ioiv abflrtd fz obtain falvation by looking into there : They bave not been afraidto fay,That is io act m, by the Sun and Stars we may come to be effeélually called, as well as by the chatby the Apoflles, and the preaching of the Gofpel : But how fenfelelfe and abfurd is woks of God, this ? .For ,the Sun, T.taog Firft, This invitation aad call by the creatures, doth not, nar cannot reveal any endSmay 68eC thing of Chri f, the only cant Of falvicetion t Withorit Cbrift there is no Salvati- cgeEtually on ; Now how is it pofúble by the Creatures, in a natural wayofdifcourfe, that tailed. ever we fhould come to know or believe in a Chrift ? TheDoéhine about him á is (till called a myftery, and the revelationof it bath been more or leffe clear, as Godbath pleafed todifpenfe it: Thevery Angelsdid not know it, till revealed to them. Indeed, by the .Creatureswe may prove a Godhead; but to prove a Chrift God and man, cannot be known by any Natural way of Argo- ment. Secondly, The call by the creatures is not /awing, becaufe it difcovers not the Way; of Salvation, no more then the cattle ; viz. Faith As Chrift is wholly a Superna- tural objell, and by revelation,to is faith the way to come tohim, the handto lay holdon him,onely by revelation : And therefore the Heathens,they looked only for reafon;the Gofpel waywas a foolifhnefs to them; theChriflians were called Credences,Believers, by wayoffcorn ; yea, learned men obferve thevery phrafes , ,nçn otc z a-' and cis 000 are loch phrafes that no humane Greek Authorsever tiled : So that not onelythe thing it Pelf, but thevery words to exprefs it, are altogether ftrange ; wherethen there is no Chrift,nor no faith, theremutt neceffarily be nocall to falvation. Thirdly, Thu call could net be [awing, for the furthefi andutmojl eff.a it lad 3 tapon mes, Wae onely outwardly to reform theirdives : It reftrained many from griefs fins, and kept them in the exercifes of temperance and juftice, and fuch Moral vectues; which thoughnamed vertues by Arifiotle, pet the Fathersdid upon Scripture-grounds call them vices and /plendida peccata, gliftringfins ; for fo in- deed all that Pietyand Moralitywhich is out oftheChurch ofGod, is a S'odom apple, fair to the eye, and inwardly nothing but afhos ; for there is no true SamRihcation, no true and right principles of hound's, but within the Church of God. As typically everyveffel was unclean, that was not in theTemple,and fanétifìed thereby. The heathensmuch boaff ofone Palames, a prophetic beefi- lyman, that came to hear Socrates at his Leelures, with a purpofe to fcoffand deride him, but wentaway wholly changed in his minde, and made fober; but what is this one external change, to thofe many thoufands and thoufands of changes which have been madeboth internally and externally by the word preached? But youmay fay, To what purpofeis this call of God by the Crea- tures, and the workof his providence, if itbe not to falvation ? Yes, it is much every way : Firft, Hereby even all men are made inexcufable e As the Apoftleurgeth, God r. hadnot left them without a witnefs or teftimony,. giving rain and plentiful To wham[' 9eafons : Thus becaufe mendid not glorifieGodaccording towhat the creatures awl 'porpote is might have taught them, they are givenup tovile affeetions: Mentherefore are he tall by madeinexcufableb thisway they cannot fay, God bath left themwithout Godswórks y Y i S. Y and erovidercc anyconvietionormanifeftationof himfelf: No, the creatures they call, all the worksofGods juflice and Gods mercy, they call; and then confcience, which is implanted in everyman the dictates and reafonings thereof, they allo call: Thus 'there will be enough to clear God, and to flop everymans mouth. Secondly, Gods purpofe in there calls, is to reftrain fin, and to draw men on . a, further then they do : There is no man that bath no more then this remote and confufecall, that cloth what he may do, andcando ; He cloth not improve, no, not that natural tirength that is in him: (I do not fay) to fpiritual good things;
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