That not all mankinde are called with a saving call; How absurd it is to hold, That the Works of God, the Sun, Moon and Stars, &c. may so call Men; And Gods Justice cleared in that point, stirring up all to behold the severity and goodness of the Lord.
ACTS. 2. 39.
VVE have handled the third kinde of persons enumerated in this Text; viz. Those that are afar off. The next thing in order to be considered, Is the further description of those that are afar off, which is by way of restriction and limitation, As many as God shall call; wherein observe, 1. The limitation of the number, As many as God shall call: You see its not an universal, its not to all that are afar off, but onely to those whom God shall call unto him. 2. There is the benefit or priviledge God vouchsafeth, described; 1. From the nature of it, Call. 2. From the efficient cause, The Lord our God shall call; the Greek word is with the proposition, […], shall call unto him, which doth partly denote, the great distance that all men by nature are from him; and partly, the mighty power and strength of God, whose word onely can make such a change. Christ from heaven said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me, and his Blackamoor skin, yea, heart, was presently made white and clean: Christ did by a word onely call Matthew the Publican from his place of gain and profit, and he presently leaveth all and followeth him: Thus as he said to Christ, Lord, if thou say but the word, my servant shall live: So its here; Lord, if thou speak but the word, the mountains will melt like wax, iron swim, the rivers of Jordan run backward, the hills skip like lambs; that is, the lives, the thoughts, the purposes of men will be wholly altered and changed; its but Gods call, and that will make the deaf to hear, and the foolish to understand: And partly this doth imply, the meer good will and pleasure of God, it resolveth all into his grace: Here is no goodness, no worth in these men that are afar off, moving God, but, As many as God shall call: The utmost into which all is resolved is God will have mercy, on whom he will have mercy. I shall at this time pitch on the restriction or limitation of the subject, Not all that are afar off, onely such whom God shall call: And from thence observe,
Observ. That not all of mankinde, but some onely doth God call, with a saving call.
The Apostle plainly makes a difference of these that are thus afar off, and this onely to come from God; some are so afar off, that they never hear the voyce of God in the word calling them to repent, and believe in Christ: Others again have salvation brought unto their house; and if thou ask, why God calls such, and not others? Noli Scrutari, do not curiously pry in this mystery, Gods ways are just, even when they are hidden to us: Too much gazing on this Sun, may quickly blinde us.
To open and clear this point, consider,
First, That there is a general and common invitation, even of all in the world by1 God; and there is Aspecial gracious one: The former invitation is by the creatures, by the works of God; and as the Psalmist saith, There is nothing hid from the heat of the Sun, Psal. 19. That doth penetrate one way or other to every sublunary thing: So its true of this invitation and call, none is denyed it, none are so afar off, but that God thus calls: Now indeed, this is not properly, and in the Scripture sense a calling, I do not remember that the Scripture any where makes the works of Creation and Providence, as a calling of men, unless in a very large sense; as the heavens are said, to declare the glory of God, And the rod of God, or his judgements (though that be spoken of his judgements on the Church) are said to have a voice. Now that God by the works of his Creation and Providence in the world, doth teach and convince men, and so in that general way call men, is plain, Rom. 1. where the creatures made by God, are said to declare those invisible properties of Gods wisdom, power and goodness. Thus Divines speak of a twofold School God hath, the School of the Creatures, and the School of Grace by the Gospel: And though the books in the first School, viz. Of the Creatures, be very dark, and in characters hardly legible, yet God did punish and chastise men with very sore and heavy judgements, yea, spiritual judgements, the worst of all, Rom. 1. because they did not learn this lesson, and were not proficients in that School: So then, the whole world, in the excellent harmony of it, doth necessarily teach a God: Even Tully doth by an excellent similitude demonstrate this: If (saith he) you should see a Book consisting of many letters, and all those exactly set together and orderly, so as to make up a compleat sense; no man will say, Those letters and words put themselves together, or that they came together by chance: So it is with the world, This great book, the excellent composition and harmony of all things, do fully declare that these things did not make themselves, or that they came accidently together, but a great God disposed them by his wisdom and power. This invitation Paul considers of in his Sermon at Athens, Acts 17. […]7. That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and finde him. Now there have been some of old, yea, and many in these days, that would stretch these Texts too far, as if the invitation by the creatures, were immediately saving, or that men might obtain salvation by looking into these: They have not been afraid to say, That2 by the Sun and Stars we may come to be effectually called, as well as by the Apostles, and the preaching of the Gospel: But how senselesse and absurd is this? For