but pity; they are under "the power of Satan" (Acts 26:18). They tread every
works for heaven, so he works in his trade.
Exhortations to those who are called
IF, after searching you find that you are effectually called, I have three exhortations to you.
1. Admire and adore God's free grace in calling you - that God should pass over so many, that He should pass by the wise and noble, and that the lot of free grace should fall upon you! That He should take you out of a state of vassalage, from grinding the devil's mill, and should set you above the princes of the earth, and call you to inherit the throne of glory! Fall upon your knees, break forth into a thankful triumph of praise: let your hearts be ten stringed instruments, to sound forth the memorial of God's mercy. None so deep in debt to free grace as you, and none should be so high mounted upon the pinnacle of thanksgiving. Say as the sweet singer; "I will extol you, O God my King, every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name for ever" (Psalm 145:1, 2). Those who are patterns of mercy should be trumpets of praise. O long to be in heaven, where your thanksgivings shall be purer and shall be raised a note higher.
2. Pity those who are not yet called. Sinners in scarlet are not objects of envy, but pity; they are under "the power of Satan" (Acts 26:18). They tread every day on the brink of the bottomless pit; and what if death should cast them in! O pity unconverted sinners. If you pity an ox or an ass going astray, will you not pity a soul going astray from God, who has lost his way and his wits, and is upon the precipice of damnation.
Nay, not only pity sinners, but pray for them. Though they curse, you pray; you will pray for persons demented; sinners are demented. "When he came to himself" (Luke 15:17). It seems the prodigal before conversion was not himself. Wicked men are going to execution . sin is the halter which strangles them, death turns them off the ladder, and hell is their burning place; and will you not pray for them, when you see them in such danger?
3. You who are effectually called, honour your high calling. "I, therefore, beseech you, that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called" (Ephes. 4:1). Christians must keep a decorum, they must observe what is comely. This is a seasonable advice, when many who profess to be called of God, yet by their loose and irregular walking, cast a blemish on religion,