him he comes to God, weary of his vain and unprofitable pursuits: exhausted with the search after repose, where it cannot be found, he says, "Return unto thy rest, O my soul;" in consequence of which he experiences a calmness and serenity of mind unknown before.

4. The other subordinate ends to which this call is directed are further illustrative of its nature. It is a call out of darkness into marvellous light; marvellous in its origin, entrance, progress, and effects; introducing marvellous discoveries, productive of a surprising change, and making a man a wonder both to himself and to others. The depths of sin, and the mysteries of grace, are made known; the mysteries of providence are now unravelled, whilst the density of the former darkness makes the present light the more astonishing: "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord." It is also a call from bondage to liberty; from the bondage of sin, of Satan, and of the law, unto the glorious liberty of the gospel and grace of God; from wrath and hatred, envy and malice, to love and peace in a word, from a state of sin and misery, to a state of holiness here, and happiness hereafter; or, as the apostle expresses it, "to glory and virtue." Hence, in one place it is styled "an holy calling." Vicious habits are changed, holy principles implanted; and thus we are made holy in all manner of conversation and godliness. Again, it is denominated" a heavenly calling." It fits for heaven, and will at length bring to it. A partial conformity to God in this world will be followed by a perfect conformity to him in the next. "Whom he called, them he also glorified." Those in whom Christ reigns here, shall reign with Christ hereafter.

5. The methods of God's proceeding with respect to this call are various. "There is a diversity of operations," says the apostle," but it is the same God which worketh all in all." Some are called into the vineyard at the third, some at the sixth, some at the ninth, and some even at the eleventh hour. Concerning some it may be said, "from the womb.

of the morning, God has the dew of their youth," as in the case of Abijah and Obadiah under the Old Testament; Timothy, and John, the beloved disciple, under the New. Others have been born out of due time, and the lamp of life has been almost extinguished before the light of divine grace has been kindled in their souls. Abraham was far advanced in years before he was called out of Ur of the Chaldees; and there was but a short interval between the renovation and glorification of the thief upon the cross. Sometimes God has made use of remarkable providences, personal afflictions, public calamities, the sudden death of others; sometimes startling dreams, sometimes the edifying discourse of private Christians, but generally the public ministry of the word, to bring about this wonderful and most desirable change. Some God calls with a loud and thundering voice, causing the foundations of the heart, like those of Paul's prison, to shake and tremble; they are awakened and startled out of their carnal security by the flames of hell, as it were, flashing in their faces, and the groans of the damned sounding in their ears:-thus it seems to have been with Saul of Tarsus and the jailor at Philippi :—whilst to others, he speaks as he did to Lydia, in the small still voice. He steals away their hearts as Absalom stole away the hearts of Israel, and they have been comforted almost as soon as they have been cast down. Some can point out the time of their conversion; whilst others can only say, "Whereas I was once blind, now I see." The spiritual temple has been built as the material one was without the noise of axes or hammers. Grace has been implanted, and the fruits of it made apparent, but the motions of the Spirit upon the soul have been like those of a shadow upon the dial, real but imperceptible. We can perceive there has been a motion, but we could not see how or when it occurred. This leads me

II. To set before you the properties of this call. I have already told you it is an holy and an heavenly one; to which I further add—

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1. It is personal and particular. The general call is to all that come under the sound of the gospel: this singles out the very person, and speaks to him, as it were, by name, -"Zaccheus, come down;""Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" The former is drawing the bow at a venture; the latter directs the arrow to the mark. The one is directed to the ear, the other to the heart. Ministers stand at the door and knock; the Spirit comes with his key, and opens the door. "I have called thee by name-thou art mine.”

2. It is a secret call; it is perceptible in its effects, but not in itself. This is beautifully illustrated by that saying of our Saviour, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Saul's companions heard a sound of words, but knew not what was spoken. The outward walk, the moral and religious conduct of the saint, are conspicuous to all; but the principles from which he acts, and the motives by which he is influenced, are known only to God and his own soul; in which sense the apostle might say, "As unknown, and yet well known." How different this call from that in the last day, when the angel commissioned for that purpose will say, in the hearing of all the world, "Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment!"

3. It is always successful. Many other calls are not so, even where God himself is the speaker; for he "speaketh once, yea, twice, but man regardeth it not." But when he speaks with a design that we should hear and obey, that design is never frustrated. All the power, policy, and malice of earth and hell, cannot obstruct the operations of his grace, which, as they are sovereign and free, so they are irresistible; so that the enlightened sinner may say, with Job, "Call thou, and I will answer:" and as this call admits of no resistance, so it admits of no delay. "Immediately," says the apostle, "I conferred not with flesh and blood." He speaks, and it is done; he commands, and it stands fast.