The souls vocation or effectual calling to Christ. By T.HThe soules vocation or effectual calling to Christ. By T.H

Answ. It is nothing else but this: first, as it is undeniably ⟨p. 290⟩enlightened, to see this mercy of God, so there comes in a stream of the freeness and riches of Gods grace, and doth affect the heart with the sweetness and relish of Gods grace, that it finds a marvellous sweetness in it. Quest. Secondly, what is it to be effectually persuaded?

Answ. It is nothing else but this: first, as it is undeniably ⟨p. 290⟩inlightened, to see this mercie of God, so there comes in a streame of the freenesse and riches of Gods grace, and doth affect the heart with the sweetnesse and rellish of Gods grace, that it findes a marvellous sweetnesse in it. Quest. Secondly, what is it to be effectually perswaded?

Ans. It is thus much, not a touch and away, and a little sip and begone, nor a hourly kind of tasting: but take notice of these two things in it; First, when the prevailing sweetness in the promise, and that goodness in the promise is let in by the Spirit of the Lord, that it sinks into the heart roots, and it comes to take possession of the soul of an humble sinner, and is next the soul, there is nothing next the soul but that: the world and pleasure, &c. are without the heart; but the goodness of the promise, and the freeness of Gods grace hath its privy chamber in the heart of a man: this I take to be the meaning of that phrase of rooting the promise in the heart; and this was the fault of the stony ground-hearers; Matth. 13.21. The seed grew up suddenly, and perished suddenly: why? because it had not depth of earth; the seed of the promise had not the depth of his heart: but there was a stone in the heart, and the world lay next the heart; and a stone of lust and pride was between the word of the Lord and the heart, so that the promise had not root: and hence it was slightly affected with the truth, but never thus powerfully, to have it go down to the roots of the heart: the good word of the Lord in this case comes to the heart, not as an owner, but as a traveller;