7. But since, by nature, we are so blind as to be utterly unable of ourselves sufficiently to discover our own wretchedness; God has been pleased to afford means, with a view to bringing us to a sound knowledge of ourselves. This is done by his holy Word and the Sacraments, which are always accompanied with his grace and Spirit. By these the Father draws, allures, and calls us to himself, as so many lost and wandering sheep. John 6:44. For as a straying sheep cannot of itself return, but must of necessity be sought and brought back to the fold by the shepherd, so we would forever go astray in the wilderness of sin and error, did not God himself carefully seek us; and this the examples of Peter and Paul abundantly confirm. Therefore the prophet says: “Turn thou me, O Lord, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God.” Jer. 31:18. “Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.” Jer. 17:14. “For it is God,” says the apostle, “which worketh in us, both to will and to do, of his good pleasure.” Phil. 2:13. 8. When, therefore, the Lord graciously awakens us by these means, and invites us to repentance, it is our part, not to withstand his grace and Spirit; (as it is said, “To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts”) (Ps. 95:7, 8); but to confess the sin which he thus reproves in us, and by no means make light of the grace offered to us in the Gospel. Then God will assuredly have mercy upon us, as he himself declares: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Isa. 55:7. 9. Upon this account the work of conversion, though it is entirely a work of God’s grace, is yet in one respect ascribed to us; namely, as we _give_ up ourselves to the Lord, and to his operations, and do not wantonly resist his Spirit, despise his grace, and cast it from us; or, as the apostle expresses it, do not put his Word from us, nor stop our ears against it, as did the Jews of old. Acts 13:46; 7:57. On the contrary, when the severity of the _law_ has laid open our spiritual diseases, and we have felt the bitterness thereof; let us avail ourselves of the _Gospel_ as a healing remedy, and suffer our heavenly Physician to restore us to health.