Johannes Hoornbeeck (1617–1666) on God Begging and Inviting Sinners to Come to Him

You should know that it is a sin, a grievous sin, if you do not come when God invites you (Matt. 11:28), loudly calls you (Isa. 55:1), commands you (1 John 3:23: “This is his command, that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ”), threatens you (John 3:36: “The wrath of God remains on him”), begs you (2 Cor. 5:20: “As though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him”).

Johannes Hoornbeeck, “Spiritual Desertion,” in Gisbertus Voetius and Johannes Hoornbeeck, Spiritaul Desertion, trans. John Vriend and Harry Boonstra, ed. M. Eugene Osterhaven (Baker Academic, 2003), 117.

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For more biographical information, see Joel R. Beeke and Randall J. Pederson, Meet the Puritans: With a Guide to Modern Reprints (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2006), 769–71; or Joel R. Beeke, Randall J. Pederon, and Fraser E. Jones, Meet the Puritans: A Guide to Their Lives and Books, 2nd ed. (Reformation Heritage Books, 2025), 1009–14.

All of the men within the broadly Augustinian tradition who use the metaphor of God begging that I have documented so far are the following:

Augustine (Early Church Father), Isaac Ambrose (Puritan), Thomas Brooks (Puritan), Daniel Burgess (Puritan), Jeremiah Burroughs (Westminster divine), Richard Baxter (Puritan), John Calvin (Reformer), Joseph Caryl (Westminster divine), Thomas Case (Puritan), Stephen Charnock (Puritan), John Collinges (Puritan), John Flavel (Puritan), Theophilus Gale (Puritan), William Gearing (Puritan), Andrew Gray (Puritan), William Gurnall (Puritan), Robert Harris (Westminster divine), Nathaniel Heywoood (Puritan), Johannes Hoornbeeck (Puritan), Thomas Larkham (Puritan), Hugh Latimer (Early English Reformer), Thomas Lye (Puritan), Thomas Manton (Puritan), John Murcot (Puritan), George Newton (Puritan), John Oldfield (Puritan), Anthony Palmer (Puritan), Edward Reynolds (Westminster divine), John Richardson (Puritan), Samuel Rutherford (Westminster divine), John Shower (Puritan), Richard Sibbes (Puritan), Sydrach Simpson (Westminster divine), William Strong (Westminster divine), George Swinnock (Puritan), Willem Teellinck (Puritan), John Trapp (Puritan), Ralph Venning (Puritan), Nathaniel Vincent (Puritan), Thomas Watson (Puritan), Daniel Williams (Puritan), Samuel Willard, Benjamin Wadsworth, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Solomon Stoddard, Samuel Davies, Ralph Erskine, Charles Spurgeon, Thomas Chalmers, Walter Chantry, Erroll Hulse, John MacArthur, Steve Lawson, Paul Washer, and Fred Zaspel.

John Calvin (1509–1564) on God Begging in the Gospel Offers

That, then, is how we are by nature, until God begins to work in us. It is no small thing to contend with God, to spit in the face of his Son and to charge full tilt at him like frenzied beasts. Consider for a moment how he chooses to approach us. He pleads with us—with us who have offended him, who are his enemies, who deserve to be struck down and destroyed! Yet he begs and urges us to be reconciled to him, and assures us that he, for his part, is ready. Thus Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians: ‘We come as ambassadors in Jesus’ name, beseeching you to be reconciled to God.’ Why, then, do we despise the gift he offers? Why are we so full of venom and fury that we reject it and insult God, as if we deliberately sought to do battle with him? One way or another, experience shows that Jesus Christ is truly a mark which is spoken against. How many, in fact, are there, who receive the gospel with a quiet and gracious spirit? Everyone seems bent on extinguishing it or on treading it underfoot.

John Calvin, Songs of the Nativity: Selected Sermons on Luke 1 & 2, trans. Robert White (Banner of Truth, 2008), 196–97.

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All of the men within the broadly Augustinian tradition who use the metaphor of God begging that I have documented so far are the following:

Augustine (Early Church Father), Isaac Ambrose (Puritan), Thomas Brooks (Puritan), Daniel Burgess (Puritan), Jeremiah Burroughs (Westminster divine), Richard Baxter (Puritan), John Calvin (Reformer), Joseph Caryl (Westminster divine), Thomas Case (Puritan), Stephen Charnock (Puritan), John Collinges (Puritan), John Flavel (Puritan), Theophilus Gale (Puritan), William Gearing (Puritan), Andrew Gray (Puritan), William Gurnall (Puritan), Robert Harris (Westminster divine), Nathaniel Heywoood (Puritan), Johannes Hoornbeeck (Puritan), Thomas Larkham (Puritan), Hugh Latimer (Early English Reformer), Thomas Lye (Puritan), Thomas Manton (Puritan), John Murcot (Puritan), George Newton (Puritan), John Oldfield (Puritan), Anthony Palmer (Puritan), Edward Reynolds (Westminster divine), John Richardson (Puritan), Samuel Rutherford (Westminster divine), John Shower (Puritan), Richard Sibbes (Puritan), Sydrach Simpson (Westminster divine), William Strong (Westminster divine), George Swinnock (Puritan), Willem Teellinck (Puritan), John Trapp (Puritan), Ralph Venning (Puritan), Nathaniel Vincent (Puritan), Thomas Watson (Puritan), Daniel Williams (Puritan), Samuel Willard, Benjamin Wadsworth, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Solomon Stoddard, Samuel Davies, Ralph Erskine, Charles Spurgeon, Thomas Chalmers, Walter Chantry, Erroll Hulse, John MacArthur, Steve Lawson, Paul Washer, and Fred Zaspel.

Willem Teellinck (1579–1629) on God Begging Lost Men in the Free Offer of Grace

God earnestly wants to save and bless lost people through this Redeemer. This earnestness of God is beautifully shown in the following ways. First, God extends the free offer of grace in Christ without distinction to all people who are brokenhearted and truly seek him (Isa. 55:1; Matt. 11:28; Rev. 22:17). The end of those who positively respond to his offer is wonderfully blessed, for no sooner does a person sincerely mourn and repent of his sins than salvation in Christ is immediately given to him. Second, this is such a serious matter that the Lord God himself begs and pleads with lost man to receive Christ in order to be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:19). And third, God is so earnest about this that he becomes very angry and terribly offended when someone refuses his invitation to receive forgiveness in Christ (Luke 14:21; Rom. 10:21).

Willem Teellinck, The Path of True Godliness, trans. Annemie Godbehere, ed. Joel R. Beeke (Baker Academic, 2003), 225.

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Teellinck has often been called “the father of the Dutch Further Reformation,” or the Nadere Reformatie. Teellinck spent nine months with the Puritan community in England and studied theology at Leiden. He trained there for two years under Lucas Trelcatius, Franciscus Gomarus, and Jacobus Arminius. In 1612, he was delegated by Zeeland to go to the Hague to lobby the States General for a national synod dedicated to resolving the growing problems associated with Arminianism. Homiletically, Teellinck was influenced by William Perkins, who advocated the Puritan “plain method” of preaching. After hearing Teellinck preach on a few occasions, Gisbertus Voetius wrote, “Since that time my heart’s desire has been that I and all other preachers of this land could duplicate this kind of powerful preaching.” See Joel R. Beeke and Randall J. Pederson, Meet the Puritans: With a Guide to Modern Reprints (Reformation Heritage Books, 2006), 782–91; or Joel R. Beeke, Randall J. Pederon, and Fraser E. Jones, Meet the Puritans: A Guide to Their Lives and Books, 2nd ed. (Reformation Heritage Books, 2025), 1032–39.

All of the men within the broadly Augustinian tradition who use the metaphor of God begging that I have documented so far are the following:

Augustine (Early Church Father), Isaac Ambrose (Puritan), Thomas Brooks (Puritan), Daniel Burgess (Puritan), Jeremiah Burroughs (Westminster divine), Richard Baxter (Puritan), John Calvin (Reformer), Joseph Caryl (Westminster divine), Thomas Case (Puritan), Stephen Charnock (Puritan), John Collinges (Puritan), John Flavel (Puritan), Theophilus Gale (Puritan), William Gearing (Puritan), Andrew Gray (Puritan), William Gurnall (Puritan), Robert Harris (Westminster divine), Nathaniel Heywoood (Puritan), Johannes Hoornbeeck (Puritan), Thomas Larkham (Puritan), Hugh Latimer (Early English Reformer), Thomas Lye (Puritan), Thomas Manton (Puritan), John Murcot (Puritan), George Newton (Puritan), John Oldfield (Puritan), Anthony Palmer (Puritan), Edward Reynolds (Westminster divine), John Richardson (Puritan), Samuel Rutherford (Westminster divine), John Shower (Puritan), Richard Sibbes (Puritan), Sydrach Simpson (Westminster divine), William Strong (Westminster divine), George Swinnock (Puritan), Willem Teellinck (Puritan), John Trapp (Puritan), Ralph Venning (Puritan), Nathaniel Vincent (Puritan), Thomas Watson (Puritan), Daniel Williams (Puritan), Samuel Willard, Benjamin Wadsworth, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Solomon Stoddard, Samuel Davies, Ralph Erskine, Charles Spurgeon, Thomas Chalmers, Walter Chantry, Erroll Hulse, John MacArthur, Steve Lawson, Paul Washer, and Fred Zaspel.