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Ten Pirates invade a King’s ship. They beat and rape the King’s entire family, and begin pillaging all the goods.

The King arrives in his rowboat, and from the water can see what’s going on. He shouts to the pirates, “Stop now, and I will be merciful to you, and forgive you!” (desire for all to repent, and not to die in sins).

The Pirates bring out his family and rape and murder them on the deck, while laughing at the King. As they get drunk on the wine from the ship they do even more perverse things with the bodies all while the King watches in horror, and rage. They yell insults and taunts at the King and light the sails on fire. The ship begins to go up in flames.

In their drunkenness they pass out, fall overboard into the water and begin to drown. The King yells to their unconscious bodies “Climb into my boat, if you want to live!” (universal call to spiritually dead people who can’t and won’t respond [dead in sins and tresspasses]).

The King is moved in his love and decides, in order to show how merciful he is, to save three of the pirates. He could have saved all ten, but rightfully decrees that the others will die for their sins. He pulls the chosen three from the water, moments before they die, and gives them CPR. All three are revived (regeneration).

When the pirates come to, the King commands them to repent and bow before him as Lord (Inward call to the elect). All three wretchedly guilty pirates realize what they’ve done, and how the King saved them, and they begin to weep. They wail with tears and express how sorry they are, and how they now know what a great King he is. They then request to become his slaves (faith and repentance). He forgives them completely, takes the boat to his castle, adopts the pirates, and makes them all princes. They are forever changed by his mercy, and from that day forward they rule with him in righteousness.

When you see the severity of man’s sinfulness you can no longer ask “Why didn’t the King save all ten pirates?”.

When you see men for what they truly are, that question is completely eclipsed by “How could a righteous, angry King give such amazing grace to the three?”.