Which hringeth salvation to all men. — That is, to all that accept of grace, bond or free ; and that salvation is taken for our complete happi- ness, for eternal life and salvation, is clear enough. The point then is —
Doci. 3. That the grace of God revealed in the gospel is the great means of salvation, or a grace that tends to salvation.
56 SERMONS UPON TITUS II. 11-14. [SeR. II.
The gospel is called the power of God unto salvation : Rom. i, 16, ' I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation ; ' that is, a powerful instrument which God useth. Therefore it is called the arm of the Lord : Isa. liii. 1, ' AVho hath be- lieved our report ? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ? ' Its force is not in letters and syllables, but it standeth in the co-operation of the Spirit, by which God ownetli and honoureth it. It is said to Cornelius, when Peter came to preach the gospel to him, Acts xi. 14, that he sliould tell him words whereby he and all his house should be saved. There is no other way to bring men to God but this; this will teach you how you and your little ones should be saved.
Now the gospel, or the grace of God in the gospel, is a means of salva- tion, because it hath a moral tendency that way, and because it hath the promise of the Spirit's work and assistance.
1. It hath a moral tendency that way ; for there is the history of salvation, what God hath done on his part; there are the counsels of salvation, what we must do on our part ; and there are excellent en- forcements to encourage us to embrace this salvation.
[1.] There is the history of salvation, what God hath done on his part ; there all things are ready ; there you hear of the love of God, that he hath given his only Son, and of the free election of those whom he means to save in Christ. There you hear of the person of the Mediator, his mission and sending into the world, his incarnation, his unction, or anointing to his office, his abasement, his obedience, his death, his burial, his satisfaction for sin, his purchase of life ; and then his exaltation, with all the fruits and effects of it, to wit, his interces- sion at the right hand of God, his effusion and pouring out of the Spirit to be his deputy here on earth ; and there you read of his col- lection and manner of gathering of a church by the institutions of the word and sacraments ; there we hear of the humiliation of Christ, by which salvation was purchased ; and of his exaltation, whereby the graces that accompany salvation are distributed and dispensed, and how Christ by his Spirit applies this salvation.
[2.] There is the counsel of salvation, what man must do on his part that he may partake of the righteousness and Spirit of Christ, accord- ing to the good pleasure of God, which Christ purchased by virtue of his humiliation, and dispenseth and distributeth by virtue of his ex- altation. I call all this the counsel of God, because thus it is called in scripture: Luke vii. 30, The pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves.' If you will be saved, here is God's counsel, thus you must do. It is dangerous for a sick man to alter the physician's method and receipt, to be tampering, to be taking out and putting in ; so it is very dangerous to alter the counsel of God "which he hath set down how we may be brought to salvation. Do not, as the young man that came to Christ, and said, Mat. xix. 16, ' Good master, what good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life ? ' and yet, when Christ puts him to the trial, it is said he went away sad. So a natural man his heart is raised up to hearken after salvation, but he goes awa)' sorrowful when he cannot win heaven in his own way, to enjoy Christ and the world, Christ and carnal liberty, and Christ and his carnal pleasures ; therefore you must not only look to the his-
VeR. 11.] SERMONS UPON TITUS II. 11-1-1. 57
tory of salvation, what God hath done, but to the counsel of salvation, what you must do. And Peter sums it up, and gives an abridgment of the gospel : Acts ii. 37, 38, ' Men and brethren, what shall we do? and Peter said unto them, Kepent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, and ye shall re- ceive the gift of the Holy Grhost.' Kepentance, that implies true and lively grief because of sin and misery, by which a man feeleth the wrath of God, grieveth because lie hath offended God, acknowledgeth that he hath deserved condemnation, hungereth and thirsteth after Christ, and then waiteth till his heart be settled in the comfort of the gospel, and he possessed of the righteousness of Christ. Nay, repentance implies more ; you must lay down the weapons of defiance, and study thank- fulness to God, and walk in new obedience, and love God, and love your neighbour, and bear the cross quietly, waiting for eternal life. This is the counsel of God to you if you would be saved. And then he saith, ' Be baptized,' by which Peter understands a religious use of the seals, and all the means of salvation in which God is wont to meet us, and give us the supplies of his grace by his Spirit.