118 SERMONS UPON TITUS II. 11-14. [SeR. VII.
iniquities, 0 Lord, who should stand ? ' And God hates this sin so much that he lets men fall into many scandalous sins when they grow proud of their holiness. The ornament of a high and honourable estate in the world is not outward splendour, but the humble mind ; James i. 10, ' Let the rich rejoice in that he is made low.' This is true nobteness and eminency, and an argument of a great mind, to be like a spire, least and low in our own account when most exalted by God.
[2.] Against the other, pride in desires and inordinate affectation of greatness. Consider wliat God hath done for you already, and prize the opportunity of a private life, and improve it to frequency of duty and converse with God. It is better to be like a violet, known by our own smell rather than our greatness. The mountains are exposed to blasts and winds, and they are generally barren , but the low valleys are watered and fruitful ; therefore men know not what they do when they seek great things. The true ambition is to seek the great things of heaven and the great things of Christ, and for other things, to refer ourselves to the fair invitation and allowance of God's providence. A vainglorious man is nothing in Christianity. Paul can count a man's judgment but a small thing : 1 Cor. iv. 3, ' With me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment.' God is our judge, and the business of our lives is to approve ourselves to God ; man's judgment must not be valued. And besides, it is a vain thing to affect that in which we may be soon crossed. One man's opinion may disturb our quiet ; one Mordecai can cross Haman in all his pomp. To doat upon that which is in the power of those whose humours are as inconstant as the waves, or their breath, or the wind, is a very great folly ; where one word may deject us and cast us into sorrow. And lastly ; consider, this is nothing to eternal glory.
SERMON VIL
We might live soherhj, dec. — Titus ii. 12.
The lesson which grace teacheth was propounded privatively and positively.. Privatively, wherein I have showed what we must eschew and avoid, viz., ' Ungodliness and worldly lusts.'
I now come to the positive part, where the duty of man is distributed into three kinds. Look, as in a moral consideration, there are but three beings, God, neighbours, and self, so here the apostle makes three parts and branches of our duty — that we should live soberly as to ourselves ; righteously as to our neighbour; godly, that the Lord may not be defrauded of his portion. Sobriety respects the duties of our personal capacity ; righteousness the duties of our relation to others ; and piety the duties of immediate intercourse with God.
I begin with the iirst of the apostle's adverbs, that we should live soberly. Sobriety is a grace very necessary ; we can neither be righteous
YeR. 12.] SERMONS UPOX TITUS IT. 11-14. 119
nor pious without it ; for he that is not sober, he takes to himself more than is due, and so can neither give God nor man their portion. If he he unsober, he will be unjust ; he robs the church of his parts which are quenched in pleasure, the commonwealth of his service, the family of their maintenance and necessary provision ; and then the poor are robbed, because that which should be spent in their relief is wasted in luxury. And then he that is unsober cannot be godly, for he doth not give God his portion ; he robs God of his time, and, which is worse, of his heart ; for that, being carried out to pleasure* it is deprived of the fruition of God, and transported from better delights. So that if we would discharge our duty to God or man, if we would live righteously and piously, we must live soberly. Once more, that you may a little conceive of the weight and consequence of this discourse, sobriety is a part of virtue's armour : so much is intimated by the apostle, 2 Peter i. 5, 6, ' Add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience.' Virtue or strict- ness of life is rooted in faith, directed by knowledge, defended and maintained by temperance and patience ; by temperance on the right hand, and patience on the left. As fortitude or patience is necessary to arm grace against dangers, so is temperance or sobriety to arm it against pleasures and worldly comforts. It is hard to say which we need most, temperance or patience. We must expect hardships, and still we live among snares, but only snares are more frequent than troubles ; as more birds are ensnared by the net than killed by the birding-piece. Persecution hath slain its thousands ; but pleasures their ten thousands. Therefore you see sobriety is of great use in the spiritual life. As we need to press faith as the root of virtue, and knowledge as the guide of virtue, so we need to press temperance and patience as the guard and defence of virtue ; patience against the troubles and hardships that we meet with, and sobriety against the comforts and allurements of the present world.