VeE. 13.] SERMONTS LTOX TITUS U. 11-14. 181
SERMON XIIL
Lookhifj for, &c. — Titus ii. 13.
Use 1. Information.
1. It informs us that we may look for the reward. Those men would be wiser than God that deny us a liberty to make use of the Spirit's motives ; they begrudge God s bounty. To what end should God propound rewards but that we should close with them by faith ? Graces may be exercised about their proper objects without sin. It re- quireth some faith to aim at things not seen. The world is drowned in sense and present satisfactions ; they are mercenaries that must have pay in hand ; their souls droop if they do not meet with credit* ap- plause, and profit ; they make man their paymaster ; they have the spirit of a servant, that prizes present wages above the inheritance ; but it is the work of grace to look for the blessed hope, and a great help to us in our work. It was the comfort of Christ's human soul : Heb. xii. 2, ' "Who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame.' Christ as man was to have rational com- forts and human encouragements. Nothing is sinful but coveting the reward whilst we neglect the work ; when we will be mercenarii, but not operarii ; we would receive the reward, but not do our work. TVe are all born libertines ; we would sever the reward from the duty : Hosea x. 11, ' Ephraim is an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn,' but not to break the clods ; in treading out the com there was pleasure and profit, but in breaking the clods pain and lab- our. Or else we sin in having a carnal notion of heaven ; our looking for heaven is like their looking for Christ as the consolation of Israel. Some of the Jews look for a carnal Messiah ; so do many christians for a carnal heaven, for base pleasures, fleshly delights. Such hopes de- base the heart. It is the privilege of our profession that we have a subUme hope. Or else we sin in looking for the reward as the fruit of merit ; if we expect it as wages for work done, we are mercenaries. Sin and death are as work and wages: Rom. vi. 2.3, ' The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.' Eternal life is a donative. What is the reason of this differ- ence ? Because wicked men stand upon their own bottom, but Christ hath obtained this privilege for us. Wicked works are ours, merely evil, but the good we do is by God's grace, as a servant tradeth with his master's estate. I am bound to do good, and am forbidden to sin ; when I do that which is forbidden, I deserve punishment ; but when I do that which is commanded, I do not deserve a reward, because I am bound to do it : Jude 21, ' Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.' It is mercy that we are called, mercy that we are glorified ; neither before conversion nor after conversion do we deserve anything. We serve a good master, he hath provided comforts for us, not only against our misery, but our unworthiness ; we have not only glory as a reward, but mercy as the cause of it, glory out of the hands of mercy. Thus must you look for the reward, and build your
182 SERMONS UPON TITUS II. 11-14. [SeR. XIII.
hopes of it. As j'oii pray, so must you expect. Now you will not pray. Lord ! give me heaven, for I deserve it ; natural conscience would blush at the immodesty of such a request. Who would not have the title of inheritance rather than of hire? Again, our own happiness must not he our ultimate end. Man was made for a twofold end — to glorify God, and enjoy him for ever; they must both go to- gether ; we must desire the enjoyment of God that we may glorify God to all eternity, otherwise interest swayeth us more than duty. First, we love God out of interest, and are drawn with the cords of a man ; as first the fire is kindled, and then it sendeth forth much smoke; afterwards we love God out of pure affection ; at length, as the new nature gathers strength and perfection, men rejoice in God's glory as much as in their own salvation ; it is a simple act of adoration. In heaven it will be so, we shall rejoice in God's glory as much as in our our own interest and profit.
2. It informs us of the reason why the world and sin have such a power over men, why they lie under the power of present things ; we do not awaken our hopes, and consider blessedness to come so much as we should. It is not only a difference between sinners and saints, but be- tween christian and christian ; one is more heavenly than another. As there is a difierence between ordinary subjects and courtiers ; those that are always in their prince's eye and company are more polite in their manners than others, so the ofteuer the soul is in God's court, the more holy ; our hopes will have an influence upon our practice. It is hope that carries the soul aloft out of the reach of temptation, as birds when flying on high in the air need not fear nets nor snares nor the craft of the fowler. Keep hope alive, and then a christian cannot fail ; Heb. iii. 6, ' Whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence, and the rejoicing of hope firm unto the end.' If a man had such a lively hope, and some taste and feeling of heaven and blessedness to come, and a constant groaning after them ; if we could but glory in our hopes as much as if we had present possession, then we need not fear miscarrying.