Use 3. Direction. Whenever you are troubled with your sins, and lusts are too hard for you, go to Christ- It is bis office to redeem you from your iniquity and the tyranny of sin ; therefore when you feel any corruption stir, go and complain to him, as Paul did, ' I cannot do the things I would,' Gal. v. 17. Go to Christ for help : he was sent for this purpose to redeem you from iniquity and dissolve tlie devil's work : 1 John iii. 8, ' For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.' It is his office to purge the church, to set us at liberty, to destroy Satan's power, to free us from our passions and corruptions ; therefore go, complain to him of the strength of your sins, for he will help you.
Use 4. Comfort in our conflicts. You are sure of a final victory before you enter into the combat : erelong we shiiU be out of the reach of tenaptation, and the Spirit shall be all in all.
Use 5. Examination.
1. Art thou sensible of thy natural bondage so as to grieve under it ? As the apostle, Eom. vii. 23, 24, ' I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. 0 wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? ' If it be not thus with thee, redemption by Christ will never be precious. There is sighing and weariness, they lay their sad estate to heart, as the church hung their harps upon the willows ; it is the grief of their souls that their lusts held them in captivity. The children of God complain more of the relics of sin than wicked men do of the full power of it.
2. Hast thou any freedom ? Sense of bondage is a good preparative, but it is not enough. All Christ's subjects are kings ; they rule over their own lusts ; though not freed from them altogether, they strive against them, and keep them under. And there is not only a freedom from ill, but a freedom to good : Ps. ex. 3, ' Thy people shall be will- ing in the day of thy power.' They do not serve God by constraint,
260 SERMONS UPON TITUS II. 11-14. [SeR. XXL
but are free to good, and serve God with as great cheerfulness as before they served their lusts: Rom. vii. 22, 'I delight in the law of God after the inward man.' They consult with the word of God, which was before their bondage and terror ; they have an ability and strength to do that which is good ; there is a new life in them, yet so as they are still excited by the Spirit.
Use 6. It informeth us what is true liberty, not to live at large : John viii. 36, ' If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.' Not to have power and sovereignty over others, not to exercise command and authority over others, but to subdue our lusts ; not to be left to ourselves to do what we please, that is the greatest bondage : Rom. vi. 20, ' When ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness ; ' but to do the will of God : 1 John iii. 5, ' And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin.' He died to take away sin, and to make us like himself, that the world might know that he was a pure and holy Saviour.
SERMON XXI.
And purify unto himself a peculiar people, &c. — Titus, ii. 14.
In this latter branch I observed Christ's act and then his aim. His act, ' He gave himself His aim and intention ; and here is the privative part of deliverance, ' To redeem us from all iniquity.' This I have finished.
I come to the positive part, ' And purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works,' He never communicates his blessings where he doth not bestow his grace. He did not only free us from hell, but from sin. It is well for the godly that Christ came to take away the proud and carnal heart, to take away corruption and iniquity, which is their greatest eyesore. But this is not all ; there is a positive bless- ing. Christ did not only come to deliver us from sin, but communicate grace, ' That he might purify to himself a peculiar people.'
Two points I shall open to you —
1. That whomsoever Christ maketh his people, he first purifieth them, or by purifying them maketh them his people.
2. Those that are purified are reckoned his treasure or peculiar people.
Doct. 1. That whomsoever Christ maketh his people, he first purifieth them, or by purifying maketh them his people.
Here I shall show you — (1.) The necessity ; (2.) The manner of it.
First, The necessity of this purification.
1. In regard of God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Every person in the Godhead, in the dispensation of grace, hath a distinct personal operation. Election is ascribed to the Father, redemption to the Son, and effectual application to the Holy Ghost. Now every one of these operations respects holiness. Election : Eph, i. 4, ' According as he