XVI.

the transient and turbid gratifications of SERMON sin and the world. To such endeavours of our own, for rectifying and improving our taste of pleasure, let us join frequent and fervent prayer to God, that he may enlighten and reform our hearts; and by his spirit, communicate that joy to our souls, which descends from him, and which he has annexed to every part of religion and virtue as the strength of the righteous.

L

SERMON XVII.

On the Folly of the Wisdom of the World.

SERMON
XVII.

1 CORINTH. iii. 19.

The Wisdom of this World is Foolishness with
God.

THE judgment which we form of ourselves often differs widely from that which is formed of us by God, whose judgment alone is always conformable to the truth. In our opinion of the abilities which we imagine ourselves to possess, there is always much self-flattery; and in the happiness which we expect to enjoy in this world, there is always much deceit. As there is a worldly happiness, which God perceives to be no other than concealed misery; as there is a worldly honour,

XVII.

which in his estimation is reproach; so, as SERMON
the text informs us, there is a wisdom of
this world, which is foolishness with God.
Assuredly there is nothing in which it im-
ports us more that our judgment should
agree with the truth, than in what relates
to wisdom. It is the qualification upon
which every man is inclined to value him-
self, more than on any other. They who
can with patience suffer imputations on
other parts of their character, are ready to
lose their temper, and to feel sore and hurt
when they are attacked for deficiency in
prudence and judgment. Wisdom is justly
considered as the guide of conduct. If any
capital errours shall take place respecting

it;
which at bottom is mere folly; such a
mistake will pervert the first principles of
conduct, and be perpetually misleading a
man through the whole of life. As the
text plainly intimates that this mistake does
often take place in the world, and as it
materially concerns us all to be on our
guard against so great a danger, I shall
endeavour to show, first, what the nature
and spirit of that wisdom of the world is,
which

if one shall mistake that for wisdom

AA 4

XVII.

SERMON which is here condemned; and next, in what sense and on what account it is styled foolishness with God.

I. LET us consider the nature of that wisdom which is reprobated in the text as foolishness with God. It is styled the wisdom of this world; that is, the wisdom which is most current, and most prized in this world; the wisdom which particularly distinguishes the character of those who are commonly known by the name of men of the world. Its first and most noted distinction is, that its pursuits are confined entirely to the temporal advantages of the world. Spiritual blessings, or moral improvements, the man of this spirit rejects as a sort of airy unsubstantial enjoyments, which he leaves to the speculative and the simple; attaching himself wholly to what he reckons the only solid goods, the possession of riches and influence, of reputation and power, together with all the conveniences and pleasures which opulent rank or station can procure.

In pursuit of these favourite ends, he is not in the least scrupulous as to his choice

of

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of means. If he prefer those which are SERMON the fairest, it is not because they are fair, but because they seem to him most likely to prove successful. He is sensible that it is for his interest to preserve decorums, and to stand well in the publick opinion. Hence he is seldom an openly profligate man, or marked by any glaring enormities of conduct. In this respect, his character differs from that of those who are commonly called men of pleasure. Them he considers as a thoughtless, giddy herd, who are the victims of passion and momentary impulse. The thorough-bred man of the world is more steady and regular in his pursuits. He is, for the most part, composed in his manners, and decent in his vices. He will often find it expedient to be esteemed by the world as worthy and good. But to be thought good, answers his purpose much better than subjecting himself to become really such; and what he can conceal from the world, he conceives to be the same as if it had never been. -Let me here remark in passing, that the character which I am now describing, is one less likely to be reclaimed and reformed, than

that