SERMON LXXXVIII.

ON THE FOLLY OF THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD.

The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
1 CORINTH. iii. 19.

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, which in his estimation is reproached; so, as the text informs us, there is a wisdom of the world, which is foolishness with God. Assuredly there is nothing in which it imports 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 himself 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 errors shall take place respecting it; if one shall mistake that for wisdom, 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 shew, first, what the nature and spirit of that wisdom of the world is, 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 means. If he prefer those which are 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 public opinion. Hence he is seldom an open 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 he 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 of those whom I mentioned above as the men of pleasure. With them, vice breaks forth in occasional fits and starts; with the other it grows up into a hardened and confirmed principle. In the midst of the gross irregularities of pleasure, circumstances often force remorse on the sinner's mind. Moments of compunction arise, which may be succeeded by conviction and reformation. But the cool and temperate plan of iniquity, on which the man of worldly wisdom proceeds, allows the voice of conscience to be longer silent. The alarm which it gives, is not so loud and violent as to awaken him at once from his evil courses, and instantly to prepare him for a better mind.

The man of the world is always a man of selfish and contracted disposition. Friends, country, duty, honour, all disappear from his view, when his own interest is in question. He is of a hard heart; he chooses indeed to be so, lest at any time the unguarded effusions of kind affections should carry him beyond the line of worldly wisdom. The more thoroughly that the spirit of the world has taken possession of him, the circle of his affections becomes always the narrower. His family will perhaps find place, as connected with his own importance, and with his plans either of power or wealth; but all beyond that circle are excluded from any particular regard. It is his great principle never to embark seriously in any undertaking from which he foresees no benefit likely to redound to himself. Public spirit he considers either as a mere chimera created by the simple, or a pretence employed by the artful for their own purpose. Judging of the rest of the world by what he feels within himself, he proceeds on the supposition that all men are carrying on interested designs of their own, and of course is ever on his guard against them. Hence to the cordialities of friendship he is an entire stranger; too much wrapt up in himself, indeed, to be a friend to any one, and if his prudence restrain him from being an open and violent enemy, yet he is always an unforgiving one.

Candour, openness, and simplicity of manners, are ridiculed by the man of this description, as implying mere ignorance of the world. Art and address are the qualities on which he values himself. For the most part, he would choose to supplant a rival by intrigue, rather than to overcome him by fair opposition. Indeed, what men call policy and knowledge of the world, is commonly no other thing than dissimulation and sincerity. The world is a great school, where deceit in all its forms is one of the lessons that is first learned, and most eagerly caught by such as aspire to be proficients in worldly wisdom. A man of the world, in short, is one, who, upon any call of interest, flatters and deceives you; who can smile in your face, while he is contriving plans for your ruin; who, upon no occasion thinks of what is right, or fit, or honourable; but only of what is expedient and useful to himself.

I HAVE dwelt the more fully on the delineation of this character, that each of us might learn whether there be any feature in it that applies to himself; as it is a character too frequently met with in the world, and not always so severely reprobated as it ought to be. Let me now ask, whether such a character as I have described be in any respect an amiable one? Is the man of the world, polished, and plausible, and courtly, as in his behaviour he may be, one whom you would choose for a companion and bosom friend? Would you wish him for a son, a brother, or

a husband? Would you reckon yourself safe in confiding your interests to him, or entrusting him with your secrets? Nay, let me ask, if he be one whom in your hearts you respect and honour? His shrewdness and abilities you may perhaps admire; stand in awe of him you may; and, for the sake of advantage, may wish him to be on your side. But could you honour him as a parent, or venerate him as a magistrate; or would you wish to live under him as a sovereign? Of what real value then, let me ask, is that boasted wisdom of the world, which, can neither conciliate love, nor produce trust, nor command inward respect? -At the same time, I admit that the man of the world may be a man of very considerable abilities. He may display talents of many different sorts. Besides art and sagacity, he may possess genius and learning; he may be distinguished for eloquence in supporting his own cause; he may have valour and courage to defend himself against his enemies.-But observe, I entreat you, a consequence that follows. You see in this instance, that the most distinguished human abilities, when they are separated from virtue and moral worth, lose their chief eminence and lustre, and are deprived of all valuable efficacy. They dwindle into despicable talents, which have no power to command the hearts, nor to ensure the respect and honour of mankind. Let it be carefully observed, and always remembered, that integrity, probity, and moral worth, are essentially requisite to give the stamp of real excellence to any powers or abilities which the human mind can possess.- Having now considered the nature and effect of worldly wisdom with respect to men, let us inquire,

II. How it stands with respect to God. It is said in the text, to be foolishness with God. It is so in three respects: It is contemptible in God's sight; it is baffled in its attempts by God; or, when its attempts are successful, they are allowed to produce nothing but disappointment and vanity.

FIRST, it is contemptible in God's sight. Pleased and satisfied as the wise man of the world may be with himself, and honoured as he may fancy himself to be by the multitude, let him be mortified with reflecting that, in the eye of him who is the Supreme Judge of all worth, his character is mean and wretched. That which God declares himself to love and honour, is truth in the inward parts: the fair, sincere, and candid mind. He who walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness, is the person who shall abide in his tabernacle, and dwell in his holy hill. When our blessed Lord designed to mark one of his followers with peculiar distinction and honour, he said of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile ;* a character so directly the reverse of

* John, i. 47.

worldly wisdom, that from this circumstance alone you may judge in what rank that wisdom stood with him.

But it is not only from the declarations of the Scripture, but from the whole course of Providence, that we learn the contempt in which God holds the wisdom of the world. Who were they on whom he conferred the highest marks of distinction which ever honoured mankind; whom he singled out to be the companions of Christ, the workers of miracles, the publishers of everlasting happiness to mankind? Were they the wise men of the world, the refined and the political, who were employed as the instruments of God on this great occasion? No: he chose a few plain, simple, undesigning men, in order to make foolish the wisdom of the world, and by their means to overthrow the establishments of the artful, the learned, and the mighty.-To this day, God in the course of his Providence bestows those external advantages which the men of the world so earnestly pursue, with apparent disregard of worldly wisdom. He allows no fixed nor regular connection to subsist between an artful, political conduct, and riches, reputation, or honours; he allows them not this mark of value; he does not always give the race to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor riches to men of understanding; but, on the contrary, scatters the advantages of fortune with a promiscuous hand; and often allows them to be attained by the vilest and lowest of men, who neither by worldly wisdom, nor any other talent whatever, had the smallest title to deserve them.Judge then, ye wise men of this world, whether your characters and pursuits be not most contemptible in God's sight, when you behold those spiritual blessings which he esteems, withheld from you, and bestowed only on the good and the pious; and those worldly blessings which you covet, when at any time they are allowed to you, yet allowed only as a portion in common to you with the refuse of mankind, with many characters so infamous that you yourselves despise them?

In the second place, the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God, because it is baffled by him. Some triumphs he has occasionally allowed it to gain, in order to carry on some special purpose that his Providence had in view. Hence a splendid conqueror, or a successful conspirator, dazzle at times the public eye, and attract imitators of their characters and exploits. But, if you extensively consult historical annals, and much more, if you will attentively consider what is known to happen. in private life, you will find the examples to be few and rare, of wicked, unprincipled men attaining fully the accomplishment of their crafty designs. It is true that the justice of Heaven is not, in the present state, fully manifested, by rendering to every man according to his deeds. But I believe it will be found by