But in the affairs of religion, and the concernments of our fouls, how frequently do men act without a due regard and confideration of their great end? And instead of making other things fubmit to it, they often bow and bend it to their inferior intereft. They make heaven ftoop to earth, and religion to ferve a worldly defign; and the glory of God to give way to gain, and the great concernments of their fouls, and their eternal falvation, to their temporal profit and advantage. The men of the world are generally true to their great end, and pay it that refpect which is due to it, and will fuffer nothing to take place of it in their esteem and affection and if men were as wife for their fouls. and for another world, they would bring all things to their great end, and make all the concernments of this temporal life to yield and give way to the great concernments of their eternal happiness. I proceed in the

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Second place, to give fome account of this, whence it comes to pafs, that the children of this world are wifer in their generation than the children of light. And this I fhall do, by confidering what advantages the children of this world have as to the affairs of this world, above what good men have as to the concernments of another world. 1 fhall inftance in four or five of the chief.

ft, The things of this world are prefent and fenfible, and because of their nearnefs to us, are apt to ftrike powerfully upon our fenfes, and to affect mightily to excite our defires after them, and to work ftrongly upon our hopes and fears; but the things of another world being remote from us, are leffened by their distance, and confequently are not apt to work fo powerfully upon our minds. They are invifible to us, and only difcerned by faith, which is a more obfcure and lefs certain perception of things, than we have of thofe objects which are prefented to our bodily eyes. The things which God hath prepared for them that love him, the glory and happiness of the next world, are things which eye hath not feen,

nor

nor ear heard. The children of light do not fee God, as the children of this world fee mammon.

adly, The fenfual delights and enjoyments of this world, are better fuited and more agreeable to the corrupt and degenerate nature of men, than fpiritual and heavenly things are to those that are regenerate. In this lapfed and degenerate ftate of mankind, appetite and fenfe are apt to prevail above reafon and therefore thofe things which are most delightful to fenfe, we favour and mind, and love to bufy ourselves about them, because they are most fuitable to the animal life, which is the governing principle of corrupt nature.

And the reafon of this is plain, because that prin ciple in worldly and fenfual men, which purfues earthly things, is in those who are unregenerate entire and undivided, and confequently the affections and inclinations of the whole man, do all tend one way, and run out towards thofe things in a full and undivided ftream; whereas good men are but regenerate in part; and though they have a principle of fpiritu al life in them, yet their affections are divided, and there is a great ftruggling and conflict between flesh and fpirit, and it is a great while before the spiritual principle doth clearly prevail, and get a perfect vitory over our fenfual appetites and inclinations. Mens affections to the world are entire and unbroken, and therefore they pursue these things with all. their might; but the best men are but good in part, and that heavenly principle which is in them, is very much hindered in its operations by a contrary principle, our earthly and fenfual inclinations, which are hardly ever perfectly fubdued and brought under in this world..

3dly, The worldly man's faith and hope, and fear of present and fenfible things, is commonly ftronger than a good man's faith and hope, and fear of things future and eternal. Now, faith, and hope, and fear, are the great principles which govern and bear fway in the actions and lives of men. If a man: be once firmly perfuaded of the reality of a thing, and that it is good for him, and poffeffed with good

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hopes

hopes of obtaining it, and great fears and apprehenfions of the danger of miffing it, this man may almost be put upon any thing. The merchant traf

ficks, and the husbandman plows and fows in faith and hope, because he is convinced that bread is neceffary to the fupport of life, and hopes that God will fo blefs his labours, that he fhall reap the fruit of them, and plainly fees, that if he do not take this pains, he muft ftarve. But how few are there that believe, and hope, and fear concerning the things of another world, as the children of this world do concerning the things of this world! If any man ask me, how I know this; I appeal to experience; it is plain and visible in the lives, and actions, and endeavours of men. Good men are feldom fo effectually and throughly perfuaded of the principles of religion, and the truth of the fayings contained in the holy fcriptures, as the men of the world are of their own fayings and proverbs. Men do not believe that bonefty is the best policy; or, as Solomon expreffeth it, that he that walketh uprighly, walketh furely; as the men of the world believe their own maxims, that a man may be too honeft to live that plain dealing is a jewel; but he that wears it, fhall dy a beggar. Few mens hopes of heaven are fo powerful and vigorous, and have fo fenfible an effect up on their lives, as the worldly man's hopes of gain and advantage. Men are not fo afraid to fwear, as they are to fpeak treafon; they are not fo firmly perfuaded of the danger of fin to their fouls and bodies in another world, as of the danger to which fome crimes against the laws of men do expofe their temporal lives and fafety; therefore they will many times. venture to offend God rather than, incur the penalty: of human laws.

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4thly, The men of the world have but one defign, and are wholly intent upon it, and this is a great advantage. He that hath but one thing to mind, may easily be skilled and excel in it. When a man makes one thing his whole bufinefs, no wonder if he be very knowing and wife in that. Now the men of the world mind worldly things, and have no care

and concernment for any thing elfe. It is a faying, I think of Thomas Aquinas, Cave ab illo qui unicum legit librum: "He is a dangerous man that "reads but one book;" he that gives his mind but to one thing, must needs be too hard for any man at that. Application to one thing, efpecially in matters of pratice, gains a man perfect experience in it, and experience furnisheth him with obfervations about it, and these make him wife and prudent in that thing. But good men, though they have a great affection for heaven and heavenly things, yet the business and neceffities of this life, do very much divert and take them off from the care of better things; they are divided between the concernments of this life and the other, and though there be but one thing neceffary in comparifon, yet the conveniencies of this life are to be regarded; and though our fouls be our main care, yet fome confideration must be had of our bodies, that they may be fit for the fervice of our fouls; fome provifion must be made for their prefent fupport, fo long as we continue in thefe earthly tabernacles and this will neceffarily engage us in the world, fo that we cannot always and wholly apply ourfelves to heavenly things, and mind them as the men of the world do the things of this world.

5thly, and lastly, The men of the world have a greater compafs and liberty in the purfuit of their worldly defigns, than good men have in the profecution of their interefts. The children of light are limited and confined to the use of lawful means, for the compaffing of their ends; but the men of the world are not fo ftrait-laced, quocunque modo rem ;. they are refolved upon the point, and will stick at no means to compafs their end. They do not stand upon the nice diftinctions of good and evil, of right and wrong, invented by fpeculative and fcrupulous. men, to puzzle business, and to hinder and difappoint great defigns. If Ahab have a mind to Naboth's vineyard, and Naboth will not let him be honeft and have it for a valuable confideration, he will try to get it a cheaper way: Naboth fhall by falfe witness be made a traitor, and his vineyard by this means

fhall be forfeited to him. And thus the unjust stew-` ard in the parable provided for himfelf; he wronged his Lord, to fecure a retreat to himself in the time of his diftrefs.

The third and last thing only remains, to make fome inferences from what hath been faid by way of application. And,

I. Notwithstanding the commendation which hath been given of the wifdom of this world, yet upon the whole matter it is not much to be valued and adinired. It is indeed great in its way and kind; but it is applied to little and low purposes, employed about the concernments of a fhort time and a few days, about the worst and meanest part of ourselves, and accompanied with the neglect of greater and better things, fuch as concern our fouls, and our whole duration, even our happiness to all eternity. And therefore that which the world admires and cries up for wisdom, is, in the esteem of God, who judgeth of things according to truth, but vanity and folly. The wisdom of the world (faith St. Paul) is foolishness with God. The rich man in the parable, who increafed his goods, and enlarged his barns, and laid up for many years, did applaud himself, and was, no doubt, applauded by others for a very wife man: but becaufe he laid up treasure for himself, and was not rich toward God, that is, did not employ his eftate to good and charitable purposes, therefore God, who calls no body out of his right name, calls this man fool; thou fool, this night fhall thy foul be taken from thee, and then whose shall all these things be? And our Saviour here in the text, while he commends the wisdom of the children of this world, he adds that which is a confiderable blemish and abatement to it, The children of this world are wifer, is tẦU YEVERV, THY EAUTY, for their age, for the concernments of this prefent life; but this is but a fhort and purblind wifdom, which fees but a little way, and confiders only things prefent and near at hand; whereas true wifdom hath a larger and farther profpect, and regards the future as well as the prefent, and takes care to provide for it, Nay, our Saviour