"love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." For "if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

It is also evident, (I fear that the experience of every man will too readily incline him to assent to the proposition,) that the practice of mankind at large is not regulated by those cautions and admonitions, to which I have just alluded; but that the balance of numbers is greatly on the side of those, who "love the things that are in the world ;" and in consequence against those, who "set their affection on things above:"-that the multitude of men, who are 66 carnally minded," greatly surpasses the sum of those, who are spiritually minded;"—that, in short, they who care about the world, are much more numerous than they who care about their own souls. The zeal, the activity, the prudence, the diligence, the watchfulness, the perseverance, with which men in general prosecute their temporal interests: and, on the other hand, the listlessness, the in

1 John ii. 15.

66

dolence, the carelessness, the thoughtlessness, with which, occasionally only and with long and frequent interruptions, they look to the welfare of their souls; are a melancholy indeed, but an irrefragable testimony to the character of those desires, which predominate in the human heart in general: and confirm the declaration of our blessed Saviour, a declaration, as alarming as it is true, that "the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light 1.

h 22

Whether this preference of the things of the world over the welfare of the soul, be wise or foolish: whether it be in any degree worthy of a being, endowed with reason, and freedom of choice; a being, capable of discriminating between good and evil, and of regulating his conduct by a regard to that which is the greater good: is a question, the answer to which must be determined by the answer to the inquiry, proposed by our Saviour in the text: "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or

h Luke xvi. 8.

what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" If the things of the world be really the more profitable; if they be really worth the sacrifice of our spiritual welfare and prosperity, which we make in order to their attainment: let us then continue to act the part, which nature dictates and reason must approve; let us pursue with indefatigable vigour, and having attained let us enjoy with unremitted indulgence, the things that are in the world: let us do nothing but "pull down our barns and build greater;" let us " clothe ourselves in purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day;" let us take our fill of the gratifications of 66 and sense', drink, and be merry." But if, on the contrary, the "gain of the whole world," could we procure it, would be really of no solid profit at all, and no more than dust on the balance when weighed against the worth of the "soul" and if, although it be no difficult matter to lose the soul for the world, yet all the riches and pleasures of the world, "all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them," could not suffice to redeem the soul, nor be

eat,

taken in exchange for it, when it is once lost: what man or woman, nay what child. amongst you, can hesitate in determining to which the preference should be given; and whether we, if we make any pretensions to the character of rational creatures, should labour to possess ourselves of the things of the world, or to secure the salvation of our souls?

By" the world," of which our Saviour speaks in the text, you cannot doubt what is generally intended. By it, you know, is intended that world, wherein we live, and which men in their corrupt state are apt to admire, and value, and love, and desire, and seek. It is thus that the beloved disciple St. John uses the word, when he says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." And lest his meaning should be mistaken, he presently adds a short catalogue of those things which the world contains, and which he exhorts us to avoid; "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the

world" "The lust of the flesh;" namely such things as please and delight the flesh, and which the flesh therefore lusteth after : -"the lust of the eyes," or earthly riches, which, as separated from carnal pleasures, only please the eye, so that it lusteth after them, although, as the wise man observes, "it is never satisfied with them :"-and lastly "the pride of life," or that imaginary grandeur and honour of this life, which fill men with pride and self-conceit : these are the particulars, that compose the world, of which our blessed Lord is speaking in the passage at present under our thoughts: and these are the particulars, which engage the affections, and are deemed worthy of the pursuit, of the great majority of men.

Now suppose a man to be occupied in the pursuit of one or all of these objects, and at length to become master of his desires (and yet this is to suppose much more than experience renders probable; for which of us has not reason to be assured, that the voluptuary and the sen

i 1 John ii. 16.

Eccles. iv. 8.