Nor think, because neither Jesus nor Paul hath preached in person to us, that therefore our case is much different. Jesus and Paul still speak in the ministers of the word: or, what if the speakers be widely different, the word is the same: this treasure we still have, though in earthen vessels[118]. Nay, in one respect, our guilt exceeds theirs. The Pharisees and Philosophers were, alike, ignorant and unbelieving. We profess to know, and to believe.
Let US, then, take heed what we hear; lest our knowledge and belief add terrors to that day, when the neglected word shall sit in judgment upon us.
SERMON XV.
PREACHED NOVEMBER 24, 1765.
Rom. xvi. 19.
I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.
Our blessed Lord had given it in charge to his followers to be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves[119]. And the Apostle explains and enforces this command of his Master, when he enjoins us in the words of the text, To be wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.
I confine myself, at present, to the former part of the text, and shall enquire into the properties or characters of Christian Wisdom.
This wisdom consists in the prosecution of what the Scriptures declare to be the true end of man, and by such means as they prescribe to us.
That end is the SALVATION of our souls; and the means, which lead to it, are FAITH and OBEDIENCE. Thus far there can be no mistake. The wise Christian is he who is intent on securing his eternal interest; and who, to that end, fortifies his mind with a firm belief of the doctrines, and conducts his life according to the precepts, of the Gospel.
I. But PERFECT WISDOM, which consists in a strict attention to these several particulars, and according to the true worth of each, is rarely the lot of human nature. And there are two ways, in which we are most apt to forfeit our pretensions to it. One is, when our minds, wholly taken up with the ultimate object of their hopes, neglect the means which are appointed to bring them to it: The OTHER, when we rest in the intervening means themselves, without a due regard to that final purpose, for the sake of which they were appointed.