Ohs. 4. From that carthhj. That wisdom is to be suspected for naught which you find to be earthly. A Christian should be wise for the kingdom of heaven : ' The children of this world are wise in their generation,' Luke xvi. 8. Oh ! it is sad to be a fool for duty and wise for the world, to be serious in trifles and to trifle in serious matters. To the children of God it is said, ' Set your affections on things that are above,' Col. iii. 2 ; the word is ^povelv, we must be wise for them: so llom. viii. .5, ' blinding things of flesh and spirit' is to be wise in cither kind. There are some unsavoury spirits that relish nothing but earth and the world, think of nothing but spreading their nets, please and entertain their spirits with carnal projects, ancl images and sup])Ositions of worldly profit, Ax*.
Ohs. 5. Sensual wisdom is but folly ; such as tendeth to gratify the senses, and is spent upon outward pleasures. Brutes, that have no elec- tion, excel US in temperance, they are contented with as much as natural instinct carrieth them to, and yet to enjoy pleasures without remorse is their happiness. Vain men rack their wits, employ their understandings, to rear up their lusts ; and, to make the provocation more strong, they sacrifice their time, and care, and ])recious thoughts upon so vain an interest as that of the belly. Certainly our despite is great against the Lord ; when we dethrone him, we set up the basest things in his stead: 'Whose god is the belly,' Phil. iii. 19. Thoughts, tlie noblest oflspring of the human spirit, were made for a higher purpose then to be spent upon the satisfactions of the appetite ; and yet the a])Ostle saith there are some who ' make provision for the flesh,' Rom. xiii. 14, TroioOi^re? mpovotav : their care and projects are to gratify their lusts, and please their senses.
Obs. G. From that (Icvili'.sh. Fallen man liath not only somewhat of beast, but of the devil in him. Christ had Init twelve disciples, ' and one of them was a devil,' John vi. 70. Full of devilish wisdom and policy. It is said of Judas when he ])lotted against Christ, Luke xxii. 3, ' Then entered Satan into Judas ;' and then, saith Luther, there was a devil in a devil. All wicked men are Satan's slaves ;
' 'Nemo aecunia esfle debet in ista vita quae tota tentalio nominatur.' — Atig. Conf., lib. X.
JaS. III. !().] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 309
they drudge in liis work. Some are as it were devils themselves in contriving mischief, hatching wickedness, slandering the godly, envying the gracious estate of their brethren. Are.
Ver. IG. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion, and every evil ivork.
He proveth that such devilish wisdom as serveth envy and strife cannot be good wisdom, for it bringeth forth quite contrary effects; that is for holiness and meekness, this is for confusion and profane- ness. The sentence may be understood either in a public or private reference.
First, In a private reference ; and then the sense is, that in what heart soever envy and contention reigneth, there is also great disorder and wickedness ; and then the note is : —
Ohs. That an envious and contentious spirit is an unquiet and wicked spirit. (1.) It is an unquiet and disorderly spirit : ' Envy is the rottenness of the bones ;' nothing more discomposeth the mind. The contentment and felicity of others proveth our sorrow. An envious man is his own Achan, the worst sort of cannibal, that not only troubleth, but ' eateth his own flesh,' Prov. xi. 17. (2.) An envious spirit is a wicked spirit : there is no wickedness but they will undertake and accomplish it ; it is a raging passion, that putteth men upon sad inconveniences. We gave you a catalogue of the fruits of it before. The devil worketh upon nothing so much as envy and discon- tent : such a spirit is fit for Satan's lure. Well, then, look to the first stirrings of it, and check it as soon as the soul beginneth to look sour upon another's happiness and advancement ; you do not know how far the devil may carry you. The first instances that we have of sin are Adam's pride and Cain's envy : the first man was undone by l)ride, and the second debauched by envy. The whole world, though otherwise emi)ty of men, could not contain two brothers when one was envied. Pride gave us the first me'rit of death, and envy the first instance of it ; the one was the mother, the other the midwife of human ruin. Adam was a sinner, but Cain a murderer ; there envy tasted blood, and ever since it is glutted with it. Cain's envy tasted the blood of Abel, but Saul's thirsted for David's, and Joab's gorged itself with that of Abner and Amasa. And still, if the severity of laws restrain it from blood, it pinetli if it be not fed with injury.
Secondly, It may bo understood in a public sense, that among such a people, where envy and strife reigneth, there will be confusions, and tumults, and seditions, and all licentiousness. Strife followeth envy, and sedition followeth strife, and all manner of wickedness is the fruit of sedition.