Labour to have a right judgment of the things of the earth, that set carnal wisdom on work, to avoid poverty, to avoid suflering for a good cause. The devil inflames fancy. . Fancy thinks it is a great hurt to be in poverty ; fancy thinks it is a great good to be in honour, to be in credit, to have great place, that other men may be beholden to us. Alas ! get a sanctified judg- ment to see what these things be that set our wits on work. What are all these things ? ' Vanity, and vexation of spirit,'
Let our meditations walk between these two. Often think of the excel- lent estate of a Christian in this world, and in the world to come ; and that will set heavenly wisdom on work. It will make you plot, and be politic for heaven. And then withal see the vanity of all other things, of pleasures, and honours, and profits, and whatsoever, that we may not prostitute our souls to them wdiich are worse than ourselves ; that our souls may not set themselves on work to project and prowl for these things that are worse than themselves.
Let this be your daily practice. The meditation of these two things is worthy to take up yom* cogitations every day. To consider the vanity, the vexation, and uncertainty that accompanies all these things, when you have got them ; as we see in Ahab, when he had gotten the \dneyard. Besides the vanity of them, consider how you have gotten them, and how miserable •will you judge yourselves presently ! How doth God meet the carnal wits of men in the attaining of things ! * The wicked man shall not roast that which he took in hunting,' Prov. xii, 27. He hunted after preferment, he hunted after riches, to scrape a great deal for his posterity ; how doth God deal with such ? He overtlu'ows them utterly ; and his posterity, perhaps they spoil all. Himself roasted not that which he took in hunting. Ahab got much by yielding to the carnal wisdom of Jezebel, ' Hast thou gotten, and also taken possession,' 1 Kings xxi, 19. What became of Ahab with all his plots and devices '?
Ahithophel and others, God may give them success for a while, but after- ward he gives them the overthrow. Herod, he had success a while in kill- ing of James, and, therefore, he thought to work wisely and get Peter too ; God struck him w4th worms, Acts xii. 23. Pharaoh, in the overthrow of God's people, saith he, ' Let us work wisely,' Exod. i. 10. How wisely ? They were overthrown and drowned themselves. Their wisdom brought them into the midst of the sea. Consider the vanity of earthly things. And then consider how just it is with God to cross them either in their own time ; as the rich fool in the gospel, when he had riches for many years, ' This night shall they take away thy soul ! ' Luke xii. 20. That we
2 CORINTHIANS CHAP. I, VER. 12. 273
may not walk according to the false rules of fleshly wisdom, let us oft think of these things.
And to add another thing out of the text. You see here that St Paul rejoiced in this, that his conscience could witness that he had not walked in * fleshly wisdom ; ' so if you do not walk according to the rules of fleshly wisdom, you shall have this benefit, your conscience sJiall f/lori/ in it.
To make it clear to you, — take in your thoughts a politician upon his deathbed, that hath striven so much for riches, that hath striven to root himself by policy, to attain to such and such places, to obtain his pleasm-e and delights in the world ; what gloiy, what comfort hath he in this ? There is nothing more opposite to comfort than plotting ; for, as I said be- fore when I spake of simplicity, the more will there is, the more deliberation and plotting there is in sin, the more is the sin ; because it is done coolly, as we say. So of all persons usually, if their wits be their own, the greatest plotters die most desperately. For then their conscience tells them, that they have set their wits on the rack, to do this mischief and that mischief ; and here his comfort is cooled, his peace of conscience is broken. ^Vhat comfort can there be, when that which he sinned for, that which he broke the peace of his conscience for, that is gone, and he must be taken and hurried away from that. But the wound of conscience, the crack of con- science, that remains for ever ; when he shall think, that for which I sinned is vanished, but my terror abides for ever.
A man therefore that walks after the rules of fleshly wisdom, he can never say with St Paul, ' I rejoice.' But on the contrary', let a man be able to witness to himself, as St Paul could ; at such a time my fleshly, subtle wisdom would have discoiu'aged me from doing good ; and the wisdom of flesh and blood in others would have discom'aged me from reforming such and such abuses ; but I knew it was my duty, and I did it. Here now is comfort. At such a time I was moved to such evil by flesh and blood in myself, or perhaps in others (as a man shall never want the devil in his friends. The devil comes to us in our nearest friends). But I had the grace to withstand it. I was not led by such and such rules, by my acquaintance, or by my own dcAaces ; but I had grace to resist such motions. "WTiat a wondrous comfort is this ?