Parochial and Plain Sermons

• We Jcnoio that we are of God, and the lohole world lieth in wickedness."

OEW words are of more frequent occurrence in the languag-e of relig-ion than "the world /^ Holy Scrip- 'ture makes continual mention of it^ in the way of censure md caution; in the Service for Baptism it is described as one of three great enemies of our souls; and in the ordinary writings and conversation of Christians, I need hardly say, mention is made of it continually. Yet most of us, it would appear, have very indistinct notions what the world means. We know that the world is a something dangerous to our spiritual interests, and that it is in some way connected with human society — with men as a mixed multitude, contrasted with men one by one, in private and domestic life; but what it is, how it is our enemy, how it attacks, and how it is to be avoided, is not so clear. Or if we conceive some distinct notion concerning it, still probably it is a wrong notion, — which leads us, in consequence, to misapply the Scripture pre cepts relating to the world; and this is even worse thai overlooking them. I shall now, then, attempt to shov what is meant by the world, and how, in consequence we are to understand the information and warnings o the sacred writers concerning it.

1. Now, first, by the world is very commonly mean the present visible system of things, without taking int consideration whether it is good or bad. Thus St. Johi contrasts the world with the things that are in it, whicl are evil, " Love not the world, neither the things that ar in the world ^." Again, he presently says, " The worL passeth away, and the lust thereof. '^ Here, as in man; other parts of Scripture, the world is not spoken of a actually sinful in itself (though its lusts are so, o course), but merely as some present visible system whic' is likely to attract us, and is not to be trusted, becaus it cannot last. Let us first consider it in this point c view.

There is, as a matter of necessity, a great variety c stations and fortunes among mankind; hardly two pei sons are in the same outward circumstances, and pos sessed of the same mental resources. Men differ froi each other, and are bound together into one body c system by the very points in which they differ; the* depend on each other; such is the will of God, Thi^ system is the world, to which it is plain beloii » 1 Jolm ii. 15.

ur various modes of supporting ourselves and families ^ exertion of mind and body, our intercourse with thers, our duty towards others, the social virtues, — adustry, honesty, prudence, justice, benevolence, and to like. These spring all from our present lot in life, nd tend to our present happiness. This life holds out irizes to merit and exertion. Men rise above their fel-;)ws; they gain fame and honours, wealth and power, f^hich we therefore call worldly goods. The affairs of lations, the dealings of people with people, the interhange of productions between country and country, are |f this world. We are educated in boyhood for this ^orld; we play our part on a stage more or less conipieuous, as the case may be; we die, we are no more, ^e are forgotten, as far as the present state of things is loncemed; all this is of the world. 1' By the world, then, is meant this course of things vhich we see caiTied on by means of human agency, vith all its duties and pursuits. It is not necessarily a iinful system; rather it is framed, as I have said, by jrod Himself, and therefore cannot be otherwise than jood. And yet even thus considering it, we are bid fiot to love the world: even in this sense the world is m enemy of our souls; and for this reason, because the love of it is dangerous to beings circumstanced as we (Ure, — things in themselves good being not good to us Jsinners. And this state of things Avhich Ave see, fair laud excellent in itself, is very likely (for the very reason that it is seen, and because the spiritual and futui world is not seen) to seduce our wayward hearts froi our true and eternal good. As the traveller on seriou business may be tempted to linger, while he gazes o the beauty of the prospect which opens on his way, s this well-ordered and divinely -governed world, with a its blessings of sense and knowledge, may lead us t neglect those interests which will endure when itself ha passed away. In truth, it promises more than it ca fulfil. The goods of life and the applause of men ha^ their excellence, and, as far as they go, are really good but they are short-lived. And hence it is that man pursuits in themselves honest and right, are nevertheles to be engaged in with caution, lest they seduce us; an those perhaps with especial caution, which tend to ih well-being of men in this life. The sciences, for instanci of good government, of acquiring wealth, of preventin and relieving want, and the like, are for this reason esp< cially dangerous; for fixing, as they do, our exertior on this world as an end, they go far to persuade us tht they have no other end; they accustom us to think tc much of success in life and temporal prosperity; naH they may even teach us to be jealous of religion and i institutions, as if these stood in our way, preventing i from doing so much for the worldly interests of mankii as we might ^\ish.

In this sense it is that St. Paul contrasts sight ai faith. We see this world; we only believe that there \ a world of spirits, we do not see it: and inasmuch as isight has more power over us than belief, and the preisent than the future, so are the occupations and pleaisures of this life injurious to our faith. Yet not, I say, |in themselves sinful; as the Jemsh system Avas a temjporal system, yet divine, so is the system of nature — (this world — divine, thoug'h temporal. And as the Jews ibecame carnal-minded even by the influence of their 4ivinely-appointed system, and thereby rejected the Saiviour of their souls; in like manner, men of the world are hardened by God^s own good world, into a rejection lof Christ. In neither case through the fault of the ithings which are seen, whether miraculous or proviidential, but accidentally, through the fault of the human heart.

I 2. But now, secondly, let us proceed to consider the world, not only as dangerous, but as positively sinful, according to the text — " the whole world lieth in wickediness." It was created well in all respects, but even [before it as yet had fully grown out into its parts, while;as yet the elements of human society did but lie hid in ithe nature and condition of the first man, Adam fell; and thus the world, with all its social ranks, and aims, and pursuits, and pleasures, and prizes, has ever from its birth been sinful. The infection of sin spread through the whole system, so that although the frame-work is J [good and divine, the spirit and life within it are evil., [ Thus, for instance, to be in a high station is the gift of

God; but the pride and injustice to which it has givei scope is from the Devil. To be poor and obscure is alsc the ordinance of God; but the dishonesty and discontent which are often seen in the poor is from Satan. To cherish and protect wife and family is God's appointment; but the love of gain, and the low ambition, which lead many a man to exert himself, are sinful, Accordingly, it is said in the text, " The world lieth in wickedness,''^ — it is plunged and steeped, as it were, in a flood of sin, not a part of it remaining as God originally created it, not a part pure from the corruptions with which Satan has disfigured it.

Look into the history of the world, and what do you read there? Revolutions and changes A^athout number, kingdoms rising and falling; and when without crime?i States are established by God's ordinance, they have their existence in the necessity of man's nature; buti when was one ever established, nay, or maintained, without war and bloodshed? Of all natural instincts, whai! is more powerful than that which forbids us to shed o\x\\ fellows' blood? We shrink with natural horror fron. the thought of a murderer; yet not a government has ever been settled, or a state acknowledged by its neighbours, without war and the loss of life; nay, more thai this, not content with unjustifiable bloodshed, the guil of which must lie somewhere, instead of lamenting it ai a grievous and humiliating evil, the world has chosen t^ honour the conqueror with its amjilest share of admi ration. To become a hero, in the eyes of the world, it is almost necessary to break the laws of God and man. Thus the deeds of the world are matched by the opinions and principles of the world: it adopts bad doctrine to defend bad practice; it loves darkness because its deeds are evil.

And as the affairs of nations are thus depraved by our corrupt nature, so are all the appointments and gifts of Providence perverted in like manner. What can be more excellent than the vigorous and patient employ- • ment of the intellect; yet in the hands of Satan it gives Ijirth to a proud philosophy. "When St. Paul preached, the wise men of the w^orld, in God^s eyes, were but fools,, for they had used their powers of mind in the cause of [ error; their reasonings even led them to be irreligious: and immoral; and they despised the doctrine of a resurrection which they neither loved nor believed. And again, all the more refined arts of life have been disi graced by the vicious tastes of those who excelled in |: them; often they have been consecrated to the service of idolatry; often they have been made the instruments of ■• sensuality and riot. But it would be endless to recount. the manifold and complex corruption which man has introduced into the world which God made good; evil has preoccupied the whole of it, and holds fast its con- I quest. We know, indeed, that the gracious God revealed I Himself to His sinful creatures very soon after Adam^s I fall. He showed His will to mankind again and again, and pleaded with them throug-h many ag-es; till at length His Son was born into this sinful world in the form of man, and taught us how to please Him. Still, hitherto the good work has proceeded slowly: such is His pleasure. Evil had the start of good by many days; it filled the world, it holds it: it has the strength of possession, and it has its strength in the human heart; for though we cannot keep from approving what is right in our conscience, yet we love and encourage what is wrong; so that when evil was once set up in the world, it was secured in its seat by the unv/illingness with which our hearts relinquish it.

And now I have described what is meant by the sinful w^orld; that is, the world as corrupted by man, the course of human affairs viewed in its connexion with the principles, opinions, and practices which actually direct it, There is no mistaking these; they are evil; and these it is that St. John says, " If any man love tl world, the love of the Father is not in him. 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 world then is the enemy of our souls; first, because, however innocent its pleasures, and praiseworthy its pursuits may be, they are likely to engross us, unless we are on our guard: and secondly, because in all it best pleasures, and noblest pursuits, the seeds of sin » John ii. 15, 16.

have been sown; an enemy hath done this; so that it is most difficult to enjoy the good without partaking of the evil also. As an orderly system of various ranks, with various pursuits and their several rewards, it is to be considered not sinful indeed, but dangerous to us. On the other hand, considered in reference to its principles and actual practices, it is really a sinful world. Accordingly, when we are bid in Scripture to shun the world, it is meant that we must be cautious, lest we love what is good in it too well, and lest we love the bad at all. — However, there is a mistaken notion sometimes entertained, that the world is some particular set of persons, and that to shun the world is to shun them; as if we could point out, as it were, with the finger, what is the world, and thus could easily rid ourselves of one of our three great enemies. Men, who are beset with this notion, are often great lovers of the world notwithstanding, while they think themselves at a distance from it altogether. They love its pleasures, and they yield to its principles, yet they speak strongly against men of the world, and avoid them. They act the part of superstitious people, who are afraid of seeing evil spirits in what are considered haunted places, while these spirits are busy at their hearts instead, and they do not suspect it.

3. Here then is a question, which it will be well to consider, viz. how far the world is a separate body from the Church of God. The two are certainly contrasted in the text, as elsewliere in Scrijiture. " We know that ice are of God, and the ivhole world lietli in \Aieke(liu'ss/' Now the true account of this is, that the Church so far from being literally, and in fact, separate from the wicked world, is within it. The Church is a body, gathered together in the world, and in a process of separation from it. The workFs power, alas! is over the Church, because the Church has gone forth into the world to save the woidd. All Christians are in the world, and of the world, so far as sin still has dominion over them; and not even the best of us is clean every whit from sin. Though then, in our idea of the two, and in their principles, and in their future prospects, the Church is one thing, and the world is another, yet in present matter of fact, the Church is of the world, not separate from it; for the grace of God has but partial possession even of religious men, and the best that eaii be said of us is, that we have two sides, a light side and a daik-, and that the dark happens to be the outermost, Thus we form part of the world to each other, though! we be not of the world. Even supposing there were a society of men influenced individually by Christian motives, still this society, viewed as a wliole, would be a worldl}' one; I mean a society holding and maintaining many errors, and countenancing many bad ]n-actices Evil ever floats at the top. And if we iiKpiin- wliy it is that the good in Christians is seen less than the bad? I answer, first, because there is less of it; and secondl}'

I Lcause evil forces itself upon general notice, and good Joes not. So that in a large body of men, each contributing his portion, evil displays itself on the whole conspicuously, and in all its diversified shapes. And thirdly, from the nature of things, the soul cannot be understood by any but God, and a religious spirit is in St. Peter^s words, "the hidden man of the heart.^' It is only the actions of others which we see for the most part, and since there are numberless ways of doing wrong, and but one of doing right, and numberless ways too of regarding and judging the conduct of others, no wonder that even the better sort of men, much more the generality, are, and seem to be, so sinful, God only sees the circumstances under which a man acts, and why he acts in this way and not in that. God only sees perfectly the train of thought which preceded his action, the motive, and the reasons. And God alone (if aught is ill done, or sinfully) sees the deep contrition afterwards,— the habitual lowliness, then bursting forth into special self-reproach, — and the meek faith casting itself wholly upon God's mercy. Think for a moment, how many hours in the day every man is left wholly to hirnself and his God, or rather how few minutes he is in intercourse with others — consider this, and you will perceive how it is that the life of the Church is hid with God, and how it is that the outward conduct of the Church must necessarily look like the world, even far more than it really is like it, and how vain, in con- sequence, the attempt is (which some make) of separating the world distinctly from the Church. Consider, moreover, how much there is, while we are in the body, to stand in the way of one mind communicating with another. We are imprisoned in the body, and our intercourse is by means of words, which feebly represent our real feelings. Hence the best motives and truest opinions are misunderstood, and the most sound rules of conduct misapplied by others. And Christians are necessarily more or less strange to each other; nay, and as far as the appearance of things is concerned, almost mislead each other, and are, as I have said, the Avorld one to another. It is long, indeed, before we become at all acquainted with each other, and we appear the one to the other cold, or harsh, or capricious, or self-willed, when we are not so. So that it unhappily comes ta, pass, that even good men retire from each other int<l themselves, and to their God, as if retreating from tb rude world.

And if all this takes place in the case of the bette sort of men, how much more will it happen in the cas of those multitudes who are still unstable in faith an( obedience, half Christians, not having yet wrougk themselves into any consistent shape of opinion ana practice! These, so far from showing the better part of themselves, often affect to be worse even than they are. Though they have secret fears and misgivings, and Ood's grace pleads with their conscience, and seasons of seriousness follow, yet they are ashamed to confess to <aeh other their o^v^^ seriousness, and they ridicule reli-;ous men lest they should be themselves ridiculed.

And thus, on the whole, the state of the case is as follows: that if we look through mankind in order to ilnd out who make up the world, and who do not, we shall find none who are not of the world; inasmuch as there are none who are not exposed to infirmity. So that if to shun the world is to shun some body of men so called, we must shun all men, nay, ourselves too — ^\•hich is a conclusion which means nothing at all.

But let us, avoiding all refinements which lead to a display of words only, not to the improvement of our hearts and conduct, let us set to work practically; and instead of attempting to judge of mankind on a large scale, and to settle deep questions, let us take what is close at hand and concerns ourselves, and make use of such knowledge as we can obtain. Are we tempted to neglect the worship of God for some temporal object? this is of the world, and not to be admitted. Are we ridiculed for our conscientious conduct? this again is a trial of the world, and to be withstood. Are we tempted to give too much time to our recreations; to be idling when we should be working; reading or talking when we should be busy in our temporal calling; hoping for impossibilities, or fancying ourselves in some different state of life from our own; over anxious of the good •opinion of others; bent upon getting the credit of in- dustry, honesty, and prudence? all these are temj^tations of this world. Are we discontented with our lot, or are we over attached to it, and fretful and desponding when God recalls the good He has given? this is to be worldlyminded.

Look not about for the world as some vast and gigantic evil far off — its temptations are close to you, apt and ready, suddenly offered and subtle in their address. Try to bring down the words of Scripture to common life, and to recognize the evil in which this world lies, in your own hearts.

When our Saviour comes. He will destroy this world, even His own work, and much more the lusts of the world, which are of the evil one; then at length we must lose the world, even if we cannot bring ourselves to part with it now. And we shall perish with tha world, if on that day its lusts are found within usH " The world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but h, that doeth the will of God abideth for ever/'