Serm. LXXXII. Sovereignty ofGod. thisWorld, i Cor. z. 6. and aflefhly Wifdorrr, z Cor. r. i .. 'Tis Wit'dotir mifap- ply'd, 'tis the purfuit of a wrong End. The Petty Plots and Dfigns of this World are far from Wifdom, a Cor. ;. zo. The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the Wife, that they are vain. That cannot be Wifdom, which miflakes its great End, which minds meanThings, and neglects thofe which are of greateft Con- cernment to them. lob za. z. He that is Wife is profitable to himfelf. Prov. 9. xz. If thou be Wife, thou (halt k Wife for thy felf. Tully tells us, Ennius was wont to fay, Nequicquam fapere fapientem, qui fibi ipfi prodefe non quiret. The Wife Sages of the World as to the belt things are Fools, Matt. 1E25. God bath hid thefe things from the wife and prudent. Thereare many that are wife in their own Conceits, but there is more hope of a Fool than of them, Prov. z6. x z. So that the greateft párt of that which paffeth for Wifdom among Men is quite another thing. Nihil tam valde vulgare quam sihil fapere ; we talk much of Prodigies, maximumportentum vir fapiens, ful. Thofe few in the World that are the Chil- dren of true Wifdom, they have it in a very impeded degree, they are not ufu. ally fo wife for their Souls, and for Eternity, as Men of this World, Luke x6. 8. The Children of this World are in their Generation wifer than theChildren of Light. It is attended with many inconveniencies, Eccl. t. 18. In much wifdom there ii much grief ; he fpeaks of the wifdom about natural things. But we need not inflance in the folly of wicked Men, and worldly Men, and in the imperfectdegrees of Wifdomwhich are to be found in good Men, in Wifdom's own Children ; the Wifdom of God needs not thefe foils to fet it off: the Wifdom of Man in Innocency, or of the higheft Angel in Heaven, bears no proportion to the un-erring and infinite Wifdom of God. We mortal men many times miftake our End out of Ignorance, apply unfit and improper means for ac- complifhinggood Ends ; the Angels in Glory have not a perfect comprehenfiort of the harmony and agreement of things, of the unfitnefs and oppofition of them one to another : but the Divine Wifdom propounds to it felf the higheft and belt Ends, and hath a perfect comprehenfion of the fitnefs and unfitnefs of all things one to another ; fo that Angels are but foolifh Beings to God ; Job 4. 17. His Angels he chargeth with folly. yob, upon a full enquiry after Wifdom, concludes that it belongs only to God, that he only is perfectly polleffed of it, lob z8. a z. &c. But where (hall wifdom be found ? andwhere is theplace of underflanding ? in fuch an eminent and tranfcendent Degree it is not to be met with in any of theCreatures ; God only hath it, ver. z3. Godknoweth theplace thereof II. I {hall prove that this Perfection belongs to God. a. From the dictates of Natural Reafon, and z. From Scripture. a. From the dictates of Natural Reafon. I have often told you the Perfe- ctions of God are not to be proved by way of demonflration, becaufe there is no Caufe of them : but by way of conviblion, by (hewing the abfurdity and in- convenience of the contrary. The Contrary is an Imperfection, and argues many other Imperfections; therefore Wifdom belongs to God. Among Men Folly is look'd upon as the greateft defect ; it is accounted a greater Reproach and Difgrace, than Vice and Wickednefs ; it is of fo ill a Report in the World, that there are not many but had rather be accounted Knaves than Fools ; but in a true Efleem and Value of things, it is, next to Wickednefs, the great-eft Imperfection ; and, on the con- trary, Wifdom is the higheft Perfection next to Holinefs and Goodnefs ; it is ufually more cryed up in the World than any thingelfe. Reafon tells us, tho' the Scripture had nor faid ir, that wifdom excels folly as much as light doth dark- gel's, Eccl. z. r;, The wifdom ofa Man maketh his Face to thine, Eccl. 8. z. Wif- dom is a defence, 7. 17.. and v. 19. wifdom firengthenenth the wife more than ten mighty men that are in the City. And the denyal of this Perfection to God would argue many other Imper- fedions ; it would be an univerfal Blemifh to the Divine Nature, and would darken all his other Perfections. It would weaken the Power of God. How impotent and ineffectual would Power be without Wifdom ! what irregular' K k k k things 617
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