صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

SERMON XIX.

1

THE UNSATISFYING NATURE OF SUBLUNARY ENJOYMENTS.

ECCLESIASTEs, i. 2.

"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities; all is vanity."

[ocr errors]

My Brethren, if experience can teach knowledge, the preacher to whom our text alludes was the wisest of men. He was not one of those whom providence deprives of the means of enjoyment. Born of royal parents, his earliest years were passed in a court. Long before he wrote this book he was seated on the throne of Israel. He was possessed of all that could instruct or amuse; all that could delight or persuade; all that could thrill the heart with rapture, or warm it with the glow of ambition. He had traversed the field of human knowledge. Nature had taught him her mysteries. History had made him familiar with the wisdom of past ages. Philosophy and poetry were rivals for his heart. Authority was his. The wealth of an empire lay at his feet. The luxuries of the east supplied his banqueting house. Festivity reigned in his palace. Beauty brought him her tribute, the rose entwined with the lily: and love was the monarch's banner. Princes and queens were emulous of his favour. Distant nations spoke his praise: and even popularity, fickle popularity, was true to the glory of Solomon. Never man, then, so well qualified to pass judgment on this world and its pursuits. Happiness

[ocr errors]

:

[ocr errors]

was the object of his search. He had sought her through every avenue. Like the bee he had roved from flower to flower. The cup of enjoyment stood before him; he came --he tasted-and pronounced it vanity. In this book of Ecclesiastes, which contains the result of his experiments upon human life, he teaches us that the objects which most generally invite the pursuit of mortals are unsubtantial, unprofitable, unsatisfactory, deceitful, and hurtful. All these qualities would have been well expressed by one word, "vain." But this was not enough to indicate the extreme emptiness and worthlessness of sublunary matters. They are not only vain, but "vanity" itself; "vanity" in the abstract. Nor would this suffice. They are "vanity of vanities;" a phraseology which the Hebrew language employs to express the superlative degree. And, to evince yet more clearly the energy with which this truth struck the mind of the royal preacher, the charge of vanity is reduplicated, "vanity of vanities; vanity of vanities;" and summed up in that pithy conclusion, "all is vanity." Nor may it be forgotten that the heart which indifed, and the hand which wrote this conclusion, were directed by the spirit of God.

Let us, my brethren, by meditating, at present, on some of the many sources of worldly happiness, endeavour to obtain that deeply rooted conviction of their insufficiency, which gave nerve to the instructions of Solomon. For this purpose, may the divine blessing attend us, and the unction of the holy one inspire us with understanding!

There are four principal objects of human pursuit; the wealth of this world; its glory; its pleasures; its wisdom. On each of these is inscribed vanity.

!

FIRST.-The wealth of this world is vanity. The desire of wealth is insatiable. "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase."* The farther he proceeds in the business of amas

Eccles. v. 10.

sing, the more intent he becomes to pursue the glittering object; and when it is attained, new prospects of affluence open to his view. The possession of wealth is unprofitable. "When goods increase, what good is to the owners thereof, save the beholding of them with their eyes?"*"They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." And if their wealth is unprofitable to others in the moment of need, it is equally so to themselves. Wealth cannot purchase peace of mind. Wealth cannot cure a diseased body. Make the experiment. Recline upon a bed of gold. Will the palsied limb regain its strength? Let oppression mark thee for its victim. Let adversity inflict its lightest stroke. Will gold give thee equanimity? And death; will he esteem thy riches? No, "not gold, nor the multitude of thy possessions." Look round, and see the rich man die and leave his wealth to others. His inward thought is, my house shall continue forever, and my dwelling place to all generations. I have goods faid up for many years. My warehouses are replete with the materials of gainful traffick. My granaries are inexhaustible. My vessels waft me the produce of every clime. Soul, take thine ease-eat-drink--and be merry. Ah! fool-this night thy soul may be required of thee-and then whose shall these things be? Or grant that thy life is prolonged; art throu sure of seeing the travail of thy soul? The malice of evil men may pillage thy warehouses. Fire may consume thy granaries. The winds of Heaven may scatter thy proud fleets and leave not a wreck behind. Riches are too uncertain to be made an object of trust. Riches make to themselves wings and flee away as an eagle towards Heaven." Often they prove a snare to their possessor. Judas, the apostate Judas, betrayed his master with a kiss; and with the same treacherous blandishment did wealth bes tray Judas. My brethren, let us not be unnecessarily anxPsalms, xlix. 6. 7. + Prov, xxiii. v.

* Eccles. v. 11.

Cc

[ocr errors]

1

ious to amass these earthly possessions; but let us never be remiss in seeking to lay up treasures in Heaven, which neither moth nor rust will corrupt, and which wicked men can never take from us. Let us make Christ our own. He is himself a treasure. "Riches and honour are with him; even durable riches and righteousness. His fruit is better than gold; and his revenue than choice silver. He will cause them that love him to inherit substance; and he will fill their treasures."*

Consider, next, the glory of this world. This also is vanity; and the pursuit of it, vexation of spirit. How many disappointments-how many mortifications---harass the children of ambition; let their object be civil distinction, or the fame of letters, or of arms! Observe the man emulous of civil distinction. How many days of vanity, and wearisome nights, does he employ to attain his ends! How many artifices, perhaps, to bribe that esteem which he cannot merit! And at all events, how many reproaches! and how much abuse must he sustain from the uncharitable spirit of opposition! Suppose him possessed of his desired object. Place on his head the civic crown. He is restless still. More towering prospects arise. A nobler guerdon challenges his ambition. Some new office--some new distinction--rekindles the flame, and sounds the aların to a fresh contest. Let this issue favourably to his wishes; joy, indeed, may brighten his countenance; but, when the circumstances which produced it become familiar, this joy will pass, and be forgotten. Let it issue unfavourably; disappointment and disgust are marked on every feature. Tell him not of former objects of pursuit attained. Disappointed in this one matter, past attainments are remembered with little relish.

Observe the chief who seeks honour in the field of danger, and amidst the ranks of death. You may know him by the laurel of victory which he wears. Blood marks his progress over conquered provinces. He spares nor age, nor

Prov. viii. 18.-21.

sex, nor office. He rases the temple to the ground, or profanes it to the unhallowed purposes of war. After countless battles and sieges, he gains the empire of a world; and then sits down to weep because more worlds are not within his grasp. Herein is vanity; that he who sows in the prospect of joy, should reap in tears. How often does envy raise her surmises, and malignity seek to obscure the hero's renown! This battle was prematurely faught," says one: "it was the rashness of the general that disgraced our arms." "That retreat, to be sure," says another, "was unavoidable, but it is a pity that so many gallant men should fall a sacrifice to the incapacity of their leader." "After all," adds a third, "I do not see that this man is entitled to so much praise, he had intelligent officers and a brave army; and any other man, under equal circumstances, would have acted an equal part." Such, my brethren, is the portion of all who make worldly glory the object of their confidence. So are they disappointed-so are they mortified.

What is this glory? It is a bubble; a gilded folly; an unsubstantial phantom; a thing of nought. "A breath creates it and a breath destroys." How variable the opinions of men! how different their decisions, as circumstances differ, on the character and conduct of each other! "The Gods are come down to us in the likeness of men,"* said the Lycaonians, full of admiration at the eloquence and miraculous powers of Paul and Barnabas. "Then," to be sure, "the Priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people." And yet, not long after, the people were persuaded to stone Paul until they supposed him dead. With what triumphant shouts, did the citizens of Jerusalem welcome the approach of the Redeemer; spreading their garments in his path; "Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: hosanna in the highest!" And how did the same stupid and malig

Acts, xiv. 11.

Acts, xiv. 13.

+ Mat, xxi. 9.

« السابقةمتابعة »