Sermons by the late Rev. Richard de Courcy

Name: Sermons by the late Rev. Richard de Courcy
Author: De Courcy, Richard

De Courcy, Richard

Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 18th century

2.  Let us examine the weight of earthly possessions, comprehending under
that head the greatest accumulation of wealth, and the most unlimited
extent of empire, accompanied with the most distinguished titles of
dignity and honor.  Now, the very height of these saith, “Happiness is
not in me.”  Having a tendency to deprave the appetite, and sensualize
the affections, the things of earth, in ten thousand instances, have so
much of the alloy of misery mixed with them, that it is with great reason
God in his word saith, “This is not thy rest, for it is polluted.”
Terrestrial good is of too gross a nature to satisfy the vast desires of
an immortal spirit; and every portion of it is held by a most precarious
tenure.  Vexation in the pursuit, and disappointment in the fruition,
attend those, who seek for a heaven in earth.  All the acquisitions of
the world cannot fill the vacuity in a mind, destitute of the “true
riches.”  Put, therefore, the whole globe in one scale, with all the pomp
and opulence of which it boasts; and only lay in the other, the interests
of a never-dying soul, and the vast concerns of an awful eternity; then
say, what is the world, but a dream; and its enjoyments, but vanity?

Ye that dote on earth, and are building tabernacles in this wilderness,
consider ye not, that the place of your residence will ere long know you
no more for ever; and that this terrestrial ball, were you possessors of
all the riches that are buried in it, could not make you truly rich or
happy, without the knowledge of Jesus Christ.  You have had experience of
its insufficiency in these respects; and yet continue the fruitless chase
in the very same track, where disappointment and vexation have often
strewed briers and thorns before.  Your mind is still upon the wing; your
hopes, still big with expectation.  The world has teased you with
solicitations, flattered you with promises, and deceived you in the
moment of anticipation.  Yet you trust the flatterer, and live still upon
her smiles.  Though you have smarted under her rod, yet you continue
still a drudge to her maxims; sometimes determined to throw off her yoke,
and yet anon enamored with her service, in hope of better days.  She has
given you riches, perhaps, or worldly prosperity, but has denied you
peace.  All this time, death is hastening on apace.  Sickness visits as
his forerunner.  “Grey hairs are here and there upon you, and you know it
not.”  You and the world are weighed together in the balance, and are
found wanting.  The world cannot make you happy; and you want discernment
to see it.  You want, perhaps, neither assiduity nor wisdom in the
management of temporal things; but in those which are spiritual and
invisible, all your ingenuity deserts you.  You are deficient in great
matters; in little and unimportant ones, you are sedulous, to excess.
You want to know, what you are least of all anxious to learn; and that
is, _that to know Jesus Christ_, _and him crucified_, _is the very centre

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Sermons by the late Rev. Richard de CourcyDe Courcy, Richard

Religion

Sermons by the late Rev. Richard de Courcy

De Courcy, Richard

Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 18th century

2.  Let us examine the weight of earthly possessions, comprehending under
that head the greatest accumulation of wealth, and the most unlimited
extent of empire, accompanied with the most distinguished titles of
dignity and honor.  Now, the very height of these saith, “Happiness is
not in me.”  Having a tendency to deprave the appetite, and sensualize
the affections, the things of earth, in ten thousand instances, have so
much of the alloy of misery mixed with them, that it is with great reason
God in his word saith, “This is not thy rest, for it is polluted.”
Terrestrial good is of too gross a nature to satisfy the vast desires of
an immortal spirit; and every portion of it is held by a most precarious
tenure.  Vexation in the pursuit, and disappointment in the fruition,
attend those, who seek for a heaven in earth.  All the acquisitions of
the world cannot fill the vacuity in a mind, destitute of the “true
riches.”  Put, therefore, the whole globe in one scale, with all the pomp
and opulence of which it boasts; and only lay in the other, the interests
of a never-dying soul, and the vast concerns of an awful eternity; then
say, what is the world, but a dream; and its enjoyments, but vanity?

Ye that dote on earth, and are building tabernacles in this wilderness,
consider ye not, that the place of your residence will ere long know you
no more for ever; and that this terrestrial ball, were you possessors of
all the riches that are buried in it, could not make you truly rich or
happy, without the knowledge of Jesus Christ.  You have had experience of
its insufficiency in these respects; and yet continue the fruitless chase
in the very same track, where disappointment and vexation have often
strewed briers and thorns before.  Your mind is still upon the wing; your
hopes, still big with expectation.  The world has teased you with
solicitations, flattered you with promises, and deceived you in the
moment of anticipation.  Yet you trust the flatterer, and live still upon
her smiles.  Though you have smarted under her rod, yet you continue
still a drudge to her maxims; sometimes determined to throw off her yoke,
and yet anon enamored with her service, in hope of better days.  She has
given you riches, perhaps, or worldly prosperity, but has denied you
peace.  All this time, death is hastening on apace.  Sickness visits as
his forerunner.  “Grey hairs are here and there upon you, and you know it
not.”  You and the world are weighed together in the balance, and are
found wanting.  The world cannot make you happy; and you want discernment
to see it.  You want, perhaps, neither assiduity nor wisdom in the
management of temporal things; but in those which are spiritual and
invisible, all your ingenuity deserts you.  You are deficient in great
matters; in little and unimportant ones, you are sedulous, to excess.
You want to know, what you are least of all anxious to learn; and that
is, _that to know Jesus Christ_, _and him crucified_, _is the very centre

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Sermons by the late Rev. Richard de Courcy

Sermons by the late Rev. Richard de Courcy

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