s 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 disgraced 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
conquest. We know, indeed, that the gracious God revealed Himself to
His sinful creatures very soon after Adam's fall. He showed His will
to mankind again and again, and pleaded with them through many ages;
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 if 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 unwillingness with which our
hearts relinquish it.

And now I have described what is meant by the sinful world; 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 of
these it is that St. John says, "If any man love the 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[2]."

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 its best pleasures, and noblest pursuits, the seeds of sin 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 pr