Let no man deceive himself
With vain notions of serving God and religion, and of doing the
churches good by his carnal and worldly wisdom, and with false
hopes of escaping the vengeance of God for sowing the tares of
error, heresy, and discord among his people.
If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this
world;
either a member of them, or a preacher among them, who thought
himself wise in worldly wisdom; or was desirous to be thought so
by others; or would be a truly wise man in this world, whilst he
lives in it, and before he goes out of it:
let him become a fool that he may be wise;
not that, properly speaking, folly is the way to wisdom; but that
that man that would be wise in a spiritual sense, must first
learn to know himself; must be convinced of, and acknowledge his
own folly, embrace the Gospel of Christ, which is esteemed
foolishness by the world; submit to the ordinances of Christ,
which are despised by men; and take up the cross of Christ, and
follow him, bear reproach and persecution for his sake, than
which nothing is more ridiculous with carnal men: he must deny
his worldly wisdom, his carnal and righteous self, and wholly
rest and rely on Christ, and his righteousness, for eternal life
and happiness, and so will he become truly wise unto salvation.
The Jews F16 have a saying,
``that everyone (wmue lbnmh) , "that makes himself a fool", for the words of the law, at the end, shall be exalted.''