The document outlines various ways in which the happiness and prosperity of the wicked is fleeting and uncertain. It notes that their happiness is limited to this life and often interrupted by divine judgments. While the wicked may enjoy wealth, power, and worldly pleasures for a time, their end is destruction, as the saints are sometimes permitted to witness. The happiness of the wicked is derived from vain and temporary sources and does not last, in contrast to the lasting happiness of the righteous.

1. The Happiness of the Wicked
I. Is limited to this life
Ps 17:14 From men which are thy hand, O LORD,
from men of the world, which have their portion in
this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid
treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest
of their substance to their babes.
Luke 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that
thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and
likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is
comforted, and thou art tormented.
II. Is short
Job 20:5 That the triumphing of the wicked is
short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a
moment?
III. Is uncertain
Luke 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this
night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose
shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

2. Jas 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to
morrow we will go into such a city, and continue
there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the
morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour,
that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth
away.
IV. Is vain
Eccl 2:1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove
thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and,
behold, this also is vanity.
Eccl 7:6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.
V. Is derived from
A. Their wealth
Job 21:13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a
moment go down to the grave.

3. Ps 52:7 Lo, this is the man that made not God his
strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches,
and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
B. Their power
Job 21:7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old,
yea, are mighty in power?
Ps 37:35 I have seen the wicked in great power, and
spreading himself like a green bay tree.
C. Their worldly prosperity
Ps 17:14 From men which are thy hand, O LORD,
from men of the world, which have their portion in
this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid
treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest
of their substance to their babes.
Ps 73:3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw
the prosperity of the wicked.
Ps 73:4 For there are no bands in their death: but
their strength is firm.
Ps 73:7 Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have
more than heart could wish.

4. D. Popular applause
Acts 12:22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It
is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
E. Gluttony
Isa 22:13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying
oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking
wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall
die.
Hab 1:16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net,
and burn incense unto their drag; because by them
their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.
F. Drunkenness
Isa 5:11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the
morning, that they may follow strong drink; that
continue until night, till wine inflame them!
Isa 56:12 Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and
we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to
morrow shall be as this day, and much more
abundant.

5. G. Vain pleasure
Job 21:12 They take the timbrel and harp, and
rejoice at the sound of the organ.
Isa 5:12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and
pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard
not the work of the LORD, neither consider the
operation of his hands.
H. Successful oppression
Hab 1:15 They take up all of them with the angle,
they catch them in their net, and gather them in
their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.
Jas 5:6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and
he doth not resist you.
VI. Marred by jealousy
Esth 5:13 Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long
as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.

6. VII. Often interrupted by judgments
Num 11:33 And while the flesh was yet between
their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the
LORD was kindled against the people, and the
LORD smote the people with a very great plague.
Job 15:21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in
prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
Ps 73:18-20 18 Surely thou didst set them in
slippery places: thou castedst them down into
destruction. 19 How are they brought into
desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly
consumed with terrors. 20 As a dream when one
awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt
despise their image.
Jer 25:10-11 10 Moreover I will take from them the
voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of
the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the
sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an
astonishment; and these nations shall serve the
king of Babylon seventy years.

7.  Leads to sorrow
Prov 14:13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful;
and the end of that mirth is heaviness.
VIII. Leads to recklessness
Isa 22:13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying
oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking
wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall
die.
 Sometimes a stumbling-block to
saints
Ps 73:3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw
the prosperity of the wicked.
Ps 73:16 When I thought to know this, it was too
painful for me;
Jer 12:1 Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead
with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments:
Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?
wherefore are all they happy that deal very
treacherously?

8. Hab 1:13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil,
and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest
thou upon them that deal treacherously, and
holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the
man that is more righteous than he?
IX. Saints often permitted to see the end
of
Ps 73:17-20 17 Until I went into the sanctuary of
God; then understood I their end. 18 Surely thou
didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst
them down into destruction. 19 How are they
brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are
utterly consumed with terrors. 20 As a dream when
one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou
shalt despise their image.
X. Envy not
Ps 37:1 A Psalm of David. Fret not thyself because
of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the
workers of iniquity.

9. XI. Woe against
Amos 6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and
trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named
chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel
came!
Luke 6:25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall
hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall
mourn and weep.
XII. Illustrated
Ps 37:35 I have seen the wicked in great power, and
spreading himself like a green bay tree.
Ps 37:36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not:
yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
Luke 12:16-20 16 And he spake a parable unto
them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man
brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within
himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no
room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said,
This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build
greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my
goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast

10. much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease,
eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him,
Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of
thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou
hast provided?
Luke 16:19-25 19 There was a certain rich man,
which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and
fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a
certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his
gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the
crumbs which fell from the rich man's table:
moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was
carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the
rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell
he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth
Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And
he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on
me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am
tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son,
remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy
good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but
now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
XIII. Exemplified

11. A. Israel
Num 11:33 And while the flesh was yet between
their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the
LORD was kindled against the people, and the
LORD smote the people with a very great plague.
B. Haman
Esth 5:9-11 9 Then went Haman forth that day
joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw
Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up,
nor moved for him, he was full of indignation
against Mordecai. 10 Nevertheless Haman refrained
himself: and when he came home, he sent and
called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife. 11 And
Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the
multitude of his children, and all the things wherein
the king had promoted him, and how he had
advanced him above the princes and servants of the
king.
- Belshazzar
Dan 5:1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a
thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the
thousand.

12. C. Herod
Acts 12:21-23 21 And upon a set day Herod,
arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and
made an oration unto them. 22 And the people gave
a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a
man. 23 And immediately the angel of the Lord
smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and
he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.