open place as the Publican Luke 18. So a man may pray for ostentation in a secret place even under many locks and with many doors shut upon him if he withdraw himself to the end he may be seen and observed Therefore Austin writing to certain Eremites whom he stileth brethren in the wilderness August Ad fratres in eremo Claude ostium hoc est noli sermone clamare nec diffundere orationem tuam nec jactare per populos sed in secreto tuo ora securus ut te in secreto possit audire quoniam videt audit universa August Ambros Hieron Chemnit bids them come out of those solitary places and come into towns and Cities yea even to the Court rather then be proud of being in a wilderness Object But may not a man glory in the good works done by him doth not the Apostle say Let every man prove his own work and then shall he have rejoycing in himself alone and not in another Gal. 6.4 Answ The Apostle layeth down a remedy against self-love and over-weening conceit of our selves and it stands in proving and examining a mans own work by it self without comparing it with another mans Whereof he renders this reason Then shall he have rejoycing in himself alone and not in another There is a double ground of glorying one out of a mans self the other in a mans self 1. Out of himself in God alone Jerem. 9.23 He that gloryeth let him glory in the Lord 1 Cor. 1.31 2. In himself viz. in the comfortable testimony of a good conscience 2 Cor. 1.12 The one is glorying before God the other before men the one of justification the other of holy conversation for the time past and constant resolution for the time to come the one in the testimony of our own conscience the other in the testimony of Gods Spirit witnessing with our spirits that we are the sons of God Rom. 8.16 the first not here meant 1 Cor. 1.29 Object This glorying in a mans self is vain-glory and a branch of pride Answ It differs from vain-glory in two things In the Foundation In the End 1. Vain-glory hath for its ground and foundation our own vertues gifts works considered as they come from our selves not from God whereas this true glorying is grounded upon them as they are fruits of regeneration and proceeding from justification by Christ and reconciliation with God 2. They differ in the end vain-glory tending to the advancing of our selves in an opinion of our own proper desert this true glorying aimeth at Gods glory alone acknowledging that all the good that we have and all the good that we do to come from God alone rejoycing in our good works not as causes but as fruits of our justification so that if the question be whether we be justified by them or not we must then disclaim them and tread them under our feet and account them as dung as Paul did Phil. 3.7 8 9 10. SECT 3. 6. PRide will make a man unfit for society with others Pride is a great enemy to union therefore it is that there are so many sad separations of men one from another in these divided times It is very hard for men of proud spirits long to accord and unite together Melanct. Comment in Prov. 13.10 Melancton compareth proud men to mountains and saith concerning such men there was wont to be this Proverb Duo montes non miscentur Two mountains will not mix together Humble persons are very sociable they can converse together with an unequal respect of age parts sex or degree Humble men like the Bees love a sociable life who as Ambrose observeth are included and inclosed in one hive and shut up with one door Proud persons cannot cope together a proud man envieth his superiors because they be above him he scorneth his inferiors because they be beneath him and labours to keep them down lest they over-take him and he studieth to supplant and undermine his equals lest they out-strip and excell him therefore that our Saviour might correct this humour among his own Disciples he took a little child and set him in the midst of them Matth. 18.2 3. saying Vnless ye become as little children ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of God Children are humble and meek-spirited they envy not they disdain not they exalt not themselves one above another the children of a Prince will be familiar and play with the child of a peasant they equal themselves one to another till they be told their places and made proud by being observed So must not Christians strive for precedency and superiority above their brethren Thus David saith that his heart was not haughty c. nor walked in matters too high for him but saith he I have behaved and quieted my self as a child Psal 131.1 2. Servus servorum dei as a child that is weaned of his mother my soul is even as a weaned child The Pope indeed is stiled by a most lowly title The servant of the servants of God though he be nothing less but had we hearts truly humble we should learn the Apostles lesson and serve one another in love The Romans therefore painted humility in the form of a serving-man wearing black garments his head hanging down and a staffe in his hand to represent the several good conditions of humility and of the humble man 1. He thinks meanly of himself albeit most noble and excellent 2. He ever thinks himself bound to run the way of Gods Commandments this is expressed by the staffe in his hand 3. The black-garments express him to be one of Sions mourners like the poor Publican lamenting his sins standing afar off as not worthy to lift up his eyes to heaven 4. To signifie that himself was created to serve God and others and this the picture expressed by being in the form of a serving-man 7. Pride threatens ruine and destruction to to a mans children house and family The Hebrews call the generation of children the building up the house and Pride throws down this building The Lord will destroy the house of the proud saith Solomon Prov. 15.25 though like Lucifer he set his nest among the stars yet pride will unnest him and throw him down Thus God brought ruine upon the house of Valois those proud persecutors of the French Protestants So likewise Maximinus the Roman Emperour having made a decree against the Christians and being in the act of persecuting them he perished in an insurrection and mutiny of his souldiers who hated him for his pride and cruelty and killed not only himself but his son also crying out That there should not a whelp escape of so bad a breed Proud Parents are the greatest enemies to their children that possibly can be making them liable to Gods wrath and curse When good Hezekiah grew proud of his treasures Quae servare poterat occultata praedae reddidit obnoxia ostentata M S. Isa 39.6 7.
Menander an Heathen could say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Whensoever you see a proud man say There 's a fool and it is weakness folly and ignorance that causeth pride and high thoughts of our selves as with the lowly there is wisdom Prov. 11.2 so with the proud and high-minded there is folly and ignorance Melancton said that all proud men are fools and all fools are proud Melanct. explic dom 11. post trin Proud men are in darkness and self-conceited men are foolish and blinde men see no evil and men use to call a proud fantastical man a proud fool Prov. 26.12 Nay Solomon saith Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit there is more hope of a fool then of such a man Ignorance of God and of our selves is a great cause of pride 1. Ignorance of God Proud Pharaoh was ignorant of God when he scorneth the message sent to him from God he cryes out Who is the Lord I know not the Lord c. The ignorance of Gods glory and greatness and of his infinite perfections is one cause why the heart of vain man is apt to swell with pride Principium superbiae est nescire Deum Chry. homil de Ozia Cognitio Dei consternit atque contundit humanam superbiam Cal. instit lib. 1. cap. 1. for were we acquainted in some measure with Gods glorious perfections it would humble us in the sense of our manifold imperfections Likewise the ignorance of Gods purity and holiness his mercy and goodness men are apt to pride themselves while they look upon others comparing themselves with the best but did they look up to Gods infinite greatness and goodness and to his unspotted holiness the pride of their hearts would fall down 2. Ignorance of our selves is the cause of pride De ignorantiá tui venitsuperbia Bern. in Cantic and high thoughts of our selves Demonax the Philosopher being asked when he began to Philosophize answered when he began to know himself And Plato saith that the Oracle of Apollo did stir up every man that entred into his Temple to the knowledge of himself by this short sentence written over the gate of the Temple Homo scito teipsum bonum est enim scire propriam infirmitatem Aug Nosce teipsum Know thy self labouring by the true knowledge of themselves to bring them to humility Therefore saith Austin O man know thy self for it is good to know thine own infirmities When men stand upon their own bottoms and magnifie themselves it is an argument they know not themselves Deformed persons in the dark see not their own spots If a Leper should boast of his beauty The Owl is a proud bird but of great debility of sight you would say this man knoweth not his own face or hath not seen his face in a glass so he that walks in the dungeon of ignorance seeth not himself and knows not that evil that is in himself and what evils he is subject to therefore he is apt to have high thoughts of himself Did man consider his many sins and daily transgressions his inability to stand his readiness to fall the corruption of his birth the wickedness and misery of his life and the uncertainty of his death did he consider that what good soever he hath it is not his own and what he hath he may lose if not rightly used and that one day he must be called to an account for what he hath received then would he finde little cause to be proud of any thing The more wisdom a man hath the more humble it will make him and the more ignorant he is the more proud Job saith Job 28.13 That wisdom is not to be found in the land of the living the Chaldee Paraphrast translates thus Neither is it found in the land of proud livers or of those who in their lives are proud sinners They that have least wisdom least grace commonly think they have most and they that have most see the most want By seeing much into themselves they see how much they want and that which they have being nothing to what they lack makes them have mean thoughts of themselves 3. A third cause of Pride in many men is from the flattering applause of others When mens parts and learning Qui auditis blanditiis in altum se extollit quid aliud quam aurum reprobum fuit quod fornax igne consumpsit Gregor and their opinions in Controversies are applauded when men are cryed up for their wit eloquence memory this is apt to puff them up with pride then they think there is something in them extraordinary for which they may hold up their head This makes them look too much upon themselves as those that stay long at a glass poring upon their own faces till at length they fall in love with their own shadow When Herod made an eloquent Oration to the people they gave a shout Act. 12.22 23. saying It the voyce of a God and not of a man This vain applause of the people pufft up his heart with pride making him to give that glory to himself that was due to God A proud heart loveth to be tickled and flattered Adulatio blanda omnibus applaudit omnibus salve dicit Haec sagitta levitèr volat cito infigitur Cassiodor in quadam Epistola and flatterers deal with men whom they flatter as the Jews did with Christ they blindefold him then call him Rabbi and seem to reverence him A blinde man heareth the good that is said of him but perceiveth not the hurt and evil that is meant towards him and it many times fals out that those that love to be flattered for their vertues are also as a just plague and punishment upon them flattered in their sins It is a great weakness in any man to delight in such persons being the most pernicious people in the world keeping a man ever from the true knowledge of himself and they will follow him no longer then they can get by him like the Celedony stone that loseth its vertue unless it be rubbed with gold or like the Ivy that sucks out the sap of the Oak that supports it They deal with a man as a man doth with a candle carry it while it serves his turn and hurl it away when it is like to burn his fingers 4. The fourth cause of Pride is the Devil The true Original of all Pride is Satan himself through his sin it was the first sin that he committed some think God did discover to the Angels Zanch. de nat Dei that the second Person in Trinity should take upon him the Humane Nature and that these would not stoop unto him Thus Zanchy and others But whatever the particular object of it was it is most probable that it was the sin of Pride When the seventy Disciples which our Saviour had sent out to work miracles and to preach returned again with joy saying Lord
voluntas cognitae dei voluntati libens acquiescat Beza in Matthew 26. 26.39 that it was not a correction but an explication of his former Petition and a Declaration with what condition he should ask it nor doth it signifie a repugnancy of wills which could not have wanted sin but a diversity which per se is not vitious no not in men if so be the will of man doth willingly assent to and rest in the known Will of God The meaning then briefly may be this Father if it may stand with thy good pleasure Christ was willing to die voluntate rationali though not naturali for our redemption to be obedient to his Father Lumb sent lib. 3. distin 17. and mans redemption may otherwise be wrought let this bitter potion of my passion pass by me but rather then disobey thy decree and not do what I came for I yeeld to any thing submitting my self to thee and my will to thine This confutes the Monothelites a Sect of Hereticks of old that thought and taught Christ to have but one pure Will as Calvin noteth but properly it condemneth such as desire the fulfilling of their own perverse crooked and corrupt wills whatsoever became of the Will of God but if Christ in whom reason never lost his regiment Perdidit vitam ne perderet obedientiam Bern. nor was ever either non resident or non regent yet submitted himself and his Will to his Fathers Will what ever it cost him for as Bernard saith he lost his life that he might not lose his obedience then what arrogancy and Pride were it in us to desire our wills simply to be done no all our prayers petitions deprecations and supplications must be with condition and submission to the Will of God Oramus non ut deus quod vult faciat sed ut nos quod vult faciamus Cyprian when we pray that petition Thy Will be done we pray not that God may do what he Will but that we may do what he willeth saith Cyprian CHAP. 16. Of Pride in the affections PRide in the affections is discovered by a kind of a sinful and fantastical affectation to be like unto God there is a likeness to God in holiness in grace in humility this is commendable and this is the Image of God wherein man was created but Pride is a sinful affecting to be like unto God There are two things wherein a proud person doth affect to be like unto God 1. It is Gods prerogative royal that whatever excellency he hath he hath them in and of himself he is not beholden to any creature It is written of one Timotheus an Athenian that after he had proudly said in a great assembly Haec ego feci non fortuna he never after prospered in any thing Deut. 8.14 15 16 17 18. and the whole glory of all that he hath belongeth to him Now a proud man doth assume to himself the glory of all the excellency that he hath Therefore God gives a caveat to his people Beware when thy herds and flocks multiply and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied c. that then thy heart be not lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage c. Beware lest thou say in thy heart My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me all this wealth But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth c. and Deut. 9. saith he when thou shalt pass over Jordan and possess Nations greater and mightier than thy self Cities great and fenced up to heaven ver 4. speak not thou in thine heart after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee saying Deut. 9.1 4. For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land but for the wickedness of these Nations the Lord doth drive them out before thee Perhaps in word the proud man may make some kind of acknowledgement of God as the proud Pharisee Lord I thank thee I am not as other men are nor even as this Publican yet he assumeth all the glory to himself though in word he seem to honour God Parisiensis Parisiensis saith that a proud man is both an idolater and sets up himself as his own idol and so robs God of his glory The proud man makes himself his own Alpha thanks himself for all makes himself his own Omega seeks himself in all begins and ends at himself Humble Paul cries out In me that is Rom. 7. in my flesh there dwells no good thing and when he speaks of his own labours he saith 1 Cor. 15.10 Rhem. annot in Heb. 5. by the Grace of God I am that I am The Papists here are to be taxed who as the Rhemists do confess affirm Gods election to be because of faith or good works foreseen in us But this is contrary to Scripture and reason for that which is the effect cannot be the cause but good works and faith be the fruits of election as Austin speaks thus on Eph. 1.4 He chose us not because we were holy but that we might be holy he chose none being worthy Elegit nos non quia sancti eramus sed ut sancti essemus Neminem elegit dignum sed eligendo effecit dignum Aug. cont Julian Pelag lib. 5. cap. 3. but by chusing made him worthy you have not chosen me but I have chosen you saith Christ to his Disciples whereas if God should elect for faith and good works foreseen men should first chuse God by believing in him and doing such good works as were acceptable to him It was the errour of the Elders of the Jews when they came to Christ in the behalf of the Centurion to plead his worthiness to him why he should heal his servant Here was their Pride to think that by outward service of God men might merit his favour He loveth our Nation say they and hath built us a Synagogue Luk. 7.2 3 4. wherein they resemble our Papists and divers orders of Monks and Friars who will not stick to promise men heaven if they will be but bountiful Benefactors to their Fraternities and Monasteries Cells and Cloysters But however he could challenge nothing for himself Omnes peregrini ritus externae religiones Senatus consulto damnatae erant Tertul. in apologet cont gentes nor they for him at Gods hand for these his good deeds yet he was a worthy man and a good Christian as appeareth by his love to Religion and care to build a place for the people to assemble themselves to Gods worship No difficulty detaineth him from doing his duty It s like enough that this fact being complained of might procure him Tiberius the Emperours displeasure and cost him the loss of his office for all forreign and strange Religions were hated and might not be admitted
by the Romans as Tertullian tells us 2. It is Gods prerogative royal to act all for himself he hath no higher end than his own honour and glory The Lord made all things for himself for his own glory Dionysius junior alebat Sophistas non quod magni faceret sed ut propter eosin admirationem esset Plut. mor. 11 p. 400. Prov. 16.4 Now a proud man doth not mind the glory of God in his own thoughts but his own glory his own praise credit and esteem The Pharisees when they gave alms blew a trumper that people might take notice what merciful men they were that they might have the glory of men and when they prayed they often did it in the corners of the streets that they might be seen of men Humane applause was all they sought for approbation from God and acceptance with him they look not after and this they have as their reward Therefore saith Christ to his hearers Mat. 6.1 2 4 5 6. Take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them c. Mat. 6.1 Object But it may be said that our Saviour Mat. 5.16 commends and commands what he forbids and condemneth here for there he saith Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and here See that you do them not before men to be seen of them Answ If we compare the places we shall see it s no such matter for in the former place we are bidden to do good works before men that they may see them and glorifie God for them and be occasioned to imitate and follow them as 1 Pet. 2.12 And here we are forbidden to do them before men About one hundred and odd years agone some of the Princes Noble-men and Gentlemen of Germvny in a vain glorious way caused these five letters V. D.M.I.Ae the first letters of verbum dei manet in aeternum to be wrought or embroydered or set in plate upon their cloaks or sleeves of their garments to declare to the world that forsaking Popish traditions they were professors of the pure Word of God but many of these men had not the Word written upon their hearts Joh. Wolf lect membr Tom. 2. ad ann 1549. not simply but eo animo to be extolled praised and magnified for doing of them we may bona opera ostendere shew our good works but not ostentare not make an ostentation of them we must aym at Gods glory not our own if it follow it must be upon the by and more then we expect or respect in doing our duties It must as one saith be but a consequent no cause moving us But praise will follow vertuous and pious actions as the shadow the body The Romans made the image of vain glory in the form of a vagrant woman writing over her head This is the Image of vain-glory This Image had a Crown on her head a Scepter in her left hand a Peacock in the other her eyes vailed and blinded sitting on a Chariot drawn by four Lions the reason of all this was because the lovers of vain honour and glory are as inconstant as a vagrant woman the Crown on her head shewing that they ever desire to be honoured and admired in this world like Kings the Scepter betokening thier desire to rule the Peacock shewing that as the Peacock decks his former part with his tail and so leaves his hinder parts naked so vain-glorious men deck themselves in the eye of this world and deprive themselves of eternal glory the vail that is before her denoteth how blind the vain-glorious man is that he cannot see his own folly and arrogancy the four Lions intimate that the vain honour of this world is ever drawn with four cruel sins as fierce as Lions Pride Avarice Luxury and Envy A proud man can bear reproach of none and seeks to be adored and praised by all Calvisius Sabinus got servants skilled in all arts and speaking all languages arrogating all that they knew to himself Seneca ad Lucil. Epist 27. CHAP. 17. Of Pride of gifts in general GIfts are those endowments with which God fills the minds of men for the edifying of the Church of Christ and of these the Apostle tells us there is a diversity 1 Cor. 12.4 Si sono benle differenti de doni maegli e vn medesimo Spirito c. Questo fanno il genere sotto il quale si contengonole specie che sono soggiunte delle amministrationi operationi Ital. Annota in 1 Cor. 12.4 5 6. and these all proceed from the Spirit of God Gifts are as it were the life of a Christian and the Spirit of God is the life of them all There is not greater variety of Herbs Trees Plants Knots Flowers in a curious garden enclosed to which the Church is compared then there is of gifts in the minds of men some indeed have a double portion of gifts as Elisha had of the spirit of Elijah and every one hath his proper gift suitable to that place whereunto God hath called him his dimensum as the Scripture termeth it Now the design of the Devil is to make a man proud of his gifts and to look more upon his gifts then look to the giver of them when a man feeds this humour in himself and is so far from checking it in his heart that he rather seeks to foment it and add matter to it and sheweth it by the contempt of others of inferiour gifts this is a note that gifts do puffe him up with Pride Now this is a great vanity for a man to be proud of gifts 1. Because these gifts are not our own but Gods Who made thee to differ from another or what hast thou saith Paul which thou hast not received and if thou hast received it 1 Cor. 4.7 why then dost thou boast c. every good and perfect gift cometh from above from the Father of lights who giveth freely c. Jam. 1. We have nothing that is good Omnia mea mala purè mala sunt mea omnia mea bona purè bona suit et non mea Hugo Card. Austin observeth against the Heathen that Christian vertues far surpass the vertues of the Heathen by the name they are called saith he you call yours habits because you have them we call ours gifts because we receive them from God but is the gift of God and cometh from the grace of God Thus one saith All my evils are purely evil and mine All my good things are purely good and not mine And Austin upon the fifth Petition of the Lords prayer saith What can be less then bread yet lest we might think to have that of our selves our Master hath taught us to beg it of our heavenly Father saying and praying daily Give us this day our daily bread therefore seeing all that we have whither for the body or mind are Gods gifts we must not say of them