in truth most proper and fit for Criminals The only thing worth our esteem is Vertue or that gracious disposition of Soul whereby the righteous is indeed more excellent than his neighbour Prov. 12. 26. Those Moral Habits which are apt to cleanse us from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit have an intrinsick Dignity in them For they are noble Perfections of our Nature and such resemblances of the Divine Being as are in the sight of God himself of great price 1 Pet. 3. 4. But yet even these excellent Endowments are arguments for our Humility because they are not the Productions of Nature but the Fruits and Effects of the Holy Spirit 's Operation It is by his free and gracious Energy that we are made the Children of Grace and are transformed in the renewing of our Minds Without Christ's assistance by the Holy Spirit we can do nothing John 15. 5. It is he that worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure Phil. 2. 13. Upon this account our Spiritual Graces are reasons for our Thankfulness but not for our Pride because we stand indebted to the mere Goodness and Bounty of God for them Who maketh thee to differ from another saith the Apostle or what hast thou that thou didst not receive Now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as though thou hadst not received it 1 Cor. 4. 7. Debtors are not wont to be proud of the Obligations and Bonds they are forced to lie under Poverty carrieth such shame with it as serves to debase Men when hardly any thing else will And though God giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not Jam. 1. 5. yet the Sense of our necessitous and miserable condition by Nature and of our dependance upon God for the mending of our Fortunes is a very powerful Motive to humble all of us especially before that infinite Being to whose Bounty and Goodness we owe all that we have and all that we are THE ancient Moralists among the Heathen thought it a Fundamental Principle of all Vertue for a Man to know and understand himself rightly I am sure it is the Principle and Source of this Vertue Humility For there is very little if any thing in us or about us but what teacheth us to despise our selves And it is for want of due and just reflection that People are great in their own Eyes I know that in me that is in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing saith St. Paul in the Person of an unregenerate Man Rom. 7. 18. There is indeed a vile Body a sinful Soul a corrupt Mind a vain Imagination There is a weak mortal necessitous Nature There is foolishness and wretchedness in great variety There is enough and abundance of such things for him to boast of if it be worth his boasting such glorying would be in One's shame And as for those blessed Principles of Vertue which by the sweet and kindly insinuations of Christ's Spirit the Soul of every regenerate Person is endow'd with they are so many borrowed Talents for which the holiest Man living stands beholding to our great Creditor the Lord of all And tho' we ought to rejoyce that God is pleas'd to communicate his Riches to us yet considering that they are precarious Loans for the obtaining whereof our chief business was to beg and receive with all Humility we have as little reason to be proud of them as a servile Steward hath of a Trust for which he must give a strict Account IF the things I have mention'd serve to keep us from all Assumings the Consideration of those outward Matters which the Scripture calls the things and the fashion of the world must needs help to take down our Minds the more still For tho' the Children of this World are wont to mind these things most and are apt to be elated most of all by them yet there is hardly a plainer Argument than this is of the great Weakness of humane Nature and of the Folly it is subject to that Men are so swollen in their Minds because their temporal Fortunes are bulky because they are Richer and Greater than others I mean as some count Riches and Greatness who speak the Dialect of the World and consider not what it is to be Rich and Great indeed Alas these external Matters are of a very mean trifling and contemptible Nature phantasm and colour only like the Feathers of the Athenian Bird which help to give it face but do not make it better or weightier than a Bird of a plainer Plume Besides riches saith Solomon certainly make themselves wings they flee away as an Eagle towards heaven Prov. 23. 5. And this they do by the just Judgment of God in Heaven because Men set their Eyes on that which is not and set others at nought for that which is but vanity When they forget God and themselves after this manner it is a very Righteous thing for the Judge of all the Earth to humble them by making the Nest that was set on high empty and by leaving it to the mercy of the Fire or of the Extortioner which in effect is the same thing Thirdly tho' these external Fortunes stay with us and we with them yet 't is most unreasonable for our Hearts to be lifted up by the enjoyment of them because they are far from being an argument of God's Love to any No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them saith Solomon Eccl. 9. 1. That is none can certainly tell by his present worldy Condition whether he be in God's Favour or no. For saith Solomon verse 2. All things come alike to all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked to the good and to the clean and to the unclean to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath Which words yield us thus much That since this wretched World is not a place for us to receive our Rewards generally Men share alike and without discrimination in the Fortunes of the World The Divine Providence scatters them promiscuously and with an indifferent Hand which plainly shews that in God's Account they are such very inconsiderable things that it is no matter how or upon whom they are thrown away But Fourthly if any thing may be concluded from the affluence of these poor temporal Enjoyments it is rather a sad argument of the great Danger the Men of this World are in than a signification of God's Love to them For all Mankind being God's Creatures and having for that reason some sort of Title and Right to his Providence God is pleased to distribute the Glories and Felicities here below as he sends his Rain and Sun-shine upon the evil as well as upon the good Nay because evil Men can have no share of the Felicities of a future state God doth usually give them a more liberal allowance of
Meanness must needs incline you to do An humble Heart is not apt to be lifted up against its Maker nor to resist and disobey his Commands because it is conscious of God's Greatness Power and Authority over us all and of that infinite Distance which is between his Glorious Majesty and us poor Creatures who are Worms Earth Vanity nothing in comparison Obedience doth naturally spring from such lowly Thoughts and so that Peace and Comfort which is the Fruit of Obedience must spring in the Mind too In short it is that Spiritual Refreshment and Ease which our Blessed Saviour hath promised to his followers and particularly to such as follow the Example of his great Humility Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls Matth. II. 29. 2. ANOTHER thing that is wont to discompose Mens Minds is a Sense of Disrespect we are too ready God knows to entertain very kind Thoughts of our own selves and to expect that others should think as we do and should show that deference which we fansie to be due from abroad because we are fond of making the first payment of it at home When vain Men find themselves disappointed Lord What pain and anguish are they in presently Impatient and dejected like Haman who was so mortifi'd by failing of one Ceremony as if all his Enjoyments lay at Mordecai's Feet This is one great reproach of Pride That 't is always ready with a Rack for those who never think themselves high enough Nor are any so crucify'd as they who are most in love with this Tyrant Vice EVERY thing that looks like contempt is a nail that createth fresh Torture in them Whereas a Spirit of Humility delivers one from pains of this Nature because such a Man considers whose face it was that was spit upon before he endured the Cross and if the Son of God was so patient under the greatest indignities certainly a poor sinful Man hath reason when the right Cheek is used Contumeliously to turn the left also though the disgrace be never so provoking But in this case an humble Person finds not sufficient cause of disturbance because he is supposed to be despicable in his own Eyes and if he thinks his Eyes do not deceive him how is it a provocation that he is so in the Eyes of others too Their agreement in the same opinion is matter not of trouble but of complacency rather because each Party believes his opinion to be right If to expose thee People proclaim some of thy faults do not stand upon thy defence saith Epictetus as if they did thee wrong but say only they are ignorant People for if they knew all thy faults they would not have mentioned these alone By such a modest turn of the hand 't is easie to wipe off the foulest Spittle before it sinks into the breast And besides the Humble Man considers what Mouth it came from For Applause from some Mens lips may be constru'd as a Libel and many times we may well be jealous as Socrates was wont to be that he had done something amiss when he was respected and commended by ill Men The despitefulness of such brings this great comfort with it That there is no present danger of that woe which we have reason to be afraid of when all Men speak well of us Luc. 6. 26. FURTHER yet Whoever the Men whatever the Disrespect be and what impressions soever it makes it sits the easier upon an Humble Man's mind because he takes it as a means of making him the more Humble still For lowly hearts are apt to mistrust that they are never lowly enough and therefore when any thing happens which helps to abase them whether it be deserved or no it is not unwelcome because it is of very good use and may have been ministred by the hand of God for the good Man's particular advantage Thus David took it when Shimei cursed him and threw stones at him So let him Curse said the King because the Lord hath said unto him Curse David 2 Sam. 16. 10. And when we make such a Religious construction of Affronts and Contumelies as things intended for our good and such a Religious use of them as to be better'd and made more Humble by them they must needs lose that Acrimony and Gall which is so very distastful and grievous to proud Men who want the Divine Art of altering the Waters of Marah so as to destroy their bitterness 3. A third thing that too often disquiets Mens minds is the great Prosperity of others as to their outward Fortunes because in the distribution of these Temporal Blessings the Divine Providence doth not observe the Rules of exact Equality People whose condition is much lower than their Neighbours look upon those above them with an evil Eye grow impatient fretful and querulous because forsooth the same liberal and open hand is not extended unto themselves Such greedy and reaching desires can never be without great vexation of Spirit especially when Industry and Ambition have made many unsuccessful attempts to get higher In which case nothing certainly can be such a speedy and effectual relief to the Soul to give it Peace and Rest as true Humility The first thought that is naturally incident to an Humble Man is That as all Right is in God the great and sole Proprietary who hath an indisputable Power to do what he pleaseth with his own Matth. 20. 15. So the greatest Title we can pretend to is that of Usufructuaries Tenants at Will in every respect though in this case the Tenure be for Lives too as precarious a Tenure as the other and for such entire dependants to be envious at the Divine oeconomy is the most impious unthankfulness when we have all of us as little reason to murmur as we have capacity to Pay or power to Demand Again as we depend upon God for all that we have so we must acknowledge that whatsoever that be is more than we deserve And this humble consideration that God is our absolute Soverign but not our Debtor is another strong reason for us to acquiesce and be content with our Portion because though it be not as great as other Mens yet it is enough to make us not only satisfied but thankful Lord said Jacob I am not worthy of the least of all the Mercies which thou hast shewed unto thy Servant With my Staff I Passed over Jordan and now I am become two bands Gen. 32. 10. THIRDLY Humility teacheth us to consider that whatsoever our Condition is it is that which is best and fittest for us Of this indeed we our selves are not competent Judges because our Understandings are as weak as our Desires are unreasonable and were our Fortunes in our own hands our partiality and ignorance would make us the very worst Carvers of them God knows best what we most need and that alone is proper which he sees to be necessary and
Adoration too profound in the Presence of that Great God who searcheth the very heart and reins And how can it be expected that People who thus bear themselves on high should make any good improvements in Religion Or that they should perfect Holiness in the fear of God who despise even the outward Beauty of it How can it be expected that they should receive the Influences of Grace who shut their Bosoms as it were against them That they should be trusted with a Divine Treasure who carry themselves as if they were rich enough and had need of nothing Or that they should be bless'd with the Dew of Heaven who are insolently supine as if they had the Fortune of Gideon's Fleece to be full of Water whilst the neighbouring Ground was dry So proud People count others in comparison and yet those humble Hearts that are a thirst for God and cry unto him like the parched Land are more receptive of Distillations from above and much the more fruitful by them God heareth their Cries and as a return of their Prayers refresheth them with increments of his Grace and Goodness so that they proceed from Strength to Strength from Vertue to Vertue from one degree of Grace unto another 2. SECONDLY As an humble Mind prompts Men to be diligent and devout at their Prayers so it inclines them to communicate often at the Altar which is another means of Holiness Because this Sacrament was of our blessed Saviour's own appointment and that too a little before he humbled himself even to the Death of the Cross because he was pleas'd to institute it for a standing Memorial of his great Love to Mankind in dying for all And because he said pointing to the Cup Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me The Christian Church hath in all times held this Solemnity in the greatest Esteem and Veneration as being a Christian Ordinance in the strictest Sense and after a more peculiar manner and such was the Humility of Christians in the ancient Times especially that for fear they should not celebrate it often enough they did it daily And certainly were our Humility as deep as theirs our Obedience and Zeal as to this would bear an equal proportion as none would think themselves to be above Ordinances or without need of Ordinances so as to slight this so very few would hardly once omit it being such a Sacred and Solemn part of Christ's Religion especially considering how mightily the use of it promotes our Progress and Perfection in Vertue Here we renew our Baptismal Vows Here we repeat all acts of Mortification and Repentance Here we exercise our Faith and Hope with the greatest vigour Here we enliven and extend our Charity to all Mankind Here we are taken up with the Contemplation and Adorations of God Here we exert all those Spiritual Graces which God gives us upon our devout Prayers So that were this Ordinance religiously and constantly used according to the Original design and purpose of our Saviour nothing could conduce more to our present and future Happiness than this blessed Mystery so perfective it is of all manner of Vertue The lowly in Heart cannot but think themselves obliged to be frequent Attendants at the Lord's-Table what neglects what contempt soever Men of unsubdued Spirits may be guilty of People of an humble and truly Christian Disposition make a Conscience of this their Duty and are afraid of violating such an express such a plain Command especial of living in the habitual and scandalous violation of it They consider the infinite Love of the Lord Jesus who gave himself for them how equal it is to express here their Thankfulness to him how pleasant as well as frail the Duty is and what infinite difference there is between This Cup and that which our blessed Saviour drank of for us in his Agony and upon the Cross They think of those Blessings which reward the Piety of every devout Soul and are sensible of their want of them They impatiently desire the Pardon of all their Sins and that Supply of Grace wherewith the Holy Spirit refresheth the Hearts of all Worthy Communicants And when the Solemnity is transacted their daily care is to order their whole Conversation so that they may not have received the Grace of God in vain These are genuine Fruits of Humility and they all shew how effectually this single Vertue serves to carry on the great Ends and Purposes of Christianity 3. THE Third thing I mentioned as a means of Holiness is Instruction For how sincere so ever our Hearts may be our Understandings are subject to so many Mistakes and Errors that good Guides are very necessary to inform us tho' some think they do not need them at all This is no other than Pride of Heart nor do any stand in such great need of skilful and honest Guides as those who think they are able enough to guide themselves Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit There is more hope of a fool than of him saith Solomon Prov. 26. 12. Such a Man hearkeneth to himself and being in the hands of such a weak and flattering Tutor no good Proficiency can be expected from him He will ever be crooked because he grows leaning every minute on the left-side 'T is hardly possible ever to set such an unlucky piece of a Man right without such a Miracle as in our Saviour's time cured the Blind and the Lame His Knowledge and Perfection are so great in his own Eyes that the pretending to rectifie Faults is interpreted either as Ignorance that is inexcusable because he is known no better or as Malice and ill Nature for endeavouring to fix a dark part there which he thought splendid which way so ever it be taken the proud Man thinks himself disgraced he is therefore affronted because he is above Reproof or Advice And thus the means of making him better and wiser are quite frustrated Therefore for our Progress and Perfection in a Christian course it is a most necessary Rule which St. Paul gives us all to go by Let none think of himself more highly than he ought to think but think soberly An humble Mind is tractable and docil for the very Notion of Humility includes a mean and slender Opinion of One's own self and considering those Commands that in honour we should preferr one another Rom. 12. 10. and esteem each other better than our selves Phil. 1. 3. Nothing can be more agreeable to a Spirit of true Humility than to hearken to those whose Place and Office it is by God's appointment to direct and inform us especially when the Holy Scripture is their Rule and to submit to all those means of Proficiency for which the Scriptures themselves were written whether it be Doctrine or Reproof or Correction or Instruction in Righteousness that the good Man may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good Works Let the righteous smite me it shall be a
it One's choice too few if any of Adam's Race would stoop to this were their Lots at their own disposal and yet this was the Condition which the most blessed Son of God designedly took upon himself Eight Days after his Nativity he submitted to Circumcision which was an argument of Mens Hereditary Pollutions as well as the Seal of God's Covenant with the Jews And by humbling himself to the bloody stroke of the Knife he shew'd that tho' he was perfectly Innocent yet he took on him the guilt of our Sins as well as the shame I had almost said the scandal of the extreamest Poverty St. Luke tells us that he was subject to his Parents Luke 2. 5. And the Tradition is very Ancient that as he grew up he wrought together with his reputed Father in his Manual Occupation tho' he could have fed his Mother and him by Miracles but he did no Miracle till he was thirty Years old and then those Works were for the Confirmation of his Doctrines and to prove his Divine Authority And after Joseph's death which it 's thought was a considerable time before he began to Preach 't is believ'd that he us'd the Trade alone for his own and his Mother's support making Yokes and Ploughs says Justin Martyr for which reason he was afterwards call'd not only the Carpenter's Son but the Carpenter Mark 6. 3. As he was first reveal'd to Shepherds so his Retinue afterwards consisted of Fishermen and such like humble People whose Meanness the better fitted them to be Examples of what he said in his Sermon on the Mount Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God Matth. 5. 3. Indeed the Labours of his Hands ceas'd as soon as he enter'd on his Ministerial Office Then he liv'd by the Hands of others which manner of living tho' it was grounded upon an eternal Principle of Justice because the work-man is worthy of his meat as he said himself Matth. 10. 10. yet in him it was an expression of great Humility because he took all Ministrations to him as things precarious even from the hands of those who confess'd him to be the Son of God the Lord of all And at the same time when his Necessities requir'd him to make use of Money that he might for ever disgrace all inordinate love of it he thought that vile Person the properest to carry the Bag who was a Thief and a Traitor His whole Life was a constant state of Poverty having not of his own where to lay his Head after it was lifted up out of the Manger nor was that poor resting place his own neither His patient bearing Aspersions and Reproach the usual consequents of a needy Condition was a further argument still of the great Humility of his Heart High Stomachs are apt to be stimulated to that degree by one sharp treatment that sometimes nothing can allay but a glut of Revenge life it self falls a sacrifice for it and a little detraction is too often made the Price of Blood When the Lord Jesus was revil'd he did not at all revile again 1 Pet. 2. 23. but endur'd before-hand Crucifixion in his Name A Glutton and a Wine-bibber a Friend of Publicans and Sinners a Samaritan a Daemoniack an Instrument of Beelzebub a Perverter of the Nation These and the like Calumnies were Prefatory to that spightful Libel on the Cross This is the King of the Jews and yet he bore all these Reproaches with the same Humility and Evenness of Mind wherewith he bore the solemn pompous Mockery of the Reed and Purple Robe formalities intended not to inaugurate but to mortifie him 'T is true these tho' very great Indignities did neither wound his Flesh nor hurt his Skin and so in that respect were more tolerable than the Buffettings the Scourgings the Coronary Thorns which were a part of the Epilogue This was such a strange Form for the Son of God to take upon him that Pilate himself tho' he knew nothing of his Divinity shew'd him to the People as an amazing Spectacle Behold the Man said he John 19. 5. His submitting to such shameful Scourgings and Dilacerations exceeded his stooping down to the Bason of Water to wash his Disciples Feet before he was apprehended And yet that was an act of Humility which our Saviour himself intended as an Eminent Example for the very greatest in his Church to follow that they should do as he did unto them because the servant is not greater than his Lord neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him John 13. 15 16. AND yet Thirdly There is one thing behind still which was more than this and that was his preparing a Lavatory for the whole World by pouring out not Water only but Blood too and that upon the Cross St. Paul mentions this as the most signal and stupendous Act of Humility that he submitted even to Crucifixion which was not only the most Cruel but the most Opprobrious kind of Punishment AMONG the Jews a particular Malediction went along with Suspension tho' the Criminal did not expire and die by it but was expos'd upon a Gibbet after he had suffer'd death some other way For the Law of God gave them no Authority to take any Man's Life by this sort of Punishment It only impower'd them after they had stoned or strangled a Malefactor to hang his breathless Body up for shame and example sake and that Ignominy was inflicted only upon Blasphemers Idolaters and the like It was a sign that such Criminals were under a particular Curse for he that is hanged is accursed of God saith the Scripture Deut. 21. 23. This his Suspension was not the cause but the sign of his being accursed a token of the Malediction an argument that he was detested by the God of Purity that he was look'd upon as one not fit to tread upon the Earth and therefore was hang'd up in the Air lest he should defile the Land and thence was to be thrown under Ground in all haste the very same day as an abominable Creature that deserv'd presently to be remov'd out of the Peoples view If a man have committed a sin worthy of death and he be put to death and thou hang him on a tree his body shall not remain all night upon the tree but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day so the Law runs Deut. 21. 22 23. And some learned Jews tell us That even the Tree on which such a Malefactor was expos'd was to be bury'd with him and so the Stone wherewith he had been stoned or the Sword wherewith he had been cut off or the Napkin wherewith he had been strangled all was to be put into the Earth with him and all this to shew what a vile and abominable thing he was in the account of God Now by this the wonderful Humility of the Lord Jesus appears that he was pleas'd to submit to that reproach and shame which was due to those and
the noblest Monuments of Pious and Thankful Minds From Age to Age Humility was sedulously working till first in the Church of Rome and then in other Churches sacrilegious Hands laid hold on some of God's Propriety to maintain Voluptuousness and Pride and threw away a great deal even of the Shew-bread of the Sanctuary among Dogs IT would be in vain in this degenerate Age to tell Men what they should do as to things of this Nature But God's Honour is to be served still nor are we any more excus'd from Offices of Gratitude and profound Respect than our Fore-fathers were There are eternal Laws of Reason which oblige us to render all possible Acknowledgments to the Great Maker Governour and Disposer of all things nor is any thing more becoming Men of humble Minds and Tempers His great Name is still to be had in Honour his Day to be kept Holy unto him his Word to be reverenc'd and obey'd the Seals of his Covenant with us to be used so as may be most for his Glory his House to be frequented as the House of Prayer and his Service there to be perform'd with that Gravity and Decorum with that Order and Solemnity with that Fervour and Zeal with that Devotion and Presence of Mind as becometh People that appear in the Presence of that infinite Being who is to judge us at the last Day and to Reward us all according to our Works Had we all right Notions of God and did we daily consider what worthless necessitous Beings our selves are that wait upon God as the meanest Animals do that he may give us our Meat in due season that are troubled presently when God hides his Face that die and return to our Dust when God takes away our Breath Were nothing but this to be considered the Power of common natural Conscience would be enough to humble us into a readiness of making such retributions of Gratitude as I have now mentioned 3. AND the same Power of Conscience would bring us daily upon our Knees and lay us prostrate on the Earth to adore him to praise him for the Glory of his Majesty to implore his great Compassion and to give him Thanks for the constant Operations of his Mercy which is the third way of serving his Honour By these acts of Worship we declare our belief that God is a superexcellent Being of such Perfections in his Nature as render him an Object most worthy of all Adorations By these acts we confess that he hearkens to all our Addresses that he is able to answer all our Wants that he is ready to receive our Invocations and to fulfil our Desires and that our concerns are entirely in his Hand and at his Disposal The sence we have of his Omniscience Power Goodness Wisdom and Providence over all gives life and breath to our Supplications and therefore he saith himself whoso offereth me thanks and praise he honoureth me Psalm 50. 23. Now none are so kindly condition'd for all this as People of lowly Hearts because they are most possest with the admiration of God's Excellencies most apprehensive of his All-sufficiency most sensible of their own Defects and Indigencies most apt to betake themselves to him and to run under his Wings for Shelter and Protection This therefore being so natural to humble Spirits we cannot better express this great Vertue than by addicting our Souls to the Love of God's Worship by giving our Minds to it by making it as Solemn as we can by such external acts of Reverence as are the ordinary significations of a lowly Disposition and exemplary too in their Consequence that others may thereby learn how to glorifie God as well as we A careless and supine behaviour as if the worshipping of God were an indifferent nay a trifling matter a sleepy Eye an inflexible Body and such like anomalous odd Figures which some People make are as unsuitable in a Christian Oratory as changing of Money was in the Temple and for this reason ought to be cast out because instead of expressing a slender and low Opinion of One's own self they rather argue Men to have very mean and contemptuous Thoughts of God O come saith David let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker Due Notions of an Omnipotent Creator a due remembrance of the Dust out of which we were formed and into which we shall return and due Consideration of the Hand which hath kept us from dropping into it as yet These and the like humble Thoughts are enough to strike us down into the most reverent and lowly Prostrations 'T IS true there is a voluntary Humility which carrieth an ill Character with it Col. 2. 18. But this is impertinently objected against the use of these external acts in the Worship of God because it is joyned there with the worshipping of Angels Such voluntary Humility is indeed criminal when People address themselves to Angels as the Ethnicks did to Daemons as to Mediators and Intercessors for them to the Supreme Being and out of a great awe and fear of approaching immediately unto God himself This Humility is culpable But this makes nothing against those outward acts of Religious Adorations which are directed to the Creator of all things For such acts are not properly voluntary they are God's due to which he hath an indefeisable Right by having created the Body and for that reason it is Idolatry to give them to a Creature because it is the giving away of God's Honour and Right a Right founded upon an Original Law which Adam and his whole Family brought into the World with them TO argue therefore against such solemn acts of Worship from such weak Topicks betrays great affectation of Mind a love of singularity and stubbornness like that quarrelsome Temper that is in some who lie still upon the catch and want only an opportunity of starting a pretence A Mind that is truly humble truly conscious and sensible of the vileness of such a miserable sinful Creature as Man is cannot use a more genuine Method of expressing its Sense of this vileness than by those Reverent Gestures in the Solemnities of God's Worship which would be suitable significative and justifiable were they not commanded 4. BESIDES these ways of expressing our lowliness there is yet a Fourth viz. By giving our selves up to God's disposal Resignation is an inseparable Property of an humble Soul nor is it ever so becoming and agreeable as when we absolutely resign our selves up into the Hands of God This is greatly to honour him because it is a manifestation of those Divine Attributes wherein his Glory doth consist It is a confession that he is a Being of uncontroulable Power not bounded or govern'd but by the Perfections of his own most blessed Nature That he hath an absolute Dominion and Authority over us as over his own and that he can exercise his Power when and as he pleaseth That he is just in all his Proceedings acting always
you may be sure that the Interdict is not from Christ and that it is only humour or stubbornness or some such evil thing that gives the casting Voice against Authority 4. FOURTHLY There are some set over us whose Address to us we may not so well call Mandatory as Instructive Tho' the Authority they are vested with be after an especial manner Divine yet it must be administred in an humble way and they that have it must be Examples of Humility as the Son of God himself was who gives them this Authority See what he said to his Apostles Matth. 20. 25 26 27. Ye know that the Princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them and they that are great exercise authority upon them But it shall not be so among you but whosoever will be great among you let him be your minister and whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant And yet such Servants as they be they must be submitted to in their Ministrations for so our Lord saith elsewhere He that heareth you heareth me And he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me Luke 10. 16. Contempts of this nature do not only reflect upon God but are grounded too upon contumelious Notions of him and proceed from Hearts that swell and are lifted up against him The Probationary Atheist begins with efforts at the Pulpit and goes on by degrees to a perfect hatred of God and of Religion and of the Ministers of Christ for God and Religion sake 'T is the Spirit of Lucifer that worketh at the bottom a secret Principle of Aversion and Enmity to all that is Good and Holy Therefore to express our Humility as we should we must obey them that have the Rule over us and submit our selves to those that watch for our Souls Heb. 13. 17. Which St. Paul calls in another place knowing them which labour among us and are over us in the Lord and admonish us and this for their works sake 1 Thess 5. 12 13. Because 't is God's Work they are about God's Business they are upon and so the Obedience paid them in the discharge of their Office is carried on to God and terminates in God for whose sake it is that the humble Person hath a regard to one as vile or viler than himself This is an argument of a lowly Heart and the proper ready way to make it more lowly still to receive the Doctrines they deliver us from the Mouth of God to lay up in our Minds the things spoken to set our Souls upon the Consideration of them to give ear to Instruction to lay hold on every opportunity of being instructed to follow wholsome Directions to take even Reproofs with meekness with an aptitude and willingness to be reformed and for all this to have continually prepared and open Hearts CHAP. XII How Humility is to be express'd by being contented with such things as we have 6. BECAUSE I am desirous to draw this whole Discourse to a full Point I shall take notice but of two Expressions more of Humility which are as Considerable and Necessary as the rest And that which comes next to my Hand is in Heb. 13. 5. That we be content with such things as we have Covetousness which the Apostle there cautioneth us against is inconsistent with a Spirit of Humility because it is always attended with a distrust of God's Providence and with a secret averseness to submit to his Will and is very usually too a subservient Vice to Pride a Slave and Drudge to toil for the support of it It is the taking away or detaining of what is not One's own or an inordinate desire of that which he hath no right unto And the great reason why Men reach out their Hands to wrest Naboth's Vineyard out of his and are greedy of laying Field to Field and do such other acts of Oppression as are contrary to the Laws of Religion and Nature the reason I say of this Injustice is because Men intend thereby to lift up themselves the higher in the World they rob and cozen and over-reach in order to their Advancement and that they may be the more conspicuous by standing upon an heap tho' Wrath and Vengeance be under it to blow up all at last Men of humble Minds had rather stand on low Ground to be hid in a Multitude for since the Lord Jesus was pleas'd to be numbred with Transgressors a poor sinful Man need not care what his Lot is and among whom he chanceth to be reckoned Whatever his Station be 't is better than he deserves This one humble Reflection should be enough to persuade us in what condition soever we are therewith to be content But besides this there is in every humble Soul an aptitude to consider that God is the Sovereign Rector of the Universe that no part of it is out of the reach of his Eye or out of the verge of his Providence that he always acteth according to the Laws of his own infinite Reason and as it is best for his Creatures that he assigneth to every Man his Lot and Place that he is the only competent Judge to determine what is proper for every Man and what a Man himself is fittest for that he taketh a due Care of every one and provideth such things for him as are most suitable to his Quality and Calling and that such as seek him shall want no manner of thing that is good Psalm 34. 10. These Principles are deeply rooted in all lowly Hearts that are rightly prepared to submit to the Will and to depend upon the Promises of God and the genuine Product of them is this that 't is our best course to commit our selves to God's Disposal and to be satisfied with his Providence and Determinations I am sure this is infinitely more Becoming and Advantageous than to be always Repining and Craving as those humoursome People are who by taking false Measures of themselves think whatever is done for them to fall short of their Merits and grudge if they be not satisfied when by stretching their Desires continually they render themselves uncapable of being filled Therefore to express our Humility we must carefully learn these three things 1. TO have as mean an Opinion of the World as we have of our own selves The reason why Men covet the things of this Life with such Greediness and Ambition is because they think Happiness to consist in Riches and Greatness and those to be the happiest Persons who have the largest share of them Now this is a most gross mistake an argument of a childish and little Mind For such outward Enjoyments are for the most part instruments of Sin and then they are the most unfortunate Men that carry such edg'd Tools in their Hands The greater they be the more able they are to do themselves and others mischief and the more ready many times to do it Vanity Luxury and a leud Life are
Inequalities which without due care all are subject to especially such whose Root is in a Dunghill That Arch-Bishop of Mentz Willegis whose Father was a poor Carpenter did a very becoming act in hanging his House with representations of Saws and Axes that he might be sure not to forget whence he had been hewn and might preserve himself the better from being elated by his surprising Dignity Men should be very watchful over themselves when their Fortunes swell lest their Hearts swell with them For then is the great Danger and then the Honour and the Vertue appears to admiration when they govern themselves with such a strict Hand as to be always of a Piece the same condescending Men as when Obscurity and Wants made them crouch equally as obliging as when they stood in need and courted those whom a Principle of Vanity would be apt without great care to make them afterwards despise 2. THIS unevenness of Temper and shameful Disparity between the Man and himself proceedeth Secondly from palpable Imprudence 'T is a sign of a weak Head when a Vertigo takes it upon the top of an Hill There is some Defect within in the Intellectual as well as Moral Faculties something is wanting which should poise the Mind and keep it steddy when our Condition grows and riseth to a considerable pitch To think we can be so high as to be above all and out of the reach of all is a very foolish Imagination for we are ever in danger of one another and always stand in need of one another and one time or other the loftiest find it so And such inequalities of Temper as Grate in a prosperous Condition as they are more discernible and offensive so they expose vain People the more first to Envy and then to Ruine at the next fair opportunity For the state of this World ever was and ever will be mutable the Ground we stand upon is very slippery nor are any more commonly tripp'd up than those that think they have sure footing Pride goeth before destruction and an haughty spirit before a fall saith Solomon Prov. 16. 18. His own Father had found much of this after his advancement to the Throne he said in his Prosperity he should never be removed God as he thought had of his Goodness made his Hill so strong Psalm 30. 6. But he shews us himself in the very next words what a vain and weak Conceit this was Thou didst turn thy face from me and I was troubled Nothing is more usual than to see such Vicissitudes and Turns in the World and many times Fortune is most persidious to those who take occasion by its Liberality to be false to others and to deceive themselves too with vain and foolish Confidences of their own Such Cheats fall fatally and the more fatally for having been so and commonly where they tumble they lie unpitied These things wise and thinking Men will consider in time while the Blessings of God are in their Hands and will carry them with such Evenness and Caution and true Generosity of Mind that all good People may have reason to wish they may never drop out of Hands that use them so well 3. BUT after all this unevenness of Temper I now speak of proceeds not so much from some foulness and imperfections in Nature as from a wicked Abuse of God's Grace which is given Men to rectifie what is amiss in them There is in it a mighty touch of the Devil who once set up against the most blessed God because he found himself a very glorious Creature It is from such a Spirit that the greater and higher Men are in their outward Estate the prouder too they are in their Minds They take their Acquisitions not as Gifts and Boons but as Rewards and as Payments in part of a great Debt This must needs be the secret Principle such elated People go upon that all they have is a due and but a pittance neither in comparison of what they ought to have and are very fit for Hence it is that their Pride increases with their Enjoyments They conclude that their singular Advantages are only in Consideration of their singular Deserts retributions of Providence and as these are larger and larger so is the Admiration of themselves greater and greater still And then it is no wonder if Men who are possest with such lofty Notions look down Disdainfully upon all below them because they take measures of themselves and others by Events and Providential Successes They look upon these as clear Arguments and Determinations on their behalf because they believe that God sideth with them and allots them the upper-hand by reason that he too thinks them to be really better than their Neighbours Now these are very dangerous Conceits because they are bottomed upon Lucifer's Sin and evidently lead proud Men to the very same Fate Therefore we cannot give better or plainer Expressions of our Humility than by keeping our Minds down and by doing such acts as argue them to be still in a subdued Condition however it shall please God to exalt us A state of Greatness adds a vast Lustre to this Vertue or rather creates a Lustre in it which makes it the more Admirable and Exemplary It is then most Charming when we cloath our selves with it in defiance of all Prosperity Nor was Solomon in all his Glory arrayed like one such little one For this I appeal to the common Sense of Mankind whose daily Observations shew us That there is no such glorious Ornament as Humility especially when it keeps its former place in the midst of flourishing Circumstances when no Advancement can be powerful enough to transport Men to an indecent Distance nor to bring with it a techy Temper or a supercilious Look nor to make them forsake those kind Offices which they were ready for in a low Station THE more becoming and admirable this Vertue is the greater care is required of us to preserve and keep it in all Conditions but more particularly in a prosperous State when the World smiles upon us and fallacious Fortune attempts by Caresses and Flatteries to steal away our humble Hearts from us Then we should use the greater Caution because the danger of losing our selves is then just at hand 'T is no hard or uncommon thing for People to carry themselves in an humble manner while their Condition is low The difficulty is how to act with the same Mien when Honours and Riches increase In such cases Peoples Minds are naturally apt to be puffed up especially those who are of small Value People of little Sense and of less Goodness 'T is very usual for such when their Affairs begin to glitter to be full of self-admiration and to be carried away with Vanity Nay some are so weak as to think it proper for them to affect State tho' it sits very aukwardly and ill upon them is very unsuitable to such little things and makes them as ridiculous as Trappings of