the Lord be high yet he hath respect to the lowly Psal 138.6 Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit Isa 57.15 God hath but two dwelling places one in the highest heavens the other in the lowest and humblest hearts an humble and contrite soul hath a heart and spirit beaten to powder as the word properly noteth and with such a one will the Lord dwell As a vessel unless it be every where smeered with pitch and have no decaies it cannot contain the wine put into it so if the heart be not fenced with humility and have no ruining vices it cannot be the habitation of God Hence Hugo saith very aptly that envy takes away my neighbour anger my self and Pride takes away God from me SECT 2. 5. PRide spoileth all the good that a man doth Pride like wicked Pharaoh who commanded the Egyptian Midwives to kill the male-children of the Hebrews Superbia vana gloria insidiosissime blandissimae bestiae tanquam serpentes optimis actionibus obrepere solent Chrysost the first day of their birth destroys every good duty done by us if humility be wanting to the doing of them Pride and vain-glory be like flattering beasts and the very bane of our best actions if they be mingled with them creeping into them like serpents as Chrysostome speaks yea Austin saith that other vices are conversant about sins and unlawful things that should not be done but these will be busied about vertues and good works which ought to be done And Chemnitius tells us that whereas other vices vexant servos Diaboli do vex the servants of the Devil that pride and vain-glory vexant servos Dei do vex the servants of God as well as others To feed the hungry Caetera vitia versantur circa peccata illicita quae fieri non debent haec circa virtutes bona opera versantur quae fieri debent August to give drink to the thirsty to clothe the naked to visit the stranger defend the fatherless and widow be good works but if we be proud of them and boast of them they are marred in doing and we lose the glory of them because we glory of them Bonaventure saith that proud persons doing good deeds and bragging of them be like a foolish hen laying an egg and then chackling whereby she loseth it and hath it taken from her So proud persons by boasting of their good works lose the reward of them as our Saviour saith Matth. 6.2 The Pharisee said he was no extortioner no unjust person no dishonest dealer no adulterer he fasted twice in the week he paid his tithes duly and truly these were good things Sicut humilitas omnia vitia enervat virtutes colligit roborat sic superbia omnes destruit annihilat Gregor but he should have staid till some body else had spoken of them therefore he went not away justified Hence Gregory draws this conclusion As humility weakeneth all vices and gathereth together and strengtheneth vertues So pride destroys and annihilateth all vertues and vertuous actions Pride is most to be feared in deeds well done saith Austin Superbia maxime timenda in recte factis 1. Consider that as the Sorcerers of Egypt did many miracles that Moses did so reprobates and the children of the devil may in pride vain-glory and hypocrisie counterfeit many outward good works for the matter that the children of God do through grace 2. What good soever we do its Gods gift that we do it and through his grace that we are enabled to perform it 3. When we have done all we can we come far short of perfection and what the law requires of us and what in duty we are bound to do Luk. 17.10 therefore little reason have we to be proud of any good that we do Upon this ground it is that our Saviour requireth that all our good actions be done in secret therefore saith he when thou dost alms Mat. 6.3 let not thy left-hand know what thy right-hand doth Luther saith the meaning is Luther in loc Per dextram bonam voluntatem per sinistram appetitum humanae laudis August take not so much from some unjustly and wrongfully that so thou maist seem bountiful in relieving others liberally make not many poor and think to make God Almighty amends by keeping of a few but that 's not likely to be the meaning of the place Austin understands by the right-hand the right purpose of the heart and mind and by the left-hand an inordinate desire of the praise of men But I think they are most agreeable to our Saviours meaning who make the words an Hyperbole telling us that we must not make Father Mother wife child or any friend as near and dear to us as our left-hand to our right acquainted with any thing that we do thereby fishing for or hunting after any praise from them or desiring to be extolled by them nay so far must we be from blowing and blazing our fame abroad and being our selves or desiring others to be trumpetters of our praise as if it were possible we should conceal whatever might be like to puffe us up and make us proud even from our selves forgetting as the Proverb saith good turnes done of us and remembring only good turns done to us Now our Saviour having directed to a right course in almes-giving doth also the like in praying when thou prayest thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are that pray in the corners of the streets and standing in the Synagogues that they may be seen of men But when thou prayest enter into thy closet c. Matth. 6.4 5. Object But is it then not lawful to pray in publick may some say Answ God forbid we should so say or think we have both the commandement of God Levit. 23.8 Joel 1.14 Joel 2.15 16. Matth. 18.20 1 Tim. 2.8 Psal 103.22 and the practice of the godly to the contrary Psal 26.8 2 Chron. 28.5 and for publick prayer there must be a publick place by Gods own ordinance and it is more powerful then private prayer as the supplication of a County Incorporation and Common-wealth then of a few like many brands and coals together that give the greater heat Non cupientes sancti esse sed videri Gregor the thing found fault with then was not the matter or action of praying in publick but the manner or end affection or affectation rather to be seen of men and praised by men not desiring to be holy but to seem so and to be called so as Gregory saith Therefore saith our Saviour When thou prayest enter into thy closet and shut thy door upon thee c. i. e. approve thy self to God and so carry the matter as it may if thou canst be hid from the world for as a man may pray in secret in an
trampled upon the Lord vindicateth his own authority and exalteth his own name See the success of this course of Korah Dathan and Abiram c. it was very dreadful for one part of them the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up and all that they had so that they went down alive into the pit and the earth closed upon them ver 33. and another part of them were consumed by fire from the Lord even the two hundred and fifty men that presumed to offer incense ver 35. The people therefore must not meddle with Davids Crown and Scepter nor Samuels Ephod Vzzah must not meddle with the Ark nor Saul offer sacrifice nor the Emperours Cook take upon him to expound Scripture for if he do and set a false gloss upon it and falsly apply it Basil may wisely and worthily check and reprove him It belongeth to thee to prepare puls and broth for the Emperour Tuum est pulmen a Caesari praeparare non Evangelium exponere Basil but not to expound the Scriptures If the Cobler be so sawcy as to find fault with the thigh of a picture whose art and trade reacheth no higher then the ankle the Painter may well tell him that he is out of his element and put him in mind of the old Proverb Ne sutor ultra crepidam It is good for all men to mind their own matters and not to be Curiosi in alienâ republicâ Vzziah though a King yet for offering incense and usurping upon the Priestly office is smitten with leprousie to his dying day Purpura facit Imperatorem non Sacerdotem Theodoret. lib. 5. c. 18. Saul is reproved as a fool by Samuel for the like fact and sault 1 Sam. 13.13 The Reason Ambrose gives to Theodosius Purple makes an Emperour not a Priest CHAP. 15. Of Pride in the Will VVIll-Pride is demonstrated two waies 1. When mans Will is set up against Gods Will. It is Gods prerogative Royal that his Will is a Law to himself and to all Creatures it is his prerogative to do what seemeth good in his own eyes I say unto you saith Bernard that every proud man exalts himself above God for God will have his Will to be done and the proud man will have his own Will to be done Now God approveth things that are reasonable but the proud man goes without reason and against reason Bern. flor cap. 1. now here is the pride of man that he setteth up his own Will to himself as his Law and that he careth not to be guided and ruled by the Will and commands of God every proud person seeks to do what seemeth good in his own eyes God commanded the Jews saying obey my voice and I will be your God and you shall be my people and walk in all the waies that I have commanded you that it may be well unto you but they hearkned not nor enclined their ear but walked in the counsels and imaginations of their evil heart and went backward and not forward Jer. 7.23 24. and ver 27. Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them but they will not hearken to thee thou shalt also call unto them but they will not answer thee Austin when he confesseth that sin of his in his youth robbing his neighbours Ort-yards he aggravateth that sin by many circumstances and among others because he would satisfie himself and therefore saith that all sinners do what is good in their own eyes not what God would have them The Will of God revealed may be divided into two branches 1. Obedientia nisi humilium esse non potest August The particular Will of God revealed to some particular persons upon particular occasions to the performance of some particular duties and this many times dispenceth with a general precept as we may see Gen. 22. when Abraham is commanded to go to mount Moriah and there offer up his own son in sacrifice to the Lord contrary to the sixth commandment that saith Exod. 20.13 Non occides thou shalt not kill Item Exod. 11.2 Exod. 3.22 where the Israelites are commanded to rob and spoil the Egyptians of jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment contrary to the eighth commandment which saith non furaberis thou shalt not steal So where Saul is commanded to slay the Amalekites with all that appertained to them 1 Sam. 15.3 and spare nothing Now herein appeared Abrahams and the Israelites humility in setting about what God commanded and Sauls pride Proud men wish in their hearts though they dare not speak it with their tongues for fiat voluntas tua fiat voluntas mea the wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God Psal 10.4 in doing no more of Gods command then what seemed good to him therefore he is reproved by Samuel and rejected by the Lord 1 Sam. 19.28 But these instances are no precedents to us unless we have the like charge that they had and then we must yeild absolute and simple obedience without reasoning or disputing the case For however Gods Will be sometimes occulta yet it is never injusta saith Austin he doth not as men should do viz. bid things because they be lawful and forbid them because unlawful but whatsoever they were before his Will alters the nature of them for whatsoever he biddeth is lawful Ipso facto virtute mandati aut intera dicti and whatsoever he forbiddeth is unlawful ipso facto by vertue of the command or interdiction of this we have seldom any examples nowadaies 2. The other branch of his revealed Will which is more ordinary is his general Will concerning all estates and conditions of people contained in his general precepts and this hath divers branches 1. The first whereof is the conversion of a sinner As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live And Christ saith This is the Will of him that sent me John 6.40 that every one that seeth the Son and believeth in him should have everlasting life And Paul saith that it is the Will of God that some of all sorts of people should be saved 1 Tim. 2.4 and come to the knowledge of the truth 2. A second branch of Gods revealed Will to us is our Sanctification 1 Thes 4.3 and Peter tells us that it is the Will of God that by well-doing we put to silence the ignorance of foolish men 1 Pet. 2.15 Now when men do not endeavour to effect their own conversion when they will not come to Christ Joh. 5.40 that they may have life nor labour after sanctification they set their wills against the Will of God 2. The second note of Will-pride is impatience 1. When men are impatient of reproof better is the patient in spirit than the proud in spirit saith Solomon Eccles 7.8 Superbi amant veritatem lucentem oderunt redarguentem Aug.
like and every Christian should love another we see it verified in Wolves Lions Tigers c. and shall they agree and men disagree we may observe it that the very dogs that live together in an house will not ordinarily fight one with another but one for another and shall men agree worse then dogs in a family its nothing but pride that makes men swell thus one against another and we have not only the bond of nature but of grace to bind us to this duty This is the command of the Lord Jesus and the badge and livery whereby we may be known to the world to be the Disciples of him who is the most admirable pattern of humility and lowliness Divers reasons why we should love one another as our selves may be taken from the similitude of the members of the natural body where the Apostle tells us that as the body being but one 1 Cor. 12.12 hath many members so we being many are all members of the same mystical body of Christ 1. The more noble and honourable members despise not the less honourable and those that are appointed to more base offices as for instance the head though it self be covered and carried aloft doth not contemn the feet though they travel and trudge to carry the whole body about no more ought the rich in gifts parts or estate despise the poor Mal. 2.10 for they be their fellow members made of the same matter by the same Maker The rich Angels in heaven despise not the poor Saints on earth but are ready to perform the duties of love unto them as appeareth by their carrying the soul of the poor beggar into Abrahams bosom Luk. 16.22 and so ought it to be on earth as James speaketh Jac. 2.1 2. not having the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect of persons 2. As the more noble contemn not the less noble no more do the less noble envy the more noble and so it should be among us for as the hands and the feet grudge not that themselves are used and employed as instruments to feed and defend the head and heart no more must subjects and servants and men of meaner condition envy their superiors and Masters the places that God hath allotted them but content themselves with their own and be faithful and painful in them as King David willed Ziba and his sons and servants to do for his Masters son Mephibosheth 2 Sam. 9.10 3. If one member fail in performance of some duty whereby another catcheth hurt the other doth not in a rage run upon it and hurt it again as for example if the foot chance to slip and so the head catch a knock it doth not presently perswade the hand to heat the foot or if the teeth bite the tongue this were to seek the ruine and destruction of the whole body no more ought we in our mad mood furiously to rush one upon another when we have been unawares hurt one by another 4. When one member is hurt the whole body feels it and fares the worse for it as for example a thorn in the foot grieveth the head yea the very heart so ought we to have a sympathy and fellow-feeling of the hurt of one another as Christ our head hath of us all as is evident by that speech he useth to Paul before his conversion saying Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Act. 9.4 signifying to us that the hurt that was done to his members on earth even reached him their head in heaven 5. What good parts soever any of the members be endued with they hoard not up nor reserve to themselves as Monopolies but impart and employ them for the good and benefit of the whole body and the meanest member thereof if a toe or a finger be but fore the eye looketh the head deviseth how to help it and if they be not able to do it themselves by their own skill then they seek out to others and the tongue will play the Orator and entreat yea rather then fail and not have it the hand will play the Almoner and reward thus should we be willing to afford our mutual help one to another and so we would if we were once perswaded of the necessity of this duty that we ought to love our neighbour as our self but pride and self-love do so blind the eyes of men that they will not learn this lesson 1 Gor. 13.4 Charity suffereth long and is kind charity envieth not charity vaunteth not it self is not puffed up saith the Apostle CHAP. 30. The fourth fifth and sixth Directions Direct 4. SUbmit thy self to the Word let it have its efficacy and operation upon thy soul pride cannot stand before the Word when it cometh in power upon the heart the Word is a hammer that breaks a heart of rock in pieces Christ compareth the Gospel or Kingdom of God to leaven Luk. 13.21 which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened The Word like leaven altereth the persons upon whom it worketh and makes them become like unto it this woman here may fignifie the wisdom of Gods Spirit working in and with faithful and painful dispensers of the mysteries of the Kingdom or their care and conscience pains and diligence the three measures or pecks of meal it seems was an ordinary leavening in an ordinary family Gen. 18. â— Sarah leavened so much to entertain the Angels some think by the three measures of meal are meant the three powers and faculties of mans soul all which the Word of God moderateth and tempereth Pliny saith that for five hundred eighty years together the custom at Rome was for women altogether to be employed about this business and that they had no men bakers viz. concupiscibilem irascibilem rationalem the concupiscible the irascible and the rational the concupiscible that it may not lust after things unlawful and vain as David praies Lord encline my heart to thy testimonies not to covetousness the irascible that it may not boil above measure and violently break forth beyond its bounds Tu domine argum atare ego mirabor tu disputa ego credam Aug. and also the rational casting down imaginations or proud reasonings and every high thing that exalts it self against the knowledge of God subduing the pride of reason to the obedience of faith 2 Cor. 10.5 Thus Austin Lord do thou dispute I will wonder do thou debate the matter I will believe and if thou wilt not willingly yeild to the Word it will overcome thee whether thou wilt or no we read of the Synagogue of the proud Libertines and others that disputed with Stephen Act. 6.9 10 that they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake So the Apostle Paul though he had many enemies as the Priests of the Jews and the Philosophers of the Gentiles yet he made invia pervia where he could
Christ is the Lilly of the valley Cant. 2.1 Christs example may serve instead of all Walk by Christs humility saith Austin if thou wilt come to his eternity Christ saith Learn of me I do not send you to the Patriarchs or Prophets but I set my self before you as a pattern of humility for you to follow He saith not Learn of me how I made the heavens and the stars and laid the foundations of the earth and laid the measures thereof he doth not say Imitate me in my fourty days fast in my walking upon the waters stilling the winds healing the sick raising the dead in a word not in any of my miraculous but in all my moral actions especially in humility So likewise Joh. 13. having washed his Disciples feet he told them he did it not in officium for any duty he owed them but in amorem out of love he bare to them in exemplum teaching them by his carriage towards them how they ought to carry themselves one towards another His argument is very strong and forcible for if he their Lord and Master had shewed himself so kind and humble towards them his servants and inferiors much more ought they to do the like to their fellows and equals now as they that intend to write or draw a picture fair must first look upon their copy and view their pattern and then labour and endeavour to follow it so let us first take a view and survey of the humility of Christ and then endeavour to conform our selves thereunto The humility of Christ is the medicione of mans pride saith Austin 1. His humility appeared in taking our nature upon him in taking our nature not in changing his own Naturam nastram suscipiendo non suam mutando Homo deo accessit non autem deus à se recessit verbum caro factum est non deposita sed seposita majestate instar solis sub umbra ad tempus latentis se mundo non ostendentis August saith a Father man came unto God but God departed not from himself and the Word was made flesh not by putting away but by laying aside his Majesty like the sun that for a time lies hid under a cloud not shewing himself to the world and such and so great was his love towards us that though he were equal with God and might so have remained continued yet he even seemed to strip himself of his own glory and appear only in our infirmity for he did not cast away the nature of God when he took upon him the nature of man sed mansit quoderat tamen assumpsit quod non erat Phil. 2.7 8. Zanch. in loc that did abide which was and yet he assumed that which was not and whereas the Apostle saith that he was made in the likeness of men or found in fashion as a man that is as learned Zanchy expounds the words in his whole nature Christ a great example of humility in his birth body and soul being like to us in all things sin only excepted Heb. 4.15 Now the great humility of God manifest in the flesh will appear if we consider his birth his life and his death There are many circumstances in his birth to set forth his humility to us 1. In making choice of a poor and humble mother one that was of a mean and low estate as she her self confesseth Luk. 1.48 Her mean estate appeareth in divers things 1. In her marriage with Joseph a Carpenter an handy-crafts man a man of a low and mean calling 2. By their travelling without a hand-maid or any servant to attend them 3. By her offering at her purification she offereth not a lamb for a burnt-offering and a turtle dove for a sin-offering Luk. 2.24 as was required of the wealthier sort Levit. 12.6 but two Turtles only or a pair of Pigeons which was indifferent by the law Maldonat Yea Maldonate the Jesuits conceit is that they were only a pair of young Pigeons as being of less pains to find and less price to pay for whence appeareth the poverty of Joseph and Mary for however Chemnitius conceiteth Chemnit that therefore the typical Lamb was not offered because the true Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world was present Calvin Joh. 1.29 yet Calvin and all other Protestant writers that I have seen do make their poverty the reason thereof Therefore the Popish painters are much deceived setting out Mary still in rich attire like a Lady of great state and pomp thus feeding the peoples ears with fables and their eyes with bables 2. Consider the time of his birth 1. He was born in the winter Cujus in arbitrio tempus erat nasciturus tempus elegit molestius Aretius the sharpest season of the year He in whose power time was being to be born chose the most grievous saith Bishop Babington and in the night to shew as Aretius noteth that he being the Sun of righteousness would by the warmth of his grace thaw those that lay even frozen and key-cold in the dregs of their sins and by the bright beams of his Gospel enlighten those that sate in darkness and in the shadow of death 2. He was born in a time when the Scepter was departed from Judah and the Jews put under tribute by the Romans when Augustus Caesar sent a decree that all the world should be taxed i e. all the Countries and Provinces within his dominions viz. the inhabitants of all their Cities and Villages should assemble themselves to their head City and there have their names taken Suetonius that according to their estates a tax might be set upon them to be yearly paid to his treasury and coffers and herein also appeared his humility in being born under the tyranny of Octavianus Consider the place of his birth it was not at Jerusalem the principal City of the land Mic. 5.2 but at Bethlehem a little City of David the bread of life will be born in Bethlehem which signifies the house of bread a place little among the thousands of Judah as the Prophet Michah termeth it But he might have been born at some Aldermans house in this poor City and have had the best respect it could afford no such matter they must buy their welcome and lodge in an Inn Well! there they might be well respected for their money and have convenient lodging It will not be had they either came too late or else carry not that port as they may think to gain enough by them their chambers are either taken up or at leastwise reserved for better guests he was born in an Inn to shew himself a stranger on earth and that we ought still so to behave our selves 1 Pet. 2.11 as strangers and Pilgrims upon earth But in what room of this Inn even in a stable the other rooms are otherwise appointed and in that stable both the Asses provender He