PART III, ofgracious Aj1 ions. 223 to be overlooked and difregarded by them ; : Ezek. 16. 56. For thy Sifter Sodom was not mentionedby thyMouth, in the,Dayof thy Pride. Let not the Reader lightly pats over thefe Things in Application to himfelf. If you once have taken it in, that it is a bad Sign for a Perfon to be apt to think himfelf a better Saint than others, there will arife a blinding Prejudice in your own Favour ; and there will probably be need of a great Strianefs of Self- Examination, in order to determine whether it be fo with you. If on the Propofal ofthe Queftion, you anfwer, No, itfeems to me, none are fo bad as I. Don't let the Matter pats off fo ; but examine again, whether or no you don't think yourfelf better than others on this very Account, becaufe you imagine you think fo meanly of your felt. Han't you an high Opinion of this Humility ? And if you anfwer again, No ; I have not an high Opinion of my Humility ; It feems to me I am asproud as the Devil ; Yet examine again, whether Self-conceit don't rife ùp under this Cover ; whether on this very Account, that you think your Pelf as proud as the Devil, you don't think your felf to be very humble. From this Oppofition that there is between the Nature of a true, and of a counterfeit Humility, as to the Efteem that the Subjeas of them have of themfelves, arifes a manifold Contrariety of Temper and Behaviour. A truly humble Perfon, having fuch a mean Opinion of his Righ- teoufnefs and Holinefs, is poor in Spirit. For a Perfon to be poor in Spirit, is to be in his own Senfe and Apprehenfion poor, as to what is in him, and to be of an anfwerable Difpofition. Therefore a truly humble Perfon, :efpecially one eminently humble, naturally behaves himfelf in many Refpec`ts as a poor Man. The Poor u/eth Intreaties, but the Rich anfwereth roughly. A poor Man is not difpofed to quick and high Refentment when he is among the Rich : He is apt to yield to others, for he knows others are above him ; he is not flit:- and felf - willed ; ` he is patient with hard Fare ;; he expeas no other than to be defpifed, and takes it patiently ; he don't take it heinoufly that he is overlook'd, and but little regarded ; he is prepar'd to be in low Place ; he readily honours his Superiours ; he takes Reproofs quietly ; he readily honours others as above him ; he eafily yields to be taught, and don't claim much to his Underftanding and Judg- ment; he is not over nice or humourfome, and has his Spirit fub- dued to hard Things ; he is not affuming, nor apt to take much up- on him, but 'tis natural for him to be fubjea to others. Thus it is with the humble Chriftian. Humility is (as the great Maflricht ex- preffes it) a kind of holy Pufillanimity. AMan that is very poor is a Beggar ; fo is he that is poor in Spi- rit. This is a great Difference between thofe Af%ttions that are gracious, and thofe that are falle Under the former, the Perfon continues ftili a poor Beggar at God's Gates, exceeding,empty and needy m
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