SECfi. liROPOSEb AS OUR PATTERN. 5Iì to us, when we remember they were worn by the Son of God. " Think with thyself, O my soul, what if thou art not seated among the glittering idols of this world, the men of figure and quality and exalted station ? Remember the blessed Jesus was thy forerunner in a low and hum- ble rank of life ; Jesus, who went through the deeps of abasement to the temple of the highest honour; and di- vine wisdom assures thee, " that before honour is humi- lity ;" Prov. xv. 33. What if thou hast not the favour of the rich, and the society of the great ones of the earth? Dost thou not hear the promise of the God of heaven, and feel the divine encouragement with surprising de- light? "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 hum- ble spirit will I dwell; Is. lvii. 15. I will be his life and his support." The soul that is truly humble upon reli- gious principles, when he is cast out of the company of the great and the wealthy with scorn, is a partner of the sufferings of the holy Jesus, is an imitator of his virtues, and he shall share in his sacred honours: he shall have the great and blessed God come down and dwell with him here on earth, to enrich him with grace, and he shall be raised to dwell for ever in the courts of heaven with God, and with his Son Jesus, who is the Lord of glory. Think yet further, O my soul, what if thy station and place in the visible church should be low and mean, as a door-keeper in the house of thy God, this will not give thy heart any sensible disquietude, while thou canst assume St. Paul's motto in my text, "Less than the least of all the saints." Jesus and his disciples were even " cast out of the synagogue ;" John ix. 22. Luke iv. 28. Yet he was the first beloved son of God, and the chief of all the saints both in the lower and in the upper worlds. Look up, my eyes, and behold him now on the throne of heaven, and there also the humblest among he holy ones sits nearest to his majesty, for, that seat is prepared for those who are most like himself. " Labour hourly to subdue thy pride and fulness of self, Omy soul, pursue the grace of humility here below in the deepest degrees of it, and this shall prepare thee for some exalted station on high. I am verily per-
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=