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47S
THE
ADVANTAGES
OF
HUMILITY
LSECT.
ISr
acceptable honour
to
the gospel which
he professes,
and
makes
it
appear
in its own
proper and
divine
light.
SECTION
III.
The
Advantages
of
Humility
in
Regard
of
Men.
As humility towards God
is
a
necessary qualification
of
every
christian,
so
humble thoughts
of ourselves in
regard of
our
fellow
-
creatures
belong
to
the
profession
and character of
this
gospel
:
For
what have
I
to
boast
of
above
my
brother, when
we are
all
under
the
sen-
tence of
common condemnation
before
God,
all
guilty
and
miserable
in
his
sight, and
are
all
entirely
indebted
to
his free
and rich mercy
for
every
degree of excellency
or advantage
that
we
possess
?
"
What
hast
thou,
O my
soul,
that
thou hast not received
?
Why
dost
thou then
glory and
look
big upon
thy fellows
as
though thou hast
not
received
it
?
Who
is
it
that
has
made thee
differ
from
another
?"
1
Cor.
iv.
7.
Oh
1
what
a
dishonour
does it
bring
upon the gospel
of
Christ,
when
one,
who
takes upon
him the christian
name, exalts himself into
conceit
and vanity, and
swells
in his
own opinion of
himself,
when
he sets
himself
on
high
above
his
brethren,
.
and
looks
down upon them
with haughtiness and
scorn
?
Can such a
wretch
be
a
christian, while
he
is
a
reproach
to
the
christian
name,
and
has
not the
first
principle of christianity,
has
nothing
of the
temper
or
spirit of the gospel
in
him
?
But
some
of
these
thoughts
lead
me to the second
rank
of advantages which
may
be derived
from
low
and
humble thoughts of
ourselves,
and
these
are such
as
re-
gard
our
neighbours
or fellow
-
creatures.
And
the
first
of
them
is
this,
I.
If
we have a
mean opinion
of
self,
we
shall
pay
due
esteem and honour
to
every
thing
that
is
valuable
in
other men,
and
not
scorn
and despise
every
body around
us,
as
though they were not worthy
to
be named the
same day with ourselves:
Nor
shall we be
so
imperious
and haughty
in
our behaviour
even
where God
has given
some
degrees of
superiority.
Perhaps we
plume ourselves with the honours
of
our
ancestors, and look down with disdain
upon
those whose
family
is
of
a
lower
rank than
ours. But
a
grain of
wis-