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Chapter 65

How the exercising of ourselves in the knowledge of the supernatural being which we have of grace, doth serve towards the obtaining of Humility.

IF thou have been careful to resolve, by the knowledge of thyself, (for as much as concerneth thy being) to give the glory thereof to God; much more must thou attend to know, that thy well being, is not of thyself; but that it is a gracious gift of our Lord. For1 if, (whilst thou ascribest the glory of thy being to him, by confessing that not thyself, but his hands did make thee) thou shouldst appropriate the honour of thy good works to thyself; conceiving it to be thyself that made thee good; thou wouldst take so much more honour to thyself, than thou didst give to God, as a good or happy being, is a more excellent thing, than a mere being. It is therefore necessary, that with extraordinary diligence, thou do attend to know God, and to acknowledge him, for the cause of all thy good.

Live thou in such a fashion, that there may not be, so much as a seam, or stitch, of foolish2 pride, in thy soul, but as thou knowest that thou canst not have the least being, that can be thought of, if God do not give it; so also know, that thou canst not possess in thyself, the least good thing, if God do not open his hand, to bestow it on thee. Consider also, that, as that which is nothing, hath no natural being, amongst the creatures; so a sinner, to whom the spiritual being of grace, is wanting; must be accounted (notwithstanding all the greatness, and riches, that he may have otherwise) for nothing, in the sight of God. S. Paul expresseth this, in this manner; If I should have the gift of prophecy, and should know all mysteries, and all science, and should have all Faith; so far as to remove mountains, from one place to another; and yet withal, I should not have charity, I were nothing. Which sentence is so highly true, as that a sinner, is yet worse than nothing; because an evil being, is worse than a not being. And there is no place so base, nor so cast out of the way, nor so despicable, in the eyes of God, amongst all the things that are, and are not; as a man that liveth in offence of him, being disinherited of heaven, and adjudged to hell.

And to the end, that thou mayst have somewhat to rouse thee a little up, in the consideration of the miserable sta●e of a sinner, harken to this. When thou shalt set any thing, which is very contrary to reason, and much out of order, consider, that it is a most ugly, and abominable thing, to be in the displeasure, and enmity of our Lord. Thou hast heard men speak, of some huge theft, or treason, or some other wickedness, which some woman may have committed against her husband; or of some high irreverence, which a son may have expressed towards his Father; or some other crimes of this nature, which in the eye of any ignorant person whatsoever, will instantly appear to be foul; because they are against all reason. But thou must know that to offend God by one only sin, is3 a greater deformity, in being against the Commandment given by him, and the reverence which is due to him, than all the wicked actions that can be wrought, in consideration that they are against reason only. And since4 thou seeft, that all they are so much disesteemed, who commit wickedness of that kind; do thou esteem thyself for a most contemptible creature, and sink thou down, into that profound pit of being despised, which is due to a person who offendeth God. And as, for thy knowing that thou wert nothing, thou didst call that time to mind, wherein thou hadst no being; so now for the knowing of thy baseness, and vileness, call to mind, the time when thou didst live in the offence of God. Behold as inwardly, as feelingly, as profoundly, & as leisurely as thou canst, when, in the eyes of God, thou wert displeasing, and deformed, and esteemed nothing, and less than nothing. For neither unreasonable living creatures, nor others, which have no life, how ugly & base soever they be, have committed any sin against our Lord. Nor are they under the obligation of eternal fire, as thou wert. And thus despise thou, and abase thyself, the most deeply, & advisedly that thou canst; for5 thou mayst safely believe, that how much soever thou do it, thou wilt never be able to descend so low into the very abyss of contempt, as is deserved by him, who is the offendor of an infinite good, which is God. For6 till in heaven, thou shalt see how good God is, thou wilt not be able outright to know, how wicked sin, is; and what misery he deserveth that committeth it. But yet when thou hast sound felt in thy soul, and drunk deeply of this disesteem of thyself, cast up thine eyes to God, considering his infinite goodness, who drew thee out of such a deep pit, which for thee, it was impossible to have done; and behold that supreme goodness, which, with so great mercy, drew thee out, whilst thou didst merit nothing towards it; nay, when thou didst greatly demerit. For till God give his grace, though all that which a man doth, be not sin, yet neither doth he, nor can he do any thing, which may deserve his forgiveness & grace.

Know, that he, who drew thee out of darkness, into his admirable light; and made thee, of an enemy, a friend; and of a slave, a child; and of a creature, that was good for nothing, to become acceptable in his sight; he, I say, who did this, is God. And7 the reason why he did it, was not any former desert of thine; Nor any regard which he could have, to the service which thou mightest do him afterward; but it was for his own only goodness, and by the merit of our only mediator, Jesus Christ our Lord. For thine own, thou art to esteem, the vile state wherein thou wert; and thou mayest account hell, to be the place so due to such sins as thou didst, or wouldst have committed, unless it had been for God. For that, which thou hast more than this, acknowledge thyself to be a debtor to him, and to his grace. Harken to that which our Lord said to his beloved disciples, and, in them, to us. You8 chose not me, but I you. Consider what the Apostle S. Paul9 saith, You are justified gratis by the grace of God; by the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus. And lodge this in thy hart; that as thou hast thy being from God, without any reason at all to give the glory of it to thyself; so dost thou also hold thy well-being from God; and thou hast both the one, and the other to his glory. And carry in thy tongue, and in thy hart, that which S. Paul10 saith, by the grace of God, I am, that which I am.

Footnotes

  1. A necessary consequence. ↩

  2. There is nothing which more properly doth belong to Pride, than that it is a foolish thing. ↩

  3. There is no comparison between these two. ↩

  4. A natural and reasonable address. ↩

  5. There is nothing more assuredly true than this. ↩

  6. Our Lord grant that we may see it there. ↩

  7. There is no reason of interest, in the love of God to us; God grant there be nomotive of interest in our love to him. ↩

  8. joan. 15. ↩

  9. Rom. 3●. ↩

  10. Cor. 19 ↩

Chapter 67 of 115