THE ART OF SELF- HUMBLING.
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a bulrush for a time ; but it is, like Ephraim's morning dew, quickly gone. They have no sound and thorough humiliation. It is but a mere oiler of humiliation. Whereas the children of God, when they begin, they never cease working upon their own hearts with meditation, until they have brought their heart to a blessed temper, as we see in David, Ezra, Nehe- miah, and Daniel, how they did humble themselves.
But why do God's children take pains in humbling themselves ?
Partly because it must be done to purpose, else God will not accept it ; and partly because there is a great deal of hardness and pride in the best, and much ado before a man can be brought for to humble himself. There- fore we must labour for this. We see what ado there was before Job could be brought to humble himself. Yet Job must he humbled before there comes ' one of a thousand' to comfort him, as Job xxxiii. 23. If a man be once thoroughly and truly humbled, he shall soon have comfort. By these marks we may know true humiliation from an humiliation coun- terfeit.
Quest. But here may arise another question, How may we know when we are humbled enough, or when we are grieved enough ?
Ans. To this I answer, 1. That there is not the same measure of humiUa- tion required in all. For those whom God did pick out for some great work, he doth more humble them than others, as he did Moses and Paul before he wrought the great work of converting the Gentiles. So David, before he came to be king, was a long time humbled.
2. Again, There are others that have been greater sinners, and more openly wicked in their courses than others, and in them a greater measure of humi- liation is required.
3. Again, lliere are others that are more tenderly brought vp from, child- hood, who have often renewed their repentance. These need not to be humbled so much as others ; for humiliation should be proportionable unto the sinful estate of the soul ; which because it difiers in divers men, in like manner their humiliation ought to difler. But to answer the question more directly, we are said to be humbled enough,
1. First, When ire have wrought our souls to a hearty grief that ire hare offended God, when we have a perfect and inward hatred of all sin, and when thou dost shew the truth of thy grief by leaving off thy sinful courses. So that, dost thou hate and leave thy sinful course ? Then thou art suffi- ciently humbled. Go away with peace and comfort, thy sins are forgiven thee. Therefore it is not a slight humiliation that will serve the turn, but our hearts must be wrought unto a perfect hatred and leaving of all sins ; for if this be not, we are not sufficiently humbled as yet. And when we find ourselves to hate and leave sin in some measure, then fasten our souls by faith, as much as may be, upon the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. For the soul hath two eyes, the one to look upon itself and our vileness, to humble us the more ; the other, to fasten upon the mercy of God in Christ, to raise up our souls. For if the whole soul were fastened upon its own misery and vileness, then there could not be that humihation which ought to be, neither could we serve God with such cheerfulness ; therefore we must have our souls raised up to God's mercy. Now let us labour for the first, because the devil is so main an enemy unto it ; for he knows well enough, that so much as we are humble and go out of ourselves to God, and rest upon him, so much we stand impregnable against his temptations, that he cannot prevail against us ; and so much as we do not trust in God, but upon the creature, so much must we lie open to his snares.
58 THE ART OF SELF-nUMHLING.
Therefore all his temptations tend to draw us to trust in the creature, to have a conceit of ourselves, and to draw our hearts from relying upon God. His first plot is always to make us rest in ourselves. Therefore let us lahour to go out of ourselves, to see a vanity in ourselves, and a happiness in God, that so going out of ourselves, and relying upon God and his mercies, we may stand safe against Satan's temptations.
Use. This should teach us to take heed of such ajfectiuns as tend directly contrary to hioniliation ; for how can it be but that those should be proud, that hold the doctrine of the Church of Rome, as, first, that we have no original sin in us, but it is taken away by baptism ; that we are able to fulfil the law fully in this life. This is presumptuous. Whereas Paul cries out after baptism, ' 0 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death ! ' Rom. vii. 24. Nay, they can do more, namely, works of supererogation, whereby they merit heaven. How do these blow up the heart of man, and make it swell with pride ! This must needs make men very proud, to think that a man can merit by works. With such blasphe- mous opinions they have infected the world, and led captive millions of souls into hell. Therefore let this be a rule of discerning true religion ; for surely that is true religion which doth make us go out of ourselves ; that takes away all from ourselves and gives all the glor}' to God ; which makes us to plead for salvation by the mercy of God through the merits of Christ. But our religion doth teach us thus. Therefore it is the true re- ligion, and will yield us sound comfort at the last. Thus much for inward humiliation, the humbling of ourselves, as Josiah did.