2 Cor. X. 18. Not he that commendeth himself is approved, hut lohovi the Lord commendeth.
ONE would be ready to suppose, that the more any person excelled in every thing that was good, the more he would be filled with self-complacency ; and that the less holy any person was, the more he would be humbled under a sense of his vileness. But ob- servation and experience attest that the very reverse of this is true. The godly do indeed enjoy the tes- timony of a good conscience ; but they are far from
boasting of their own superior worth ; they rather *' prefer others in honour before themselves," and account themselves " less than the least of all saints." But formalists and hypocrites are ever ready to commend themselves on account of their fancied excellencies, and to assume a credit which does not belong to them.
There were at Corinth some of this description — some conceited teachers, who had entered into the Apostle's labours, and were endeavouring to advance their own influence in the Church by weakening and subverting his. To put the Corinthians on their guard against them, St. Paul shews them how different had been his conduct from that of these vain-glorious men : he had brought the Gospel to those regions where it had never been heard before ; whereas they were " boasting in another man's line of things made ready to their hand :" he had moved in the sphere appointed him by God ; they were going beside and beyond the line marked out for them : he had sought only the glory of the Lord ; while they were puffed up with pride, and seeking their own glory. He then lays down a rule, applicable indeed to these teachers in the first instance, but equally proper for us also. That " not they who commend themselves will be approved, but those whom the Lord commendeth."
In discoursing on these words we shall shew, I. From whence self-approbation arises —
The hearts of men are by nature proud : and their pride finds abundant scope for exercise ;
1. From their over-rating the quality of their actions —
[If what they do appears to be good, they are not strict in inquiring whether it be really so : they do not wish to detect those deficiencies which might render them dissatisfied with themselves. They do not examine the principle from which their actions flow, or the inatuier in which they are performed, or the end for which they are done : whereas these are the things which alone can determine the real quality of their actions. They take for granted that all is right, because they see nothing wrong ; and thus arc filled with self-admiration