Gal. vi. 3 — 5. If a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his oivn work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden.
SELF-KNOWLEDGE is at the root of all true religion. Without that, we shall have no right dis- position, either towards God or man. Without that, we shall not be able to pity the fallen, or sympathize with the afflicted ; but shall be alike unfeeling to- wards the failings and the necessities of our fellow- creatures. But, if we are duly conscious of our own weakness, we shall be ready to " restore in meekness any brother that has been overtaken with a fault :" and, if we know our own desert, we shall most willingly labour to " fulfil the law of Christ, in bear- ing the burthens of others," as He has borne ours. To cultivate self-knowledge therefore is, in this view, extremely important : but more especially is it so in the prospect of that judgment which God himself will shortly pass on every child of man : for, whatever be our estimate of our own character, it is not by that, but by God's own view of us, that our state shall be determined to all eternity. This is plainly declared in the words before us ; in which we may see,
I. An evil complained of —
The entertaining too high an opinion of ourselves is a common evil ; I should rather say, is an evil co- extensive with the human race, with those at least who have not been converted by the grace of God. If it be asked, Whence does this evil arise ? I answer,
1. From judging ourselves by a defective stan- dard—
[The generality take no higher standard than that which custom has established in the place where they live : and if they conduct themselves agreeably to that, they consider them- selves as having fulfilled all that can reasonably be required of