Again, listen to him who descended from Joseph, than whom no one was wiser. "Art thou wiser," [589] says he, "than Daniel?" (Ezek. xxviii. 3.) This Daniel then, when all the wise men that were in Babylon, and the astrologers moreover, the prophets, the magicians, the enchanters, yea when the whole of their wisdom was not only coming to be convicted, but to be wholly destroyed (for their being destroyed was a clear proof that they had deceived before), this Daniel coming forward, and preparing to solve the king's question, does not take the honor to himself, but first ascribes the whole to God, and says, "But as for me, O king, it is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have beyond all men." (Dan. ii. 30.) And "the king worshiped him, and commanded that they should offer an oblation." (Dan. ii. 46.) Seest thou his humility? seest thou his excellent spirit? seest thou this habit of lowliness? Listen also to the Apostles, saying at one time, "Why fasten ye your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man to walk? (Acts iii. 12.) And again, "We are men of like passions with you." (Acts xiv. 15.) Now if they thus refused the honors paid them, men who by reason of the humility and power of Christ wrought greater deeds than Christ (for He says, "He that believeth in Me shall do greater works than those that I do" (John xiv. 12, abr.)), shall not we wretched and miserable men do so, who cannot even beat away gnats, [590] much less devils? who have not power to benefit a single man, much less the whole world, and yet think so much of ourselves that the Devil himself is not like us?
There is nothing so foreign to a Christian soul as haughtiness. Haughtiness, I say, not boldness nor courage, for these are congenial. But these are one thing, and that another; so too humility is one thing, and meanness, flattery, and adulation another.
I will now, if you wish, give you examples of all these qualities. For these things which are contraries, seem in some way to be placed near together, as the tares to the wheat, and the thorns to the rose. But while babes might easily be deceived, they who are men in truth, and are skilled in spiritual husbandry, know how to separate what is really good from the bad. Let me then lay before you examples of these qualities from the Scriptures. What is flattery, and meanness, and adulation? Ziba flattered [591] David out of season, and falsely slandered his master. (2 Sam. xvi. 1-3.) Much more did Ahitophel flatter Absalom. (2 Sam. xvii. 1-4.) But David was not so, but he was humble. For the deceitful are flatterers, as when they say, "O king, live for ever." (Dan. ii. 4.) Again, what flatterers the magicians are.
We shall find much to exemplify this in the case of Paul in the Acts. When he disputed with the Jews he did not flatter them, but was humble-minded (for he knew how to speak boldly), as when he says, "I, brethren, though I had done nothing against the people, or the customs of our fathers, yet was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem." (Acts xxviii. 17.)
That these were the words of humility, listen how he rebukes them in what follows, "Well spake the Holy Ghost, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in nowise understand, and seeing ye shall see, and in nowise perceive." (Acts xxviii. 25; ib. 26.)
Seest thou his courage? Behold also the courage of John the Baptist, which he used before Herod; when he said, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother Philip's wife." (Mark vi. 18.) This was boldness, this was courage. Not so the words of Shimei, when he said, "Begone, thou man of blood" (2 Sam. xvi. 7.), and yet he too spake with boldness; but this is not courage, but audacity, and insolence, and an unbridled tongue. Jezebel too reproached Jehu, when she said, "The slayer of his master" (2 Kings ix. 31.), but this was audacity, not boldness. Elias too reproached, but this was boldness and courage; "I do not trouble Israel, but thou and thy father's house." (1 Kings xviii. 18.) Again, Elias spake with boldness to the whole people, saying, "How long will ye go lame on both your thighs?" (1 Kings xviii. 21, LXX.) Thus to rebuke was boldness and courage. This too the prophets did, but that other was audacity.
Would you see words both of humility and not of flattery, [592] listen to Paul, saying, "But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment; yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing against myself, yet am I not hereby justified." (1 Cor. iv. 3, 4.) This is of a spirit that becomes a Christian; and again, "Dare any of you, having a matter against his neighbor, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints"? (1 Cor. vi. 1.)
Would you see the flattery of the foolish Jews? listen to them, saying, "We have no king but Cæsar." (John xix. 15.) Would you see humility? listen to Paul again, when he says, "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake." (2 Cor. iv. 5.) Would you see both flattery and audacity? "Audacity" (1 Sam. xxv. 10.) in the case of Nabal, and "flattery" (1 Sam. xxiii. 20.) in that of the Ziphites? For in their purpose they betrayed David. Would you see "wisdom" (1 Sam. xxvi. 5-12.) and not flattery, that of David, how he gat Saul into his power, and yet spared him? Would you see the flattery of those who murdered Mephibosheth, [593] whom also David slew? In fine, and as it were in outline, to sum up all, audacity is shown when one is enraged, and insults another for no just cause, either to avenge himself, or in some unjust way is audacious; but boldness and courage are when we dare to face perils and deaths, and despise friendships and enmities for the sake of what is pleasing to God. Again, flattery and meanness are when one courts another not for any right end, but hunting after some of the things of this life; but humility, when one does this for the sake of things pleasing to God, and descends from his own proper station that he may perform something great and admirable. If we know these things, happy are we if we do them. For to know them is not enough. For Scripture says, "Not the hearers of a law, but the doers of a law shall be justified." (Rom. ii. 13.) Yea, knowledge itself condemneth, when it is without action and deeds of virtue. Wherefore that we may escape the condemnation, let us follow after the practice, that we may obtain those good things that are promised to us, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[582] [Field here makes a conjectural alteration which is little better, and we follow the documents.--J.A.B.]
[583] sunkrotema.
[584] [Quoted, of course, from the Sept., which here differs considerably from the Hebrew.--J.A.B.]
[585] aponoia.
[586] Lit. "takes away," i.e. takes the credit from the Giver.
[587] Gen. xl. 8. This he said to the baker and cupbearer in prison, but he also said to Pharaoh, "It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of pence," c. xli. 16.
[588] He may mean our "boasting" of "such" things as we do, or the fact that our goodness extends not to God.
[589] E.V. "Thou art," but [Chrys. quotes the Sept.--J.A.B.]
[590] This hyperbolical expression may have a moral meaning with respect to petty annoyances, and in allusion to the fan used in the Holy Eucharist. Bingham xv. c. 3, § 6.
[591] Compare 2 Sam. xix. 26. He means that Ziba had recourse to unworthy means of winning David's favor. And that Ahitophel was ready to serve Absalom from selfish motives.
[592] [All of Field's mss. give "flattery" (instead of "freedom," as the text of most editions), and he has inserted "not" by conjecture, as it is said below in the case of David.--J.A.B.]
[593] 2 Sam. iv. 8. So some copies of LXX., for Ishbosheth.