Art thou proud, believer, because thou hast been profitable to the
Church, and done some little service to thy times? Who maketh thee to
differ, and what hast thou which thou hast not received? Hast thou shed
a little light upon the darkness? Ah! who lit thy candle–and who is it
who keeps thee still shining, and prevents thee from being extinguished?
Hast thou overcome temptation? Hang not up thy banner; do not decorate thine own bosom with the glory; for who made thee strong in the battle?
Who made thy sword sharp, and nerved thine arm to strike the foe?
Remember, thou hast done nothing whatever of thyself. If thou be this
day a vessel unto honor, decorated and gilded–if now thou art a
precious vase, filled with the sweetest perfume, yet thou didst not make
thyself so. Thou art the clay, but who is the potter? If thou be a
vessel unto honor, yet not a vessel unto thine own honor, but a vessel
unto the honor of Him who made thee. If thou standest among thy
fellow-men as the angels stand above the fallen spirits–a chosen one,
distinguished from them–yet remember, it was not any goodness in
thyself which made thee to be chosen; nor has it been any of thine own
efforts, or thine own power, which lifted thee out of the miry clay, set
thy feet on the rock, and established thy goings. Off with the crown
from thy proud head, and lay down thine honors at the feet of Him who
gave them to thee. With cherubim and seraphim veil thy face, and cry,
“Not unto us, not unto us, but unto His name be all the glory forever
and ever.”
And when thou art thus bowed down with humility, be thou prepared to
learn this other lesson– never depend on thyself again . If thou hast
aught to do, go not forth to do it leaning on an arm of flesh. First bow
thy knee, and ask power of Him who makes thee strong, and then thou
shalt come back from thy labor rejoicing. But if thou goest in thine own
strength, thou shalt break thy ploughshare on the rock; thou shalt sow
thy seed by the side of the salt sea upon the barren sand, and thou
shalt look upon the naked acres in years to come, and they shall not
yield thee so much as a single blade to make glad thine heart. “Trust ye
in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”
That strength is not available to you so long as you repose in any
strength of your own. He will help you if you confess your weakness; but
if you are strong in yourself, He will take way his own power from you,
and you will stumble and fall. Learn, then, the grace of depending daily
upon God, so shalt thou be clothed with becoming humility.