18. He keeps his heart lowest, when God raises his estate highest
Another singular action of a sanctified Christian, is, To keep his heart the lowest, when God raises his estates the highest.
St. Paul saw the need of this, when he enjoined Timothy to charge those that were rich in this world not to be high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches. Sinful arrogance usually attends creature confidence. Worldly wealthiness is a quill to swell the bladder of high mindedness: for when men's estates are lifted up, it is but too common for men's hearts to be puffed up. Oh! how fond is thin dust of thick clay! Pride breeds in great estates, as worms do in sweet fruits.
Remember, Christian, if you be poor in the world, you should be rich in faith; and if you be rich in this world, you should be poor in spirit. The way to ascend, is to descend; the deeper a tree roots, the wider do its branches spread. The sun of prosperity shines the clearest in the sphere of humility. The true nobility of the mind consists in the humbleness of the mind. Consider, that as none have so little, but they have great cause to bless God; so none have so much, as to have the least cause to boast before God.
Shall the theatrical vagrant be proud of his borrowed robes, or the mud wall swell because the beams of a beautiful sun shine upon it? Gold in your bags may make you great; but it is grace in your hearts which makes you good. Goodness, without greatness, shall be esteemed; when greatness, without goodness, shall be confounded. Proud sinners are the fittest companions for proud devils. The more prosperity man enjoys, the more humility God enjoins.
Nature teaches us, that those trees bend the most freely, which bear the most fully. As a proud heart loves none but itself; so it is beloved by none but itself. Who would attempt to gain those pinnacles, that none have ascended without fears, or descended without falls? It is recorded of
Timotheus the Athenian, that when he was giving an account of his government and successes to the state, he frequently asserted with a vaunting air, 'in this fortune had no hand.' After this he never prospered, was quickly after disgraced, and died in exile. When men through daring pride cast off all allegiance to God, he in just derision casts them out from the inheritance of God. If we refuse to acknowledge him, he will refuse to acknowledge us.
It is reported of Philip of Macedon, that after having obtained the honour of an unexpected victory, he was observed to look very much dejected; on being asked the reason, he replied, 'that the honours which were obtained by the sword, might also be lost by the sword.' Was he pensive, when providence crowned him with victory? and shall we be vainly elated, when providence makes us wealthy? The Supreme Majesty cannot suffer us to glory in any but Himself; therefore, when we glory in our pride, he stains the pride of our glory. It is a difficult matter to be grand in the estimation of others, and base in our own. The face of no mere man ever shone so illustriously as that of the ancient Jewish lawgiver's; and yet it is affirmed that no man's heart was ever so meek: but most men resemble chameleons; which no sooner take in the air, than they begin to swell.
As that is a rebellious heart, in which sin is allowed to reign; so that is not a very enlarged heart, which the world can fill. Alas, what will it profit us to sail before the pleasing gales of prosperity, if we be afterwards overset by the gusts of vanity? Your bags of gold should be ballast in your vessel to keep her always steady, instead of being topsails to your masts to make your vessel giddy. Give me that distinguished person, who is rather pressed down under the weight of all his honours, than puffed up with the blast thereof.
It has been observed by those who are experienced in the sport of angling, that the smallest fishes bite the fastest. Oh, how few great men do we find so much as nibbling at the gospel hook! I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them, for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. Mercy favoured them, but gratitude could not bind them.
When King James's tutor lay upon his expiring pillow, his Majesty sent to enquire how he did:— 'Go tell,' saith be, 'my royal sovereign, that I am going where few kings go.' The tree of life is not often planted in a terrestrial paradise. Under the Levitical law, the lamb and the dove were offered in sacrifice, when the lion and the eagle were rejected. The shining diamond of a great estate, may frequently be found upon an unsound and idolatrous heart. Prosperity is not to be deemed the greatest security. The lofty unbending cedar is more exposed to the injurious blast, than the lowly shrub. The little pinnace rides safely along the shore, while the gallant ship advancing is wrecked. Those sheep which have the most wool, are generally the soonest fleeced. Poverty is its own defence against robbery. A fawning world is worse than a frowning world. Who would shake those trees upon which there is no fruit?
Many think to be saved, because they are poor; and others, because they are rich; but these are all capitally mistaken; for numbers of the former are not saved, and not many of the latter will be saved. Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. You nobles, I call you to see, that not many nobles are called. He does not say, not any, but not many. Blessed be God, we can say of them, as Luther once said of Elizabeth, a pious queen of Denmark, 'Christ will sometimes carry a queen to heaven.' Rich men are choice dishes at God's table.
Some people, when their estates are low, their hearts are high: but true believers, when their estates are high, their hearts are low. What an excellent commendation does the beloved Prophet of Israel give the beloved Prince of Israel: Then went King David in, and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? The weighty clusters of mercy completely bowed the branches of this royal vine. He does not contend with God for mercies denied; but he adores him for mercies granted. The eye of his humility views the grace of God, and then he is thankful: it also views the folly of his heart, and this makes him mournful.
Theodosius deemed it more honourable to be a member of the church, than a monarch of the world; and so did King David. Ah! what wilt thou set thy heart upon that which is not? For every thing will come to nothing, but He who formed all things out of nothing. Many think it must go well with them hereafter, because it is so well with them here: as if silver and gold, which came out of the bowels of the earth, would carry them to the bosom of the God of heaven. Though the gates of heaven will open to admit the heaven-born soul; yet they are not unlocked with a golden key. A man may bask in the beams of prosperity now, and yet burn in the flames of eternity with infidels hereafter.
The worm of pride is always injurious to celestial plants: either this vice must be shut out on earth, or we shall be shut out in heaven. The bowing reed of an humble mind shall be preserved entire; while the sturdy oak of a proud lofty mind shall be broken to shivers. A proud person thinks every thing too much that is done by him, and every thing too little that is done for him. God is as far from pleasing him with his gifts, as he is from pleasing God with his works. Remember what the observant prophet Habakkuk declares: Behold, his soul which is lifted up in him is not upright. Observe, he introduces the subject with a Behold: he that lifts up himself, is not lifted up of God. I will not say, a good man is never proud; but I will say, a proud man is never good.
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