Basic HTML Version
Holiness a Companion of Humility, June 18
Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of
you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God
resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
1 Peter 5:5
.
How many cling with tenacious grasp to their self-termed dignity, which
is only self-esteem. These seek to honor themselves instead of waiting in
humbleness of heart for Christ to honor them. In conversation more time is
spent in talking of self than in exalting the riches of the grace of Christ....
True holiness and humility are inseparable. The nearer the soul comes
to God, the more completely is it humbled and subdued. When Job heard
the voice of the Lord out of the whirlwind, he exclaimed, “I abhor myself,
and repent in dust and ashes” (
Job 42:6
). It was when Isaiah saw the glory
of the Lord and heard the cherubim crying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord
of hosts,” that he cried out, “Woe is me! for I am undone” (
Isaiah 6:3, 5
).
Daniel, when visited by the holy messenger, says, “My comeliness was
turned in me into corruption” (
Daniel 10:8
). Paul, after he was caught up
into the third heaven and heard things that it was not lawful for a man to
utter, speaks of himself as “less than the least of all saints” (
Ephesians 3:8
).
It was the beloved John, who leaned on Jesus’ breast and beheld His glory,
who fell as one dead before the angel. The more closely and continuously
we behold our Saviour, the less shall we see to approve in ourselves
He who catches a glimpse of the matchless love of Christ counts all
other things as loss, and looks upon Him as the chiefest among ten thousand
and as the one altogether lovely. As seraphim and cherubim look upon
Christ, they cover their faces with their wings. Their own perfection and
beauty are not displayed in the presence and glory of their Lord. Then how
improper it is for men to exalt themselves! Let them rather be clothed with
humility, cease all strife for supremacy, and learn what it means to be meek
and lowly of heart. He who contemplates God’s glory and infinite love,
will have humble views of himself, but by beholding the character of God,
he will be changed into His divine image
[176]
25
The Review and Herald, December 20, 1881
.
26
The Review and Herald, February 25, 1896
.
179