|
AND so God, the Creator and Healer of all, knowing that pride is the
cause and fountain head of evils, has been careful to heal opposites with
opposites, that those things which were ruined by pride might be restored
by humility. For the one says, "I will ascend into heaven;" the other,
"My soul was brought low even to the ground." The one says, "And I will
be like the most High;" the other, "Though He was in the form of God, yet
He emptied Himself and took the form of a servant, and humbled Himself and
became obedient unto death." The one says, "I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God;" the other, "Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of
heart." The one says, "I know not the Lord and will not let Israel
go;" the other, "If I say that I know Him not, I shall be a liar like
unto you: but I know Him, and keep His commandments." The one says, "My
rivers are mine and I made them:" the other: "I can do nothing of
myself, but my Father who abideth in me, He doeth the works." The one
says, "All the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them are mine, and to
whomsoever I will, I give them;" the other, "Though He were rich yet He
became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich." The one
says, "As eggs are gathered together which are left, so have I gathered all
the earth: and there was none that moved the wing or opened the mouth, or
made the least noise;" the other, "I am become like a solitary
pelican; I watched and became as a sparrow alone upon the roof." The
one says, "I have dried up with the sole of my foot all the rivers shut up
in banks;" the other, "Cannot I ask my Father, and He shall presently
give me mort than twelve legions of angels?" If we look at the reason
of our original fall, and the foundations of our salvation, and consider by
whom and in what way the latter were laid and the former originated, we may
learn, either through the fall of the devil, or through the example of
Christ, how to avoid so terrible a death from pride.
|
|