Mal. 4:1 'For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch'
If the proud escape here, as sometimes they do, hereafter they shall not; for, "the proud man is an abomination to the Lord"; Pr 16:5. God cannot endure him; Ps 101:5. And what of that? Tu perdes superbos, Thou shalt destroy the proud.....
And if God spared not the angels, whom he placed in the highest heavens, but for their pride threw them down headlong to the nethermost hell [2Peter 2:4-5], how much less shall he spare the proud dust and ashes of the sons of men, but shall cast them from the height of their earthly altitude to the bottom of that infernal dungeon [Jer. 50:31-32]!
"Humility makes men angels; pride makes angels devils;" as that father said: I may well add, makes devils of men.
So sure as God is just, pride shall not go unpunished [Isaiah 13:11].
Honourable and beloved, this vice is a close one; it will cleave fast to you; yea, so close that ye can hardly discern it from a piece of yourselves: this is it that aggravates the danger of it. For, as Aquinas notes well, some sins are more dangerous propter vehementiam impugnationis, "for the fury of their assault"; as the sin of anger: others for their correspondence to nature; as the sins of lust: other, propter latentiam sui, "for their close skulking" in our bosom; as the sin of pride. Oh, let us look seriously into the corners of our false hearts, even with the lanthorn of God's law, and find out this subtle devil; and never give peace to our souls till we have dispossessed him.
Down with your proud plumes, O ye glorious peacocks of the world: look upon your black legs, and your snake like head: be ashamed of your miserable infirmities: else, God will down with them and yourselves in a fearful vengeance [Isaiah 2:12,19]. There is not the holiest of us but is this way faulty: oh, let us be humbled by our repentance, that we may not be brought down to everlasting confusion: let us be cast down upon our knees, that we may not be cast down upon our faces. For God will make good his own word, one way; "A man's pride shall bring him low [Prov. 29:23]." Joseph Hall, 1574-1656
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Jer. 13:15 'Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken'
If the proud escape here, as sometimes they do, hereafter they shall not; for, "the proud man is an abomination to the Lord"; Pr 16:5. God cannot endure him; Ps 101:5. And what of that? Tu perdes superbos, Thou shalt destroy the proud.....
And if God spared not the angels, whom he placed in the highest heavens, but for their pride threw them down headlong to the nethermost hell [2Peter 2:4-5], how much less shall he spare the proud dust and ashes of the sons of men, but shall cast them from the height of their earthly altitude to the bottom of that infernal dungeon [Jer. 50:31-32]!
"Humility makes men angels; pride makes angels devils;" as that father said: I may well add, makes devils of men.
So sure as God is just, pride shall not go unpunished [Isaiah 13:11].
Honourable and beloved, this vice is a close one; it will cleave fast to you; yea, so close that ye can hardly discern it from a piece of yourselves: this is it that aggravates the danger of it. For, as Aquinas notes well, some sins are more dangerous propter vehementiam impugnationis, "for the fury of their assault"; as the sin of anger: others for their correspondence to nature; as the sins of lust: other, propter latentiam sui, "for their close skulking" in our bosom; as the sin of pride. Oh, let us look seriously into the corners of our false hearts, even with the lanthorn of God's law, and find out this subtle devil; and never give peace to our souls till we have dispossessed him.
Down with your proud plumes, O ye glorious peacocks of the world: look upon your black legs, and your snake like head: be ashamed of your miserable infirmities: else, God will down with them and yourselves in a fearful vengeance [Isaiah 2:12,19]. There is not the holiest of us but is this way faulty: oh, let us be humbled by our repentance, that we may not be brought down to everlasting confusion: let us be cast down upon our knees, that we may not be cast down upon our faces. For God will make good his own word, one way; "A man's pride shall bring him low [Prov. 29:23]." Joseph Hall, 1574-1656
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Jer. 13:15 'Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken'
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