4. A man that will be _something_, is the matter out of which God is wont to make _nothing_; but he, on the contrary, who loves to be reputed as nothing, and who, in his own judgment, is so, is the matter out of which the Almighty maketh _something_. He that will be wise in his own opinion, is the matter out of which God maketh a fool; and he who is truly sensible of his own folly and nothingness, is that of which God forms a wise and great man. He who, before the Lord, sincerely confesses himself to be the greatest and most miserable of sinners, is, in the sight of God, the first and greatest of all men. He who believes himself to be the chief of _sinners_, shall be honored by the Lord as the chief of _saints_. Matt. 23:12; Luke 1:52. 5. This is that humility which God exalts; that misery which he regards; that _nothing_ from which he createth _something_. And as, at the creation, the glorious frame of heaven and earth was brought forth out of _nothing_, so must man be reduced to a deep sense of his vileness and nothingness, if ever he be exalted to glory and to dignity. 6. Reflect upon the example of David, whose misery God beheld, and to whom he granted the richest gifts of his grace. Consider, again, the example of Jacob, who confessed, “I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies.” Gen. 32:10. 7. But above all, lay to heart the example of Christ, the grand and blameless pattern of a Christian. He was abased below the meanest of men; was made a worm and a curse for our sake (Ps. 22:6), despised and rejected of men. Isaiah 53:3. But the lower he sunk, the higher did he afterwards rise, when he received a name which is above every name. 8. But who is that blessed and lowly one who is _nothing_ in his own eyes? It is he who inwardly and in his heart esteems himself worthy of no divine benefit, whether bodily or spiritual. For he that arrogates anything to himself, esteems himself to be _something_; and is, therefore, the farthest removed from divine grace and from this new creation. So destructive is the spirit of self, that it renders even grace of no effect, and shuts out that which contains all things in it. For if a man judge himself worthy of anything, he then does not take all things as a free gift from the hands of God. Whatever we are, however, is of _grace_ and not _merit_; nor can we call anything our own, except our sins, our helplessness, and our misery. All else belongs to God.