Fouith Sunuay of Auvent (89)

!ohn 11928

All pralse of self ls foollsh and valn Pe ls foollsh because he depends ln mosL cases only on
lnfaLuaLlon and selfdeluslon and ls conLempLuous before men And also where he has a real
foundaLlon and noL one based on mere lmaglnaLlon he sLlll comes lnLo conLacL wlLh much evll no
one suffers arroganL men 8uL noL merely foollsh also valn ls all pralse of self lor Lhe glfLs and
prlvlleges ln whlch a man prldes hlmself he hlmself has noL even glven 1herefore for LhaL reason
honor ls noL due hlm neverLheless Lhere ls a cerLaln selfconfesslon of man abouL hlmself whlch
cannoL be re[ecLed buL on Lhe conLrary ls necessary and wholesome a confesslon whlch only Lrue
ChrlsLlans make whlle Lhe resL say someLhlng dlfferenL abouL Lhemselves 1hus lL ls noL
unlmporLanL LhaL we concern ourselves Loday wlLh Lhe quesLlon whlch accordlng Lo Lhe reporL of
our presenL Cospel has been presenLed by Lhe !ews Lo !ohn Lhe 8apLlsL as he bapLlzed ln Lhe !ordan
namely Lhe quesLlon

What do you say about yourse|f? ln Lhe course of Lhls leL us

1 exomloe ootselves wbetbet ot oot we ootselves soy tbe tlqbt tbloq
a whaL we musL say abouL ourselves when we vlew our own naLural condlLlon as !ohn
confesses before Lhe delegaLlon of Lhe !ews LhaL he ls noL ChrlsL noL Lll[ah noL a
propheL
1
so we musL confess LhaL we are noL rlghLeous before Cod as !ohn dld noL
deny
2
dld noL conceal who he ls a preacher preachlng repenLance Lo all Lhe people
3

whom hlmself also even needed repenLance so also we do noL deny do noL wanL Lo hlde
Lhe facL LhaL we are slnners before Cod
b however mosL people do noL wanL Lo confess such Lhlngs abouL Lhemselves buL say
abouL Lhemselves someLhlng compleLely dlfferenL Lhey boasL of Lhelr rlghLeousness and
blamelessness and do noL conslder Lhemselves ln earnesL as slnners LeL us Lherefore
conslder Are we ourselves equal Lo Lhem? Cr do we say Lhe rlghL Lhlng abouL ourselves?

2 nooslJet bow oenessoty lt ls tbot we bove tbe tlqbt koowleJqe of ootselves
a only Lhen wlll we embrace Lhe Lord !esus as our Savlor of whlch !ohn LesLlfles
4
!ohns
magnlflcenL LesLlmony Lo Lhe !ews was ln valn
3
because Lhey dld noL have Lhe proper
confesslon of Lhemselves
6

b only Lhen wlll we always walk wlLh !ohn ln proper humlllLy
7
and llke !ohn Lo glve Cod all
glory for whaL Pe has done for we by naLure losL slnners by Pls grace
8
Chr k

1
!ohn 12021
2
!ohn 120
3
!ohn 123
4
!ohn 12627
3
!ohn 123
6
!ohn 124
7
!ohn 127
8
!ohn 123 27