Page:Chelčický, Molnar - The Net of Faith.djvu/54

 and was therefore a real Czech doctor[229], well versed in the Law of the Lord without aberration from the truth. In him was fulfilled the word of the prophet saying,

“Blessed is the man whom you chasten, and teach of your law, O Lord,”[230]

and in another Psalm,

“O God, you have taught me from my youth and hitherto have I declared your wondrous works. Yes, even to old age and gray hairs, do not forsake me, O God.”[231]

And even our Lord Jesus says in the Gospel of Saint John,

“All men will be taught by God. Everyone that listens to the Father and has learned from him will come to me.”[232]

O how happy and blessed are the disciples who are taught in such a way by the Lord God in the school of the Holy Spirit, the best of teachers, who learn the law of the Lord and the sense and meaning of Christ! They and those like them are coming to the Lord and they are truly the disciples of the Lord, following their Lord Jesus in humility and meekness, as he himself has expressed it. Rejoicing in the Holy Spirit he said,

“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes. Yes, I thank you, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight.”[233]

This was fulfilled in the holy prophets, in the son of God the Highest, our Lord Jesus, in the holy Apostles chosen from among the whole world, that is, chosen not only from among those learned in human wisdom, in logic, and in pagan art, but also from among the poor orders, from fishers’ craft, from the common people. You may find proof to this in the Acts of the Apostles:

“Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they wondered.”[234]

That is, they were surprised to find such a power in the teaching of the Lord and such miracles which the Lord God performed through them; for the knowledge of God is vast and far above the knowledge of man, just as the heavens are higher than the earth.[235] And the knowledge of God makes man meek and humble, while the wisdom of man puffs up and gives itself air through pride.[236]  Therefore, this excellent man Peter Chelčický, the chosen vessel of the Lord, being endowed with many gifts through the grace of God