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nefs ; that, in order to a6l up to all that we fay in thefe Chriftian pulpits, it would be neceffary to withdraw to the deferts, or to be angels rather than men : neverthelefs, ren- der glory to the force of truth. If a minifter of the gof- pel were to deliver to you from this place a doftrine quite oppofite to that which we teach ; were he to announce to you the fame maxims which you daily hold forth in the world ; were he to preach to you in this place of the truth, that the gofpel is not fo fevere as it is publilhed ; that we may love the world and yet ferve God ; that there is no harm în gaming, in pleafures, in theatres, except what we our- felves occafion ; that we muff live like the world while we live in the world ; that all that language of the crofs, ot penitence, of mortification, and of felf-dcnial, is more calculated for cloifters than for the court, and for perfonsof a certain rank ; and lallly, that God is too good to confider as crimes, a thoufand things which are become habitual, and of which we wifh you to make a matter of confcience ; •were he, I fay, to preach thefe maxims to you in this holy place, what would you think of him ? What would you fay to his new doftrine ? What idea would you have ot this new apoftle ? Would you confider him as a man come- down from heaven to announce to you this new gofpel ? Would you believe him to be better inftrufled than we in the holy truths ot falvation, and in the rules of theChriflian life? You would laugh at his ignorance, or his folly; you would perhaps be ftruck with horror at the profanation which he would make of his miniftry.

«I

And what, my brethren, thefe maxims announced be- fore the altars would appear to you as blafphemy or mad- nefs ; and, promulgated in your daily converfations, they would become rules of reafon and of wifdom ? In the mouth of a minifter of the gofpel, you would look upon

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EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD.

2^3

them as the fpeeches of a madman ; and, in your mouth, they ftiould appear more folid and more weighty ? You would laugh, or rather you would be ftruck with horror, at a preacher who (hould announce them to you ; and you wi(h to perfuade us that you fpeak ferioufly, and that you are confiftent with yourfelves when, with fo much confi- dence, you hold them forth to us.

Ah ! my brethren, how treacherous we are to God i and how terrible will he be when he (hall come to avenge, upon the lights of our own heart, the honour of his holy law ! Our apparent obflinacy for the abufes of the world, of which we maintain the innocence, is afecret perfuafion that the world and all its abufes are a path of perdition ; wc publicly jultify what we condemn in private ; we are the hypocrites of the world and of its pleafures : and, through a mofl deplorable deftiny, our life pafTes away in diffembling with ourfelves, and is obftinately determin- ing to perifh in fpite o[ ourfelves. And furely, fays the apoftle John, if our heart, notwithftanding all our felf- blindnefs, cannot help already condemning us in fecret, have we more indulgence to expeft from the terrible and fovereign Judge of hearts than from our heart itfelf ?

Thus, my brethren, ftudy the law of God in your ov.-n confcience, and you will fee that it is not more favourable than we to your pafhons ; confult the lights of your heart, and you will feel that they perfeÊlly accord with our max- ims ; liflen to the voice of truth, which fpeaks within you, and you will admit, that we only repeat what it is conti- nually whifpering to your heart ? You have no occafion, fays St. Auguftin, to apply to able men, in order to have the greateft part of your doubts cleared up ; go no farther than yourfelves for explanations and anfwers ; apply to

yourfelves

-^N

•.5;

SERMONS

BY

JEAN-BAPTISTE MASSILLON,

BISHOP OF CLERMONT.

SELECTED AND TRANSLATED

BY WILLIAM DICKSON i

AND

DEDICATED, BY PERMISSION,

TO

HER GRACE -^.:0

THE DUTCHESS OF BUCCLEUGH.

COMPLETE IN TWO VOLUMES. VOLUME IL

BROOKLYN :

rXINTED FOR THOMAS S. ARDEN, NO. l86, PEARL-STREET, NEV.--VORK. T. KIRK, PRINTif.R.

1803.

9139^5

CONTENTS

SECOND VOLUxME.

SERM I.	On the Delay of Converfion,	PAGlL. .5
II.	On Falfe Truji, . . . .	37
III.	On the Vices and Virtues of the Great,	64
IV.	On the Injuflice of the World towards the
	Godly, ....	92
V.	RefpeB, in the Temples of God,	128
VI.	The Truth of Religion,	157
VII.	Doubts upon Religion,	219
VIII.	Evidence of the Law of God,	251
IX.	Immutability of the Law of God,	282
X.	For Chrifimas Day,	306
XI.	For the Day of the Epiphany,	331
XII.	The Divinity of Jefus Chrijl,	• 369
XIII.	On the Refurredion of Lazarus,	413
XIV.	On the Day of Judgment,	. 446
XV.	The Hap pine fs of the Jujl,	479
XVI	On the Difpofitions for the Communion,	508

SERMON

SERMON I.

ON THE DELAY OF CONVERSION.

John i. 23.

/ am the voice of one crying in the wildernefs, viake Jlraight the way of the Lord.

It is that he may enter into our hearts that Jefus Chrift announces, by John the Baptift, that we have the way to make ftraight for him, by removing all thofe obflacles which, like a wall of reparation, rife up betwixt his mer- cy and our wretchednels. Now, thefe obftacles are the crimes with which we fo often ftain ourfelves, which al- ways fubfift, becaufeit would be necefTary to expiate them by penitence, and we expiate them not : thefe obftacles are the piaffions by which our heart foolifhly allows itfelf to be car- riedaway, which are always living, becaufe, inordertode- ftroy, it would be neceflary to conquer them ; and we ne- ver conquer them : thefe obftacles are theoccafions againft which our innocence hath fo often fplit, and which are ftill every day the rock fatal to all our refolutions, becaufe, ia place of yielding to that inward inclination which leads us to wards them it would be neceflary to fhun them ; and we fhun them not : in a word, the true and only manner of making ftraight the way of our hearts for Jefus Chrift, is that ot changing our life, and of being fincerely converted. Vol. II. B But,

6 SERMON I*

But, though the bufinefs of our converfion be the mofl important with which we can be entrufted here below, fee^ ing that through it alone we can draw Jefus Chrift into our hearts ; though it be the only one truly interefting to us, fince on it depends our eternal happinefs ; yet, O deplora- ble blindnefs ! it is never confidered by us a matter either of urgency or of importance ; it is continually put off to fome other time, as if times and feafons were at our difpo- fal. What wait you, Chriftians, my brethren ? Jefus Chrift ceafethnot to forewarn you, by his minifters, oi the evils which threaten your impatience, and the delay of your converfion ; he hath long announced to you, through our mouth, that, unlefs you repent, you moft affuredly (hall perifh.

Nor is he fatisfied with publicly warning you through the voice of his minifters, he fpeaks to you in the bottom, of your hearts, and continually whifpers to you. Is it not time now to withdraw yourfelf from that guilt in which, for fo many years, you have been plunged, and from which almoft nothing but a miracle can now extricate you ? Is it not time to reftore peace to your heart, to banifh from it that chaos of paftions which has occafioned all the misfortunes of your life ; to prepare for yourfelf at icaft fome few happy and tranquil days, and, after having lived fo long for a world which hath always left you empty and uneafy, at laft to live for a God who alone can give peace and tranquillity to your heart ? Will you not at laft beftow a thought upon your eternal interefts, and, after a life wholly frivolous, return to the true one, and, in ferving God, adopt the only wife plan which man can purfue up- on earth ? Are you not wearied out with ftruggling againft thofe remorfes which tear you, that fadnefs of guilt which weighs you down, that emptinefs of the world which ev- ery

ON THE DELAY OF CONVERSION, 7

ery where purfues you ? And do you not wifh to finifh at laft your misfortunes and your difquietudes, "by finifliing your crimes ?

What fhall we reply to that inward monitor which hath fo long fpoken in the bottom ot our hearts ? What pre- texts fhali we oppofe ? \Jlly, That we are not, as yet, furniftied by God with the fuccours necefTary to enable us to quit the unhappy Hate in which we live : zdly. That we are at prefent too much engaged by the pallions to think of a new life. That is to fay, that we (tart two pretexts for delaying our converfion ; the firft drawn from the part of God, the fécond from within ourfelves. The firft which juftifies us, by accufing God of being wanting to us ; the fécond which comforts us, by alledging to our- felves our inability of, as yet, returning to him. Thus we delay our converfion, under the belief that grace is wanting, and that, as yet, God defireth us not ; we de- lay our converfion, becaufe we flatter ourfelves that fome future day we fhall be lefs attached to the world and to the paffions, and more in a fituation to begin a Chriftian and an orderly life : two pretexts which are continually in the mouth of finners, and which I now mean to overthrow.

Part I. It is not of to-day that men have dared to ac- cufe even God himfelf for their traufgreffions, and have tryed to render his wifdom and his goodnefs refponfible for their iniquitous WeaknefTes. It may be faid that this blindnefs entered with fin into the world ; the firft man fought not elfewhcre an excufe for his guilt; and, far from appeafing the Lord whom he had fo lately difobeyed, by an humble confeftion of his wretchednefs, he accufed him of having been himfelf the caufe of his difobedience, in aflbciating with him the woman.

And

8 ^ SERMON I.

And fuch, my brethren, is the illufion of almoft aM fouls living in guilt, and who delay to a future day that converfion required of them by God. They are continu- ally repeating that converfion does not depend upon us ; that it is the Lord who muft change their heart, and be- ilow upon them that faith and grace which they, as yet, have not. Thus they are not fatisfied with provoking his anger, by delaying their converfion ; they even infuit him by laying upon him the blame of their obftinacy, and of the delay of their penitence. Let us now overthrow the error and the impiety of this difpofition ; and, in order to render the criminal foul more inexcu fable in his impeni- tence, let us deprive him at leaft of the pretext.

You tell us then, ijily, that if you had faith, and were thoroughly convinced of the truth of religion, you would be converted ; but that faith is a gift of God which you expefl: from him alone, and that as foon as he fhall have given it to you, you will eafiiy and heartily begin to adopt your party. Firft pretext ; the want of faith, and it is God alone who can give it.

But I ought firll to a{k you, how have you then loft that faith fo precious ? You had received it in your baptifm ; a Chriflian education had cherifhed it in your heart ; it bad grown up with you ; it was an eftimable talent which the Lord had entrufted to you in difcerning you from fo many infidel nations, and in marking you, from the mo- ment you quitted your mother's womb, with the feal of falvation. What have you then done with the gift of God ? Who hath effaced from your forehead that fign of eternal election ? Is it not the corruption of the paffions, and that blindnefs which has been their juft punifhraent ! Did you fufpeft the faith of your fathers before you became

diflblute

ON THE DELAY OF CONVERSION.

9

difTolute.and abandoned ? Is it not yourfelf who hath ex- tinguifhed in the dirt that celeftial torch, which the church in regenerating you, had placed in your hand, to enlight- en your way through the obfcurities and the dangers of this life ? Why then, accufe God of that wafle which you have made of his favours ? His is the right of re- claiming his own gift ; to him it belongs to make you ac- countable for the talent which he had entrufted to your care ; to fay to you : " Wicked and ungrateful fervant, " what had I done for others, that I had not done for thee ? "I had embellifhed thy foul with the gift of faith, and ** with the mark of my children : thou haft caft that pre- •' cious Jewel before unclean animals ; thou haft extin- •* guifhed faith, and the light that I had placed within thee : " I have long, in fpiteof thyfelf, preferved it in thy heart : *• I have caufed it to outlive all the impious efforts, which, " becaufe it was become troublefeme to thy debaucheries, *' thou haft made to extinguifti it: thou knoweft how " much it hath coft thee to throw off the yoke of iaith, and *• to be what thou now art : and this dreadful ftate, which is •• the jufteft punifhment of thy crimes, ftiould now become '• their only excufe ? And thou fayeft, that the want of faith ••is no fault of thine, feeing it depends not on man, thou, who •' haft had fuch difficulty in tearing it from the bottom of •• thy foul ? And thou pretendeft that it is me who ought *• to give it to thee, if I wilh thee to ferve mc, I, who «• reclaim it from thee, and who fo juftly complain that *' thou haft loft it ?" Enter into judgment with your Lord, and juftify yourfelf, if you have any reply to make to him.

And to make you, my dear hearer, more fenfible of all the weaknefs of this pretext ; you complain that you want faith ; you fay that you would wifti to have it ; that happy

to SERMON I.

arc thofe who are feelingly convinced, and tliat, in that ftate, no fufFering can affeft them. But, if you wifh for laith, if you believe that nothing is fo fortunate as that of .being truly convinced of the truths of falvation, and of the illuficn of all that paffeth away ; if you envy the lot of thofe fouls who have attained to that defirable flate ; if this be, behold then that faith which you await, and which you thought to have loft. What more do you require to know, in order to terminate a criminal life, than the hap- pinefs of thofe who have forfaken it, to labour towards their falvation ? You fay that you would wifh faith ; but you have it from the moment that you think it worthy of a wifli ; at lead you have enough of it to know that the greateft happinefs of man, is that of facrificing all to its proraifes. Now, the fouls whom we daily fee returning to their God, are not led by other lights : the righteous, who bear his yoke, are not fuftained or animated by other truths ; we ourfelves, who ferve him, know nothing more of it.

Ceafe then to deceive yourfelf, and to await what you already have. Ah ! is it not faith that is wanting to you, it is the inclination to fulfil the duties it impofes on you : it is not your doubts, but your paffions which flop you. You know not yourfelf; you willingly perfuade yourfelf that you want faith, becaufe that pretext which youoppofe to grace, is lefs humiliating to felf-love, than that of the fhameful vices which retain you. But mount to the fource ; )'our doubts have fprung folely from your irregular mode of living : regulate then your manners, and you will fee nothing in faith but what is certain and confoling : be chafle* modeft, and temperate, and I anfwer for that faith which you believe to have loft : live uprightly, and yOu will find little difficulty in believing.

And

ON THE PELAYOF CONVERSION. It

And a proof of the truth of ^vhat I tell you, is, that i£ in order to be converted, nothing more were to be requir- ed, than to bend your reafon to myfteries which exceed ouf comprehenfion ; if a Chriftian life were a<:companied vcithi no other difficulties than certain apparent contradiHions, which is necefTary to believe, without being abJe to com-- prehend them ; if faith propofed the fulfilment of no irk- foijie duties ; if, in order to change your life, it wrra necefTary to renounce paffions the mofl: lively, aiid. attach- ments the moft dear to your heart ; if the matter ia quell iom were nierely a point of opinion and of belief, without, either the heart or the, paflions being interefted in it, yo» would no longer have the fnjalleft difficulty in yielding to^ it ; you would view in the Hght ot madmen,, thofe who, for a moment could heiitate beiwixt difficulties of pure> fpeculation, of which the belief can he followed by no in-- jury, and an eternity of mifery which, after all, may be the lot of unbejievers. Faith appears difficult to you therefore, not becaufe it. holds out myfteries, but becau fa- it regulates the paffions ; it is the fanfiity of its maxims which ffiocks, and not the incomprehenfibility of its fe- çrets : you are therefore corcupted, but not. ani uobeiievCT.

And in effefl, notwithftanding all your pretended doubts upon faith, you feel that avowed unbelief is a^ horrible caufe to adopt ; you dare not determine upon it: itis^ a> quickfand under which you have a glimpfe of a ihou- fand gulfs which fill you with, horror, in which you find no confiftancy, and on which you could not venture^ to tread with a firm. and confident foot: you continually^ fay to yourfelf, that there is no rifk in devoting one's felf to God ; that, after all, and even, admitting the uncertainty of any thing after this life, the alternate is too horrible not to require precautions,; and tha^t, even in an aftual uncer- tainty

la s E R M O N I.

tainty ot the truths of faith, the godly would always be the wifeft and the fafeft. Your ftate, therefore, is ratlier the vague determination of an agitated heart, which dreads to break its chains, than a real and aftual fufpicion of faith, and a fear left, in facrificing to it all your iniquitous plea- fures, your pains and the time fhould be loft : your uncer- tainties are efforts, which you make to defend yourfelf againft a remnant of faith which Ûill inwardly enlightens you, ra- ther than a proof that you had already loft it. Seek no longer then to convince yourfelf; rather endeavour to op- pofe no more that internal conviâion which enlightens and condemns you. Follow the dilates of your own heart; be reconciled to yourfelf; allow a conlcience to fpeak, which never fails to plead within you for faith, againft your own excefles ; in a word, hearken to yourfelf, and you will be a believer.

But it is admitted, you will fay, that if nothing more were to be required than to believe, that would eafily be fubfcribed to. This is the fécond pretext of the finners who delay ; it is the want of grace, and they await it : converfion is not the work of man, and it belongs to God alone to change the heart.

Now, I fay that this pretext, fo often repeated in the world, and fo continually in the mouth of almoft ail thofe who live in guilt ; if we confider the finner who alledges it, it is unjuft ; if we view on the part of God, on whom he lays the blame, it is rafh and ungrateful ; if we examine it in itfelf, it is foolifh and unwarrantable.

In the firft place, if we confider the finner whoalledged it, it is unjuft; for you complain that God hath not yet touched you, that you feel no relifh for devotion, and that

relilh

ON THE DELAY OP CONVERSION. «^

relifli before you can think, of changing your life. But, full of paffions as you are, can you reafonably expeft or exaft of God that he Ihallever make you to feel a decided inclination for piety ? Would you that your heart, ftill plunged in debauchery, feel the pure delights and the chafte attrapions of virtue ? You are fimilar to a man who, nourifliing himfelf with gall and wormwood, fhould after- wards complain that every thing feels bitter to his palate. You fay that if God wifli you to ferve him, in his power alone it is to give you a relifh for his fervice : You who every day defile your heart by the meaneft excefles ; you who every moment place a frefh chaos betwixt God and you ; you, in a word, who, by new debaucheries, finally extin- guifti in your foul even thofe fentiments of natural virtue, thofe happy impreffions of innocence and of regularity born with you, which might have been the means of re- calling you to virtue and to righieoufnefs. O man art thou then unjufl only when there is queftion of accufing the wifdom and the juftice of thy God ?

But I fay farther, that were God even to operate in your heart that relilh for, and thofe feelings of falvation which you await, diflblute and corrupted as you are, would you even feel the operation of his grace ? Were he to call upon you, plunged as you are in pleafures of a life alto- gether worldly, would you even hear his voice ? Were he to touch your heart, would that feeling of grace have any confequence for your converfion, extinguifhed as it would immediately be by the ardour and the frenzy of profane paflions ? And, after all, this God of longanimity and of patience ftill operateth in your heart ; he ftill poureth out within you the riches of his goodnefs and of his mercy. Ah ! it is not his grace which fails you, but you receive it into a heart fo full of corruption and wretchednefs, that

Vol. II. a it

14 s E R M O N I.

it is inefFeftual, it excites no feeling there of contrition ; it is a fpark which, falling into a fink of filth and of nafti- nefs, is extinguifhed the moment it fails.

Refle8; then, my dear hearer, and comprehend all the injuftice of your pretexts. You complain that God is wanting to you, and that you await his grace to be con- verted ; but is there a fmner in whofe mouth that com- plaint would be more unjuft than from your lips ? The Lord had anticipated you from your birth with his blef- fings; he had placed in you an happy difpofition, a noble fpirit, and all the inclinations moft favourable to virtue ; he had even provided for you, in the bofom of a family, domeftic fuccours, and pious andj godly examples. The mercies ot the Lord went ftill farther; he hath preferved you from a thoufand dangers ; through his goodnefs you have outlived occafions where your friends, and perhaps the accomplices of your debaucheries, have fallen a facri- fice to the fcourge of war. To recal you to him, he hath fpared neither affliflions, difgufts, nor dilgraces ; he hath torn from you the criminal objefts of your paflions, even at the moment when your heart was moft ftrongly attached to them ; he hath fo mercifully conduced your deftiny, that a thoufand obftacles have continually thwarted your paflions, that you have never been able to arrive at the ac- complifhment of all your criminal wifhes, and that fome- thing has always been wanting to your iniquitous happinefs ; he hath formed for you ferions engagements and duties, which, in fpite of yourfelf, have impofed the obligation of a prudent and regular life in the eyes of men; he hath not permitted your confcience to become hardened in ini- quity, and you have never been able to fucceed in calming your remorfes, or in living tranquilly in guilt ; not a day hath paft in which you have not felt the emptinefs of the

world

ON THE DELAY OF CONVERSION, 1 5

world and the horror of your fituation ; amldft all your pleafures and excefTes, confcience hath awoke, and you have never fucceeded in lulling your fecret difquiets but by promifing to yourfelf a future change. A juft and mer- ciful God urges and [purfues you every where, ever fince you have forfaken him ; he hath affixed himfelf to you, faid a prophet, like a worm which burrows in the veftment continually to gnaw your heart, and to render the impor- tunity of his biting, a wholefome importunity to his fouf. Even while I am now fpeaking to you, he worketh within you, filleth my mouth with thefe holy truths and placeth me here to proclaim them to you, for the fole purpofe of recalling perhaps you alone. What then is your whole life but one continued luccefTion of favours ? Who are you yourfelf but a child of dile£tion, and the work of God's mercies ? Unjufl that thou art ! And thou dareft after this, to complain that his grace is wanting, thou, on whom alone x>r\ the earth the Lord feemeth to caft his regards ; thou, in whofe heart he fo continually operateth, as though of all men, he had only thee to fave; thou, in a word whofe every moment is a frefh grace, and whofe greatefl guilt fhall one day be, that of having received too many, and of having conftantly abufed them.

But to finifli your overthrow, upon what grounds do you fay that you want grace ? You doubtlefs fay fo, be- caufe you feel that in your prefent flate converfion would requiTe too many facrifices ; but you then believe that, with grace, you are converted without any facrifice on your part, without any felf-denial, and almoft without be- ing fenfible of it yourfelf ? You believe, then, that to have grace is to have no more pafTions to conquer, no more charms to break, no more temptations to overcome ; that it is to be regenerated through penitence, without tears,

pa:n.

.^ s £ R M O N I.

ipain, offfMTOW ? Ah ! I aflure you that on this footing yotl «will never poflefs that chimerical grace; for converfion œiuft always require many facnfices; be the grace what it TOay, you will always be required to make heroical efforts^ to reprefs your paflions, to tear youHdf" from theraoft bar Joved objeÊls, and to facrifice every thing which may cap* tivate you. Look around, and fee if no facrifices are re- <3uired of thofe who are daily returning to their God ; yet they are favoured with grace, fmce it is it which delivers ♦them and changes their heart. Inquire at them if grace render every thing eafy and fmooth ; if it leave nothing more for felt love to undergo. Aflc at them if they have not had a thoufand ftrugglesto fuflain, athoufand obftacles to overcome, a thoufand paflions to moderate ; and yoxx will know it to have grace to be converted without any exertion on your part. Converfion is therefore a painful facrifice, a laborious baptifm, a grievous delivery, a vifto- ry which fuppofes combats and fatigues. Grace, I con- fefs, foftens them all ; but it by no means operates i<i as to leave nothing more to overcome ; and if, in order to change your life, you await a grace of that nature, I declare to you that fuch never exifted, and that fo abfurdly to await your falvation and deliverance, is to be abfolutely hç^ upon perifhing.

But if the pretext of the default of grace be unjuft oh ■the fide ot the finner who alledges it, it is not left rafh and ungrateful with regard to God, on whom he pretends to •iix the blame.

For you fay that God is the mafter, and that, when he fhall want you, he will perfeftly know how to -find you ; that is to fay, that you have only to leave him folely to a61^ and that, without giving yourfelf any trouble with relpeÔ:

ON THE DELAY OF ÇetNVfiRSION. I7

to your falvation, he, when fo inclined, will know liow to change your heart ; that is to fay, that you have only to pafs your life in pleafures and in gnilt, and that without any interference on your part, without your bellowing even 3 thouglit upon it, without bringing to that converiion which you expeft, other preparation than a whole life of debauchery and conftant oppofition to his grace, he will know how to acquire you, when his moment fhall be come ; that is to fay, that your falvation, that grand, that only bu- finefs which you have upon the earth, is no longer a con- çerô of yours; and that the Lord, who hath given you chat alone to manage, who hath commanded you to give it the preference over all others, and even to negleft every other in order to devote yourfelf to it alone, hath never- thelefs abfolutely difcharged you from the truft, in order to take it wholly upon himfelf. Shew us then this promife in fome new gofpel ; for you well know, that it is np where to be found in that of Jefus Chrift. " The finner," fays the prophet Ifaiah, " hath nothing but foolifli things *' wherewith to juftify himfelf ; and his heart worketh ini- *' quity, to praftife hypocrify, and to utter error againtt *' the Lord."

Laûly, this pretext is foolifli in itfelf ; for you fay that you want grace : I have already replied, that you deceive yourfelf; that, if candid, you will acknowledge that grace hath never been wanting to you ; that you have more than once felt its falutary impreflions ; that, had fo obllinate a refiftance not been oppofed by your hardnefs of heart and impenitence, it would have triumphed over your pallions ; that God, who wifheth all men to be faved, who out of nothing hath drawn reafonable beings, folely to praife, to i>lefs, and to glorify him ; in a word, who hath only made •us for himfelf, hath opened to you, my dear hearer, as well

as

iB s E R M O N I.

as to fo many other finners, a thoufand ways of converfion, which would have infallibly recalled you ere now to the right path, had you not obflinately fliut your ears againfl his voice. You want grace, you fay : well ! what do you thereby pretend ? Would it be to have it underftood, that God who is our Father, and of whom we are the children ; who hath an affeflion for us infinitely furpaffing that of the tenderefl mother for an only fon, that a God fo good leave us, through want of afTiftance, in the aftual impoffibility of well-doing ? But do you refleft that fuch language would be a blafphemy againft the wifdom of God, and the juflification of every crime ? Are you then ignorant, that whatever be the blow given to our liberty by the fall of our firft parent, it is ffill however left to us ; that neither law nor duties would longer be impofed upon man, had he not the real and a6f ual power of fulfilling them ; that re- ligion, far from being an aid and a confolation, would con- fequently be no longer but a vexation and a fnare ; that if, notwithftanding all the cares which God hath for our falva- tion, we periHi, it is always the fault of our own will, not the default of grace ; that we are individually the authors of our mifery and deftru6lion ; that it hath depended upon ourfclves to have avoided them; and that a thoufand fin- ners, with neither more grace nor fuccours than we, have broken their chains, and have rendered glory to God and to his mercies, by a life altogether new.

But, granting that thefe truths were lefs certain, and that, in reality, you, my dear hearer, want grace, it would equally be true then, that God hath altogether for- faken you ; that you are marked with a chara6ler of re- probation, and that your flate cannot be worfe. For to be without grace is furely themofl terrible of all fituations, and the mofl certain prefage of eternal condemnation.

And

ON THE DELAY OF CONVERSION. ig

And it is that horrible thought, however, which comforts you, which juftifies in your eyes your tranquillity in guilt, which makes you, without trouble or remorfe, to delay your converfion, and which even fervcs as an excufe tor all your excefTes ; that is to fay, that you are delighted in. the want of this precious grace ; that you continually fay with fatisfaftion to yourfelt God wilheth me not as yet ; I have only to live, in the mean while, tranquilly in guilt ; his grace will not come yet a while ; that is to fay, that you wifh it not, and that you would even be forry were it to come to break thofe chains which you ftill love. To you, the want of grace ought to be the mofl fearful, and the moft powerful inducement to extricate yourfelf from your deplorable ftate ; and it is the only one which quiets and flops you.

Befides, the more you delay, the lefs will you have of grace ; for the more you delay, the more do your crimes increafe, the more doth God effrange himfelt from you ; his mercies wear out, his moments of indulgence flip away, your meafure becomes full, and the dreadful terra of his wrath approaches : and if it be true that you have not at prefent fufficient grace to be converted, you will not, in a little time, have wherewithal even to compre- hend that you have occaiion either for penitence or con- . verfion.

It is not grace then that you have to accufe, it is your- felf. Did Auguftin, during bis feeble defires of conver- fion, tax the Lord with the delay of his penitence ? Ah ? he went no further for the reafon of it, than in the weak- nefs and the licentioufnefs of his own heart. " I dragged on," faid he, " a heart difeafed and torn with remorfe, ac- •* cufing myfelf alone for the evils, and for all the delays

" which

%à SERMON!»

*** which I ftârted atgainft a new life. I turned me in my •* chains, as thou,G;h they fhould break off themfelves, with- " out any effort on my part. For thee, Lord, never haft *' thou ceafed to chaftife my heart with inward forrows, *• continually operating there, through a merciful fevcrity, " the moft pungent remotfes, which embittered every *' comfort of my life. Neverthelefs, theamufements of the «'world, which I had always and ftill loved, withheld me; *' they fecretly whifpered to me, Thou meaneft, then, to *' renounce every pleafure ? From this moment, then, " thou biddeft art eternal farewell to all that hath hitherto ren- •' dered life agreeable to thee ? What ! Shall it no more be '* permitted to thee to fee thofe perfons who have been fo •' dear to thee ; thou fhalt henceforth be feparated from " thy companions in plealure, be banifhed from their af- *' femblies, and be obliged to deny thyfelf the moft inno- *' cent delights and all the comforts of fociety ? And is it ** poffible that thou canft believe thyfelf capable of fup- •' porting the fad wearinefs of a life fo gloomy, fo void, ** fo uniform, and fo different from the one thou haft hither- «'to led?"

Behold where this half-contrite (inner found the reafons oi his delays and of his refiftance ; it was the dread of having to renounce his pallions, and of being unable to fupport the ftep of a new life, and not any default of grace : and fuch is precifely the fituation in which you are, and what you fay every day to yourfelf.

For, after all, fuppofing that grace is wanting to you, what do you thence conclude ? That the crimes into which you continually plunge yourfelf will not condemn you fliould death furprife you in that deplorable ftate ? You would not dare to fay fo, That you have only to live

tranc^uil

ON THE DELAY OF CONVERSION. St

tranquil in your debaucheries till God fliall touch you, and till grace ihall be given to you ? But it is the height of fally to expeÊl grace, while you render yourfelf every day more and more unworthy of it. That you are not guilty before God of the delay of your converfion, feeing it de- pends not on you ? But all delaying finners who die impe- nitent would then be juftified, and hell would no longer be but for the jufl: who are converted. That you ought no more to concern yourfelf with your falvation, but to leave it to chance, without giving yourfelf any uneafinefs or trouble with regard to it ? But that is the party of defpair and of impiety. That the moment ot your converfion is marked, and that a little more or lefs of debauchery will neither advance nor retard it an inftant ? But, according to that do£lrine, you have only to pierce your heart or plunge yourfelf into the waves, under the pretext that the moment of your death is determined, and that fuch mad- nefs will neither haften nor retard it a fingle inftant. ** O •' man !" cries the apoftle in replying to the folly and to the impiety of this pretext, " is it thus that thou con- ^' temneft the riches of the goodnefs of thy God ? Art " thou ignorant that his patience in fufFeringthy debauche- " ries, far from authorifing them, ought to recal thee to pe- •' nitence ; and, neverthelefs, it is his long- forbearance *' itfelf which hardens thee in guilt ; and through thine " obftinacy of heart thou amafTeft an overflowing treafure ♦' of wrath for that terrible day which (hall furprif'e thee, and *' on which (hall be rendered to every one according to ** his works ?"

The only rational confequence, therefore, that you could be permitted to draw, fuppofing that grace is want- ing to you, is, that you, more earneftly than any other, ought to pray ta obtain it ; to negleft nothing to foften an

Vol. II. D irritated

a2 s E R M O N I.

irritated God, who hath withdrawn himfelf from your heart; to overcome by your importunities his refiftance ; to remove, in the mean while, whatever removes his grace from your heart ; to make ftraight the way for him ; to throw afide all the obftacles which have hitherto render- ed it ineffeftual to you ; to deny yourfelf every opportuni- ty in which your innocence almoft always finds new rocks, and which completely fhut your heart againft the holy in- fpirations : fuch is the Chriftian and prudent manner of rendering glory to God, oi confefling that he alone is the mailer of hearts, and that every bleffing and gift proceed from him. But to fay, as you continually do, without changing in any refpeft your diforderly manners, " When " God fliall want me he knoweth how to find me," is to fay, " I wifii him not as yet ; I have no occafion for him, " I live happy and contented : when he fhall force me, " and I can no longer avoid him, then I will yield ; but, " in the mean time, I will enjoy my profperity and the pri- " vilege which he granteth to me of delaying my converfion." What a {hocking preparation for that precious grace which changeth the heart ! Such is, however, all that an impeni- tent foul can adduce for confidently awaiting it.

Such are the pretexts which the finner who delays his converfion draws from the part of God. Let us now ex- amine thofe which he takes from within himfelf.

Part II. It is aflonifliing, my brethren, that, life be- ing fo fliort, the moment of death fo uncertain, every in- ftant lo precious, converfions fo rare, the examples of thofe who are taken unawares fo frequent, and futurity fo awful, fo many frivolous pretexts can be urged for delay- ing a change of life. In all other dangers which threaten either our life, our honour or our property, the precau- tions

ON THE DELAY OF CONVERSIOM. 23

tîons are prompt and ready, the danger alone is dubious and diftant ; here the danger is certain and prefent, and the precautions are always uncertain and remote. It feems either that falvation is an arbitrary thing, or that our life is in our own hands, or that the time i'or our penitence hath been promifcd to us, or that to die impenitent is no great misfortune, fo ftrongly do all finners lull themfelves in this hope of being one day converted without ever at- tempting a change of life» And what is ftill more incompre- henfible in the delay of their penitence is, that they all admit of the neceflity of their converfion, of the bad ftate of their confcience, and that they all confider as the worft of evils, that of dying in that fatal ftate ; and, neverthelefs, that they all defer withdrawing from it under pretexts fo childifli, that even the gravity of the Chriftian pulpit fuf- fers in refuting and overthrowing them.

Age, the paffions, the confequences of a change of life, which they dread the being able to fupport ; fuch are the vain pretexts inwardly alledged for delaying that conver- fion which God demands of us.

I fay, in the firft place, the age. They wifh to allow the years of youth to pafs away, to which a party fo im- portant as that of piety feems little fuited ; they wait a cer- tain feafon of life when, the bloom of youth effaced, the manners become more fedate, the attention more exaft, the world kfs watchful upon us, even the mind riper and more capable of fupporting that grand undertaking, they pro- mi fe themfelves to labour at it, and that they will not then allow any thing to divert them from it.

But it would be natural to afk you firff, who hath toM you that you fhall arrive at the term which you mark to i

yourfelf ;

[iSH s £ H M ô M I.

yourreîf; thai death (hall not furpi-ifé yàû ih iht CôUrfe of thofe years which you ftill allot to the world and to tht paf- fions ; and that the Lord, whom you do not expeft till thé evening, Ihall not arrive in the morning, and when yoU leaft think of it ? Is youth a certain fateguard againft death ? See, without mentioning here what heppens every day to the reft of men, if, even in confining yourfelf to the fmall numher of your friends and of your relations, you fhall find none for whom thejuftice of God hath dugagravein the firft years of their courfc ; who, like the flower of the field blooming to the morn, have withered before the clofè of day, and have left you only the melancholy regret of feeing fo fpeedily blafted, a life of which the bloflbms had promifed fo fair. Fool! Thy foul is to be rcdemanded perhaps at the opening of thy race; and thofe projefts ot converfion, which thou deferreft to a future period, what Ihall they avail thee ? And thofe grand refolutions which thou promifeft to thyfelf to put in execution one day, what Ihall thev change m thine eternal mifery, fhould death an- ticipate them, as it every day doth in a thoufand inftanceis, and leave the only the unavailing regret of having vainly formed them ?

But, even granting that death fhall not take you una- wares, and I afk you, upon what foundation do you pro- mife yourfelf, that age fhall change your heart, and in- cline you more than you are at prefent to a new life ? Did age change the heart of Solomon ? Ah ! It was then that his pafhons rofe to the higheft, and that his fhameful frailty no longer knew any bounds. Did age prepare Saul for his converfion ? Ah ! It was then that, to his paft errors, he added fuperftition, impiety, hardnefs of heart, and defpair. Perhaps in advancing in age you fhall leave off certain loofe manners, becaufe the dilguft alone which follows them

fhall

ON THE DELAY OF CONVERSIOl^. ij

fliaU have withdrawn you from them ; hut you will not thereby be converted : You will no longer live in debauche- ry ; but you will not repent, you will not do penance, your heart will not be changed : You will ftill be worldly, ambitious, voluptuous, and fenfual : You will live tran- quil in that flate, becaufe you will no longer have but ail the difpofitions ol" thefe vices, without giving yourfelf ■up to their exceiïes. Years, examples, long habit of the world, fhall have ferved only to harden your confcience, to fubllitute indolence and a worldly wifdom in the room of thepaffions, and to efface that fenfe of religion, which, in the youthful period of life, is left in the foul as yet fear- ful and timorous ; you will die impenitent.

And if you fuppofe this to be merely a movement of feal, and not a truth founded on experience, examine what pafles every day before you ; view all the fouls who have grown old in the world, and who. through age alone, have withdrawn from its pleafures ; the love of the world is extinguifhed only with them : under different exteriors, and which are changed folely through decency, you fee the fame reliih for the world, the lame inclinations, the fame ardor for pleafures, a youthful heart in a changed and "Worn out body. The delights of our younger years are recalled with fâtisfaftion ; the imagination dwells upon, and delights in reviving all that time and age have wrefled from us ; a blooming youth and all its attendant amufe- ments, are regarded with envy ; all of them are entered into which can be thought in any degree compatible with the fedatenefs proper to advanced age ; pretexts are formed for Itill mingling incertain pleafures with decency, and without being expofed to the public ridicule. Laftly, in proportion as the world flies from and deferts us, it is purfued with more relifh than ever; the long habit of it

hath

a6 s E R M O N I.

hath ferved only to render it more neceffary to us, and to render us incapable of doing without it ; and age hath ne- ver as yet been the caufe of converfion.

But even admitting that this misfortune were not to be dreaded, the Lord, is he not the God of all times and of all ages ? Is there a fingle one of our days which belongs not to him, and which he hath left to us for the world and for vanity ? Is he not even jealous of the firft-fruits of our heart and of our life, figured by thofe firft-fruits of the earth, which were commanded by the law to be offered up to him ? Why they would you retrench from him the fair- eft portion of your years to confecrate it to Saian and to his works ? Is life too long to be wholly employed for the glory of the Lord who hath given it to us, and who pro- mifeth to us an eternal one ? Is youth too precious to be confecrated towards becoming worthy of the eternal pofTef- fion of the Supreme Being ? You referve then, for him, only the remains and the dregs of your pafTions and life ? And it precifely is, as if you faid to him, Lord, fo long as I fhall be fit for the world and its pleafures, think not that I fhall turn towards or feek thee ; fo long as the world fhall be plcafed with me, I can never think of devoting myfelf to thee ; afterwards, indeed, when it fhall begin to neglefl and to forfake me, then I will turn me towards thee ; I will fay to thee, •• Lo, I am here ! I M'ill pray thee \."to accept a heart which the world hath rejefted, and •' which reluftantly finds itfelf under the hard necefTity of " beflowing itfelf on thee ; but till then, expeft nothing " from me but perfeft indifference, and a thorough negleft : ** after all, thou art only entitled to our fcrvices when we " ourfelves are good for nothing elfe ; we are always fure, " at leaff, of finding thee ; all times are the fame to thee ; •♦ but, after a certain feafon of life, we are unfitted for the

world.

ON THE DELAY OF CONVERSION. 27

" world, and, while yet time, it is proper to enjoy it be- «' fore it deferts us." Soul unworthy of ever confeffing the mercies of a God whom you treat with fuch infult ! And do you believe that he will then accept of an homage fo forced, and fo difgraceful to his glory, he, who taketh no delight but in the voluntary facrifices, he, who hath no need of man, and who favoureth him when he deigneth to accept even his purell vows, and his fmcereft hom- ages ?

The prophet Ifaiah formerly mocked, in thefe terms, thofe who worfhipped vain idols : " You take," faid he to them, " a cedar from Lebanon ; you fet apart the beft and " the handfomeft parts of it for your occafions, your plea- " fures, the luxury and ornament of your palaces ; and " when you know not how to employ otherwife the rem- •* nant, you carve it into a vain idol, and offer up to it " ridiculous vows and homages." And I in my turn might fay to you, you fet apart from your life the faireft and the moll flourifliing of your years, to indulge your fancies and your iniquitous paflTions ; and when you know not to what purpofe to devote the remainder, and it becomes ufelefs to the world and to pleafures, then you make an idol of it ; you make it ferve for religion ; you form to yourielf of it, afalfe, fuperficial, and inanimate virtue, to which you re- luftantly confecrate the wretched remains of your paffions and of your debaucheries. O my God ! is this then re- garding thee as a jealous God, whom the flighteft ftain in the pureft offerings wounds and offends, or as a vain idol, which feels not the indignity and the hypocrify of the hom- ages offered up to it ?

Yes, my brethren, nothing can be reaped in an advan- ced age but what has been fown in the younger years of

lite.

^ SERMON I.

life. If you fow in corruption, faid the apoftle, you will cut down in corruption : you are continually faying your- felves that we always die as we have lived ; that the charac- ter and difpofition change not; that we bear within us in old age all the defeats and all the tendencies of our younger years ; and that nothing is fo fortunate for us as to have formed laudable inclinations from an early period, and, as the prophet faid, to have accuflomed ourfelves from the tendereft youth to bear the yoke of the Lord.

And, in efFefl, when we fhould attend folely to the quiet oi your life ; when we fhould have no other intereft in view than that of fecuring peaceful and happy days to ourfelves here below, what happinefs to anticipate, and to ilifle irl their birth, by bending from the firft towards virtue, fd many violent paflions which afterwards tear the heart and occafion all the forrows and mifery of our life. What hap- pinefs, to have grafted in ourfelves only gentle and inno- cent ideas, to fpare ourfelves the fatal experience of fo many criminal pleafures, which for ever corrupt the heart, defile the imagination, engender a thoufand fhameful and unruly fancies, which accompany us even in virtue, out- live our crimes, and frequently become new ones them- selves ! What happinefs, to have created innocent and tran- quil pleafures for ourfelves in thefe younger years, to have accuflomed the heart to be contented with them, not to have contrafted the fad neceflity of being unable to do with- out violent and criminal gratifications, and not to have rendered infupportable, by a long habit oi warm and tu- multuous paffions, the gentlenefs and the tranquillity of virtue and of innocence ! How thefe younger years, pafTed in modefly and in horror at vice, attract bleffings on the remainder of life ! How attentive to all our ways do they render the Lord ! And how much do they render us the

well-

ON THE DELAY OF CONVERSION. 29

well-bcloved objeft of his cares and of his paternal kind- nefs !

But nobody denies, you will fay, the happinefs of be- ing early devoted to God, and of having been able to re- fill all the temptations of youth and of pleafure. But that fuch is not your cafe ; you have followed the common traft ; the torrent of the world and of the pallions has fwept all before it; you find yourfelves, even ftill, under engagements too intimate and powerful to think of break- ing them ; you wait a more favourable fituation ; and you promife yourfelves, that, when the paffion which now en- flaves you fhall be extinguilhed, you will never again en- t^r into new bonds, but will heartily range yourfelves on the fide of duty and of virtue. Second pretext ; the paf- fions and the engagements from which it is impoffible, as yet, to withdraw.

But, in the firft place, are you quite certain that this more favourable fituation which you await, in order to re- turn to God, fhall arrive ? Who hath revealed to you the courfe and the duration of the palTions which at prefent retain you ? Who hath marked limits to them and faid, like the Lord to the troubled waters, •' Hitherto (halt thou " come, and no farther ?" When Ihall they have an end, do you know ? Can you take upon you to fay that they fliall one day be terminated ? That they Ihall be ended at lead before yourfelf ? Would you be the firft finner fur- prifed in his deplorable palfions ? Do notalmoft all around you die in that melancholy ftate ? Do the minifters called in to the afliftance of the dying, find many linners on the bed of death who, for a length of time, have quitted their for- mer habits in order to prepare themfelves for that lalf mo- ment ? What do we find there but fouls ftill bound with a Vol. II. E thoufand

go s E R M O N I.

thoufand chains, which death alone fhall break afunder ? But inexplicable confciences, if I may venture to fay fo, and flill enveloped in the chaos of a life wholly diffolute ? What indeed do we expeft on thefe occafions but unavail- ing regrets on that dreadful furprifal, and vain proteftations of the different meafures they would have adopted, had they been able to have forefeen it ? What are the ufual offices of our miniftry in thefe laft moments ? To enlighten con^ Iciences which ought then to need only confolation ; to aflift them in recalling crimes which we fhould then havç only to exhort them to forget ; to make the dying fimier fenfible of his debaucheries, we who fhould then have to fupport and to animate him with the remembrance of his virtues ; in a word, to open the dark concealments of his heart, we who fhould then have to open only the bofom of Abraham and the treafures of an immortal glory for the fou! on the point of difengaging itfelf from the body. Such are the melancholy offices which we fhall one day perhaps have to render to you ; you, in your turn, will call upon us, and, in place of a foothing converfation with you on the advantages which an holy death promifes to the believer, we fhall then be folely employed in receiving the narration of the crimes of your life.

But, fhould your paffions not extend even to that lafl hour, the more you delay, the deeper do you allow the roots of guilt to become, the more do your chains form new folds round your heart, the more does that leven of corruption which you carry within you, fpread itfelf, fer- ment, and corrupt all the capacity of your foul. Judge of this by the progrefs which the paffion hath hitherto made in your heart. At firfl it was only timid liberties, and, to quiet yourfelt in which, you flill fought fome fhadow of in- nocence : afterwards, it was only dubious aÊlions, in which

it

ON THE DELAY OF CONVERSION. 3I

it was ftill difficult to diftinguifti guilt from a venial tref- pafs : licentioufnefs clofely followed ; but ftriking excefles were ftill rare : you reproached yourfelf in the very moment oi their commilFion : you were unable to bear them long upon a confcience ftill alarmed at its ftate : the backflidingsare infenfibly multiplied: licentioufnefs is be- come a fixed and habitual ftate : confcience hath no longer but feebly cried out againft the empire of the pafpon : guilt is become neceflary to you : it hath no longer excited re- morfe ; you have fwallowed it like water, which pafle» unfelt, and without tickling the palate by any particular flavour. The more you advance, the more does the venom gain ; the weaker does any refidue of ftrength, which modefty, reafon, and grace had placed in you, become ; the more what was yet wholefome in your foul becomes infefted and defiled. What foHy, then, to allow wounds to become old and corrupted, under pretence that they will afterwards be more eafily cured ! And what do you in de- laying, but render your evils more incurable, and take away from the hope of your converfion, every refource which might ftill be left to you !

You perhaps flatter yourfelf that there are no lafting paf- fions, and that, fooner or later, time and difguft Ihall with- draw you from them.

To this I anfwer, \Jlly., That, in all probability, you îhall indeed become tired of the obje£ls which at prefent enflave you, but that your paflions ftiallpotbe confequent- ly ended. You will doubtlefs form new ties, but you will not form to yourfelf a new heart. There are no eternal paflions I confefs ; but corruption and licentioufnefs are al- moft always fo : the paflions which are terminated folely by difguft, always leave the heart open for the reception of

forae

ga s E R M O N I.

fome other; and it is commonly a new fire which expels and extinguifhes the firft. Call to your remembrance what has hitherto happened to you : You firmly thought that, were fuch an engagement once at an end, you {hould then be free, and wholly at liberty to return to your God ; you fixed upon that happy moment as the term for your peni- tence ; that engagement hath been terminated ; death, in- conftancy, difguft, or fome other accident hath broken it ; and, neverthelefs, you are not converted : new opportuni- ties have offered, you have formed new ties, you have forgotten your former refolutions, and your laft flateis be- come worfe than the firft. The paflions which are not ex- tinguiflied by grace, ferve merely to light up and to pre- pare the heart for new ones.

I anfwer, zdly^ When all your criminal engagements fhould even be ended, and that no particular objeft fliould ifttereft your heart; if time and difguft alone have effefted this, yet will not your converfion be more advanced. You will ftill hold to all, in no longer holding to any thing; you will find yourfelf in a certain vague ftate of indolence and of infenfibility, more removed from the kingdom of God than even the ardour of mad paflions ; your heart, free from any particular pafTion, will be as if filled with an univerfal paffion ; if I may fpeak in this manner, with an immenfe void which will wholly occupy it. It will even be fo much the more difficult for you to quit this ftate, as you will have nothing fufficiently ftriking to catch at. You will find yourfelf without vigour, tafte, or any incli- nation for falvation ; it is a calm from which you will find it more difficult to extricate yourfelf than even from the tempeft ; for the fame winds which caufe the ftorm, may fometimes drive us fortunately into port ; but the greater the calm is, the more certainly it leads to deftruftion.

But

ON THE DELAY OF CONVERSION* 33

But, lajlly^ you fay, We would willingly [change and adopt the party of a more reafonable, and more Chriftian life ; we feel the emptinefs of the world and of all its plea- fures ; we enter into amufements, and into a certain diffi- pation, without relifli, and as if with regret ; we would wifli to renounce them, and ferioufly to labour towards our falvation : but this firft ftep ftartles us ; it is a matter of notoriety which engages us towards the public, and which we have many doubts of being able to fupport ; we are of a rank which renders the fmalleft change confpicu- ous ; and we are afraid left, like fo many others, we aft a part that will not be lafting, and, confequently, will leave us only the ridicule without the merit of devotion.

You dread, my dear hearer, the being able to go through with it ? What ! in delaying your converfion you promife yourfelf that God fhall one day touch you ; and, in being converted at prefent, you dare not promife yourfelf that he will fuftain you ? You depend upon his mercies while infulting him, and you dare not truft to them when glori- fying him ? You believe that you have nothing to riik, on his part, in continuing to offend him, and you have no confidence in him when beginning to ferve him? O man ! where is here that reafon, and that reftitude of judgment which thou vauntcft fo much ? And muftitbethat, in the bufinefs of thy falvation alone, thou art a fink of contra- diftion, and an incomprehenfible paradox ?

Befides, might we not with reafon fay to you, make a beginning at leaft ; try if, in effeft, you fhall be unable to fuffain yourfelf in the fervice ot God ? Is it not worth the trouble of being tried ? Does a man, precipitated by the tempefl into the fea, and who finds himfelf on the point of drowning, not ftrain every nerve, in the firfl

place,

|4 s E R M O N I.

place, to gain the (hore by fwimming, before be refigns himfelf up to the mercy of the waves ? Would he fay to himfelf, as an excufe for making no effort to fave himfelf, *' I fhall perhaps be unable to go through with it ; my *' flrength will moft likely fail me by the way ?" Ah ! he tries, he makes every effort, he flruggles againft the danger, he labours to the laft moment of his flrength, and only gives way, at lafl, when, overpowered by the vio- lence of the waves, he is forced to yield to the evil of his deft iny. You perifh, my dear hearer ; the waves gain upon you, the torrent fweeps you away ; and you hefitate whether you fhall try to extricate yourfelf from the danger ; and you wafte, in calculating your ftrength, the only mo- ments left to provide for your fafety ? And you facrifice, in deliberating, the little time that is left to you for the fole -purpofe of difengaging yourfelf from the peril which is imminent, and in which fo many others are continually perifhing before your eyes ?

But, laftly, even granting that in the end the various hardfhips of virtue tire out your weaknefs, and that you find yourfelf under the neceffity of retreating ; at any rate, you will always have paffed fome little time without of- fending your God ; you will always have made fome efforts towards appeafing him ; you will always have devoted fome days to the praife of his holy name : at any rate, it will be a portion cut off from your criminal life, and from that treafure of iniquity which you amafs for the ter- rible day oi vengeance ; you will have acquired, at leaft, the right of reprefenting your weaknefs to God, and of fay- ing to him, " Lord, thou beholdeft my délires and my *• weaknefs ; why, O my God ! have I not a heart more ** confiant to thee, more determined in the caufe of truth, " more callous to the world, and more difficult to be led

♦' aflray ?

ON THE DELAY OF CONVERSION. 35

" aftray ? Put an end, O Lord, to mine uncertainties and •* to mine inconftancy ; take from the world that dominion •♦ which it hath over my heart; refume thine ancient '• rights over it, and no longer imperfe^lly attraft me, left " I again fly off from thee. I am covered with fliame at the •• eternal variations of my life, and they make me that I arn *♦ afraid to raife up mine eyes to thee, or to promife a cori- " liant fidelity. I have fo often broken my promifes aftef *' fwearing to thee an eternal love, my weaknefs hath fo *' often led me to forget the happinefs of that engagement, *♦ that I have no longer the courage to anfwer for myfelf.- " My heart betrays me every inftant ; and a thoufand M times, on rifing from thy feet, and with mine eyes ftill *• bathed in tears of forrow for having offended thee, an op- *• portunity hath feduced me ; and the very fame infideli- *' ties of which I had fo lately expreffed mine abhorrence, *' have found me, as formerly, weak and unfaithful : with •' an heart fo light and fo uncertain, what affurance, O my " God ! can I give to thee ? And what indeed could I pre- " fume to promife to myfelf ? I havefo often thought that " my refolutions would now at lafl be confiant ; I have " found myfelf in moments fo lively and fo affeftingof grace •• and of compunftion, and which feemed for ever to fix " the durability of my fidelity, that I fee nothing now ** which can either be capable of fixing me, or of affording " me a hope of that flability in virtue which I have hither- '• to been unable to attain. Let the danger of my fituation " touch thee, O my God ! the charafter of my heart dif- *' courages and alarms me; I know that inconftancy in " thy ways is a prefage of perdition, and that the verfatile " and changeable foul is curfed in thy holy books. But, *• while yet fenfiblc of the holy infpirations ot thy grace, " I will once more endeavour to enter into thy ways ; and,

"if

36 s E R M O N Ij

" if I muft perifii, I prefer being loft while exerting my- *' felf to return to thee, O my God ! who permitteft " not the foul who fincerely feeketh thee to perifli, and " who art the only Lord worthy of being ferved, to •• the {hocking tranquillity of an avowed and determined *' rebellion, and to the melacholy idea of renouncing all " hope of thofe eternal riches which thou prepareft for " thofe who fliall have loved and ferved thee."

SERMON

m:

SERMON IL

ON FALSE TRUST.

LUKE Xxiv. 21.

But we trufttd that it had been he which JIi oui d have redeemed IfraeL.

In vain had Jefus Chrift, during his mortal life, a thou- fand times declared to his difciples that it was flattering themfelves to count upon a reward which had not been merited by crofles and toils ; this truth, fo little agreeable to nature, had never been willingly received ; and all the times that the Saviour had tried to undecieve them on the oppofite error, they heard not that word of the gofpel, and it was not feen by them. Such is ftill at prefent, the difpofition of the two dilciples to whom Jefus Chrift con- defcends to appear, in their way to Emmaus ; they expefted that their Mafter fhould deliver Ifrael from the yoke of na- tions, and fhould caufe them to be feated on twelve earth- ly thrones, without any exertion being neceflary on their part in order to mount them ; without the Saviour him- felf having occafion to fuffer in order to triumph over his enemies.

Befides the miftake which led them to confider Jefus

Chrift as a temporal deliverer, I likewife obferve another

Vol. II. F which

38 s E R M O N II.

which appears tome not lefs dangerous in them, but which at prefent is more common among us ; it is that falfe truft by which they are perfuaded that, without co-operating towards it themfelves, and leaving to Jefus Chrift the whole manage- ment of their deliverance, they fhall receive the fulfilment of the magnificent promifes which, in his converfations with them upon the earth, he had fo often reiterated. Now, my brethren, this falfe truft, which makes all to be ex- pefted by finners from grace alone, without any co-opera- tion on their part, and the reward of the holy to be hoped although they labour not towards meriting it ; this falfe truft, which always reckons upon the goodnefs of God whom it offends, which, without combatting, promifes it- felf to be crowned, and which always hopes againft proba- bility ; this falfe truft which is unwilling to purchafe hea- ven and yet expe£ls it, is the moft univerfal and eftablifhed religion among Chriftians ; and when Jefus Chrift fhall once more appear upon the earth, he will find many of his unbelieving difciples who fhall have occanouto fay to him, " WÇ trufled."

This, my brethren, is what induces me to occupy your time at prefent upon fo important a matter, peifuaded that a falfe truft is the fource of condemnation to almoft all fin- ners ; that thofe who are afraid of perifhing, never perifii ; and that I could not better fulfil my miniftry, than by ef- tablifhing in your hearts thofe falutary feelings of miftrufl which lead to precautions and to remedies, and which, in difturbing the peace of fin, leave, in its place, the peace of Jefus Chrift, which furpalTeth all feeling. Thus, in order to give a proper extenfion to fo ufeful a fubjeft, I re- duce it into two propofitions : there is no difpofition more fcolifh than that of the finner who prefumes, without la- bouring towards his amendment, is the firft ; there is none

more

' OH FALSE TRUST» 3^

more injurious to God, is the fécond. Tiie folly of a falfe truft ; the infult of a falfe truft: let us explain thefe- two truths.

P A^T I. I am not afraid of openly agreeing with you, my brethren, tuatthe merciesof the Lord are always more abun- dant than our wickedneffes, and that his goodnefs may fur- nifh legitimate motives of truft to all fmners. The doc- trine which I go to eftablifh is fufficiently terrible, without adding to it new terrors by concealing part of thofe truths which may tend to foften it ; and if caution be required in this matter, it is rather in not bringing forward all that might alarm the confcience, than in concealing what Kiight tend to confole it.

It is true, that every where the holy books give u§ mag- nificent and foothing ideas of the goodnefs ot God. One while he is a mild and long-forbearing Mafter, who awaits the penitence of the finner ; who covers the fins of men, in order to lead them to repentance ; who is filent and qui- et, who is flow to punifh, and delays in order that he may be prevented, who threatens in order to be difarmed: an- other while he is a tender Friend, who is never weary of knocking at the gate of the heart, who flatters, intreats, and folicits us, and who, in order to draw us to himfelf, employs every thing which an ingenious love can invent, to recal a rebellious heart : again, and laftly, for all would never be faid, he is an indefatigable Shepherd, who goes, even through the wildeft mountains, in fearch of his ftray- ed flieep ; and, having at laft found it, places it upon his flioulders, and is fo tranfported with joy, that even the celeftial harmony are ordered to celebrate its happy return. It muft furely be confefled, that the comfort and the con- folation of thefe images can receive no addition ; and every

finner

4t> s £ R M O N II«

finner vi^ho, after this, defpairs, or even gives way to defpondency, is the moft foolifli ot all men. But do not from thence conclude that the finner, who prefumes, is lefs foolifh, or that the mercy of the Lord can be a legiti- mate foundation of truft to thofe who are continually de- firing their converfion, and yet, without labouring to- wards that great work, promife every thing to themfelve» from a goodnefs which their very confidence infuits. To convince you of this, before I enter into the main points of my fubjeft, remark, I beg of you, that, among that innumerable crowd of finner s, of every defcription, with which the world is filled, there is not one who hath not hopes of his converfion ; not one who, before hand, con- liders himfelf as a child of wrath, and doomed to perifli; not one who doth not flatter himfelf, that, at laft, the liord fhall one day have pity upon him : the lewd, the am- bitious, the worldly, the revengeful, the unjuft, all hope, yet no one repents. Now I mean, at prefent, to prove to you, that this difpofition of falfe truft is, of all others in which the creature can be, the moft foolifli : follow, I beg of you, my reafons ; they appear worthy of your atten- tion.

In effeft, when, in order to make the folly of falfe truft apparent, I fhould have only the uncertainty in which a finner who hath loft the fanftifying grace is of his falva- tion, no other argument would be required to juftify my firft propofition. And, when I fpeak of the uncertainty common to all believers, which occafions, that no one can know whether he be worthy of love or of hatred ; whether he fhall perfevere even to the end, or fall never more to re- cover himfelf : terrible fubjeft of dread, even for the moft righteous ! I fpeak of a more fhocking uncertainty, fince it does not fuppofe in the fi-nner in queftion, a doubtful

ftate

ON FALSE TRUST, 4!

ftate of righteoufnefs and chriftian fears, upon backflidings to come ; but becaufe it is founded upon a certain ftate of (in, and upon a repentance which no body can guarantee to hiiTi.

Now, I fay that it is the height of folly to prefume in this ftate. For confefs it, my dear hearer ; inveterate fin- ner as you are ; abiding, as you tranquilly do in iniquitous pallions, in the midil even of all the foleranities of reli- gion, and of all the terrors of the holy word, upon the foolifh hope of one day at laft quitting this deplorable ftate ; you cannot deny that it is at Icaft doubtful v/hether you fliall retrieve yourfelf, or, even to the end, remain in your fin. I even admit you to be full of good defires ; but you are not ignorant that defires convert nobody, and that the greateft finners are often thofe who moft long for their converfion. Now, the doubt here only equal, would you be prudent in remaining carelefs ? What I In the frightful uncertainty whether you (hall die in your ir- regularity, or if God (hall withdraw you from it ; floating, as I may fay, betwixt heaven and hell ; on the poife be- twixt thefe two deftinies, you could be indifferent on the decifion ? Hope is the fweetett and the moft flattering par- ty ; and for that reafon you would incline to his Gde ? Ah ! my dear hearer, were there no other reafon to be afraid than that of hoping, you would not be prudent to live in this profound calm.

But fuch is not even your cafe ; things are far indeed from being equal : in this fhocking doubt which every fin- çcr may inwardly form : " Shall 1 expire in mine iniquity, " in the fin in which I aftually, and have fo long lived ? •• or fliall I not die in it ?" the firft part is infinitely the moft probable.

For,

4^ SERMON lU

For, ijily, your own powers are not fiifficient to regain^ that fan6lity you have loft ; a foreign, fupernatural, and heavenly aid is neceffary, of which nobody can affureyou ; in place of which, you need only yourfelf to remain in your fin : there is nothing in your nature which can re- fufcitate the grace loft, no feed of falvation, no principle of fpiritual life; and you bear in your heart a fatal fource of corruption which may everyday produce frefh fruits of death ; it is more likely, therefore, that you fhall die iti your guilt, than it is, that you fhall be converted.

zdly. Not only is a foreign and divine aid necefTary, but alfo an aid uncommon, rare, denied to almoft all fin* ners, in fhort a miracle for your converfion ; for the con- verfion of the finner is one of the greateft prodigies of grace, and you know yourfelf that fuch inftances are ex- tremely rare in the world. Now and then, fome fortunate foul whom God withdraweth from licentioufnefs ; but thefe are remarkable exertions of the divine mercy, and not in the common traft : in place of which, you have only to let things purfue their natural courfe, and you fhall die fuch as you are ; God hath only to follow his or- dinary laws, and your deftruftion is certain ; the poffibili- ty of your falvation is founded folely on a fingular effort of his power and mercy; the certitude of your condemna* tion is founded upon the commoneft of all rules ; in a word, that you perifh, is the ordinary lot of finners who refemble you ; that you are not converted, is a fingularity of which there are few examples.

2)dly, In order to continue in your prefent ftate, you have only to follow your inclinations, to yield yourfelf up to yourfelf and quietly to allow yourfelf to be carried down the ftream ; to do this you have neither occafion for effort

nor

ON. FALSE TRUST. j^g

tior violence : but to return, ah ! you muft break through inclinations fortified by time ; you muft hate and refift your- felt from the deareft objefts, break afunder the tendereft ties, make the moft heroical efforts, you who are incapable of the commoneft ones. Now I demand, if, in a matter to come, or in uncertain events, we ever augur in favour of thofe who have moft obftacles to furmount, and moft dif- ficulties to ftrugglc againft ? Doth not the moft eafy air ways appear the moft probable ? Soften as much as you pleafe this truth in your mind ; view it in the moft favour- able lights ; this propofition on your eternal deftiny is the moft inconteftible of the Chriftian morality. It is beyond comparifon more certain that I fliall never be converted, and that I fhall die in ray fin, than that the Lord fhould have pity upon me, and at laft withdraw me from it : this is your fituation : and, if you can ftill be indifferent, and flatter yourfelf in fuch a ftate, your fiscurity my dear hear- er, terrifies me.

But I go farther, and 1 entreat you to liften to me. The finner who, without labouring to reclaim himfelf, aflTures himfelf of converfion, prefumes not only in a fearful un- certainty, and where every thing feems to conclude againft him, but alfo in fpite of the moral uncertainty, as we are taught by faith, that he is loft. Here are my proofs, ij/y. You expeâ that God fhall convert you ; but how do you expe6l it ? By continually placing new obftacles in the Vvay of his grace; by rivetting your chains ; by aggravat- ing your yoke ; by multiplying your crimes ; by neg!e6l- ing every opportunity of falvation which his folemnities, his myfteries, and even the terrors of his word offer to you ; by always remaining in the fame dangers ; by chang- ing nothing in your manners, yourpleafures, your intima- cies, in fhoxt, in every thing which continues to nourifli.

4é « E R M O N It.

in your heart,' tîiat fatal paffion from which you hope that grace (hall deliver you. How } the foolilh virgins are re- jeftcd, folely for having negligently and without fervour awaited the hridegroom ; and you, faithlefs foul, who await him while completing the meafure of your crimes, you dare to flatter yourfelf that you fliall be more favoura- bly treated ?

zdly, Grace is accorded only to tears, to foli citations, to eager defires ; it requires to be long courted. Now do you pray ? At leaft, do you entreat ? Do vou imitate the importunity of the widow of the gofpel ? Do you la- bour, like Cornelius the Gentile, to attraél that grace by charities and other Chriftian works ? Do you fay to tjie Lord, every day, with the prophet, " Hide not thy face ♦' from me, O Lord, left I be like unto them that go down •' into the pit ?" Ah ! you fay to him, " Lord, thou wilt ♦' draw me to tbyfelf ; in vain I refift thee; thou wilt, at " laft, break afunder my chains ; however great be the cor- •• ruption of my heart, thou M'ilt ultimately change it." Fool ! what more likely to repel a gift than the temerity which exafts it, and even in the very moment when moll unworthy dares to claim it as a right ! Frelh argument again ft you ; grace is referved for the lowly and the fearful who dread being refufed what is not owing to them : it is upon thefe fouls that the Spirit of God relieth, and taketh delight in worditig wonders ; on the contrary, *' he defpi- ♦* feth the prefuptuous finner, and kftoweth him afar off."

2)d[y, The grace of converfion which you fo confidently expeft, is, as you know, the greateft of all gifts. Never- thelefs, as you know ftill better, there is fcarcely a finner more unworthy of it than yourfelf ; unworthy through the nature of your dilorders, of which you alone know the

infamy

ON FALSE TRUST. i)^

infamy and the enormity ; unworthy through the h'ghts and infpirations you have a thoufand times mifufed ; un- worthy through the favours of the myfteries and of the truths which you have always neglefted : unworthy through the fequel, even of your natural inchnations, which hea- ven, at your birth, had formed fo happy and fo tradable to truth, and which you have turned into melancholy means of vice ; unworthy through the iniquitous derifions which you have rtiade of piety, and thofe impious defires, fo injurious to the truth of God, which have a thoufand times led you to wiih that all we fay of a future flate were à fable ; laftly, unworthy through that profound fecurity in which you live, which, before God, is the worft of all your crimes. Now I afk nothing here but equity ; if on- ly afingle fmner were to be excluded from that grace of ronverfion which you expeft, you would have every rea- fon to dread that theexclufion fell upon you, and that you were to be that fingle child of curfe, feparated as an ana- themifed from all his brethren ! But, if almoft all be de- prived of that bleffing, ah ! my dear hearer, ought you to reckon upon it as fecure ? And what have you but a fupera- bundance of finS to diftinguilh you from others ? If the hope of the prefumptuous finner perifli in general with him- felf, can you fuppofe that your falvation fhall be accom- plifhed by the fame way in which all others perifli ? I know that we ought never to defpair ; but humble confi- dence is very different ffom prefumption : humble confi- dence, after having tried all, counts upon nothing ; and you depend upon all without having ever tried any thing. Humble truft confiders the mercy of the Lord only as the fupplement of the defers of penitence, and you make it the refuge of your crimes ; humble truff, with fear and trembling, awaits the pardori of thofe faults it hath la- mented, and you coolly ejipeft that thofe fhall be forgiven Vol. II. G ot

46 SERMON II.

ot" which you never mean to repent. I know, and I again repeat, that we ought never to defpair ; but, were it pofii- ble that defpair could be legitimate, ah ! it would be when hope is prefuptuoufly encouraged.

. But age will mellow the paffions, fays inwardly the fin- ner here : enticing opportunities will not always come in the way ; circumflances more favourable for falvation will, occur through time ; and what is at prefent impoffible, fhall one day perhaps be done, when a thoufand aftual im- pediments fhall be removed. My God! in this manner doth the unfortunate foul deceive himfelf ; and it is through an illufion fo palpable that the demon feduces almoft all men, the wifeft as the moft foolifh, the moft enlightened as the moft credulous, the great as the common people. For fay, my dear hearer, when you promife yourfelf that one day the Lord (hall at laft have pity upon you, you no doubt promife yourfelf that he will change your heart ; now, why do you depend upon this change fo necef- fary to your falvation, more in future than at prefent ? In the firft place, fhall your difpofitions for penitence be then more favourable ? Shall your heart find it eafier to break afunder its chains? What! Inclinations deeply root- ed through time and years fhall be more eafily torn out ? A torrent which will already have hollowed out its bed, fliall be more eafy to turn afide ? Are you in your fenfes when you fay fo ? Ah ! even now it appears fo difficult to reprefs your inordinate paffions, though yet in their in- fancy, and confequently more traÊlable and eafy to regu- late ! You delay your converfion only becaufe it would coft you too much to conquer yourfelf on certain points : how ! you are perfuaded that it will colt you lefs in the end ; that this fatal plant, then become a tree, fhall be more pliable ; that thia wound, inveterate and of longer

ftanding.

ON FALSE TRUST. 47

landing, fhall be more eafy to cure, and fhall require lefs grievous remedies ? you expe6l refources and facilities to- wards penitence from time ; it is time, my brethren, which will deprive you of all thofe yet remaining.

2ûf/y, Shall grace be either more frequent in future, or more vi6lorious ? But granting it even to be fo, your cu- pidity, then more powerful, oppofing greater impediments, the grace which would now triumph over your heart, and «hange you into a thorough penitent, will no longer then, but {lightly, agitate you, and excite within you only weak and unavailing defires of penitence. But you have little reafon to flatter yourfelf even with this hope : the more you irritate the goodnefs of God by delaying your conver- fion, the more will he withdraw himfelf from you : every moment diminifhes in fome meafure his favours and his kindnefs. RecoUeél that, when you firft began to devi- ate from his ways, not a day pafled without his operating within you fome movement of falvation, troubles, remor- fes, and defires of penitence. At prefent, if you attend to it, thefe infpirations are more rare : it is only on certain occafions that your confcience is aroufed ; you are partly iamiliarifed with your diforders. Ah ! my dear hearer, you eafily fee that your infenfibility will only be increafed in the fequel : God will more and more retire from you, and will deliver up to a reprobate feeling, and to that fa- tal tranquillity which is the confummation and the mofè dreadful punifhment of iniquity. Now I afk, are you not abfurd in thus marking out, for your converfion, a time in which you fhall never have had fewer aids on the part of grace, and lefs facility on the part of your heart ?

I might flill add, that the more you delay the more yoir accumulate debts, the more enrich the treafure of iniquity^

the

48 SERMON H»

the more crimes you fhall have to expiate, the more rigo* rous fhall your reparation have to be, and, confequently, the more fhall your penitence be difBcult. Slight aufteri7 ties, fome retrenchments, fome Chriflian charities, would perhaps fuffice, at prefent, to acquit you before your Judge, and to appeafe his juflice. But, in the fequel, when the abundance of your crimes fhall haverifen above your head, and time and years fhall have blunted, if not totally de- ilroyed, in your memory, the multitude and the flagrancy of your iniquities ; ah ! no reparation on your part fhall then be fufficiently rigorous, no mortification fufficiently auftere, no humiliation fufficiently profound, no pleafure, however innocent, which you mufl not deny yourfelf, no molification which will not be criminal : holy excefTes o£ penitence will be necefTary to compenfate the duration and the enormity of your crimes ; it will require you to quit all, to tear yourfelf from ever}' thing, to facrifice your for- tune, interefls, and conveniency ; perhaps to condemn yourfelf to perpetual retreat ; for it is only through thefe means that the great finners are recalled. Now, if flight rigours, which would at prefent be fufficient amends, ap- pear fo infupportable, and difgufl you at the idea of a change, fhall penitence be more alluring, when more toils and fleps a thoufand times more bitter prefent them- felves in its train ? My God ! upon the affair of falvation alone it is that men are capable of fuch wilful miflakes. Ah ! my brethren, of what avail are great lights, ex- tent of genius, deep penetration, and folid judgment in, the management of earthly matters, and of vain underta- kings which fhall perifh with us, if we are children in the grand work of eternity ?

And allow me to conclude this part of my difcourfe with a final reafon, which, I truft, will ferve to convince you..

You

ON FALSE TRUST.

49

You courtier the vain hope of a converfion as a feeling of grace and of falvation, and as a proof that the Lord vifit-, eth you, and that he hath not yet dehvered you up to all the inveferacy of fin. But, my dear hearer, the Lord cannot vifit you in his mercy without infpiring you with falutary troubles i.v.à fears on the flate of your confcience ; all the çper;ations of grace begin with thefe ; confequently while you continue tranquil, it is evident that God treateth you according to all the rigour of his juffice, and that he ex- ercifeth upon you the moft terrible of his chaffifements ; I mean to fay, his neglcftand the denial of his grace. Peace in fin, the fecurity in which you live, is therefore the mofl infallible mark that God is no longer with you, and that his grace, which in the criminal foul always works trouble and anxiety, dread and diilruft, is totally extinguifiied in yours. Thus you comfort yourfçlf on what ought to ex- <;ite your juftefl fears; the mofl deplorable figns of your reprobation form in your mind the moft folid foundation of your hope : truft in fin is the raofl terrible chaftifement with, ■which God can punifh the finner, and you draw from it a prejudication of falvation and of penitence. Tremble, if any remains of faith be yet left you ; this calm is the forerunner of a fliipwreck ; you are flamped with the mark of the reprobate ; reckon not upon a mercy which treats, you fo much the more rigoroufly as it permits you to hope «^nd to depend upon it.

. The error of the majority of finners is that of imagin- ing that the grace of converfion is one of thofe fudden mir- acles by which the whole face of things is changed in the twinkling of an eye ; which plants, tears up, deflroyS, rears up at the firfl flroke, and in an inftant creates the new man, as the earthly man was formerly drawn from, nothing. The groffeft of all miflakes, my dear hearer;

converfidt

5© SB R M O N II.

converlion is in general a flow and tardy miracle, the fruit of cares, of troubles, of fears, and of bitter anxieties.

The days, faith Jefus Chrift, which are to precede the utter deflruflion of this vifible world and the coming of the Son of Man, fhall be days of trouble and wo ; nations fhail rife up againft nations, and kings againfl; kings ; hor- rible figns fliall be feen in the firmament long before the King of Glory himfelf fhall appear ; all nature fliall an- nounce, by its diforder, the approaching dellruftion and the coming of its God. Ah ! my dear hearer, behold the image of the change of your heart, of the deftruftion of that world of paflions within you, of the coming of the Son of Man into your foul. Long before that great event, internal wars fliall take place ; you fliall feel your paflions excited one againft the other; blefled figns of falvation fhall appear upon your perfon ; all fliall be fliaken, all fliall be difturbed ; all within you fliall annouce the deftruftion of the carnal man, the coming of the Son of God, the end of your iniquities, the renovation of your foul a new heaven and a new earth. Ah I when thefe blefTed things fhall come to pafs, then lift up your head and fay, that your redemption draweth nigh ; then be confident, and adore the awful but confolatory preparations of a God who is on the eve of entering into your heart. But, while nothing is fhaken within you, and no change appears in your foul ; while your heart faileth not for fear, and your pafTions, flill tranquil, remain undifturbed but by the ob- fîacles which retard their gratification ; ah ! miflruft thofe who fhall tell you that the Lord draweth nigh ; that you will immediately find him in the fanfluary, I mean to fay, in the participation of the facrament, in thofe retired pla- ces to which you fhall perhaps go to comfort him in the perfon of his afïlifted members ; who will be continually

faying^

ON FALSE TRUST. 5I

faying, " Lo, here is Chrifl ;" believe them not ; they are faife prophets, faith Jefus Chrift ; no fign of his com- ing hath taken place within you ; in vain you expeft and prefume ; it is not in this manner that he will come ; trou- ble and dread walk before him ; and the foul who conti- nues tranquil, and yet trufts, fhall never be vifited by him.

•' Happy, therefore, is the man that feareth alway :" he, whofe virtues do not entirely quiet him upon his eter- nal deftiny, who trembles left the imperi'eftions mingled" with his moft laudable works not only deftroy their whole merit before God, but even rank them among thofe which God Ihall punifti on the day of his wrath. But what idea, will fome one fay to me, do you give us of the God we worfhip ? An idea worthy of him, my brethren ; and, in my fécond part, I fhall prove to you, that falfe iruft is in- jurious to him, and forms to itfelt' the idea of a God, who is neither true, wife, juft, nor even merciful.

Part II. It is rather furprifing, my brethren, that falfe truft fhould pretend to find even in religion motives which authorife it, and fhould miftake the moft criminal of all difi- pofitions, for a fentiment of falvation, and a fruit of faith and of grace. In elfeft, the finner who, without wifhing to quit his irregularities, promifes himfelf a change, al- ledges in juftification of his prefumption, iy?/y, The pow- er of God, who ruleth over the hearts of men, who can change in an inftant the will, to whom it is equally eafy to produce the child of promife from the fterility of old age, as from the fecundity of youth ; 2dly, his juflice, for having formed man of clay, tljat is to fay, weak and with almoft unconquerable tendencies to pleafure, he ought to have fome conlideration for his weaknefs, and more readi- ly pardon faults which are, as it were, unavoidable to him ;

lajlly.

^2 • 5 E R M O N II.

iâjlly^ his "ftiercy, always ready to receive the repentant finner. Now, my brethren, it is eafy to take from falfe truft pretexts fo unworthy of piety, and to fhow that the difpofrtion of the prefuming fmner infults God in all of the above-mentioned perfeftions. Allow me to explain iny reafons, and continue to honour me with your atten- tion.

In the firft place, when you conceive a powerful God mafter of hearts, and changing at his pleafure the rebel- lious wills of men, it is not true, that you at the fame time conceive a power regulated by wifdom, that is to fay, which doth nothing but in conformity with that order it hath eflabliflied ? Now, the prefumptuous fmner attributes to God à blind power which afts indifcriminately. For, though hé can whatever he willeth, neverthelefs, as he is infinitely wife, there is an order in his wills ; he wiUeth not at random, and whatever he doth hath its eternal rea- fons in the depths of his divine wifdom. Now, it is evi- dent that this divine wifdom would not be fufficiently juf- tified before men, if the grace of converfion were to be at laft accorded to falfe truft. For fay, in order to merit the greateft of all favours, it would then be fufficient to have a thoufand times rejefted it ? The righteous man^ who continually crucifies his flefh, who inceflantly groansi in order to obtain the precious gift of perfeverance, would then have no better claim than the finner, who, without having ever placed himfelf in a fituation to merit it, hath always promifed it to himfelf ? It would then be perfeftly indifferent, either to fervc the Lord, and to walk upright- ly before him, or to purfuc the erroneous ways of the pafTions, fince, at the end, the lot of each would be the fame ? Much more, it would then be a misfortune, a fol- Jy, a loft trouble, to have carried the yoke from youth,

fince

ON FALSE TRUST.

53

fince nothing would be riflced by delaying it ? The max- ims of debauchery, on the love of pleafures in the early ftage of life, and on deferring repentance to the years of decrepitude and debility, would then be the rules of wif- dom and of religion ? The wonders of grace would then ferve but to tempt the fidelity of the juft, but to authorife the impenitence of finners, but to deftroy the fruit of the facrament, and to augment the ills of the church ? Is this the God whom we worfhip ? And would he be fo wonder- ful in his gifts, according to the expreflion of the prophet, if he were to difpenfe them with fo little either of order or of wifdom ?

In efTeft, if the empire which God hath over hearts could ferve as a refource for a prefumptuous finner, upon that footing the converfion of all men would be certain ; even of thofe infidels who know not the Lord, of thofe barbarous nations who have never heard his name. Doth God not rule over the hearts of all men ? Who hath ever withftood his will ? Is he not able to make his light fhine through the profoundeft darknefs, to change into lambs the fierceft lions, and to turn his enemies into the mod in- trepid confelfors of his name ? Is the heart of an Indian, or of a favage, a more arduous conqueft to him, than that of a prefumptuous finner? Is not every thing alike eafy to him ? He hath only to fay, and it is done. Yet, ne- verttielefs, would you thereupon be willing that your eternal deftiny (hould run the fame hazard as that of a fa- vage, who in the heart of his torefts, almofl inaccelhble to the preaching of the gofpel, worfliips abfurd and mon- ftrous divinities ? God may fufcitate, in his favour, evan- gelical minifters, who, along with the lights of faith, fhall bring grace and falvation to his foul. You fay that it re- quires one of thofe miraculous efforts of the Almighty

Vol. II H power.

^54 s E R M O N lî.

power, to overcome all the difficulties which apparently render the converfion of that unfortunate creature impof- fible ; on the contrary, that you, furrounded with the aids of the facrament, with the lights of the doftrine and of inftruflion, are furely in a fituation much more likely to fecure your falvation ; and confequently, that you have infinitely more ground to promife it to yourfelf. Ah I my dear hearer, you decieve yourfelf, and I affure you, that, to me, the falvatjon of that infidel appears lefs hope- lefs than yours. He has never abufed favours which he has never received ; and hitherto you have unworthily rejefted all thofe which have been offered to you : he has never refill- ed that truth which he has never known ; and you iniquitoufly withfland it : the firll impulfe of grace will triumph over his heart ; and the flrongeft impreflions are ineffeélual againft the inflexibility of yours : a fingle ray of light will difclofe to him errors and truths till then unknown ; and all the lights of faith are unable to difturb the tranquillity of your paf- fions : he holds out to the mercy of God only the misfor- tune of his birth, only fins almoft involuntary, only wretchednefs rather than crimes, all of them proper mo- tives to affeft him ; and you hold out to him afFefted afts of ingratitude, and vile perfeverances in obftinacy, all fubjefts calculai'ed to remove him for ever from you. Ah ! it is eafy for the Lord to bear upon his wings acrofs the feas apoftolical men ; his angels, when he pleafeth, know to tranfport his prophets from the land in which he is wor- fhipped, even into Babylon, in order to vifit a juft man expofed to the fury of lions ; but if any thing were diffi- cult to him, it would be that of conquering a rebellious heart, of recalling a foul born in the kingdom of light, furrounded with all the fuccours of faith, penetrated with all the feelings of grace, aided by all the examples of pie- ty, and, neverthelefs, always firm in its errors. It is

an

ON FALSE TRUST. 55

an illuîîon, therefore, inhis power to fearch for vain motivés of fecurity ; God could operate fo many ottier prodigies in favour of a thoufand finners whom he forfaketh, aK though they be not fo unworthy as you of his grace, it is a dangerous maxim to regulate his will upon his power.

The fécond error which authorifes falfe truft, has its foundation in the unjuft idea formed of the divine juftice. They perfuade themfelves that man being born with vio- lent inclinations for pleafure, our errors are more worthy of the pity, than of the anger of the Lord ; and that our weaknefs alone foiicits his favour, in place of arming his indignation againft us.

But, in the firft place, it might be faid to you, that the corruption of your nature comes not from the Creator ; that it is the work of man, and the punifhment of his fin; that the Lord had created man righteous ; and confequent- ly, that this unfortunate tendency, of which you complain is an irregularity which God muft punifli, whenever you: fall under it ; how then can you fuppofe that it fhall ferve you as an excufe ? It is in confequence of it that you are a child of wrath, and an out-caft veffel; how do you pre- tend to draw reafons from thence, in order to enter into conteftation even with God, and to challenge his juftice ? It is, in a word, in confequence of it that you are unwor- thy of all favours ; how dare you to hold it out as a reafon for demanding them ?

2d/y, It might be faid to you, that, whatever be the weaknefs of our will, man is always mafter of his defires ; that he hath been left under the charge of his own refolu- tion ; that his pafiTions have no more empire over him than what he himfelf choofes to allow them ; and that water as

weli

5^ SERMON II.

■well as fire, hath been placed in our way, in order to al- low a perfeft freedom of choice to our own will. Ah ! I could herein atteft your own confcience, and demand of you, above all of you my dear hearer, if, in f'pite of your weaknefs, whenever you have forfaken the law of God, you have not felt that it wholly depended upon yourfelf to have continued faithful ; if piercing lights have not difco- ,v,ered to you all the horror of your tranfgreffion ; if fecret remorfes have not turned you away from it ; if you have not then hefitated betwixt pleafure and duty : if, after a jhoufand internal deliberations, and thofe fecret vicifTitudes where one while grace, and the other while cupidity gain- ed the viftory, you have not at laft declared for guilt, as if ftill trembling, and almofl unable to harden yourfelf againfl yourfelf? I might go even further and deman-d of you, if, confidering the happy inclinations of modefly and of referve, the difpofitions with which God had fa- voured you at your birth, the innocency of virtue would not have been more natural, more pleafing, and more eafy to you than the licentioufnefs of vice; demand of you, if you have not fuffered more by being unfaithful to your God, than it would have coff you to have been righteous ; if you have not been obliged to encroach more upon yourfelf, to do more violence to your heart, to bear with more vexations, to force your way through more intricate and more arduous paths ! Ah ! What then can the juftice of God find in your diflipations which doth not furnifli to him frcfli matter of feverity and anger againfl you ?

Lajtly, It might be added, that if you are born weak, yet the goodnefs of God hath environed your foul with a thoufand aids; that it is that well-beloved vine which he hath foflered with the tenderefl care, which he hath fenced with a deep moat, and fortified with an in-

acccîTible

ON FALSJC TRUST. ^-j

acreffible tower : I mean to fay, that your foul hath bee;l,as if deiended from its birth by tl^ie fuccours of 'the facrament, by the lights of the doftrine, by the force of examples, by> continual infpirations of grace, and, per- haps, by the fpeciai aids likewiff^of an holy and a Chrif- tian education provided for you by the Lord, and which fo many others have wanted. Ingrate! Wherein could you be abie to juftify your weaknefs before the Lord, and to interefl his juftice itfelf to ufe indulgence towards you ? Ah ! What do your tranTgrcffions prefcnt to him, but the abufes of his grace and means of falvation perverted, through the licentioufnefs of your will, into occafions of fin ?

But, let us leave all thefe reâlons, and tell me : that weaknefs of which you complain, and for which you pre- tend that God will have confideration, is it not your own handwork, and the fruit of your own fpeciai nregularities ? Recolleft, here, thofe happy days, when your innocence had not yet been wrecked ; were your paffionsthen fo dif- ficult to be overcome ? Did modefty, temperance, fidelity, piety, then appear to you as impraticable virtues ? Did you find it impoflible to refill occafions ? Were your tenden- cies to pleafure fo violent, that you were not then their mafler ? Ah! Whence comes it, then, that they now tyrannife with fuch dominion over your heart ? Is it not, that having, through a fatal negligence, allowed them, to ufurp the command, they have, ever fince, been too powerful to be conquered ? Have you not forged, with your own hands, thefe chains ? Look around you and fee, if fo many jufl, who bear (and from their earliefl youth) the yoke, are even tempted in fituations in which you are al- ways certain to perifh. Ah ! Why then fhouid you com- plain of a weaknefs which you have brought upon your-

fclf ?

5^ s E R M O N ir*

felt ? Why fhould you count, that what muft irritate the Lord againft you fhall ferve to appeafe him ? What doth he fee, when he fees the weaknels of your inclinations ? He fees the fruit of your crimes, the confequences of a licentious and fenfual life : Is it here that you dare to ap- peal to Juftice itfelf ; to that Juftice before which the righteo^js themfelves entreat not to be Judged : My God ! upon what fhall the finner not flatter himfelf, Cnce, in the moll terrible of thy perfe6lions, he finds reafons of confi- dence.

The only rational and legitimate conclufion which it is permitted to you to draw from your own weaknefs, and from thefe inclinations for the world, and for pleafures, which, in fpite of all your refolutions, hurry you away, is, that you have more occafion to watch, to lament, and to pray, than others ; that with more ftudious [care, you ought to Ihun the dangers and the attrapions of the fenfes, and of theflefh. But, then it is that you believe yourfelf invincible, when we exhort you to fly all profane conver- fations, fufpicious intercourfes,Moubtful pleafures, lafcivi- ous fpeftacles, and aflemblies of fin : Ah you then defend yourfelf upon the ground, that your innocence is in no degree injured there : You refign to weak fouls all the pre- cautions of flight and of circumfpeftion : You tell us that every one muft feel and know himfelf, and that thofe who are weak enough to be injured there, fhould, in prudence, keep away from them : But, how can you expeft that God fliall have confideration for a weaknefs for which you have fo little yourfelf ? You are weak when there is queftion of cxcufing your crimes to him ; you are no longer fo, when, upon that ground, it is neceflary to adopt painful meafures, in order to continue faithful to him.

But

ON FALSE TRUST. 59

But you will fay, that, if every thing be to be dreaded from his juftice, at leaft his mercies are infinite ; when his goodnefs (hould find nothing in us proper to touch him, would it not find motives fufficiently preffing in it- felf ? This would be the third illufion of falfe truft which I (hould have to overthrow ; but, befides that I have dfewhere fufficiently mentioned it, it is almoft time to conclude. I mean, therefore, my dear hearer, to afk you only one queilion : When you fay that the goodnefs of God is infinite, what do you pretend to fay ? That he never punifhes guilt ? You would not dare to mean fo. That he never abandons the finner ? The Sauls, the Antio- chufes, the Pharaohs, have taught you the contrary. That the immodeft, the worldly, the revengeful, the ambitious, Ihall be faved alike as the juft ? You know that nothing un- clean (hall enter heaven. That he hath not created man to render him eternally miferable ? But wherefore hath he prepared a hell ? That he hath already given you a thoufand marks of his goodnefs? But that is what ought to over- whelm your ingratitude on the pad, and to make you to dread every thing for the future. That he is not fo terri- ble as it is faid ? But nothing is told of hisjuftice but what he hath informed you himfelf. That he would be under the neceffity of damning almoft all men were all that we fay true ? But the gofpel declares to you in exprefs terms that few (hall be faved. That he punifheth not but at the worfl ? But every rcjefted grace may be the term of his mercies. That it cofts him nothing to forgive ? But hath he not the interefts of his glory to attend to ? That little is required to difarm him ? But a change muft take place, and the changing of the heart is the greateft of all his works. That that lively truft which you have in his goodnefs can come only from him ? But whatever leads not to him, by leading to repentance, can never come from him. What then do

vou

6o s E R M O N II.

you mean to fay ? That he will not reje6l the facrifice of a broken and contrite heart ? And behold, my dear hearer, what I have all along been preaching to you. Turn to the Lord, and then place your truft in him; whatever your crimes may be, his mercy is always open to the repentant finner ; throw yourfelf upon hisgoodnefs for the durabili- ty of your converfion, for perfeverance in his fervice, for viftory over the obftacles which the enemy of falvation will continually be throwing in the way of your holy de- fires ; the grace which he doth, in infpiring the feelings of a fincere penitence, is always a blefifed prefage of thofe which he prepareth : never miftruft his mercy ; there is nothing but what may be expefted from him, when it is the forrow of having offended him which entreats it ; ne- ver allow yourfelf to be caft down by the remembrance of your part iniquities ; whatever can be weeped can be par- doned : lock up in the bofom of his mercy the whole du- ratiqn of the days which you have employed in offending him ; they will be as though they had never been : from the moment that you (hall begin to ferve him, you will be- gin to increafe before him; a thoufand years are only a day in his eyes from the moment that your crimes are ter- minated by a fincere change : he is the God of finners the Benefa6lor of the ungrateful, the Father of prodigal chil- dren, the Shepherd of ftrayed fheep, the Friend of Sama- ritans ; in a word, all the confolations of faith feem to be for the repentant finner.

But, if you continue to promife yourfelf that, at laff, the time will come when you fhall ferioufly think upon your falvation v^ithout doing it flill ; ah ! remember my dear hearer, that it is in that very way that almoft all fin- ners have perifhed, and that it is the high-road to death in fin ; remember that the finner who often vainly defires, is

never

ON FALSE TRUST. 6t

never converted. Even the more you feel within you thefe unproduftive impulfes of falvation, depend upon it that the more is your meafure filled, and that every rejefted grace draws you a degree nearer to hardnefs of heart : com- fort yourfelf not upon defires which haften your ruin, and which, in all times, have been the lot of the reprobate ; and fay often to the Lord, with the prophet, How long, O my God ! fhall I amufe the fecret anxieties of my foul with vain projects of penitence ? How long (hall I fee my days flowing rapidly on in promifing to my heart, in or- der to quiet it in its diforders, a forrow and a repentance which are more and more diftant from me ? How long fhall the enemy, taking advantage of my weaknefs, employ fo grofs an error to feduce me ? Ah ! difTipate this illufion which leads me aftray ; regard thefe feeble defires of falva- tion as the cries of a confcience which cannot be happy without thee ; accept thefe timid beginnings of penitence ; favourably attend to them now, O my God ! when to me it feems that thy grace renders them more lively and more fincere ; and complete, by thy inward operation, what is yet wanting to the fullnefs and 'to the fincerity of this offer ; and perfeft in receiving my defires, in order that they be worthy of the reward which thou promifefl to thofe who "hunger and thirfl after righteoufnefs.

Hear, faid the Lord in his prophet to the unfaithful foul, you who live in eafe and' in pleafures, and who neverthe- lefs hope in me ; flerility and widowhood fhall at once burfl upon your heads ; flerility, that is to fay, that you fhall no longer be fit to bear the fruits of penitence; cul- tivation and watering fhall be in vain ; the power of my word^ the virtue of my facraments, the grace of my myf- teries, all cares fhall be unavailing, and 'you fhall no lon- ger be but a withered tree allotted to the fire ; widowhood,

Vol. IL I that

02 S E R M Ô N Hi

that is to fay, I will for ever for fake you ; I will leave you fingle ; I will deliver you up to your inclinations, and to the falfe peace of your paflions I will no longer be your Godi your proteftor, your fpoufe ; I will for ever forfak« you.

But may I here finifh my miniftry, my brethren, with the words formerly made ufe of by Jefus Chrift, in finilh- ing his miffion to an ungrateful people ? You have refufed to believe in me, faid he to them a few days before hi« death ; you have fhut your eyes againft the light ; you have had ears, yet you heard not : I go, and you fhall die irt your blindnefs. If you were ftill blind, and if you had ne- ver known the truth, your fin would be more excufable ; but at prefent you fee, I have announced to you the truths which my Father had taught me ; and therefore your fm ii without excufe : your obftinacy is confummate ; you have reje£led that falvation which fhall be offered to you no more, and the guilt of the truth defpifed mull for ever be upon your head.

Great God ! fliould this then be the price of my toils, and the whole fruit of my miniftry ? Could the unworthi- nefs of the inftrument, which thou haft employed to an- nounce thy word, have deftroyed its efficacy, and placed a fatal impediment to the progrefs of the gofpel ? No, my dear brethren, the virtue of the word of the crofs is not attached to that of the minifter who announces it. In the hands of the Lord, clay can give fight to thé blind ; and, when he pleafeth, the walls of Jericho fall at the found of the weakeft trumpets. I truft then in the Lord for you, my brethren ; that having received his word with gladnefs, as Paul formerly faid to the believers of Corinth ; that having received it, not as the word of a man, weak, â

finner.

ON FALSE TRUST. 63

finner, and full of wants, all calculated to deftroy the work of the gofpel, and unworthy of fo great a miniftry, but as the word even of God, it fhall fru£lify in you ; and that, on the awful day of judgment, when account fliall be demanded from me of my miniftry, and ,from you of the fruit which you have reaped from it, I fhall be your defence and your juftification, and you my glory and ray crown. So do I ardently wifli it.

SERMON

SERMON III.

ON THE VICES AND VIRTUES OF THE GREAT.

Matthew iv. 8.

And tiie Devil Jhewetk him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them ; and faith unto him, all thefe things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down andwor- fJnp me.

XluMAN profperities have always been one of the moft dangerous wiles employed by the devil to entrap men. He knows that the love of fame and of diftinftion is fo natural to us, that, in general, nothing is confidered as too much for their attainment ; and that the ufe of them is fo reducing, and fo apt to lead aftray, that nothing is more rare than piety furrounded with pomp and power.

Neverthelefs, it is God alone who raifeth up the great and the powerful ; who placeth you above the reft, in or- der to be the fathers of the people, the comforters of the afflifled, the refuge of the helplefs, the fupports of the church, the proteflors of virtue, and the models of all believers.

Suffer then, my brethren, that, entering into the fpirit of our gofpel, I here lay before you the dangers, as well

VICES AND VIRTUES OF THE GREAT. 65

"as the advantages of your ftate ; and that I point out to you the obftacJes and the facilities which the rank, to which, through providence you are born, prefents to your dif- charge of the duties of a Chriftian life.

Great temptations, I confefs, are attached to your Na- tion ; but it has likewife as great refources : people of rank are born, it would feem, with more pafTions than the reft of men ; yet have they alfo the opportunity of prafti- fmg more virtues: their vices are followed with more con- fequences ; but their piety becomes alfo more beneficial : in a word, they are much more culpable than the people when they forget their God ; but they have likewife more merit in remaining faithful to him.

My intention, therefore, at prefent, is to reprefent to you the extenfive good, or the boundlefs evils, which al- ways accompany your virtues or vices ; to convince you of what influence the elevated rank to whiœh you are born, is towards good, or towards evil ; and, laflly, to render irregularity odious to you, by unfolding the inexplicable confequences which your paffions drag after them ; and piety amiable, through the unutterable benefits which al- ways follow your good examples. It would matter little to point out the dangers of your ftation, were the advan- tages of it not likewife to be fhown. The Chriftian pulpit declaims in general againft the grandeurs and tiie glory of the age ; but it would be of little avail to be continually fpeaking of your complaints, were their remedies not held out to you at the fame time. Thefe are the two truths which I mean to unite in this difcourfe, by laying before you the endlefs confequences of the vices of the great and powerful, and what ineftimable benefits flow from their virtues.

Part

66 SERMON III.

Part I. " A fofe trial (hall come upon the mighty,- fays *' the Spirit of God ; for mercy will foon pardon the mean- " eft ; but mighty men fhall be mightily tormented."

It is not, my brethren, becaufe he is mighty himfelf, that the Lord, as the Scriptures fay, rejefts the great and the mighty, or that rank and dignity are titles hateful in his eyes, to which his favours are denied, and which, of themfelves, conftitute our guilt. With the Lord there is no exception of perfons : he is the Lord of the cedars of Lebanon, as well as of the humble hyffop of the valley : he caufes his fun to rife over the higheft mountains, as well as over the loweft and obfcureft places ; he hath formed the ftars of heaven, as well as the worms which crawl upon the earth : the great are even more natural images of his greatnefs and glory, the minifters of his authority, the means through which his liberalities and generofity are poured out upon his people. And I come not here, my brethren, in the ufual language, to pronounce anathemas againft human grandeurs, and to make your ftation a crime, fmce that very ftation comes from God, and that the obje£l in quef- tion is not fo much to exaggerate the perils of it, as to point out the infinite ways of falvarion attached to that rank to which, through the will of providence, you have been born.

But, I fay, that the fins of the great and powerful have two charafters of enormity which render them infinitely more punifhable before God, than the fins of the common- ality of believers : \Jlly^ the fcandal ; idly^ ingratitude.

The fcandal. There is no crime to which the gofpel leaves lefs hope of forgivenefs than that of being a ftum- bljng-block to our brethren : " Wo unto the man," faid

Jefus

VICES AND VIRTUES OF THE GREAT. 67

Jefus Chrift, *' who fhall ofFend one of thefe little ones •' which believe in me ; it were better for him that amill- " ftone were hanged about his neck, and that he were *' drowned in the depth of the fea." \Jlly, Becaufe you deftroy a foul which ought eternally to have enjoyed God. *tdly, Becaufe you occafion your brother to perifh, lor whom Jefus Chrift had died. 3^/y, Becaufe you become the minifter of the devil's defigns for the deftruftion of fouls, /^thly, Becaufe you are that man of fm, that anti- chrift of whom the apoftle fpeaks ; for Jefus Chrift hath faved man, and you deftroy him ; Jefus Chrift haih raifed lip true worftiippers to his Father, and you deprive him of them ; Jefus Chrift hath gained us by his blood, and you fnatch his conqueft from him ; Jefus Chrift is the phyfi- cian of fouls, and you are their corrupter ; he is their Way, and you are their fnare ; he is the fhepherd who comes in fearch of his perifhing fheep, and you are the ravenous wolf which flays and deftroys thofe his Father had given him. ^thly, Becaufe all other fins die, as I may fay, with the finner : but the fruit of his fcandais will be immortal ; they will furvive his afhes ; they will out- live him, and his crimes will not go down with him into the tomb of his fathers.

Achan was puniflied with fo much rigour for having taken only a wedge of gold from among the fpoils which were confecrated to the Lord ; my God ! what then fhall be the puniîhment of him who deprives Jefus Chrift of a foul which was his precious fpoil, redeemed not with gold and filver, but with all the divine blood of the Lamb without ftain ? The golden calf was reduced into powder for having occafioned the prevarication of Ifraei; great God J and could all the fplendour which fui-rounds the great and the powerful fhelter thern horn thy wrath, when

their

68 SERMON III»

their exaltation becomes only a ftumbling-block and a fouree of idolatry to the people ? The brazen ferpent itfelf, that facred monument of God's mercies upon Judah, was bro- ken in pieces for having been an occafion of fcandal to the tribes : my God ! and the fmner already fo odious through his own crimes, fhall he be fpared, when he be- comes a fnare and a ftumbling-block to his brethren ?

Now, my brethren, fuch is the firft charafler which al- ways accompanies your fins, you who are exalted through rank or birth over the commonalty of believers : the fcan- dal. The obfcure and vulgar live only for themfelves. Mingled in the crowd, and concealed by the abjeftnefs of their lot from the eyes of men, God alone is the fecret "witnefs of their ways, and the invifible fpeftator of their backflidings ; if they fall, or if they remain ftedfaft, it is for the Lord alone, who fees and who judges them ; the world, which is unacquainted even with their names, is equally uninftru61ed by their examples ; their life is with- out confequence ; they may depart from the right path, but they quit it alone ; and if they accomplifh not their own falvation, their ruin is, at leaft, confined to them- felves, and has no influence over that of their brethren.

But perfons of an exalted ftation are like a public pa- geant, upon which all eyes are fixed ; they are thofe houfes built upon a fummit, the fole fituation oi which renders them vifible from afar ; thofe flaming torches the fplcn- dour of which at once betrays and expofes them to view. Such is the misfortune of greatnefs and of rank ; you no longer live for yourfelves alone ; to your deftruftion or to your falvation is attached the deftruftion or the falvation of almoft all thofe around you ; your manners form the manners of the people ; your examples are the rules of

the

VICES AND VIRTUES OF THE GREAT. 6g

the multitude ; your anions are as well known as your titles ; it is impoiïible for you to err unknown to the pub- lic ; and the fcandal of your faults is always the melan- choly privilege of your rank.

I fay the fcandal, i///y, of imitation. Men always wil- lingly copy after evil, but more efpecialiy when held out by great examples ; they then ground a kind of vanity upon their errors, becaufe it is through thefe that they re- femble you ; the people confider it as giving them an air of confequence to tread in your Heps ; the city thinks it an honour to adopt all the vices of the court ; your man- ners form a poifon which penetrates even to the provinces ; which infefts all dations, and gives a total change to the public manners ; which decks out licentioufnefs with an air of nobility and fpirit, and, in place of the fimplicity of our ancient manners, fubftitutes the miferable novelty of your pleafures, of your luxury, of your profufions, and of your profane indecencies. Thus from you it is that obfcene fafhions, vanity of drefs, thofe artifices which dilhonour a vifage where modefty alone ought to be paint- ed, the rage of gaming, freedom of manners, licentiouf- nefs of converfations, unbridled paffions, and all the cor- ruption of our ages, pafs to the people.

And from whence, think you, my brethren, comes that unbridled licentioufnefs which reigns among the people ? Thofe who live far from you, in the moft diftant provin- ces, ftill preferve, at leaft, feme remains of their ancient fimplicity, and the primitive innocence : they live in a happy ignorance of the greateft part ot thofe abufes which are now, through your examples, become laws. But, the nearer the countries approach to you, the more is the change of manners vifible, the more is innocence

Vol. II. K adulterated,

yO SERMON in.

adulterated, the more the abufes are common, and the greateft crime of the f>eopk is to be acquainted with your manners and your cuftoms. After the chiefs of the tribes had entered into the tents of the daughters of Midi-. an, all Judah went afide from the Lord, and few were to be found who had kept free from the general guilt. Great God ! how terrible fhall one day be the trial of the great and powerful, fince, befides their own endlefs pafTions, they fhall be made accountable to thee for the public irre- gularities, the depravity of the manners, and the corruption of their age ; and, fmce, even the fms of the people fhall become their own fpecial fins J

zdly^ A fcandal of compliance. They endeavour to pleafe, by imitating you : your inferiors, your creatures^ your dependants, confider a refemblance toyou as the high road to your favour ; they^ copy youc vices, becaufe you hold them out to them as virtues ; they enter into your fancies, in order to enter into your confidence ; they out- rival each other in copying, or in furpaffing you, becaufe, in your eyes, their greateft merit is in refembling you. Alas ! how many weak fouls, born with the principles of virtue, and who, far from you, would have nurfed only thofe difpofitions favourable to falvation, have had their in- nocence wrecked through the unfortunate neceffity in which their fortune placed them of imitating you ?

^dly, A fcandal of impunity. You could never repre- hend, in your dependants, thofe abufes and thofe exceffes which you allow to yourfelf : you are under a neceffity ot fuffering in them what you have no inclination to re- fufe to yourfelf: your eyes muft be fhut upon diforders which are authorifed by your own manners ; and you are forced to pardon thofe who refemble you, lead you con-

demn

VICES AND VIRTUES OF THE GREAT. 71

4emn yourfelf". A woman of the world wholly devoted to the art of pleafing, fpreads through all her houfhold an air of licentioufnefs and of worldlinefs ; her houfe be- comes a rock from whence innocence never departs unin- jured ; every one imitates at home what fhe difplays abroad ; and fh^ muft pafsover thcfe irregularities, becaufe her own manners do not permit her to cenfure them. What ex- ceffes, in thofe houfes kept open and appropriated to ever- lafting gaming, among that people, as I may fay, of do- meftics, whom vanity hath multiplied beyond all number! You know the truth of this, my brethren, and the dignity of the Chriftian pulpit does not defend me from repeating it here. How dearly do thefe unfortunate wretches pay for your pleafures, who, out of your fight, and no check to reftrain them, fill up the idle time which your pleafures leave to them, in every excefs adapted to the raeannefs of their education, and their abjeft nature, and which they think themfelves authorifed in doing by your examples ! O my God ! if he, who neglefis his people, be worfe, in thy fight, than an infidel, what then is the guilt of hira who fcandalifes them, and is the caufe of their finding death and condemnation where they ought to have found the fuccours of falvation, and the afylum of their inno- cence ?

^thly, A fcandal of cftiployment and of neceflity. How many unfortunate wretches perilh, in order to feed your pleafures and your iniquitous paffions ? For you alone the dangerous arts fubfift : the theatres are «refted folely for your criminal recreations ; profane harmonies every where refound, and corrupt fo many hearts, only to flatter the corruption of yours ; the works, fatal to innocence, are tranfmitted to pofterity folely through the favour of your names and proteéiion. It is you alone, my brethren, who

give

72 SERMON III.

give to the world lafcivious poets, pernicious authors, and profane writers : it is to pleafe you that thefe corrupters of the public manners perfeft their talents, and feek their ex- altation and fortune in a fuccefs, the only end of which is the deflru6lion of fouls ; it is you alone who proteft, re-, •ward, and produce them ; who take from them, by ho- nouring them with your familiarity, that mark of difgrace and infamy with which they had been ftigmatifed by the laws of the church and of the Itate, and which degraded them in the eyes of men.

Thus^ it is through you that the people participate in thefe debaucheries ; that this poifon infefts the cities and provinces ; that thefe public pleafures become the fource of the public miferies and licentioufnefs ; that fo many unfortunate viftims renounce their modefty to grati- fy your pleafures, and, feeking to improve the mediocrity of their fortune by the exercife of talents which your paf- lions alone have rendered ufeful and recommendable, come upon criminal theatres to exprefs paflions for the gratifica- tion of yours ; to perifli in order to pleafe ; to facrifice their innocence, in occafioning the lofs of it to thofe who liflen to them ; to become public rocks, and the fcandal of religion ; to bring mifery and diflentation even into your families, and to punifli you, woman of the world, for the fupport and the credit which you give them by your prefence and your applaufes, by becoming the criminal cbjeft of the paffion and of the ill-conduft of your chil- dren, and perhaps dividing with yourfelf the heart of your hufband, and completely ruining his affairs and fortune.

^tkly, A fcandal of duration. It is little, my'brethren, that the corruption of our ages is almofl wholly the work of the great and powerful; the ages to come will likcwife be in- debted

VICES AND VIRTUES OF THE GREAT. 73

debted to you, perhaps, for apart of their licentioufnefsand exceffes. Thofe profane poems, which have feen the light folely through your means, fliall flill corrupt hearts in the following ages : thofe dangerous authors, whom you honour "with your proteftion, (hall pafs into the hands of your pof- terity ; and your crimes fhall be multiplied with that dan- gerous venom which they contain, and which fhall be com- municated from age to age. Even your paflions, immortalifed in hiflory, after having been a fcandal in their time, will alfo become one in the following ages : the reading of your errors preferved to pofterity, fhall raife up imitators after your death : inftruftions in guilt will be fought for in the narrative of your adventures ; and your exceffes ihall not expire with you. The voluptuoufnefs of Solomon flill furnifh blafphemies and derifions to the pious, and. motives of confidence to libertinifm ; the infamous paffion of Potiphar's wife hath been preferved down to us, and her rank hath immortalifed her weaknefs. Such is the àe[~ tiny of the vices and of the pafTions of the great and power- ful : they do not live for their own age alone, they live for the ages to come, and the duration of their fcandal hath no other limits than that of their name.

You know this to be a truth, my brethren ; Do they not at prefent, continue to read, with new danger, thofe fcan- dalous memoirs compofed in the age of our fathers, which have tranfmitted down to us the exceffes of the preceding courts, and immortalifed the paffions of the principal per- fons who figured in them ? The irregularities of an obfcure people, and of the refl of men who then lived, remain funk in oblivion ; their paffions terminated with them ; their vices, obfcure as their names, have efcaped hiftory ; and, with regard to us, they are as though they had never been : and the errors of thofe who were diftinguiffied in

their

n

SERMON HI.

their age by their rank and birth, are ail that now remains to us of thefe paft times ; it is their paffions that continu- ally inflame new ones, even at this day, through the licen- tioufnefs of, and the open manner in which they are men- tioned by the authors who hand them down to us ; and the fole privilege of their condition is, that, while the vices of the lower orders of people fmk with themfclves, thofe of the great and the powerful fpring up again, as I may fay, from their afhes, pafs from age to age, are engraven on the public monuments, and are never blotted out from the memory of men. What crimes, great God ! which are the fcandal of all ages, the rock of all ftations, and which even to the end, fhall ferve as an excitement to vice, as s pretext to the finner, and as a lafting model of debauchery and licentioufnefs !

Lqjity, a fcandal of feduélion. Your examples, in ho- nouring' vice, render virtue contemptible : the Chriftian life becomes fo ridiculous, that thofe who profefs it are alraoft afliamed of it before you ; the exterior of piety ha& an ungracious and aukward appearance, which is conceal- ed in your prefence, as if it were a bent which difhonours the mind. How many fouls, touched by God, only refill his grace and his fpirit through the dread of forfeiting with you that degree of confidence which a long fociety in pleafures hath given to them ! How many fouls, difgufl- ed with the world, yet who have not the courage to declare themfelves and return to God, left they expofe themfelves to your fenfelefs derifions ; ftill continue to copy your manners, upon which they have been fully undeceived by grace, and, through an unrighteous complaifance and re- fpeft for your rank, take a thoufand fteps from which their new faith and iikewife their inclination are equally diftant !

I fpeak

VICES AND VIRTUES OF THE GREAT. JT^

I fpcak not of the prejodiiccs whick you perpetuate in the world againft virtue ; of thofe lamentable difcourfes againft the godly which your authority confirms ; which pafs fronji you to the people, and keep up, in all ftations, thofe ancient prepofleffions againft piety, and thofe conti- nual derifions of the righteous, which deprive virtue of all its dignity, and hardens finners in vice.

And from thence, my brethren, bow many righteous feduced ! How many weak led affray ! How many waver- ing fouls retained in fin \ How many impious and liber- tine fouls ftrengthened ! What an obftacle do you become ta the fruit of our miniflry i How many hearts, already prepared, oppofe, to the force of the truth which we an- nounce, only the long engagements which bind them to your manners and to your pkafures, and find within them- felves only you who ferve as a wall and a buckler againft grace ! My God ! what a fcourge for the age, what a mif- fortune for the people, is a grandee according to the world, who lives not in the iear of thee, who knows thee not, and who afts in contempt of thy laws and eternal ordinan- ces ! It is a prefent which thou fendeft to men in thy wrath, and the moft dreadful mark of thine indignation upon the cities and upon the kingdoms.

■ Yes, my brethren, behold what you are when you be- long not to God. Such is the firfl character of your faults, the fcandal. Your lot decides in general that of the peo- ple : the excefles of the lower ranks are always the confe- qucnce of your excefles ; and the trangrefllons of Jacob, iaid the prophet, that is to fay, of the people and of the tribes, came only from Samaria, the feat of the great and of the mighty.

Buf,

•^6 SERMON Illi

But, even granting that no new degree of enormity fhould be fpecially attached to the great by the fcandal in- feparable from their fins, ingratitude, which forms the fé- cond charafter of them, would be amply fufficient to attraft, upon their heads, that negleft of God by which his bowels are ever fhut to corapaiïion and clemency.

I fay ingratitude : for God hath preferred you to fo ma- ny unfortunate fellow-creatures who languifh in obfcurity and in want ; he hath exalted you, and hath caufed you to be born amid fplendour and abundance ; he hath chofen you above all the people to load you with benefits ; in you alone he hath aflembled riches, honours, titles, diflinftions, and all the advantages of the earth ; it would feem that his providence watches only for you, while fo many unfortu- nate millions eat the bread of tribulation and of forrow ; the earth feems to be produced for you alone ; the fun to rife and go down folely for you ; even the reft of men feem born only for you, and to contribute to your grandeur and purpofes ; it would appear that the Lord is occupied folely with you, while he neglefteth fo many obfcure fouls whofe days are days of forrow and want, and for whom it would feem that there is no God upon the earth ; yet, neverthelefs, you turn againft God all that you have re- ceived from his hands ; your abundance ferves ior the in- dulgence of your paflTions ; your exaltation facilitates your criminal pleafures, and his blefiings become your crimes.

Yes, my brethren, while thoufands of unfortunate fel- low-creatures, upon whom his hand is fo heavy ; while an obfcure populace, for whom life has nothing but hardfhips and toil, invoke and blefs him, raife up their hands to him in the fimplicityof their heart, regard him as their father, and give him every mark of an unaffefted piety, and of a

fincere

VICES AND VIRTUES OF THE GREAT. 77

fincere religion : you, whom he loads with his benefits ; you, for whom the entire world feems to be made, you acknowledge him not ; you deign not to lift up your eyes to him ; you never bellow even a moment's refleftion whether there be or be not a God above you who interferes in the things of the earth ; in place of thankfgivings you return him infults, and religion is only for the people.

Alas ! you think it fo mean and fo ungenerous when thofe, whofe advancement was your work, negleft you, deny their obligations, and even employ that credit, which they owe folely to you, in thwarting and in ruining you. But, my brethren, they only a6l by you as you do towards your God. Is not your exaltation his work ? Is it not his hand alone which hath feparated your anceftors from the crowd, and hath placed them at the head of the people ? Is it not through his providence alone that you are born of an illuftrious blood, and that you enjoy from your birth, what a whole life of care and of toil could never have offer- ed you reafon to expe6l ? What had you in his eyes more than fo many unfortunate fellow-creatures whom he leaveth in want ? Ah ! if he had paid regard only to the natural qualities of the foul, to probity, honelly, modefty, inno- cence ; how many obfcure fouls, born with all thefe vir- tues, might have been preferred, and would now have been occupying your place ? If he had confulted only the ufe which you were one day to make of his benefits ; how many unfortunate fouls, had they been placed in your fitua- tion, would have been an example to the people, the pro- teétors of virtue, and in their abundance would have glori- fied God, they who even in their indigence invoke and blefs him ; while you, on the contrary, are the caufe of his name being blafphemed, and your example becomes a feduÉlion for his people ?

Vol. II. ' L He

78 SERMON in.

He choofeth you, however, and rejefteth them; he humbleth them and exaketh you ; for them he is an hard and fevere mafler, and for you a liberal and bountiful fa- ther. What more could he have done to engage you to ferve and to be faithful to him ? What more powerful at- traélion, or more likely to fecure the homages of your hearts than benefits ? " Thine, O Lord," faid David at the height of all his profperity, " is the greatnefs, and the power, ** and the glory : both riches and honour come from thee ; " and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give ftrength " unto all. It is jufl then, O my God, to glorify thee in '• thy gifts; to meafure what I owe thee upon what thou " haft done for me, and to render mine exaltation, my " greatnefs, and all that I am fubfervient to thy glory."

Yet, neverthelefs, my brethren, the more he hath done for you, the more do you raife yourfelf up again ft him. It is the rich and the powerful who live without other God in this world, than their iniquitous pleafures. It is you alone who difpute the flighteft homages to him ; who believe yourfelves to be difpenfed from whatever is irkfome or fe- vere in his law ; who fancy yourfelves born for the fole purpofe of enjoying yourfelves, of applying his benefits to the gratification of your paflions, and who remit to the common people the care of ferving him, of returning him thanks, and of religioufly obferving the ordinances of his holy law.

Thus, frequently, the people worfhip, and you infult him ; the people appeafe, and you provoke him ; the peo- ple invoke and you negle£l him ; the people zealoufly fervc him, and you look down upon his fervants ; the people are continually raifing up their hands to him, and you doubt whether he even exift ; you who alone feel the effefts of his

liberality,

VICES AND VIRTUES OF THE GREAT. 79

liberality, and of his power ; his chaftiferoents form wor- îhippers to him, and his benefits are followed only with derifions and infults.

I fay his benefits : For with regard to you, he hath not confined them to the mere external advantages of fortune. He hath likewife produced you with more favourable dif- pofitions to virtue than the fimple people ; a heart more noble, and more exalted ; happier inclinations ; fenti- ments more worthy of the grandeur of faith ; more under- ftanding,^ elevation of mind, knowledge, inftruftion, and relifh for good. You have received from nature, milder paf- fions, more cultivated manners,, and all the other incidental advantages of high birth ; that politenefs which foftens the temper ; that dignity which reftrains the fallies of the dif- pofition ; that humanity which renders you more open to the impreffions of grace. How many benefits do youthen abufe, when you live not according to God ! What a monfter is a man of high rank, loaded with honours and profperity, who never lifts up his eyes to heaven to wor- ship the hand which beftows them .'

And whenre, think you, come the public calamities, the fcourges with which the cities and provinces are affliéled ? It is folely in punifhment of your iniquitous abufe of abundance, that God fometimes ftriketh the land with bar- rennefs. His jullice, irritated that you turned his own benefits againft himfelf, withdraws them from your paf- fions ; curfes the land j permits wars and diflTentions ; crumbles your fortunes into dull ; extinguiflies your fami- lies; withers the root of your pofterity ; makes your titles and pofTeffions to pafs into the hands of Grangers ; and holds you out as flriking examples of the inconfiancy of human affairs, and the anticipated monuments of his wrath

againfl

8d SERMON III.

againfl: hearts equally ungrateful and infenfible to the pa- ternal cares of his providence.

Such, my brethren, are the two charafters infeparablc from your fins ; the fcandal and the ingratitude : behold what you are when you depart from God ; and this is what you have never perhaps paid attention to. From the mo- ment that you are guilty, you cannot be indifferently fo. The paflions are the fame in the people and among the pow- erful ; but very different is the guilt ; and a fingle one of your crimes often leads to more miferies, and hath before God, more extended and more terrible confequences, than a whole life of iniquity in an obfcure and vulgar foul. But your virtues havealfo the fame advantage and the fame lot ; and this is what remains for me to prove in the laft part of this difcourfe.

Part II. If fcandal and ingratitude be the infeparable confequences of the vices and paffions of perfons of high rank, their virtues have alfo two particular charafters, which render them far more acceptable to God than thofe of common believers ; firflly, the example ; fecondly, the authority. And this, my brethren, is a truth highly con- fohng to you, who are placed by providence in an exalted ftation, and well calculated to animate you to ferve God, and to render virtue lovely to you. For it is an illufion to confider the rank to which you are born as an obftacle to falvation, and to the duties impofed on us by religion. The rocks are more dangerous there, I confefs, than in an obfcure lot, the temptations ftronger and more frequent; and, while pointing out the advantages with regard to fal- vation, of high rank, I pretend not to conceal thofe dan. gers which Jefus Chrift himfeif hath pointed out to us in the gofpel, as being attached to it.

I mean

VICES AND VIRTUES OF THE GREAT. 8l

I mean only to eftablifli this truth, that you may do more for God than the common people; that infinitely more ad- vantages accrue to religion from the piety of a fingle per- fon of diftinftion, than from that of almoft a whole peo- ple of believers : and that you are fo much the more cul- pable when you negleft God, in proportion to the glory that he would draw from your fidelity, and that your vir- tues have more extended confequences for the edification of believers.

The firft is the example. A foul from among the peo- ple who fears God, glorifies him only in his own heart: he is a child of light, who walks, as I may fay, amid darknefs : he pays his own homage, but he attrafts no others to him : fhut up in the obfcurity of his fortune, he lives under the eyes of God alone : he wifhes that his name be glorified, and, by thefe defires, he renders to him that glory which he cannot do by his examples : his virtues tend to his own falvation ; but they are as loft for the fal- vation of his brethren : he is here below as a treafure hid- den in the earth, which the vineyard of Jefus Chrift bear- eth unwittingly, and of which he maketh no ufe.

But for you, my brethren, who liveexpofed to the view of the public, and whofe eyes are always upon you, your virtuous examples become equally fhining as your names ; you fpread the good favour of Jefus Chrift wherever that of your rank and titles is fpread: you make the name of the Lord to be glorified wherever your own is known ; the fame elevation which makes you to be known upon the earth, likewife informs all men what you do for heaven : the wonders of grace are every where feen in your natural advantages : the people, the cities, the provinces, who are continually hearing your names repeated, feel,

awakened

82 SERMON Illi

awakened with them, that idea of virtue which your ex- amples have attached to them. You honour piety in the opinion of the pubHc : you preach it to thofe whom you know not : you become, fays the prophet, like a fignal of virtue raifed up amid the people : a whole kingdom has its eyes upon you, and fpeaks ot your examples, and even abroad your piety becomes equally known as your birth.

Now in this eclat, what attra6lion to virtue for the peo- ple ! xjily. The great models are more flriking, and, when countenanced by the great, piety becomes as it were fafh- ionable with the people. 2âf/y, That idea of weaknefs com- monly attached to virtue, is diffipated from the moment that you ennoble it, as I may fay, with your names, and that they can produce your examples in honour of it. ^dly. The reft of men no longer blufli at modefty and fru- gality, when they fee, in your inftance, that modefty is perfeftly compatible with greatnefs ; and that to fliun luxu- ry and profufion is fo far from being a fubje6l of fhame to any rank whatever, that, on the contrary, it adds luftreand dignity to the higheft rank and birth, \thly. How many weak fouls, who would blufh at virtue, are confirmed by your ex- ample, are nolonger afraid of afting as you aft, and who even pride themfelves in following your fteps ! ^thty. How many fouls ftill too attached to worldly interefts, would dread left piety {hould be an obftacle to their advancement, and perhaps find, in this temptation, an effeftual bar to all their penitential defires, if they were not taught, in feeing you, that piety is ufeful to all, and that, while attrafting the favours of heaven, they do not prevent thofe of the. earth ! Sthly, Your inferiors, your creatures, and all who depend upon you, view virtue in a much more amiable light, fince it is become a certain way of pleafing you, and

thai

VICES AND VIRTUES OF THE GREAT. S3

that their progrefs, in your confidence and efteem, depends upon their progrefs in piety.

Lajily, what an honour to religion, when, in your per- fons, fhe proves that fhe is ftill capable of forming righteous charafters, who defpife honours, dignities, and riches; who live arnidft profperity without being dazzled with it; who enjoy the firft places, without lofing fight of eternal riches ; who poffefs all, as though pofTcffing nothing; who are greater than the whole world, and confider as dirt all the advantages of the earth, whenever they become an obfia- cle to promifes held out by faith in heaven ! What confu- fion for the wicked, to feel, in feeing you treading the paths of falvation arnidft every human profperity, that vir- tue is not an adoption of defpair ; that they vainly endea- vour to perfuade themfelves, that recourfe is had to God only when forfaken by the world, fince you fail not, though loaded with all the favours of the world, to love the fhame of Jefus Chrift ! What confolation even for our miniftry, to be enabled to employ your examples in thefe Chriftian pulpits, in overthrowing the finners of a more obfcure lot ; to cite your virtues to make them blufh at their vices ; to cover with fhame all their vain excufes, by proving your fidelity to the law of God ; that their dan- gers are not greater than yours ; that the objefts of their paffions are lefs feduélive ; that more charms, and more iU lufions, are not held out by the world to them, than to you ; that if grace can raife np faithful hearts even in the palaces of kings, it muft be equally able to form them under the roof of the citizen and of the magiftrates, and, confequent- ly, that falvation is open to all, and that our ftation be- comes a favourable pretext to our paffions, only when the corruption of our hearts is the true reafon which authorifes ihem.

. yes,

§4 SERMON III.

Yes, my brethren, I repeat that, in ferving God, y oil give a new force to our miniftry ; more weight to the truths announced by us to the people ; more confidence to our zeal ; more dignity to the word ot" Jefus Chrift ; more credit to our cenfures ; more confolations to our toils; and, in viewing you, the world is convinced of truths which it had difputed with us. What benefits then accrue from )'our examples ! You accredit piety, and honour reli- gion in the mind of the people ; you animate the righteous of every ftation ; you confole the fervants of God ; you- fpread throughout a whole kingdom a favour of life that overthrows vice and countenances virtue ; you fupport the rules of the gofpel againft the maxims of the world ; you are cited in the cities and in the moft diftant provinces to encourage the weak, and to aggrandife the kingdom of Jefus Chrift ; lathers teach your names to their children to animate them to virtue ; and, without knowing it, you become the model of the people, the converfation ot the lower orders, the edification of families, the example of every ftation and of every clafs. Scarcely had the heads of the tribes in the defert, and the moft diftinguifiied women, brought to Mofes their moft precious ornaments for the conftruftion of the tabernacle, when all the people, incit- ed by their example, prefented themfelves in crowds to offer their gifts and their prefents ; and Mofes was even under the neceflity of placing bounds to their pious alac- rity, and of moderating the excefs of their liberalities.

Ah ! my brethren, what good, once more, may your examples do among the people ! Public diflipations difcre- dited from the moment that you ceafe to countenance them ; indecent fafhions profcribed whenever you neglcft them ; dangerous cuftoms antiquated as foon as you forfake them ; the fource of almoft all diforders dried up from the

moment

VICES ANJ3 VIRTUES OF THE GREAT. 85

niomen£tliat you live according to God. And how many- fouls thereby faved ! What evils prevented ! What crimes checked ! What misfortunes hindered ! What gain for re- ligion is a fingle perfon of rank, who lives according to faith ! What a prefent doth God make to the earth, to a kingdom, to a people, when he beftoweth grandees who Jive in his fear I And, fhould the intereft even of your own foul be infufficient to render virtue amiable to you, fhould not the intereft of fo many fouls, to whom by liv- ing according to God, you are an occafic^ of falvation, induce you to prefer the fear and the love of his law to all the vain pleafures of the earth ? Is the heart capable of tafting a more exquifite pleafure than that of being a fource of falvation and of bcnedidion to our brethren ?

And what is yet more fortunate here for you is, that you do not live for your own age alone : I have already obferved that your examples will pafs to the following ages ; the virtues of the iimple believers perifh, as I may fay, with them ; but your virtues will be recorded in hiftory with your names. You will become a pious model for our pofterity, equally as you have been fo for the people of your own times ; connefted, through your rank and your employments, with the principal events of our age, you will be tranfmitted with them to the ages to come. Suc- ceeding courts will llill find the hiftory of your piety and of your manners, blended with the public hiftory ot our days ; you will do credit to piety even in the ages to follow ; the memory of your virtues, preferved in our annals, will ftill ferve as an inftruftion to thofe of your defcendants who ftiall read them; and it fhall one day be faid of you, as of thofe men full of glory and of righte- oufnefs, mentioned by fcripture, that your piety hath not finilhed with you; that your bodies, indeed, are buried iu

Vol. II. M peace,

86 SERMON III.

peace, but that your name liveth for evermore ; that your feed flandeth for ever, and that your name (hall not be blot- ted out» '

Nor is this all : the example renders your virtues a pub- lic good, which is their firft chara6ler; but authority, which is their fécond, finifhes and fuftains the endlefs good •which your examples have begun. And, in fpeaking of the authority, why can I not here unfold all the immenfity of the fruitful confequences of the piety of the great, which this idea excites in my mind ?

ijlly. The prote£lion of virtue. Timid virtue is often opprcfTed, becaufe it wants either boldnefs to ftiew itfelf,. or prote£lion to defend it : obfcure virtue is often defpifed, becaufe nothing exalts it to the eyes of the fenfes, and the world is delighted to turn into a crime againft piety the ob- fcurity of thofe who praftife it. But, fo foon as you adopt its caufe, ah! virtue no longer wants proteftion ; you be- come the interpreters of the godly with the prince, and the channels by which they find continual accefsto the throne; you bring righteous charaflers into office, who become public examples ; you bring to light fervants of God, men of learning and of virtue, who would have remained in the dull, and who, through favour oi your fupport, ap- pear to the public, employ their talents, contribute to the edification of believers, to the inftruftion of the people, to the confummation of the holy ; teach the rules of vir- tue to thofe who know them not, will teach them to our defcendants, and will hand down to all ages to come, with the pious monuments of their own zeal, the immortal fruits of that proteftion with which you have honoured virtue, and of your love for the righteous.

What

VICES AND VIRTUES OF THE GREAT. 8/

What fhall Ifay ? You ftrengthen the zeal of the godly in holy undertakings ; and your proteftion animates and enables them to conquer all the obftacles which the demon conftantly throws in the way oi works which are to glori- fy God, and to contribute to the falvation of fouls. What noble foundations and pious defigns, now carried into exe- cution, would have failed, if the authority oi a righteous man in office had not removed the impediments which ren- dered their accomplilhment apparently impoffible.

What more fhall I fay ? By your examples you render virtue refpeftableto ihofe who love it not, and they are no longer afhamed of becoming a chriftian from the moment they therein refemble you. You divefl impiety of that air of confidence and of oflentation with which it dares to fhew itfelf, and free-thinking ceafcs to be fafhionable as foon as you declare againft it. You maintain the religion of our fathers among the people ; you prcferve faith to the following ages ; and often it requires only a fingle per- fon of rank in a kingdom, firm in faith, to flop the pro- grefs of error and innovation, and to preferve to a whole people, the faith of their anceflors. The fingle Ellher faved the people and the law of God in a great empire; Mathias individually flood out againft foreign altars, and prevented fuperftitions from prevailing in the midft of Ju- dah. Oh ! my brethren, how grand when you belong to Jefus Chrift ! And with what fuperior luftre and dignity do your rank and your birth appear in the vaft fruits oi your piety, than in the luxury of your pallions, and in all the vain pomp oi human magnificence !

zdly. The rewards of virtue. You render it honourable by giving it that preference, which is its due, in choice of places dependent upon you, and in entrulling with em- ployments

88 SERMON III.

ployments only thofevvhore piety entitles them to tlie pub- lic confidence; by placing dependence upon the fidelity of your inferiors only in proportion as they are faithful to God, and, in men, looking principally for reftitude oi heart and innocence of manners, without which all olher talents no longer form but an equivocal merit, either inju- rious to themfelves, or ufelefs to the public.

And from thence, what new weal to the public ! What happinefs for a kingdom in which the godly occupy the iirft places ; where employments are the rewards of virtue ; where the public affairs are entrufled only to thofe who have more the public interefl in view than their own, and who confider as nothing the gain of the whole world, if they thereby lofe their foul 1

What advantage for the people when they find their fa- thers in their judges; the proteélors of their helpleffnefs in the arbiters of their lot; the confolçrs of their fuffer- ings in the interpreters qf their interefts! What abufes prevented! What tears wiped away ! What crimes avoid- ed ! What harmony in families ! What confolation for the unfortunate ! What a compliment even to virtue, when the people are rejoiced to fee it in office, and when the world, all worldly as it is, is however well pleafed to have the godly for its defenders and judges ! What an attraction to virtue, when it is feen to have the promife, not only of the life that now is, but of that alfo which is to come.

And fay not, my brethren, that, in rewarding virtue, Cnners are not correfted, but only hypocrites multiplied. I know how far men may be carried hf a thirft of advance- ment, and what abufes they are capable of making of reli- gion in order to accomplifh their ends : but, at leaft, you

force

VICES ANB VIRTUE;S OÇ TilE GREAT. B^

force vice to hide itfelf ; you divert it of that notoriety and fecurity which fpr.ead and communicate it ; you pre>- ferve the externals of religion among the people ; you mul- tiply the examples ot piety among believers, and il licen- tioufnefs be not in reality diminifted, at leaft. the fcandal$ are more rare !

Laji/y, The holy liberalities of virtue. But, I feel that my fubjetl leads me away, and it is time to conclude. Yes, my brethren, what an additional fund of comfort for the people in the Chriftian and. charitable ufe of your rich., es! You fhelter innocence ; you open afylums of penitence for guilt ; you render virtue lovely to the unfortunate by the refources which they find in yours ; you fecure to huf- bands the fidelity of their wives ; to fathers the-Ialvatioa oi their children ; to pallors the fafety of their flock ; peace to families, comfort to the afflifted, innocence to the de- ferted widow, an ajd to the orphan, good order to the public, and to all the fuppLort qf theij: virtue, or the cure of their vices.

And here, my brethren, could you but comprehend the wide extended fruits of your virtue, and the inexplicable advantages accruing from it to the church. What fcan- <ials avoided! What crimes prevented! What public fcourges checked ! How many weak preferved ! How many righteous fuftained 1 How many finners recalled f How many fouls withdrawn from the precipice ! Howf much you contribute to the aggrandizement of the king^ dom, of Jefus Chrift, to the honour of religion, to the cort. funjmation of the holy, and to the falvation of all belie- vers ! How many of the chofen of. every tongue and of every tribe fliall one day- in heaven place at your teqt theif

crown

9* SERMON III*

Crown oi immortality, as if publicly to acknowledge that they are indebted for it to you ! What confolation to be ahle to fay to yourfelf, that, in ferving God, you will at- tra6l other fervants to him, and that your piety becomes a bleffing upon the people ! No, my brethren, if there be any thing flattering in rank, it is notthofe vain diflinBions attached to it by cuftom ; it is the power of becoming, by ferving God, the fource of public bleiïings, '^the fupport of religion, the confolation ot the church, and the chief in- ftruments employed by God for the accomplifhment of his merciful defigns upon men.

Ah ! What then do you not lofe when you do not live according to God ! What do we ourfelves not lofe when you are wanting to us ! Oi how many advantages do you deprive believers ! Of what confolations do you not de- prive yourfelves ! What joy in heaven for the converfion of a fingle great finner in the age ! How highly criminal when you live not according to God ! You can neither be faved nor condemned alone. You refemble either that dra- gon of the revelation, who, being cafl out from heaven into the earth, drags after him in his fall fo many ot the ftars ; or that myflerious ferpent fpoken ot by Jefus Chrifl, who, being exalted upon the earth, happily at- trafts all after him. You are eflablifhed for the ruin or for the falvation ot many ; public fcourges or comforts. May you, my brethren, know your true interefls ; may you feel what you are in the defigns of God, how much you have it in your power to do for his glory, how much he expefteth ot you, how much the church, and even we ourfelves, expeft of you ! Ah ! you have fo high an idea of your rank and oi your ftations with relation to the world !

But,

VICES AND VIRTUES OF THE GREAT. gt

But, my brethren, permit me to fay to you : yoa are yet unacquainted with all their greatnefs ; you fee but the humbleft part of what you are ; you are flill greater with relation to piety, and the privileges of your virtue are much more illuftrious and more marked than thofe of your titles. May you, my brethren, aft up to your lot ! And thou, O my God ! touch, during thefe days of falva- tion, through the force of that truth with which thou filleft our mouths, the great and the powerful ; draw to thyfelf thofe hearts upon whofe con quell depends that of the reft of believers ; have compaffion upon thy people by fanfti- fying thofe whom thy providence hath placed at their head ; fave Ifrael, in faving thofe who rule it ; give to thy church great examples, who jierpetuate virtue from age to age, and who affift, even to the end, in forming that im- mortal affembly of righteous which Ihall blefs thy name for ever and ever.

SERMON

SERMON IV.

ÔJ^ TUE INJUSTICE OF THE WORLD TOWARDS THE GODLY.

John ix. 24. Give God the praife ; zve know that this man is afinntt.

W HAT can the pureft and mofl irreproachable virtue ex* pe6l from the injuflice of the world, feeing it hath for- merly found fubjefts for fcandal and cenfure in the fanfti- ty even of Jefus Chrift ? If, before their eyes, he work, wonderful miracles ; if, on this occafion, he reftore fight to the blind, the Jews accufe him of being a fabbath- breaker ; of working miracles through Belzebub rather than in the name of the Lord, and of only wifliing, through thefe impoftures, to overturn and to delhoy the law of Mofes ; that is to fay, that they attack his inten- tions, in order to render fufpicious, and to criminate his works.

If he honour with his prefence the table of the Pharifees, that he may have an opportunity cf recalling and in- ilrufling them, he is looked upon as a finner, and as a lover of good cheer : that is to fay, that they make a crime to him of his works when they find it convenient, not to- fearch into the integrity of his intentions.

Lajily,

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. 93

Lajily, If he appear in the temple, armed with zeal and feverity, to avenge the profanations which difgrace that holy place, the zeal with which he is inflamed for the glory of his father is no longer in their mouth, but an unjuft ufurpation of an authority which belongs not to him : that is to fay, that they exercife themfelves in vague and un- founded reproaches, when they have nothing to fay againfl his intentions, or his works.

I fay, and I fay it with forrow, that the piety of the god- ly doth not at prefent, experience more indulgence amongfl us, than the fan£lity of Jefus Chrifl formerly met with in Judea. The pious are become objefts of cenfure and deri- fion to the public ; and, in an age where diffipation is be- come fo general, where fcandalous exccfTes of every kind furnifh fuch ample matter to the malignity of converfations and cenfures, favour is liberally fhewn to all, excepting to virtue and innocence.

Yes, my brethren, if the conduft of the godly be appa- rently irreproachable, and furnifh no materials for cenfure, you fix yourfelves on their intentions which appear not ; you accufe them of labouring towards their own purpofes, and of having their own particular views and defigns.

If their virtue feem to draw nearer to an. equality with our own, and fometimes abate from its feverity to attach us to God, by an oflenfible conformity to your manners and cuftoms ; without fearching into, or giving yourfelves any concern about their intentions, you conflitute, as a crime in them, the moft innocent complaifances, and concefiions the moil worthy of indulgence.

Vol. II. N Lajily,

94 s E R M O N IV.

Lajily, If their virtue, infpiredby a divine fire, no lon- ger keep meafures with the world, and leave nothing to be alledgedagainft either their intentions or their works ; then you exercife yourfelves in vague difcourfes, and unfounded reproaches againft even their zeal and piety.

Now fuffer me, my brethren, for once, to fland up againft an abufe fo difgraceful to religion, fo injurious to that Being who forms the holy, fo fcandalous among Chrif- tians, fo likely to draw down upon us thofe lading curfes, which formerly turned the inheritance of the Lord into a deferted and forfaken land, and fo worthy of the zeal of our minillry.

You attack the intentions, when you have nothing to fay againft the works of the godly : and that is a temerity. You exaggerate their weaknefTes, and you make a crime to them of the flighteft imperfeftions : and that is an inhu- manity. You turn even their zeal and fervour into ridi- cule : and that is an impiety. And behold, my brethren, the three defcriptions of the world's injuftice towards the pious. An injuftice of temerity, which always fufpefts their intentions : An injuftice of inhumanity, which gives no palliation to the flighteft imperfeftions : An injuftice of impiety, which, of their zeal and fanftity, makes a fub- jeft of contempt and derifion. May thefe truths, O ray God ! render to virtue that honour and glory which are due to it, and forcethe world itfelf to refpeft pious charac- ters, whom it is unworthy to pofTefs !

Part I. Nothing is more fublime, or more worthy of veneration on the earth, than true virtue : the world itfelf is forced to acknowledge this truth. The elevation of fen- timent, the nobility of motive, the empire over the paf-

fionSj

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GOBLY. 95

fions, the patience under adverfuy, the gentlenefs under in- juries, the contempt of one's felf under praife, the courage under difficulties, the aufterity in pleafures, the fidelity ia duties, the equality of temper in all events with which phi- iofophy hath decked out its imaginary fage, find their re- ahty only in the difciple of the gofpel. The more our manners are even corrupted, the more our times are dif- foiute, the more doth ajuft foul, who, in the midft of the general corruption, knows how to preferve his righteouf- nefs and his innocence, merit the public admiration ; and, if the pagans themfelves fo highly refpe£led Chriflians, in a time when all Chriftians were holy, with greater reafon are thofe Chriftians, who aft up to the name of Chriftian, worthy of our veneration and refpeft, at this period, when fanûity is become fo rare among believers.

How melancholy then for our miniftry, that the corrup- tion of manners fh('uld oblige us to do here, what the firft; defenders of faith formerly did with fo much dignity before the pagan tribunals : that is to fay, to make the apology before the fervants of Jefus Chrift ; and that it fhould be neceffary to teach Chriftians, to honour thofe who profefs themfelves fuch : yet true it is ; for derifion and cenfure againft piety feem at prefent to be the moft domi- nant language of the world. I confefs that the world ideal- ly refpeâs virtue; but it always defpifes thofe who make a profeftTion of it : it acknowledges that nothing is more ef- timable than a folid and fincere piety ; but it complains that fuch is no where to be found ; and by always fepara- ting virtue from thofe who praftife it, it only makes a fliew of refpeÉiing the phantom of fanftity and righteoufnefs, that it may be the better entitled to contemn and to cen- fure the juft.

Now

96

SERMON IV.

Now the firft objeft, on which the ordinary difcourfes of the world fall againft virtue, is the probity of the inten- tions of the jud. As what is apparent in their aQions gives little hold in general to malignity and cenfure, they confine themfelves to the intentions ; they pretend, and above all at prefent, when under a prince equally great as religious, virtue formerly a ftranger, and dreaded at court, is now become the furefl path to favour and reward ; they pretend that it is there to which all, who make a public pro- feflion ot it, point their aim : that their only wifh is to ac- complilh their ends ; and that thofe, who appear the moft fanftified and difinterefted, are fuperior to the reft only in art and cunning ; if they excufe them from the meannefs oi •fuch a motive, they give them others equally unworthy of the elevation of virtue and of Chriftian fincerity. Thus 'when a foul, touched for its errors, becomes contrite; it is not God, but the world whom it feeks tlirough a more cun- ning and concealed path ; it is not grace which hath chan- ged the heart, it is age which begins to efface its attraftionsi and to withdraw it from pleafures, only becaufe pleafures begin to fly from it. If zeal attaches itfelf to works of piety ; it is not that they are charitable, it is becaufe they wifli to become confequential : If they fhut themfelves up in folitude and in prayer, it is not their piety which dreads the dangers of the world, it is their Angularity and often- tation which wifh to attraft its fuffrages : Lajily^ the merit oF the moft holy and the moft virtuous allions is always difparaged in the mouth of the worldly, by the fufpicions with which they endeavour to blacken the intentions.

Now, in this temerity I find three hateful chara£lers, ■which expofe the abfurdity and the injuftice of it : It is a temerity oi" indifcretion, feeing you judge, you decide up- on

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. 97

on what you know not : it is a temerity of corruption, feeing we generally fuppofe in others only what we feel in ourfelves : Lajily, it is a temerity of contradiftion, feeing you find unjuft and foolifh, when direfted againll your- ^ felf, the very fame fufpicions which to you appear fo well- founded againft your brother. Lofe not, I entreat of you, tlie confequence of thefe truths.

I fay, ijily, a temerity of indifcretion. For, my bre- thren, to God alone is referved the judgment of inten- tions and thoughts : He alone who fees the fecrccy of hearts can judge them ; nor will they be manifefted till that terrible day, when his light fhall fhine through and dif- pel every darknefs. An impenetrable veil is fpread here below, over the depth of the human heart ; we muft then wait till the veil be rent, before the fhameful paffion which it conceals, as the apoftle fays, can become manifeft, and before the myftery of iniquity, which worketh in fecret, can be revealed : till then, whatever paiTes in the heart of men, buried from our knowledge, is interdifted to the te- merity of our j udgments : even when what is vifiblc in the condu£l of our brethren appears unfavourable to them, charity obliges us to fuppofe that what we fee not makes amends for, and reftifies it ; and it requires us to excufe the faults of the aftions which offend us by the innocencv of the intentions which are concealed from our knowledge. Now, if religion ought to render us indulgent, and even favourable to their vices, will it fuffer us to be cruel and inexorable to their virtues ?

Indeed, my brethren, what renders your temerity liere more unjuft, more black, and more cruel, is the nature of your fufpicions. For. were your fufpicions of the pi- ous to be direfted only towards feme of thofe weaknefTes

infeparable

ça SERMON IV.

infeparable from human nature ; for inilance, too much fenfibility of injury, too much attention to their inter- cfts, too much inflexibility in their opinions : we would be entitled to reply to you, as we fhali afterwards tell you, that you exa£l from the virtuous an exemption from er- ror, and a degree of perfeftion which exill not in life. But you refl not there ; you attack their probity and in- tegrity of heart ; you fufpeft them of attrocity, diflimu- lation, and hypocrify; oi making the moft holy things fubfervient to their own views and paffions ; of being pub- lic impoftors ; of fporting with God and man ; and all thcfe through the oftenfibie appearances of virtue. What, my brethren ! You would not dare, after the mofl notori- ous guilt, to pronounce fuch a ..fentence on a convifted criminal ; you would rather confider his fault as one of thofe misfortunes which may happen to all men, and of which an evil moment may render us capable ; and you de- cidedly give judgment againll the virtuous ; and you fuf- pe£l in a pious chara8:er, from an holy and praife- worthy life, what you would not dare to fufpeEl from the moft fcandalous and criminal conduft of a finner? And you confider as a witticifm, when direfted againft the fervants of God, what would appear to you as a barbarity when againft a man ftained with a thoufand crimes ? Is virtue then the only crime unworthy of indulgence ; or is it fuffi- cient, to ferve Jefus Chrift, to become unworthy of all ref- pe£l ? Do the holy praftices of piety, which furely ought rather to attraft refpeft and eftimation to your brother, be- come the only titles which confound him in your mind with the infamous and the wicked ?

I allow that the hypocrite deferves the execration of both God and man ; that the abufe which he makes of religion is the greateft of crimes ; that derifions and fatires are too

mild

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. g^

mild to decry a vice which defepves deteftation and horror from the human race ; and that a profane theatre errs in throwing only ridicule upon a chara6ler fo abonninable, fo fhamcfui, and fo affli6ling to the church ; for it ought to excite the tears and the indignation rather than the laughter of believers.

But I fay, that this eternal inveteracy againft virtue; that the rafh fufpicions which always confound the pious man with the hypocrite ; that that malignity which, in making the mofl pompous eulogiums on righteoufnefs, finds no chara6ter amongft the upright who is entitled to them; I fay, that fuch language, of which fo little fcruple is made by the world, faps religion, and tends towards rendering all virtue fufpicious : I fay, that you thereby furnifh arms to the impious in an age when too many other fcandals countenance and authorife impiety. You alhlt in making them believe that none, truly pious, exilt on the earth ; that even the faints, who have formerly edified the church, and whofe memory we fo warmly cherifh, have held out to men only a falfe fpe6lacle of virtue, of which, in reality, they had only the phantom and the appearances ; and that the gofpel hath never formed but pharifees and hypocrites. Do you, my brethren, comprehend all the guilt of thefe foolifli derifions ? You think that you are only deriding falfe virtue, and you are blafpheming religion. I repeat it; in miftrufting the fineerity of the juft whom you fee, the free-thinker concludes that all who have preceded them, and whom we fee not, were equally infincere ; that the mar- tyrs themfelves, who met death with fuch fortitude, and who rendered to truth the mod Ihining and leaft fufpicious teftimony which can be given by man, were, only mad- men, who fought an human glory by a vain ollentation

of

913925

lOO s E R M O N IV.

of courage and heroifm; and, laftly, that the venerable tradition of fo many faints who, from age to age, have honoured and edified the church, is merely a tradition of knavery and deceit. And would to God that this were on- ly a tranfport of zeal and exaggeration ! Thefe blafphemies, which ftrike us with fuch horror, and which ought to have been buried with paganifm, we have flill the forrow to hear repeated among us. And you, fhould fliudder at them, unknowingly put them, however, into the mouth of the free-thinker ; it is your continual farcafms and cenfures up- on piety which have rendered, in our days, impiety fo gene- ral and fo uncurbed.

I do not add that, by thefe means, every thing in focie- ty becomes dubious and uncertain. There is no longer, then, either good faith, integrity, or fidelity among men. For, if we muft no longer depend on the fincerity and virtue of the juft ; if their piety be only a mafk to their paiïions, we afiTuredly will not place any confidence in the probity of finnersand worldly charafters : all men are con- fequently only cheats and villains, of whom too much care cannot be taken, and with whom we ought to live as with enemies ; and thefe fo much the more to be dreaded, as, under a treacherous outfide of f riendfhip and humanity, they conceal the defign of either deceiving or ruining us. None but a heart profoundly wicked and corrupted can fuppofefuch iniquity and corruption in that of others.

And behold the fécond charafler of that temerity of which we fpeak. Yes, my brethren, that fund of malig- nity, which fees guilt through the appearances even of virtue, and attributes criminal intentions to works of holi- nefs, can proceed only from a black and corrupted heart.

As

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. 101

•As the paffions have poifoned your heart, you "whom this difcourfe regards; as you are capable yourfelf of every duplicity and meannefs ; as you have nothing in your own breaft, right, noble, or fincere ; you eafily fufpeft your brethren to be what you are ; you cannot perfuade your- felf that there ftill exifl fimple, fincere, and generous hearts on the earth ; you think that you every where fee what you feel in yourfelf; you cannot comprehend how honour, fidelity, (incerity, and fo many other virtues, always falfe in your own heart, Ihould have more reality in the hearts of perfons even the mofl: refpeftable for their rank and cha- ra£ler ; you refemble the courtiers of the king of the Am- monites ; having no other occupation than that of being incelfantly on the watch to fupplant and lay fnares for each other, they had little difficulty in believing that David was not more upright in his intentions with regard to their mailer. You think, faid they to that prince, that David means to honour the memory of your father, by fending comforters to you to condole with you on his death ? They are not comforters, but fpies, whom he fends to you : he is a villain, who, under the fpecious outfide of an ho- nourable and amicable embaffy, feeks to difcover the weak- neffes of your kingdom, and to take meafures to furprife you. Such is more efpecially the misfortune of courts ; bred up, and living in deceit, they fee only diflimulation equally in virtue as in vice; as it is a ftage upon which every one afts a borrowed charafter, they conclude that the pious man merely afts the perfonage of virtue : un- common or unprofitable fincerity feems always impoffi- ble,

A worthy heart, a heart upright, fimple and fincere, can hardly comprehand that there are impoftors on the earth; he finds within himfelf the apology of other men, and, by

Vol. il O what

102 SERMON IV.

what it would cofl: himfelf to be difhofteft, he meafurts what it ought to coft to others. Thus, my brethren, fearch into thofe who form thefe fhameful and râfh fufpi- cionsagainft the pious, and you will find that, in general, they are diforderly and corrupted chara6lers, who feek to quiet themfelves in their difiipations by the illufive fuppo- fition that their weakneffes are the weakneffes of all rrten; that thofe who arc apparently the moft virtuous are fuperi- or to themfelves only in the art of concealment ; and that, were they narrowly examined, we fhould find them, in re- ality, made like other men ; this idea is an iniquitous com- fort to them in their debaucheries. They harden them- felves in iniquity, by thus aflbciating with themfelves, in it, all whom the credulity of the people calls virtuous; they form and endeavour to eftablilh in themfelves a fhock- ing idea of the human race, in order to be lefs fliocked with what they are forced to entertain of themfelves, and they try to perfuade themfelves that virtue no longer exifts, in order that vice may appear to them more excufeable; as if, O my God! the multitude of criminals could dif- arm thy wrath, or deprive thy juftice of the right to pu- nifh guilt.

But, fay you, one has feen fo many hypocrites who have fo long abufed the world, whom it regarded as faints, and the friends of God, and who, neverthelefs, were only per- verfe and corrupted men.

I confefs it with forrow, my brethren ; but, from that, what would you wifh to conclude ? That all the virtuous are fimilar to them ? The conclufion is deteftible; and what would become of mankind were you, in this manner to reafon on the reft of men. We have feen many wives faithîefs to their honour and to their duty; but do modefty

and

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. 303

and fidelity no longer exift in the facred bond of marriage ? Many magiftrates have fold their honour and difgraced their funftion ; but are juftice and integrity confequently banifhed from every tribunal ? Hiftory hath preferved to U5 the reniembrance of too many perfidious, diffembling, unfaithful and diflionourable princes; equally faithlefs to their fubjefts, their allies, and their enemies : but are in- tegrity, truth, and religion, for ever excluded from a throne ? The pad ages have feen many fubjefts diflinguiili- ed fçr their names, their offices, and the gifts of their Co- Yçreign, betray their prince and country, and keep up the mofl criminal intelligence with the enemy ; would you findjuft themafter whom you ferve with fo much zeal and courage were he, merely upon fuch grounds, to fufpc6l the truth of your fidelity ? Why then is a fufpicion, which excites the indignation of ail other defcriptions of men, only fupportable when dire£led againft the pious ? Why is a conclufion, fo ridiculous in every other cafe, only judi- cious when againft virtue ? Doth the perfidy of a fingle Ju- das give you grounds to conclude, that all the other difci- ples were traitors, and without faith ? Doth the hypocrify of Simon the magician prove, that the converlion of the other difciples who embraced faith was nieiely an artifice to accomplifh their own purpofes ; and that, like liim, they walked not uprightly in the path of the Lord ? What can be more unjuft or foolifh, than of the guilt of an indivi- dual, to conftitute a general crime ? It is difficult, I con- fefs, but that vice may fometimes adume the garb of vir- tue ; that the angel of darknefs may not fometimes have the appearance of an angel of light ; and that the paffions which generally ftrain every nerve to fuccced, rnay not fometimes call in the appearances of piety to their aid, par- ticularly under a reign when piety, held in honour, is al- moft a certain road to foitune and favour. But it is tlie

heiglit

104 SERMON IV.

height of folly to refleft upon all virtue for the impious ufe which fome individuals may make even of piety; and to believe that fome abufes difcovered in an holy and venerable profeflion univerfally difhonour all who have embraced it. The truth, my brethren, is, that we hate all men who arie not fimilar to ourfelves ; and that we are delighted to be enabled to condemn piety, becaufe piety itfelf condemns us.

But one has fo often been deceived, fay you. I confefs it ; but, in reply, I fay, that, granting you are even deceived while refufing to fufpeft your brethren, and while render- ing to a fi6}itious virtue that elleem and honour which are due to real virtue alone : What would be the confequence ? By what would your credulity be followed, either forrow- ful or difgraceful ? You would have judged according to the rules of charity, which doth not eafily believe in evil, and which delighteth in even the appearances of good ; accord- ing to the rules of juftice, which is incapable of every malignity or deed to others, which it would not wifh to have done to itfelf; according to the rules of prudence, which judges only from what is vifible, and leaves to the Lord to judge of the intentions and thoughts; laflly, ac- cording to the rules of goodnefs and humanity, which al- ways oblige us to prefume in favour of our brethren. What would there be in fuch a miflake to alarm you? How noble for the mind when the deception proceeds from a motive of humanity and kindnefs ! What honour do not fuch miftakes render to a good heart ; for none but the virtuous and the fincereare capable of them ; but you, alas ! not being fuch, prefer that deception which degrades the virtuous and pious man from that eflimation which is his due, to hazarding the chance oi not covering the hy- pocrite with the Iharae he deferves.

But,

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. tOJ

But, befides, whence fprings this zeal and inveteracy againft the abufe, made by the hypocrite, oi" real virtue? Is the glory of God fo warmly taken to heart by you, that you wifh to avenge him on the impoftors who difhonour him? What matters it to you, who neither ferve or love him, whether the Lord be ferved by a double or a fincere heart ? What is there which can To ftrongly intereft you for the integrity or the hypocrify of his worfhippers ? You who know not how he is even worlhipped ? Ah ! were he the God of your heart ; did you love him as your Lord and Father; were his glory dear to you, we might then indeed pardon, as an excefs of zeal, theboldnefs with which you rife up againft the outrage done to God and his worfhip by the fimulated piety of the hypocrite. Thejuft, who love and ferve him, are furely more entitled to cry out againft an abufe fo injurious to fincere piety; but you, who live like the pagans, who, funk in debauchery, are without hope, and whofe whole life is one continued guilt, ah ! it belongs little to you to take the intereft of God's glory againft the fiftitious piety which is the caufe of fo much difgrace and forrow to the church ; whether he be faithful- ly ferved, or merely through grimace, is no affair of yours. Whence then comes a zeal fo much mifplaced ? Would you wifti to know ? It is not the Lord whom you wifti to avenge, nor is it his glory which interefts you ; it is the good name of the pious which you wilh to ftain; it is not hypocrify which irritates your feelings, it is piety which difpleafes you; you are not the cenfurer of vice, you arc only the enemy of virtue ; in a word, you hate in the hy- pocrite only the refemblance of the pious.

In effefl, did your cenfures proceed from a fund of re- ligion and true zeal, ah ! with grief alone, would you re- cal the hiftory of thefe impoftors, who have fometimes

fucceeded

jo6 SERMON iVi

fucceeded in deceiving the world. What do I fay ? Far from alledging to us, with an air of triumph, thefe exam- ples, you would lament over the fcandals with which they have afflicted the church ; far from applauding yourfelves, when you renew their remembrance, you would wifh that fuch melancholy events were for ever effaced from the memory of men. The law curfed him who fhould dare to uncover the fhame and terpitude of thofe who had given him life ; but it is the fhame and difhonour of the church, your mother, which you expofe with fuch pleafure to pub- lic derifion. Do you carefully recal certain humiliating circumftances to the houfe from which you fpring, and which have formerly difgraced the name and life of fome one of your anceflors ? Would you not wifh for ever to. efface thefe hateful vefliges of difgrace from the hiftories which hand them down to poflerity ? Do you notconfider, as enemies to your name, thofe who ranfaét the pafl ages, in order to lay open thefe hateful particulars, and to revive them in the memory of men ? Do you not in oppofi- tion to their malignity, loudly proclaim that maxim of equity, that faults are perfonal ; and that it is unjufl to attach the idea of diflionour to all who bear your name, merely becaufe it has once been difgraced through the bad conduft of and individual ?

Apply the rule to yourfelf : the church is your houfe : the jufl alone are your relations, your bretbcrn, your pre- deceffors, your anceflors : they alone compofe that family of firfl-born, to whom you ought to be eternally united. The wicked fliall one day be as though they had never been : The ties of nature, of blood, and of fociety, which now unite you to them, fhall perifh ; an immeafurable and an eternal chaos fliall feparate them from the children of God ; they fhall no longer be your brethren, your fore- father,

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. 107

fathers, or your relatives ; they fhall be caft out, forgot- ten, effaced from the land of the living, unneceflary to the defigns of God, cut ofFior ever from his kingdom, and no longer, by any tie, holding to the fociety of the jutt, who fhall then be your only brethren, your anceftors, your people, your tribe. What do you then, when you uncover, with fuch pleafure, the ignominy of fome falfe jufl who difhonours their hiftory ? It is your houfe, your name, your relations, your anceftors, whom you difho- nour : you come to ftain the fplendour of fo many glori- ous aftions, which, in all ages, have rendered their memo- ry immortal by the infidelity of an individual, who, bear- ing the name they bear, ftain it by manners and a condu£l totally diftimular : upon yourfelves then it is that you make the dilhonour fall; unlefs you have already renounced the fociety of the holy, and prefer to aflbciate your eter- nal lot with that of the wicked and the unfaithful.

But what is more particularly abfurd in that temerity which is always fo ready to judge and to blacken the in- tentions of the pious, is, that you thereby fall into the mofl: ridiculous contradi61ion with yourfelves : laft charaftcr of that temerity.

Yes, my brethren, you accufe them of cunningly work- ing towards their own point, of having their own views in the moft holy aftions, and oi only a6ling the perfonage of virtue. But doth it become you, the inhabitants ol a court, to make this reproach ? Your whole life is a con- tinual difguife : you every where aft a part which is not your own : you flatter thofe whom you love not ; you crouch to others whom you defpife : you aft the affiduous fervant to thofe from whom youhave emolument toe^peft, though, in your heart, you look up with envy to their rank,

and

ïoS s E R M O N IVj

and think them unworthy of their elevation : in a word, your whole life is an aflumed charafter. Your heart, on every occafion, belies your conduft ; every where your countenance is a contradiêlion to your fentiments ; you are the hypocrites of the world, of ambition, of favour, and of fortune ; and it well becomes you, after that, to ac- cufe the jufl of the fame tricks, and fo loudly to ring their diffimulation and pretended hypocrify when you fhall have nothing in the fame way with which to reproach yourfelves, then will we liften to the temerity of your cenfures ; or ra- ther, you fhall have reafon to be jealous for the glory of artifice and meannefs, and to be diffatisfied, that the pious fhculddare to interfere with a fcience which fo juftly be- longs, and is fo efpecially adapted to you.

Befides, you fo nervoufly clamour out againft the world, when, too attentive to your aftions, it raalicioufly inter- prets certain fufpicious afliduities, certain animated looks; you fo loudly proclaim then, that, if things go on thus, no perfon will in future be innocent ; that no woman in the world will be confidercd as a perfon of regular conduft ; that nothing is more eafy than to give an air of guilt to the moft innocent things ; that it will be necelTary totally to banifh one's felf from fociety, and to deny one's felf eve- ry intercourfe with mankind ; you then fo feelingly de- claim againft the malignity of men, who, on the moft tri- vial grounds, accufe you of criminal intentions. But do the pious givejufter foundation for the fufpicions which you form againft them ? And, if it be permitted to you to hunt for guilt in them, though hidden under the ap- pearances of virtue, why are you fo enraged that the world fhould dare to fuppofe it in you, and fhould believe you criminal under the appearances of guilt ?

Laftly,

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. ÏO9

Laftly, O wordly women ! when we reproach you with your affiduity at theatres and other places, "where innocence encounters fo many dangers, or the indecency and im- modefty of your drefs, you reply that you have no bad in- tentions; that you wilh injury to none ; you would wifh indecent and criminal aftions to be pafTed over, for the fake of a pretended innocency of intention, which your whole exterior belies ; and you cannot pafs over to the pi- ous, virtuous and laudable manners, for the fake of an in- tegrity of heart, to which every thing external bears am- ple teftimony. You exaft that they fhall fuppofe your in- tentions pure when your works are not fo ; and you think yourfelves entitled to believe that the intentions of the pi- ous are not innocent, when all their aftions are vifibly fo. Ceafe, then, either to juflify your own vices or to cenfure their virtues.

It is thus, my brethren, that every thing poifons in our keeping, and that every thing removes us further from God : the fpeclacle even of virtue becomes to us a pretext for vice ; and the examples themfelves of piety are rocks to our innocence. It would feem, O my God ! that the world doth not fufficiently furnifli us with opportunities for our ruin ; that the examples of finners are not fufficient to authorife our errors ; for we feek a fupport for them even in the virtues of the juft.

But you will tell us that the world is not fo far wrong in cenfuring thofe who profefs themfelves people of piety ; that fuch are every day feen, who, if poflible, are more ani- mated than other men in the purfuit of a worldly fortune, more eager after pleafures, more delicate in fubmitting to injury, more proud in elevation, and more attached to their own interefts. This is the fécond injuflice of the

Vol. II. P woiia

110 SERMON IV.

world towards the pious : not only does it malicioufly in- terpret the intentions, which is a temerity, but it alfo fcru- tinifes their flightefl imperteftions, which is an inhumanity.

Part II. It may truly be faid that the world is a more rigid and feverer critic upon the pious than the gofpei it- felf; that it exafts a greater degree of perfeftion from them, and that their weaknefles find lefs indulgence before the tribunal of men than they fhall one day experience be- fore the tribunal of God himfelf.

Now, I fay, that this attention to exaggerate the flighteft errors of the pious, fécond injuftice into which the world falls with regard to them, is an inhumanity, confidering the weaknefs of man, the difficulty of virtue, and, laftly, the maxims of the world itfelf. I entreat your attention here, my brethren.

Inhumanity, confidering the weaknefs of man. Yes, my brethren, it is an illufion to fuppofe that there are perfeél virtues among men ; it is not the condition of this mortal life : almoft every one bears with him in piety, his faults, his humours, and his peculiar weaknefles ; grace corre6ls but does not overturn nature ; the Spirit of God, which creates in us a new man, leaves ftill many remains of the old ; converfion terminates our vices, but does not extin- guifli our paffions ; in a word, it forms the Chriftian within «s, but it ftill leaves us men. The moft righteous, confe- quently, ftill preferve many remains of the finner : David, that model of penitence, ftill blended with his virtues a too great indulgence for his children, a fecret pride at the num- ber of his people, and the profperiiy of his reign : the mo- ther of Zebediah's children, in fpite of taith, through which (he was fo ftrongly attached to Jefus Chrift, loft no- thing

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. m

thing oi her anxiety for the elevation of her children, or of her concern towards procuring for them the firft ftations in an earthly kingdom : the apofties themfelves difputed rank and precedency with each other : never (hall we be divefted of all thefe little weaknefles till we are delivered Irom this body of death, which is the fountain from which they fpring. The raoft fhining virtue here below always, therefore, hath its fpots and its flaws, which are not to be too narrowly examined ; and thejuft muft always in fome points refemble the reft of men. All, then, that can be expefted from human weaknefs is, that virtues rife fuperior to the vices, the good to the evil ; that the effential be regulated, and that we inceffantly labour towards regulating the reft.

And furely, my brethren, overflowing with pafTions, as we are in the wretched condition of this lite ; loaded with a body of fin, which opprefTes the foul ; flaves to our fen- fes and to the flefh ; bearing within us an eternal oppofi- tion to the law of God ; the continual prey of a thoufand defires which combat againft our foul ; the everlafting fport of our inconftancy, and the natural inftability of our heart ; finding nothing within us but what is repugnant to duty ; eagerly purfuing whatever removes us from God ; difgufted with every thing which brings us nearer to him ; loving only what tends to our ruin ; hating only what tends to our falvation : weak in good ; always ripe for evil ; and, in a word, finding in virtue the rock of virtueitfelf, is it to be wondered at, that men, furrounded, filled witli fo many miferies, fhould fometimes allow fome of them to be vifible; that men, fo corrupted, fhould not be always equally holy ? And where you, in any meafure, equita- ble, would you not rather find it worthy of admiration that fome virtues ftill remained, than worthy of cenfure they ftiU preferve fome vices?

Befides,

lia s E R M O N IV.

Befîdes, God hath his reafons for flill leaving, to the moft pious, certain fenfible weaknefTes which ftrike and offend you. In the firft place, He thereby wiftieth to humble them, and to render rheir virtue more fecure by concealing it even from themfelves. Secondly, He wifh- eth to animate their vigilance, for he leaveth not Amorites in the land of Canaan, that is to fay, paffions in the heart of his fervants, but, left, freed from all their enemies, they fhould lull themfelves in idlenefs and in a dangerous fecurity. Thirdly, He wifheth to excite in them a continual délire for the eternal land, and to render the exilement of this liie more bitter through a proper fenfe of thofe mife- ries from which they can never, here below, obtain a com- plete deliverance. Fourthly, Perhaps not to difcourage fmners by the fight of too perfeft a virtue, which might probably induce them to ceafe every exertion, under the idea ot never being able to attain it. Fifthly, In order to preferve to the juft a continual fubje6l ot prayer and peni- tence, by leaving them a continual fource of fin. Sixthly, To prevent thofe exceffive honours which the world would render to virtue were it pure and fparkling, and left it Ihould find its recompenfe, in other words its rock, in the vain applaufes of men. What fhall I laftly fay ? It perhaps is, ftill more to lull and to blindfold the enemies of piety ; by the weaknefTes of the pious to ftrengthen you, •who liften to me in the foolifli opinion that there is no real virtue on the earth ; to authorife you in your diforders by the fuppofition that they are fimilar to yourfelves ; and to render unavailing to you all the pious examples of the juft. You triumph in the weakneffes of the pious ; yet are their weaknefTes perhaps punifhments from God on you, and means employed by his juflice to nourifli your unjuft pre- poffefTions againft virtue, and completely to harden you in guilt. God is terrible in his judgments, and the con-

fummàtion

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. 1 13

fummation oi' iniquity is, in general, the feqnel of iniqui- ty itfelf.

But, ^dly, were your cenfures on thofe weaknefles, which may flill remain to the pious, not rendered barba- rous and inhuman, when the natural weaknefs oi man is confidered, the difficulty alone of virtue would amply ren- der them fo.

For, candidly, my brethren, doth it appear fo eafy to you to live accordmg to God, and to walk in the Itraight path ot falvation, that you Ihould become fo implacable againft the pious, from the moment that they err, but for an inftant ? Is it fo eafy, continually to renounce one's felf, to be ever guarded againft one's own heart, to over- come its antipathies, to rcprefs its likings, to lower its pride, and to fix its inconftancy ? Is it fo eafy a matter to reftrain the fallies of the mind, to moderate its judgments, to difavow its fufpicions, to foften its keennefs, and to fmother its malignity ? Is it fo eafy to be the eternal ene- my of one's own body, to conquer its indolence, to mortify its taftes, and to crucify its defires ? Is it fo natural to pardon injuries, to bear with contempt, to love, and even to load with benefits thofe who do evil to us, to facrificc one's fortune in order not to fail to his confcience^ to deny one's felf pleafures to which all our inclinations lead us, to refift example, andfinglyto maintain the caufe of virtue againft the multitude which condemns it? Do all thefe ap- pear, in fa61:, fo eafy to you, that you deem thofe who, for an inftant, depart from them, unworthy of theleaft indul- gence ? How feelingly do you expatiate every day on the difficulties of a Chriftian life, when we propofe to you thefe holy rules ? Is it fo very aftonifhing that, in a long inarch through rough and dangerous ways, a man fhould

fometimes

Iï4 s E R M O îi IV.

fometimes ftumble, or even fall, through fatigue and weaknefs ?

Inhuman that we are ! And, neverthelefs, the flighteft imperfeftion in the pious, deftroys in our mind, all their moft eftimable qualities : far from excufing their weaknef- fes, in confideration of their virtue, it is their virtue itfelf which renders us doubly cruel and inexorable to their weaknefles. To be juft, is fufficient, it would appear, to forfeit every claim to indulgence : to their vices we are clear- fighted ; to their virtues we are blind ; a moment of weaknefs effaces from our remembrance a whole life of fi- delity and innocence.

But what renders your injuflice towards the pious ftill more cruel, is, that it is your own examples, your irregu- larities, and even your cenfures, which flagger, weaken, and force them fometimes to imitate you ; it is the corrup- tion of your manners which becomes the continual and the moft dangerous fnare to their innocence ; it is thofe foolifh derifions with which you continually affault virtue, that force them reluftantly to fhelter themfelves under the ap- pearances of guilt. And how can you fuppofe it pofTible that the piety of the moft righteous fhould always preferve itfelf pure, in the midft of the prefent manners, in a per- verfe world, whofe cuftoms are abufes, and its communi- cations crimes ; where the paffions are the only bond of fociety, and where the wifeft and moft virtuous are thofe who retrench from guilt only its fcandal and publicity ? How can you fuppofe it polTible, that, amidft thefe eternal derifions which ridicule the pious, which make them al- moft afhamed of virtue, and often oblige them to coun- terfeit vice ; that, in the midft of fo many diforders, au- thorifed by the public manners, by fenfeiefs applaufes, by

examples

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. Ï15

examples rendered refpeftable by rank and dignity, by the ridicule caft on thofe who dare to hefitate at them, and, laflly, by the weaknefs even of their own heart ; how do you think it pofTible that the pious fhould be always ena- bled to ftem fuch a torrent, and that, obliged continually to fortify themfelves againft fo rapid and fo impetuous a courfe which hurries away the reft of men, watchfulnefs and vi- gour fhould not fometimes fail them for an inftant, and that they fhould not fometimes feel a momentary influence of the fatal vortex ? You are their feducers ; and you preten'd to be difpleafed becaufe they allow themfelves to be fedu- ced ? No longer, therefore, reproach to them your fcan- dals which weaken their faith, and which they fhall one day reproach to you before the tribunal of Jefus Chrift ; and triumph no more over their weaknefTes, which are your own work, and for which they fhall afterwards de- mand vengeance againff you.

I havealfo faid, that even your maxims cannot beexcuf- ed from fcverity and extravagance with refpeél to the pi- ous. Judge from what I fhall now repeat. You are con- tinually faying, that fuch an individual, with all his devo- tion, fails not, however, to profecute his own defigns ; that another is very attentive in paying court to his fuperi- ors ; again, that a third has a piety fo delicate and fenfible, that the mereft trifle wounds and fhocks it ; that fuch an individual pardons nothing ; that the other is not forry to be thought ftill agreeable and amufing ; that a third has a very commodious piety, and lives a very eafy and agreea- ble life ; laftly, that another is full of caprice and fancies, and that none of her houfhold can put up with her temper ; fuch are your daily difcourfes ; nor do your fatires ftop there, for you boldly decide from thence that a devotion, blended with fo many faults, can never lead them to falva--

tion ;

H6 s E R M O N IV.

tion : behold your maxims. Yet, neverthelefs, when we announce to you, from this feat, that a worldly, idle, fen- fual, diflipated, and almoft wholly profane life, fuch as you lead, can never be a way to falvation, you fay that you cannot fee any harm in it ; you accufe us of feverity, and of exaggerating the rules and duties of your ftation ; you do not believe that more is required for falvation. But, my brethren, to which fide here do feverity and injuftice belong ? You condemn the pious, becaufe to their piety they add fome particulars which refemble you ; becaufe they mingle fome of your faults with an alhnity of virtues and good works, which amply repair the errors : and you believe yourfelves in the path of falvation, you who have only their faults, without even the piety which purifies them ? O man ! who then art thou that thus pretendeft to fave thofe whom the Lord condemneth, and to condemn thofe whom he juflifieth ?

Nor is this all, and you Ihall immediately fee how little, on this point, you are confonant with yourfelves. In ef- feft, when the pious live in total retirement, when, no longer keeping any meafures with the world, they conceal themfelves from the eyes of the public ; when they refign certain places of emolument and diilinftion, and diveft themfelves of all their employments and dignities, for the fole purpofe of attending to their falvation ; when they lead a life of tears, prayer, mortification, and filence, (and happily our age hath furnifhed fuch examples,) what have you then faid ? That they carried matters too far ; that violent counfels had been given them ; that their zeal was not according to knowledge ; that were all to imitate them, public duties would be neglefled ; that thofe fervices, in- cumbent on every citizen to his country and ftate, would no longer be given ; that fuch an extreme of Angularity is

not

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. II7

not required ; and that real devotion proves itfelf, by liv- ing together and fulfilling the duties of their ftation in which God hath placed us : fuch are your maxims. But, on the other hand, when the virtuous unite with piety the duties of their flation, and the innocent interefts of their fortune ; when they flill keep up a certain degree ot inter- courfe and fociety with the world, and fhew themfelves irx places from which their rank does not allow them to banifh themfelves ; when they ftill partake in certain public plea- fures, which their ftations renders inevitable ; in a word, when they are prudent in good and fmiple in evil, ah! you then proclaim that they are made like other men ; that it appears very eafy to you, at that price, to ferve God ; that you fee nothing in their devotion to fi ighten you ; and that, if nothing more were required, you would foon be your- felf a great faint. In vain may piety affume every appear- ance ; it is fufficient that it is piety to difpleafe and to merit your cenfures. Be confident with yourfelves ; you would have the pious to refemble yourfelves, yet you condemn them from the moment that you can trace a refemblan-ce.

The obftinacy and injuftice of the Jews, in our goCpel, - are renewed in you. When John the Baptiil appeared in the defert, clothed in goats fliins, neither eating or drinking, and holding out to Judea an auflcrity of virtue which none of the preceding juft, or prophets had ever equalled ; they confidered, fays Jefus Chrift the aufterity of his maimer?? as the illufion of a falfe fpirit, which feducea and urged him on to thefe excefTes, merely that, in a wordly vanity, he might find the recompencc of his penance. On the contrary, the Son of Man afterwaids came, continues the Saviour, eating and drinking ; exhibiting to them, in his conduft, the model of a virtue, more confonant with hu- man weaknefs, and ferving as an example to all, by leading

Vol. II. Q 'a fiœ.

Il8 s E R M O N IVi

a fimple and ordinary life which all may imitate : Is he more (heltered from their cenfures ? Ah ! They declaim againft him, as being a man of pleafure, and a lover of good cheer ; and the bendings of his virtue are no longer, in their opinion, but a relaxation which flains and difho- nours it. The moft diffimilar virtues are fuccefsful only in attracting the fame reproaches. Ah! my brethren, how much to be pitied would the pious be, were they to be judged before the tribunal of men ! But they know that that world, which fits in judgment on them, is itfelf already judged.

And what in this feverity, with which you condemn the flightefl imperfections of the pious, is more deplorable, is that, if a notorious and infamous fmner, after a whole life of iniquity and crimes, but give on the bed of death, fome weak proof of repentance ; if he but pronounce the name of that God whom he has never known, and has always blafphemed ; if he at laft confent, after many delays and re- pugnances, to receive the laft offices of the church which he formerly held in contempt ; ah ! you rank him among the faints ; you maintain that he has died the death of a Chriftian ; that he has attained to the flate of repentance ; and that he has entreated forgivenefs and mercy from God ; upon thefe grounds you hope every thing for his falvation, and you no longer entertain a doubt but that the Lord hath (hewn him mercy ; fome reluftant marks of religion, which have been extorted from him, are fufficient, in your idea, to fecure to him the kingdom of God, into which nothing defiled fhall ever enter ; are fufficient, I fay, in fpite of the excelfes and abominations of bis whole life ; and an en- tire life of virtue is not fufficient, in your opinion, to render it certain to a faithful foul, from the mo- ment that he mingles the fmallell infidelity with his paft

conduft :

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. ng

conduft : you fave the wicked on the mofi; frivolous and equivocal appearances of piety ; and you condemn the juft on the flighteftand moA ex cufab le proofs of humanity and weaknefs.

I might add, my brethren, that, confulting only your own interefts, the imperfeftions of the pious ought to find you more indulgent and favourable.

For they alone, my brethren, fpare you ; they alone conceal your vices, fmooth your faults, excufe your er- rors, and, with pleafure, dwell upon whatever may be praife-worthy in your virtue, while the world, your equals, your rivals, and your pretended friends, perhaps lefTen yoiir talents and fervices, fpeak with contempt of all your good qualities, ridicule your defefts, number your misfor- tunes amongff your faults, exaggerate thefe very faults, and empoifon your mofl innocent words and aftions ; the vir- tuous alone excufe you, juftify your heart, and are the apologifts of your virtues, or the prudent diflerablers of your vices ; they alone break up thofe converfations in which your glory and reputation are attacked ; they alone refufe to join with the public againft you ; and, for them alone, you are deffitute of humanity, and to them alone, you cannot pardon, even the virtues which render them eûimable. Ah ! ray brethren, return them at leaft what they lend to you ; fpare your proteflors and apologifts, and, by decrying them, do not debilitate the only favoura- ble teftimony which is left for you among men.

But I fpeak too gently ; not only the pious refufe to join with the malignity of the public againft you, but they alone are your true friends ; they alone are touched with your misfortunes, affeded by your wanderings, and interefted

ia

120- SERMON IV.

in your falvation ; they carry you in their heart ; while ex- cufing yourpaffions and irregularities before men, they fi- lently lament over them before God ; they raife up their hands for you to heaven ; they fupplicateyour converfion ; they entreat forgivenefs for your crimes ; and you cannot bring yourfclves to render juftice even to their piety and innocence ? Ah ! they make againft you the fame com- plaint to the Lord, that the prophet Jeremiah formerly made againft the Jews of his time, unjull cenfures of his piety and conduft : " Give heed to me, O Lord," faid that man of God, " and hearken to the voice of them that " contend with me. Shall evil be recompenfed for good : *' for they have digged a pit for my foul ; remember that I *' ftood before thee to fpeak good for them, and to turn *' away thy wrath from them."

You arc furely fenfible, my brethren, of all the injuf- tice of your conduft with regard to what I have been men- tioning ; but what would it be if, in completing what I iiad at firft intended, I were to fhew you, that not only you give corrupted inotives to the good works of the pi- ous, which is a temerity ; not only you exaggerate their flighteft weakneffes, which is an inhumanity ; but, like- wife, when you have nothing to fay againft the probity of their intentions, and when their imperfections give no han- dle to your cenfures, that you fly to your laft hold, that of cafting an air of ridicule over their virtue itfelf; which is an impiety.

Yes, my brethren, an impiety. You make a fport, a comic fcene of religion; you ftill introduce it, like the pagans form.erly, on an infamous theatre ; and there you expofe its holy myfteries, and all that is moft facrcd and moft refpedable on the earth, to the laughter of the fpec-

tators.

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. 121

tators. You may apologife for your paffions, through the weaknefsof temperament and human frailty ; but your de- rifions on virtue can find no excufe but in the impious con- tempt of virtue itfelf ; nevertheiefs, this irreligious and blaf- phemous mode of fpeaking is now regarded as a pleafant- ry, as a fally of wit, and as a language from which vanity appropriates to itfelf peculiar honour.

But, my brethren, you tliereby perfecute virtue, and render it ufelcfs to yourfelves ; you difhonour virtue, and render it ufelefs to others ; you try virtue, and render it infupportable to itfelf.

You perfecute virtue, and render it ufelefs to yourfelves. Yes, my dear hearer, the example of the pious was a mean of falvation provided for you by the goodnefs of God ; now, his juftice, incenfed at your derifions on his mercies to his fervants, for ever withdraws them from you, and puniflies your contempt of piety, by denying to you the gift of piety itfelf. The kings of the earth take fignal vengeance on thofe who dare to injure their ftatues, for thefe are to be confidered as public and facred monuments reprefenting themfelves. Butthejuft, here below, are the living fta- tues of the great King, the real images of an holy God ; in them he hath expreffed the majefly of his pureft and moft refplendid features ; and he for ever curfeth thofe facrilegious and corrupted hearts who dare to make them a fubje£l of derifion and infult.

Befides, even granting that the Lord Ihould not deny to you the gift of piety in puniOiment of your derifions, they ftill form an invincible human barrier which will fof ever exclude you from its caufe. For I demand ; it, when tired ot the world, of your diforders, of yourfelf, you

wifh

122 SERMON IV.

wifh to return to God, and to favc that foul which you now labour to deftroy, how fhall you dare to declare for piety, you who have fo often made it the butt of your pub- lic and profane pleafantries ? How fhall you ever boaft of the duties of religion, you, who are every day heard to fay, that, to become devout, is, in other words, to fay, that the fenfes are loft; that fuch an individual had a thou^ fand good qualities which rendered his fociety agreeable to all ; but that devotion has now altered him to fuch a degree, that he is fully as infupportable as he was formerly pleaf- ing ; that he affefts to make himfelf ridiculous; that we muft renounce common fenfe before we can ereft , it would appear, the ftandard of piety ; that, may God prefervc you|from fuch madnefs ; that you endeavour to be an ho- neft man, but, God be praifed, you are no devotee. What language ! That is to fay, that God be praifed you are al- ready marked with the ftamp of the reprobate; that with confidence you can fay to yourfelf : " I Ihall never alter, but (hall die exa611y fuch as I am." What impiety ! And yet it is among Chriftians that fuch difcourfes are every day oftentatioufly, and with apparent fatisfaÊlion, repeated.

Ah! my brethren, permit my forrow to vent itfelf here in oiie refleftion. The patriarchs, thofe men fo venera- ble, fo powerful, even according to the world, never liad communication with the kings and nations of the difîerent countries where they were conduced by the order of the Lord, but in the following religious terms : ♦' I fear the Lord." They claimed no refpeft from the grandeur of their race, whofe origin was almoft coeval with the world itfelf, from the luftre of their anceftors, from the fplendour of the blood of Abraham, that man, the conqueror of kings, the model of all the fages of the earth, and the only hero of whom the world could then boaft. " We fear

the

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. 123

the Lord." Behold their moft pompous title, their moft auguft nobility, the only charaéler by which they wifhed to be diflinguifhed from other men: fuch was the magni- ficent (ign which appeared at the head of their tents and flocks, which fhone on their ilandards, and every where bore with them the glory of their name, and that of the God of their fathers. And we, my brethren, we ftiun the reputation of a man jult and fearing God, as a title of re- proach and fliame; we pompoufly dwell upon the vain dif- tinftions of rank and birth ; wherever we go, the frivolous mark of our names and dignities precede and announce us; and we hide the glorious fign of the God of our fathers ; we even glorify ourfelves, in not being among the num- ber of thofe who fear and adore him. O God ! leave then to thefe foolifh mena glory fo hedious; confound their folly and impiety, by permitting them to the end to glori- fy themfelves in their confufion and ignominy.

Nor is this all. By thefe deplorable derifions not only- do you render virtue ufelefs to yourfelves, but you like- wife render it odious and ufelefs to others; that is to fay, that not only do you bar againfl yourfelves every path which leads to God, but you likewife fhut it againft an in- finity of fouls, whom grace flill urges in fecret to relin- quifli their crimes, and to live in a Chriftian manner; who dare not declare themfelves, left they fhould be expofed to the lafli of your fatire and profane railleries ; who, in a new life, dread only the ridicule which you caft upon virtue ; who, in fecret, oppofe only that fingle obftacle to the voice of Heaven which calls upon them ; and tremblingly hefi- tate, in the grand affair of eternity, betwixt the judgments of God and your fenfelefs and impious derifions.

ThA

124 SERMON IV.

That is to fay, that you thereby blafl the fruit of that gofpel which we announce, and render our miniftry una- vailing; you deprive religion ot its terrors and majefty, and fpread through the whole exterior of piety a ridicule which falls upon religion itfelf. You perpetuate in the world, and fupport among men thofe prejudices againft virtue, and that univerfal illufion employed by fatan to de- ceive them, which is that of treating piety as perverfe and a folly ; you authorife the blafphemies of free-thinkers and of the wicked; you accuftom fmners to arrogate to them- felves an oftentatious glory from vice and irregularity, and to confider debauchery as lafliionable and genteel when contrafled with the ridicule of virtue. What indeed may I not fay ? Through your means piety becomes the fable of the world, the fport of the wicked, the fhame of fmners, the fcandal of the weak, and the rock even of thejuft; through you vice is held in honour, virtue is debafed, truth is weakened, faith is extinguifhed, religion is annihilated, and corruption univerfally fpreads ; and, as foretold by the prophet, defolation perfeveres even to the confumma- tion and to the end.

Let me likewife add, that, through you, virtue becomes inlupportable to itfelf; your derifions become a rock to the piety even of thejuft ; you fliake their faith; you difcourage their zeal; you fufpend their good defires; you ftifle in their heart the livelieft imprefTions of grace ; you flop them in a thoufand deeds of fervour and virtue, which they dare not expofe to the impiety ot your cenfures ; in fpite of themfelves, you force them to conform to your habits and maxims, which they deteft, to abate from their retirement, their mortifications, and their prayers ; and to confecrate to thefe duties only thofe concealed moments which may efcape your knowledge and railleries ; through thefe means,

you

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE GODLY. 125

you deprive the church of their edifying example ; you de- prive the weak of thofe fuccours which they would other- wife find there ; Tinners of that fliame with which their prefence would cover them; the juft of that confolation which would animate them ; and religion of a fight which would do it honour.

Alas, my brethren ! In former ages tyrants never derid- ed Chriftians, but in reproaching to them their pretended fuperftitions : they ridiculed the public honours which they faw them render to Jefus Chrift, a perfon crucifi- ed, and the preference which was given to him by Chrif- tians, over Jupiter and all the gods in the empire, whofe worfhip was become refpeftable through the pomp and magnificence of their temples and altars, the antiquity of the laws, and the majefty of the Caefars : but, on the other hand, they bellowed loud and public praifes on their man- ners ; they admired their modefty, frugality, charity, pa- tience, innocent and mortified life, and their abfence from theatres, or every other place of public amufement ; they could not, without veneration, regard the wife, retired, modeft, humble, and benevolent manners of thofe fimple and faithful believers. You, on the contrary, more fenfe- lefs, find no fault with them for adoring Jefus Chriif, and for placing their confidence and hope of falvation in the myftery of the crofs; but you find it ridiculous that they fhould deny themfelves every public pleafure ; that they (hould live in the praftice of retirement, mortification, and prayer; but you find them worthy of yourderifion and cen- fure, becaufe they are humble, fimple, charte, and mo- defl : and the Chriftian life, which found admirers and panegyrifts even among tyrants, experiences from you only mockery and profane railleries.

Vol. il R What

iz6 s E R M O N IV,

What folly, my brethren ! to find worthy of laughter in the world, which is itfelf but a mafs of trifles and abfur- dities, only thofe who know its frivolity, and whofe only thoughts are bent on placing thcmfelves fecure from the wrath to come Î What folly, to defpife in men the very qualities which render them pleafing to God, refpetUbfe to angels, and ufeful to their fellow-creatures ! What folly, to be convinced that an eternal happinefs or mifery awaits lis, yet to find ridiculous only thofe who are interelted in fo important an affair !

Let us hold virtue in refpe£l, my brethren, it alone on the earth, merits our admiration and praife. If we find ourfelves flill too weak to fulfil its duties, let us at leaft be equitable, and efteem its luftre and innocence ; if we can- not live the life of the jufl, let us wifli to attain it, let us envy their lot; if we cannot as yet imitate their example, let us confider every derifion on virtue not only as a blaf- phemy againfl the holy Spirit, but as an outrage an huma- nity which virtue alone honours and dignifies ; far from re- proaching the Godly with thofe virtues which render them diflimilar to us, let us reproach ourfelves with the vices which prevent us from refembling them ; in a word, let us, by a true and fincere refpeft for piety, deferve to obtain one day the gift of piety itfelf.

And you, my brethren, who ferve the Lord, remem- ber, that the interells of virtue are in your hands ; that the weaknefles, the flains with which you blend it, become, as I may fay, ftains on religion itfelf; confider how much the world expefts from you, and what engagements you contraft towards the public, when you efpoufe the caufe of piety ; confider with what dignity, what fidelity, what refpeftability you ought to fupport the charaQer and per-

fonage

INJUSTICE TOWARDS THE OODLY, 12/

fonage of a fervant of Jefus Chrift. Yes, my brethren, îet us, with majefty, fupport the interefts of piety, againfl the fneers of thofe who defpife it ; let us purchafe the right of being infenfible to their cenfures, by giving no foundation for them ; let us force the world to refpeft what it cannot love ; let us not, of the holy profefTion of piety, make a fordid gain, a vile worldly interefl, a life of ill-na- ture and caprice, a claim to effeminacy andidlenefs, a fin- gularity from which we arrogate honour, a prejudice, a fpirit of intolerance which flatters us, and a fpirit of divi- Jion which feparates us from our fellow-creatures ; let us make it the price of eternity, the path to heaven, the rule of our duties, and the reparation of our crimes ; a fpirit of modeffy which makes us unaffuming, a compun£tion which humbles us, a gentlenefs which draws us to our brethren, a charity which makes us bear with them, an indulgence which attrafts their regard, a fpirit of peace which ties us to them ; and, lafily, an union of hearts, of defires, of affeftions, of good and evil on the earth, which (hall be the fore-runner and hope of that eternal union which charily is to confummate in heaven.

5ERM0N

SERMON V.

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF GOD.

Matthew xxi. i2.

And Jefus tvent into the temple of God, and cajl out all them that fold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers and the Je at s oj them that fold doves.

W,

HENCE comes* this afpe£l of zeal and of indignation which Jefus Chrift, on this occafion, allows his counte- nance to betray ? Is this then that King of Peace who was to appear in Sion armed with his meeknefs alone ? We have feen him fitting as Judge over an adultrefs, and he hath not even condemned her. We have feen at his feet the proftitute of the city, and he hath giacioufly forgiven her debaucheries and fcandals. His difciples wanted the fire of heaven to dcfcend upon an ungrateful and perverfe city, but he reproached them with being fliil unacquainted with that new fpiritof mercy and of charity which he came to fpread throughout the earth. He hath juft been lamenting with tears the miferies which threaten Jerufalem, that crimi- nal city, the murderefs of the prophets, which is on the eve ot fealing the fentence of her reprobation by the iniquitous death Oie is fo foon to inflifl on him whom God had fent to be her Redeemer. On every occafion he hath appeared feeling and merciful ; and, in conft-quence of the excefs

of

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF GOD. 129

of his meeknefs, he hath been called the friend even of publicans and Tinners.

What then are the outrages which now triumph over all his clemency, and arm his gracious hands with the rod of juftice and of wrath ? The holy temple is profaned ; his Father's houfe is difhonoured ; the place of prayer and the facred afylum of the penitent is turned into a houfe of traf- fic and of avarice : this is what calls the lightning into thofe eyes which would wifh to caff only looks of compaf- fion upon finners. Behold what obliges him to terminate a miniftry of love and of reconciliation, by a Hep of fevcrity and of wrath fimilar to that with which he had opened it. For remark, that what Jefus Chrift doth here, in terminating his career, he had already done when, after thirty-three years of a private life, he entered for the firft time into Je- rufalem, there to open his miffion, and to do the work of his Father. It might be faid that he had himfelf forgotten that fpirit of meeknefs and of long-fuffering which was to diftinguifh his miniftry from that of the ancient covenant, and under which he was announced by the prophets.

Many other fcandals, befides thofe feen in the temple, doubtlefs took place in that city, and were perhaps no lefs worthy of the zeal and the chaftifement of the Saviour; but, as if his Father's glory had been lefs wounded by them, he can conceal them for a time, and delay their punifhment. He burfls not forth at once againft the hypoc- rify of the pharifees, and the corruption of the fcribes and priefts ; but the chaftifement of the profaners of the tem- ple can admit of no delay ; his zeal on this occafion ad- mits Oi no bounds ; and fcarcely is he entered into Jeru- falem when he flies to the holy place, to avenge the honour of his Father there infulted, and the glory of his houfe which they difhonour. Of

13» SERMON V.

Of aîl crimes, in effefl, by which the greatnefs of God is infulted, I fee almoft none more deferving of his chaf. tifements than the profanations of his temples ; and they are fo much the more criminal, as the difpofitions required of us by religion, when afTifting there, ought to be more holy.

For, my brethren, fince our temples are a new heaven, ■where God dwelleth with men, they require the fame dif- pofitions of us as thofeof the blefTed in the heavenly tem- ple ; that is to fay, that the earthly altar, being the fame as that of heaven, and the Lamb, who offers himfelf and is facrificed there, being the fame, the difpofitions of thofe around him ought to be alike. Now, the firft difpofition of the bleffed before the throne of God and the altar of the Lamb, is a difpofition of purity and innocence. The fé- cond, a difpofition of religion and internal humiliation. Thirdly, and laftly, a difpofition even of decency and of modefty in drefs. Three difpofitions which comprife all the feelings of faith with which we ought to enter the tem- ples of God ; a difpofition of purity and innocence ; a dif- pofition of adoration and internal humiliation ; a difpofition even of external decency and modefty in drefs.

Part L The whole univerfe is a temple, which God filleth with his glory and with his prefence. Wherever we go, fays the apoftle, he is always befide us ; in him we live, move, and have our being. If we mount up to th« heavens, he is there ; if we plunge to the centre, there we {hall find him; if we traverfe the ocean on the wings ot the winds, it is his hand that guides us ; and he is alike the God of the diftant ifles which know him not, as of the kingdoms and regions which invoke his name.

Neverthelefs,

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF GOD. 131

Neverthelefs, in all times, men have confecrated places to him which he hath honoured with a fpecial prefence. The patriarchs erefted altars to him on certain fpots where he had appeared. The Ifraelites, in the defert confidered the tabernacle as the place in which his glory and his pre- fence continually refided ; and, come afterwards to Jeru- falem, they no more invoked him with the folemnity of in- cenfe and of viftims, but in that auguft temple erefted to him by Solomon. It was the firft temple confecrated by men to the true God. It was the mofl holy place in the univerfe ; the only one where it was permitted to offer up gifts and facrifices to the Lord. From all quarters of the earth the Ifraelites were obliged to come there to worlhip him ; captives in foreign kingdoms, their eyes, their wilh- es, and their homages were incefTantly bent towards the ho- ly place ; in the midft of Babylon, Jerufalem and her tem- ple were always the fOurce of their delight, of their regrets, and the objeft of their worfhip and of their prayers ; and Daniel chofe to expofe him.felf to all the fury of the lions, rather than to fail in that pious duty, and to deprive him- felf of that confolation. Jerufalem indeed had often feen infidel princes, attrafted by the fan6lity and the fame of her temple, coming to render homage to a God whom they knew not ; and Alexander himfelf, flruckwith the majefty of that place, and with the auguft gravity of its venerable pontiff, remembered that he was man, and bowed his proud head before the god of hoffs whom they there worfhipped.

At the birth of the gofpel, the houfes of belivers were at firft domeftic churches. The cruelty of tyrants obliged thofe firft difciples of faith to feek obfcure and hidden pla- ces, to conceal them from the rage of the perfecutions, there to celebrate the holy myfteries, and to invoke the name of the Lord. The majefty of the ceremonies enter- ed

t^Z s E R M O N V.

cd into the church only with that of the Cefars : Religion had its Davids and its Solomons who bluftied to inhabit fuperb palaces, while the Lord hath not whereon to lay his head : fumptuous edifices gradually rofe up in our cities : the God of heaven and of the earth again, if I dare to fay fo, re- fumed his rights ; and the temples themfelves where the de- mon had fo long been invoked, were reftored to him as to their rightful mailer, confecrated to his worfhip, and be- came his dwelling place.

But here they are no more empty temples like that of Jerufalem, where every thing took place figuratively. The •Lord ftill dwelt in the heavens, faid the prophet, and his throne was ftill above the clouds ; but (ince he hath deign- ed to appear upon the earth, to hold converfe with men, and to leave us, in the myftical benediftions, the real pledge of his body and of his blood, aftually contained under thefe facred figns, the heavenly altar hath no longer any advantage over ours ; the viflim which we there immolate is the Lamb of God ; the bread in which we participate is the immortal food of the angels and blefled fpirits ; the myftical wine we there drink is that new beverage with which they make glad in the kingdom of the heavenly Fa- ther ; the facred canticle we there fing, is that which the celeftial harmony makes continually to refound around the throne of the Lamb ; laftly, our temples are thofe new heavens promifedby the prophet to men. We fee not ful- ly there, it is true, all that is feen in the heavenly Jerufa- lem, for here below we fee only myftically, and, as it were, through a veil ; but we poffefs him, we enjoy him, and heaven hath no longer any advantage over the earth.

Now, I fay, that our temples being a new heaven, filled with the glory and the prefence of the Lord, innocence and

purity

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF GOD. 133

purity are the firfl difpofition by which we are entitled, like the blefled in the eternal temple, to appear there ; for the God, before whom we appear, is an holy God,

In efFeft, my brethren, the fanftity of God, fpread throughout the univerfe, is one ot" the greateft motives held out by religion to induce us every where to walk be- fore him in purity and in innocence. As all creatures are fanftified by the intimate refidence of the divinity who dwelleth in them, and all places are full of his glory and immenfity, the divine writings incefiantly warn us every where to refpeft the prefence of God who feeth and who watcheth us; on no occafion to offer any thing to his eyes which may wound the fanftity of his regards ; and not to fully with our crimes that earth which wholly is his tem- ple and the dwelling-place of his glory. The finner, who bears an impure confcience, is therefore a kind of profaner unworthy of living upon the earth ; for, by the fole fitua- tionof his corrupted heart, he every where difhonours the prefence of the holy God who is ever befide him, and he profanes every fpot where he bears his crimes, for all pla- ces are fanftified through the immenfity of the God who filleth and confecrateth them.

But, if the univerfal prefence of God be a reafon why we fhould every where appear pure and without {lain to his eyes, doubtlefs thofe places which in that univerfe, are particularly confecrated to him, our temples, in which the divinity, as 1 may fay, corporeally refides, much more require that we fhould appear in them pure and without ftain, left the fanftity of the God who filleth and dwelleth in them be difhonoured.

Vol. II. § Thus,

s 34 SERMON Vi

Thus, when the Lord had permitted Solomon to ereft, to his glory that temple fo famed for its magnificence, and fo venerable through the fplendour of its worfhip and the majefty of its ceremonies, what rigid precautions did he not take, left men fhould abufe his goodnefs in choofing a fpecial dwelling-place amid them, and left they fhould dare to appear there, in his prefence, covered with ftains and defilements ! What barriers did he not place betwixt him- felf, as I may fay, and man ; and, in drawing near to us, what an interval did not his holinefs leave betwixt the fpot filled with his prefence, and the eyes of the people who came to invoke him !

Yes, my brethren, hear a defcription of it. Within the circle of that vaft edifice which Solomon confecrated to the majefty of the God of his fathers, the Lord chofe, for the place of his abode, only the moft retired and the moft inacceflible fpot ; that was the holy of holies, that is to fay, the fole fpot of that immenfe temple which was regarded as the dwelling-place and the temple of the Lord upon the earth. And, befides, what terrible precautions defended its entry ! An outer and far diftant wall furrounded it ; and there, the gentiles and foreigners, who wifhed to be in- ftru6led in the law, could only approach. Secondly, An- other wall very diftant concealed it ; and there the Ifrael- ites alone were entitled to enter ; yet was it neceffary that they fliould be free from ftain, and that they had carefully- purified themfelves, through ftated faftings and ablutions, before they fiiould dare to approach a place ftill fo diftant from the holy of holies. Thirdly, Another wall more ad- vanced ftifl feparated it from the reft of the teipple ; and there the prielts alone entered every day to offer facrifices, and to renew the facred loaves expofed upon the altar. The Jaw required that every other Ifraclite who fhould dare to

approach

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF GOD. 135

zpproach it fhould be ftoned as a facrilegious profaner ; and even a king of Ifrael, who thought himfelf entitled, through his regal dignity, to come there to offer up ineenfe, was- inftantly covered with leprofy, degraded from his royahy, and excluded for the reft of his life from all fociety and commerce with men. Laftly, After fo many barriers and reparations appeared the holy of holies; that place, fo ter- rible and fo concealed, covered with an impenetrable veil, inacceffible to every mortal, to every righteous, to every prophet, even to every minifter of the Lord, the fovereign pontiff alone excepted ; and, even he was entitled to ap- pear there only once in the year, after a thoufand flri6l and religious precautions, and bearing in his hand the blood of the viftim for which alone the gates of that fa- cred place were opened.

Yet, after all, what did that holy of holies, that fpot io formidable and fo inacceffible, contain ? The tables of the. law, the manna, the rod of Aaron ; empty figures, and- the fhadows of futurity : The holy God himfelf, who fometimes gave out from thence his oracles, yet dwelt not there as in the fan6luary of Chriflians, the gates of which are indifcriminately opened to every believer.

Now, my brethren, if the goodnefs of God, in a law of love and grace, hath no longer placed thefe terrible bar- riers betwixt him and us, if he hath deftroyed that wall of reparation which removed him fo far from man, and hath permitted to every believer to approach the holy of holies, where he himfelf now dwelleth, it is not that his fan6Hty exafts lefs purity and innocence of thofe who come to pre- fent themfelves before him. His defign hath only been to render us more pure, more holy, and more faithful, and to make us feel what ought to be the fanftity of a Chriflianv

feeing

136 SERMON Vi

feeing he is every day obliged to fupport at the foot of the altar, and of the terrible fanftuary, the prefence of the God ■whom he invokes and whom he worlhips.

And for this reafon it is that Peter calls all Chriftians an holy nation ; for they are equally entitled to prefent them- felves before the holy altar; a chofen generation, for they are all feparated from the world and from every profane cuftom, confecrated to the Lord, and folely deflined to his worfliip and to his fervice ; and, laftly, a royal priefl- hood,forthey all participate, in one fenfe, in the priefthood of his Son, the High Prieft of the new law, and becaufe the privilege of entering into the holy of holies, formerly granted to the fovereign pontiff alone, is become as the common and daily right of every believer.

It is folely through the fanflity, then, of our baptifm and of our confecration, that thefe facred gates are open to us. If impure, we, in forae refpeft, forfeit this right; we have no longer a part in the altar ; we are no longer worthy of the affembiy of the holy, and the temple of God is no longer for us.

Our temples, my brethren, ought therefore to be the houfe of the righteous alone. Every thing that takes place there fuppofes righteoufnefs and fanflity in the fpeftators ; the myfleries which we there celebrate are holy and awful myfleries, and which require pure eyes ; the vi£lim we there offer up is the reconciliation of the penitent, or the bread of the ftrong and perfefl ; the facred anthems heard there are the groanings of a contrite heart, or the fjghs of a chafle and believing foul. And on this account it is that the church takes care to purify even every thing that is to appear on the altar : Ihe confecrates with prayers even

the

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF GOD. 137

the ftones of thcfe holy buildings, as if to render them worthy of fuffaining the prefence and the looks of the God who dwelleth in them : fhe expofes at the doors of our temples a water fanftified by prayers, and recommends to believers to fprinkle it over their heads before they enter into the holy place, as if to complete their purification from any flight flains which might ftill remain ; left the fanftity oi the God before whom they come to appear fhould be injured by them.

Formerly, the church permitted not, within the circle of her facred walls, even tombs to the bodies of believers : fhe received not into that holy fpot the fpoils of their mor- tality : fhe did not believe that the temple of God, that new heaven filled with his prefence and glory, fhould ferve as an afylum to the aflies of thofe whom fhe number- ed not as yet among the blefled.

The public penitents themfelves were, for a long time, excluded from affifting at the holy myfteries. Proftrated at the doors of the temple, covered with hair-cloth and afhes, even the aflembly of believers was denied to them equally as to the anathematifed ; their tears and their mor- tifications alone could at length open to them thefe facred gates. And what delight, when, after having groaned for, and fupplicated their reconciliation, they found themfelves in the temple among their brethren ; they once more be- held thofe altars, that fanft uary, thofe minifters fo deeply engaged in the awful myfteries ; they heard their names pronounced at the altar with thofe of the believers, and fung with them hymns and holy fongs ! What tears of rapture and of religion were then not flied ! What regret for having fo long deprived themfelves of fo fweet a con- folation ! a fingle day, O my God, palled in thy holy

houfe.

138 SERMON V.

houfe, cried they no doubt with the prophet, is more con- foling to the heart, than whole years I'pent in pleafuie, and in the tents of the wicked ! Such were formerly the tem- ples of Chriftians. Far from thefe facred walls, faid then the minifler with a loud voice to all the affembly of belie- vers, far from thefe facred walls be the unclean, the impure, the worfliippers of idols, and whofoever loveth or mak- €th a lie.

The church, it is true, ho longer makes this rigorous difcrimination. The multitude of believers, and the de- pravation of manners, having rendered it impoflible, fhe opens the gates of our temples indifferently to the righteous, and to fmners : fhe draws the veil of her fanftuary in pre- fence even of the profane : and, in order to begin the aw- ful myfteries, her minifters no longer wait the departure of the finful and unclean. But the church fuppofes, that, if you be not righteous in coming here to appear before the majefty of a God fo holy, you bring with you at Icafl de- fires of righteoufnefs and of penitence : (he fuppofes, that, if not yet altogether purified from your crimes, you at leaft feel contrition for them ; that you come to lament them at the foot of the altar ; and that your confufion and the fincere regret of your faults, are now to begin here your j unification and your innocence.

If finners, it is your defires towards a more Chriftian life which alone can authorife your appearing in this holy place ; and, if you come not here to lament over your crimes, but bring with you, even to the foot of the altar, the will, and the aftual and rooted affeftion for them, the church, it is true, who fees not, nor judges the heart, ex- cludes you not from thefe facred walls ; but God invifibly rejefteth you. In his eyes you are accurfed and excom- municated,

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF GOD. J30

municated, and have no right in the altar, or in the facri- fices ; you are one who comes to ûain, by your fole pre- fence, the fanélity of the awful myfteries, to feat your- felf in a place where you have no right to be feated, and from whence the angel of the Lord, who watches at the gate of the temple invifibly chafes you, as he formerly chafed the fir ft (inner from that place of innocence and of fanftity, which the Lord fan£lified with his prefence.

And in efFeft, to feel guilty of the mofl fhameful crimes, and to come to appear here in the moft holy place of the «arth ; to come to appear before God, without being at leaft touched with fhame and forrow, without thinking at leaft upon the means of quitting fo deplorable a fituation, without at leaft wifhing it, , forming fome fentiments of religion ; to bring even to the toot of the altar defiled bo- dies and fouls; to force the eyes even of God, as I may fay, to familiarife themfelves with guilt, without at leaft confefling to him the forrow of thus appearing before him covered with (hame and reproach, and faying to him like Peter ; " Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a finful man ;'* or, like the prophet, " Hide thy face from my fins, and " blot out all mine iniquities," that I may be worthy of appearing here in thy prefence, is to profane the temple of God, to infult his glory and majefty, and the fanftity of his myfteries.

For, my dear hearer, be whom ye may who come to af- fift here, you come to offer up fpiritually with the prieft the awful facrifice : you come to prefent to God the blood of his Son, as the propitiation ol your fins : you come to appeafe his juftice, through the dignity and the excellence oi thefe holy offerings ; and to reprefent to him the claim which you have upon his mercies, ever fince the blood of

hi?

J40 ' SERMON V.

his Son hath purified you ; and that you no longer form in one fenfe with him, but one fame prieft, and one fame viftim. Now, when you appear with an hardened and cor- rupted heart, without any fentiment of faith, or any de- fire of amendment, you difavow the miniftry of the prieft who offers in your ftead : you difavow the prayers he fends up to the Lord, in which, through the mouth of the prieft, you entreat him to caft his propitious looks on thofe holy offerings which are upon the altar, and to ac- cept of them as the price of the abolition of your crimes : you even infult the love ot Jefus Chrift himfelf, who re- news the grand objeft of your redemption, and who pre- fents you to his Father as a portion of that pure and fpot- lefs church which he hath wafhed in his blood : you infult the piety of the church, who, believiug you united in her faith and in her charity, places in your mouth, through the hymns which accompany the holy myfteries, fentiments of religion, of forrow, and of penitence : Laftly, You deceive the faith and the piety ot the righteous there pre- fent, and who, confidering you as forming with them on- ly one heart, one mind, and one fame facrifice, join them- felves with you, and offer to the Lord your laith, your defires, your prayers as their own. You are there, then, as an anathematifed, feparated from all the reft of your brethren ; an impoftor, who fecretly difavow what you are publicly profeffing, and who come to infult religion, and to rejeft all fliare in the redemption and in the facrifice of Jefus Chrift, in the very moment that he is renewing the memory, and offering up the price of it to his Fa;;her.

What are we thence to conclude ? That, if a finner, we are to banifti ourfelves from our temples, and from the ho- ly myfteries ? God forbid. Ah ! then it is that we ought to come to this holy place in fearch of our deliverance ;

then

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF G«D. 141

then it is that we ought to come to folicit, at the ioot of the ahar, the tender mercies of the Lord, ever ready ia that place to lend a favourable ear to finners ; then it is that we ought to call in every religious aid held out to faith, to aroufe in ourfelves, it poffible, fome fentiments of piety and of repentance. And whither, O my brethren, fhali we fly, when unhappily fallen under the difpleafure of God ! And what other refource could remain for us ? It is here alone that finners can find a refuge : here flow the quickening waters of the facrament, which alone have the virtue of purifying the confcience : here the facrifice of propitiation is offered up for them, alone capable of appeafing the jufl;ice of God, which their crimes have ir- ritated : here the truths of falvation, enforced upon their heart, infpire them with hatred againfl fin and love of righteoufnefs : here their ignorance is enlightened, their errors diflipated, their weaknefs fuftained, their good defires flrengthened : here, in a word, religion offers remedies for all their ills. It is finners, therefore, who ought moft to frequent thefe holy temples ; and the more their wounds are inveterate and hopelefs, the more eagerly ought they to fly here in fearch of a cure.

Such is the firft difpofition of innocence and of purity, which the prefence here of an holy God requires of us, as of the bieffed in heaven : " For they are without fault be- ••^ fore the throne ot God."

But if the fole ftate of guilt, without remorfe, without any wiffi for a change, and with an aftual intention of per- fevering in it, be a kind of irreverence, by which the fanc- tity of our temples and of our myfleries is profaned ; what, O my God ! fhall it be to choofe thefe holy places, and the hour of the awful myfleries, to come to infpire infamous paf-

VoL. II. T fions;

14^ s E R M O N V.

fions ; to permit themfelves impure looks ; to form crimi- nal defires ; to feek opportunities which decency alone prevents them from feeking elfewhere ; to meet objefts whom the vigilance of thofe who inftruft us keeps at a diftance in all other reforts ? What ihall it be to make in- ilrumental to guilt, what in religion is moft holy ; to choofe thy prefence, great God ? to conceal the fecret of an im- pure pafTion, and to make thy holy temple a rendezvous of iniquity, a place more dangerous than even thofe affem- Ijsies of fin which religion interdits to believers ? What guilt, to come to crucify afrefh Jefus Chrift in the very place where he offers himfelf up for us every day to his Fa- ther ! What guilt, to employ, in order to forward our own ruin, the very hour in which the mylleries of falvation, and the redemption of all men, are operated ! What madnefs, to come to choofe the eyes of our Judge to render him the witnefs of our crimes, and of his prefence to make the moft horrible caufe of our condemnation ! What a neg- lefl of God, and what a mark of reprobation to change the facred afylums of our reconciliation into opportunities of debauchery and licentioufnefs !

Great God ! when infulted on mount Calvary, where thou wert ftill a fuffering God, the tombs opened around Jerufalem ; the dead arofe, as if to reproach to their de- fcendants the horror of their facrilege. Ah Î reanimate then the afhes of our fathers who await, in this holy temple, the blelTed immortality ; let their bodies rife out of thefe pompous tombs which our vanity hath erefted to them ; and, inflamed with an holy indignation againft irreverences which crucify thee afrefh, and which profane the facred afylum of the remains of their mortality, let them ap- pear upon thefe monuments ; and fince our inftruftions and our threatenings are unavailing, let them come them-

felvcs

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF GOD. I43

Wves to reproach to their fucceffors their irréligion and their facrileges. But it the terror of thy prefence, O my God ! be fufficient to retain them in rerpeft, were the dead even to rife up, as thou hall formerly faid, they would, in confequence of it, be neither more religious nor more be- lievi.jg.

But if the prefence of an holy God require here, as of the blefTed in heaven, a difpofition of purity and innocence; the prefence of a God, terrible and full of majefty, re- quires one of dread and of internal colleftion : Second difpofition, marked by the profound humiliation of the blelfed in the heavenly temple ; " And they fell before the ** throne on their faces, and worfhippcd God."

Part II. God is fpirit and truth, and it is in fpirit and in truth that he requireth principally to be honoured. That difpofition of proiound humiliation, which we owe to him in our tSmples, confifts not, therefore, folely in the external pofture of our bodies; it alfo comprifes, like that of the blefTed in heaven, a fpirit of adoration, of praife, of prayer, and of thankfgiving ; and fuch is that fpirit of religion and of humiliation which God demandeth of us in the holy temple, fimilar to that of the blelfed in the heavenly temple.

I fay a fpirit of adoration ; for as it is here that God manifefteth his wonders and his fupreme greatnefs, andde- fcendeth from heaven to receive our homages, the firft fenti- ment which Ihould be formed within us on entering into this holy place, is a fentiment of terror, of filence, and profound recoUeftion, of internal humiliation, on viewing the majefty of the moft High and our own meannefs ; to be occupied with God alone who fheweth himfelf to us, to

feel

J44 * • s E R M O N V.

feel all the weiglit ot his glory and of his prefence ; tù coUeft all our attention, all our thoughts, all our defires, our whole foul, to pay him the homage of it, and to call it wholly at the feet of the God whom we worlhip ; to for- get all the grandeurs ol the earth ; to fee only him, to be occupied only with him ; and, by our profound humiliation, to confefs, like the bleffed in heaven, that he alone is al- mighty, alone immortal, alone great, alone worthy ot all our love and of our homages.

But, alas ! my brethren, Where, in our temples are thofe refpeftful fouls, who, feized with an holy dread at the fight of thefe facred places, feel all the weight of the inajefly of the God who dwelleth in them, and are incapa- ble of fupporting the fplendour of his prefence, otherwife than in the immobility of an humiliated body and the pro- found religion of a foul who adores ? Where are thofe who, lofing fight of all the grandeurs of the earth, are here occupied with that of God alone ? Let us boldly fay it be- fore a king whofe profound refpe£l, at the feet of the altar, does equal honour to religion and to himfelf ; it is not to honour the God who dwelleth here, that too many enter into ihis holy temple ; it is to cover themfelves with the cloaLof piety, and to make it inftrumental towards views and interdis, which fiucere piety condemns ; they come to bow their knee, as Haman bowed it before the profane altar, to attrafcf; the regards, and to follow the example of the prince who worfhips ; they come there to feek another God than he who appears on our altars ; to make their court to another mailer than the fupreme Ma fier ; to feck other favours than the grace of fdcaven, and to attraft the kind- iiefs of another pay-mafter than the immortal Rewarder. Amid a crowd ot woilhippers he is an unknown God in his own temple, as he formerly was in the pagan Athens.

Every

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF GOD. I45

Every look here is for the prince who hath none himfef, but for God ; all wifties areaddreffed to him ; and his pro- found humiliation at the foot of the altar, far from teach- ing us to refpeft iiere the Lord, before whom a great king bows his head and forgets all his greatnefs, teaches us only to take advantage of his religion, and of the favours with which he honours virtue, to adopt their femblance, and, through that deception, to exalt ourfelves to new degrees of greatnefs upon the earth. O my God! is not this what thou announcedft to thy difciples ; that times would come when faith fhould be extinguifhed, when piety would be- come an infamous traffic, and when men, living without God upon the earth, would no longer acknowledge thee, but in order to make thee fubfervient to their iniquitous defires ?

. A fpirit of prayer is alfo comprifed in this difpofition of humiliation ; for the more we are Ibnck here with the greatnefs and with the power of the God whom we wor- fhip, the more do our endlefs wants warn us to have re- courfe to him, from whom alone we can obtain relief and deliverance from them. Thus the temple is the houfe of prayer, where every one ought to come to lay his fe- cret wants before the Lord ; where, in public calamities, he is appeafed by the general prayers ; where the alTembled miniHers lift up their hands for the fins of the people, and where the eyes of the Lord are ever open to our wants, and his ears attentive to our cries.

Not but wc may addrefs ourfelves to him, as the apoftle fays, in every place ; but the temple is the fpot wheie he is more propitious, and where he hath promifed to be al- ways prefent to receive our homages, and to lend 2 fa- vourable ear to our requefts. Yes, my brethren, it i,: liere

iljat

146 SERMON V.

that we ought to come to join in lamentation with thé church, over the fcandals with which flie is affli£led, over the divifions with which fhe is torn, and over the danger» which furround her ; over the obflinacy of Tinners, and the coldnefs of charity among behevers ; we come with her to folicit the mercies of the Lord upon his people ; to in- treat of him the ceffation of wars and other public fcour- ges ; theextinftion of fchifms and errors; the knowledge and the love of righteoufnefs and of truth ior Tinners ; and perfeverance for thejuft. You ought, therefore, to come with an attentive and collefted mind, a prepared heart, and which offers nothing to the eyes of God tliat may avert the favours folicited by the church for you, and to appear with that exterior of a fuppliant, which, of iifelf, (hews that he prays and that he worQiips.

Neverthelefs, my brethren, while the minifters are lift- ing up their hands here for you ; are fupplicating the Lord for the profperity of your families, for abundance to your lands, for the prefervation of your relations and chil- dren, who perhaps expoTe themfelves for the welfare of their country, for the end of wars, diflentions, and all the miferies with which we are afflifted ; while they are in- treating remedies for your backflidings, and aids for your weaknefs ; while they are fpeaking to the holy God in your favour, you deign not even to accompany their prayers with your attention and your reTpeft. You difhonour the holy gravity of the church's lamentations by a fpirit of inattention, and by indecencies which would hardly be- come even thofe criminal reforts where you liften to pro- fane fongs ; and the only difference in your behaviour is that, in the one, you are touched and rendered attentive by a lafcivious harmony, while here you endure with impa- tience.

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF GOD. I47

îience, the divine fongs in thankfgiving and in praife of the Lord.

Thus, my brethren, in place of the public prayers ar- refting the arm of the Lord, fo long impending over our heads ; in place of the fupplications, which refound in every part of our temples, being able, as formerly, to fufpend the fcourges of Heaven, to bring back days of peace and of tranquillity, to reconcile nations and kings, and to attraft peace from heaven to the earth ; alas I the days of evil ftill endure ; the times of trouble, of mourn- ing, and of defolation ceafe not ; war and fury fcem to have for ever taken up their abode among men ; the defo- late widow demands her hufband; the affliftecl father in vain look out tor his child ; brother is divided from bro- ther ; even our fuccelTes fhed mourning and forrow through our families, and we are forced to weep over our ov/n viflories. Whence comes this ? Ah ! it is that the prayers of the church, the only fources ol the favours which God Iheddeth upon kingdoms and upon empires, are no longer liftened to ; and that you force the Lord, through the irrev- erence with which you accompany them, to avert his ears, and turn his attention from them, and which thereby ren- ders them ufelefs to the earth.

But, not only ought you to appear here as fuppliants, and in a fpirit of prayer, fin ce it is here that the Lord dealeth out his favours and his grace; as it is here, like- wife, that every thing renev.'s to you the remembrance of thofe already received ; you ought alfo to bring here a fpirit of gratitude and of thankfgiving, feeing that, on whichever way you turn your eyes, that every thing re- calls to you the remembrance of God's blefiings, and the fight of his eternal mercies upon your foul.

And,

148 SERMON V.

And, fîrftly, it is here where, in the facramcnt by which we are regenerated, you have become believers : it is here that thegoodnefs of God, in afTociating you, through bap- tifm, to the hope ot Jefus Chrift, hath difcerned you from fo many heathens who know him not : it is here that you have engaged your faith to the Lord ; your written promifes are flill preferved under the aUar. Here is rhe book of the covenant which you have made with the God of your fathers : you fhouid no longer, then, appear there, but to ratify the engagements ot your baptifm, and to thank the Lord for the ineftimable bleffing which hath afTociated you with his people, and honoured you with the name of Chridian; you ought to feel all the tendernefs and refpeflof a child, for the blefTed womb which hath brought you forth in Jefus Chrift, and the glory of this houfe ought to be your glory.

What are you then, when, in place of bringing your thankfgivings to the feet of the altar for fo fingular and fo diftinguifhed a blefTing, you come to difhonour it by your irreverences ? You are an unnatural child, who profane the place ot your birth according to faith ; a perfidious Chriftian, who come to retraft your promifes before the very altars which witnefTed them : who come to break the treaty on the facred fpot where it was concluded ; to blot yourfelf out of the book of life, where your name was written with thofeof the faithful ; to abjure the religion of Jefus Chrift on the very fonts where you had received it ; to make a pompous difplay of all the vanities of the age, at the feet of the altar where you had folemnly renounced them ; and to profefs worldlinefs where you made protef- fion of Chriftianity.

Nor

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF GOD. J 49

Nor is this all; for, fecondly, it is here that Jefus Chrift hath fo often faid to you, through the mouth of his minifters, •' My fon, thy fins are forgiven thee ; go, and " fin no more, left a worfe thing befal thee." It is here that, melting in tears, you have fo often faid to him, " Fa- " ther, I have finned againft heaven, and before thee." New, my brethren, on every fpot vk^here you have fo oftea experienced the grace of forgivenefs, not only you forget the blefling, but you come to give new fubjeél of offence; on the very fpot where you have fo often appeared peni- tent, you proclaim yourfelves flill worldly and profane. Ah ! Far from coming to thefe holy tribunals to recapitu- late the disorders of your life ; far from coming to renew thofe promifes of penitence, thofe fentiments of com- pun6lion, thofe emotions of fhame and of confufion, of which they have fo often been the depofitories ; you boldly appear before them with an unblufhing countenance, your eyes wandering here and there, full, perhaps, of guilt and adultery, as the apoftle fays, to renew in their prefence the fame infidelities that your tears had once expiated, and to render them ocular witneffes of the fame prevarications, of which they had been the fecret confidents and the blef- fed purgers]

What more fhall I fay, my brethren ? In the third place, the temple is the houfe of do6lrine and of truth ; and it is here that, through the mouth of the paftors, the church announces to you the maxims of falvation, and the myfle- ries of the heavenly kingdom, concealed from fo ma- ny infidel nations ; frefh motive of gratitude on your part. But, alas ! It is rather a frefh fubjetl of condemna- tion ; and, even here, where, from thefe Chriflian pulpits, we are continually telling you from Jefus Cluiff, that the unclean fhall never enjoy the kingdom of heaven, you

Vol. II. U come

»5* s E R M O' N V.

come to form profane de fires ; even here, where you are warned that you fhall, one day, have to render an account of an idle word, you permit yourfelves criminal ones : Laftly, even here, where you fo often hear repeated that evil to him that fcandalizeth, you become yourfelf, a ftum- bling-block, and a fubjeftof fcandal. Thus, my brethren, why do you believe that the word of the gofpel, which we preach to princes and to the grandees of the earth, is no longer but a tinkling brafs, and that our minillry is now become almoft unnecefTary ? It may be that our private weaknefTes place a bar to the fruit, and to the progrefs of the gofpel, and that God blefs not a miniftry, the minif- ters of which are not pleafing in his fight : But, befides this reafon, fo humiliating for us, and which we cannot, however, either diflemble from you, or even conceal from ourfelves ; it is, doubtlefs, the profanation of the temples, and the indecent and difrefpeftful manner in which you liften to us, that deprive the word, oi which we are the mi- nifters, of all its energy and virtue. The Lord, eftranged, from this holy place through your profanations, no lon- ger giveth increafe to our toils, nor flieddeth his grace, which alone caufeth his doQrine and his word fo fruftify : He no longer looketh upon thefe affemblies, formerly fo holy, butas an affembly of worldly-minded, of voluptu- ous, of ambitious, and of profane. And how would you that he turn not his countenance from them, and that the word of his gofpel fru6lify there. Reconcile, in the firft place, with him, by your homages, by your collefted be- haviour, and your piety, thefe houfes of the doftrine and ot truth : then will he compenfate for our deficiencies ; he will open your hearts to our inllruftions, and his word fliall no longer return empty to him.

But

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF GOD. l^t

But a final reafon, which renders your irreverential be- haviour flill more criminal and more difgraceful torehgion, is, that it is in the temple where you come to offer up, in one fenfe with the prieft, the awful facrifice, to renew the oblation ot the crofs, and to prefent to God the blood of his Son as the propitiation of your fins. Now, mv bre- thren, while myfteries fo auguft are celebrating; during thefe awful moments when heaven opens above our altars ; in a time when the affair of your falvation is agitated between Jefus Cfirifl and his Father ; while the blood ot the Lamb is flowing upon the altar to waf]i you from {lain ; while the angels of heaven trembled and adore; while the folemnity of the minifters, the majefty of the ceremonies, and even the piety of the true believers, all infpire fear, gratitude, and refpeft, fcarcelv do you bow the knee, fcarcely do you caff a look upon the holy altar, where myfteries fo bleffed for you are confummating ; it is even with reluc- tance that you are in the temple ; you meafure the dura- tions and the fatiguing length of the falutary facrifice; you count the moments of time fo precious to the earth, and fo replete with wonders and grace for men. You who are fo embarraffed with your time, who facrifice it to an eternal inutility and circle of nothings, and who are even difficulted in contriving to kill it ; you complain of the pious folemnity of theminifter, and of the circurafpeftion with which he treats the holy things ? Ah ! you require fuch refpeft and fuch precaution in thofe who ferve you ; and you would that a prieft clothed in all his dignity, that a prieft reprefenting Jefus Chrift, and performing his office of mediator and high-prieft with his Father, fhould treat the holy myfteries with precipitation, and diflionour the prefence of the God whom he ferves, and whom he immo- lates, by a fhameiul carelefsnefs and hafte ? In what times, O my God, are we come ? And was it to be expe61ed that

thy

l^e ' s E R M O N V.

thy mofl; precious and mofl fignal kindnefles fliould become a burden to the Chriftians of our ages ?

Alas ! the firfl believers, who met in the temple at ftated hours of the day, to celebrate in hymns and fongs with their pallor the praifes of the Lord, they almoft never quitted thefe facred abodes, and that only with regret, when oblig- ed to attend to the affairs of the age, and to the duties of their ftation. How beautiful my brethren, to fee in thofe happy times the holy affembly of believers in the houfeof prayer, each in the place adapted to his ilation ; on one ii(!e, the reclufe, the holy confefTors, the common belie- vers ; on the other, the virgins, the widows, the married women, all attentive to the holy myfteries, all beholding with tears of joy and of religion to flow upon the altar, the blood flill reeking, as I may fay, of the Lamb, and fo lately crucified before their eyes ; praying for the princes, for the Casfars, for their perfecutors, for their brethren, mutually exhorting each other to martyrdom, tailing all the confolation of the divine writings explained by their holy pallors, and retracing in the church of the the earth, the joy, the peace, the innocence, and the profound me- ditation of the heavenly church ! How beautiful and fplen- did were then the tents of Jacob, although the church was yet under opprelTion and obfcurity ; and the enemies of faith, even the prophets of the idols, in viewing their good order, their innocence and their majelly , with what difficulty did they refufe to them their admiration and their homages ! Alas! and at prefent the rapid moments which you confecrate here to religion, and which ought to fanftify the remainder of the day, often become themfelves the greatefl guilt of it.

Lallly, my brethren, to all thefe inward difpofitions of prayer, of adoration, and of gratitude, which the fan£lity

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF GOD. i^^

ot our temples exafts of you, there is likewife to be added, the external modefty, and the decency of ornaments and of drefs ; laft difpofition of the bleffed in the heavenly tem- ple : but on this part I Ihall be very brief.

And in efFeét, fhould any inftruftion on our part be ne- ceflary to you on this point, O worldly women ? for it is you whom this part of my difcourfe principally regards. To what purpofe all that difplay, I fay not only of oftenta- tion and of vanity, but of immodelly and of impudence, with which you make your appearance in this houfe of tears and of prayer? Do you come here to difpute with Jefus Chriff, the looks and the homages of thofe who wor- fliip him ? Do you come here to infult the myfteries which operate the falvation of believers, by feeking to corrupt their heart at the feet even of the altars, where thefe myfteries take place for them ? Are you determined that innocence fhall in no place of the earth not even in the temple, that afylum of religion and piety, be protefted from your pro- lane and lafcivious nakednefs ? Doth the world not fuf- ficiently furnifh you with impure theatres, with alTemblies of diffipation, where you may make a boaft of being a ftumbling-block to your brethren ? Even your houfes, open to diffipation and to riot, do they not fuffice for you to ligure with an indecency which would formerly have been fuited only to houfes of debauchery and of guilt ; and which is the caufe that, not refpc6ling yourfelves, that refpeft is loft for you, of which the national politenefs hath always been fo jealous; for modefty alone is eftima- ble, as St. Paul formerly reproached to believers. Muft the holy temple be alfo ftained by your immodefties ? Ah! when you appear before your earthly fovereign, you mark, by the dignity and by the propriety of your deportment, the refpeft which you know to be due to his prefence ;

and

:154 s E R M O N Vi

and, before the Sovereign of heaven and of earth, yoa make your appearance, not only without precaution, but even without decency or modefty : and you difplay under his eyes an effrontery, which wounds even the eyes of the wife and refpedablc ! You come to diflurb the attention of the believers who had expef^ed to have found here a place of peace and of filence, and an afylum againft all the ob- jets of vanity; to difturb even the deep meditation and the holy gravity of the minifters, and to fully, by the in- decency of your drefs, the purity of their looks attentive to the holy things.

Thus the apoftle defired, that the Chriftian women (hould be covered with a veil in the temple, on account of the an- gels, that is to fay, ofthepriefts, who are continually pre- fent there before God, and whofe innocence and purity ought to equal that of the heavenly fpirits. True it is, that thou hereby warnefl us, O my God, what ought, in our temples, to be the holy gravity, and the inviolable colle6lion of thy miniflers ; that it is for us to bear here, flamped upon our countenance, the holy dread of the myfte- ries which we offer up, and the lively and intimate fenfe of thy prefence : that it is for us to infp ire here the peo- ple around us with refpc6f, by the fole appearance of our modefty : that it is for us not to appear around the altar, and employed in the holy miniftry, often more wearied, more carelefs, and more in hafte than even the affifling multitude : and not to authorife their irreverences by our own. For, O my God! the defolation of the holy place hath commenced with the fanftuary itfelf; the refpeft of the people tliere hath become weakened only in confequence of being no longer fupporled by the holy gravity of the worfhip, and the majefty of the ceremonies ; and thy houfe hath begun to be a houfe of diffipation and of fcandal,

only

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF COD. 1^5

only fince thy minifters have made of it a houfe of traffic, of wearinefs, and ot avarice. But our examples, in au- thorifing your profanations, do not excufe them, my bre- thren.

And, in effeft, it feems that God hath never left them unpunifhed. The fhameful indecencies of the children of Levi, which had fo long profaned his houfe, were follow- ed with the moft difmal calamities : the holy ark became a prey to the Philiftines ; it was placed at the fide of Da- gon in an infamous temple ; the glory of Ifrael was blaft- ed; the Lord withdrew himfelf from amidft his people; the lamp of Judah was extinguifhed ; there was no high- prieft, and Jacob was, all of a fudden, without altar and without facrifice.

There is little doubt, my brethren, but that the miferics of the lad age have been the fatal confequences of the pro- fanations and of the irreverences of our fathers. It was juft that the Lord (hould abandon temples where he had fo long been infulted. Dread, my brethren, left we prepare lor our pofterity the fame calamities, in imitating the dif- orders of thofe who have preceded us. Dread, left an ir- ritated God fhoald one day abandon tbefe temples wliich we profane, and left they, in their turn, become the afy- lum of error. What do I know but that he is already pre- paring all thefe evils tor us, in permitting the purity and the fimplicity of faith to be adulterated in the minds, in mul- tiplying thofe men fo wife in their own conceit, and fo common in this age, who meafure every thing by the lights of a weak reafon, who would wifti to fathom the fe- crecies of God, and who, far from making religion the fubje61 of their worfhip and of their thankfgivings, make it the fubjeft pf their doubts and their cenfures ? Thou art

terrible

1^6 SERMON V*

terrible in thy judgments, O my God ! and thy punifli- ments are fometimes fo much the more rigorous, as they are tardy and flow.

Let us refleft then, my brethren on all thefe grand mo- tives of religion ; let us bring into this holy place a tender and an attentive piety, a fpirit of piety, ot compunftion, of colleftion, of thankfgiving, ot adoration, and of praife ; let us never quit our temples without bearing from them fome new grace, fince here is the throne of mercy from whence they are fhed upon men ; never quit them without an additional relifli fw heaven, without new defires of ter- minating your errors, and of attaching yourfelves folely to God ; without envying the happinefs oi thofe who ferve him, who have it in their power to be continually wor- fliipping him at the feet of the altar, and whofe ftationand fun6lions particularly confecrate them to this holy miniftry. Say to him, as the queen of Sheba formerly faid to Solo- mon, •* Happy are thy men, happy are thefe thy fervants, " which Hand continually before thee, and that hear thy wifdom." And (hould the duties of your ftation not per- mit you to come here to worftiip the Lord at the different hours of the day, when his minifters aflemble to praife him ; ah ! continually turn, at leafl, towards the holy place, like the Ifraelites formerly, your longings and your defires. Let our temples be the fweeteft confolation of your trou- bles, the only afylum of your afïli£lions, the only re- fource oi your wants, the moft certain recreation from the confinements, the fatiguing attentions, and the painful fub- jeêlions of the world : in a word, find there the beginnings of that inalterable peace, the plenitude and the confumma- tion of which you will find only with the bleffed, in the eternal temple of the heavenly Jerufalem,

SERMON

SERMON VI.

THE TRUTH OF RELIGION.

Matthew viii. lo.

Verily I fay unto you, I have not found fo great faith, no not in Ifrael.

W HENCE came then the incredulity with which Jefus Chrift at prefent reproaches the Jews ; and what caufe could they ftill have for doubting the fan£lity of his doc- trine and the truth of his miniflry ? They had demanded miracles, and, before their eyes, he had wrought fuch evident ones, that no perfon before him had done the like. They had wifhed that this mifTion were authorifed by tef- timonies ; Mofes and the prophets had ajnply born them to him ; the precurfor had openly proclaimed. Behold the Chrift and the Lamb of God, which taketh away the lin of the world ; a gentile renders glory in our gofpel to his al- mightinefs ; the heavenly Father had declared from on high, that it was his well-beloved Son ; laftly, the demons themfelves, ftruck with his fanftity, quitted the bodies, in confefTing that he was the Holy, and the Son of the liv- ing God. What could the incredulity of the Jews (till op- pof'e to fo many proofs and prodigies ?

Behold, my brethren, what, with much greater furprife,

might be demanded at thofe unbelieving minds, who, after

Vol. II. W the

158 SERMON Vr,

the fulfilment of all that had been foretold, after the confum- mation of the myfleries of Jefus Chrift, the exaltation of his name, the manifeftation of his gifts, the calling of his people, the deftruflion of idols, the converfion of Cefars, and the agreement of the univerfe, dill doubt, and take upon themfelves to confute and to overthrow what the toils of the apoftolic men, the blood of fo many martyrs, the prodigies of fo many fervants of Jefus Chrift, the writings of fo many great men, the aufterities of fo many holy an- chorites, and the religion of feventeen hundred years, have fo univerfally and fo divinely eftablifhed in the mind of almoft all people.

For, my brethren, amid all the triumphs of faith, chil- dren of unbelief flill privately fpring up among us, whom God hath delivered up to the vanity of their own thoughts, and who blafpheme what they know not ; impious men, who change, as the apoftle fays, the grace of our God in- to wantonnefs, defile their flefh, contemn all rule, blafpheme majefty, corrupt all their ways like the animals not gifted with reafon, and are fet apart to ferve one day as an exam- ple of the awful judgments of God upon men.

Now if, among fo many believers aiïembled here through religion, any foul of this defcription Ihould happen to be, allow me, you, my brethren, who preferve with refpeél the facred truft of the doctrine which you have received from your anceftors and from your paftors, to feize this opportunity, either of undeceiving them, or of confuting their incredulity. Allow me for once, to do here what the firft paftors of the church fo often did before their affem- bled people, that is to fay, to take upon myfelf the de- fence of the religion of Jefus Chrift againft unbelief; and, before entering into the particulars of your duties during

this

THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. l^g

this long term, allow me to begin by laying the firfl founda- tions of faith. It is fo confoling for thofe who believe to find how reafonable their fubmilTion is, and to be convinced that faith, which is apparently the rock of reafon, is how- ever its only confolation, guide, and refuge !

Here then is my whole d^fign. The unbeliver refufes fubmifllon to the revealed truths, either through a vain afFeftation of reafon, or through a falfe fentiment of pride, or through an ill-placed love of indépendance.

Now, I mean at prefent to iheWt that the fubmiffion which the unbeliever refufes, through a vain affeftation of reafon, is the mofl prudent ufe which he can make even of reafon ; that the fubmiffion which he refufes through a falfe fentiment of pride, is the mofl glorious flep of it ; and, laflly, that the fubmiffion which he reje6ls through an ill- placed love of indépendance, is the mofl indifpenfable fa- crifice of it. And from thence I fhall draw the three great chara6lers of religion :^ It is reafonable, it is glorious, it is necefTary.

O my Saviour, eternal author and finifher of our faith, defend thyfelf, thy do6lrine. Suffer not that thy crofs, by which the univerfe hath been fubmitted to thee, be flill the folly and the fcandal of proud minds. Once more triumph at prefent, through the fecret wonders of thy grace, over that fame unbelief which thou formerly triumph- edfl over through the flriking operations of thy power; and by thofe lively lights, which enlighten hearts, more efficacious than all our difcourfes, deftroy every fentiment of pride which may ftill rife up againfl the knowledge of thy myfleries.

Part

l6o SERMON VI.

Part I. Let us begin with admitting that it is faith, and not reafon, M'hich makes Chriftians ; and that the firft itep exa£led oi a difciple of Jefus Chrift, is to captivate his mind, and to beheve what he may not comprehend. Neveithelefs, Ï fay, that we are led to that fubmiflion by reafon itfelf ; that the more even our lights are fuperior, the more do they point out the neceffity of our fubmiflion ; and that unbelief, far from being the party of ftrength of mind, and of reafon, is, on the contrary, that of error and weaknefs.

In faith, reafon hath therefore its ufes, and it hath its Jimits : and as the law, good and holy in itfelf, ferved how- ever only to conduft to Jefus Chrift, and there flopped as at its term ; in the fame way reafon, good and juft in itfelf, iince it is the gift of God, and a participation of the fove- xeign reafon, ought only to ferve, and is given to us for the fole purpofe of preparing the way for faith. It is for- ward, and quits the bounds of its firft inftitution, when it attempts to go beyond thefe facred limits.

This taken for granted, let us fee which of the two, viz. the believer or the unbeliever, makes the moft pru- dent ufe of his reafon. Submiflion to things held out to our belief, perhaps fufpefted of credulity, either on the fide of the authority which propofes them ; if it be light, it is weaknefs to give credit to them ; or on the fide of the things of which they wifli to perfuade us ; if they be in oppofition to the principles of equity, of honour, of fociety, and of confcience, it is ignorance to receive them as true ; or laftly, on the fide of the motives which are employed to perfuade us ; if they be vain, frivolous, and incapable of determining a wife mind, it is imprudence to give way to them. Now, it is eafy to prove that the authority

which

THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. l6l

tvhich exacts the fubmifTion of the believer, is tlie greateft, the moft refpeftable, and the befl; eftablifhed, which can poffibly be upon the earth ; that the truths propofed to his behef are the only ones conformable to the principles oï equity, of honour, of fociety, and of confcience ; and, laftly, that the motives employed to perfuade him are the mofl decifive, the moft triumphant, and the moft proper to gain fubmifTion from the kâH credulous minds.

When I fpeak of the authority of the Chriftian religion, I do not pretend to confine the extent of that term to the fin- gle authority of its holy alTemblies, in which, through the mouths of its paftors, the church makes decifions and holds out to all believers the infallible rules of worfhip and of doftrine. As it is not herefy, but unbelief, which this difcourfe concerns, I do not here fo much confider rtligion as oppofed to the fe£l:s which the fpirit of error hath fepa- rated from the unity, that is to fay, as confined to the fole catholic church, but as forming, fmce the beginning of the world, a fociety apart, fole depofitary of the know- ledge of a God, and of the promife of a Mediator; al- ways oppofed to all the religions which have fince arifen in the univerfe ; always contradi6fed and always the fame ; and I fay that its authority bears along with it fuch fhining charafters of truth, that it is impofTible, without folly, to refufe fubmifTion to it.

In the firft place, in matter of religion, antiquity îs a charafler which reafon refpetls ; and we may fay, that a prepoffefTion is already formed in favour of that belief, confecrated by the religion of the firft men, and by the fimplicity of the primitive times. Not but what falfehood is often decked out with the fame titles, and that old er- rors exift among men, which feem to conteft the antiquity

of

j52 s E îl M 0 N VI.

of their origin with the truth; but it is not difficult to who- ever wifhes to trace their hiflory, to go back even to their origin. Novelty is always the confiant and moft infepara- ble chara6ler of error : and the reproach of the prophet may alike be made to them all : " They facrifice to new gods •' that come newly up, whom their fathers feared not."

In efFeft, if there be a true religion upon the earth it mufl be the moft ancient of all ; for, if there be a true re- ligion upon the earth, it mufl be the firfl and the mofleffen- tial duty of man towards the God who wifhes to be hon- oured with it. This duty mufl therefore be equally an- cient as man ; and, as it is attached to his nature, it mufl, as I may fay, be born with him. And this, my brethren, is the firfl charafter by which the religion of chriflians is at once diflinguifhed from fuperflitions and fefts. It is the mofl ancient religion in the world. The firfl men, be- fore that an impious worfhip was carved out of divinities of wood and of flone, worfliipped the fame God whom we adore, raifed up altars and offered facrifices to him, ex- pefted from his liberality the reward of their virtue, and from his juflice the punifhment of their difobedience. The hiflory of the birth of this religion, is the hiflory of the birth of the world itfelf. The divine books which have preferved it down to us, contain the firfl monuments of the origin of things. They are themfelves more ancient than all thofe fabulous produftions of the human mind, which afterwards fo raiferably amufed the credulity of the follow- ing ages ; and as error ever fprings from the truth, and is only a faulty imitation of it, all the fables of paganifm are founded on fome of the principal features ot that divine hif- tory ; in fo much that it may be affirmed that every thing, even to error itfelf, renders homage to the antiquity and to the authority oi our holy fcriptures.

Now,

THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. I63

Now, my brethren, is there not already fomething ref- peftable in this charafter alone ? The other religions, which have vaunted a more ancient origin, have produced nothing, in fupport of their antiquity, but iabulous legends, which funk into nothing oi themfelves. They have disfigured the hillory of the world by a chaos ot innumerable and ima- ginary ages, of which no event hath been leit to polterity, and which thehiftory oi the world hath never known. The authors of thefe grofs fixions did not write till many ages aher the a6lions which they relate, and it is faying every thing to add, that that theology was the fruit ot poefy ; and the inventions of that art, the moft folid foundations of their religion.

Here, it is a train of fafts, reafonable, natural, and in agreement with itfelf. It is the hiftory of a family continu- ed from its fiTft head down to him who writes it, and au- thenticated in all its circumflances. It is a genealogy in which every chief is charafterifed by his own anions, by events which flill fubfifted then, by' marks which were ffill known in the places where they had dwelt. It is a living tradition, the moft authenticated upon the earth, lince Mofes hath written only what he had heard from the children of the patriarchs, and they related only what their fathers had feen. Every part of it is coherent, hangs properly together, and tends to clear up the whole. The features are not copied, nor the adventures drawn from elfewhere, and accommodated to the fubjeft. Before Mofes, the people of God had nothing in writing. He hath left nothing to pofterity but what he had verbally colle6fed from his anceftors, that is to fay, the whole tradition of mankind ; and the firft, he hath comprifed in one volume, the hiftory of God's wonders and of his manifeftations to men, the remembrance of which had till then compofed

the;

1^4 SERMON VI.

the whole reh'gion, the whole knowledge, and the whole confolation of the family of Abraham. The candour and fmcerity of this author appear in the fimplicity of his hif- tory. He takes no precaution to fecure belief, becaufehe fuppofes that thofe for whom he writes require none to be- lieve : and all the fafts which he relates being well known among them, it is more for the purpofe of preferving them to their pofterity, than for any inftruftion in them for themfelvcs.

" Behold, my brethren, which way the Chriftian religion begins to acquire influence over the minds of men. Turn on all fides, read the hiftory of every people and of every nation, and you will find nothing fo well eflablifhed upon the earth : What do I fay ? You will find nothing more worthy the attention of a rational mind. If men be born for a religion, they are born for this one alone. If there be a Supreme Being who hath manifefled the truth to men, this alone is worthy of men and of him. Every where elfe the origin is fabulous ; here it is equally certain as all the refl; and the latter ages, which cannot be difputed, are, how- ever, only the proofs of the certitude of the firft. There- fore, if there be an authority upon the earth to which rea- fon ought to yield, it is to that of the Chriftian religion.

To the charafler of its antiquity muft be added that of its perpetuity. Figure to yourfelves here that endlefs variety of fe£ts and of religions which have fucceflively reigned upon the earth : Follow the hiftory of the fuperftitions of every people and of every country ; they have flourilhed a few years, and afterwards funk into oblivion along with the power of their followers. Where are the gods of Emath, of Arphad, and of Sepharvaim ? Recolleft the hiftory ©f thofe firft conquerors : In conquering the people, they

conquered

RESPECT m THE TEMPLES OF GOD. ip.ç

conquered the gods of the people; and, in overturning their power, they overturned their worftiip. How beauti- ful, my brethren, to fee the religion of our fathers alone maintaining itfelf from the firft, furviving all fe£ls ; and, notwithftanding the divers fortunes of thofe who have pof- fefTed it, alone pafling from father to fon, and braving every exertion to efface it from the heart of men ! It is not the arm of flefli which hath preferved it. Ah ! The peo- ple of God hath, almoft always, been weak, oppreffed, and perfecuted. No; it is not, fays the prophet, by their own fword that our fathers got the land in poffefTion ; but thy right hand, O Lord, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, becaufe thou hadfl a favour unto them. One while flaves, another fugitives, and another tributa- ries of various nations ; they athoufand times faw Chaldea, AfTyria, Babylon, the moft formidable powers of the earth, the whole univerfe confpire their ruin, and the total ex- tin£lion of their worfhip ; but this people, fo weak, op- preUed in Egypt, wandering in the defert, and afterwards carried in captivity into a foreign land, no power hath ever been able to exterminate, while fomany others more pow- erful, have followed the deftiny of human things ; and its worfhip hath always fubfifted with itfelf, in fpite of all the efforts made by almofl every age to deftroy it.

Now, whence comes it, that a worfhip fo contradi6led, fo arduous in its obfervances, fo rigorous in its punifhments upon tranfgreffors, and even fo liable to be eflablifhed or to be overthrown, through the mere inconffancy and igno- rance of the people who was its firfl depofitary ; whence comes it that it alone hath been perpetuated amid fo many revolutions, while the fuperilition fupported by all the power of empires and of kingdoms, have funk into their original oblivion ? Ah ! is it not God, and not man, who

Vol. II. X ^ hath

I

196' SERMON VI,'

hath done all thefe things ? Is it not the arm of the Almigh- ty which hath preferved his work ? And fince every thing invented by the human mind has perifhed, is it not to be- in Ferred, that what hath always endured was alone the work of the divine wifdom ?

Lajily, If to its antiquity and to its perpetuity, you add its uniformity, no pretext for refiffance will be left to rea- fon. For, my brethren, every thing changes upon the earth, becaufe every thing follows the mutability of its origin. Occafions, the differences of ages, the diverfe humours of climates, and the neceffity of the times, have introduced a thoufand changes in all the human laws. .Faith alone hath never changed. Such as our fathers re- ceived it, fuch have we it at prefent, and fuch fhall our de- fcendants one day receive it. It hath been unfolded through the courfe of ages, and likewife, I confefs, through the neceffity of f'ecuring it from the errors which have been attempted to be introduced into it; but every thing which once appeared to belong to it, hath always appeared as appertaining to it. There is little wonder in the dura- tion of a religion, when accommodations are made to times and to conjeftures, and when they may add or diminifh according to the fancy of the ages, and of thofe who go- vern ; but never to relax, in fpite of the change of man- ners and of times ; to fee every thing change around, and yet be always the fame, is the grand privilege of the Chrif- tian religion. And by thefe three charafters, of antiquity, of perpetuity, and of uniformity, which exclufively belong to it, its authority is the only one on the earth capable of determining a wife mind.

But if the fubmiffion of the believer be reafonable on the part of the authority which exa£ls it, it is not lefs fo on

the

RESPECT IN TFTE TEMPLES OF GOD. I97

the part of the things which are pjopofed to his belief. And here, my brethren, let us enter into the foundation of the Chrifliarï worfhip. It is not afraid ot inveftigation, like thofe abominable myfteries of idolatry, the infamy and horror of which were concealed by the darkeft obfcurity. A religion, fays Tertullian, which would fliun examina- tion, and would dread being fearched into, fhould ever be fufpefted. The more the Chriflian worfhip is invefligated, the more are beauties and hidden wonders found in it. Idolatry infpired man with foolifh fentiments of the Divi^ nity : philofophy, with very unreafonable ones of himfelf: cupidity, with iniquitous ones towards the reft of men. Now, admire the wifdom of religion, which remedies all thefe three evils, which the reafon of all ages had never been able either to eradicate or even to find out-

And, iy?/y, what other legiflator hath fpoken of the di- vinity, like that of the Chriftians ? Find elfewhere if you can, more fublime ideas of his power, of his immenfity, of his wifdom, of his grandeur, and of his juftice, than thofe which are given us in our fcriptures. If there be over us a fupreme and eternal being, ip whom all things live, he muft be fuch as the Chriftian religion reprefents him. We alone compare him not to the likenefs of man. We alone worfhip him feated above the cherubims, filling every where v/iih his prefence, regulating all by his wif- dom, creating light and darknefs, author of good, and punifherof vice. We alone honourhim as he wiflies to be honoured ; that is to fay, we make not th& worfhip due to him, to Gonfifl in the multitude of viftims, nor in the external pomp of our homages ; but in adoration, in love, in praife, and in thankfgiving. We refer to him the good which is in us, as to its principle ; and we always attribute vice to ourfelves, which takes its rife only in our corrup- tion.

tgS SERMON VI.

tion. We hope to find in him the reward of a fidelity, -which is the gift of his grace, and the punifhment of tranf- greflions, which are always the confequence ot the bad ufe tvich we make of our liberty. Now, what can be more worthy of the fupreme Being than aH thefe ideas !

zdiy, A vain philofophy either had degraded man to the level of the beaft, by centering his felicity in the fenfes ; or had fooiifhly exalted him even to the likenefs of God, by perfuading him that he might find his own happinefs in his own wifdom. Now, the Chriftian morality avoids thefe two extremes : it withdraws man from carnal pleafures, by difcovering to him the excellency of his nature, and the Lolinefs of his deftinatien ; it correBs his pride, by mak- ing him fenfible of his own wretchedncfs and meannefs.

La/lly, cupidity rendered man unjufl towards the reft of inen. Now, what other doftrine than that of Chriftians, hath ever fo well regulated ©ur duties on this head. It in- ilrufts us to yield obedience to the powers eftablifhed by God, not only through fear of their authority, but through an obligation of confcience ; to refpeft our fuperiors, to bear with our equals, to be affable towards our inferiors, to love all men as ourfelves. It alone is capable ot form- ing good citizens, faithful fubjefts, patient fervants, hum- ble mafters, incorruptible magiftrates, clement princes, and zealous friends. It alone renders the honour of mar- riage inviolable, fecures the peace of families, and main- tains the tranquillity of ftates. It not only checks ufurpa- lions, but it prohibits even the defire of others property ; it not only requires us, not to view with an envious eye the profperity of our brother, but it commands us to fhare our own riches with him, if need require ; it not only for- bids us to attempt his life, 'but it requires usxo do good,

even

RESPECT IN THE TEMPLES OF GOD. I99

even tothofe who injure us ; to blefs thofe who curfe us, and to be all only of one heart and of one mind. Give me, faid formerly St. Auguftin to the heathens of his time, a kingdom all compofed of people of this kind : Good God, ivhat peace ! what felicity ! What a reprefentation oi hea- ven upon the earth ! Have all the ideas of philofophy ever come near to the plan of this heavenly republic ? And is it not true, that if a God hath fpoken to men, to lay open to them the ways of falvation, he could never have held any other language ?

To all thefe maxims, fo worthy of reafon, it is true, that religion adds myfferies which exceed our comprehen- lion. But, befides that good fenfe fhould induce us to yield thereon to a religion fo venerable through its antiqui- ty, fo divine in its morality, (o fuperior to every thing on the earth in its authority, and alone worthy of being be- lieved, the motives it employs for our perfuafion are 1 uffi- cient to conquer unbelief,

i/Z/y, Thefe myfteries were foretold many ages before their accomplifhment, and foretold with every circum- fiance of times and places ; nor are they vague prophecies, referred to the credulity of the vulgar alone, uttered in a corner of the earth, of the fame age as the events, and un- known to the refl of the univerfe. They are prophecies which, from the beginning of the world, have conftituted the religion of an entire people; which fathers tranfmitted to their children as their mofl precious inheritance ; which were preferved in the holy temple as the moff facred pledge of the divine promifes; and, laftly, to the truth of which the nation moll inveterate againft Jefus Chrift, and their firft depofitary, ftill at prefent bears witnefs in the face of the whole univerfe : prophecies, which were not myfteri-

200 SERMON Vî.

oufly hidden from the people, left their falfehood fliouldi be betrayed ; like thofe vain oracles of the Sybils, careful- ly fliut up in the capitol, fabricated to fupport the Roman pride, expofed to the view of the pontiffs alone, and pro- duced, peace-meal, from time to time, to authorife, in the mind of the people, either a dangerous enterprife, or an unjuft war. On the contrary, our prophetical books were the daily ftudy of a whole people. The young and the old, women and children, priefts and men of all ranks, princes and fubje£ls, were indifpenfibly obliged to have them continually in their hands; every one was entitled to ftudy his duties there, and to difcover his hopes. Far from flattering their pride, they held forth only the ingra- titude of their fathers; in every page they announced misfortunes to them as the juil punifiiment of their crimes * to kings they reproached their diftipations, to the pontiffs their profufion, to the people their inconftancy and unbe- lief; and, neverthelefs, thefe holy books were dear to them; and, from the oracles which they faw continually accomplifhing in them, they awaited with confidence the fulfilment of thofe which the whole univerfe hath now v.'itnefled. Now, the knowledge of what is to come is the leaft fufpicious charafter of the divinity.

Qdly, Thefe myfteries are founded upon fa6is fo evident- ly miraculous, fo well known in Judea, fo agreed to then, even by thofe whofe intereft it was to rejeft them, fo fig- nalifed by events which interefted the whole nation, fo of- ten repeated in the cities, in the country, in the temple, and in the public places, that the eyes muft be ftiut againft the light to call them in queftion. The apoftles have preached them, have written them, even in Judea, a very fhort time after their fulfilment; that is to fay, in a time when the pontiffs, who had condemned Jefus Chrift, ftill liv-

ing.

THE TRUTH OF RELIGION* 201

itig, might foeafily have controverted and proclaimed their impofture, had they really been a deceprion upon mankind. Jefus Chrift, by fulfilling his promife of rifing again con- firmed his gofpel, and it is not to be fuppofed either, that the apollles could be deceived on a fa£l fo decifive and fo efTential for them ; on that faft fo often foretold, and look- ed forward to as the principal point on which all the reft was to turn ; that faft fo often confirmed, and that before fo many witnefTes ; nor that they themfelves wifhed to de- ceive us, and to preach a falfehood to men at the expence of their own eafe, honour, and life, the only return which they had to expeft for their impofture. Would thefemen, who have left to us only fuch pious and wife precepts, have given to the earth an example of folly hitherto un- known to every people, and without view, intereft, or mo- tive, have coolly devoted themfelves to the moft excrucia- ting tortures, and to a death fuffered with the moft heroical piety, merely to maintain the truth of a thing, of which they themfelves knew the falfehood ? Would thefe men have all tranquilly fubmitted to death for the fake of another man who had deceived them, and who, having failed in his promife of rifing again from the grave, had only impofed, during life, upon their credulity and weaknefs : Let the impious man no longer reproach to us, as a credulity, the incomprehenfible myfteries of faith. He muft be very credulous himfelf, to be able to perfuade himfelf of the pof- fibility of fuppofitions fo abfurd.

Lajily, The whole univerfe hath been docile to the faith of thefe myfteries ; the Cefars, whom it degraded from the rank of gods ; the philofophers, whom it convifted of ignorance and vanity ; the voluptuous, to whom it preached felf-denial and fufferance ; the rich, whom it obliged to poverty and humility ; the poor, whom it com-

manded

aoa s E R xM o N vr*

mandcd to love even their abjeftion and indigence; all men, of whom it combatted all the paflions. This taith, preached by twelve poor men without learning, talents, or fupport, hath fubjefled emperors, the learned equally as the illiterate, cities and empires; myfteries apparently fo abfurd, have overthrown all the fefts, and all the monu- ments of a proud reafon, and the folly of the crofs hath been wifer than all the wifdom of the age. The whole univerfe hath confpired againfl; it, and every effort of its enemies, hath only added frefli confirmation to it. To be a believer, and to be deftined to death, were two things infeparable ; yet the danger was only an additional charm ; the more the perfecutions were violent, the more progrefs did faith make ; and the blood of the martyrs was the feed of believers. O God! who doth not feel thy finger here? Who, in thefe traits, would not acknowledge the charac- ter of thy work ? Where is the reafon which doth not feel the vanity of its doubts to fink into nothing here, and which flill blufhes to fubmit to a doftrine, to which thé whole univerfe hath yielded ? But not only is this fubmifTion reafonable, it is likewife glorious to men.

Part II. Pride is the fecret fource of unbelief. In that oftentation of reafon, which induces the unbeliever to contemn the common belief, there is a deplorable fingu- larity which flatters him, and occafions him to fuppofe in himfelf more vigour of mind and morQ;.light than in the reft of men, becaufe he boldly ventures to caft off a yoke to which they have all fubmitted, and to fland up againfl what all the reft had hitherto been contented to worlhip.

Now, in order to deprive the unbeliever of fo wretched a confolation, it is only neceffary to demonllrate, in the Srfl; place, that nothing is more glorious to reafon than

faith ;

THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. &0$

faith ; glorious on the fide of its promifes for the future ; glorious from the fituation in which it places the believer for the prefent; laftly, glorious from the grand models which it holds out to his imitation.

Glorious on the fide of the promifes contained in it. What are the promifes of faith, my brethren ? The adop- tion of God, an immortal fociety with him, the complete redemption of our bodies, the eternal felicity of our fouls, freedom from the paflions, our hearts fixed by the poflef- fion of true riches, our minds penetrated with the ineffa- ble light of the fovereign reafon, and happy in the clear and always durable view of the truth. Such are the pro- mifes of faith ; it informs us that our origin is divine, and our hopes eternal.

Now, I aflc, is it difgraceful to reafon to believe truths which do fuch honour to the immortality of its nature ? What, my brethren, would it then be more glorious to man to believe himfelf of the fame nature as the hearts, and to look forward to the fame end ? What, the unbe- liever would think himfelf more honoured by the convic- tion that he is only a vile clay, put together by chance, and which chance fhall difTolve, without end, deftination, hope, or any other ufe of his reafon and of his body, than that of brutally plunging himfelf, like the brutes, into carnal gratifications ! What, he would have a higher opi- nion of himfelf, when viewed in the light of an unfortunate wretch, accidentally placed upon the earth, who looks for- ward to nothing beyond life, whofe fweeteft hope is that of finking back to non-entity, who relates nothing buthim- feli, and is reduced to find his felicity in himfell, though he can there find only anxieties and fecret terrors ! Is this then that miferable diftinftionbv which the pride of unbelief Vol. II. y is

2042 S E R M O N Vf.

is fo much flattered ? Great God ! How glorious to thy truth, to have no enemies but men of this charafter! For my part, as St. Ambrofe formerly faid to the unbelievers of his time, I glory in believing truths fo honourable to men, and in expefting the fulfilment of promifes fo con- folatory. To refufe belief to them, is forrily to punifli one's felf. Ah ! if I be deceived, in preferring the hope of one day enjoying the eternal fociety of the righteous in the bofom of God to the humbling belief of being of the fame nature as the beafls, it is an error dear to me, which I delight in, and upon which I wifh never to be unde- ceived.

.But, it faith be glorious on the fide of its promifes for the future, it is not lefs fo Irom the fituation in which it places the believer for the prefent. And here, my brethren, figure to yourfelves a truly righteous man, who lives by faith, and you will acknowledge that there is nothing on the earth more fuhlime. Mafter of his defires and of alf the movements of the heart ; exercifing a glorious empire over himfell ; in patience and in equanimity enjoying his foul, and regulating all his paflions by the bridle ot tem- perance ; humble in profperity, firm under misfortunes, cheerful in tribulations, peaceful with thofe who hate peace, callous to injuries, feeling for the affliflions of thofe who trefpafs againft him, faithful in his promifes, religious in his friendlhips, and unfliaken in his duties ; little affefted with riches, which he contemns; fatigued with honours, which he dreads ; greater than the whole world, which he confiders only as a mafs of earth : what dignity !

Philofophy conquered one vice only by another. It pompoufly taught contempt of the world, merely to attra6l the applaufes of the world ; it fought more the glory ot

wifdom,

THE TRUTH OF RELIGION". - 205

wifdom, than wifdom itfelf. In deftroying the other paf- fions, it continually, upon their ruins, raifed up one much more dangerous ; I mean to fay pride : Like that prince of Babylon who overthrew the altars of the national gods, merely to exalt upon their wrecks his own impious ftatue, and that monftrous coloflus of pri^e which he wanted the whole earth to worfhip.

But faith exalts the juft man above even his virtue. Through it he is ftill greater in the fecrecy ot his heart, and in the eyes of God, than before men. He forgives without pride ; he is difinterelled without (hew ; he fuffers without wifhing it to be known ; he moderate* his paffion without perceiving it himfclf ; he alone is ignorant of the glory and of the merit of his anions ; far from graciouOy looking upon himfelf, he is afhamed ot his virtues much more than the finner is of his vices; far from courting applaufe, he hides his works from the light, as if they were deeds of darknefs ; love of duty is' the fole fpring of his virtue, he afts under the eyes of God alone, and as if there were no longer men upon the earth ; what dignity ! Find, if you can, any thing greater in the univerfe. Re- view all the various kinds of glory with which the world gratifies the vanity ot men ; and fee, if, all together, they can beftow that degree of dignity to which the godly are raifed by faith.

Now, ray dear hearer, what more honourable to man than this fituation ? Do you confider him as more glorious, more refpeffable, more grand, when he follows the impul- fes of brutal inflinft ; when he is the flave of hatred, re- venge, voluptuoufnefs, ambition, envy, and all thofe other monflers which alternately reign in his heart?

aé6 SERMON VI.

For, are you who make a boafl of unbelief thoroughly- acquainted with what is an unbeliever? He is a man with- out morals, probity, faith or charafter, who owns no rule but his paffions, no law but his iniquitous thoughts, no mafter but his defires, no check but the dread of authority, no God but himfelf ; an unnatural child, feeing he believes that chance alone hath given him fathers ; a faithlefs friend, feeing he looks upon men merely as the wretched fruits of a wild and fortuitous concurrence, to whom he is conne£led only by tranfitory ties; acruel mafler, feeing he is con- vinced that the ftrongeft and the moft fortunate have always reafon on their fide. For, who could henceforth place any dependence upon you ? You no longer fear a God ; you no longer refpeft men ; you look forward to nothing after this lite ; virtue and vice are merely prejudices of education in your eyes, and the confequences of popular credulity. Adulteries, revenge, blafphemies, the blackefl treacheries, abominations which we dare not even to name, are no longer in your opinion, but human prohibitions, and regulations effablifhed through the policy of legiflators. According to you, the moft horrible crimes, or the pureft virtues, are all equally the fame, fince an eternal annihi- lation (hall fson equalife the juft and the impious, and for ever confound them both in the dreary manfion of the tomb. What a monfter muft you then be upon the earth ? Does this reprefentation of you highly gratify your pride, or can you fupport even its idea ?

Befides, you pride yourfelf upon irreligion, as fpringing from your fuperiority of mind ; but trace it to its fource. Wh&f hath led you to free-thinking ? Is it not the corrup- tion of your heart ? Would you have ever thought of im- piety had you been able to allay religion with your plea- fures ? You began to hefitate upon a do£lrine which in- commoded

THE TRUTH OF RELIGION.

«a7

commoded your paflions ; and you have marked it down as falfe from the moment that you found it irkfome. You have anxioufly fought to perfuade yourfelf what you had fuch an interefl to believe ; that all died with us ; that eternal punifhments were merely the terrors of education ; that in- clinations born with us could never be crimes ; what know I ? And all thofe maxims of free-thinking originating from hell. We are eafily perfuaded of what we wilh. Solomon worfhipped the gods of foreign women only to quiet himfelf in his debaucheries. If men had never had pafTions, or if religion had countenanced them, unbelief would never have appeared upon the earth. And a proof that what I fay is true, is that, in the moments when you are difgufted with guilt, you imperceptibly turn towards religion ; in the moments when your paflions are more cool, your doubts diminifh ; you render, as if in fpite of yourfelf, a fecret homage in the bottom of your heart to the truth of faith; in vain you try to weaken it, you can- not fucceed in extinguifliing it ; at the firft fignal of death, you raife your eyes towards heaven, you acknowledge the God whofe finger is upon you, you call yourfelf upon the bofom of your Father, and the Author of your being; you tremble over a futurity which you had vaunted not to believe ; and, humbled under the hand of the Almighty, on the point of falling upon and crufhing you like a worm of the earth, you confefs that he is alone great, alone wife, alone immtoral, and that man is only vanity and lies.

Lajlly, If frefh proofs were neceffary to my fubjeft, T could prove to you how glorious faith is to man on the fide of the grand models which it holds out for our imitation. Confider Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, faid iormerly the Jews to their children. Confider the holy men who have gone before you, to whom their faith hath merited fo ho- nourable

2o8 SERMON vr,

nourable a teflimony, faid formerly St. Paul to the faithful, after having related to them, in that beautiful chapter of his epiftle to the Hebrews, their names, and the mofl won- derful circurallances of their hiflory, from age to age.

Behold the excellency of the Chriftian faith. Recolle£l all the great men which, in all ages, have fubmitted to it; fuch magnanimous princes, fuch religious conquerors, fucli venerable paflors, fuch enlightened philofophers, fuch eflimable learned men, wits fo vaunted in their age, fuch noble martyrs, fuch penitent anchorites, fuch pure and confiant virgins, heroes in every defcription of virtue, i'hilofophy preached a pompous wifdom ; but its fage was no where to be found. Here what a cloud of witnefTes ! What an uninterrupted tradition of Chriftian heroes from the blood of Abel down to us !

Now, I afk, fhall you blufh to tread in the fteps of fo many illuftrious names ? Place on the one fide all the great men whom, in all ages, religion hath given to the v/orld, and on the other, that fmall number of black and defperate minds whom unbelief hath produced. Doth it appear more honourable for you to rank yourfelf among the latter party? To adopt for guides, and for your models, thofe men whofe names are only recolle£led with horror, thofe monflers whom it hath pleafed providence to permit, that nature fhould, from time to time, bring forth ; or the Abrahams, the Jofephs, the Mofefes, the Davids, the apoftolic men, the righteous of ancient and of mcderii times? Support, if you can, this comparifon. Ah I faid formerly St. Jerome on a different occafion, if you believe me in error, it is glorious for me to be deceived with fuch guides.

And

THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 209

And here, my brethren, leaving unbelievers for a mo-- raent, allow me to addrefs myfelf to you. Avowed unbe-- lief is a vice perhaps rare among us ; but the fimplicity of, faith is not perhaps lefs fo. We would feel a horror at quitting the belief of our fathers ; but we wifii to refine upon our fincerity. We do not permit ourfelves to doubt upon the main part of the myfteries ; but obedience is phi- iofophically given, by impofing our own yoke, by weigh- ing the holy truths, receiving fome as reafonable, reafon- ing upon others, and meafuring them by our own feeble lights ; and our age, more than any other, is full of thefe half believers, who, under the pretext of taking away from religion all that credulity or prejudice may have added toit, deprive faith of the whole merit of fubmiffion.

Now, my brethren, fanflity ought only to be fpoken of with a religious circumfpeftion. Faith is a virtue almoft equally delicate as modefty : a fmgle doubt, a fmgle word injures it; a breath, as I may fay, tarniflies it. Yet, ne- verthelefs, what licence do they not allow themfelves in modern converfations upon all that is moll refpeflable in the faith of our fathers ? Alas ! the terrible name of the Lord could not be even pronounced under the law by the mouth of man ; and, at prefent, all that is moll facred and moft augull in religion, is become a common fubjeft of worldly converfations; there every thing is talked over, and freely decided upon. Vain and fuperficial men, whofe only knowledge of religion confifts of a little more temeri- ty than the illiterate and the common people; producing, as their whole flock of learning, fome common-place and hackneyed doubts, which they have picked up, but never had formed themfelves ; doubts which have fo often been cleared up, that they feem now to exlfl no longer but to glorify the truth ; men who, amid the mod diirulute man-

rjers,

«10 s E R M O N vr,

ners, have never devoted an hour of ferious attention to the truth of religion, aft the philofopher, and boldly de- cide upon points which a whole life of fludy, accompani- ed with learning and piety, could fcarcely clear up.

Even perfons of a fex, in whom ignorance on certain points would be meritorious, and who, though knowing, good-breeding and decency require that they (hould afFeft to be ignorant ; perfons who are better acquainted with the world than with Jefus Chrift ; who even know not of reli- gion what is neceflary to regulate their manners, pretend doubts, wifh to have them explained, are afraid of believ- ing too much, have fufpicions upon the whole, yet have none upon their own miferable fituation, and the vifible impropriety of their life. O God ! it is thus that thou de- livereft up finners to the vanity of their own fancies, and permittefl that thofe who pretend to penetrate into thine adorable fecrecies know not themfelves. Faith is there- fore glorious to man; this has juft been fhewn to you i it now remains for me to prove that it is necefTary to him.

Part III. Of all the charafters of faith, the neceflity of it is the one which renders the unbeliever moft inexcu- fable. All the other motives which are employed to lead him to the truth are foreign, as I may fay, to him; this one is drawn from his own ground-work, I mean to fay, from the nature itfelf of his reafon.

Now, I fay that faith is abfolutely necefTary to man, in the gloomy and obfcure paths of this life ; for his reafon is ■weak, and it requires to be aflifted ; becaufe it is corrupt- ed, and it requires to be cured ; becaufe it is changeable, and it requires to be fixed. Now, faith alone is the aid

which

THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. fin

which afîîfts and enh'ghtens it, the remedy which cures it, the bridle and the rule which retains and fixes it. Yet a mo- jnent of attention ; I fliall not mifemploy it.

I fay, i///y, that reafon is weak, and that an aid is ne- cefTary to it. Alas ! my brethren, we know not, neither ourfelves, nor what is external to us. We are totally ig- norant how we have been formed, by what imperceptible progrefhons our bodies have received arrangement and life, and what are the infinite fprings, and the divine fkill, which give motion to the whole machine. " I cannot tell," faid that illuftrious mother, mentioned in the Maccabees, to her children, " how ye came into my womb ; for I neither " gave you breath nor life, neither was it I that formed " the members oi every one of you : but doubtlefs the •• Creator of the world, who formed the generation of " man, and found out the beginning of all things, will alfo, " of his own mercy, give you breath and life again, as ye "" now regard not your own felves for his law's fake." Our body is itfelf a myftery, in which the human mind is loft and overwhelmed, and of which the fecrets fhall never be fathomed , for there is none but him alone who hath prefided at its formation, who is capable of comprehend- ing them.

That breath of the divinity which animates us, that por- tion of ourfelves which renders us capable of loving and of knowing, is not lefs unknown to us : we are entirely igno- rant how its defires, its fears, its hopes, are formed, and how it can give to itfelf its ideas and images. No one hath hitherto been able to comprehend how that fpiritual being, fo different in its nature from matter, hath pofTibly been united in us with it by fuch indiflbluble ties, that the two fubflances no longer form but one whole, and the

Vol. II. Z good

aia s E R M O N Vli

good and evil of the one become the good and evil of the other. We are a myftery therefore to ourfelves, as St; Augultin formerly faid ; and we would be difficultcd to fay, what is even that vain curiofity which pries into every thing, or how it hath been formed in our foul.

In all around us we flill find nothing but enigmas ; we live as ffi angers upon the earth, and amid objefts which we know not. To man, nature is a clofed book ; and the Creator, to confound, it would appear, human pride, hath been pleafed to overfpread the face of this abyfs with an impenetrable obfcurity.

Lift up thine eyes, O man ! Confîder thofe grand lumi^ naries fufpended over your head, and which fwim, as I may fay, through thofe immenfe fpaces in which thyreafon is loff. Who, fays Job, hath formed the fun, and given a name to the infinite multitude of ftars ? Comprehend, if thou can, their nature, their ufe, their properties, their fituation, their diftance, their revolutions, the equality or the inequality of their movements. Our age hath penetra- ted a little into their obfcurity, that is to fay, it hath a little better conjeftured upon them than the preceding ages ; but what are its difcoveries, when compared to what we are flill ignorant of ?

Defcend upon the earth, and tell us, if thou know, what it is that keeps the winds bound up ; what regulates the courfe of. the thunders and of the tempefls ; what is the fatal boundary which places its mark, and fays to the rulhing waves, " Here you fhall go, and no farther;" and how the prodigy fo regular of its movements is formed ; explain to us the furprifing eflPe^ls of plants, of metals, of the elements ; find out in what manner gold is purified in

the

THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. «13

the bowels of the earth ; unravel, it thou can, the infinite Ikill employed in the formation of the very infe£ls which crawl before us ; give us an explanation of the various in- ftinfts of animals ; turn on every fide ; nature in all her parts offers nothing to thee but enigmas. O man ! thou knowell nothing of the objefts, even under thine eyes, and thou wouldft pretend to fathom the eternal depths of faith ? Nature is a myftery to thee, and thou wouldllhave a religion which had none ? Thou art ignorant of the fe- crets of man, and thou wouldft pretend to know the feciets of God ? Thou knoweftnot thyfelf, and thou wouldft pre- tend to fathom what is fo much above thee ? The univerfe, which God hath yielded up to thy curiofity a^d. difputes, is an abyfs in which thou art loft ; and thou wouldlt that the myfteries of faith, which he hath folely expofed tcij,thy do- cility and to thy refpefl:, ftiould have nothing which fur- paffes thy feeble lights ? O blindnefs ! were every thing, excepting religion," clear and evident, thou then, with fome Anew of reafon, mightft raiftruft its obfcurities ; but fince every thing around thee is a labyrinth in which thou art bewildered, ought not the fecret of God, as St. Au- guftin formerly faid, to render thee more refpeftiul and more attentive, far from being more incredulous ?

The neceffity of faith is, therefore, founded, in the firft place, upon the weaknefs of reafon ; but it is likewife found- ed upon its profound depravity. And, in effeft, what was more natural to man, than to confefs his God the au- thor of his being and of his felicity, his end and his princi- ple ; than to adore his wifdom, his power, his goodnefs, and all thofe divine perfeftions of which he hath engraven upon his work fuch profound and evident marks ? Thefe lights weie born with us. Neverthelefs, review all thofe ages of darknefs and of fuperftition which preceded the

gofpel,

214 s E R M O N X^I. ^

gofpel, and fee how far man had degraded his Creator, and to what he had likened his God. There was nothing fo vile in the created world hut his impiety erefted into gods, and man was thenobleft divinity which was worfhipped by man.

If, from religion you pafs to the morality, all the princi- ples of natural equity were effaced, and man no longer bore, written in his heart, the work o\ that law which nature has engraven on it. Plato, even that man fo wife, and who, according to St. Auguftin, had fo nearly approached to the truth, neverthelefs abolifhes the holy inftitution of marriage ; and, permitting a brutal confufion among men, he for ever does away all paternal names and rights, which, even in ani- mals, nature hath fo evidently refpefted ; and gives to the earth men all uncertain of their origin, all coming into the world without parents, as I may fay ; and confequently with- out ties, tendernefs, affeftion, or humanity ; all in a fitua- tion to become inceltuous or parricides, without even knowing it.

Others came to announce to men that voluptuoufnefs was the fovereign good ; and whatever might have been the intention of the fitft author of this feft, it is certain that his difciples fought no other felicity than that of the brutes : the mofl fliameful debaucheries became philofophical max- ims. Rome, Athens, Corinth beheld exceffes, where it may be faid, that man was no longer man. Even this is nothing ; the mofl abominable vices wcreconfecrated there : temples and altars were erefled to them : lafcivioufnefs, incefl, cruelty, treachery, and other ffill more abandoned crimes, were made divinities of: the worfhip became a public debauch and proUitution ; and gods, fo criminal, were no longer honoured but by crimes : and the apoftle,

who

THE TRUTH OF RELIGlOM. 21^

who relates them to us, takes care to inform us that fuch was not merely the licentioufnefs of the people, but of fa- ges and philofophers who had erred in the vanity of their own thoughts, and whom God had delivered up to the cor- ruption of their heart. O God ! in permitting human rea- fon to fall into fuch horrible errors, thou intended to let man know, that reafon, when delivered up to its own darknefs, is capable of every thing, and that it can never take upon itfelf to be its own guide, without plunging in- to abyfTes from which thy law and thy light are alone capa- ble of withdrawing him.

Laftly, If the depravity of reafon fo evidently expofc the neceflity of a remedy to cure, its eternal inconftancies and fluéluations yet more inftruft man, that a check and a rule are abfolutely requifite to fix it.

And here, my brethren, if the brevity of a difcourfe would permit all to be faid, what vain difputes, what end- lefs queftions, what different opinions have formerly en- groffed all the fchools of heathen philofophy ! And think not that it was upon matters which God feems to have yielded up to the conteflation of men ; it was upon the na- ture even of God, upon his exiftence, upon the immortali- ty of the foul, upon the true felicity.

Some doubted the whole ; others believed that they knew every thing. Some denied a God ; others gave us one of their own fafhioning ; that is to fay, fome of them floth- ful, an indolent fpeftator of human things, and tranquilly leaving to chance the management of his own work, as a care unworthy of his greatnefs, and incompatible with his conveniency ; fome others made him the Have of fates, and fubjeft to laws which he had no hand in impo-

fing

2l6 SERMON VI.

fing upon himfelf : others again incorporated, with the whole univerfe, the foul of that vaft body, and compofing, as it were, a part of that world which is entirely his work. Many others of which I know nothing, for I pretend not to recapitulate them all ; but as many fchools, fo many were the fentiments upon fo effential a point. So many ages, fo many frefh abfurdities upon the immortality and the nature of the foul ; here, it was an affemblage of atoms ; there, a fubtile fire ; in another place, a minute and pene- trating air ; in another fchool, a portion of the divinity. Some made it to die with the body ; others would have it to have exifted before the body : fome again made it to pafs from one body to another ; from man to the horfe, from the condition of a reafonable being to that of ani- mals witJTOut reafon. There were fome who taught that the true happinefs of man is in the fenfes ; a greater num- ber placed it in the reafon ; others again found it only in fame and glory ; many in floth and indolence. And what is the moft deplorable here, is, that the exiftence of God, his nature, the immortality of the foul, the deftination and the happinefs of men, all points fo effential to his delliny, fo decifjve with regard to his eternal mifery or happinefs, were neverthelefs become problems, every where deflined merely to amufe the leifure of the fchools and the vanity of the Sophifts ; idle queftions, in which they were never interefted for the principle of truth, but folely lor the glory of coming off conqueror. Great God ! It is in this manner that thou fporteft with human wifdom.

If from thence we entered into the Chriftian ages, who could enumerate that endlefs variety of fefts which, in all times, hath broken the unity, in order to follow ff range doffrines ? What were the abominations of the Gnofticks, the extravagant follies of the Valentinians, the fanaticifm

of

THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 217

of Montanus, the contradiflions of the Manicheans ? Fol- low every age; as, in order to prove the juft, it is necef- fary that there be herefies. You will find that in every age the church hath always been miferably rent with them.

Recal to your remembrance the fad di {Tentions of only the paft age. Since the feparation of our brethren, what a monftrous variety in their doftrine ! What endlefs fefts fprung from only one feel! What numberlefs particular affemblies in one fame fchifm! O faith! O gift of God! O divine torch, which comes to clear up darknefs, how neceflary art thou to man ! O infallible rule, fent from heaven, and given in truft to the church of Jefus Chrift, always the fame in all ages, always independent of places, of times, of nations, and of intereffs, how requifite it is that thou ferved as a check upon the eternal fluéluations of the human mind ! O pillar of fire, at the fame time fo ob- fcure and fo luminous, of what importance it is that thou always conduced the camp of the Lord, the tabernacle and the tents of Ifrael, through all the perils of the defert, the rocks, the temptations and the dark and unknown paths of this life !

For you, my brethren, what inflruflion fhould we draw from this difcourfe, and what fhould I fay to you in con- cluding? You fay that you have faith ; Ihcw your faith by your works. What fhall it avail you to have belicvccj, if your manners have belied your belie! ? The gofpel is yet more the religion of the heart than of the mind. That faith which makes Chriftians is not a fimple fubmiflion of the reafon ; it is a pious tendernefs of the foul; it is a con- tinual longing to become like unto Jefus Chrift; it is an indefatigable application in rooting out from ourfelves whatever may be inimical to a lite oi faith. There is an

unbelief

2ï8 SE R M O N Vli

unbelief of the heart, equally dangerous to falvation as that of the mind. A man who obftinately refufes belief, after all the proofs of religion, is a monfter, whom we contemplate with horror; but a Chriflian who believes, yet lives as though he believed not, is a madman, whofe folly compafTeth comprehenfion : the one procures his own condemnation, like a man defperate ; the other, like an indolent one, who tranquilly allows himfelf to be carried down by the waves, and thinks that he is thereby faving himfelf. Make your faith then certain, ray brethren, by your good works; and if you (hudder at the fole name of an impious perfon, have the fame horror at yourfelves, feeing we are taught by faith, that the deftiny of the wick- ed Chriftian fhall not be different from his, and that his lot fhall be the fame as that of the unbeliever. Live con- formably to what you believe. Such is the faith of the righteous, and the only one to which the eternal promifes have been made.

SERMON

SERMON VIL

DOUBTS UPON RELIGION.

John vii. 27,

Howbeit we know this man, whence he is ; but when Chrijt comtth^ no man knoweth whence he is.

Ouch is the grand pretext oppofed by the unbelief of the Jews to the doftrine and tQ the miniftry of Jefus Chnft ; doubts upon the truth of his minion. We know who thou art, and whence thou comeft, faid they to him ; but the Chrift whom we expeft, when he cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. It is far from clear, then, that thou art the Meffiah promifed to our fathers ; perhaps it is an evil fpirit which, through thee, operates thefe wonders before our eyes, and impofes upon the credulity of tht vulgar ; fo many deceivers have already appeared in Judea, who, giving themfelves out for the Great Prophet who is to come, have feduced the people, and at laft drawn dû'»vn upon themfelves the punilhment due to their impcfture* Keep us no longer in doubt : if thou be the Chrift, tell us plainly, and in fuch a way as that room fhall no longer' be left either for doubt or for miftake.

I would not dare to fay this here, my brethren, were

the language of doubts upon faith not become fo common

VcL. II. A a now

22,0 SERMON VU.

now among us, that precaution is needlefs in undertaking to confute it : behold the almoft univerfal pretext employ- ed in the world to authorife a life altogether criminal. We every where meet with fmners who coolly tell us, that they would be convened were they well affured that all we tell them of religion were true ; that perhaps there is no- thing after this life ; that they have doubts and difficulties upon our mylteries, to which they can find no fatisfaftory anfwer ; that, alter all, the whole appears very uncertain ; and that, before engaging to follow all the rigid maxims of the gofpel, it would be proper to be well aiTured that our toils Ihall not be loll.

Now, my intention at prefent is not to overthrow unbe- lief by the grand proofs which eftablilh the truth of the Chr^"ftian faith : fetting afide that elfewhere we have alrea- dy fcHabufhed them, it is a fubjeft far too extcnfive for a difcourfe, and often beyond even the capacity of the majo- rity of thofe who liften to us ; it is frequently paying too much deference to the frivolous objeftions of thofe who give themfelves out as free-thinkers in the world to em- ploy the gravity of our miniftry ip refuting and overthrow- ing them.

We muft take a fhorter and more eafy way, therefore, at pie'ent. My defign is not to enter into, the foundation of the proofs which render teftimony to the truth of faith; I mean only to expofe the falfity of unbelief : I mean to prove that the greateft part of thofe who call themfelves unbelievers, are not fo ; that almoft all thofe finners who vaunt, and are continually alledging to us their doubts, as the only obftacle to their converfion, have aftually none ; and that, of all the pretexts employed as an excufe for not changing their life, that of doubts upon religion,

now

DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 921

now the moft common, is the leaft true and the lead fincere.

It appears furprifing at firft that I fiiould undertake to prove to thofe who believe to have doubts upon religion, and are continually objefting them to us, that they have aftually none : neverthelefs, with a proper knowledge of men, and, above all, with a proper attention to the cha- rafter of thofe who make a boaft of doubting, nothing is more eafy than this conviftion. I fay to their charafter, in which are always to be found licentioufnefs, ignorance, and vanity; and fuch are the three ufual fources of their doubts : they give the credit of them to unbelief, which has fcarcely a fhare in them.

ly?/)/, It is licentioufnefs which propofes, without dar- ing to believe them. Firil refleftion.

zdly. It is ignorance which adopts, without comprehend- ing them. Second refle6lion.

Lajlly, It is vanity which boafts, without being able to fucceed in drawing any refource from them. Laft reflec- tion.

That is to fay, that the greatefl: part of thofe who call themfelves unbelievers, are licentious enough to wifh to be fo; too ignorant to be fo in reality; and, neverthelefs, fufficiently vain to wiflî to appear fo. Let us untold thefe three reflexions, now become fo important among us ; and let us overthrow licentioufnefs rather than unbelief, by laying it open to itfelf,

Part

Î2è SERMON Vïl,

Part I. It muft at once be admitted, my brethren, and it is melancholly tor us that we owe this confefîîon to the f ruth : it mufl be admitted, I fay, that our age and thofe of our fathers have feen real unbehevers. In that depra- vity of manners in which we live, and amid all the fcan- d?ls which have fo long afflifted the church, it is not fur- pnfing that men have fomeiimes been found who have de- ïîied the exiftence of a God ; and that faith fo weakened in all, fliould, in fome, be at lafl wholly extinguifhed. As chofen and extraordinary fouls appear in every age, whom the Lord filleth with his grace, his lights, and his moll fhming gifts, and upon whom hedelighteth in liberally pouring forth all the riches of his mercy ; fo, likewile, are feen others in whom iniquity is, as I may fay, con- fummate ; and whom the Lord feems to have marked out, to difplay in them the mod terrible judgments of his juf- tice, and the moll fatal efFefts of his negleft and wrath.

The church, where all thefe fcandals are to increafe even to the end, cannot, therefore, boaft of being entire- ly purged from the fcandal of unbelief : (he hath, from time to time, her ftars which enlighten, and her monfters who disfigure her ; and, along with thofe great men, cele- brated for their lights and for their fanftity, who in every age have ferved as her fupport and ornament, fhe hath alfo witnefTed a lift of impious men, whofe names aie flill at prefent the horror ol the univerfe, who have dared, in writings full of blafphemy and impiety, to attack the myf- teries of God, to deny falvation and the promifes made to our fathers, to overturn the foundation of faith, and to preach free-thinking among believers.

I do not pretend, therefore, to fay, that, among fo many wretches who fpeak the language of unbelief among us,

there

DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 22^

there may not perhaps be found feme one fufficiently cor- rupted in mind and in heart, and fo far abandoned by God, as aftually and in effe£l to be an unbeliever : I mean only to eftablifh, that thefe men grounded in impiety are rare^ and that, among all thofe who are continually vaunting their doubts and their unbelief, and make a deplorable of- tentation of them, there is not perhaps a Tingle one upon whofe heart faith doth not ftill preferve its rights, and who doth not inwardly dread that God whom he apparently re- fufes to acknowledge. To overthrow, it is not always ne- cefTary to combat our pretended unbelievers ; it would of- ten be combating only phantoms : they require only to be difplayed fuch as they are : the wretched decoration of un- belief quickly tumbles down, and nothing remains but their paffions and their debaucheries.

And behold the firfl: reafon upon which I have ellablifli- ed the general propofition, that the majority of thofe who make a boaft of their doubts, have aflually none ; it is, that their doubts are thofe of licentioufnefs, and not of Unbelief. Why, my brethren ? Becaufe it is licentiouf- nefs which hath formed their doubts, and not their doubts licentioufnefs; becaufe that, in faft, it is to their palTionâ and not to their doubts that they hold ; lallly, becaufe that, in general, they attack in religion only thofe truths inimi- cal to their paffions. Behold refle6tions which in my opi- nion are worthy of your attention ; I fliall lay them before you without ornament, and in the fame order in which they prefented themfelves to my mind.

I fay, in the firft place ; becaufe their doubts have fprungfrom licentioufnefs, and not licentioufnefs from their doubts. Yes, my brethren, not one of all thofe ■who aflfecl to profefs themfelves unbelievers has ever been

feen

eS4^ SERMON VII.

feen to begin by doubts upon the truths of faith, and af- terwards from doubts to fall into licentioufnefs ; they be- gin with the paffions ; doubts come afterwards : they firft give way to the irregularities ot the age, and to the excef- fes of debauchery; and when attained to a certain length, and they find it no longer pofTible to return upon their fleps, they then fay, in order to quiet themfelves, that there is nothing after this life, or, at leaft, they are well pleafed to find people who fay fo. It is not, therefore, the little certainty they find in religion which auth-ori fes their con- clufion that we ought to yield ourfelves up to pleafure, and that felf-denial is needlefs, fince every thing dies with us : it is the yielding of themfelves up to pleafure which creates doubts upon religion, and, by rendering felf-denial next to impofhble, leads them to conclude that, confe- quently, it is needlefs. Faith becomes fufpe£ied only when it begins to be troublefome; and, to this day, unbe- lief hath never made a voluptuarj-; but voluptuoufnefs hath made almofl all the unbelievers.

And a proof of what I fay, you whom this difcourfe re- gards, is that, while you have lived with modefly and in- nocence, you never doubted. Recolleft thofe happy times when the paffions had not yet corrupted your heart ; the faith of your fathers had then nothing but what was augufl and refpeflable ; reafon bent without pain to the yoke of authority ; you never thought of doubts or difficulties : from the moment your manners changed, your views upon religion have no longer been the fame. It is not faith, therefore, which hath found new difficulties in your rea- fon ; it is the praftice of duties which hath encountered new obffacles in your lieart. And fhould you tell us, that your firfl impreffions, fo favourable to faith, fprung folely from the prejudices of education and of childhood, we

(hall

DOUBTS UPON RELIGION, 225

ihall anfwer, that the fécond, Co favourable to Impiety, have fprung folely from the prejudices of the pafiions and of de- bauchery ; and that prejudices for prejudices, it appears to- us, that it is flill better to keep by thofe which are formed in innocence and lead us to virtue, than to thofe which are born in the infamy of the pafTions, and preach up only free- thinking and guilt.

Thus nothing is more humiliating for unbelief than re- calling it to its origin : it bear* a falfe name of learning and of light : and it is a child of iniquity and of darknefs. It is not the Itrength of reafon which has led our pretended un- believers to flcepticifm ; it is the weaknefs of a corrupted heart which has been unable to furmount its infamous paf- fions ; it is even a mean cowardlinefs which, unable to fupport and to view with a fteady eye the terrors and the threatenings of religion, endeavours to fhake off their thoughts by continually repeating that they are childifh terrors ; it is a man who, afraid of the night, lings as he goes along to prevent himfelf from thinking: debauchery always makes us cowardly and fearful ; and it is nothing but an excefs of fear of eternal punifhments which occafions a finner tx> be continually preaching up and finging to us that they are doubtful ; he trembles, and wifhes to ftrengthen himfelf againft himfelf ; he cannot fupport, at the fame time, the view of his crimes, and that of the punifhment which awaits them ; that faith fo venerable, and of which he fpeaks with fuch contempt, neverthelefs terrifies and dif- quiets him flill more than thofe other fjnners who, without doubting its punifhments, yet are frequently not lefs un- faithful to its precepts ; it is a coward who hides his fear under a lalfe oftentation of bravery. No, my brethren, our pretended free-thinkers give themfelves out as men of

courage

220 SERMON VII.

courage and firmnefs ; examine them narrowly, and they are the weakeft and mofl cowardly of men.

Befides, it is not furprifing that licentioufnefs lead us tp doubt ot religion: the paflllons require the aid oi unbelief ; for they are too feeble and too unreafonable to maintain their own caufe. Our lights, our feelings, our confcience, all ftruggle within us againft them : we are under the ne- ceffity, therefore, of feekinga fupport for them, and of de- fending them againft ourfelves : for, it is a matter of fatis- faflion, to juflily to one's felf whatever is pleafing. We would neither wifli that pallions which are dear to us fhould be criminal, nor thatwefliould continually have to fupport the interefts of our pleafures againft thofe of our con- fcience : we wifli tranquilly to enjoy our crimes, and to free ourfelves from that troublefome monitor which con- tinually efpoufes the caufe of virtue againft ourfelves ; while remorfes conteft the pleafure of our enjoyments, they muft te very imperfeftly tafted ; it is paying too great a price for guilt, to purchafe it at the expence of that quiet which is fought in it : we muft either terminate our debaucheries, or try to quiet ourfelves in them ; and as it is impofTible to enjoy peace of îpiml in them, and next to impoffible to terminate them, the only retuge feems that of doubting the truths which difquiet us ; and in order to attain to tran- quillity, every effort is ufed to inculcate the perfuafion of unbelief.

That is to fay, that the great effort of licentioufnefs is that of leading us to the defire of unbelief : the horrible fecurity of the unbeliever is coveted ; total darknefs of heart is confidered as a happy ftate ; it is unpleafant to have beea born with a weaker and more fearful confcience ; the

lot

DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 22/

lot of thofe, apparently firm and unfhaken in impiety, is envied ; while they, in their turn, perhaps a prey to the moft gloomy remorfes, and vaunting a courage they are rar from having, view our lot with envy ; for, judging of us from the language we hold upon free-thinking, they take us for what we take them, that is to fay, for what we are not, and for what both they and we would wifli to be. And it is thus, O my God ! that thefe falfe heroes of im- piety live in a perpetual illufion, continually deceive themfelves, and appear what they are not, only becaufe they would wifh to be it : they would willingly have reli- gion to be but a dream ; they fay in their heart " There is ** no God ;'' that is to fay, this impious language is the de- Cre ot their heart : they would ardently wifh no God ; that that Being fo grand and fo neceffary, were a chimera ; that they were the fole matters ot their own deRiny ; that they were accountable only to themfelves for the horrors of their life and the infamy of their paffions ; that all finifhed with them ; and that, beyond the grave, there were no fu- preme and eternal Judge, the punifher of vice and the re- warder of virtue : they wifh it ; they deftroy as much as they can through the impious wifhes of their heart, but they cannot efface, from the foundation of their being, the idea of his power and the dread of his punifhments.

In effeft, it would be too vulgar for a man, vain and plunged in debauchery, inwardly to fay to himfelf : I am ilill too weak, and too much abandoned to pleafure, to quit it, or to lead a more regular and Chrillian life. That pretext would ff ill leave all his remorfes : it is much fooner done to fay to himfelf, It is needlefs to live otherwife, for there is nothing after this life. This pretext is far more convenient, for it puts an end to every thing ; it is the moft favourable to indolence, for it effranges us from the

Vol. II. B b facraments.

2^8 s EU MON VIIi

facraments, and from all the other flaveries of religion. It is much fhortcr to fay to himfelf, " There is nothing," and to live as if he were in efFeft perfuaded of it ; it is at once throwing off every yoke and all reftraint ; it puts an end to all the irkfome meafures which finners ot another defcrip- tion flill guard with religion and with the confcience. This pretext of unbelief, by perfuading us that we aftually doubt, leaves us in a certain ftate of indolence on every thing regarding religion, which prevents us from fearch- ing into ourfelves, and from making too melancholy re- flexions on our pafTions : we meanly allow ourfelves to be fwept away by the fatal courfe, upon the general prepof- fefTion that we believe nothing ; we have few remorfes, for we think ourfelves unbelievers, and becaufe that fuppofi- tion leaves us almofl the fame fecunty as impiety : at leaft, it is a diverfion which dulls and fufpends the fenfihility of the confcience ; and, by operating fo as to make us always take ourfelves for what we are not, it induces us to live as if we aftually were what we wifli to be.

That is to fay, that the greatefl part of thefe pretended free-thinkers, and of thefe debauched and licentious un- believers, ought to be confidered as weak and diffolute men, who, not having the force to live chriftianly, nor even the hardinefs to be atheifts, remain in that flate of cf- trangement from religion, as the mofl convenient to indo- lence ; and, as they never try to quit it, they fancy that they aftually hold to it : it is a kind of neutrality betwixt faith and irreligion, contrived by indolence tor its own eafe ; for it requires exertion to adopt a party ; and, in order to remain neuter, nothing more is required than not to think, and to live by habit , thus they never fathom, nor take any refolution upon themfelves. Hardened and avowed impiety hath fomething, I know not what, which ftrikes

with

DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 229

with horror : religion on the other hand, prefents obje£ls which alarm, and are by no means convenient to the paf- fions. What is to be done in thefe two extremities, of which the one fhocks reafon, and the other fenfes ? They reft wavering and undecided ; in the mean time they enjoy the calm which is left by that ftate of indecifion and in- difference : they live wifhing to know what they are ; for it is much more convenient to be nothing, and to live without thinking,, or any knowledge of themfelves. No, my brethren, I repeat it ; thefe are not unbelievers, they are cowards, who have not the courage to efpoiife a party ; who know only to live voluptuoufly, without rule, without morality, and often without decency ; and who, v/ithout being atheifts, live however without religion, for religion requires confiftency, reafon, elevation of mind, firmnefs, noble fentiments, ^nd of all thefe they are incapable. Such, however, are the heroes of whom impiety boafls ; behold the fuffrages upon which it grounds its defence, and oppo- fes to religion, by infulting us; behold the partifans with whom it thinks itfelf invincible ; and weak and wretched muft its refources indeed be, fmce it is reduced to feek them in men of this defcription.

Firft reafon which proves that licentioufnefs fprings not from doubts, but doubts from licentioufnefs. The fécond reafon is only a frefh proof of the firft; it is that a£lua!ly, if they da not change their life, it is not to their doubts, but folely to their pafTions that they hold.

For I aflt nothing of you here but candour, you who continually alledge your doubts upon our my fteries. When you fometimes think of quitting that fink of vice and de- bauchery in which you live, and when the pafTions, more tranquil,. allow you to refleft, do you then oppofe your un-

i ceriaintiea

S^ SERMON VII,

certainties upon religion ? Do you fay to yourfelves, " But *' if I return it will be necefTary to believe things which *• feem incredible ? Is this the grand difficulty ? Ah ! you inwardly fay, but if I return it will be necefTary to break off iliis connection, to deny myfelf thefe exceffes, to termi- nate thefe focieties, to fhun thefe places, to proceed to things which I fhall never fupport, and to adopt a manner of h:e to which all my inclinations are repugnant. Thefe are what check you ; thefe are the wall of feparation which removes you from God. You fpeak fo much to others of your doubts; how comes it that you never fpeak of them to yourfelves ? This is not a matter, therefore, oi reafon and of belief ; it is a matter ot the heart and of li- centioufnefs ; and the delay of your converfion fprings not from your uncertainties upon faith, but from the fole doubt in which the violence and the empire of your pafTions leave you of ever being able to free yourfelves from their fubjec- tion and infamy.. Such, my brethren, are the true chains which bind our pretended unbelievers to their own wretch- ednefs.

And this truth is more evident from this, that the majori- ty of thofe who profefs themfelves unbelievers, live, never- thelefs, in perpetual variations upon the point even of un- belief. In certain moments they are affefled with the truths of religion : they feel themfelves torn with the ikeeneft remorfes ; they even apply to the fervants of God mofl diflinguifhed for their learning and piety, to hold con- verge with, and receive inflruftions from them : in others, they make game of thefe truths ; they treat the fervants of God with derifion, and piety itfelf as a chimera; there is fcarcely one of thefe finners, even of thofe who make the greatelt oflentation of their unbelief, whom the fpeftacle of an unexpe£led death, a fatal accident, a grievous lofs, or a

reverfe

DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. £31

reverfe of fortune hath not call into gloomy refleftions oa l^is fuuation, and excited deGres of a more Chriflian life; there is hardly one who, in thefe trying fitnations, feeks not confolation in the fupport ot the godly, and take not fome flep which leaves Impes of amendment. It is not to their companions in impiety and licentioufnefs that liiey then have recourfe for confolation ; it is not by thofe im- pious railleries upon our myfleries, and by that horrible philofophy that they try to alleviate their fufferings : thefe are difcourfes of feftivity and diflipation, and not affliction and forrow : it is the religion of the table, of pleafures, of liotings ; it is not that of folemn adverfity and fadnefs : the relifh of impiety vanilhes with that of pleafures. Now, if their unbelief were founded in real uncertainties upon religion, fo long as thefe uncertainties exifted, unbelief fhould be the fame ; but as their doubts fpring only from their paflions, and as their paffions are not always the fame, nor equally violent and mafters of their heart, fo their doubts continually flu£luate like their paffions ; they in- creafe, they dimiaifh, they are eclipfed, they reappear, they are mutable, exaftly in the fame degree as their paf- fions ; in a word, they fhare the lot of the pafTions, for they are nothing but the pafhons themfclves.

In efFeft, to leave nothing unfaid on this fubjeft, and to make you thoroughly feel how much this vaunted profef- fion of unbelief is defpicable, obferve that, reply to every difficulty of the boafling finner, reduce him to have no- thing more to fay, and yet flill he does not yield ; you have not thereby gained him ; he retires within himfelf, as if he had flill more overpowering reafons which he difdains to bring forward : he keeps firm, and oppofesa myflerious and decifive air to all thofe proofs which he cannot refolve. You then pity fws madnefs and obftinacy : you are miflaken ;

be

232 SERMON VII,

be touched only tor his libertine life, and his want of carr- dour ; for, let a moral difeafe ftrike him on quitting you ;^ approach his bed of anguifh, ah ! you will find this pre- tended unbeliever convinced ; his doubts ceafe, his uncer- tainties end, all that deplorable difplay of unbelief vanifhes and tumbles in pieces ; there is no longer even queftion of it ; he has recourfe to the God ot his fathers, and trem- bles at the judgments he made a feew of not believing. The minifter oi Jefus Chrift, called in, has no occafion to enter into controverfy to undeceive him on his impiety r the dying (inner anticipates his cares and his miniftry : he is afhamed ot his blafphemies, and repents of them : he ac- knowledges their falfity and deception ; he makes a public reparation of them to the majcfty and to the truth of reli- gion ; he no longer demands proofs, he alks only confola- tions. Neverthelefs, this difeafe hath not brought new lights upon faith ; the blow which Ilrikes his flefh has not cleared up the doubts of his mind ; ah ! it is becaufe it touches his heart, and terminates his riots ; in a word, it is that his doubts were in his pallions, and that whatever tends to extinguifli his paflions, tends, at the fame time,- to extinguilh his doubts.

It happens, I confefs, that finners are fometimes found' who pufh their madnefs and impiety even to that laft mo- ment : who expire in vomiting forth with their impious ibul, blafphemies againft the God who is to judge them, and whom they refufe to acknowledge. For, O my God ! thou art terrible in thy judgments, and fometimes permit- •tefl: that the atheift die in his impiety. But fuch exam- ples are rare ; and you well know, my brethren, that an entire age fcarcely furnifhes one of thefe (hocking (pe£la- cles. But view, in that laft moment, all the others who vaunted their unbelief; fee a finner on the bed ot death,

who

DOUBTS UPON RELIGIONr 233

"who had hitherto appeared the firmeft in impiety, and the moft refolute in denying all belief; he even anticipates the propofal of having recourfe to the church remedies : he lifts up his hands to heaven, and gives flriking and fincere marks of a religion which was never effaced from the bot- tom ot his heart ; he no longer rejefts, as childifh bugbears, the threatenings and chaftifements of a future life; what do I fay ? this finner, formerly fo firm, fo ftately in his pretended unbelief, fo much above the vulgar fears, then becomes weaker, more fearful, and more credulous than the foweft of the people ; his fears are more excefTive, his very religion more fuperftitious, his praftices of worfhip more filly, and more extravagant than thofe of the vulgar; and as one excefs borders on its oppofite excefs, he is feen to pafs in a moment from impiety to fuperffition ; from the firmnefs of the philofopher, to all the weaknefs of the ignorant and fimple.

And here it is that, with Tertullian, I would appeal to this dying finner, and let him hold forth, in my ftead, againfl unbelief ; it is here that, to the honour of the reli- gion of our fathers, I would wifh no other teftimony of the weaknefs and of the infincerity of the pretended atheifl, than this expiring foul, who, furely now, can fpeak only the language of truth; it is here that I would affemble all unbelievers around his bed of death ; and to overthrow them by a teftimony which could not be fufpicious, would fay to him, with Tertullian : " O foul ! before thou quit- •' tefl this earthly body, which thou art fo foon to be freed " from, fufFer me to call upon thy teftimony; fpeak, in *' this laft moment, when vanity is no more, and thou ow- " eft all to tiie truth ; fay, if thou confidereft the terrible? «' God, into whofe hands thou goeft, as a chin::erical bc- •• ing with whom weak and credulous minds are alarmed ?

" Say.

234 SERMON VII.

"Say, iF, all now difappearing from thine eyes, if, for " thee, all creatures returning to nothing, God alone doth " not appear to thee immortal, unchangeable, the being of " all ages and of et^fnity, and who filleth the heavens and " the earth ? We now confent, we, whom thou haft al- " ways confidered as fuperftitious and vulgar minds, we '* confent that thou judge betwixt us and unbelief, to " which thou hafl ever been fo partial. Though, with re- " gard to faith, thou haft hitherto been as a ftranger and " the enemy of religion, religion refers its caufe to thee, ** againfl thofe with whom the fhocking tie of impiety had " fo clofely united thee. If all die with thee, why does " death appear fo dreadful ? "Why thefe uplifted hands to ♦' heaven, if there be no God who may liften to thy prayers, " and be touched by thy groanings ? If nothing thyfelf, *' why belie the nothingnefs of thy being, and why trem- " ble upon the fequel of thy deftiny ? Whence come, in *' this laft moment, thefe feelings of dread and of refpeft " for the fupreme Being ? Is it not, that they have ever " been in thee, that thou haft impofed upon the public by " a falfe oftentc'tion of impiety, and that death only un- " folds thofe difpofitions of faith and oi religion, which, " though dormant, have never ceafed during life."

Yes, my brethren, could the pafTions be deftroyed, all unbelievers would foon be recalled ; and a final reafon, which fully proves it, is that, if they feem to rife up againft the inccmprehenfibility of our myfteries, it is fole- ly tor the purpofe of combating what touches them., and of attacking the truths which intereft the pafTions ; that is to fay, the truth o,f a future ftate, and the eternity ot fu- ture punifhments ; this is always the favourite conclufion and fruit of their doubts.

In

DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 235

In effeft, if religion, without adding maxims^nd truths which reftrain the paffions, propofed only myfteries which exceed reafon, we may boldly fay, that unbelievers would be rare; almoft no one is intcrefted in thofeabftrufe truths or errors, which it is indifferent to believe or to deny. You will find few real votaries of truth who become par- tifans and zealots in fupport of merely fpeculative and un- important points, becaufe they believe them to be true. The abftrufe truths of mathematics have found, in our days, fome zealous and eftimable followers who have de- voted themfelves to the elucidation of what is held as mofl impenetrable in the infinite fecrets and profound obfcuri- ties of that fcience ; but thefe are rare and fingular men : the infeftion was little to be dreaded, nor, in truth, has it fpread ; they are admired, but few would wifh to follow their example. If religion propofed only truths equally abflrufe, equally indifferent to the felicity of the fenfes, equally uninterelting to the paffions and to felf-love, the atheifts would be ftill Inore rare than the mathematicians. The truths of religion are objefted to, merely becaufe they threaten us : no objeflions are made to the others, becaufe their truth or their falfity is alike indifferent.

And tell us not that it is not through felf-intereft, but the fole love of truth that the unbeliever rejefts myftenes which reafon rejefts. This, I well know, is the boaft of the pretended unbeliever, and he would wilh us to think fo ; but of what confequence is the truth to men, who, fo far from either feeking, loving, or knowing it, wifh even to conceal it from themfelves ? What matters to them a truth beyond their reach, and to which they have never devoted a fingle ferious moment; which, having nothing flattering to the paffions, can never be interefling to thefe men of flefh and blood, plunged in a voluptuous life ? Vol. II. Cc . Their

236 SERMON VII.

Their objeft is to gratify their irregular dcfires, and yet have nothing to dread after this life; this is the only truth which interefts them: give up that point, and the obfcu- rity ot all the other myfteries will not occupy even a thought ; let them but tranquilly enjoy their crimes, and they will agree to every thing.

Thus the majority of atheifls, who have left in writing the wretclied fruits of their impiety, have always flroveto prove that there was nothing above us ; that all died with the body, and that future punilhments or rewards were fa- bles ; to attra6l followers it was necefTary to fecure thefuf- frage of the pafhons. If ever they attacked the other points of religion, it was only to come to the main con- clufion, that there is nothing after this life; that vices or virtues are names invented by policy to reflrain the people; and that the pafhons are only natural and innocent inclina- tions, which every one may follow, becaufe every one finds them in himfelf.

Behold why the impious, in the book of Wifdom, the Sadducees themfelves, in the gofpel, who may be confi- dered as the fathers and predecefTors of our unbelievers, never took any pains to refute the truth ot the miracles re- lated in the books of Mofes, and which God formerly wrought in favour of his people, nor the promife of the Mediator made to their fathers : they attacked only the re- furreftion of the dead, and the immortality of the foul : that point decided every thing for them. " Man dies like »' the beaft," faid they in the book of Wifdom; " we ♦' know not if their nature be difTerent, but their end and " their lot are the fame : trouble us no more, therefore, *• with a futurity which is not ; let us enjoy life ; let us '« refufe ouffelves no gratification : time is fliort ; let us

" hafîen

DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 237

*« haften to live, for we {hall die to-morrow, and becaufe •• all (hall die with us." No, my brethren, unbelief hath always originated in the pafTions : the yoke of faith is ncv cr rejefted but in order to (hake off the yoke of duties ; and religion would never have an enemy, were it not the cne. my of licentioufnefs and vice.

But if the doubts of our unbelievers are not real, in con- fequence of being formed folely by licentioufoefs, they are alfo ialfe, becaufe it is ignorance which adopts with- out comprehending them, and vanity which makes a boaft without being able to make a refource ot them : this is what now remains to me to unfold.

Part II. The fame anfwer might be made to, the majo- rity of thofe who are continually vaunting their doubts up- on religion, and find nothing but contradiftions in what faith obliges us to believe, that Tertullian formerly made to the heathens upon all the reproaches they invented againft the myfteries and the doQrine of Jefus Chrift. They condemn, faid he, what they do not underftand ; they blame what they have never examined, and what they know only by hearfay ; they blafpheme what they are ignorant of, and they are ignorant of it, becaufe they hate it too much to give therafelves the trouble of fearching in^ to and knowing it. Now, continues this father, nothing is more indecent and foolifh than boldly to decide upon what they know not ; and all that religion would require of thefe frivolous and diflblute men, who fo warmly rife up againft it, is not to condemn before they are well ac- quainted with it.

Such, my brethren, is the fituation of almoft all who give themfelvcs out in the world as unbelievers ; they have

invefiigated

238 SERMON VU.

inveftigated neither the difficulties nor the refpeflable proofs of religion ; they know not even enough to doubt ot them. They hate it ; tor how is it pofhble to love our condemna- tion ? and upon that hatred are founded their doubts and their only arguments to oppofe it.

In efTefl, when I glance my eye over all that the Chrif- tiah ages have had of great men, elevated geniufes, pro- found and enlightened fcholars, who, after an entire lite of fmdy and indefatigable application, have, with an humble docility, fubmitted to the myfteries of faith; have found the proofs of religion fo llrong, that the proudefl and moft contrafctable reafon might, in their opinion, without dero- gation, comply ; have defended it againft the blafphemies of the pagans ; have filenced the vain philofophy of the fagcs of the age, and made the folly ot the crofs to tii- umph over all the wifdom and erudition of Rome and Athens ; it ftrikes me, that, in order to renew the attack againft myfteries fo long and fo univerfally eflablilhed ; that, in order to be heard in appeal, if I may venture to fay fo, from the fubmifTion of fo many ages, from the wri- tings of io many great men, from fo many victories at- chieved by faith, from the eonfent of the univerfe ; in a word, from a prefcription fo long and fo well ftrengthen- ed, it would require either new proofs that had never yet been controverted, or new difficulties that had never yet been ftarted, or new methods which difcovered a weak fide in religion as yet never found out. It feems to me, that, fingly to rife up againft fo many teftimonies, fo many pro- digies, fo many ages, fo many divine monuments, fo ma- ny famous perfonages, fo many works which time hath confecrated, and which, like pure gold, have quitted the ordeal of unbelief only more refplendid and immortal ; in a word, io many furprifmg, and till then unheard of events,

which

DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 239

which eflablifli the faith of Cliriftians, it would require very decifive and very evident reafons, very rare and new lights, to pretend even to doubt, much lefs to oppofe it. Would not that man be defervingly confidered as out of his fenles, who fliould go to defy an whole army, merely to make an oftentation of a vain defiance, and to pridç himfelf upon a burlefque bravery ?

Neverthelefs, when you examine the majority of thofe who call themfelves unbelievers, who are continually cla- mouring againft the popular prejudices, who vaunt their doubts, and defy us to fatisfy or to anfwer them ; you find that their only knowledge confifts of fome hackneyed and vulgar doubts, which, in all times, have been, and Hill continue to be, argued in the world ; that they know no- thing but a certain jargon of licentioufnefs which goes from hand to hand, which they receive without examina- tion and repeat without underftanding : you find that their whole (kill and ftudy of religion are reduced to fome licen- tious fayings, which, if I may defcend fo low, are the pro- per language ot the ftreets ; to certain maxims which, through mere repetition, begin to relifti of proverbial mean- nefs. You will find no foundation, no principle, no fe- quence of doftrine, no knowledge even of the religion which they attack : they are men immerfed in pleafure, and who would be very forry to have a fpare moment to devote to the inveftigation of wearifome truths which they are in- different whether they know or not ; men of a light and fuperficial charaéler, and wholly unfitted for a moment's ferious meditation and inveftigation ; let me again repeat, men drowned in voluptuoufnefs, and in whom even that portion of penetration and underftanding, accorded by na- ture, hath been debafed and extinguilhed by debauchery.

Such

fcjO SERMON VII.

Such are the formidable fupports of unbelief againft the knowledge of God : behold the frivolous, diffipated, and ignorant charafters who dare to tax, with credulity and ignorance, all that the Chriftian ages have had, andftill have of learned, able, and celebratred perfonages : they know the language of doubts ; but they have learned it by rote, for they never formed them ; they only repeat what they have heard : it is a tradition of ignorance and impie- ty ; they have no doubts ; they only preferve, for thofe to come, the language of irreligion and doubts ; they are not unbelievers, they are only the echoes of unbelief ; in a word, they know how to exprefs a doubt, but they are too ignorant to doubt themfelves.

And a proof of what I advance is, that, in all other doubts, we hefitate only in order to be inftru6led ; every thing is examined which can elucidate the concealed truth. But here the doubt is merely for doubting's fake ; a proof that we are equally uninterefted in the doubt, as in the truth which it conceals from us ; they would be very forry were they under the neccffity of clearing up either the falfity, or the truth of the uncertainties which they pretend to have upon our myfteries. Yes, my brethren, were the punifli- ment of doubters, to be that of an indifpenfible obligation tofeek the truth, no one would doubt ; no one would pur- chafe, at fuch a price, the plcafure of calling himfelf an unbeliever; few indeed would be capable of it : decifive proof that they do not doubt, and that they are as little at- tached to their doubts as to religion (for their knowledge in both is much about the fame ;j but only that they have lofl thofe fir II feelings of difcretion and of faith which left u« flill fomc veflige of refpeft for the religion of our fathers. Thus, it is doing too much honour to men, fo worthy both of pity and contempt, to fuppofe that they have taken

a fide.

DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. S^l

a fide, that they have embraced a fyftem ; you honour them too much by ranking them among the impious fol- lowers of a Socinus, by ennobling them with the fhocking titles of deifts or atheifts : alas! they are nothing; they are of no fyftem ; at leaft, they neither know themfelves what they are, nor can they tell us what that fyftem is; and, ftrange as it may appear, they have found out the fe- rret of forming a ftate more defpicable, more mean, and more unworthy of reafon, than even that of impiety; and it is even doing them credit to call them by the fhocking ti- tle of unbeliever, which had hitherto been confidered as the fhame of humanity, and the higheft reproach of man.

And, to conclude this article with a refle£lion which con- firms the fame truth, and it is very humiliating for our pre- tended unbelievers, I ob fer ve that they, whoaffe£l to treat us as weak and credulous minds, who vaunt their reafon, who accufe us of grounding a religion upon the popular prejudices, and of believing, folely becaufe our predecef- fors have believed; they, I fay, are unbelievers, and doubt upon the fole and deplorable authority oi a debauchee, whom they have often heard to fay, that futurity is a bugbear, and made ufe of as a fcarecrow to frighten only children and the common people ; fuch is their own knowledge, and their on- ly ufe of reafon. They are impious, as they accufe us of being believers without examination, and through creduloufnefs ; but through a credulity which can find no excufebut in raad- nefs and folly; the authority ot a fingle impious difcourfe, pronounced in a bold and decifive tone, hath fubjugated their reafon, and ranked them in the lifts of impiety. They call us credulous, in yielding to the authority of the pro- phets, of the apoftles, of men infpircd by God, of the fhining miracles wrought to eftablifh the truth of our myftcries, and to that venerable tradition of holy paftors,

who

242

Sermon vu.

who, from age to age, have tranfmitted to us the charge of doftrine and of truth ; that is to fay, to the great, eft authority that hath ever been on the earth ; and they think themfelves lefs credulous, and it appears to therii more worthy of reafon, to fubmit to the authority of a free- thinker who in the moment of debauchery, pronounces, with a firm tone, that there is no God, yet, moft likely, inwardly belies his own words. Ah ! my brethren, how- much does man degrade and render himfell contemptible "when he arrogates a falfe glory from being no longer in the belief of a God !

Thus, why is it, think you, that our pretended unbe- lievers are fo defirous of feeing real atheifts confirmed in impiety : that they feek and entice them even from for- eign countries, like a Spinofa, if the fa6l be, that he was called into France to be heard and confulted ? It is becaufe our unbelievers are not firm in unbelief, nor can they find any who are fo ; and, in order to harden themfelves, they would gladly fee fome one aftually confirmed in that detefta- ble caufe : they feek, in precedent, refources and defen- ces againft their own confcience ; and, not daring of them- felves to become impious, they expe£l from an example what their reafon and even their heart refufes ; and, in fo doing, they furely fall into a credulity much more childifli and abfurd than that with which they reproach believers. A Spinofa, that monfter, who, after embracing various reli- gions, ended with none, was not anxious to find out fome profefTed free-thinker who might confirm him in the caufe of irreligion and atheifm : he formed to himfelf that im- penetrable chaos of impiety, that work of confufion and darknefs in which the fole defire of not believing in God can fupport the wearinefs and difguft of thofe who read it ; in which, excepting the impiety, all is unintelligible ; and

ich

DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 243

xvliich would, from its birth, have funk into oblivion, had it not, to the (hame of humanity, attacked the fupreme Be- ing : that impious wretch, I fay, lived concealed, retired, tranquil : his dark produftions were his only occupation, and, to harden himfelF he needed only himfeU. But thofe who fo eagerly fought him, who longed to fee and confult him, thofe frivolous and diffokite men were fools who wifhed to become impious ; and who, not finding fuffi- cient authority to remain believers in the teftimony of all ages, of all nations, and of all the great men who have honoured religion, fought in the fingle teftimony of an ob- fcure individual, ofadeferter from every religion, of a mon- ffer obliged to hide himfelf from the eyes of men, a deplo- rable and monftrous authority which might confirm them in impiety, and defend them from their own confcience. Great God ! let the impious here hide their faces ; let them ceafe to make an oftentation of an unbelief which is the fruit of their depravity and ignorance, and no longer fpeak, but with blufhes, of the fubmifTion of believers : it is all a language of deceit, they give to vanity what we give to truth.

I fay vanity ; and this is the grand and final reafon which more clearly expofes all the falfity and weaknefs of unbe- lief. Yes, my brethren, all our pretended unbelievers are bullies, who give themfelves out for what they are not ; they confider unbelief as conveying the idea of fomething above the common ; they are continually boafting that they believe nothing, and, by dint of boafting, they at lafl perfuade themfelves of it: like certain mulhroom charac- ters among us, who, though touching the obfcurity and vulgarity of their anceftors, have the deplorable vanity of wifhing to be thought of an illuflnous birth, and dcfcended from the greateft names ; by dint of blazoning and re-

VoL. II. D d peating

244 SERMON VII.

peating it, they attain almoft to the belief of it themfelvcs. It is the fame with our pretended unbelievers ; they flilî touch, as I may fay, that faith which they have received at their birth, which flill flows with their blood, and is not yet effaced from their heart ; but they think it a vulgarity and meannefs, at which they blufh ; by dint of faying.»? and boafting that they believe nothing, they are convinced that they really do not believe, and have confe^uently a much higher opinion ot themfelves.

-ijlljy Becaufethat deplorable profeflfronof unbelief fup- pofes an uncommon underftanding, ftrength and fuperiori- ty of mind, and a fingularity which is pleafing and flatter- ing ; on the contrary, that the paffions infer only licentiouf- nefs and debauchery, of which all men are capable, though they are not fo ot that wonderful fuperiority attributed to itfelf by impiety.

2J/y, Becaufe faith is fo weakened in our age, that we find few in the world, who pique themfelves upon wit and and a little more knowledge or erudition than others, who do not allow themfelves doubts and difficulties upon the augufl and moff facred parts of religion. It would be a difgrace, therefore, in their company to appear religious and believers : they are men high in the public efleem, and any refemblance to them is flattering; in adopting their language, their talents and reputation are thought like- wife to be adopted ; and not to dare to follow or to copy them would, it feems, be making a public avowal of weaknefs and mediocrity : miferable and childifh vanity ! Befides, becaufe they have heard fay that certain charafters diftinguiflied in their age did not believe ; and as the me- mory of their talents and great aftions has been prefervjed only with that of their irreligion, they vaunt thefe grand

examples ;

DOUBTS UPOH RELIGION. 245

examples: after fuch illuftrious models, it appears dignified to believe nothing; their names are conftantly in their mouths : it is a falfe embroidery, where a laughable vani- ty and littlenefs of mind alone arc confpicuous, fince no- thing can be more miferable or mean than to give ourfelves out tor what we are not, or to affume the perfonage ot an- other.

g^/y, and lafiiy, Becaufe the language of impiety is, in general, the eonfequence oi licentious fociety : we wifh to appear the fame as our companions in debauchery ; for it would be a fliame to be difTolute, and yet feem to believe, in the very prefence of our accomplices in riot. It is a for- ry caufe that of a debauchee who ftill believes ; impiety and licentioufnefs are the only colour for debauchery; without thëfe he would be only a novice in profligacy : the dread of punifhments and of an hell is left to thofe yet unexercifed in guilt ; that remain of religion feems to fa- vour flill too much of childhood and the college. But when attained to a certain length in debauchery, ah ! thefe vulgar weaknefTes mull all be foared above; their opinion- of themfelves is raifed in proportion as they can perfuade others that they are now above all thefe fears; they even mock thofe who appear ftill to dread : like the wife of Job, they fay, with a tone of irony and impiety, " Dofl; " thou ftill retain thine integrity ? Art thou fo fim- " pie as to believe all thefe tales with which thy childhood " hath been alarmed ? Thou feeft not that all thefe are mere- " ly the vifions of weak minds, and that the more know- " ing, who preach them up fo much, believe not a word •• of them themfelves ?"

O my God ! How mean and defpicable .^î the impious man who feems fo proudly to contemn thee ? He is a

coward.

246 SERMON Vlli

coward, who outwardly infults, yet inwardly fears thee r heisavain boafter, who makes a fhew of unbeliet, but tells not what paffes within ; he is an impoflor, who, wifhing to deceive us, cannot fucceed in deceiving himfelf ; he is a fool, who without a fingle inducement, adopts all the horrors of impiety ; he is a madman, who, unable to attain irreligion, or to extinguifli the terrors of his confcience, extinguifhes in himfelf all modefty and decency, and endeavours to make an impious merit of it in the eyes of men ; who madly facrifi- ces, to the deplorable vanity of being thought an unbeliever, his religion which he flill preferves, his God whom he dreads, his confcience which he feels, his eternal falvation which he hopes. What a defertion of God, and what a fink of madnefsand folly !

And could you, my brethren, (and in. this wifh I com- prife the whole iruit of this difcourfe) who flill feel a re- verence for the religion of our fathers, but be fenfible of the contemptability of thofe men who give themfelves cut as free-thinkers, and whom you often fo much efteem.; you would then comprehend how much the profefTion of unbelief, now fo fafhionable among us, is, of all other charafters, the mofl frivolous, cowardly, and worthy of laughter ; you would then know that every thing mean and fliameful, even according to the world, is concealed un- der this oflentation of impiety, which the corruption of our manners hath now rendered fo common even to both fexes.

tflly. Of licentioufnefs. They reach the avowal of im- piety only when the heart is profoundly corrupted ; when they aftually live in private in the mofl fhamelul debauch- ery ; and, were they known for what they are, they would for ever be difhonoured even in the eyes of men.

DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 247

s.dly Of meannefs. They aft the philofopher and the wit, while, in fecret, they are the mod fneaking, the moil diflblute, the moft abandoned, and the weakeft of finner», the verieft flaves of every paflion unworthy of modefty, and even of reafon.

^dly Of deceit and impofition. They a61: a borrowed charafter ; they give themfelves out for what they are not ; and, while fo loudly exclaiming againft the godly, and treating them as impoftors and hypocrites, they are them- felves the very cheat they decry, and the hypocrite of im- piety and free-thinking.

/^thly. Of oftentation and wretched vanity. They a£l the hero, while inwardly trembling ; for, on the firfl fig- nal of death, they betray more cowardice than even the commoneft of the people : they make a (how of openly infulting that God whom they Hill inwardly dread, and even hope to render favourable one day to themfelves : a charafler of childifhnefs and buflToonery, which the world itfelf hath always confidered as the loweft, the vilell, and the moft rifible of all charaflers.

Cfthly, Of temerity. Without erudition or knowledge, they dare to fet up as deciders upon what they are totally ignorant ; to condemn the greateft charafters of every age; and to decide upon important points to which they have never given, and, indeed, to which they are incapable of giving, a Tingle moment of ferious attention : an indecen- cy of charafler which can accord only with men who have nothing more to lofe on the fide of honour.

Sthly, Of folly. They pride themfelves in appearing without religion ; that is to fay, without charafter, morals,

probity,

848 SERMON VII.

probity, fear of God and of man, and capable of every- thing excepting virtue and innocence.

ytkly. Of fuperftition. We have feen thefe pretended free-thinkers, who refufe to confuU the oracles of the holy prophets, confulting conjurors ; admitting in men that knowledge of futurity which they refufe to God ; giving into every childifh credulity, while riling up againfl the taajefly of faith ; expelling their aggrandizement and for- tune from a deceitful oracle, and unwilling to hope their falvation from the oracles of our holy books; and, in a •word, ridiculoufly believing in demons, while they makp a boafl of difbelieving a God.

Lajlly, What, in my opinion, is mod deplorable in thefe charafters is, that they are in a fituation which pre- cludes almoft every hope of falvation. For an a£lual un- believer, if fuch there be, may, in a moment, be flricken 01 God, and overwhelmed, as it were, under the weight of that glory and majefly which he unknowingly had blaf- phemed : the eyes of this unfortunate wretch may ftill be opened' by the Lord in his mercy ; he may make his light t6 fliine through his darknefs, and reveal that truth which he refills only becaufe he knows it not : he has flill refources, fuch as perhaps reftitude, confillency, principles, '^of er- ror and illufion I confefs, but flill they are principles :) he will be equally warm for his God when known, as he was his enemy when unknown. But the unbelievers, Of whom I fpeak, have fcarcely a way left of returning to God ; they infult the Lord whom they know ; they blaf- pheme that religion which they flill preferve in their heart ; they refill the impreffions of confcience which (fill inward- ly efpoufes t!ie caufe of faith againfl themfelves ; in vaia does the light of God fhine upon their heart, it ferves only

to

DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 349

to render more inexcufeable the treachery of their impiety. Were they, faith Jefus Chiift, abfolutely blind, they would be worthy of pity, and their fin would be lefs : but at prefent they fee ; and confequently the guilt ot their ir- réligion is blafphemy againft the Holy Ghoft, which dwel- leth for ever upon their head.

Let us repair then, my brethren, by our refpeft for the religion of our fathers ; by a continual gratitude towards the Lord, who hath permitted us to be born in the way oï falvation, into which fo many nations have not as yet been deemed worthy to enter; let us repair, I fay, the fcandal of unbelief fo common in this age, fo countenanced among us, and which, become more bold through the number and quality of its partifans, no longer hides its head, but openly (hews itfelf, and braves, as it were, the religion of the prince, and the zeal of the paflors. Let us have in horror thofe impious and defpicable men, who pride themfelves in turning into ridicule the majefty of the religion they profefs : let us fly them as monfters un- worthy to live, not only among believers, but even among thofe connected together by honour, probity, and reafon ; far from applauding their impious difcourfes, let us cover them with fhame by that contempt which they merit. It is fo low and fo mean, even according to the world, to difhonour that religion in which one lives ; it is fo beauti- ful, and there is fo much real dignity in making a pride ot refpc£ling and of defending it, even with an air of autho- rity and of indignation, againft the filly fpeeches which attack it. By defpifing unbelief, let us deprive it of the deplorable glory it feeks ; from the moment they are defpi- fed unbelievers will be rare among us ; and the fame vani- ty which forms their doubts will foon annihilate or con- ceal them, when it fhall be a difgrace among us to appear

impious,

2^0 SERMON VII.

impious, and a glory to be a believer. It is thus that the fcandal (hall be done away, and that altogether we fhall glorify the Lord in the fame faith, and in the expeftation of the eternal promifes. Amen.

SERMON

SERMON VIII.

EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD.

John viii. 46. ^nd If I Jay the truth, why do ye not believe me ?

J Esus Chrift had hitherto confuted the incredulity of the Jews by his works and his miracles ; at prefent, he recalls them to the judgment of their own confcience and to the evi- dence of the truth, which, in fpite of themfelves, render- ed teftimony to his doftrine and to his miniftry. Neverthe- lefs, as they (hut their eyes againft the evidence of his mi- racles, in accufing him of operating them through the min- iftry of devils, fo they likewife harden themfelves againft the evidence of his doftrine and of his miiïion, fo clearly foretold in the fcriptures, by alledging pretended obfcuri- ties, which rendered them, in their eyes, ftill doubtful and fufpicious.

For, my brethren, however evident may be the truth, that is to fay, the law of God, whether in our heart, where it is written in (hining and ineffaceable chara£iers, or in the rules which Jefus Chrift hath left to us; we would al- ways, either that our confcience fee nothing in it but what our pafTions fee, or that thefe rules be not fo explicit but

Vol. II. Ee v.'hat

2^2 SERMON VIII.

what we may always be able to find out fome favourable interpretation and mollification of them.

In effe6l, two pretexts are commonly oppofed by the finners of the world againft the evidence of truths, the mod terrible of the law of God. ijily. In order to calm them- felves on a thoufand abufes, authorifed by the world, they tell us that they believe themfelves to be in fafety in that Hate ; that their confcience reproaches them with nothing on that head ; and that, could they be perfuaded that they were in the path of error, they would inftantly quit it. Firrt pretext which is oppofed to the evidence ot the law of God : candour and tranquillity of confcience.

zdly. They oppofe that the gofpel is not fo clear and fo explicit on certain points as we maintain it to be ; that each interprets it in his own way, and makes it to fay whatever he wifhes ; that what appears fo pofitive to us, appears not fo to all the world. Second pretext : the obfcurity and uncertainty of the rules

Now, I fay that the law of God hath a two-fold mark of evidence, which Ihall overthrow thefe two pretexts, and Ihall condemn, at the day of jujlgment, all the vain excu- fes of finners.

i/?/y. It is evident in the confcience of the finner : firft refleftion. Q.clly, It is evident in the fimplicity of the rules : fécond refleftion. The evidence of the law of God in the confcience of men : firll chara6ler of the law oi God, which fhall judge the falfe fecurity and the pre- tended candour ot worldly fouls. The evidence of the law of God in the fimplicity of its rules : fécond chara£fer of the law of God, which ihall judge the affe^led uncer- tainties,

EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 2^3

tainties, and the falfe interpretations ot finners. And thus it is, O my God! that thy holy law fhall judge the world, and that the criminal confcience (hall one day be confounded before thy tribunal, both by the lights of his own confcience, and by the perfpicuity of thy heavenly maxira,s.

Part I. It is rather furprifing that the greateft part of worldly fouls, in juftification of the abufes of the world and the danger of its maxims, alledge to us the candour and the tranquillity of their confcience. Befides, that peace and fecurity, in the falfe paths of iniquity, are rather their punifliment than their excufe ; and that, were it even true that the confcience fhould reproach them with no- thing in manners regulated folely according to the falfe judgments of the world, that ftate would ftill be only fo much the worfe, and more hopelefs of falvation : it appears that, of all tribunals, that of confcience is the laft to which an unbelieving foul fhould appeal; and that no* thing is lefs favourable to the errors of a finner than the finner himfelh

I know that there are hardened fouls, to whom no ray of grace or of light can carry conviclion; who live with- out remorfe and without anxiety in the horrors of an infa- mous licentioufnefs ; in whom all confcience feems extin- guifhed, and who carry the excefs of their blindnefs, fays St. Auguftin, fo far, as even to glory in their very blind- nefs. But thefe are only rare and dreadful examples of God's juflice upon men ; and if fuch have appeared upon the earth, they only prove how far his neglefl and the pow- - er of his- wrath may fometimes go.

«54 SERMON Vin,

Yes, my brethren, whether we afFeft boldly and openly to caft off the authority of the law, like the impious and the licentious ; whether we endeavour to molify and artifi- cially to reconcile it with ourpaflions, by favourable inter- pretations, like the great eft part of worldly fouls and com- mon finners ; our confcience renders a two-fold teftimony within us to this divine law : a teftimony of truth to the equity and to the neceflity of its maxims, and a teftimony of feverity to the exa6fitude of its rules.

I fay, in the firft place, a teftimony of truth to the equi- ty of its maxims. For, my brethren, God is too wife not to love order ; and he is, at the fame time, too good not to wifti our welfare. His law muft confequently bear thefe two charafters ; a charafter of equity, and a charac- ter of goodnefs : a charafler of equity, which regulates all the duties; a charafter of goodnefs, which makes us to find our peace and our happinefs here below, in duty and in regularity.

Thus we feel, in the bottom of our hearts, that thefe rules are juft and reafonable ; that the law of God com- mands nothing but what is confiftent with the real interefts of man ; that nothing is more confonant to the reafonable creature than gentlenefs, humanity, temperance, modefty, and all the virtues recommended in the gofpel ; that the pallions prohibited by the law are the fole fource of all our troubles j that the more we deviate from the precept, and from the law, the more do we remove ourfelves from peace and tranquillity of heart; and that the Lord, in forbidding us to yield ourfelves up to impetuous and iniquitous paf- fions, hath only forbidden us to yield ourfelves up to our

own

EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD.

^^

own tyrants, and that his only intention hath been to ren- der us happy in rendering us believers.

Behold a teftimony which the law of God finds in the bottom of our hearts. Hurried away by the delufion of thefenfes, we vainly call off the yoke of the holy rules ; we can never fucceed in juftifying, even to ourfelves, our own irregularities ; we always internally adopt the inter- efts of the law againft ourfelves ; we always find within us a juftification of the rules againft the pafTions. We can- not corrupt this internal witnefs of the truth, which pleads within us for virtue ; we always feel a fecret mifunder- ilanding between our inclinations and our lights : the law of God, born in our heart, inceffantly ftruggles there againft the law of the flefh foreign to man ; it maintains its truths there in fpite of ourfelves, if it cannot maintain its authority ; it officiates as a cenfurer, if it cannot ferve as a direftor ; in a word, it renders us unhappy if it can- not render us believers.

Thus, in vain do we fometimes give way to all the bit- ternefs of hatred and revenge ; we immediately feel that this cruel pleafure is not made for the heart of man ; that to hate, is, in faft, to punifh ourfelves ; and, in returning to ourfelves after the tranfports of paffion, we find within us a principle of humanity which difavows their violence, and clearly points out to us, that gentlenefs and kindnefs were ourfirft inclinations; and that in commanding us to love our brethren, the law of God hath only done fo,as to con- fult the right and raoft reafonable feelings of our heart, and to reconcile us with ourfelves. Thou art more righteous than I, faid Saul to David, in the time of his ftrongeft hatred againft him. That goodnefs, born in the heart of

all

fei55 SERMON VIII.

all men, forced from him that confeflidn, anci inwardly difavowed the injuftice and the cruelty o[ his revenge.

In vain do we plunge ourfelves into brutal and fenfual gratifications, and madly range aher whatever may fatisty the infatiable defires of pleafure : we quickly feel, that debauchery leads us too far to be agreeable to nature : that whatever enflaves and tyrannifes over us, overturns the order of our firft inflitution ; and that, the gofpel, in prohibiting the voluptuous paiïions, hath provided for the tranquillity of our heart, and for rcftoring to us all its ele- vation and nobility. How many hired fervants of my fa- ther's, faid the prodigal Hill bound in the chains of vice, have bread enough, and to fpare ! and 1 confume my days in wearinefs, and in fhamc. It was a remain of reafon and of nobility which ftill fpake in the bottom oi his heart.

Laflly inveRigate all the precepts of the law of God, and you will fell that they have a necefTary connexion with the heart of man ; that they are rules founded upon a pro- found knowledge of what takes place within us; that they folely contain the remedies of our mnft fecret evils, and the fuccours of our mofl righteous inclinations ; and that none but Him alone, who knoweth the bottom of hearts, could be capable of laying down fuch maxims to men. The heathens themfelves, in whom all truth was not yet extinguifhed, rendered this glory to the Chriilian morality ; they were forced to admire the wifdom of its precepts, the neceffity of its reftraints, the (anftity of its counfels, the good fenfe and fublimity of all its rules ; they were aftonifhed to find, in the difcourfes of Jefus Chriff, a more fublime philofophy than in the Roman or Grecian fchools ; and they could not comprehend how the fon of Mary fiiouldbe better acquainted with the duties, the de- fires»

EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 2^/

fires, and all the fecret folds of the human heart, than Plato and all his difciples.

Will you tell us, after this, that nature is our firfl law, and that tendencies to pleafures, inherent in our being, can never be crimes ; I have often faid it ; it is an impiety on- ly of converfation ; it is an oftentation ot free-thinking, of which vanity makes a boaft, but which truth inwardly belies. AugulUn in liis errors had fpared no pains to efface from the bottom of his heart, ihofe remains of faith and of confcience which dill recalled him to the truth; he had eagerly fought, in the mod impious opinions, and the moft fliocking errors, wherewithal to comfort himfelf againll his crimes ; his mind flying the light which purfued him, wan- dered from impiety to impiety, and from error to error; neverthelefs, in fpite of all his efforts and flights, the truth, and always viftorious in the bottom of his foul, proclaimed its triumph in fpite of himfelf; he could fucceed neither in feducing nor in quieting himfelf in his diforders : •' I bore, O my God, fays he, a confcience racked, and ftill bleeding as it were, from the grievous wounds which my pafTions incefTantly made there ; I was a burden to my- felf ; I could no longer fuftain my own heart ; I turned my felt on every fide, and no where could it find eafe ; I knew not where to lay it, that I might be delivered from it, and that mine anxiety might be comforted."

Behold the teftimony which a finner, who, to all the keennefs ot the pafTions, added the im.piety of opinions, and the abufe ot lights, renders of himfelf. And thefe ex- amples are. of every age; our own has beheld famous and avowed finners, who made an infamous boaft of not be- lieving in God, and who were looked upon as heroes in im- piety and free-thinking ; we have feen them, touched at

lafl

J^3 SERMON VIII.

laft with repentance like Auguftin, and recalled from their errors, we have feen them, I fay, miake an open avowal, that they had never been able to fucceed in effacing the rules and truth from their foul ; that, amidft all their moft fhocking impieties and excefles, their heart, ftill Chriftian, inwardly belied their derifions and blafphemies ; that, before men, they vaunted a flrength of mind which forfook them in private ; that that apparent unbelief con- cealed the moft cruel remorfes, and the moft gloomy fears ; and that they had never been firm and tranquil in guilt.

Yes, my brethren, guilt, always timorous, every where bears a witnefs ot condemnation againft itfelf. Every where you render homage, by your inward anxieties and remorfes, to that fanftity of that law which you violate ; every where a fund of wearinefs and of forrow, infepara- ble from guilt, makes you to feel that regularity and inno- cence are the only happinefs which was intended for you on the earth ; you vainly difplay an affefted intrepidity ; the guilty confcience always betrays itfelf. Cruel terrors march every where before you : folitude difquiets, dark- nefs alarms you ; you lancy to fee phantoms coming from every quarter to reproach you with the fecret errors of your foul ; unlucky dreams fill you with black and gloomy fan- cies ; and guilt, after which you run with fo much relilh, purfues you afterwards like a cruel vulture, and fixes itfelf upon you, to tear your heart, and to punifh you for the pleafure it had formerly given you. O my God ! what yefources haft thou not left in our heart to recal us to thee ! And how powerful is the proteftion which the goodnefs and the righteoufnefs of thy law finds in the bottom ot our being ! Firft teftimony which the confcience renders to the law ot God, a teftimony of truth to the fanftity of its maxims.

But

EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 259

But it alfo renders a teftimony oi feverity to the exafti- t«de of its rules. For a fécond illufion of the greateft part of worldly fouls, who live exempted from great irregu- larities, but who otherwife live amidft all the pleafures, all the abufes, all the fenfualities, and all the diflipations au- thorifed by the world, is, that of wiftiing to perfuade themfelves that the gofpel requires no more, and to per- fuade us, that their confcience reproaches them with no- thing, and that they believe themfelves fafe in that Rate, Now, I fay that here the worldly confcience is again not candid, and is deceived ; and that, in fpite of all thofe mol- lifications which they endeavour to juftify to themfelves, it renders, in the bottom of our hearts, a teftimony of fe- verity to the law of God.

In effeft, order requires that all our pafTions be regu- lated by the bridle of the law; all our inclinations, cor- rupted in their fource, have occafion for a rule to reftity and correft them : we confefs this ourfelves ; we feel that our corruption pervades the fmallefl as well as the greateft things ; that felf-love infefts all our proceedings ; and that we every where find ourfelves weak, and in continual op- pofition to order and duty : we feel, then, that the rule ought, in no inftance, to be favourable to our inclinations ; that we ought every where to find it fevere, becaufe it ought every wheie to be in oppofition to us ; that the law cannot be in unity with us ; that whatever favours our in- clinations, can never be the remedy intended to cure them ; that whatever flatters our defires, can never be the bridle which is to reftrain them ; in a word, that whatever nourinies felf-love, is not the law which is eflablifhed for the fole purpofe of deftroying and annihilating it. Thus, by an inward feeling, infeparable from our being, we al- ways difcriminate ourfelves from the law ; our inclinations from its rules ; our pleafures from its duties ; and, in a!i

Vol. 1L - f f dubious

b6o sermon viii.

dubious a6non8 where we decide in favour of our inclina- tions, we perteftly feel that we are deviating irom the law of God, always more rigid than ourfelvcs.

And allow me here, my brethren, to appeal to your confcience itfelf, which you always alledge^ and to which you continually refer us. Are you, honeftly fpeaking, at your eafe, as you wifh to perfuade us, in this life, al- together of pleafures, ot diffipation, of indolence, and of fenfuality ; in a word, in this worldly life, of which you conAantly maintain the innocence ? Have you hitherto been able to fucceed in perfuading yourfelves, that it is the path which leads to falvation ? Do you not feel that fomething more is required of you by the gofpel than you perform ? Would you wifh to appear before God with no- thing to offer to him but thefe pleafures, thefe amufements which you call innocent, and of which the principal groundwork of lite is compofed ? I put the quellion to you. In thofe moments when, more warmly affefted per- haps by grace, you propofe ferioufly to think upon eternity, do you not place, in the plan which you then form of a new life, the privation of almoft all the very things in which you are continually telling us that you fee no harm ? Do you not begin by promifing to yourfelves, that, folely occupied then with your falvation, you will renounce the excefTes of gaming, the theatres, the vanities and inde- cencies of drefs, the difTipation of public affemblies and pleafures ; that you will devote more time to prayer, to re- tirement, to holy reading, and to the duties of religion ? Now, what is it that you hereby acknowledge, unlefs it be, that, while you renounce not all thefe abufes ; that you devote not more time to all thefe pious duties, you think nbt ferioufly upon your falvation ; you ought to have no pretenfion to it ; you are in the path of death and per- dition.

But,

EVIDENCE OF THE LAW pF GOD. 26t

But, befides, you 'vvbo carry fo far the feverity of your cenfures againfl the godly, recolleft all the rigour of your maxims, and of your derifions upon their condu6l ; do you not blame, do you not continually cenfure thofe perfons who wifh to conneft, with a public profeffion of piety, thofe abufes, thofe amufements, of which you are the daily apologiil, and who wifh to enjoy the reputation ot virtue without lofing any of the pleafures of the world ? Do you not mock their piety as a piece of mere grimace ? Here it is that you emphatically difplay all the aufterity of the Chrif- tian life. Do you not fay that it is necefiary either totally to renounce the world, or to continue to live as the world Jives ; and that all thefe ambiguous virtues ferve only to decry the true virtue? I agree with you in this ; but I re- ply to you : Your confcience diftates to you that it is not fafe to give yourfelf partially to God, and your confcience reproaches you nothing, as you fay, in a life in which God enters not at all ? You condemn thofe miftaken fouls whom, at leaft, an apparent divifion between the world and Jefus Chrift may comfort ? And you jufiity to us your conduft, you who have nothing in its juftification but the abufes of the world and the danger of its habits ? Do you then be- lieve that the path of falvation is more rugged for thofe who profefs piety than for you ? That the world hath pri- vileges thereon, which are forfeited from the moment that we mean to ferve God ? Be confiftent then with yourfelves ; and either condemn no more a- worldly virtue, or no lon- ger juftify the world itfelf ; fince whatever you blame in that virtue is only that portion of it which the world fap- plies.

And, in order to make you more fenfibly feel how far you are from being candid on this head, you continually take a pride in repeating that we defpair gf human weak-

liefs :

«6s SERMON vnr.

nefs ; that, in order to aft up to all that we fay in thefe Chriftian pulpits, it would be neceffary to withdraw to the deferts, or to be angels rather than men : neverthelefs, ren- der glory to the force of truth. If a miniller of the gof- pel were to deliver to you from this place a doftrine quite oppofite to that which we teach ; were he to announce to you the fame maxims which you daily hold forth in the ■world ; were he to preach to you in this place of the truth, that the gofpel is not fo fevere as it is publifhed ; that we may love the world and yet ferve God ; that there is no harm în gaming, in pleafures, in theatres, except what we our- felves occafion ; that we muft live like the world while we 3ive in the world ; that all that language of the crofs, ot penitence, of mortification, and of felf-denial, is more calculated for cloifters than for the court, and for perfonsof a certain rank ; and laflly, that God is too good to confider as crimes, a thoufand things which are become habitual, and of which we wifti you to make a matter of confcience ; were he, I fay, to preach thefe maxims to you in this holy place, what would you think oi him ? What would you fay to his new doftrine ? What idea would you have ot this new apoftle ? Would you confider him as a man come down from heaven to announce to you this new gofpel ? Would you believe him to be better inftrufted than we in the holy truths ot falvation, and in the rules of the Chriftian life? You would laugh at his ignorance, or his folly; you would perhaps be ftruck with horror at the profanation which he would make of his miniftry.

And what, my brethren, thefe maxims announced be- fore the altars would appear to you as blafphemy or mad- nefs ; and, promulgated in your daily converfations, they would become rules of reafon and of wifdom ? In the mouth of a miniller of the gofpel, you would look upon

then?

EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. ^63

them as the fpeeches of a madman ; and, in your mouth, they fhould appear more folid and more weighty ? You would laugh, or rather you would be ftruck with horror, at a preacher who fhould announce them to you ; and you wiih to perfuade us that you fpeak ferioufly, and that you are confiftent with yourfelves when, with fo much confi- dence, you hold them forth to us.

Ah ! my brethren, how treacherous we are to God i and how terrible will he be when he fhali come to avenge, upon the lights of our own heart, the honour of his holy law ! Our apparent obftinacy for the abufes of the world, of which we maintain the innocence, is a fecret perfuafion that the world and all its abufes are a path of perdition ; wc publicly juflify what we condemn in private ; we are the hypocrites of the world and of its pleafures : and, through a moft deplorable deftiny, our life paffes away in diffembling with ourfelves, and is obftinately determin- ing to perifh in fpite of ourfelves. And furely, fays the apoftle John, if our heart, notwithftanding all our felf- blindnefs, cannot help already condemning us in fecret, have we more indulgence to expeft from the terrible and fovereign Judge of hearts than from our heart itfelf ?

Thus, my brethren, fludy the law of God in your ov/n confcience, and you will fee that it is not more favourable than we to your paflions ; confult the lights of your heart, and you will feel that they perte£lly accord with our max- ims ; liften to the voice of truth, which fpeaks within you, and you will admit, that we only repeat what it is conti- nually whifpering to your heart? You have no occafion, fays St. Auguftin, to apply to able men, in order to have the greateft part of your doubts cleared up ; go no farther than yourfelves for explanations and anfwers ; apply to

yourfelves

86^4 SERMON Vllî,

yourfelves for what you have to do; li/len to the decifions of your heart ; follow the firft impulfe of your confcience, andyou will always determine for that party moft conform- able to the law of God : the firft imprefTion of the heart is always for the flriftnefs of the law again ft the foftenings of felf-love : your confcience will always go farther, and will be more ftrift than ourfelves ; and, if you have occa- fion for our decifions, it will rather be in order to mode- rate the feverity, than to expofe the falfe indulgence of it.

Behold the firft manner in which the law of God fhall one day judge us : that law, manifefted in the confcience of the finner, andas if born with him, fhall rife upagainft him ; our heart, marked with the feal of truth, fhall be the witnefs to depofe for our condemnation : our lights fhall be oppofed to our aftions, our remorfes to our manners, our fpeeches to our thoughts, our inward fentiments to our public proceedings, and ourfelves to ourfelves. Thus we bear, eachot us, our condemnation in our own heart. The Lord will not bring other proof than ourfelves, to deter- mine the decifionof our eternal reprobation; and the fouf before the tribunal of God, fays Turtullian, fhall appear at the fame time, both the criminal condemned, and the wit- nefs which fhall teftify againft his crimes. He will have no- thing to reply, continues this father. You knew the truth it will be faid to him, and you iniquitoufly withheld it ; you admitted of the happinefs of the fouls who feek only God, and you fought him not yourfelves : you drew fliocking piftures of the world, of its wearinefTes, of its perfidies, and of its wickednefTes, and you were always its flave and blinded worfhipper ; you inwardly refpetled the religion of your fathers, and you made a deplorable vaunt of im- piety : you fecretly dreaded the judgments of God, and you afifefted not to believç in him, In the bottom of your

. heart

EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. &ég

ïicart you rendered juflice to the piety of the godly: you propofed to refemble them at fome luture period ; and you tore and perfecuted them with your derifions and cen- fures : in a word, your lights have ever been for Gdd, and your aélions for the world.

O my God ! to what do men not carry their ingratitude and folly! Thou haft placed in us lights infeparable from our being, which, by difturbing the falfe peace of our paflions and errors, continually recal us to order and to the truth ; and, through an impofition of vanity, we make a boaft of being tranquil in our errors ; we glory in a peace which thy mercy is flill willing to difturb ; and far from publifhing the riches of thy grace upon our foul, which leaves us ftill open to the truth, we vaunt an obftinacy and a blindnefs which fooner or later (hall be realifed, and (hall, at laft, be the juft punifhment of an ingratitude and of a deceit fo injurious to thy grace. Firft charader of the evidence o( the law ot God ; it is evident in the con- fcienceof the finner ; but it is likewife fo in the (implicity of its rules.

Part II. Since man is the work of God, man can no longer live but conformably to the will of his author; and fmce God hath of m.an made his work, and his mod: per- feft work, he could never leave him to live by chance up- on the earth without manifefting to him his will, that is to fay, without pointing out to him what he owed to his Crea- tor, to his fellow-creatures, and to himfelf. Therefore, in creating him, he imprinted in his being a living light, ince(rantly vifible to his heart, which regulated ail his du- ties. But all flelh having perverted its way, and the abundance of iniquity, which had prevailed over the earth, (unable, it is true, to efface that light entirely from

the

S5^ ' SERMON Vlli;

the heart of men,) no longer permitting them to reflefl, or to confuk it, and apparently no longer even maintain- ing itfelf in them, unlefs to render them more inexcufea- ble ; God, whofe mercies feem to become more abundant in proportion as the wickednefs of men increafes, caufed to be engraven, on tables of Hone, that law which nature, that is to fay, which himfelf had engraven on our hearts : he placed before our eyes the law which we bear within us, in order to recal us to ourfelves. Neverthelefs, the peo- ple, who were its firft depofitaries, having again disfigured it by interpretations which adulterated its purity, Jefus Chrift, the wifdom and the light of God, came at laft up- on the earth to reftore to it its original beauty ; to purge it from the alterations of the fynagogue ; to diffipate the ob- fcurities which a faife learning and human traditions had fpread through it ; to lay open all its fublimity ; to apply its rules to our wants ; and, in leaving to us his gofpel, no longer to leave an excufe, either to the ignorance or to the wickednefs of thofe who violate his precepts.

Neverthelefs, the fécond pretext which is oppofed in the world to the evidence of the law of God, is the pretended ambiguity of its rules : they accufe us of making the gof- pel to fay whatever we wifh ; they conteft, they find an- fwers, they fpread obfcurities through all ; and they darken the law in fuch a manner, that the world itfelf infills on having the gofpel on its fide.

Now, I fay that, befides the evidence of the confcience, the law of God is alfo evident in the fimplicity of its rules ; and, confequently, that the finners, who wifh thus tojuflify their iniquitous ways, fhall one day be over- thrown, both by the teflimony of their own heart, and by the evidence of the holy rules.

Yes,

EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. «6/

Yes, my brethren, the law of God, fays the prophet, is pure, enlightening the eyes even of thofe who would wifh to conceal it from themfelves. In effeft, Jefus Chrift, in coming himfelf to give to us a law of life and of truth for the regulation of our manners and our duties, and in which the evidence could not be too great, could never un- doubtedly have meant to leave obfcurities in it capable of deluding us and of favouring paffions which he exprefsly came to overthrow. Human laws may be liable to thefe inconveniences : the mind of man, which hath invented them, being unable to forefee all, it hath alfo been unable to obviate all the difficulties which might one day arife in the minds of other men, on the ft rength of its expreiïions, and even on the nature of its rules. But the fpirit of God, author of the holy rules held out in the gofpel, had forefcen all the doubts which the human mind could oppofe to his law : he hath read, in the hearts of all men to come, the obfcurities which their corruption might fhed over the na- ture of its rules : confequently, he hath concerted them in a manner fo divine and fo intelligible, fo fimple and fo fub- Hme, that the mod ignorant, equally as the moft learned, can never mifconftrue his intentions, and be ignorant of the ways of eternal life.

It is true, that facred obfcurities conceal in it the incom- prehenfible myfteries of faith; but the rules of the man- ners are explicit and precife ; the duties are there evident; and nothing can be more clear, or lefs equivocal, than the precepts of Jefus Chrift. Not but that doubts and difficul- ties may fpring up in the detail of the obligations ; that the affemblage of a thoufand different circumftances may not, in fuch a manner, darken the rule, that it may fome- times efcape the moft learned ; and that, upon all the infîi-

VoL. II. G g > nlm

ses SERMON Vlir.

nite duties of flations and conditions, ail be fo decided m the gofpel, that miftakes cannot ohen take place.

But I fay, (and I intreat oî you to purfue thefe reflec- tions which to me appear of the utmofl; eonfequence, and to comprife all the rules ot the manners,) in the firft place, that if, upon the detail of duties, the letter oi the law be fometimes dubious, the fpirit of it is almoft never fo : that it is eafily feen to which fide the gofpel inclines, and to what the analogy and ruling fpirit of its maxims lead us : I fay, that they mutually clear up each other ; that they all go to the fame end ; th^t they are like fo many rays, which, uniting in one centre, form fo grand a lullre that it is impoiïible longer tomiftake them ; that there are princi- pal rules which ferve to elucidate every particular difficul- ty ; and, laftly, that, if the law appear fometimes equivo« eal to us, the intention of the legiflator, by which we ought to interpret it, never leaves room for either doubt or mif- take.

Thus, you would wifh to know, you who live at the court, where ambition is, as it were, the virtue of perfons of your rank ; you would wilh to know if it be a crime ardently to long for the honours and the profperities of the earth, to be never fatisfied with your ftation, continually to wifh advancement, and to conneQ, with that fingle de- fire, all your views, all your proceedings, all your cares, the whole foundation of your lile. In anfwer to this, you are there told, that your heart ought to be where your trea- fure is ; that is to fay, in the defire and the hope of eternal riches ; and that the Chriftian is not of this world. De- cide thereupon the difficulty yourfelve».

You

ÉVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. W^

You demand if continual gaming, amufements, theatres» and fo many other pleafures, fo innocent in the eyes of the world, ought to bebanifhed from theChriftian life. You are there told, that blelTed are they who weep ; and that evil tothofe who laugh, and who receive their confolation in this world. Follow the fpint oi this rule, and fee td what it leads.

You enquire if, having to live in the world, you ought to live like the world ; if we would wifli to condemn al- moft all men who live like you ; and if, in order to fervè God, it be necefTary to afFeft fmgularities which excite thé ridicule of other men. You are there told, that we are not to conform to this corrupted age ; that it is impoflible to pleafe men and to be the fervant of Jefus Chrift ; and that the multitude is always the party of the reprobate. Yott have now to fay whether the anfwer be explicit.

You doubt, if, having pardoned your enemy, you be alfo obliged to fee him, to ferve him, to affift him with your wealth and credit ; and if it be not more equitable to referve your favours and preferences for your friends* You are there told : do good to thofe who have wifhed evil to you : fpeak well of thofe who calumniate you j love thofe who hate you. Enter into the fpirit of this pre- cept, and fay if it doth not fhed a light over your doubtj which inûantly clears it up and difljpates it.

Laftly, propofe as many doubts as you pleafe upon du- ties, and it will be eafy lor you to decide them by the fpirit oi the law, if the letter fay nothing for them ; for the letter kills me, fays the apoftle : that is to fay, to Hop there, to look upon as duty only what is literally marked, to flop at the rude limits, and to enter no farther into the principle and

into

tyO SERMON VIII,

into thé fpirit which vivifies, is to be a Jew, and to be wil- ling to be felt-deceived. No longer tell us then, my bre- thren, when we condemn fo many abufes which you, without fcruple, allow yourfelves : " But the gofpe] fays *' nothing of them." Ah ! the gofpel fays every thing to thofe who wifh to underftand it : the gofpel leaves nothing undecided to whoever loves the law of God : the gofpel is competent to all, to whoever fearches it, only for the in- ilruflion : and it goes fo much the fanher, and fays ïo much the more, as that, without flopping to regulate a par- ticular detail, it regulates the paflions themfelves ; that, "without detailing all the a£lions, it goes to reprefs thofe in- clinations which are the fources of them ; and that, with- out confining itfelf to certain external circumflances ot the manners, it propofes to us, as rules of duty, only felf- denial, hatred of the world, love of fuflFerance, contempt for whatever takes place, and the whole extent of its cru- cifying maxims : firft reflexion.

. I fay, in the fécond place, that it is not the obfcurity of the law, but our paffions, (fill dear, which give rife to all our doubts upon the duties ; that the worldly fouls are thofe who find moil difhculty and moft obfcurity in the rules of the manners ; that nothing appears clear to thofe who would wifh that nothings were fo ; that every thing appears doubtful to thofe who have an intereft in its being fo : I fay, with St. Auguflin, that it is a willing fpirit alone which gives underftanding of the precepts ; that, unlefs the rules and duties are loved, they can never be thorough- ly known ; that we enter into the truth only through chari- ty ; and that the fincere defireof falvation is the grand fol- ver of all difficulties : I fay that faithful and fervent fouls have almoft never any thing to oppofe to the law of God ; and that their doubts are rather pious alarms upon holy

aftions.

EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 2/1

actions, than pretexts and difficulties to authorife profane

Men have learned to doubt upon the rules of the man- ners, only fince they have wrifhed to conneft them with their iniquitous paflions. Alas ! all was almoft decided lor the firft believers : in thefe happy ages, we fee not that the firfl paftors of the church had many difficulties to refolve upon the detail of the duties : thofe immenfe volumes, which decide their doubts by endlefs refolutions, have appeared only with the corruption of manners : in pro- portion as believers have had more paffions to fatisfy, they have had more doubts to propofe ; it hath been neceflary to multiply volumes upon volumes, in or- der to refolve difficulties which cupidity alone formed ; difficulties already all refolved in the gofpel, and upon which the firfl ages of faith would have been fcandalifed, that they had dared to form even a doubt. Our ages ftill more diffolute than mofl which preceded us, have ftill be- held thefe enormous colleftions of cafes and refolutions increafing and multiplying to infinity : all the mofl incon- .teftible rules of the morality of Jefus Chrifl are there be- come almofl problems ; there is no duty upon which cor- ruption hath not had difficulties to propofe, and to which a falfe learning hath not found mollifications : every thing has there been agitated, contefled, and put in doubt : the mind of man hath there been feen quibbling with the fpirit of God, and fubflituting human do£lrines in place of" that doftrine which Jefus Chrifl hath brought to us from hea- ven ; and although we pretend not univerfally to blame all thofe pipus and able men, who have left to us thefe labori- ous raaffes of dicifions, it had been to be wiffied that the church had never called in fuch aids ; and we cannot help looking upon them as remedies which are themfelves be-

iye S E RMT> M vitr.

come difeafes, and as the fad fruits of the neccffity of the times, ot the depravity of manners, and of the decay of truth among men.

Doubts upon the duties arife, therefore from the corois- tion of our hearts, much more than from the obfcurities of the rules. The light of the law, fays St. Auguftin, refembles that of the fyn ; but vainly doth it fiiine, glitter, enlighten ; the blind are unaffefted by it : now, every fin- ner is that blind perfon ; the light is near to him, furrounds him, penetrates him, enters from every quarter into his foul ; but he is always himfelf far from the light. Purify your heart, continues that holy father ; remove from it the fatal bandage of the pafTions ; then fhall you clearly fee all your duties, and all your^ doubts fhall vanifh. Thus we continually fee that, when touched with grace, a foul be- gins to adopt folid meafures for eternity, his eyes are open- ed upon a thoufand truths which, till then, he had conceal- ed from himfelf: in proportion as his palTions diminifh, his lights increafe ; he is aflonifhed by what means he could fo long have (hut his eyes upon truths which now appear to him fo evident and fo inconteflible ; and, far from a fa^ cred guide having then occafion to conteft, and to maintain againft him the interefls of the law of God, his prudence is required to conceal, as I may fay, from that contrite foul, the whole extent and all the terrors of the holy truths ; to quiet him on the horror of paft irregularities, and to moderate the fears into which he is thrown by tlie novelty and the furprife of his lights. It is not then the rules which are cleared up, it is the foul which frees itfelf from, and quits its blindnefs ; it is not the law of God which be- comes more evident, it is the eyes of the heart which are opened to its luff re; in a word, it is not the gofpel, but the finner who is changed.

And

EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOB.

«73

And a frefh proof of what I advance is, that, upon thofe points of the law where no particular paffion or intereft blinds us, we are equitable and clear-fighted. A mifer, who hides from himfelf the rules oi faith, upon the infa- tiable love of riches, clearly fees the maxims which con- demn ambition or luxury. A voluptuary, who tries to juftity to himfelf the weaknefs oi his inclinations, gives no quarter to the mean defires, and to the fordid attach- ments of avarice. A man, mad for exaltation and fortune, and who confiders the eternal exertions which he is under the necefllty of making, in order to fucceed, as weighty and ferions cares, and alone worthy his birth and his name, fees all the unworthinefs of a life of amufement and plea- fure, and clearly comprehends that a man, born with a name, degrades and difhonours himfelf by lazinefs and in- dolence. A M'oman, feized with the rage ot gaming, yet otherwife regular, is inveterate againft the flighteft faults which attack the conduft, and continually juftifies the in- nocence of exceffive gaming, by contrafling it with irre- gularities of another defcription, from which fhe finds herfelf free. Another, on the contrary, intoxicated with her perfon and with her beauty, totally engrolTed by lier deplorable payions, confiders that obftinate perfeverance in an eternal gaming as a kind of difeafe and derangement of the mind, and, in the fhame of her own engagements, fees nothing but an innocent weaknefs and involuntary inclinations, the deftiny of which we find in our hearts.

Review all the pallions, and you will fee that, in pro- portion as we are exempted from lome one, we fee, we condemn it in others ; we know the rules which forbid it; we go even to the rigour againft others, upon the obfcr- vance of duties which intereft not our own weakneflTes, and we carry our feverity beyond even the rule itfelf.

The

2/4 SERMON VllI,

The Pharifees, fo inftruéled in, and fo fevere upon the guilt of the adultrefs, and upon the punifhments attached by the law to the infamy of that infidelity, faw not their own pride, their hypocrify, their implacable hatred, and their fecret envy againft Jefus Chrift. Obfcurities are only in our own heart ; and we never begin to doubt up- on our duties, but when we begin to love thofe maxims which oppofe them. Second reflcftion.

In effeft, I tell you, in the third place, you believe that the gofpel is not fo exprefs as we pretend, upon the greater part of the rules which we wifh to prefcribe to you ; that we carry its feverity to excefs, and that we make it to fay whatever we pleafe. Hear it then itfelf, my brethren ; we confent that, of all the duties prefcrib- ed to you by it, you fhall think yourfelves obliged to ob- ferve only thofe which are marked there in terms fo pre- cife and clear that it is impoffible to miftake or mifcon- ;ftrue them : more is not. required of you, and we free you from all the reft. Hear it then : " And whofoever " doth not bear his crofs, and come after me, cannot be v my difciple. Whofoever he be of you, that forfaketh •' not all that he hath, he cannot be my difciple. The " kingdom of heaven fuffereth violence, and the violent " take it by force. Except ye repent, ye fhall all like- ♦' wife perifh. Ye cannot ferve God and mammon. Wo " unto you that are full : for ye fhall hunger. Wo unto «' you that laugh now ; for ye fhall mourn and weep. •• BlefTed are they that weep now; for ye fhall laugh. " He that loveth his father, his wife, his children, yea, •' and his life alio, better than me, is not worthy of me. *' I fay unto you that ye fhall weep and lament, but the *' world fhall rejoice ; and ye fhall be forrowful, but your •' forrow fhall be turned into joy."

Do

EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 275

Do I fpeak here my brethren ? Do I come to deceive you by an excefs of feverity, to add to the gofpel, and to bring you only my own thoughts? Weak creature that I am, I have occafion myfelf for indulgence ; and if I toolc in the weaknefs of my own heart, the do6lrine which I an- nounce to you, alas ! I would fpeak to you only the lan- guage of man : I would tell you that God is too good to punifh inclinations which are born, it would appear with us ; that, to love God, it is not necefTary to hate one's fell : that, when rich, we ought to enjoy our wealth, and allow ourfelves every gratification. Behold the language which I would hold ; for man, delivered up to himfclf, can fpeak only this language of flefh and blood. But would you believe me, as I hav'e already demanded ; would you refpeft my miniftry ; would you look upon me as an angel from heaven, who fhould com.e to announce to you this new gofpel ?

That of Jefus Chrift fpeaks another language to you ; I have related to you only his own divine words ; thefe are the duties which he prefcribes to you in clear and exprefs terms. We confent that you confine your whole piety to thefe limits, and that you leave all the reft as doubtful, or, at leaft, commanded in terms lefs clear, and more fufcep- tible of favourable interpretations. Reckon not among your duties, but thefe holy and inconteftible rules ; we exaft nothing more; limit yourfelves to performing what they prefcribe to you ; and you will fee that you fhail do more than we even demand of you ; and that the moft common and moft familiar maxims of the gofpel go infi- nitely farther than all our difcourfes. Third refleftion.

I alfo fay to you, in the fourth place, that, if almoft ali

be contefled in the world, upon the mofl; inconteftible du-

VoL. II. H h ties

276 SERMON VMI.

ties ot Chriflian piety, it is becaufe the gofpel is a book unknown to the greateft part of believers; it is that, through a deplorable abufe, a whole lite is pafTed in ac- quiring vain learning, equally ufelefs to man, to his hap- pinefs, and to his eternity ; and the book of the law is never read, in which is contained the knowledge of falva- tion, the truth which is to deliver us, the light wl.ich is to condu6l us, the titles of our hopes, the teftimony of our immortality, the confolations of our exilement, and the aids ot our pilgrimage : it is that, on entering into the world, care is taken to prefent to us thofe books, in which are explained the rules of that profcfTion to which we are allotted ; and that the book of the law, in which the rules of the profeiTion of the Chriftian are contained, that pro- feflion which fliall furvive all others, alone neceflary, and the only one which fhall accompany us into eternity ; that book, I fay, is left in negleft, and enters not into the plan of fludies which ought to occupy our earlier vears ; laftly, it is that iabulous and lafcivious hiftories childifhly amufe our leifure; and that the hiftory of God's wonders and mercies upon men, filled with events fo grand, fo weighty, fo interefting, which ought to be the fole occu- pation, and the whole confolation of our life, does not appear to us worthy even of our curiofity.

I am not furprifed, after this, if we have continual oc- cafion to maintain the gofpel againfl the abufes and the pre- judices of the world ; if we are liflened to with the fame furprife, when we announce the commoneft truths of the Chriflian morality, as though we announced the belief and the myfterics of thofe favage and far diftant nations, whofe countries and manners are hardly known ; and if the doc- trine of Jefus Chrifl find the fame oppofition at prefent in minds that it experienced at the birth of faith, it is, that

there

EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 277

tliere are Chriftians to whom the book of the gofpel is al- mnft equally unknown as it then was to the heathens ; who fcarcely know whether Jefus Chrift be come to bring laws to men, and who cannot, for a fingle moment, fupport, without wearinefs, the reading of that divine book, the rules ot which are fo fublime, the promifes fo confoling, and of which the pagans themfelves, who embraced faith, fo much admired the beauty and the divine philofophy. Thus, my brethren, read the holy books, and read them with that fpirit oi faith, of fubmiflion, of truft, which the church exaÊls, and you will foon be as well acquainted with your duties, and with the rules of the manners, as the do6iors themfelves who teach yOu.

And indeed, my brethren, whence comes it, I beg of you, that the fini b'elievers carried fo far the purity ot manners, and the holinefs of Chriflianity ? Were other maxims announced to them than thofe which we announce to you ? Was another gofpel preached to them, more clear and more explicit than that which we preach to you ? Neverthelefs, they were idolatrous and diffolute natioos,^ who had brought, to the truths oi faith, all the prejudices ot the fuperftitions, and of the mod infamous voluptuouf- neffes authorifed even by their worfhip. Did the gofpel contain the fmalleft obfcurities favourable to the pafTions, it furely ought to have been thofe firft difciples of laith who fhould have made the miftake. Neverthelefs, whence comes it that they never propofed to the apoRles and to their fucceflbrs, the fame difficulties which you continual- , ly oppofe to us, in fupport of the abufes of the world, and of the interefls of the paffions ? Whence comes it, that, with more inclinations and more prejudices than we for pleafures, thofe blefled believers at once comprehend how far, in order to obey the gofpel, it was neceilary to deny them to themfelves ? Ah 1

3/8 SERMON VIII.

Ah ! it was that, night and day, they had the book of the law in their hands : it was that patience, and the con- folation of the fcriptures, were the fweeteft occupation oi their faith; it was that the letters of the holy apoftles, and the relation of the life and of the maxims of Jefus Chrift, were the fole bond, and the daily converfations of thefe infant churches ; in a word, it is that, to whoever reads the gofpel, whatever regards the duties is quickly decided, fourth refleftion.

Laflly, I fay, even admitting that fome obfcurities fhould be found there, doth not the law of God find all its evidence in inftruftion and in the mini dry ? The Chrif- tian pulpits announce to you the purity of the holy max- ims ; the paflors publicly preach them ; men, full of zeal and of knowledge, convey them down to pofterity, in •works worthy of the better times of the church ; never had the piety of believers more aids ; no age ever was more enlightened, or better knew the fpirit of faith and the whole extent of duties. We no longer live in thofe ages of ignorance in which the rules fubfifted only in the abufes which had adulterated them ; in which the miniftry was often an occafion of error and of fcandal for believers; and in which the prieit was confidered as more enlighten- ed, whenever he was more fuperftitious than his people.

It would feem, O ray God ! that, in order to render us more inexcufable, in proportion as the wickednefs of men increafes on the one fide, the knowledge of the truth, which is to condemn them, augments on the other ; in proportion as the manners become corrupted, the rules be- come more evident ; in proportion as faith becomes languid, it is cleared up and purified ; like thofe fires which, in ex- piring, give a momentary flafh, and never difplay their luf-

trc

EVIDENCE or THE LAW OF GOD. 879

(re'witli fuch brilliancy as when on the eve of being ex- linguifhed.

Not that there are not ftill among us many blind guides and prophets who announce their own dreams. But the fnare is to be dreaded only by thofe who are willing to be deceived : when fincerely inclined to feek the Lord, we foon find the hand which knows to lead us to him : it is not then, properly fpeaking, the falfe guides who lead us aftray, it is ourfelves who feek them, becaufe we wifti to err with them ; they are not the firft authors of our ruin, they are only the cncouragers of it ; they do not lead us into the path of perdition, they only leave us there ; and we are already determined to perilh before we apply for their fuf- ffage. In eflfeft, we fenfibly feel ourfelves the danger and the imprudence of the choice we make; even the more we find the oracle complying, the more we miftrufl his lights ; , the more he refpefts our palTions, the lefs we refpe6l his miniflry ; he is frequently made the fubjeft even of our derifions ; we turn into ridicule that very indulgence which we have fought ; we vaunt the having found a pro- teftor fo convenient for the human weaknefles ; andj through a blindnefs which cannot be mentioned without tears, the foul and eternal falvation are confided to a man who is believed unworthy, not only of refpe6l, but even of attention and decency ; like thofe Ifraelites who, a moment after having bowed the knee to the golden calf, and expelled from it their falvation and their deliverance, broke it in pieces with difgrace, and reduced it to alhes.

But, after all, when the ignorance or the weakening of miniflers fhould even bean occafion of error, the examples of the holy undeceive you. You fee what, from the be- ginning, hath been the path of thofe who have obtained

the

28o SERMON VIII.

the profnifes, and whofe memory and holy toils we ftill honour upon the earth : you fee that none of them hath accomplifhed his falvation by that way which the world vaunts as being fo fafe and fo innocent : you fee that all the holy have repented, crucified their flefh, defpifed the world with all its pleafures and maxims : you fee that thofe ages, fo oppofite to each other for their manners and cuftoms, have never made any change in the manners of thejuft; that the holy of the firft times were the fame as thofe of the laft ; that the countries, even the moll diflimilar for their difpofition and behaviour, have produced holy, all refembling each other ; that thofe of the moft diftant cli- mates, and the moft different from our own, refemble thofe of our nation ; that, in every tongue and in every tribe, they have all been the fame ; laftly, that their fituations have been different ; that fome have wrought out their fal- vation in obfcurity, others in elevation ; fome in poverty, others in abundance; fome in the diffipation of dignities and of public cares, others in filence and the calm of foli- tude : in a word, fome in the cottage, others on the throne ; but that the crofs, violence, and , felt-denial hath been the common path of all.

What then art thou, to pretend to reacli heaven by other ways ; and thou flatteteft thyfelf that, in that crowd of il- luflrious fervants of the living God, thou alone fhalt be privi- ledged ? My God ! with what luftre haft thou not furrounded the truth in orderto render man inexcufable ! His confcience fliews it to him ; thy holy law guards it for him ; the voice of the church makes it torefound in his ears ; the example of thy holy inceffantly places it before his eyes ; every thing rifes up againft guilt ; all take the interefts of thy holy law againft his falfe peace ; from every quarter proceed rays o£ light which go to bear the truth even to the bottom of his

foul :

EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 28 1

foul ; no place, no fituation, can proteft him from thofe divine fparks emitted from thy bofom, which every where purfue him, and which, in enlightening, rack him : the truth, which ought to. deliver him, renders him unhappy; and unwilling to love its light, he is forced, before hand, to feel its juft feverity.

What then, my dear hearer, prevents the truth from triumphing in your heart ? Wherefore do you change, into an inexhauftible fource of cruel remorfes, lights which ought to be, within you, the whole confolation of your forrows ? Since, by a confequnce of the riches ot God's mercy upon your foul, you cannot fucceed, like fo many impious and hardened hearts, to flifle that internal monitor which inceflantly recalls you to order and duty, why will you obflinately withftand ihehappinefs of your lot ? Why fo many efforts to defend you from yourfelf? So ma- ny flarts and flights to Ihun yourfelf? At laft, reconcile your hearts, with your lights, your confcience with your manners, yourfell with the law of God; behold the only fecret of attaining to that peace of heart which you feck. Turn yourfelf on every fide, you muft always come to that. Obfervance of the law is the true happinefs of man : it is deceiving himfelt to look upon it as a yoke: it alone places the heart at liberty. Whatever favours our paffions, fharp- ens our ills, increafes our troubles, multiplies our bonds, and aggravates our flavery ; the law of God alone, in re- preffmg them, places us in order, quiets, cures, and de- livers us. Such is the delHny of finiul man, to be incapa- ble of happinefs here below, but by overcoming his paf- fions ; to attain by violence alone to the true pleafures of the heart, and afterwards to that eternal peace prepared for thofe '.vljo fliall have loved the law pf the Lord.

SERMON

SERMON IX.

IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD.

John viii. 46. And if I fay the truths why do ye not believe me ?

XT is not enough to have defended the evidence of the law of God againft the afFefted ignorance of the Tinners who violate it ; it is neceffary likewife to eftablidi its im- mutability againft all the pretexts which feem to authorife the world to difpenfe itfelf from its holy rules.

Jefus Chrift is not fatisfied with announcing to the Pha- rifees that the truth which they know (hall one day judge them ; that in vain they concealed it from themfelves ; and that the guilt of the truth, known and contemned, would be for ever upon their head. It is through the evidence of the law that he at firft recalls them to their own con- fcience ; he afterwards accufes them of having ftruck even at its immutability; of fubftituting human cuftoms and traditions in place of the perpetuity of its rules ; o\ accom- modating them to times, to circumftances, and tointerefts; and declares to them that, even to the end of ages, a fin- gle jot fliall not be changed in his law ; that heaven and the earth (hall pafs away, but that his law and his holy -vvord fhall for ever be the fame.

And

IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. 283

And behold, my brethren, the abufes which fiill reiga among us againft the law of God. We have fiiewn to you that, in fpite of the doubts and the obfcurities which our lufts have fpread over our duties, the light of the law, al- ways fuperior to our paffions, difTipate, in fpite of our- felves, thefe obfcurities, and that we were never hearty in the tranfgreflions which we tried to jullify to ourfelvcs. But it is little to be willing, like the Pharifees, to darken. the evidence of the law ; like them, we likewife ftrike at its immutability ; and, as if the law of God could change with the manners of the age, the differences of con- ditions, the necefTity of fituations, we believe that we can accommodate it to thefe three different circumftances, and in them find pretexts, either to mollify its feverity, or altogether to violate its precepts.

1///)', In effe6l, the heart of man is changeable ; every age fees new cuftoms fpring up among us ; times and the cuftoms always determine our manners : now, the law of God is immutable in its duration, always the fame in all times and in all places ; and, by this firft chara6ler of im- mutability, it alone ought to be the confiant and perpetual rule of our manners: firil refIe6lion.

^dly. The heart of man is vain ; whatever levels us with the reft of men, wounds our pride; we love diftinftions and preferences ; we believe that, in the elevation of rank and of birth, we find privileges againft the law : now, the law of God is immutable in its extent; it levels all ftations and all conditions ; it is the fame for the great and for thp people, for the prince and for the fubje£l ; and, by this fé- cond charaffer of immutability, it ought to recal to the fame duties the variety gf ftations and conditions which,

Vol. II. I i fpreads

284 SERMON IX.

fpreads fomuch inequality over the detail of manners and of the rules : fécond refleftion.

LajUy, The heart of man connefls every thing with it- felf; he perfuades himfelf that his interefls ought to be preferred to the law and to the interefls of God himfelf; the flighteft inconveniencies arereafons, in his eyes, againft the rule : now, the law of God is immutable in all fitua- tions of life ; and, by this laft charafler of immutability, there is neither perplexity, nor inconveniency, nor appa- rent neceflity, which can difpenfe us from its precepts ; laft refleftion.

And behold the three pretexts, which the world oppofes to the immutability of the law of God, overthrown : the pretext of manners and cuftoms ; the pretext of rank, and of birth ; the pretext ot fituations and inconveniencies. The law of God is immutable in its duration ; therefore, the manners and the cufloms can never change it : the law of God is immutable in its extent; therefore, the differ- ence of ranks and of conditions leaves it every where the fame : the law oi God is immutable in all fituations ; there- fore, inconveniencies, perplexities, never jullify the fmal- lefttranfgredionof it.

Part I. One of the moll urgent and moil ufual re- proaches which the firll fupporters o\ religion formerly made to the heathens, was theinftability of their moral fyf- tem, and the continual fluftuations of their doftrine. As the fulnefs of truth was not in vain philofophy, and as they drew not their lights, faid Turtullian, from that fove- reign reafon which enlightens all minds, and which is the immutable teacher ol the truth ; but from the corruption of their heart, and the vanity of their thoughts ; they quali- fied

IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. 285

iiecl good and evil according to their caprices, and, among them, vice and virtue were ahnofl arbitrary names. Ne- verthelefs, continues this lather, the mod infeparable cha- rafter of truth, is that of being always the fame : good and evil take their immutability from that of God himfelf, whom they glorify or infult ; his wifdom, his holinefs, his righteoufnefs, are the only eternal rules of our manners ; and it belongs not to men, at their pleafure, to change what men have not eftablifhed, and what is more ancient than men themfelves.

Now it was not furprifing that morality had nothing de- terminate, in the heathen fchools, delivered up to the pride, and to the variations of the human mind ; it was vanity and not the truth, which made philofophers ; the rules chang- ed with the ages; new -times brought new laws: in a word, the tenets did not change the manners ; it was the change of manners which drew after it that of the tenets.

But, what is aftonidiing, is, that Chriftians, v/ho have received from heaven the eternal and immutable law which regulates their manners, believe it to be equally change- able as the morality of philofophers ; that they perfuade themfelves that the rigorous duties, which the gofpel at firft prefcribed to the primitive ages of the church, are mollified with the relaxation ot manners, and are no longer made for the weaknefs and the corruption of our ages.

In effeft, the gofpel, the law of Jefus Chrift, is immu- table in its duration : feeing every thing change around it, it alone changes not ; the duties which it prefcribes to us, founded upon the wants and upon the nature of man, are, like it, of all times and of all places. Every thing changes upon the earth, becaufe every thing partakes of the mutabili- ty

286 SERMON IX,

ty of its origin ; empires and ftates have their rife and their fall ; arts and fciences fall or fpring up Muth the ages ; cuf- toms continually change with the tafte of the people, and with climates ; from on high; in his immutability, God feems to fport with human affairs, by leaving them in an eternal revolution : the ages to come will dellroy what we, with fo much anxiety, rear up ; we deflroy what our fa- thers had thought worthy of an eternal duration ; and, in order to teacli us in what eftimation we ought to hold things here below, God permitteth that they have nothing determinate, or folid, but that very inconfiflency which inceflamly agitates them.

But, amid all the changes of manners and ages, the law of God remains always the immutable rule of ages and of manners. Heaven and the earth Ihall pafs away ; but the holy words of the law fliall never pafs away : fuch as the firfl believers received them at the birth of faith, fuch have we them at prefent, fuch (hall our defcendants one day receive them ; laftly, fuch fhall the bleffed in heaven eternally love and adore them. The fervour of the licen- tioufnefs of ages add or diminifh nothing to their indul- gence, or from their feverity ; the zeal or the complaifance of men, renders them neither more aullere, nor more ac* commodating. The intolerant rigour, or the exceffive re* kxaiion of opinions and tenets, leaves them all the wife fo- briety of their rules ; and they form that eternal gofpel which the angel, in theRevelation, announces from on high in heaven, from the beginning, to every tongue and to every nation.

Nevcrthelefs, my brethren, when, in the manners of the primitive believers, we fometim.es reprefent to you all the duties of the gofpel exaftly fulfilled, their freedom

from

IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. 287

from the world, their abfence from theatres and public pleafures, their affiduity in the temples, the modefty and the decency of their drefs, their charity for their brethren, their indifference for all perifhable things, their continual defire of going to be reunited to Jefus Chrift ; in a word, that fimple, retired, and mortified life, fultained by fer- vent prayer, and by the confolation of the holy books, and fuch, in effeft, as the gofpel prefcribes to all the difciples of faith ; when we bring forward to you, I fay, thefe an- cient models, in order to make you feel, by the difference betwixt the primitive manners and yours, how diflant you are from the kingdom of God ; far from being alarmed at finding yourfelves difhmilar to fuch a degree, that hardly could it be believed that you were difciples of the fame Mafter, and followers of the fame law ; you reproach us with continually recalling, even to wearinefs, thefe primi« tive times, of never fpeaking but of the primitive church, as if it were poffible to regulate our manners, upon man- jiers of which every trace hath long been done away, ira- prafticable at prefent among us, and which the times and cuftoms have univerfally abolifhed. You fay, that men muft be taken as they are ; that it were to be wiflied that the primitive fervour had been kept up in the church ; but that every thing becomes relaxed and weakened through time, and that, to pretend to bring us back to the life of the primitive ages, is not holding out means of falvation, but is merely preaching up that nobody can now pretend to it.

But I demand of you, in the firfl place, my brethren, if the times and the years, which have fo much adulterated the purity of Chriflianity, have adulterated that of the gof* pel ? Are the rules become more pliable and more favoura». ble to the paffions, becaufe men are become more fenfual

and

e88 sermon IX.

and more voluptuous ? And hath the relaxation of man- ners foftened the maxims of Jefus Chrift ? When he hath foretold in the gofpel, that, in the latter times, that is to fay, in the ages in which we have tlie misfortune to live, faith fhould almoft no longer be found upon the earth, that his name fhould hardly be known there, that his maxims fhould be deflroyed, that the duties fliould be incompatible with the cuftoms, and that the jufl themfelves fhould allow themfelvesto be almoflinfefted by the univerfal contagion, and to be dragged away by the torrent of example : hath he then added, that in order to accommodate himfelf to the corruption of thefe latter times, he would relax fome- thing of the feverity of his gofpe! ; that he would confent that cufloms, eflablifhed by the ignorance and the licen- tioufnefs of the ages, fhould fucceed to the rules and to the duties of his do6lrine ; that he would then exaft of his difciples infinitely lefs than heexafled at the birth of faith ; and that his kingdom, which, at firfl, was promifed only to force, fhould then be granted to indolence and lazinefs ? Hath he added this, I demand of you ? On the contrary, he warns his difciples that then, in thefe latter times, it will, more than ever, be neceffary to pray, to faff, to re- tire to the mountains, in order to fhun the general corrup- tion : he warns them that wo unto thofe who (hall then re- main expofed amid the world ; that thofe alone fhall be fafe who fhall divefl themfelves of all and who fhall fly from amid the cities ; and he concludes, by exhorting them once more to watch and to pray without ceafing, in order not to be included in the general condemnation.

And, in efFeff, my brethren, the more diforders augment, the more ought piety to be fervent and watchful ; the more we are furrounded with dangers, the more doth prayer, re- treat, mortification, become neceffary to us. The licen-

tioufnefs

IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. S.Sg

tioufnefs of the prefent manners adds ftill new obligations to thofe of our fathers ; and, far from the path of falva- tion having become more eafy than in thofe former times, we fhall perifh with a moderate virtue, which, fupported them by the common example, would perhaps have been fufficient to fecure our falvation.

Befides, my brethren, I demand of you in the fécond place, do you really believe that the rigorous precepts of the gofpel, thofe maxims ol the crofs, of violence, of felf-denial, of contempt for the world, have been made only for the primitive ages of faith ? Do you believe that Jefus Chrifl; hath deftined all the rigours of his do6f rine for thofe chafle, innocent, charitable, and fervent men, who lived in thefe happy times ot the church ; thofe men who denied themfelves every pleafure, thofe primitive heroes ot religion, who, almofl all, perferved, even to the end, the grace of regeneration which had made them Chriftians ? What, my brethren, Jefus Chrift would have rewarded their zeal and their fidelity only by aggravating their yoke, and he would have referved all his indulgence lor the cor- rupted men of our ages ? Jefus Chrift would have made firift laws of referve, of modefty, of retirement, only for thofe primitive Chriftian women who renounced all to pleafe him ; who divided themfelves only with the Lord and their hulbands ; who, (hut up in the inclofure of their houfes, brought up their children in faith and in pietv ? And he would exaft lefs at prefent of thofe fenfual, volup- tuous, and worldly women, who continually wound our eyes by the indecency of their drefs, and who corrupt the heart by the loofenefs of their manners, and by the fnares v/hich they lay lor innocence ? And where would here be that fo much vaunted equity and wifdom of the Chrifliaii morality ? More ûiould then be exacted of him who owes

lefs ?

Sge s E R M O N IX.

lefs ? The tranfgreffions of the law fhould then difpenfe from its feverity thofe who violate it ? It would fuffice to have paflions, to be entitled to gratify them ? The way of heaven would be rendered eafy to finners, while all its roughnefs would be kept for the juft ? And the more vices men fhould have, the lefs Ciould they have occaCon for vir- tues ?

Again allow me, my brethren, to add, in the lafl: place, if the change of manners could change the rules, if cuf. toms could juftify abufes, the eternal law of God fliould then accommodate itfelf to the inconftancy of the times, and to the ridiculous tafle of men : a gofpel would then be neceflary for every age and for every nation ; for our cuf- toms were not eftablifhed in the times ot our fathers, and undoubtedly they fliall not pafs to our laft defcendants ; they are not common to all the nations who, like us, wor- fhip Jefus Chrifi:. Therefore, thefe cuftoms cannot either become our rule or change it ; for the rule is of all times and of all places ; therefore, new manners do not form a new gofpel, feeing we fhould anathematife even an angel •who fhould come to announce to us a new one ; and that the gofpel would be no longer but a human, and little to be trufted law for men, if it could change with men : therefore, the rules and duties are not to be judged by manners and cuftoms, but the manners and cuftoms are to be judged by the duties and rules : therefore, it is the law of God which ought to be the conftant rule ot the times, and not the variation ot times to become even the rule of the law of God.

No longer tell us then, my brethren, that the times are no longer the fame ; but the law of God, is it not ? That you cannot reform manners univerfally eftablifhed ; but

you

IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD.

291

you are not charged with the ret'ormation of the unlverfe : change yourfelF; fave your own foul with which you are entruiled ; behold all that is exafted of you : laftly, that the Chriftians of the primitive times had either more force or more grace than we ; ah Î thev had more faith, more conftancy, more love for Jefus Chrift, more contempt for the world : behold all that diflinguifhed them from us.

Have we not the fame fources of grace as they, the fame miniflry, the fame altar, the fame viÉHm ? Do the mer- cies of the Lord not flow with the fame abundance upori his church ? Have we not ftill among us pure and holy fouls, who renew the fervour and faith of the primitive times, and who arc living proofs of the pofhbility of the duties, and of the mercies of the Lord upon his people? *' Tell us no longer then," fays the fpirit of God, *' that " the former days were better than thefe ; for thou dofl; ** not enquire wifely concerning this." To follow Jcfus Chrift, fufferance muft always be required : in all ages, it hath been neceffary to bear his crofs, not to conform to the corrupted age, and to live as ftrangers upon the earth : in all times, the holy have had the fame paflTions as we toi refift, the fame abufes to fhun, the fame fnares to dread, the fame obftacles to furmount : and, if there he any dif- ference here, it is, that, in former times, it was not mere- ly arbitrary cuftoms which they had to fhun, nor the deri- fions of the world which they had only to dread, in de- claring for Jefus Chrift ; it was the moft cruel punifh- ments to which they muft expofe themfelves ; it was the power of the Cefars, and the rage of tyrants, which they muft defpife ; it was fuperftitions, become refpe£lable through their antiquity, countenanced by the laws of the empire, and by the confent of almoft all the people, which they had to fliake off: it was, in a word, the whole Vol. 1L K k univerfe

292 SERMON IX.

univerfe which they had to arm againft themfelves. But the faith of" thefe pious men was ftronger than punifh- ments, than the tyrants, than the Cefars, than the whole world, and our faith cannot hold out againft the abfurdity of cufloms, or the puerility of derifion ; and the gofpel which could formerly make martyrs, fcarcely at prefent can it form a believer. The law of God is then immuta- ble in its duration ; always the fame in all times and in all places ; but it is likewife immutable in its extent, and the fame for all Itations and conditions ; this is my fécond re- fleaion.

Part II. The mofl eflential chara6ier of the law of Jefus Chrift, is that of uniting, under the fame rules, the Jew and the Gentile, the Greek and the Barbarian, the great and the people, the prince and the fubjeft ; in it there is no longer exception of perfons. The law ok" Mofes, at leaft in its cufloms and in its ceremonies, was given only to a fingle people ; but Jefus Chrift is an uni- verfal legiflator ; his law, as his death, is for all men. He came, of all people to make only one people ; of all fta- tions and of all conditions to form only one body ; it is the fame fpirit which animates it, the fame laws which govern it : different funftions may there be exercifed, different places, more or lefs honourable, be occupied ; but it is the fame fpring which rules all the members of it. All thefe hateful diOinftions, which formerly divided men, are deftroyed by the church : that holy law knows neither poor nor rich; neither noble nor bafe born ; neither maf- ter nor flave ; it fees in men only the title of believer, which equals them all : it diftinguifhes them not by their names, or by their offices, but by their virtues ; and the greatefl in its fight are thofe who are the moft holy.

Neverthclefs,

IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. 293

Neverthelefs, a fécond illufion, pretty common againft the immutability of the law of God, is the perfuafion that it changes and becomes mollified in favour of rank and ot birth; that its obligations are lefs rigid for perfons born to elevation ; and that the obftacles, which high places and the manners attached to grandeur throw in the way of the Qbfervance of the drift duties of the gofpel, and which render the praftice of them almoft impoflTible to the great, likewife render their tranfgreflion more innocent. They figure to themfelves that the abufes, permitted in all times, by cuftom to the great, are likewife accorded to them by the law of God, and that there is another path of falvation for them than for the people. Thence, all the laws of the church violated; the times and the days confecrated to ab- flinence, confounded with the reft of days, are looked upon as privileges refufed to the vulgar, andreferved fole- ly for rank and birth : thence, to live only for the fenfes, to be attentive only to fatisfy them, to refufe nothing to tafle, to vanity, to curiofity, to idlenefs, to ambition, to make a God of one's felf; the fame profperity which faci- litates all thefc exceffes, excufes and juftifies them.

But, my brethren, I have already faid it, the gofpel is the law of all men : great, people, you have all pro- mifed, upon the facred fonts, to obferve it. The church, m receiving you into the number of her children, hath not propofed to the great other vows to make, and other rules to pra6life, than to the common people : you have all there made the fame promifes ; all fworn, in the face of the altars, to obferve the fame gofpel. The church hath not then demanded of you, if, by your birth accord- ing to the flefh, you were great, or of the common peo- ple ; but if, by your regeneration in Jefus Chrift, yoa meant to be faithful, and to engage yourfelf to follow hi«

law :

294 SERMON IX.

Jaw : upon the vow which you made of it, (he hath placed the holy gofpel upon your head, in order to mark that you fubmitted yourfeli to that facred yoke.

Now, my brethren, all the duties of the gofpel are re» duced to two points. Some are propofed in order to refill and to weaken that fund of corruption which we bear from our birth ; the others in order to perteft that firft grace of the Chriftian which we have received in baptifm ; that is to fay, the one in order to deilroy in us the old Adam ; the others in order to make Jefus Chrifl to grow there. Violence, felf-denial, and mortification, regard the firft : prayer, retirement, vigilance, contempt for the world, defire of invifible riches, are comprifed in the fécond : "behold the whole gofpel. Now, I demand of you, what is there in thefe two defcriptions of duties from which rank or birth can difpenfe you ?

Ought you to pray lefs than the other believers ? Have you fewer favours to afk than they, fewer obftacles to over- come, fewer fnares to avoid, fewer defires to refill ? Alas! the more you are exalted, the more do dangers augment, the more do occafions of fin fpring up under your feet, the more is the world beloved, the more doth every thing favour your pallions, the more doth every thing militate againfl your good defires ; is it in a fituation fo terrible for falvation that you find privileges which render it more mild and more commodious. The more, therefore, that you are exalted, the more doth mortification become ne- cefiary to you ; lor, the more that pleafures corrupt your heart, the more is vigilance neceffary, becaufethe dangers are more frequent ; the more ought faith to be lively, be- caufe every thing around you weakens and extinguifhes it ; the more ought prayer to be continual, becaufe the grace.

IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD* fig^

in order to fupport you, ought to be more powerful ; hu- mility of heart more heroical, becaufe thç attachments to things here below are more unavoidable : laftly, the more you are exalted, the more doth falvation become difficult to you ; this is the only privilege you can expeft from ele- vation. Alfo, thou often warneft us, great God, that thy kingdom is only for the poor and the lowly : thou fpeakefl not of the difficuhy ot falvation for the great and the pow- erful, but in terras which would feem to deprive them ot all hope of pretending to it, if we knew not that thou wifhefl the falvation of all men, and that thy grace is flill more powerful for our fanftifi cation, than profpeiity for our con uption.

And furely, my brethren, if grandeur and elevation were to render our condition more fortunate and more fa- vourable with regard to falvation, in vain would the doc- trine of Jefus Chrifl: teach us to dread grandeurs and hu- man profperities ; in vain would it be faid to us : That bleffed are they who weep, and who fuffer here below; that wo unto thofe who laugh now, for they (hall mourn and weep ; and "unto thofe who are rich, for they have re- ceived their confolation ; and that, to receive our reward in this world, through the tranfitory riches and honours which we there receive, is almoft a certain fign that we are not to receive it in the other. On the contrary, gran- deur and profperity would become a flate worthy of envy, even according to the rules of faith ; againft the maxim of Jefus Chrift, it would be neceffary to call thofe happy who are immerfed in pleafures and in oppulence ; fince, befides the comforts of a fmiling fortune, they would like- wife find there a way of falvation more mild and more eafy than in an obfcure ftate; thofe who fuffer, and who weep here below, would then be the moil miferable of all men;

fin ce.

S56 SERMON IX.

fince, to all the bitternefTes of their condition, would like- wife be added thofe of a gofpel, more rigorous and more auftere for them than for the perfons born in abundance. What new gofpel would it then be neceffary to announce to you, if fuch wei^e the rules of the morality of Jefus Chrift ?

But I fay not even enough. Granting that profperity îhould not exa6l more rigid precautions in confequence of the dangers which furround it, it would exaft, at leaft, more rigorous reparations, through the crimes and excefles which are infeparable from it. Alas ! my brethren, is it not among you that the paflions no longer know any bounds ; that the jealoufies are more keen, the hatreds more lafting revenge more honourable, evil-fpeak- ing more cruel, ambition more boundlefs, and voluptuouf- nefs more fhameful ? Is it not among the great that the moft fhocking debauchery even refines upon the common crimes ; that diffipation becomes an art ; and that in order to prevent thofe difgufts infeparable from licentioufnefs, refources are fought in guilt againfl guilt itfelf ? What in- dulgence then can you promife yourfelves on the part of religion ? If the moft righteous be refponfible for the whole law, fhould the greateft finners be difcharged from it ? Mea- fure your duties upon your crimes, and not upon your rank ; judge of yourfelves by the infults which you have offered to God, and not by the vain homages which are paid to you by men ; number the days and the years of your crimes which fhall be the eternal titles of your con- demnation, and not the years and the ages of the antiquity of your race, which are only vain titles written upon the afhes of your tombs ; examine what you owe to God, and not what men owe to you. l\ the world were to judge you, you might promife yourfelf diftinftions and preferences ;

but

IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. 297

but the world (hall itfelf be judged ; and be, who M'ill judge it and you alfo, fhall diftinguifh men only by their vices or by their virtues. He will not demand the names, he will demand only the deeds : calculate thereupon the diflin£lions which you ought to expeft.

Thus, we fee not that Jefus Chrift, in the gofpeî, pro- pofed to the princes of the people, and to the grandees of Jerufalem, other maxims than to the citizens of Judea, and to his difciples, all taken from the loweft ranks of the peo- ple ; he fpeaks in the capital of Judea, and before all that Paleftine had the moft illuftrious, as he fpeaks upon the borders of the fea, or upon the mountains, to that obfcure populace which followed him ; his maxims are not chang- ed with the rank of thofe who liften to him. The crofs, violence, contempt of the world, felf-denial, abftinence from pleafures : behold what he announces at Jerufalem, the feat of kings, as at Nazareth, the moft obfcure place oï Judea ; to that young man who was fo rich, as to the chil- dren of Zebedee, whofe only inheritance was their nets : to the fifters of Lazarus, of a diftinguilhed rank in Palef- tine, as to the woman of Samaria of a more obfcure con- dition ; his enemies themfelves confelTed that this was his peculiar charafler, and were forced to render him this juf- tice, that he taught the way of God in truth, and that he had no refpeft of rank or of perfons.

What do I fay ? Even after his death the gofpel fcemed a doftrine fent down from heaven, only becaufe that, an- nouncing to the great and to the powerful forrowful and crucifying maxims, apparently fo incompatible with their ftation, they, neverthelefs, fubmitted to the yoke of Jefus Chrift, and embraced a law which amid all the profperity and abundance, permitted to them no more pleafures and

comforts

29» SERMON IX.

comforts here below, than to the common and fimple people. And, in efFe6l, why fhould the firft defenders of faith have regarded the converfion of Cefars, and of the powerful of the age, as a proof o{ the truth of the divinity of the gof- pel ? What would there be fo furprifing, that the rich and powerful had embraced a doftrine which would diflinguifh them from the people by a greater indulgence ; which, while it would prefcribe tears, faffing, felf-denial to others, would relax in favour of the great, and would confent^hat profufions, pleafures, fenfualities, gaming, public places, all fo rigoroufly forbidden to common believers, became an innocent occupation for them ; and, that what is a road of perdition for others, fliould, for them alone be a road of falvation ? It would then be the wifdom of the age which would have eflablifhed the gofpel, and not the folly of the crofs ; it would be the artifices and the deferences of men, and notthe'arm of the Almighty; it would be flefh and blood, and not the power of God ; and the converfion of the univerfe would have nothing more wonderful, than the eftablifhment of fuperllitions and of fefls.

And candidly, my brethren, if the gofpel' had diflinc- tions to make, and condefcenfions to grant, if the law of God could relax fomething of its feverity, would it be in favour of thofe who are born to rank and to abundance ? What ! It would preferve all its rigour for the poor and the unfortunate ? It would condemn to tears, to taftings, to penitence, to poverty, thofe unfortunate fouls whofe days are mingled with almoftnothing but fufference and forrow, and whofe only comfort is that of eating with temperance the bread earned with the fweat ot their brow ? And it would difcharge from thefe rigorous duties the grandees of the earth ? And it would exaft nothing painful ol thofe whofe days are only diverfificd by the variety of their plea- fures ?

IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF COD. 299

fures ? And it would referve all its indulgence lor thofe foft and voluptuous fouls, who live only for the fen fes, who be- lieve that they are upon the earth for the fole purpofe of enjoying an iniquitous felicity, and who know no other god than themfelvcs ?

Great God ! It is the blindnefs which thy juftice fheds over human profperities : after having corrupted the heart, they likewife extinguifh all the lights of faith. It rarely happens but that the great, fo enlightened upon the inte- reils of the earth, upon the ways to fortune and to glory, upon the fecret fprings which give motion to courts and to empires, live in a profound ignorance of the ways of falvation. They have been fomuch accuftomed to prefer- ence by the world, that they are perfuaded they ought like- wife to find them in religion. Becaufe men do them credit for the fmalleft fteps taken in their favour, they believe, O my God ! tiiat thou regardeft them with the fame eyes as men ; and that, in fulfilling fome weak duties of piety, ia taking fome fmall Heps for thee, they go even beyond what they owe to thee : as if their fmalleft religious works ac- quired a new merit from their rank ; in place of which, they acquire it, in thy fight, only froni that faith and from that charity which animates them.

It is thus that the law of God, immutable in its extent, is the fame for all flations, for the great and for the people. But it is likewife immutable in all the fituations of life ; and it is neither a difficult conjun61ure, nor perplexity, nor apparent danger, nor pretext of public good, in which to violate, or even to foften it, becomes a legitimate and ne- ceffary modification : this was to have been my lafi reflec- tion ; but I abridge and go on. ' Vol. II. L 1 Yes,

500

SERMON IX.

Yes, my brethren, every thing becomes reafon and ne- ceflîty againft our duties, that is to fay, againft the law of God; fituations the leaft dangerous, conjunctures the lealt embarraffing, furniOi us with pretexts to violate it with fafety, and perfuade us that the law of God would be un- juft, and would exafttoo much of men, if, on thefe occa- fions, it were not to ufe indulgence with regard to us.

Thus, the law of God commands us to render to each that which is his due, to retrench, in order to pay thofe debts incurred through our excefTes, and not to permit that our unfortunate creditors fuflPer by our fenfelefs profufions : jieverthelefs, the general perfuafion is that, in a grand place, it is neceflary to fupport the eclat of a public dig- nity ; that the honour of the mafter requires that mean and forry externals difgrace not the elevated poll which he hath confided to us ; that we are refponfible to the fovereign, to the flate, to ourfelves, before being fo to individuals : and that public propriety is then fuperior to the particular rule.

Thus, the law of God enjoins us to tear out the eye which giveth offence, and to caft it from us; to feparate ourfelves from an objeft which, in all times, hath been the rock of our innocence, and near to which we can never be in fafety : neverthelefs, the noife which a rup- ture would make, the fufpicions which it might awaken in the public mind, the ties ot fociety, of relationfhip, of friendfhip, which feem to render the feparation impof- fible without eclat, perfuade us that it is not then com- manded, and that a danger, become as if neceffary, be- comes a fecurity to us.

Thus,

IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD.

301

Thus, the law of God commands us to render glory to the truth; not to betray our confcienceby iniquitoufly withholding it ; that is to fay, not to diiïembie it, through human interefts, from thofe to whom our duty obliges us to announce it : nevertheiefs, we perfuade ourfelves that truths, which would be unavailing, ought to be fuppref- fed; and that a liberty, of which the only fruit would be that of riflcing our fortune, and of rendering ourfelves hated, without rendering thofe better to whom we owe the truth, would rather be an indifcretion than a law of charity and of ju (lice.

Thus, the law of God prefcribes to us to have in view, in public cares, only the utility of the people, for whom alone the authority is entrufled to us ; to confzder ourfelves as charged with the interefts of the multitude, as the avengers of injuftice, the refuge againft opprefTion and poverty : nevertiiClefs, we believe ourfelves to be fituated in conjun£lures, in which it is neceflary to fiiut our eyes upon iniquity, to fupport abufes which we know to be untenable, to facrifice confcience and duty to the necefTity of the times, and, without fcruple, to violate the clearell rules, becaufe the inconveniencies, which would arife from their obfervance, feem to render their tranf- grefTion necelTary. Laftly, Human pretexts, interefls, and inconveniencies, always make the balance to turn to their fide ; and duty, and the law of God, always yield to conjunftures and to the neceffity of the times.

Now, my brethren, I do not tell you, in the firft place,- that the interefl; of falvation is the greateft of all interefts; that fortune, life, reputation, the whole world itfell, put in comparifon with your foul, ought to be reckoned as^ oothing; and that, though heaven and the earth fhould.

change.

30a s E R M O N IX.

change, that the whole world fliould perifh, and every evil burft upon our head, thefe inconveniencies would always be infinitely lefs than the tranfgreffion of the law of God:

^dly, I do not tell you that the law hath always, atleaft, fecurity in its favour againft the pretext, becaufe the oh- ligation of the law is clear and precife, in place of which the pretext, which introduces the exception, is always doubtful ; and that, confequently, to prefer the pretext to the law, is to leave a fafe way, and to make choice of an- other, for which no perfon can be anfwerable to you.

Laftly, I do not tell you that, the gofpel having been only given to us in order to detach us from the world and from ourfelves, and to make us die to all our terreftrial afifeftions, it is deceiving ourfelves to confider, as incon- veniencies, certain confequences of that divine law, fatal either to our fortune, to our glory, or to our eafe, and to perfuade ourfelves that it is then permitted to us to have recourfe to expedients which mollify it, and conciliate its feverity with the interefts of our felf-love. Jefus Chriil hath never meant to prefcribe to us eafy and commodious duties, and which take nothing from the pallions ; he came to bring the fword and feparation to hearts, to divide man from his relations, from his friends, from himfelf ; to hold out to us a way rugged and difficult to keep. Thus, what ■we call inconveniencies and unheard-of extremities, are, at bottom, only the fpirit of the law, the moft natural confequences of the rules, and the end that Jefus Chrifl had intended in prefcribing them to us.

That young man of the gofpel regarded as an inconve- niency, the being unable to go to pay the laft duties to his father, and to gather in what he liad fucceedcd to, if he

followed

IMMUTAriLÏTY OF THE LAW OF GOD. 303

followed Jefus Chrift ; and it was precifely that facvifice which Jefus Chrifl exafted of him. Thofe men invited to the feaft looked upon as an inconveniency, the one to forfake his county-houfe, the other his trade, the laft to delay his marriage ; and it was in order to break afunder all thefe ties, which bound them, ftill too much to the earth, that the father of the family invited them to come and feat themfelves at the feaft. Efther, at firft, confidered as an inconveniency to go to appear before Ahafuerus, contrary to the law of the empire, and to declare herfelf a daughter of Abraham, and proteflrefs of the children of Ilrael ; and, ueverihelefs, as the wife Mordecai reprefented to her, the Lord had raifed her to that point of glory and profperity only for that important occafion. Whatever is a conflraint to us, appears a reafon againft the law ; and we take for inconveniencies the obligations themfelves.

Befides, my brethren, is it not certain that the principal merit of our duties is derived from the obftacles which never fail to oppofe their praftice ; that the moft effential charafter of the law of Jefus Chrift is that of exciting againft it all the reafons of flefh and blood ; and virtue would refemble vice, if outwardly and inwardly it found in us only facilities and conveniencies ? The rigliteous, my brethren, have never been peaceable obfervers of the holy rules : Abel found inconveniencies in the jealoufy of his oWTi brother ; Noah in the unbelief of his own citizens ; Abraham in the difputes of his fervants ; Jofeph in the dangers to which he was expofed through his love of mo- defly and the rage of a faithlefs woman ; Daniel in the cuf- (oras of a profane court ; the pious Efdras in the manners of his age; the noble Eleazar in the fnares of a fpecious temperament: laftly, follow the hiftory of the juft.'and you will fee that, in all ages, all thofe who have walked

in

S04

SERMON ÎX,

in the precepts and in the ordinances of the la\*', have ex- perienced inconveniencies, in which righteoufnefs itfelf feemed to authorife the tranfgreflion of the rules ; have en- countered obftacles in their way, where the lights of an human reafon feemed to decide in favour of the pretext againft the law ; in a word, where virtue feemed to con- demn virtue itfelf; and that, confequently, it is not new for the law ot God to meet with obftacles ; but that it is new to pretend to find in thefe obftacles legitimate excufes for difpenfing ourfelves from the law of God.

And the dicifive argument which confirms this truth is, that our pafTions alone form the conveniencies which au- thorife us in feeking mollifications to our duties and to the law of God; and that views of fortune, of glory, of favour, engage us in certain proceedings, juftify them in our eyes, in fpite ot the evidence of rules which condemn them, only becaufe we love our glory and our fortune more than the rules themfelves.

Let us die to the world and to ourfelves, my brethren ; let us reftore to our heart the fentiments of love and of preference, which it owes to its Lord : then every thing fhall appear poŒble; difficulties fhall, in an inftant, be done away: and what we call inconveniencies either fhall no longer be reckoned as any thing, or we fhall confider them as infeparable proofs of virtue, and notas the excufes of vice. How eafy it is to find pretexts when we love them ! Arguments are never wanting to thepaffions. Self- love is always ready in placing, at leaft, appearances on its fide ; it always changes our weaknefTes into duties, and our inclinations foon become legitimate claims; and what in this is moft deplorable, fays St. Auguftin, is that we call in even religion itfelf in aid of our paffions ; that

we

IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. 30J

we draw motives from piety, in order to violate piety it- felf ; and that we have recourfe to holy pretexts to autho- rife iniquitous defires.

It is thus, O my God ! that almoft our whole life is pafTed in feducing ourfelves ; that we employ the lights of our reafon only in darkening thofe of faith ; that we con- fume the few days we have to pafs upon the earth only in feeking authorities for our paffions, in imagining fitnations in which we believe ourfelves to be enabled to difobey thee with impunity; that is to fay, that all our cares, all our refle6i;ions, all the fuperiorily of our views, of our lights, of our talents, all the wifdom of our meafures and of our counfels, are limited to the accomplifhment of ouf ruin, and to conceal from ourfelves our eternal deflruftion.

Let us (hun this evil, my brethren; let us reckon no way fafe for us but that of the rules and of the law ; and let us remember that there ftiall be more finners con- demned through the pretexts which feem to authorife the tranfgreffions of the law, than through the avowed crimes which violate it. It is thus that the law of God, after having been the rule of our manners upon the earth, fliall be their eternal confolaticn in heaven.

SERMON

SERMON X.

FOR CHRISTMAS DAY.

Luke ii. lo.

For, behold, I bring you good tid???gs of great joy^ which Jltall be to all people ; for unto you is born, this

". day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Chriji the Lord.

JJehold, in effeft, the grand tidings which, for four thoufand years, the world had expe£led ; behold the grand event which fo many prophets had foretold ; fo many ce- remonies had figured ; fo many righteous had awaited, and which all nature feemed to promife, and to hallen by the univerfal corruption fpread through all flefli ; behold the grand blefling which God's goodnefs prepared ior men, after the infidelity of their firft parent had rendered them all fubjeft to fin and death.

The Saviour, the Chrift, the Lord, at lafl; appears this day on the earth. The over-fhadowed bring forth the righteous; the ftar of Jacob appears to the univerfe; the fccptre is departed from Judah, and he, who was to come, is arrived ; the age of darknefs is accomplifiied ; the pro- mifed fign of the Lord to Judea hath appeared; a virgin has conceived and brought forth, and out ot Bethlehem comes the leader who is to enlighten and govern all Ifrael.

What

FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 307

- What new bleffings, my brefhren, doth this birth not announce to men? It would not during fo many ages, have been announced, awaited, defired ; it would not have formed the religion of a whole people, the objeft of all the prophecies ; the unravelling of all the figures, the fole end of all the proceedings of God towards men, had it not been the grandefl mark of his love which he could give them. What a blefTed night is that which prefides at this divine bringing-forth ! It hath feen the light of the world fliine forth in its darknefs ; the heavens refound with joy and fongs of thankfgiving.

But, my brethren, we mufl participate in the bleffings which this birth is meant to bring us, in order to enter into all the tranfports of delight which it fpreads through the heavens and the earth. The common joy is founded only on the common falvation which is offered to us ; and if, in fpite of this aid we ftill obftinately perfifl in perifli- ing, the church weeps over us, and we mingle mournino- and forrow with that joy with which fuch blefTed tidings infpire it.

Now, what are the ineflimable bleffings which this birth brings to men ? The heavenly fpirits come themfelves to make it known to the fhepherds ; it comes to render glory to God, and peace to men; and behold the whole foun- dation of this grand myflery laid open. To God, that glory of which men had wifhed to deprive him ; to men, that peace of which they had never ceafed their ftruggles to deprive themfelves.

Part I. Man had been placed upon the earth for the fole purpofe of rendering, to the author of his being, that glory and that homage which were his due. All called him

Vol. II. Mm to

3ct8 sermon X.

to thefe duties ; and every thing, which ought to have called, removed him from them. To his fupreme Ma- jefty he owed his adoration a;nd his homage ; to his pater- nal goodnefs his love ; to his infinite wifdom,, the facrifice of his reafon and of his lights. Thefe duties, engraven on his heart, and born with him, were ftill alfo inceflantly proclaimed to him by alf creatures ; he could neither liuer> to hirofelf, nor to all things around him, without finding them ; neverthelefs, he forgets, he effaces them from his heart. He no longer faw in the work, that honour and that worfhip which were due to the fovereign Architeft ; in the- blefiings with which he loaded him, that love which he owed to his benefaftor; in the obfcurity fpread through even natural caufes, that impoflibihty, much lefs, of fa- thoming the fecrecies o\ God, and that miftruft, in which he ought to live, of his own lights. Idolatry, therefore, rendered to the creature that worfhip which the Creator had relerved for himfelf alone : the fynagogue honoured him from the lips, and that love, which it owed to him^ was confined to external homages totally unworthy of him ; philofophy loft itfelf in its own ideas, meafurcd the lights of God by thofe of men, and vainly believed that reafon, which knew not itfelf, was able to know all truth : three fores, fpread over the face of the whole earth. In a word, God was no longer either known or glorified, and man was no longer known to himfelf.

And, ly?/)', To what excefTes had idolatry not carried its profane worfhip ? The death of a perfon loved, quick- ly exalted him to a divinity ; and his vile afhes, on which his nothingnefs was ftamped in charaQers fo indelible, be- came themfelves the title of his glory and of his immortali- ty. Conjugal love made gods to itfelf; impure love fol- lowed the example, and determined to have its altars : the

wife

FOR CHRISTMAS DAY.

3<^

wife and the miflrefs, the hufband and the lover, had temples, priefts, and facrifices. The folly, or the general corrup- tion, adopted a worfhip fo ridiculous and fo abominable ; the whole univerfe was infe£led with it ; the majefty of the laws of the empire authorifed it; and the magnificence of the temples, the pomp of the facrifices, the immenfe riches of the images, rendered that folly refpeftable. Ev- ery people was jealous in having its gods ; in default of man they offered incenfe to the beaft : impure homages became the worfliip of thefe impure divinities ; the towns, the mountains, the fields, the deferts, were ilained with them, and beheld fupurb edifices confecrated to pride, to lafcivioufnefs, to revenge. The number of the divinities equalled that of the pallions ; the gods were almoft as nu- merous as the men ; all became god with man ; and the true God was the only one unknown to man^

The world was plunged, almofl from its creation, in tlie horror of this darknefs ; every age added to it frefh imi- pieties. In proportion as the appointed time of the deliv- erer drew near, the depravity of men feemed to increafe. Rome itfelf, miftrefs of the univerfe, gave way to all the different worlhips of the nations fhe had fubjugated : and beheld exalted, within her walls, the different idols of fo many conquered countries, that they became the public momuments of her folly and blindnefs, rather than oi her viftories.

But, after all', though all flefh had corrupted his way,. God no longer wifhed to pour out his wrath upon men, nor to exterminate them by a frefh deluge ; he wifhed to- fave them. He had placed in the heavens the fign of his covenant with the world ; and that fign was not the fhin- ing,- though vulgar rainbow which appears in the clouds ;

it

310 s E R M 0 N X.

it was Jefus Chrill his only Son, the word made flefii, the true feal of the eternal covenant, and the fole light which comes to enlighten the whole world.

He appears on the earth, and reftores to his Father that glory of which the impiety of a public worfhiphad wifhed to deprive him. The homage rendered to him, by his holy foul united to the world, at once makes amends to his fupreme Majefty for all the honours which the univerfc had hitherto denied him, in order to proftitute them to a creature. A Man-God adorer renders more glory to the divinity than all idolatrous ages and nations had deprived him ot ; and fuch homage muff indeed have been agreea- ble to the fovereign God, feeing it alone effaced idolatry from the earth ; made the blood of impure viftims ceafe to flow ; overturned the profane altars ; filenced the ora- cles of demons ; reduced to dull the vain idols, and chang- ed their fupurb temples, till then the receptacle ot every abomination, into houfes of adoration and prayer. Thus was the univerfe changed : the only God, unknown even in Athens, and in thofe cities moft celebrated for knowl- edge and polifiied manners, was worlhipped ; the world acknowledged its Author : God entered into his rights ; a •worfliip worthy of him was eftablifhed over the whole earth ; and he had every where adorers, who worlhipped him in fpirit and in truth.

Behold the firfl bleffing accruing from the birth of Je- fus Chrift, and the firfl glory which he renders to his Fa- ther. But, my brethren is this grand bleffing for us ? We no longer worfhip vain idols ; an inceftuous Jupiter, a laf- civious Venus, a cruel and revengeful Mars ; but is God, therefore, more glorified among us ? In their place do we not fubHitute fortune, voluptuoufnefs, court favour, the

world

FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. git

world, with all its pleafures ? For, whatever we love more than God, that we worfhip , whatever we prefer to God, that becomes our god ; whatever becomes the fole objeft of our thoughts, of our defires, of our aflfeftions, of our fears and hopes, becomes Hkewife the objeft of our worfhip ; and our gods are our pafTions, to which we facrifice the ^ true God.

Now, what idols of this kind flill remain in the Chriftian ■world ! You, that unfortunate creature, to whom you have proftituted your heart ; to whom you facrifice your wealth, your fortune, your glory, your peace ; and from whom neither religious motives nor even thofe of the world can detach you, that is your idol : and what lefs is fhe than your divinity, fince, in your madnefs, you do not refufe her even the name ? You that court that fortune which engrofîes you, to which you devote all your cares, all your exertions, all your movements, in fhort, your whole foul, mind, will, and life, that is your idol ; and what criminal homage do you refufe from the moment that it is exafted of you, and that it may become the price of its favour ? You, that fiiameful intemperance, which debafes your name and birth ; which no longer accords even with our man- ners ; which has drowned and befotted all your talents in the exceffes of wine and debauchery ; which, by render- ing you callous to every thing elfe, leaves you neither rel- ifh nor feeling but for the brutal pleafures of the table, that is your idol : you think that you live only in thofe moments given to it ; and your heart renders more homage to that infamous and abjeft god than your defpicable and profane fongs. The pafTions formerly made the gods ; and Jefus Chrift hath deftroyed thefe idols only by deftroying the pafTions which had raifed them up : you exalt them again, by reviving all the pafTions which had rendered the whole

world

3**

SERMON X,

world idolatrous. And what matters it to know afinglegoiî, ii you elfewhere beftow your homages ? Worfhip is in the heart ; and it the true God be not the God of your hearty you place, like the pagans, vile creatures in his place, and you render not to him that glory which is his due.

Thus Jcfus Chrift doth not confine himfelf tomanifeftin^ the name of his Father to men, and to eftablifhing, on the ruins of idols, the knowledge of the true God. He raif- eth up worfhippers, who reckon external homages as noth- ing, unlefs animated and fanftified by love ; and who fhall confider mercy, juftice, and holinefs, as the offerings moft worthy of God, and the moil fhining attendants of their worfhip: fécond blefling from the birth of Jefus Chriff, and fécond fort of glory which he renders to his Father.

In effe£l, God was known, fays the prophet, in Judea ;. Jerufalem beheld no idols in the public places, ufurping the homages due to the God of Abraham ; " there was neither •* iniquity in Jacob, nor perverfenefs in Ifrael :" that fingle portion of the earth was free from the general contagion. But the magnificence of its temple, the pomp of its facri- fices, the fplendour of its folemnities, the exaflitude of it^ lawful obfervances, conftituted the whole merit of its wor- ship ; all religion was confined to thefe external duties. Its morals were not lefs criminal : Injuftice, fraud, falfehod, adultery, every vice fubfifted, and were even countenanced by thefe vain appearances of worfliip : God was honoured from the lips ; but the heart of that ungrateful people was ever diflant from him.

Jefus Chrift comes to open the eyes of Judea on an error fo grofs, fo ancient, and fo injurious to his Father. Hç

comes.

FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. gig

comes to inform them, that man may be fatisfied with ex- ternals alone, but that God regards only the heart ; that every outward homage which withholds it from him, is an rnfult and an hypocrify, rather than a true worfhip ; that it matters little to purify the external, if the internal be full of infeftionand putrefa£tion ; and that God is truly wor* fhipped only by loving him.

" But, Alas ? my brethren, is this miftake, fo wretched and fo often reproached to the fynagogue by Jefus Chrift, not ftill the error of the majority of us ? To what, in faft, is the whole of our worlhip reduced ? To fome external ceremonies ; to fulfilling certain public duties prefcribed by the law ; and even this is the religion of the moft re- fpeftable. They come to afTifl in the holy myfteries ; thejr do not, without fcruple, depart from the laws of the church ; they repeat fome prayers which cuftom has confec^ated ; they go through the folcmnities, and increafe the crowd which runs to our temples : behold the whole. But are they, in confequence, more detached from the world, and from its criminal pleafures? Lefsoccupied with the cares oî a vain drefs, or of fortune? More inclined to break off a criminal engagement, or to fly opportunities which have fo often been a rock to their innocence ? Do they bring to thefe external praftices of religion, a pure heart, a lively faith, a guilelefs charity ? All their pafîions fubmit amid all thefe re- ligious works, which are given to cuftom rather than religion.

And remark, I pray you, my brethren, that they would not dare to difpenfe themfelves altogether from them ; to live, like impious, without any profeffion of worfhip, and without tulfilling at leaft fome of its public duties : They would confider themfelves as anathematifed, and worthy of the thunder of heaven. And yet they dare to fully thefe

holy

514 SERMON X.

holy duties by the moft criminal manners ! And yet they do not view them themfelves with horror, while rendering ufelefs thefe fuperficial remains of religion, by a liie which religion condemns and abhors ! And they dread not the wrath of God, in continuing crimes which attraft it on our heads, and in limitting all that is his due to vain homa- ges which infult him !

Neverthelefs, as I have already faid, of all the worldly thefe are the mofl prudent, and, in the eyes of the world, the moft regular. They have not yet thrown olF the yoke, like fo many others ; they do not arrogate to themfelves a fhocking glory in not believing in God ; they blafpheme not what they do not know ; they do not confider religion as a mockery and a human invention ; they ftill wifh to hold to it by fome externals ; but they hold not to it by the heart ; but they difhonour it by their irregularities ; but they are not Chriftians but in name. Thus, even in a greater degree than formerly under the fynagogue, the magnificent externals of religion fubfift among us, along with a more profound and more general depravity of man- ners than ever the prophets reproached to the obftinacy and hypocrify of the Jews : thus, that religion, in which we glory, is no longer, to the greateft number of believers, but a fuperficial worlhip : thus, that new covenant which ought to be written only in the heart ; that law of fpirit and life, which ought to render men wholly fpiritual ; that inward worfhip, which ought to have given to God wor- . fliippers in fpirit and in truth, has given him only phan- toms, only fiftitious adorers ; the mere appearances of worfhip ; in a word, but a people ftill Jewifti, which hon- ours him from the lips, but whofe corrupted heart, ftained with a thoufand crimes, chained by a thoufand iniquitous paflions, is always fardiftant from him.

Behold

FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 315

Behold the fécond blefTing, of the birth of Jefus Chrifl:, in which we have no part. He comes to abolifli a woi (hip wholly external, which was confined to facrifices of ani- mals and lawful ceremonies, and which, in not rendering to God the homage of our love, alone capable ol glorifying him, rendered not to him that glory which is his due : in place of thefe appearances of religion, he comes to fubfti- tute a law which ought to be fulfilled wholly in the heart ; a worlhip of which the' love of his Father ought to be the firft and the principal homage. Neverthelefs, this holy worfliip, this new precept, this facred truft, which he hath confided to us, has miferably degenerated in our hands ; we have turned it into a worfhip wholly pharifaical, in which the heart has no part ; which has no influence in changing our irregular propenfities ; which has no efFeft upon our manners, and which only renders us fo much the more criminal, as we abufe the bleffing which ought to wafii out and purity all oUr crimes.

LallJy, Men had likewife wiflied to ravifli from God the glory of his providence and of his eternal wifdom. Phi- lofophers, Uruck with the abfurdity ot a worfliip which mul- tiplied gods to infinity, and forced, by the fole lights of rea- fon, to acknowledge one fole Supreme Being, disfigured the nature of that Being by a thoufand abfurd opinions. Some figured tothemfelves an indolent god ; retired within himfelf ; in full polfeffion of his own happinefs ; difdain- ing to abafe himfelf by paying attention to what paffes on thé earth ; reckoning as nothing men whom he had created ; equally infenfible to their virtues as to their vices ; and leaving wholly to chance the courfe of ages and fcafons, the revolution of empires, the lot of each individual, the whole machine of this vaft univerfe, and the whole difpenfa- tion of human things. Others fubjefted him to a fatal chain

Vol. II. N n of

grô SERMON X»

of events ; they made him a god without liberty and with- out power ; and while they regarded him as the mailer of men, they believed him to be the flave of deftiny. The er- rors of reafon were then the only rule of religion, and of the belief of thofe who were confidered as even the wifeft and moil enlightened,

Jefus Chriil: comes to reïlore to his Father that glory of which the vain reafonings of philofophy had deprived him. He comes to teach to men that faith is the fource of true lights ; and that the facrifices of reafon is the firft ftep of Chriftian philofophy. He comes to fix uncertainty, by in- ftrufting us in what we ought to know of the Supreme Be- ing, and wl«t, with regard to him, we ought not to know.

It was not, in eflPeft, fufïicient that men, in order to ren- der glory to God, ihould make a facriiice to him of their life, as to the author of their being, and ihould, by that avowal, acknowledge the impiety of idolatry ; that they fhould make a facriiice to him of their love and of their heart, as to their fovereign felicity, and thereby proclaim the infuificiency and the inutility of the external and phar- ifaical worfhip of the fynagogue ; it was likewife required, that to him they ihould facrifice their reafon, as to their wifdom and to their eternal truth, and thus be undeceived with regard to the vain reiearches and the conceited know- ledge ot philofophers.

Now, the fole birth of a Man-God, the ineifable union of our nature with a divine perfon, difconcerts all human reafon; and this incomprehenfible myftery, held out to men as their whole knowledge, their whole truth, their whole philofophy, their whole religion, at once makes them feel, that the truth, which they hitherto had in vain

fought.

FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 317

fought, mufl; be fought, not by vain efforts, but by the fa- crifice of reafon and of our feeble lights.

But, alas ! where among us are believers who make a thorough facrifice of their reafon to faith ; and who, re- jefting their own lights, humble their eyes, in a refpe6lful and filent adoration, before the majeftic impenetrability of religion ? I fpeak not of thofe impious, ftill to be found among us, who deny a God, Ah ! we muft leave them to the horror and the indignation of the whole univerfe which knows a divinity, and which worfhips him ; or rather leave them to the horror of their own confcience, which inward- ly invokes and calls upon him in fpite of themfelves, while outwardly they are glorifying themfelves in profeffing not to know him*

I fpeak of the majority of believers, who have an idea ©f the divinity, almoft equally falfe and equally human, as had formerly the pagan philofophers ; who confider him as nothing in all the accidents ot life; who live as if chance or the caprice of men determined all things here below ; and who acknowledge good-luck and bad-luck as the two fole divinities which govern the world, and which prefide over every thing relative to the earth. I fpeak of thofe men of little faith who, far from adoring the fecrecies of futurity in the profound and impenetrable councils of pro- vidence, go to fearch for them in ridiculous and childilh prophecies ; attribute to man a knowledge which God hath folely referved to himfelf; with a fenfelefs belief await» from the dreains of a falfe prophet, events and revolutions which are to decide the deftiny of nations and empires : found thereupon vain hopes for themfelves, and renew either the folly of pagan augurs and foothfayers, or the im- piety of the pythonefs of Saul, and of the oracles of Del-

phi

3l8 SERMON X.

phi and Dodona. I fpeak of thofe who wiOi to penetrate into the eternal ways of God on our lots ; and who, being unable, by the fole powers ot reafon, to folve the infur- mountable difficulties of the myfteries of grace with re- gard to the falvation ot men, far from crying out with the apoftle, " O.the depth of the riches both of the wifdom and *' knowledge of God !" are tempted to believe, either that God doth not interfere in our falvation ; or, it he do, that it is needlefs for us to interfere in it ourfelves. I fpeak of thofe diffolute charafters in the world, who always find plaufible and convincing, though, in fa£l, weak and foolith in the extreme, whatever unbelief oppofes to faith ; who are ftaggered by the firft frivolous doubt propofed by the impious ; who appear as if they would be delighted that religion were falfe ; and who are lefs touched with that ref- peftable load of proofs which overpower a conceited reafon and its truth, than with a fenfelefs difcourfe which oppofes it, in which there is generally nothing important but the boldnefs of the impiety and of the blafphemy, Laftly, I fpeak of many believers who turn over to the people the be- lief of fo many wonderful anions which the hiltory of re- ligion has preferved to us; who feem to believe that, what- ever is above the power of man, is likewife beyond the power ot God ; and who refufe credit to the miracles of a religion which is folely founded on them, and which is it- fclf the greateft of all miracles.

Behold how we Hill fnatched from God that glory which the birth of Jefus Chrift had rendered to him. It had taught us to facrifice our own lights to the incomprehenfi- ble myftery of his manifeftation in our flefh, and no lon- ger to live but by faith ; it had fixed the uncertainties of the human mind, and recalled it from the errors and the abyfs in which reafon had plunged it, to the way of truth

and

FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. ^Itf

and life, and we abandon it : and even under the empire of faith, we wifh ftill to walk as formerly, und^r the ftandards, if I may venture to fpeak in this manner, of a weak rea- fon : the myfteries of religion, which we cannot compre- hend, filock us ; we fufpeft, we reform all ; we would have God to think like man. Without altogether lofing our faith, we fuffer it to be inwardly weakened ; we allow it to remain inaftive : and it is this relaxation of faith which has corrupted our manners ; multiplied vices ; in- flamed ail hearts with a love of things prefent ; extinguifh» ed the love of riches to come ; placed trouble, hatred, and diffention among believers, and effaced thofe original marks of innocence, of fanftity, and of charity, which at firft had rendered Chriftianity fo refpeftable even to thofe who refufed fubmiflion to it. But not only doth the birth of Jefus Chrift rellore to God that glory of which men had wifhed to deprive him ; it likewife reftores to men that peace, of which they had never ceafed to deprive themfelves : " And on earth peace, good will toward»

Part II. An univerfal peace reigned throughout the univcrfe when Jefus Chrift, the *' Prince of Peace," ap- peared on the earth : all the nations fubjeft to the Roman empire peaceably fupported the yoke of thofe haughty maftersof the world : Romeherfelf, after civil difTentions, which had almoft depopulated her walls, filled the iflands and deferts with her profcribed, and bathed Europe and Afia with the blood of her citizens, breathed from the hor- ror of thefe troubles, and reunited under the authority oi a Cefar, experienced in flavery, a peace which flie had never, during the enjoyment of her liberty, been able to accomplifh.

The

gSO 5 E R M O N X,

The univerfe was then at reft ; but that was but a de« ceitîul calm. Man, the prey of his own violent and ini- quitous paflions, experienced within himfelf the moft cru- el diffention and war: far from God, delivered up to the agitations and frenzies of his own heart ; combatted by the multiplicity and the eternal contrariety of his irregulac propenfities, he was unable to find peace, becaufe he never fought it but in the fource of all his troubles and difquiets. Philofophers made a boaft of being able to beftow it on their followers ; but that univerfal calm of the pafiTions which they gave hopes of to their fage, and which they fa emphatically announced, might fupprefs their fallies ; but it left the whole venom in their heart. It was a peace o£ pride and oftentation ; it mafked the outward man ; but,, under that maflc of ceremony, man always knew himfelf ta, be the fame.

Jefus Chrift comes to-day upon the earth, to bring that true peace to men which the world had never hitherto been able to give them. He comes radically to cure the evil ; his divine philofophy is not confined to the promulgation OÏ pompous precepts, which might be agreeable to reafon, but which cured not the wounds of the heart ; and, as. pride, voluptuoufnefs, hatred, and revenge, had been the fatal fources of all the agitations experienced by the heart of man, he comes to reftore peace to him, by draining them off, through his grace, his doftrine, and his example.

Yes, my brethren, I fay that pride had been the original fource of all the troubles which tore the heart of men„ What wars, what frenzies, had that fatal pafTion not lighted upon the earth ? With what torrents of blood had it not inundated the univerfe ? And what is the hiûory of nations.

and

ÏOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 3*1

itnd of empires, of princes and of conquerors, of every age and people, but the hiftory of thofe calamities with which pride from the beginning had afflifted men ? The entire world was but a gloomy theatre, upon which that haughty and fenfelefs paflion every day exhibited the moll bloody fcenes. But the external operations were but a faint image of the troubles which the proud man inwardly experienced. Ambition was a virtue : moderation was looked upon as meannefs : an individual overthrew his coun- try, overturned the laws and cuftoms, rendered millions miferable, in order to ufurp the firfl place among his fel- low-citizens ; and the fuccefs of his guilt enfured him every homage ; and his name flained with the blood of his brethren, acquired only additional luftre in the public an- nals which preferved its memory ; and a profperous villain became the grandefl charafter of his age. That paffion, defcending among the crowd, became lefs flriking ; but it vas neither lefs animated nor furious : theobfcurc was not more at his eafe than the public man : each wiflied to car- ry off the prize from his equals : the orator, the philofo- pher, wrangled for, and tore from each other that glory, which, in fa61:, was the fole end of all their toils and watch- ings ; and, as the defires of pride are infatiable, man, to whom it was then honourable totally to yield himfelf up to it, being unable to reft in any degree of elevation, was likewife incapable of peace and tranquillity. Pride, be- come the fole fource of human honour and glory, was like- wife become the fatal rock of the quiet and happinefs of Bien.

The birth of Jefus Chrift, by correfting the world of this error, re-eftablifhes on the earth that peace which pride had banilhed from it. He might have manitefled Limfelf to men, with all the marks of fplendour which

the

^èî

:S E R M O N X.

the propheis attributed to him : he might haveafTumed the pompous titles of conqueror of Judah, of legiflator ot the people, of deliverer of Ifrael ; Jerufalem, in thefe glori* ous marks, would have recognifed him whom (he awaited : but Jerufalem, in thefe titles, faw only a human glory ; and Jcfus Chrift comes to undeceive, and to teach her, that fuch glory is nothing ; that fuch an expeftation had been unworthy of the oracles of fo many prophets who had announced him ; that the Holy Spirit, which infpired them, could hold out only holinefs and eternal riches to inen ; that all other riches, far from rendering them happy, only increafed their evils and crimes ; and that his vifible miniftry was to correfpond with the fplendid promifes, which had, for fo many ages, announced him, only by being wholly fpiritual, and that he fhould intend only the falvation of men.

Thus, he is born at Bethlehem, in a poor and abjeÊl {late ; without external ftate or fplendour, he whofe birth the fongs oi all the armies of heaven then celebrated ; without title which might diftinguilTi him in the eyes of men, he who was exalted above all principality or power: he fuffers his name to be written down among thofe of the obfcureft fubjefts of Cefar ; he whofe name was above all other name, and who alone had the right of writing down the names of his chofen in the book of eternity ; vulgar and fimple fliepherds alone came to pay him homage ; he, before whom whatever is mighty on the earth, in heaven, and in hell, ought to bend the knee ; laflly, whatever can contound human pride is affembled at the fpeflacle of his birth. If titles, rank, or profperity had been able to ren- der us happy here below, and to flied peace through our heart, Jefus Chrift would have made his appearance clothed in them, and would have brought all thefe riches.

to

FOR CHRISTMAS DAY.

d^

to his difciples ; but he brings peace tous only by holding them in contempt, and by teaching us to hold them equal- ly in contempt : he comes to render us happy, only by coming to fupprefs defires which hitherto had occafioncd all our difquiets : he comes to point out to us more folid and more durable riches, alone capable of calming our hearts, of filling our defires, of eafing our troubles : riches of which man cannot deprive us, and which require only to be loved and to be wijhed for, to be aflured of pofTefiTrng them.

Neverthelefs, who taftes of this blefTed peace ? Wars, troubles, frenzies, are they more rare fince his birth? Are thofe empires and ftates which worfiiip him, in confe- quence more peaceful ? Does that pride which he came to dellroy occafion lefs commotion and confufion among men ? Alas ! Seek among Chriftians that peace which ought to be their inheritance, and where fliall you find it ? In cities ? Pride fets every thing there in motion ; every- one wifhes to foar above the rank of his anceftors : an in- dividual, exalted by fortune, deftroys the happinefs oî thoufands who walks in his fteps, without being able to attain the fame point of profperity. In the circle of do- meftic walls ? They conceal only diflrefifes and cares : and the father of the family, folely occupied with the advance- ment rather than the Chriftian education of his offspring, leaves to them, for inheritance, his agitations and difquiets, which they, in their turn, fhall one day tranfmit to their decendants. In the palaces of kings ? But, there it is that a lawlefs and boundlefs ambition gnaws, devours every heart ; it is there that, under the fpecious mafk of joy and tranquillity, the mod violent and the bittereii paffions are nourilhed; it is there that happinefs apparently refides, and yet where pride occafions the greatell number of difcon- VoL. II. O Q tented

SH

SERMON X,

tented and miferable. In the fanBuary ? Alas ! there ought furely to be found an afylum of peace ; but ambi- tion pervades even the holy place ; the efforts there are more to raife themfelves above their brethren, than to ren- der themfelves ufeful to them ; the holy dignities of the church become, like thofe of the age, the reward of in- trigue and caballing ; the religious circumfpeQion of the prince cannot put a flop to folicitations and private in- trigues ; we there fee the fame inveteracy in rivalfhips, thé fame forrow in confequence of negleB, the fame jealoufy towards thofe who are preferred to us : a miniflry is boldly canvafTed for, which ought to be accepted only with fear and trembling : they feat themfelve in the temple of God, though placed there by other hands than his : they head the flock without his confent to whom it belongs, and without his having faid, as to Peter, " Feed my Iheep ;'* and, as they have taken the charge without call and with- out ability, the flock are led without edification and with- out fruit, alas ! and often with fhame. O peace of Jefus Ghrift ! which furpaffeft all fenfe, fole remedy againft the troubles which pride inceflantly excites in our hearts, who fhall then be able to give thee to man ?

But, fecondly, if the difquiets of pride had baniflied peace from the earth, the impure defires of the flefli had not given rife to fewer troubles. Man forgetting the ex- cellency of his nature, and the fanftity of his origin, gave himfelf up, like the beafts, without fcruple, to the im- petuofity of that brutal inflinft. Finding it the mofl vio- lent and the mod univerfal of his propenfities, he believed it to be alfo the moft innocent and the moft lawful. In order flill more to authorife it, he made it part of his wor- fhip, and formed to himfelf impure gods, in whofe tem- ples that infamous vice became the only homage which did

honour

FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 325

honour to their altars : even a philofopher, in other ref- pefts the wifeft of pagans, dreading that marriage fiiould put a kind of check on that deplorable pafTion, had wifh- ed to abolifh that facred bond; to permit among men, as among animals, a brutal confufion, and only multiply the human race through crimes. The more that vice became general, the more it loft the name of vice; and, neverthe- lefs, what a deluge of miferies had it not poured out upon the earth ? With what fury had it not been feen to arm peo- ple againfl people; kings againfl kings,, blood againft blood ; brethren againfl brethren ; every where carrying trouble and carnage, and (baking the whole univerfe ? Ru- ins of cities, wrecks of the moft flourifliing empires, fceptres and crov/ns overthrown, became the public and gloomy monuments which every age reared up, in order, it would feem, to preferve, to following ages, the remem- brance and the fatal tradition of thofe calamities with which that vice had affli£le-d the human race. It became itfelf an inexhauflible fource of troubles and anxieties to the man who then gave himfelf up to a boUndlefs gratification of it ; it held out peace and pleafure ; but jealoufy, excefs, fren- zy, difguft, inconflancy, and black chagrin, continually walked in its ûeps : till then, that the laws, the religion, and the common example authorifang it, the fole love of eafe, even in thefe ages of darknefs and corruption, kept- free from it a fmall number of fages.

But that motive was too feeble to check its impetuous courfe, and to extiriguifh its fires in the heart of men ; a more powerful remedy was required : and that is, the birth ot the Deliverer, who comes to draw men out of that abyfs of corruption, in order to render them pure and without llain ; to break afunder thofe fhameful bonds, and to give peace to their hearts» by reftoring to them that freedom

and

;^26 S E R M O N - X,

and innocence of which the flavery and tyranny of that vice had deprived them. He is born of a virgin-mother, and the piirefl of all created beings : he thereby gives efti- mation and honour to a virtue unknown to the world, and ■which even his people confidered as a reproach. Befides, in uniting himfelf with us, he becomes our head; incor- porates us with himfelf; makes us to become members of Lis myflical body ; of that body which no longer receives life and influence but from him ; of that body whole every miniflry is holy ; which is to be feated at the right hand of the living God, and to glorify him for ever.

Behold, my brethren, to what height of honour Jefus Chrift, in this myflery, exalts our flelh ; he makes of it the temple of God ; the fanftuary of the holy Spirit ; the portion of a body in which the fulnefs of the divinity re- fides ; the objeB: of the kindnefs and the love of his Father. But do we not ftill profane this holy temple ? Do we not itill turn to fhame the members of Jefus Chrill ? Do we, in a higher degree, refpf 61 our flefh, fince it is become a holy portion of his myflical body ? Does that fhametul pafTion not flill exercife the fame tyranny over Chriilians, that is to fay, over the children of fanftity and liberty ? Does it not flill diflurb the peace oftheuniverfe, the tranquil- lity of empires, the harmony of families, the order of fo- ciety, the confidence of marriage, the innocence oi focial in- tercourfe, the lot of every individual ? Are not the mofl tragical fpeftacles flill every day furniflied to the world by it ? Does it refpeft the mofl facred ties and the mofl ref- peElable chara6ler ? Does it not reckon as nothing every duty ? Does it pay attention even to decency ? And does it not turn all fociety into a frightful confufion, where cuf- tom has effaced every rule ? Even you, who liflen to me, from whence have arifen all the miferies and unhappinefl'es

of

FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 527

of your life, is it not from that deplorable paflîon ? Is it not that which has overturned your iortune ; which has caft trouble and diflention through the heart of your fami- ly ; which has fwallowed up the patrimony of your fa- thers ; which has diflionoured your name ; which has ru- ined your health, and now makes you to dragon a gloomy and difgraceful life on the earth ? Is it not, at leaft, that which aftually rends your heart, at prefent filled with it ? What goes on within you but a tumultuous revolution of fears, defires, jealoufies, miflrufts, difgufls, and frenzies ? And fince that paflion has flained your foul, have you en- joyed a fingle moment of peace ? Let Jefus Chrift again be born within your heart ; he alone can be your true peace : chafe from it the impure fpirits, and the manfion of your foul will be at reft, become once more a child of grace; innocence is the only fource of tranquillity.

Laftly, the birth of Jefus Chrift reconciles men to his Father ; it reunites the Gentile and the Jew ; it deftroys all thofe hateful diftinftions ot Greek and Barbarian, of Roman and Scythian ; it extinguifhes all animofities and hatreds; of all nations i": makes only one people; ofallhisdif- ciples, only one heart and one foul ; laft kind of peace which it brings to men. Formerly they were united together, nei- ther by worfliip, a common hope, nor by the new covenant, which, in an enemy, holds out to us a friend. They con- fideredcach other aimoft as creatures of a different fpecies : the diverfity of religions, of manners, of countries, of lan- guages, of interefts, had, it would appear, as if diverfi- fied in them the fame nature : fcarcely did they recognifc each other by that figure of humanity, which was the only fign of connexion ftill remaining to them. Like wild beafts, they mutually exterminated each other ; they cen- tered their glory in depopulating the lands of their fellow- creatures,

gzS ~ s E R M O N X.

creatures, and in carrying in triumph their bloody heads as the fplendid memorials of their viftories : it might have been faid that they held their exiftence from differ- ent irreconcilable creators, always watchful to deftroy each other, and who had placed them here below only to revenge their quarrel, and to terminate their difagreement by the general extinQion of one of the two parties ; ever difunited man, and nothing bound them together but intereil and the padions, which were themfelves the fole fource of their divifions and animofities.

But Jefus Chrift is become our peace, our reconciliation» the corner-ftone which binds and unites the whole fabric, the living head which unites all its members, and makes but one body of the whole. Every thing knits us to him ; and whatever knits us to him unites us to each other. It is the fame Spirit which animates us, the fame hope which fuf- tains us, the fame bofom which brings us forth, the fame fold which afTembles us, and the fame Shepherd who con- duis us ; we are children of the fame Father, inheritors of the fame promifes, citizens of the fame eternal city, and members of one fame body.

Now, my brethren, have fo many facred ties been fuc- cefsful in binding us together ? Chriftianity, which ought to be but the union of hearts, the tie to knit believers to each other, and Jefus Chrift to believers ; and which ought to reprefent upon the earth an image of the peace of heaven ; Chriftianity itfelf is no longer but a horrible thea- tre of troubles and diflentions : war and fury feem to have eftablifhed an eternal abode among Chriftians ; religion it- felf, which ought to unite, divides them. The unbeliever, the enemy of Jefus Chrift, the children of the falfe pro- phet, who came to fpread war and devaftation through men.

FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. -325

are in peace ; and the children of peace, and difciples of him who, this day, comes to bring it to men, have their hands continually armed with fire and fword againfl: each other! Kings rife up againft kings; nations againft na- tions ; the feas which feparate reunite them for their mutual deflruflion ; a vile raorfel of flone arms their fury and re- venge ; and whole nations go to perifh and bury therafelves under its walls, in conteftlng to whom (hallbelong its ruins ; the earth is not fufficiently vafl to contain them, and to fix them, each one in the bounds which nature herfelf feems to have pointed out for ilates and empires ; each wifhes to ufurp from his neighbour ; and a miferable field of battle, which is fcarcely fufficient to ferve as a burial place to thofe who have difputed it, becomes the prize of thofe riv- ers of blood with which it is ever ftained. O divine Re- conciliator of men ! return then once more upon the earth, fince the peace which thou broughtefl toit at thy birth Hill leaves fo many wars and fo many calamities in the univerfe !

Nor is this all : that circle itfelf, which unites us under the fame laws, unites not hearts and affeftions ; hatreds and jealoufies divide citizens equally as they divide nations ; ani- mofities are perpetuated in families, and fathers tranfmit them to their children, as an accurfed inheritance. In vain may the authority of the prince difarm the hand, it difarms not the heart ; in vain may the fword be wrefled from them, with the fword of the tongue they continue a thoufand times more cruel to pierce their enemy ; hatred, under the necefhty of confining itfelf within, becomes deeper and more rancorous, and to forgive is looked upon as a diOion- Gurable weaknefs. Oh ! my brethren, in vain then hath Jefus Chrifl defcended upon the earth ! He is come to bring peace to us ; he hath left it to us as our inheritance ; nothing hath he fo ffrongly recommended to us as that oi

loving

330

SERMON X.

loving each other ; yet fellowfhip and peace feem as ii ban- iflied from among us, and hatred and animofity divide court, city, and families ; and thofe whom the offices, the interefis of the ftate, decency itfelf, and blood ought, at leaft, to unite, tear, defame, would wifli to deflroy, and to exalt themfelves on the ruins of each other : and religion which fliews us our brethren even in our enemies, is no longer liftened to ; and that awful threatening, which gives us room to expeft the lame feverity on the part of God which we fliall have fhewn to our brethren, no longer touches or afFefts us ; and all thefe motives, fo capable of foftening the heart, ftill leave it filled with all the bitter- nefs of hatred. We tranquilly live in this frightful ftate : the juftice of our complaints with regard to our enemies, calms us on the injuHice of our hatred and of our rooted averfion towards them ; and it, on the approach of death, we apparently hold out to them the hand of reconciliation, it is not that we love them more, it is becaufe the expiring heart hath no longer the force to fuftain its hatred, that al- moft all our feelings are extinguiflied, or, at leaft, that we are no longer capable of feeling any thing but our own weaknefs and our approaching diffolution. Let us then unite ourfelves to the newly born Jefus Chrift ; let us en- ter into the fpirit of that myftery ; with him let us render to God that glory which is his due ; it is the only mean of reftoring to ourfelves that peace, of which our pallions have hitherto deprived us.

SERMON

SERMON XI.

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHAÉY.

Matthew ii. 2.

For we. have fecn hisjiar in the eajl, and we are come to worjhip him.

JL RUTH, that light of Heaven figured by the ftar which on this day appears to the magi, is the only thing here be- low worthy of the cares and the refearches of man. It alone is the light of our mind, the rule of our heart, the fource of folid joys, the foundation of our hopes, the con- folation ot our fears, the alleviation of our evils, the cure for all our affligions : it alone is the retuge of the good confcience, and the terror of the bad ; the inward punilh- ment of vice, the internal recompenfe of virtue : it alone immortalifes thofe who have loved it, and renders illuflrious the chains of thofe who fuffer for it, attra6ls public honours to theafties of its martyrs and defenders, and bellows refpefta- bility on the abjeftion and the poverty of thofe who have quitted all to foljow it : laftly, it alone infpires magnanimous thoughts, forms heroical men, fouls of whom the world is unworthy, fages alone worthy of that name. All our at- tentions ought theretore to be confined to know it ; all our talents to manifeft it ; all our zeal to defend it : in men we ought then to look only for truth, to have no wifh of plea- ding them but by truth, to eileem in them only truth, and Vol. II. Pp to

332 SERMON XL

to berefolved that they fliall never pleafe us but by it : in a word, it would appear that it fhould have only to (hew itfelf, as on this day to the magi, to be loved ; and that it ihews us to ourfelves in order to teach us to know our- felves.

Neverthelefs, it is aftonifhing what different impreffions the fame truth makes upon men. To fome it is a light which direfts the fteps, and, in pointing out their duty, renders it amiable to them : to others it is a troublefome light, and, as it were, a kind oi dazzling, which vexes and fatigues them : laftly, to many it is a thick mill which irritates, inflames them with rage, and completes their biindnefs. It is the fame ftar which, on this day, appears in the firmament : the magi fee it ; the priefts oi Jerufa- lem know that it is foretold in the prophets ; Herod can no longer doubt that it hath appeared, feeing wife men come from the extremities of the eaft, to feek, guided by its light, the new Kirtg of the Jews. Neverthelefs, how diffimilar are the difpofitions with which they receive the fame truth manifefted to them.

■ In the magi it finds a docile and fincere heart : in the priefts, a heart mean, deceitful, cowardly, and diflembling: in Herod, a corrupted and hardened heart. Confequently, it forms worfhippers in the magi ; diffemblers in the priefts ; and in Herod a perfecutor. Now, my brethren, fuch is flill at prefent among us the lot of truth : it is a celef- tial light which is fhown to us, fays St. Auguflin : but few receive it, many hide and dim it, and a ftill greater num- ber contemn and perfecute it : it (hews itfelf to all ; but how many indocile fouls who reje6l it ? How many mean and cowardly fouls who diffemble it ? How many black_and hardened hearts who opprefs and perfecute it ? Let us col-

lea

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. §33

Tefl: thefe three marked charafters in our gofpel, whicli are to inftruft us in al! our duties relative to truth: truth re- ceived, truth diffembled, truth perfecuted. Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth, deftroy in us the fpirit ot the world, that fpirit of error, of difl^mulation, of hatred again ft the truth ; and in this holy place deftined to form miniÛers, who are to announce it even in the extremities of the earth, render us worthy of loving the truth, of manileiling it to ihofe who know it not, and of fuffering all for its fake.

Part I. I call truth that eternal rule, that internal light incefTantly prefent within us, which, in every a61ion, points out to us what we ought, and what we ought not to do; which enlightens our doubts ; whirh judges our judgr ments ; which inwardly condemns or approves us, ac- cordingly as our behaviour is agreeable or contrary to its light ; and which, in certain moments more fplendid and bright, moreevidently points out to us the way in which we ought to walk, and is figured to us by that miraculous lighî; which, on this, day, condu61s the magi to Jefus Chrift.

Now, I fay that, the firftufe which we ought to mak® of truth being for ourfelves, the church, on this day, pro- poses to us, in the conduft oF the magi, a model of thofe difpofitions which alone can render the knowledge ot truth beneficial and falutary to us^. There are few fouls, how- ever they may be plunged in the fenfes and in .the paflions, whofe eyes are not, at times, opened upon the vanity of the interefls they purfue, upon the grandeur of the hopes which they facrifice, and upon the ignominy of tlje life which they lead. But, alas ! their eyes are opened to the light, only to be clofed again in an inftant ; and the fole fruit which they reap, from the fruit which is vifible to, and enlightens them, is that of adding to the misfortune

of

334 SERMON xr.

ot having hitherto been ignorant of it, the guilt of having afterwards known it in vain.

Some confine themfelves to vain reafonings upon the light which ftrik.es them, and turn truth into a fubjeft of controverfy and vain philofophy ; others, with minds yet unfettled, wifh, it would appear, to know it; but they leek it not in an effeftual way, becaufe they would, at bot- tom, be heartily forry to have found it : laftly, others, more tradable, allow themfelves to be wrought upon by its evidence ; but, difcouraged by the difficulties and the feif-denials which it prefents to them, they receive it not "with that delight and that gratitude which, when once known, it infpires. And behold the rocks, which the dif- pofitions of the fages of the eaft towards that light of Hea- ven, which comes to fhew new routs to them, teach us to ihun.

Accuftomed, in confequence of a public profeffion of wifdom and philofophy, to inveftigate every thing, and re- duce it to the judgment of a vain reafon, and to be far above all popular prejudices, they flop not, however, be- fore commencing their journey upon the celeftial light, to examine if the appearance of this new ftar might not be folved by natural caufes ; they do not affemble from every quarter fcientific men, in order to reafon on an event fo uncommon ; they facrifice no time to vain difficulties, which generally arife, more from the repugnance we feel to truth, than from a fincere defire of enlightening ourfelves, and of knowing it. Inflruefed by that tradition of their fa- thers which the captive Ifraelites had formerly carried into the eaft, and which Daniel and fo many other prophets had announced there, relative to the Star of Jacob which fhould ©ne day appear, they, at once, comprehended it, that the

vain

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 335

vain reflexions of the human mind have no conne6^ion with the light of Heaven ; that the portion of light which Heaven fhews them is fufficient to determine and to condu6t them ; that grace always leaves obfcurities in the ways to which it calls us, in order not to deprive laith of the merit of fub- iriiflion ; and that, whenever we are fo happy as to catch a (ingle gleam of truth, the uprightnefs of the heart ought tofupply whatever deficiency may yet remain in the evi- dence oi the light.

Neverthelefs, how many fouls in the world, wavering upon faith, or rather enflaved by pafTions which render doubtful to them that truth whicli condemns them ; how many fouls, thus floating, clearly fee, that, at bottom, the religion of our fathers hath marks of truth which the mod high-flown and proudefl reafon would not dare to de- ny to it ; that unbelief leads to too much; that, after all, we mufl hold tofomething; and, that total unbeHef is a party ilill more incomprehenfible to reafon than the myfteries which fhock it ; who fee it, and who flruggle, by endlefs difputes, to lull that worm of the confcience which inçef- fantly reproaches their error and their folly; who refift that truth, which proves itfelf in the bottom of their heart, under pretence of enlightening themfelves ; who apply for advice only that they may fay to themfelves, that their doubts are unanfwerable ; who have recourfe to the moft learned, only to have the power of alledging, as a frefli mo- tive of unbelief, the having had recourfe in vain ? It would feem that religion is no longer but a matter of difcourfe; it is no longer confidered as that important affair in which not a moment is to be loft ; it is a fimple matter of contro- verfy, as formerly in the Arefpagus ; it fills up the idle time ; it is one of thofe unimportant queftions which fill

up

336 s E R M O N XL

up the vacancies of converfation, and amufe the langour and the vanity of general intercourfe.

But, my brethren, *'the kingdom of God cometh not " with obfervation." Truth is not the fruit of controverfy and difpute, but ot tears and groanings ; it is by purifying our heart in meditation and in prayer that we alone muft expe£l, like the magi, the light of Heaven, and to become worthy of diftinguilhing and knowing it. A corrupted heart, fays St. Auguftin, may fee the truth ; but he is in- capable of relifhing or of loving it ; in vain do you en- lighten and inftruft yourfelves ; your doubts are in your pafïions : religion will become evident and clear from the moment that you (hall become chafle, temperate, and equitar ble ; and you will have faith from the moment that you (hall ceafeto have vice. Confequently, from the inftantthat you ceafe to have an intereft in finding religion falfe, you will find it incontelfable ; no longer hate its maxims, and you will no longer conteft its myfteries.

Auguftin himfelf, already convinced of the truth of the gofpel, ftill found in the love of pleafure, a fource of doubts and perplexities which checked him. It was no longer the dreams of the Manicheans which kept him re- moved tromtaith; he was fully fenfible of their abfurdity and fanaticifm ; it was no longer the pretended contradic- tions ol our holy books ; Ambrofe had explained their pur- port and their adorable myfteries. Neverthelefs, he ftill doubted ; the fole thought of having to renounce his Ihame- ful paftions in becoming a difciple of faith, rendered it ifill fufpicious to him. He would have wifhed either that the do£frine of Jefus Chrift had been an impofition, or that it had not condemned his voluptuous excefTes, without

which.

rOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 337

which, indeed he was then unable to comprehend how ei- ther an happy or a comfortable lite could be led. Thus, ai- wavs floating and unwilling to be fettled ; continually con- fulting, yet dreading to be inftrufted, by turns the difciple and admirer of Ambrofe, and racked by the perplexities of a heart which fhunned the truth, he dragged his chains, as he fays himfelf, dreading to be delivered from it, he con- tinued to flart doubts merely to prolong his pafTions, he wifhed to be yet more enlightened, becaufe he dreaded to be it too much ; and, more the flave of his pafTion than of his errors, he rejefted truth, which manifefted itfelf to him, merely becaufe he looked upon it as a viftorious and irre- fiftible hand which was at laft come to break afunder thofe fetters which he ftill loved. The light of Heaven finds, therefore, no doubts to diflipate in the minds of the magi, becaufe it finds no palTion in their hearts to overcome; and they well deferve to be the firft-fruits of the gentiles, and the firft difciples of that faith which was to fubjugate all nations to the gofpel.

Not but it is often necefTary to add, to our own light, the approbation of thofe who are'eflabliflied to diftinguifb, whether it be the right fpirit which moves us ; fallacy is fo fimilar to truth, that it is not eafy to avoid being fometimes deceived. Thus the magi, in order to be more furely con- firmed in the truth of the prodigy which guides their fleps, eome flraightto Jerufalem : they confult thepriefls and the fcribes, as the only perfons capable of difcovering to them that truth which they feek ; they boldly and openly de- mand, in the midfl of that great city, " where is he that is " born King of the Jews ?" They propofe their queflion with no palliations, calculated to attraft an equivocal an- fwer : they are determined to be enlightened, and wifh not

to

g^S s E R M O N XI.

to be flattered ; from their heart they feek the truth, and, for that reafon, they find it.

New difpofition, fufficiently rare among belivers. Alas Î we find not truth, becaufe we never feek it with a fincere and upright heart : we diffufe a kind ot mift over every at- tempt to find It, which conceals it from our view : we con- fult, but we place our palfions in fo favourable a light, wc hold them out in colours fo foftened, and fo fimilar to the truth, that we procure a reply of its being really fo : we wilh not to be inflrufted ; we wifh to be deceived, and to add, to the paflion which enflavcs us, an authority which may calm us.

Such is the illufion of the majority of men, and frequent- ly even of thofe who become contrite, have quitted the er- rors of a worldly life. Yes, my brethren let us fearch our own hearts, and we fhall find, that, however, fincere our converfion may otherwife be, yet there is always with- in us fome particular point, fome fecret and priviledged attachment, upon which we are not candid ; upon which we never but very imperieftly inftru6l the guide of our confcience ; upon which we feek not with fincerity the truth ; upon which, in a'word, it would even grieve us to have found : and from thence it is, that the weak- neffes of the pious and good always furnifli fo many traits to the derifion of the worldly ; from thence, we attrafl upon virtue continual reproaches and cenfures, which ought to light only upon ourfelves. Neverthe- lefs, to hear us fpeak, we love the truth ; we are defi- rous of having it fhown to us. But a convincing proof, of that being only a vain mode of fpeaking, is, that whatever concerns, or has any allufion tothis cherifhed paf-

fion,

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 339

J?on, is carefully avoided by all around us ; our friends are filent upon it ; our fupcriors are obliged to ufe an arii'ul delicacy, not to injure our feelings ; our inferiors are upon their guard, and employ continual precautions ; we are never fpoken to, but with lenitives which draw a veil over our fore ; we are alraoft the only perfons ignorant of our defe6l : the whole world fees it, yet no one has the courage :o make it known to ourfelves : it is clearly feen that we feek not with fincerity the truth ; and that, far from curing us, the hand which fliould dare to probe our fore, would only fucceed in making a frefii one.

David knew not, and refpefled not the fanftity of Na- than, till after that prophet had fpoken to him, with fin- cerity, of the fcandal of his conduce; from that day, and ever afterwards, he confidered him as his father and deliv- erer ; but, with us, a perfon lofes all his merit from the moment that he has forced us to know ourfelves. Before that, he was enlightened, prudent, full of charity; he pofTelTed every talent calculated to attraft efteem and con- fidence ; the John the Baptifls were liflened to with plea- fure, as formerly by an inceftuous king : but, from the moment that they have undifguifedly fpoken to us, from the moment that they have faid to us ; " It is *^ not lawful for thee," they are ftripped, in our opinion, of all their grand qualities ; their zeal is no longer but •whim ; their charity but an oflentation, or a defire to cen- fure and contradi6l : tLeir piety but an imprudence or a cheat, with which they cover their pride ; their truth but a raillaken phantom. Thus, frequently convinced in our own minds of the iniquity of our paffions, we would wifh others to give them their approbation ; forced, by the in- ward teflimony of the truth, to reproach them to ourfelves, we cannot endure that they firould be meniioned to us by

Vol. II. O q others :

34© SERMON xr.

others : we are hurt- and irritated that others (hould join us againft ourfelves. Like Saul, we exaft of the Samuels, that they approve, in public, what we inwardly condemn ; and, through a corruption of" the heart, perhaps more de- plorable than our paiïions themfelves, unable to filence truth in the bottom of our heart, we would wifh to extin- guifh it in the hearts of all who approach us. I was right» therefore, in faying, that we all make a boall of" loving the truth, but that few court it, like the magi, with an upright and fincere heart.

Thus, the little attention which they pay to the difficul- ties, which feemed to diffuade them from that refearch, is a frefh proof of its fincerity and heartinefs. For, my bre- thren, how fingular muft not this extraordinary ftep, which grace propofed to them, have at firfl appeared to their mind. They alone, of all their nation, among fo many fages and learned men, without regard to friends and con- nexions, in fpite of public obfervations and derifions, while all others either contemn this miraculous liar, or confider the attention paid to it, and the defign of thefe three fages, as an abfurd undertaking, and a popular weak- nefs, unworthy of their mind and knowledge, they alone declare againft the common opinion"; they alone entrufl themfelves to the new guide which Heaven fends them : they alone abandon their country and their children, and reckon, as nothing, a fingularity, the neceffity and v»'if- domof which the celeftial light difclofes to them.

Laft inftruftiun. The caufe, my brethren, of truth being always unavailingly fhewn to us, is, that we judge not of it by the lights wliich it leaves in oi^ir foul, but by the imprefhon wliich it makes on the re{| of men with ^'hom we live: we never confult the truth in our heart;

wer

rOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 54I

weconfult only the opinions wliich others have of it. Thus, in vain doth the hght of Heaven a thoufand times intrude upon us, and point out the ways in which we ought to go ; the very firft glance which we afterwards caft upon the ex- ample of others who live like us, revives us, and fprea-ds a frefh mift over our heart. In thofe fortunate moments when we confult the fole truth of our own confcience, we condemn ourfelves ; we tremble over a futurity ; we pro- mife to ourfelves a new lite; yet, a moment alter, when returned to the world, and no longer confulting but the general example, we juftify ourfelves, and regain that falfe fecurity wich we had loft. We have no confidence in the truth which the common example d ifp roves ; v/e facrihce it to error and to the public opinion ; it becomes fufpi- cious to us, becaufe it has chofen out us alone to favour with its light, and the very fingularity of the blefîing is the caufe of our ingratitude and oppofition. We cannot comprehend, that, to work out our falvation, is to diflin- guifh ourfelves from the reft of men ; is to live finglc amidfl the multitude : is to be an individual fupportcr of our own caufe, in the midft of a world which either con- demns or defpifes us ; is, in a word, to count examples as nothing, and to be a(Te6led by our duty alone. We can- not comprehend, that, to devote ourfelves to deflruftion, it requires us to live only as others do; to conform to the multitude ; to form with it only one body and one world ; feeing the world is already judged ; that it is that body or the antichrifl which (hall pcrifh with its head and members ; that criminal city, accurfed and condemned to an eternal anathema. Yes, my brethren, the greated obflacles in our hearts, to grace and truth, is the public opinion. How many timid fouls, who have not the courage to adopt the righteous fide, merely becaufe the world, to whofe view they are expofed, would join againiî them ? Thus, the kincr

342 Sermon xr.

of AfTyria durfl: not declare himfelf for the God of Daniel, becaufe the grandees of his court would have reprobated fucha ftep. How many weak fouls, who, difgufted with pleafures, only continue to purfue them through a falfe honour, and that they may not diftinguifh themfelves irom thofe who fet an example of them ? Thus, Aaron, in the midft of the Ifraelites, danced around the golden calf, and joined them in offering up incenfe to the idol which he detefled, becaufe he had not the courage, fingly, to refifl: the public error and blindnefs. Fools that we are ! it is the lole example oi the public which confirrr/s us againft truth ; as if men were our truth, or that it were upon the earth, and not in heaven, that we ought like the magi, to fearch for that rule and that light which are to guide us.

It is true, that, frequently, it is not refpeftfor the world's opinion, but the fufferings and felf-denials it holds out to us, which extinguilh truth in our heart : thus, It makes us forrowful like that young man of the gofpel, and who do not receive it with that delight teftified by the magi on fee- ing the miraculous flar. They had beheld the magnifi- cence of Jerufalem, the pomp of its buildings, themajelly of its temple, the fplendour and grandeur of Herod's court ; but the gofpel makes no mention of their having been affefted by that vain difplay of human pomp : they beheld all thefe grand objets of defire without attention, pleafure, or any exterior marks of admiration or furprife; they exprefs no wilh to view the treafures and the riches of the temple, as thofe ambaffadors from Babylon formerly did to Hezekiah : folely taken up with the light of Heaven manifefled to them, they have no eyes tor any earthly ob- je6f ; feeling to the truth alone which has enlightened them, every thing elfe is an objeft of indifference, or a burden to them ; and their heart, viewing all things in their proper

light

rOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 34^

light no longer acknowledges either delight, intereft, or confolation to be found in any thing but the truth.

On our part, my brethren, the firfl; rays of truth which the goodnefs of God fhed on our heart, probably excited a fenfible delight. The projeft which we at firft formed of a new life ; the novelty of the lights which fhone upon us, and upon which we had not as yet fully opened our eyes ; the laffitude itfelf, and difguft of thofe paflions of which our heart now felt only the bitternefs, and the punifliment ; the novelty of the occupations which we propofed to our- felves in a change ; all thefe offering fmiling images to our fancy ; for novelty itfelt is pleafing : but this, as the gof- pel fays, was only the joy of a feafon. In proportion as truth drew near, it affumed to us, as to Auguftin yet a fin- rer, an appearance lefs captivating and fmiling. When, after our firfl glance, as I may fay, of it, we had leifurely and minutely examined the various duties it prefcribed to us ; the grievous feparations which were now to be a law to us ; retirement, prayer, the felf-denials which it proved to be indifpenfible ; that ferions, occupied and private life in •which we were to be engaged : ah ! we immediately, like the young man of thegofpel, began to draw back forrow- ful and uneafy : all our paflions roufed up frclh obflaclcs to it ; every thing now prefented itielf in gloomy and to- tally different colours ; and that which we had at firfl thought to be fo attra£live, when brought near, was no longer in our eyes but a frightful objeft, a way rugged, terrifying, and impra6licable to human weaknefs.

Where are the fouls, who, like the magi, after having once known the truth, never afterwards wi(h to fee but it alone ; have no longer eyes for the world, for its empty pleafures, or for the vanity of its pompous (hews ; who

icel

344 s E R M o N xr.

îeel no delight but in the contemplation of truth; in mak- ing it their refource in every afIli£lion ; the fpur oi their indolence ; their fuccour againft temptation ; and the pur- eft delight of their foul ? And how vain, puerile, and dif- gufting doth the world, with all its pleafures, hopes, and grandeurs, indeed appear to a foul who hath known thee, O my God I and who hath felt the truth of thine eternal promifes ; to a foul who feels that whatever is not thee is unworthy of him ; and who confiders the earth only as the country of thofe whomufl perifh forever! Nothing is con- folatory to him but what opens theprofpeÊlof real and laft- ing riches ; nothing appears worthy of his regard but what is to endure for ever; nothing has the power of pleafing him but what fhall eternally plcafe him ; nothing is longer capable of attaching him but that which he is no more to lofe ; and all the trifling obje6ls of vanity are no longer on his part, but the embarrafTments of his piety, or gloomy monuments which recal the remembrance of his crimes.

Behold, in the inflance of the magi, truth received with fubmifhon, with fincerity, and with delight ; in the con- du6l of the priefts let us fee the truth dilTembled ; and, af- ter being inftrufted in the ufe which we ought to make of truth with regard to ourfelves, let us learn what is our duty, lefpefling it, to others.

Part II. The firfl duty required of us by the law of charity towards our brethren, is the duty of truth. We are not bound to bellow on all men our attentions, our cares, and our officious fervices ; to all we owe the truth. The different fituations in which rank and birth place us in the world, diverfify our duties with regard to our fellow- r.reatures ; in every fituation of life that of truth is the fame. We owe it to the great equally as to the humble ; to our

fubjeéls

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 345

fubjefls as to our mafters ; to the lovers of it as to thofe who hate it ; to thofe who mean to employ it againft our- felves as to thofe who wifh it only for their own benefit. There are conjunftuies in which prudence permits to hide and todifTemble the love which v/e bear for our brethren ; none can pofTibly exill in which we are permitted to dif- femble the truth : in a word, truth is not our own proper- ty, we are only its witnefies, its defenders, and its depofita- ries. It is that fpark, that light of God vvhich fhould il- Juminate the whole world ; and, when we dilTemble or obfcure it, we are unjuft towards our brethren, and un- grateful towards the Father of Light who hath fpread it through our foul.

Neverthelefs, the world is filled with difTemblers of the truth; we live it would appear, only to deceive each other ; and fociety, the firft bond which ought to be truth, is no longer but a commerce of diffimulation, duplicity, and cunning. Now, in the conduft of the priells of our gofpel, let us view all the different kinds of diffimulatioa of which men render themfelves every day culpable towards truth ; we (hall there find a diffimulation of filence, a dif- fimulation of compliance and palliation, a difl^jmulation of difguife and falfehood.

A diffimulation of filence. Confulted by Herod on the place in which the Chrifl was to be born, thev made an- fwer, it is true that Bethlehem was the place marked in the prophets for that fulfilment of that grand event ; but thcv add not, that the flar foretold in the holy books, bavins- ae lall appeared, and the kings of Saba and of Arabia comincr ^vith prefcnis to worfliipthe new chief who was to lead If- rael, it was no longer to be doubted that the overfliadovvcd had at lafl brought foith the righteous. They do not gather

together

34S SERMON XI.

together the people in order to announce this blelTed in- telh'gence ; they do not run the firft to Bethlehem, in or- der, b}' their example, to animate Jerufalem. Wrapt up in their criminal timidity, they guard a profound fjlence ; they iniquitoufly retain the truth ; and, while ftrangers come from the extremities of theeaft loudly to proclaim in Jerufalem that the King of the Jews is born, the priefts, the fcribes are filent, and facrifice, to the ambition of He- rod, theintereftsof truth, the dearefl hope of tlieir nation, and the honour of their miniflry.

What a fliameful degradation of the miniflers of truth ! The good-will of the prince influences them more than the facred depofit of the religion with which they are intrufled ; the luffre of the throne flifles, in their heart, the light of Heaven ; by a criminal filence they flatter a king who ap- plies to them for the truth, and who can learn it from them alone ; they confirm him in error by concealing that which might have undeceived him ; and how, indeed (hall truth ever make its way to the ear of fovereigns, if even the Lord's annointed, who furround the throne bave not the courage to announce it, but join their efforts, with thofe who dwell in courts, to conceal and ftifle it ?

But this duty, my brethren, is, in certain refpefts, com- mon to you as to us ; yet, neverthelefs, there are few per- fons in the world, even of thofe who fet an example of piety, who do not, almofl every day, render themfelves culpable towards their brethren of the difîimulation of fi- lence. They think that they render to truth all that they owe to it, when they do not declare againff it ; when they hear virtue continually decried by the worldly, the doclrine of the world maintained, its abufes and maxims juflified, tliofe of gofpel oppofcd or weakened, the wicked often

blafpheming

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 347

b'afphemîng what they know not, and fetting themfelves up asjud^resof that faith which (hall judge them ; that they liftea to them, I fay, without joining in their impiety, is true, but they do not boldly fhcw their difapprobation, and content themfelves with merely not authorifing their blafphemies or tlieir prejudices by their fuffrage.

Now, I fay that, being all individually intruded with the interefts of truth, to be filent when it is openly attacked in our prefence, is to become, in a meafure, its perfecutor and adverfary. But, I add, that you, above all whom God hath enlightened, you then fail in that love which you owe to your brethren, feeing your obligations with regard to them augment in proportion to the grace with which God hath favoured you ; you alio render yourfelves culpable to- Vi^ards God of ingratitude ; you do not make a proper re- turn for the bleffing of grace and of truth with which he hath favoured you, in the midfl of your extravagant paf- fions. He hath illuminated your darknefs ; he hath recal- kd you to himfeif, while wandering in treacherous and in- itjuitous ways ; he, no doubt, in thus ftiedding light through your heart, hath not had your benefit alone in view Î he hath meant that it fhould operate as the inflru£lion or as the reproach of your connexions, your friends, your fub- je6fs, or your mailers ; he hath intended to favour your age, your nation, your country, in favouring you ; for his chofen are formed only for the falvation or the con- demnation of finners. His delign has been to place in you a light which might fhine amid the furrounding dark- nefs, and be a falutary guide to your fellow-creatures ; which might perpetuate truth among men, and render tefti- raony to the righteoufnefs and to the wifdom of his law, amidll all the prejudices, and all the vain conclufions ot a profane world.

Vol. II. R r Now,

348 SERMON» Xi.

No-vV, by oppofing only a cowardly and timid filence t9 ii^e maxims which attack the truth, you do not enter into the views oi God's mercy upon your brethren ; you ren- der unavailing to his glory and to the aggrandifement oF his kingdom, that talent of the truth which he had intrufled to you, and of which he v/ili one day demand a particular and fevere reckoning; I fay, more particularly of you who had formerly with {o much eclat, fupportcd the errors and profane maxims of the world, and who had once been its ÊrmePt and moll avowed apologift. He furely had a right to exaû oi you, that you fiiould declare yourfelves with the fame courage 4n favour of truth ; neverthelcfs, from a zealous partifan of the world, his grace hath only fuc- ceeded in making a timid difciple of the gofpel. That grand air of confidence and of intrepidity with which you formerly apologized for the pafFions, has forfaken you ever iince you have undertaken the defence of the inter- efts of virtue ; that audacity which once impofed filence on truth, is now itfelt mute in the prefence of er- ror ; and truth, which, as St. Auguflin fays, gives confi- dence and intrepidity to all who have it on their fide, has rendered you only weak and timid.

I admit, that there is a time to be filent as well as a time to fpeak ; and that the zeal of truth hath its rules and meafures ; but I would not that the fouls who know God and ferve him continually, hear the maxims of religion fubverted, the reputation of their brethren attacked, the nioft criminal abufes of the vi^orld juflified, without having the courage to adopt the caule of that truth which they diOionour. I would not that the world have its avowed partifans, and that Jefus Chrill have no one to iland up for him. I would not that the pious and good, through a miflaken idea of good-breeding, diffemble upon

thofç

FOR THE DAY O? THE EPIPHANY, 349

thofe irregularities of finners vvhidi they are daily vvitner* fing; while finners on the contrary, confider it as givinj^ themfclves an important and fafhionable air, to defend and to maintain them in their prefence. I would that a faithful foul comprehervd that he is refponhble to the truth alone ; that he is upon the earth foieiy to ren- der giory to the truth : I would that he beai* upon liis countenance that noble and, I may fay, lofty dignity, which grace infpires ; that heroical candour which con- tempt of the world and its glory produces ; that gener- ous and Chriftian liberty, which expefls only eternal riches, which has no hope but in God, which dreads nothing but the internal Judge, which pays court to, and fpares nothinf^ butthe interefls of righteoufnefsand of charity, and which has no wifii of making iifelf agreeable but by the truth. I would that the fole prefence of a righteoufnefs foul impofe fi'icnce on the enemies of virtue ; that they refpefl that charafter of truth which he fhould bear engraven on hiî forehead ; that they crouch under his holy grcatnefs of foul, and that they render homage, at Icafl by their filence and conlufion, to that virtue which they inwardly defpife. Thus, the Ifraelites, taken up with their dances, their profane re- joicings, and their foolifh and impious (houts around the gold- en caU, ftop all in a moment, and keep a profound filence oa the fole appearance of Mofes, who comes down from the mountain, armed with the Jaw of the Lord and with his eternal truth. Firft diffiraulaîion of the truth : adifTimula- tion of filence.

The fécond manner in which it is diffembled, is that of foitening it by modifications, and by condefccnfions which injure it. The magi, no doubt, could not be igno- rant that the intelhgence which they came to announce to Jerufalem would be highly difpleahng to Kerod. That

foteigntr,

350 SERMON XI.

foreigner, through his artifices, had feated himfelf on the throne of David ; he did not fo peaceably enjoy the fruit of his ufurpation, but that he conftantly had a dread left fome heir of the blood of the kings of Judah fliould expel lim from the heritage of his fathers, and remount a throne promifed to his poiterity. With what eye mufl: he then regard men who come to publifh, in the midft of Jerufa- lem; that the King of the Jews is born, and to proclaim him to a people fo attached to, and fo zealous for the blood of David, and fo impatient under every foreign rule ? Ne- verthelefs, the magi conceal nothing ot what they had ken in the eaft ; they do not fotten that grand event by mea- sured exprefnons lefs proper to aroufe the jealoufy of He- rod. They might have called the MefTiah whom they feek, the MefTenger of Heaven, or the longed-for of nations ; they might have defigned him by titles lefs hateful to the ambition of Herod ; but, full of the truth which hath ap- peared to them, they know none of thefe timid and fervile time-fervings ; perfuaded that thofe, who are determined to receive the truth only through the means of their errors, are unworthy of knowing it. They are unacquainted with the art of covering it with difguifes and confiderations for individuals, which diflionour it: they boldly come to the point, and demand, " where is he that is born King of the *' Jews :" and, not fatisfied with confidering him as the Sovereign of Judea, they declare that heaven itfelf is his birth-right ; that the ftars are his, and make their appear- ance in the firmament only in obedience to his orders.

The priefls and the fcribes, on the contrary, forced, by the evidence of the fcriptures, to render glory to the truth, foften it by guarded exprefTions. They endeavour to unite that refpeft which they owe to the truth, with that com- plaifance which they wifh Hill to préférée for Herod : they

fupprefs

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 35 1

fupprefs the title of king which the magi had given to him, and which had fo often been beftowed by the prophets upon the Meffiah ; they defign him by a title which might equally mark an authority of doftrine, or of fuperior pow- er : they announce him rather a legiflator eftabliftied to re- gulate the manners, than as a fovereign raifed up for the deliverance of his people from bondage. And, notwith- ftanding that they themfelves expeft a Meffiah, King, and Conqueror, they foften the truth which they wifli to an- nounce, and complete the blindnefs of Herod, with whom they teniporife.

Deplorable defliny of the great ! the lips of the prierL.-; quiver in fpeaking to them ; from the moment that their paffions are known they are temporifed with ; truth never offers itfelf to them but with a double tace, of which one fide is always favourable to them ; the fervants of God wifli not avowedly to betray their miniftry and the interdis of truth ; but they wilh to conciliate them with their own intereft : they endeavour to fave, as it were, both the rule and their paffions, as if the paffions could fubfift with that rule which condemns them. It feldom happens that the great are inftru6led, becaufe it feldom happens that the intention is not to pleafe in inflrufting them. Neverthe- lefs, the, greater part would love the truth were it once known to them : the paffions and the extravagancies of the age, nouriflied by all the pleafures which furround them, may lead them aftray ; but a remaining principle ot reli- gion renders truth always refpeflable to them. We may venture to fay, that ignorance condemns move princes and perfons of high rank than people of the loweft condition ; and, that the mean complaifance which is paid to them, is more diffionourable to the miniflry, and is the caule of

moiG

352 SERMON xr.

more reproach to religion, than the moll notorious fcan» (îals which affli£l the church.

The conduci of thefe priefîs appears bafe to you, my brethren : but, if you are difpofed to enter into judgment with yourfeives, and to follow yourfelves through the de- tail of your duties, of your friendfhips, of your converfa- tions, you will fee that all your difcourfes, and all your proceedings, are merely mollifications of the truth, and temporifings in order to reconcile it with the prejudices, or the pafiions of thofe with whom it is your lot to live. We never hold out the truth to them but in a point of view in which it may pleafe; in their moft defpicable vices we always find fome favourable ^de ; and, as all the pafTions have always fome apparent, refemblance to fome virtue, we never fail to fave ourfelves through the afllfi- ance of tlîat refemblance.

Thus, in the prefence of an ambitious perfon, we never fail to hold forth the love of glory, and the dcfire of exalt- ing one's fclf, only as tendencies which give birth to great men ; .we flatter his pride ; we inflame his defires with hopes and with falfe and chimerical prédirions; we nour- ifli the error of his imagination by bringing phantoms within his reach, upon which he inceflantly feafis himfelf. We perhaps venture, in general termes, to pity men who intereft themfelves fo deeply tor things which chance alone beflows, and of which death fliall perhaps deprive us to- morrow; but we have not the courage tocenfure the mad- man who, to that vapour, facrifices his quiet, his life, and his confcience. With a vindifïivc perfon we juftify his re- fentment and anger ; we juftify his guilt in his mind^ by countenancing the juflice of his accufations ; we fpare his

paiwon

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 353

pafTion in exaggerating the injury and fault of his enemy. We perhaps venture to fay, how noble it is to forgive ; but we have not the courage to add, that the firft ftep towards forgivcnefs is the ceafing to fpcak of the injury received.

With a courtier equally difcontented with his own for- tune, and jealous of that ot others, we never fail to expofe his rivals in themoft unfavourable light : we artfully fpread a cloud over their merij: and their glory, leaft they fhould injure the jealous eyes of him who lillens to us ; we di- minifh, we caft a fhade over the fame of their talents and of their fervices; and, by our iniquitous crouchings to his paffion, we nouriîh it, we aflift him in blinding himfelf, and induce him to confider, as honours unjuflly raviihed from himfelf, all thofe which are beilowed upon his bre- thren. What Ihall I fay ? With a prodigal, his profu- fions are no longer in our mouths, but a difplay of genero- fity and magnificence. With a mifer, his fordid callouf- nefs of heart, in which every feeling is lofl, is no longer but a prudent moderation, and a laudable domeftic econo- my. With a perfon of high rank, his prejudices and his errors always find in us ready apologies ; we refpcft his paffions equally as his authority, and his prejudices always become our own. Laftiy, we catch the infcflion, and imbibe the errors ol ail with whom we live; we transform ourfelves, as I may fay, info otherfclves ; our grand iludy is to find out their weaknelTes, that we may appropriate and apply them to our own purpofes ; we have, in fa£}, no language of our own ; we always fpeak the language of others ; our difcourfes are inerely a repetition of their pre- judices; and this infamous debafement of truth we call knowledge of the world, a prudence which knows its own interelf, the grand art of pleafing aiid of fucceeding in the world. " O ye fons of men! how long v/ijiyc love vani- " ty, and feek afier leafing?" Yes,

354 SERMON xr.

Yes, my brethren, by that we perpetuate error among men ; we authorife every deceit ; we juftify every falfe max- im ; we give an air of innocence to every vice ; we main- tain the reign ot the world, and of its doflrine, againft that of Jefus Chrift ; we corrupt fociety, of which truth ought to be the firft tie ; we pervert thofe duties and mutual oi- fices of civil life, eftablifiied to animate us to virtue, in- to fnares, and inevitable occafions of a departure from righteoufnefs ; we change friendfliip, which ought to be a grand refource to us againft our errors and irregularities, into a commerce of diffimulation and mutual deception : by that, in a word, we render truth hateful and ridiculous by rendering it rare among men ; and, when I fay we, I mean more efpeciaily the fouls who belong to God, and who are intrufted with the interefls of truth upon the earth. Yes, my brethren, I would that faithful fouls had a lan- guage peculiar to them amid the world ; that other max- ims, other fentiments, were found in them than in the reft of men ; and, while all others fpeak the language of the palTions, that they alone fpeak the language of truth. I wotild that, while the world hath its Balaams, who, by their difcourfes and counfels, authorife irregularity and licentioufnefs, piety had its Phineafes, who durft boldly adopt the interefts of the law of God, and of the fanftity ot its maxims : that, while the world hath its impious phi- lofophers and falfe fages, who think that it does them hon- our openly to proclaim, that we ought to live only for the prefent, and that the end of man is, in no refpeft, different from that of the beafl, piety had its Solomons, who, undeceived by their own experience, durft publicly avow, that, excepting the fear of the Lord and the obfer- vance of his commandments, all elfe is vanity and vexation of fpirit : that, while the world hath its charms and en- chantments, which fcduce kings and the people by their

deluficns

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 355

delufions and flatteries, piety had its Mofefes and Aarons, who had the courage to confound, by the fole force of truth, their impofition and artifice : in a word, that, while the world hath its priefts and its fcribes, who, like thofe of the gofpel, weaken the truth, piety had its magi, who dread not to announce it in the prefence even of thofe to whom it cannot but be difpleafing.

Not that I condemn the modifications of a fage prudence, which apparently gives up fomething to the prejudices of men, only that it may more furely recal them to rule and duty. I know that truth loves neither rafh nor indifcreet defenders ; that the pafTions of men require a certain de- ference and management ; that they are in the fituation of fick perfons, to whom it is often neceflary to difguife and render palatable their medicines, and to cure them without their privity. I know that all deferences paid to the paf- fions, when their tendency is to ellablifh the' truth, are not weakeners, but auxiliaries of it; and that the grand rule of the zeal of truth, is prudence and charity. But fuch is not the intention when they weaken it by flat- tering and fervile adulations ; they feek to pleafe, and not to edify ; they fubffitute themfelves in the place of truth ; and their fole wilh is to attraft thofe fuffrages which are due to it alone. And, let it not be faid tbat it is more through fourncfs and oftentation, than through charity, that the juH claim a merit in difdaining to betray truth. The world, which is always involved in deceit, of which the commerce and mutual ties revolve only upon diflimu- lation and artifice, which confiders thefe even as an hon- ourable fcience, and which is totally unacquainted with this noble reflitude of heart, cannot fuppofe it in others ; it is its profound corruption which is the caufe of its fufpefïing the fincerity and the courage of the upright ;

Vol. II. S 5 it

3^6 SERMON XI.

it is a mode of afting which appears ridiculous, becaufo it is new to it ; and, as it finds in it fo marked a fingularity, i^ loves better to fuppofe that it is rather the confequence of pride, or folly, than of virtue.

From thence it is that the truth is not only difguifed, but it is likewife openly betrayed. Laft diffimulation of the priefls of our gofpel : a dilTunulation of falfehood. They are not fatisfied with quoting the prophecies in cb- fcure and mollified terms : but, feeing that the magi did not return to Jerufalem as they had intended, they add, no doubt in order to calm Herod, that, afhamed of not having been able to find that new King of whom they came in fearch, they have not had the courage to return ; that they arc ftrangers little verfed in the knowledge of the law and ot the prophets ; and that the light of Heaven, which they pretended to follow, was nothing but a vulgar. illufion, and a fuperftitious prejudice of a rude and credulous nation. And fuch muft indeed have been their language to Herod, fince they themfelves a6l according to it, and do not run to Bethlehem to feek the new-born King, in order, it appears, to complete the perfuafion of Herod, that there was more credulity than truth in the fuperflitious rcfearch of thefe magi.

And behold to what we at lafl; come : in confequence of a fervile compliance with the paflions o{ men, and of con- tinually wiihing to pleafe them at the expence ol truth, we at laft openly abandon it ; we cowardly and downrightly facrifice it to our interefl, our fortune, and our reputation ; we betray our confcience, our duty and our underftanding ; and, confequently, from the moment that truth becomes irkfome to us, or renders us difpleafing, we difavow it, and deliver it up to opprefTion and iniquity ; like Peter, we de- ny

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 357

r.y that we have ever been feen as its difciple. In this manner we change our heart into a cowardly and groveling one, to which any profitable falfehood cofts nothing; into an artificial and pliable heart, which afTumes every form, and never pofTefTes any determinate one ; into a weak and flattering heart, which has not the courage to refufe its fuf- frage to any thing but unprofitable and unfortunate virtue ; into a corrupted and interefted heart, which makes fubfer- vient to its purpofes, religion, truth, juftice, and all that is moft facred among men ; in a word, a heart capable of every thing except that of being true, noble, and fincere. And think not that finners of this defcription are fo very rare in the v/orld. We fhun only the notoriety and fhame of thefe faults ; fecret and fecure bafeneffes find lew fcru- pulous hearts ; we often love only the reputation and glory of truth.

It is only proper to take care that, in pretending to de- fend the truth, we are not defending the mere illufions of our own mind. Pride, ignorance, and felf-conceit, every day furnifh defenders to error, equally intrepid and oblli- nateas any of whom faith can boaft. The only truth wor- thy of our love, of our zeal, and of our courage, is that held out to us by the church ; for it alone we ought to en- dure every thing; beyond that, we are no longer but the martyrs of our own obftinacy and vanity.

O my God ! pour then through my foul that humble and generous love of the truth, with which thy chofen are fil- led in heaven, and which is the only charafteriftic mark of the juft upon the earth. Let my life be only fuch as to render glory to thine eternal truths ; let me honour them through the fanftity of my manners ; let me defend them through zeal for thy interefls alone, and enable me contin- ually

3^8 s E R M O N Xî.

ually to oppofe them to error and vanity : annihilate in ray heart thofe human fears, that prudence of the flefli which dreads to lay open to perfons their errors and their vices. iSufFer not that I be a feeble reed which bends to every blafl, nor that I ever blufh to bear the truth imprinted on my forehead as the moft iiluftrious title with which thy creature can glorify himfelf, and as the nioft glorious mark of thy mercies upon my foul. In effeft, it is not fufficicnt to be the witnefs and depofitary of it, it is alfo neceflary to be its defender : chara6ler contrafted with that of Herod, who is, in our gofpel at prefent its ene- my and its pcrfecutor. Laft inftru6tion with which our gofpel furnilhes us : the truth perfecuted.

Part III. If it is a crime to withftand the truth whea it fhines upon us ; iniquitoufly to withhold it when we owe it to others ; it is the fulnefs of iniquity, and the moft diflinguiflied charafter of reprobation, to perfecute and combat it. Neverrhelefs, nothing more common in the world than this perfecution ot truth ; and the impious Herod, who, on the prefent occafion, fets himfelf up againft it, has more imitators than is fuppofed.

For, in the firft place, he perfecutes it through that re- pugnancy which he vifibly (hews to the truth, and which induces all Jerufaiem to follow his example ; and this is what I call a perfecution of fcandal. Secondly, He perfecutes it by endeavouring to corrupt the priefts, and even by laying fnares for the piety of the magi ; and thrs is what I call a perfecution of feduftion. Laftly, He perfecutes it by fliedding innocent blood ; and this is a per- fecution of power and violence. Now, my brethren if the brevity of a difcourfe permitted me to examine thefc three defcriptions of perfecution of the truth, there is not

perhaps

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 359

perhaps one of them of which you would not find your- felves culpable.

For, \Jtly, Who can flatter himfelf with not being among the number of the perfecutors of truth, under the defcrip- tion of fcandals ? 1 even fpeak not of thofe diforderly fouls who have ereflcd the flandard of guilt and licentioufnefs, and who pay little, if indeed any, attention to the public opinion : the mod notorious fcandals are not always thofe which are mofl to be dreaded ; and avowed debauchery, when carried to a certain degree, occafions, in general, more cenfures upon our conduft than imitations of ourex- ccifes. I fpeak ot thofe fouls delivered up to the pleafures, to the vanities, and to all the abufes of the age, and whofe conduft, in other refpefts regular, is not only irreproacha- ble in the fight of the world, but attraQs even the praifcs and the elleem of men ; and I fay that they perfecute the truth through their fole examples, that they undo, as much as in them lies, the maxims of the gofpel in every heart ; that they cry out to all men, that fhunning of pleafures is a needlefs precaution ; that love of the world and the love of virtue are not at all incompatible ; that a tafte for thea- tres, for drefs, and for public amufements, is entirely in- nocent; and that it is eafy to lead a good life even while living like the reft of the world. This worldly regularity is therefore a continual perfecution of the truth ; and fo much the more dangerous, as it is an authorifcd perfecu- tion which has nothing odious in it, and againft which no precaution is taken ; which attacks the truth without vio- lence, without effufion of blood, under the fmiling image of peace and fociety ; and which, through thefe means, oc- cafions more deferters from the truth than ever all tyrants and tortures formerly did,

I fpeak

360 SERMON XI,

î fpeak even of thofe good charaflers v/ho only imper- fe£lly fulfil the duties of piety, who flill retain, too, pub- lic remains of the pafTions ot the world and of its maxims : and, I fay, that they perfecute the truth through thefe unfortunate remains ot infidelity and weaknefs ; that they are the occafion of its being blafphemed by the impious and other finners ; that they authorife thefenfelefs difcourfes of the world againft the piety of the fervants of God ; that they are the caufeof fouls being difgufted with virtue, who might otherwife feel themfelves difpofed to it ; that they confirm, in the path of error, thofe who feek pretexts to remain in it : in a word, that they render virtue either fufpicious or ridiculous. Thus, ffill every day, as the Lord formerly complained through his prophet Jeremiah, the backfliding Ifrael, that is to fay, the world, juftifies herfelf more than treacherous Judah, that is to fay, the weakneflTes of the good : I mean to fay, that the world thinks itfelf fecure when it fees that thofe fouls, who pro- fefs piety, join in its pleafures and frivolities; are warm, like the reft of men, upon fortune, upon favour, upon preferences, and upon injuries ; purfue their own ends, have flill a defire of pleafing, eagerly feek after diffinélions and favours, and fometimes make even piety fubfervient towards more furely attaining them. Ah I it is then that the world triumphs, and that it feels itfelf comforted in the comparifon ; it is then that, finding fuch a refemblance between the virtue of the good and its own vices, it feels tranquil upon its fituation, and thinks that it is needlefs to change, fince, in changing the name, the fame things are ilill retained.

And it is here that I cannot prevent myfelf from faying, with the apoftle Peter, to you, whom God hath recalled •from the ways of the world and of the pafTions, to thofe

of

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 361

of truth and righteoufnefs ; let us a£l in fuch a manner among the worldly, that, in place of decrying virtue as they have huherto done, and of defpifing or cenfuring thofe who praftice it; the good works which they (hall behold in us, our pure and holy manners, our patience under fcorn, our wifdom and our circumfpeftion in dif- courfe, our modefly and humility in exaltation, our equal- ity o{ mind and fubmifTion under difgrace, our gentlenefs towards our inferiors, our regard for our equals, our fidel- ity towards our mafters, our univerfal charity towards our brethren, force them to render glory to God, make them to refpeft and even envy the defliny of virtue, and difpofc their hearts to receive the grace of light and of truth when it fhall deign to vifit them, and to enlighten them upon their erroneous ways. Let us fhut up the mouth of all the enemies of virtue by the fight of an irrepre . ifible liie ; Jet us honour piety, that it may honour us : let us render it refpeftable if we wifli to gain partifans to it : let us furnifli to the world examples which condemn it, and not cenfures which juflify it: let us accuftom it to think, that godlinefs is profitable unto all things, having promifc not only of the life to come, but alfo peace, fatisfatlion, and content, which are the only good, and the only real pleafures ot the prefent liîe.

To this perfecution of fcandal Herod adds a perfecution ot feduftion : he tempts the fanftity and the fidelity of the miniftersot the law : he wlfhes to make the zeal and the holy boldnefs oi the magi inflrumcntal to his impious defigns : in a word, he negleéls nothing to undo the truth before he openly attacks it.

And behold a frefli manner in which wc continually per- fecute the truth. In ihtjirjt place, We weaken the piety

of

362 SERMON XI.

of the jull by accufing their fervor of excefs, and by ilruggling to perfuade them that they do too much ; wr exhort them, like the grand tempter, to change their ftones into bread ; that is to fay, to abate from their aufterity, and to change that retired, gloomy, and laborious life, into a more ordinary and comfortable one : we give them room to dread, that the fequel will not correfpond with thefe beginnings : in a word, we endeavour to draw them nearer to us, being unwilling to raife ourfelves to a level with them, idly. We perhaps tempt even their fidelity and their innocence, by giving the moft animated defcrip- tions of thofe pleafures from which they fly : like the wife of Job, we blame their fimplicity and weaknefs : we ex- aggerate to them the inconveniencies of virtue and the dif- ficulties of perfeverance : we fhake them by the example of unfaithful fouls, who, after putting their hand to the plough, have caff a look behind, and abandoned their la- bour : what fliall I fay ? We perhaps attack even the im- movable ground-work of faith, and we infinuate the inu- tility of the felt-denials itpropofes, from the uncertainty of its promifes. '^diy. We harafs, by our authority, the zeal and the piety of thofe perfons who are dependent up- on us : vve exaft duties of them, either incompatible with their innocence, or dangerous to their virtue : we place them in fituations either painful or trying to their faith ; we interdift them from practices and obfervances, either ne- ceffary for their fupport in piety, or profitable towards their progrefs in it : in a word, we become domeftic tempt- ers with refpe61 to them, being neither capable of tailing good ourfelves nor fuffering it in others, and performing, towards thefe fouls, the ofHce of the demon, who only watches in order to dellroy. Lajily, We render ourfelves culpable of this perfecution of feduftion, by making our talents inllrumental to the deItru61ion of the reign of Je-

fus

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 36^

fus Chrift : the talents of the body in inTpiring iniquitous pafTions; in placing ourfelves in hearts where God alone ought to be ; in corrupting the fouls for whom Jefus Chrift gave his blood : the talents of the mind in inducing to vice; in embellilhing it with all the charms molt calculat- ed to hide its infamy and horror; in prefenting the poilon under the moft alluring and feduÊlive form ; and in ren- dering it immortal by lafcivious works, through the means of which a miferable author (hall, to the end of ages, preach up vice, corrupt hearts, and infpire his brethren with every deplorable paffion which had enflaved himfelf during life ; fliall fee his punifhment and his torments in- creafed in proportion as the impious fire he has lighted up fhall fpread upon the earth ; fhall have the (hocking confo- lation of declaring himfelf, even after death, againfl: his God, of gaining fouls from him whom he had redeemed, of (fill infulting his holincfs and majefty, of perpetuating his own rebellion and diforders even beyond the tomb, and of making, even to the fulfilment of time, the crimes of all men his own crimes. Woe, faith the Lord, to all thofe who rife up againft my name and glory, and who lay fnares for my people ! I will take vengeance of them on the day of my judgment : I will demand of them the blood of their brethren whom they have feduced, and whom Liiey have caufed to perifli : and I will multiply upon them, and make them for ever to feel the moft dreadful evils, in return for that glory which they have ravifhed from me.

But, a laft defcription of perfecution, ftiil more fatal to truth, is that which I call a perfecution of power and vio- lence. Herod, having gained nothing by his artifices, at laft throws off the raafk, op.enly declares himfelf the per-

VoL. II. T t fecutor

3^4

SERMON Xr.

fecutor of Jefus Chrift, and wiflies to extingulfh in ha birth that light which comes to ilkxminate the whole world.

The fole mention of the cruelty of that impious prince flrikes us with horror; and it does not appear that fo bar- barous an example can ever find imitators among us: ne- verthelefs, the world is full of thefe kinds of public and avowed perfecutors of the truth: and, if the church be no longer afflifted with the barbarity of tyrants, and with the effufion oi her children's blood, fhe is ftill every day perfecuted by the public derifions which the worldly make of virtue, and by the ruin of thofe faithful fouls whom fhe with grief, fo often beholds fmking under the dread of their derifions and cenfures.

Yes, my brethren, thofe difcourfes which you fo readily allow yourfelves againfl the piety of the fervants of God, of thofe fouls who, by their fervent homages, recompenfe his glory for your crimes and infults : thofe derifions of their zeal and of their holy intoxication for their God ; thofe biting farcafms which rebound from their perfon upon virtue itfelf, and are the moll dangerous temptation of their penitence : that feverity on their account which forgives them nothing, and changes even their virtues into vices; that language of blafphemy and of mockery, which throws an air of ridicule over the ferioufnefs of their com- punflion ; which gives appellations of irony and contempt to the mod refpeflable praftices of their piety ; which fliakes their faith, checks their holy refolutions, difheart- cns their weaknefs, makes them, as it were, afliamed of virtue, and often is the caufe of their returning to vice ; behold what, with the faints, I call an open and declared perfecution of the truth. You perfecute in your brother,

fays

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 36^

fays St. Auguflin, that which the tyrants themfelves have never perfecuted ; they have deprived him only oF life ; your fcheme is to deprive him ot innocence and virtue : their perfecution extended only to the body; you carry yours even to the deflruflion of his foul.

What my brethren ! is it not enough that you do not yourfelves ferve the God for whom you are created ? (This is what the firft defenders of faith, the Turtullians and the Cyprians, formerly faid to the Pagan perfecutors of the faithful ; and muft it be that we, alas ! have the fame complaints to make againft Chriftians?< is it not enough? Muft; you alfo perfecute thofe who ferve him? You are then determined neither to adore him yourfelves nor to fuffer that others do it ? You every day forgive fo many extravagancies to the followers of the world, fo ma- ny unreafonable pafTions ; you excufe them ; what do Î fay ? You applaud them in the inordinate délires of their heart : in their moft fhameful paffions you find conflancy, fidelity and dignity : You give honourable names to their moft infamous vices ; and it is a juft and faithful foul alone, a fervant of the true God, who has no indulgence to ex- pe£l from you, and is certain of attracting upon himfelf your contempt and cenfures ? But, my brethren, theatri- cal and other amufements are publicly licenfed, and no- thing is faid againft: them : the madnefs of gambling has its declared partifans, and they are quietly put up with : am- bition has its worfliippers and flaves, and they are even commended : voluptuoufnefs has its altars and vi6lims, and no one conteft; them : avarice has its idolaters, and not a word is faid againft them : all the paffions, like fo many facrilegious divinities, have their eftablifhed worfhip, with- out the fmalleft exception being taken ; and the fole Lord ©f the univerfe, and the Sovereign of all men, and the on-

366 SERMON XI.

ly God upon the earth, either fhall not be ferved at all, or Ihall not be it with impunity, and without every obftacle being placed in the way of his fervice ?

Great God ! avenge then thine own glory : render again to thy fervantsthat honour and that luflre which the impi- ous unceafingly ravifh from them: do not, as formerly, fend ferocious bealls from the depths of their foreft to devour the contemners of virtue, and of the holy fimpli- city of thy prophets ; but deliver them up to their inordi- nate defires ftill more cruel and infatiable than the lion or the bear, in order that, worn out, racked by the internal convulfions and the frenzies of their own paflTions, they may know all the value and all the excellence of that virtue which they contemn, and afpire to the felicity and to the deftiny of thofe fouls who ferve thee.

For, my brethren, you whom this difcourfe regards, allow me, and with grief, to fay it here: mufl you be the inftruments which the demon employs to tempt the chofcn ot God, and, if it were poflible, to lead them aftray ? Muft it be that you appear upon the earth merely in order to juftify the prophecies of the holy books with regard to the perfecutions, which, even to the end, are inevitable to all thofe who fhall wifh to live in godlinefs which is in Jefus Chrifl ? Muft you alone be the means of fuftaining the perpetuity of that frightful fuccefhon of perfecutors of faith and of virtue, which is to endure as long as the church? Muft you, in default now of tyrants and of tor- tures, continue to be the rock and the fcandal of the gof- pel ? Renounce then yourfelves the hope which is in Jefus Chrift; join yourfelves with thofe barbarous nations, or with thofe impious chara£lers whoblafpheme his glory and his divinity, if to you it appears fo worthy of dcrifion and

laughter

FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 367

laughter to live under his laws, and according to his max- ims. An infidel or a favage might fuppofe that we, who Terve and who worfhip him, are under delufion ; he might pity our credulity and weaknefs when he fees us facritic- ing the prefent to a futurity, and an hope which, in his eyes, might appear fabulous and chimerical , but he would be forced at lead, to confefs that, if we do not deceive ourfelves, and if our faith be juftly grounded, we are the wifeft and the mofl; eftimable of all men. But for you, who would not dare to ftart a doubt of the certitude of faith, and of the hope which is in Jefus Chrill, with what eyes, with what aflonifliment would that infidel regard the cenfures which you fo plentifully beftow upon his fer- vants ? You proflrate yourfelves before his crofs, he would fay to you, as before the pledge of your falvation ; and you laugh at thofe who bear it in their heart, and who ground their whole hope and expcftation in it ! You wor- fliip him as your Judge ; and you contemn and load with ridicule thofe who dread him, and who anxioufly labour to render him favourable to their interefts ? You believe him to be fincere and faithful in his word ; and you look upon, as weak minds, thofe who place their truft in him, and who facrifice every thing to the grandeur and to the certainty of his promifes ! O man, fo aflonifhing, fo full of contradictions, fo little in unifon with thyfeif, would th.e infidel exclaim, how great and how holy muft the God of the Chriftians therefore be, feeing that, among all thofe who know him, he hath no enemies but fuch as are of thy defcription !

■ Let us, therefore, refpeft virtue, my brethren ; let us honour in his fervants, the gifts of God, and the wonders of his grace. Let us merit, by our deference and our ef- teem for piety, the bleffing of piety i:fe!f. Let us regard

the

§63 SERMON xr.

the worthy and pious as the fouls who alone continue to draw down the favours of Heaven upon the earth, as re- fources eftablifhed to reconcile us one day with God, as bleffed figns, which prove to us that the Lord ftill looketh upon men with pity, and continueth his mercies upon his church. Let us encourage by our praifes, if we cannot ilrengthen by our example, the fouls who return to him : let us applaud their change, if we think it impofTible, as yet, to change ourfelves : let us glory in defending them, if our paffions will not, as yet, permit us to imitate them. Let us reverence and efteem virtue. Let us have no friends but the friends of God : let us count upon the fidelity of men only in proportion as they are faithful to their Mafter and Creator : let us confide our forrows and our fufferings only tothofe who can prefent them to him, who alone can con- fole them : let us believe to be in our real interefts only thofe who are in the interefts of our falvation. Let us fmooth the way to our converfion : let us, by our refpeft for the jufl, prepare the world to behold us one day, with- out furprife, jufl ourfelves. Let us not by our derifions and cenfures, raife up an invincible flumbling-block of human refpeft, which fliall for ever prevent us from de- claring ourfelves difciples of that piety which we have fo loudly and fo publicly decried. Let us render glory to the truth ; and, in order that it may deliver us, let us religi- oufly receive it, like the magi, from the moment that it is manifefted to us : let us not difTemble it, like the priefts, when we owe it to our brethren : let us not declare againft it, like Herod, when we can no longer difTemble it our- felves, in order that, after having walked in the ways of truth upon the earth, we may all together one day be fanc- tified in truth and perfefted in charity.

SERMOîl

SERMON XII.

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST.

Luke ii. 21.

His nafjie was called Jefus, which was fo named of the angel.

jl\ God lowering himfelf fo far as even to become man , aftonifhes and confounds reafon ; and into what an abyfs of errors is it not plunged, it the light of faith come not fpeediiy to its aid, to difcoverthe depth of the divine wif- dom concealed under the apparent abfurdity of the myf- tery of a Man-God ? Thus, in all times, this fundamental point of our holy religion, I mean the divinity of Jefus Chrift, hath been the objeft mofl expofed to the foolilh oppofitions of the human mind. Men, full of pride, whofe mouths ought to be filled with only thankfgivings for the ineffable gift made to them by the Father of mer- cies, of his only Son, have continually infulted him, by vomiting forth the moft impious blafphemies againft that adorable Son. Full of blindnefs, who have not feen that the fole name of Jefus, which is given to him on this day, that name which he at firft receives in heaven, and which an «ngel conveys to the earth, to Mary and Jofeph, is the in- çonteflible proof of his divinity. That facred name efîab- lilhes him the Saviour of mankind ; Saviour, in that, through the effufion of blood, which becomes our ranfom,

he

370

SERMON XII.

he delivers us from, and from the confequences infepara- ble from it, viz. the tyranny of the demon and of hell : Saviour, in that, attraéling upon his own head the chaf- tifement due to our prevarications, he reconciles us with God, and opens to us afrefli the entry of the eternal fanc- tuary, which fin had fhut againft us. But, my brethren, if the Son of Mary be but a mere man, of what value, in the eyes God, will be the oblation of his blood ? If Je- fus Chrifl be not God, how will his meditation be accept- ed, while he would himfelf have occafion for a mediator to reconcile him with God ?

This proof, which I only touch upon here, and fo ma- ny others with which religion furnifhes me, would quickly Hop the mouth of the ungodly, and confound his impiety, if I undertook to {hew them in all their light, and to give an extenfion in proportion to their importance. But, God forbid that I fhould come here, into the holy temple where the altars of our divine Saviour are raifed up, where his •worfhippers afferable, to enter into conteflation, as if I fpake in the prefence of his enemies, or, to make the apology of the myftery of the Man-God, before a believing people, and a fovereign whofe moft illuftrious and molt cherifhed title is that of Chriftian. It is not, therefore, to combat thcfe ungodly, that, on this day, 1 confecrate my difcourfe to the divinity and to the eternal glory of Jefus, Son of the living God ; I come for the fole purpofe of confoling our faith, while recounting the wonders of him who is its Author and Perte6ter ; and to reanimate our piety in ex- poling to you the glory and the divinity of our Mediator who is its objeÊl and its fweetell hope.

It is even proper to renew, from time to time, thefe grand truths in the minds of the great and of the princes

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 3/1

®f the people, in order to ftrengthen them againft thofedif- courfes of infidelity which they, in general, are only too fnuch in the way of hearing ; and it is expedient fometimes to raife up the veil which covers the fanftuary, that they may have a view of thofe hidden beauties which religion only holds out to their refpeft and to their homages.

Now, the divinity of the Mediator can only be proven by his miniftry ; his titles can appear only in his funftions : and, in order to know whether he be defcended from hea- ven, and equal with the mofl High, it requires only to re- late the purpofcs for which he came upon the earth. He came, my brethren, to form an holy and a believing people ; a believing people, who fubjeft their reafon to the facred yoke ot faith ; an holy people, whofe converfation is in heaven, and who are no longer refponfible to the flefbj to live according to the flefh : fuch is the general defign of his temporal miffion.

The luflre of his miniftry is the firmeft: foundation of our faith : the fpirit of his miniftry, the fole rule of our morals. Now, if he was only a man commiffioned ot God, the luftre of his miniftry would be the inevitable occafion of our fuperftition and idolatry ; the fpirit of his miniftry would be the fatal fnare to entrap our innocence. Thus, whether we confider the luftre or the fpirit of his miniftr)', the glory of his divinity remains equally and invincibly eftabliftied.

O Jefus, fole Lord of all, accept this public homage of our confeffion and oi our faith ! While impiety blafphemes in fecret, and under the fhades of darknefs againft thy glory, allow us the confolation of publifhing it with the voice of

Vol. II. U u all

3/2 SERMON XII.

all ages in the face of tbefe altars ; and form, in our heart, not only that faith which confefles and worfhips thee, but alfo that which follows and which imitates thee.

Part I, God can manifeft himfelf to men, only in order to teach them what he is, and what men owe to him ; and religion is, properly fpeaking, but a divine light, which difcovers God to man, and which regulates the duties of man towards God. Whether the moft High ftiew himfelf to the earth, or whether he fill extraordinary men with his fpirit, the end of all his proceedings can be only the know- ledge and the fanftification of his name in the univerfe, and the eftablilhment of a worlhip in which they render to him what is due to him alone.

Now, if the Lord Jefus, come in the fulnefs of time, was nothing more than an upright and innocent man, only chofen to be the mefl'enger of God upon the earth ; the principal end of his miniltry would have been that of ren- dering the world idolatrous, and of ravifhmg Irom thedi- vinity that glory which is his due, in order to appropriate it to himfelf.

In efTecl my brethren, whether we confider the luftre of his miniltry in that pompous train ot oracles and of figura- tive allufions which have preceded him in the wonderful circumibnces which have accompanied him, and, laftly, in the works which he hath operated ; the lullre of it is Inch, that, it Jefus Chnff was only a man fimilar to us, God, who hath lent him upon the earth arrayed in fuch glory and power, would him fell have deceived us, and would be culpable of the idolatry of thofe who worlhip him.

The

THE DIVINITY Of JESUS CHRIST. 373

The firft fignal charafter of the miniftry of Jefus Chrift, is that, from the beginning of the world, it was foretold and promifed to men. Scarcely had the fall of Adam taken place, when the Reftorer, whom his guilt had rendered necefTary to the earth, 10. inewn to him from afar. In the following ages, God, it would appear, is only occupied in preparing mankind for his coming : if he manifeft himfelf to the patriarchs, it is in order to confirm their faith in that expeftation ; if he infpire prophets, it is in order to an- nounce him ; if hechoofe to himfelf a people, it is for the purpofe of making it the depofitary of that grand promife; if he prefcribe facrifices and religious ceremonies to men, it is in order to trace out in them, as from afar, the hiflory of him who was to come. Whatever took place upon the earth feems to lead to that grand event : empires and king- doms fall or rife only in order to prepare the way for it : the heavens are only opened to promife it : and, as St. Paul fays, the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain to bring forth the righteous, who is to come for the redemption of our body from the bondage of corruption and fin.

Now, my brethren, to infpire, from the beginning of all ages, the earth with the expeftation of a man, and to an- nounce him to it from heaven, is already, in faft, to pre- pare men to receive him with a kind of religion and worfhip ; and. even granting that Jefus Chrift were to have only the eclat of that particular circumftance which diflinguifhes him from all other men, the fuperftition of the people, with regard to him, were he only a fimple creature, had been to dread. But, even the circumflance of Jefus be- ing foretold is not fo wonderful as thofe in which he hath been it, which are more furprifing than even the prophe- cies themfclves. In effeft, if Cyrus and John the B^ptift

have

374

SERMON Xir.

have been foretold, long before their birth, in the pro- phecies of Ifaiah and ot Malaclii, thefe are only individual prophecies, without confequence or train, and which are found in a Tingle prophet ; prediâions which announce on- ly particular events, and by which the religion of the peo- ple could never be caught or furprifed ; Cyrus to be the re- eflablifher of the walls of Jerufalem ; John the Baptift to prepare the way for him who was to come; both in order to confirm, by the accomplifhment of their particular pro^ pbecies, the truth and the divinity ot all the prophecies which announce Jefus Chrifl,.

But here, my brethren, it is a Meflenger of Heaven, foretold by a whole people, announced, during four thou- fand years, by a long train of prophecies, defired of all nations, figured by all the ceremonies, expelled by all the ju(f, and fhewn from alar in all ages. The patriarchs ex- pire in wifliingtofeehim : that juft live in that expectation : fathers inftruft their children to wifli for him ; and this defire is like a domeftic religion which is; perpetuated from age to age. The prophets themfelves of the gentiles fee the Star of Jacob fliining from afar ; and this great event is announced even in the oracles ot idols. Here, it is not for a particular event ; it is to be the rcfource of the con- demned world, the legiflator of all people, the light of na- tions, the falvation of Ifrael ; it is in order to blot out ini- quity trom the earth, to bring an eternal righteoufnefs, to fill the univerfe with the fpirit of God, and to be the bleffed bearer of an immortal peace to all men. What a pompous train ! What a fnare for the religion ot all ages, it fuch mag- nificent preparations announce only a fimple creature ; and, more efpecially, in times when the credulity of the pco- i*le fo eafily placed extraordinary men in the rank of Gods !

BeHdes,

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 375^

Befides, when John the Baptift appears on the borders of the Jordan afraid, it would feem that the fingle oracle Avhich had foretold him might become an occafion of idola- try to the people whom the fame of his fanftity attrafted round him, he performs no miracles ; he never ceafes to fay ; "lam not he whom you expeft ; but one mightier *' than me cometh, the latchet of whofe flioes I am not wor- *' thy to unloofe ;" he is only watchful it would appear, to prevent fuperftitious honours. Jefiis Clirilt, on the con- trary, whom four thoufand years of expeéfation, oï allu- fions, of prophecies, of promifes, had, with fo much mag- nificence, announced to the earth ; Jefus Chrift, far from preventing the fuperftition of the people with regard to himfelf, comes in full authority and might; he does mir- acles and deeds which no one had ever done before him ; and, not only he raifes himfelf above John the Baptift, but he gives out that he is equal with God himfelf. Had the error been to dread, and, if to render to him divine honours had been an idolatry, where would be his zeal for the glory of him who fends him, or where would be his love for men ?

And yet more, my brethren, all the extraordinary men of whom the preceding ages could boafl:, all the juft of the law and of the age of the patriarchs, had been only the imperfeft types of the Chrift ; and again, each of them re- prefentedonly fome individual trait of his life and miniftry ; Melchifedec, his priefthood ; Abraham, his quality of Head and Father of believers ; Ifaac, his facrifice ; Job, his per- fecutions and fuflferings ; Mofes, his office of Mediator; Jofliua, his triumphant entry into the land ot the living with a chofen people. All thefe men, however, fo venera- ble and fo miraculous, were only rudefketches of theMef- fiah to come ; and how great muff that Meffiah himfelf

have

5/6 SERMON XII.

have been to be, feeing his figures were fo illuftrious and fo fhining ! But, deprive Jefus Chrift of his divinity and of his eternal origin, and the reahty has nothing fuperior to the figure. I know, as we fha'l afterwards fay, that, when we narrowly examine the luftre of his wonders, we fhall fee them marked with divine charaélers which are only to be found in the life of thofe great men. But, to judge of them by the eyes of the fenfes alone, the parallel would not be favourable to Jefus Chrifl. Is he greater than Abraham ? That man fo great, that the Lord himfelf, among his moft pompous names, had taken that of the God of Abraham, as if in order to proclaim to the world that the homages of a man, fo right- eous and fo extraordinary, were more glorious to his fov- ereignty than the title of God of empires and of nations : fo great, that the Jews believed themfelves fuperior to all other nations of the earth, only becaufe they were the pof- terity of the famous chief fo cherilhed of Heaven ; and that fathers, in recounting to their children the wonders of their nation and the hiftory of their anceftors, animated them to virtue, only by putting them in remembrance that the}'- were the cbiiclren ot Abraham and the members of a holy race ? Is he more wonderful than Mofes ? That man, mighty in words and in deeds, mediator of an holy cov- enant, who broke the yoke of Egypt and delivered his peo- ple from bondage : that man, who was eftablifhed the God of Pharaoh, who feemed the mafter of nature, who cover- ed the earth with plagues, who divided feas, who made a new nourifhment to be fhowered from heaven; that man, who faw the Lord face to face upon the holy mountain, and who appeared before Ifrael all refplendent in light ? What is there more aftonifliing or more magnificent in the life of Jefus Chrifl ? Ncverthelefs, thefe were only rude fketches of his glory and might : he was to be the lafl finifhing and

perfe6lion

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 377

perfeftion of them. Now, it" Jefiis Chrift were not the image of the fubftance of his Father and the eternal fplen- dour of his glory, he, at the utmoft, could only be equal- led with thefe firft men; and the incredulity of the Jews might, without blafphemy, demand of him : " Art thou *• greater than our father Abraham, or, than the prophets *' which are dead : whom makeft thou thyfelf ?" I have then juftly faid, that if, in the firft place, you will eftimate his miniftry from that pompous train of oracles and ot fig- ures which have announced him, the fplendour is fuch, that, if Jefus Chrift be but a man fimilar to us, the wifdom itfelf of God would be culpable ot the miftakeof thofe who Worlhip him.

But, my brethren, the Chrift hath been foretold with his members : we are comprifed in the prophecies which have announced him to the earth : we have been promifed as an holy race, a fpiritual people, who were to bear the law engraven on their heart, who were to figh after eternal riches, and who were to adore in fpirit and in truth : like Jefus Chrift, we have compofed the expeQation of the juft of ancient times, and the defire of nations : we are that new Jerufalem, pure and undefiled, fo often announced in the prophets, where God alone was to be known and worftiip- ped ; where faith was to be the fole light to illuminate us ; charity the only bond ot union ; and the land of pro- mife the only hope to animate us. Now, do we anfwer an expeftation fo illuftrious and fo holy ? Are we worthy of having been theearneft defire of all thofe diftant ages which have preceded us ? Do we merit to have been looked for- ward to like celeftial men, who were to fill the earth with fanflity and righteoufnefs ? Have not thofe ages been de- ceived in their expeftation of the Chriftian people ? Were the juft of thofe diftant times to return upon the earth,

could

3/8 SERMON XII.

could we prefent ourfelves to them, and fay : Behold thofe celeftial, fpiritual, temperate, believing, ami charitable men, whom you expelled ? Alas I my brethren, the jjft ot for- mer times were Chriftians before the bnth of faith ; and we are Hill Jews, under all the advantages of the gofpel : we live folely for the earth : we know no true riches but the prefent good : our whole religion is grounded in the fen fes : we have received more affiftances but we are not more believing.

To the hiftre of the prophecies which have announced Jefus Chrift, we muft add that of his works and of his mir- acles: fécond refplendent charafler of his miniflry. Yes, my brethren, even admitting that Heaven had not promifed him to the earth with fuch magnificence ; that the manner in which he was to appear to the earth had not conflituted, daring all thefe firft ages, the fole occupation and ex- pe6tation o\ the univerfe ; did ever man appear more won- derful, more divine in his aftions, and in all the circum- flances of his life ?

I fay, ijily, in his a£lions and in his miracles. I know and we come from faying it, that, in the ages which prece- ded him, extraordinary men had appeared upon the earth, to whom the Lord feemed to have delegated his omnipo- tence and virtue : in Egypt and in the defertMofes appear- ed the mailer of heaven and earth ; in the following ages Elijah came to prefent the fame fight to men. But, when we narrowly examine their power itfelt, we find that all thefe miraculous men always bore with them the marks of weaknefs and dépendance.

Mofes only operated his miracles with his myfterious rod ; without it he was no longer but a weak and powerlefs man ;

and

THE Dl^fmITy of jesus christ. 579

and it would feem that the Lord had attached the virtue ox miracles to that morfel ot parched wood for the purpofe of making the Ifraelites fenfible that, in his hands, Mofes himfelf was but a weak and fragile inftrument, whom he was pleafed to employ in the operation of grand effefts, Jefus Chrift operates the grandefl; miracles, even without fpeaking; and the folc touch of his garment cures invete- rate infirmities. Mofes communicates not to his difciples the power ot operating miracles ; for it was an extraneous gift which he had received from Heaven, and which he had not the power ot delegating : Jefus Chrift leaves to his a ilill greater efficacy than had appeared even in himfelf, Mofes always a£ls in the name of the Lord : Jcfus Chrilt operates all in his own name ; and the works ot his Father are his. Neverthelefs, this Mofes, who had not been pro- phecied like Jcfus Chrift, who remitted not fins as he did, who never gave himfelf out as equal to God, but only as his faithful fervant ; this Mofes, dreading that, after his death, his miracles fhould make him pafs tor a god, takes precautions left, in the revolution of ages, the credulity of his people render to him divine honours : he goes up alone to the mountain, to expire far from the fight ot his bre- thren, in the tear of their coming to offer up viftims upon his tomb ; and for ever removes his body from the fuperfti- tion of the tribes ; he does not fhew himfelf to his difci- ples after his death ; he contents himfelt with leaving to them the law of God, and employs every mean to obliterate himfelf from their remembrance. And Jefus Chrift, after all the miracles be operates in Judea, after all the prophe- cies which had announced him, after having appeared as a God upon the earth, his tomb is known to all the univerfe, expofed to the veneration of all people and ages ; even alter his death he Ihews himfelf to his difciples. Was fu- perftition, then lefs to be dreaded here ? Or is Jefus Chrift: Vol. II. W w lef*

âSô

s E R M O M XII.

lefs zealous than Mofes for the glory ot the fupreme Beiîig, and for the falvation of men ?

Elijali, It is true, raifes up the dead ; but he is obliged to ftretch himfelf out upon the body of the child whom he recalls to life; and it is eafily feen that he invokes a for- eign power ; that he withdraws from the empire of death a foul which is not fubjugated to him ; and that he is not himfelt the mafter oi life and death. Jefus Chrift raifes up the dead as eafily as he performs the moll common ac- tions ; he fpeaks as a mailer ot thofe who repofe in an eternal fle'ep ; and it is thoroughly felt that he is the God of the dead as of the living, never more tranquil and calm than when he is operating the grandell things.

Lajliy, The poets reprefented to us their fybils and their prieftelTes as mad women while foretelling the future : it would feem that they were unable tofullain the prefence of the falfe fpirit which dwelt within them. Even our own prophets, when announcing future things, without loling the ufe of their reafon, or departing from the folem- nity and the decency of their minillry, partook of a di- vine enthufiafm : the foft founds oi the lyre were often necelTary to aroufe in them the prophetic fpirit : it was eafily to be feen that they were animated by a foreign im- pulfe ; and that it was not from their own funds they drew the knowledge of the future, and thofe hidden mylleries which they announced to men. Jefus Chrill prophecies as he fpeaks ; the knowledge of the future has nothing ei- ther to move, difquiet, or furprife him, becaufe all times are contained in his mind ; the future mylleries which he announces are not fudden and infufed lights to his foul ; they are familiar objefts to him, always prefent to his view, and the images of which he finds within himfelf; and all

ages

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 381

ages to come, under the immenfity of his regards, are as the prefent day which illuminates us. Thus, neither the refurreftion of the dead, nor the foretelling of the future, ever injures his natural tranquillity ; he fportshimfelf, if I may venture to fay fo, in operating miracles in the uni- verfe ; and if he, at times, appear to tremble and to be troubled, it is folely when viewing the fin and perverfity of his people ; becaufe the more exalted one is in his fanc- tity, the more does fin offer new horrors ; and that the on- ly thing which a Man-God can view with trembling, is the fpeftacle of a confcience flained with crimes.

Such is the omnipotency of Jefus Chrifl : his miracles bear no mark of dépendance : and, not fatisfied with there- by fhewing to us that he is equal to God, he alfo advertifes us, that, whatever wonder is operated by his Father upon the earth, he likewife operates ; and that his Father's works are his. Hath any prophet, down to the period of Jefus Chrift, fpoken in this manner ; and who, far fronj rendering glory to God as the author of every excellent gift, hath attributed to himfelf all the grand things which it had pleafed the Lord to operate through his miniflry ?

But, my brethren, if we have alfo been prophecied with Jefus Chrift, we are moreover participators of his fovereignty over all creatures. Through faith the Chrif- tian is matter of nature; all is fubjeft to him, becaufe he himfelf is interior only to God ; all his aftions ought to be miraculous, becaufe they ought all to proceed from a fublime and a divine principle, and far above the powers of human weaknefs : we ought to be, as I may fay, mirac- 11I0US men, mafters of the world in contemning it ; exalt- ed above the laws oi nature by overcoming them ; fove-, leign difpofers of events by a thorough and tranquil fub,

miflioR

g82 SERMON XII.

miflion to them ; more povverFul than death itfelf by will- ing for it. Such is the fublimity of the Chriflian : and, how great muft Jefus Chrift Iiave been, to have cxahed hu- man weaknefs to fuch a pinnacle of grandeur and might !

Finally, The laft fplcndid charafler of his miniftry is the marvellous and, till then, unheard-of circumftances which compofe the whole courfe of his mortal life. I know that he came in nakednefs and humiliation; but, through thefe obfcure and contemptible externals, what luftre are not even the enemies of his divinity forced to acknowledge there ?

In ihtfirji place, although they confider him as a man fimilar to us, they, neverthelefs, believe him to have been forrned, through the invifible operation ot the moil High, in the womb of a virgin of Judah, in oppofition to the common law of the children of Adam. What glory al- ready tor a fimple creature !

Secondly, Scarcely is he born, when celeftial legions fmg the praifes of the Lord, and give us to underftand, that this birth renders his glory to the rnofl High, and brings an eternal peace upon the earth. What then is this creature who can render glory to the molt High, whofe glory is in himfelf alone ? Immediately after this a new ilar calls the wife men from the heart of the Eaft ; and, guided by that miraculous light, thofe righteous men come from the extremities of the earth to worfhip the new- King of the Jews.

Trace all the circumftances of his life. II Mary bring him to tliC temple, a righteous man and an holy woman proclaim his future greatneli j and tranfported with an ho.-

THE DIVINITY Oî' JESUS CHRIST. 383

!y joy, they die with pleafure, aher having feen him whom they call the falvationof the world, the light of na- tions, and the glory ot Ifrael. The do£lors, afTembled in the temple, behold, with terror, his infancy to be wifcr and more enlightened than all the wifdom ot old men. In proportion as he grows up, his glory unfolds itfelf : John the Baptift, that man, the grcatefl ot the children ot men, humbles himfelf before him, and fays that he is not worthy of performing the meaneft offices to him. A voice trom Heaven declares that he is the well-beloved Son. The af- frighted demons fly from before him, are unable to fupport the fole pretence of his fanflity, and confefs that he is the holy of God. Colleft together teflimonies fo different and fo new, circumftances fo unheard-of, and fo extraor- dinary : what is this man who appears upon the earth with fo much eclat ? And are not the people who have worfliipped him at leafl excufable ?

But thefe are only weak preludes of his glory. If he privately withdraw himfelf upon the Tabor, accompanied with three difciples, his glory, impatient, if I dare to fay it, at having hitherto been held captive under the veil oi humanity, openly burffs forth : he appears all refplendent in light : the heavenly Father, who then, it would appear, left the glory of Jefus Chrift fhould become an occafion of error and idolatry to the aftonifhed difciples, fpeftators of this fight, ought to have warned them that this Jefus, whom they beheld fo glorious, was neverthelefs only his fervant and meffenger, declares to them, on the contrary, that this is his well-beloved Son, in whom he is well pleafed, and affixes no bounds to the homages which, according to his pleafure, they are to render to him. When Mofes ap- peared furrounded with glory, and, as it were, transfigured •n mount Sinai, afraid left the Ifraelites, always fuperfti-

tious,

3^4 SERMON xir.

tious, fhould confider him as a god defcended upon the earth, the Lord, amid a flame of fire, declared at the fame time from on high, " I am that I am, and thou fhalt wor- *• (hip only me." Mofes himfelf appears before the peo- ple with only the tables of the law in his hands, as if to let them know that, notwithflanding the glory with which they had feen him arrayed, he neverthelefs was only the minifter, and not the author of the holy law ; that he could offer it to them only engraven oa ffone, and that it belonged folely to God to engrave it on hearts. But, on the Tabor, Jefus Chrifl: appears as the legiflator himfelf : the new law is not given to him by his Father to bear it to men ; he only commandeth them to liflen to him, and from his own mouth he propofeih him as their legiflator, or rather as their living and eternal law.

What more fhall I fay, my brethren ? If from theTabcM: we pafs to mount Calvary ; that place, in which all the ignominy of the Son of Man was to be confummated, is not lefs, however, the theatre of his glory and divinity. All nature diforganized, confeiTes its Author in him ; the flars which are hidden ; the dead who arife ; the flones of the tombs, which open of their own accord, and break in pieces ; the veil of the temple, which is rent from top to bottom ; even incredulity itfelf, which confeffes him through the mouth of the centurion : all feel that it is not an ordinary man who dies, and that things take place upon that mount totally new and extraordinary.

Many righteous before him had died for the truth, by the hands of the impious : the head of the forerunner had lately been feen in the palace of Herod, as the price of voluptuoufnefs : Ifaiah, by a grievous death, had rendered glory to God ; and notwithltanding his royal blood, his

auguH

•THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 385

auguft birth was ineffeftual in (beltering him from thofc perfecutions which are always the recompenfe of truth and zeal : many others had died for the fake of righteouf- nefs ; but nature feemed not wholly interefted in their fufFerings ; the dead forfook not their tombs to come and, as it were, reproach to the living their facrilege : nothing, in any degree fimilar, had, as yet, appeared upon the earth.

Survey the reft of his myfteries ; every where you will find traits which diftinguifh him from all other men. If he rife up from among the dead, befides that it is through his own efficiency, (which no eye had ever yet beheld,) it is not, like fo many others, who had been raifed up through the miniftry of the prophets, to return once more into the empire of death : he arifes, never more to die ; and, even here below, he receives an immortal life, which is what had never yet been accorded to any crea- ture.

If he is carried up into heaven, it is not in a flaming chariot that he vanifhes .in the twinkling of an eye; he afcends with majefty, and allows all leifure to his aflfeftion- ate difciples toworfhip him, and to accompany their divine Mafter with their eyes and their homages. The angels, as if to receive him into his empire, come to greet this King ©f glory, and comfort the afïliftion of the difciples, by promifing him once more to the earth, furrounded with glory and immortality. All here announces the God of heaven, who returns to the place from whence he came, and who goes to refume the poffefTion of his owo glory ; at leaft, every thing inclines men to believe fo.

And, in truth, my brethren, when Elijah is taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot, a fingle difciple is the only fpec-

tator

386

SERMON XIi:

tator of that miraculous afcenfibn ; it takes place in a retir* cd fpot, removed irom the view oi the other children of the prophets, who, perhaps more credulous and lefs en- lightened than Eiifeus, might have been inclined to render divine honours to that miraculous man. But Jefus Chrift, furrounded with glory, mounts up to heaven bebre the eyes ot five hundred difciples ; the weakeft, and thofe who were leaft confirmed in the iaith of his Tefurre£lion, are the firft who are invited to tlTe holy mountain : nothing is dreaded from their credulity : on the contrary, their adora- tions are equally permitted as their regrets and tears ; and a life full of prodigies, till then fo unheard-of on the earth, is at laft terminated by a circumftance flill more wonderful, and fufficient of itfelf to make him to be regarded as a God, and to immortalife error an idolatry among men.

In effcQ, if the pagan ages, in order to jufîify the ridicu- lous and impious homagas which they paid to their legifla- tors, to the founders ot empires, and to other celebrated men, gave it out, in their hiftoriahs and poets, that thefe heroes were not dead, but had only difappeared from the earth; and that, being of the fame nature with the gods, they had afcended to heaven, in order to affume their fta- rion among the other ftars, which, according to them, were fo many divinities who enlighten us, and for the pur- pofe of there enjoying that immortality to which their di- vine birth entitled them : if fo very vulgar a fiftion had of itfelf been able to render men fo long idolatrous, what im- preffion muft the reality of that fable not have made upon the people ? And if the univerfe had worfhipped impoflors, who were falfely fald to have mounted up to heaven, would it not have been excufable to worfhip a miraculous man, ■whbrh men, with their own eyes, had feen exalted above the ftars ?

But

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 387

But obferve, my brethren, that the occafion ot error finifhes not with Jefus Chrift; it is announced. to us, that, at the end of ages, he will again appear in the heavens fur- rounded with power and majefty, and accompanied with all the heavenly hoft : all afTembled nations fhall, with trem- bling, await at his feet the decifion of their eternal defliny : he will Sovereignly pronounce their decifive fentcnce. The Abrahams, the Mofefes, the Davids, the Elijahs, the John theBaptifts, and all that ages have produced *of great and moft wonderful, (hall be fubmitted to his judgment and to his empire ; he will himfelf be exalted above all power, all dominion, and all which is termed great in heaven and in the earth ; he will ereft his throne above the clouds, and fit on the right hand oi the moft High : he will appear Mafter, not only of life and death, but the immortal King OÏ ages, the Prince of eternity, the Chief of an holy peo- ple, the fupreme Arbiter of all the created. What then is this man to whom the Lord hath delegated fuch power? and the dead themfelves, who fhall appear in judgment be- fore him, fhall they be condemned for having worlhipped him, when they fhall fee him clothed with fuch glory,-, majefly, and power ?

And one reflexion, which I beg you to make in finifh- ingthis part of my difcourfe, is that, if only one extraor- dinary and divine trait were to be found here in the courfe of a long life, we might be inclined to believe, that it fome- times pleafeth the Lord to allow his glory and his power to fhine forth in his fervants. Thus, Enoch was carried up, Mofes appeared transfigured on the holy mountain, Elijah was raifed up to heaven in a fiery chariot, John the Baptifl was foretold. But, befides that thefe were individual cir- cuinflances, and that the language, of thofe miraculous Bien and of their difciples, with refpcft to the divinity Vol. II. X X and

gS"^ SERMON xir.

and to themfelves, left no room for fuperftition and mif- take : here, it is an afTemblage of wonders, which all,. or even taken feparately, would have been fufficient to deceive the credulity of men : here, all the different traits, difperfed among all thefe extraordinary men wha had been confidered almoft as gods upon the earth, are colJefted together in Jefus Chrift, but in a manner a thoufand times more glorious and more divine. He pro- phecies, but more loftily, and with more ftriking charac- ters, than John the Baptift : he appears transfigured in the holy mount, but furrounded with more glory than Mofes : he afcends to heaven, but with more marks of power and inajefty than Elijah : he penetrates into the future, but with more accuracy and clearnefs than all the prophets : he is produced, not only from a barren womb like Samuel, but likewife by a pure and innocent virgin : what (hall I fay ? And not only he does not undeceive men by certain and precife expreffions upon his origin as purely human ; but his folc language with refpeft to his equality to the mofl High ; but the fole doftrine of his difciples, who tell us that he was in the bofomoi God from all eternity, and that all hath been made through him, who call him their Lord and their God, who inform us that he is all in all things, would juftify the error of thofe who worfhip him, had even his life been, in other refpefts, an ordinary one, and fimilar to that of other men.

O you ! who refufe to him his glory and h'ls divinity, yet, neverthelefs, confider him as a Meflenger fent by GckI to inftruft men, complete the blafpheray ; and confound him with thofe impollors who have come to feduce the world, fince, lar from tending to eflablifli the glory of God and the knowledge of his name, the fplendour of his rainillry has anfwered the fole purpofeof erefting him-

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 389

felf into a divinity, of placing liim at the fide of the moft High, and ol phinging the whole univerfe into the moft dangerous, the moft durable, the moft inevitable, and the moft univerfal of all idolatries.

For our part my brethren, we who believe in him, and to whom the myftery of the Chrift hath been revealed, let us never lofe fight of that divine model which the Father ihews to us from on high on the holy mount. Let us en- ter into the fpirit of the divers myfteries of which his whole mortal life is compofed ; they are merely the different ilates of the life o{ the Chriftian on this earth : let us con- fefs the new empire which Jefus Chrift came to form in our hearts. The world, which we have hitherto ferved, hath never been able to deliver us from our grievances and wretchednefs. We vainly fought in it, freedom, peace, and comfort of life ; and we have found only flavery, dif- quiet, bitternefs and the curfe of life. Behold a new Re- deemer, who comes to bring peace to the earth; but it is not as the world promifes it that he gives it to us. The world had wifhed to conduft us to peace and happinefs through the pleafures of the fcnfes, indolence, and a vain philofophy ; it hath not been faccefsful ; by favouring oitr pafl^ions it hath only augmented our puniftiments : Jefus Chrift comes to propofe a new way for the attainment of that peace and happinefs which we fearch after ; detach- ment from and contempt of the world, mortification of the fenfes, felf-denial, behold the new riches which he comes to difplay to men. Let us be undeceived : we have no happinefs to expefl, even in this life, but by rcprefîing eur paffions, and by refufing ourfelves the gratification of every pleafure which difquiets and corrupts the heart ; there is no philofophy, but that of the gofpel, which can beftov/ happinefs, or make real fages^ becaufe it aJone regu-

Jate-j

390 SERMON XIÎ.

the mind, fixes the heart, and, by refloring man to God, rellores him to himfelf. All thofe who have purfued other ways have found only vanity and vexation ol fpirit;_and Jefus Chrifl alone, in bringing the fword and feparation, is come to bring peace among men.

O my God ! I know only too well that the world and its pleaiures make none happy ! Come then and refunie thy influence over a heart which in vain endeavours to fly from thee ; and which its own difgufts recal to thee in fpile of itfelf: come to be its Redeemer, its peace, and its light, and pay more regard to its wretchednefs than to its crimes.

Behold now the luftre of the miniflry of Jefus Chrift would operate as an inevitable occafion of idolatry in men, were he only a fimply creature. Let us now fee how the fpirit of his miniflry would become the fnare of our inno- cence.

Part II. The luftre of the miniftry oî Jefus Chrifl: is not the moftauguftand moft magnificent fide of it. How- ever dignified he hath appeared, in confequence of all the oracles which have annoijnced him, the works which he hath oppcrated, and thefhiningcircumftances of his myfle- ries, thefe are merely the outward appearances, as I may fay, of his glory and of his grandeur ; and, in order to l;now all that he is, we mull enter into the principle and fpirit of his miniftry. Now, in the fpirit of his minif- try are comprifed his doftrine, his favours, and his promi- fcs. Let us difplay thefe in their proper extent, and prove, either that we muft deny to Jefus Chrifl his quality of a righteous man, and of a melTenger of the almighty God, which the enemies of his divinity grant him to have been, or we muft admit that he is hunfelf a God manifefted in

the

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. ggi

the flefh, and com€ down upon the earth in order to favc mankind.

Yes, my brethren, this is an inevitable alternative : if Jelus Chrift be holy, he is God; and, if his miniftry be not a miniftry of deceit and impofition, it is the miniftry of eternal Truth itfelf which hath been manifefted for our inftruftion. Now, the enemies of his divine birth are forced to admit, that he hath been a man righteous, innocent, and friend of Ood : and if the world hath be- held dark and impious minds, who have likewife dared to blafpheme againft his innocence and to confound him with feducers, thefe have been only fome individual monfters who were held in abhorrence by the human race, and whofe names too odious to all nature, are for ever bu- ried in the fame darknefs from which the horror of their impiety originally came.

In elîeft, what man, till then, had appeared upon the earth with more inconteftable marks of innocence and fanflity than Jefus, Son of the living God ? In what phi- lofopher had ever been obferved fuch a love of virtue, fo fincere a contempt of the world, fo much charity towards men, fuch indifference for human glory, fuch zeal for the glory of the Supreme Being, luch elevation above what- ever is admired or fought after by men ? How great is his zeal for tfie falvation of men ! It is to that objeft that he direfts all his difcourfes, all his cares, all his defires, and all his anxieties. The philofophers criticifed only the men, and folely endeavoured to expofe their weaknefs or their abfurdities : Jefus Chrift never fpeaks of their vices but in order to point out their remedies. The former were the cenfurers of human wcakiiefTes ; Jefus Chrift is their phyfician : the former gloried in being able to point

out

tgz

SERMON XII.

out vices in oiliers, from which they thernfelves were not exempted ; he never fpeaks, but with the bittereft forrow, of faults, from which his own innocence protects him, and even flieds tears over the diforders of an unbelieving city : it is eafily Teen that the former had no intention to reclaim men, but merely to attraH efteem to themfelves, by pre- tending to contemn them ; and that the only wifh of the latter is to fave them, and that he is little affeded with their applaufes or elleem.

Purfue the whole detail of his manners and ot his con- iluft, and fee if any righteous charafter hath ever appeared on the earth more generally exempted from all the moll infeparable wcakneffes of humanity. The more narrowly he is examined, the more is his fan61ity difplayed. His difciplcs, who have it bed in their power to know him, are the moPc alTcfted with the innocence ot his life ; and familiarity, fo dangerous to the mofi; heroical virtue, ferves only in his to difcovcr frefli matter of wonder. He Ipeaks only the language of Heaven : he never replies but when his anfwers may be ufeful towards the falvation of thofe who interrogate him. We fee nut in him thofe in- tervals, as I may fay, in which the man re-appears : on every occafion he is the meilenger of the Mofl High. The commoneil a£lions are extraordinary in him, through the novelty and the fublimity of the difpofitions with which he accompanies them ; and, when he eats with the pharifee, he does not appear a man lefs divine than when he raifes up Lazarus. Surely, my brethren,, nature alone could never lead human weaknefs fo far ; this is not a philofo- phcr who enjoins to others what he doth not himfelf, it is ià rigiiteous charafcter who, in his own examples, adopts the rules and precepts ot his do61rinc ; gnd holy muff he jndccd be, feeing the very difciple who betrayed him, fo

intereiied

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 393

interefled to juftif'y his own pcifiiiy by an expofurc oi his' faults, renders public tclliniony, however, to his innocence and fanflity ; and that the whole challenged malice oi liis enemies hath never been able to convitt him of fin.

Now, I fay, tliat, it Jcfus Chrift be holy, he is God ; and that, whether you fliould confider the doftrine whicii he hath taught us with refpeft to his Father or with refpeCr to men, it is no longer but a mafs oF equivocations or qual- ified blafphemies, if he be only an ordinary man, merely deputed by God for the inllruclion ot men.

I fay, whetlîer you fnould confider it with refpecl to hh Father. In elTeft, it Jefus Chrift be but a fimpleMeflen- ger of the Moft High, he comes, then, for the fole purpofc of manitefling to idolatrous nations the unity ot the divine efience. But, befides that his miflion principally regards the Jews, who, tor a long time pad, had not returned to idolatry, and, confequently, needed not that God fliould raife up a prophet to reclaim them from an error oi which they were not guilty, and a prophet whom they were taught from the beginning of the world to expe6l as the Jight ot Ifrael, and the Redeemer of his people , and, be- fides, in what manner doth Jefus Chrift fulfil his minifcry, and what is his language with regard to the fupreme Being ? Mofcs and the propb.ets, charged with the fame mifhon, never ceafe to proclaim that the Lord was one and the fame ; that it was impious to compare him to the fimi- litude of the creature ; and that they themfelves were on- Iv his fervants and mefTengers, viie inflruments in the hands of a God, who, through them operated great things. No dubious exprefTion efcapes from their mouth on fo efTential a point of their miflion ; no comparifon of themfelves to to the fupreme Being, always dangerous, in confcquenc**

39.4

SERMON Xir.

of the natural tendency of man to proftitute his homages to men, and to raife up for himfelf palpable and vifible gods ; no equivocal term which might have blended them- selves with the Lord, in whofe name they fpake, and have given birth to a fuperilition and an idolatry, to combat which they only came.

But, if Jefus Chrift be only a melTenger fuch as they were, with how much lefs fidelity doth he fulfil his minif- try ! He continually fays that he is equal to his Father ; he acquaints us, that he hath come down from heaven, and that he hath quitted the bofom of God ; that he was before Abraham ; that he was before all things, that the Father and he are one : that eternal life confifts in the knowledge of the Son, as well as in the knowledge of the Father ; that whatever is done by the Father the Son alfo doth. Had any prophet, down to Jefus Chrift, fpoken in a language fo new, fo ftrange, fo difrefpe6llul towards the fuprcme God ; and who, far from rendering glory to God as the author of every good gift, hath attributed to his own effi- ciency the great things which the Lord had deigned to ope- rate through his miniftry. Every where he compares him- fclt to the fovereign God ; on one occafion, indeed, he fays that the Father is greater than he ; but what language is that, if he be not himfelf a God manifefled in flelli ? And would we not confider as a fool any man who fhould ferioufly tell us that the fuprerae Being is greater than he ? Even to dare to compare himfelf with the divinity, is it not equal- ling himfelf to him ? Is there any proportion either of greater or lefs betwixt God and man, betwixt the whole and nothing ? But what do I fay ? Jefus Chrift is not con- tent with faying that he is equal to God : he even juftifies the novelty of thefe expreffions againft the murmurings of the Jews who are offended at them ; far from clearly

undeceiving

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 39^'

i^ndeceiving them, he confirms them in the ofFence : on every occafion he affefts a language, which, unlefs cleared up and juftified by his equality to his Father, becomes ci- ther foolifh or impious. If he be not God, what came he to do upon the earth ? He comes to fcandalife the Jews, by giving them room to believe that he compares himfeli: to the mod High : he comes to feduce nations, by procur- ing to himfelf the adoration of the whole earth after his death : he comes to fpread frefh obfcurity over the uni- verfe, and not, as he hath vaunted, to fpread underftand- ing, light, and the knowledge of God. What ! my bre- thren, Paul and Barnabas rend their garments when they are taken for gods ; they loudly proclaim to the people who xvifhed to offer up viftims to them : Worfliip the Lord alone; whofe fervants and miniftcrs we are. The angel im the Revelation, when St. John proftrates himfelf to wor- fliip him, rejefls the homage with horror, and fays to him : •♦ Worfhip God alone ; I am only thy fellov.'-fervant, and •' of thy brethren that have the teftimony of Jefus." And Jeius Chrift tranquilly fufiers, that they render divine hon- ours to him ! And Jefus Chrill praifej the faith of the dif- cip'les who worfhip him, and who, with Thomas, call him their Lord and their God ! And Jefus Chriff ever confutes his enemies who contefl his divinity and divine origin! Is he then lefs zealous than his difciples for the glory of him who fends him ? Or is it a matter of Icfs importance to him pointedly to undeceive the people on a miflake foinjuriow» to the fupreme Being, and v/hich in Ja6i, deftroys the whole fruit of his miniilry ?

Yes, my brethren, what bleffing hath the coming of Je- fus Chrift brought to the world, if thofe who worfhip him be idolatrous and profane ? All who have believed in him have worfiiipped him as the eternal Son of the Fatlier, the

VpL. II. Y y image

^$ Sermon xii.

image of his fubftance, and the fplendour of his glory. There is but a fmall number of men in Chriflianity, who, though they acknowledge him as a meffenger of God, yet refufe to him divine honours : even this feft univerfally banifhed, and execrable even in thofe places where every error finds an afylum, is reduced to a few obfcurs and concealed fol- lowers ; every where punifhed as an impiety from the in- iîant that it dares to avow itfelf ; and forced to hide itfclf in obfcurity, and in the extremities of the moft dillant provinces and kingdoms. Is it, then, that numerous peo- ple of every tongue, of every tribe, and of every nation, which Jefus Chrift came to form upon the earth ? Is it a jerufalem, formerly barren, and become fruitful, which was to contain tribes and nations in its bofom, and where the mofl diftant ifles, princes, and kings, were to come to worfhip ? Are thefe the grand advantages which the world was to reap from the miniflry of Jefus Chrift ? Is this then, that abundance of g/ace, that plenitude of the fpirit of God flied over all men, that univerfal regenera- tion, that fpiritual and lafting reign which the prophets had foretold with fuch majefty, and which was to attend the coming ol the Redeemer ? What ! my brethren, an expectation fo magnificent is then reduced to the mifera- ble fight of the world plunged into a new idolatry ? That event, fo bleffed tor the earth, promifed for fo many ages, announced with fo much pomp, fo earneftly longed for by all the righteous, and held out from afar to the whole univerfe as its only refource, was then to corrupt and to pervert it for ever ? That church, fo fruitful, of which kings and Cefars, at the head oi their people, were to be the children, was then to contain, in its bofom, only a fmall number of men, equally odious to heaven and to the earth, the difgrace of nature and of religion, and obliged to feek, in obfcurity, a ilielter for the horror of

their

THE DIVIMITY OF JESOS tHRIST. 39;r

their blafphemy ? And all the future magnificence of the gofpcl was then to be limited to the formation of the de- teflable fe£lx>f an impious Socinus ?

O God ! how wife and reafonable doth the faith of thy «hurch appear, when oppofed to the abfurd contradiftions of unbelief ! And how confoling for thofe who believe in Jefus Chrifl, and who place their hope in him, to behold the abyfTes which pride digs for itfelf when it pretends to open new ways, and to fan the only foundation of the faith and of the hope of Chrillians.

Behold, my brethren, how the tlo6lrine of Jefus Chrifl with relation to his Father, eflablifhes the glory of his eter- nal origin. Thus, when the prophets fpeak of the God of heaven and of the earth, their exprefTions are too weak for the magnificence and the grandeur of their ideas. Full of the immcnfity, the omnipotence, and the majcfly of the fupreme Being, they exhauft the weaknefs of the hu- man language in order, if pofTible, to correfpond with the fubJimity of thefe images. That God, is he who mea^ fures the waters of the ocean in the hollow of his hand, who weighs the mountains in his balance, in whofe hands are the thunders and the tempefts, who fpeaks and all is done ; who amufes himfelf in upholding the univerfe. Ir, was natural for fimple men to fpeak in this manner of the glory of the mod High ; the infinite difproportion betwixt the immenfity of the fupreme Being and the weaknefs of the human mind mufl ffrike, dazzle and confound it ; and the mofl pompous exprefTions are too feeble to convev its af- tonifhment and admiration.

But, when Jefus Chrift fpeaks of the glory of the Lord, it is no longer in the pompous ftile of the prophets; he

39B SERMON XÎI.

calls him an holy Father, a righteous Father, a merci fui Tather, a Shepherd who purfues a ftrayed fiieep, and kindly bears it home himfelf ; a Friend who yields to the impor- tunities of his friend ; a Father feelingly afFefted with the return and the amendment of his Son : it is clearly feen that this is a Child who fpeaks a domeftic language; that the familiarity and the fimplicity of his exprefîions fuppofe in him a fublimity of knowledge which renders the idea of the fupreme Being familiar to him, and prevents him from being ftruck and dazzled, as we are, with his majefty and glory ; and, laftly, that he only fpeaks of what is laid open to his view, and which he poiTefTcs himfelf. A perfon is much lefs ftruck with the eclat of titles which he has borne, as I may fay, from his birth : the children of kings fpeak, without emotion, of fceptres and crowns ; and it is like- tvife the eternal Son alone of the living God who can fpeak fo familiarly of the glory of God himfelf.

Behold, my brethren, feeing we participate with Jefus Ch'rift in all his blelTmgs, the right which he hath acquired for us, of confidering God as our Father, of daring to call ourfelves his children, and of loving rather than of fear- ing him. Neverthelefs, we fer^e him like flaves and heir- lings : we dread his chaftifements ; but we are little affe£ied by his love and his promifes : his law fo righteous, fo holy, has nothing pleafing for us ; it is a yoke which op- prefies us, which excites our murmurs, and which we would foon free ourfelves from were our tranfgrefhons againft it to go unpunifhed : nothing is heard but complaints againft the feverity of its precepts, but contentions in order tofup- port the propriety of thofe foftenings which the world al- ways mingles with their praftice : in a word, were he not an avenging God we would never confefs him ; and it is to his jullice and to his chaftilements alone that he is indebt- ed for our refpeft and homages.

But

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. jQjf

But die doftrine of Jefus Chrift, with relation to men, whom he came to inflru6l, doth not lefs ellablifh the truth of his divine birth. For I fpeak not here of wifdom, the fanftity, and the fublimity of that doftrine : in it, every thing i5 worthy of reafon, and of the foundeft philofophy : every thing is proportioned to the wretchednefs and to the excellency of man, to his wants and to his exalted lot ; every thing there infpires contempt for perilhable things, and the love of eternal riches : every thing maintains good order, and the peace and tranquillity of ftates : every thing there is grand, becaufe every thing is true ; the glory of the deeds is more real and more fliining in the heart than the deeds themfelves. The wife man of the gofpel feeks, from his virtue here below, only the falis- fa&ion of obeying God, who will one . day amply re- compenfe him for it, and he prefers the teftimony of his own confcience to all the applaufcs of men : he is greater than the entire world, through his exalted faith ; and he is below the lead oi men, through the modclly oi" his fentiments. His virtue feeks not, in pride, the indem- nity of its fuflerings ; that is the firit enemy which it attacks ; and, in that divine philofophy, the mofl heroical a61ions are nothing, from the moment that we count them as any thing ourfelves ; it confidcrs glory as an error, profperity as a misfortune elevation as a preci- pice, affliftions as favours, the earth as a place of exile- ment, a'l that happens as a dream. What is this new lan- guage ? What man prior to Jefus Chrift had ever fpokcn in this manner? And if his difciples, merely in confe- quence of having announced this divine doÊlrine, were taken by a whole people for gods defcended upon the earth, what worfhip fhall they have it in their power to refufe to him. who is the autb.or of it, and in whofe name they an- nounce it ?

But

^00 SERMON Xn.

But, let us leave thefe general reflétions, and corne to the more precife duties of that love and dépendance which his doftrine exafts ot men with regard to himfelf. He commands us to love him, as he commands us to love his Tather : he infifts that we dwell in him, that is to fay, that •we eltablifh ourfelves in him, that we feek our happinefs in him, as in his Father; that we dire6l all our aélions, all our thoughts, all our defires, that we direfl ourfelves to his glory, as to the glory of his Father ; fins themfelves are not remitted but to thofe who fincerely love him ; and all the righteoufnefs of the juft, and the reconciliation of the fmner, are the eifefls of the love which we have for him, What is the m.an who comes to ufurp the place of God in our hearts ? Is a creature worthy of being loved for itfelf, and every noble and eflimable quality which it may pofTefs, is it not the fole gift of him who alone is woitby of all love ?

What prophet prior to Jefus Chrifl had ever fpokea thus to men : You fiiall love me ; whatever you do, you fhall do it for my glory. You fliall love the Lord your God, faid Mofes to the children of Ifrael. Nothing is amiable in itfelf but what can beffow happinefs upon us : now, no creature can be our happinefs or our perfeQion : no creature, confequ^ntly, is worthy of being loved for itfelf ; it would be an idolatry. Any man, who comes to propofc himfelf to men as the objefi of their love, is im- pious, and an impofior who feeks. to ufurp the mofl effen- tial right of the fupreme Being : he is a monfler of pride and folly, who wants to ereft altars to himfelf, even in hearts, the only fanéluary which the divinity had never yielded up to profane idols. The doflrine of Jefus Chrifl, that doftrine fo divine, and fo much admired even by the pagans, would no longer, in that cafe, be but a monflrous

mixtuiie

THE DVINITY OF JESUS CIIRIT. ijOt

mixture of impiety, of prefumption, and of folly, if, not being himfelf the God bleffed in all ages, he had made that love which he exafted of his difciplcs, the mofl efiential precept of his morality ; and it would be a ridiculous mark of oftentation in him, to have held himfelf out to men as a model oi humility and modefly, while, in faft, he was carrying prefumption and unlimited compliance to a de- gree far beyond all the proudefl philofophers, who had never afpired to more than the efteem and the applaufes of men.

Nor is this all : not only Jefus Chrifl; infifts that we love him, buthealfo exafts oï men marks of the moft difinter- efted and moft heroical love. He infills that we love him more than our relations, than our friends, than our fortune, than our life, than the whole world, than ourfelves; that we fuffer all for his fake, that we renounce all for him, that we fhed, even to the lafl drop of our blood for him : whoever renders not to him thefe grand homages, is un- worthy of him : whoever puts him in competition with any creature, or with himfelf, infults and diihonours him, and forfeits every pretenfion to his promifes.

What ! my brethren, he is not fatisfied, as the idols, and even the true God himfelf had appeared to be, with the facrifices of goats and bulls ? He carries his préten- dons ftill further, and requires of man the facrifice of him- felf; that he fly to gibbets ; that he offer himfelf to death and to martyrdom for the glory of his name ! But, if he be not the Mafter of our lite, by what right doth he exa6t it of us ? If our our foul be not originally come from him, is it to him that we ought to return it ? Is that regain- ing it, to have loft it for his fake ? If he be not the Author of Dur being, do we not become facrilegious and mur- derer».

4^2

SERMON xir;-

derers when we facrince ourfelves for his glory, and when we transfer to a creature, and to a fimple meffenger oi God the grand facrifice of our being, folely deflined to con- fefs the fovereignty and the power ot the eternal Maker, who hath drawn us from nothing ? That Jefus Chrift die himfeif, well and good, for tiie glory of God, and even that he exhorts us to follow his example ; many prophets before him had died for the Lord's fake, and had exhorted their difciples to walk in their Reps. But that Jefus Chrift, if he be not God himfeif, fhould order us to die for himfeif, fhould exa6f; of men that laft proof of love ; that he fhould command us to offer up a life for him which we hold not of him ; is it poflible that men fhould have ever exiffed upon the earth fo vulgar and fo flupid as to al- low themfelves to be led away by the extravagance of fuch a doftrine ? Is it pofFible that maxims fo ridiculous and fo impious fhould have been able to triumph over the whole univerfe, to overthrow all fe£ls, to recal all minds, and to prevail over every thing which had hitherto appeared exalted, either in learning, in doftrine, or in the wifdom of the earth ? And, if we confider as barbarians thofe fa- vage nations who make a facrifice of themfelves upon the tombs and aflies of their relations and friends, why fhould we view,~ in a more refpeéfable light, thofe difciples of Jefus Chrift who have facrificed themfelves for his fake? And fhall not his religion be equaUy a religion of barbari- ty and of blood ?

Yes, my brethren, the Agnes', the Lucias, theAgathas, thofe firft martyrs of faith and of modefty, would then have facrificed themfelves to a mortal man ? And, in pre- ferring to fhed their blood rather than to bend the knee be- fore vain idols, they would have fhunned one idolatry only in order to fall into another more comdenuiable, in dying

ier

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRtSt. ^03

for Jefus Chrift ? The generous avowers of faith would then have been only a fet ot defperate and fanatical men, who, like madmen, had run to death? The tradition ot the martyrs would then be n^ longer but the lift ot an im- pious and bloody fcene ? The tyrants and perfecutors Would then have been the defenders of righteoufnefs, and of the glory of the divinity ? Chriftianity itfelf a facrile- gious and profane fefl ? The human race would then have totally erred ? And the blood of the martyrs, far from hav- ing been the feed of believers, would have anfwered the fole purpofeof inundating the whole univerfe with fuperfti- lion and idolatry ? O God ! can the ear of man liften to fuch blafphemies without horror ? And what more is necefTary to overthrow unbelief than to fhew it to itfelf ?

Such are our firft duties towards Jefus Chrift ; to facri- fîce to him our inclinations, our friends, our relations, our fortune, our life itfelf, and, in a word, whatever may ftand in the way of our falvation ; it is to confefs his divinity; it is to acknowledge that he alone can f upply the place of all that we forfake for him, and render to us even more than we quit, by giving to us himfelf. It is he alone, fays the apoftle John, who contemns the world and all its pleafures, who confeffes that Jefus Chrift is the Son of God, becaufe he thereby pronounces that Jefus Chrift is greater than the world, more capable of rendering us happy, and confe- quently more worthy of our love.

But it is not fufRcient to have confidered the fpirit of the miniftry of Jefus Chrift in his doftrine ; it is neceflary to confider it, fecondly, in the fpecial favours and bleflings which the univerfe has received from him. He came to deliver all men from eternal death ; from enemies of God, as they were, he hath rendered them his children : he hath

Vol. II. Z z fecured

^04 SERMON xir.

fecLired to them the poircflîon of the kingdom of God, and of immiUable riches ; he hath brought to them the knowledge of falvation and the dyftrine of truth. Thefe gifts, fo magnificent, have n»', tnded even with him ; feat- ed on the r\ii}M hand of his Father, he Ilill ftieds them over our hearts ; al! our miferies ftill find their rem.edy in him : he rDurifiiPs us with his body ; he waflies us from our ilains by continually applying to us the price of his blood ; he forms paftors to condu6l us ; he infpires prophets to in- iirufl us ; he fan6lifîes righteous charaftcrs to animate us by their example ; he is continually pref'ent in our hearts to comfort all their wants : man hath no pafTion which his grace doth not cure, no affliftion which it doth not render pieafing, no power but what fprings from him; in a word^ he afTures us himfelf that he is our way, our truth, cur life, our righteoufnefs, our redemption, our light. What new doftrine is this ? Can a fingle man be the fource of fo many benefits to other men ? Can the fovereign God, fo jealous of his glory, attach us to a creature, by duties and ties fo intimate and facred, that we depend almofl more up- on that creature than upon himfelf ? Would there be no daiiger that a man, become fo beneficial and fo neceffary to other men, fhould at laft become their idol ? That a man, author and difpenferof fo many bleffings, and v/ho difchar- ges, with '•egard to us, the office and all the functions of a go(|, fiioi'-ld likcwile in a little time, occupy his place in our hearts ?

For obferve, my brethren, that it is gratitude aloner which hath formerly made fo many gods. Men, negle61:- ing the Author of their being and of the univerfe, wor- Iliipped, at firll, the air which enabled them to live, the earth which nourifhed them, the fun which gave them light, and the moon which prefidcd over the night : fuch

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 465

were their Cybclcs, their ApoUos, their Dianas. They worfhipped thofe conquerors who had delivered them from their enemies ; thofe benevolent and upright princes Vv^ho had rendered their fubjefts happy, and the memory of their immortal reign ; and Jupiter and Hercules were placed in the rank oF gods, the one ior the number ot his vi6iories, and the other in confequence of the happinefs and tran- quilHty ot his reign : in the ages of fuperftition and cre- dulity, men knew no other gods than thofe who were fcr- viceable to them. And fuch is the charaiElcr of man; his worfhip is but his love and his gratitude.

Now, what man hath ever benefited mankind fo much as Jefus Chrift ? Rccolleclall that the pagan ages have told vis ot the hiflory of their gods, and fee if they believed themfelves indebted to them what unbeMef itfcif acknow- ledges, with the holy books, the world to be indebted to Jefus Chrift. To fome they thought themfelves indebt- ed for favourable winds and a fortunate navigation ; to others for the fertility of feafons ; to their Mars for fuc- cefs in battle ; to their Janus for the peace and the tran- quillity of the people ; to Efculapius' for their healtl). — But what are thefe weak benefits, if you compare them to thofe which Jefus Chrift hath fhov.'ered upon the earth ? He hath brought to it an eternal peace, a lafting happinefs, righteoufnefs and truth ; he hath made of it a new world and a new earth ; he hath not loaded a fnigle people with his benefits, he hath loaded all nations, the whole univerfe ; and what is more, he hath become our benefaftor only by fuffering as our victim. What could he do more exalted or more noble for the earth ? If grati- tude hath made gods, could Jefus Chrift rail to find wor- fhippers among men ? And, were it polhble that any ex- cefs could take place in our love and in our gratitude to

him,

^06 SERMON XÎÎ,

him, was it at ail proper that we fhould be fo deeply indebt, ed to him ?

Again, if Jefus Chrifl, in dying, had informed his dif» ciples that to the Lord alone they were indebted for fo ma^ ny benefits, that he himfelf had been merely the inftru, ment, and not the author and fource of all thefe fpecial fa^ vours, and that they ought, confequently, to forget him, and to render to God that glory which was due to him alone : but very differently than with fuch inftruftions doth Jefus Chrift terminate his wonders and his miniftry. He not only requires that his difciples forget him not, and that they do not ceafe, even alter his death, to hope in him ; but, on the point of quitting them, he affures them that, even to the confummation of time, he will be prcfent with them ; he promifcs Hill more than he hath already bellowed upon them, and attaches them for ever to himfelf by in^ diiïolublc and immortal ties.

In effc6l, the promifes which, in that laft moment, ha makes to them, are ftill more aflonifhing than all the fa- vours he had granted to them during his life. In Ùïçjirjl place, he promifes to them the confoling Spirit, which he calls the Spirit oi his Father ; that Spirit, of the truth which the world cannot receive ; that Spirit of energy which was to form the martyrs ; that Spirit of intelligence which was to enlighten the prophets ; that Spirit of wifdom whicii was to conduft the paflors ; that Spirit of peace and of charity which, of all believers, was to make only- one heart and one foul. What right hath Jefus Chrifl over the Spirit of God, to difpofe of it at his pleafure, and to promife it to men, if it be not his own Spirit ; Elijah, af, cending to heaven, looks upon it as a thing hardly pof-, fible to promife to Elifeus, individually, his twofold

fpidt

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CIIRKT. ^0/

fpirit of zeal and prophecy : how far was he from promifing to him the eternal Spirit of the heavenly Fa- ther, that Spirit ot liberty which agitates where he thinks fit ! Neverthelefs, the promifes ot Jefus Chrift are ac- complifiied ; fcarcely hath he afcended to heaven when the Spirit of God defccnds upon the difciplcs ; the illite- rate become at once more learned than all the fages and philofophers ; the weak more powerful than tlie tyrants ; the foolilh, according to the world, more prudent than all the wifdom of the age. New men, animated with a new- Spirit, appear upon the earth ; they attraél all to walk in their fteps : they change the face of the univerfe ; and, even to the end of ages, (hall that Spirit animate his church, form righteous fouls, overthrow the unbelieving, confole his difciples, fuftain them amid perfecutions and difgraces, and fhall bear witnefs in the bottom of their heart that they are children of God, and that they are en- titled, through that augufl title, to more real and more fo- lid riches than all thofe of which the world can ever def- poil them.

Secondly, Jefus Chrift promifes to his difciples the keys of heaven and of hell, and the power of remitting fins. What ! my brethren, the Jews are deeply offended when he pretends to remit them himfelf, and when he feems to attribute to himfelf a power referved to God alone ; but, how will all nations of the earth be fcandalifed when they fhall read, in his gofpel, that he hath even delegated this power to his difciples ? And, if he be not God, hath the mind of man ever imagined fuch an inftance of temerity and folly ? What right, in effeft, hath he over confciences, to bind or to unbind them at his pleafure, and to transfer to weak men a power Vv'hich he himfelf could not exercife without blafphemy.

Thirdly,

408 SERMON xir.

Thirdly, Bat this is not all ; he promifes to his difci- ples the gift likewife of miracles ; that, in his name, they fliouM raife up the dead ; that they fhould reftore fight to tlie blind, health to the fick, and fpeech to the dumb ; that they fliould be matters of all nature. Mofes pro- mifes not to his difciples the gifts with which the Lord had favoured him : he is fenfible that the power is not his own, and that the Lùrd alone can beftow it on whomfo- ever he may think fit. Thus, after his death when Jo- ihua arrefts the fun in the middle of his courfe, in or- der to complete the vi£lory over the enemies of the peo- ple of God, it is not in the name of Mofes that he com- mands that planet to ftand ftill ; it is not of him that he holds the power of making even the ftars obedient to him ; when he wiflies to exercife it, it is not to him that he addref- fes himfelf : but the difciples of Jefus Chrifl can operate nothing but in the name of their Mafter ; it is in his name that they raife up the dead and make the lame to walk ; and, without the affiftance of that divine name, they are equally weak as the refl of men. The miniftry and the power of Mofes terminate with his life ; the miniftry and the power of Jefus Chrift only begin, as I may fay, after his death, and we are afTured that his reign is to be eternal.

What more fliali I fay ? He promifes to his difciples the converfjon of the univerfe, the triumph of the crofs, the compliance of all the nations of the earth, of philofo- phers, of Cefars, of tyrants ; and that his gofpel fliall be received by the whole world : but, doth he hold the hearts of all men in his hands thus to anfwer for a change of which the world had hitherto had no example ? You will, no doubt, tell us, that God layeth open the future to his fervant. But you are miftaken : if he be not God, he is not even a prophet ; his prédirions are dreams and chime- ras :

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 40iy

ras : it is a ialfe fpirit which feduces him, and which is con- cerned in his knowledge oi the future, and the fequel hath belled the truth of his promifec : he prophecies thst all na- tions, feated under the (hadow of death, fhall open their eyes to the light ; and he fees not that they are on the point of falling into a more criminal blindnefs in worftipping him : he pro- phecies that his Father Ihall be glorified, and that his gofpcl fhall every where form to him worlhippers in fpirit and in truth ; and he fees not that men are going for ever to dif- honourhim, in placing upon an equality with him, even to the end of ages, that Jefus who ought to have been con- fidered only as his fervant and prophet : he prophecies that idols fhall be overthrov/n ; and he fees not that he himfelf fhall occupy their place : he prophecies that he will form to himfelf an holy people of every tongue and of every tribe; and he fees not that he comes only to form a new people of idolaters of every nation, who fhall place him in the tem- ple as the living God ; whofe aftions, v/orfhip, and homages fhall all be direfted to him; who fhall do all for his glory ; who fhall depend folely upon him, live only for and through him, and have neither force nor energy but what they re- ceive from him : in a word who fhall worfliip him, who fliall love him a thoufand times more fpiritually, more inti- mately, and more univerfally, than ever the pagans had worfhipped their idols. This, then, is not even a prophet; and his relations, according to the flefh, are guilty of no blafphemy when they fay " he is befide himfelf," and that he beftows, on the dreams of an heated imagination, all the weight and reality of revelations and myfleries.

Behold to what unbelief condu6ls. Overturn the foun- dation, which is the Lord Jefus, eternal Son of the livino- God, and the whole edifice tumbles in pieces : take away the grand my fiery of piety, and all the religion is but a

dream :

^10 SERMON XII.

dream : deny the divinity of Jefiis Chrift, and you cut off» from the doélririe of Chriftians, a!! the merit of faith, all the confolation of hope, all the motives of charity. Thus^ with v/haL zeal did not the firft difciples of the gofpel op- pofe thofe impious men who, from that time, ventured to attack the glory of their Mailer's divinity ? They well knew that it was flriking at the heart of their religion ; that it was ravifhing from them the only alleviation or their per- fecutions and fufFerings, all confidence in the promifes to come, and all the dignity and grandeur of their pretenfions; and that, that principle once overthrown, the whole reli- gion difTipated in {"moke, and was no longer but a human doftrine and the feft of a mortal man, who like all other chiefs, had left nothing but liis name to his difciples.

Thus, the pagans themfelves then reproached the Chrif- tians with rendering divine honours to their Chriff. Pliny, a Roman proconful celebrated for his works, giving an ac- count to the emperor Trajan of their morals and doftrine ; after being forced to confefs that the Chriftians were pious, innocent, and upright men, and that they afTembled before the rifing of the fun, not to concert the commifTion of crimes, or to difturb the peace of the empire, but to live in piety and righteoufnefs, to deleft frauds, adulteries, and even the coveting of the wealth of others ; he only re- proaches them with chaunting hymns in honour of their Chriff, and of rendering to him the fame homages as to a god. Now, if thefe firft believers had not ren- dered divine honours to Jefus Chrifl, they would havejuf- tified themfelves againft that calumny ; they would have re- jefted that fcandal from their religion, almoft the only one which fhocked the zeal of the Jews and the wifdom of the Gentiles : they would openly have faid : We do not wor- fhip Jefus Chrifl ; for we know better than to transfer to a

creature

TrtE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST* 411

^feature that honour and worfliip which are due to God alone. Neverthelefs, they make no reply to this accufation». Their apologifts refuté all the other calumnies with which the pagans endeavoured to blacken their doftrine ; they clear up and overthrow the flighteilaccufations ; and their apologies, addrefled to the fenate, attraft to them even the admiration of Rome, and impofe filence on their enemies. And, upon the accufation of idolatry towards Jefus Chrift, which fhould be the moft crying and the moft horri- ble ; upon the reproach of worfhipping a crucified per- fon, which was the moft likely to difcredit them, and which ought indeed to have been the moft grievous to men fo holy, fo declared againft idolatry, and fo jealous of the glory of Ood, they are totally filent ; and, far from defending them- felves, they even juftify the accufation by their filence: What do 1 fay, by their filence ? They authorife it by their language in profeffing to fuffer for his name, in dying for him, in confefling him before the tyrants, in joyfully ex- piring upon gibbets, in the fweet expe£lation oi going to enjoy him, and oi receiving, in his bofom, a more immor- tal lite than that which they had loft for his glory. They fuffered martyrdom rather tha» bend to the ftatue of the Cefars, rather than allow their pagan friends, through a human compaffion, and to fave them from torture, to falfely atteft, before the magiftrates, that they had offered incenfe to the idols, and they would have fubmitted to the accufation of paying divine honours to Jefus Chrift, with- out any attempt to deftroy the imputation ? Ah ! they would have proclaimed the contrary from the houfe tops ; they would have expofed themfelves even to death, rather than to have given room to fo hateful and fo execrable a fufpicion. What can unbelief oppofe to this ? And if it be an error to equal Jefus Chrift to God, it is an error which has been born with the church, and upon which the whole Vol. II. A 3 ftruaure

413

SERMON XÎI.

ftruQure hatli been reared ; which has formed fo many mar« tyrs, and converted the whole univerfe.

But what fruit, my brethren, are we to draw from this •difcourfe ? That Jefus Chriil is the grand objetl of Chrif- tian piety. Neverthelefs, fcarcely do we know Jefus Chrift : we never confider that all the other praftices of piety are, as I may fay, arbitrary ; but, this is the ground-work of faith and of falvation ; that this is pure and fincere piety ; that, continually to meditate upon Jefus Chrift, to have re- •courfe to him, to nourifh ourfelves with his do61rine, to enter into the fpirit of his myfteries, to ftudy his a6lions, to count foleiy upon the merit of his blood and of his fa- crifice, is the only true knowledge, and the moft elfential duty of the believer. Remember then, my brethren, that piety towards Jefus Chrifl is the cordial fpirit of the Chrif. tian religion ; that nothing is folid but what you ftiall build upon that foundation ; and that the principal homage which he expefts of you is, that you become like him, and that his life be the model of your own, in order that, through your refemblance to him, you may be included in the num- ber of thofe who fhall be partakers of his glory.

SFRMON

SERMON XIIL

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS,

John xi. 34. Corne and Jce.

X HE moft hardened finner could never fubmlt to the hor* ror of his fit nation, were he able to fee and to know hira- feli fuch as he is. A foul, grown old in guilt, is only bearable to itfelf, becaufethat the fame pafiion, from which all his miferies fpring, conceals them from him, and that his diforder is, at the fame time, both the weapon which inflifts the wound, and the fatal bandage which hides «it from the eys of the patient.

Behold wherefore the church, in order to lay the finner open to himfelf during this time of penitence, almoft con- tinually difplays to us, under various images, the deplora- ble ftate of a foul who has grown old in his iniquity : one •while under the figure ot a paralytic young man ; that is, to mark to us the infenfibility and fatal eafe which always fol- low habitual guilt : another, under the fyjnbol of a prodi- gal reduced to feed with the vileft animals ; and, under thefe traits, it wifhes to make us feel his abafement and his infa- my : again, under the image ot a perfon born blind ; and that is in ordej to paint to us the depth and the horror of

his

'1*

414 SERMON XIII.

his blindnefs : and, laftly, under the parable of a deaf and dumb perfon poffefled with a devil ; and that is, more ani- matedly to figure to us the fubjeftion under which habitual guilt holds all the powers of an unfortunate foul.

To day, in order as it were, to afTemble all thefe traits under a fingle image ftill more terrible and ftriking, the church propofes to us Lazarus in the tomb, dead lor four days, emitting flench and infeftion, bound hand and foot, his lace covered with a napkin, and exciting only horror even in thofe whom affe£lion and blood had moll clofely united to him in life,

Come then and fee, you, my dear hearer, who live, for fo many years paft, under the fhameful yoke ot diflipation, and who are infenfible to the mifery of your fituation. Approach this tomb which the voice oi Jefus Chrift is now to open before your eyes ; an !, ite that fpeftacle ot infec- tion and putrefaélion, behold the true picture of your foul. You fly to profane fpe6lacles, in order to fee your paflions reprefented under pleafing and deceitful colours : approach, and fee them exprefled here fuch as they are : come, and, in that inleftious and {linking carcafe, behold what you are in the fight of God, and how much your fituation is worthy of your tears.

But, in expofing here only the horrible fituation oi a foul who lives in diforder, left I trouble and difcourage, without holding out to him a hand in order to affift him in quitting that abyfs ; that I may omit nothing of ourgofpel, I ftiall divide it into three refle£lioiîs; : in^iihefirft, you will fee how Liocking and deplorable is the fituation ot a foul who lives in habitual irregularity ; in the fécond, I fhall fliew to you the means by which he may quit it ; and, in the third,

what

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS, 4 15

what the motives are which determine Jefus Chrifl to ope- rate the miracle of his refurreftion and deliverance. O my God ! let thine all-powerful voice be now heard by thofe unfortunate fouls who fleep in the darknefs and fhadow ot death ; command ihefe withered bones once more to be ani- mated, and to recover that light and that lile of grace which they have lofl.

Reflection I. I remark, at firfl, three principal cir- cumftances in the deplorable fpe^lacle which Lazarus, dead and buried, offers to our eyes. i/?/y. Already become a mafs of worms and corruption, he fpreads infeftion and ftench : and behold the profound corruption of a foul in habitual fin. 2dty, A gloomy napkin covers his eyes and his face : and behold the fatal blindnefs of a foul in habit- ual fin. Lajlly, He appears in the tomb bound hand and foot : and behold the melancholy fubjeftion of a foul in habitual fin. Now, it is that profound corruption, that fatal blindnefs, and that melancholy fervitude, typified in the fpeftacle of Lazarus, dead and buried, which precifely form all the horror and all the wretchednefs of a foul long dead in the eyes of God.

In the firfl place, there is not a more natural image of a foul grown old in iniquity, than that ot a carcafe already a prey to worms and putrefaftion. Thus the holy books every where reprefent the flate of fin under the idea of a fhocking death ; and it feems as it the Spirit of God had found that melancholy image the moft calculated to give us, at leafl, a glimpfe of all the deformity of a foul in which fin dwells.

Now, two efFefls are produced on the body by death : It deprives it of life ; it afterwards alters all its features, and

corrupts

'^ÎÔ SERMON XIII.

corrupts all its lïiembers. It deprives it of Hie ; in the fafme manner it is that fin begins to disfigure the beauty of the foul. For, God is the lite cl our fouls, the light of our inirids, and the fpring, as I may fay, of our hearts. Our righteoufr.efs, our wifdoni, our truth, are only the union of a tighteous, wife, and true God with our foul : all our virtues are only the dificrent influences ot his Spiiit which dwells within us : it is he who exciteth our good defjres, who formeth our holy thoughts, who produceth ©ur pure lights, who opcratetî» our righteous propenfities ; infomuch that all the fplritual and fupernatural life of our foul is only, as tlic apoflle fpcaks, the life of God with- in us.

Now, by â fmgle fin that life ceafes, that light is extin- guifhed, that fpirit withdraws, all thcfe fpringsare fufpend- ed. Thus the foul, without God, is a foul without lite, without motion, light, truth, righteoufnefs, or charity ; it is no longer but a chaos, a dead body : its lite is no lon- ger but an imaginary and chimerical lite; and, like thofe inanimate fubflances fet in motion by a foreign influence, it feems lo live and to aft; but " it is dead while living."

Behold the linl degree of death which every fin that fep- arates a foul from God introduces into it ; but habitual fin, like inveterate death, goes further. Thus, Lazarus not only is without life in the tomb, but, having been there for four days, the corruption of his body begins to fpread infeéiion. For although the firft fin, which caufes the lofs of grace, leave us, in the eyes of God, without lite and without motion ; yet we may fay, that certain imprefTions of th.e Holy Spirit, certain feeds ot fpiritual lite, certain means of recovering the grace loft, flill remain to us. laith is not yet extinguiflied ; the feelings of virtue not

yet

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 417

yet effaced ; a fenfe of the truths of falvation nob yet loft : it is a dead body in truth ; but, lite being only juft with- drawn, it Hill preferves, I know not what, of marks of warmth, which feem to fpring from fome remain of life. But, in proportion as the foul remains in death, and perfe- veres in gtnit, grace withdraws ; all extinguiihes, all chan- ges, all corrupts, and its cotruption becomes univerfal.

I fay univerfal ; yes, my brethren, all changes, all cor- rupts in the foul, through a continuance of diforder; the gifts of nature, gentlenei's, reftitude, humanity, modefty, even the mental talents ; the blelTuigs of grace, the feelings of religion, the remorfes of confcience, the terrors of faith, and faith itfelf ; the corruption penetrates all, and changes, into putrefaction and a fpeftacle of horror, both the gifts of heaven and the blcfiings of the earth : nothing remains in its original fituation ; the loveliefl features are thofe which become the mod hideous and the m.oll undiftinguifha- ble ; the charms of wit become the feafoning of debauche- ry and the paffions ; feeling-s of religion are changed into free-thinking ; fuperiority of knowledge into pride, and a vain and (hocking phiiofophy ; nobility of mind isno.longer but a boundlefs ambition ; generohty and tendernefs of heart but a yielding to the fway of impure and profane connexions ; the principles of glory and honour, handed down to us with the blood of our anceftors, but a vain of- tentation, and the fource of all our hatreds and animofities ; our rank, our elevation, the caufe of our envies and mean jealoufies ; laftly, our riches and our profperity, the fatal inftrument of all our crimes.

But the corruption is not confined to the finner alone ; a dead body cannot be long concealed without a fmell of death being fpread around ; it is impoflSble to live long in

debauchery

4l8 SERMON Xlll.

debauchery without the fmell of a bad life making itfelf ielt. In vain is every precaution employed to conceal the ignominy ot a diforderly life; in vain is the fepulchre, full ol putrefaÊlion and infeftion, externally whitened and em- belliflied, the Itench fpreads ; guilt, fooner or later betrays itfelf ; a black and infeftious air always proceeds from that profane fire which, with fo much care was concealed. A diforderly lite betrays itfelf in a thoufand ways; the pub- lic, at laft undeceived, opens its eyes, and the more their charafter becomes blown, the more they difcover them» lelves ; they become accullomed to their fhame ; they be- ■come weary ot conftraint and decency : that guilt, which is only to be purchafed with attention and arrangements, appears too dear; they unmafk themfelves ; they throw off that remainder of reftraint and modefty which made us flill cautious of the eyes of men ; they wifti to riot in diforder, without precaution or care ; and, then, fervants, friends, connexions, the city and country, all feel the infeflion o£ their irregularities and example. Our rank, our elevation, no longer ferve but to render more ftriking and more du- rable the fcandal of our debaucheries : in a thoufand places our excefles ferve as a model : the view of our manners perhaps ilrengthens, in fecret, confciences whom guilt ilill rendered uneafy ; perhaps they even cite us, and make ufe ot our example in feducing innocence, and in coa- quering a Hill timorous modefty : and, even after our death, the fame of our debaucheries (hall (lain the hiftory of men ; iiiall perhaps embellifli lafcivious tales ; and, long after our day, in ages yet to come, the remembrance of our crimes Ihall (till be an occalion and a fource of guilt,

LaRly, But I would not dare to enlarge here, the corrup- tion which habitual guilt (beds through the whole interior ot the Cnner is fo uuiverfal, that even his body is infe^kd :

debauchery

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS, 419

debauchery leaves the fhameful marks of his irregularities on his flefh : the infeftion of his foul often extends even to a body which he has made fubfervient to ignominy. Hé fays, in advance to corruption, like Job, " thou art my " father ; and to the worm, thou art my mother and my " filler:'' the corruption of his body is a fhocking pidure of that oi his foul.

Great God ! can I then flatter myfelf that thou wilt yet caft upon me fome looks of compaflion ! Wilt thou not groan at the fight of that mafs of crimes and putrefac- tion which my foul prefents to thine eyes, as thou now groaneft in the fpirit over the tomb of Lazarus ? Ah ! avert thine holy eyes from the fpeftacle of my profound wretchednefs ; but, let me no more turn away from it my- felf, and let me be enabled to view myfelf with all that hor- ror which my fituation deferves : tear afunder the veil which hides me from myfelf ; my evils ffhall, in part, be done away from the moment that I fhall be able to fee and to know them.

And behold the fécond circumftance of the deplorable fit- uation of Lazarus ; a mournful cloth covers his face : that is the profound blindnefs which forms the fécond cha- racler of habitual fin.

I confefs that every fin is an error which makes us mif- take evil for good ; it is a falfe judgment which makes us feek, in the creature, that eafe, grandeur, and independ- ence which we can find in God alone : it is a mift which hides order, truth, and righteoufnefs from our eyes, and, in their place, fubftitutes vain phantoms. Neverthelefs, a firft falling off from God does not altogether extinguifli our lights ; nor is it always productive of total darknefs.

Vol. n. B 3 It

420

s t: R M o N xirt;

It is true that the fpirit of God, fource of all light, retires, and no longer dwells within us ; but fome traces of light are ftill left in the foul : thus, the fun already withdrawn from our hemifphere, yet certain rays of his light flill tinge the fky, and form as it were, an imperie£l day ; it is only in proportion as he finks that gloom gains, and the darknefs ot night at laft prevails. In the fame manner, in proportion as fin degenerates into habit, the light of God retires, darknefs gains, and the profound night of total blindnefs at laft arrives.

And then all becomes occafion of error to the criminal foul ; all changes its afpeft to his eyes ; the moft fhameful pallions no longer appear but as weaknefFes; the mofl cri- minal attachments but fympathies brought with us into the world and inherent to our hearts ; the excefles of the table but innocent pleafures of fociety ; revenge but a juft fenfe of injury ; licentious and impious converfations but lively and agreeable falHes ; the blacked defamation but a cuf- tomary language oi which none but weak and timid minds can make a fcruple ; the laws of the church but old-fafh- ioned culloms : the feverity of God's judgments but ab- lurd declamations which equally difgrace his goodnefs and mercy ; death in fin, inevitable confequence of a criminal life, mere prediftions, in which there is more of zeal than of truth, and refuted by the confidence which a return to God, previous to that laft moment, promifes to us ; laftly, heaven, the earth, hell, all creatures, religion, crimes, vir- tues, good and evil, things prefent and to come, all change their afpeft to the eyes ot a foul who lives in habitual guilt ; all fhew themfelves under falfe appearances ; his whole life is no longer but a delufion and a continued error. Alas ! could you tear away the fatal veil which covers your eyes, like thole of Lazarus, and behold your-

felf,

OK THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 42 1

felf, like him, buried in darknefs ; all covered with putre- fa£lion, and fpreading around inte61ion and a fnuell of death ! But now, fays our Saviour, all thefe things are hid from thine eyes; you fee in yourfelf only the embellifh- ments and the pompous externals of the fatal tomb in which you drag on in fin; your rank, your birth, your talents, your dignities, your titles ; that is to fay, the trophies and the ornaments which the vanity of men has there raifed up ; but, remove the ffone which covers that place of horror; look within, judge not of yourfelf from thefe pompous outfides, which ferve'only to embellifh your carcafe ; fee what, in the eyes of God, you are ; and, if the corruption and the profound blindnefs of your foul touch you not, let its flavery at leafl roufe and recal you to yourfelf.

Lafl circum fiance of the fituation of Lazarus dead and buried; he was bound hand and foot; and behold the im- age of the wretched flavery of a foul long under the do- minion of fm.

Yes, my brethren, in vain does the world decry a Chrif- tian life as a life of fubje6lion and flavery ; the reign of righteoufnefs is a reign of liberty; the foul, faithful and fubmiffive to God, becomes mafler over all creatures ; the juft man is above all, becaufe he is unconnefled with all ; he is mafter of the world, becaufe he defpifes the world ; he is dependent neither on his maflers, becaufe he only ferves them tor God ; nor on his friends, becaufe he only loves them according to the order of charity and of righte- oufnefs ; nor on his inferiors, becaufe heexafts from them no iniquitous compliance; nor on his fortune, becaufe he rather dreads it ; nor on the judgments of meiiy becaufe he dreads thofe oi God alone : nor on events, becaufe lie

confiders

42t SERMON XIII.

confiders them all as in the order ot providence ; nor even on his paffions, becaufe the charity which is within him is their rule and meafure. The jufl man alone, then, enjoys a perfeft liberty : fuperior to jhe world, to himfelt, to all creatures, to all events, he begins, even in this life, to reign with Jefus Chrift ; all is below him, while he is himfeli inferior to God alone.

But the Tinner, who Teems to live without either rule or reftraint, is, however, avileflave; he is dependant on all, on his body, on his propenfities, on his caprices, on his paffions, on his fortune, on his mailers, on his friends', on his enemies, on his rivals, on all Turrounding creatures; To many gods to which love oT fear fubjeft him ; To many idols which multiply his flavery, while he thinks himfelf more free by caflmg off that obedience which he owes to God alone ; he multiplies his matters, by refufing Tubmif- fion to him alone who renders free thofe who Terve him, and who gives to his Tervants dominion over the world and over every thing which the world contains.

You often complain, my dear hearer, of the hardfhips of virtue ; you dread a Chriflian life, as a life of Tubjeft- tion and forrow ; but what, in it, could you find To gloomy as you experience in debauchery ? Ah ! It you durft com- plain of the bitterneTs and of the tyranny of the paffions ; if you durfl confeTs the troubles, the difgufts, the frenzies, the anxieties of your foul ; if you were candid on the gloomy tranfa61:ions of your heart, there is no lot but what would appear preferable to your own ; but you diTguife the inquietudes of guilt which you feel ; and you exaggerate the hardlhips of virtue which you have never known. But, in order to hold out to you an affifting hand, let us continue the hiftory of our goTpel, and let us Tee, in the

reTurie£lion

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 420

lefurreflion of Lazarus, what arc the means offered to you, by the goodnefs ot God, of quitting fo deplorable a fit- nation.

Reflection II. The power of God, fays the apoflie, is lefs confpicuous in the converfion of Tinners tlian in raif- ing up the dead ; and the fame fupernatural power which wrought upon Jefus Chrift to deliver him from the tomb, ought to operate upon the foul long dead in fin, in order to recal it to the life of grace. I find there only this differ- ence, that the almighty voice of God meets no refiltance from the body which he revives and recalls to life ; on the contrary, the foul, dead and corrupted, as I may fay, through the long duration of guilt ; feems to retain a re- mainder of ftrength and motion only to oppofe that pow- erful voice which is heard even in the abyfs in which it is plunged, and which refounds tor the purpofe of reftoring it to light and life, Neverthelefs, however difficult may- be the converfion of a foul of this defcription, and how- ever rare fuch examples may be, the fpirit of God, in or- der to teach us never to defpair of divine mercy when we fincerely wifh to quit the ways of iniquity, points out to us at prefent, in the refurreftion of Lazarus, the means of accomplilhing it.

The firft is, confidence in Jefus Chrift : Lord, fays Ma- ry the fifter of Lazarus, it thou hadft been here my brother had not died ; but I know that, even now, whatfoeverthou wilt afk of God, God wilt give it thee. I am therefurrec- tion and the life, faid Jefus unto her ; believeft thou this ? Yes, Lord, faid the, I believe that thou art the Chrift the Son of God, which fhould com.e into the world. It is ihrough this that the miracle of railing up Lazarus begins.

iH

SERMON XIII.

viz. the perîeQ confidence that Jefus Chrifl is able to de- liver him from death and corruption.

For, my brethren, the delufion continually employed by the demon, in order to render our defires of converfion unavailing, and to counteract their progrefs, is that of defpondency and miflrufl: ; he warmly retraces to our ima- gination the horrors of an entire life of guilt : he fays to us, in fecret, that which the fiflers of Lazarus fay to Jefus Chrift, though in a different fenfe ; that we ought, at a much earlier period, to have checked our career ; that it is now impofhble, when fo far advanced, to return ; that the time for attempting a change is now pafl ; and that the virulen- ey and age of our wounds no longer admit a refourcc Upon this they abandon themfelves to languor and indo^ lence ; and, after having incenfed the righteoufnefs of God through our debaucheries, we infulthis mercy through the excefs of our miflrufl.

I confefs that a foul, long dead in fin, mufl fufTer much in returning to God ; that it is difficult, after fo many years of diffipation, to form to one's felf a new heart andjnew inclinations J and that it is even fit, that the obflacles, the fufFerings, and the difficulties which always attend the con- verfion of fouls of that defcription, fhould make great finners feel how dreadful it is to have been almoll a whole lite-time removed from God.

But I fay that, from the moment a truly contrite foul wiffies to return to him, his wounds however virulent or old, ought no longer to alarm his confidence : I fay that his wretchednefs ought to increafe his compunftion but not his defpondency : I fay that the firfl Hep of his penitence

ought

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 425

ought to be that of adoring Jefus Chrifl as the refurreftioii and the liie ; a fecret confidence that our wants are always lefs than his mercies ; a firm perfuafion that the blood of Jefus Chrift is more powerful in walhing out our ftains than our corruption can be in contra6ling them : I fay that the lewcr refources of ftrength a criminal foul may find in himfelf, the more ought he to expefl from him who taketh delight in rearing up the work of grace upon the nothing- liefs of nature ; and that the more he is inwardly oppofed to grace, the more does he, in one fenfe, become an obje6t worthy of divine power and mercy, for God wilheth that all good fhall evidently appear as coming irom above, and that man Ihall attribute nothing to himfelf.

And in effeft, my dear hearer, whatever may the horror of your pad crimes be, the Lord will not long retufe you grace, from the moment that he hath infpired you with the defire and the refolution of aflcing it. It is written in Judges, that the father of Sampfon, terrified by the appari- tion of the angel of the Lord, who, after announcing to him the birth of a fon, commanded him to offer up a facri- fice, and then, like a devouring fire, confumed the viftim and the pile, and vanilhed from his fight ; that, terrified, I fay, at that fpeftacle, he was convinced that both himfelif and his wife were to be ftruck with death becaufe they had feen the Lord. But his wife, holy and enlightended, con- demned his miftruft. If the Lord, faid Ihe to him, wilh- cd to deftroy us, he would not have made fire from heaven to defcend on our facrifice : he would not have accepted it from our hands ; he would not have difcovered to us his fecrets and his wonders, and what we had hitherto been ig- norant of.

And

^26

SERMON Xlil.

AncTbehold what I now anfwer to you. You believe vour death and your deflruftion to be inevitable ; the ftate of 3^our ccni'cience difcourages you ; in vain do fparks of grace and of light fall upon your heart ; in vain do they touch you, fclicit you, and almofl gain the point of confuming the facrifice of your paflionsj you perfuade yourfelf that you are lofl beyond rcfource. But, if the Lord wiftied to abandon and to deftroy you, he would not make fire from heaven to defcend upon your heart j he would not light up within you holy defires and fentiments of penitence : if he wifhed to let you die in the blindnefs of your paflions, he would not manifeft to you the truths of falvation ; he would not open your eyes on thofe miferies to come, which you prepare ior yourfelf. Befides, how do you know if Jefus Chrifl has not permitted your falling into fuch a de- plorable {late for the purpofe of making a prodigy of your converfion an incitement to the converfion of your bre* thren ? How do you know if his mercy has not rendered your pafTions fp notorious, in order that thoufands of fin- Dcrs, witneiTes of your errors, defpair not of converfion^ and be inflamed at the fight of your penitence ? How da you know if your crimes, and even your fcandals, have not entered into the dcfigns of God's goodnefs with regard to your brethren ; and if your fituation, which feems hopelefs like that of Lazarus, is not rather an occafion of manifefiing God's glory than a prefage of death to you ?

When grace recalls a common (inner, the" fruit of his converfion is limited to himfelf ; but, when it fingles out a grand finner, a Lazarus, long dead and corrupted ; ah ! the defigns ot its mercy are then much more extenfive : in one change it prepares a thoufand to come : it raifes up ji thonfand chofen out ot one : and the crimes of a finner

become

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 427

become the feed oï a thoufand jiift. You give way to def- pondency in feeling the extremity of your vvretchednefs : but it is perhaps that very extremity which draws you near- er to the happy moment of your converfion, and which the goodnefs of God has referved for you, that you might be a pubhc monument of the excefs of his mercies towards the greateft finners. Only believe, as Jefus Chrift faid to the filters of Lazarus, and you ihall fee the glory of God ; you fhall fee your relations, your friends, your inferiors, and even the accomplices of your debaucheries, become imitators of your penitence ; you fliall fee the moft hope- lefs fouls fighing alter the happinefs of your new lile ; and the world itfelt forced to render glory to God, and, in re- calling your paft errors, to admire the prodigy of your pre fent lot Take, even from your wretchednefs itielf, new motives of confidence; blefs, in advance, the merciful wifdom of that Being, who, even from your pafTions, (hall jcnow how to extract advantages to his glory ; every thing co-operates towards the falvation of his chofen, and he per- mitteth great exceffes only in order to operate great mer^ cies. God ever wilheth the falvation oi his creature ; and, from the moment that we form a wilh of returning to him, our only dread ought to be, not that his jullice rejeft us, but left our intention be not fincere.

And the fureft proof of our fmcerily is the ablentîng ourfelves from every occafion which may place an obfta- cle to our refurreftion and our deliverance ; obflacle, fig- ured by the ftone which fhut up the mouth of Lazarus's tomb, and which Jefus Chrift orders to be removed before he begins to operate the miracle of his refurre£lion ; re- move the flone. Second mean, marked in our gofpel.

Voi . II. C 3 In

428 SERMON Jtlll.

In eficcl, every day fliews finners, who, tired of difor- der, wifii to return to God, but who cannot prevail upon themfelves to quit thofe obje6ts, thofe places, thofe fitua> tions, and thofe rocks, which have been the caufe of their removal from him : they vainly perfuade themfelves that they (hall beabletoextinguifti their paffions, to terminate a diforderly lite; in a word, to rife from the dead, without removing the ftone, they even make fome efforts ; they ad- drefs themfelves to men of God ; they adopt meafures for a change ; but, it is of thofe meafures which, not remov- ing the dangers, do not, in the fmallefl degree, forward their fatety ; and thus their whole life forrowfully paffes away in detefting their chains, and in the utter inability oi breaking them afunder.

Whence comes this, my brethren ? It is that the paffions begin to weaken only after the removal of fuch obje£ls as have lighted them up ; it is abfard to fuppofe that theheart can change while every thing around us continues, with regard to us, the fame; you would become chafte, yet you live in the midft of,the dangers, the conne£lions, the fa- miliarities, the pleafures, which have a thoufand times cor- rupted your heart ; you would wifh to refleft ferioufly on your eternity, and to place fome interval betwixt lile and death, yet you are unwilling to place any betwixt death and thofe debaucheries which prevent you from reflefting on your falvation ; and, in the midft oi agitations, plea- fures, trifles, and worldly expeftations, from which, on no account, you will abate, you expefl that the incli- nation and relifh for a Chrillian life will come to you un- fought-for: you would that your heart form new propenfi- ties, furrounded by every thing which nourishes and forti- fies the old ; and that the lamp ot faith and grace blaze up

ON THE RESURRECTIONOF LAZARUS. 429

in the midft of winds and tempefts, it which, even in the fanfluary, fo often extinguifhes through want of oil and nourifhment, and, to lukewarm and retired fouls, converts into a danger even the fafety oi their retreat.

You come, after that, to tell us that good-will is not yet come. How, indeed, fhould it come in the midft of every thing that repels it ? But what is that good-will, fhut up within you, which has never any confequence, which never leads to any thing real, and never ferioufly adopts a fingle meafure towards a change ? That is to fay, that you would wifh to change could it be done for nothing ; you would wifh to work out your falvation by the fame con- du£l which occafions your deflruftion ; you would wifli that the fam.e manners which have feparated your heart from God fhould approach you to him ; and tliat what has hitherto been the caufe of your ruin fhould itfelf become the way and the mean of your falvation. Begin by re- moving the occafions which fo often have beerv, and flill continue to be, the rock of your innocence; remove the flone which fhuts up the entry of grace to your foul ; after that you fhall be entitled to demand of God the comple- tion of his works in you. Then, feparated from thofe objeéls which nourifhed iniquitous paffions within you, yoti fhall have it in your power to fay to him, It is thy part now, O my God ! to change my heart ; to thee I have facrificed every' attachment which might flill fetter it ; I have removed all the rocks upon which my weaknefs might flill have fplit : as much as in me lay, I have changed the, outward man ; thou alone, O Lorn, canft change the heart ; it depends upon thee now to complete what yet remains to be done, to break the invifihle chains, to overcome all in- ternal obflacles, and totaHy to triumph over ray corruption : I have removed the fatal flone which prevented me from

hcaiing.

43*»

SERMON

hearing thy voice; let it now refound, even through the abj'fs in which I am Itill buried ; command me to depart Irom that fatal tomb, that place of inteftion and putref- cence, but command me with that almighty word which makes itfelf to be heard even by the dead, and is to them a word of refurreftion and life : give me in charge to thy difciples, to be unloofed from thofe chains which hold captive all the powers oi my foul ; and let the miniftry ot thy church put the lafl feal to my refurreftion and my de- liverance.

And behold, my brethren, the laft mean held out in our gofpel. Immediately, on the removal of the flone, our Saviour cries, with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth ! Lazarus comes forth, flill bound hand and foot, and Jefus Chrift remits him to his difciples to be unloofed.

Obferve here that Jefus Chrift doth not order his difci- ples to unloofe Lazarus till after he had entirely quitted the tomb. We muft manifeft ourfelves to the church, fays an holy father, before we can, through its miniftry, receive the bleffing of our deliverance. Lazarus come forth, that is to fay, continues that father, how long wilt thou remain concealed and buried inwardly in thy confcience ? How long wilt thou conceal thine iniquity within thy breaft ?

You undoubtedly are not ignorant, my brethren, that remifTion of our fins is only granted through the miniftry of the church, and that it is necefTary to lay open and to prefent our bonds to the piety of the minifters, who alone have authority to bind and to unbind on the earth ; this is not upon what you require inftruQion. But, I fay, that, in order that the converfion be folid and durable, we muft, like Lazarus, Ihew ourfelves quite out of the tomb. An

ordinary

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 431

ordinary coniefTion is not the matter in queftion : an liar- dened finner ought to go back even to his inlancy ; even to the birth oF his pafiions ; even to the youngefl periods of his life, which have been tlie commencement ot his crimes. Neither doubts nor obfcurities mull longer be left in the confcience, nor mifts over the youthful manners, under pretence that they have already been revealed : a general manif'eftation is required, and whatever may hith- erto have been done muft be reckoned as nothing ; every duty of religion, performed during a diforderly and world- ly life, isevento~be ranked among our crimes ; the con- fcience muft be confidered as a chaos, into which no light has, as yet, penetrated, and over which all our fiftitious and paft penitence has fpread only additional darknefs.

For, alas ! my brethren, a contrite foul, alter returning from the errors of the world and the pafTions, ought to prefume that, having to that period lived in criminal habits and propenfities, every time the facrament has been receiv- ed in that Hate was only a prolanation and a crime.

In the jÇr// place, becaufe, having never telt real con- trition for his errors, nor, confequently, any fincere (k'- fire to purge himfelt of them, the remedies of the church, far from having purified, have only completed his foui- nefs, and rendered his difeafe more incurable.

^dly, Becaufe he has never been known to himfelf ; and confequently, could never make himfelf known to tiie tri- bunal of his confcience. For, alas ! the worUl, in the midfl of which this foul has always lived, and in wltichhe has ever thought and judged like it ; the world, I fay, finding reafonable and wife only its own maxims and man- ners of thinking, does it fufficiently know the holinefs of

the

432 SERMON XIII.

the gofpel, the obligations of failh, and the extent of du- ties, to be qualified to enter into the detail of thofe tranf- greffions which faith condemns ?

^dly, zuà lajity, Becaufethat, even admitting he fhould have known all his wretchedncfs, never having had any- real forrow for it, he has never been qualified to make it known ; for nothing but hearttelt forrow can explain itfelf as it ought, or truly reprefent thofe evils which it feels and abhors ; it muft be a feeling heart that can make itfelf to be underftood on the wounds and the fufFerings of a heart itfelf. A Tinner, full of a profane paflion, expreffes it much more eloquently, and with more animation ; nothing is left unfaid of the foolilh and deplorable fufferings he en- dures ; he enters into all the windings of his heart, his jealoufics, his fears, and his hopes. As the mind of roan, fays the apoflle, alone knows what pafTes in man, fo like- wife it is only the heart which can know what paffes in the heart. Contrition gives eyes to fee, and words to exprefs every thing; it has a language which nothing can counter- feit : thus, in vain may a worldly foul, flill chained by the heart to all his diforders, come to accufe himfelf, he can^ not be underftood ; without any abfolute intention of con- cealing his wounds, he never expofes all their horror, be- caufe he neither (eels nor is ftruck with them himfelf ; his words always relifli of the infenfibility of his heart ; and it is impoflible that he (hould expofe, in all their uglinefs, deformities which he knows not, and which he flill loves : he ought, therefore, to confider the whole period of his pad life as a period of darknefs and blindnefs, during which he has never viewed himfeli but with the eyes of fjelh and blood ; never judged but through the opinions of pafiion and felf-love ; never accufed but in the language of error and impenitence; never exhibited himfelf but in

^ falfe

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 433

a falfe and imperfe6l light. It is not enough to have re- moved the ftone trom the tomb : the criminal foul muft come forth from it himfelf, that he may exhibit himfelf, as I may fay, in open day : that he may manifeflhis whole life : and that, from his earlieft years even to the blefTed hour of his deliverance, nothing be concealed from the eyes of the minifters ready to unbind him.

But this ftep, you fay, has difficulties which may be the occafion of cafling trouble, embarraffment, and difcour- agement, through the confcience, and of fufpending the refolution of a change of life. What ! my brethren, you involve yourfelves in difcufTions fo arduous and fo endlefs, for the purpofe ot clearing up your temporal concerns ; and, in order to eftablifh regularity and ferenity in your confcience, and to leave nothing doubtful in the affair of your eternity, you would cry out from the moment that a few cares and inveftigations are required ? How olten do you proclaim, when a decifive ftep is in agitation which may determine the ruin or prefervation of your fortune, that nothing muft be neglefted, nothing muft be left to chance : that one's own eyes mufl look into every thing, that every thing muft be cleared up, every thing fathomed even to the bottom, that you may have nothing afterwards wherewith to reproach yourfelves ; and this maxim, fo reafonable when conne6led with fleeting and frivolous in- terefts, fhould be lefs fo when applied to the grand and only real intereft, that of falvation ?

Ah ! my brethren, how poor are we in faith ! And what have we, in this lile, ot more importance than the care of arranging that awful account which we have to render to the eternal Judge, and to the fearcher of hearts and of thoughts ? That is to ùy, the care of regulating our con- fcience.

434 SERMON XIII.

fcience, of difpelllng its darknefs, of purifying its ilains, of clearing up its eternal interefts, of confirming its hopes, ot ftrengthening ourfelves as much as the prefent <:ondition permits, and making ourfelves acquainted, as iar as in our power, v,ith its fituation and its difpoHtions ; and not to make our appearance before God like fools, un- knovvn to ourfelves, uncertain oi what we are, and of what we mull tor ever be. Such are the means ot conver- fion marked out to us in the miracle of raifing up Lazarus : let us conclude the hiftory of our gofpel, and fee what the motives are which determine Jefus Chrilt to operate it.

Reflection III. To enter at once into our fubje6>, without lofing fight of the confequençe of the gofpe] j the firft motive wijich our Saviour feems to have, in the re- furrc6lion of Lazarus, is that ot drying up the tears, and rewarding rbe prayers and the piety of his fillers. Lord» faid they to him, he whom thou loveft is fick : and behold the firfi; motive which often determines Jefus Chrill to operate the converfion ot a great finner ; the tears and the prayers of thofe juft fouls who entreat it.

Yes, my brethren, whether it be that the Lord thereby wifh to render virtue more refpeQabie , to finncrs, by ac- cording favours to them only through the mediation ot jufl fouls : whether it be that he intend more clofely to knit to- gether his members, and to perfeft them in unity and in charity, by rendering the miniftry of the one ufeful and re- quifite to the other ; it is certain, that it is through the pray- ers of the good, and in their intercefTion, that tlie fource of the converfion of the greateft finners fprings up. As all is done for the juft in the church, fays the apoftle, fo It may be faid, that every thing is done through them; and, as finners are only endured in it to exercife their vir- tue

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS- 435

t«e, or to animate their vigilance, they are alfo recalled from their errors only to confolc their faith, and to re- ward their groanings and prayers.

To love juft fouls is a beginning, then, of righteoufnefs to the greateft finners ; it is a prefage oF virtue to refpeft it in thofe who praftife it ; it is a profpeél of converfion to feekthe fociety of the good, to efteem their acquaintances and to intereft them in our falvation; and, even admitting that our heart ftill groan under iniquitous bonds, and that attachment to the world and to pleafures ftill feparate us from God, yet, from the moment that we begin to love his fervants, we accomplifti, as it were, the firft ftep in, his fervice. It feems as it our heart already becomes tired of its paffions, from the moment that we take pleafure ira the fociety ot thofe who condemn them ; and that a relifh for virtue is on the eve of fpringing up in us, from the moment that we take delight ia thofe whom virtue alone renders amiable.

Befides, the jufi, inftrufted by ourfelves with regard to our weakneffes, keep them continually prefent betore th« Lord ; they lament, before him, over thofe chains which ftill bind us to the world and to its amufements ; they offer up to him fome weak defires of virtue which we have intrufted to their charge, in order to induce his goodnefs to grant more fervent and more efficacious ones ; they car- ry, even to the toot of the throne, fome leeble elfays to- wards good which they have rroted in us, in order tq obtain for us the perfeftion and plenitude of his mercy. More affeâed with our evils than for their own wants, they pi-- oufly forget themfelves, in order to fnatch from deflruc- tion their brethren who are on the point of perifhing before their eyes ; they alone love lis for ourfelves, beca-ife they

Vol. |I. D 3 nJoae

43^' SERMON XIII.

alone love in us but our falvation ; the world may furnifii iycophants, flatterers, focial companions in diflîpation, but virtue alone gives us friends.

And it is here that you who now liften to me, who, per- haps, like Mary, were formerly flaves ot the world and the paflions, and who, latterly, touched with grace, like her, quit no more the feet of the Lord ; it is here that you ought to remember that, in future, one of the moft im- portant duties of your new life is, that of continually de- manding, like the filler of Lazarus, from Jcfus Chrift, the refurreftion of your brethren, the converfion of thofe unfortunate fouls who have been accomplices in your cri- minal pleafures, and who ftill, under the dominion of death and fin, forrowly drag on their chains in the ways of the world and of error. You ought continually, in the bitternefs of your heart, to be faying to Jefus Chriil, like the filter of Lazarus : Lord, he whom thou lovell is fick ; thofe fouls to whom I have been a ftumbling-block, and who have lefs offended thee than I, are ftill, however, in the Ihadow of death, and in the corruption of fin: and I enjoy a deliverance of which I was more unworthy than they ! Ah! Lord, the delight I feel in appertaining to thee ihall never be perfeft while I behold my brethren thus mif- erably perifhing before mine eyes : I (hall but imperfe£lly enjoy the fruit of thy mercies, while thou refufeft them to fouls to whom I have myfelf been the fatal caufe of their departure from righteoufnefs : and I (hall never think that rny crimes are fully forgiven, while I fee them exifting in thofe finners who have been removed from thee only through my example and my palfions.

Not, my brethren, that you ought to place your whole dependence on the prayers of the good, or to expe6i from

them

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 437

them alone a change of heart and the gift of penitence. For this is a very general illufion, and jmore efpecially among thofe who are high in the world : they fuppofe that, by refpe£èing virtue, by (hewing favour to the good, and by intcrefting them to folicitour converfion from God, our chains (hall drop off of thcmfelves without any efîbrt on our part ; they comfort themfelves upon that remainder of faith and religion which renders virtue in others flill deaç and refpeSable to us ; they give themfelves credit for not having, as yet, reached that point of free-thinking and impiety, fo common in the world, which makes virtue the public butt of its cenfures and derifion. But, alas ! my brethren, it availed nothing to king Jehu that he had pub- licly rendered honour to the holy man Jehonadab ; his vices ilill fubfilled with all that refpe6t he had for the mau oi God. It availed nothing to Herod that he had honoured the piety of John the Baptift, and that he had even loved the holy freedom of his difcourfcs : the deference which he had for the precurfor left him ftill all the excefs of his criminal pafTion. The honours which we pay to virtue at- tra6l aids to our weaknefs ; but they do not juflify our er- rors : the prayers of the good induce the Lord to pay more attention to our wants; but ,they do not render him more indulgent to our crimes : they obtain tor us viftory over the p^fTions which we begin to deteft ; but not over thofe which we ftill love, and which we ftill continue to cherifh : in a word, they alTift our good defires ; but they do not authorife our impenitence.

The miracle of raifing up Lazarus teaches juft fouls, then, to folicit the converfion of their brethren ; but the converfion and deliverance of their brethren likewife ferve to animate their lukewarmnefs and flothfulnefs. Second

he wifiies, by the novelty

438 SERMON XlII.

noveUy oî that prodigy, to aroufe the faith of his difci- ples, ftill dormant and languifliing.

And fuch is the fruit which Jefus Chrifl continually ex- pefts from the miracles of his grace : he operates before your eyes, you who have long walked in his ways, fudden and furprifmg converfions, in order, by the fervour and the zeal of thefe newly rifen from the dead, to confound your lukewarmnefs and indolence. Yes, my brethren, no- thing is more calculated to cover us with contufion, and ÎO make us tremble over the infidelities which we ftill min- gle with a cold and languifhing piety, than the fight ot 3 foul buried, but an inftant ago, in the corruption ot death and fin, and whofe errors had perhaps inflated the vanity of our zeal, and ferved as a butt to the malignity of our cenfures ; than the fight, I fay, oi fuch a foul, vivified, a moment after, by grace, freed from his chains, and bold- Jy walking in the ways of God, more eager after mortifi- cation than formerly after pleafure ; more removed from the world and its amufements than apparently he was once attached ; fcrupling to himfelf the moft innocent recrea- tions ; allowing almoft no bounds to the vivacity and tranf- ports of his penitence ; and every day making rapid ad. vances in piety : while we, after many years ot piety, alas t flill languifh in the beginning of that holy career ; while we, after fo many fignal favours received, after fo many truths known, after fo many facraments and other duties of religion attended, alas ! we ftill hold to the world and to ourfelves by a thoufand ties ; we are yet but in the firft rudiments of faith and of a Chriftian life, and ftill more diftant than at firft, from that zeal and that fervour which conftitute the whole value and the whole fecurity of a faithful piety.

My

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 439

. My brethren, the dreadful prophecy ot Jefus Chrift is every day fulfilled before our eyes. Publicans and finners, perfons of a fcandalous condii6l according even to the world, and as difiant from the kingdom of God as the call is from the weft, are converted, repent, furprife the world with the fight of a retired and mortified life, and Ihall fit down with Abraham, and Ifaac, and Jacob ; and perhaps we who are looked upon as children ot the kingdom ; we, whofe manners prefent nothing to the eyes of the world but what is orderly and laudable ; we, who are held out as morals of propriety and piety ; we, whom the world canonifes, and which we glorified with the reputa- tion and the appearances of piety, alas ! we fhall perhaps be rejefted and confounded with unbelievers, tor having always laboured at our falvation with negligence, and hav' ing preferved a heart ftill altogether worldly, in the midft even of our pious works.

Thus, my brethren, you whom this difcourfe regards, do not judge of yourfelves from the comparifon which you inwardly make with thofe fouls whom the world and the paffions hurry away. We may be more righteous than the world, and yet not enough fo for Jefus Chrift : for the world is fo corrupted ; the gofpel is fo little known in it : faith is fo weakened ; the law and truth fo little obferved, that what is virtue, with regard to it, may ftill be a great iniquity in the fight of God.

Rather compare yourfelves with thofe holy penitents wlio formerly edified the church by the prodigy ot their aulter- ities, and whofe life, even at this day, appears to us To in- credible ; with thofe noble martyrs who gave un their body for the truth, and who, amidft the moft cruel torments, were tranfported with joy in conte-tr.plating the holy prom-

if€i :

440

SERMON XIII.

ifes ; with thofe primitive believers who fuffered death every day for Jefus Chrift, and who, under perl'ecution, lofs of property, and of their children, thought them- felves ftiil pofTeired of all, as they had neither loft faith nor the hope of a better lite: behold the models by whom you ought to.meafure your piety, to find it ftill deficient, and all worldly. Unlefs you refemble them, in vain do you not refemble the world, you fhall perilh like it ; it is not enough that you do not imitate the crimes of the worldly, you muftalfo have the virtues of thejuft.

Lajlly, Not only the goodnefs of Jefus Chrift wifhes, in this miracle, to furnifh to his difciples and to the Jewifh believers a frefh motive for believing in him, but in it his juftice likewife fupplies a frefh occafion of obftinacy and incredulity to the unbelieving Ifraelitcs ; laft circumftance of our gofpel. They take meafures to deftroy him; they wifh to put Lazarus himfelf to death, that fo ftriking a teftimony of the power of Jefus Chrift may no longer continue among them. They had weeped his death ; fcarcely is he recalled to life when he appears worthy only of their fury and vengeance. And behold the fole fruit which the generality of you commonly reap from the mir- acles of grace : that is to fay, from the converfion and the fpiritual refurreftion of great Tinners. Before that the mercy of Jefus Chrift bad caft looks of grace and falva- tion upon a criminal foul, and, while delivered up to the dominion of the paffions, he was not only dead in fin, but fpread every where around the infeftion and the ftench of his diforders and fcandals, you feemed touched for its er- rors and fhame ; you deplored the mifery of his lot; you mingled your tears and regrets with the tears and regrets of his friends and relatives ; and the public irregularity of his condu6l experienced from you every forrow and com-

pafTion

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 441

pafRon of humanity ; but, fcarcely hath the grace of Jefus Chrift recalled him to life, fcarcely, come forth from the tomb and that abyfs of corruption in which he was buri- ed, does he render glory to his deliverer by the holy ar- dours of a tender and fincere piety, than you become the cenfurers even of his piety : you had appeared touched for the excefs of his vices, and you publicly deride the excefs of his pretended piety. You had blamed his warm purfuits after plcafure, and you condemn the fervour oi his love for God. Be confiftent, therefore, with yourfelves, and decide in favour either of the juft or of the (inner.

Yes, my brethren, if the happinefs of a foul, who, be- fore your eyes, returns from his errors, excite not your envy ; if the contrition of a finner, who was iormerly the companion perhaps of your pleafures, and excefles, leave you all your indifference with regard to falvation. Ah ! infult not at Icaft his good fortune ; defpife not in him the gilt of God ; take not, even from the miracles of gr-acc fo proper to open your eyes, a frcfli motive ot blindnefs and unbelief ; and do not thus change the bleiïings of God to your brethren, into a dreadful judgment of jail ice againfl you.

In reading the hiftory of our gofpel, you are fometimcs aflonifhed that the obftinacy and blindnefs of the Jews Ihould be able to refill the moft flriking miracles of Jefus Chrift; you do not comprehend how the raifing up of the dead,, the curing of perfons born blind, and fo many other wonders wrought before their eyes, did not force them to acknowledge the truth of his miniilry, and the fan£tity of liis doftrine : you fay, that much lefs would convince you ; that anyone of all thefe miracles would fufnce, and that you would immediately yield to the truth.

But

442 SERMON XIII.

But, my brethren, you condemn youfelves out ot your own mouth ; for, (without refuting here that abfurd man- ner of fpeaking, by thofe grand and fublime proois which religion furnifhes againft impiety, and which we have elfe- where employed,) candidly, is it not a more arduous and à more aftonifhing miracle, that a foul, delivered up to fin, and to the moft fhameful pallions, born with every propen- fny to voluptuoufnefs, pride, revenge, and ambition, and morediftant than any one, by the nature of his heart, front the kingdom of God, and from all the maxims of Chrif- tian piety ; that, all at once, that foul fhould renounce all his gratifications, break afunder all his warmeft attach- ments, reprefs his liveliefl pafTions, change his mod rooted inclinations, forget injuries, attention to the body and to fortune; no longer have a relifh but for prayer, retire- ment, the praftice of the moft gloomy and difgufling du- ties, and hold out to the eyes of the public, in a change, in a refurreftion fo palpable, the fpeftacle of a life fo dif- ferent from the former, that the world, that free-thinking itfelf fhall be forced to render glory to the truth of his change, and that they fhall no longer know him to be the fame ; is it not, I fay, a more arduous and more affonifh*. ing miracle ?

Now, doth not the mercy of Jefus Chrift operate fuch miracles almofl every day before your eyes ? Doth not his holy word, though in a weak and languifiiing mouth, flill raife up, every day, new Lazarufes from the dead ? You behold them ; you know and you appear affonifhed at them ; yet, neverthelefs, do they touch you ? Do thefe wonders which, with fo much majefty, the finger of God maketh to fhine forth, recal you to truth and to the light ? Do thefe changes, a thoufand times more miraculous than the raifing up of the dead, convince you ? Do they bring you

nearer

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 443

nearer to Jefus Chrift, or reftore to you that faith which you have loft ?

Alas ! your whole care, like the Jews, is to ftand out againft or to weaken their truth. You deny that grace hath any part in the glory of thefe wonders ; you feek to trace their motives in caufes altogether worldly ; you confider them as delufions and impofitions ; you attribute to the ar- tifices of man the moft fhining operations of the holy Spir- it ; you infift that fuch a new life is only a frefh fnare to en- trap the public credulity, and a new path more fecurely to attain fome worldly purpofe. Thus, the works oi the Al- mighty power of Jefus Chrift harden you ; thus, even the wonders of his grace complete your blindnefs ; thus you make every thing conducive towards your deftruftion : Jefus Chrift becomes to you a ftumbling-block, when he ought to have been a fource of life and falvation. The ex- amples of finners ftain and corrupt you: their penitence re- volts and hardens you.

. Great God ! fuffer then, in order that a life altogether criminal at laft be terminated, that I now raife my voice to thee out of the depths in which I have, for fo many years, languifhed : the impure chains with which I am bound, at- tach me by fo many folds, to the bottom of the gulf in which I drag on my gloomy days, that, in fpite of all my good defires, I ftill remain fettered, and almoft incapable of any effort towards difengagingmyfelf and returning to thee, O my God, whom I have forfaken. But, Lord, out of the depths even in which thou feeft me, like another Laza- rus, fettered and buried, I have, at leaft, the voice of the heart free to fend up, even to the foot of the throne, my forrows, my lamentations, and ray tears.

Vol. il E 3 The

444 SERMON Xllî.

The voice of a repentant (inner is always agreeable, O Lord, to thine ear ; it is that voice of Jacob which awakens all thy tendcrnefs, even when it offers to thy fight but hands of Efau, and itill covered with blood and crimesl

Ah ! thine holy ears, O Lord, have now fufficiently bee» turned away tVom my licentious and blafphemous words ; let them now be attentive to the voice of my fupplications ; and let the fingularity of the words which I now addrefs to thee, O my God ! attraft a more favourable attention to my prayer.

I come not here, great God I to excufe my diforders irr thy fight, by alledging to thee the occalions which have fe- duced me, the examples which have led me aftray,the mis- fortune oi my engagements, and the nature of my heart and of my weaknefs : cover thine eyes, O Lord, upon the horrors oi my paft life ; the only poffibility of excufing them is, not to behold or to know them : alas ! if I am un- able myfelf to fupport even their view ; if my crimes dread and fly from mine own eyes, and if my terrors and my weaknefs render it abfolutely neceffary to turn my fight from them, how, O Lord fhould they be able to fuftain the fanélity oi thy looks, if thou fearch into them with that eye of feverity which finds llains in the pureft and moil laudable life ?

But thou, O Lord, afe not a God like unto man, to ■whom it is always fo difHcuk to pardon and to iorget the in- juries oi an enemy ; goodnefs and merdy dwell in thine eternal bofom ; clemency is the firft attribute of thy fu- preme Being ; and thou hafl no enemies but thofe who re- iufe to place their truft iti the abundant riches of thy fncicy.

Yes,

ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 445

Yes, Lord ! be the hour what it may when a criminal foul cafts himfelt" upon thy mercy ; whether in the morn- ing of life or in the dechne ot age ; whether after the er- rors of youthful manners or after an entire life of difTipa- tion and licentioufnefs, thou wouldft, O my God! that their hope in thee be not extinguiflied ; and thou afTureft us that the highell; point of our crimes is but the loweft de- gree of thy mercy.

But, likewife, great God ! if thou liflen to my defires ; if, once mpre, thou rcflore to me that life and that light which I have loft ; if thou break afunder my chains of death which ftill fetter me ; if thou flretch out thine hand to withdraw me from the gulph in which I am plunged, ah ! never, O Lord, fhall I ceafe to proclaim thine eternal mercies : I will forget the whole world, that I may be oc- cupied only with the wonders of thy grace towards my foul : I will every moment of my |ife render glory to the God who (hall have delivered me : my mouth for ever Ihut againft vain things, fhall with difficulty be able to exprefs all the tranfports of my love and of my gratitude ; and thy creature who {fill groans under the dominion of the world and of (in, then reftored to his true Lord, fhall, henceforth and for ever more, blefs his deliverer.

SERMON

SERMON XIV.

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT,

Luke xxi. 27.

Thenjhall they fee the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory.

Ouch will be that laft fpeftacle which (hall terminate the eternal revolutions which the afpeft of this world is contin- ually offering to our eyes, and which either amufe us through their novelty, or feduceus by their charms. Such will be the coming of the Son of Man, the day ot his re- velation, the accomplifhment of his kingdom, and the com- plete redemption of his myftical body. Such the day of the manifeftation of confciences, that day of mifery and defpair to one portion of men, and ot peace, confolation, and ineffable delight to the other : the fweet expeftation of the juft, the dread of the wicked ; the day which is to de- termine the deftiny of all men.

It was the image, ever prefent to their minds, of that ter- rible day which rendered the firft believers patient under perfecution, delighted under fufferan ce, and illuftrious un- der injury and reproach. It is that which hath fince fup- ported the faith of martyrs, animated the conflancy of vir- gins, and fmoothed to the anchorite all the horrors of a def-

ert ;

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 4^7

ert ; it is that which flill, at this day, peoples thofe reli- gious folitudes erefted, by the piety of our anceftors, as afylums againft the contagion of the age.

Even you, my brethren, when the awful folemnity of that grand event hath fometimes intruded on your thoughts, have been unable to check feelings of compunftion and dread. But thefe have been only tranfitory fears ; more fmiling and more agreeable ideas have fpeedily effaced them, and recalled to you your former calm. Alas I in the happy days of the church it would have been confider- cd as renouncing faith not to have longed for the day of the Lord. The only confolation ot thofe firft difciples of faith was in looking forward to it, and the apoftles were obliged even to moderate, on that point, the holy eagernefs of believers; and, at prefent, the church finds itfelf under the neceffity of employing the whole terror of our miniftry, in order to recal its remembrance to Chriflians, and the whole fruit of our difcourfes is confined to making it dread- ed.

I mean not, howerver, to difplay to you here the whole hiftory of that awful event. I wifh to confine myfelf to one of its circumftances, which has always appeared to me as the moft proper to make an impreffion on the heart : it is the manifertation of confciences.

Now, behold my whole defign. On this earth the finner never knows himfelf fuch as he is, and is only half-known to men; he lives, in general, unknown to himfelf, through his blindnefs, and to others, through his diflimulation and cunning. In that grand day he will know himfelf, and will be known. The finner laid open to himfelf; the finner laid open to all creatures : behold the fubjefl upon which I

have

^4^ SERMON XIV.

have refolved to make fome fimple and, I truft, edifying refleflions.

Part I. " All things are rcferved for a future day, " fays the fage Ecclefiaftes, and no man knoweth them " liere below, for all things come alike to all : there is one " event to the righteous and to the wicked ; to the good *• and to the evil, to the clean, andtothe unclean; to him " that facrific<;th, and to him that lacrificeth not; as is the " good, fo is the finner."

What idea, indeed, fhould we have of Providence in the government of the univerfe, were we to judge of its wifdom and juflice only from thedivcrfe lots which it pro- vides on the earth for mm ? What ! The good and the evil fhould be difpcnfcd on the earth, without choice, rcfpeft, or difcrimination ? The juft man fhould almoft always groan under affli6fion and want, whilft the wicked fJiould live furroundcd with glory, pleafures, and affluence, and, after fortunes fo different, and manners Co difîimilar, both fhould alike fink into an eternal oblivion ; and that juft and avenging God, whom they fhould afterwards meet, would not deign either to weigh their deeds or to diflinguifh their merits? Thou, O Lord, artjufî, and wilt render to each according to his works.

This grand point of Chriflian faith, fo confiffent even with natural equity, fuppofed : I fay, that, in tliat terrible daj-, when, in the face of the univtrfe, the finner Ihall ap- pear before that awful tribunal accompanied by his works, the m.anifeflation of confciences will be the moft horrible punifliment of the untaithful foul. A rigorous examina- tion fhall, in the firff place, make him known to himfelf : ' and behold ail the ciicumilanccs of that awful difcuffion.

I ought,

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. ^q^

I ought, in the firit place, to make you obferve ail the titles witii whicJi he will be invefled who fball examine you, aiul which announce all the rigour with which he fhall weigh in the balance your àei'âs and thouglits. It will be a rigid Icgiflator, je^dous of the fanftity of his law, and who will judge you ordy by it; ail the foftenings, all the vail) interpretations, which cuRom or a fa Ife knowledge had invented, fhaH vanidi ; the luftre of the law will dif- fipate them ; the refburces with which they had flattered the finner, will fink into nothing ; and the incenfed legiflator will examine alcnofl mere rigoroufly the falfe interpreta- tions which had changed its purity, than the manifelf tranf- grefTions which had violated it. It will be a judge charged with the interefts of his Father's glory agamfl the (inner, elfablilhed to decide betwixt God and man; and that day will be the day of his zeal for the honour of the divinity, againfl thole who fhal! not have rendered to him that hon- our which is his due : a Saviour, who will fhew you his wounds to reproach your ingratitude ; all tliat he hath done for. you will rife up againft you ; his blood, the price of your falvation, will loudly demand your defiruction ; and his defpifed kindneiTes will be Mumbeied among your heavi- ell crimes: the fearcher o{ heart*, to whofe eyes the' mofl; hidden councils and the nioll fecret thoughts will be laid open: lalHy, a God ot terrible majeily, before whom the heavens Ihall difHdve, the elements (liall be con- founded, aiîd all nature overturned; and whole fcrutinv, with all the terror of his prefence, the finner Oiaii inig!/ be forced to fupport.

Now, behold the circuralfances of that awful exatr.ina- tioti. ijih. It will be the fame for all men : and, as St, Matthew fays, before him (hall be gathered a;! nations. The difi'erence of ages, countries conditions, birth, and

tenîperarneut,

450 SERMON XIV.

temperament, fhall no longer be there attended to ; and ai the gofpel, on which you will be judged, is the law of all times and conditions, and holds out the fame rules to the prince and to the fubjeft, to the great and to the lowly, to the anchorite and to the man immerfed in the affairs of the world ; to the believer who lived in the fervour of the prim- itive times, and to him who hath the misfortune to live in the relaxation of the prefent age; no diftinftion will be made in tl>e manner of proceeding on the examination of the guilty. Vain excufes on rank and birth, on the dan- gers of his ftation, on the manners of his age, on the weak- nefs of temparament, will then be no longer liftened to from you ; and, with refpefl: to modefty, chaftity, am- bition, forgivenefs ot injuries, renouncement oi one's felf, mortification of the fenfes, the juft Judge will de- mand an exaft account, equally from the Greek as from the Barbarian ; from the poor as from the powerful : from the man oi the world as from the folitary ; from the prince as from the humbleft fubjefl ; lajlly, from the Chriftiansot thefe latter times as from the firll difciples of the gofpel.

Vain judgments ot the earth, how fhall you then be con- founded ! And how little fhall we then eflimate nobility of blood, the glory of anceftry, the blaze of reputation, the diftinftion of talents, and all thofe pompous titles with which men endeavour on this earth to puff out their mean- nefs, and to found fo many vain dillinftions and privileges, when we fhall feeamidft that crowd ot guilty, the fovereign confounded with the flave ; the great with the meaneft of the people ; the learned promifcupufly blended with the ignorant and mean ; the gods of war, thefe invincible and far-famed charafters who had filled the univerfe with their name, at the fide ot the hufbandman and labourer; thou alone, O my God I haft glory, power, and immortality ;

and,

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 45^1

and, all the titles of vanity being deftroyed and annihilated with the world which had invented them, each will appear before thee accompanied folely by his works !

Q.dly^ That examination will be univerfal, that is to fay, that it will comprehend all the different ages and circum- ftances of your life : the weaknefTes of childhood, which have cfcaped your remembrance ; the tranfports of youth, of which almofl every moment has been a crime ; the ambition and the anxieties of a riper age ; the obftinacy and the chagrins of an old age, ftill perhaps voluptuous. What aftonilhment, when repaffing over the diverfe parts which you have afted on the earth, you Ihall find your- felves every where profane, difTolute, voluptuous, with- out virtue, without penitence, without good works ; hav- ing paiïed through a diverfity of fituations merely in or- der to amafs a more abundant trcafure of wrath ; and having lived in thefe diverfe fiâtes as if, to a certainty, all were to die with you !

The variety of events, which fucceed each other here below, and divide our life, fix our attention only on the prefent, and do not permit us to recoUeél: it in the whole, or fully to fee what we really are. We never regard our- felves but in that point of view in which our prefent fitua- tion holds us out ; the laft fituation is always the one which leads us tojudge of ourfelves ; a fentiment of falva- tion, with which God fometimes indulges us, calms us on an infenfibility of many years ; a day, paffed in exercifes of piety, makes us forget a life of crimes; the declaration of our faults, at the tribunal of penitence, effaces them from our remembrance, and they become to us as though they had never been : in a word, of all the different Hates of our confcience we never fee but the prefent. But, in •Vol. II. F 3 the

^2 SERMON XIV,

the prefence of the terrible Judge, the whole will be vifible at once ; thehiflory will be entirely laid open. From the very firft teeling formed by your heart, even to its laft figh, all fhall be colle6led before your eyes ; all the iniquities, difperfed through the différent liages of your lite, will then confront you ; not an a£lion, not a defire, not a word, not a thought, will there be omitted ; for, if our hairs be numbered, judge of our deeds. We fhall fee fpring up the whole courfe of our years, which, though as it annihi- lated to us, yet lived in the eyes of God ; and there we fhall find, not thofe perithable hiftories in which our vaia actions were to be tranfmitted to poflerity ; not thofe flat- tering recitals of our military exploits, of thofe brilliant events which have filled fo many volumes, and exhaufted fo much praife ; not thofe public records in which are fet down the nobility of our birth, the antiquity of our origin, the fame of our anceflors, the dignities which have render- ed them illuftrious, the luflre which we have added to their name, and all the hiftory, as I may fay, ot human illufion and weakncfs ; that immortality fo vaunted, which it pro- mifed to us, flîall be buried in the ruins and in the wrecks of the univerfe ; but there we fhall feethe mofl fhockingand exa6l hiftory of our heart, of our mind, of our imagination ; that is to fay, that internal and invifible part of our life, equally unknown to ourfelves as to the reft of men.

Yes, my brethren : befides the exterior hiftory of our manners, which will be all recalled, what will moft afton- ifh us is, the fecret hiftory of our heart, which will then be wholly laid open to our eyes ; of that heart which we have never founded, never known ; of that heart which continually eluded our fearch, and, under fpecious names, difguifed from us the fhame ot its padions ; of that heart whofe elevation, probity, magnanimity, difintercftednefs,

and

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. ^g^

and natural goodnefs we have fo much vaunted ; which the public error and adulation had beheld as fueh, and which had occafioned our being exalted above other men. So many fhameful defires, which were fcarcely formed be- fore we endeavoured to conceal them from ourfelvcs; fo many abfurd projefts of fortune and elevation, fweet delu- fions, up to which our feduced heart continually gave it- felf ; fo many fecret and mean jealoufies which were the in- vifible principle of all our conduft, yet, neverthelefs, which we dilTemble through pride ; fo many criminal difpofi- tions which had, a thoufand times, induced us ardently to wifh, that either the pleafures of the feofes were eternal, or that, at leaft, they fhould remain unpunilhed ; fo many ha- treds and animofities which, unknown to ourfelves, had corrupted our heart ; fo many defiled and vicious inten- tions, with regard to which we were fo ingenious in flattering ourfelves ; fo many projets ot iniquity to which opportu- nity had alone been wanting, and which we reckoned as no- thing, becaufe they had never departed from the heart : in a word, that vicifTitude of paffions which, in fuccelTion, had pofTefTion of our heart : behold what (hall all be difplayed before our eyes. We fhalT fee, fays a holy father, come ont, as from an ambufcade, numberlefs crimes of which we could never believe ourfelves capable. We fliall be fhewn to ourfelves ; we (hall be made to enter into our own heart, where wc had never refided : a fudden light fhall clear upthat abyfs : that myflery of iniquity ftiall be reveal- ed : and we fhaH fee that which ot all we knew lealf , that was ourfelves.

To the examination of the evils we have committed will fucceed that of the good which we have failed to do. The endlefs omifTions of which our life has been full, and for which we had never felt even remorfe, will be recalled ; fo

manv

4^4 SERMON XIV.

many circumflances where our charafter engaged us to ren- der glory to the truth, and where we have betrayed it through vile motives of intereft, or mean compliances ; fo many opportunities ot doing good, provided for us by the goodnels oi God, and which we have almoft always neg- lefted; fo much culpable and voluntary ignorance, in confequence of Iwving always dreaded the light, and even fled from thofe who could have inftrufled us ; fo many events fo calculated to open our eyes, and which have ferv- ed only to increafe our blindnefs ; fo much good which^ through our talents or our example, we might have done, and which we have prevented by our vices ; fo many fouls whofe innocence might have been preferved by our bounty, and whom we have left to perifh by refufing to abate from, our profuhuns ; fo many crimes which might have been prevented in our inferiors or equals by prudent remon- ilrances and ufeful advice, and which indolence, meannefs^ and perhaps more culpable views, have made us fupprefs ; fo many days and moments which might have been placed to advantage for Heaven, and which we have fpent in inu- tility and an unworthy effeminacy. And what in this is more dreadful, is that, in our own eyes, that was the moft innocent part of our life, offering nothing to our remem- brance, as we think, but a great void.

"What endlefs regret, then, to the unfaithful foul to fee fuch a lift of days facrificed to inutility, to that world which is no more : while a fingle moment, confecrated to a God faithful to his promifes, might have merited the fe- licity of the holy ! To fee fo many meanneffes, fo many fubjcftions for the fake of riches, and a miferable fortune which could laft only for a moment; while a fingle vio- lence, fuffered for the fake of Jefus Chrill, Would have fecurcd to him an immortal crown ! What regret, when

he

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 455

lie now finds that not half the cares and anxieties were required for his falvation which he has undergone to ac- complifli his deftruftion; and that a fingle day of that long lite, wholly devoted to the world, had fufficed for eternity !

To that examination will fucceed, in the fourth place, that of mercies which you have abufed ; fo many holy in- spirations either rejefted or only half profecuted ; fo many ^vatchful attentions of Providence to yopr foul rendered unavailing ; fo many truths, declared through our minif- try, which, in many believers, have operated penitence and falvation, but have always been flerile in your heart ; ^"o many affliflions and difappointments, which the Lord had provided for you, in order to recal you to him, and of which you have always made fo unworthy an u(e ; even fo many natural gifts which once were blofToms of virtue, and which you have turned into agents of vice : ah ! if the unprofitable fervant be caft into utter darknefs for hav- ing only hidden his talent, with what indulgence can you flatter yourfelf, you who have received fo many, and wlio have always employed them againfl the glory of that Maf- ter who had entrufted them to you ?

Here, indeed, it is that the reckoning will be terrible. Jefus Chrift will demand from you the price of his blood. You fometimes complain that God doth not enough lor you; that he hath brought you into the world weak, and oi a temperament of which you are not the mafler; and that he beftoweth not the neceffary grace to enable you to refift the many opportunities which drag you away. Ah ! you will then fee that your whole life has been a continued abufe of his mercies ; you will fee that, among fo many infidel nations which know him not, you have been pri-

viledged,

456 SERMON XIV.

vileged, enlightened, called to- iaith, nourilhed in the doftrine of truth and the virtue of the facrament, incef- fantly fupported by his infpirations and his grace ; you will be fhocked to fee all that God hath done lor you, and the little that you have done for him ; and your complaints will quickly be changed into an utter confufion, deftitute of every refource but in the horrors of your own de(- pair.

Hitherto the jufi. Judge hath examined you only on thofe crimes which are efpecially your own ; but what will it be when he (hall enter into a reckoning with you on the fms of others, of which you have been either the occafion or caufe, and which will, confequently, be charged to your account? What a new fmk! All the fouls to whom vou have been a fubjeft ol fcandal and ruin will be pre- fented to you ; all the fouls whom your difcourfes, your counfels, your example, your folicitations, your immo- deflies, have precipitated, with yourfelf, into eternal de- ftruftion ; all the fouls whofe weaknefs you have either feduced, or whole innocence you have corrupted, whofe faith you have perverted, whofe virtue you have fhaken, whofe free-thinking you have authorifed, or v^hofe impie- ty you have flrengthened by your perfuafions, or by the example of your life. Jefus Chrift, to whom they be- longed, and who had purchafed them with his blood, will demand them at your hands, as a dear heritage, as a pre- cious conqueft, which you have unjuflly ravifhed from him , and, if the Lord marked Cain with the fign of re- probation in demanding account from him of the blood of his brother, judge with what fign you fhall be marked when you fliall be brought to a reckoning for his foul.

But

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 437

■ But this is not all. Were you a public chara6ler, and high in authority, what abufes authorifed ! What iniqui- ties glanced over ! What duties facrificed, either to your own interefts, or to the paUions and interefls ot others ! What refpe£l of perfons, in oppofition to equity and con- fcience ! What iniquitous undertakings counfelled ! What wars, perhaps, what conlufions, what public evils, o4 which you have either been the author or the intamous agent ! You will fee that your ambition or your counfela have been as the fatal fource of an infinity of miferies, of the calamities of your age, of thofe evils which are per- petuated, and pafs from the father to fon ; and you will be furprifed to find that your iniquities have furvived your- felf, and that, even long after death, you were flill culpa- ble, before God, ot an infinity oi crimes and diforders which took place on the earth. And now it is, my bre- thren that the danger ot public ftations fball be known, the precipices which furround the throne itfelf, the rocks ot authority, and with what reafon the gofpel denominated happy thofe who live in the obfcurity of a private ftation ; with what it was that religion wifhed to infpire us with Co much horror at ambition, fo much indifference towards the grandeurs of the earth, fo much contempt tor all that is ■exalted only in the eyes of men, and fo frequently recom- mended to us to love only what we ought for ever to love.

But, exempted perhaps from all thefe vices which we have juft been mentioning, and attached, for a long time paft, to the duties ot a Chrillian life, you prefume, that this terrible examination will either not regard you, or, at any rate, that you will appear there with more confidence than the criminal foul. Undoubtedly, my dear hearer, that will be the day ot triumph and glory for the juft ; the da) which wilî^judify tliefe pretended exceiïes of retreat,

mortification,

45^ SERMON' XIV.

mortification, modefty, and delicacy of confciencc, wliich had furnifhed to the world fo many fubje6}s of cenfure and profane derifion : the jufl (hall, no doubt appear before that awful tribunal with more confidence than the finner ; but he will alfo appear there, and even his righteoufnefs (hall be judged : your virtues, your holy works, will be fubmit- ted to that rigorous examination. The world, which often refufes the praifes due to the truefl virtue, too often like- wife grants them to the fole appearances of virtue : there are even fo many juft who deceive themfelves, and who are indebted, for that name and that reputation, merely to the public error. Thus, it is not only Tyre and Sidon that 1 fhall vifit in the day of my wrath, fayeth the Lord ; that is to fay, thofe finners whom their crimes feemed to con- found with the unbelievers and the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon : I fliall carry the light of my judgments even to Je- rufalem ; that is to fay, I will examine, I will fearch into, I will fathom the motives of thofe holy works which feem to equal you with the moil faithful of the holy Jerufalem.

I will trace, even to the fource, the motive of that con- verfion which made fo much noife in the world ; and it fhall be feen whether I find not its origin in fome fecret dif- guft, in the declenfion of youth and fortune, in private views of favour and preferment, rather than in the deteila- tion of fin and love of righteoufnefs.

I will balance thofe liberalities poured out on the bofom of the poor, thofe compaffionate vifits, that zeal tor pious undertakings, that protection granted to my fervants with complaifance, a defire of efteem, oflentation, and world- ly views which have infetled them ; and, in my fight, they fiiall perhaps appear to be rather the fruits of pride, than the confequences of grace and the work of my Spirit.

I will

ON THE DAY OF JUDCMENT. 459^

I wiil rccal that train of prayer and other holy praQices of which you had made a kind of habit, which no longer roufed within you any feeling ot faith and compnnftion ; and you fhall know whether lukewarmnefs, negligence, the little fruit which attended them, and the little difpofi- tion within you previous to them, have not before me, con- ftituted fo many infidelities for which you (haJi be judged without mercy.

I will fearch into that removal from the world and from pleafures, that Angularity of conduét, that affeflation of modefly and regularity; and, perhaps, I (hall find them more the confequence of humour, temperament, and in- dolence, than of faith ; and that in a life more regular and more retired, in the opinion of men, you (hall ilill have preferved all your felf-love, your attachment to the flefh,. all the nicities of fenfuality ; and, in a word, all the finsof^ the moft worldly fouls.

I will fearch, even to the bottom, that pretended zeal for my glory which made you fo deeply lament over the fcandals of which you were a fpcÊtator, which led you to condemn them with fuch confidence and pride, and to blaze out, with fuch warmth, againll the irregularities and weaknefTes of your brethren ;^ and, perhaps, (hall that zeal be no longer in my fight but a natural feverity of temper, a malignity of difpofition,^ an inclination towards cenfure and upbraiding, and indifcrect warmth, a vain oftentatious zeal ; far from finding you full of zeal for my glory, and tor the falvation of your brethren, you (hall no longer appear before me, but unjuft, obilinate, malicious, and rafh^

I will demand an account from you of thofe fp'endid

t-alents which, it would appear, you employed only lor my

G 3 glory.

460 SERMON XIV.

glory and for the inftruftion of believers , and which had drawn upon you the bleffings of the juft, and the acclama- tions even of the worldly ; and, perhaps, that continual attention to, and gratification of your own pride, the defire of furpaffing others, and your fenfibility of human applaufe, will prove the prominent features of your works to be only the works of man and the fruits of pride, and that I fhall curfe thofe labours which had fprung from fo impure a fource.

Great God ! What works, upon which I had fo firmly depended, fhall then be found dead in thine eyes ! How terrible fhall be that difcrimination ! And, of all the aftions ■which we have performed even for heaven, how few wilt thou acknowledge as thine, and which thou wilt deem wor- thy of reward !

Do not from thence conclude, my brethren, that it is then needlcfs to labour for falvation, feeing the jull Judge fhall feek only the condemnation of men : only their condemnation. My brethren ? He is come folely to fave them, and his mercies will far furpafs even his juflice. But behold the conclufion which you ought rather to draw. Thofe righteous fouls whom you fo frequently accufe of excefs, of fcrupulofity in the praftice of the duties of a Chriftian life, as though they carried things too far; thefe fouls, expofed to the light of God, fhall appear lukewarm, fenfual, imperfefl, and perhaps criminal : and you, who Jive in the dangers and pleafures of the world; you, who devote to religion and your falvation only the moft idle moments of your life; you, who fcarcely mingle a fingle M'ork of piety with an entire year of diflîpation and inu- tility, in what fituation fiiall you then be, my dear hearer ? if thofe, who fhall have only laudable works to prefent, Jhal! yet be in danger of rejeflion, what fhall be yourdefti-

• nv?

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 461

ny ? You, who have only a life entirely worldly to offer ? If the tree full of blofToms be treated with fuch rigour, what fhall become of the withered and barren tree ? And, if thejuft be even with difficulty faved ; I fpeak not of the finner, for he is already judged ; but the worldly foul, who lives without either vice or virtue, how (hall he dare to appear ?

You after fay, my dear hearer, that your confcience does not reproach you with great crimes : that, if not good, neither are you bad, and that your only fin is indo- lence and floth. Ah ! you fhall then know yourfelf before the tribunal of Jefus Chrifl. You fhall fee whether the teflimony of your confcience, which reproached you not with crimes, and left you fcarcely any thing culpable to coniefs, were not a terrible blindnefs, up to which the juflice of God had always delivered you. From the dread in which you fhall fee the jufl, you fhall find what ought to be your own fears : and whether the confidence in which you have always lived, fprung from the peace of a good confcience, or from the falfe fecurity of a worldly one.

O my God ! cries St. Auguflin, could I but fee, at this moment, the flate of my foul as thou fhalt then lay it open to me! Could I defpoil myfelt of thofe prejudices which blind me; miftrufl thofe examples which confirm me; thofe cuftoms which quiet me; thofe talents which dazzle me; thofe praifes which feduce me; that rank and thofe titles which deceive me; and thofe complaifances of a facred guide, which form all my fecurity ; could I but defpoil myfelf of that felf-love which is the fource of ail my errors, and behold myfelf alone at thy feet, in thy light ; O my God ! what horror would I not ieel for my- felf?

462 SERMON XH'.

felf ? And vvTiat meafures would I not take, in humtling myfelt before thee, to prevent the public fhame of thflt awful day, when the councils of hearts, and the fecrecy ot thoughts, fliall be manifefted ? For, my brethren, i>ot only (hall the finner be fhewn to hirafelf, but he fball like- wife be Ihewn to all creatures.

Part II. That mixture of good and wicked, inevitable on this earth, gives birth to two diforders. In the firft place, through favour ot that mixture, concealed vice ef- capes that public ignominy which is its due ; virtue, not known, receives not the applaufe it merits. In the fécond, place, the finner, high in honours, frequently fills the moft diftinguiihed offices, while the good and pious, man lives in humiliation, and crawls like a flave at his feet. Now on that terrible day, a double raanifeftation fliall be made, which will repair that two-fold diforder. In the firll place, the finful will be marked out from the juft by the public expolition of their confcience. In the- fécond place, they will be difcerned by feparation from them, and tlie difference of their flations before the throne of glory.

In order fully to comprehend all the fliame an<i conftr- fjon with which the criminal foul fhall then be covered, when fhewn to all creatures, and all his vices, the mofl fecret, expofcd to the light, it requires only to pay at- tention: ijliy. To the number and chara6ler of the fpec- tators who (hail witnefs his fhame :^ 2dly, To the care he had taken to conceal his weakneffes and debaucheries from the eyes ot men, while on the earth : ^d/y, and la/i/y. To his perfonal qualities, which will render his confufion ftill more deep and overwhelming.

Here

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 463

Here figure to yourfelves, then, my brethren, the crim- inal foul before the tribunal of Jefus Chrift, furrounded by angels and men ; tbejuft, the finful, his relations, his fubjefts, his mafters, his friends, his enemies, all their eyes fixed on him; prefént at the terribte fcrutiny which the juft Judge will make into his a£lions, his defires, and his thoughts ; forced, in fpite of themfelves, to alTift at his judgment, and to witnefs the juftice of the fentence which the Son of Man (hall pronounce againft him. All the refources which, on this earth, might foften the inoft humiliating confufion, (hall fail, on that day, to the un- faithful foul.

Firft refource. On this earth, when guilty of a fault which has funk us into contempt, the whole has turned on a certain number of witneffes confined to our nation, or to the place of our birth ; we may have removed ourfelves from them, in the courfe of time, to avoid continually reading, in their eyes, the remembrance and reproach of our pad fhame ; we may have changed our place of dwel- ling to go elfewhere among ftrangers, to recover a reputa- tion which we had already loft. But, on that grand day, all men affembled (hall be acquainted with the fecret hiftory ot your manners and of your confcience.: you fhall no longer have it in your power to go, to hide yourfelt far from the looks of the fpe£lators, to feek new countries, and, like Cain, to fly into the defert. Each (hall be fixed immovea- ble in the place marked out ior him, bearing on his fore- head the fentence of his condemnation and the hiftory of his whole life, obliged to fuftain the eyes of the univerfe, and the whole fhame of his weaknefTes. There (hall no longer, then, be any hidden fpot wherein to conceal himfelt from the public regard ; the light of God, the fole glory of the Son of Man, will fill the heavens and the

earl h ;

464 SERMON XIV.

earth; and, in all that immenfity oi fpace around you; you will, in every part, difcover from alar only watchful eyes fixed on you.

Second refource. On the earth, when our fhame is even public, and, when degraded in the minds of men, in confe- quence of fome flriking fault, yet there are always fome friends grounded in our favour, whofe efteem and fociety recompenfe us, in fome meafure, for the public contempt, and whofe kindnefsafTifls us in fuflaining the inveteracy of the general cenfure. But, on this occafion, the prefence of our friends will be the objefl by far the moft infupporta- ble to our fhame. If finners, like ourfelves, they will caft up to us our common pleafures and our example, which, per- haps, have been the firff rock upon which their innocence fplit : it juft, as they had believed us to be children of light, ah ! they will reproach to us their good opinion abufed, and their friendfliip feduced. You loved thejuff, fhall they fay to us, and you hated righteoiffnefs ; you protefled virtue, yet, in your heart, you placed vice on the throne: in us you fought that probity, that fidelity, and that fecuri- ty which you found not in your worldly friends, but you fought not the Lord who formed all thefe virtues in our heart : ah ! did not the author of all our gifts deferve to be more loved, more fought after than we I

And behold the third refource, which fhall fail, to the confufion of the criminal foul. For, fhould no friends be found on this earth to intereft themfelves in our misfor- tunes, there are always, at leaff, indifferent perfons whom our faults do not wound or excite againft us. But, on that terrible day, Ave fhall have no indifferent fpeftators. The jufl, fo feeling on this earth to the calamities of their brethren, fo ingenious in excufing their faults, and fo ready

ill

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. '465

in covering them widuhe veil of charity, in order, at leaft, >to foften, if they cannot find an apparant excufe tor them in the eyesot men ; the juft, then, defpoiled, like the Son of Man, of that indulgence and pity which they had exer- cifed towards their brethren on the earth, fliall hifs at the finner, fays the prophet, fhall infult him, and (hall demand his punifhment from the Lord to avenge his glory ; they Ihall enter into the zeal and the interefls of his juftice ; and, becoming judges themfelves, they fhall mock him, fays the prophet, and fay, " Lo, this is the man that made not God •' his flrength ; but trufted in the abundance of his riches, *' and flrengthened himfelf in his wickednefs. Behold, *• now that foolifh man, who believed himfelf the only fage " on the earth, and who confidered the life of the juft as a *♦ folly ; who made to himfelt, in the favour of the great, " in the vanity of titles and dignities, in the extent of Ms " lands and pofTeflTions, in the good opinion and applaufes " of men, fupports of dirt, which were to perifh with him. •' Where, now, are your gods, your rock in whom you " trufted ? Let them rife up and help you, and be your pro- " tetlion."

Nor fhall finners be more indulgent to his mifery ; they will feel for him all that horror which they fhall be forced to feel for themfelves ; the fellowfliip of rriisfortune, which ought to unite, will be only an eternal hatred which fliall divide them ; only a cruel inveteracy, which (hall fill their hearts with nothing but fcntiments of cruelty and fury againft their brethren ; and they will hate, in others, the fame crimes from which all their miferies fpring. In a word, the men moft difiant from us, the moft favagc na- tions, to whom the name of Jefus Chrift hath never been announced, come then, but too late, to the knowledge of truth, fhall rife up againft you, and reproach to )'ou, that, if

the

466 SERMON XIV.

the miracles which God had, in vain, operated among^ you had been wrought before their eyes ; that it they, like you, had been enlightened by the gofpel, and fultained by the fuccours of faith, they would have done penance in fackcloth andafhes, and put to advantage, for their falvation, thofe favours which you have abufed for your deftru6lion.

Such fhall be the confufion of the reprobate foul. Ac- curfed before God, he will find himfelf, at the fame time,, the outcaft of heaven and ot earth, the (hame and curfe of all creatures : even the inanimate, which he had forced to- be fubfervient to his pafTions, and which groaned, fays St. Paul, in the expeffation ot deliverance from that fhameful fervitude, fhall, in their way rife up again him. The fun, of which he had abufed the light, fhall be darkened, as if it were not to (hine on his crimes : the ftars fhall difappear, as if to tell him that they have too long witneiTed his iniqui- tous paffions : the earth fhall crumble from under his feet, as if to eje£l, from its bofom, a monfter which it could no longer bear : and the whole univerfe fays Solomon, fhall arm againfthim to avenge the glory of the Lord whom he has infulted. Alas ! we fo dearly love to be lamented in our misfortunes : indiflferehee alone irritates and wounds us : here, not only fhall all hearts be fhut to our misfofi tunes, but all beholders fhall iufultour Ihame, and the only portion left to the finner fhall be his confufion, his defpair,. and his crimes. Firfl circumftance of the confufion ot" the criminal foul : viz, the multitude of witnefTes.

I take the fécond from the care and anxiety they had" taken, whilft living on the earth, to difguife and conceaf themfelves from the eyes of men. For, my brethren, the world is a grand theatre on which almofl every one afts a borrowed chara6îer. As we arc full of paflions, and as aU

paffions

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. j^^j

pafTions have always in them fomething mean and defpicable, »ur whole attention is employed in concealing their mcan- nefs, and in endeavouring to give ourfelves out for what we are not : iniquity is always treacherous and deceitful. Thus, your whole life, you, above all who liften to me, and who cc^fider the duplicity of your charafter as knowledge of the world and ot the court ; your whole life has been only- one train of diffimulation and artifice ; even your fincereft and moft intimate friends have only, in part, known you ; you were beyond the reach of the world, tor you changed charafter, fentiment, and inclination, according to clrcum- flances and the difpofition ol thofe to whom you wifhed to make yourfelves agreeable; through thefe means you had acquired the reputation of ability and wifdom ; but there fhall be feen, in its native colours, a mean and treacherous foul deftitute of probity and truth, and whofe principal vir- tue had been the concealment of its bafenefs and meannefs.

You, likewife, unfaithful foul, whom a fex more jealotrs of honour and rendered fliil more attentive to conceal your weaknefTes from the eyes of men, you were fo artful in faving yourfelf irom a difcovery ; you took from fo far, and fo furely, your meafures to deceive the eyes ot a huf- band, the vigilance of a mother, and, perhaps the probity of a confetror : you would not have I'urvived the accident which had therein betrayed your precautions and artifices. Vain cares ! you only covered your lewdngfles, fays the prophet, with a fpider's web, which, on that great day, the Son ot Man fhall diffipate with a fingle blafl of his mouth. In the prefence of all aflembled nations, fayeth the Lord, I will gather around thee all thy lovers. They fhall fee that eternal train of artifices, difguifes, and meanneffes ; that fhameful traffic of proteflations and oaths" which you made inftrumental to fo many different paffions, and, at the fame

Vol. II. H 3 time.

-4Ô8 SERMON XIV.

time, to lull their credulity ; they fliall fee them, and, tra- cing even to the fource thofe criminal favours which you had beflowed on them, they (hall find them not in their pretended merit as you had wifhed them to believe, but in your own infamous charafter, in a heart naturally lewd ; you, who pique yourfelves on having a heart fo noble, fo fincere, and fo incapable of being touched but by merit alone. And all this (hall take place before the eyes of the univerfe ; of thofe friends whom an appearance of regulari- ty had preferved to you ; of your relations who were ig- norant of the difgrace with which you covered them ; of that hufband who had fo much depended on your affeftion and fidelity,

O my God ! is there an abyfs fufGciently profound in the earth in which the unfaithful foul would not then wifh to hide himfelf ? For, in the world, men never fee but the outfideandthe fcandal of our vices ; and, befides, our con- iufion is (hared and countenanced by thofe who are con- tinually culpable of the fame faults. But, before the tri* bunal of Jefus Chrift, your weakneflTes (hall be feen even in your heart ; that is to fay, their birth, their progreCs, their moll private motives, and a thoufand fhameful and perfonal circumftances, which, even more than the crimes themfelves, (hall cover you with fhame : it will be a confu- /ion in which none (hall bear a fliare, and, confequently, will be entirely your own.

Laflly, The final circumftance, which fhall render the fhame of the finner overwhelming, is his perfonal quali. tits.

You palled in the world for a faithful, fincere, and gene- 2011S friend ; it will be feen that you were vile, perfidious,

•interelled.

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 469

ijilerefted, without faith, honour, probity, coufcience, or charaéler. You gave yourfelf out tor a towering mind above all the vulgar prejudices ; and you (hall unlold the Hioft humiliating meannefles and circumftances, at which the vileft foul would almoft expire with fhame. In the world you were regarded as a man of integrity, and of an approved probity in the adminiftration ot your charge; that reputation had perhaps attracted frefh honours, and ac- quired to you the public confidence ; you, neverthelefs, abufed the credulity ot men ; thofe pompous fhev/s ol equity concealed an unjuft and fervile foul, and a thoufand times had your fidelity been in fecret betrayed, and your confcience corrupted by views ot fortune and motives of intereft ; you were apparently adorned with fanftity and. righteoufnefs ; you had always affumed the femblance of the juft ; yoa were believed to be the friend ot God, and the faithful obferver of his law; yet your heart was not- upright before the Lord ; under the cloak of religion yoa covered a defiled confcience and ignominious conceal- ments ; you walked in the way ot holy things more fecure- ly to attain your purpofes. Ah ! on that day of revelatior»; you go to undeceive the whole univerfe ; thofe who had- feen you on the earth, aflonifhed at your unexpefted lot, fhall fearch among the reprobate to difcover the upright man ; the hope ot the hypocrite fhall then be overthrown : you unjuflly had enjoyed the efteem of men ; you fliall be known and God avenged. Laftiy, Yet fhall I dare to fay it, and here reveal the fhame of my brethren ? You were perhaps the difpenfer of holy things, high in honour in the temple of God ; the charge ot faith, of doftrine, and of piety, was intruded to you ; you appeared every day in the fanftuary, clothed in the formidable tokens of your digni- ty, offering up pure gifts and facrifices without Hain ; you were intrufled with the fecrecies ot confciences ; you fuf-

laincd

j^yO SERMON XIV.

(ained the weak in faith ; you fpoke of wifdoin among the in- flrufted ; and, under all that religion hath moil auguft or molt holy, you perhaps concealed whatever the earth has moft execrable. You were an impoftor, a man of fin feated in the temple ot God ; you inftru£led others, and you taught not yourfelf; you infpired horror againft idols, and your days were only numbered by your facrileges. Ah ! the- inyftery of iniquity fhall then be revealed ; and you fhall at lafl be known for what you have always been, the curfe of heaven and the fhame of the earth.

Behold, my brethren, all the confufion with which the criminal foul fhall be overwhelmed. And it will not be a- tranfitory confufion. In the world we have only the firft fhame of a fault to undergo : the noife of it gradually dies away ; new adventures at laft take place of ours ; and the remembrance ot our difgrace fades away, and difappears ■with the rumour which had publifhed them. But, at the great day, fhame fhall eternally remain upon the criminal* foul ; there fhall no longer be any frefh events to obliterate his crimes and his confufion ; nothing fhall more change : all fhall be fixed and eternal : that which he fhall have ap- peared before the tribunal ot Jefus Chriff, that will he for ever appear : even the nature of his torments fhall incef- fantly publifh the nature of his crimes ; and his fhame fhall every day be renewed in his punifhment. My brethren, reflcÉf ions here are needlefs ; and, if fome remains of faith ilill exifl within you, it is tor you to found your own con- fciences, and from this moment, to adopt fuch meafures as may enable you to fuftain the maniieflation of that great day.

But, after having fhewn tc you the public confufion with which the finner fhall be covered ; why may not I expofe

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 47 1

to you here what fhall be the glory and the confolation ot the truly juft man, when the fecrecies oi his confcience fhall be laid open to the unrverfe ; when the whole myftery of his heart fhall be unfolded; of that heart, ot which all the lovelinefs, concealed from the eyes of men was known only to God ; of that heart in which he had always fuppo- fed flains and defilements ; and of which his humility had concealed from himfelf all the holinefs and innocency ; of that heart in which God alone had always dwelled, and which he had taken pleafure in adorning and enriching with his gifts and grace ! What new wonders fhall that divine fanftuary, hitherto fo impenetrable, then offer to the eyes of the beholders, when the veil fhall be removed from it ! What fervent defires ! What fecret vi61ories! What heroi- cal facrifices ! What pure prayers ! What tender lamenta- tions ! What faith ! What grandeur ! What elevation above all thofe vain objefls which form all the defires and hopes of men ! Then it fhall indeed be feen, that nothing vvras fo great, or fo worthy of admiration in the world, as a truly juft man; as thofe fouls who were confidered as ufelefs, becaufe they were fo to our paffions ; and whofe obfcure and retired life was fo much defpifed. It fliall be feen that the heart of the faithful foul polfeffed more luftre and grandeur than all thofe great events which take place on the earth, was alone worthy of being written down in the eternal books, and offered to the eyes ot God a fight more worthy of angels and men than all the viftories and conquefîs, which here below, fill the vanity of hiftories, to which pompous monuments are erefted in order to eternife their remembrance, and which, then, fhall no longer be confider- ed butas puerile fquabbles, or the fruit of pride and the hu- man paffions. Firft diforder repaired on that great day : vice concealed here below from public fhame, and virtue from the applaufes it merits.

The

472 SERMON XIV.

The fécond diforder, which the mixture of the good and of the bad gives birth to in the world, is the inequality of conditions, and the unjuft exchange of their lots. It is xvith theprefent age as with the image of which Daniel ex- plained the myftery : the juft, like the clay which we tram- ple under our feet, or, like iron hardened in the fire of tribulation, in general,- occupy here below, only the mean- eft; and moft contemptible ftations ; while, on the contrary, the finful and the worldly, typified by the gold and filver, vain objefts of their paiïions, almoft always find themfelves placed at the head of affairs, and in the moft; eminent pla- ces. Now, this is a diforder; and, although the good be thereby cxercifed, and the wicked hardened ; although this contufion of good and evil enter into the order of Provi- dence ; and that, by ways and means impenetrable to man, Godipakes ufe of them to lead the jufl; and the finner to his purpofes, yet it is neceflary that the Son of Man gather to- gether all things ; and that it (hall at laft: be difcerned be- tween the righteous and the wicked ; between him that fer- veth God, and him that ferveth hira not. Now, behold the grand fpe6lacle of that laft: day : order fhall be reeftab- liflicd ; the good fcparated from the wicked : the fheep fet on his right hand, and the goats on the left.

Separation, i/Z/y, altogether new. It will not be de- manded from you, in order to determine what rank you ought to hold in this awful fcene, what were your names, your birth, your titles, or your dignities ; thefe were but a vapour, which had no reality but in the public illufion ; you will be examined only to prove whether you be an un- clean animal or an innocent flieep : the prince fhall not be feparated from the fubjeél; the noble from the pea fan t ; the poor from the powerful ; the conqueror from the van- quiflied ; but the chaff from the good grain ; the veffels of

honour

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. ^yg

honour from the veflels of fhame ; the goats from the iheep.

The Son of Man fhall be feen from on high, calling his fegards over all the mingled nations and people aflembled at his feet ; recalling, in that view, the hiftory of the univerfe, that is to fay, of the pafTions or of the virtues of men ; he fhall be feen gathering together his chofen from the four quarters ; choofing them from among every tongue, every flation, and every nation ; reuniting the children of Ifrael difperfed through the univerfe ; unfold- ing the fecret hiflory of an holy and new people ; bringing forth to view heroes of faith till then unknown in the world ; no more diflinguifhing ages by the viftories of conquerors, by the eftablifhment or the fall oi empires, by the politenefs or the barbarity of the times, by the great charafters who have blazed in every age, but by the diverfe triumphs of grace, by the hidden viftories of the jufl over their pafTions, by the eftablifhment of his reign in a heart, by the heroical fortitude of a perfecuted be- liever. You fhall fee him change the face of all things, create a new heaven and a new earth, and reduce that in- finite variety of people, titles, conditions, and dignities to a people holy, and a people reprobate, to the goats and the flieep.

Separation, zdly, cruel. The father fhall be feparated from his child ; friend from friend ; brother from brother : the one fhall be taken, the other left. Death, which de- prives us of the deareft friends, and whofe lofs occafions -to us fo many fighs and tears, leaves us, at leaft, a con- folation in the hope of being one day reunited to them. Here, the feparation is eternal ; no hope of reunion fhall .ïBore exift ; we fhall no more have relatives, father, child,

friend ;

47 4 SERMON XIV.

friend ; no other ties than everlafting flames, which fhall ior ever unite us to the reprobate.

Separation, ^clly, ignominious. We are fo touchy on a preference, when neglefted, or left blended with the crowd on any fplendid occafion ; we are fo peevifli and fo irritated, when, in the diftribution oi favours, we fee nOr vices carrying off the palm and the principal offices; our fervices forgotten, and thofc, whom we had always feen far below us, now exalted and placed over our heads ; but» on that grand day it is that preference fhall be accompani- ed with circuraftances the mofl humiliating and the moft galling to the criminal foul. In that univerfal filence, in that dreadful expeftation, in which each one fhall be ior the decifion of his defliny. You fhall fee the Son of Man advancing in the heavens, with crowns in one hand and the rod oi wrath in the other, to carry off, from your fide, a jufl foul whofe innocence you, perhaps, had blackened by rafh difcourfes, or whofe virtue you had infuked by impious pleafantries ; a believer who was, perhaps, born your fubjeft ; a Lazarus whom vain, perhaps, had impor- tuned you with the recital oi his wants and poverty ; a rival whom you had always beheld with an eye oi fcorn, and upon whofe ruins your intrigues and artifices had perhaps exalted you. You fhall fee the Son of Man place a crown of immortality on his head, feat him at his right hand, while you, like the proud Haman, rejefted, humbled, and degraded, fhall no longer have before your eyes but the preparation oi your punifhment.

Yes, my brethren, every galling and overwhelming cir- cumftance fliall attend that preference. A favage con- verted to faith fliali be ranked among the flieep, while a Chriflian inheritor of the promlfes fliall be left among the

goats.

ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 47.5

goats. The layman fhall afcend, like the eagle over its prey, while the minifter ot Jefus Chrift {hall grovel on the earth, covered with (harae and reproach. The man ot the world fhall pafs to the right hand, while the reclufe pafles to the left. The wife, the learned, the critic o£ the age, (hall be driven to the fide of the unclean ; and the idiot, who knew not how to anfwer even the common falutations, fhall be placed on a throne of glory and light. Rahab, a finful woman, fhall mount up to the heavenly Sion along with the true Ifraelites ; while the filler of Mo- ks, and the fpoufe ot Jefus Chrifl, fhall be driven from the camp and the tents of Ifrael, and (hall appear covered with a fhametul leprofy. Thou art determined, O my God ! that nothing fhall be wanting towards the defpair o£ the criminal foul. It is not fufficient tl^at he fhall be over- whelmed under the weight of his own mifery ; thou flialt create for him a new punifhment in the felicity of the jufl, who, preterred to him, fhall be feen conduced by angels into the bofom of immortality.

What change of fcene, my brethren, in the univerfe ? It is then that, all fcandals being plucked out from the kingdom oi Jefus Chrifl, and the juft wholly feparated from the finful, they fliall form a holy nation, a chofen race, and the church ot the firllborn, whofe names were written down in heaven. It is then that the commerce of the wicked, inevitable on this earth, fhall no longer occafion their faith to lament, or their innocence to tremble. It is then that their lot, no longer conne6l;ed with the unfaith- ful or the h)pocrite, fhall no more conflrain them to be witnefTes ot their crimes, and fomctimes even the involun- tary agents of their pafTions. It is then that, all the bonds of fociety, of authority, or dependence, which attached them on this earth to the impious and to the worldly, be- ' Vol. II. I 3 i;.g

47^ SERMON XIV.

injT broken afunder, tliey fliall no longer fay, with the pro- phet, " Lord, why lengthenell thou out here our banifh- " ment and our fojourning ? How long fhall the land " mourn, and the herbs of every field wither tor the •' wickednefs of them that dwell therein ?" Laftly, Then it is that their tears Ihall be changed into joy, and their fighs into thankfgivings ; they fhall pafs to the right hand as the (heep, while the left fliall be referved for the goat* and the impious.

The difpofition of the univerfe thus laid out; all nations of the earth thus divided ; each one fixed in the place al- lotted to him ; furpril'e, terror, defpair, and confufion marked in the countenance of one part ; on that ot the other, joy, ferenity, and confidence : the eyes of the juft raifed on high towards the Son ot Man, from whom they await their deliverance; thofe of the impious frightfully fixed on the earth, and almofl piercing theabyfs with their looks, as if already to mark out the place which is deftined for them : the King ot glory, fays the gofpel, placed in the middle of two nations, fhall come forward ; and, turn- ing towards thofe who fhall be at his right hand, wrth an afpcft tull of fweetnefs and majefty, and fufficient of it- felf to confole them for all their pafl fufFerings, he will fay to them, *' Corae, ye bleffed of my Father, inherit the " kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of tiie ♦' world. The fintul had always confidered you as the " outcatf, and the moft ufelefs portion of the earth ; let •' them now learn that the world itfelf exifted only tor " you, that all was created for you, and that all hath fin- '• ifhed from the moment that your number was Complete. " Quit, then, an earth where you had always been travel- '* lers and ffrangers ; follow me into the immortal ways of *' my glory and felicity, as you have followed me in thofe

" of

OW THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 477

•* bf my humiliation and rufferings. Your toils have en- •* dured hiU for an inHant ; the happinefs you go to enjoy " fliali be without end."

Then, turning to the left hand, vengeance and fury in his eyes, here and there cafting the moft dreadful looks, like avenging thunderbolts, on that crowd of guilty; with a voice, fays a prophet, which (hall burft open the bowels of the abyfs to fwallow them up, be fhall fay, not as upon the crofs, Father, pardon them, for they know not what they do, but, " Depart from me, ye curfed, into everlaft- •• ing fire, prepared fgr the devil and his angels. You " were the chofen of the earth, you are the curfed of my " Father; your pleafures have been fleeting and tranfitory, " your anguifh fliall be eternal." Thejuft, then, mount- ing with the Son oi Man, fhall begin to (ing this heavenly fong. Thou art rich in mercy, Lord, and thou haft- crown- ed thy gifts in recompenfing our good aftions. Then (halt the impious curfe the Author of their befng, ajid the fataf day which brought them forth; or, rather, they fhall enter into wrath againft themfelves, as the authors of their mifery and deftruftion. The abyfs fhall open ; the heavens (hall bow down; the reprobate, fays the gofpel, fhall go into everlafting punifhment, and the jull into life eternal. Be- hold a lot which fhall change no more.

After a relation fo awful, and fo proper to make an iui- prefTion on the moft hardened hearts, I cannot conclude without addrefTingto you the fame words v/hich Mofes for- merly addrefted to the Ifraelitcs after having laid before them the dreadful threatenings, and the foothing promifes contained in the Book of the Law. " Children of Ifrael, " behold I fet before you this day a bleffing and a curfe : a ♦= blefTuig, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your

" God

4/8 SERMON XIV.

*' God which I command you this day ; and a curfe, if ye *' will nor obey the commandments of the Lord your God, •' but turn afide, out of the way which I command you this " day, to go aiter other gods which ye have not known."

Behold, ray brethren, what I fay to you in concluding a fubjeft fo terrible. It now belongs to you to choofe and to declare yourfelves ; the right hand and the lett are before you: the promifes and the threatenings : the bleflings and .îhe curfes. Your defliny turns on this awful alternative : you either fhall be on the fide of fatan and his angels, or you (hall be chofenwith Jffus Chrift and his faints. Here there is no middle way : I have pointed out the path which leads to life, and that which leads to perdition. In which df thefe two do you now walk ? And on which fide do you believe that you fhould find yourfelves, were you, at this moment, to appear before the awful tribunal ? We die as we have lived : tremble left your deftiny of this day be youreverlafting deftiny. Quit, and, from this moment, the ways oi the fintul ; begin now to live like the jufl, if you wifli, on that laft day, to be placed at the right hand, and to mount, along with them, into the abode of a blef- fed immortality.

SERMON

SERMON XV.

THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST.

Matthew v. 4. Blejfed are they who mourn, for they Jhall be coniforted.

Sire,

If the world were to fpeak to you in place of Jefus Chrift, it undoubtedly would not fay, '• bleffed are they who

Happy, would it fay, the prince who has never fought but to conquer, and whofe mind has always been fuperior either to the danger or to the viftory : who, during the courfeof a long and a profperous reign, has enjoyed, and ftill continues to enjoy, at his eafe, the fruits of his glory, the love of his people, the efteem ot his enemies, the ad- vantage of his conquefts, the fplendour of his anions, the wifdom of his laws, and the auguft profpeft of a numer- ous pofterity ; and who has nothing left now to defire, but the continuance of what he poffeffes.

In this manner would the world fpeak; but, Sire, Jefus Chrift does not fpeak like the world.

Happy,

4»0 SERMON XV.

Happy, fays he to you, not him who is the admiration oF his age ; but he who makes his ftudy of the age to come, and lives in the contempt of himfeH and of all the things of the earth ; for to him is the kingdom of heaven. Not him whofe reign and aftions hiffory will immortalize in the remembrance of men ; but he whofe tears fhall have effa- ced the hiflory of his fins from the remembrance even of God ; for he fliall be for ever confoled. Not him who, by new conquefts, fliall have extended the bounds of his empire ; but he who has fucceeded in confining his defires and his paiTions within the limits of the law of God ; for he fliall inherit a kingdom more durable than the empire of the univerfe. Not him who, exalted by the voice ct na- tions above all preceding princes, tranquilly enjoys his greatnefs and his fame ; but he who, finding nothing even on the throne worthy of his heart, feeksno pcrfefthappinefs on this earth but in virtue and in righteoufnefs ; for he (half be filled. Not him to whom men have given the pompous titles of great and invincible; but he to whom the wretch- ed fhall give, before the tribunal of Jefus Chrift, the title oi father and of merciful ; for he fhall be treated v.'ith mercy, Laftly, Happy, not him who, always difpofer of the lot of his enemies, has more than once more given peace to the earth ; but he who has been enabled to give it to hiîn- felf, and to banifh from bis heart, all the vices and difor- derly inclinations which difturb its tranquillity ; for he fhall be called a child of God.

Such, Sire, arc thofe whom Jefus Chrifl calls happy : and the gofpel acknowledges no other happinefs on the earth than virtue and innocence.

Great God! it is not then that long train of unexampled profperities, with which thou hafi favoured the glory of his

reign,

THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 4OI

tcign, that can render him the happieft of kings. He is thereby great ; but he is not thereby happy. His felicity has commenced with his piety. Whatever does not fanc- fify, man can never make the happinefs of man. What- rver does not place thee, O my God! in an heart, places onlv vanities which leave it empty, or real evils which fill it with difquiet ; and a pure confcience is the only refource of real enjoyments.

It is to this truth the church, on the occafion of this fo- lemnity, confines its whole fruit. As the common error, chat the life of the faints has been gloomy and difagreeable, is one of the principal artifices employed by the world in order to prevent us from imitating them, the chtirch, in re- newing their memory on this day, gives us to remember, at the fame time, that not only they now enjoy an immortal felfcity in heaven, but alfo that they have been the only happy of the earth, and that he who carries iniquity in his bofom carries terror artd anxiety ; and that the lot of the godly is a thoufand times more tranquil and more fat- isfaftory, even in this world, than that of finners.

But, in what does the happinefs of the jufl in this life confift ? It confifts, iji^y. In the manifeffation of truth concealed from the fages of the world. Qdlj, In the relifh of charity denied to the lovers of the world. In the lights of- faith which foften all the fufferings of the beîiev- JTig fouf, and which render thofe of the Tinner flill more bitter : this is my firfl point. In the comforts of grace which calm all the pafTions, and which, denied to a cor- rupted heart, leave it a prey to itfelf : is the laff. Let us examine thefe two truths fo calculated to render virtue- amiable, and the example of the faints beneficial.

Part

^Sz s E R U 0 N XV.

Part I. Our forrows proceed, in general, From our er- rors ; and we are unhappy only becaufe we are inadequate judges of what is really good and evil, Thcjuft, who are children of light, are, therefore, much happier than fin- ners, becaufe they are more enlightened. The fame lights which correft their judgments alleviate their fufferings : and faith, which fhews the world to them fuch as it is, changes, into fources of confolation tor them, the very fame events in which fouls, delivered up to the paflions, find the prin- ciple of all their difquiets.

And in order to make you fenfible of a truth fo honoura- ble to virtue, obferve, I pray you, my brethren, that, whether a contrite foul recal the paft, and thofe times ot error which preceded his penitence ; whether he pay atten- tio?i to what pafles before his eyes in the world ; or, laftly, whether he look iorward to the future, every thing confoles, every thing ftrengthens him in the caufe of virtue which he has adopted, every thing unites in rendering his condition infinitely more pleafing than that of afoul who lives in dif- fipation, and who finds, inthefe three fituations, only bitter- nefs and inward terrors.

For, in the firft place, however the finner maybe deliv- ered up to all the fervency of his heart, he is not fo vio- lently hurried away, by prefent gratifications, but that he fometimes gives a look back to thofe years of iniquity which he amafies behind him. Thofe days of darknefs which he has confecrated to debauchery, have not fo com- pletely perifhed, but that, in certain moments, they ob- trude themfelves upon his remembrance. Gloomy and trou- blefome images force themfelves upon his foul, and» from time to time, aroufe him from his lethargy by holding out, as if collefled into one point, that fhocking mafs of crimes

which

THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 483

which make lefs impreflfioc, during their commifTion, be- caufe he only fees them in fucceflion. At one glance of his eye he fees favours always contemned, infpirations al- ways rejefled, a vile perverfion of a difpofition naturally good and originally formed, it appears, for virtue ; weak- neffes at which he now blufhes, phantoms and horrors againft which he would wifh for ever to fliut his eyes.

Such is what the finner leaves behind him. He is raife- rable if he look back to the paft. His whole happinefs is, as it were, fhut up in the prefent moment; and, to be happy, he mufl never think, but allow himfelf, like the dumb creation, to be led away by the attraftion of the pre- fent objefts ; and, to preferve his tranquillity, he muft ei- ther extinguifh or brutify his reafon. And thence thofe maxims fo unworthy of humanity, and fo circulated in the world ; that too much reafon is a forry advantage; that re- flexions fpoil all the pleafures of life ; and, that, to be happy, the lefs we think the better. O man ! was it for thy mifery then that Heaven had given thee that reafon by whicli thou art enlightened, or to a fh ft thee in fearch of the truth, which alone can render thee happy ? Could that divine light, which embellifhes thy being, be a punifhment rather than agift of the Creator? And fhould it fo glorioufly diftin- guifh thee from the beaft only that thy condition may be more wretched ?

Yes, my brethren, fuch is the lot of an unbelieving foul. Intoxication, delirium of pafTion, and the extinftion of all reafon alone can render him happy ; and, as that fituation is merely momentary, the inffant the mind be- comes calm and regains itfeif, the charm ceafes, happinefs takes wing, and man finds himfelf alone with his confcience and his crimes.

Vol. II. K 3 But

484 SERMON XV.

But how different, O my God ! is the lot of a foul who walks in the ways, and how much to be pitied is the world which knows thee not ! In efFeft the fweeteft tl^oughts of a righteous foul are thofe by which the paftare recalled. He there encounters, it is true, that portion of his Hie which had been engrofled by the world and the paffions ; and the remembrance, I confefs, fills him with (hame before the fanftity of his God, and forces from him tears of com- punftion and forrow. But, what confolation in his tears and his grief!

For, my brethren, a contrite foul can never retrace the \vhole train of his paft errors without difcovering all the pro- ceedings of God's mercy upon him. The lingular ways by which his wifdom hath gradually, and, as it were, ftep by flep, conduced him to the bielTed moment of his con- verfion. So many unexpe61ed favourable circumftances, fo many accidents of difgrace, oi lofs, of death, of treach- ery, and of afïliftion ; all provided by a watchful Provi- dence to facilitate the means of breaking afunder his chains. Thofe fpecial attentions of God, even in the paths of ini- quity. Thofe difgufls, even in the midfl of his pleafures, proivided for him by his goodnefs. Thofe inward calls which incelTantly whifpered to him, return to virtue and to duty. That internal monitor, which, go where he would, never left him, and unceafingly repeated to him, as former- ly to St. Auguftin : Fool ! How long wilt thou hunt after pleafures which can never make thee happy ? When, by terminating thy crimes, wilt thou terminate thy troubles ? What more is yet required to open thine eyes upon the world, than thine own experience itfelf, of thy wearinefs and unhappinefs while ferving it? Try if, in belonging to me, thou (hall not be more happy, and if I fuffice not to fill the foul which pofrefTes me ?

Such

THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 48^

Such is what the paft offers to a contrite foul. It there fees the accompHces of its former pleafures ftill delivered up, by God's juftice, to the errors ot the world and oï the paflTions, and it alone chofen, feparated, and called to the truth.

With what peace and confolation does that retleftion fil* the believing foul 1 " How infinite, O my God," cries he with the prophet, " are thy mercies ! Thou haft covered *• me in my mother's womb : Thou haft cornpalfed my '• path, and my lying down, and all my ways have been *' known to thee : what have I done for thee more than *' fo many other finners whofe eyes thou deigneft not *• to open, and to manifeft the fcverity ot thy judgments " and of thy juftice ? How marvelous, O God! are all ** thy works, and that my foul knoweth right well." Firft advantage of righteous fouls : the remembrance even of their paft infidelities confoles them.

But, fecondly, if they find fources of folid confolations in reviewing the paft, their piety is not lefs comforted while viewing the preferit occurrences of the world. And here, my brethren, you will prefcntly fee how ellentially requifite is virtue to thehappinefs ot lite, andhow that very world, which gives birth to all the paftions, and, confe- quently, to all the difquietudes of finners, becomes the fweet- eft and moft confolatory exercife of the faith of the juft.

What indeed is the world even to the worldly themfeives, who love it, who feem intoxicated with its delights, and who cannot do without it ? The world ? It is an eter- nal fervitude where no one lives tor himfelf, and where, in order to be happy, we muft bring ourfelves to hug our chains, and to love our flavery. The world ? It is a daily

revolution

486 SERMON XV.

revolution of events, which fucceflively aroufe, in (he hearts of its partifans, the moft violent and the moft melan- choly paflions ; cruel antipathies, hateful perplexities, tor- turing fears, devouring jealoufies, and corroding cares. The' world ? It is a land of curfe, where even its plea- fures are produclive only of bitternefs and thorns. Gain- ing fatigues and exhaufts by its frenzies and caprices : converfation becomes wearifome through the contrariety of tempers and the oppofition of fentiments : pafTions and criminal attachments are followed with their difgufts, their difappointments, and their unpleafant reports : theatres, j\o longer having as fpeftators but fouls grofsly difTolutc and incapable of being roufed but by the mofl Ihocking ex- cefTes of debauchery, become infipid while moving only thofe delicate paffions, which only ferve to fliew guilt from afar, and to lay fnares for innocence. Laflly, the world is a place where hope itfelf, confideredasa pafTion fo fweet and fo pleafing, renders all men unhappy ; where thofe who have nothing more to hop(^ believe themfelves flill more miferable ; where every thing that pleafes foon cea- fes to pleafe ; and where inanity or liftlefs infipidity is al- moft the bell and moft fupportable lottobeexpefted. Such is the world my brethren ; nor is that obfcure world, to which neither the great pleafures, nor the charms of prol- perity, of favour, and of influence are known : it is the world in its moft brilliant point of view ; it is the world of the court ; it is you yourfelves who now liften to me. Such is the world ; nor is this one of thofe fanciful paint- ings of which the reality is no where to be found. I paint the world alter your own heart, that is to fay, fuch as you know it to be, and fuch as you yourfelves continually ex- perience it.

Such,

TUE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 487

Such, neverthelefs, is the place in which all finners feek their happincfs. That is their country. There they would willingly eternifethemfelves. Such is that world which they prefer to the eternal inheritance, and to all the pronii- fesoftaith. Great God I howjuft art thou in punifhing man through his pafTions themfelves, and to permit that, wifhing to feekhis happinefs elfewhere than in thee whp alone art the true peace of his heart, he form for himleit a ridiculous felicity of his fears, his difgufts, his wearineffes, and his disquietudes !

But that which is fo fortunate here ior virtue, is that the fame world, fo tirefome and fo infupportable to finners who feek their happinefs in it, becomes a fource oi the molt foothing reflexions to the righteous, who confider it as an exilement and a foreign land.

For, in û\tjirjl place, the inconllancy of the world, fo dreaded by thofe delivered up to it, fupplies a thoufand motives of confolation to the believing foul. Nothing- appears to him either confiant or durable upon the earth ; neither the mofl flourifliing fortunes, nor the warmell friendfhips, nor the mofl brilliant reputations, nor the mofl envied favour. He fees a fovereign wifdom through all, which delights, it would appear, in making a fport oi men, by alternately exalting them on the ruins of each other ; by hurling down thofe at the top of the wheel, in order to elevate thofe who, only a moment before, were groveling at tlic bottom ; by introducing, every day, on the theatre of life new heroes to eclipfe all thofe who for- merly played on it fo brilliant a part; by inceffantly giving nev/ fcenes to the univerfe. He fees men palling their whole life in ferments, proje£ls, and plots ; ever on the

watch

488 SERMON XV.

watch to furprife each other, or to avoid being furprifed ; always eager and aftive to profit of the retreat, the dif- grace, or the death of a rival ; and of thefe grand leffons, fo fitted to inculcate contempt of the world, make only irefh motives of ambition and cupidity : always engroffed either by their fears or by their hopes ; always uneafy ei- ther for the prefent or for the future; never tranquil, all Ifruggling for quiet, yet every moment removing them- I'elves farther and farther from it.

O man ! why art thou fo ingenious in rendering thy- felt miferable ? Such is, then, the refleéîion of the be- lieving foul. That happinefs thou feekeff is more eafily attained. It is necefTary neither to traverfe feas nor to conquer kingdoms. Depart not from thyfelf and thou wilt be happy.

How fweet do the forrows of virtue then appear to the godly man, when he compares them with the cruel cha- grins and the endlefs agitations of finners ! How tranfport- ed to have at laft found a place of reft and of fafety, while he fees the lovers of the world ftill fadly toft about at the mercy of the pallions and of human hopes ! Thus the If- raelitcs formerly efcaped from the danger of the Red Sea, feeing from afar Pharaoh and all the nobility of Egypt ftill at the mercy of the waters, felt all the luxury of their own fafety, thought the barren paths of the defert delight- ful, and were infenfible to every hardfhip of their jour- ney ; and, comparing their lot with that of the Egyptians, far from giving vent to a complaint or a murmur, they fung with Mofes that divine hymn of praifeand of thankf- giving in which are celebrated, with fuch magnificence, the wonders and the tender mercies of the Lord.

2dly,

THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 489

iidly, The injuftice of the world, fo humbling to thofe who love it, when they fee themfelves forgotten, ncgieft- ed, and facrificed to unworthy rivals, is alfo a fund of foothing refleftions to a foul who defpifes it and fears only the Lord. For, what refource is left to a finner who, after having facrificed his eafe, his confcience, his wealth, his youth, and his health, to the world and to his mailers ; after having fubmitted in filence to every circumftance the moft mortifying to the mind, {qcs at once, and without knowing why, the gates of favour and advancement for ever (but againft him ; fees places fnatched from him to which he was entitled by his fervices, and of which he thought himfelf already certain ; threatened, fhould he dare to murmur, with the lofs of thofe he ftill enjoys ; forced to crouch to more fortunate rivals, and to be at the beck ot thofe whom, only a little before, he had deemed unworthy of even receiving his orders ? Shall he retire far from the world, to evaporate, in continual inve£livcs againft it, the fpleen and the rancour of his heart, and thus revenge him- felf of the injuflice of men ? But of what avail will be his retirement ? It will afford only more leifure for retrofpec- tion, and fewer relaxations from chagrin. Shall he try to confole himfelf with fimilar examples ? But our misfor- tunes never, as we think, refemble thofe of others ; and, befides, what confolation can it be to have our forrows re- newed by feeing their image reflefted from others ? Shall he entrench himfelf in ftrength of mind, and in a vaia philofophy ? But, in folitude, reafon foon defcends from its pride; we may be philofophers for the public, but we are only men with ourfelves. Shall he fly, as a refource, to voluptuoufnefs, and to other infamous pleafures ? But, in changing the paflion, the heart only changes the pun- ifhment. Shall he feek, in indolence and inaclivity, an happinefs he has never been able to find in all the fervency

of

490 SERMON XV.

of hopes and pretenfions ? A criminal confcience may be- come indifferent, but it is not thereby more tranquil. One may ceafe to feel misfortune and difgrace, but infidelities and crimes muft always be felt. No, my brethren, the unhappy finner is fo without refource. Every comfort is for ever fled from the worldly foul from the moment that he is defertcd by the world.

But the righteous man learns to defpife the world even in the contempt which the world has for him. The injuf- tice of men, with refpeft to him, only puts him in mind that he ferves a more eq citable Mafler, who can neither be influenced nor prejudiced; who fees nothing in us but what, in, reality, there is; who determines our deflinies upon our h.earts alone, and with whom we have nothing but our own confcience to dread : confequently, that they are happy who ferve him ; that his ingratitude is not to be feared; that everything done for him is faithfully record- ed; that, far from concealing or neglefting our fufferings and our fervices, he gives us credit even for our good wiflies ; and that nothing is lofl with him but what is not done folely tor him.

Now, in thefe lights of faith, what a frefh fund of con- folation for a believing foul ! How little is the world, in this point of view, with all its fcorns and ill ufage, capable of afFeéling him ! Then it is that, throwing himfelf into the bofom of God, and viewing, with Chriftian eyes, the nothingnefs and vanity of all human things, he feels in a moment all his inquietudes, infeparable from nature, changed into the fweeteft peace ; a ray of light fhines in his foul, and reeftablifhes ferenity ; a trait of confola'tion penetrates his heart, and everyf orrow is alleviated. Ah ! my brethren, how fweet to ferve him, who alone can ren- der

THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 49 Î

der happy thofe who ferve him ! Why, O blefled condi- tion of virtue, art thou not better known to men ! And wherefore art thou held out as a difagreeable and forrowful lot, thou who alone canft confole the miferies and allevi- ate all the fufierings of this banifhment ?

Lajllyy The judgments of the world, fource of To many chagrins for the worldly, complete ftill more the confola- tion of the believing foul. For the torture of the lovers of the world is that of being continually expofed to the judgments, that is to fay, to the cenfures, to the derifions, to the malignity of each other. In vain do we defpife the men : we wifh to be elleemed even by thofe we defpife. In vain are we exalted above others : the more we are ex- alted, we are only the more expofed to the criticifms and to the obfervations of the multitude, and we much more poignantly feel the cenfures of thofe from whom homages alone were to have been expe6fed. In vain may the fuf- frage of the public be in our favour; contempt is fo much the more flinging as it is unufual and rare. In vain may we retaliate with cenfures yet more biting and keen ; re- fentment and revenge always fuppofe a fenfe of guilt ; and, befides, the chagrin of having encountered fcorn is much more lively than any pleafure that can accrue from retorting it. Laftly, From the moment that you live fole- ly for the world, and that your pleafures or your vexations depend wholly on it, the judgments of the world can nev- er be indifferent to you.

Neverthelefs, it is in the midff of all thefe vexations that happinefs muftbe at leaft profeffed. Everything attribut- ed to you, either by truth or vanity, is called in queftion : your birth, your talents, your reputation, your fervices, your fuccefs, your prudence, and even your honour. If

Vol. il L 3 yoa

492 SERMON XV.

you go to wreck, your incapacity accounts lor it : if fuc- cefsfu!, the honour is given to chance, or to your infe- riors : if you enjoy the good opinion of the pubHc, the judgment of the more knowing is appealed to from the popular error; if pofTefled of the art of pleafing, it is im- mediately faid that you have made a thorough ufe oi your talents, and that you have been only too agreeable : if your conduft be fuperior to any attack, the moft poignant ridicule is direfted againft your temper. Laftly, Be whom ye may, high or low, prince or fubjeft, the moft defirable fituation lor your vanity is that of being unacquainted with the world's opinion of you. Such is the life of the world. The fame partions which bind us together, difu- nite us : envy and deftruftion blacken our nobleft qual- ities ; and our gratifications find cenfurers even in thofe who copy them.

But a believing foul is fheltered from all thefe uneafi- nelTes. As he courts not the efteem of men, neither does he fear their fcorn ; as he has no intention of laying him- felt out to pleafe, neither is he furprifed to find that he has not done it. God, who fees him, is the only Judge he fears, and who, at the fame time, confoles him for the judgments of men. His glory is the teftimony of his own confcience. His reputation he feeks in the fulfilment of his duty. He confiders the fulFrages of the world, as the rock of virtue, or as the reward of vice; and, with- out even paying attention to its judgments, he is fatisfied with giving it good examples. But what do I fay, my brethren? The world itfelf, all worldly as it is, fo full of cenfures, malignity, and contempt for its own worfhip- pers, is forced to refpeft the virtue of thofe who hate and defpife it. It appears that virtue imprints, on the perfon of a real righteous man, a dignity, a fomething I know

not

THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 493

not what, of divine, which attrafts the veneration and al- moft the worfhip of worldly fouls : it appears that his in- timate union with Jefus Chrift occafions his being irradi- ated, as 1 may fay, like the three difciples on the holy mount, with a part of that celeflial fplendour which the Father flied around his well-beloved Son, and by which all liberty ceafes of refufing homage. It is an inalienable right which virtue has over the heart of men ; and, by a deplorable caprice, the world defpifes the pafTions it in- fpires, and refpe6ts the virtue it ftrives againft. Not that the efteem of the world, fo worthy itfelf of being defpif- ed, can be any great confolations to the believing foul. But his confolation is, that he fees the world condemned even by the world, its pleafures decried even by thofe who hunt after them, fmners become the apologifts of virtue, and the life of the world to pafs forrowfully away in doing what they condemn, and flying from what they approve.

Such is the manner in which the prefent age becomes a fource of confolatory reflexions to a Chriflian foul ; but, in the thought of futurity, healfo finds confolations which are changed into inward and continual terrors for finners : Laft advantage drawn by the jufl from the lights of taith. The magnificence of its promifes fuftains and confoles them : they await the bleffed hope, and that happy mo- ment when they fhall be aflbciated with the church of heaven, reunited to their brethren whom they had left on the earth, received eternal citizens of the heavenly Jerufa- lem, incorporated in that immortal aflembly of the e]eB, where charity will be the law that (hall unite them ; truth, the flame that fhall enlighten them ; and eternity, the mea- fure of their felicitv.

Thsfe

494 SERMON XV,

Thefe thoughts are fo much the more confoling to the godly, as they are founded on the truth oi God himfelf. They know that, in facrificing the prefent, they facrifice nothing; that, in the twinkhng of an eye all fhall have pafTed away; that, whatever muft have an end cannot long endure; that this moment of tribulation ought to be reck- oned as nothing, when put in competition with that eter- nal weight of glory which he prepareth for us ; and that the rapid paffage of prefent things fcarcely deferves that we fhould be at the pains ot numbering the years and the ages.

I know that faith may fubfift with criminal manners ; and that the fanftifying grace is often loft without lofing a lincere fubmiflion to the truths revealed to us by the Spirit of God. But the certitude of faith, fo confoling to the righteous foul, is no longer for the finner who ftill believes but an inexhauftible fund of inward anxieties and cruel terrors. For, the more that finners like you, who bear upon your confcience the fink of a whole life of irregular^ ity, are convinced of the truths of faith, the more inevi- table mufl the punifhments and the mifery appear with which it threatens fuch finners. All the truths offered to your faith, in the holy doftrine, excite frefh alarms in your bread. Thofe divine lights, which are the fource of all confolation to believing fouls, become, within you, only avenging lights which difquiet, agonife, and judge you; which, like a mirror, hold up continually to your fight what you would wifh never to fee; which enlighten you, in fpite of yourfelves, on what you would wifh to be for ever ignorant. Your faith itfelf conftitutes your pun- ifhment before hand. Your religion is, here below, if I may venture to i^ay fo, your hell ; and, the more you are

convinced

THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 495

convinced ot the truth, the more unhappy do you live. O God! how great is thy goodnefs towards man, in hav- ing rendered virtue neceflary even to his quiet, and in thus aitrafting him to thee, by making it impoffible for him to be happy without thee !

And here, my dear hearer, allow me to recal you to yourfelf. When the lot of a criminal foul fhould not be [o fearful for the age to come, fee if, even in this world, it appears much to be envied : his affligions are without refource, his evils without confolation, even his pleafurcs without enjoyment; his anxieties upon the prefent endlefs, his reflexions on the pall and on the future gloomy and fad; hislaith is the fource of all his anguifli ; his lights of all his defpair. What a fituation ! What a miferable lot ! What fliocking changes are operated, by a fmgle a6l ot guilt, both internal and outwardly on man! How dearly does he purchafe eternal mifery ! And, is it not true that the way of the world and of the padions is ftill infinitely more arduous and painful than that of the gofpel; and that there is more toil and vexation of fpirit in gaining the kingdom ot hell, if it be proper to fpeak in this manner, than in gaining the kingdom ot, heaven ? O innocence oi: heart, what bleflings doft thou not bring with thee fb man ! O man, what lofeft thou not v^hen thou lofefl thine inno- cence of heart ! Thou lofeft all the confolations of faith, the fweeteft occupation of the piety ot the righteous; but thoualfo depriveft thyfelf of all the comforts of grace by which the lot ot the godly is rendered fo truly enviable here below.

Part II. When comforts and confolation, fays St. Aiu guftin, are promifed to worldly fouls in the obfervance of the law ot God, they confider our promifes as 3 pious mode

of

496 SERMON XV .

ot fpeaking employed to give credit and confequcnce to virtue ; and, as a heart which has never tafted of thefe chafte delights is alfo incapable of comprehending them, we are obliged, continues that holy father, to reply to them, " How wouldft thou that we convince thee ?" We cannot fay unto thee : " O tafte and fee that the Lord is good !" feeing a difeafed and vitiated heart can have no relifh for the things in heaven. Give us an heart that loves, and k will leel the truth oi every thing we fay.

My defign, therefore, here, is not fo much to enlarge upon all the inward operations oi grace in the heart of the juft, as to contrafl; the happy (ituation in which it places them, here below, with the melancholy lot of fmners, and, by this comparifon, to overwhelm vice and to encourage virtue. Now, I fay, that grace provides two kinds of con- folations here below to the godly : the one internal and fe- crer, the other external and fenfible ; both of them fo ef- fential to happinefs in this lite, that no earthly gratification can ever compenfate for them.

The firft internal benefit accruing to the believing foul from grace, is the eftablifliment of a folid peace in his heart, and a reconciliation with himfelf. For, my brethren, we all bear within us natural principles of equity, of mod- efly, and ot reftitude. We come into the world, as the apoftle fays, with the precepts of the law written in the heart. If virtue be not our firft bent, we, at leaft, feel that it is our firft duty. In vain does pafTion fometimes un- dertake fecretly to perfuade us that we are born for plea- fure; and that, after all, tendencies implanted by nature, and which every one find within himfelf, can never be crimes. This foreign perfuafion is ineffeftual in quieting the criminal foul. It is a defire, for we would heartily wifh

ta

THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST, ,^97

to be lawful whatever pleafes us ; but it is not a real con- viftion. It is a faying, for it appears honourable to be above all vulgar prejudices ; but it is not a feeling. Thus we always carry within us an incorruptible judge, who in- ceflantly adopts the caufe of virtue againft our deareft in- clinations; who blends with our moft headftrong paflions the troublefome ideas of duty ; and, who renders us unhap- py even amidft all our pleafures and abundance.

Such is the Hate of an impure and a fullied confcience. The finner is the fecret and confiant accufer of himfelf ; go where he will, he carries a torment within which the hand of man cannot allay. Unhappy in being unable to con- quer his lawlefs tendencies : more unhappy ftill in being unable to ftifle his incefTant remorfes. Enticed by his weaknefs, and withheld by his lights, the permifTion of every crime is a conflift with himfelf: he reproaches him- felf for the iniquitous gratification, even in the moment of its enjoyment. What fhall he do? Shall he combat his lights in orden to appeafe his confcience ? Shall he fufpeft his faith to fin in tranquillity ? But unbelief is ftill a more horrible ftate than even guilt. To live without God, with- out worfhip, without principle, and without hope! To be- lieve that the moft abominable tranfgrefTions and the pureiL virtues are merely names ! To confider all men as only the vile and fantaftical puppets of a low theatre, and merely intended for the amufement of the fpeftators ! To confider himfeH as the offspring of chance, and the eternal polfeftion of nonentity ! Thefe thoughts have fomething I know not what, of gloomy and horrible, that the foul cannot loci: upon without horror ; and it is true that unbelief is rather the defpair of the finner than the refuge of the fin. What. then, fhall he do ? Continually obliged to fly himfelf, left ke find himfelf alone with his confcience, he ranges from

object

498 SERMON XV.

ôbje6l to obje£l, from pafiion to paflîon, from precipice to precipice. He thinks to compenfate the emptinefs and the infufficiency of pleafures by their variety; there is none which he does not try. But in vain is his heart fuc- cefTiveiy offered to all the created ; all the obje61s oi his pafTions reply to him, fays St. Auguftin, •' Deceive not *♦ thyfelf in loving us ; we are not that happinefs oi which *' thou art in fearch ; we cannot render thee happy : raife <' thyfelf above the created, and, mounting to heaven, fee *' if he who hath formed us be not greater and more wor- *' thy ot being loved than we.'* Such is the lot of the fin-

Not that the heart of the jufl enjoys a tranquillity fo un- alterable but that they, in their turn, experience troubles, difgufts, and anxieties here below. But thefe are paffing clouds, which fhade, as I may fay, only the furtace of their foul. A profound calm always reigns within ; that ferenity of confcience, that fimplicity of heart, that equality of mind, that lively confidence, that mild refignation, that calm of the paffions, that univerfal peace, which begins, even from this life, the felicity of innocent fouls. Vain creatures, what can ye, over an heart, which you have not made, and which is not made for you ? Firft confolation 'of grace, viz. peace of heart.

The fécond is love, which mollifies to the jufl all the rig- ours of the law, and, according to the promife of Jefus Chrift, changes his yoke, fo infupportable to finners, into a fweet and confoling yoke for them. Fora believing foul loves his God flill more fervently, more tenderly, and more truly, than he had ever loved the world. Every thing, therefore, even the mofl rigorous, that he undertakes for him, is either no longer a trial to his heart, or becomes its

fweetell

THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 499

fwceteft care. For the attribute of the holy love, when mafler of the heart, is either to mollify the fufFerings it oc- cafions, or to change them even into holy pleafures. Thus a foul enamoured of God, if I may dare to fpeak in this manner, pardons with joy, fufFers with confidence, morti- fies itfelt with pleafure, flies from the world with delight, prays with coni'"olation, and fulfils every duty with an holy fatisfaftion. The more his love increafes, the more does his yoke become eafy. The more he loves the happier he is : for it is the height of happinefs to love what is become «(Tential and necefTary to us.

But, the finner, the more he loves the world the more unhappy he is : for the more he loves the world the more do his pallions multiply, the more do his defires inflame, the more do his fchemes get perplexed, and the more do his anxieties become fharpened. His love is the caufe of all his evils : its vivacity is the fource of all his fuflTerings ; bccaufe the world, which is the caufe of them, is incapable oi furnifiiing him with their cure. The more he loves the world the more is his pride flung by a preference ; the more does his haughtinefs feel an injury, the more does he fink under a difconccrted projeft ; the more does a difappoint- ed defire alïli6f him, the more does an unexpe6led lofs weigh him down. The more he loves the world the more do pleafures become necefTary to him ; and, as no one can fill the immenfity of his heart, the more infupportabe doe» his wearinefs become : for wearinefs is the infeparable at- tendant of every pleafure ; and, with all its amufements, the world, ever fmce it was a world, complains of its lafîi- tude.

And think not that, to accredit virtue, I here afFe6l

to exaggerate the mifery of worldly fguls. I know that

Vol. II. M 3 the

30O

SERMON XV.

the world feems to have its happinefs ; and that, amid all that whirlwind oi cares, motions, fears, and anxieties, a fmall number of fortunate individuals is feen» whofe hap- pinefs is envied, and who feem, in appearance, to enjoy a fmiling and tranquil lot. But invelligate thefe vain out- fides of happinefs and gladnefs, and you will find real for- rows, diftrafted hearts, and agitated confciences. Draw near to thefe men who, in your eyes, appear the happy of the earth, and you will be furprifed to find them gloomy, anxious, and finking under the weight of a criminal con- fcience. Hear them in thofe ferious and tranquil moments, when the paflions, more cooled, allow fome influence to rea- fon : they all contefs that they are any thing but happy, that the blaze of their fortune ftiines only at a diftance, andap- pears worthy of envy only to thofe who know it not. They contcfs that, amidftall their pleafures and profperity, they have never been able to talte any pure and unadulterate d joy ; that the world, a little fearched into, is nothing ; that they are aftoniflied themfelves how can it be loved when known ; and that happy are they alone, here below, who can do without it and ferve God. Some long for the op- portunity oi an honourable retreat ; others are continually propofing to themfelves more orderly and more Chriftiaa manners. All admit the happinefs of the godly ; all wifli to become fo ; all bear tellimony againft themfelves. They are the forced rather than the voluntary followers of plea- fures. It is no longer inclination, it is habit, it is weaknef» which retains them in thefhackles of the world and ot fin. They feel this ; they lament it ; they acknowledge it ; and they give way to the current of fo wretched a lot. Deceit- ful world ! render happy, if in thy power, thofe who ferve thee, and then will I forfake the law of the Lord to attach myfelf to the vanity of thy promifes.

You

THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. ^Ot

You yourfelf, my dear hearer, fince the many years that you fervethe world, have you greatly forwarded your hap- pinefs ? Put in a balance on the one fide, all the agreeable moments and days you have pafled in it, and, on the other, all the forrows and vexations you have there experienced, and lee which fcale will preponderate. In certain mo- ments ot pleafure, of excefs, and of frenzy, you have, perhaps, faid, " It is good for us to be here ;" but that was only a momentary intoxication, the illufion of which the following moment difcovered to you, and plunged you in- to all your former anxieties. Even now, when fpeaking to you, queftion your own heart : are you at peace within ; is nothing wanting to your happinefs ? Do you fear, do you wifh for nothing ? Do you never feel that God is not with you ? Would you wifh to live and die fuch as you are ? Are you fatisfied with the world ? Are you unfaithful to the Author of your being without remorfe ? There are twelve hours in the day ; are they all equally agreeable to you ? And have you, as yet, been able to fucceed in falh- ioning a confcience fo as to remain tranquil in guilt ?

Even then, when you have plunged to the very bottom of the fea of iniquity to extinguifli your remorfes, and have fucceeded, as you thought, in flilling that rem- iiant of faith which flill pleads in your heart for virtue, hath rot the Lord commanded the ferpent, as be faith in his pro- phet Amos, to follow and fling you'^even in the abyfs where you had fled for fhelter ? And, even there, have you not felt the fecret gnawings of the ravenous worm ? Is it not true that the days you have confecrated to God by fume re- ligious duty have been the happieft ot your life ; and that you have never lived as I may fay, but when your con- fcience has been pure, and that you have lived with

God

^02 SERMON XV.

God ? No, fays the prophet with an holy, pride, that God whom we worfhip is not a deceitful God, nor is he, like the gods which the world worfhips, unable to reward thofc whofervehim : let the worldly theml'elves be the judges here.

Great God ! What then is man, thus to wrefile his whole lifeagainfthimfclf, to wi(h tobe happy without thee, in fpite of thee, in declaring himfeU againft thee ; to feel his wretch- ednefs, and yet to love it; to know his true happinefs, and yet to fly from it ? What is man, O my God ! and who fhall fathom his ways, and the eternal contradiftioa ot his errors ?

Would I could finifli what I had at firft intended, and proveto you, my brethren, that the lot of the godly is flill more worthy of all our wiflies for this reafon, that, when the internal confolations happen even to fail them, yet they have the external aids of piety to flrengthen and to afTift them ; the fupport of the facrament, which, to the reluft- ant finner, is no longer but a melancholy tribute to decen- cy, equally tirefome and embarrafTing : the example of the holy, and the hilfory of their wonders, from which the fmner averts his eyes, left he fee in them his own condem- nation : the holy thankfgivings and prayers of the church, .which, to the finner become a melancholy fatigue: and, laftly, the confofation of the divine ^writings, in which he no longer finds but menaces and anathemas.

What invigoraMng rcfrefhmont, in cflTccl:, my brethren, to the mind of a believer^ when, after quitting the vain converfations of the world, where the only fubjefts have been the exaltation ot a family, the mignificcncc of a build- ing, the individuals who aft a brilliant part on the theatre

of

THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 503

of the univcrfe, public calamities, the fatilts oi thofe at the head ot affairs, the events of war, and the errors with which the government is continually accufed ; laftly, where, earthly, they have fpoken only of the earth ; what a refrefh- ment after quilting thefe, when, in order to breathe a little from the fatigue of thefe vain converfations, a believing foul takes up the book of the law, and finds every where in it ; that it matters little to man to have gained the whole world, if he thereby lofe his foul ; that the moft vaunted conquefts fliall fink into oblivion with the vanity of the conquerors ; that the heavens and the earth fliall pafs away ; that the kingdoms of the earth and all their glory (hall waife away like a garment ; but that God alone will endure forever; and, confequently, that to him alone we ought to attach ourfelvcs ! The foolifli have repeated vain things to mc, O my God ! fays then this foul with the prophet ; but O how different from thy law |

And certainly, my brethren, what foothing promifcs in thefe holy books! What powerful inducements to virtue ! What happy precautions againfl vice ! What inflru£livc events ! What fublime ideas of the greatnefs of God, and of the wretchednefs of man ! What animated paintings of the deformity of fin, and the falfe happinefs of finners! We have no need of thine affiftance, wrote Jonathan and all the Jewifh people to the Spartans, for having the holy books in our hands to comfort us, we have no occafion for the aid of men. And who, think you, my brethren, were thefe men who fpeak in this manner ? They were the unfor- tunate remains of Antiochus's cruelty, wandering in the mountains of Judea, defpoiled of their property and for- tunes, driven from Jerufalem and the temple where the abomination of idols had taken place of the worfliip of the holy God; and, fcarcely emerged from fo afïlifling a fitua-

504 SERMON XV.

tion, they are in need of nothing, for they have the holy books in their hands. And, in an extremity fo new, fur- rounded on all hands by nations of enemies, having no longer, in the midft of their army, either the arkot Ifrael or the holy tabernacle ; their tears ftill flowing tor the re- cent death of the invincible Judas, who was alike the fafe- guard of the people and the terror of the uncircumcifed ; having feen their wives and children murdered before their eyes ; they themfelves on the point every day of finking under the treachery of their falfe brethren, or the ambuf- cadcs of their enemies ; the book of the law is alone fuf- ficient to comfort and to defend them ; and they think them- felves in a fituation to difclaim that afhflance which an an- cient treaty and alliance entitled them to demand.

I am not furprifed after this, that, in the confolation of the fcriptures, the firft difciples of the gofpel fhould forget all the rage of perfecution ; and that unable to bring them- felves to lofe fight of that divine book during life, they fhould defire it to be inclofed in their tomb after death, as if to guarantee to their afhes that immortality it had always promifed to them ; and likewife, as it would appear, to prefent it to Jefus Chrift on the day of revelation, as the facred claim by which they were entitled to heavenly riches, and to all the promifesmade to the righteous.

Such are the confolations of believing fouls upon the earth. How terrible then, my brethren, to live far from God under the tyranny of fin ; always at war with one's felf ; deftitute of every real joy of the heart ; without relifh often for pleafures alike as for virtue ; odious to men through the meannefs of our pafTions ; infupportable to ourfelves through the capricioufnefs of our defires ; hated of God through the horrors of out confcience : deprived

of

THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 505

of the comforts of the facrament, feeing our crimes per- mit us not to approach it; deprived of all confolation from the holy books, feeing we find in them only threatning» and anathemas ; without the refource of prayer, feeing the pra6lice of it is forbidden» or, at leaft, the habit of it loft by a life wholly difTolute. What then is the finner but the outcaft of heaven and of the earth I

Thus, know ye, my brethren, what (hall be the regret* of the reprobate on that great day, when to each one fhall be rendered according to his works ? You probably think that they will regret their pafl felicity, and fhall fay, " Our " days of profperity have flipt away like a fhadow, and " that world, in which we had fpent fo many fweet mo- " ments, is now no more: the duration of our pleafures^ *• has been like that of a dream ; our happinefs is flown, " but, alas ! our punifhments are to begin." You are miftaken ; this will not be their language. Hear how they fpeak in the book of Wifdom, and fuch, as we are afTur- ed by the Spirit of God, they fhall one day fpeak, " We " never tafted pure delight in guilt ; we have erred from *' the ways of truth, and the Sun of righteoufnefs hath " never rofe upon us : alas ! and yet that was only the be- *• ginning of our misfortunes and fufFerings ; we wearied ** ourfelves in the way of wickednefs and deftru6lion ; our ♦* paflions have always been a thoufand times more intol- •' érable to us than could ever have been the raoft auftere •• virtues ; and we have fufFered more in working our own *• deftruftion, than would have been necefTary to fecure " our falvation, and to be entitled to mount up now with *• the chofen into the realms of immortality. Fools that *• we are! by a forrowful and unhappy life to have pur- ** chafed miferies which rauft endure for evei !"

Would

^06 SERMON XV.

Would you then, my dear hearer, live happy on ihi earth ; live Chriflianly. Piety is univerfally beneficial. Innocence of heart is the fource of true pleafures. Tarn to every fide ; there is no reft, fays the Spirit of God, for the wicked. Try every pleafure ; they will never eradi- cate that difeafe of the mind, that fund of lafTitude and gloom which, go where you will, continually accompanies you. Ceafe then to confider the lot of the godly as a dif- agreeable and forrowlul lot; judge not of their happiacfs from appearances which deceive you. You fee their countenance bedewed with tears ; but you fee not the in- vifiblc hand which wipes them away : you fee their body groaning under the yoke of penitence ; but you fee not the unftion of grace which mollifies it: you fee forrowful and auftcre manners ; but you fee not a conscience always cheerful and tranquil. They are like the ark in the de- fart : it appeared covered only with the fkins of animals : the exterior is mean or difgufting; it is the condition of that melancholy defert. But, could you penetrate into the heart, into that divine fan£luary ; what new wonders would rife to your eyes ! You would find it clothed in pure gold : you would there fee the glory of God with which it is filled : you would there admire the fragrance of the perfumes, and the fervour of the prayers which are con- tinually mounting upwards to the Lord ; the facred fire which is never extinguifhed on that altar; that filence, that peace, that majefly which reigns there; and the Lord himfclf, who hath chofen it for his abode, and who hath delighted in it.

Let their lot iafpire you with an holy emulation. It de- pends wholly on yourfelf to be fimilar to them. They per- haps have formerly been the accomplices of your plea- fures ; why could you not become the imitator of their

penitence ?

THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. ^0/

penitence? Eftablifh, at laft, a folid peace in your heart; begin to be weary of yourfelf. Hitherto you have only half-lived , for it is not living to live at enmity with one's felf. Return to your God who calls and who expefts you : banifh iniquity from your foul, and you will banifh the fource of all its forrows, you will enjoy the peace of in- nocence ; you will live happy upon the earth ; and that temporal happinefs will be only the commencement oi a fe- licity which fhall never fade nor be done away.

Vol. 11. N 'x SERMON

SERMON XVI.

ON THE DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION.

LUKE iii. 4. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths Jlraight.

JjEHOLD what the church is continually repeating to us during this holy time, in order to prepare us for the birth of Jefus Chrift : prepare, fays fhe to all her children, pre- pare the way ot the Lord whodefcends from heaven to vifit and to redeem his people ; make his paths ftraight ; let the hollows be filled up and the mountains levelled ; let the crooked ways become ftraight and the rugged even. Or, to exprefs the fame meaning without metaphor ; prepare yourfelves, fays (he to us, to gather the fruit ot that grand myftery which we are going to celebrate, by humiliation ot heart, mceknefs and charity, rcftitudeof intention, unifor- mity of living, renunciation of your own wifdom and of your own righteoufnefs; mortifyingfthe flefh and humb- ling the fpirit.

Allow me to hold the fame language to you Chriftians, my brethren, who, on this folemn occafion, come to puri- fy yourfelves in the penitential tribunals, in order to give â new birth to Jefus Chrifl in your hearts, on receiving

him

DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 509

him at the facred table; prepare the way of the Lord. The deed you are going to perform is the moft holy a6l ot reli- gion, and the fource of the moft fpecial favours : under- take it not, therefore, without all the cares and all the pre- cautions which it requires ; do not expofe yourfelves, through your own fault, to lofe the ineftimable advantages which ought to accrue to you from it.

The communion ought to give birth to Jefus Chrift in our hearts ; but where would be the difiference between the righteous man and the finner, between the foul who dif- cerns the body of the Lord, and him who treats it as a com- mon food, were he equally to have birth in the heart ot all who receive him ? Deceive not ^ourfelves then, my bre- thren ; there is a way of receiving Jefus Chrift, by which his prefence is rendered ufelefs to us ; and would to God that, in thus receiving him, we deprived ourfelves only of thofe favours which follow an holy communion ! Ali ! my brethren, unlefs the communion gives birth to Jefus Chrifl in our hearts, it brings death to him there ; if it do not render us participators ot his fpirit and ol Sis grace, it is the fentence of our condemnation ; it it be not a fruit of life to our foul, it is a fruit of death : terrible alternative which ought to excite our tears, but which ought not en- tirely to keep us away from the facred table. The bread which is there diftributed is the true nourifhment of our fouls, the flrength of the flrong, the fupport of the weak, the confolation ot the afïliêfed, the pledge ot a bleffed im- mortality : how dangerous would it then be to abftaiu from it ? But, infinitely more fo would it be to eat it without preparation. On that account I again repeat to you, my dearefl brethren, with the church, " Prepare the way ot " the Lord:" let your preparations for receiving him be of long Handing ; banith from your hearts whatever may

SERMON

offend him ; inflrufl: yourfelves in the difpofition» which he exafts of thofe who receive him ; ufe every eflfort to acquire them ; there is no other mean of avoiding the rifk of an unworthy communion, and of attrafting Jefus Chrift into your fouls.

r-

This is an important matter, which demands all your at- tention. On one fide, there is queftion of making you ihun the horrible crime of profaning the body and the ado- rable blood of Jefus Chrifl ; on the other ; of inftrufting you how to reap from the communion all the grace which it is capable of bringing forth in our hearts. What, then, are thofe preparations fo effential towards a profitable and worthy communion ? I reduce them to four, which fhall be the fubjefl and the divifion of this difcourfe.

Reflection Î. The eucharifl is an hidden manna ; it ' is the food of the flrong, a fenfible and permanent tellimo- ny of the love of Jefus Chriff, the continuation and the fulfilment of his facrifice. Now, it is neceffary to koovr how to difcern this hidden manna from common food, left it be taken unworthily : firft preparation. It is the food of the flrong ; we ought, therefore, to examine ourfelve» before we venture to make ufe of it : fécond preparation. The tefliraony of the love of Jefus Chrift ; it can be re- ceived, therefore, only in remembrance of him, that is to fay, in feeling aroufed in his prefence every tender and exquifite fenfation which can be excited by the remem- brance of a dear and beloved objeft : third preparation. It is the fulfilment of his facrifice ; every time, therefore, that we participate in it, we fhew his death, and we ought to bring there a fpirit of the crofs and of martyrdom : fourth preparation. A refpe6lful faith which enables us to difcern, a prudent faith which makes u^ to examine, an

ardent

:î n. ^

DISPOSITIONS rOR THE COMMUNION.

àli

ardent faith which enables us to love, an exalted faith which makes us to immolate ; this is the fummary of the apoflle's doctrine, in relating to us the inftitution of the eucharift, and likewife that of all the faints with regard to the ufe of that adorable facrament.

îïrat.

It

Firft preparation ; a refpeflful faith which makes us to difcern. Think not, my brethren, that I mean here to fpeak of that faith which diftinguifhes us from unbelievers. Where is the merit of believing when the prejudices of childhood have accuflomed reafon to it, and when belief is, as it were, born with us ? Exertion would even be necelTary to call off its yoke ; and, to pafs from faith to error, a greater effort is perhaps required than to return from error to the truth. I fpeak of that lively faith which pierces through the clouds, which furround the throne of the Lamb ; which fees him not myf^cally, and, as it were, through a glafs, but face to face, if I may venture to fay fo, fuch as he is : of that faith which, in fpite of the veil with which the true Mofes covers himfeli on this holy mountain, fails not, however, to perceive all his glory, and to feel the inability of fupporting his prefence : of that faith which, without rafhly examining into his majef- ty, is, neverthelefs, overpowered with its luflre ; which fees the celeftial legions covering themfelves with their wings, and the pillars of the firmament fhaking before this King of terrible majefty ; of that faith to which the fenfes could add nothing, and which is bleffed, not becaufe it believes without feeing, but becaufe it almofl fees in be- lieving. I fpeak of that refpeftful faith which is feized with a religious trembling at the fole prefence of the fanc- tuary, which approaches the altar as Mofes did the burning bufh and the Ifraelites the thundering mountain ; of that faith which feels the whole weight of God's prefence,

and.

^i H %

510 SERMON XVI.

offend him ; inflruft yourfelves in the difpofitions which he exafts of thofe who receive him ; ufe every efFort to acquire them ; there is no other mean of avoiding the rifk of an unworthy communion, and of attrafting Jefus Chriit into your fouls.

This is an important matter, which demands all your at- tention. On one fide, there is queftion of making you ihun the horrible crime of profaning the body and the ado- rable blood of Jefus Chrift ; on the other ; of inftru6ling you how to reap from the communion all the grace which it is capable of bringing forth in our hearts. What, then, are thofe preparations fo effential towards a profitable and worthy communion ? I reduce them to four, which fhall be the fubjefl and the divifion of this difcourfe.

Reflection Î. The eucharift is an hidden manna ; it ' is the food of the flrong, a fenfible and permanent teftimo- uy of the love of Jefus Chrifl, the continuation and the fulfilment of his facrifice. Now, it is necelfary to know how to difcern this hidden manna from common food, lefl it be taken unworthily : firft preparation. It is the food of the flrong ; we ought, therefore, to examine ourfelve» before we venture to make ufe of it : fécond preparation. The tefliraony of the love of Jefus Chrift ; it can be re- ceived, therefore, only in remembrance of him, that is to fay, in feeling aroufed in his prefence every tender and exquifite fenfation which can be excited by the remem- brance of a dear and beloved objeft : third preparation. It is the fulfilment of his facrifice ; every time, therefore, that we participate in it, we fhew his death, and we ought to bring there a fpirit of the crofs and of martyrdom : fourth preparation. A refpeftful faith which enables us to difcern, a prudent faith which makes us. to examine, an

ardent

DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. ^ix

ardent faith which enables us to love, an exalted faith which makes us to immolate ; this is the fummary of the apoftle's doctrine, in relating to us the inftitution of the eucharift, and likewife that of all the faints with regard t© the ufe of that adorable facrament.

Firft preparation : a refpef^ful faith which makes us to difcern. Think not, my brethren, that I mean here to fpeak of that faith which diftinguifhes us from unbelievers. Where is the merit of believing when the prejudices of childhood have accuflomed reafon to it, and when belief is, as it were, born with us ? Exertion would even be neceflfary to caft off its yoke ; and, to pafs from faith to error, a greater effort is perhaps required than to return from error to the truth. I fpeak of that lively faith which pierces through the clouds, which furround the throne of the Lamb ; which fees him not myf^cally, and, as it were, through a glafs, but face to face, if I may venture to fay fo, fuch as he is : of that faith which, in fpite of the veil with which the true Mofes covers himfelt on this holy mountain, fails not, however, to perceive all his glory, and to feel the inability of fupporting his prefence : of that faith which, without rafhly examining into his majef- (y, is, neverthelefs, overpowered with its luftre; which fees the celeflial legions covering themfelves with their wings, and the pillars of the firmament (baking before this King of terrible majefty ; of that faith to which the fenfes could add nothing, and which is bleiïed, not becaufe it believes without feeing, but becaufe it almoft fees in be- lieving. I fpeak of that refpeftful faith which is feized with a religious trembling at the fole prefence of the fanc- tuary, which approaches the altar as Mofes did the burning bufh and the Ifraelites the thundering mountain ; of that faith which feels the whole weight of God's prefence,

and.

512 SERMON XVI.

and, in fear, cries out like Peter, *' Depart from me, for " I am a finiul man, O Lord." I fpeak of that faith of which therefpefl approaches almofl to dread, and which it is even ncceffary to comfort ; which, from the farthefl; fpot that it difcovers Jefus Chrift upon the altar, feels an eclat ot majefly which ftrikes and agitates it, and over- powers it with the dread of having ventured to come there without his order.

Behold, my brethren, what that difcernment of faith is which the apoftle demands of you. Great God ! but doth any faith like this flill remain upon the earth? Ah! in vain dofl thou flill manifell; thy prefence to the world; it knows thee no better than formerly: thy difciples them- felves often know thee but according to the flefh ; and, by being conftantly with thee, their eyes become habituated, and almoll no longer difcern thee. When thou fhalt fhew thy feH in the heavens upon a bright cloud, men fhall be confumed with terror, and the impious Ihall feek to hide themfelves in the deepeft caverns, and fhall entreat the mountains to cover their heads : ah ! art thou not the fame in the fanft uary as upon a cloud of glory ? Are the heavens not opened above thee ? When the prieft pronounces the awful words, do not the heavenly fpirits come down from heaven to officiate as thy fervants, and to furround thee with their homages ? Doft thou not judge men upon that myfterious tribunal, and caft looks of difcernment upon that multitude of worfhippers which fills thy temples ? Doft thou not feparate the goats from the fneep ? Doft thou not there pronounce fentences of lite and death ? In one hand doft thou not hold thy wrath, and in the other crowns ? Doft thou not I'eparate me there, and ftamp, with an invilible hand, upon my forehead the mark of my eleftion or of my eternal reprobation ? Alas ! and, while

thou

DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION'.

5»3

thou art perhaps condemning me, I have the prefumption to draw near; while thou art cafting me off from before thee, I boldly prefent myfelf there ; while thou perhaps layefl open the abyfs to mark out my place, I impudently come to take it at thy table ; while thou perhaps art rang- ing me with the children ot wrath, I come to feat myfelf among the children of thy love : thy body, which giveth life, to me is a body of death ; the Lamb without (lain, which breaks the feven feals of the book of death, is the ]aft feal which fills up and clofes that of mine iniquities ; and thou, who fhouldft be my Saviour, becomefl my guilt.

. Ah! my brethren, God could not be feen in former times without inftant death being the confequence. A whole people of Bethfhamites was exterminated for having only too curioufly examined the ark : the angel of the Lord covers Heliodorus with wounds, becaufe he had dared to enter into the fanftuary of Jerufalem : the If- raelites in the defert were not permitted even to approach the holy mountain from whence the Lord gave out his law ; the thunders of heaven defended its accefs : terror and death every where preceded the face of the God ot Abra- ham. What ! becaufe whirlwinds ot fire no longer burfl forth to punifli the intruders and the profaners of our fanftuaries, refpe6l and dread no longer accompany us there ! Weak men, over whom the fenfes have fuch do- minion, and who are never religious but when the God whom they worfhip is clothed in terror ! For, fay, were we to difcern the body q,£ the Lord ; did the faith ot his prefence make thofe grand impreffions upon us which it would undoubtedly do" were we openly to fee him ; ah I would we tranquilly and almoft unfeelingly come to feat ourfeives at his table ? Should a few moments, employed

in

^14 SERMON XVI.

in reciting, with a languid heart and an abfent mind, fom* flight formula, prepare us for an aftion fo awful ? Should a communion be the bufinefs of an idle morning perhaps gained from a cuftomary flumber, or the vain cares of drefs ? Ah ! the thoughts of it fhould long previoufly oc- cupy and afTeft us ; time fhould even be necefTary to llrengthen us, it I may venture to fay fo, againft our own feelings of refpeft, and againft the idea of his majefty ; the days previous to this facred feftival fhould be days ol retirement, of filence, of prayer, and of mortification : every day which brings us nearer to that blefled term, fhould witnefs the increafe of our anxieties, our fears, our joy. The thoughts of it fhould be mingled with all our affairs, all our converfations, all our meals, all our relax- ations, and (even with our fleep itfelf : our mind, filled with faith, fhould feel its inability to pay attention to any thing elfe ; we fhould no longer perceive but Jefus Chrift : that image alone fhould fix all our attention. Behold what is called to difcern the body of the Lord.

I know that a worldly foul experiences inward agitations at the approach of a folemnity in which decency, and per- haps the law, require his prefence at the altar. But, O my God ! thou who fathomeft thefe troubled hearts, are fuch thofe religious terrors of faith v/hich fhould accompany an humble creature to thy altar ? Ah ! it is a fadnefs which operates death ; thefe are inquietudes which fpring from the embarrafTments of a confcience which requires to be cleared. They are gloomy and fad, like the young man o! the gofpel, whom thou orderefl tù follow thee : they dread thefe blefTed days as fatal days : they look upon, as dark and gloomy myileries, all the folemnities of Chriftians : the delights of thy feaft become a fatigue to them : they only partake of it like the blind and the lame of the gof- pel ;

DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 515

pel: that is to fay, that the laws of thy church muft drag thefe faithiefs fouls, as it by force, from the public places, from the pleafures of the age, and from the high way of perdition, and bring them, in fpite of themfelves, into the hall of thy feaft : they delay, as much as poîTible, this religious duty ; the fole thought of it empoifons all their pleafures. Thou feeft thefe unbelieving fouls dragging on the load of a wavering confcience; long hefitating betwixt their duties and their pafTions ; foftening at laft, by the choice of an indulgent confeflor, the bitternefs of this Hep ; appearing before thee, O God, who becomeft their nourifhment in this myltery of love, with as much reluft- ance as if they went to face an enemy ; and, perhaps, in the courfe of a whoje year, experiencing no other circum- llance to grieve them than that of receiving a God who gives himfelf to them. Ah! Lord,- therefore, thou invi- fibly rejefteft thefe guilty viflims who oblige themfelves to be dragged by force to the altar, thou who willed none but voluntary facrifices : therefore, thou reluftantly giveft thyfelf to thefe ungrateful hearts who unwillingly receive thee; and, wert thou ilill capable of being troubled in the fpirit, as thou permittedfl: to be vifible over the tomb of Lazarus, ah ! we fhould once more fee thee groaning when thou enteredft thofe profane mouths which, in thy fight, are only open fepulchres, as they have long been troubled before they could prevail upon themfelves to ap- pear here to pay thee that homage.

Let us acknowledge then, my deareft brethren, that the faith which makes us to difcern the body of Jcfus Ghrift is very rare. We believe, but with a fuperficial faith, which only fkims the furface, as I may fay, without entering into the efficacy and the myfteries of this facrament : we be- lieve, but with an indolent faith, which grounds its whole

Vol. il O 3 merit

$l6 .SERMON XVI.

merit in fubmitting without oppofition : we believe, but with an inconftant fa,ilB, which proiefTes to believe, but denies it in works : we believe, but with an human faith, which is the gift rather of our fathers according to the flefh, than of the Father of light : we believe, but with a popu- lar faith, which leaves us only weak and puerile ideas : we believe, but with a fupcrftitious faith, which tends to nothing but vain and external homages : we believe, but with a faith merely of cuftom, which feels nothing: we believe, but with an infipid fahh, which no longer dif- cerns : we believe, but with a convenient faith, which is never followed with any efFefts : we believe, but with an Ignorant faith, which fails either in refpe£l through fami- liarity, or in love through its backwardnefs : wo believe, but with a faith which enchains the mind, and leaves the heart to wander : laftly, we believe, but with a tranquil and vulgar faith, in which there is nothing either animated, grand, fublime, or worthy of the God which it difcovers tous. Ah! to difcern thy body, Lord, through faith, it is to prefer this heavenly bread to all the luxuries ot Egypt ; it is to render it the only confolation of our ex- ilement, the tendereft foother of our fuffcrings, the facred remedy of all our evils, the continual defire of our fouls ; it is, through it, to find ferenity under all the frowns ot fortune, peace in all our troubles, and equanimity under all the flings of adverftty ; it is to find in it an affylum "againfl our dilgraces, a buckler to repel the flaming darts of fatan, a renovated ardour againll the unavoidable luke- warmnefTes of piety. To difcern thy body, Lord, it is to devote more cares, more attention, and more circumfpec- tion towards worthily receiving thee, than to all the other aÊlions of life. To difcern thy body. Lord, it is to ref- peft the temples in which thou art worfhipped, the minif- ters who ferve thee, and our bodies which receive thee.

Let

DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 517

Let every man examine himfelf, let him thereupon liften to the tellimony ot his own confcience ; and this is the fécond preparation, a prudent laith, which makes us to prove ourfelves : let a man examine himfelf.

Reflection II. I know that we are unacquainted with our own heart; that the mind of man is not always in- formed of what takes place in man : that the paflions fe- duce, examples harden, and prejudices drag us away; that our inclinations are always vi6èorious over our lights ; that the heart is never in the wrong; that, to examine one's felt, is frequently only to harden one's felt in error. Such is man, O my God ! delivered up to his own under- ftanding: he is continually deceived, and nothing appears to his eyes but under fiQitious colours : he but imperfeft- ]y knows thee ; he hardly knows himfelf; he comprehends nothing in all that furrounds him ; he takes darknefs for light; he wanders from error to error; he quits not his errors when he returns to himfelf: the lights alone of thy faith can dire6l his judgments, open the eyes of his foul, becomes the reafon ot his heart, teach him to know him- felf, lay open the folds ot fell-love, expofe all the artifi- ces of the paflions, and exalt him to that fpiritual man, v/ho conceives and judges of all. By the rules of taitb, then, my brethren, muft we examine ourfelves ; all hu- man doBrines, the mollifications of cuftom, the examples of the multitude, our own underftanding, are all deceit- ful guides : if ever it was of importance not to be deceiv- ed, it furely is in a conjunfture where facrilege is the con- fequence of miflake.

But upon what fhall we examine ourfelves ? Upon what ! Upon the holinefs of this facrament, and upon our own corruption. It is the body of Jefus Chrifl, it is the

the

5l8 SERMON XVI.

the bread of angels, it is the Lamb without ftain, who admits none around his altar but thofe who either have not defiled their garment or who have purified them in the blood of penitence. And what art thou, forward foul, whom I fee approaching with fo much confidence ? Bring- efl thou there thy modefty, thine innocence ? Haft thou always poflefTed the velTel of thy body in honour and in holinefs ? Hath thy heart not been dragged through the filth of a thoufand pafTions ? In the fight of God, is not thy foul that blackened brand of which the prophet fpeaks, which impure flames had blafted and confumed from thine earlieft years, and which is no longer but a fhocking vef- tige of their fury ? Art thou not totally covered with fhameful wounds ? Is there a fpot upon thy body free from the mark of fome crime ? Where wilt thou place the body of the Lamb ? What ! it fhall reft upon thy tongue ; that pure and immaculate body upon a tomb which hath never exhaled but infeftion and ftench ; that body immo- lated with fo much gentlenefs upon the inftrument of all thy vengeances and bitternefs ; that crucified body on the feat of all thy fenfualities and debauches. What ! he fhall defcend to thy heart ? But will he therein find where to repofe his head ? Haft thou not changed that holy temple into a den of thieves ? What ! thou art going to place him among fo many impure pleafures, profane attachments, ambitious projefts, emotions of hatred, of jealoufy, and of pride ; it is amidft all thefe monfters that thou haft prepared his dwelling-place ? Ah ! thou delivereft him up to his enemies, thou once more putteft him into the hands of his executioners.

You have examined yourfelves, fay you to me. Before drawing near you have made your confeffion. Ah! my brethren, and, with the fame mouth from which you have

fo

DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 519

fo lately vented all your iniquities, you go to receive Jefus Chrift ? And, the heart dill reeking with a thoufand ill-extin- guifhed paffions, and which to-morrow fhall fee in all their wonted vigour, you dare to approach the altar with your prefent, and to participate in the holy myfteries ? And, the imagination ftill ftained with the ideas ot thofe recent excefles which you have jull been recounting to the prieft, you go to eat of the pure bread of the chofen ? What ! on your departure from the tribunal the commu- nion, in your eyes, fupplies the place, and anfwers the pur- pofes of penitence ? From guilt you rufh headlong to the altar? In place of diflblving in tears with the peni- tent, you come to rejoice with the righteous ? In place of nourifhing yourfelf with the bread of tribulation, you run to a delicious feaft ? In place ot lingering at the gate of the temple, lite the publican, you confidently draw- near to the holy of holies ? In former times, a penitent came not to the table oi the Lord but after whole years of humiliation, of abflinence, of prayer, and of aufterity, and they purified themfelves in tears, in grief, and in the public exercifesot a painiul difcipline : they became new men; an heart-felt regret was the only veftige of their former life : no traces of their paft crimes were to be re- cognifed but in the grace ot penitence, and of the ma- cerations which, at laft, had expiated them ; and the eucha- rift was that heavenly bread which no man, a (inner, then eat but with the fweat of his brow. And, at prefent, to have confefled crimes is believed to have already punifhed them ; that an abfolution, which is only given under the fuppofition of an humbled and contrite heart, aftually creates, and renders it fo; that all the purity required of thofe who receive the body of Jefus Chrift, is, that they have laid open all the virulence and inteftiorj of their fores. Unworthy communions, my brethren ; you eat and you

drink

520 ^ E R iM O N XVr.

drink your damnation : in vain may we comfort you ; can man juftify when God condemns ?

Befides, it is pure and without leaven ; it requires to be exempted from leaven to eat of it : now, candidly, have thofe worldly perfons, whom the circumftances oï a fo- îemnity determine to approach the holy table, quitted the old leaven in prefenting themfelves at the altar ? Do they not bring along with them every pafTion ftill living in its roots? Judge thereof from the confequences. On their departure from thence they find themfelves exaftly the fame ; hatreds are not extinguiflied, the empire of volup- tuoufnefs is not weakened, animation in the purfuit of plea- fures is not blunted, inclination for the world is not lefs violent ; in a word, cupidity has lofl nothing of its rights. We fee no greater precautions than before againft dangers already encountered : the fociety of the world again re- fumes its influence ; converfations are renewed ; the paf- fions awaken ; every thing refumes its former train, and, in addition to their former If ate, they have now to add the profanation of this awful myflery. How is this ? It is that a fimple conteiïion is no examination of one's felf.

Again, it is the food of the ftrong. A weak, fickly, and wavering foul, who turns with every wind ; who gives way to the firfl obftacle ; who founders upon the firft rock ; who efcapes every moment from the guidance of grace ; who has a long experience of his own fragility ; who never brings to the altar but promifes an hundred times violated, but momentary fenfations of devotion, which the very firfl pleafure ffifles ; who, from his earliefl years, has been in the alternate praftice of weaknefTes and holy things, and who has feena confiant fucceflîonof crimes to repentance, and of the facrament to relapfes : is afoul of this defcrip-

tion

DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. rtt

tion a flrong foul ? Is it not its duty to examine itfelf, to increafe, to ftrengthen, and to exercife itfelf in charity ? Scarcely in a ftate to digeft milk, ought it to load itfelf with folid food, and fuch as can ferve the purpofes of nourifhment only to the perfcfl man ?

It is written in the law that, if the fin-offering be placed in an earthen veflel, the veffel fhall immediately be bro- ken ; but, it in a brazen veffel, it fhall be both fcoured and rinfed in water. Would thefe circumflances, fo carefully and minutely marked, be worthy of the holy Spirit, did they not contain inftruftions and myfleries ? Doth not a weak foul, who receives the true vi£lim, refemble that earthen veffel which falls in piece,s as I may fay, being unable to endure the violence of this faered fire ? On the contrary, the firm foul, like the brafs, is purified, lofes in it all its ftains, and comes out from it more beautiful and brilliant than before. What is theconfequence, according to Jefus Chrift, of putting new wine into old bottles ; do they not burfl, and allow the wine to be lofl upon the ground ? What is the application of this parable ? You put the myflical wine, that wine whofe ilrength operates an holy intoxication in pure fouls, into a decayed and worn- out heart, which long-eflabliflied paffionshave almoft con- fumed. Ah ! I am not furprifed that it is unable to endure its flrength, that the blood of Jefus Chrift cannot tarry there, and that, on the firfl occafion, you filed and trample it under foot ; it required to have gradually accuflomed your heart toit, to have prepared it by retirement, by pray- er, by daily conquefls over yourfelf; and, through the means of thefe continued and falutary trials to have ffrengthened and rendered it capable of receiving Jefus Chrifl.

It

^aS SERMON XVI.

It is the palTover of Chriflians : now, Jefus Chrift cel- ebrates his pafTover with his difciples alone.

Now, what is it to be his difciples ? It is to renounce one's fell, to carry his crofs, to iollow him. Are you mor- tified in your defires, patient under your affligions ? Do you walk in the ways in which Jefus Chrifl hath walked before you ? To be his difciples is mutually to love each other ; and how often have you come to eat of this bread ot union, how ohen have you made your appearance at this banquet of charity, your heart inwardly loaded with gall and bitternefs againft your brother ? How often have you come to offer up your prefent at the altar without having reconciled yourfelf with him ?

Laftly, It is a God fo pure, that the ftars are dimmed in his prefence ; fo holy, that, after the fall ot the angel, hea- ven was rent and the abyfs opened that he might place an eternal chaos between fin and him ; fo jealous, that a fingle wandering defne injures and offends him. Thus, my bre- thren, it is neceffary that you examine yourfelves upon your own inclinations : are not thofe defires of the age, of which the apoftle fpeaks, ftill nouriflied within you ? Render glory to God, and, in his prefence, fearch your hearts to the bottom. I go to eat of the body of Jefus Chrift, and to convert it into my own fubftance ; but, when he (hall have entered into my foul, he who knows and difcerns its intentions and moft fecret inclinations, will he find nothing there unworthy of the fanftity of his prefence? He will immediately proceed to the fpring and to the caufes ot my wanderings ; he will examine whether their fource be dried up, or their courfe only fufpended ; he will perceive what are ftill the dominant inclinations of my foul, and what is the weight which ftill turns the bal- ance

DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COiMMUNION. ^2^

ance of my lieart : Alas ! will he be enabled to fay, as for* merly when entering into the houfe of Zaccheus, " This "day is falvation come to this houfe?" Have I fmcerely caft off that paflion fo fatal to my innocence: that bitter- nefs of heart of which î have fo lately expreffed my de- teftation at the feet of the priefl ; that idolifing of riches which leads me to grafp at even iniquitous profits ; that madnefs of gaming by which my health, my affairs, and my falvation are injured ; that vexatious and variable tem- per which the flighteft contradi6lion inflames ; that vanity which leads me to foar above the rank in which my ancef- tors had left me; that envy which, with malignant eyes, has always viewed the reputation and the profperity of my equals ; that proud and cenforious air which judges upon all, and never judges itfelf ; that fupreme influence over me of effeminacy and voluptuoufnefs, which are, as it were, interwoven with the foundation and principle of my be- ing ? Has the avowal, which I come from making, of my weakneffes, to the minifter of Jefus Chrifl, rooted them out from my heart ? Am I a new creature ? He alone who is regenerated can afpire to this heavenly bread which I am going to eat : in thine eyes am I fo, O my God ? Do I not bear the name of living, though ftill, in effeft, dead ? Will the Mighty, entering into my foul, poffefs it in peace, and will he not find there feven unclean fpirits who fhall chafe him from it ? Inflruft me, Lord and fuffer not that thy Chrifl, that thy holy defcend into corruption. Such, my brethren, is the way to examine ourfelves. The Lord had formerly forbidden the Jews to offer up honey and leaven in the facrifices : fee if, in approaching the altar, you bring not with you the leaven of your crimes, and the honey of voluptuoufnefs : that is to fay, both that relifh for the world and for pleafure, and that effeminate and fen- fual charafter, enemy of the crofs, and incompatible with Vol. il P 3 falvation.

^»4 SERMON XVI.

falvation. Approach not, it'yoa do not feel yourfelf fuf- ficiently pure : this holy body, fays the prophet would not purge your iniquity, it would only increafe it ; your reli- gion would be vain, your heart idolatrous, your lacrifice » facrilege.

Examine, therefore, yourfelf, and afterwards eat oi the heavenly bread. But we are not to flop at the fimple dif- cerning and examining. Hitherto you have only removed the obilacles ; but you have not fettled the laft prepara- tions : you have lopt off whatever might repel Jefus Chriil: from your foul ; but you have not acquired what might at- tra£l him to it: you have arranged foas not to receive him ïinworthily ; but you have not fo as to receive him with truit : it is not fufficient to be free from guilt ; it is necef- fary to be clothed with righteoufnefs and fanftity : it is lit- tle not to betray him like Judas ; it is neceflary to love him with the other difciples : it is little, in a word, to be no longer profane, worldly, voluptuous, effeminate, proud, and revengeful ; it is neceffary to be fedate, meek, hum- ble, firm, chafle, believing, Chriflian. •' As oft as your ** do this, do it in remembrance of me :" this is the third difpofition to communicate in remembrance of Jefus Chrift.

Reflection III. What is it to communicate in remem- brance of Jefus Chrifl ? It is, in the Jirji place, internally to defcribe all that paffed in the heart of Jefus Chrifl ia inftituting this adorable facrament. " With defire," faid he to his difciples, " I have defired to eat this paffover with *' you before I fuffer." He fighed for that blefled moment j he never lofl. fight of it ; in the remembrance of it he was comlorted for all the bilternefs ot his paffion. What did he thereby mean to teach us ? Ah ! that we ought to bring to tliia divine table an heart enflamed, penetrated, confum-

€d;

BISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNIO^^ JZJ

cd ; an eager, earneft, and impatient heart ; an hunger and a thirft after Jefus Chrill ; an inclination roufed by- love : in a word, what I have termed a burning defire v/hich impels us to love. This bread, faid a father, requires a famifhed heart. Ah ! Lord, f^iys then the believing foul with St, Auguftin, who will give me that thou mayeft en- ter into my heart to take pofTeffion of it ; wholly to fill it ; to reign there alone ; to dwell there with me even to the confummation of ages ; to be mine all j there to confti- tutemy purcil delights ; to fhed through it a thoufand in- ward confolations ; to fatiate, to gladden it, to make me forget my iniferies, mine anxieties, my vain pleafures, all mankind, the whole univerfe, and to leave me wholly to thee, to enjoy thy prefence, thy converfation, and all the delights which thou prepareft for thofe v/ho love thee ? Perhaps, Lord, the tenement of my foul is not yet fuffi- ciently embelliflied to receive thee ; but come and be thy- felf all its ornament. Perhaps thou perceiveft ffains which repel thee from it ; but thy divine touch will purify them all. Perhaps thou difcoverefl invifibie enemies ftill there ; but art not thou the mighty ? Thy fole prefence will difperfe them, and peace will reign there when once thou fhalt be in poffelTion of it. Perhaps it has wrinkles which render it forbidding ; but thou wilt renew its youth like that of the eagle. Perhaps it is flill flained with the blemifhes of its former infidelities ; but thy blood will wafh them en- tirely out. Come, Lord, and tarry not ; every bleffing will attend me with thee ; defpifed, perfecuted, affli£fed, defpoiled, calumniated, I will confider as nothing my for- rows from the moment that thou fhalt come to alleviate them : honoured, favoured, exalted, furrotinded with a- bundance, thefe vain profperities will ceafe to intereft me, will appear as nothing from the moment thou fhalt have

made

526 SERMON XVr.

made me to tafîe how fweet thou art. Such are the defirei which ought to lead us to the altar.

But, alas ! many bring there only a criminal difguft and repugnance: occafions are required to induce them to de- termine upon it ; oî themfelves they would never have thought oi it. But, what do I fay, occafions ? Thunders and anathemas are required. Good God ! that the church fhould be reduced, through the lukewarmnefs ot Chriftians, to make a law to them ot participating in thy body and in thy blood ! That penalties and threatenings fhould be requir- ed to lead them to thy altar, and to oblige them to featthehi- felves at thy table ! That the Chriflian's only felicity upon earth fliould be a painful precept to him! That the mofl trlorious privilege with which men can be favoured by thee fliould be an irkfome reftraint to them! Others ap- proach it with an heavy heart, a pallid appetite, a foul wholly of ice: people who live in the commerce of plea- fures and of the facrament ; who participate at the table ot Satan and at that of Jefus Chrift ; who have flated days for the Lord and days allotted for the age : people to whom a communion cofts only a day of reftraint and refervation ; who, on that day, neither gamble, fhew themfelves, feecom- panv, nor fpeak evil. But this exertion goes no further ; all devotion ceafes with the folemnity ; it is a deed of ceremony ; after this fliort fufpenfion they are at eafe with themfelves ; they tranquilly return to their former ways ; for that was a point agreed upon with themfelves ; they fmoothly continue to live in this mixture of holy and oi profane : the facrament calms us upon pleafures ; pleafures to be more tranquil on the fide of the confcience lead us to the facrament ; and they are almoft good in order to be worldly without fcruple. Thus they bring to the altar a

tafte

DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 527

tafte cloyed with the amufements and the deh'ghts of the age, with the embarraffments of affairs, with the tumult of the pafTions : they ieel not the ineffable fweets of this hea- venly food ; they retrace, even at the foot of the throne of grace, the images of thofe pleafures they have fo lately left : interefts which occupy us, projefts which puzzle us, ideas which force us from the altar to drag us back to the world, make much deeper imprefhons upon the heart than the pre- fence of Jefus Chrift. But is it not, Lord, againft thofe monfters of Chriftians that thy prophet, incenfed, formerly faid to thee, "Ah Lord, let thy table become a fnare be- *• fore them ; and that which fliould have been for their '■' welfare let it become a trap."

In the fécond place lo communicate in remembrance of Jefus Chrift, isto wifii to awaken, through the prefence of this facred pledge, every impreffion which his memory can make upon an heart which loves him. The firmed bonds are loofened by abfence : Jefus Chrift well forefaw that, afcending up to heaven, his difciples would infenfibly for- get this kindnelfes and his divine inftruftions. Alas ! Mofes remains only forty days upon the mountain, and already the Ifraelites ceafe to remember the miracles that he had wrought to deliver them from Egypt. We wot not, faid they among themfelves, what is become of this Mofes, the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt ; let us make gods who fliall go before and defend us againft our enemies. Jefus Chrift to guard againft thefe inconftancies of the hu- man heart, wiftied, in afcending to the heavenly Sion, to leave us a pledge of his prefence: it is there that he wifhes we fhould come to confole ourfelves for his fenfible ab- fence ; it is there that we ought to find a more lively re- membrance of his wonders, of his do£lrine, of his kind- neffes, or his divine perfon ; it is there that, under myften-

ous

C28 SERMON XVI.

ous figns, we come to fee him born at Bethlehem, brought up at Nazareth, holding difcourfe with men, and traverfing the cities ot Judea, working figns and miracles which no one before him had ever done, calling as followers rude difci- ples, in order to make them maftcrs of the world, confound- ing the hypocrify of the Pharifees, announcing falvatioa to men, leaving marks every where of his power and good- nefs, entering in triumph into Jerufalem, led to mount Calvary, expiring upon a ^rrofs, conqueror of death and of hell, leading with him into heaven thofe who were captives as the trophies ot his viélory, and forming afterwards his church with the overflowing of his Spirit and the abund- ance oi his gilts; in a word, we Ihall there find him in all his mylleries.

You envy, faid St. Chryfollom, the lot of a woman who touches his garments, of a finful one who bathes his feet with her tears, of the women of Galilee who had the hap- pinefs to follow and to ferve him in the courfe of his min- illry, of his difciples with whom he familiarly converfed of, the people of thofe times who lillened to v/ords of the grace and of falvation which proceeded from his mouth ; you call bleffed thofe who faw him ; many prophets and kings have vainly wifhed it ; but you, my brethren, come to the altars and you fhall fee him ; you fliall touch him ; you fliall give him an holy kifs, you Ihall bathe him with your tears, and your bowels fliall bear him even like thofe of Mary, Alas ! our fathers went into the holy land to worfliip the traces of his feet, and the places that he had confecrated with Lis prefence. Here, they were told, he propofed the para- ble of the good fliepherd and the loft flieep ; here he recon- ciled an adultrefs ; here he comforted a finful woman ; here he fanftified the marriage and the fcaft with his prefence ; feere he multiplied the loaves to fill a fimifhed multitude ;

here

DISPOSITION'S rOR TliE COMMUXIO^f. 529

here he checked his difcip'es who wanted to bnng fire from heaven upon a criminal city ; here he deigned to hold converfe with a woman of Samaria ; here he fuffered the children around him, and rebuked thofe who wanted ta drive them away ; here he reftored fight to the blind, made the lame to walk, delivered thofe pofTefTed with devils, made the dumb to fpeak, and the deaf to hear. At thefe word» our fathers felt themfelves tranfported with an holy joy ; they fhed tears of tendernefs and of religion upon that blefT- ed land ; this fight, thefe images, carried them back to the times, to the aftions, to the myfteries ot Jefus Chrill, in- fpired them with frefh ardour, andconfoled their faith ; fin- ners found there a fweet truft, the weak a new force, and the righteous new defires.

Ah! Chriftians ; no, it is not necefTary to crofs the feas ; falvation is at your hand ; the word which we preach to you will be, if you wifh it, upon your mouth and in your heart : open the eyes of faith, behold thefe altars ; they are not places confecrated formerly with the prefence, it is Jefus Chrift himfelF : approach in remembrance ot him ; come to rekindle all that your heart hath ever felt o£ tender, affefting, and lively, for this divine Saviour. Let the remembrance of his meeknefs, which would noe permit him to break the reed already bruifed, nor to ex- tinguifh the yet glimmering lamp, quiet your tranfports and your impatiencies : let the remembrance of his toils and of his troublefome life overwhelm you for your effe- minacy : let the remembrance of his modefty and ot his humility, which made him fly when they wanted to make him king, cure you of your vanities, of your fchemes, ot your frivolous pretenfions : let the remembrance of his fafl for forty days reproach you for your fenfualities : let the remerabfance of his xeal againft the protaners ot the

temple

S^O s E R M O N XVI.

temple teach you with what refpeft, and with what holy dread you ought to enter there : let the remembrance of the (impHcity and the frugality of his manners condemn the vain fupeifluities and the exceffes of yours : let the re- membrance of his retirement and of kis puayers warn you to fly the world, to retire fometimes into the fecrecy of your houfe, to pafs, at leaft, fome portion of the day in the indifpcnfible praftice oi prayer: let the remembrance or his tender compaflion for a famifhed people give you bowels of commileration tor the unfortunate : let the re- membrance of his holy difcourfes teach you to canverfe innocently^ holily, and profitably with men : in a word. Jet the remembrance of all his virtues, there more lively, more prefent to the heart and to the mind, correal yt>u of all your wcakncITcs : this is what is called to communicate in remembrance of him.

But, to bring continually to the altar the fame weak- rielTcs ; to familiarifc ourfclves in fuch a manner with the body of Jefus Chrifl, that it no longer awakens in us a new fentiment, but leaves us always fuch as we are; to riourifii ourfelves with a divine food, yet not to increafe ; frequently to approach this burning furnace without any additional heat to your lukewarmnefs ; to appear there with faults an hundred times detefted yet ftill dear, with habits of imperfe£lion, which, though light in themfelves, are no longer fo, however, through the attachment and the bent which render them inevitable to us, and through the circumftance of the facrament which there is the rifk of profaning ; to make profeffion of piety, of étrangement from the world, to be almoft every day in the commerce of holy things, and to have determined, as it were, upon a limited point of virtue beyond which never to rife, and, alter ten years exercifeof piety, to be no farther advanced

than

Dispositions for the communiojt. j3t

Ihan at firft, on the contrary, to have rather relaxed from the firft fervour; to be continually applying to this divine remedy, yet to feel no akeration tor the better in the dif- eafe ; to heap facrament upon facrament, if I may dare to fay fo, yet never to empty the heart in order to make room for this heavenly food ; to nourifh envies, animofities, fecret attachments, a kmd of fenfuality, of vain defi;;? to pleafe, to be courted, to be profperous ; to permit, ia converfation, the habit of witticifms and every freedom of fpeech upon others, of endlefs nothings, of fentimcnts wholly profane, of quibbles which wound fincerity, of concealments by which falfehood becomes familiar, of haftinefTes and burfls of paffion ; to be jealous to an ex-, treme wherever felf is concerned; to rife indignant at the fmaileft appearance of negleft, and to be incapable of di- gcfling a fingle difobliging geflurc; and yet, with all this^ to teed upon the bread ot angels ; O my God ! how mucti lefs than this ought to make us tremble I

But, is it to eat of this bread unworthily, to eat it with To many imperle6tions and weakneffes ? Who knows this^ O Lord, but thee ? All that we know is, that it is not communicating in remembrance ot thee ; that many righ- teoufnefTes fhall appear in thy fight, at the great day, as a foiled cloth ; that many, who had even prophefied in thy name, fhall be rcjefted ; and that every thing is to be dreaded in this Jttate. Peter is not admitted to thy fupper till alter thou hadll wathed his feet ; neverlhelefs, thou afTurcft us that he was altogether pure. Magdalene is Tent away, and thou fayeft unto her, " Woman touch me not,'* becaufe a too fentible affeftion was the caufe of her eager- ncfs ; and, neverthelcfs, her love had been great, and fhe had waihed thy facred feet and her own fins with her tears. And we, Lord, full ot wants, empty of fincere fruits of penitence, made up wholly of effeminacy and fenfualities.

Vol. n. Q 3 lukewarm

533 SERMON xvr.

lukewarm and without defire, fixed in a certain fiate of languifhing and imperfeft piety, more fuftained by habi- tude and the engagements of an holy profeflion than by thy grace, or by a lively and folid faith, alas ! we make thy body our ordinary food. What inexplicable gulphs. Lord! What a train of crimes, perhaps, not known, un- repented of, multiplied to infinity, and which are as the Ihoot upon which a thoufand new profanations are after- wards grafted ! What gulphs, once more ! And what terri- ble fecrets (hall thy light make manifefl to us at the great day ! In thy fight, O my God, what am I ! I can neither offend nor pleafe thee by halves ; my condition admits not of thofe middle lîates of virtue which hold, as it were, a mid way betwixt innocence and guilt ; if nota faint, I am a monfter ; if not a veflTel of honour, I am a veffel of fhame ; if not an angel of light, there is no room to hcfitate, I am an angel of darknefs : and, if not a living temple ot thy fpirit, I muft be its profaner. Good God ! what powerful motives for vigilance, for fclf-examination, for circum- fpeflion, for approaching thine altars with trembling; for humility, tears, and compuiiftion, while waiting the manileflation of thine adorable judgments ! But flill, my brethren, it is not enough to communicate in remembrance of Jefus Chrifl; and, in order to retrace his lite, it is likewife neceffary, and this is the laft difpofition, to renew the remembrance of his death, and to fhew him whenever we eat of his body and drink of his blood ; and this is what I call a noble faith which leads as to facrifice.

Reflection IV. As oft as you /hall eat of the body and drink ot the blood of the Lord, you will fliew his death until the kingdom of God fhall come. How this ? Literally fpeaking his death is fiiewn, becaufe this myftery was a prelude to his pafTion ; becaufe Judas there determined to betray him ; becaufe Jefus Chrifl, eager to

undergo

BISPOS/TIONS FOR THE COMMUNIOK. 533

undergo that baptifm of blood with which he was to be baptifed, anticipated its fulfilment, and facrificed himfelf beforehand by the myftical reparation oi" his body and ol his blood; becaufe the eucharill is the permanent facrifice of the church, the fruit and the fulnefs ot that of the crofs : lalliy, becaufe Jefus Chrift is there as in a (late of death ; he hath a mouth and fpeaks not ; eyes and ufes them not ; feet and walks not. But, my brethren, in that fenfe the impious, equally as the jufl man, fliews the death of the Lord as oft as he eats ot his body : it is a myftery, and not a merit ; it is the nature of the facrament, and not the privilege of him who receives it ; it is a confequence of its inflitution and not a difpofition for approaching it. Now, the defign of the apollle here, is to prevent the abufes, to inftruft believers how to eat worthily of the bo- dy of the Lord, to explain to them, in the myfleries con- tained in this facrament, the difpofitions which it requires. There is a way, therefore, of fhewing the death ot the Lord, which fhould be wholly in our hearts, which dif- pofes and prepares us, which fits the fituation ot our foul to the nature of this myftery, which makes us to bear upon our body the mortification ot Jefus Chrifl, which immo- lates and crucifies us with him. Let us refume the rea- fons we have touched upon, and change the letter into fpirit.

xjliy^ The death ot the Lord is fhewn, becaufe this myftery was a prelude to his paftion. In former times the eucharift was a prelude to martyrdom. From the moment that the rage of the tyrant was declared, and the perfecu- tion begun, all the believers run to provide themfelves with this bread of life; they carried this precious truft into their houfes : death feemed lefs terrible to them when they had before their eyes the beloved pledge oi their immor- tality: they even defired it^ and the ineffable confolations

which

/534 SERMON XVI.

which the prefence of Jcfus Chrifl, hidden under myfti-. cal veils, already Ihed through their foul, made them to long ior that torrent oi delight with which he will over- flow his chofen when they ihall behold him face to face. Were they dragged to prifon, and, like felons, loaded with irons, they of whom tlje world was unworthy ; they carefully concealed the divine eucharift in their hofom ; they feaffed upon it in the hopes of martyrdom; they grew lat upon this heavenly food like pure viftim.s, that their facrifice miglit be more pleafmg to the Lord. Chafle vir- gins, fervent believers, holy minifters, partook altogether of the blefTed bread : and what delight even in their chains ! What ferenity of mind in thefe dark and gioorny abodes ! What fongs of thankfgiving in thefe horrible places where the eye encountered nothing but the fad images of death, and preparations lor the moft cruel tortures! How often did they fay to Jefus Chrilt, prefent with them in this adorable facrament : Ah ! we lear no ill. Lord, fince ihou art with us : though hofts furround us yet will we not be alVaid ; our enemies may deftroy our bodies, but thou wilt rellore them to us glorious and immortal ; for who can deftroy thofe whom the Father hath beflowed up- on thee ? Blefîed chains which thou deigned to fuftain! Holy prifons which thou confecratell with thy prefence I Beloved dungeons in which thou filleft our fouls with fo jTiany lights ! Precious death wliich is to unite us with thee, and to withdraw the veil which conceals thee from our fight ! Thence what fortitude under their tortures! Pilled with the body of Jefus Chrifl, waflied in his blood, they quitted their prifons,» fays an holy father, like lions cut of their den lîill raging and thirlHng for death and carnage; they flew upon the fcaiïblds, and, with an holy pride, launched here and there looks of confidence and magnanimity which appalled the moll ferocious tyrants, and even difarm^d their executioners : they fliewed then

the

DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNIOM. 535

the fleath of the Lord in preparing themfelves for martyr- dom by the communion.

The tranquillity of our ages, and the religion of tlie Cefars leave us no longer the fame hope; death is no longer the revvard of iaith, and the eucharili; makes no more mar- tyrs : but have we not domeflic perfecutors ? Hasourtaitb only tyrants to dread? And is theie not a martyrdom of Jove^as well as of blqod ? In approaching tlie altars then, jny btc't!i!cn, a believing foul fighs for the dilTulution of his mortal b'^dy ; for, couh' he love this life, and fliew tl"ve death oi Jclus Chrift, and renew, in thefe myftical figns, his quitting the world to go to his Father ? He complains of the length of his exilement ; he bears, to the foot of the fanftuary, a fpirit of death and of martyrdom : " Ah ! *' Lord, fince thou art dead and crucified to the world, «' why detain me there ? What can I find upon the earth " worthy ot my heart, feeing thou art no longer there ? The *' myftery itfelf, which fhould confole me through thy pre- *' fence, recals to me thy death : thefe covers which veil " thee are an artifice of thy love; and thou half concealed " thyfelf only to infpire my heart with the defire of fully *' beholding thee. Vain things, what offer ye to me but " an empty fhadow of the God whom I feek ? What an- ,♦' fwer do ye make when my fottened heart bends towards '' you to foothe its anxieties ? Return, fay you, to him " who hath made us ; we groan in awaiting his coming to " deliver us from this fervitude, which makes us fubfervi- •' ent to the pafTions and to the errors of men : feek hiiil " not among us, thou wilt not find him, he is rifen, he is •' no longer here ; if he appear it is only to die again ; rc- *' cal the defires and the affcftions which thou meant to *' place upon us, and turn them towards heaven ; the ♦' bridegroom hath been carried away, the earth is no *' longer for a Chriftian now but a vale of mourning and

" teas :

^gS SERMON XVI.

*• tears : fuch is what they aufwer to me. What then de- ** tains rae here, Lord ? What are the ties and the charms *• wliich can attach me to the world ? Reftlefs in pleafures, •' impatience in abfence, tired of the converfations and the *' commerce of men, afraid of folitude ; without rehfh *' for the world, without relifh ior virtue ; doing the eviî *' I would not, and leaving undone the good that I would ; ^* what keeps me here ? What delays the diflblution of *• this body of fin ? What prevents me from foaring with ** the wings of the dove upon the holy mountain ? I feel «• that I fhould then be happy ; I couJd then feaft at all ** times upon this delicious bread : I tafte no real delight •• but at the feet of thy altars , thefe are, indeed, the hap- ** pieft moments of my life : but they are fo fliort, and I *• muft fo foon return totheinfipidities and to the difgufts " of the world ; I am under the neceiluyof being fo long «' abfent from thee : no, Lord, there is no perieft happi- "*' nefs on the earth, and death is a gain to whoever knows •* to love thee."

Are thefe our fcntiments, ray brethren, when we dravr near to the altars ? Where are now the Chriilians who, like the firft believers, await the blelTcd hope, and haften, by their fighs, the end of their banilhment, and the coming of Jefus Chrift ? This is a refinement of piety of which <bey have no idea ; it is merely a language of thefpeculift; St is, however, the ground-work of religion, and the firft ftep of faith. The neceflity of dying is confidered as a cruel punifhment ; the fole idea of death, with which our fathers were fo comforted, makes us to fhudder ; the end of lite is the term of our pleafures in place of being that ■of our fufferings ; the attentions paid to the body are end- lefs ; our precautions extend even to abfurdity , or, if it fometimes happen that this lafl moment is defircd, it is in <;onfequence oi being wearied oi life and of its chagrins ;

DISPOSITIONS rOR THE COMMUNION. 53f

it is a dlfgrace, an habitua! infirmity preying upon us, a revolution in our worldly matters which leaves no more pleafures to be expefted here below, the difappointment of an eftablifhment, a death, an accident, or laftly, a difguft and a wifli of felf-lovc ; we tire of being unfortunate, but we are not eager to go to be reunited with Jefus Chrift : and, with all this, they come to eat ot the Lord's fupper, to renew the remembrance of his pafîion, and to fiiew his death until he fhall come ; what an outrage ?

2âf/y, His death is fhewn in this myflery, becaufe Judas there finally determined upon delivering him up. Now, what does this remembrance exaft of us ? Ah I my bre- thren, an ardent defire of repairing, by our homages, the impiety of fo many fliocking communions which crucify Jefus Chrift afrefli. So many impure, revengeful, world- ly, and extortioning finners, of every people and of every nation, receive him into profane mouths : we ought to feel the infults which Jefus Chrift thereby fuffers ; to humble ourfelves betore him, feeing that his moft fignal blefTing i» become the occafion ot the greateft crimes ; to tremble for ourfelves ; to admire his goodnefs, which, for the profit of a fmall number of chofen, hath gracioufly been willing to fubmit to the indignities ot that endlefs multitude of finners, of all ages and of all times, who have, and ftill continue to diflionour him ; to avert, by the tears of our heart and a thoufand inward lamentations, the fcourge* which unworthy communions never fail to draw down wpon the earth. For, it the apoftle formerly lamented that general plagues, epidemical difeafes, and fudden deaths were only a confequence of the profanation of the facra- ment ; ahf thy finger has long been upon us. Lord; the cup of thy wrath is poured out upon our cities and pro- vinces ; thou armeft kings againft kings, and nations a- gainft nations : nothing is now fpoken ot but battles and the

rumours

J38 SERMON xvr»

rumours of war; our fields are ftricken with fleiiliiy ; ciit families are confumed by the fword of the enemy, and the father is deprived of the only prop and confolation of his old age ; we groan under burdens, which, though keeping the enemy of tiieftate from our walls, yet leave us a prey to famine and want; the arts are now alraofi: of no avail to the people ; commerce languifhes, and induilry can hardly fupply the common neceffaries of life; yet what arc even the public calamities, when compared with the private mifcries known to thee alone ? We have feen our citizens mowed down by hunger and death, and our cities turned into frightful deferts ; the enemy of thy name takes ad- vantage of our dilFentions, and ufurps thine inheritance.

Whence proceed thefe fcourges, great God ! fo contin- ued and fo terrible ? Where are formed thofe clouds of wrath and indignation which have fo long been pouring out their torrents upon us ? Is it not to punifh the facrilegious that thou art armed ? Do not the» outrages which are every day committed againll thy body, at the feet of the altars, draw down upon us thefe marks of thy wrath ? O flrike us then, Lord, and avenge thy glory ; flop not the arm of thy angel who hovers over us; let the houfes where the traces of a profane blood are (till imprinted not be fpared ; thine an- ger is juft. But no, give us not the water of gall to drink becaufe we have finned againft thee; give peace in our days ; liftcn to the cries of the righteous who entreat it of thee : " Lord," fay they with the prophet, " we look- *' ed for peace, but no good came ; an^ tor a time of health, *• and behold trouble." Terminate the profanations which are ever the attendants of wars ; ceafe to punifh facrileges by multiplying them on the earth ; once more reftore ma- jcfly to fo many temples profaned, worlliip and dignity to fo many churches defpoiled, peace to our cities, abundance to our families, confcrfation andgladnefs of heart to Ifrael;

let

DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. ,539

let the child be reftored to his father, and the hufband to the defolate wite ; and, if our evils touch thee not, O pay attention to the miferies ot tliy church.

g^/y. The death of the Lord is fhewn in this myftery, for Jefus Chrift facrifices himfeU in it, by the myftical reparation of his body and of his blood. What follows trom thence ? That we mufl be at the foot of the altar as if we were at the foot of the crofs î that we muft enter into the difpofitions of the difciples and of the women of Je- rufalem who received the dying figh of Jefus, and were prelent at the confummation of his facrifice. Now, what hatred had they not againfl a world which had crucified their Mailer ? What meafures did they think it neceffary to keep with his murderers ? Were they afraid of declaring themfelves the difciples of him who had fo openly declar- ed himfelf their Saviour, and that at the price of his blood ? Did they not fay to the heavenly Father, Ah ! flrike us, Lord, who are the guilty, and fpare the innocent. What horror at their pafl faults, which had attached fo good a Matter to the crofs ! What a lively imprefTion in their heart ot his fuiTerings I Thus, my brethren, flill to keep meafures with the age, to be afraid of declaring open- ly for piety, to be afhamed of the crofs of Jefus Chrift; to calculate your works of devotion in fuch a way that an air and a favour of the world may ftill pervade the whole : not boldly to confefs Jefus Chrift ; to be afraid of abftain- ing trom a theatre where he is infulted, from an affembly where he is offended, from a proceeding by which inno- cence muft fuffer, from I know not what train of life of which the world makes a neceffity to you, from certain maxims which wound the gofpel, and which cuftom has eftabliflied as laws ; to pretend to keep up all thefe con- ciliatory meafures with the world, and yet to come to eat the paft'over with the difciples of Jefus Chrift ; to pre- VoL. IL R 3 ferve

^f3> SERMON XVl.

ferve a correfpondence with his enemies, and yet to feat yourfelves at his table ; to efteem the maxims which cru- eity him, and yet to wifh to be the fpefiators and the taitb- tul companions oi his crofs ; ah ! it is a contradi6lion.

He hath overcome the world; he hath fixed it to his crofs: along with himfelf he hath given death to its max- ims and errors : confequently to fhew his death in the com- munion is to renew the memory of his viftory. And, if fhe world lives and ftill reigns in your heart, my brother, do you not annihilate the fruit of his death ? Do you not conteft with Jefus Chrift the honour of his triumph ? And, jn place of fhewing his death, do you not come to renew k with his enemies ?

Éefîdes, in the fourth place, his death is fhewn in this înyilery, for it is the confummation ot the facrificè of the erofs, and he applies the fruit of it to us. Now, what gives us a right to the fruit of the crofs, and, confequently, to the communion ? Sufferance, mortification, and a penitent and inward life. For, fay, living in delights, fhall you dare to nourifh a body, like yours, enervated by pleafures, flattered, careffed ; fliall you dare, I fay, to nourifh it with a crucified 'body ? (hall you dare to incorporate Jefus Chrift, dying and crowned with thorns, with delicate and fenfual" members ? Would this connexion not be horrible ? Will you dare, by converting his body into your own fubftance, to tranf- form it into an effeminate and voluptuous body ? Ah ! it would be the perfetlion of iniquity. To be nourifhed with the body of Jefus Chrift your members muff become his members ; his body muff take the figure of your body. Now, his body is a crucified body ; his members are fuffer- ing members : and, if you live without fuffering ; it you bear not upon your body the mortification of Jefus Chrifl ; if, perhaps, you have never pradifed a fingle inftance off

feU-denral :

©ISI'OSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 54I

relf-cl«nial ; if your days are pafTed in a tranquil effemina- cy ; if affli61:ions excite impatience ; if you feel hurt at everything which oppofes your humour; if you prefcribe to yourfelf no works of mortification ; if thofe fent to you by heaven are unwillingly and unthankfully received ; how will you that you unite your body to that of Jefus Chriil ? This is never reflefted upon, my brethren ; and, neverthe- lefs, a foft and fenfual life can be a prefage only of an un- worthy communion^

Laftly, The death of the Lord is fhewn in this myftery^ for he is there himfelf as in a flate of death. He hath a mouth and fpeaketh not ; eyes and ufeth them not ; feet and walketh not. View then, my brother, and aft accord- ing to this model ; behold how you ought to (hew his death in partaking of his body ; you muft bring there eyes in- ftru6led to be clofed for the earth ; a tongue accuflomed to filence, or to fayings of God, as St. Paul fays ; feet and hands immoveable for the works of fin.; fenfes either ex- tinguifhed or mortified : in a word, to bring there an uni- X'erfal death over your body : the flate of Jefus Chrift in the eucharift is the flate of the Chriflian on earth ; a flate of retreat, of filence, of patience, of humiliation, of di- vorce from the fenfes. For, what is Jefus Chrift in the eucharifl ? He is in the world as if not there ; he is in the midft of men, but invifible ; he hears their vain dif- courfes, their chimerical plans, their frivolous expefta- tions, but he enters not into them ; he fees their folici- tudes, their agitations, and their enterprifes, and he allows them to a£l ; divine lionours are paid to him, and he is in- fulted ; and, ever the fame, he feems infenfible alike to the infults as to the homages : he looks on while families, em- pires, and ages are renewed ; manners are changed ; the lafle of men and of ages are incefTantly flu6luating : he fees dcuiloms iQnk into decay and then revive ; the figure of this

WQdd

542 SERMON XVI.

world in an eternal revolution ; his inheritance divid- ed : wars, feditions, and unexpefted revolutions ; the whole univerfe (haken ; and he is tranquil upon its ruins ; and nothing withdraws him from his clofe and ineffable lludy oF his Father; and nothing interrupts the divine quiet of his fanftuary, where he is always living for the purpofe of interceding for us. Once more, confider and aft ac« cording to this model : let us bring to the facred table eyes long fince clofed upon every thing which may hurt our foul ; a tongue furrounded with a guard ot circumfpe6tion and of modefty ; ears chafte and impenetrable to the hiffings of the ferpent, and to the luxury of thofe founds and voices fo calculated to foften the heart ; a foul alike infenfible to fcorn or to praife; a foul beyond the reach of the things ot this earth, and proof againft all the revolutions of life ; the fame in good or bad fortune; viewing with indifferent eyes, every occurrence here below ; efteeming the good or the evil which occur to him as a matter that does not re- gard him ; and, through all the agitations of the earth, the tumult of the fenfes, the contradiftion of tongues, the vain enterprifes of men, always watchful to guard over his peace of heart, to move continually with a fleady pace towards eternity, never to lofe fight of his God, and to have his converfation always in heaven.

Not that I would exclude from the altar all thofe who have not yet attained to this flate of death : alas ! it is the bufinefs of a whole life : and the body of Jefus Chrift is an aid eflablifhed to fortify and toaffift us in this undertak- ing. But, our inclination ought to bend to it, leff we ap- proach the altar unworthily ; we mull be at open war with the fenfes, with our own corruption, with our own weak- neflTes, and be continually gaining the advantage in fome ar- ticle; Chriftian felt-denial muft be praftifed ; the daily vi£lories, which the impreffions of the world and of the

fenfes

DISPOSITIONS FOR THE CGMMUNiaN. 543

fenfes gain over us, muft be expiated by retirement, by fi- lence, by tears, and by prayer ; we muft rife with frefii vigour from every backfliding. But, I mean you to un- derftand that a communion is not the concern of a day, or- of a folemnity ; that our whole Hfe ought to be a prepara- tion for theeucharift; that all our aftions (hould be as fteps which lead us up to the altar ; that the life of too many in the world, even of thofe who are not in debauchery, who reftrift themfelves upon nothing, who live according to the fenfes, who are warm only on the interefts of the earth, is a life which fhews not the death of the Lord, and which con- fequently, excludes you from this myflery. I mean you to comprehend, that the eucharift is a feftival, if I dare to fay fo, of mourning and death ; that delights, pleafures, and vain decorations disfigure this facred table, and occafion your being rejefted equally as him who appears there with- out the wedding-garment : that the meats of the earth and the bread of heaven cannot be eaten at the fame time ; and that ; on the morrow after the Ifraelites had eaten the old corn of the land of Canaan, the manna ceafed, neither had they any more of that heavenly food. I mean you to comprehend, that this facrament is the fruit and not the mark of penitence; that thofe communions, determined by a folemnity, give rife to more profaners than true wor- fhippers : that the body of Jefus Chrift cannot be eaten ■without living by his fpirit ; that the plenitude of the holy fpirit muft even reft upon a foul, as upon Mary, before Je- fus. Chrift can enter into it, as it were, to afTume once more the human nature. I mean you to comprehend, that the reading of the holy books, and the falutary rigours of peni- tence, (hould prepare an abode in our hearts for Jefus Chrift, to the end that we may be like holy arks, and that this heavenly manna may reft there amidft the tables of the lavr and the rod of Aaron. I mean you to underftand, that no- thing ftiould alarm you more, you who live in the dangerf

of

544 -SERMON X\"î.

ot the age and who love them, than all the communiom of (which you have partaken without preparation. I mean you to underftand, that the bread of life becomes a poifon to the majority of believers ; that the altars witnefTes almoft more crimes than the theatre ; that Jefus Chrift is more in- fulted in his fanftuary than in the aflemblies of finners ; and that the foieranities are no longer but myfteries oi mourning for him, and days fet apart to diflionour him. I înean you, in a word, to underftand, that, in order to ap- jproach it worthily, a refpeftful faith is required which ena- bles us to difcern ; a prudent faith which leads us to exam- ine ourfelves ; a lively faith which caufes us to love; a noble faith which induces us to facrifice ourfelves : with- out thefe it is rendering one's felt guilty of the body and ■of the blood of the J-ord ; it is eating and drinking their own condemnation.

Ah, Lord Î how little have I hitherto known the inno- îcence and the extreme purity which thou requireftof thofe who come to eat of this heavenly food! The Centurion, that man of fo fervent, fo humble, and fo enlightened a faith ; that man fo rich in good works, who loved thy peo- ple, who raifed up edifices to thy name, and appropriated diem to public prayers, and to the interpretation of thy fcriptures; that man does not think himfelf worthy evea to receive thee in his boufe : even the pureft of virgins, when informed by thy angel that thou wert todefcend into her womb, is terrified at it ; flie contemplates her own nothingnefsi and, if the power of fpeech ftill remains to her, it is to afk, how can this be ? And who am I, Lord, to dare to feat myfelf at thy table with fo little precaution ? I, who come to appear empty before thee ; who have noth- ing to offer to thee but the refufe of an heart fo long en- groiïcd by the world ; who am thine only by intervals, and svho ilill leaves to the created and to the paffions the main

pai^

DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. ^45

part o[ my heart ; who bring to thine altars only weak ef- fays ot falvation, and confummated works ot fin ; who have nothing above other Tinners but the abufe of thy bleflings; but unavailing lights; but fentiments which evaporate in vain wifhes ; but a thoufand infpirations, which gain nothing from me but fruitlefs ffeps to conver- fion ; but an heart incapable of familiarifing itfelf either with fin or with virtue; buta difpofition naturally good, and almofl intuitively inimical to excefs and to vice, and which I, however, have fpoiled.

Ah, Lord ! the frurts of an holy communion are fo abundant, fo fenfible ; the foul quits it fo overflowed with thy blefl!ings and thy grace, that, when I had na other proof ot the unworthinefs of ray communions than their inefficacy, I ought to tremble and be humbled. When thy body is eaten worthily, we are told that the hunger is not allayed ; and I withdraw from that facred table wearied out, and tired of mine homages : I breathe, quitting it, as on quitting a drudgery, or an affair to which ceremony alone calls me: I congratulate myfelf that it is over, as I would do on being rid of a painful undertaking; and, if I feel any relifli excited, it is for the world and for pleafures. When thy body is eaten worthily, we abide in thee, and thou abideft in us ; that is to fay, that thy precious blood, which flill flows in our veins, leaves us thy inclinations, thy traits, thy refemblancc, and that we are another thee ; noble and heavenly inclinations fhould alone be feen in us, and fentiments worthy of the blood we have received ; and, neverthelefs, I always find in me only terreftrial de- fires, mean and groveling tendencies, and an heart flill crawling in the dirt, and incapable of foaring above the created, and of returning to thy bofom from whence it came. When thy body is eaten worthily, thou telleft us

that we live for thee, and eternally j and I have continued

1(1

^^6 SERMON xvr,

to live for the world, ïor myfcif, for thofe around me, tor my pleafures, foi" my fcbemesof advancement, for mine affairs, for a family, for children, tor my glory ; lor you, fcarce- ly a fingle moment in the day. What then mull I do. Lord ? Mult I retire from thy table ? What ! this iruit ot life (hould be forbidden me ? What ! the bread of confo- lation Ihould no longer be broken forme ? No, Lord, thou doft not mean to exclude me from it, but only that I be prepared for it ; thou refufeft me not the bread ot children, but thou wouldft that mine unworthinefs force thee not to give me aferpent in place ot it. Prepare then thyfelf in mine heart an abode worthy of thee; make the rough and crooked ways of it fmooth, and let the heights be levelled ; purify my defires ; correft my inclinations, or rather cre- ate within me new ones. Thou alone can't be thy pre- curfor, and prepare the way for thee in fouls. Fill us then^ Lord, with thy fpirit, to the end that we may eat of thy x body worthily, and live eternally for thee, ^,»

Now, to God, &c.

FINIS.

iOV 1 5 1966

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