"*■?* LIBRAEY OF THE Theo logical Seminar • PRINCETON, N. J. y, Case,. Divusia Shelf. S.e.ctj.o.o Book, No,„ """•; i v. I [ SERMONS BY JEAN-BAPTISTE MASSILLON, BISHOP OF CLERMONT. TO WHICH IS PREFIXED, THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. SELECTED AND TRANSLATED BY WILLIAM DICKSO^s AND DEDICATED, BY PERMISSION, TO HER GRACE THE DUTCHESS OF BUCCLEUGH. COMPLETE IN TWO VOLUMES. VOLUME I. BROOKLYN : PRINTED FOR THOMAS S. ARDEN, NO. l86, PEARL-STREET, NEW-TORK. T. KIRK, PRINTER. 1803. TO HER GRACE THE DUTCHESS OF BUCCLEUGH. MADAM, In confequence of your permitting me to addrefs my Tranflation of the following Sermons to your Grace, the general appro- bation will be fecured to at leaft one part of my Publication. It is not your rank in the world, Madam, elevated as it is, which renders your pro- tection of any part of the amiable Mas sil- icon's Works fo eminently proper; it is your rank in the hearts of the good and virtuous, fuch as he was, who will unanimoufly ac- knowledge the propriety of the Dedication. Were 4 Were I at liberty to mention inftances, within the fphere of my own knowledge, of your Grace's humanity and benevolence, the pleafure with which I feize this opportu- nity of expreffing my veneration for your character, would be little wondered at ; nor would the fincerity be doubted, with which I fubfcribe myfelf, Madam, Your Grace's moll refpedtful, And moft obedient fervant. autiliam Dtcfeson* TRANS- TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE TO THE P U B L I C. It is equally proper for a Tranflator, as for an Author, to give fome explanation (not apology, for fureJy a gene- rous Public will require none, when the diffemination of virtue is evidently the purpofe) of the production which he obtrudes upon the public. This Tranflation was at firft undertaken, merely for the recreation, during illnefs, of the Tranflator ; his admira* tion of Maflillon's abilities, increafing as he went on, he was induced to continue, far beyond his firft intention ; that animation, that unclion, as D'Alembert fays, which flowed from his pen on every fubje£t, that gentle, yet feeling addrefs to the hearts of his hearers, and to which the mod indifferent could not refufe attention, ftruck him fo forcibly, that he could not reflect, without furprife, that no tranflation of his works had as yet appeared in Englifh. Impreffed with a conviction of their moral ten- dency, he determined, in confequence of the approbation of fome refpectable clergymen, his friends, to publifh a fele&ion of fuch as, unconnected with local or tempo- rary events in France, would, in his opinion, be an ac- ceptable prefent to Chriflians of every denomination. He now offers the prefent volume to the public ; and fo im- preffed is he with a fenfe of their merit, that he is con- vinced translator's preface. 6 vinced that the weaknefs, or the inaccuracy of the Tranf- lation, can alone prevent a generous Public from receiving them favourably. In the Tranflation, he has endeavoured, as much as in him lay, to convey the meaning and fentimenis of his Original ; in doing of which, he may perhaps be thought fometimes too literal ; but if the meaning be conveyed, furely the error is on the fafeft fide ; for many of ourtranf- lations, may with much more propriety be called paraphrafes than tranflations ; and, (atleaflin the Tranflator's opinion), it is much better to err, in keeping rather too clofely to the text, than by ftudioufly avoiding the appearance of li- terality, to render the fenfe both obfcure and unintelligible. If the Tranflator be miftaken, it is an error which in fu- ture may eafily be corrected; and this being his firft pub- lication, he trulls that a generous Public will not calhier a fubaltern, becaufe he may not as yet be capable of dif- charging the duty of a general officer. The Tranflator takes this opportunity of returning his acknowledgments to his friends above mentioned, from whofe advice he has reaped many advantages. . LIFE LIFE OF MASSILLON ( Extracled from the- Difcourfe of Moti/ieur Le Marquis D'Jlembert, on his admifjion into the Roy at Academy of Pans.) Jean-Baptiste Massillon was born in Provence in the year 1663. His father was a poor attorney of that in- confiderable place. The obfeurity of his birth, which gives fo much luftre to the fplendourof his perfonal merit, Ihould make a chief feature in his panegyric ; and it may be faid of him, as was faid of the illuftrious Roman, who owed nothing to his anceftors, Videtur ex fe natus : He feemed to have produced himfelf. He entered the Oratory at feventeen : The fuperiors of Maflillon foon faw the fame which he would bring to their congregation. They deflined him to the pulpit ; but, it was from a principle of obedience alone, that he confented to fecond their views : He was the only one who did not forefee that future celebrity, by which his humility and his modefty were to be rewarded. The young Maflillon did every thing in his power to avoid that fame. He had already, while in the country, by order of his fuperiors, pronounced the funeral orations of 8 LIFE OF MASSILLON. of two Archbifhops. Thefe difcourfes, which were in- deed nothing but the attempts of a youth, but of a youth, who fhewed what he would one day be, had the raoft bril- liant fuccefs. The humble orator, alarmed at his growing reputation, and dreading, as he faid, the daemon of pride, refolved to efcape him for ever, by fecluding himfelf in the molt obfcure" retreat." He repaired to the Abbey of Septfons, where the fame difcipline is obferved as at La Trappe ; arid there he took the habit. ' During his noviciate, the Cardinal de Noailles addrefTed to the Abbe of Septfons, whofe virtue he refpefted, a charge which he had juft publifhed. The Abbe, more religious than eloquent, but preferving ftill at leaft for thofe of his communion Tome remains of felf-love, wrftied to return an anfwer to the Cardinal, worthy of the charge he had received. This office he ehtrufted to Maflillon, who performed it with as much readinefs as fuccefs. The Cardinal, aftonifhed at receiving from thai- quarter, a piece fo well written, was not afraid of wounding the vanity of the Abbe of Septfons, by aflcing, who was the author of it ; when, the Abbe's mentioning Maflillon, the prelate immediately replied, that fuch talents were not in the lan- guage of Scripture, to remain hid under a'bufhel. He obliged the novice to quit the habit, and refume that of the Oratory. He placed him in the feminary of St. Mag- loire in Paris, exhorting him to cultivate the eloquence of the pulpit, and promifing to make his fortune, which the young orator confined to that of an apoftle, that is, to the mere neceffaries of life, accompanied with the monV ex- emplary fimplicity. His firft Sermons produced the effeft, which his fuperi- ors, and the Cardinal de Noailles, had forefeen. Scarcely had LIFE OF MASSILLON. 9 had he fhewn himfelf in the churches of Paris, than he eclipfed almoft all thofe who had fhone in the fame fphere. He had declared that he would not preach like them ; not from any prefumptuous fentiment of fuperiority, but from the juft and rational idea he had formed of Chriftian elo- quence. He was perfuaded, that if a minifter of the gof- pel degrades himfelf by circulating known truths in vul- gar language, he fails, on the other hand, in thinking to reclaim, by profound argumentation, a multitude of hear- ers, who are by no means able to comprehend him ; that though all who hear him may not have the advantage of education, yet all of them have a heart, at which the preacher fhould aim ; that in the pulpit, man Ihould be ex- hibited to himfelf, not to frighten him by the horror of the picture, but to afflict him by its refemblance ; and that if it is fometimes ufeful to terrify and alarm him, it is oftener profitable to draw forth thofe extatic tears, that are more efficacious than thofe of defpair. Such was the plan that Maflillon propofed to follow, and which he executed like a man who had conceived it, that is, like a man of genius. He excells in that property of an orator, which can alone fupply all the reft ; in that elo- quence, which goes directly to the foul, which agitates, without convulfing; which alarms, without appalling; which penetrates, without rending the heart. He fearches out the hidden folds, in which the paflions lie enveloped; thefe fecret fophifms, which blind and feduce. To com- bat and to deftroy thefe fophifms, he has in general only to unfold tfrem : This he does with an unction fo affectionate and fo tender, that he allures us rather than compels ; and even when he fhews us the picture of our vices, he inter- efts and delights us the mod. His diction, always fmooth and elegant, and pure, is every where marked with that Vol. L B noble 10 LIFE OF MASSILLON. noble fimplicity, without which, there is neither good tafte nor true eloquence ; a fimplicity, which being united in Maflillon, with the fweeteft and moil bewitching harmony, borrowed from this latter additional graces ; but what com- pleats the charm of this enchanting ftyle, is our conviction, that to many beauties fpring from an exuberant fource, and are produced without effort or pain. It fometimes happen, indeed, that a few inaccuracies efcap e him, ei- ther in the] expreflion, in the term of the phrafe, or in the affefting melody of his ftyle ; fuch inaccuracies, how- ever, my be called happy ones, for they completely prevent us from fufpe&ing the leaft degree of labour in his compo- fition. It was by this happy negligence, that Maflillon gained as many friends as auditors : He knew, that the more an orator is intent upon gaining admiration, the lefs thofe who hear him are difpofed to grant it : and that this ambition is the rock on which fo many preachers have fplit, who being entrufted, if one dare thus to exprcfs it, with the interefts of the Deity, wifh to mingle with them the infignificant interefts of their own vanity. He compared the ftudied eloquence of learned preachers to thofe flowers, which grow fo luxuriantly amongft the corn, that are lovely to the view, but noxious to the corn. Maflillon reaped another advantage from that heart-af- fecting eloquence, which he made fo happy an ufe of. As he fpoke the language of all conditions, becaufe he fpoke to the heart, all def'criptions of men flocked to his fermons ; even unbelievers were eager to hear him ; they often found inftru&ion, when they expected only amufe- ment, and returned fometimes converted, when they thought they were only bellowing or with-holding their praife. Maf- fillon could defcend to the language, which alone they would liften to, that of a philofophy, apparently human, but LIFE OF MASSILLON. il but which, finding every avenue to the heart laid open, allowed the orator to approach without effort and aflift- ance ; and made him conqueror, even before he had en- gaged. His action perfectly correfponded with the kind of elo- quence he had cultivated. The moment he entered the pulpit, he feemed deeply imprefled with the great truths he twas about to declare ; with eyes caft down, a modeft and collected air, without any violent motions, with few or no geftures, but animating all by an affecting and im- preflive voice, he communicated to his hearers the religious fentiment which his external appearance announced ; he commanded that profound filence, which is a higher com- pliment to eloquence, than the moil tumultuous plaudits. He appeared on that great and dangerous theatre, equally devoid of pride as of fear : His firft attempt was uncom- monly brilliant, and the exordium of his firft difcourfe is one of the mafter-pieces of modern eloquence. Lewis XIV. was then in the zenith of his power and glory ; he had been victorious in every part of Europe ; he was adored by his fubjects, intoxicated with fame, and fur- feited with adulation. Maflillon choofe for his text that paffage of Scripture which feemed the leaft adapted to fuch a prince, " Bleffed are they who weep ;" and from that text he conveyed a compliment the more new, and artful, and flattering, as it appeared to be dictated by the gofpel itfelf, and fuch as an Apoftle might have paid. «* Sire," faid he, addrefling the king, " if the world were to fpeak *f to your Majefty from this place, it would not fay, Blef- " fed are they who weep. Happy, would it fay, that " prince who has never fought but to conquer ; who hath " filled the univerfe with his fame ; who, in the courfe of " a long and profperous reign, has enjoyed all that men ad- " mire. 12 LIFE OF MASSILLON. «• mire, the fplendour of conqueft, the love of his people, •' the efteem of his enemies, the wifdom of his laws. But, " Sire, the gofpel does not fpeak. the language of the world." The audience of Verfailles, accuflomed as it was to Bour- dalous and Boffuets, had never witneffed an eloquence at once fo delicate and noble ; and accordingly, it excited in the congregation an involuntary movement of admira^ tion. Our orator was always firm, but always refpe&ful, while he announced to his fovereign, the will of Him who is the Judge of Kings ; he fulfilled the duty of the min- iftry, but he never exceeded it ; and the Monarch, who perhaps retired from his chapel difTatisfied with fome other preachers, never left the fermons of Maflillon, without being difTatisfied with himfelf. This the Prince was hon- ed enough to confefs to Maflillon ; the greateft compli- ment he could pay him, but a compliment which many others before and after Maflillon never wifhed to obtain, being more anxious to fend away a hearer enraptured, than a finner converted. Lewis XIV. died; and the Regent, who honoured the talents of Maflillon, and defpifed his enemies, named him to the bifhopric of Clermont; he wanted, moreover, that the Court mould hear him once more, and engaged him to preach fome Lent fermons before the King, then of the age of nine years. Thefe fermons compofed in lefs than three months, are known by the name of Petit Canme. Though they are not in the higheff. degree finifhed, they are a true model of pulpit eloquence. The great fermons of the fame author may poflefs more pathos and vehemence ; but the elo- quence LIFE OF MtASSILLON. 1 3 quence of thefe is more insinuating and delicate, and the charm refulting from them is enhanced by the importance ef the fubjecl:, by the ineftimable value of thofe fimple af- fecting lefTons, which being fitted to penetrate, as agreea- bly as forcibly, the heart of the young Monarch, feein calculated to procure the happinefs of millions, by ac- quainting the Prince with what was expected of him. The fame year in which thefe difcourfes were pronounc- ed, Mamllon was admitted into the French academy. Maflillon had juft been made a bifhop ; but no place at Court, no bufinefs, no pretence of any kind, could de- tain him at a diftance from his flock. He departed for Clermont, whence he never returned, but on account of indifpenfable occafions, and confequentiy very rarely. He gave all his attention to the happy people whom providence had confided to his care. He benevolently dedicated to the inftruclion of the poor, thofe fame talents, fo much efteem- ed by the great of this world, and preferred to the loud ap- plaufes of the courtier, the fimple and earned attention of an auditory, lefs brilliant, but more teachable. Per- haps the molt eloquent of his fermons are the conferen- ces he held with his curates. He preached to them the vir- tues of which he fet an example, difintereflednefs, (impli- cit}-, forgetfulnefs of himfelf, the aclive and prudent ear- neftnefs of an enlightened conviction, very different from that fanaticifm which proves nothing but the blindnefs of zeal, and which makes the fincerity of it very doubtful. A wife moderation was indeed his predominant characler. Deeply imprefTed with a fenfe of the true duties of his ftation, Maflillon fulfilled the principal function of a bifhop, that which attracts love and refpecl; from incredulity itfelf, the delightful exercife of humanity and benevolence. He fent, .14 LIFE OF MASSlLLOtf. ent, in the fpace of two years, twenty thoufand livres to he Hotel Dieu at Clermont. His whole revenue was at the fervice of the poor. His diocefe retain the remem- brance of his benefits, now after thirty years, and his memo- ry is flill honoured by the mod eloquent of all funeral ora- tions, the tears of an hundred thoufand people whom his bounty made happy; This funeral oration he enjoyed in his life time. When- ever he appeared in the ftreets of Clermont the people prof- trated themfelves before him, calling him father, and in- voking bleflings on his head. Among the immenfe alms which he beftowed, there were fome acts of charity which he carefully concealed, not only to fpare the delicacy o£ unhappy individuals, who received them, but to relieve whole communities from feelings of inquietude, and the fears which fuch alms might infpire them with. Not only was he liberal of his fortune to the indigent, but he employed for them befides, with as much zeal as fuccefs, both his intereft and his pen. Being a witnefs, in his diocefian vifitations, of the mifery under which the inhabitants of the country groaned, and his revenue not being fufficient to give bread to fuch a multitude of in- digent creatures, that implored it of him, he wrote to the Court in their favour, and, by the energetic and affect- ing picture which he drew of their neceflities, he ob- tained either actual contributions for them, or a confidera- ble abatement of their taxes. I am allured that his letters on this fubject are mafter-pieces of eloquence and pathos, fuperior even to the moft affecting of his fermons ; and what emotions, indeed, mult not the fpectacle of human nature, fuffering and oppreffed, have excited in the virtu-^ ©us and companionate foul of Maflillon ! He LIFE OF MASSILLON 1J He died as Fenelon died, and as every bifhop ought, without wealth, and without debt. It was on the 28th September 1742, that the church and eloquence, and hu- manity fuffered the irreparable lofs. A circumftance which happened not long ago, calculated to affect every heart of fenfibility, proves how dear the memory of Maflillon is, not only to the poor whofe tears he wiped away, but to all who knew him. Some years ago, a traveller pafling through Clermont wifhed to fee the country-houfe in which the prelate ufed to fpend the greatefl part of the year, and he applied to an old vicar, who, fince the death of the bifhop, had never ventured to return to that country-houfe, wherehe who inhabited was no longer to be found. He confented, however, to gratify the defire of the traveller, notwithftanding the profound grief he ex- pected to fuffer, in revifiting a place fo dear to his remem- brance. They accordingly fet out together, and the vicar pointed out every particular place to the ftranger. " There," faid he, with tears in his eyes, " is the alley in which the " prelate ufed to walk with us — there is the arbor in which " he ufed to fit and read — this is the garden he took plea- M fure in cultivating with his own hands." Then they en- tered the houfe, and when they came to the room where MafTillon died, " this,'* faid the vicar, is the place where " we loft him 1" And as he pronounced thefe words, be fainted. The afhes of Titus, or of Marcus Aurelius, might have envied fuch a tribute of regard and affection. CONTENTS. CONTENTS. SERM. PAGE. I. On Salvation, . . . . 17 II. On the Small Number of the Saved? . 48 III. The Difgujls accompanying Virtue, . yj IV. The Uncertainty of Righteoufnefs in a State of Lukewarmnefs, . . * 102 V. The Certainty of the Lofs of Righteoufnefs in a State of Lukewarmnfes, , . 127 VI. On Evil-Speaking, . . . . 157 VII. On the Employment of Time, . » 188 VIII. The Certainty of a Future State, . 215 IX. On Death, 243 X. The Death of a Sinner, and that of a Righte- ous Characler, . . . . 271 XI. On Charity, . 306 XII. On Ajfliclion, » 342 XIII. On Prayer, 369 XIV. Forgivenefs of Injuries, . , . 397 XV. The Woman who was a Sinner, . . 428 XVI. The Word of God, , 4<57 SERMON SERMON I. ON SALVATION. John vii. 6. JV/y ^zV?z£ is not yet come ; but your time is always ready, JL he reproach which is directed by Jefus Chrift, againft his relations according to the flefh, who prefTed him to fhew himfelf to the world and to go up to Jerufalem, in order to acquire thofe honours which were due to his great talents, may, with propriety, be directed againft the greateft part of. this audience. The time which they give to their fortune, to their advancement, to their pleafures, is always ready ; it is always time to labour towards the acquirement of wealth and glory, and to fatisfy their paffions : That is the time of man : But the time of Jefus Chrift, that is to fay, the time of working out their falvation, is never ready ; they delay, they put it off; they always expect its arrival, and it never arrives. The flighteft worldly interefh agitate them, and make them undertake every thing : For what is the world itfelf, whole deceitful ways they follow, but an eternal agitation, where the paffions fet every thing in motion ; where tran- quility is the only pleafure unknown : where cares are ho- Vol. I. C * noivrable : l8 S E R M O N I. nourable ; where thofe who are at reft, think themfelves unhappy ; where all is toil and affliction of fpirit ; in a word, where all are in motion, and all are deceived ? Sure- ly, my brethren, when we fee men fo occupied, fo inter- efted, fo patient in their purfuits, we would fuppofe them labouring for everlafting ages, and for riches which ought to fecure their happinefs : How can we comprehend, that fo much toil and agitation has nothing in view but a fortune, whofe duration fcarcely equals that of the labours which have gained it ; and that a life fo rapid, is fpent with fo much fatigue, in the fearch of wealth which mull perifh along with it I Neverthelefs, a miftake, which the flighted inveftigation is fufficient to expofe, is become the error of by far the majority. In vain does religion call us to more neceffary and more important cares ; in vain it announces to us, that to labour for what muft pafs away, is only amafling, at a great expence, heaps o£ fanrl, which tumhle upon our heads, as fail as we raife them up ; that the higheft pitch of elevation to which we can attain here below, is always that which verges upon our death, and is the gate of eter- nity ; and that nothing is worthy of man, but what will en- dure as long as man. The cares of the paflions are always weighty and important : The fteps alone which we take for heaven, are weak and languid : Salvation alone, we confi- der as an amufement : We toil for frivolous riches, as if we laboured for eternal poffeflions ; we labour for eternal pofTefhons, as if we toiled for frivolous riches. Yes, my brethren, our cares for this world are always animated ; obflacles, fatigues, difappointments, nothing can repulfe us ; Our cares tor this world are always prudent ; dangers, fnares, perplexities, competitions, nothing can make us miftake our aim ; whereas our cares for falvation bear ON SALVATION. i« bear a very different character ; nothing can be more lan- guid, or lefs interefting to us, although obffacles and dif- gtifls there, are fo much to be dreaded ; nothing can be more inconfiderate ; although the multiplicity of ways, and the number of rocks for us to fplit upon, render miftakes in it fo familiar and common. We muft labour, therefore, towards its.accomplifhment, with fervour and prudence ; with fervour, in order not to be repulfed ; with prudence, in order not to be miflaken. Part. I. — Undoubtedly nothing in this life ought to in- terefl us more than the care of our eternal falvation ; be- fides, that this is the grand affair upon which our all de- pends, we even have not, properly fpeaking, any other upon the earth ; and the infinite and diverfe occupations at- tached to our places, to our rank, to our fituations in life, ought to be only different modes of labouring towards our falvation. Neverthelefs, this care fo glorious, to which every thing we do, and whatever we are, relate, is of all others the rnoft defpifed; this chief care, which fhould be at the bead of our other purfuits, gives place to them all in the detail of our actions ; this care fo amiable, and to which the promifes of faith, and the confolations of grace, at- tach fo many comforts, is of all others become for us, the rnoft difgufling, and the mod melancholy. And, be- hold, my brethren, from whence fprings this want of fer- vour in the bufmefs of our eternal falvation ; we purfue it without efteem, without preference, and without incli- nation. Let us invefligate and illuflrate thefe ideas. It is a very deplorable error, that mankind has attached the rnoft pompous names to all the enterprifes of the paf- fions ; 20 SERMON I. • fions ; and that the cares for our falvation have not, in the opinions ot men, been capable of meriting the fame hon- our, and the fame efteem. Military toils are regarded by us as the path ot reputation and glory ; the intrigues and the commotions which contribute to our advancement in the world, are looked upon as the fecrets ot a profound wif- dom ; fchemes and negociations which arm mankind againft each other, and which frequently make the ambition of an individual the fource of public calamities, pafs for extent of genius, and fuperiority of talents ; the art ot raifing from an obfeure patrimony, a monftrous and overgrown fortune, at the expence often of jullice and probity, is the fcience of bufinefs, and individual good management. In a word, the world has found out the fecret of fetting off by ho- nourable titles, all the different cares which are connected with the things of this earth. The actions of faith alone, which (hall endure eternally ; which fhall form the hiftory of the age to come, and fhall be engraven during all eternity upon the immorfal columns of the heavenly Jerufalem, are accounted idle and obfeure occupations ; the lot of weak and limited fouls, and have nothing which exalt them in the eyes of men. Such, my brethren, is the firft caufe of our indifference towards the bufinefs of our falvation : We do not fufHciently efleem that holy undertaking, to labour a£ it with fervour. Now, I do not think it neceffary to flop here, and com- bat an illufion, which fo flagrantly violates right reafon. For what is it that can render a work glorious to the perfon who undertakes it ? Is it the duration and the immortality which it promifes in the memory of men ? Alas ! all the monuments ot pride will perifh with the world which has reared them up ; whatever we do for the earth, will expe- rience the fame deftiny which it will one day undergo : Victories and canquefts, the moft fplendid enterprifes, and ON SALVATION. 2f and all the hiitory of the Tinners whofe names adorn the prefent age, will be effaced from the remembrance of men ; the works of the juft alone, will be immortal, and, writ- ten forever in the book of life, will furvive the entire ruin of the univerfe. Is it the recompenfe which is held out to us for it ? But whoever is unable to render us happy, is confequently unable to recompenfe us ; and there is no other who has that power but God himfelf. Is it the dig- nity cf the occupations to which they engage you ? But the mod honourable cares of the world are merely games, on which our error and abfurdity have beftowcd ferious and pompous names : Here, on the contrary, every thing is great ; we love the Author of our exiflence alone ; we adore the Sovereign of the univerfe ; we ferve an Almigh- ty Mafter; we covet only eternal riches ; we form projects for heaven alone ; we labour for an immortal crown, What is there upon earth, then, more glorious, or more worthy of man, than the caics ot eternity ? Profperities are honourable anxieties ; fplendid employments an illuftri- ous fervitude ; reputation is frequently a public error : ti- tles and dignities are rarely the fruit of virtue, and, at the moft, ferve only to adorn our tombs, and embellifh our afhes ; great talents, if faith does not regulate their ufe, are only great temptations ; deep knowledge, a wind which inflates and corrupts, it faith does not correel: its venom ; all thefe are only grand, by the ufe which may be made of them towards falvation : Virtue alone is eftimable for it- felf. Neverthelefs, if our competitors are more fuccefsful, and more elevated than we in the world, we view their fitua- tion with envious eyes ; and their aggrandifement, in humbling our pride, reanimates the fervour of our defigns, and 22 sermon;. and gives new life to our expe&ations ; but, it happens fometimes, that the accomplices of our pleafures, changed fuddenly into new men, nobly break all the fhamei ul bonds of the paflions, and borne upon the wings of grace, enter in our fight, into the path ot falvation, whilft they leave us behind them, to wander ftill unfortunately, at the plea- fure of" our illicit defires. We view with a tranquil eye the prodigy of their change ; and their lot far from exciting our envy, and awaking in us any weak defires of falvation, only induces us, perhaps, to think on replacing the void which their retreat has made in the world ; of elevating ourfelves to thofe dangerous offices from which they have -juft defcended through motives of religion and faith : What fhall I fay ? We become, perhaps, the cenfurers of their virtues : We feek elfewhere than in the infinite trea- fures of grace, the fecret motives of their change ; to the work of God we give views entirely worldly; and our deplorable cenfures become the molt dangerous trials of their repentance. It is thus, O my God ! that Thou ihedeft avenging darknefs over iniquitous paflions ! Whence comes this ? We want efleem for the holy un- dertaking of falvation : This is the firft caufe of our indif- ference. In the fecond place, We labour in it with indolence, be- caufe we do not make a principal object of its attainment, and becaufe we never give a preference to it over our other purfuits. In effecl:, my brethren, we all wifh to be fav- ed ; the mofl deplorable finners do not renounce this hope ; we even wifh, that amonglt our anions, there may always be found fome which relate to our falvation ; for none de- ceive themfelves fo far as to believe, that, they fhall be en- titled to the gloiy ot the holy, without having ever made a fingle exertion towards rendering themfelves worthy of it ; but ON SALVATION*. *g£ but the point in which we commonly deceive ourfeives is, the rank which we give to thefe works, amidft the other occupations which divide our life. The trifles, the attentions which we lavifh fo profufely in our intercourfe with fociety, the functions of a charge, domeftic arrangements, pafllons and pleafures, their times and their moments marked in our days. Where do we place the work of falvation ? What rank do we give to this fpecial care, above our other cares ? Do we even make a bufinefs of it ? And, to enter into the particulars of your conduct. What do you perform for eternity which you do not for the world an hundred fold ? You fometimes employ a fmall portion of your wealth in religious chari- ties ; but what are thefe when compared to the fums which you facrifice every day to your pleafures, to your paffions, and to your caprices ? In the morning you, perhaps, raife up your mind to the Lord in prayer ; but does not the World, in a moment, rel^ma ito place in. your heart, and is not the remainder of the day devoted to it ? You regu- larly attend, perhaps, in order to fulfil the external duties of religion ; but, without entering into the motives which frequently carry you there, this individual exercife of re- ligion, Is it not compenfated by devoting the remainder of the day to indolent and worldly purfuits ? You fometimes correcl your inclinations ; you perhaps bear with an injury ; you undertake the difcharge of fome pious obligation ; but thefe are individual and infulated exertions, out of the common tracl, and which are never followed by any regu- lar confequences ; you will be unable to produce before the Lord, a fingle inftance of thefe in your favour, with- out the enemy having it at the fame time in his power to reckon a thoufand again ft you ; falvation occupies your intervals alone ; the world has, as I may fay, the founda- tion _S>4 s E R M O ft I. tion and the principal : The moments are for God, our entire life is for ourfelves. I know, my brethren, that with regard to this, you feel fenfibly the injuftice and the danger of your own condu6L You confefs, that the agitations of the world, of bufmefs, and of pleafures, almoft entirely occupy you, and that a very little time, indeed, remains for you to reflecl: upon falvation : But, in order to tranquilize yourfelves, you fay, that fome future day, when you mall be more at eafe ; when affairs of a certain nature fhall be terminated ; when particular embarrafTments fhall be at an end; and, in a word, when certain circumflances fhall no longer exifl, you will then think ferioufly upon your falvation, and the bufineis of eternity fhall then become your principal occu- pation : But, alas ! your deception is this, that you regard falvation as incompatible with the occupations attached to the ftation in which Providence has placed you. For, can- not you employ that Nation as the means of your fan£lifi- cation ? Can you not exercife in it all the Chriflian vir- tues ? Penitence, fhould thefe occupations be painful and diftrefling ; clemency, pity, juflice, if they eftablifh you in authority over your fellow creatures ? Submiflion to the will of heaven, if the fuccefs does not correfpond fometimes with your expectations ? A generous forgivenefs of injuries, if you fuffer oppreflion or calumny in that fta- tion ; Confidence in God alone, if in it you experience the injuftice or the inconftancy of your maflers ? Do not many individuals oi your rank and flation, in the fame predicament as you find yourfelves, lead a pure and Chrif- tian life ? You know well, that God is to be found every- where ; for, in thofe happy moments when you have fome- times been touched with grace, is it not true, that every thing recalled you to God ? That even the dangers of your flation ON SALVATION. 2J flation became the vehicles of inftru&ion, and means of cure for you ; that the world difgufted you, even with the world ; that you found continually and everywhere, the fecret of offering up a thoufand invifible facrifices to the Almighty, and of making your moft hurried and tumultu- ous occupations the fources of holy reflections, or ot praifeworthy and falutary examples ? Why do you not cul- tivate thefe impreflions of grace and falvation ? It is not your fituation in life, it is your infidelity and weaknefs, which have extinguifhed them in your heart. Jofeph was charged with the management of a great kingdom ; he alone fupported the whole weight of the government ; nevertheless, did he forget the Lord, who had broken afunder his chains, and juftified his innocence ? Or, in order to ferve the God of his fathers ; did he delay till a fucceflbr fhould come and reftore that tranquility to him which his new dignities had neceflarily deprived him of ? On the contrary, he knew how to render Serviceable towards the confolation of his brethren, and the happinefs of the people of God, a profperity which he acknowledg- ed to be held only from his Almighty hand. That officer of the Queen of Ethiopia, who is mentioned in the A6ts of the Apoftles, had the fole government of her immenfe riches ; every particular with regard to tributes and fubfidies, and the adminiftration of all the public revenues, were en- trufled to his fidelity ; now, this abyfs of cares and em- barraffments did not deprive him of leifure to feek, in the prophecies of Ifaiah, the falvation he expecled, and the words of eternal life. Place yourfelves in the molt agitat- ed ftations, you will find examples of upright fouls, who in them have wrought their fanefification : The Court may become theafylum of virtue, as well as the cloiiler ; Vol, I, D place* 20 SERMON I, places and employments may be the aids, as well as the rocks of piety ; and when, in order to return to God, we delay till a change of ftation mail take place, it is a fure mark that we do not as yet wifh to change our heart. Be- sides, when we fay that falvation ought to be your fole em- ployment, we do not pretend that you fhould renounce all other purfuits ; for you would then depart from the order of God ; we only wifh you to connect them with your falvation ; that piety may fan&ify your occupations ; that faith may regulate them ; that religion may animate them ; that the fear of the Lord may moderate them : In a word, that falvation may be as the centre to which they all tend. For, to wait till you fhall be in a more tranquil fituation, and freer from worldly perplexities, is not only an illufion which Satan employs to delay your repentance, but it is alfo an outrage upon the religion of Jefus Chrift ; you thereby juftify the reproaches formerly made againft it, by the enemies of the Chriftians ; it would feem that you look upon it as incompatible with the duties of Prince, courtier, public character, and father of a family ; like them, you feem to believe, that the gofpel propofes only- maxims unfortunate and inimical to fociety; and that, were it believed, and ftri&ly obferved, it would be necef- fary to quit all ; to exclude ourfelves from the world ; to renounce all public concerns ; to break all the ties of duty, of humanity, of authority, which unite us to the reft ot mankind ; and to live as if we were alone upon the earth ; in place of which, it is the gofpel alone which makes us fulfil all thefe duties as they ought to be fulfilled ; it is the religion ot Jefus Chrift which can alone form pious prin- ces, incorruptible magiftrates, mild and gentle mailers, and faithful fubjecls, and maintain, in a juft harmony, that variety of flations and conditions, upon which depend the peace ON SALVATION, 27 peace and tranquility of the people, and the fatety oi em- pires. But, in order to imprefs more fenfibly upon you the il- lufion of this pretext, when you (hall be free from embar- rafTment, and difengaged from thefe external cares which at prefent detacli our thoughts from falvation, will your heart be free from paflions ? Will thofe iniquitous and in- vifible bonds which now flop you, be broken afunder ? Will you be reftored to yourfelves ? Will you be more humble, more patient, more moderate, more virtuous, more mortified ? Alas ! It is not external agitations which check you, it is the diforder within ; it is the tumultuous ar- dour of the paflions ; it is not from the cares of fortune, and the embarraiTments of events and bufinefs, fays a holy fa- ther, that confufion and trouble proceed ; it is from the irregular defires of the foul ; a heart in which God reign? is tranquil everywhere. Your cares for the world are on- ly incompatible with falvation, becaufe the affections which attach you to it are criminal. It is not your {rations, but your inclinations which become rocks of deflruclion to you ; now, from thefe inclinations you will never be able to free yourfelves with the fame facility as from your cares and embarraflments ; they will afterwards be even more lively, more unconquerable than ever : Befides this fund of weaknefs which they draw from your corruption, they will have that force and ftrength acquired by habit through time and years. You think, that in attaining reii every thing will be accomplished ; and you will feel, that your paflions, more liveJy in proportion as they no longer find external refources to*emp!oy them, will turn all their violence againft yourfelves ; and you will then be furprif- ed to find in your own hearts, the fame obclacles which at prefent $8 SERMON I, prefent you believe to be only in what furrounds you. This leprofy, it I may venture to fpeak in this manner, is not attached to your clothes, to your places, to the walls of your palaces, fo that, by quitting them you may rid yourfelves of it ; it has gained root in your flefh ; it is not by renouncing your cares, therefore, that you rauft labour towards curing yourfelves ; it is by purifying yourfelves that you muft fanclify your cares : Every thing is pure to thofe who are pure ; otherwife your wound will follow you, even into the leifure of your folitude ; like that King ot Judea mentioned in the Book of Kings, who in vain abdicated his throne, delivered up all the infignia as well as the cares of royalty, into the hands of his fon, and withdrew himfelf into the heart of his palace ; he car* xied with him the leprofy with which the Lord had flruck him, and beheld that fhamcful difeafe purfue him even in- to his retreat. External cares find neither their innocency nor their malignity, but in our own hearts ; and it is our- felves alone who render the occupations of the world dangerous, as it is ourfelves alone who render thofe oi heaven infipid and difgufling. And, behold, my brethren, the laft reafon why we fhew fo little fervour and animation in the affair of our eternal faivation ; it is becaufe we fulfil the duties neceffary to ac- complifh it, without pleafure, and, as it were, againft. our will. The flighted obligations of piety appear hard to us ; whatever we do for heaven tires us, exhaufls us, difpleafes us : Prayer confines our minds too much ; retirement wearies us ; holy reading, from the firft, fatigues the attention ; the intercourfe of the upright is languid, and has nothing fpright-ly or amufing in it ; in a word, we iind fomething, I know not what, of melan- choly QN SALVATION. 29 choly in virtue, which occafions us to fulfil its obligations only as hateful debts, which we always difcharge with a bad grace, and never till we fee ourfelves forced to it. But, in thejirjl place, my brethren, you are unjufl in attributing to virtue what fprings from your own corrupr tion ; it is not piety which is difagreeable, it is your heart which is difordered ; it is not the cup of the Lord which is to be accufed of bitternefs, fays a holy father, it is your own tafte which is vitiated. Every thing is bitter to a deceaf- ed palate : Corre&your difpofitions, and the yoke will ap- pear light to you ; reflore to your heart that tafte of which fin has deprived it, and you will experience how pleafing the Lord is : Hate the world, and you will comprehend how much virtue is amiable : In a word, Jefus Chrift once become the object of your love, you will then feel the truth of every thing I fay. Do the upright experience thofe difgufls for pious works: which you feel ? Interrogate them : Demand it they con- fider your condition as the happieft : They will anfwer, that in their opinion you appear worthy of companion, that they are feelingly touched for your errors ; to fee you fuffering every thing for a world which either defpifes vou, wearies you, or cannot render you happy ; to fee you fre- quently running after pleafures more infipid to you, than even virtue from which you fly : They will tell you, that they would not change their pretended melancholy for all the felicities of the earth. Prayer confoles them ; retire- ment fupports them ; holy reading animates them ; works of piety fhed a holy unftion through their foul ; and their happieft days, are thofe which they pafs with the Lord. It is the heart which decides our pleafures. While yon continue £0 S E R M O N I. continue to love the world, you will find virtue infupport- able. In the ftcond place, IF you wifh to know why the yoke oF Jefus Chrift is fo hard, and fo burdenfome to you ; it is becaufe you carry it too feldom : You give only a iew rapid moments to the care of your falvation : Certain days which you confecrate to piety : Certain religious works of which you fometimes acquit yourfelves ; and in accom- plishing their immediate difcharge, you experience only the difgufts attending the firft efforts ; you do not leave to grace, the time neceffery to lighten the weight ; and you anticipate the comforts and the confolations, which it ne- ver fails to fhed upon the fequel. Thofe myflerious ani- mals which the Ph'.liflines made choice of to carry the ark of the Lord beyond their Frontiers, emblematic of unbe- lieving fouls little accuflomed to bear the yoke of Jefuo Chrift, bellowed, fays the fcripture, and feemed to groan under the grandeur of that facred weight: In place of which, the children of Levi, a natural image of the upright, accuflomed to that holy miniflry, made the air refound with fongs of mirth and thankfgivings, while carrying it with majefty, even over the burning fands of the defert, The law is not a burden to the upright foul accuflomed to obferve it ; It is the worldly foul alone, little familiarized to the holy rules, who groans under a weight fo pleafing. When Jefus Chrifl declares that his yoke is light and eafy, he commands us, at the fame time, to bear it every day ; the un&ion is attached to the habit and ufage of it : The arms of Saul were heavy to David, only becaufe he was not accuflomed to them. We mufl familiarize ourfelves with virtue, in order to be acquainted with its holy attrac- tions ; the pleafures of fmners are only fuperficiaUy agree- able : ON SALVATION", $1 able : The firff. moments alone are pleafant ; defcend deep- er, and you no longer find but gall and bitternefs ; and the deeper you go, the more will you find the void, the wea- rinefs, and the fatiety which are infeparable from fin : Vir- tue, on the contrary, is a hidden manna ; in order to tafte all its fweetnefs, it is neceffary to dig for it ; but the more you advance, the more do its confolations abound ; in pro- portion as the paffions arc calmed, the path becomes eafy ; and the more will you applaud yourfelves for having broken afunder chains which weighed you down, and which you no longer bore but with reluctance and a fecret forrow. Thus, while you confine yourfelves to fimple efiays in virtue, you will tafte only the repugnances and the bitter- nefs of it ; and, as you will not poffefs the fidelity of the upright, you can have no right, consequently, to expe£k their confolations. In a word, You perform the duties of piety without in- clination, not only becaufe you do them too feldom, but becaufe you only, as I may fay, half perform them. You pray, but it is without recollection ; you abftain, perhaps, from injuring your enemy ; but it is without loving him as your brother ; you approach the holy myfteries ; but with- out bringing there that fervour which alone can enable you to find in them thofe ineffable comforts which they com- municate to the religious foul ; You fometimes feparatc yourfelves from the world ; but you carry not with you into retirement the filence of the fenfes and of the paf- fions, without which it is only a melancholy fatigue. , In a word, You only half carry the yoke. Now, jefus Chrift is not divided : That Simon of Cyrene, who bore the on- ly part of the crofs, was overcome by it, and the foldiers were 3Q SERMON I, were under the neceflity of ufing violence to force him to* continue this melancholy office to the Saviour of the world, The fulnefs alone of the law is confolatory ; in proportion as you retrench from it, it becomes heavy and irkfome j the more you wifh to foften it, the more it weighs you down ; on the contrary, by fometimes adding extraneous rigours, you feel the load diminifhed, as if you had applu ed additional foftnefs : Whence comes this ? It is, that the imperie£r. obfervance of the law takes its fource from z. heart which the paffions ftill mare ; now, according to the word of Jefus Chrift, a heart divided, and which nou- rishes two loves, muft be a kingdom and a theatre full of trouble and defolation. Would you wifh a natural image of it, drawn from the holy fcriptures ? Rebecca, on the point of her delivery of Jacob and Efau, furTered the moft cruel anguifh : The two children ftruggled within her ; and, as if worn out by her tortures, fhe entreated of the Lord, either death or deliv- erance : Be not furprifed, faid a voice from heaven to her, if your fufferings are extreme, and that it cofts you fo much to become a mother ; the reafon is, you carry twd nations in your womb. Such is your hiftory, my dear hearers ; you are furprifed that it cofts you fo much to ac- complifli a pious work ; to bring forth Jefus Chrift ; the new man in your heart : Alas ! The reafon is, that you ftill preferve there two loves, which are irreconcileable, Jacob and Efau, the love of the world, and the love of Jefus Chrift : It is becaufe you carry within you two na- tions, as I may fay, who make continual war againft each other. If the love of Jefus Chrift alone poffefled your heart, all there would be calm and peaceable ; but you ftill nourifh iniquitous paflions in it : You ftill love the world, th« o:t salvation. 33 the pleafures and diflinclions of fortune, : You cannot en- dure thofe who eclipfc you : Your heart is full of jealou .. fies, of animofities, of frivolous defires* of criminal at- tachments ; and from thence it comes, that your facrinccs, like thole of Cain, being always imperfect, like his, arc always gloomy and difagreeable. • Serve then the Lord with ail your heart, and you will ferve him with joy : Give yourfelf up to him without re- ferve, without retaining the fmalleft right over your paf- fions : Obferve the righteoufnefles of the law, in all their fullnefs, and they will fried holy pleafures through your heart : For, thus fays the prophet, " The ftatutes of the " Lord are right, rejoicing the heart." Think not that the tears of penitence are always bitter and gloomy : The mourning is only external ; when fmcerc, they have a thoufand fecret recompences : The upright foul refembles the facred bufh ; nothing ftrikes your view but prickles and thorns ; \but you fee not the glory of the Lord, which dwells within it : You fee only failings and bodily fuffer- ings ; but you perceive not the holy unflion, which foothes and foftens them : You fee filence, retirement, flight from the world and its pleafures, but you behold nof; the invifible comforter, who replaces, with fo much ufury, the fociety of men, now become infupportable, fince they have begun to talte that of God : You fee a life apparently- gloomy and tirefome ; but you are incapable of feeing tfre peace and the joy of that innocence which reigns within. It is there, that the Father of mercies, and the God of all confolation, fo liberally fheds his favours, and that the foul, unable fometimes to fupport their fullnefs and excefs, is obliged to entreat the Lord to fufpend the torrent of his kindnefs. Vol. I. E 34 SERMO N \, krndnefs* and to meafure the abundance of his gilts, by the weakncfs of his creature. Come yourfelf, my dear hearer, and make an happy ex- perience of it ; come, and put the fidelity of your God to the trial ; it is here he wifhes to be tried ; come and prove Whether or not we render falfe teftimonies to his mercies ; if we attract the fmner by falfe hopes, and if his gifts are not flill more abundant than our promifes. You have long tried the world ; you have found it deftitute of fidelity : it flattered you with hopes of accomplifhing every thing ; pleafures, honours, imaginary happinefs ; it has deceived you ; you are unhappy in it ; you have never been able to attain a fituation anfwerable to your wifhes or expectations ; come and fee if your God will be more faithful to you ; if only bitternefs and difgufts are to be found in his fervice ;. if he promifes more than he beftows ; if he is an ungrateful, changeable, or whimfical mafter ; if his yoke is a cruel fer- vitude, or a fweet liberty : If the duties which he exacls from us, are the punifhment of his flaves, or the confola- tion of his children ; and if he deceives thofe who ferve him. My God ! How little would ft thou be worthy of our hearts, wert thou not more amiable, more faithful, and more worthy of being ferved, than this miferable world ! But, in order to ferve him as he wifhes to be ferved, we muft eileem the glory and the happinefs of his fervice ; we muft prefer this happinefs to all others, and labour in it with fi'ricerity; Without referve, and with a ripe and watch- ful circutofpeclioii ; for if it is a common fault to want fervour in the bufinefs of our eternal falvation, and to be- come difgufted with it ; it is iikewife a much more general one to fail of prudence, and to miilake our path towards it. ■Part ou Salvation. 35 Part II. — An enterprife where the dangers arc daily, and miftakes common ; where amongft fo manv differ- ent routs which appear fafe, there is, however, only one true and unerring, and the fuccefs of which muff, never- theless, decide our eternal deftiny : An enterprife of this nature furely requires uncommon exertions ; and never had we occafion, in the conduct of any other, for fo much eircumfpection and prudence. Now that fuca is the en- terprife of Salvation, it would be needle fs to wafle time in proving here, and equally fo for you to doubt ; the on- ly objeB; of importance, then, to eltabliiii, is, the rules and the marks of this prudence, which is to guide us in fo dangerous and fo eflential an affair. The firft rule is, Not to determine ourfelves by chance amongfl that multiplicity of ways which mankind purfue ; carefully to examine all, independent of ufages and cuftoms which may authorife them ; in the affair of our falvation* to give nothing to opinion or example : The fecond is, When we have finally determined, to leave nothing to the uncertainty of events, and always to prefer fafety to dan.- ger. Such are the common rules of prudence adopted by the children of the age, in thepurfuit of their pretentions and their temporal expectations : Eternal falvation is the-only af- fair in which they are neglected. In the fjril place, No perfon examines if his ways are fure ; nor docs he ever require any other pledge of his fafety, than the crowd winch he fees marching before him. Secondly, In the doubts which fpring up during our proceedings, the party the moil gerous- to falvation, having always fell-love in its favour, is always preferred : Two important and common errors in %6 S E R M O N I. in the affair of eternal falvation, which it is necefTary to combat here. The firft rule, is, not to determine by chance, and in the affair of eternity to give nothing to opi- nion or example, Indeed, the upright is every where re- prefented to us in the holy writings, as a judicious and prudent man ; who calculates, who compares, who exa- mines, who difcriminates ; who tries whatever may be the moll proper ; who does not lightly believe every tancy ; who carries before him the torch of the law, that his fleps may be enlightened, and that he may not be in danger of rni/iaking his way. The finner, on the contrary, is there held out as a fooliffi man, who marches by chance, and who, in the moft dangerous paries, advances forward with confidence, as if he was travelling in the flraighteft and mofl certain path. Now, my brethren, fuch is the fituation of aimoft. all men in the affair of falvation. In every other matter, pru- dent, attentive, diffident, aclive to difcover any errors concealed under the common prejudices ; it is in falvation alone, that nothing can equal our credulity and imprudence. Yes, my brethren, We tell you every day, that the life of the world, which is to fay, that lite of amufement, of in- utility, of vanity, of fhow, of effeminacy, exempt even from great crimes ; that this life, I fay, is not a chrifiian one, and confequently is a lite of reprobation and infideli- ty : It is the doctrine of that religion in which you are born ; and fince your infancy you have been nourifhed in thefe holy truths. The world, on the contrary, affirms ibis to be the only life, which perfonsof a certain rank can lead ; that not to conform themfelves to it, would betray a baibarity of manners, in which there would be more fin- gularity and mearmefs, than reafon or virtue. I even ON SALVATION. 37 I even confent that it may ftil-1 be eonfidercd as dubious, whether the world or we have reafon on our fide ; and that this grand difpute may not yet be decided 5 neverthelcfs, as a horrible alternative depends upon it, and that any mif- take here is the worft of all evils, it appears that prudence requires us to clear it up at Icaft, before we take the final ftep. It is furely natural to hefitate between two contend- ing parties, particularly where our falvation is the fubjecr. of difpute : Now, I afk you, Entering into the world, and adopting its manners, its maxims, and its cuiloms, as you have adopted them, have you begun by examining whether it had reafon on its fide, and it we were wrong and ialfe deceivers ? The world wifhes you to afpire to the fa- vours of fortune, and to neglect, neither cares, exertions, meannefies, nor artifices to procure them ; you follow thefe plans ; but have you examined if the gofpel does not con- tradict and forbid them ? The world boafts of luxury, of magnificence, of the delicacies of the table ; and in matters of expence, it deems nothing exceflive but what may tend to derange the circumfrances : Have you informed your- felves, whether the law of God does not prefcribe a more holy ufe of the riches which we hold only from him ? The worTd authorifes continual pleafures ; gaming, thea- tres, and treats with ridicule whoever dare venture even to doubt their innocence : Have you found this decifion in the forrowful and crucifying maxims of Jefus Chrift ? The world approves of certain fufpicious and odious ways of increafing the patrimony of our fathers, and pla- ces no other bounds to our defires than thofe of the laws, which punifh violence and manifefl injuflice : Can you affure us, that the rules of the confeience do not obferve more narrowly, and with regard to thefe matters, do not enter 58 S £ R M 0 N I. enter into difcuffions, winch the world is totally unac- quainted with ? The world has declared, that a gentle, effeminate, and idle life, is an innocent life ; and that virtue is not fo rigid and auftere as we wifh to make it ; before giving credit tc this merely upon its affertion, have you confulted whether the doclrine brought us by Jefus Chrifl from heaven, fubfcribed to the novelty, and to the danger of thefe maxims ? What, my brethren ! In the affair of your eternity, with- out examination or attention, you adopt common prejudices, merely becaufe they are eftablifhed ? You blindly follow thofe who march, before you, without examining where the path leads to which they keep ? You even deign not to en- quire at yourfelves whether or not you are deceived ? You are fatisfied in knowing that you are not the only perfons miftaken ? What ! in the bufinefs which muff, decide your eternal defiiny, you do not even make ufe of your reafon ? You demand no other pledge of your fafety, than the ge- neral error ? You have no doubt or fufpicion ? You think it imneceffary to inform yourfelves ? You have no miflrufl ? All is good, and in your opinion as it ought to be ? You who are fo nice, fo difficult, 10 miftruflful, fo full of precaution when your worldly interefts are in queffion ; in this grand affair alone, you conduft yourfelves by inflincl, by fancy, by foreign impreflions ? You decide upon nothing, but, indolently, allow yourfelves to be dragged away by the multitude, and the torrent of example ? You who, in every other matter, would biufh to think like the crowd ; you who pique yourfelves upon fuperiority of genius, and upon leaving to the common people, and to weak minds, all vul- gar prejudices ; you who carry to ridiculous extreme, per- haps, your mode of thinking on every other point, upon falvation ON SALVATION. gg falvation alone, you think with the crowd, and it appears that reafon is denied to you, on this grand intereft alone. What, my brethren ! When you are alked, in the fteps which you take to enfure fuccefs to your worldly expecta- tions, the reafons which have induced you to prefer one party to another, you advance fach folid and prudent mo- tives; you juflify your choice by pro fpe£ls fo certain and- decifive ; you appear to have fo maturely confidered them, before adopting their execution ; and when we demand o£ you whence it comes, that in the affair of your eternal* falvation you prefer the abufes, the eu Horns, the maxims, of the world, to the examples of the faints who certainly did not live like you ; and to the rules of the gofpel, which, condemn all thofe who live as you do ; you have nothing. to anfwer, but that you are not lingular, and that you mufl live like the reft of the world. Great God 1 to what pur- pofe are great abilities in the conduct of projects which wilL perilh with us ! We have reafons and arguments in fupport of vanity, and we are children with regard to the truth ; we pique ourfelves on our wifdom in the affairs of the. world ; and, alas ! in the bufinefs of our eternal falvation, we think it no difgracs to be ignorant and fooiifh. You will tell us, perhaps, that you are neither wife*, nor more able than all the others who live like you ; that you cannot enter into difcuflions which are beyond your reach ; that were we to be believed, it would be neceiTary to cavil at, and difpute every thing ; and that piety does not confift in refining to fuch an extreme. But I afk you, Is fo much fubtilty required to know that the world is a de- ceitful guide ? That its maxims are rejected in the fchool of" Jcfus Chrift ; and that its cuftoms can never fubvert the jaw of God ? Is not this the moil firople and the mod com- mon ^0 SERMON I. mon rule of the gofpel, and the firft truth in the plan of falvation ? To know our .duty, it requires only to walk in firaplicity of heart. Suhtilties are only necefrary in order to difTernble with ourfelves, and to connect, if pofhble, the paflions with the holy rules ; there it is that the human mind has occafion for all its induftry, for the tafk is diffi- cult : Such is exactly your cafe, you who pretend, that to recal cuftoms to the law is a ridiculous refinement : To know our duty, it only requires conference with ourfelves. While Saul continued faithful, he had no occafion to con- firft the forcerefs with regard to what he fhould do : The law of God fufficiently inftrucled him : It was only after his guilt, that in order to calm the inquietudes of a trou- bled confcience, and to connect his criminal weakneffes with the law of God, he bethought himfelf of feeking, in the anfwers of a deceitful oracle, fome authority favour- able to his paflions. Love the truth, and you will foon ac- quire a knowledge of it : A clear confcience is the beft of all inftru£tors. Not that I wifh to blame thofe fin cere refearches which an honed and timid foul makes to enlighten and inftruct it- felf; I wifh only to fay, that the majority of doubts with regard to our duties, in thofe hearts delivered up like you to the world, fprings from a ruling principle of cupidity, which, on the one fide, would wifh net to interfere with its infamous paflions ; and, on the other, have the authori- ty of the law, to protect it from the remorfes which attend a manifeft tranfgreiTion. For, befides, if you feek the Lord in (ancerity, and your lights are infufficient, there are ft ill pro- phets in Ifrael ; confult in proper time thofe who preferve the form of the law, and of the holy doctrine ; and who teach the way of God in truth : Do not propofe your doubts with ON SALVATION. ^! with thofc colourings and foftenings which always fix the decifion in your favour: Do net apply in order to be de- ceived, but to be inflrucled: Seek not favourable, but fure and enlightened guides ; do not content yourfelves even with the teftimony of men : Confult the Lord fre- quently, and through different channels. The voice of heaven is uniform, becaufe the voice of truth, of which it is the interpreter, is the fame. If the teftimonies do not accord, prefer always what places you farthell from dan- ger; always miftruft the opinion which pleafes, and which already had the fuffrage of your felf-love. It rarely hap- pens, that the decisions of our inclinations are found the fame with thofe of the holy rules ; neverthelefs, it is that which decides on all our preferences in the bufinefs of fal- vation. — Second itep of our imprudence in the affair ot our eternal falvation. — In effecl, there is icarcely a doubt with regard to our duties, which conceals from us the pre- cife obligation of the law on every flep : We know the paths by which Jefus Chriff, and the faints, have pafTcd ; they are ftill pointed out to us every day ; we are invited by the fuccefs which they have had, to walk in their fleps. In this manner, fay they to us, with the Apoftle, did thofe. men of God who have preceded us, overcome the world, and obtain the performance of the promifes : we fee that by imitating them, we may hope for all, and in the way in which we walk, that every thing is to be dreaded. Ought we to hefitate on this alternative ? Neverthelefs, in every thing we refill: our own lights ; everywhere we pre- fer danger to fafety ; our whole life is, indeed, one con- tinued danger ; in all our aftions we float, not between the more or lefs perfecl, but between guilt and fimple er- rors : Every time we aft, the queflion is not to know whether we are doing the greateft good, but if we are Vol. I. F committing 4- SERMON I, committing only a flight fault, worthy of indulgence : All our duties are limited, to the enquiry at ourfelves, if profefling fuch principles; if to a certain degree, deliver- ing ourfelves up to refentment ; if employing a certain de- gree of duplicity ; if not denying ourfelves a certain gra- tification be a crime, or a venial fault ; you always hang betwixt thefe two deftinies ; and your confcience can never render you the teftimony, that on any occafion you made choice of the party in which there was no danger. Thus, you know, that a life of pleafure, of gaming, of fhow, of amufement, when even nothing grofs or crimi- nal is mingled with it, is a party very doubtful for eternity ; no faint, at leak", has left you fuch an example : You are fenfible, that more guarded and more Chriftian manners would leave you nothing fimilar to dread ; neverthelefs you love an accommodating doubt better than an irkfome fafe- ty ; you know that grace has moments which never return ; that nothing is more uncertain ti an the return of holy im- pulfes once rejected : that fahration deferred almoft always fails ; and iii.it to begin to-day, is prudently affuring our- Ifeives of iuccefs ; you know it; yet you prefer the un- i lope of a grace to come, to the prefent falvation which offers itfelfto you. Now, my brethren, I only de- mand ■ wdrefle&ions, a. d 1 fball finiih. In the firft , When even in this path which you tread, the ba- were equal, that is to fay, when it were equally fuf- pirious, whethei you '.re to be faved or loft; did the fmal- leit portion ot Faith remain to you, you would be plunged in the mod cruel alarms; it ought to appear horrible to you, that your t e nal falvation was become a problem, upon which you knew not what to decide, and upon which, with equal appearances of truth, you might deter- mine ON SALVATION, 43 iiiine for the happinefs or the mifery of your everlafting Jot, in the fame manner as upon thofe indifferent oueitions which God has yielded up to the controverfies of men : You ought to undertake every thing, and to employ every -exertion to place appearances at Jeaff , in your favour, and to find out a Situation where prejudices would be on your fide : And here, where every thing concludes againft you ; where the law i^ unfavourable ; where you have nothing in your favour but fome fallacious appearances of reafon, upon which, you would not hazard the imalleft of your temporal interefts ; and with manners which to this period have faved none, and in which vou only fhrengthen and comfort yourfelves by the example of thofe who perifh with you ; You are tranquil in this path : You admit of, and acknowledge the wifdom of thofe who have chofen a more certain one; you fay that they are praife-worthy ; that they are happy who can alfume fuch a command over themfelves ; that it is much fafer to live as they do . you fay this, and you think it needle's to imitate, or follow their example ? Madman ! cries the Apoflle, What delu- fion is it that blinds thee ? and wherefore dofc thou not obey that truth which thou knoweft ? Ah I my brethren, in a choice which interefts our glory, our advancement, our temporal intereiis, are we capable of fuch impru- dence ? Of all the various ways which prefent themfelves to ambition, do we leave thofe where every appearance feems favourable to cur fuccefs, and make choice of fuch as lead to nothing ; where fortune is tardy and doubtful ; and which have hiiherto been only productive of mif- fortune ? Of falvation alone, therefore, we make a kind of fpeculation, if I may venture to fpeak in this manner ; that is to fay, an undertaking without arrangement, with- out precaution, which we abandon to the uncertainty of <. . ents, 44 SERMON I, events, and of which the fuccefs can alone be expected from chance, and not from our exertions. In a word, as my laft rcfieclion, allow me to* aft, Why you fearch for, and alledge to us fo many fpecious reafons, as a justification to yourfe»v*s