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 PRINCETON, N. J. & 
 
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 SERMONS (• Jan 171911 
 
 BY ^SFtf/A*.-.. „««*1 
 
 B. MASSILLON, 
 
 £/CAl SEVK 
 
 BISHOP OF CLERMONT. 
 
 SELECTED AND TRANSLATED 
 
 WILLIAM DICKSON; 
 
 DEDICATED, BY PERMISSION, TO 
 
 HER GRACE 
 
 THE DUTCHESS OF BUCCLEUGH 
 
 VOLUME THIRD. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 rfclHTE* TOR. ROBERT MORISON AND SON, BOOKSELLERS, PERTH } 
 
 ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE, EDINBURGH J AND BRASH 
 
 AND REID, CLASGOW. 
 
 1798. 
 
 < 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SERM. Page. 
 
 I. The Truth of Religion, 9 
 
 II. Doubts upon Religion, \ - 49 
 
 III. Evidence of the Law of God, - 88 
 
 IV. Immutability of the Law of God, - ,127 
 V. For Chrifltnas Day, - - 1 57 
 
 VI. For the Day of the Epiphany, - 189 
 
 VII. The Divinity of Jefus Chrifi, - 237 
 
 VIII. On the Rejurreclion of Lazarus, 293 
 
 ■ IX. On the Day of Judgment, - 334 
 
 X. The Happinefs of the Juft, - 376 
 
 XL On the Difpofitions for the Communion, 412 
 
 SER- 
 
SERMON L 
 
 THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 
 
 Matthew viii. 10. 
 
 Verily I. fay unto you, I have not found fo great faith ', 
 no not in Ijrael, 
 
 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 
 fandtity of his doctrine and the truth of his minif- 
 try ? 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 his miffion were authorifed by tef- 
 timonies ; Mofes and the prophets had amply borne 
 them to him ; the precurfor had openly proclaim- 
 ed, Behold the Chrift and the Lamb of God, which 
 taketh away the fin of the world ; a gentile renders 
 Vol. III. B glory 
 
10 SERMON I. / 
 
 glory in our gofpel to his almightinefs ; the hea- 
 venly Father had declared from on high, that it 
 was his well-beloved Son ; laftly, the demons them- 
 felves, ftruck with his fanttity, quitted the bodies, 
 in confeffing that he was the Holy, and the Son of 
 the living God. What could the incredulity of 
 the Jews ftill oppofe to fo many proofs and prodi- 
 gies ? 
 
 Behold, my brethren, what, with much greater' 
 furprife, might be demanded at thofe unbelieving 
 minds, who, after the fulfilment of all that had 
 been foretold, after the confummation of the myf- 
 teries of Jefus Chrift, the exaltation of his name, 
 the manifeftation of his gifts, the calling of his peo- 
 ple, the deftrucHon of idols, the converfion of Ge- 
 fars, and the agreement of the univerfe, Itill doubt, 
 and take upon themfelves to confute and to over- 
 throw what the toils of the apoftolic men, the blood 
 of fo many martyrs, the prodigies of fo many fer- 
 vants of Jefus Chrift, the writings of fo many great 
 men, the aufterities of fo many holy anchorites, 
 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, 
 children of unbelief ftill privately fpring up among 
 us, whom God hath delivered up to the vanity of 
 their own thoughts, and who blafpheme what they 
 know not j impious men, who change, as the a- 
 poflle fays, the grace of our God into wantonnefs^ 
 
 defile 
 
' THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. II 
 
 defile their fiefh, contemn all, rule, blafpheme ma- 
 jefty, corrupt all their ways like the animals nor 
 gifted with reafon, and are fet apart to ferve one 
 day 3S an example of the awful judgments of God 
 upon men. 
 
 Now if, among fo many believers affembled here 
 through religion, any foul of this defcription mould 
 happen to be, allow me, you, my brethren, who 
 preferve with refpect the facred trull of- the doc- 
 trine which you have received from your ancestors 
 and from your pafrors, to feize this opportunity, 
 either of undeceiving them, or o£ confuting their 
 incredulity. Allow me, for once, to do here what 
 the firft pallors of the church fo often did before 
 their affembled people, that is to fay, to take upon 
 myfelf the defence of the religion of Jefus Chrifl 
 againft unbelief; and, before entering into the par- 
 ticulars of your duties during this long term, allow 
 me to begin by laying the firft foundations of faith. 
 It is fo confoling for thofe who believe to find how 
 reafonable their fubmiflion is, and to be convinced 
 that faith, which is apparently the rock of reafon, 
 is however its only confolation, guide, and refuge 1 
 
 Here then is my whole defign. The unbeliever 
 
 refufes fubmiffion to the revealed truths, either 
 
 through a vain affe&ation of reafon, or through a 
 
 ' falfe fentiment of pride, or through an ill-placed 
 
 . love of independance. 
 
 Now, I mean at prefent to mew, that the fub- 
 miflion which the unbeliever refufes, through a vain 
 
 affectation 
 
12 SERMON I. 
 
 affectation of reafon, is the mod: prudent life which 
 he can make even of reafon ; that the fubmiffion 
 ' which he refufes through a falfe fentiment of pride, 
 is the mod glorious ftep of it ; and, laftly, that the 
 fubmiffion which he rejects through an ill-placed 
 love of independance, is the mod indifpenfible fa- 
 crifice of it. And from thence I fhall draw the 
 three great characters of religion: It is reafonable, 
 it is glorious, it is neceffary. 
 
 O my Saviour, eternal author and finiflier of our 
 faith, defend thyfelf, thy doctrine. Suffer not that 
 thy crofs, by which the univerfe hath been fubmit- 
 ted to thee, be ftill 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 triumphedit 
 over through the ftriking 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 a- 
 gainft the knowledge of thy myfteries. 
 
 Part I. Let us begin with admitting that it is 
 faith, and not reafon, which makes Chriftians; and 
 that the firft ftep exacted of a difciple of Jefus 
 Chrift, is to captivate his mind, and to believe 
 what he may not comprehend. Neverthelefs, I 
 fay, that we are led to that fubmiffion by reafon it- 
 felf ; that the more even our lights are fuperior, 
 the more do they point out the neceffity of our 
 fisbmiffion ; and that unbelief, far from being the 
 
 p^ rt y 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 13 
 
 party of ftrength of mind, and of reafon, is, on 
 the contrary, that of error and weaknefs. 
 
 In faith, reaf^ hath therefore its ufes, as it hath 
 its limits : and as the law, good and holy in itfelf, 
 ferved however only to conduct to Jefus Chrift, 
 and there flopped as at its term ; in the fame way 
 reafon, good and juft in itfelf, fince it is the gift of 
 God, and a participation of the fovereign 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 limit3. 
 
 This taken for granted, let us fee which of the 
 two, viz. the believer or the unbeliever, makes the 
 mod prudent ufe of his reafon. Submiffion to 
 things held out to our belief, perhaps fufpe&ed 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 wifh to perfuade us ; if they be in op- 
 position to the principles'of equity, of honour, of 
 fociety, and of confcience, it is ignorance to re- 
 ceive 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 determin- 
 ing a wife mind, ft h imprudence to give way to 
 them. Now, it is eafy to prove that the authority 
 which exa&s the fubmiflion of the believer, is the 
 greateft, the moil refpeclable, and the beft efta- 
 blifhed, which can poffibly be upon the earth j that 
 
 the 
 
14 SERMON I. 
 
 the truths propofed to his belief are the only ones 
 conformable to the principles of equity, of honour, 
 of fociety, and of conscience ; and, laflly, that the 
 motives employed to perfuade him are the moft 
 deciflve, the moft triumphant, and the moft proper 
 to gain fubmifhon from the leaft credulous minds. 
 
 When 1 fpeak of the authority of the Chriftian 
 religion, I do not pretend to confine the extent of 
 that term to the fmgle authority of its holy af« 
 femblies, in which, through the mouths of its paf- 
 tors, the church makes decifions, and holds out to 
 ail believers the infallible rules of worfmp and of 
 doctrine. As it is not herefy, but unbelief, which 
 this difcourfe concerns, I do not here fo much 
 ier religion as oppofed to the feels which the 
 f] , it of error hath feparated from the unity, that 
 is to fay, as confined to the fole catholic church, 
 but as forming, fince the beginning of the world, 
 a fociety apart, fole depofitary of the knowledge of 
 a God, and' of the promife of a Mediator ; always 
 oppofed to all the religions which have fince arifen 
 in the univerfe ; always contradicted, and always the 
 fame ; and I fay that its authority bears along with 
 it fuch mining characters of truth, that it is im- 
 pofiible, without folly, to refufe fubmiffion to it. 
 
 In the firft place, in matter of religion, antiquity 
 is a character which reafon refpects ; and we may 
 fav, that a prepoffeffion is already formed in favour 
 of that belief, confecrated by the religion of the 
 firft men, and by the fimplicity of the primitive 
 
 times 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. I 5 
 
 times. Not but what falfehood is often decked 
 out with the fame titles, and that old errors exift 
 among men, which feem to conteft the antiquity 
 of their origin with the truth ; but it is not diffi- 
 cult, to whoever wiihes to trace their hiflory, to 
 go back even to their origin. Novelty is always 
 the condant and mod infeparable character of er- 
 ror : 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 effect, if there be a true religion upon the 
 earth, it mufl be the mo ft ancient of all ; for, if 
 there be a true religion upon the earth, it mull be 
 the firft and the mofl eflential duty of man towards 
 the God who wifhes to be honoured by it. This 
 duty mud therefore be equally ancient as man ; 
 and, as it is attached to his nature, it mud, as I 
 may fay,' be born with him. And this, my bre- 
 thren, is the fird character by which the religion 
 of Chridians is at once didinguifhed from fuper- 
 ftitions and feels. It is the mod ancient religion 
 in the world. The fird men, before that an impi- 
 ous worfliip was carved out of divinities of wood 
 and of done, worlhipped the fame God whom we 
 adore, raifed up altars and offered facrirlces to him, 
 expected from his liberality the reward of their vir- 
 tue, and from his judice the punifhment of their 
 difobedience. The hidory.of the birth of this reli- 
 gion, is the hidory of the birlh of the world itfelf. 
 
 The 
 
10 SERMON I. 
 
 The divine books which have preferved it do\vii 
 to us,' contain the firfl monuments of the origin of 
 things. They are themfelves more ancient than 
 all thofe fabulous productions of the human mind, 
 ■which afterwards fo miferably amufed the creduli- 
 ty of the following 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 of that divine hiflory ; in fo 
 much that it may be affirmed that every thing, 
 even to error itfelf, renders homage to the anti- 
 quity and to the authority of our holy fcriptures. 
 
 Now, my brethren 1 , is there not already fome- 
 thing refpectable in this character alone ? The 
 other religions, which have vaunted a more an- 
 cient origin, have produced nothing, in fupport of 
 their antiquity, but fabulous legends, which funk 
 into nothing of themfelves. They have disfigured 
 the hiflory of the world by a chaos of innumerable 
 and imaginary ages, of -which no event hath been 
 left to poflerity, and which I the hiftory of the 
 world hath never known. The authors of thefe 
 grofs fictions did not write till many ages after the 
 actions which they relate, and it is faying every 
 thing to add, that that theology was the fruit of 
 poefy ; and the inventions of that art, the mod 
 folid foundations of their religion. 
 
 Here, it is a train of facts, reafonable, natural, 
 and in agreement with itfelf. It is the hiftory of 
 a family continued from its* firfl head down to 
 
 him 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. IJ 
 
 him who writes ir, and authenticated in all its cir- 
 cumflances. It is a genealogy in which every 
 chief is characlerifed by his own actions, by events 
 which ftill fubfifted then, by marks which were 
 flill known in die places where they had dwelt. 
 It is a living tradition, the mod authenticated up- 
 on the earth, fmce Mofes hath written only what he 
 had heard from the children of the patriarchs, and 
 they related only what their fathers had feen. E- 
 very 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 fubjecr.. Be- 
 fore Mcfes, the people of God had nothing in 
 writing. He hath left nothing to poflerity but 
 what he had verbally collected 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 manifef* 
 tations to men, the remembrance of which had till 
 then compofed the whole religion, the whole know- 
 ledge, and the whole confolation of the family of 
 Abraham. The candour and nncerity of this* au- 
 thor appear in the fimplicity of his Kiftory. He 
 takes no precaution to fecure belief, becaufe he 
 fuppofes that thofe for whom he writes require none 
 to believe ; and all the facts which he relates being 
 well-known among them, it is more for the pur- 
 pofe of preferving them to their poilerity, than for 
 any inftruftiou in them to themfelves. 
 
 Vol. III. G Behold, 
 
l8 SERMON 1. 
 
 Behold, my brethren, which way the Chrifliao 
 religion begins to acquire influence over the mind 
 of men. Turn on all fides, read the hiflory of every 
 people and of every nation, and you will find no- 
 thing fo well eflablifhed upon the earth : What do I 
 fay ? You will find nothing more worthy the at- 
 tention 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 manifefted 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 reft ; and the latter ages, 
 which cannot be difputed, are, however, only the 
 proofs of the certitude of the firfl. Therefore, if 
 there be an authority upon the earth to which 
 reafon ought to yield, it is to that of the Chriftian 
 religion. 
 
 To the character of its antiquity mud be added 
 that of its perpetuity. Figure to yourfelves here 
 that endlefs variety of feels and of religions which 
 have fucceflively reigned upon the earth : Follow 
 the hiflory of the fuperflitions of every people and 
 of every country ; they have flourifhed 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 ? Recollect 
 the hiflory of thofe firft conquerors : In conquer- 
 ing the people, they conquered the gods of the 
 people j and, in overturning their power, they 
 ©verturned their worfhip. How beautiful, my 
 
 brethren, 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 19 
 
 brethren, to fee the religion of our fathers alone 
 maintaining itfelf from the fir ft, furviving all fe£ts - y 
 and, notwithftanding the diverfe fortunes of thofe 
 who have profeffed it, alone palling from father to 
 fon, and braving every exertion to efface it from 
 the heart of men ! It is not the arm of flcfli which 
 hath preferved it. Ah \ The people of God hath, 
 almoit always, been weak, oppreffed, and perfecut- 
 ed. 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 fu- 
 gitives, and another tributaries of various nations; 
 they a thoufand times faw Chaldea, Affyria, Baby- 
 Ion, the molt formidable powers of the earth, the 
 whole univerfe confpire their ruin, and the total 
 extinction of their worfhip ; but this people, fo 
 weak, oppreffed in Egypt, wandering in the de- 
 fert, and afterwards carried in captivity into a fo- 
 reign land, no power hath ever been able to ex- 
 terminate, while fo many others, more powerful, 
 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 con- 
 tradicted, fo arduous in its obfervances, fo rigor- 
 ous in its punifhments upon tranfgreffors, and even 
 fo liable to be eftablifhed or to be overthrown, 
 through the mere inconftancy and ignorance of 
 
 the 
 
20 SERMON I. 
 
 the people who was its firft depoutary ; whence 
 comes it that it alone hath been- perpetuated amid 
 fo many revolutions, while the fuperftitions fup- 
 ported by all the power of empires and of king- 
 doms, have funk into their original oblivion ? Ah ! 
 is it not God, and not man, who hath done all 
 thefe things ? Is it not the arm of the Almighty 
 which hath preferved his work ? And.iince every 
 thing invented by the human mind has perifhed, 
 is it not to be inferred, that what hath always en- 
 dured was alone the work of the divine wifdom ? 
 
 Laftly, If to its antiquity and to its perpetuity, 
 you add its uniformity, no pretext for refiftance 
 will be left to reafon. 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 cli- 
 mates, and the neceffity of the times, have intro- 
 duced a thoufand changes in all the human laws. 
 Faith alone hath never changed. Such as our fa- 
 thers received it, fuch have we it at prefent, and 
 fuci.1 (hall our descendants one day receive it. It 
 hath been unfolded through the courfe of ages, 
 and like wife, I confefs, through the neceffity of 
 fecuring it from the errors which have been at- 
 tempted to be introduced into it ; but every thing 
 which once appeared to belong to it, hath always 
 appeared as appertaining to it. There is liitle 
 wonder in the duration of a religion, when ac- 
 commodations are made to times and to conjunc- 
 tures, 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 21 
 
 tures, and when they may add or diminifh accord- 
 ing to the fancy of the ages, and of thofe who go- 
 vern ; but never to relax, in fpite of the change 
 of manners and of times ; to fee every thing change 
 around, and yet be always the fame, is the grand 
 privilege of the Chriftian religion. And by thefe 
 three characters, of antiquity, of perpetuity, and 
 of uniformity, which exclufively belong to it, its 
 authority is the only one upon the earth capable 
 of determining a wife, mind. , 
 
 But if the fubmiffion of the believer be return- 
 able on the part of the authority which ex- .Is it, 
 it is not lefs fo on the part of the things which ^;e 
 propofed to his belief. And here, my br:i . ■», 
 let us enter into the foundation of the Chrifti in 
 worfhip. It is not afraid of inveuigation, like thofe 
 abominable myfleries of idolatry, the infamy and 
 horror of which were concealed by the darkeit ob- 
 fcurity. A religion, fays Tertullian, which would 
 fhun examination, and would dread being fearched 
 into, mould ever be fufpected. The more the Chris- 
 tian worfhip is inveftigated, the more are beauties 
 and hidden wonders found in it. Idolatry infpir- 
 ed man with foolifh fentiments of the Divinity; 
 philofophy, with very unreafo liable ones of him- 
 felf: cupidity, with iniquitous ones towards the 
 reft of men. Now, admire the wifdorn of religion, 
 which remedies all thefe three evils, which the rea- 
 fon of all ages had never been able either to era- 
 dicate or even to find out. 
 
 And, 
 
22 SERMON I. 
 
 And, ljl/y, what other legiflator hath fpoken of 
 the divinity, like that of the Chriftians ? Find 
 eifewhere 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, in whom all things live, 
 he mull be fuch as the Chriftian religion repre- 
 fents him. We alone compare him not to the like- 
 nefs of man. We alone worfhip him feated above the 
 cherubims, filling every where with his prefence, 
 regulating all by his wifdom, creating light and 
 darknefs, author of good, and punilher of vice. 
 We alone honour him as he wifhes to be honour- 
 ed ; that it is to fay, we make not the worfhip due 
 to him, to confifl: in the multitude of victims, nor 
 in the external pomp of our homages ; but in ado- 
 ration, 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 our- 
 felves, which takes its rife only in our corruption. 
 We hope to find in him the reward of a fidelity, 
 which is the gift of his grace, and the punimment 
 of tranfgreflions, which are always the confe- 
 quence of the bad ufe which we make of our li- 
 berty. Now, what can be more worthy of the fu- 
 preme Being than all thefe ideas ! 
 
 idly, A vain philofophy either had degraded 
 man to the level of the beaft, by centering his fe- 
 licity in the fenfes ; or had foolifhly exalted him 
 
 even 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 23 
 
 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 plea- 
 fures, by difcovering to him the excellency of his 
 nature, and the holinefs of his deftination ; it cor- 
 rects his pride, by making him fenfible of his own 
 wretchednefs and meannefs. 
 
 Lq/ily, cupidity rendered man unjufl towards 
 the reft of men. Now, what other doctrine than 
 that of Chriftians, hath ever fo well regulated our 
 duties on this head. It inftructs us to yield obe- 
 dience to the powers eftablifhed by God, not only 
 through fear of their authority, but through an ob- 
 ligation of confcience ; to refpect our fuperiors, to 
 bear with our equals, to be affable towards our in- 
 feriors, to love all men as ourfelves. It alone 
 is capable of forming good citizens, faithful fub- 
 jecls, patient fervants, humble matters, incorrupti- 
 ble magiftrates, clementprinces, and zealous friends. 
 It alone renders the honour of marriage inviolable, 
 fecures the peace of families, and maintains the 
 tranquility of flates. It not only checks ufurpa- 
 tions, but it prohibits even the defire of others pro- 
 perty ; 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 forbids us to attempt 
 his life, but it requires us to do good, even to thofe 
 who injure us ; to blefs thofe who curfe us, and to 
 
 be 
 
24 SERMON I. 
 
 be all only of one heart and of one mind. Give 
 me, laid formerly St Auguftin to the heathens of 
 his time, a kingdom all compofed of people of this 
 kind : Good God, what peace ! what felicity ! 
 What a reprefentation of heaven 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 3 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 myfteries which exceed 
 our comprehenfion. But, befides that good fenfe 
 mould induce us to yield thereon to a religion fo 
 venerable through its antiquity, fo divine in its 
 morality, fo fuperior to every thing on the earth 
 in its authority, and alone worthy of being believ- 
 ed, the motives it employs for our perfuafion are 
 fufficient to conquer unbelief. 
 
 i/?/y, Thefe myfteries were foretold many ages 
 before their accompJifhment, and foretold with 
 every circumftance 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 thtfame age as the events, and unknown to the 
 reft 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 moft precious 
 inheritance ; which were preferved in the holy 
 
 temple 
 
THE truth OF RELIGION. 1§ 
 
 temple as the moft facred pledge of the divine pro- 
 mifes ; and, laflly, to the truth of which the na- 
 tion moft inveterate againfl Jefus Chrid:, and their 
 firft depofitory, frill at prefent bears witnefs in the 
 face of the whole univerfe : prophecies, which 
 were not myfterioufly hidden from the people, left 
 their falfehood mould be betrayed ; like thofe vain 
 oracles of the Sybils, carefully fhut up in the capi* 
 tol, fabricated to fupport the Roman pride, expof- 
 ed to the view of the pontiffs alone, and produced, 
 piece-meal, from time to time, to authorife, in the 
 mind of the people, either a dangerous enterprife, 
 or an unjuit war. On the contrary, our prophe- 
 tical books were the daily fludy of a whole people. 
 The young and the old, women and children, 
 priefts and men of all ranks, princes and fubjects, 
 were indifpenfibly obliged to have them continual- 
 ly 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 ingratitude of their fathers ; in every page 
 they announced misfortunes to them as the juft 
 punimment of their crimes ; to kings they re- 
 proached their diffipations, to the pontiffs their 
 profufion, to the people their inconftancy and un- 
 belief ; and, neverthelefs, thefe holy books were 
 dear to them ; and, from the oracles which they 
 faw continually accompiiming in them, they await- 
 ed with confidence the fulfilment of thofe which 
 the whole univerfe hath now witnefled. Now, 
 Vol. III. D the 
 
l6 SERMON I. 
 
 the knowledge of what is to come is the lead fuf* 
 picious character of the divinity. 
 
 idly, Thefe myfteries are founded upon facts fo 
 evidently miraculous, fo well-known in Judea, fo a- 
 greed to then, even by thofe whofe interefl it was 
 to reject them, fo fignaliled by events which inter- 
 efled the whole nation, fo often repeated in the ci- 
 ties, in the country, in the temple, and in the pub- 
 lic places, that the eyes mufl be fhut 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 condemn- 
 ed Jefus Chrift, flill living, might fo eafily have con- 
 troverted and proclaimed their impofture, had they 
 really been a deception upon mankind. Jefus 
 Chriil, by fulfilling his promife of rifmg again, con- 
 firmed his gofpel, and it is not to be fuppoftd 
 either, that the apoftles could be deceived on a fad 
 fo decifive and fo eifential for them ; on that fact 
 fo often foretold, and looked forward to, as the 
 principal point on which all the refl was to turn j 
 that fact fo often confirmed, and that before fo ma- 
 ny witneffes ; nor that they themfelves wifhed to 
 deceive 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 expect for their im- 
 pofture. Would thefe men, who have left to us 
 only fuch pious and wife precepts, have given to 
 the earth an example of folly hitherto unknown to 
 
 every 
 
THE TRUTH OP RELIGION. 1J 
 
 every people, and without view, intereft, or mo- 
 tive, have coolly devoted themfelves to the molt 
 excruciating tortures, and to a dentil fuffered with 
 the moll heroical piety, merely to maintain the 
 truth of a thing, of which they themfelves knew 
 the falsehood ? Would thefe men have all tran- 
 quilly fubmitted to death for the fake of another 
 man who had deceived them, and who, having fail- 
 ed in his promife of rifing again from the grave, 
 had only impoied, during life, upon their credulity 
 and weaknefs : Let the impious man no longer re- 
 proach to us, as a credulity, the incomprehenfible 
 myfteries of faith. He mud be very credulous 
 himfelf, to be able to perfuade himfelf of the poffi- 
 bility of fuppofitions fo abfurd. 
 
 Laft/y, 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 convicted 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 commanded to 
 love even their abjection and indigence ; all men, 
 of whom it combatted all the paffions. This faith, 
 preached by twelve poor men without learning, ta- 
 lents, or fupport, hath fubje&ed emperors, the 
 learned equally as the illiterate, cities and empires; 
 myfteries apparently fo abfurd, have overthrown 
 all the feels, and all the monuments of a proud 
 reafon, and the folly of the crofs hath been wifer 
 
 than 
 
28 SERMON I. 
 
 than all the wifdom of the age. The whole uni- 
 verfe hath confpired againfl ir, and every effort of 
 its enemies, hath only added frefh confirmation to 
 it. To be a believer, and to be deflined to death, 
 were two things infeparable ; yet the danger was 
 only an additional charm ; the more the perfec- 
 tions 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 character of thy work ? Where is the reafon 
 which doth not feel the vanity of its doubts to fink 
 into nothing here, and which ft ill blufhes to fub- 
 mit to a doctrine, to which the whole univerfe 
 hath yielded ? But not only is this fubmiffion rea- 
 fonable, it is like wife glorious to men. 
 
 Part II. Pride is the fecret fource of unbelief. 
 In that ofientation of reafon, which induces the 
 unbeliever to contemn the common belief, there is 
 a deplorable Angularity which flatters him, and oc- 
 cafions him to fuppofe in himfelf more vigour of 
 mind and more light than in the reft of men, be- 
 caufe he boldly ventures to caft off a yoke to which 
 they have all fubmitted. and to ftand up againfl 
 what all the reft had hitherto been contented to 
 worfhip. 
 
 Now, in order to deprive the unbeliever of fo 
 wretched a confolation, it is only neceffary to de- 
 monflrate, in the firft place, that nothing is more 
 glorious to reafon than faith $ glorious on the fide 
 
 of 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 29 
 
 of its promifes for the future ; glorious from the 
 fituation in which it places the believer for the pre- 
 fent ; 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 breth- 
 ren ? The adoption of God, an immortal fociety 
 with him, the complete redemption of our bodies, 
 the eternal felicity of our fouls, freedom from the 
 paffions, our hearts fixed by the pofleflion of the 
 true riches, our minds penetrated with the inefifabl/e 
 light of the fovereign reafon, and happy in the 
 clear and always durable view of the truth. Such 
 are the promifes of faith ; it informs us that our 
 origin is divine, and our hopes eternal. 
 
 Now, I a(k, 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 beads, and to look forward to 
 the fame end ? What, the unbeliever would think 
 himfelf more honoured by the conviction that he 
 is only a vile clay, put together by chance, and 
 which chance fhall difiblve, without end, deftina- 
 tion, 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 opinion of himfelf, when 
 viewed in the light of an unfortunate wretch, ac- 
 cidentally placed upon the earth, who looks for- 
 ward 
 
30 SERMON 1. 
 
 ward to nothing beyond life, whofe fweeteft hope 
 is that of finking back to nonentity, who relates to 
 nothing but himfelf, and is reduced to find his fe- 
 licity in himfelf, though he can there find only 
 anxieties and fecret terrors ! Is this then that mi- 
 ferable diftinfrion by which the pride of unbelief 
 is fo much flattered ? Great God ! How glorious 
 to thy truth, to have no enemies but men of this 
 character ! For my part, as St Ambrcfe formerly 
 faid to the unbelievers of his time, I glory in be- 
 lieving truths fo honourable to man, and in expect- 
 ing the fulfilment of promifes fo confolotary. To 
 refufe belief to them, is forrily to punifh one's felf. 
 Ah ! if I be deceived, in prefering the hope of one 
 day enjoying the eternal fociety of the righteous 
 in the bofom of God to the humbling belief of be- 
 ing of the fame nature as the beafts, it is an error 
 dear to me, which I delight in, and upon which I 
 wifh never to be undeceived. 
 
 But, if Faith be glorious on the fide of its pro- 
 mifes for the fiuure, it is not lefs fo from the fitua- 
 tion in which it places the believer for the preient. 
 And here, my brethren, figure to yourfelves a tru- 
 ly righteous man, who lives by faith, and you will 
 acknowledge that there is nothing on the earth 
 more fublime. Matter of his defires and of all the 
 movements of his heart ; exercifing a glorious em- 
 pire over himfelf ; in patience and in equanimity 
 enjoying his foul, and regulating all his pailions by 
 the bridle of temperance j humble in profperity 4 
 
 firm 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 31 
 
 firm under misfortunes, cheerful in tribulations, 
 peaceful with thofe who hate peace, callous to in- 
 juries, feeling for the afflictions of thofe who tref- 
 pafs againft him, faithful in his promifes, religious 
 in his friendfliips, and unfhaken in his duties ; lit- 
 tie affected with riches, which he contemns ; fa- 
 tigued 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, mere- 
 ly to attract the applaufes of the world j it fought 
 more the glory of wifdom, than wifdom itfelf. In 
 deftroying the other paffions, 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 coloffus of pride which 
 he wanted the whole earth to worfhip. 
 
 But faith exalts the juft man above even his vir- 
 tue. Through it he is ftill greater in the fecrecy 
 of his heart, and in the eyes of God, than before 
 men. He forgives without pride ; he is difinte- 
 refted without fhew ; he fuffers without wilhing it 
 to be known ; he moderates his paffions without 
 perceiving it himfelf ; he alone is ignorant of the 
 glory and of the merit of his actions ; far from 
 gracioufly looking upon himfelf, he is afhamed of 
 his virtues much more than the ilnner is of his 
 
 vices ; 
 
$£ SERMON I. 
 
 vices ; far from courting applaufe, he hides his 
 works from the light, as if they were deeds of 
 darknefs j love of duty is the fole fpring of his vir- 
 tue ; he acls 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. Review all the various kinds of glory 
 with which the world gratifies the vanity of men ; 
 and fee, if, -all together, they can bellow that de- 
 gree of dignity to which the godly are raifed by 
 faith. 
 
 Now, my dear hearer, what more honourable to 
 man than this fituation ? Do you confider him as 
 more glorious, more refpectable, more grand, when 
 he follows the impulfes of a brutal inftinct j when 
 he is the Have of hatred, revenge, voluptuoufnefs, 
 ambition, envy, and all thofe other monfters which 
 alternately reign in his heart ? 
 
 For, are you who make a boaft of unbelief tho- 
 roughly acquainted with what is an unbeliever ? 
 He is a man without morals, probity, faith, or cha- 
 racter, who owns no rule but his paffions, no law 
 but his iniquitous thoughts, no mailer but his de- 
 fires, 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 faith- 
 lefs friend, feeing he looks upon men merely as 
 the wretched fruits of a wild and fortuitous con- 
 currence, to whom he is connected only by tranfi- 
 tory ties j a cruel mafler, feeing he is convinced 
 
 that 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 33 
 
 that the ftrongeft and the moft fortunate have al- 
 ways reafon on their fide. For, who could hence- 
 forth place any dependence upon you ? You no 
 longer fear a God ; you no longer refpect men ; 
 you look forward to nothing after this life ; virtue 
 and vice are merely prejudices of education in 
 your eyes, and the confequences of popular credu- 
 lity. Adulteries,* revenge, blafphemies, the black- 
 ed treacheries, abominations which we dare not 
 even to name, are no longer, in your opinion, but 
 human prohibitions, and regulations eftablilhed 
 through the policy of legiflators. According to 
 you, the moft horrible crimes, or the pureft vir- 
 tues, are all equally the fame, fince an eternal an- 
 nihilation mail foon equalife the juft and the impi- 
 ous, 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 fup- 
 port even its idea ? 
 
 Befides, you pride yourfelf upon irreligion, as 
 fpringing from your fuperiority of mind; but trace 
 it to its fource. What hath led you to free- think- 
 ing ? Is it not the corruption of your heart? 
 Would you have ever thought of impiety had you 
 been able to ally religion with your pleafures ? 
 You began to hefitate upon a doctrine which in- 
 . commoded your paffions ; and you have marked it 
 down as falfe from the moment that you found it 
 irkfome. You have anxioufly fought to perfuade 
 Vol, III. E vourfelf 
 
34 SERMON I. 
 
 yourfelf what you had fuch an intereft to believe J 
 that all died with us ; that eternal punifhments 
 were merely the terrors of education ; that incli- 
 nations born with us could never be crimes ; what 
 know 1 ? And all thofe maxims of free thinking 
 originating from htll. We are eafily perfuaded 
 of what we wifh. Solomon wormipped the gods 
 of foreign women only to quiet himfelf in his de- 
 baucheries. If men had never i^id paflions, 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 impercepti- 
 bly turn towards religion ; in the moments when 
 your paffions are more cool, your doubts dimi- 
 nifli ; 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 cannot 
 fucceed in extinguishing it ; at the fTrft fignal of 
 death, you raife your eyes towards heaven, you ac- 
 knowledge the God whofe finger is upon you, you 
 caft yourfelf upon the bofom of your Father, and 
 the Author of your being ; you tremble over a fu- 
 turity 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, a- 
 lone wife, alone immortal, and that man is only 
 vanity and lies. 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 
 
 35 
 
 La/lly, If frelh proofs were neceffary to my fub- 
 ject, I could prove to you how glorious faith is to 
 man on the fide of the grand models which it 
 holds out for our imitation. Confuler Abraham, 
 Ifaac, and Jacob, faid formerly the Jews to their 
 children. Confider the holy men who have gone 
 before you, to whom their faith hath merited fo 
 honourable a reftimony, faid formerly St Paul to 
 the faithful, after having related to them, in that 
 beautiful chapter of his epittle to the Hebrews, 
 their names, and the mod wonderful circumltances 
 of their hiftory, from age to age. 
 
 Behold the excellency of the Chriftian faith. 
 Recoiled: all the great men which, in all ages, 
 have fubmitted to it ; fuch magnanimous princes, 
 fuch religious conquerors, fuch venerable paftors, 
 fuch enlightened philofophers, fuch eftimable learn- 
 ed men, wits fo vaunted in their age, fuch noble 
 martyrs, fuch penitent anchorites, fuch pure and 
 conftant virgins, heroes in every defcriprion of 
 virtue. Philofophy preached a pompous wifdom ; 
 but its fage was no where' to be found. Here 
 what a cloud of witneffes ! What an uninterrupted 
 tradition of Chriftian heroes from the blood of 
 •Abel down to us ! 
 
 Now, I afk, mail 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 world, and on the other, that 
 fmall number of black and 'defperate minds whom 
 
 unbelief 
 
36 SERMON I. 
 
 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 recol- 
 lected with horror, thofe monfters whom it hath 
 pleafed providence to permit, that nature mould, 
 from time to time, bring forth ; or the Abrahams, 
 the Jofephs, the Mofefes, the Davids, the apoftolic 
 men, the righteous of ancient and of modern 
 times? Support, if you can, this comparifon. Ah! 
 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 here, my brethren, leaving unbelievers for 
 a moment, allow me to addrefs myfelf to you. A- 
 vowed unbelief 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 wilh to refine upon our fmce- 
 rity. We do not permit ourfelves to doubt upon 
 the main part of the myfleries ; but obedience is 
 philofophically given, by impofing our own yoke, 
 by weighing the holy truths, receiving fome as 
 reafonable, reafoning 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 to it, 
 deprive faith of the whole merit of fubmiflion. 
 
 Now 3 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 37 
 
 Now, my brethren, fanctity ought only to .be 
 fpoken of with a religious circumfpection. Faith 
 is a virtue almoft equally delicate as modefty : a 
 fingle doubt, a (ingle word injures it ; a breath, 
 as 1 may fay, tarniihes it. Yet, neverthelefs, what 
 licence do they not allow themfelves in modern 
 converfations upon all that is mod refpectable 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 molt facred and mofl: auguft in religion, is 
 become a common fubject of worldly converfations: 
 there every thing is talked over, and freely decided 
 upon. Vain and fuperficial men, whofe only know- 
 ledge of religion confifts of a little more temerity 
 than the illiterate and the common people ; produ- 
 cing, as their whole flock of learning, fome com- 
 mon-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 exift no longer but to glorify the truth ; 
 men who, amid the moft difiblute manners, have 
 never devoted an hour of ferious attention to the 
 truth of religion, acl the philofopher, and boldly 
 decide upon points which a whole life of ftudy, ac- 
 companied 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 re- 
 quire 
 
J 
 
 8 SERMON 1. 
 
 quire that they fhould affect to be ignorant ; per- 
 fons who are better acquainted with the world than 
 with Jefus Chrift ; who even know not of religion 
 what is neceffary «to regulate their manners, pretend 
 doubts, wifh to have them explained, are afraid of 
 believing 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 deliverefl: up finners 
 to the vr.nity of their own fancies, and permitted 
 that thofe who pretend to penetrate into thine a- 
 dorable fecrecies know not themfelves. Faith is 
 therefore glorious to man ; this has jufl: been fhewn 
 to you : it now remains for me to prove that it is 
 neceffary to him. 
 
 Part III. Of all the characters of faith, the ne- 
 ceflity of it is the one which renders the unbeliever 
 moft inexcufable. 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 neceffary to 
 man, in the gloomy and obfcure paths of this life ; 
 for his reafon is weak, and it requires to be affift- 
 ed ; becaufe it is corrupted, and it requires to be 
 cured ; becaufe it is changeable, and it requires to 
 be fixed. Now, faith alone is the aid which affifts 
 and enlightens it, the remedy which cures it, the 
 
 bridle 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 
 
 39 
 
 bridle and the rule which retains and fixes it. Yet 
 a moment of attention ; I (hall not mifemploy it. 
 
 I fay, [/i/y, that reaforf is weak, and that an aid 
 is neceflary to it. Alas ! my brethren, we know 
 not, neither ourfelves, nor what is external to us. 
 We are totally ignorant how we have been form- 
 ed, by what imperceptible progreflions our bodies 
 have received arrangement and life, and what are 
 the infinite fprings, and the divine (kill, 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 mem- 
 " bers of every one of you : but doubtlefs the 
 " Creator of the world, who formed the genera- 
 " tion of man, and found out the beginning of 
 " all things, will alfo, of his own mercy, give you 
 Cc breath and life again, as ye now regard not your 
 " own felves for his law's fake." Our body is it- 
 felf a myllery, in which the human mind is loft 
 and overwhelmed, and of which the fecrets (hall 
 never be fathomed ; for there is none but him a- 
 lone who hath prefided at its formation, who is 
 capable of comprehending them. 
 
 That breath of the divinity which animates us, 
 that portion of ourfelves which renders us capable of 
 loving and of knowing, is not lefs unknown to us: 
 we are emirely ignorant how its defires, its fears, 
 its hopes, are formed, and how it can give to it- 
 
 felf 
 
40 SERMON I. 
 
 felf its ideas and images. No one hath hitherto 
 been able to comprehend how that fpiritual being 9 
 fo different in its nature from matter, hath poffibly 
 been united in us with it by fuch indifibluble ties, 
 that the two fubftances no longer form but one 
 whole, and the good and evil of the one become 
 the good and evil of the other. We are a myfte- 
 ry therefore to ourfelves, as St Auguftin formerly 
 faid ; and we would be difficulted 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 enig- 
 mas ; we live as Grangers upon the earth, and amid 
 objects 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 impene- 
 trable obfcurity. 
 
 Lift up thine eyes, O man! Confider thofe grand 
 „ luminaries fufpended over your head, and which 
 fwim, as I may fay, through thofe immenfe fpaces 
 in which thy feafon is loft. Who, fays Job, hath 
 formed the fun, and given a name to the infinite 
 multitude of liars? 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 pe- 
 netrated a little into their obfcurity, that is to fay, 
 it hath a little better conjectured upon them than 
 
 the 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 41 
 
 the preceding Ages ; but what are its difcoveries, 
 when compared to what we are dill 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 milling waves, 
 " Here you mall go, and no farther ;" and how 
 the prodigy fo regular of its movements is form- 
 ed ; explain to us the furprifmg effects of plants, 
 of metals, of the elements ; find out in what man- 
 ner gold is purified in the bowels of the earth; un- 
 ravel, if thou can, the infinite fkill employed in the 
 formation of the very infects which crawl before 
 us ; give us an explanation of the various inflincts 
 of animals j turn on every fide ; nature in all her 
 parts offers nothing to thee but enigmas. O man! 
 thou knoweft nothing of the objects, even under 
 thine eyes, and thou wouldfl pretend to fathom 
 the eternal depths of faith ? Nature is a myflery 
 to thee, and thou wouldfl have a religion which had 
 none ? Thou art ignorant of the fecrets of man, 
 and thou wouldfl pretend to know the fecrets of 
 God ? Th'ou knoweli not thyfelf, and thou wouldfl 
 pretend to fathom what is fo much above thee ? 
 The univerfe, which God hath yielded up to thy 
 curiofity and to thy difputes, is an abyfs in which 
 thou art loft ; and thou wouldfl that the myfleries 
 of faith, which he hath folely expofed to tSy do- 
 cility and to thy refpecl, fhould have nothing which 
 . Vol. III. F furpaffes 
 
42 SERMON 1. 
 
 furpafies thy feeble lights ? O blindnefs ! were every 
 thing, excepting religion, clear and evident, thou 
 then, with fome fhew of reafon, mightft miflruft 
 its obfcurities ; but fince every thing around thee 
 is a labyrinth in which thou art bewildered, ought 
 not the fecret of God, as St Auguftin formerly 
 faid, to render thee more refpe&ful and more at- 
 tentive, far from being more incredulous ? 
 
 The neceflity of faith is, therefore, founded, irt 
 the firfl place, upon the weaknefs of reafon ; but 
 it is likewife founded upon its profound depravity. 
 And, in effect, what was more natural to man, than 
 to confefs his God the author of his being and of 
 his felicity, his end and his principle ; than to a- 
 dore his wifdom, his power, his goodnefs, and all 
 thofe divine perfections of which he hath engrav- 
 en upon his work fuch profound and evident 
 marks ? Thefe lights were born with us. Never- 
 thelefs, review all thofe ages of darknefs and of 
 fuperftition which preceded the gofpel, and fee 
 how far man had degraded his Creator, and to 
 what he had likened his God. There was no 
 thing fo vile in the created world but his impiety 
 creeled into gods, and man was the nobleft divini- 
 ty which was worfhipped by man. 
 
 If, from religion, you pafs to the morality, all 
 the principles of natural equity were effaced, and 
 man no longer bore, written in his heart, the 
 work of that law which nature has engraven on it. 
 Plato, even that man fo wife, and who, according 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 43 
 
 to St Augufiin, had fo nearly approached to the 
 truth, nevertlielefs abolifhes the holy inititution of 
 marriage ; and, permitting a brutal confufion a- 
 mong men, he for ever does away all paternal 
 names and rights, which, even in animals, nature 
 hath fo evidently refpe£ted ; and gives to the earth, 
 men all uncertain of their origin, all coming into 
 the world without parents, as I may fay ; and con- 
 fequently without ties, tendernefs, affection, or 
 humanity ; all in a fuuation to become incefluous 
 or parricides, without even knowing it. 
 
 Others came to announce to men that volup- 
 tuoufnefs was the fovereign good ; and whatever 
 might have been the intention of the firft author 
 of this feci, it is certain that his difciples fought 
 no other felicity than that of the brutes : the mod 
 fhameful debaucheries became philofophical max- 
 ims. Rome, Athens, Corinth beheld excefles, 
 where, it may be faid, that man was no longer 
 man. Even this is nothing ; the mofl abominable 
 vices were confecrated there : temples and altars 
 were erected to them : lafcivioufnefs, inceft, cruel- 
 ty, treachery, and other ftill more abandoned 
 crimes, were made divinities of: the worfhip be- 
 came a public debauch and proftitution j and 
 gods, fo criminal, were no longer honoured but 
 by crimes ; and the apoftle, who relates them to 
 us, takes care to inform us that fuch was not 
 merely the licentioufnefs of the people, but of 
 iages and philofophers who had erred in the vani- 
 
44 s E R m oni. 
 
 ty of their own thoughts, and whom God had de* 
 livered up to the corruption of their heart. O 
 God ! in permitting human reafon to fall into fuch 
 horrible errors, thou intended to let man know, 
 thar reafon, when delivered up to- its own dark- 
 ness, is capable of every thing, and that it can ne- 
 ver take upon itfelf to be us own guide, without 
 plunging into abyffes from which thy law and thy 
 light are alone capaole of withdrawing him. 
 
 Laftly, If the depravity of reafon fo evidently 
 expofe the neceffity of a remedy to cure it, its 
 eternal inconflancies and fluctuations yet more in- 
 flrucl man, that a check and a rule are abfolutely 
 requifite to fix it. 
 
 And here, my brethren, if the brevity of a dif- 
 courfe would permit all to be faid, what vain dis- 
 putes, what endlefs queftions, what different opi- 
 nions have formerly engroffed all the fchools of 
 the heathen philofophy ! And think not that it 
 was upon matters which God feems to have yield- 
 ed up to the continuation of men ; it was upon the 
 nature even of God, upon his exigence, upon the 
 immortality o! t he 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 floihiul, an indolent fpec- 
 tator of human things, and tranquilly leaving to 
 chance the management of his own work, as a 
 care unworthy of his greatnefs, and incompatible 
 
 with 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. 
 
 45 
 
 with his conveniency : fome others made him the 
 Have of fates, and fubject to laws which he had no 
 hand in impofing upon himfelf : others again in- 
 corporated, with the whole univerfe, the foul of 
 that vafl: 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 eflential a point. 
 So many ages, fo many frefli abfurdities upon the 
 immortality and the nature of the foul ; here, it 
 was an afiembjage of atoms j there, a fubtile fire ; 
 in another place, a minnte and penetrating 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 reafon- 
 able being to that of animals without reafon. There 
 were fome who taught that the true happinefs of 
 man is in the fenfes ; a greater number placed it 
 in the reafon ; others again found it only in fame 
 and glory ; many in floth and indolence. And 
 what is the mod deplorable here, is, that the exis- 
 tence of God, his nature, the immortality of the 
 foul, the deftination and the happinefs of men, all 
 points fo eflential to his defliny, fo decifive with 
 regard to his eternal mifery or happinefs, were 
 neverthelefs become problems, every where def- 
 tined merely to amufe the leifure of the fchools 
 
 and 
 
46 SERMON I, 
 
 and the vanity of the Ssphifls ; idle queflions, in 
 which they were never interefled for the principle 
 of truth, but folely for 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 a- 
 ges, who could enumerate that endlefs variety of 
 .feds which, in all times, hath broken the unity, in 
 order to follow ttrange doctrines ? What were the 
 abominations of the Gnofticks, the extravagant 
 follies of the Valentinians, the fanaticifm of Mon- 
 tanus, the contradictions of the Manicheans ? Fol- 
 low every age ; as, in order to prove the juft, it is 
 necefiary that there be herefies, You. will find 
 that in every age the church hath always been mU 
 ferably rent with them. 
 
 Recall to your remembrance the fad diffentions 
 of only the paft age. Since the feparation of our 
 brethren, what a monftrcus variety in their doc- 
 trine ! What endlefs fe£ts fprung from only one 
 feet ! What numberlefs particular aflemblies in one 
 fame fchifm ! O faith i O gift of God ! O divine 
 torch, which comes to clear up darknefs, how ne- 
 ceffary art thou to man ! O infallible rule, font 
 from heaven, and given in trufl: to the church of 
 Jefus Chrift, always the fame in all ages, always 
 independant of places, of times, of nations, and of 
 jnterefts, how requifite it is that thou ferved as a 
 check upon the eternal fluctuations of the human 
 mind ! O pillar of fire, at fame time fo obfeure and 
 
THE TRUTH OF RELIGION 1 . 47 
 
 fo luminous, of what importance it is that thou al- 
 ways conducted the camp of the Lord, the taber- 
 nacle 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 inftruction mould 
 we draw from this difcourfe, and what mould i lay 
 to you in concluding ? You fay that you have faith; 
 mew your faith by your works. What fhall ic a- 
 vail you to have believed, if your manners have 
 belied your belief ? The gofp*jl is yet more the re- 
 ligion of the heart than of the mind. That faith 
 which makes Chriftians is not a fimple fubmiffion 
 of the reafon ; it is a pious tendernefs of the foul j 
 it is a continual longing to become like unto Jefus 
 Chrifl: j ic is an indefatigable application in rooting 
 out from ourfelves whatever may be inimical to a 
 life of faith. There is an 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 contem- 
 plate with horror ; but a Chriftian who believes, 
 yet lives as though he believed not, is a madman, 
 whofe folly compafleth comprehenfion : the one 
 procures his own condemnation, like a man defpe- 
 rate ; the other, like an indolent one, who tran- 
 quilly allows himfelf to be carried down by the 
 waves, and thinks that he is thereby faving himfelf. 
 Make your faith then certain, my brethren, by 
 your good works ; and if you fhudder at the fole 
 
 name 
 
4o S E R M N I. 
 
 name of an impious perfon, have the fame horror 
 at yourfelves, feeing we are taught by faith, that 
 the deftiny of the wicked Chriftian fhall not be dif- 
 ferent from his, and that his lot fhall be the fame 
 as that of the unbeliever. Live conformably to 
 what you believe. Such is the faith of the righte- 
 ous, and the only one to which the eternal promi- 
 fes have been made. 
 
 SER. 
 
( HWl»M ' M.WJ l l Jt ll Wh"W" l J " W**'»~tt«* , "^PJ I llllMlkU m 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 
 
 John vii. 27. 
 
 Howbeit we know this ?nan, whence he is ; but when 
 Chriji cometh, no man knoweth whence he is* 
 
 ouch is the grand pretext oppofed by the unbe- 
 lief of the Jews to the doctrine and to the miniftry 
 of Jefus Chrifl ; doubts upon the truth of his mif- 
 fion. We know who thou art, and whence thou 
 comeft, faid they to him ; but the Chrifl whom we 
 expect, 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 won- 
 ders before our eyes, and impofes upon the credu- 
 lity of the vulgar ; fo many deceivers have already 
 appeared in Judea, who, giving themfelves out for 
 Vol. III. G the 
 
$0 SERMON II. 
 
 the Great Prophet who is to come, have feduced 
 the people, and at laft drawn down upon them- 
 felves the punifliment due to their impofture. 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 now among us, that precaution is need- 
 lefs in undertaking to confute it : behold the al- 
 moft univerfal pretext employed in the world to 
 authorife a life altogether criminal. We every 
 where meet with finners who coolly tell us, that 
 they would be converted were they well allured 
 that all we tell them of religion were true ; that 
 perhaps there is nothing after this life ; that they 
 have doubts and difficulties upon our myfteries, to 
 which they can find no fatisfa&ory anfwer ; that, 
 after all, the whole appears very uncertain ; and 
 that, before engaging to follow all the rigid max- 
 ims of the gofpel, it would be proper to be well 
 allured that our toils fhall not be loft. 
 
 Now, my intention at prefent is not to over- 
 throw unbelief, by the grand proofs which efta- 
 blifli the truth of the Chriftian faith : fetting afide 
 that elfewhere we have already eftablifhed them, 
 it is a fubject far too extenfive for a difcourfe, and 
 often beyond even the capacity of the majority of 
 thofe who liften to us ; it is frequently paying too 
 much deference to the frivolous objections of thofe 
 
 who 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 51 
 
 who give themfelves out as freethinkers in the 
 world, to employ the gravity of our miniftry in re- 
 futing and overthrowing them. 
 
 We rauft take a morter and more eafy way, 
 therefore, at prefent. 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 Tin- 
 ners who vaunt, and are continually alleging 
 to us their doubts, as the only obftacle to their 
 converfion, have actually none ; and that, of all the 
 pretexts employed as an excufe for not changing 
 their life, that of doubts upon religion, now the 
 mod common, is the leaft true and the lead fin- 
 cere. 
 
 It appears furprifing at firfl that I fhould under- 
 take to prove to thofe who believe to have doubts 
 upon religion, and are continually objecting them to 
 us, that they have actually none : neverthelefs, with 
 a proper knowledge of men, and, above all, with a 
 proper attention to the character of thofe who 
 make a boafl of doubting, nothing is more eafy 
 than this conviction. I fay to their character, in 
 which are always to be found licentioufnefs, igno- 
 rance, 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. 
 
52 SERMON II. 
 
 iftly, It is licentioufnefs which propofes, with- 
 out daring to believe them. Firft reflection. 
 
 idly, It is ignorance which adopts, without com- 
 prehending them. Second reflection. 
 
 La/My, It is vanity which boafts, without being 
 able to fucceed hi drawing any reiource from them. 
 Lafl reflection. 
 
 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 wifh 
 to appear fo. Let us unfold thefe three reflections, 
 now become fo important among us ; and let us 
 overthrow licentioufnefs rather than unbelief, by 
 laying it open to itfelf. 
 
 Part I. It mult at once be admitted, my 
 brethren, and it is melancholy for us that we owe 
 this confefiion to the truth : it mult be admitted, 
 I fay, that our age and thofe of our fathers have 
 feen real unbelievers. In that depravity of man- 
 ners in which we live, and amid all the fcandals 
 which have fo long afflicted the church, it is not 
 furprifmg that men have fometimes been found 
 who have denied the exiftence of a God ; and that 
 faith fo weakened in all, mould, in fome, be at iaft 
 wholly extinguifhed. As chofen and extraordi- 
 nary fouls appear in every age, whom the Lord 
 filleth with his grace, his lights, and his moft min- 
 ing gifts, and upon whom he delighteth in liberal- 
 ly pouring forth all the riches of his mercy ; fo, 
 
 likewife, 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 33 
 
 likewife, are feen others in whom iniquity is, as 
 I may fay, confummate; and whom the Lord feems 
 to have marked out, to difplay in them the mod 
 terrible judgments of his juftice, and the mofl fa- 
 tal effe&s of his negleft and wrath. 
 
 The church, where all thefe fcandals are to in- 
 creafe even to the end, cannot, therefore, boaft of 
 being entirely purged from the fcandal of unbe- 
 lief: (he hath, from time to time, her ftars which 
 enlighten, and her monfters who disfigure her ; and, 
 along with thofe great men, celebrated for their 
 lights and for their fanctity, who in every age have 
 ferved as her fupport and ornament, fhe hath alfo 
 witnefied a lift of impious men, whofe names are 
 flill at prefent the horror of the univerfe, who have 
 dared, in writings full of blafphemy and impiety, 
 to attack the myfteries of God, to deny falvation 
 and the promifes made to our fathers, to overturn 
 the foundation of faith, and to preach free-think- 
 ing among believers. 
 
 I do not pretend, therefore, to fay, that, among fo 
 many wretches who fpeak the language of unbe- 
 lief among us, there may not perhaps be found 
 fome one fufficiently corrupted in mind and in 
 heart, and fo far abandoned by God,- as actually 
 and in erTeft to be an unbeliever : I mean only to 
 eftablifh, that thefe men grounded in impiety are 
 rare ; and that, among all thofe who are continual- 
 ly vaunting their doubts and their unbelief, and 
 make a deplorable oftentation of them, there is 
 
 not 
 
54 SERMON II. 
 
 not perhaps a fingle one upon whofe heart faith 
 doth not flill preferve its rights, and who doth 
 not inwardly dread that God whom he apparently 
 refufes to acknowledge. To overthrow, it is not 
 always neceffary to combat our pretended unbelie- 
 vers j it would often be combating only phantoms: 
 they require only to be difplayed fuch as they are : 
 the wretched decoration of unbelief quickly tum- 
 bles down, and nothing remains but their paffions 
 and their debaucheries. 
 
 And behold the firft reafori upon which I have 
 eftahlifhed the general propofition, that the majo- 
 rity of thofe who make a boaft of their doubts 
 have actually none ; it is, that their doubts are 
 thofe of licentioufnefs, and not of unbelief. Why, 
 rny brethren? Becaufe it is licentioufnefs which 
 hath formed their doubts, and not their doubts li- 
 centioufnefs ; becaufe that, in fact, it is to their 
 paffions and not to their doubts that they hold j 
 laftly, becaufe that, in general, they attack in reli- 
 gion only ^hofe truths inimical to their paffions. 
 BehoLi reflections which in my opinion are worthy 
 of your attention ; I fhall lay them before you 
 without ornament, and in the fame order in which 
 they prefented themfelves to my mind. 
 
 I fay, in the nrft place ; becaufe their doubts 
 have fprung from licentioufnefs, and not licen- 
 tioufnefs from their doubts. Yes, my brethren, 
 not one or all thofe who affect to profefs thern%. 
 felves unbelievers has ever been feen to begin by 
 
 dcubfr 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. $$ 
 
 doubts upon the truths of faith, and afterwards 
 from doubts to fall into licentioulhefs : they begin 
 with the paffions ; doubts come afterwards : they 
 firft give way to the irregularities of the age, and 
 to the exceffes of debauchery j and when attained 
 to a certain length, and they find it no longer pof- 
 fible to return upon their fteps, they then fay, in 
 order to quiet themfelves, that there is nothing af- 
 ter this life, or, at lead, they are well pleafed to 
 find people who fay fo. It is not, therefore, the 
 little certainty they find in religion which author- 
 ises their conclufion that we ought to yield our- 
 felves 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 impomble, leads them to conclude that, confe- 
 quently, it is needlefs. Faith becomes fufpected 
 only when it begins to be troublefome ; and, to 
 this day, unbelief hath never made a voluptuary ; 
 but voluptuoufnefs hath made almoft all the unbe- 
 lievers. 
 
 And a proof of what I fay, you whom this dif- 
 courfe regards, is that, while you have lived with 
 modefty and innocence, you never doubted. Re- 
 collect thofe happy times when the pafiions had 
 not yet corrupted your heart ; the faith of your 
 fathers had then nothing but what was auguft and 
 refpe&able ; reafon bent without pain to the yoke 
 ©f authority ; you never thought of doubts or dif- 
 ficulties: 
 
$6 SERMON it. 
 
 ficulties : from the moment your manners chan- 
 ged, your views upon religion have no longer 
 been the fame. It is not faith, therefore, which 
 hath found new difficulties in your reafon ; it is 
 the practice of duties which hath encountered 
 new obflacles in your heart. And fhould you tell 
 us, that your firfl: impreffions, fo favourable to 
 faith, fprung folely from the prejudices of educa- 
 tion and of childhood, we fhall anfwer, that the 
 fecond, fo favourable to impiety, have fprung fole- 
 ly from the prejudices of the paffions and of de- 
 bauchery j and that, prejudices for prejudices, it 
 appears to us, that it is (till better to keep by 
 thofe which are formed in innocence and lead us 
 to virtue, than to thofe which are born in the in- 
 famy of the paffions, and preach up only free- 
 thinking and guilt. 
 
 Thus nothing is more humiliating for unbelief 
 than recalling it to its origin : it bears a falfe 
 name of learning and of light : and it is a child of 
 iniquity and of darknefs. It is not the ftrength of 
 reafon which has led our pretended unbelievers 
 to fkepticifm 5 it is the weaknefs of a corrupted 
 heart which has been unable to furmount its in- 
 famous paffions ; it is even a mean cowardlinefs 
 which, unable to fupport and to view with a ftea- 
 dy eye the terrors and the threatenings of religion, 
 endeavours to fhake off their thoughts by continu* 
 ally repeating that they are childifh terrors j it is 
 a man who, airaia of the night, fings as he goes 
 
 along 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIOION. 57 
 
 ialcng to prevent himfelf from thinking : debauch- 
 cry always makes us cowardly and fearful ; and it 
 is nothing but an excefs of fear of eternal punifh- 
 rrtents which occafions a fmner to be continually 
 preaching up and finging to us that they are 
 doubtful ; he trembles, and wifhes to ftrength'en 
 himfelf againft himfelf; he cannot fupport, at the 
 Fame lime, the view of his crimes, and th?.t of the 
 punifhment which awaits them ; that faith, fo ve- 
 nerable, and of which he fpeaks with fuch con- 
 tempt, neverthelefs terrifies and difquiets him 
 ftill more than thofe other fmners who, without 
 doubting its punimments, yet are frequently not 
 lefs unfaithful to its precepts : it is a coward who 
 hides his fear under a falfe oftentation of bravery. 
 No, my brethren, our pretended free-thinkers 
 give themfelves out as men of courage and firm. 
 nefs ; examine them narrowly, and they are the 
 weakeft and moft cowardly of men. 
 
 Befides, it is not furprifing that Iicentioufnefs 
 lead us to doubt of religion : the paflions require 
 the aid of unbelief; for they are too feeble and 
 too unreafonable to maintain their own caufe. 
 Our lights, our feelings, our conference, all drug- 
 gie within us againft them : we are under the ne- 
 ceffity, therefore, of feeking a fupport for them, 
 and of defending them againft ourfelves : for, it is 
 a matter of fatisfaetion, to juftify to one's . felf 
 whatever is pleating. We would neither wifli that 
 paflions which are dear to us mould be criminal, 
 
 Vol. III. H no 
 
58 SERMON II. 
 
 nor that we mould continually to have to fupport 
 the interefls of our pleafures againfl thofe of our 
 confcience : we wifh tranquilly to enjoy our crimes, 
 and to free ourfelves from that troublefome moni- 
 tor which continually efpoufes the caufe of virtue 
 againfl ourfelves : while remorfes conteft the plea- 
 fure of our enjoyments, they mull be very imper- 
 fectly tailed : 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 impoffible to enjoy peace of 
 mind in them, and next to impoflible to terminate 
 them, the only refuge feems that of doubting the 
 truths which difquiet us ; and, in order to attain 
 to tranquility, every effort is ufed to inculcate the 
 perfuafion of unbelief. 
 
 That is to fay, that the great effort of licenti- 
 oufnefs is that of leading us to the defire of unbe- 
 lief 1 the horrible fecurity of the unbeliever is co- 
 veted ; total hardnefs of heart is confidered as a 
 happy flate ; it is unpleafant to have been born 
 with a weaker and more fearful confcience ; the 
 lot of thofe, apparently firm and unfhaken in im- 
 piety, is envied ; while they, in their turn, perhaps 
 a prey to the mod gloomy remorfes, and vaunting 
 a courage they are far 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 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 59 
 
 and for what both they and we would wifh to be. 
 And it is thus, O my God ! that thefe falfe heroes 
 of impiety 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 religion to be but a dream : they 
 fay in their heart " There is no God -" that is to 
 fay, this impious language is the defire of their 
 heart : they would ardently wifh no God ; that 
 that Being, fo grand and fo neceflary, were a chi- 
 mera ; that they were the fole mailers of their own 
 deftiny ; that they were accountable only to them- 
 felves for the horrors of their life and the infamy 
 of their paflions ; that all fmifhed with them j and 
 that, beyond the grave, there were no fupreme and 
 eternal Judge, the puniiher of v;ce 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 foun- 
 dation of their being, the idea of his power and 
 the dread of his puniihments. 
 
 In effect, it would be too vulgar for a man, 
 vain and plunged in debauchery, inwardly to fay 
 to himfelf : I am flill too weak, and too much 
 abandoned to pleafure, to quit it, or to lead a 
 more regular and Chriflian life. That pretext 
 would ftill leave all his remorfes : it is much foon- 
 er 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 
 
60 SERMON II. 
 
 to every thing; it is the moft favourable to indo- 
 lence, for it eftranges us froirMhe facraments, and 
 from all the other flave'ries of religion. It is much 
 fhorter to fay to himfelf, " There is nothing,* ' 
 and to live as if he were in effect perfuaded of it ; 
 it is at once throwing off every yoke and all re- 
 ftraint ; it puts an*end to all the irkfome meafurti 
 which finners of another defcription ftill guard 
 with religion and with the confcience. This pre- 
 text of unbelief, by perfuading us that we actually 
 doubt, leaves us in a certain date of indolence on 
 every thing regarding religion, which prevents us 
 from fearching into ourfelves, and from making 
 too melancholy reflections on our paflions : we 
 meanly allow ourfelves to be fwept away by the 
 fatal courfe, upon the general prepoffemon that we 
 believe nothing ; we have few remorfes, for we 
 think ourfelves unbelievers, and be'caufe that fup- 
 pofition leaves us almoit the fame fecurity as im- 
 piety : at lead, it is a diverfion which dulls and 
 fufpends the fenfibility 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 
 actually were what w ; e wifh to be. 
 
 That is to fay, that the greateft part of thefe pre- 
 tended free-thinkers, and* of thefe debauched and 
 licentious unbelievers, ought to be confidered as 
 weak and diffolute men, who, not having the force 
 to live chriftianly, nor even the hardinefs to be a- 
 theifts, remain in that Hate of eftrangement from 
 
 religion a 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 6l 
 
 religion, as the molt convenient to indolence ; and, 
 as they never try to quit it, they fancy that they 
 actually hold to it : it is a kind of neutrality be- 
 twixt faith and irreligion, contrived by indolence 
 for- 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 refo- 
 lution upon themfelves. Hardened and avowed 
 impiety hath fomething, I know not what, which 
 ilrikes with horror : religion, on the other hand, 
 prelents obje&s which alarm, and are by no means 
 convenient to the paflions. What is to be done in 
 thefe two extremities, of which the one mocks rea- 
 fon, 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 indif- 
 ference : they live without wifhing to know what 
 they are j for it is much more convenient to be 
 nothing, and to live without thinking, or any 
 knowledge of themfelves. No, my brethren, I re- 
 peat it; thefe are not unbelievers, they are coward?, 
 who have not the courage to efpoufe a party ; who 
 know only to live voluptuoudy, without rule, with- 
 out morality, and often without decency; and who, 
 without being athcifts, live however without reli- 
 gion, for religion requires confiftency, reafon, ele- 
 vation of mind, firmnefs, noble fentiments, and of 
 all thefe they are incapable. Such, however, are 
 the heroes of whom impiety boafts ; behold the 
 
 fuffrages 
 
62 SERMON II. 
 
 murages upon which it grounds its defence, and 
 oppofes to religion, by infulting us ; behold the 
 partisans with whom it thinks itfelf invincible ; and 
 weak and wretched mud its refources indeed be, 
 fince it is reduced to feek them in men of this des- 
 cription. 
 
 Firft reafon which proves that licentioufnefs 
 fprings not from doubts, but doubts from licen- 
 tioufnefs. The fecond reafon is only a frefh proof 
 of the firft; it is that actually, if they do not change 
 their life, it is not to their doubts, but folely to 
 their paffions that they hold. 
 
 For I afk nothing of you here but candour, you 
 who continually allege your doubts upon our myf- 
 teries. When you fometimes think of quitting 
 that fink of vice and debauchery in which you 
 live, and when the paffions, more tranquil, allow 
 you to reflect, do you then oppofe your uncertain- 
 ties upon religion ? Do you fay to yourfelves, " But 
 " if I return it will be neceffary to believe things 
 <6 which feem incredible ?" Is this the grand dif- 
 ficulty ? Ah ! you inwardly fay, but if I return it 
 will be necefTary to break off this connection, to 
 deny myfelf thefe exceffes, to terminate thefe So- 
 cieties, to fhun thefe places, to proceed to things 
 which I mall never fupport, and to adopt a man- 
 ner of life to which all my inclinations are repug- 
 nant. 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 
 
boUBTS UPON RELIGION. 63 
 
 comes it that you never fpeak of them to your- 
 fclves ? This is not a matter, therefore, of reafon 
 and of belief; it is a matter of 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 paffions leave you of ever being a- 
 ble to free yourfelves from their fubjeclion and in- 
 famy. Such, my brethren, are the true chains 
 which bind our pretended unbelievers to their own 
 wretchednefs. 
 
 And this truth is more evident from this, that 
 the majority of thofe who profefs themfelves unbe- 
 lievers, live, neverthelefs, in perpetual variations 
 upon the point even of unbelief. In certain mo- 
 ments they are affe&ed with the truths of religion : 
 they feel themfelves torn with the keenefl remor- 
 fes ; they even apply to the fervants of God mod 
 diftinguifhed for their learning and piety, to hold 
 converfe with, and receive inftru&ions 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 greateft often- 
 tation of their unbelief, whom the fpe&acle of an 
 unexpected death, a fatal accident, a grievous lofs, 
 or a reverfe of fortune hath not cafl into gloomy 
 reflections on his fituation, and excited defires of a 
 more Chriftian life ; there is hardly one who, in, 
 thefe trying fituations, feeks not confolation in the 
 
 , fupporfc 
 
64 SERMON II. 
 
 fuppcrt of the godly, and take not fome Hep whicli 
 leaves hopes of amendment. It is not to their 
 companions in impiety and licentioufnefs that they 
 then have recourfe for confolation ; it is not by 
 thofe impious railleries upon our myfteries, and 
 by that horrible philofophy that they try to allevi- 
 ate their fufferings : thefe are difcourfes of feftivity 
 and difTipation, and not of affliction and forrow : it 
 is the religion of the table, of pleafures, of riot- 
 ings ; it is not that of folemn adverfity and fad- 
 nefs : the relifh of impiety vanimes with that of 
 pleafures. Now, if their unbelief were founded 
 in real uncertainties upon religion, fo long as thefe 
 uncertainties exifted, unbelief mould be the fame j 
 but as their doubts fpring only from their paffions, 
 and as their paffions are not always the fame, nor 
 equally violent and mafters of their heart, fo their 
 doubts continually fluctuate like their pafiions; they 
 increafe, they diminifh, they are eclipfed, they re- 
 appear, they are mutable, exactly in the fame de- 
 gree as their paffions ; in a word, they fhare the 
 lot of the paffions, for they are nothing but the 
 paffions themfelves. 
 
 In effect, to leave nothing unfaid on this fubject, 
 and to make you thoroughly feel how much this 
 vaunted profeffion of unbelief is defpicable, ob- 
 ferve that, reply to every difficulty of the boafling 
 finner, reduce him to have nothing more to fay, 
 and yet ftill he does not yield j you have not there- 
 
 by 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 6$ 
 
 by gained him ; he retires within himfelf, as if he 
 had (till more overpowering reafons which he dif- 
 dains to bring forward : he keeps firm, and oppo- 
 fes a myfterious and decifive air to all thole proofs 
 which he cannot refolve. You then pity his mad- 
 nefs and obftinacy : you are miftaken ; be touched 
 only for his libertine life, and his want of candour; 
 for, let a mortal difeafe ftrike him on quitting you ; 
 approach his bed of anguifh, ah ! you will find this 
 pretended unbeliever convinced ; his doubts ceafe, 
 his uncertainties 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 of his fathers, and trembles at the judg- 
 ments he made a fhew of not believing. The mi- 
 nifter of Jefus Chriit, called in, has no occafiion 
 to enter into controverfy to undeceive him on his 
 impiety : the dying fmncr anticipates his cares and 
 his rniniitry: he is afhamed of his pad blafphemies, 
 and repents of them ; he acknowledges their falfi- 
 ty and deception ; he makes a public reparation 
 of them to the majefty and to the truth of religion; 
 he no longer demands proofs, he aiks only confo- 
 lations. Neverthelefs, this difeafe hath not brought 
 new lights upon faith ; the blow which ftrikes his 
 flelh has not cleared up the doubts of his mind ; 
 ah ! it is becaufe it touches his heart, and termi- 
 nates his riots ; in a word, it is that his doubts 
 were in his paffions, and that whatever tends to 
 Vol. III. I extinguifh 
 
66 8 2 RM ON- II. 
 
 extinguifh his paffions, tends, at the fame time, tQ 
 extinguifh his doubts. 
 
 It happens, I confefs, that finners are fometimes 
 found, who pufh their madnefs and impiety even 
 to that laft moment : who expire in vomiting forth 
 with their impious foul, blafphemies againfl the 
 God who is to judge them, and whom they refufe 
 to acknowledge. For, O my God ! thou art ter- 
 rible in thy judgments, and fometimes permitted 
 that the atheift die in his impiety. But fuch ex- 
 amples are rare ; and you well know, my brethren, 
 that an entire age fcarcely furnifhes one of thefe 
 mocking fpe&acles. But view, in that laft mo- 
 ment, all the others who vaunted their unbe- 
 lief ; fee a finner on the bed of death, who had 
 hitherto appeared the firmed in impiety, and the 
 moll refolute in denying all belief; he even anti- 
 cipates the propofal of having recourfe to the 
 church remedies : he lifts up his hands to heaven, 
 and gives ftriking and fincere marks of a religion 
 which was never effaced from the bottom of his 
 heart; he no longer rejects, 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 fear- 
 ful, and more credulous than the lowed of the 
 people ; his fears are more exceffive, his very reli- 
 gion more fuperftitious, his practices of worfhip 
 more filly, and more extravagant than thofe of the 
 
 vulgar ; 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 6? 
 
 vulgar ; and as one excefs borders on its oppofite 
 excefs, he is feen to pafs in a moment from impiety 
 to fuperftition ; from the firmnefs of the philofo-. 
 pher, to all the weaknefs of the ignorant and fim- 
 ple. 
 
 And here it is that, with Tertullian, I would 
 appeal to this dying finner, and let him hold forth, 
 in my (lead, againft unbelief ; it is here that, to 
 the honour of the religion of our fathers, I would 
 wifli no other teftimony of the weaknefs and of 
 the infincerity of the pretended "atheift, than this 
 expiring foul, who, furely now, can fpeak only 
 the language of truth ; it is here that 1 would af- 
 femble 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 quitted this 
 " earthly body, which thou art fo foon to be freed 
 u from, fuffer me to call upon thy teftimony : 
 " fpeak, in this laft moment, when vanity is no 
 " more, and thou Oweft all to the truth ; fay, if 
 4,4 thou confidereft the terrible God, into whofe 
 " hands thou goeft, as a chimerical being with 
 u whom weak and credulous minds are alarmed ? 
 " 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 ot eter- 
 " nity, and who filleth the heavens and the earth ? 
 " We now confent, we, whom thou haft always 
 • " confidered 
 
68 SERMON It. 
 
 " confidered as fuperftitious and vulgar minds,' 
 
 " we confent that thou judge betwixt us and un- 
 
 " belief, to which thou haft ever been fo partial. 
 
 " Though, with regard to faith, thou haft hither- 
 
 " to been as a ftranger and the enemy of religion, 
 
 " religion refers its caufe to thee, againft thofe 
 
 " with whom the Shocking tie of impiety had fo 
 
 •' clofely united thee. If all die with thee, why 
 
 " does death appear fo dreadful ? Why thefe up- 
 
 ss Jifted 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 tremble 
 
 M upon the fequel of thy deftiny ? Whence come, 
 
 " in this laft moment, thefe feelings of dread and 
 
 " of refpecl for the fupreme Being? Is it not, that 
 
 " they have ever been in thee, that thou haft im- 
 
 " pofed upon the public by a falfe oftentation of 
 
 " impiety, and that death only unfolds thofe dif- 
 
 " pofitions of faith and of religion, which, though 
 
 " dormant, have never ceafed during life." 
 
 Yes, my brethren, could the paflions be destroy- 
 ed, all unbelievers would foon be recalled ; and a 
 final reafon, which fully proves it, is that, if they 
 feem to rife up againft the incomprehenfibility of 
 our myfteries, it is folely for the purpofe of com- 
 bating what touches them, and df attacking the 
 truths which intereft the pafiions; that is to fay, 
 the truth of a future ftate, and the eternity of fu- 
 ture 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 69 
 
 ture punifhments ; this is always the favourite 
 conclufion and fruit of their doubts. 
 
 In effect, if religion, without adding maxims 
 and truths which reftrain the pafGons, propofed 
 only myfteries which exceed reafon, we may bold- 
 Jy fay, that unbelievers would be rare ; almoft no 
 one is interefted in thofe abftrufe truths or errors, 
 which it is indifferent to believe or to deny. You 
 will find few real votaries of truth who become 
 partifans and zealots in fupport of merely fpecula- 
 tive and unimportant points, becaufe they believe 
 them to be true. The abftrufe truths of mathe- 
 matics have found, in our days, fome zealous and 
 eftimable followers who 'have devoted themfelves 
 to the elucidation of what is held as moft impene- 
 trable in the infinite fecrets and profound obfcuri- 
 ties of that fcience ; but thefe are rare and fingu- 
 lar men : the infection was little to be dreaded, 
 nor, in truth, has it fpread ; they are admired, but 
 few would wifh to follow their example. If reli- 
 gion propofed only truths equally abftrufe, equally 
 indifferent to the felicity of the fenfes., equally un- 
 interefting to the paffions and to felf-love, the a- 
 theifts would be ftill more rare than the mathema- 
 ticians. The truths of religion are objected to, 
 merely becaufe they threaten us : no objections 
 are made to the others, becaufe their truth or 
 their falfity is alike indifferent. 
 
 And tell us not that it is not through felf-inte- 
 reft, but the fole love of truths that the unbeliever 
 
 .rejects 
 
7© SERMON II. 
 
 rejects myfteries which reafon rejects. This, I well 
 know, is the boaft of the pretended unbeliever, and 
 he would wifh us to think fo ; but of what confe- 
 quence is the truth to men, who, fo far from either 
 feeking, loving, or knowing it, wifli even to con- 
 ceal 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 nattering to the paffions, can never 
 be interesting to thefe men of flefh and blood, 
 plunged in a voluptuous life ? Their object is to 
 gratify their irregular defires, 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 of all the other myfteries will not occupy even 
 a thought j let them but tranquilly enjoy their 
 crimes, and they will agree to every thing. 
 
 Thus the majority of atheifts, who have left in 
 writing the wretched fruits of their impiety, have 
 always ftrove to prove that there was nothing a- 
 bove us ; that all died with the body, and that fu- 
 ture punifhments or rewards were fables ; to attract 
 followers it was neceffary to fecure the fuffrage of 
 the paffions. 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 
 reftrain the people ; and that the paffions are only 
 natural and innocent inclinations, which every one 
 
 may 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 71 
 
 may follow, becaufe every one finds them in him- 
 felf. 
 
 Behold why the impious, in the book of Wif- 
 dom, the Sadducees themfelves, in the gofpel, who 
 may be confidered as the fathers and predeceffors 
 of our unbelievers, never took any pains to refute 
 the truth of the miracles related 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- 
 furre&ion of the dead, and the immortality of the. 
 foul : that point decided every thing for them. 
 " Man dies like the bead," faid they in the book 
 of Wifdom ; " we know not if their nature be 
 " different, but their end and their lot are the 
 " fame : trouble us no more, therefore, with a fu- 
 " turity which is not ; let us enjoy life ; let us re- 
 " fufe ourfelves no gratification : time is ihort; let 
 " us haften to live, for we fhall die to-morrow, 
 " and becaufe all fhall die with us." No, my 
 brethren, unbelief hath always originated in the 
 pafiions : the yoke of faith is never rejected but in 
 order to fhake off the yoke of duties ; and religion 
 would never have an enemy, were it not the ene- 
 my of licentioufnefs and vice. 
 
 But if the doubts of our unbelievers are not real, 
 in confequence of being formed folely by licen- 
 tioufnefs, they are alfo falfe, becaufe it is ignorance 
 which adopts without comprehending them, and 
 vanity v/hich makes a boaft without being able to 
 
 make 
 
72 SERMON II. 
 
 make a refource of them : this is what now re- 
 mains to me to unfold. 
 
 Part II. The fame anfwer might be made to 
 the majority of thofe who are continually vaunting 
 their doubts upon religion, and find nothing but 
 contradictions in what faith obliges us to believe, 
 that Tertullian formerly made to the heathens up- 
 on all the reproaches they invented againft the 
 myfteries and the do&rine 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 them- 
 felves the trouble of fearching into 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 be- 
 fore they are well acquainted with it. 
 
 Such, my brethren, is the fituation of almoft all 
 who give themfelves out in the world as unbelie- 
 vers ; they have inveftigated neither the difficul- 
 ties nor the refpe&able proofs of religion ; they 
 know not even enough to doubt of them. They 
 hate it ; for how is it pofiible to love our condem- 
 nation ? and upon that hatred are founded their 
 doubts and their only arguments to oppofe it. 
 
 IA 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 73 
 
 In effett, when I glance my eye over all that 
 the Chriilian ages have had of great men, elevated 
 geniufes, profound and enlightened fcholars, who, 
 after an entire life of fludy and indefatigable ap- 
 plication, have, with an humble docility, fubmit- 
 ted to the myfteries of faith ; have found the proofs 
 of religion fo ftrong, that the proudeft aad mod 
 untraceable reafon might, in their opinion, with- 
 out derogation, comply ; have defended it againfl 
 the blafphemies of the pagans ; have filenced the 
 vain philofophy of the fages of the age, and made 
 the foliy of the crofs to triumph over all the vrif- 
 dom and erudition of Rome and Athens j it flrikec 
 me, that, in order to renew the attack againfl myf- 
 teries fo long and fo urnverfally eftablimed ; that, 
 in order to be heard in appeal, if I may venture to 
 fay fo, from the fubmiffion of fo many ages, from 
 the writings of fo many great men, from fo many 
 vi&ories atchieved by faith, from the confent of 
 the univerfe ; in a word, from a prefcriptidn fo 
 long and fo well ftrengthened, it would require ei- 
 ther new proofs that had never yet been contro- 
 verted, 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 againfl fo many tefli- 
 monies, fo many prodigies, fo many ages, fo many 
 divine monuments, fo many famous perfonages, fo 
 many works which time hath confecrated, and 
 which, like pure gold, have quitted the ordeal of 
 
 Vol. III. K unbelie* 
 
74 SERMON II. 
 
 unbelief only more refplendld and immortal ; in a 
 word, fo many furprifing, and till fhen unheard of, 
 events, which eflablifh the faith of Chriftians, it 
 would require very decifive and very evident rea- 
 fons, very rare and new lights, to pretend even to 
 doubt, much lefs to oppofe it. Would not that 
 man be defervedly confidered as out of his fenfes, 
 who fhould go to defy an whole army, merely to 
 make an oftentation of a vain defiance, and to 
 pride himfelf upon a burlefque bravery ? 
 
 Never thelefs, when you examine the majority 
 of thofe who call themfelves unbelievers, who are 
 continually clamouring againft the popular preju- 
 dices, who vaunt their doubts, and defy us to fa- 
 tisfy or to anfwer them ; you find that their only 
 knowledge confifts of fome hackneyed and vulgar 
 doubts, which, in all times, have been, and llill 
 continue to be, argued in the world ; that they 
 know nothing but a certain jargon of licentiouf- 
 nefs which goes from hand to hand, which they 
 receive without examination and repeat without 
 underflanding : you find that their whole fkill 
 and iTudy of religion are reduced to fome licen- 
 tious fayings, which, if I may defcend fo low, are 
 the proper language of the fcreets ; to certain 
 maxims which, through mere repetition, begin to 
 relifh of proverbial meannefs. You will find no 
 foundation, no principle, no fequence of doclrine, 
 no knowledge even of the religion which they 
 attack : they are men immerfed in pleafure, and 
 
 who 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 75 
 
 who would be very forry to have a fpare moment 
 to devote to the inveltigation of wearifome, truths 
 which they are indifferent whether they know or 
 not ; men of a light and fuperficial character, and 
 wholly unfitted for a moment's ferious meditation 
 or investigation ; let me a^ain repeat, men drown- 
 ed in voluptuoufnefs, and in whom even that por- 
 tion of penetration and understanding, accorded 
 by nature, hath been debafed and extinguiihed by 
 debauchery. 
 
 Such are the formidable fupports of unbelief 
 againft the knowledge of God : behold the frivo- 
 lous, difUpated, and ignorant characters who dare 
 to tax, with credulity and ignorance, all that the 
 Christian ages have had, and (till have of learned, 
 able, and celebrated perfonages : they know the lan- 
 guage 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 igno- 
 rance and impiety : 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 thernfelves. 
 
 And a proof of what I. advance is, that, in all 
 other doubts, we hefitate only in order to be in- 
 ftrucled ; every thing is examined which can elu- 
 cidate the concealed truth. But here the doubt is 
 merely for doubting's fake ; a proof that we are 
 
 equally 
 
76 SERMON 11, 
 
 equally uninterefted in the doubt, as in the rrutli 
 which it conceals from us ; they would be very 
 forry were they under the neceflity 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 punifhment of doubt- 
 ers to be that of an indifpenfible obligation to feek 
 the truth, no one would doubt ; no one would 
 purchafe, at fuch a price, the pleafure of calling 
 himfelf an unbeliever ; few indeed would be ca- 
 pable of it : decifive proof that they do not doubt, 
 and that they are as little attached to their doubts 
 as to religion (for their knowledge in both is 
 much about the fame) ; but only that they have 
 loft thofe firft feelings of dtfcretion and of faith 
 which left us ftill fome veftige of refpect 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, 
 that they have embraced a fyftem j you honour 
 them too much by ranking them among the im- 
 pious followers of a Socinus, by ennobling them 
 with the mocking titles of deifts or atheifU : alas J 
 they are nothing ; they are of no fyftem j 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 fecret 
 of forming a ftate more defpicable, more mean, 
 and more unworthy of reafon, than even that of 
 impiety j and it is even doing them credit to call 
 
 them 
 
t)OUBTS UPON RBLIGION. 77 
 
 them by the mocking title of unbeliever, which 
 had hitherto been considered as the fhame of hu- 
 manity, and the higheft reproach of man. 
 
 And, to conclude this article with a reflection 
 which confirms the fame truth, and is very humi- 
 liating for our pretended unbelievers, I obferve 
 that they, who affect to treat us as weak and cre- 
 dulous minds, who vaunt their reafon, who 1 ac- 
 cufe us of grounding a religion upon the popular 
 prejudices, and of believing, folely becaufe our 
 predeceflbrs have believed ; they, I fay, are unbe- 
 lievers, and doubt upon the fole and deplorable 
 authority of a debauchee, whom they have often 
 heard to fay, that futurity is a bug-bear, and made 
 ufe of as a fcarecrow to frighten only children and 
 the common people : fuch is their only knowlege, 
 and their only ufe of reafon. They are impious, 
 as they accufe us of being believers without exa- 
 mination, and through creduloufnefs ; but through 
 a credulity which can find no excufe but in mad- 
 nefs and folly j the authority of a fingle impious 
 difcourfe, pronounced in a bold and decifive tone r 
 hath fubjugated their reafon, and ranked them in 
 the lifts of impiety. They call us credulous, in 
 yielding to the authority of the prophets, of the 
 apoftles, of men infpired by God, of the mining 
 miracles wrought to eftablim the truth of oui 
 rayfleries, and to that venerable tradition of holy 
 pallors, who, from age to age, have tranfmitted 
 to us the charge of doctrine and of truth ; that is 
 
 to 
 
J 8 SERMON II. 
 
 to fay, to the greatefl authority that hath ever 
 been on the earth ; and they think themfelves lefs 
 credulous, and it appears to them more worthy of 
 reafon, to fubmit to the authority of a free-think- 
 er, who, in a moment of debauchery, pronounces, 
 with a firm tone, that there is no God, yet, mod 
 likely, inwardly belies his own words. Ah ! my 
 brethren, how much does man degrade and render 
 himfelf contemptible when he arrrogates a falfe 
 glory from being no longer in the belief of a 
 God! 
 
 Thus, why is it, think you, that our pretended 
 unbelievers are fo defirous of feeing real atheifts 
 confirmed in impiety j that they feek and entice 
 them even from foreign countries, like a Spinofa, 
 if the fact 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 actually confirmed in that 
 deteftable caufe : they feek, in precedent, resour- 
 ces and defences againfl their own confcience 5 
 and, not daring of themfelves to become impious, 
 they expect from an example what their reafon 
 and even their heart refufes ; and, in fo doing, 
 they furely fall into a credulity much more child- 
 iih and abfurd than that with which they reproach 
 believers. A Spinofa, that monfter, who, after 
 embracing various religions, ended with none, 
 was not anxious to find out fome profeffed free- 
 thinker 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. 79 
 
 thinker who might confirm him in the caufe of ir-' 
 religion aftd atheifm : he formed to himfelf that 
 impenetrable chaos of impiety, that work of con- 
 fufion and darknefs in which the fole defire of not 
 believing in God can fupport thq wearinefs and 
 difguft of thofe who read it ; in which, excepting 
 the impiety, all is unintelligible; and which would, 
 from its birth, have funk into oblivion, had it not, 
 to the fhame of humanity, attacked the iupreme 
 Being : that impious wretch, I fay, lived ccncealr 
 ed, retired, tranquil : his dark productions were 
 his only occupation, and, to harden himfelf, he 
 needed only himfelf. But thofe who fo eagerly 
 fought him, who longed to fee and confult him, 
 thofe frivolous and diffolute men were fools who 
 wimed to become impious ; and who, not finding 
 fufficient authority to remain believers in the teftir 
 mony of all ages, of all nations, and of all the 
 great men who have honoured religion, fought, in 
 the fmgle teftimony ©f an obfcure individual, of a 
 deferter from every religion, of a monfler obliged 
 to hide himfelf from the eyes of men, a deplorable 
 and monftrous authority which might confirm them 
 in impiety, and defend them from their own con- 
 fcience. Great God ! let the impious here hide 
 their faces ; let them ceafe to make an oflentation 
 of an unbelief which is the fruit of their depravity 
 and ignorance, and no longer fpeak, but with blufh- 
 es, of the fubmiffion of believers : it is all a language 
 pf deceit; they give to vanity what we give to truth. 
 
 I fay 
 
So SERMON II. 
 
 1 fay vanity ; and this is the grand and final rea- 
 fon which more clearly expofes all the falfity and 
 weaknefs of unbelief. Yes, my brethren, all our 
 pretended unbelievers are bullies, who give them- 
 felves out for what they are not j they confider un- 
 belief as conveying the idea of fomething above 
 the common ; they are continually boafting that 
 they believe nothing., and, by dint of boaftinp;, they 
 at laft perfuade themfelvcs of it : like certain mum- 
 room characters among us, who, though touching 
 the obfcurity and vulgarity of their anceftors, have 
 the deplorable vanity of wifhing to be thought of 
 an illuilrious birth, and defcended from the great- 
 eft names ; by dint cf blazoning and repeating it, 
 they attain almoft to the belief of it themfelves. 
 It is the fame with our pretended unbelievers ; they 
 ftill touch, as I may fay, that faith which they have 
 received at their birth, which (fill flows with their 
 blood, and is not yet effaced from their heart; but 
 they think it a vulgarity and meannefs, at which 
 tbe hhvih; by dint of faying and boalling that 
 they >:e<ieve nothing, they are convinced that they 
 really do not believe, and have confequently a 
 much higher opinion of themfelves. 
 
 iftly, Becaufe that deplorable profefii on of unbe- 
 lief fuppofes an uncommon under (landing, itrengtfa 
 and fuperiority of rnind, and a fmguiarity which is 
 pleating and flattering; on the contrary, that the 
 paffions infer only liceotiouihcfs Luchery, 
 
 of which all men are pa table, t\ 
 . 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. Bl 
 
 (o of that wonderful fuperiority attributed to itfelf 
 by impiety. 
 
 2dly, Becaufe faith is fo weakened in our 3ge, 
 that we find few in the world, who pique themfelves 
 upon wit and a little more. knowledge or erudition 
 than others, who do not allow themfelves doubts 
 and difficulties upon the mofl auguft and mod fa- 
 cred parts of religion. It would be a difgrace, 
 therefore, in their company to appear religious and 
 believers : tbey are men high in the public efteem, 
 and any refemblance to them is flattering ; in a~ 
 dopting their language, their talents and reputation 
 are thought likewife to be adopted ; and not to 
 dare to follow or to copy them would, it feems, be 
 making a public avowal of weaknefs and mediocri- 
 ty : miferable and childifh vanity ! Befides, becaufe 
 they have heard fay that certain characters diflin- 
 guifhed in their age did not believe; and as the me- 
 mory of their talents and great actions has been 
 preferved only with that of their irreligion, they 
 vaunt thefe grand 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 vanity and lit- 
 tlenefs of mind alone are confpicuous, fince no- 
 thing can be more miferable or mean than to give 
 ourfelves out for what we are not, or to affume the 
 perfonage of another. 
 
 $d/y, and lajily, Becaufe the language of impiety 
 is, in general, the confequence, of licentious foqie- 
 
 Vol. III. L tv : 
 
82 SERMON li. 
 
 ty : we wim to appear the fame as our companions 
 in debauchery ; for it would be a (hame to be di-Oi 
 folutc, and yet feem to believe, in the very prefence 
 of our accomplices in riot. It is a forry caufe that- 
 o.f a debauchee who dill believes ; impiety and li- 
 centioufnefs are the only colour for debauchery ; 
 without thefe he would be only a novice in profli- 
 gacy : the dread of pumfhments and*of an hell is 
 left to thofe yet unexercifed in guilt ; that remain 
 of religion feems to favour (till too much of child- 
 hood and the college. But when attained to a 
 certain length in debauchery, ah ! thefe vulgar 
 weakneffes mufl 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, " Doft thou dill retain thine 
 " integrity ? Art thou fo fimple as to believe all 
 " thefe tales with which thy childhood hath been 
 " alarmed ? Thou feed not that all thefe are mere- 
 " ly the vifions of weak minds, and that the more 
 *? knowing, who preach them op fo much, believe 
 " not a word of them themfelves ?" 
 
 O my God ! How mean and defpicable is the 
 impious man, who feems fo proudly to contemn 
 thee ? He is a coward, who outwardly infults, yet 
 inwardly fears thee ; he is a vain boaster, who. 
 makes a fhew of unbelief, but tells not what paf- 
 fes within ; he is an impoftor, who, wifhing to de- 
 ceive 
 
DOUBTS UPON RELIGION. Sj 
 
 freive us, cannot fucceed in deceiving himfelf ; he 
 is a fool, who, without afmgle inducement, adopts 
 all the horrors of impiety ; he is a madman, who, 
 unable to attain irreligion, or to extinguish the ter- 
 rors of his confcience, extinguifhes in himfelf all 
 modefly and decency, and endeavours to make an 
 impious merit of it in the eyes of men ; who madly 
 focrificcs, to the deplorable vanity of being thought 
 an unbeliever, his religion which he ftill preferves, 
 his God whom he dreads, his confcience which he 
 feels, his eternal falvaticn which he hopes. What 
 a defertion of God, and what a link of madnefs 
 and folly ! 
 
 And could you, my brethren, (and in this wi(!i 
 I comprife the whole fruit of this dilcourfe) 
 who ftill feel a reverence for the religion of our 
 fathers, but be fenfible of the contemptability of 
 thofe men who give themfelves out as free-think- 
 ers, and whom you often fo much efteem ; vou 
 would then comprehend how much the profeiTion 
 of unbelief, now fo faihionable among us, is, of all 
 other characters, the moft frivolous, cowardly, and 
 worthy of laughter ; you would then know that 
 every thing mean and fhamefu!, even accordino- to 
 the world, is concealed under this orientation of 
 impiety, which the corruption of our manners 
 hath now rendered fo common even to both rexes. 
 
 iflly, Of licentioufnefs. They reach the avow- 
 al of impiety only when the heart is profoundly 
 
 corrupted j 
 
84 SERMON it. 
 
 corrupted ; when they actually live In private iri 
 the mod fhameful debauchery ; and, were they 
 known for what they are, they would for ever be 
 difhonoured even in the eyes of men. 
 
 idly, Of meannefs. They act the philofopher 
 and the wit, while, in fecret, they are the mod 
 fneaking, the mod diffolute, the mod abandoned, 
 and weakelt of finners, the veried flaves of every 
 paflion unworthy of modedy, and even of reafon. 
 
 ^dly, Of deceit and impofition. They act a 
 borrowed character j they give themfelves out for 
 what they are not ; and, while fo loudly exclaim- 
 ing againd the godly, and treating them as impof- 
 tors and hypocrites, they are themfelves the very 
 cheat they decry, and the hypocrite of impiety and 
 free-thinking. 
 
 Athly, Of odentation and wretched vanity. They 
 act the hero, while inwardly trembling ; for, on 
 the fird fignal of death, they betray more cowar- 
 dice than even the commoned of the people : they 
 make a fhew of openly infulting that God whom 
 they dill inwardly dread, and even hope to render 
 favourable one day to themfelves : a character of 
 childifhnefs and buffoonery, which the world itfelf 
 hath always confidered as the lowed, the viled, 
 and the mod rifible of all characters. 
 
 $thly 9 Of temerity. Without erudition or know- 
 ledge, they dare to fet up as deciders upon what 
 they are totally ignorant ; to condemn the great- 
 ed characters of every age 5 and to decide upon 
 
 important 
 
BOUBTS UPON RELIGION. $$ 
 
 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 character which can accord only with men 
 who have nothing more to lofe on the fide of ho- 
 nour. 
 
 6tbly, Of folly. They pride themfelves in ap- 
 pearing without religion ; that is to fay, without 
 character, morals, probity, fear of God and of 
 man, and capable of every thing excepting virtue 
 and innocence. 
 
 ythfy, Of fuperflition. We have feen thefe pre- 
 tended free-thinkers, who refufe to confult the 
 oracles of the holy prophets, confulting conjurors; 
 admitting in men that knowledge of futurity which 
 they refufe to God ; giving into every childifh cre- 
 dulity, while rifing up againfl the majefty of faith ; 
 expecting their aggrandifement and fortune from 
 a deceitful oracle, and unwilling to hope their fal- 
 vation from the oracles of our holy books j and, 
 in a word, ridiculoufly believing in demons, while 
 they make a boaft of difbelieving a God. 
 
 Lq/ily, What, in my opinion, is moft deplorable 
 in thefe characters is, that they are in a fituation 
 which precludes almofl every hope of falvation. 
 For an actual unbeliever, if fuch there be, may, 
 in a moment, be ftricken of God, and overwhelm- 
 ed, as it were, under the weight of that glory and 
 majeity which he unknowingly had blafphemed : 
 the eyes of this unfortunate wretch may ftill be 
 
 opened 
 
86 SERMON II. 
 
 opened by the Lord in his mercy ; he may make 
 his light to fhine through his darknefs, and reveal 
 that truth which he refills only becaufe he knows 
 it not : he has dill refcurces, fuch as perhaps rec- 
 titude, confiflency, principles, (of error and illu- 
 fion I confefs, but ilill 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 blafpheme that religion 
 which they (till preferve in their heart ; they refid 
 the impreifions of confcience which ilill inwardly 
 efpoufes the caufe of faith againft themfelves ; in 
 vain does the light of God fhine upon their heart, 
 it ferves only to render more inexcufable the trea- 
 chery of their impiety. Were they, faith Jefus 
 Chriil, abfolutely blind, they would be worthy of 
 pity, and their fin would be lefs : but at prefent 
 they fee ; and confequently the guilt of their irre- 
 ligion is blafphemy againft the Holy Ghoft, which 
 dwelleth for ever upon their head. 
 
 Let us repair then, my brethren, by our refpect 
 for the religion of our fathers ; by a continual 
 gratitude towards the Lord, who hath permitted, 
 us to be born in the way of falvation, into which 
 fo many nations have not as yet been deemed wor- 
 thy to enter : let us repair, I fay, the fcandal of 
 unbelief fo common in this age, fo countenanced 
 among us, and which, become mere bold through 
 
 the 
 
DOUETS UPON RELIGION. 87 
 
 the number and quality of its partifans, no longer 
 hides its head, but openly fhews itfelf, and braves, 
 as it were, the religion of the prince, and the zeal 
 of the paftors. Let us have in horror thofe impi- 
 ous and defpicable men, who pride themfelves in 
 turning into ridicule the majefty of the religion 
 they profefs : let us fly them as monfters unwor- 
 thy to live, not only among believers, but even 
 among thofe connected together by honour, pro- 
 bity, and reafon ; far from applauding their im- 
 pious difcourfes, let us cover ihem with fhame by 
 that contempt which they merit. It is fo low and 
 fo mean, even according to the world, to difho- 
 nour that religion in which one lives ; it is fo 
 beautiful, and there is fo much real dignity in 
 making a pride of refpe&ing and of defending it, 
 even with an air of authority and of indignation, 
 againfl the filly fpeeches which attack it. By def- 
 pifing unbelief, let us deprive it of the deplorable 
 glory it feeks : from the moment they are defpifed 
 unbelievers will be rare among us ; and the fame 
 vanity which forms their doubts will foon annihi- 
 late or conceal them, when it fhall be a difgrace 
 among us to appear impious, and a glory to be a 
 believer. It is thus that this fcandal fhall be done 
 away, and that altogether we fhall glorify the Lord 
 in the fame faith, and in the expectation of the 
 eternal promifes. Amen, 
 
 SER. 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 
 
 John viii. 46. 
 And if I fay the truths why do ye not believe me * 
 
 Jesus Chrift had hitherto confuted the increduli- 
 ty of the Jews by his works and his miracles ; at 
 prefent, he recalls them to the judgment of their 
 own confcience and to the evidence of the truth, 
 which, in fpite of themfelves, rendered teftimony 
 to his doctrine and to his miniftry. Neverthelefs, 
 as they (hut their eyes againft the evidence of his. 
 miracles, in accufing him of operating them 
 through the miniftry of devils, fo they likewife 
 harden themfelves againft the evidence of his doc- 
 trine and of his miflion, fo clearly foretold in the 
 fcriptures, by alleging pretended obfcurities, which 
 rendered them, in their eyes, ftill doubtful and fuf- 
 picious. 
 
 For, 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE L>W OF GOD. 89 
 
 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 mining and inef- 
 faceable characters, or in the rules which jefus 
 Chrift ham left to us j we would always, either 
 that oar confcience fee nothing in it but what our 
 patfions fee> or that thefe rules be not fo explicit 
 but what we may always be able to find out lome 
 favourable interpretation and mollification of them. 
 
 In effect, two pretexts are commonly oppofed by 
 the finners of the world againft the evidence of 
 truths, the molt terrible of the law of God. ijlly, In 
 order to calm themfelves on a thoufand abufes, au- 
 thorifed by the world, they tell us that they believe 
 themfelves to be in fafety in that ltate ; 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. Firft pretext which is oppofed to the evi- 
 dence of the law of God : candour and tranquility 
 of confcience. 
 
 idly, 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 wi/hes ; that what ap- 
 pears fo pofitive to us, appears not fo to all the 
 world. Second pretext : the obfcurity and uncer- 
 tainty of the rules. 
 
 Now, I fay that the law of God hath a two-fold 
 mark of evidence, which (hall overthrow thefe two 
 
 Vol. III. M pretexts, 
 
90 Sermon Hi. 
 
 pretexts, and (hall condemn, at the day of judg- 
 ment, all the vain excufes of finners. 
 
 l/tfyi It is evident in the confcience of the fm- 
 ner : iirft reflection, idly^ lc is evident in the fim- 
 pliciry of the rules : fecond reflection. The evi- 
 dence of the law of God in the confcience of men: 
 firft character of the law of God, which mail judge 
 the falfe fecurity and the pretended candour of 
 wetldly fouls* The evidence of the law of God 
 in the Fimplieity of its rules : fecond character of 
 the law of God, which fhall judge the affected un- 
 certainties, and the falfe interpretations of finners. 
 And thus it is, O my God ! that thy holy law fhall 
 judge the world, and that the criminal confcience 
 ihall one day be confounded before thy tribunal, 
 both by the lights of his own confcience, and by 
 the perfpicuity of thy heavenly maxims. 
 
 Part I, It is rather furprifing that the greaterl 
 part of worldly fouls, in j unification of the abufes 
 of the world and the danger of its maxims, allege 
 to us the candcur and the tranquility of their con- 
 fcience. Befides, that peace and fecurity, in the 
 falfe paths of iniquity, are rather their punifhment 
 than their excufe ; and that, were it even true that 
 the confcience mould reproach them with nothing 
 in manners regulated folely according to the falfe 
 judgments of the world, that ftate would dill be 
 only fo much the worfe, and more hopelefs of fal- 
 vafion : it appears that, of all tribunals, that of con- 
 fcience is the laft to which an unbelieving fou 
 
 ihould 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. pi 
 
 mould appeal ; and that nothing is lefs favourable 
 to the errors of a firmer than the fmner himfelf. 
 
 I know than there are hardened fouls, to whom 
 no ray of grace or of light can carry conviction ; 
 who live without remorfe and without anxiety in 
 the horrors of an infamous licentioufnefs; in whom 
 all confcience feems extinguished, and who carry 
 the excefs of their blindnefs, fays St Auguftin, fo 
 far, as even to glory in their very blindnefs. But 
 thefe are only rare and dreadful examples of God's 
 juftice upon men; and if fuch have appeared upon 
 the earth, they only prove how far his neglect and 
 the power cf his wrath may fometimes go. 
 
 Yes, my brethren, whether we affect boldly and 
 openly to cad off the authority of the law, like the 
 impious and the licentious; whether we endeavour 
 to mollify and artificially to reconcile it with our 
 paffions, by favourable interpretations, like the 
 greatefl part of worldly fouls and common finners; 
 our confcience renders a two-fold teftimony within 
 us to this divine law : a teftimony of truth to the 
 equity and to the neceffity of its maxims, and a 
 teftimony of feverity to the exactitude of its rules. 
 
 I fay, in the firft place, a teftimony of truth to 
 the equity 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 wifh our welfare. His 
 law muff, confequently bear thefe two characters ; 
 a character of equity, and a character of goodnefs: 
 a character of equity, which regulates all the du- 
 ties ; 
 
92 SERMON III. 
 
 ties ; a character 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, thai; 
 thefe rules are juft and reafonable ; that the law of 
 God commands nothing but what is confident with 
 the real interefts of man ; that nothing is more con-, 
 fonant to the reafonable creature than gentlenefs, 
 humanity, temperance, modefty, and all the vir- 
 tues recommended in the gofpel ; that the paffions 
 prohibited by the law are the fole fource of all our 
 troubles ; that the more we deviate from the pre- 
 cept, and from the law, the more do we remove 
 ourfelves from peace and tranquility of heart ; and 
 that the Lord, in forbidding us to yield ourfelves 
 up to impetuous and iniquitous paffions, hath only 
 forbidden us to yield ourfelves up to our own ty- 
 rants, 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 the fenfes, we vainly caft off the yoke 
 of the holy rules ; we can never fucceed in justify- 
 ing, even to ourfelves, our own irregularities ; we 
 always internally adopt the interefts of the law 
 againft ourfelves ; we always find within us a juf- 
 tlfication of the rules againil the paffions. We 
 cannot corrupt this internal witnefs of the truth, 
 which pleads within us for virtue ; we always feel 
 a fecret mifunderftanding between our inclinations 
 
 and 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 
 
 93 
 
 and our lights : the law of God, born in our heart, 
 inceflantly 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 au- 
 thority ; it officiates as a cenfurer, if it cannot ferve 
 as a director ; in a word, it renders us unhappy if 
 it cannot render us believers. 
 
 Thus, in vain do we fometimes give way to all 
 the bitternefs of hatred and of revenge ; we im- 
 mediately feel that this cruel pleafure is not made 
 for the heart of man ; that to hate, is, in fad, to 
 punifh ourfelves ; and, in returning to ourfelves 
 after the tranfports of paffion, we find within us a 
 principle of humanity which difavows their vio- 
 lence, and clearly points out to us, that gentlenefs 
 and kindnefs were our firft inclinations ; and that, 
 in commanding us to love our brethren, the* law 
 of God hath only done fo, as to confult the right 
 and moft reafonable feelings of our heart, and to 
 reconcile us with ourfelves. Thou art more right- 
 eous than I, faid Saul to David, in the time of his 
 ftrongeft hatred againft him. That goodnefs, born 
 in the heart of all men, forced from him that con- 
 feflion, and inwardly difavowed the injuftice and 
 the cruelty of his revenge. 
 
 In vain do we plunge ourfelves into brutal and 
 fenfual gratifications, and madly range after what- 
 ever may fatisfy the infatiable defires of pleafure ; 
 we quickly feel, that debauchery leads us too far 
 to be agreeable to nature : that whatever enilaves 
 
 and 
 
94 5 Z RMON III. 
 
 and tyrannifes over us, overturns the order of our 
 firfl inftitution ; and that the gofpel, in prohibit- 
 ing the voluptuous paffions, hath provided for the 
 tranquility of our heart, and for reftoring to us 
 ail its elevation and nobility. How many hired 
 fervants of my father's, fald the prodigal flill bound 
 in the chains of vice, have bread enough, and to 
 fpare ! and I confume my days in wearinefs, and 
 in fhame. It was a remain of reafon and of no- 
 bility which flill fpake in the bottom of his heart. 
 Laftly., invefligate all the precepts of the law of 
 God, and you will feel that they have a neceffary 
 connection with the heart of man ; that they are 
 rules founded upon a profound knowledge of what 
 takes place within us ; that they folely contain the 
 remedies of our mod fecret evils, and the iuccours 
 of our mod 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 themielves, in whom all truth 
 was not yet extinguifhed, rendered this glory to 
 the Chriflian morality ; they were forced to ad- 
 mire the wifdom of its precepts, the neceflity of 
 its reftraints, the fan&ity of its counfels, the good 
 fenfe and fublimity of all its rules ; they were a- 
 flonifhed to find, in the difcourfes of Jefus Chrift, 
 a more fublime philofophy than in the Roman or 
 Grecian fchools ; and they could not comprehend 
 how the fon of Mary mould be better acquainted 
 with the duties, the defires, and all the fecret folds 
 
 of 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 95 
 
 of the human heart, than Plato and all his difci- 
 pies. 
 
 Will you tell us, after this, that nature is our firft 
 law, and that tendencies to pleafures, inherent in 
 our being, can never be crimes ; I have often faid 
 it ; it is an impiety only of converfation ; it is an 
 orientation of free-thinking, of which vanity makes 
 a boaft, but which truth inwardly belies. Auguf- 
 tin in his errors had fpared no pains to efface from 
 the bottom of his heart, thofe remains of faith 
 and of confcience which fl.il! recalled him to the 
 truth ; he had eagerly fought, in the mod: impious 
 opinions, and in the molt Shocking errors, where- 
 withal to comfort himfelf againfl his crimes ; his 
 mind flying the light which purfued him, wandered 
 from impiety to impiety, and from error to error ; 
 neverthelefs, in fpite of all his efforts and flights,, 
 the truth, always victorious in* the bottom of his 
 foul, proclaimed its triumph in fpite of himfelf j 
 he could fucceed neither in feducing nor in quiet- 
 ing himfelf in his diforders: t; I bore, O my God, 
 fays he, a confcience racked, and ftill bleeding 
 as it were, from the grievous wounds which 
 my paffions inceffantly made there ; I was a bur- 
 den to myfelf ; I could no longer fuflain my own 
 heart ; I turned myfelf on every fide, and no where 
 could it find cafe ; I knew not where to lay it, 
 that I might be delivered from it, and that mine 
 anxiety might be comforted." 
 
 Behold 
 
9^ 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 Behold the teftimony which a fmner, who, to all 
 the keennefs of the paflions, added the impiety of 
 opinions, and the abufe of lights, renders of him- 
 felf. And thefe examples are of every age ; our 
 own has beheld famous and avowed finners, who 
 made an infamous boaft of not believing in God, 
 and who were looked upon as heroes in impiety 
 and free-thinking ; we have feen them, touched at 
 laft with repentance like Auguftin, and recalled 
 from their errors, we have feen them, I fay, make 
 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 mocking impieties 
 and.exceffes, their heart, flill Chriftian, inwardly 
 belied their derifions and blafphemies ; that, before 
 men, they vaunted a ftrength of mind which for- 
 fook them in private ; that that apparent unbelief 
 concealed 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 of condemnation againft itfelf. 
 Every where you render homage, by your inward 
 anxieties and remorfes, to the fan&ity of that law 
 which you violate ; every where a fund of weari- 
 nefs and of forrow, infeparable from guilt, makes 
 you to feel that regularity and innocence are the 
 only happinefs which was intended for you on the 
 earth : you vainly difplay an affected intrepidity ; 
 the guilty confcience always betrays itfelf. Cruel 
 
 terrors 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 97 
 
 terrors march every where before you ; folitude 
 difquiets, darknefs alarms you ; you fancy 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 fancies ; 
 and guilt, .after which you run with fo much re- 
 liih, purfues you afterwards like a cruel vulture, 
 and fixes itfelf upon you, to tear your heart, and 
 to punifh you for the pleafure which it had for- 
 merly given you. O my God ! what refources 
 haft thou not left in our heart to recal us to thee ! 
 And how powerful is the protection which the 
 goodnefs and the righteoufnefs of thy law finds in 
 the bottom of our being ! Firft teflimory which 
 the confcience renders to the law of God, a tefti- 
 mony of truth to the fanclity of its maxims. 
 
 But it alfo renders a teftimony of feverity to the 
 exactitude of its rules. For a fecond illufion of 
 the greateft part of worldly fouls, who live exempt- 
 ed from great irregularities, but who otherwife 
 live amidlt all the pleafures, all the abufes, all the 
 fenfualities, and all the diiTipations authorifed by 
 the world, is, that of wifhing to perfuade them- 
 felves that the gofpel requ'res no more, and to 
 perfuade us, that their confcience reproaches them 
 with nothing, and that they believe themfelves fafe 
 in that ftate. Now, I fay that here the worldly 
 'confcience is again not candid, and is deceived; 
 and that, in fpite of all thofe mollifications which 
 they endeavour to juflify to themfelves, it renders, 
 
 Vol. III. N in 
 
98 SERMON III. 
 
 in the bottom of our hearts, a teftimony of feveri- 
 ty to the law of God. . 
 
 In effect, order requires that all our paffions be 
 regulated by the bridle of the law ; all our incli- 
 nations, corrupted in their fource, have occafion 
 for a rule to rectify and correct them : we confefs 
 this ourfelves ; we feel that our corruption per- 
 vades the fmallefl as well as the greateft things ; 
 that felf-love infects all our proceedings ; and that 
 we every where find ourfelves weak, and in continual 
 oppofition 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 where to be 
 in oppofition to us ; that the law cannot be in uni- 
 ty with us ; that whatever favours our inclina- 
 tions, can never be the remedy intended to cure 
 them ; that whatever flatters our defires, can ne- 
 ver be the bridle which is to reftrain them ; in a 
 word, that whatever nourifhes felf-love, is not the 
 law which is eftablifhed for the fole purpofe of 
 deflroying and annihilating it. Thus, by an in- 
 ward feeling, infeparable from our being, we al- 
 ways difcriminate ourfelves from the law ; our in- 
 clinations from its rules ; our pleafures from its 
 duties ; and, in all dubious actions where we de- 
 cide in favour of our inclinations, we perfectly 
 feel that we are deviating from the law of God, 
 always more rigid than ourfelves. 
 
 And 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF COD. 99 
 
 And allow me here, my brethren, to appeal to 
 ^our confcience itfelf, which you always allege, 
 and to which you continually refer us. Are you, 
 honeftly fpeaking, at your eafe, as you wifh to 
 perfuade us, in this life, altogether of pleafures, of 
 diffipation, of indolence, and of fenfuality ; in a 
 word, in this worldly life, of which you conflant- 
 ly maintain the innocence ? Have you hitherto 
 been able to iucceed in per uading 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 nothing to offer 
 to him but thefe pleafures, thefe amufements which 
 you call innocent, and of which the principal 
 groundwork of your life is composed ? I put the 
 queflion to you. In thofe moments when, more 
 warmly affected perhaps 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 your- 
 felves, that, folely occupied then with your falva- 
 tion, you will renounce the exceffes of gaming, the 
 theatres, the vanities and indecencies of drefs, the 
 diffipation of public afTemblies and pleafures ; that 
 you will devote more time to prayer, to retire- 
 ment, to holy reading, and to the duties of reli- 
 gion ? Now, what is it that you hereby acknow- 
 ledge, 
 
100 SfcRMON lit. 
 
 ledge, imlefs it be, that, while you renounce not 
 all thefe abufes ; that you devote not more time 
 to all thefe pious duties, you think not ferioufly 
 upon your falvation j you ought to have no pre- 
 tention to it j you are in the path of death and 
 perdition. 
 
 But, befides, you who carry fo far the feverity 
 of your cenfures againft the godly, recollect all the 
 rigour of your maxims, and of your derifions upon 
 their conduct; do you not blame, do you not con- 
 tinually cenfure thofe perfons who wifh to connect, 
 with a public profeffion of piety, thofe abufes, thofe 
 amufements, of which you are the daily apologifl, 
 and who wifh to enjoy the reputation of 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 Chriftian life. Do you not 
 fay that it is neceflary either -totally to renounce 
 the world, or to continue to live as the world lives j 
 and that all thefe ambiguous virtues ferve only (o 
 decry the true virtue ? I agree with you in this ; 
 but I reply to you : Your confcience dictates 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 lead, 
 an apparent divifion between the world and Jefus 
 Chriil may comfort ? And you juftify to us your 
 conduct, you who have nothing in its juflification 
 
 but 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 101 
 
 but the abufes of the world and the danger of its 
 habits ? Do you then believe that the path of fal- 
 vation is more rugged for thofe who profefs piety 
 than for you ? That the world hath privileges there- 
 on, which are forfeited from the moment that we 
 mean to ferve God? Be confident then with your- 
 felves ; and either condemn no more a worldly 
 virtue, or no longer juftify the world itfelf; fince 
 whatever you blame in that virtue is only that por- 
 tion of it which the world fupplies. 
 
 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 of human weaknefs ; that, in order to act 
 up to all that we fay in thefe Chriflian pulpits, it 
 would be neceflary to withdraw to the deferts, or 
 to be angels rather than men : neverthelefs, render 
 glory to the force of truth. If a minifter of the 
 gofpel were to deliver to you from this place a 
 do&rine quite oppofite to that which we teach ; 
 were he to announce to you the lame 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 publifbed ; that we 
 may love the world and yet ferve God ; that there 
 is no harm in gaming, in pleafures, in theatres, 
 except what we ourfelves occafion ; that we mufl 
 live like the world while we live in the world ; that 
 all that language of the crofs, of penitence, of 
 mortification, and of felf-denial, is more calculated 
 
 for 
 
102 SERMON III. 
 
 for cloifters than for the court, and for perfons of 
 a certain rank ; and, laftly, 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 do&rine ? What idea would you 
 have of 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 inftru&ed than we in the holy truths of 
 falvation, and in the rules of the Chriftian life ? 
 You would laugh at his ignorance, or his folly ; 
 you would perhaps be flruck with horror at the 
 profanation which he would make of his miniflry. 
 And what, my brethren, thefe maxims announ- 
 ced before the altars would appear to you as blaf- 
 phemy or madnefs j and, promulgated in your dai- 
 ly converfations, they would become rules of rea- 
 fon and of wifdom ? In the mouth of a minifter of 
 the gofpel, you would look upon them as the 
 fpeeches of a madman ; and, in your mouth, they 
 mould appear more folid and more weighty ? You 
 would laugh, or rather you would be flruck with 
 horror, at a preacher who mould announce them 
 to you y and you wifh to perfuade us that you fpeak 
 ferioufly, and that you are confiflent with your- 
 felves when, with fo much confidence, you hold 
 them forth to us. 
 
 Ah! 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. I03 
 
 Ah ! my brethren, how treacherous we are to 
 God ! 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 obfli- 
 nacy for the abufes of the world, of which we 
 maintain the innocence, is a fecret perfuafion that 
 the world and its abufes are a path of perdition ; 
 we publicly juflify what we condemn in private ; 
 we are the hypocrites of the world and of its plea- 
 fures ; and, through a moft deplorable deftiny, our 
 life palfes away in diiTembling with ourfelves, and 
 in obftinately determining to perifh in fpite of our- 
 felves. And furely, fays the apoftle John, if our 
 heart, notwithstanding all our felf-blindnefs, can- 
 not help already condemning us in fecret, have we 
 more indulgence to expect from the terrible and 
 fovereign Judge of hearts than from our heart it- 
 felf? 
 
 Thus, my brethren, ftudy the law of God ia 
 your own 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 perfectly accord with our maxims; liflen 
 to the voice of truth, which fpeaks within you, 
 and you will admit, that we only repeat what it 
 is continually whifpering to your heart? You have 
 no occafion, fays St Auguftin, to apply to able 
 men, in order .j have the greateft part of your 
 doubts cleared up j go no farther than yourfelves 
 for explanations and anfwers j apply to yourfelves 
 
 for 
 
104 SERMON III* 
 
 for what you have to do ; liften to the declfions of 
 your heart ; follow the firft impulfe of your con- 
 fcience, and you will always determine for that 
 party mod conformable to the law of God : the 
 firft impreflion of the heart is always for the ftricl:- 
 nefs of the law againft the foftenings of feif-love : 
 your confcience will always go farther, and will be 
 more Uriel than ourfelves ; and, if ycu have ccca- 
 fion for our dedfions, it will rather be in order to 
 moderate the feverity, than to expofe the falfe in- 
 dulgence of it. 
 
 Behold the firft manner in which the law of 
 God mall one day judge us : that law, manifefted 
 in the confcience of the finner, and as if born with 
 him, mall rife up againft him ; our heart, marked 
 with the feal of truth, fhall be the witnefs to de- 
 pofe for our condemnation : our lights fhall be op- 
 pofed to our actions, our remorfes to our man- 
 ners, our fpeeches to our thoughts, our inward 
 fentiments to our public proceedings, and our- 
 felves to ourfelves. Thus we bear, each of us, 
 our condemnation in our own heart. The Lord 
 will not bring other proof than ourfelves, to deter- 
 mine the decifjon of our eternal reprobation ; and 
 the foul before the tribunal of God, fays Tertul- 
 lian, fhall appear at the fame time, both the cri- 
 minal condemned, and the witnefs which fhall tef- 
 tify againft his crimes. He will have nothing to 
 reply, continues this father. You knew the truth 
 will be laid to him, and you iniquitoufly withheld 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 1S§ 
 
 it ; you admitted of the happinefs of the fouls who 
 feek only God, and you fought him not yourfelves: 
 you drew mocking pictures of the world, of its 
 wearinefles, of its perfidies, and of its wickednefT- 
 es, and you were always its flave and blinded wor- 
 fhipper : you inwardly refpecled the religion of 
 your fathers, and you made a deplorable vaunt of 
 impiety : you fecretly dreaded the judgments of 
 God, and you affected not to .believe in him. In 
 the bottom of your heart you rendered juftice to 
 the piety of the godly : you propofed to refemble 
 them at fome future period ; and you tore and per- 
 fected them with your derifions and cenfures : in 
 a word, your lights have ever been for God, and 
 your actions 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 dif- 
 turbing the falfe peace of our paffions and errors, 
 continually recall 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 fliil willing to difturb ; 
 and, far from publishing the riches of thy grace up- 
 on our foul, which leaves us Hill open to the truth, 
 we vaunt an obflinacy and a blindnefs which 
 fooner or latter mail be realifed, and mall, at lad, 
 be the juft punifhment of an ingratitude and of a 
 deceit fo injurious to thy grace. Firft character 
 of the evidence of the law of God j it is evident 
 
 Vol, III. O in 
 
io6 SERMON III. 
 
 in the conference of the finner ; but it is likewifc 
 fo in the fimplicity 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 man made 
 his work, and his molt perfect work, he could 
 never ltave him to live by chance upon the 
 earrh without manifefting to him his will, that 
 is- to fay, without pointing out to him what he 
 owed to his Creator, to his fellow-creatures, and to 
 himfeif. Therefore, in creating him, he imprinted 
 in his being a living light, inceffantly vifible to 
 his heart, which regulated all his duties. But all 
 flefh 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 heart of men), no longer permitting them to 
 reflect, or to confult it, and apparently no longer 
 even maintaining itfelf in them, unlefs to render 
 them more inexcufable ; God, whofe mercies feem 
 to become more abundant in proportion as the 
 wickednefs of men increafes, caufed to be engrav- 
 en, on tables of Hone, that law which nature, that 
 is to fay, which himfeif had engraven on our 
 hearts : he placed before our eyes the law which 
 we bear within us, in order to recall us to our- 
 felves. Neverthelefs, the people, who were its firft 
 depofitaries, having again disfigured it by in- 
 terpretations which adulterated its purity, Jefus 
 Chrift, the wifdom and the light of God, came 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. I07 
 
 laft upon the earth to reftore to it its original beauty; 
 to purge it from the alterations of the fynagogue ; 
 to diflipate the obfcuritics which a falfe learning 
 and human traditions had fpread through it ; to 
 lay open ail 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 its precepts. 
 
 Neverthelefs, the fecond pretext which is op- 
 pofed in the world to the evidence of the law of 
 God, is the pretended ambiguity of its rules : 
 they accufe us of making the gofpel to fay what- 
 ever we wiih ; they conteft, they find anfwers, 
 they fpread obfcurities through all ; and they 
 darken the law in fuch a manner, that the world 
 itfelf infifts 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 to juftify their iniquitous 
 Avays, mall one day be overthrown, both by the 
 teftimony of their own heart, and by the evidence 
 of the holy rules. 
 
 Yes, my brethren, the law of God, fays the 
 prophet, is pure, enlightening the eyes even of 
 thofe who would wifli to conceal it from them- 
 felves. In effett, Jefus Chrift, in coming himfelf 
 to give to us a law of life and of truth for the re- 
 gulation of our manners and our duties, and in 
 which the evidence could not be too great, could 
 
 never 
 
108 SERMON III. 
 
 never undoubtedly have meant to leave obfcurities 
 in it capable of deluding us, and of favouring paf- 
 fions which he exprefsly came to overthrow. Hu- 
 man laws may be liable to thefe inconveniences : 
 the mind of man, which hath invented them, be- 
 ing 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 flrength 
 of its expreflions, and even on the nature of its 
 rules. But the fpirit of God, author of the holy 
 rules held out in the gofpel, hath forefeen 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 nature of his rules : confequently, 
 he hath concerted them in a manner fo divine and 
 fo intelligible, fo fimple and fo fublime, that the 
 mod ignorant, equally as the mod 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 incomprehenfible myfleries of faith ; but the 
 rules of the manners 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 difficulties may 
 fpring up in the detail of the obligations ; that the 
 aiTemblage of a thoufand different circumftances 
 may not, in fuch a manner, darken the rule, that 
 it may fometimes efcape the molt learned ; and 
 
 th at, 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW Or GoD. I09 
 
 that, upon all the infinite duties of ftations and 
 conditions, all be fo decided in the gofpel, that 
 miftakes cannot often take place. 
 
 But I fay, (and I intreat of you to purfue thefe 
 reflections which to me appear of the utmoft con- 
 fequence, and to comprife all the rules of the 
 manners,) in the firft place, that if, upon the de- 
 tail of duties, the letter of the law be fometimes 
 dubious, the fpirit of it is almoft never fo : that ic 
 is eafily feen to which fide the gofpel inclines, and 
 to what the analogy and ruling fpirit of its max- 
 ims lead us : I fay, that they mutually clear up 
 each other ; that they all go to the fame end ; that 
 they are like fo many rays, which, uniting in one 
 centre, form fo grand a luftre that it is impoffible 
 longer to miftake them ; that there are principal 
 rules which ferve to elucidate every particular dif- 
 ficulty ; and, laftly, that, if the law appear fome- 
 times equivocal to us, the intention of the legifla- 
 tor, by which we ought to interpret it, never 
 leaves room for either doubt or miftake. 
 
 Thus, you would wifh to know, you who live at 
 the court, where ambition is, as it were, the vir- 
 tue of perfons of your rank ; you would wifh to 
 know if it be a crime ardently to long for the ho- 
 nours and the profperities of the earth, to be ne- 
 ver fatisfied with your {ration, continually to wifh 
 advancement, and to connect, with that fingle de- 
 fire, all your views, all your proceedings, all your 
 pres, the whole foundation of your life. In an- 
 
 fwer 
 
IIO SERMON III. 
 
 fwer to this, you are there told, that your heart 
 ouglu to be where your treafure is ; that is to fay, 
 in the defire and in the hope of eternal riches ; 
 and that the Chriftian is not of this world. De- 
 cide thereupon the difficulty yourfelves. 
 
 You demand if continual gaming, amufements, 
 theatres, and fo many other plaafures, fo innocent 
 in the eyes of the world, ought to be banifhed 
 from the Chriftian life. You are there told, that 
 bleffed are they who weep ; and that evil to thole 
 who laugh, and who receive their confolation in 
 this world. Follow the fpirit of this rule, and fee 
 to what it leads. 
 
 You enquire if, having to live in the world, 
 you ought to live like the world ; if we would wifh 
 to condemn almoft all men who live like you ; 
 and if, in order to ferve G^d, it be necefTary to 
 affect Angularities which excite the ridicule of 
 other men. You are there told, that we are not 
 to conform to this corrupted age ; that it is impof- 
 fible to pleafe men and to be the fervant of Jefus 
 Chrift ; and that the multitude is always the par- 
 ty of the reprobate. You have now to fay whe- 
 ther the anfwer be explicit. 
 
 You doubt, if, having pardoned your enemy, 
 you be alfo obliged to fee him, to ferve him, to af- 
 fifl 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 ; 
 
 fpcak 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. in 
 
 fpeak well of thofe who calumniate you ; love 
 thofe who hate you. Enter into the fpirit of this 
 precept, and fay if it doth not ihed a light over 
 your doubt, which inftantly clears it up and diffi- 
 pates it. 
 
 Laffly, propofe as many doubts as you pleafe 
 upon duties, and it will be eafy for you to decide 
 them by the fpirit of the law, if the letter fay no- 
 thing of them ; for the letter kills me, fays the 
 apoitle : that is to fay, to (top 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 the fpirit which vivifies, is to be 
 a Jew, and to be willing to be felf-deceived. No 
 longer tell us then, my brethren, when we con- 
 demn fo many abufes which you, without fcruple, 
 allow yourfelves : " But the gofpel 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 inftruction ; and it goes fo 
 much the farther, and fays fo much the more, as 
 that, without (lopping to regulate a particular de- 
 tail, it regulates the paffions themfelves ; that, 
 without detailing all the aclions, it goes to reprels 
 thofe inclinations which are the fources of them j 
 and that, without confining itfelf to certain exter- 
 nal circumftances of the manners, it propofes to 
 us, as rules of duty, only felf denial, hatred of the 
 
 world* 
 
112 SERMON III. 
 
 world, love of fufferance, contempt for whatever 
 takes place, and the whole extent of its crucifying 
 maxims : firfl reflection. 
 
 I fay, in the fecond place, that it is not the ob- 
 fcurity of the law, but our paffions. (till dear, which 
 give rife to all our doubts upon the duties ; that 
 the worldly fouls are thofe who find mofl difficulty 
 and mofl obfcurity in the rules of the manners j 
 that nothing appears clear to thofe who would wifh 
 that nothing were fo j 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 fpi- 
 f it alone which gives underftanding of the precepts ; 
 that 9 unlefs the rules and duties are loved, they can 
 never be thoroughly known ; that we~ enter into 
 the truth only through charity ; and that the fin- 
 cere defire of falvation is the grand folver of all 
 difficulties : I fay that faithful an<! fervent fouls 
 have almofl never any thing to oppofe to the law 
 of God ; and that their doubts are rather pious 
 alarms upon holy aclions, than pretexts and diffi- 
 culties to authorile profane ones. 
 
 Men have learned to doubt upon the rules of 
 the manners, only fmce they have wifhed to con- 
 ned them with their iniquitous paffions. Alas ! 
 all was almofl decided for the firfl believers : in 
 thefe happy ages, we fee not that the firfl pallors 
 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 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 1 I 3 
 
 have appeared only with the corruption of. man- 
 ners : in proportion as believers have had more 
 paflions to fatisfy, they have, had more doubts to 
 propofe ; it hath been neceffary to multiply vo- 
 lumes UDon volumes, in order to refolve difficulties 
 which cupidity alone formed ; difficulties already 
 all refolved in the gofpel, and upon which the iirit 
 ages of faith would have been fcandalifed, that 
 they had dared to form even a doubt. Our .ages, 
 flill more diflolute than thofe which preceded 
 us, have ftill beheld thefe enormous collections of 
 cafes and refolutions increafmg and multiplying to 
 infinity : all the mod inconteftible rules of; the 
 morality of jefus Chrift are there become almofl 
 problems ; there is no duty upon which corruption 
 hath not had difficulties to propofe, and to which 
 a falfe learning hath not found mollifications : eve- 
 ry thing has there been agitated, contested, and 
 put in doubt : the mind of man hath there been 
 feen quibbling with the fpirit of God, and fubfli- 
 tuting human doctrines in place of that doctrine 
 which Jefus Chrifl hath brought to us jrom hea- 
 ven j and although we pretend not univerfally to 
 blame all thofe pious and able ten, who have left 
 to us thefe laborious maffes of decifions, it had 
 been to be wifhed that the church had never call- 
 ed in fuch aids ; and we cannot help looking up- 
 on them as remedies which are themfelves become 
 difeafes, and as the fad fruits of the neceility of the 
 Vol. III. P times, 
 
114 SERMON III. 
 
 times, of the depravity of manners, and of the de- 
 cay of truth among men. 
 
 Doubts upon the duties arife, therefore, from 
 the corruption of our hearts, much more than from 
 the obfcurities of the rules, The light of the law, 
 fays St Auguftin, refembles that of the fun ; but 
 vainly doth it mine, glitter, enlighten ; the blind 
 are unaffected by it : now, every fmner is that 
 blind perfon ; the light is near to him, furrounds 
 him, penetrates him, enters from every quarter in- 
 to his foul ; but he is always himfelf far from the 
 light. Purify your heart, continues that holy fa- 
 ther ; remove from it the fatal bandage of the paf- 
 fions ; then fhall you clearly fee all your duties, 
 and all your doubts mall vanifh. Thus we conti- 
 nually fee that, when touched with grace, a foul 
 begins to adopt folid meafures for eternity, his eyes 
 are opened upon a thoufand truths which, till then, 
 he had concealed from himfelf: in proportion as 
 his paflions diminiih, his lights increafe ; he is a- 
 ftonifhed by what means he could fo long have fhut 
 his eyes upon truths which now appear to him fo 
 evident and fo inconteftible ; and, far from a fa- 
 cred guide having then occafion to conteft, and to 
 maintain againfl him the interefts 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 the novelty 
 
 and 
 
EVIDENCE 01 THE LAW OF GOD. II5 
 
 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 becomes more evident, it is 
 the eyes of the heart which are opened to its luftre; 
 in a word, it is not the gofpel, but the finner who 
 is changed. 
 
 And a freih proof of what I advance is, that, up- 
 on thofe points of the law where no particular 
 pailion or interefl blinds us, we are equitable and 
 clear-lighted. A mifer, who hides from himfelf 
 the rules of faith, upon the infatiable love of riches, 
 clearly fees the maxims which condemn ambition 
 or luxury. A voluptuary, who tries to juftify to 
 himfelf the weaknefs of his inclinations, gives no 
 quarter to the mean defires, and to the fordid at- 
 tachments of avarice. A man, mad for exaltation 
 and fortune, and who confiders the eternal exer- 
 tions which he is under the neceffity of making, in 
 order to fucceed, as weighty and ferious dares, and 
 alone worthy his birth and his name, fees all the 
 unworthinefs of a life of amufement and pleafure, 
 and clearly comprehends that a man, born with a 
 name, degrades and difhonours himfelf by lazinefs 
 and indolence. A woman, feized with the rage 
 of gaming, yet otherwife regular, is inveterate a- 
 gainft the flighted faults which attack the conduct, 
 and continually juftifies the innocence of exceffive 
 gaming, by contracting it with irregularities of an- 
 other defcription, from which fhe finds herielf free. 
 
 Another, 
 
I I 6 SERMON III. 
 
 Another, on the contrary, intoxicated with her 
 perfon and with her beauty, totally engroffed by 
 her deplorable paflions, confiders that obftinate 
 perfeverance in an eternal gaming as a kind of dif- 
 eafe and derangement of the mind, and, in the 
 fhame of her own engagements, fees nothing but 
 an innocent weaknefs and involuntary inclinations, 
 the dediny of which we find in our hearts. 
 
 Review all the paflions, and you will fee that, in 
 proportion as we are exempted from fome one, we 
 fee, we condemn it in others j we know the rules 
 which forbid it ; we go even to the rigour againd 
 others, upon the obfervance of duties which interefl 
 not our own weakneffes, and we carry our feverity 
 beyond even the rule itfelf. The Pharifees, fo in- 
 flructed in, and fo fevere upon the guilt of the a- 
 dulterefs, 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 Chrifl. 
 Obfcurities are only in our own heart ; and we 
 never begin to doubt upon our duties, but when 
 we begin to love thofe maxims which oppofe them. 
 Second reflection. 
 
 In effect, I tell you, in the third place, you be- 
 lieve that the gofpel is not fo exprefs as we pre- 
 tend, 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 j we 
 
 confent 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. 11^ 
 
 eonfent that, of all the dut:»s prefcribcd to you by 
 it, you fhall think yourfelves obliged to obferve 
 only thofe which are marked there in terms fo pre- 
 cife and clear that it is impoflible to miftake or 
 mifconftrue them : more is not required of you, 
 and we free you from all the reft. Hear it then : 
 s ' And whofoever doth not bear his crofs, and 
 " come after me, cannot be my difciple. Who- 
 " foever he be of you, that forfaketh not all that 
 " he hath, he cannot be my difciple. The king- 
 *' dom of heaven fuffereth violence, and the vio- 
 " lent take it by force. Except ye repent, ye 
 " fhall all likewife 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 mall mourn and weep. Blefled 
 M are they that weep now ; for ye (hall laugh. He 
 " that loveth his father, his wife, his children, 
 " yea, and his life alfo, better than me, is not 
 " worthy of me. I fay unto you that ye mail 
 " weep and lament, but the world mall rejoice ; 
 c; and ye mall be forrowful, but your forrow fhall 
 " be turned into joy." 
 
 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 took in the weaknefs of 
 my own heart, the doctrine which I announce to 
 you, alas ! I would fpeak to you only the language 
 
 of 
 
IlS SERMON, UU 
 
 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 necef- 
 fary to hate one's felf : 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 himfelf, can fpeak 
 only this language of flefh and blood. But would 
 you believe me, as I have already demanded 5 
 would you refpect my miniftry ; would you look 
 upon me as an angel from heaven, who mould 
 come 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 lead, 
 commanded in terms lefs clear, and more fufcepti- 
 ble of favourable interpretations. Reckon not a- 
 mong your duties, but thefe holy and inconteftible 
 rules ; we exact nothing more ; limit yourfelves to 
 performing what they prefcribe to you ; and you 
 will fee that you fhall do more than we even de- 
 mand of you j and that the mofl common and 
 mod familiar maxims of the gofpel go infinitely 
 farther than all our difcourfes. Third reflection. 
 
 I alfo fay to you, in the fourth place, that, if 
 almoft all be contefted in the world, upon the moll 
 inconteftible duties of Chriflian piety, it is becaufe 
 
 the 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. I 19 
 
 the gofpel is a book unknown to the greateft part 
 of believers; it is that, through a deplorable abufe, 
 a whole life is paffed in acquiring vain learning, 
 equally ufelefs to man, to his happinefs, 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 
 which is to conduct us, the titles of our hopes, 
 the teftimony of our immortality, the confolations 
 of our exilement, and the aids of our pilgrimage : 
 it is that, on entering into the world, care is taken 
 to prefent to us thofe books, in which are explain- 
 ed the rules of that profeflion to which we are al- 
 lotted ; and that the book of the law, in which the 
 rules of the profeflion of the Chriflian are contain- 
 ed, that profeflion which iTiall furvive all others, 
 alone neceflary, and the only one which fhall ac- 
 company us into eternity j that book, I fay, is left 
 in neglect, and enters not into the plan of ftudies 
 which ought to occupy our earlier years ; laflly, it 
 is that fabulous 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 occupation, and the whole confola- 
 tion of our life, does not appear to us worthy evert 
 of our curiofity. 
 
 I am not furprifed, after this, if we have conti- 
 nual occafion to maintain the gofpel againft the 
 abufes and the prejudices of the world j if we are 
 
 liftened 
 
120 SERMON III. 
 
 Hftencd to with the fame furprife, when we an- 
 nounce the commoneft truths of the Chrifrian mo-- 
 rality, as though we announced the belief and the 
 myfteries of thofe favage and far diftant nations, 
 whofe countries and- manners are hardly known ; 
 and if the doctrine of Jefus Chriit find the fame 
 oppofition at prefent in minds that it experienced 
 at the birth of faith, it is, that there are Chriftians 
 to whom the book of the gofpel is almoft 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 of which are fo fu- 
 biime, 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 of faith, of fubmifficn, of 
 truft, which the church exacts, and you will foon 
 be as well acquainted with your duties, and with 
 the rules of the manners, as the doctors themfelves 
 who teach you. 
 
 And indeed, my brethren, whence comes it, I 
 beg of you, that the firft believers carried fo far 
 the purity of manners, and the holinefs of ChrifH- 
 anity ? Were other maxims announced to them 
 than thofe which we announce to you ? Was an- 
 other gofpel preached to them, more clear and 
 more explicit than that which we preach to you ? 
 
 Neverthelefs, 
 
EVIDENCE OF THI LAW OF COD. 121 
 
 Neverthelefs, they were idolatrous and difiblute 
 nations, who had brought, to the truths of faith, 
 all the prejudices of the fuperftitions, and of the 
 mod infamous voluptuoufnefles author'fed even 
 by their worfhip. Did the gofpel contain the 
 fmalleft obfcurities favourable to the paflions, it 
 furely ought to have been thofe firft difciples of 
 faith who mould have made the miftake. Never- 
 thelefs, whence comes it that they never propofed 
 to the apoftles and to their fuccefTors the fame diff- 
 iculties which you continually oppofe to us, in 
 iupport of the abufes of the world, and of the in- 
 terefts of the paflions ? Whence comes it, that, 
 with more inclinations and more prejudices than 
 we for pleafures, thofe blefled believers at once 
 comprehended how far, in order to obey the gof- 
 pel, it was neceffary to deny them to themfelves ? 
 
 Ah ! it was that, night and day, they had the 
 book of the law in their hands : it was that pa- 
 tience, and the confolation of the fcriptures, were 
 the fweeteft occupation of 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 reflection. 
 
 Laftly, I fay, even admitting that fome obfcuri- 
 ties mould be found there, doth not the law of 
 God find all its evidence in inftruction and in 
 
 Vol. III. (^ the 
 
x 22 SERMON III. 
 
 the miniftry ? The Chriftian pulpits announce to 
 you the parity of the holy maxims ; the paftors 
 publicly preach them ; men, full of zeal and of 
 knowledge, convey them down to poflerity, 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 be- 
 lievers ; and in which the prieft was confidered 
 as more enlightened, whenever he was more fu- 
 perftitious than his people. 
 
 It would feem, O my 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 become 
 more evident ;*in proportion as faith becomes lan- 
 guid, it is cleared up and purified ; like thofe fires 
 which, in expiring, give a momentary flam, and 
 never difplay their luftre with fuch brilliancy as 
 when on the eve of being extinguifhed. 
 
 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 : wheji 
 
 fincerely 
 
EVIDENCE OF THE LAW OT GOD. IJJ 
 
 lin'cerely 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, be- 
 caufe we wi(h to err with them ; they are not the 
 firft authors of our ruin, they are only the encou- 
 ragers of it ; they do not lead us into the path of 
 perdition, they only leave us there ; and we are 
 already determined to periih before we apply for 
 their fuffrage. In effect, we fenfibly feel ourfelves 
 the danger and the imprudence of the choice we 
 make ; even the more we find the oracle comply- 
 ing, the more we miftrufl his lights ; the more he 
 refpects our paflions, the lefs we refpect his minif- 
 try ; he is frequently made the fubject even of our 
 derifions ; we turn into ridicule that very indul- 
 gence which we have fought ; we vaunt the hav- 
 ing found a protector fo convenient for the hu- 
 man weaknefies ; and, through a blindnefs which 
 cannot be mentioned without tears, the foul and 
 eternal falvation are confided to a man who is be- 
 lieved unworthy, not only of refpect, but even of 
 attention and decency ; like thofe Ifraelites who, 
 a moment after having bowed the knee to the 
 golden calf, and expected from it their falvation 
 and their deliverance, broke it in pieces with dif- 
 grace, and reduced it to allies. 
 
 But, after all, when the ignorance or the weak- 
 ening of miniflers mould even be an occafion of 
 error, the examples of the holy undeceive you. 
 
 You 
 
124 SERMON III. 
 
 You fee what, from the beginning, hath been the 
 path of thofe who have obtained the proraifes, and 
 whofe memory and holy toils we flili honour upon 
 the earth : you fee that none of them hath accom- 
 plished 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 
 fiefh, defpifed the world with its pleafures and 
 maxims : you fee that thofe ages, fo oppofite to 
 each olher for their manners and cuftroms, have 
 never made any change in the manners of the 
 juft ; that the holy of the firft times were the fame 
 as thofe of the laft j that the countries, even the 
 moll diffimular for their difpofition and behaviour, 
 have produced holy, all refembling each other ; 
 that thofe of the mod diftant climates, and the 
 mofi 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 falvation in obfcurity, o- 
 thers in elevation ; fome in poverty, others in a- 
 bundance ; fome in the diffipation of dignities and 
 of public cares, others in filence and in the calm 
 of folitude : in a word, fome in the cottage, o- 
 thers on the throne ; but that the crofs, violence, 
 and felf-denial hath been the common path of all. 
 What then art thou, to pretend to reach hea- 
 ven by other ways ; and thou flattered thyfelf that, 
 in that crowd of illuftrious fervants of the living 
 
 God, 
 
iVIDfiNCE OF THE LAW OF GOD. I 25 
 
 God, thou alone fhalt be privileged ? My God ! 
 with what luftre haft thou not furrounded the 
 truth, in order to render man inexcufable! His 
 confcience (hews it to him ; thy holy law guards 
 it for him ; the voice of the church makes it to 
 refound in his ears ; the example of thy holy in- 
 ceflantly places it before his eyes j every thing 
 rifes up againft guilt ; all take the interefts of thy 
 holy law againll his falfe peace j from every quar- 
 ter proceed rays of light which go to bear the 
 truth even to the bottom of his foul : no place, no 
 fituation can protect him from thofe divine fparks 
 emitted from thy bofom, which every where pur- 
 fue 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 jufl 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 for rows ? Since, by 
 a confequence of the riches of God's mercy upon 
 your foul, you cannot fucceed, like fo many impi- 
 ous and hardened hearts, to ftifle that internal mo- 
 nitor which inceffantly recalls you to order and 
 duty, why will you obftinately withftand the hap- 
 pinefs of your lot ? Why fo many efforts to de- 
 fend you from yourfelf ? So many Harts and lights 
 to ihun yourfelf ? At laft, reconcile your hearts 
 
 with 
 
S20 SERMON III. 
 
 with your lights, your confcience with your man* 
 Hers, yourfelf with the law of God ; behold the 
 only fecret of attaining to that peace of heart 
 which you feek. Turn yourfelf on every fide, you 
 muft always come to that. Obfervance of the law 
 is the true happinefs of man : it is deceiving him- 
 felf to look upon it as a yoke : it alone places the 
 heart at liberty. Whatever favours our paflions, 
 iharpens our ills, increafes our troubles* multiplies 
 our bonds, and aggravates our ilavery ; the law 
 of God alone, in reprefling them, places us in or-* 
 der, quiets, cures, and delivers us. Such is the 
 deftiny of finful man, to be incapable of happinefs 
 here below, but by overcoming his paflions ; to 
 attain by violence alone to the true pleafures of 
 the heart, and afterwards to that eternal peace pre- 
 pared for thofe who mall have loved the law of 
 the Lord. 
 
 SER- 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. 
 
 John viii. 46. 
 And if I fay the truth, why do ye not believe me ? 
 
 It is not enough to have defended the evidence 
 of the law of God againft the affected ignorance of 
 the fmners who violate it ; it is neceffary likewife 
 to eftablifh its immutability againft all the pretexts 
 which feem to authorife the world to difpenfe itfelf 
 from its holy rules. 
 
 Jefus Chrift is not fatisfied with announcing f 
 the Pharifees that the truth which they know mail 
 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 nrft recalls them to their own con- 
 fidence f 
 
128 SERMON 1V# 
 
 fcience ; he afterwards accufes them of having 
 itruck even at its immutability ; of fubftituting hu- 
 man cuftoms and traditions in place of the perpe- 
 tuity of its rules; of accommodating them to times, 
 to circumftances, and to interefts ; and declares to 
 them that, even to the end of ages, a fmgle jota 
 mall not be changed in his law ; that heaven and 
 the earth fhali pafs away, but that his law and his 
 holy w r ord fhall for ever be the fame. 
 
 And tfchold, my brethren, the abufes which Mill 
 reign among us againfl the law of God. We have 
 fhewn to you that, in fpite of the doubts and the 
 obfeurities which our lufts have fpread over our 
 duties, the light of the law, always fuperior to our 
 paffions, diffipated, in fpite of ourfelves, thefe ob- 
 feurities, and that we were never hearty in the 
 tranfgrefiions which we tried to juftify to ourfelves. 
 But it is little to be wilting, like the Pharifees, to 
 darken the evidence of the law; like them, we like- 
 wife ftrike at its immutability ; and, as if the law 
 of God could change with the manners of the age, 
 the differences of conditions, the neceflity of fitua- 
 tions, we believe that we can accommodate it to 
 thefe three different circumftances, and in them 
 find pretexts, either to mollify its feverity, or alto- 
 gether to violate its precepts. 
 
 iy?/y, In effect, the heart of men is changeable ; 
 every age fees new cuftoms fpring up among us ; 
 times and the cuftoms always determine our man- 
 ners : now, the law of God is immutable in its du- 
 ration, 
 
IMMUTABILITY - OF THE LAW OF GOD. 129 
 
 ration, always the fame in all times and in al! pla- 
 ces ; and, by this x firft character of immutability, 
 it alone ought to be the conftant and perpetual rule 
 of our manners : firft reflection. 
 
 2d!y, The heart of man is vain ; whatever levels 
 us with the reft of men, wounds our pride; we 
 love diftinctions and preferences ; we believe that, 
 in the elevation of rank and of birth, we find pri- 
 vileges againft the law : now, the law of God is 
 immutable in its extent ; it levels ail ftations and 
 all conditions ; it is the fame for the great and for 
 the people, for the prince and for the fubject ; and, 
 by this fecond character of immutability, it ought 
 to recall to the fame duties that variety of flations 
 and conditions which fpreads fo much inequality 
 over the detail of manners and of the rules : fecond 
 reflection. 
 
 Lq/ily, The heart of man connects every thing 
 with itfelf ; he perfuades himfelf that his interefts 
 ought to be preferred to the law and to the inte- 
 refts of God himfelf; the flightefl inconveniencies 
 are reafons, in his eyes, againft the rule : now, the 
 law of God is immutable in all fituations of life ; 
 and, by this laft character of immutability, there 
 is neither perplexity, nor inconveniency, nqr appa- 
 rent neceflity, which can difpenfe us from its pre- 
 cepts : laft reflection. 
 
 And behold the three pretexts, which the world 
 oppofes to the immutability of the law of God, 
 overthrown : the pretext of manners and cuftoms ; 
 
 Vol. III. R the 
 
I30 3 £ R M ON IV. 
 
 the pretext of rank and of birth ; the pretext of 
 fituations and inconveniencies. The law of God 
 is immutable in its duration ; therefore, the man- 
 ners and the cuftoms can never change it : the law 
 of God is immutable in its extent ; therefore, the 
 difference of ranks and of conditions leaves it every 
 where the fame : the law of God is immutable in 
 all fituations ; therefore, inconveniencies, perplexi- 
 ties, never juftify the fmalleft tranfgreffion of it. 
 
 Part'I. One of the moil urgent and mofl ufual 
 reproaches which the firfr. fupporters of religion 
 formerly made to the heathens, was the instability 
 of their moral fyftem, and the continual fluc- 
 tuations of their doctrine. As the fullnefs of 
 truth was not in vain philofophy, and as they 
 drew not their lights, faid Tertullian, from that 
 fovereign reafon which enlightens all minds, and 
 which is the immutable teacher of the truth ; but 
 from the corruption of their heart, and the vanity 
 of their thoughts ; they qualified good and evil 
 according to their caprices, and, among them, 
 vice and virtue were almofl arbitrary names. Ne- 
 verthelefs, continues this father, the mofl infepa- 
 rable character 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 
 
IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. 131 
 
 what men have not eftabliflied, and what is more 
 ancient than men themfelves. 
 
 Now, it was not furprifirig that morality had 
 nothing determinate, in the heathen fchools, deli- 
 vered up to the pride, and to the variations of the 
 human mind ; it was vanity, and not the truih, 
 which made philofophers ; the rules changed 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. 
 
 Bat, what is aftonifhing, is, that Chriftians, 
 who have received from heaven the eternal and 
 immutable law which regulates their manners, 
 believe it to be equally changeable 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 of manners, and are 
 'no longer made for the weaknefs and the corrup- 
 tion of our ages. 
 
 In efte£t, the gofpel, the law of Jefus Chrift, is 
 immutable in its duration : feeing every thing 
 change around it, it alone changes not ; the du- 
 ties 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 mutability of its origin ; empires and ftates 
 have their rife and their fall ; arts and fciences 
 
 fall 
 
132 SERMON IV. 
 
 fall or fpring up with the ages ; cuftoms continu- 
 ally 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 
 deftroy what we, with fo much anxiety, rear up ; 
 we deftroy what our fathers had thought worthy 
 of an eternal duration; and, in order to teach us in 
 what eftimation we ought to hold things here be- 
 low, God permitteth that they ha've nothing deter- 
 minate or folid, but that very inconftancy which 
 inceffantly 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 j but the holy words of the law 
 fhall never pa£> away : fuch as the firft believers 
 received them at the birth of faith, fuch have we 
 them at prefent, fuch {hall our defendants one 
 day receive them ; lafily, fuch fhall the bleflfed in 
 heaven eternally love and adore them. The fer- 
 vour or the licenriuufnefs of ages add or diminifh 
 nothing to their indulgence, or from their feveri- 
 ty ; the zeal or the complaifance of men, renders 
 them neither more auflere, nor more accommoda- 
 ting. The intolerant rigour, or the excefiive re- 
 laxation of opinions and tenets, leaves them all 
 the wife fobriety of their rules ; and they form 
 that eternal gofpel which the angel, in the Reve- 
 lation, 
 
IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. I33 
 
 iation, announces from on high in heaven, from the 
 beginning, to every tongue and to every nation. 
 
 Neverthelefs, my brethren, when, in the man- 
 ners of the primitive believers, we fometimes re- 
 prefent to you all the duties of the gofpel exactly 
 fulfilled, their freedom from the world, their ab- 
 fence from theatres and public pleafures, their af- 
 fiduity in the temples, the modefty and the decen- 
 cy of their drefs, their charity for their brethren, 
 their indifference for all perifhable things, their 
 continual defire of going to be re-united to Jefus 
 Chrifr. ; in a word, that fimple, retired, and mor- 
 tified life, fuflained by fervent prayer, and by the 
 confolation of the holy books, and fuch, in effect, 
 as the gofpel prefcribes to all the difciples of 
 faith ; when we bring forward to you, I fay, thefe 
 ancient models, in order to make you feel,, by the 
 difference betwixt the primitive manners and yours, 
 how diftant you are from the kingdom of God ; 
 far from being alarmed at finding yourfelves difii- 
 milar to fuch a degree, that hardly could it be 
 believed that you were difciples of the fame Matter, 
 and followers of the fame law; you reproach us with 
 continually recalling, even to wearinefs, thefe pri- 
 mitive times, of never fpeaking but of the primitive 
 church, as if it were pofiible to regulate our man- 
 ners, upon manners of which every trace hath 
 long been done away, impracticable at prefent a- 
 mong us, and which the times and cuftoms have 
 univerfally aboliihed, You fay, that men mufl be 
 
 taken 
 
134 SERMON IV. 
 
 taken as they are ; that it were to be wifhed that the 
 pritnitive fervour had been kept up in the church ; 
 but that every thing becomes relaxed and weak- 
 ened 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 Chriftianity, 
 have adulterated that of the gofpel ? Are the rules 
 become more pliable and more favourable to the 
 paffions, becaufe men are become more fenfual 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 
 the misfortune to live, faith mould almoft no long- 
 er be found upon the earth, that his name mould 
 hardly be known there, that his maxims mould be 
 deuroyed, that the duties fhould be incompatible 
 with the cufloms, and that the juft -themfelves 
 mould allow themfelves to be almoft infected by 
 the univerfal contagion, and to be ..-lagged away 
 by the torrent of example ; hath he then added, 
 that, in or.ier to accommodate himfelf to the cor- 
 ruption of thefe latter times, he would relax fome- 
 fhing of the fevericy of his gcipel ; that he would 
 confent that cufloms, eftablK'ied by the ignorance 
 $nd the licentioufnefs of the ages, fhould fucceed to 
 
 the 
 
IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. I 35 
 
 the rules and to the duties of bis doctrine ; that he 
 would then exact of his difciples infinitely lefs than 
 he exacted at the birth of faith ; and that his king- 
 dom, which, at iirft, was promifed only to force, 
 mould then be granted to indolence and lazinefs ? 
 Hath he added this, I demand of you ? On the con- 
 trary, he warns his difciples that then, in thefe lat- 
 ter times, it will, more than ever, be neceffary to 
 pray, to fail, to retire to the mountains, in order 
 to fhun the general corruption : he warns them, 
 that wo unto thofe Who fhall then remain expofed 
 amid the world ; that thofe alone mall be fafe who 
 fhall diveft themfelves of all, and who mall 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 effect, my brethren, the more diforders 
 augment, the more ought piety to be fervent and 
 watchful j the more we are furrounded with dan- 
 gers, the more doth prayer, retreat, mortification, 
 become neceffaiy to us. The licentioufnefs of the 
 prefent manners adds ftill new obligations to thofe 
 of our fathers ; and, far from the path of falvation 
 having become more eafy than in thofe former 
 times, we fhall perim with a moderate virtue, 
 which, fupported then by the common example, 
 would perhaps have been fufiicient to fecure our 
 falvation. 
 
 Befides, 
 
I36 StRMON IV. 
 
 Befides, my brethren, I demand of you, in the 
 fecond place,, do you really believe that the rigo- 
 rous precepts of the gofpel, thofe maxims of the 
 crofs, of violence, of felf-denia!, of contempt for 
 the vvorld, have been made only for the primitive 
 ages of faith ? Do you believe that Jefus Chrifr. 
 hath deflined all the rigours of his doftrine for 
 thofe chafte, innocent, charitable, and fervent men, 
 who lived in thefe happy times of the church ; 
 thofe men who denied themfelves every pleafure, 
 thofe primitive heroes of religion, who, almofl all, 
 preferved, even to the end, the grace of regenera- 
 tion which had made them Chriilians ? 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 indul- 
 gence for the corrupted men of our ages ? Jefus 
 Chrift would have made ftricl: 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 hufbands ; who, ffmt up in the inclofure of 
 their houfes, brought up their children in faith and 
 in piety ? And he would exact lefs at prefent of 
 thofe fenfual, voluptuous, 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 which 
 they lay for innocence ? And where would here be 
 that fo much vaunted equity and wifdom of the 
 
 Chriftiau 
 
IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. 137 
 
 Chriftian morality ? More mould then be exafted 
 of him who owes lefs ? The tranlgrdfions of the 
 law mould then difpenfe from its feverity thofe 
 who violate it ? It would fuffice to have paffions, 
 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 mould have, the lefs mould they 
 have occafion for virtues ? 
 
 Again allow me, my brethren, to add, in the 
 lad place, if the change of manners could change 
 the rules, if cuftoms could juftify abufes, the eter- 
 nal law of God mould then accommodate itfelf to 
 the inconftancy of the time3, and to the ridiculous 
 tafte 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 of our fa- 
 thers, and undoubtedly they (hall not pafs to our lad 
 defcendants ; they are not common to all the na- 
 tions who, like us, worfhip Jefus Chrift. There- 
 fore, 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 an- 
 gel who mould 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 cuf* 
 toms, but the manners and cuftoms are to be judg- 
 
 Vol. III. § cd 
 
^3& SERMON IV. 
 
 ed tjy the duties and rules : therefore, it is the law 
 of God which ought to be the conftant rule of the 
 times, and not the variation of 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 uni- 
 verfally eftabiifhed ; but you are not charged with 
 the reformation of the univerfe : change yourfelf; 
 lave your own foul with which you are entrufted; 
 behold all that is exacted of you : laftly,' that the 
 Chriilians of the primitive times had either, more 
 force or more grace than we : ah ! they had more 
 faith, more conflancy, more love for Jefus Chrift, 
 more contempt for the world : behold all that dif- 
 tinguimed them from us. 
 
 Have we not the fame fources of grace as they, 
 the fame miniftry, the fame altar, the fame victim? 
 Do the mercies of the Lord not flow with the 
 fame abundance upon his church ? Have we not 
 Mill among us pure and holy fouls, -who renew 
 the fervour and faith of the primitive times, and 
 who are living proofs of the pofiibility of the du- 
 ties, and of the mercies of the Lord upon his peo- 
 ple ? " Tell us no longer then," fays the fpirit of 
 God, " that the former days were better than 
 " thefe ; for thou doft not enquire wifely con- 
 " cerning this." To follow Jefus Chrift, fuffer- 
 ance muft always be required : in all ages, it hath 
 been neceflary to bear his crofs, not to conform 
 
 to 
 
IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. I39 
 
 to the corrupted age, and to live as ftrangers upon 
 the earth : in all times, the holy have had the 
 fame paffions as we to refift, the fame abufes to 
 fhun, the fame fnares to dread, the fame obflacles 
 ' to furmount : and, if there be any difference here, 
 it is, that, in former times, it was not merely arbi- 
 trary cuftoms which they had to fhun, nor the de- 
 rifions of the world which they had only to dread, 
 in declaring for Jefus Chrift ; it was the moll cruel 
 puniifiments to which they mud expofe them- 
 felves ; it was the power of the Cefars, and the 
 rage of tyrants, which thev muft defpife ; it was 
 fuperftitions, become refpe&ab'e through their an- 
 tiquity, countenanced by the laws of the empire, 
 and by the confent of almoft all the people, which 
 they had to make off: it was, in a word, the whole 
 univerfe which they had to arm againft themfelves. 
 But the faith of thefe pious men was ftronger than 
 puniifiments, than the tyrants, than the Cefars, 
 than the whole world, and our faith cannot hold 
 out againft the abfurdiry of cuftoms, or the pueri- 
 lity of derifion j and the gofpel, which could for- 
 merly make martyrs, fcarcely at prefent can it 
 form a believer. The law of God is then immu- 
 table 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 ftations and condi\ 
 tions : this is my fecond reflection. 
 
 Part II. The moft effential character of the 
 law of Jefus Chrift, is that of uniting, u.ider the 
 
 fame 
 
%4* SERMON IV. 
 
 fame rules, the Jew and the Gentile, the Greek 
 and the Barbarian, the great and the people, the 
 prince and the fubject; in it there is no longer 
 exception of perfons. The law of Mofes, at leaft 
 in its cufloms and in its ceremonies, was given 
 only to a fmgle people ; but Jefus Chrift is an 
 univerfal Legiflator ; his law, as his death, is for 
 all men He came, of all people to make only 
 one people ; of all ftations and of all conditions 
 to form only one body : it is the fame fpirit which 
 animates it, the fame laws which govern it : dif- 
 ferent functions 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 tbefe hateful diftinctions, which for- 
 merly divided men, are deflroyed by the church : 
 that holy law knows neither poor nor rich ; nei- 
 ther noble nor bafe born ; neither mafter nor 
 Have ; it fees in men only the title of believer, 
 which equals them all : it diftinguifhes them not 
 by their names, or by iheir offices, but by their 
 virtues ; and the greateft in its light are thofe who 
 are the moft holy. 
 
 Neverthelefs, a fecond illufion, pretty common 
 againfl the immutability of the law of God, is the 
 perfuafion that it changes and becomes mollified 
 in favour of rank and of birth ; that its obligations 
 are lefs rigid for perfons born to elevation ; and 
 that the obftacles, which high places and the man- 
 ners attached to grandeur throw in the way of the 
 
 < ' '••■3.nr/» 
 
IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. I41 
 
 ©bfervance of the drift duties of the gofpel, and 
 which render the practice of them almofl impofii- 
 ble to the great, likewife render their tranfgreffion 
 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 fal- 
 vation for them than for the people. Thence, all 
 the laws of the church violated j the times and 
 the days confecrated to abitinence, confounded 
 with the reft of days, are looked upon as pa al- 
 leges refufed to the vulgar, and referved folely for 
 rank and birth : thence, to live only for the fenfes, 
 to be attentive only to fatisfy them, to refufe no- 
 thing to tafte, to vanity, to curiofity, to idlenefs, 
 to ambition, to make a God of one's felf ; the 
 fame profperity, which facilitates all thefe exceffes, 
 excufes and juftifies them. 
 
 But, my brethren, 1 have already faid it, the 
 gofpel is the law of all men : great, people, you 
 have all promifed, upon the facred fonts, to ob- 
 ferve it. The church, in receiving you into the 
 number of her children, hath not propofed to the 
 great other vows to make, and other rules to prac- 
 tife, 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 according to the flefh, you were 
 great, or of the common people ; but if, by your 
 
 regeneration 
 
142 SERMON IV. 
 
 regeneration in Jems Chrifr, you meant to be 
 faithful, and to engage yourfelf to follow his law : 
 upon the vow which you have made of it, me 
 hath placed the holy gofpel upon your head, in 
 order to mark that you fubmitted yourfelf to that 
 facred yoke. 
 
 Now, my brethren, all the duties~of the gofpel 
 are reduced to two points. Some are propofed 
 in order to refift and to weaken that fund of cor- 
 ruption which we bear from our birth ; the others 
 in order to perfect that firft grace of the Chriflian 
 "which we have received in baptifm ; that is to fay, 
 the one in order to deflroy in us the old Adam ; 
 the others in order to make Jefus Chrift 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 fecond : behold the whole 
 gofpel. Now, I demand of you, what is there in 
 thefe two descriptions of duties from which rank 
 or birth can difpenfe you ? 
 
 Ought you to pray lefs than the other believers? 
 Have you fewer favours to aik than the), fewer 
 obftaclcs to overcome, fewer mares to avoid, few- 
 er (defires to refift ? Alas ! the more you are ex- 
 alted, the more do dangers augment, the more do 
 occafions of firi fpring up under your feet, the 
 more is the world beloved, the mere doth every 
 thing favour your paffi^ns, the more doth every 
 thing militate againft your good defires j is it in a 
 
 fituation 
 
IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. I 43 
 
 fituation fo terrible for falvation that you find pri- 
 vileges which render it more mild and more com- 
 modious. The more, therefore, that you are ex- 
 alted, the more doth mortification become necef- 
 fary to you ; for, the more that pleafures corrupt 
 your heart, the more is vigilance neceffary, be- 
 caufe the dangers are more frequent j the more 
 ought faith to be lively, becaufe every thing a- 
 round you weakens and excinguifhes it j the more 
 ought prayer to be continual, becaufe the grace, in 
 order to fupport you, ought to be more powerful ; 
 humility of heart more heroical, becaufe the at- 
 tachments to things here below are more unavoid- 
 able : laftly, the more you are exalted, the more 
 doth falvation become difficult to you ; this is the 
 only privilege you can expect, from elevation. 
 Alfo, thou often warned us, great God, that thy 
 kingdom is only for th-e poor and the lowly : thou 
 fpeakeft not of the difficulty of falvation for the 
 great and the powerful, but in terms which would 
 feem to deprive them of all hope of pretending to 
 it, if we knew not that thou wiiheft the falvation 
 of all men, and that thy grace is ft ill more power- 
 ful for our fan&ification, than profperity for our 
 corruption. 
 
 And furely, my brethren, if grandeur and ele- 
 vation were to render our condition more fortu- 
 nate and more favourable with regard to falvation, 
 in vain would the doctrine of Jefus Chrift teach 
 us to dread grandeurs and human profperities* ; in 
 
 vain 
 
1 44 SERMON IV, 
 
 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 mall mourn 
 and weep ; and unto thofe who are rich, for they 
 have received their confolation ; and that, to re- 
 ceive our reward in this world, through the tran- 
 fitory 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, grandeur and 
 profperity would become a ftate 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 opulence j fmce, befides the comforts of a, 
 fmiling fortune, they would likewife find there a 
 way of falvation more mild and more eafy than 
 in an obfcure ftate ; thofe who fufter, and who 
 weep here below, would then be the mod refe- 
 rable of all men ; fince, to all the bitterneifes of 
 their condition, would likewife 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 were the rules of the 
 morality of Jefus Chrift ? 
 
 But I fay not even enough. Granting that 
 profperity mould not exact more rigid precautions 
 in confequence of the dangers which furround it, 
 it would exa£t, at leaft, more rigorous reparations, 
 through the crimes and exceifes which are infepa- 
 
 rable 
 
IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. I45 
 
 rable from it. -Alas ! my brethren, is it not a- 
 mong you that the paflions no longer know any 
 bounds ; that the jealoufies are more keen, the 
 hatreds more lulling, revenge more honourable, 
 evil-fpeaking more cruel, ambition more bound- 
 lefs, and voluptuoufnefs more fhameful ? Is it not 
 among the great that the mod mocking debauch- 
 ery even refines upon the common crimes ; that 
 diflipations become an art ; and that, in order to 
 prevent thofe difgufts infeparable from licentiouf- 
 nefs, refources are fought in guilt againft guilt it- 
 felf? What indulgence then can you promife 
 yourfelves on the part of religion ? If the moffc 
 righteous be refponfible for the whole law, mould 
 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 (hall be the eternal titles of your condem- 
 nation, and not the years and the ages o'f the.anti- 
 quity of your race, which are only vain titles writ- 
 ten upon the aflies of your tombs ; examine what 
 you owe to God, and not what men owe to you. 
 If the world were to judge you, you might pro- 
 mife yourfelves diftinctions and preferences ; but 
 the world (hall itfelf be judged ; and he, who will 
 judge it and you alfo, mail diftinguim men only 
 by their vices or by their virtues. He will not 
 Vol, III. T demand 
 
I46 SERMON IV. 
 
 demand the names, he will demand only the 
 deeds : calculate thereupon the diftin&ions which 
 you ought to expert. 
 
 Thus, we fee not that Jefus Chrift, in the gof- 
 pel, propofed 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 lowed ranks of the people ; he fpeaks in 
 the capital of Judea, and before all that Paleftine 
 had the mod illuitrious, as he fpeaks upon the 
 borders of the fea, or upon the mountains, to that 
 obfeure populace which followed him ; his max- 
 ims are not changed with the rank of thofe who 
 liflen 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 mod obfeure place 
 of Judea ; to that young man who was fo rich, as 
 to the children of Zebedee, whofe only inheritance 
 was their nets ; to the lifters of Lazarus, of a dif- 
 tinguifhed rank in Paleftine, as to the woman of 
 Samaria of a more obfeure condition ; his enemies 
 themfelves confeifed that this was his peculiar 
 character, and were forced to render him this juf- 
 tice, that he taught the way of God in truth, and 
 that he had no refpect of rank or of perfons. 
 
 "What do I fay ? Even after his death the gofpel 
 feemed a doctrine fent down from heaven, only 
 becaufe that, announcing to the great and to the 
 powerful forrowful and crucifying maxims, appa- 
 rently 
 
IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. I47 
 
 rently fo incompatible with their flation, they, ne- 
 verthelefs, fubmitted to the yoke of Jefus Chrift, 
 and embraced a law which," ajnid all their profpe- 
 rity and abundance, permitted to them no more 
 pleafures and comforts here below, than to the 
 common and fimple people. And, in effect, why 
 mould the firff. defenders of faith have regarded 
 the converfion of Cefars, and of the powerful of 
 the age, as a proof of the truth and of the divjnity 
 of the gofpel ? What would there be fo furprifmg, 
 that the rich and the powerful had embraced a 
 doctrine which would diftinguifh 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 that profufions, pleafures, feudalities, 
 gaming, public places, all fo rigoroufly forbidden 
 to common believers, became an innocent occupa- 
 tion for them ; and, that what is a road of perdi- 
 tion for others, mould, for them alone, be a road 
 of falvation ? It would then be the wifdom of the 
 age which would have eftablifhed the gofpel, and 
 not the folly of the crofs j it would be the artifices 
 and the deferences of men, and not the arm of the 
 Almighty ; it would be flefh and blood, and not 
 the power of God ; and the converfion of the uni- 
 verfe would have nothing more wonderful, than 
 the eftablifhment of fuperftitions and of feels. 
 
 And candidly, my brethren, if the gofpel had 
 difiinctions to make, and condefcenfions to grant, 
 
 if 
 
14$ SERMON IV. 
 
 if the law of God could relax fomething of its fe- 
 verity, would it be in favour of thofe who are born 
 to rank and to abundance ? What ! It- would pre- 
 ferve all its rigour for the poor and the unfortu- 
 nate ? It would condemn to tears, to fadings, to 
 penitence, to poverty, thofe unfortunate fouls 
 whofe days are mingled with almoft nothing but 
 fufrerance and forrow, and whofe only comfort is 
 that of eating with temperance the bread earned 
 with the fweat of their brow ? And it would dis- 
 charge from thefe rigorous duties the grandees of 
 the earth ?. And it wouio exact nothing painful 
 of thofe whofe days are only diverfified by the va- 
 riety of their pleasures ? And it would referve all 
 its indulgence for thofe foft and voluptuous fouls 3 
 who live only for the fenfes, who believe that they 
 are upon the earth for the lole purpofe of enjoy, 
 ing an iniquitous felicity, and who know no other 
 god than themfelves ? 
 
 Great God ! It is the blindnefs which thy juflice 
 fheds over burrian profperities : after having cor- 
 rupted the heart, they likewife extinguifh all the 
 lights of faith. It rarely happens but that the 
 great, fo enlightened upon the interefts of the 
 earth, upon the ways to fortune and to glory., up- 
 on the fecret (prings which give motion to courts 
 and empires, live in a profound ignorance of the 
 ways of falvation. They have been fo much ac- 
 cuftomed to preference by the world, that they are 
 perfuaded they ought likewife to find them in re- 
 
 ligion. 
 
IMMUTABILITY OF THE. LAW OF OOD. I 49 
 
 Hgion. Becaufe men do them credit for the fmall- 
 eft fteps taken in their favour, they believe, O my 
 God ! that thou regardeft them with the fame eyes 
 as men; and that, in fulfilling fome weak duties of 
 piety, in taking fome fmall Heps for thee, they go 
 even beyond what they owe to thee : as if their 
 fmallefl religious works acquired a new merit 
 from their rank; in place of which, they acquire it, 
 in thy fight, only from 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 dif- 
 ficult conjuncture, nor perplexity, nor apparent 
 danger, nor pretext of public good, in which to 
 violate, or even to foften it, becomes a legitimate 
 and neceffary modification : this was to have been 
 my lafl reflection ; but i ab - idge and go on. 
 
 Yes, my brethren, every thing becomes reafon 
 and neceflity againtt our duties, that is to fay, a- 
 gainft the law of God ; fituations the lead danger- 
 ous, conjunctures the leaft embarraffing, fumifh us 
 with pretexts to violate it with fafety, and perfuade 
 us that the law of God would be unjuft, and 
 would exact too much of men, if, on thefe occa- 
 fions, it were not to life indulgence with regard to 
 us. 
 
 Thus, the law of God commands us to render 
 to each that which is his due, to retrench, in or- 
 der 
 
I50 SERMON IV. 
 
 der to pay thofe debts incurred through our ex- 
 ceffes, and not to permit that our unfortunate cre- 
 ditors fuffer by our fenfel proiufions: never- 
 thelefs, the general perfuafion is that, in a grand 
 place, it is neceflary to fupport the eclat of a pub- 
 lic dignity ; that the honour of the matter re- 
 quires 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 caff it from 
 us ; to feparate ourfelves from an object which, in 
 all times, hath been the rock of our innocence, 
 and near to which we can never be in fafety : ne- 
 verthelefs, the noife which a rupture would make, 
 the fufpicions which it might awaken in the pub- 
 lic mind, the ties of fociety, of relationfhip, of 
 frienclmip, which feem to render the feparation 
 impomble without eclat, perfuade us that it is not 
 then commanded, and that a danger, become as if 
 neceffary, becomes a fecurity to us. 
 
 Thus, the law of God commands us to render 
 glory to the truth ; not to betray our confcience 
 by iniquitoufly withholding it ; that is to fay, not 
 to diilemble it, through human intereils, from 
 thofe to whom our duty obliges us to announce 
 it : neverthelefs, we perfuade ourfelves that truths, 
 
 which 
 
IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. IJl 
 
 -which would be unavailing, ought to be fuppref- 
 fed ; and that a liberty, of which the only fruit 
 would be that of rifking our fortune, and of ren- 
 dering ourfelves hated, without rendering thofe 
 better to whom we owe the truth, would rather 
 be an indifcretion than a law of charity and of 
 juftice. 
 
 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 ccnfider ourfelves as charged with the 
 interefts of the multitude, as the avengers of in- 
 juftice, the refuge againft oppreffion and poverty : 
 neverthelefs, we believe ourfelves to be fituated in 
 conjunctures, in which it is neceftary to fhut our 
 eyes upon iniquity, to fupport abufes which we 
 know to be untenable, to facrifice confcience and 
 duty to the neceffity of the times, and, without 
 fcruple, to violate the cleareft rules, becaufe the 
 inconveniencies, which would arife from their ob- 
 fervance, feem to render their tranfgreffion necef- 
 fary. Laftly, Human pretexts, interefts, and in- 
 conveniencies, always make the balance to turn to 
 their fide ; and duty, and the law of God, always 
 yield to conjunctures and to the neceffity of the 
 times. 
 
 Now, my brethren, I do not tell you, in the firfl 
 place, that the intereft of falvation is the greateft 
 of all interefts ; that fortune, life, reputation, the 
 whole world itfelf, put in comparifon with your 
 
 foul, 
 
152 SERMON IV. 
 
 foul, ought to be reckoned as nothing ; and thaf| 
 though heaven and the earth mould change, that 
 the whole world fhould periih, and every evil burft 
 upon our head, thefe inconvenitncies would always 
 be infinitely lefs than the tranfgreflion of the law 
 of God. 
 
 Secondly, I do not tell you that the law hath al- 
 ways, at lead, fecurity in its favour againft the pre- 
 text, becaufe the obligation of the law is clear and 
 precife, in place of which, the pretext, which intro- 
 duces 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 another, 
 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 affections, it is deceiving our- 
 felves to confider, as inconveniencies, certain confe- 
 quences of that divine law, fatal either to our for- 
 tune, to our glory, or to our eafe, and to perfuade 
 ourfelves that it is then permitted to us to have re- 
 courfe to expedients which mollify it, and conci- 
 liate its feverity with the interefls of our felf-love. 
 Jefus Chrift hath never meant to prefcribe to us 
 eafy and commodious dudes, and which take no- 
 thing from the paffions ; 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, 
 
IMMUTABILITY OF TUB LAW OF GOD. I 53 
 
 Thus, what we call inconveniencies and unheard* 
 of extremities, are, at bottom, only the fpirit of 
 the law, the molt natural confequences of the rules, 
 and the end that Jefus Chrllt had intended in pre- 
 fcribing th&8& to us. 
 
 That young man of the gofpel regarded as an 
 inconveniency, the being unable to go to pay the 
 lad duties t.) his father, and to gather in what he 
 had fucceeded to, if he followed Jefus Chrift ; I 
 it was precifely that facrifice which Jefus Qh/ri 
 exacted of him. Thofe men invited to the feaft 
 looked upon as an inconveniency, the one to for- 
 fake his country-houfe, the other his trade, the lait 
 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. Either, at firft, confidered as an inconve- 
 niency to .go to appear before Ahafuerus, contrary 
 to the law of the empire, and to declare herfelf a 
 daughter of Abraham, and protefcrefs of the child- 
 ren of lfrael ; and, nevertheless, as the wife Mor- 
 decai reprefentcd to her, the Lord had raifed her 
 to that point of glory and profperity only for that 
 important occafion. Whatever is a conftraint 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 practice ; 
 
 Vol. III. U that 
 
154 SERMON IV. 
 
 that the moft effential character of the law of Jefus 
 Chrift is that of exciting againll it all the reafons 
 of flefh and blood ; and virtue would referable vice, 
 if outwardly and inwardly it found in us only faci- 
 lities and conveniencies ? The righteous, my breth- 
 ren, have never been peaceable obfervers of the 
 holy rules : Abel found inconveniencies in the jea- 
 loufy of his own brother ; Noah in the unbelief of 
 his own citizens ; Abraham in the difputes of his 
 iervants ; Jofeph in the dangers to which he was 
 expofed through his love of modefty and the rage 
 of a faithlefs woman ; Daniel in the cuftoms of "a 
 profane court •, the pious Efdras in the manners of 
 his age ; the noble Eleazar in the mares of a fpe- 
 cious temperament : laftly, follow the hiflory of 
 the juft, and you will fee that, in all ages, all thofe 
 who have walked in the precepts and in the ordi- 
 nances of the law, have experienced inconvenien- 
 cies, in which righreoufnefs itfelf feemed to autho- 
 rife the tranfgreffion of the rules ; have encounter- 
 ed obftacles in their way, where the lights of an 
 human reafon feemed to decide in favour cf the 
 pretext againft the law ; in a word, where virtue 
 feemed to condemn virtue itfelf : and that, conse- 
 quently, it is not new for the law of God to meet 
 with obftacles ; but that it is new to pretend to 
 find in thefe obstacles legitimate excufes for difpen- 
 fing ourfelves from the law of God. 
 
 And the decifive argument which confirms this 
 truth is, that our paflions alone form the inconve- 
 niencies 
 
IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW OF GOD. I$5 
 
 niencies which authorife us in feeking moUifica* 
 tions 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 fpke of the evidence of rules which condemn 
 them, only becaufe we love our glory and our for- 
 tune more than the rules themfelves. 
 
 Let us die to the world and to ourfeives, my 
 brethren ; let us reft ore to our heart the femiments 
 of love and of preference, which it owes to its 
 Lord : then every thing (hall appear poflible ; -dif- 
 ficulties mail, in an inftant, be done away ; and 
 what we call inconveniencies either mall no longer 
 be reckoned as any thing, or we fhall confider 
 them as infeparable proofs of virtue, and not as the 
 excufes of vice. How eafy it is to find pretexts 
 when we love them ! Arguments are never want- 
 ing to the paffions. Self-love is always ready in 
 placing, at lead, appearances on its fide ; it always 
 changes our weakneifes into duties, and our incli- 
 nations foon become legitimate claims ; and what 
 in this is moil deplorable, fays St Auguftin, is that 
 we call in even religion itfeif in aid of our paffions; 
 that we draw motives from piety, in order to vio- 
 late piety itfeif; and that we have recourfe to holy 
 pretexts to authorife iniquitous defires. 
 
 It is thus, O my God ! that almoft our whole 
 life is palTed in feducing ourfeives ; that we employ 
 the lights of our reafon only in darkening thofe of 
 faith ; that we confume the few days we have to 
 
 paf* 
 
I56 SERMON IV. 
 
 pafs upon the earth only in feeking authorities for 
 our paffions, in imagining fituations in which we 
 believe ourfelves to be enabled to difobey thee with 
 impunity j that is to fay, that all our cares, all our 
 reflections, all the fuperiority of our views, of our 
 lights, of our talents, all the wifdom of our mea- 
 fures and of our couhfels, are limited to the ac- 
 complifhment of our ruin, and to conceal from 
 ourfelves our eternal deftruc'tion. 
 
 Let us fnun this evil, my brethren ; let us rec- 
 kon no way-fafe for us but that of the rules and of 
 the law ; and let us remember that there mall be 
 more fianers condemned through the pretexts 
 which feen. to authorife the trani'greffions of the 
 law, thrj: through the avowed crimes which vio- 
 late it. It is thus that the law of God, after ha- 
 ving been the rule of our manners upon the earthy 
 lhall be their eternal confolation in heaven. 
 
 SER< 
 
aCTCTXa ^^^:*5«ttaUK*Mia g KUI l ll U HJX U lJ^ 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 
 
 Luke ii. 10. 
 
 For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, 
 which jhali be to all people ; for unto you is born, 
 this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which 
 is Chrifi the Lord. 
 
 Jjehold, in effect, the grand tidings which, for 
 four thoufand years, the world had expecled ; be- 
 hold the grand event which fo many prophets had 
 foretold; fo many ceremonies had figured; fo 
 many righteous had awaited, and which all nature 
 feemed to promife, and to haften by the univerfal 
 corruption fpread through all flffh ; behold the 
 grand bleffing which God's goodnefs prepared for 
 men, after the infidelity of their firft parent had 
 rendered them all fubjecl: to fin and death. 
 
 The 
 
$5$ SERMON V. 
 
 The Saviour, the Chrift, the Lord, at laft ap- 
 pears this day on the earth. The over-fhadowed 
 bring forth the righteous ; the ftar of Jacob ap- 
 pears to the univerfe ; the fceptre is departed from 
 Judah, and he, who was to come, is arrived ; the 
 age oi dafknefs is accomplished ; the promifed fign 
 of the Lord to Judea hath, appeared ; a virgin has 
 conceived and brought forth, and out of Bethlehem 
 comes the leader who is to enlighten and govern 
 all Ifi lei. 
 
 What new bleflmgs, my brethren, doth this 
 birth not announce to men ? It would not, during 
 fo many ages, have been announced, awaited, de- 
 fired ; it would not ha t rmed the religion of a 
 whole people, the object 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 grandeft mark of his love which he could 
 give them. What a buffed night is that which 
 prefides at this divine bringing-forth ! It hath feen 
 the light of the world mine forth in its darknefs $ 
 the heavens refoun-J with joy and fongs of thankf- 
 giving. 
 
 But, my brethren, we mud 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 flill obftinately perfift in 
 
 perifliing, 
 
 ♦ 
 
FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 1 59 
 
 perifliing, the church Weeps over us, arid we min- 
 gle mourning and forrow with that joy with which 
 iuch blefled tidings infpire it. 
 
 Now, what are the ineftimable bleffings which 
 this birth brings to men ? The heavenly fpirits 
 come themfclves to make it known to the fhep- 
 herds ; it comes to render glory to God, and 
 peace to men ; and behold the whole foundation 
 of this grand myftery laid open. To God, that 
 glory of which men had wifhed to deprive him j 
 to men, that peace of which they had never ceaied 
 their druggies 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 to thefe duties ; and 
 every thing, which ought to have called, removed 
 him from them. To his fupreme Majefty he owed 
 his adoration and his homage ; to his paternal 
 goodnefs his love ; to his infinite wifdom, the fa- 
 crifice of his reafon and of his lights. Thefe du- 
 ties, engraven on his heart, and born with him, 
 were dill alfo incefiantly proclaimed to him by all 
 creatures ; he could neither liften to himfelf, 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 ho- 
 nour and that worfhip which were due to the fove- 
 reign Architect ; in the bleffings with which he 
 loaded him, that love which he owed to his bene- 
 factor ; 
 
1 60 • SERMON V. 
 
 factor ; in the obfcurity fpread through even na- 
 tural caufes, that impoffibility, much lei's, of fa- 
 thoming the fecrecies of God, and that miitruft, 
 in which he ought to live, of his own lights. Ido- 
 latry, therefore, rendered to the creature that wor- 
 fhip which the Creator had referved 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, meafured 
 the lights of God by thofe of men, and vainly be- 
 lieved that reafon, which knew not itfelf, was able 
 to know all tiuth : 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 
 lenger known to himfelf. 
 
 And, 1/?/}', To what excefies had idolatry not 
 carried its profane worfnip ? The death of a perfon 
 loved, quickly exalted hi rat to a divinity ; and his 
 vile allies, on which his nothingnefs was (lamped 
 in characters fo indelible, became themfelves the 
 title of his glory and of his immortality. Conju- 
 gal love made gods to itfelf; impure love followed 
 the example, and determined to have its altars : 
 the wife and the miftrefs, thehufband and the lov- 
 er, had temples, priefts, and facrinces. The folly, 
 or the general coiruption, adopted a worfhip fo 
 ridiculous and fo abominable ; the whole univerfe 
 was infected with it ; the majelty of the laws of 
 the empire authoriied it j and the magnificence of 
 
 the 
 
FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. l6l 
 
 the temples, the pomp of the facrifice?, the im- 
 menfe' riches of the images, rendered that folly 
 refpeclable. Every people was jealous in having 
 its gods ; in default of man they offered incenfe 
 to the bead ; impure homages became the wcrfhip 
 of thefe impure divinities ; the towns, the moan- 
 tains, the fields, the deferts, were fiained with 
 them, and beheld fuperb edifices confecrated to 
 pride, to iafcivioufiiefs, to revenge. The number 
 of the divinities equalled that of the paflions ; the 
 gods were almofl: as numerous 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 crea- 
 tion, in the horror of this darknefs ; every age 
 had added to it frefh impieties. In proportion as 
 the appointed time of the Deliverer drew near, the 
 depravity of men feemed to increafe. Rome it- 
 felf, miftrefs of the univerfe, gave way to all the 
 different worfhips of the nations me had fubjugat- 
 ed ; and beheld exalted, within her walls, the dif- 
 ferent idols of fo many conquered countries, that 
 they became the public monuments of her folly 
 and blindnefs, rather than of her victories. 
 
 But, after all, though all flefli had corrupted his 
 way, God no longer wifhed to pour out his wrath 
 upon men, nor to exterminate them by a frefh de- 
 luge ; 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 mining, though 
 
 Vol. III. X vulgar 
 
1 62 SERMON V. 
 
 vulgar rainbow which appears in the clouds ; it 
 was Jefus Chrift his only Son, the Word made 
 fleih, 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 Fa- 
 ther that glory of which the impiety of a public 
 worlhip had wifhed to deprive him. The homage 
 rendered to him, by his holy foul united to the 
 world, at once makes amends to his fupreme Ma- 
 jefty for all the honours which the univerfe had 
 hitherto denied him, in order to proilitute them 
 to a creature. A Man-God adorer renders more 
 glory to the divinity than all idolatrous ages and 
 nations had deprived him of; and fuch homage 
 mud indeed have been agreeable to the fovereign 
 God, feeing it alone effaced idolatry from the 
 earth ; made the blood of impure victims ceafe to 
 flow ; overturned the profane altars ; filenced the 
 oracles of demons; reduced to duft the vain idols, 
 and changed their fuperb temples, till then the re- 
 ceptacle of every abomination, into houfes of ado- 
 ration and prayer. Thus was the univerfe chan- 
 ged : the only God, unknown even in Athens, and 
 in thofe cities mod celebrated for knowledge and 
 polifhed manners, was worfhipped : the world ac- 
 knowledged its Author : God entered into his 
 rights ; a worfhip worthy of him was eftablifhed 
 over the whole earth ; and he had every where 
 adorers, who worfhipped him in fpirit and in truth. 
 
 Behold 
 
FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. I 63 
 
 Behold the firfl blefling accruing from the birth 
 of Jefus Chrift, and the firff. glory which he ren- 
 ders to his Father. But, my brethren, is this 
 grand blefling for us ? We no longer worfhip vain 
 idols ; an inceftuous Jupiter, a lafcivious Venus, a 
 cruel and revengeful Mars ; but is God, therefore, 
 more glorified among us ? In their place do we 
 not fubftitute fortune, voluptuoufnefs, court fa- 
 vour, the world, with all its pleafures ? For, what- 
 ever we love more than God, that we worfhip ; 
 whatever we prefer to God, that becomes our god; 
 whatever becomes the fole object of our thoughts, 
 of our defires, of our affections, of our fears and 
 hopes, becomes likewife the object of our worfhip ; 
 and our gods are our pafiions, to which we faerie 
 fice the true God. 
 
 Now, what idols of this kind ftill.^fcemain in the 
 Chriflian world ! You, that unfortunate creature, 
 to whom you have proflituted your ffeart; to whom 
 you facrifice your wealth, your fortune, your glo* 
 ry, 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 engroffes you, to which you devote 
 all your cares, all your exertions, all- yatir move- 
 ments, in fhort, your whole foul, mincl, will, and 
 life, that is your idol ; and what criminal homage 
 do~ you refufe from the moment that it is exacted 
 
 0/ 
 
164 SERMON V. 
 
 of you, and that it may become the price of its fa- 
 vour ? You, that fhameful intemperance, which de-> 
 bafes your name and birth ; which no longer ac- 
 cords even with our manners ; which has drowned- 
 and befotted all your talents in the exeefles of wine 
 and debauchery ; which, by rendering you callous 
 to every thing elfe, leaves you neither relifh 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 abject god than 
 your defpicable and profane fongs. The paflions 
 formerly made the gods ; and jefus Chrift hath 
 deftroyed thefe idols only by deftroying the paf- 
 fions whkh had raifed them up : you exalt them 
 again, by reviving, all the paflions which had ren- 
 dered the whole world idolatrous* And what mat- 
 ters it to know a fmgle god, if you elfewhere be- 
 llow your homages ? Worfhip is in the heart ; and 
 if the true God be not the God of your heart, you 
 place, like the pagans, vile creatures in his place, 
 and you render not to hfm that glory which is his 
 due. 
 
 Thus Jefus Chrifl: doth not confine himfelf to 
 manifefling the name of his Father to men, and to 
 eftablimir.g, on the ruins of idols, the knowledge 
 of the true God. He raifeth up worfhippers, who 
 reckon external homages as nothing, unlefs ani- 
 mated and fanctified by love ; and who fhall consi- 
 der mercy, juftiee, and holinefs, as the offerings 
 
 mod 
 
*0R CHRISTMAS DAY. I 65 
 
 moft worthy of God, and the molt fhining atteiv 
 dants of their worfhip : fecond bleffing from the 
 birth of Jefus Chrift, and fecond fort of glory 
 which he renders to his Father. 
 
 In effect, 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 facrifices, the fplendour of its folemnities, the 
 exactitude of its lawful obfervances, conftituted 
 the whole merit of its worfhip ; all religion was 
 confined to thefe external duties. Its morals were 
 not lefs criminal : Injuftice, fraud, falfehood, adul- 
 tery, every vice fubfifted, and were even counte- 
 nanced by thefe vain appearances of worfhip: God 
 was honoured from the lips ; but the heart of that 
 ungrateful people was ever diftant from him. 
 
 Jefus Chrift comes to open the eyes of Judea 
 on an error fo grofs, fo ancient, and fo injurious 
 to his Father. He comes to inform them, that 
 man may be fatisfied with externals alone, but 
 that God regards only the heart ; that every out- 
 ward homage which withholds it from him, is an 
 infult and an hypocrify, rather than a true wor- 
 fhip ; that it matters little to purify the external, 
 if the internal be full of infection and putrefaction ; 
 
 and 
 
1 66 SERMON V, 
 
 and that God is truly worfhipped only by loving 
 him. 
 
 But, alas ! my brethren, is this miftake, fo 
 wretched and fo often reproached to the . fyna- 
 gogue by Jefus Chrift, not ftill the error of the 
 majority of us ? To what, in fad, is the whole of 
 our worfhip reduced ? To fome external ceremo- 
 nies ; to fulfilling certain public duties prefcribed 
 by the law ; and even this is the religion of the 
 mod refpeclable. They come to aflift in the holy 
 myfteries ; they do not, without fcruple, depart 
 from the laws of the church ; they repeat fome 
 prayers which cuftom has confecrated ; they go 
 through the folemnities, 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 ? Lefs 
 occupied with the cares of a vain drefs, or of for- 
 tune ? More inclined to break off a criminal en- 
 gagement, or to fly opportunities which have fo 
 often been a rock to their innocence ? Do they 
 bring to thefe external practices of religion, a pure 
 heart, a lively faith, a guilelefs charity ? All their 
 paffions fubmit amid all thefe religious works, 
 which are given to cuftom rather than to 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 fulfilling at lead 
 fome of its public duties : They would confider 
 
 themfelves 
 
FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 1 67 
 
 themfelves as anathematifed, and worthy of the 
 thunder of heaven. And yet they dare to fully 
 thefe holy duties by the mod criminal manners ! 
 And yet they do not view themfelves with hor- 
 ror, while rendering ufelefs thefe fuperficial re- 
 mains of religion, by a life which religion con- 
 demns and abhors ! And they dread not the wrath 
 of God, in continuing crimes which attract it on 
 our heads, and in limiting all that is his due to 
 vain homages which infult him I 
 
 Neverthelefs, as I have already faid, of all the 
 worldly thefe are the moft prudent, and, in the 
 eyes of the world, the moft regular. They have 
 not yet thrown off the yoke, like fo many others ; 
 they do not arrogate to themfelves a mocking glo- 
 ry in not believing in God ; they blafpheme not 
 what they do not know ; they do not confider reli- 
 gion 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 ex- 
 ternals of religion fubfift among us, along with a 
 more profound and more general depravity of 
 manners 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 wor- 
 ihip : thus, that new covenant, which ought to be 
 
 written. 
 
i6S SERMON V. 
 
 written only in the heart j that law of fpirit and 
 life, which ought to render men wholly fpiritual ; 
 that inward worfhip, which ought to have given 
 to God worfhippers in fpirit and in truth, has 
 given him only phantoms, only fictitious adorers ; 
 the mere appearances of worfhip ; in a word, but 
 a people ftill Jewifh, which honours him from the 
 lips, but whofe corrupted heart, ftained with a 
 thoufand crimes, chained by a thoufand iniquitous 
 paflions, is always far diftant from him. 
 
 Behold the fecond bleffing, of the birth of Je- 
 fus Chrift, in which we have no pare. He comes 
 to aboliih a worfhip wholly external, which was 
 confined to facririces of animals and lawful cere- 
 monies, and which, in not rendering to God the 
 homage of our love, alone capable of glorifying 
 him, rendered not to him that»gbry which is his 
 due : in place of Ehefe appearances of religion, he 
 e a law which oug t to be ful- 
 filled wholly in the heart j a Worfhip* of which 
 the love of his Father ought to be the firft and 
 the principal homage. Neverthelefs, this holy 
 worfhip, this new precept, this facred trufl, 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 effect upon our man- 
 ners, and which only renders us fo much the more 
 
 criminal. 
 
FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 169 
 
 Criminal, as we abufe the bleifing which ought to 
 wafh out and purify all our crimes. 
 
 Laftly, Men had likewife wifned to ravifii from 
 God the glory of his providence and of his eternal 
 wifdom. Phifofophers, (truck with the abfurdity 
 of a worfhip which multiplied gods to infinity, 
 and forced, by the fole lights of reafon, to ac- 
 knowledge one fole Supreme Being, disfigured 
 the nature of that Being by a thoufand abfurd 
 opinions. Some figured to themfelves an indolent 
 god j retired within himfelf; in full poifeflion of 
 his own happinefs ; difdaining to abafe himfelf by 
 paying attention to what paifes on the earth ; rec- 
 koning 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 feafons, the revolutions of empires, the lot of 
 each individual, the whole machine of this vaft 
 univerfe, and the whole difpenfation of human 
 things. Others fubjecled him to a fatal chain of 
 events ; they made him a god without liberty and 
 without power ; and, while they regarded him as 
 the mafter of men, they believed him to be the 
 flave of defliny. The errors of reafon were then 
 the only rule of religion, and of the belief of thofe 
 who were confidered as even the wifeft and molt 
 enlightened. 
 
 Jefus Chrift comes to reilore to his Father that 
 glory of which the vain reafonings of philofophy 
 had deprived him. He comes to teach to men 
 
 Vol. III. Y that 
 
170 SERMON V. 
 
 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- 
 itructiug us in what we ought to know of the fu- 
 preme Being, and what, with regard to him, we 
 ought not to know. 
 
 It was not, in effect, fufficient that men, in or- 
 der to render glory to God, mould make a facri- 
 fice to him of their life, as to the author of their 
 being, and fhould, by that avowal, acknowledge 
 the impiety of idolatry ; that they mould make a 
 facrifice to him of their love and of their heart, as 
 to their fovereign felicity, and thereby proclaim 
 the infufficiency and the inutility of the external 
 and pharifaical worfhip of the fynagogue ; it was 
 likewife required, that to him they mould facrifice 
 their reafon, as to their wifdom and to their eter- 
 nal truth, and thus be undeceived with regard to 
 the vain refearches and the conceited knowledge 
 of philofophers. 
 
 Now, the fole birth of a Man-God, the ineffable 
 union of our nature with a divine perfon, difcon- 
 certs all human reafon ; and this incomprehenfible 
 myftery, held out to men as their whole know- 
 ledge, their whole truth, their whole philofophy, 
 their whole religion, at once makes them feel, that 
 the truth, which they hitherto had in vain fought, 
 muft be fought, not by vain efforts, but by the fa- 
 crifice of reafon and of our feeble lights. 
 
 But, 
 
FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. I7I 
 
 But, alas ! where among us are believers who 
 make a thorough facrifice of their reafon to faith ; 
 and who, reje&ing their own lights, humble their 
 eyes, in a refpectful 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 mult leave them to 
 the horror and the indignation of the whole uni- 
 verfe which knows a divinity, and which worfhips 
 him ; or rather leave them to the horror of their 
 own confcience, which inwardly invokes and calls 
 upon him in fpite of themfeives, while outwardly 
 they are glorifying themfeives in profeiling not to 
 know him. 
 
 I fpeak of the majority of believers, who have 
 an idea of the divinity, almoft equally falfe and 
 equally human, as had formerly the pagan philo- 
 fophers ; who confider him as nothing in all the 
 accidents of life ; who live as if chance or the ca- 
 price 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 providence, 
 go to fearch for them in ridiculous and childifh 
 prophecies ; attribute to man a knowledge which 
 God hath (blely referved to himfelf ; with a fenfe- 
 Lefs belief await, from the dreams of a falfe pro- 
 phet, 
 
172 SERMON V. 
 
 phet, events and revolutions which are to decide- 
 the deftiny of nations and empires : found there- 
 upon vain hopes for themfelves, and renew either 
 the folly of pagan augurs and foothfayers, or the 
 impiety of the pythonefs of Saul, and of the oracles 
 of Delphi and Dodona. I fpeak of thofe who 
 v/ifh to penetrate into the eternal ways of God on 
 our lots ; and who, being unable, by the foie pow- 
 ers of reafon, to folve the infurmountable difficul- 
 ties of the myfteries of grace with regard to the 
 falvation of men, far from crying out with the a- 
 poftle, " 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 
 diilblute characters in the world, who always find 
 plaufible and convincing, though, in facl, weak 
 and foolifli in the extreme, whatever unbelief op- 
 pofes to faith ; who are daggered by the firfl fri- 
 volous doubt propofed by the impious ; who ap- 
 pear as if they would be delighted that religion 
 were falfe ; and who are lefs touched with that 
 refpeclable load of proofs which overpower a con- 
 ceited reafon and its tfuth, than with a fenfelefs 
 difcourfe which oppofes it, in which there is gene- 
 rally 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 
 belief of fo many wonderful actions which the hif- 
 
 tory 
 
FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. IJ$ 
 
 tory of religion has preferved to us ; who feem to 
 believe that, whatever is above the power of man, 
 is likewife beyond the power of God j and who 
 refufe credit to the miracles of a religion which is 
 folely founded on them, and which is itfelf the 
 greateft of all miracles. 
 
 Behold how we (till fnatched from God that glo- 
 ry which the birth of Jefus Chrift: had rendered to 
 him. It had taught us to facrifice our own lights 
 to the incomprehenfible myftery of his manifefta- 
 tion in our flefli, and no longer 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 life, and we abandon it : and even under the 
 empire of faith, we wifh (till to walk as formerly, 
 under the (landards, if I may venture to fpeak in 
 this manner, of a weak reafon : the myfteries of 
 religion, which we cannot comprehend, mock us ; 
 we fufpect, we reform all ; we would have God to 
 think like man. Without altogether lofmg our 
 faith, we fuffer it to be inwardly weakened ; we 
 allow it to remain inaclive: and it is this relaxation 
 of faith which has corrupted our manners ; multi- 
 plied vices ; enflamed all hearts with a love of 
 things prefent ; extinguifhed the love of riches to 
 come ; placed trouble, hatred, and diffention a- 
 mong believers, and effaced thofe original marks 
 of innocence, of fanclity, and of charity, which at 
 firft had rendered Chriftianiry fo refpe&able even 
 
 to 
 
174- SERMON V. 
 
 to thofe who refufed fubmiffion to it. But not on- 
 ly doth the birth of Jefus Chrift reftore 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 towards men.'* 
 
 Part II. An univerfal peace reigned through- 
 out the univerfe when Jefus Chrift, the " Prince 
 " of Peace/ 5 appeared on the earth : all the na- 
 tions fubject to the Roman empire peaceably fup- 
 ported the yoke of thofe haughty mafters of the 
 world : Rome herfelf, after civil dilfentions, which 
 had almoft depopulated her walls, filled the illands 
 and defer ts with her profcribed, and bathed Europe 
 and Afia with the blood of her citizens, breathed 
 from the horror of thefe troubles, and reunited 
 under the authority of a Cefar, experienced, in 11a- 
 very, a peace which me had never, during the en- 
 joyment of her liberty, been able to acconiplifh. 
 
 The univerfe was then at reft ; but that was but 
 a deceitful calm. Man, the prey of his own vio- 
 lent and iniquitous paffions, experienced within 
 himfelf the mod cruel diifention 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 irregular propen- 
 sities, he was unable to find peace, becaufe he ne- 
 ver 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 j but that uni- 
 verfal 
 
*0R CHRISTMAS DAY. J*j 
 
 verfal calm of the pafiions which they gave hopes 
 of to their fage, and which they fo emphatically 
 announced, might fupprefs their fallies ; but it left 
 the whole venom in the heart. It was a peace of 
 pride and oftentation; it mafked the outward man; 
 but, under that mafk of ceremony, man always 
 knew himfelf to 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 of pompous pre- 
 cepts, 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 experi- 
 enced by the heart of man, he comes to reltore 
 peace to him, by draining them off, through his 
 grace, his doctrine, 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 paflion not lighted upon the earth ? With 
 what torrents of blood had it not inundated the u- 
 niverfe ? And what is the hiftory of nations and 
 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 afflicted. 
 men ? The entire world was but a gloomy theatre, 
 upon which that haughty and fenfdefs paffion 
 
 every 
 
tj6 SERMON T. 
 
 every day exhibited the moft bloody fcenes. Bui: 
 the external operations were but a faint image of 
 the troubles which the proud man inwardly expe- 
 rienced. Ambition was a virtue : moderation was 
 looked up as meannefs : an individual overthrew 
 his country, overturned the laws and cuftoms, ren- 
 dered millions miferable, in order to ufurp the firft 
 place among his fellow-citizens; and the fuccefs of 
 his guilt enfured him every homage ; and his 
 name, flained with the blood of his brethren, ac- 
 quired only additional luflre in the public annals 
 which preferved its memory ; and a profperous 
 villain became the grandeft character of his age. 
 That paffion, defcending among the crowd, became 
 lefs finking ; but it was neither lefs animated nor 
 furious : the obfcure was not more at his eafe 
 than the public man : each wifhed to carry off the 
 prize from his equals : the orator, the philofopher, 
 wrangled for, and tore from each other that glory, 
 which, in fadl, was the fole end of all their toils 
 and watchings ; and, as the defires of pride are in- 
 fatiable, man, to whom it was then honourable 
 totally to yield himfelf up to it, being unable to 
 reft in any degree of elevation, was like wife inca- 
 pable of peace and tranquility. Pride, become 
 the fole fource of human honour and glory, was 
 likewife become the fatal rock of the quiet and 
 happinefs of men. 
 
 The birth of Jefus Chrift, by correcting the 
 world or this error, re-eflabliflies on the earth that 
 
 peace 
 
TOR CHRISTMAS DAY. I 77 
 
 ice which pride had baniflied from it. He 
 might have manifefted himfelf to men, with all the 
 marks of fplendour which the prophets attributed 
 to him : He might have affumed the pompous ti- 
 tles of conqueror of Judah, of legiflator of the peo- 
 ple, of deliverer of lfrael ; Jerufalerii, in thefe glo- 
 rious marks, would have recognifed him whom 
 flie awaited: but Jerufalem, in thefe titles, faw only 
 a human glory ; and Jefus Chri(t comes to unde- 
 ceive, and to teach her, that fuch glory is nothing; 
 that fuch an expectation had been unworthy of the 
 oracles of fo many prophets who had announc.d 
 him ; that the Holy Spirit, which infpired them, 
 could hold out only holinefs and eternal riches to 
 men ; 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 fpiri- 
 tual, and that he mould intend only the falvation 
 of men. 
 
 Thus, he is born at' Bethlehem, in a poor and ab- v 
 jec~t date ; without external ft ate or i'plen do ur, he 
 whofe birth the fongs of all the armies of heaven 
 then celebrated ; without title which might dif- 
 tiriguim him in the eyes of men, he who was ex- 
 alted above all principality or power : he Tuff fs 
 his name to be written down among thofe of the 
 obfcurefl fubjects of Cefar ; he whofe name was 
 above all other name, and who alone had the right 
 
 Vol. III. Z of 
 
I78 SERMON Y. 
 
 of writing down the names of his chofen in the 
 book of eternity : vulgar and fimple fhepherds a- 
 lone 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 
 confound human pride is afTembled at the fpec- 
 tacle of his birth. If titles, rank, or profperity 
 had been able to render us happy here below, and 
 to fried peace through our heart, Jefus Chrift 
 would have made his appearance clothed in them 9 
 and would have brought all thefe riches to his dif- 
 ciples j but he brings peace to us only by holding 
 them in contempt, and by teaching us to hold 
 them equally in contempt : he comes to render us 
 happy, only by coming to fupprefs defires which 
 hitherto had occafioned all our difquiets: he comes 
 to point out to us more folid and more durable 
 riches, alone capable of calming our hearts, of fiI-_ 
 ling our defires, of eafing our troubles : riches 
 of which man cannot deprive us, and which re- 
 quire only to be loved and to be wifhed for, to be 
 allured of poffeffing them. 
 
 Neverthelefs, who taftes of this bleffed peace ? 
 Wars, troubles, frenzies, are they more rare fince 
 his birth? Are thofe empires and flates which 
 worfhip him, in confequence more peaceful ? Does 
 that pride which he came to deflroy occafion lefs 
 commotion and confufion among men? Alas ! Seek 
 among Chriftians that peace which ought to be 
 their inheritance, and where (hall you find it ? In 
 
 cities ? 
 
FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 179 
 
 cities ? Pride fets every thing there in motion ; 
 every one wifhes to foar above the rank of his an- 
 ceftors: an individual, exalted by fortune, deflroys 
 the happinefs of thoufands who walk in his fleps, 
 without being able to attain the fame point of pro- 
 sperity. In the circle of domeftic walls ? They 
 conceal only diftreffes 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, 
 mail one day tranfmit to their defcendants. 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 tranquility, the moll violent and 
 the bittefefl paffions are nourifhedj it is there 
 that happinefs apparently refides, and yet where 
 pride occafions the greateft number of discontent- 
 ed and miferable. In the fan&uary ? Alas ! there, 
 ought furely to be found an afylum of peace ; but 
 ambition pervades even the holy place ; the efforts 
 there are more to raife themfelves above their bre- 
 thren, than to render themfelves ufeful to them ; 
 the holy dignities of the church become, like thofe 
 of the age, the reward of intrigue and caballing ; 
 the religious circumfpection of the prince cannot 
 put a flop to folicitations and private intrigues ; 
 we there fee the fame inveteracy in rivalfhips, the 
 fame forrow in confequence of neglect, the fame 
 
 jealoufy 
 
l8o SERMON V. 
 
 jealdufy towards thofe who are preferred to us : a 
 mini (try is boldly canvailed for., which ought to 
 be accepted only with fear and trembling : they 
 feat tbemfelves in the temple of God, though pla- 
 ced there by other hands than his : they head the 
 flock without his conlent to whom it belongs, and 
 without his having faid, as to Peter, " Feed my 
 " fheep ;" and, as they have taken the charge with- 
 out call and without ability, the flock are led 
 vithout edification and without fruit, alas! and 
 often with ihame. O peace of Jel'us Chrifl ! 
 which furpafTeft all fenfe, fole remedy againft the 
 troubles which pride inceffantly excites in our 
 hearts, who (hall then be able to give thee to man? 
 , But, fecondly, if the difquiets of pride had ba- 
 njfhed peace from the earth, the impure defires of 
 the fi fh had not given rife to fewer troubles. 
 M . forgetting the excellency of his nature, and 
 the fanctity of his origin, gave himfelf up, like the 
 beads, without fcruple, to the impetuofity of that 
 brutal infimct. Finding it the moil violent and 
 the mod universal of his propenfities, he believed 
 it to be alfo the mod innocent and the mod law- 
 ful. In order (till more to authorife it, he made 
 it part of his worfhip, and formed to himfelf im- 
 pure gods, in whofe temples that infamous vice 
 became the only homage which did honour to 
 their altars : even a philofopher, in other refpt els 
 the wifeft of pagans, dreading that marriage mould 
 put a kind of check on that deplorable paflicn, 
 
 had 
 
FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. iSl 
 
 had wifhed 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, neverthelefs, what a 
 deluge of miferies had it not poured out upon 
 the earth ? With what fury had it not been feen 
 to arm people againft people; kings againft kings ; 
 blood againft: blood ; brethren againft brethren ; 
 every where carrying trouble and carnage, and 
 making the whole univerfe ? Ruins of cities, 
 wrecks of the moft flouriming empires, fceptres 
 and crowns overthrown, became the public and 
 gloomy monuments which every age reared up, in 
 order, it would feem, to preferve, to following 
 ages, the remembrance and the fatal tradition o£ 
 thofe calamities with which that vice had airlifted 
 the human race. It became itfelf an inexhauftible 
 fource of troubles and anxieties to the uian who 
 then gave himfelf up to a bourdk-fs gratification 
 of it ; it held out peace and pleafure j but jealou- 
 iy, excefs, frenzy, difguft, inccintancy, and black 
 chagrin, continu illy walked in its ftt-ps : till then, 
 that the laws, the religion, and the common exam- 
 ple authorifing 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 im- 
 petuous courfe, and to extinguifh its fires in the 
 Jieart of men : a more powerful remedy was re- 
 quired ; 
 
132 SERMON V. 
 
 quired: and that is, the birth of the Deliverer, who 
 comes to draw men out of that abyfs of corrup- 
 tion, in order to render them pure and without 
 ftain ; to break afunder thofe fhameful bonds, and 
 to give peace to their hearts, by reftoring to them 
 that freedom and innocence of which the flavery 
 and tyranny of that vice had deprived them. He 
 is born of a virgin-mother, and the purefl of all 
 created beings : he thereby gives eftimation 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 ; incorporates us with himfelf ; makes 
 us to become members of his myftical body ; of 
 that body which no longer receives life and in- 
 fluence but from him ; of that body whofe 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 myftery, exalts our flefh ; he 
 makes of it the temple of God ; the fanctuary of 
 the Holy Spirit j the portion of a body in which 
 the fullnefs of the divinity refides ; the object of 
 the kindnefs and the love of his Father. But do 
 we not ftill prophane this holy temple ? Do we not 
 flill turn to fhame the members of Jefus Chrift ? 
 Do we, in a higher degree, refpeft our flefh, fmce 
 it is become a holy portion of his myfiical body ? 
 Does that fhameful paffion not ftill exercife the 
 
 fame 
 
FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 183 
 
 fame tyranny over Christians, that is to fay, over 
 the children of fanctity and liberty ? Does it not 
 (till dtdurb the peace of the univerfe, the tranqui- 
 lity of empires, the harmony of families, the order 
 of fociety, the confidence of marriage, the inno- 
 cence of focial intercourfe, the lot of every indivi- 
 dual ? Are not the mod tragical fpectacles dill eve- 
 ry day furnifhed to the world by it ? Does it refpe£t 
 the mod facred ties and the mod refpe&able cha- 
 racter ? 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 cudom has effaced every rule ? Even you, 
 who liden to me, from whence have arifen all the 
 miferies and unhappinefles of your life, is it not 
 from that deplorable paflion ? Is it not that which 
 has overturned your fortune ; which has cad trou- 
 ble and diflention through the heart of your fami- 
 ly ; which has fwallowed up the patrimony of your 
 fathers ; which has difhonoured your name ; which 
 has ruined your health, and now makes you to 
 drag on a gloomy and difgraceful life on the earth? 
 Is it not, at lead, that which actually rends your 
 heart, at prefent filled with it ? What goes on with- 
 in you but a tumultuous revolution of fears, de- 
 fires, jealoufies, midruds, difguds, and frenzies ? 
 And fince that paflion has dained your foul, have 
 you enjoyed a fingle moment of peace ? Let Jefus 
 Chrid again be born within your heart ; he alone 
 can be your true peace : chafe from it the impure 
 
 fpirits 
 
154 SERMON V. 
 
 fpirits, and the manfion of your foul will be at reft; 
 become once more a child of grace ; innocence is 
 the only fource of tranquility. 
 
 Laftly, the birth of Jefus Chiift reconciles men 
 to his Father; it reunites the Gentiie and the Jew; 
 it deftroys all thofe hateful diftinclions of Greek 
 and Barbarian, of Roman and Scythian ; it extin- 
 guishes all animofities and hatreds ; of all nations 
 it makes only one people ; of all his difciples, only 
 one heart and one foul ; laft kind of peace which 
 it brings to men. , Formerly they were united to- 
 gether, neither by worfhip, a common hope, not 
 by the new covenant, which, in an enemy, holds 
 out to us a. friend. They confidered each o^er 
 aim off. as creatures of a different fpecies : the ii- 
 verfity of religions, of manners, of countries, of 
 languages, of interefls, had, it would appear, as if 
 diversified in them the fame nature : fcarcely did 
 they recognife each other by that figure of huma- 
 nity, which was the only fign of connection dill 
 remaining to them. Like wild beafts, they mutu- 
 ally exterminated each other ; they centered their 
 glory in depopulating the lands of their fellow- 
 creatures, and in carrying in triumph their bloody 
 heads as the fplendid memorials of their victories : 
 it might have been faid that they held their exilr.-. 
 ence from different irreconcilable creators, always 
 watchful to deflroy each other, and who had placed 
 them here below only to revenge their quarrel, 
 and to terminate their difagreement by the general 
 
 extinction 
 
*0R CHRISTMAS DAT. I 85 
 
 textincYion of one of the two parties ; every difunit» 
 ed man, and nothing bound thern together hut in- 
 terest and the paffions, which were themfeives the 
 fole fource of their divifions and animdfmes. 
 
 But Jefus Chrifl: is become our peace, our re- 
 conciliation, the corner-ftone which binds and u- 
 nites the whole fabric, the living head which unites 
 all his members, and makes but one body of the 
 whole. Every thing knits us to him j and what- 
 ever knits us to him unites us to each other. It is 
 the fame Spirit which animates us, the fame hope 
 which fuftains us, the fame bofom which brings us 
 forth, the fame fold which afTembles us, and ihe 
 fame Shepherd who conducts 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 fuccefsful in binding us together ? Chriftiani- 
 ty, which ought to be but the union of hearts, the 
 tie to knit believers to each other, and Jefus Chrifl 
 to believers ; and which ought to reprefent upon 
 the earth an image of the peace of heaven ; Chrif- 
 tianity itfelf is no longer but a horrible theatre of 
 troubles and diifentions : war and fury feem to 
 have eftablifhed an eternal abode among Chriftians ; 
 religion itfelf, which ought to unite, divides them. 
 The unbeliever, the enemy of jefus Chrift, the 
 c' ; ldren of the falfe prophet, who came to fpread 
 war and devaftation through men, are in peace ; 
 
 Vol. III. A a and 
 
i86 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 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 a- 
 gainft each other ! Kings rife up againft kings ; 
 nations againft nations ; the feas which feparate 
 reunite them for their mutual deftru&ion : a vile 
 morfel of ftone arms their fury and revenge ; and 
 whole nations go to perifh and to bury themfelves 
 under its walls, in contefting to whom mail belong 
 its ruins ; the earth is not fufficiently vaft to con- 
 tain them, and to fix them, each one in the bounds 
 which nature herfelf feems to have pointed out for 
 flates 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 rivers of blood with which it is for ever ftain- 
 ed. O divine Reconciliator of men ! return then 
 once more upon the earth, fince the peace which 
 thou broughteft to it at thy birth ftill leaves fo ma- 
 ny 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 affec- 
 tions ; hatreds and jealoufies divide citizens equal- 
 ly as they divide nations ; animofities are perpetu- 
 ated 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 dif- 
 arms not the heart ; in vain may the fword be 
 wrefted from them, with the fword of the tongue 
 
 they 
 
IOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 187 
 
 they continue a thoufand times more cruelly to 
 pierce their enemy ; hatred, under the neceflity of 
 confining itfelf within, becomes deeper and more 
 rancorous, and to forgive is looked upon as a dif- 
 honourable weaknefs. Oh ! my brethren, in vain 
 then hath Jefus Chrift d- r cended upon the earth ! 
 He is come to bring peace to us ; he hath left it to 
 us as his inheritance ; nothing hath he fo ftrongly 
 recommended to us as that of loving each other ; 
 yet fellowfhip and peace feem as if baniflied from 
 among us, and hatred and animofity divide court, 
 city, and families ; and thofe whom the offices, the 
 interests of the ftate, decency itfelf, and blood 
 ought, at Ieaft, to unite, tear, defame, would wifli 
 to deftroy, and to exalt themfelves on the ruins of 
 each other : and religion, which {hews us our 
 brethren even in our enemies, is no longer liftened 
 to ; and that awful threatening, which gives us 
 room to expect the fame feverity on the part of 
 God which we fhall have fhewn to our brethren, 
 no longer touches or affects us ; and all thefe mo- 
 tives, fo capable of foftening the heart, ftill leave 
 it filled with all the bitternefs of hatred. We tran- 
 quilly live in this frightful date : the juftice of our 
 complaints with regard to our enemies, calms us on 
 the injuftice of our hatred and of our rooted aver- 
 fion towards them ; and if, 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 
 
188 SE R M ON Y. 
 
 force to fuftain its hatred, that almofl all our feel- 
 ings are extinguifhed, or, at lead, that we are no 
 longer capable of feeling any thing but our own 
 weaknefs and our approaching diflblution. Let us 
 then unite ourfelves to the newly born Jefus Chrift; 
 let us enter 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 pamons have hitherto de- 
 prived us. 
 
 SER^ 
 
SERMON VI. 
 
 FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY, 
 
 Matthew ii. 2. 
 
 For we have feen his Jlar in the eqjl y and we are 
 come to worjhip him. 
 
 1 ruth, that light of Heaven figured by the ftar 
 which on this day appears to the magi, is the only- 
 thing here below worthy of the cares and the re- 
 searches 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 confolation of our 
 fears, the alleviation of our evils, the cure for all 
 our afflictions : it alone is the refuge of the good 
 confcience, and the terror of the bad \ the inward 
 punifhment of vice, the internal reccnpenfe of vir- 
 tue : it alone immortalifes thofe ,vno have loved it, 
 guid renders illuftrious the caains of thofe who fuf- 
 • fer 
 
S9° SERMON VI. 
 
 fer for it, attracts public honours to the afhes of 
 its martyrs and defenders, and beftows refpe&abi- 
 lity on the abjection and the poverty of thofe who 
 have quitted all to follow it : laftly, it alone infpires 
 magnanimous thoughts, forms heroical men, fouls 
 of whom the world is unworthy, fages alone wor- 
 thy of that name. All our attentions ought there- 
 fore 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 pleafmg them but by truth, to efteem in them 
 only truth, and to be refolved that they never mall 
 pleafe us but by it : in a word, it would appear 
 that it mould have only to fhew itfelf, as on this 
 day to the magi, to be loved j and that it mews us 
 to ourfelves in order to teach us to know ourfdves. 
 Neverthelefs, it is aftonifhing what different im- 
 preffions the fame truth makes upon men. To 
 fome it is a light which directs their 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 of dazzling, which vexes and fatigues 
 them : laftly, to many it is a thick mill which ir- 
 ritates, inflames them with rage, and completes 
 their blindnefs. It is the fame ftar which, on this 
 day, appears in the firmament : the magi fee it ; 
 the priefts of Jerufalem know that it is foretold in 
 the prophets ; Herod can no longer doubt that it 
 hath appeared, feeing wife men come from the ex- 
 tremities of the eaft, to feek, guided by its light, 
 
?0R THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. JQ/I 
 
 the new King of the Jews. Neverthelefs, how dif- 
 fimilar are the difpofitions with which they re- 
 ceive 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 dilfembling : in Herod, a corrupted and hard- 
 ened heart. Confequently, it forms worfhippers 
 in the magi ; diflemblers 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 celeftial light which is mown to us, fays St 
 Auguftin : but few receive it, many hide and dim 
 it, and a ftill greater number contemn and perfe- 
 cute it : it mews itfelf to all ; but how many indo- 
 cile fouls who reject it ? How many mean and 
 cowardly fouls who diflemble it ? How many 
 black, and hardened hearts who opprefs and perfe- 
 cute it ? Let us collect thefe three marked charac- 
 ters in our gofpel, which are to inftruct us in all 
 our duties relative to truth : truth received, truth 
 diffembled, truth perfecuted. Holy Spirit, Spirit 
 of Truth, deftroy in us the fpirit of the world, 
 that fpirit of error, of diflimulation, of hatred a- 
 gainft the truth ; and in this holy place deftined to 
 form minifters, who are to announce it even in 
 the extremities of the earth, render us worthy of 
 loving the truth, of manifefting it to thofe who 
 know it not, and of fuffering all for its fake. 
 
 Part I. I call truth that eternal rule, that in- 
 ternal light inceflantly prefent within us, which, in 
 
 every 
 
*92 SERMON Vi. 
 
 every a£Hon, points out to us what we ought, 
 and what we ought not to do ; which enlightens 
 our doubts ; which judges our judgments ; which 
 inwardly condemns or approves us, accordingly as 
 our behaviour is agreeable or contrary to its light; 
 and which, in certain moments more fplendid and 
 bright, more evidently points out to us the way in 
 which we ought to walk, and is figured to us by 
 that miraculous light which, on this day, conducts 
 the magi to Jefus Ghrift. 
 
 Now, I fay that, the firft ufe which we ought to 
 make of truth being for ourfelves, the church, on 
 this day, propufes to us, in the conduct of the magi, 
 a model of thofe difpofitions which alone can ren- 
 der the knowledge of truth beneficial and falutary 
 to us. There are few fouls, however they mav be 
 plunged in the fenfes ami in the paffions, whofe 
 eyes are not, at times, opened upon the vanity of 
 the interefts they purfue, upon the grandeur of 
 the hopes which they facrifice, and upon the igno- 
 miny of the life which they lead. But, alas ! their 
 eyes are opened to the light, only to be clofed a- 
 gain in an inflant ; and the fole fruit- which they 
 reap; from the truth which is vifible to, and en- 
 lightens them, is that of adding to the misfortune 
 of having hitherto been ignorant of it, the guilt of 
 having afterwards known it in vain. 
 
 Some confine themfelves to vain reafonings up- 
 on the light which ftrikes them, and turn truth in- 
 to a fubjecl of controverfy and vain philofophy ; 
 
 others, 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. I93 
 
 others, with minds yet unfettled, wifh, it would 
 appear, to know it ; but they feek it not in an ef- 
 fectual way, becaufe they would, at bottom, 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 felf-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 difpofitions of the fages of 
 the eaft towards that light of Heaven, which 
 comes to fhew new routes to them, teach us to 
 fhun. 
 
 Accuftomed, in confequence of a public profef- 
 fion of wifdom and philofophy, to inveftigate every 
 thing, and reduce it to the judgment of a vain rea- 
 fon, and to be far above all popular prejudices, 
 they (lop not, however, before commencing their 
 journey upon the faith of the celeftial light, to 
 examine if the appearance of this new flar might 
 not be folved by natural caufes ; they do not af- 
 femble from every quarter fcientific men, in order 
 to reafdn on an event fo uncommon ; they facri- 
 fice no time to vain difficulties, which generally 
 arife, more from the repugnance we feel to truth, 
 than from a fincere defire of enlightening our- 
 felves, and of knowing it. Inflrucled by that tra- 
 dition of their fathers which the captive Ifraelites 
 had formerly carried into the eaft, and which Da- 
 niel and fo many other prophets had announced 
 
 Vol. III. B b there, 
 
194 SERMON VI. 
 
 there, relative to the Star of Jacob which mould 
 one day appear, they, at once, comprehended, that 
 the vain reflections of the human mind have no 
 connection with the light of Heaven ; that the 
 portion of light which Heaven fhews them is fuffi- 
 cient to determine and to conduct them ; that 
 grace always leaves obfcurities in the ways to 
 which it calls us, in order not to deprive faith of 
 the merit of fubmiffion ; and that, whenever we 
 are fo happy as to catch a fingle gleam of truth, 
 the uprightnefs of the heart ought to fupply what- 
 ever deficiency may yet remain in the evidence of 
 the light. 
 
 Neverthelefs, how many fouls in the world, 
 wavering upon faith, or rather enflaved by paflions 
 which render doubtful to them that truth which 
 condemns them ; how many fouls, thus floating, 
 clearly fee, that, at bottom, the religion of our fa- 
 thers hath marks of truth which the moll high- 
 flown and proudeft reafon would not dare to deny- 
 to it ; that unbelief leads to too much ; that, after 
 all, we mud hold to fomething ; and, that total 
 unbelief is a party (till more incomprehenfible to 
 reafon than the myfteries which fhock it ; who fee 
 it, and who ftruggle, by endlefs difputes, to lull 
 that worm of the confeience which inceflantly re- 
 proaches their error and their folly j who refill: 
 that truth, which proves itfelf in the bottom of 
 their heart, under pretence of enlightening them- 
 felves j who apply for advice only that they may 
 
 - fay 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. I 95 
 
 fay to themfelves, that th*jir doubts are unanfwer- 
 able ; who have recourfe to the moft learned, only 
 to have the power of alleging, as a frefh motive 
 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 im- 
 portant affair in which not a moment is to be loft: ; 
 it is a fimple matter of controverfy, as formerly in. 
 the Arefpagus ; it fills up the idle time ; ir is one 
 of thofe unimportant queftions which fill up the 
 vacancies of converfation, and amufe the languor 
 and the vanity of general intercourfe. 
 
 But, my brethren, " the kingdoii of God Com- 
 eth not with Defecation." Truth is not the fruit 
 of controverfy and difpute, but of tears and groan- 
 ings ; it is by purifying our heart in meditation 
 and in prayer that we alone muft expect, like the 
 magi, the light of Heaven, and to become worthy 
 of diflinguifhing and of knowing it. A corrupted 
 heart, fays St Auguftin, may fee the truth ; but 
 he is incapable of rclifhing or of loving it ; in vain 
 do you enlighten and inflrucl yourfelves ; your 
 doubts are in your paffions : religion will become 
 evident and clear from the moment that you mail 
 become chafte, temperate, and equitable ; and you 
 will have faith from the moment that you mall ceafe 
 to have vice. Confequently, from the inflant that 
 you ceafe to have an intereft in finding religion 
 falfe, you will find it inconteftable ; no longer 
 
 hate 
 
1<)6 $'IRM0N VI. 
 
 hate its maxims, and you will no longer conteft 
 its myfteries. 
 
 Auguftin himfelf, already convinced of the truth 
 of the gofpel, flill found, in the love of pleafure, 
 a fource of doubts and perplexities which checked 
 him. It was no longer the dreams of the Mani- 
 cheans which kept him removed from faith ; he 
 was fully fenfible of their abfurdity and fanaticifm ; 
 it was no longer the pretended contradictions of 
 our holy books ; Ambrofe had explained their 
 purport and their adorable myfteries. Neverthe- 
 lefs, he flill doubted ; the fole thought of having 
 to renounce his fhameful paflions in becoming a 
 difciple of faith, rendered it (till fufpicious to him. 
 He would have wifhed either that the doctrine of 
 Jefus Chrift had been an impofition, or that it had 
 not condemned his voluptuous exceffes, without 
 which, indeed, he was then unable to comprehend 
 how either an happy or a comfortable life could 
 be led. Thus, always floating and unwilling to 
 be fettled ; continually confulting, yet dreading to 
 be inftructed j 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 deliver- 
 ed from it, he continued to Mart doubts merely to 
 prolong his paflions, he wifhed to be yet more en- 
 lightened, becaufe he dreaded to be k too much ; 
 and, more the flave of his paflion than of his er- 
 rors, he rejected truth, which maniiefted itfelf to 
 
 him, 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THI EPIPHANY. 1 97 
 
 him, merely becaufe he looked upon it as a vi£to~ 
 rious and irrefiftible 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 find* 
 no paffion 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 neceffary to add, to our own 
 light, the approbation of thofe who are eftablifhed 
 to diftinguifh, 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 confirmed in 
 the truth of the prodigy which guides their fleps, 
 come ftraighf to Jerufalem : they confult the priefts 
 and the fcribes, as the only perfons capable of dif- 
 covering to them that truth which they feek ; they 
 boldly and openly demand, in the mid ft of that 
 great city, " where is he that is born King of the 
 " Jews ?" They propofe their queftion with no 
 palliations, calculated to attract an equivocal an- 
 fwer : they are determined to be enlightened, and 
 .wifh not to be flattered ; from their heart they 
 feek the truth, and, for that reafon, they find it. 
 
 New -difpofirion, fufficiently rare among belie- 
 vers. Alas ! we find not truth, becaufe we never 
 feek it with a fincere and upright heart : we dif- 
 fufe a kind of mift over every attempt to find it, 
 
 which 
 
I98 SERMON VI. 
 
 •which conceals it from our view : we confult, but 
 we place our paffions in fo favourable a light, we 
 hold them out in colours fo foftened, and fo fimi- 
 lar to the truth, that we procure a reply of its being 
 really fo : we wifh not to be inftru&ed ; we wifh 
 to be deceived, and to add, to the paflion which 
 enflaves us, an authority which may calm us. 
 
 Such is the illufion of the majority of men, and 
 frequently even of thofe who, become contrite, 
 have quitted the errors of a worldly life. Yes, 
 my brethren, let us fearch our own hearts, and we 
 mall find, that, however fincere our converfion may 
 otherwife be, yet there is always within us fome 
 particular point, fome fecret and privileged at- 
 tachment, upon which we are not candid ; upon 
 which we never but very imperfectly inftruct the 
 guide of our confcience j upon which we feek not 
 with fmcerity the truth ; upon which, in a word, 
 it would even grieve us to have found it : and 
 from thence it is, that the weaknefles of the pious 
 and good always furnifh fo many traits to the de- 
 rifion of the worldy ; from thence, we attract up- 
 on virtue continual reproaches and cenfures, which 
 ought to light only upon ourfelves. Neverthelefs, 
 to hear us fpeak, we love the truth ; we are defir- 
 ous of having it (hewn to us. But a convincing 
 proof, of that being only a vain mode of fpeaking, 
 is, that whatever concerns, or has any allufion to 
 this cherifhed paflion, is carefully avoided by all 
 around us „ our friends are filent upon it j our fu- 
 
 periors 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EFIPHANY. igg 
 
 periors are obliged to ufe an artful 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 almoft the only perfons 
 ignorant of our defect : the whole world fees it, 
 yet no one has the courage to 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 mould dare to probe our fore, 
 would only fucceed in making a frefh one. 
 
 David knew not, and refpe&ed not the fanctity 
 of Nathan, till after that prophet had fpoken to 
 him, with fincerity, of the fcandal of his conduct ; 
 from that day, and ever afterwards, he confidered 
 him as his father and deliverer; but, with us, a per- 
 fon 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 p6f- 
 feifed every talent calculated to attract efteem and 
 confidence ; the John the Baptifts were liitened to 
 with pleafure, as formerly by an incefiuous 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 quali- 
 ties : their zeal is no longer but whim ; their cha- 
 rity but an oftentation, or a defire to cenfure and 
 contradict : their piety but an imprudence or a 
 cheat, with which they cover their pride ; their 
 
 truth 
 
200 3 E R M N VI* . 
 
 truth but a mlfiaken 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 inward teflimorty 
 of the truth, to reproach them to ourfelves, we 
 cannot endure that they mould be mentioned to 
 us by others : we are hurt and irritated that o- 
 thers* mould join us againfl ourfelves. Like Saul r 
 we exact of the Samuels, that they approve, in pub- 
 lic, what we inwardly condemn ; and, through a 
 corruption of the heart, perhaps more deplorable 
 than our paffions themfelves, unable to filence 
 truth in the bottom of our heart, we would wifh 
 to extinguifh it in the hearts of all who approach 
 us. I was right, therefore, in faying, that we all 
 make a boaft of loving the truth, but that few 
 court it, like the magi, with an upright and a fin- 
 cere heart. 
 
 Thus, the little attention which they pay to the 
 difficulties, which feemed to difluade them from 
 that refearch, is a frefh proof of its fmcerity and 
 heartinefs. For, my brethren, how fingular mufl 
 not this extraordinary ftep, which grace propofed 
 to them, have at firft appeared to their mind. They 
 alone, of all their nation, among fo many fages 
 and learned men, without regard to friends and 
 connections, in fpite of public obfervations and de- 
 rifions, while all others either contemn this mira- 
 culous liar, or confider the attention paid to it, 
 and the defign of thefe three fages, as an abfurd 
 
 undertaking, 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 201 
 
 undertaking, and a popular weaknefs, unworthy 
 of their mind and knowledge, they alone declare 
 againft the common opinion ; they alone entruft 
 themfelves to the new guide which Heaven fends 
 them ; they alone abandon their country and their 
 children, and reckon, as nothing, a Angularity, the 
 neceffity and wifdom of which the celeitial light 
 difclofes to them. 
 
 Lad inftruction. The caufe, my brethren, of 
 truth being always unavailingly (hewn to us, is, 
 that we judge not of it by the lights which it 
 leaves in our foul, but by the impreffion which it 
 makes on the reft of men with whom we live : we 
 never confult the truth in our heart ; we confult 
 only the opinions which others have of it. Thus, 
 in vain doth the light 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 cad upon the example of others who 
 live like us, revives us, and fpreads 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 futuri- 
 ty ; we promife to ourfelves a new life ; yet, a 
 moment after, when returned to the world, and 
 no longer confulting but the general example, we 
 juftify ourfelves, and regain that falfe fecurity 
 which we had loft. We have no confidence in 
 the truth which the common example difproves ; 
 we facrifice it to error and to the public opinion ; 
 
 Vol. III. C c it 
 
±61 SERMON tl. 
 
 it becomes fufpicious to us, becaufe it has choferi 
 out us alone to favour with its light, and the very 
 Angularity of the bleffing is the caufe of our in- 
 gratitude and oppofition. We cannot compre- 
 hend, that, to work out our falvation, is to diftin- 
 guifh ourfelves from the reft of men j is to live 
 fingle amidft the multitude ; is to be an individual 
 fupporter of our own caufe, in the midft of a 
 world which either condemns or defpifes us ; is, 
 in a word, to count examples as nothing, and to 
 be affecled by our duty alone. We cannot com- 
 prehend, that, to devote ourfelves to deftru&ion, 
 it requires only to live as others do ; to conform 
 to the multitude ; to form with it only one body 
 and one world ; feeing the world is already judg- 
 ed ; that it'is that body of the antichrift which 
 mall perifh with its head and members ; that cri- 
 minal city, accurfed and condemned to an eternal 
 anathema. Yes, my brethren, the greatefl obfta- 
 cle 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 expo- 
 fed, would join againft them ? Thus, the king of 
 AfTyria durft not declare himfelf for the God of 
 Daniel, becaufe the grandees of his court would 
 have reprobated fuch a ftep. How many weak 
 fouls, who, difgufted with pleafures, only continue 
 to purfue them through a falfe honour, and that 
 fchey may not diftinguifh themfelves from thofe 
 
 \vh& 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 203 
 
 who fet an example of them ? Thus, Aaron, in 
 the midft of the Ifraelites, danced around the gol- 
 den calf, and joined them in offering up incenfe to 
 the idol which he detefted, becaufe he had not the 
 courage, fingly, to refift the public error and 
 blindnefs. Fools that we are ! it is the fole ex- 
 ample of the public which confirms 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 refpect for 
 the world's opinion, but the fufferings and felf-de- 
 nials it holds out to us, which extinguifh truth 
 in our heart : thus, it make us forrowful like that 
 young man of the gofpel, and we do not receive it 
 with that delight teftified by the magi on feeing 
 the miraculous ftar. They had beheld the magni- 
 ficence of Jerufalem, the pomp of its buildings, 
 the majefty of its temple, the fplendor and gran* x 
 deur of Herod's court ; but the gofpel makes no 
 mention of their having been affected by that vain 
 difplay of human pomp ; they beheld all thefe 
 grand objects of defire without attention, pleafure, 
 or any exterior marks of admiration or furprife ; 
 they exprefs no wifh to view the treafures and the 
 riches of the temple, as thofe ambafTadors from 
 Babylon formerly did to Hezekiah : folely taken 
 up with the light of Heaven manifefted to them, 
 they have no eyes for any earthly object j feeling 
 
204 SERMON VI. 
 
 to the truth alone which has enlightened them, 
 every thing elfe is an object of indifference, or a 
 burden to them ; and their heart, viewing all 
 things in their proper light, no longer acknow- 
 ledges either delight, intereft, or coniblation to be 
 found in any thing but the truth. 
 
 On our part, my brethren, the firfr. rays of truth 
 which the goodnefs of God fhed on our heart, pro- 
 bably excited a fenfible delight. The project which 
 we at firft formed of a. new life ; the novelty of the 
 lights which fhone upon us, and upon which we 
 had nor as yet fully opened our eyes ; the lafutude 
 itfelf, and difgufl: of thofe paflions of which our 
 heart now felt only the bitternefs, and the punifh- 
 ment ; the novelty of the occupations which we 
 propofed to ourftlves in a change ; all thefe offer- 
 ed imiling images to our fancy ; for novelty itfelf 
 is pleating : but this, as the gofpel fays, was only 
 the joy of a feafon. In proportion as truth drew 
 near, it afftimed to us, as to Auguftin yet a finner, 
 an appearance lefs captivating and fmiling. When, 
 after our firft 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-dcnials which it proved, to be indifpenfjbie; 
 that ferious, occupied, and private life in which 
 we were to be engaged : ah ! we immediately, like 
 the young man of the gofpel, began to draw back 
 ibrrowful and uneafy ; all our paflions roufed up 
 
 frefh 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPITHANY. 205 
 
 frefli obilacles to it ; every thing now prefented 
 itfelf in gloomy and totally different colours ; and 
 that, which we had at firft thought to be fo attrac- 
 tive, when brought near, was no longer in our eyes 
 but a frightful object, a way rugged, terrifying, 
 and impracticable to human weaknefs. 
 
 Where are the fouls, who, like the magi, after 
 having once known the truth, never afterwards 
 wifh to fee but it alone ; have no longer eyes for 
 the world, for its empty pleafures, or for the vani- 
 ty of its pompous (hews ; who feel no delight but 
 in the contemplation of truth ; in making it their 
 refource in every affliction ; the fpur of their indo- 
 lence ; their fuccour againft temptation ; and the 
 pureft delight of their foul ? And how vain, puer- 
 ile, and uifgufting doth the world, with all its plea- 
 fures, hopes, and grandeurs, indeed appear to a 
 foul who hath known thee, O my God ! and who 
 hath felt the truth of thine eternal promifes ; to a 
 foul who feels that whatever is not thee is unwor- 
 thy of him ; and who confiders the earth only as 
 the country of thofe who muit perifh for ever ! 
 Nothing is confolatory to him but what opens the 
 profpect of real and lading riches ; nothing ap- 
 pears worthy of his regard but what is to endure 
 for ever ; nothing has the power of pleafing him 
 but what fhall eternally pleafe him-; nothing is 
 longer capable of attaching him but that which he 
 is no more to lofe ; and all the trifling objects of 
 vanity are no longer, on his part, but the embar- 
 
 raffments 
 
2o6 SERMON VI. 
 
 raflments of his piety, or gloomy monuments which 
 recall the remembrance of his crimes. 
 
 Behold, in the inftance of the magi, truth re- 
 ceived with fubmiflion, with fincerity, and with 
 delight ; in the conduct of the priefts let us fee 
 the truth diffembled ; and, after being inftructed 
 in the ufe which we ought to make of truth with 
 regard to ourfelves, let us learn what is our duty* 
 refpe&ing it, to others. 
 
 Part II. The firft duty required of us by the 
 law of charity towards our brethren, is the duty 
 of truth. We are not bound to beflow 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 fel- 
 low-creatures ; in every fituation of life that of 
 truth is the fame. We owe it to the great equal- 
 ly as to the humble ; to our fubje&s as to our 
 matters ; 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 be- 
 nefit. There are conjunctures in which prudence 
 permits to hide and to diifemble the love which 
 we bear for our brethren ; none can poflibly exifl 
 in which we are permitted to diflemble the truth : 
 in a word, truth is not our own property, we are 
 only its witnefles, its defenders, and its depofita- 
 ries. It is that fpark, that light of God which 
 fhould illuminate the whole world j and, when we 
 
 diffembje 
 
£0R THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 20J 
 
 diflemble or obfeure it, we are unjufl towards our 
 brethren, and ungrateful towards the Father of 
 Light who hath fpread it through our foul. 
 
 Neverthelefs, the world is filled with diffem- 
 blers of the truth ; we live, it would appear, only 
 to deceive each other ; and fociety, the firft bond 
 of which ought to be truth, is no longer but a 
 commerce of diflimulation, duplicity, and cunning. 
 Now, in the conduct of the priefts of our gofpel, 
 let us view all the different kinds of diflimulation 
 of which men render themfelves every day culpa- 
 ble towards truth ; we lhall there find a diffimula- 
 tion of filence, a diflimulation of compliance and 
 palliation, a diflimulation of difguife and falfe- 
 hood. 
 
 A diflimulation of filence. Confulted by Herod 
 on the place in which the Chrift was to be born, 
 they made anfwer, it is true that Bethlehem was the 
 place marked in the prophets for the fulfilment of 
 that grand event ; but they add not, that the ftar, 
 foretold in the holy books, having at lafl appeared* 
 and the kings of Saba and of Arabia coming with 
 prefents to worfhip the new chief who was to lead 
 Ifrael, it was no longer to be doubted that the 
 overfhadowed had at lafl brought forth the righte- 
 ous. They do not gather together the people in 
 order to announce this blefled intelligence ; they 
 do not run the firft to Bethlehem, in order, by 
 their example, to animate Jerufalem. Wrapt up 
 in their criminal timidity, they guard a profound 
 
 filence 5 
 
20$ SERMON Vf. 
 
 filence ; they iniquitoufiy retain the truth $ and 3 
 v. hile Grangers come from the extremities of the eaft 
 loudly to proclaim in Jerufalem that the King of 
 the Jews is born, the priefts, the fcribes are filent, 
 and facrifke, to the ambition of Herod, the inte- 
 refts of truth, the dearefl hope of their nation, and 
 the honour of their miniftry. 
 
 What a fhameful degradation of the miniders 
 of truth ! The good-will of the prince influences 
 them more than the facred depofit of the religion 
 with which they are entrufted ; the luftre of the 
 throne (tines, in their heart, the light of Heaven ; 
 1 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 a- 
 nointed, who furround the throne, have 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 re- 
 fpects, common to you as to us ; yet, neverthelefs, 
 there are few per Ions 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 diffimulation of filence. They 
 think that they render to truth all that they owe 
 to it, when they do not declare againft it ; when 
 thev hear virtue continually decried by the world- 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 2CO. 
 
 ly, the doctrine of the world maintained, its abufes 
 and maxims juftified, thofe of gofpel oppofed or 
 weakened, the wicked often blafpheming what they 
 know not, and fetting themfelves up as judges of 
 that faith which fhall judge them ; that they liften 
 to them, I fay, without joining in their impiety, is 
 true, but they do not boldly fhew their disapproba- 
 tion, and content themfelves with merely not au- 
 thorifing their blafphemies or their 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 enlight- 
 ened, 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 fayoured you ; you alfo render 
 yourfelves culpable towards God of ingratitude ; 
 you do not make a proper return for the blefling 
 of grace and of truth with which he hath favour- 
 ed you, in the midfl of your extravagant, pafllons. 
 He hath illuminated your darknefs ; he hath re- 
 called you to himfelf, while wandering in treach- 
 erous and iniquitous ways ; -he, no doubt, in thus 
 fhedding light through your heart, hath not had 
 your benefit alone in view ; he hath meant that it 
 ihould operate as the inflruQion or as the reproach 
 of your connections, your friends, your fubjects, or 
 
 Yol. III. D d your 
 
210 SERMON VI. 
 
 your matters ; he hath intended to favour your 
 age, your nation, your country, in favouring you ; 
 for his chofen are formed only for the falvation cr 
 the condemnation of Turners. His defign has been 
 to place in ypu a light which might mine amid the 
 furrounding darknefs, and be a falutary guide to 
 your fellow- creamres ; which might perpetuate 
 truth among men, and render teftimony to the 
 righteoufnefs and to the wifdom of his law, amidfl 
 all the prejudices, and ail the vain conclufions of a 
 profane world. 
 
 Now, by oppofing only a cowardly and timid fi- 
 lence to tlie maxims which attack the truth, you 
 do not enter into the views of God's mercy upon 
 your brethren ; you render unavailing to his glory 
 and to the aggrandifement of his kingdom, that 
 talent of the trush which he had entrufted to you, 
 and of which he will one day demand a particular 
 and fevere reckoning ; I fay, more particularly of 
 you who had formerly, with fo much eclat, fup- 
 ported the errors and profane maxims of the world, 
 and who had once been its firmed: and moM avow- 
 ed apologia 1 . He furtly had a right to exacl of 
 you, that you mould declare yourfeives with the 
 fame courage in favour of truth ; neverthekfs, 
 from a zealous partifan of the world, his grace 
 hath only fucceeded in making a timid difciple of 
 the gofpel. That grand air of confidence and of 
 intrepidity with which you formerly apologifed for 
 the paiTions, has forfaken you ever fmce you have 
 
 undertaken 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 211 
 
 undertaken the defence of the interefts of virtue ; 
 that audacity which once impofed filence on truth, 
 is now icfelf mute in the prefence of error ; and 
 truth, which, as St Auguftin fays, gives confidence 
 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 reputa- 
 tion of their brethren attacked, the mod criminal 
 abufes of the world judified, without having the 
 courage to adopt the caufe of that truth which they 
 di (honour. I would not that the world have its 
 avowed partifans, and that Jefus Chrift have no 
 one to (land up for him. I would not that the 
 pious and good, through a miilaken idea of gooc 7 * 
 breeding, diffemble upon chofe irregularities of 
 finners which they are daily witneffing ; while fin- 
 ners, on the contrary, confider it as giving them- 
 felves an important and famionable air, to defend 
 and to maintain them in their prefence. I would 
 that a faithful foul comprehend that he is refpon- 
 fible to the -truth alone ; that he is upon the earth 
 folely to render glory to the truth : I would that 
 he bear upon his countenance that noble and, I 
 may fay, lofty dignity, which grace infpires ; that 
 heroical candour which contempt of the world 
 and all its glory produces ; that generous and 
 
 Chriftian 
 
212 SERMON VI, 
 
 Chriftian liberty, which expects only eternal rich- 
 es, which has no hope but in God, which dreads 
 nothing but the internal Judge, which pays court 
 to, and fpares nothing but the interefts of righte- 
 oufnefs and of charity, and which has no wifh of 
 making itfelf agreeable but by the truth. I would 
 that the fole prefence of a righteous foul impofe 
 filence on the enemies of virtue ; that they refpect 
 that character of truth which he mould bear en- 
 graven on his forehead ; that they crouch under 
 his holy greatnefs of foul, and that they render 
 homage, at lead by their filence and their confu. 
 fion, to that virtue which they inwardly defpife. 
 Thus, the Israelites, taken up with their dances, 
 their profane rejoicings, and their foolifh and im- 
 pious mouts around the golden calf, ftop all in a 
 moment, and keep a profound filence on the fole 
 appearance of Mofes, who comes down from the_ 
 mountain, armed with the law of the Lord and 
 with his eternal truth. Firft diffimulation of the 
 truth : a diflimulation of filence. 
 
 The fecond manner in which it is diffembled, 
 is that of foftening it by modifications, and by 
 condefcenfions which injure it. The magi, no 
 doubt, could not be ignorant that the intelligence 
 which they came to announce to Jerufalem would 
 be highly difpleafmg to Herod. That 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 conflantly 
 
 had 
 
TOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 213 
 
 had a dread left fome heir of the blood of the 
 kings of Judah mould expel him from the heri- 
 tage of his fathers, and remount a throne promi- 
 fed to his pofteriry. With what eye muff he 
 then regard men who come topublifh, in the midit 
 of Jerufalem, 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 im- 
 patient under every foreign rule ? Neverthelefs, 
 the magi conceal nothing of what they had feen in 
 the eaft ; they do not foften that grand event by 
 meafured expreflions lefs proper to aroufe the jea- 
 loufy of Herod. They might have called the Mef- 
 iiah whom they feek, the MefTenger of Heaven, or 
 the longed-for of nations; they might have defign- 
 ed him by titles lefs hateful to the ambition of He- 
 rod : but, full of the truth which hath appeared fo 
 them, they know none of thefe timid and fervile 
 time-fervings ; perfuaded that thofe, who are deter- 
 mined 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 
 difhonour 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 appearance in the firmament only in 
 obedience to his orders. 
 
 The 
 
3T4 SERMON VI. 
 
 The priefts and the fcribes, on the contrary, for* 
 ced, by the evidence of the fcriptures, to render 
 glory to the truth, foften it by guarded expreflions. 
 They endeavour to unite that refpecl which they 
 owe to the truth, with that complaifance which 
 they wifli flill to preferve for Herod : they fupprefs 
 the title of king which, the magi had given to 
 him, and which had fo often been bellowed by the 
 prophets upon the Meiliah ; they defign him by a 
 title which might equally mark an authority of 
 doclrine, or of fuperior power: they announce him 
 rather as a legiflator eftablifhed to regulate the 
 manners, than as a fovereign railed up for the de- 
 liverance of his people from bondage. And, not- 
 with (landing that they themfelves expect a Mef- 
 fiah, King, and Conqueror, they foften the truth 
 which they wifli to announce, and complete the 
 blindnefs of Herod, with whom they temporife. 
 
 Deplorable deftiny of the great ! the lips of the 
 priefts quiver in fpeaking to them; from the mo- 
 ment that their paffions are known they are tem- 
 porifed with ; truth never offers itfelf to them but 
 with a double face, of which one fide is always 
 favourable to them ; the fervants of God wilh not 
 avowedly to betray their miniftry and the interells 
 of truth ; but they wifli to conciliate them with 
 their own intereft : they endeavour to fave, as it 
 were, both the rule and their paflions, as if the 
 paffions could fubfift with that rule which con- 
 demns them. It feldom happens that the great 
 
 are 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 215 
 
 are inftrucled, becaufe it feldom happens that the 
 intention is not to pleafe in inftructing them. Ne- 
 verthelefs, the greater part would love the truth 
 were it once known to them : the paflions and the 
 extravagancies of the age, nourifhed by all the 
 pleafures which furround them, may lead them a- 
 llray ; but a remaining principle of religion ren- 
 ders truth always refpeclable to them. We may 
 venture to fay, that ignorance condemns more 
 princes and perfons of high rank than people of 
 the lowed condition ; and, that the mean com* 
 plaifance which is paid to them, is more difhon- 
 ourable to the miniftry, and is the caufe of more 
 reproach to religion, than the mofl notorious fcan- 
 dals which afflict the church. 
 
 The conduct of thefe priefls appears bafe to you, 
 my brethren : but, if you are difpofed to enter 
 into judgment with yourfelves^and to follow your- 
 felves through the detail of your duties, of your 
 friendfhips, of your converfations, you will fee 
 that all your difcourfes, and all your proceedings, 
 are merely mollifications of the truth, and tempo- 
 rifings in order to reconcile it with the prejudices, 
 or the paflions 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 
 mofl: defpicable vices we always find fome favour- 
 able fide ; and, as all the paflions have always fome 
 apparent refemblance to fome virtue, we never fail 
 
 to 
 
2 1 6 SERMON VI, 
 
 to fave ourfelves through the afiiftance of that re- 
 femblance. 
 
 Thus, in the prefence of an ambitious perfon, 
 we never fail to hold forth the love of glory, and 
 the defire of exalting one's felf, only as tendencies 
 which give birth to great men ; we natter his 
 pride ; we inflame his defires with hopes and with 
 falfe and chimerical predictions ; we nourilh the 
 error of his imagination by bringing phantoms 
 within his reach, upon which he inceftantly feafts 
 himfelf. We perhaps venture, in general terms, 
 to pity men who intereil themfelves fo deeply for 
 things which chance alone bellows, and of which 
 death mall perhaps deprive us to-morrow ; but we 
 have not the courage to cenfure the madman who, 
 to that vapour, facriiices his quiet, his life, and his 
 confcience. With a vindictive perfon we juftify 
 his refentment and anger ; we juflify his guilt in 
 his mind, by countenancing the juftice of his ac- 
 cufations ; we fpare his paffion in exaggerating the 
 injury and fault of his enemy. We perhaps ven- 
 ture to fay, how noble it is to forgive ; but we 
 have not the courage to add, that the firfl ftep to- 
 wards forgivenefs is the ceafing to fpeak. of the in- 
 jury received. 
 
 With a courtier equally discontented with his 
 own fortune, and jealous of that of others, we ne- 
 ver fail to expofe his rivals in the molt unfavour- 
 able light '• we artfully fpread a cloud over their 
 merit and their glory, leaft they fhould injure the 
 
 jealous 
 
FOR THE DAY Of T'TE EPIP'I \NY. 21 7 
 
 jealous eyes of him who liflens to us : we diminifn, 
 we caft a ffiade over the fame of their talents and 
 of their fervices ; and, by our iniquitous crouch* 
 rags to his paffion, we nourilh it, we afliil him in 
 blinding himfelf, and induce him to confider, as 
 honours unjuftry ravilhed from himfelf, all thofe 
 which are bellowed upon his brethren. What 
 mail I fay ? With a prodigal, his profufions are no 
 longer, m our mouths, but a difplay of generofity 
 and magnificence. With a mifer, his fordid cal- 
 Ioufnefs of heart, in which every feeling is loft, is 
 no longer but a prudent moderation, and a lauda- 
 ble domeftic economy. With a perfon of high 
 rank, his prejudices and his errors always find in 
 us ready apologies ; we refpeQ: his paffions equally 
 as his authority, and his prejudices always become 
 our own. Lai'tly, We catch the infection, and 
 imbibe the errors of all with whom we live ; we 
 transform ourfeives, as I may fay, into otherfelves; 
 our grand ftudy is to find out their weakneffes, 
 that we may appropriate and apply them to our 
 own purpofes ; we have, in fa£t, no language of 
 our own ; we always fpeak the language of o- 
 thers ; our difcourfes are merely a repetition of 
 their prejudices ; and this infamous debafement of 
 truth we call knowledge of the world, a prudence 
 which knows its own intereit, the grand art of 
 pleafing and of fucceeding in the world. li O ye 
 n fons of men ! how long will ye love vanity, and 
 " feek after leafing r" 
 
 Von. III. E e Yes, 
 
2 1 8 SERMON VI. 
 
 Yes, my brethren, by that we perpetuate error 
 among men ; «ve authorife every deceit ; we juftify 
 every Falfe maxim ; we give an air of innocence to 
 every vice ^ we maintain the reign of the world, 
 and oi iis doctrine, againft that of Jefus Chrift ; 
 we corrupt fociety, of which truth ought to be the 
 firft tie ; we pervert thofe duties and mutual offi- 
 ces of civ.il life, eftablifhed to animate us to virtue, 
 into fnares, and inevitable occafions of a departure 
 from righteoufnefs ; we change friend fhip, which 
 ought to be a grand refource to us againft our er- 
 rors and irregularities, into a commerce of diffi- 
 mulation 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 efpecially the fouls who belong to 
 God, and who are intruded with the interefts of 
 truth upon the earth. Yes, my brethren, I would 
 that faithful fouls had a language peculiar to them 
 amid the world ; that other maxims, other fenti- 
 ments, were found in them than in the reft of 
 men ; and, while all others fpeak the language of 
 the paffions, that they alone fpeak the language of 
 truth. I would that, while the world hath its Ba- 
 laams, who, by their difcourfes and counfels, au- 
 thorife irregularity and licentioufnefs, piety had its 
 Phineafes, who durft boldly adopt the interefts of 
 th« law of God, and of the fanctity of its maxims: 
 that, while the world hath its impious philofo- 
 phers and falfe fages, who think that it does them 
 
 honour 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 210, 
 
 honour openly to proclaim, that we ought to live 
 only for the prefent, and that the end of man is, in 
 no refped, different from that of the beaft, piety had 
 its Solomons, who, undeceived by their own expe- 
 rience, durft publicly avow, that, excepting the 
 fear of the Lord and the obfervance of his com- 
 mandments, all elfe is vanity and vexation of fpi- 
 rit : that, while the world hath its charms and en- 
 chantments, which feduce kings and the people 
 by their delufions and flatteries, piety had its Mo- 
 fefes and Aarons, who had the coursge to confound, 
 by the fole force of truth, their imposition and ar- 
 tifice : 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 apparen.tlv gives up fomething to 
 the prejudices of men, only that it mav more fure- 
 ly recall them to rule and duty. I know that truth 
 loves neither rath nor indifcreet defenders; that 
 the paflions of men require a certain deference 
 and management ; that thev are in the fituation of 
 fick perfons, to whom it is often necefTary to dif- 
 guife and render palatable their medicines, and to 
 cure them without their privity. I know that all 
 deferences paid to the pailions, when their tenden- 
 cy is to eftablilh the truth, are not weakeners, but 
 auxiliaries of i{ j and that the grand rule of the 
 
 zeal 
 
2 22) SERMON VI. 
 
 zeal of truth, is prudence and charity. But fuch 
 is not the intention when they weaken it by flat- 
 tering and feryile adulations ; they i'cek'to pleafe, 
 and not to edify ; they fubftitute themfelvcs in the 
 place of truth; and their fole v/ifh. is to attract 
 thofe fuffrages which are due to it alone. And, 
 let it not be faid that it is more through fournefs 
 and oftentation, than through charity, that the jult 
 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 
 diffirnulatfon and artifice, which confiders thefe 
 even as an honourable fcience, and which is totally 
 unacquainted with this noble rectitude cf heart, 
 cannot fuppofe it in others ; it is its profound cor- 
 ruption which is the caufe of its fufpe&ing the 
 fincerity and the courage of the upright ; it is a 
 mode of acting which appears ridiculous, becaufe 
 it is new to it; and, as it finds in it fo marked a-fm- 
 gularity, it 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 dif- 
 gui'ed, but it is like wife openly betrayed. Lad 
 diilimulation. of the prieds of our gofpel : a dffii- 
 mulation of falfehood. They are not fatisfied with 
 quoting the prophecies in obfcure 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 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 2 21 
 
 whom they came in fearch, they have not had the 
 courage to return : that they are (hangers little 
 verfed in the knowledge of the law and of the pro- 
 phets ; and that the light of Heaven, which they 
 pretended to follow, was nothing but a vulgar il- 
 Jufion, and a fuperditious prejudice of a rude and 
 credulous nation. And fuch mull indeed have 
 been their language to Herod, fince they them- 
 felves ad 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 fuper- 
 ilitious refearch of thefe magi. 
 
 And behold to what we at laft come : in confe- 
 quence of a fervile compliance with the psflions of 
 men, and of continually wifhing to pleafe them at 
 the expence of truth, we at la/1 openly abandon it; 
 we cov/ardly and downrigh'ly facrifice it to our in- 
 terest, our fortune, and our reputation ; we betray 
 our conscience, our duty, and our underflanding ; 
 and, consequently, from the moment that truth be- 
 comes irkfome to us, or renders us difpleafing, we 
 difavow it, and deliver it up to oppieffion and iniqui- 
 ty; like Peter, we deny 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 afiumes every form, and 
 never pofTcfTes any determinate one ; into a weak 
 and flattering heart, which has not the courage to 
 
 refufe 
 
2 2 2 SERMON VI, 
 
 ivfufe its fufFrage to any thing but unprofitable and 
 unfortunate virtue ; into a corrupted and inter efted 
 hfrart, which makes fubfervient to its purpofes, re- 
 ligion, truth, juftice, and all that is moft facred a- 
 mong men ; in a word, a heart capable of every 
 thing except that of being true, noble, and fmcere. 
 And think not that fmners of this defcription are 
 fo very rare in the world. We fhun only the no- 
 toriety and (hame of thefe faults ; fecret and fecure 
 bafeneffes find few fcrupulous hearts : we often, 
 love only the reputation and glory of truth. 
 
 It is only proper to take care that, in pretending 
 to defend the truth, we a r e not defending the mere 
 illufions of our own mind. Pride, ignorance, and 
 felf-conceit, every day furnifh defenders to error, 
 equally intrepid and obftinate as any of whom faith 
 can boafl. The only truth worthy of our love, of 
 our zeal, md of our courage, is that held out to 
 us by the church r <^r it alone we ought to endure 
 every thing \ beycna that, we are no longer but 
 the martyrs oi bur own obflinacy and vanity. 
 
 O my God ! pcur then through my foul that 
 humble and geneious love of the truth, with which , 
 thy chofen a^e filled in heaven, and which is the 
 only character! flic mark of the juft upon the earth. 
 Let my Irfe be only fu:h as to render glory to thine 
 et< rnal truths ; let me honour them through the 
 rarj&ity of my manners ; let me defend them 
 through zeal for thv interefts alone, and enable 
 
 • continually to oppofe them to error and vanity: 
 
 annihilate 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 221 
 
 annihilate in my heart thofe human fears, that pru- 
 dence of tile flefh which dreads to lay open to per- 
 fons their errors and their vices. Suffer not that 
 I be a feeble reed which bends to every blafl, nor 
 that 1 ever blufh to bear the truth imprinted on 
 my forehead, as the mod illuftrious title with which 
 thy creature can glorify himfelf, and as the mod 
 glorious mark of thy mercies upon my foul. In 
 effect, it is not fufficient to be the witnefs and de- 
 positary of it, it is alfo neceffary to be its defender: 
 character contrafted with that of Herod, who is, 
 in our gofpel at prefent, its enemy and perfecutor. 
 Lad inftruction with which our gofpel furnifhes us: 
 the truth perfecuted. 
 
 Part III. If it is a crime to withftand the truth 
 when it mines upon us ; iniquitoufly to withhold 
 it when we owe it to others ; it is the fulnefs of 
 iniquity, and the moft diftinguifhed character of 
 reprobation, to perfecute and combat it. Never- 
 thelefs, nothing more common in the world than 
 this perfecution of truth ; and the impious Herod, 
 who, on the prefent occafion, fets himfelf up againfr. 
 it, has more imitators than is fuppofed. 
 
 For, in the firft place, he perfecutes it through 
 that repugnancy which he vifibly fhews to the 
 truth, and which induces all Jerufalem to follow 
 his example ; and this is what I call a perfecution 
 of fcandal. Secondly, He perfecutes it by endea- 
 vouring to corrupt the priefts, and even by laying 
 fnares for the piety of the magi j and this is what 
 
 I call 
 
2'24 S E R M N TI. 
 
 I call a perfecution of fedu&ion. Laftly, He per- 
 fecutes it by (bedding innocent blood ; and this h 
 a perfecution of power and violence. Now, my 
 brethren, if the brevity of a difcourfe permitted me 
 to examine thefe three defcriptions of perfecution 
 of the truth, there is not perhaps one of them of 
 which you would not find yourfelves culpable. 
 
 For, ijiiy, Who can flatter himfelf with not be- 
 ing among the number of the perfecutors of truth, 
 under the defcription of fcandals ? I even fpeak not 
 of thofe diforderly fouls who have erected the fland- 
 ard of guilt and licentioufnefs, and who pay little, 
 if indeed any, attention to the public opinion : the 
 molt notorious fcandals are not always thofe which 
 are mod to be dreaded ; and avowed debauchery, 
 when carried to a certain degree, occafions, in ge- 
 neral, more cenfures upon our conduct than imi- 
 tations of our exceffes. I fpeak of thofe fouls de- 
 livered up to the pleafures, to the vanities, and to 
 all the abufes of the age, and whofe conduct, in 
 other refpects regular, is not only irreproachable 
 in the fight of the world, but attracts even the 
 praifes and the efteem of men ; and I fay that they 
 perfecute the truth through their fole examples, 
 that they undo, as much as in them lies, the max- 
 ims of the gofpel in every heart ; that they cry 
 out to all men, that fhunning of pleafures is a need- 
 lefs precaution ; that love of the world and the love 
 of virtue, are not at all incompatible ; that a tafte 
 for theatres, for drefs, and for all public amufe- 
 
 ments, 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 225 
 
 tnents, is entirely innocent ; and that it is eafy to 
 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 authorifed perfecu- 
 tion which has nothing odious in it, and againft 
 which no precaution is taken ; which attacks the 
 truth without violence, without effufion of blood, 
 under the fmiling image of peace and fociety ; and 
 which, through thefe means, occafions more defer- 
 ters from the truth than ever all tyrants and tor- 
 tures formerly did. 
 
 I fpeak even of thofe good characters who only 
 imperfe&ly fulfil the duties of piety, who flill retain, 
 too, public, remains of the paffions of the world 
 and of its maxims : and, I fay, that they perfecute 
 the truth through thefe unfortunate remains of in- 
 fidelity and weaknefs ; that they are the occafion 
 of its being blafphemed by the impious and other 
 fmners ; that they authorife the fenfelefs difcourfes 
 of the world againft the piety of the fervants of 
 God ; that they are the caufe of fouls being dif- 
 gufted with virtue, who might otherwife feel them- 
 felves 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, ftill every day, as 
 the Lord formerly complained through his pro- 
 phet Jeremiah, the backfliding Ifrael, that is to 
 fay, the world, juflifies herfelf more than trea- 
 
 Vol. III. F f cherous 
 
226 SERMON VI. 
 
 cherous Judah, that is to fay, the weaknetfes 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 ; pur- 
 fue their own ends, have ft ill a defire of pleafing, 
 eagerly feek after diftinclions and favours, and 
 fometimes make even piety fubfervient towards 
 more furely attaining them. Ah ! it is then that 
 the world triumphs, and that it feels itfelf comfort- 
 ed 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 fitua- 
 tion, and thinks that it is needlefs to change, fince, 
 in changing the name, the fame things are ftill re- 
 tained. 
 
 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 paffions, to thofe of truth and righteouf- 
 nefs j let us act in fuch a manner among the world- 
 ly, that, in place of decrying virtue as they have 
 hitherto done, and of defpifing or cenfuring thofe 
 who practice it ; the good works which they fhall 
 behold in us, our pure and holy manners, our pa- 
 tience under fcorn, our wifdom and our circum- 
 fpection in difcourfe, our modefty and humility in 
 exaltation, our equality of mind and fubmiffion 
 under difgrace, our gentlenefs towards our infe- 
 riors., 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 227 
 
 riors, our re ard for our equals, our fidelity to- 
 wards our matters, our univerfal charity towards 
 our brerhren, force them to render glory to God, 
 make them to refpett and even to envy the deftiny 
 of virtue, and difpofe their hearts to receive the 
 grace of light and of truth when it (hall deign to 
 vifit ihem, and to enlighten them upon their erro- 
 neous ways. Let us ihut up the mouth of all the 
 enemies of virtue by the fight of an irreprebenfible 
 life : let us honour piety, that it may honour us : let 
 us render it refpe&abie if we wifh to gain partifans 
 to it : let us furnifh to the world examples which 
 condemn it, and not cenfures which juftify it : let 
 us accuilom it to think, that godlinefs is profitable 
 unto all things, having promife not only of the 
 life to come, but alfo peace, fatisfaclion, and con- 
 tent, which are the only good, and the only real 
 pleafures of the prefent life. 
 
 To this perfecution of fcandal Herod adds a 
 perfecution of feduction : he tempts the fanclity 
 and the fidelity of the minifters of the law : he 
 willies to make the zeal and the holy boldnefs of 
 the magi inftrumental to his impious defigns : in a 
 word, he neglects nothing to undo the truth be- 
 fore he openly attacks it. 
 
 And behold a frefh manner in which we conti- 
 nually perfecute the truth. In ihzjirfl place, We 
 weaken the piety of the juft by accufing their fer- 
 vor of excefs, and by ftruggling to perfuade them 
 that they do too much j we exhort them, like the 
 
 grand 
 
C2§ SERMON VI. 
 
 grand tempter, to change their flones into bread j 
 that is to fay, to abate from their aufterity, and to 
 change thai 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 un- 
 willing to raife ourfelves to a level with them. 
 idly, We perhaps tempt even their fidelity and 
 their innocence, by giving the molt animated des- 
 criptions of thofe pleafures from which they fly : 
 like the wife of Job, we blame their fimplicity and 
 weaknefs : we exaggerate to them the inconveni- 
 ences of virtue and the difficulties of perfeve- 
 rance : we fhake them by the example of unfaith- 
 ful fouls, who, after putting their hand to the 
 plough, have call a look behind, and abandoned 
 their labour : what fhall I fay ? We perhaps at- 
 tack even the immovable ground- work of faith, 
 and we infinuate the inutility of the felf-denials it 
 propofes, from the uncertainty of its promifes. 
 $dly, We harafs, by our authority, the zeal and 
 the piety of thofe perfons who are dependent upon 
 lis : we exact duties of them, either incompatible 
 with their innocence, or dangerous to their virtue: 
 we place them in fifuations either painful or try- 
 ing to their faith : we interdict them from practi- 
 ces and obfervances, either neceflary for their fup- 
 port in piety, or profitable towards their progrefs 
 in it : in a word, we become domeftic tempters 
 
 with 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 229 
 
 with refpect to them, being neither capable of 
 tailing good ourfeives ror of fuffering it in others, 
 and performing, towards thefe fouls, the office of 
 the demon, who only watches in order to deftroy. 
 Lajily, We render ourfeives culpable of this perfe- 
 ction of feduelion, by making our talents inftru- 
 mental to the deOruclion of the reign of Jefus 
 Chriit : the talents of the body in infpiring iniqui- 
 tous paffions ; in placing ourfeives in hearts where 
 God alone ought to be j in corrupting the fouls 
 for whom Jefus Chrifl gave his blood : the talents 
 of the mind in inducing to vice ; in embellifhing 
 it with all the charms naoft calculated to hide its 
 infamy and horror j in prefenting the poifon un- 
 der the mofl alluring and feduclive form ; and in 
 rendering it immortal by lafcivious works, through 
 the means of which a miferable author fhall, to 
 the end of ages, preach up vice, corrupt hearts, 
 and infpire his brethren with every deplorable paf- 
 fion which had enflaved himfelf during life ; fhall 
 fee his punifhment and his torments increafed in 
 proportion as the impious fire he has lighted up 
 mail fpread upon the earth ; fhall have the mock- 
 ing confolation of declaring himfelf, even after 
 death, againfl his God, of gaining fouls from him 
 whom he had redeemed, of ft ill infuhing his holinefs 
 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. Wo, faith the Lord, to 
 
 all 
 
£3® SFRMOV VI* 
 
 all thofe who rife up againfl: mv rarne ?md trlory., 
 and who lay n..tes lor my people- . i will take ven- 
 geance of thern on the day of ni) judgment : I will 
 demand of them the blood of their brethren vvhom 
 they have feduced, and whom ihty have caufed to 
 periih : and I will multiply upon them, and make 
 them for ever to feel the mod dreadful evils, in re- 
 turn for that glory which they have raviihed from 
 me. 
 
 But, a laft defcripuon of perfecution, ftill more 
 fatal to truth, is that which I call a perfecution 
 of power and v'.olence. Herod, having gained 
 nothing by his artifices, at laft throws off the mafk, 
 openly declares himfelf the perfecutor of Jefus 
 Chrift, and wi flies to extinguish in its binh that 
 light which comes to illuminate the whole world. 
 
 The fole mention of the cruelty of that impious 
 prince ftrikes us with horror ; and it does not ap- 
 pear that fo barbarous an example can ever find 
 imitators among us : neverthelefs, the world is full 
 of thefe kinds of public and avowed perfecurors of 
 the truth; and, if the church be no Jongcr afflicted 
 with the barbarity of tyrants, and with the effufion 
 of her children's blood, flie is (till every day perfe- 
 cted by the public derifions which the woildly 
 make of virtue, and by the ruin of thofe faithful 
 fouls whom (he, with grief, fo often beholds fink- 
 ing under the dreai of their derifions and cenlures. 
 
 Yes, my brethren, thofe difcourfes which you 
 fo readily allow yourfelves againit the piety of the 
 
 fervants 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 23I 
 
 fervants of God, of thofe fouls who, by their fer- 
 vent homages, recompenfe his glory for your 
 crimes and infults ; thofe deriilons of their zeal 
 and of their holy intnx'cation for their God; thofe 
 biting farcafms wh-ch rebound from their perfon 
 upon virtue itfelf, and are the mod dangerous 
 temptation of their penitence : that feverity on 
 their account, which forgives them nothing, and 
 changes even their virtues into vices ; that lan- 
 guage of blafphemy and of mockery, which throws 
 an air of ridicule over the ferioufnefs of their com- 
 punction ; which gives appellations of irony and 
 contempt to the mod refpe&aole practices of their 
 piety ; which fhakes their faith, checks their holy 
 resolutions, difheartens their weaknefs, makes them, 
 as it were, afhamed 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 
 St Auguftin, that which the tyrants themfelves 
 have never perfecuted ; they have deprived him 
 only of life ; your fcheme is to deprive him of in- 
 nocence and virtue : their perfecution extended 
 only to the body j you carry yours even to the 
 deftru&ion of his foul. 
 
 What, my brethren ! is it not enough that you 
 do not yourfeives ferve the God for whom you are 
 created ? (This is what the firft defenders of faith, 
 the Tertullians 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 
 
232 SERMON VI* 
 
 againft Chriftians ?) Is it not enough ? Mull: yoxi 
 alfo perfecute thofe who ferve him ? You are then 
 determined neither to adore him yourfelves nor to 
 fuller that others do it ? You every day forgive fo 
 many extravagancies to the followers of the world, 
 fo many unreafonable pailions ; you excufe them ; 
 what do I fay ? You applaud them in the inordi- 
 nate defires of their heart : in their moft fhameful 
 pailions you find conftancy, fidelity, and digni- 
 ty : You give honourable names to their mod in- 
 famous vices ; and it is a juft and faithful foul a- 
 lotie, a fervant of the true God, who has no indul- 
 gence to expect from you, and^is certain of attract- 
 ing upon himfdf your contempt and cenfures ? 
 But, my brethren, theatrical and other amufements 
 are publicly licenfed, and nothing is faid againft 
 them : the madnefs of gambling has its declared 
 partifans, and they are quietly put up with : ambi- 
 tion has its worftiippers and flaves, and they are 
 even commended : voluptuoufnefs has its altars 
 and victims, and no one contefts them: avarice has 
 its idolaters, and not a word is faid againft them : 
 all the pailions, like fo many facrilegious divini- 
 ties, have their eftablifhed worfhip, without the 
 fmalleft exception being taken ; and the fole Lord 
 of the univerfe, and the Sovereign of all men, and 
 the only God upon the earth, either (hall not be 
 ferved at all, or lhall not be it with impunity, and 
 without every obftacle being placed in the way of 
 his fervice ? 
 
 Great 
 
FOR THE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 233 
 
 Great God ! avenge then thine own glory : ren- 
 der again to thy fervants that honour and that luf- 
 tre which the impious uijceafingly raviih from 
 them : do not, as formerly, fend ferocious beads 
 from the depths of their fbrefts to devour the con- 
 temners of virtue, and of the holy fimplicity of 
 thy prophets ; but deliver them up to their inor- 
 dinate defires, (till more cruel and infatiable than 
 the lion or the bear, in order that, worn out, rac- 
 ked by the internal convulfions and the frenzies of 
 their own paffions, they may know all the value 
 and all the excellence of that virtue which they 
 contemn, and afpire to the felicity and to the def- 
 tiny of thofe fouls who ferve thee. 
 
 For, my brethren, you whom this cHfcourfe re- 
 gards, allow me, and with grief, to fay it here : 
 mud you be the inftruments which the demon em- 
 ploys to tempt the chofen of God, and, if it were 
 poflible, to lead them aurav ? Mutt it be that you 
 appear upon the earth merely in order tojuiihy 
 the prophecies of the holy books wich regard to 
 the perfecutions, which, even to the end, are ine- 
 vitable to all thofe who lhali, with to Jive in godli- 
 nefs which is in Jefus Chrift ? Mufi you alone be 
 the means of fuftaining the perpetuity of that 
 frightful fucceffion of periecutors 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 fcanda] of 
 the gofpel ? Renounce then yourfelves the hope 
 Vol. III. G g which 
 
234 SERMON VI. 
 
 which is in Jefus Chrift ; join yourfelves with thofe 
 barbarous nations, or with thofe impious charac- 
 ters who blafpheme his glory and his divinity, if - 
 to you it appears fo worthy of derifion and laugh- 
 ter to l'/e under his laws, and according to his 
 maxims. An infidel or a favage might fuppofe 
 that we, who ferve and who wcrfhip him, are un- 
 der delufion ; he might pity our credulity and 
 weaknefs.when he fees us facrificing the prefent to 
 a futurity, and an hope which, in his eyes, might 
 appear fabulous and chimerical'; but he would be 
 forced, at leaft, to confefs that, if we do not de- 
 ceive ourfelves, and if our faith be juftly grounded, 
 v.? are the wifeft and the moil, eftimable of all men. 
 Bur for you, who would not dare to (tart a doubt 
 of rue certitude of faith, and of the hope which is 
 in Jefus Chrift, with what eyes, with what aftoniih- 
 ment would that infidel regard the cenfures which 
 you fo plentifully bellow upon his fervants ? You 
 prodrate yourfelves before his crofs, he would fay 
 to you, as before the pledge of your falvanon ; and 
 you laugh at thofe who bear it in their heart, and 
 who ground their whole hope and expectation in 
 it ! You worfhip him as your Judge ; and you con- 
 temn and load with ridicule thofe who dread him, 
 and who anxioufly labour to render him favoura- 
 ble to their interefts ' You believe him to be fin- 
 cere and faithful in his word ; and you look upon, 
 as weak mind?, thofe who place their truft in him, 
 and who facrifrce every thing to the grandeur and 
 
 t® 
 
FOR. THE DAY OF THE EPITHAKY 235 
 
 to the certainty of his promifes ! O man, fo ado- 
 nifhing, fo full of contradictions* fo little in unilon 
 with thyfelf, would the infidel exclaim, how great 
 and how holy mult the G ;d o the Chriftians there- 
 fore be, fee:!!;.; that, among all thofe who know 
 him, he hath no enemies but iuch as are of thy 
 description ! 
 
 Let us, therefore, refpeft virtue, my brethren ; 
 let us honour, in his fervants, the gilts of God, 
 and the wonders of his ^race. Let us merit, by 
 our deference and our efteem for piety, the blefling 
 of piety itielf. Let us regard the worthy and pious 
 as the fouls who alone continue to draw down the 
 favours of Heaven upon the earth, as refources ef- 
 tablifhed to reconcile us one day with God, as blef- 
 fed figns, which prove to us that the Lord {till 
 looketh upon men with pity, and continueth his 
 mercies upon his church. Let u$ encourage by 
 our praifes, if we cannot ftrengthen by our exam- 
 ple, the fouls who return to him : let us apphud 
 their change, if we think it impofiible, as yet, to 
 change ourfelves : let us glory in defending them, 
 if our paflions 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 fideliry of men only in proportion 
 as they are faithful to their Mal.er and Creator: 
 let us confide our forrows and our fnlferings only 
 to thofe who can prefent them to him, who alone 
 can conible them: let us believe to be in our real 
 
 intereits 
 
2^6 SERMON VI. 
 
 interefts only thofe who are in the interefts of our 
 falvation. Let us fmooth the way to our corner - 
 fion : let us, by our refpect for the jufl, prepare 
 the world to behold us one day, without furprife, 
 jufl: ourfelves. Let us nor, by our derifions and 
 cenfures, raife up an invincible (tumbling-block of 
 human refpecl, which fhall for ever prevent us 
 from declaring ourfelves difciples of that piety 
 hich we have fo loudly and fo publicly decrird. 
 Let us render glory to the truth ; and, in order 
 ' that it may deliver us, let us religioufly receive it, 
 like the magi, from the moment that it is manifefl- 
 ed to us : let us not diffemble it, like the priefls, 
 when we owe it to our brethren : let us not declare 
 againfl it, like Herod, when v/e can no longer dif- 
 femble it to ourfelves, in order that, after having 
 walked in the ways of truth upon the earth, we 
 may ail together one day be fanclifted in truth, and 
 perfected in charity. 
 
 SER. 
 
iluhii im ii mi ill linn niirrrr 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 
 THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 . Luke ii. 21. 
 
 His name was called Jefus^ which was fo named of 
 the angel. 
 
 A 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, if the 
 light of faith come not fpeedily to its aid, to dif- 
 cover the depth of the divine wifdom concealed 
 under the apparent abfurdity of the myftery of a 
 Man-God ? Thus, in all times, this fundamental 
 point of our holy religion, I mean the divinity of 
 Jefus Chrift, bath been the object moft expofed to 
 the foolifh oppofitions of the hu rian mind, Men, 
 full of pride, whofe mouths ought to be filled with 
 
 only 
 
23^ SERMON VII. 
 
 only thankfgivings for the Ineffable gift, made to 
 them by the Father of mercies, of his only Son, 
 have continually infulred him, bv vomiting forth 
 the moft impious biafphemies a^inft: that adorable 
 Son. Full ol hi«"<i< ef:s, v ho have not feen that 
 the foie na r ;e of Jefus, which is given to him on 
 this day, that name which he at nrfl: receives in 
 heaven, and which an anrel conveys to the earth, 
 to Mary and jofeph, is the inconteftablr: proof of 
 his divinity. That facred name eflablifhes him the 
 Saviour of mankind ; Saviour, in rhat, through 
 the cffufion of blood, which becomes our ranfom, 
 he delivers us from fin, and from the confluences 
 infeparable from if, viz. the tyranny of the demon 
 and of hell : Saviour, in that, attracting upon his 
 own head the chaftiiement due to our prevarica- 
 tions, he reconciles us with God, and opens to us 
 afrefh the entry of the eternal fan&uary, which fin 
 had (hut againft us. But, my brethren, if the Son 
 of Mary be but a mere man, of what value, in the 
 eyes of God, will be the oblation of his blood ? If 
 Jcfus Chrift be not God, how will his mediation be 
 accepted, while he would himfelf have occafion for 
 a mediator to rtconcile him with God ? 
 
 This proof, which I only touch upon here, and 
 fo many others with which religion furnifhes me, 
 would quickly flop the mouth of the ungodly, and 
 confound his impiety, it I undertook to mew them 
 in all their light, and to give an extenfion in pro- 
 portun to their importance. But, God forbid 
 
 that 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 239 
 
 that I fhould come here, into the holy temple 
 where the altars of our divine Saviour are raifed 
 up, where his worfhippers aflemble, to enter into 
 conteftation, as if I fpake in the preience of his 
 enemies, or, to make the apolugy of the myftery 
 of the Man-God, before a believing people, and a 
 fovereign whofe moft iliuftrious and mofl cherifh- 
 ed title is that of Chriflian. It is not, therefore, 
 to combat thefe ungodly, that, on this day, I con- 
 fecrate my difcourfe to the divinity and to the e- 
 ternal 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 Perfe&er ; and to reanimate our piety 
 in expofing to you the glory and the divinity of 
 our Mediator who is its object and its fweeiefl 
 hope. 
 
 It is even proper to renew, from time to time, 
 thefe grand truths in the minds of the great and 
 of the princes of the people, in order to ftrength- 
 en them againft thofe difcourfes of infidelity which 
 they, in general, are only too much in the way of 
 hearing ; and it is expedient fometimes to raife 
 up the veil which covers the fanctuary, that they 
 may have a view of thofe hidden beauties which 
 religion only holds out to their refpecl: and their 
 homages. 
 
 Now, the divinity of the Mediator can only be 
 proven by his miniftry ; his titles can appear only 
 in his functions : and, in order to know whether 
 
 he 
 
240 SERMON VII. 
 
 he be defcended from heaven, and equal with thfi 
 mod High, it requires only to relate the purpofes 
 for which he came upon the earth. He came, my 
 brethren, to form an holy and a believing people; 
 a believing people, who fubjecl their reafon to the 
 facred yoke of faith ; an holy people, whofe con- 
 verfation is in heaven, and who are no longer ref- 
 ponfible to the flefh, to live according to the flefh : 
 fuch is the grand defign of his temporal miffion. 
 
 The luflre of his miniftry is the firmeft founda- 
 tion of our faith : the fpirit of his miniftry, the 
 fole rule of our morals. Now, if he was only a 
 man commiffioned of God, the luftre of his minif- 
 try would be the inevitable occafion of our fuper- 
 ftition 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 miniftry, the glory of his divinity remains 
 equally and invincibly eftablifhed. 
 
 O Jefus, fole Lord of all, accept this public ho- 
 mage of our confeffion and of our fairh ! While 
 impiety blafphemes in fecref, and under the mades 
 of darknefs againft thy glory, allow us the confo- 
 lation of publishing it with the voice of all ages. 
 in the face of thefe altars ; and form, in our heart, 
 not only that faith which confeffes and worfhips 
 thee, but alfo that which follows and which imi- 
 tates thee. 
 
 Part I. God can manifefl himfelf to men, only 
 in order to teach them what he is, and what men 
 
 owe 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 24I 
 
 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 mod High mew himfelf to 
 the earth, or whether he fill extraordinary men. 
 with his fpirit, the end of all his proceedings can 
 be only the knowledge and the fanctiflcation of 
 his name in the univerfe, and the eftablifhment of 
 a worfiiip 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 in- 
 nocent man, only chofen to be the meffenger of 
 God upon the earth ; the principal end of his mi- 
 niftry would have been that of rendering the world 
 idolatrous, and of ravifhing from the divinity that 
 glory which is his due, in order to appropriate it 
 to himfelf. 
 
 In effect, my brethren, whether we confider the 
 luflre of his miniflry in that pompous train of ora- 
 cles and of figurative allufions which have preced- 
 ed him in the wonderful circumftances which have 
 accompanied him, and, laftly, in the works which 
 he hath operated ; the Iuftre of it is fuch, that, if 
 Jefus Chriil. was only a man fimilar to us, God, 
 who hath fent him upon the earth arrayed in fuch 
 glory and power, would himfelf have deceived us, 
 and would be culpable of the idolatry of thofe 
 "%ho worfhip him. 
 
 To*'. Ill, H h The 
 
24- SERMON VII. 
 
 The firft: fignal character of the miniftry of Je- 
 fus 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 Ref- 
 torer, whom his guilt had rendered neceffary to the 
 earth. Is fhewn to him from afar. In the follow- 
 ing ages, God, it would appear, is only occupied in 
 preparing mankind for his coming : if he manifefl 
 himfelf to the patriarchs, it h in order to confirm 
 their faith in that expectation ; if he infpire pro-* 
 phets, it is in order to announce him ; if he choofe 
 to himfelf a people, it is for the purpofe of making 
 it the depositary of that grand promife ; if he pre- 
 fcribe facrinces 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 kingdoms fall or rife 
 only in order to prepare the way for it : the hea- 
 vens are only opened to promife it : and, as St 
 Paul fays, the whole creation groaneth and travail- 
 eth 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 begin- 
 ning of all ages, the earth with the expectation of 
 a man, and to announce him to it from heaven, 
 is already, in facl, to prepare men to receive him 
 with a kind of religion and worfhip ; and, even 
 granting that jefus Chrifl were to. have only the 
 
 eclat 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. £4$ 
 
 eclat of that particular circumftance which diftin- 
 guifhes him from all other men, the fuperftition of 
 the people, with regard to him, were he only a 
 iimple creature, had been to dread- But, even the 
 .circumftance of Jefus Chrift being foretold is not 
 fo wonderful as thofe in which he hath been it 9 
 which are more furprifing than even the prophe- 
 cies themfelves. In efrecl:, if Cyrus and John the 
 Baptift have been foretold, long before thek birth, 
 in the prophecies of Ifaiah and of Malachi, thefe 
 are only individual prophecies, without confe- 
 quence or train, and which are found in a fingle 
 prophet ; predictions which announce only parti~ 
 cular events, and by which the religion of the 
 people could never be caught or furprifed j Cyrus 
 to be the re-eftabliiher 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 prophecies, the 
 truth and the divinity of all the prophecies which 
 announce Jefus Chrift. 
 
 But here, my brethren, it is a Meffenger of Hea- 
 ven, foretold by a whole people, announced, dur- 
 ing four thoufand years, by a long train of prophe- 
 cies, defired of all nations, figured by all the cere- 
 monies, expected by all the juft, and fhewn from 
 afar in all ages. The patriarchs expire in wifli- 
 ing to fee him : the juft live in that expectation-: 
 fathers inftrucl: their children to wifh for him ; 
 and this defire is like a domeftic religion which is 
 
 perpetuated 
 
244 SERMON VII. 
 
 perpetuated from age to age. The prophets them- 
 selves of the gentiles fee the Star of Jacob fhining 
 from afar ; and this great event is announced even 
 in the oracles of idols. Here, it is not for a parti- 
 cular event ; it is to be the refource of the con- 
 demned world, the legiflatorof all people, the light 
 of nations, the falvation of Ifrael j it is in order to 
 blot out iniquity from the earth, to bring an eter- 
 nal righteoumefs, to fill the univerfe with the fpi- 
 rit of God, and to be the blefied bearer of an im- 
 mortal peace to all men. What a pompous train! 
 What a fnare for the religion of all ages, if fuch 
 magnificent preparations announce only a fimple 
 creature ; and, more efpecially, in times when the 
 credulity of the people fo eafily placed extraordi- 
 nary men in the rank of gods ! 
 
 Befides-, when John the Baptifl appears on the 
 borders of the Jordan afFraid, it would feem, that 
 the fingle oracle which had foretold him might 
 become an occafion of idolatry to the people whom 
 the fame of his fanctity attracted round him, he 
 performs no miracles ; he never ceafes to fay : " I 
 " am not he whom you expect ; but one mightier 
 " than me comet h, the latchet of whofe fhoes I am 
 " not worthy to unloofe '" he is only watchful, it 
 would appear, to prevent fuperftitious honours. 
 Jems Chrift, on the contrary, whom four thoufand 
 years of expectation, of allufions, of prophecies, of 
 promifes, had, with fo much magnificence, an- 
 nounced to the earth ; Jefus Chrift, far from pre- 
 venting 
 
THE BIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 245 
 
 venting the fuperftition of the people with regard ■ 
 to himfelf, conies in fall authority and might j he 
 does miracles and deeds which no one had ever 
 done before him; and, net or.ly he raiies himfelf 
 above John the Baptiir., 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 extraordi- 
 nary men of which the preceding ages could boaft, 
 all the jufl; of th: law and of the age of the patri- 
 archs, had been only the imperfect types of the 
 Chrift ; and again, each of them reprefented only 
 fome individual trait of his life and miniftry ; Mel- 
 chifedec, his priefthood ; Abraham, his quality of 
 Head and Father of believers ; Ilaac, his facrifice ; 
 Job, his perfecutions and fufferings ; Mofes, his 
 office of Mediator ; Jofhua, his triumphant entry 
 into the land of the living with a chofen people. 
 All thefe men, however, fo venerable and fo mira- 
 culous, were only rude fketches of the MefTiah to 
 come ; and how great mult that Meffiah himfelf 
 have been to be, feeing his figures were fo illuftri- 
 ous and fo mining ! But, deprive Jefus Chrift of 
 his divinity and of his eternal origin, and the rea- 
 lity has nothing fuperior to the figure, I know ? 
 as we (hall afterwards fay, that, when we narrow- 
 ly examine the luftre of his wonders, we fhall 
 
 f?e v 
 
24^ SERMON VIF. 
 
 fee them marked with divine characters which ar* 
 only to be found in the life of thofe great men f 
 But, to judge of them by the eyes of the fenfes a- 
 lone, the parallel would not be favourable to Jefus 
 Chrift. 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 righteous and fo ex- 
 traordinary, were more glorious to his fovereigii- 
 ty than the title of God of empires and of na- 
 tions : fo great, that the Jews believed themfelves 
 fuperior to all other nations of the earth, only be- 
 caufe they were the pofterity of that famous chief 
 fo cherilhed of Heaven ; and that fathers, in re- 
 counting to their children the wonders of their 
 nation and the hlftory of their anceftors, animated 
 them to virtue, only by putting them in remem- 
 brance that they were the children of Abraham 
 and the members of a holy race I Is he more won- 
 derful than Mofes ? That man, mighty in words 
 and in deeds, mediator of an holy covenant, who 
 broke the yoke of Egypt and delivered his peoplp 
 from bondage : that man, who was eftablifhed ther 
 god of Pharaoh, who feemed the matter of nature, 
 who covered the earth with plagues, who divided 
 feas, who made a new nourifhment to be fhower- 
 ed from heaven ; that man, who faw the Lord face 
 to face upon the holy mountain, and who appear- 
 ed before Ifrael all refplendent in light ? What is 
 
 there 
 
THE DIVINITY 01* JESUS CHRIST. I^j 
 
 there more aftonifhing or more magnificent in the 
 life of Jefus Chrift ? Neverthelefs, thefe were only 
 frude (ketches of his glory and might : he was to 
 be the laft finifhing and perfection of them. Now, 
 If Jefus Chrift were not the image of the fubftance 
 of his Father, and the eternal fplendour of his glory, 
 he, at the utmoft, could only be equalled with 
 thefe firft men ; and the incredulity of the Jews 
 might, without oiafphemy, demand of him : " Art 
 * c 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 fuft place, you will eftimate his miniftry 
 from that pompous train of oracles and of figures 
 which have announced him, the fplendour is fuch, 
 that, if Jefus Chrift be but a man flmilar to us, 
 the wifdom itfelf of God would be culpable of the 
 miftake of thole who worfhip him. 
 
 But, my brethren, the Chrift hath been foretold 
 with his members : we are comprifed in the pro- 
 phecies 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 only eternal riches, 
 and who were to adore in fpirit and in truth : like 
 Jefus Chrift, we have compofed the expectation of 
 die 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 a- 
 lone was to be known and worfliipped $ where 
 
 faith 
 
Vifi SERMON Vlt. 
 
 faith was to be the fole light to illuminate us ; 
 charity the only bond of union ; and the land of 
 promife the only hope to animates us. Now, do 
 we anfwer an expectation fo illuftrious and fo holy ? 
 Are we worthy of having been the earned defire 
 of all thofe diflant ages which have preceded us ? 
 Do we merit to have been looked forward to like 
 celeftial men, who were to fill the earth with fanc- 
 tity and righteoufnefs ? Have not thole ages been 
 deceived in their expectation of the Chriftian peo- 
 ple ? Were the juft of thofe diftant times to re- 
 turn upon the earth, could we prefent ourfelves to 
 them, and fay i Behold thofe celeftial, fpiritual, 
 temperate, believing, and charitable men, whom 
 you expected ? Alas ! my brethren, the jufl of 
 former times were Chrifrians before the birth of 
 faith ; and we are ftill Jews, under all the advan- 
 tages 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 fenfes : we have 
 received more afTiftances, but we are not more be- 
 lieving. 
 
 To the luftre of the prophecies which have an- 
 nounced Jeius Chrift, we mufl add that of his 
 works and of his miracles : fecond refplendent 
 character 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, during all thefe firft ages, the fole oc- 
 cupation 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 249 
 
 cupation and expectation of the univcrfe ; did ever 
 man appear more wonderful, more divine in his 
 actions, and in all the circumfiances of his life ? 
 
 1 fay, i/f7y, in his actions and in his miracles. 
 I know, and we come from laying it, that, in ne 
 ages which preceded him, extraordinary mtn had 
 appeared upon the earth, to whom the Lord feem- 
 ed to have delegated his omnipotence and \ir:ue : 
 in Egypt and in the defert Mofes appeared 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 itlelf, we 
 find that all thefe miraculous- men always bore 
 with them the marks of weaknefs and dependajice. 
 
 Mofes only operated his miracles with his rnyf- 
 terious rod ; without it he was no longer but a 
 weak and powerlefs man ; and it would feem that 
 the Lord had attached the virtue of miracles to 
 that morfel of parched wood for the purpofe of 
 making the Ifraelites fenfible that, in his hands, 
 Mofes himfelf was but a weak and fragile inftru- 
 ment, whom he was pleafed to employ in the ope- 
 ration of grand effects. Jefus Chriit operates the 
 grandelt miracles, even without fpeaking ; and the 
 fole touch of his garment cures inveterate infirmities. 
 Mofes communicates not to his difciples the power 
 of operating miracles ; for it was an extraneous 
 gift which he had received from Heaven, and which 
 he had not the power of delegating : Jefus Chriit 
 leaves to his a ftili greater efficacy than had appear- 
 
 Vol. III. I i ed 
 
25O SERMON VII. 
 
 ed even in himfelf. Mofes always acts in the name 
 of the Lord : Jefus Chrift operates all in his own 
 name ; arid the works of his Father are his. Ne- 
 verthelefs, this Mofes, who had not been prophe- 
 cied like Jefus 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, dread- 
 ing that, after his death, his miracles fhould make 
 him pafs for a god, takes precautions left, in the 
 revolution of ages, the credulity of his people ren- 
 der to him divine honours : he goes up alone to 
 the mountain, to expire far from the fight of his 
 brethren, in the fear of their coming to offer up 
 victims upon his tomb ; and for ever removes his 
 body from the fuperftition of the tribes : he does 
 not mew himfelf to his difciples after his death j 
 he contents himfelf with leaving to them the law 
 of God, and employs every mean to obliterate him- 
 felf from their remembrance. And Jefus Chrift, 
 after all the miracles which he operates in Judea, 
 after all the prophecies 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 after 
 his death he fhews himfelf to his difciples. Was 
 fuperftition, then, lefs to be dreaded here? Oris 
 Jefus Chrift lefs zealous than Mofes for the glory 
 of the fupreme Being, and for the falvation of 
 men? 
 
 Elijah, 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 251 
 
 JElijah, it is true, raifes up the dead ; but he is 
 ^obliged to flretch himfelf out upon the body of the 
 child whom he recalls to life ; and it is eafily feen 
 that he invokes a foreign power ; that he with- 
 draws from the empire of death a foul which is not 
 fubjugated to him ; and that he is not himfelf the 
 mafter of life and death. Jefus Chrift raifes up 
 the dead as eafily as he performs the mod common 
 actions ; he fpeaks as mafter of thofe who repofe 
 in an eternal ileep ; 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 grandeft things. 
 
 Lajily^ The poets reprefented to us their fybils 
 and their prieftefies as mad women while foretell- 
 ing the* future: it would feem that they were 
 unable to fuftain the prefence of the falle fpirit 
 which dwelt within them. Even our own pro- 
 phets, when announcing future things, without 
 lofmg the ufe of their reafon, or departing from 
 the folemnity and the decency of their miniftry, 
 partook of a divine enthufiafm : the foft founds of 
 the lyre were often necelfary to aroufe in them the 
 prophetic fpirit : it was eafily to be feen that they 
 were animated by a foreign impulfe ; and that it 
 was not from their own funds they drew the 
 knowledge of the future, and thofe hidden myfte- 
 ries which they announced to men. Jefus Chrift 
 prophecies as he fpeaks ; the knowledge of the 
 future has notning either to move, difquiet, or 
 
 furprife 
 
252 SERMON VII. 
 
 fmp-'f e him, becaufe a'l times are contained in his 
 piind ; the future myft,erie« which he announces 
 are not fudden and infufed lights to his foul ; they 
 are familiar objects to him, always prejfent to his 
 v;r-w, and the images of which he finds within 
 himfelf ; and ail ages to come, under the immen- 
 flty of his regards, are as the prefent dhy which 
 illuminates us. Thus, neither ihe re'urrcction of 
 the dead, nor the foretelling of the future, ever 
 injures hi.-; natural tranquility; he fports himfelf, 
 if I may venture to fay fo, in operating miracles in 
 the univerfe ; and if be, at times, appear to trem- 
 ble and to be troubled, it is folely when viewing 
 the fin and the perverfity of his people ; becaufe 
 the more exalted one is in fanclity, the more does 
 (in offer new horrors ; and that the only thing 
 which a Man- God can view with trembling, is the 
 fpectacle of a confeience ftained with crimes. 
 
 Such is the omnipotency of Jefus Chrift : his 
 miracles bear no mark of dependance : and, not 
 farsaed with thereby (hewing to us that he is e- 
 qual to God, he a!fo advertifes us, that, whatever 
 wonder is operated by his Father upon the earth, 
 he Iikewife operates ; and that his Father's works 
 are his. Hath any prophet, down to the period 
 of Je r us Chrift, fpoken in this manner ; and who, 
 far from rendering glory to God as the author of 
 every excellent gift, hath attributed to hirnfelf all 
 the grand things which it had pleafed the Lord to 
 operate through his miniftry ? 
 
 But, 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 253 
 
 But, my brethren, if we have alio been prophe- 
 cied with jefus Chrift, we are moreover participa- 
 tors of his fovereignty over all creatures. Through 
 faith the Christian is matter of nature ; all is fub- 
 ject^d to him, becaufe he hinifelf is inferior only 
 to God ; all his aclicns ought to be miraculous, 
 becaufe they ought all to proceed from a fublim0 
 and a divine principle, and far above the powers 
 of human weaknefs : we ought to v may fay, 
 
 miraculous men, matters of the wot id in conter t- 
 ing it ; exalted above the laws oi nature by over- 
 coming the:n ; fovereign difpofers of events by a 
 thorough and tranquil fubmillion to them ; more 
 powerful rhan death itfelf by wifhing for it. Such 
 is the fublimity of the Chriftian : and, how great 
 mull Jefus vmrift have been, to have exalted hu- 
 man weaknefs to fuch a pinnacle of grandeur and 
 might ! 
 
 Finally, The laft fplendid character of his minif- 
 try is the marvellous and, till then, unheard-of 
 circumllances which compofe the whole courfe of 
 his mortal life. I know that he came in naked- 
 nefs and humiliation ; but, through thefe obfcure 
 and contemptible externals, what luftre are not 
 even the enemies of his divinity forced to acknow- 
 ledge there ? 
 
 In the Jlrft place, although they confider him as 
 a man firnilar to us, they, neverthelefs, believe 
 him to have been formed, through the invifible 
 operation of the mod High, in the womb of a vir- 
 gin 
 
254 SERMON VII. 
 
 gin of Judah, in oppofition to the common law of 
 the children of Adam. What glory already for a 
 fimple creature ! 
 
 Secondly, Scarcely is he born, when celeftial 
 legions fnig the praifes of the Lord, and give us 
 to understand, that this birth renders his glory to 
 the mod High, and brings an eternal peace upon 
 the earth. What then is this creature who can 
 render glory to the moil High, whofe glory is in 
 himfelf alone ? Immediately after this a new flar 
 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. If Mary 
 bring him to the temple, a righteous man and an 
 holy woman proclaim his future greatnefs ; and, 
 tranfported with an holy joy, they die with plea- 
 fure, after having feen him whom they call the fal- 
 vation of the world, the light of nations, and the 
 glory of Iirael. The doctors, affembled in the tem- 
 ple, behold, with terror, his infancy to be wifer 
 and more enlightened than all the wifdom of old 
 men. In proportion as he grows up, his glory un- 
 folds itfelf : John the Baptift, that man, the great- 
 eft of the children of men, humbles himfelf before 
 him, and fays that he is not worthy of performing 
 the meaneft offices to him. A voice from Heaven 
 declares that he is the well-beloved Son. The af- 
 frighted demons fly from before him, are unable 
 
 to 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 1$$ 
 
 to fupport the fole prefence of his fanctity,' and 
 confefs that he is the holy of God. Collect toge- 
 ther teftimonies fo different and fo new, circum- 
 ftances fo unheard-of, and fo extraordinary : what 
 is this man who appears upon the earth with fo 
 much eclat ? And are not the people who have 
 worfhipped him at lead excufable ? 
 
 Bat thefe are only weak preludes of his glory. 
 If he privately withdraw himfelf upon the Tabor, 
 accompanied with three difciples, his glory, impa- 
 tient, if I dare to fay it, at having hitherto been 
 held captive under the veil of humanity, openly 
 burfts forth : he appears all refplendent in light : 
 the heavenly Father, who then, it would appear, 
 left the glory of Jefus Chrifl mould become an oc- 
 cafion of error and idolatry to the ailonifhed difci- 
 ples, fpectators 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 appeared furrounded with glory, and, as it 
 were, transfigured on mount Sinai, afraid left the 
 Ifraelites, always fuperftitious, mould confider him 
 as a god defcended upon the earth, the Lord, a- 
 mid a flame of fire, declared at the fame time from 
 on high, " I am that I am, and thou {halt worfhip 
 u only me." Mofes himfelf appears before the 
 
 people 
 
$$6 SERMON VII. 
 
 people with only the tables of the law in his handsj 
 as if to let them know that, notwithstanding the 
 glory with which they had feen him arrayed, he 
 neverthelefs was only the minifter, and not the au- 
 thor of the holy law ; that he could offer it to them 
 only engraven on ftone, and that it belonged folely 
 to God to engrave it on hearts. But, on the Ta- 
 bor, Jefus Chrift appears as the legiflator himfclf : 
 the new law is not given to him by his Father to 
 bear it to men ; he only commandeth them to lif- 
 ten to him, and from his own mouth he propofeth 
 him as their legiflator, or rather as their living and 
 eternal law. 
 
 What more fhall I fay, my brethren ? If from 
 the Tabor 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 diforganifed, 
 confeffes its Author in him ; the ftars 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 
 
THE DIVIVITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 257 
 
 bf Herod, as the price of voluptuoufnefs : Ifaiah, 
 by a grievous death, had rendered glory to God ; 
 and, notwithftanding his royal blood, his auguft 
 birth was ineffectual in fheltering him from thofe 
 perfecutions which are always the recompenfe of 
 truth and zeal : many others had died for the fake 
 of righteoufnefs ; but nature feemed not wholly 
 intereited in their fufTerings ; 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 diflinguiih 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 ma- 
 ny others, who had been raifed up through the mi- 
 niftry 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, 
 v/hich is what had never yet been accorded to any 
 creature. 
 
 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 affectionate difciples to worfhip him, 
 and to accompany their divine Mailer with their 
 eyes and their homages. The angels, as if to re- 
 ceive him into his empire, come to greet this King 
 of ^fr>ry, and comfort the affliction of the difciples, 
 
 Vol. III. Kk by 
 
3£8 SERMON- VII. 
 
 by promifmg him once more to the earth, fuf* 
 rounded with glory and immortality: All here 
 announces the Gud of heaven, who returns to the 
 place from whence he came, and who goes to re- 
 fume the poffeflion of his own glory ; at ieaft, every 
 thing inclines men to believe fo. 
 
 And, in truth, my brethren, when Elijah is ta- 
 ken up to heaven in a fiery chariot, a fmgle difci- 
 ple is the only fpeefcator of that miraculous afcen- 
 iion ; it takes place in a retired fpot, removed from 
 the view of the other children of the prophets* 
 who, perhaps more credulous and lefs enlightened 
 than Elifeus, might have been inclined to render 
 divine honours to that miraculous man. But Je- 
 fus Chrift, furrounded with glory, mounts up to 
 heaven before the eyes of five hundred difciples : 
 the weakefl, and thofe who were leaf! confirmed 
 in the faith of his refurrection, are the firft who 
 are invited to the holy mountain : nothing is 
 dreaded from their credulity : on the contrary, 
 their adorations are equally permitted as their re- 
 grets and tears j and a life fuli of prodigies, till 
 then fo unheard-of on the earth, is at lafl termi- 
 nated by a circumftance (fill more wonderful, and 
 fufficient of itfelf to make him to be regarded as a 
 God, and to immortalife error and idolatry among 
 men. 
 
 In effect, if the pagan ages, in order to juftify 
 the ridiculous and impious homages which they 
 paid to their legiilators, to the founders of em^res, 
 
 and 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 259 
 
 and to other celebrated men, gave it out, in their 
 hiftorians and poets, that thefe heroes were not 
 dead, but had only difappeared from the earth 5 
 and that, being of the fame nature with the gods, 
 they had afcended to heaven, in order to aifume 
 their ftarion among the other liars, which, accord- 
 ing to them, were fo many divinities who enlight- 
 en us, and for the purpofe of there enjoying that 
 immortality to which their divine birth entitled 
 them : if fo very vulgar a fiction had of itfelf been 
 able to render men fo long idolatrous, what im- 
 preilion muft the reality of that fable not have 
 made upon the people ? And if the univerfe had 
 worshipped impoftors, who were falfely faid to have 
 mounted up to heaven, would it not have been ex- 
 cufable to worfhip a miraculous man, whom men, 
 with their own eyes, had feen exalted above the 
 ftars ? 
 
 But obferve, my brethren, that the occafion of 
 error finimes not with Jefus Cbrifl ; it is announ- 
 ced to us, that, at the end of ages, he will again 
 appe-r in the heavens furrounded with power and 
 majefty, and accompanied with all the heavenly 
 hcfl : all afiembled nations mall, with trembling, 
 await at his feet the deciiion of their eternal defti- 
 ny : he will fovereignly pronounce their decifive 
 fentence. The Abrahams, the Mofefes, the Davids, 
 the Elijahs, the John, the Baptifts, and all that ages 
 have produced of great and mod wonderful, fhall 
 fae fubmi^ted to his judgment and to his empire ; 
 
%6q sermon vii. 
 
 he will himfelf be exalted above all power, all do- 
 minion, and all which is termed great in heaven and 
 in the earth : he will erect his throne above the 
 clouds, and fit on the right hand of the mofl: High: 
 h. will appea? Mailer, not only of life and death, 
 but the immortal King of ages, the Prince of eter- 
 nity, the Chief of an holy people, the fupreme Ar- 
 biter of ail the created. What then is this man 
 to whom the Lord hath delegated fuch power.? 
 And the dead themfelves, who (hall appear in 
 judgment before him, mall they be condemned for 
 having worshipped him, when they mall fee him 
 clothed with fuch glory, majefty, and power ? 
 
 And one reflection, which I beg you to make in 
 fini firing this part of my difcourfe, is that, if only- 
 one extraordinary and divine trait were to be 
 found here in the courfe of a long life, we might 
 be inclined to believe, that it fometimes 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 moun- 
 tain, Elijah was raifed up to heaven in a fiery cha- 
 riot, John the Baptift was foretold. But, befides 
 that thefe were individual circumflances, and that 
 the language of thofe miraculous men and of their 
 difciples, with refpe£r. to the divinity and to them- 
 felves, left no room for fuperitition and mifiake j 
 here, it is an aflembiage of wonders, which all, or 
 even taken feparatel), would have been fufficient 
 to deceive the credulity of men : here, ail the dif- 
 ferent 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 26l 
 
 ferent traits, difpeifed among all thefe extraordi- 
 nary men who had been considered aim ft as cods 
 upon the earth, are collected togethei m [efus 
 Chrift, but in a manner a i! ufanc imes more 
 glorious and more divine. He prophecies, but 
 more lofrily, and with rich e fl l iking chafa&ers, tl i 
 John the BapnlT : he appears transfigured in the 
 holy mount, but furrounded with more glory ti * 
 Mofes : he afcen Is tc heaven, but with more n arks 
 of power and mr.jc.( 7 . ■ than Elijah ; he per? fir .s 
 into the future, but with mere accuracy and cleat* 
 nefs than all the prophets : he ?s produced, nor : - 
 ly from a barren womb like Sarrnjei, but likew e 
 by a pure and innocent virgin : what (ball i ia) ? 
 And not only he does not undeceive men h- .... - 
 tain and precife expreffions upon his origin as 
 purely human ; but his fole language, with refpe£fc 
 to his equality to the mod High ; but the fole doc- 
 trine of his difciples, who tell us that he was in 
 the bofom of 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 ref- 
 pects, an ordinary one, and fimilar to that of other 
 men. 
 
 O you ! who refufe to him his glory and hiss 
 divinity, yet, neverthehfs, cor -isr him as a mef- 
 fenger fent by God to miiruc"r. men, complete the 
 bhifphemy ; and confound iiim with thofe impol- 
 
 tors 
 
262 SERMON VII. 
 
 tors who have come to feduce. the world, fince, 
 far from tending to eftablifh the glory of God and 
 the knowledge of his name, the fplendour of his 
 minillry has anfwered the fole purpofe of erecting 
 himfelf into a divinity, of placing him at the fide 
 of the moft High, and of plunging the whole u- 
 Riverfs into the mod dangerous, the moft durable, 
 the moft inevitable, and the mod univerfal of all 
 idolatries. 
 
 For our part, my brethren, we who believe in 
 feim, and to whom the myitery of the Chrift 1 h 
 been revealed, let us never lofe light of that divir^ 
 model which the Father mews to us from r " 
 on C' i ; '■ ""!cunt. Let us ep';r ' to the fpirifc 
 of ''.cries of whi a his w^- 1 al 
 
 life is covnpoieu , they : mere! di/Ferent 
 
 {Utes of the life f h Chriftis this earth : let 
 
 us confefs the lew empi _a 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 vain- 
 ly fought in it, freedom, peace, and comfort of 
 life ; and we have found only fravery, difquiet, 
 bitternefs, and the curfe of life. Behold a new 
 Redeemer, who comes to bring peace to the earth ; 
 but ?'t is not as the world promifes it that he gives 
 it to us. The world had wiihed to conduct us to 
 peace and happinefs through the pleafures of the 
 fenies, indolence, and a vain philofophy ; it hath 
 ■not been fuccefsful j by favouring our paffions it 
 
 hath 
 
TFF DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 26^ 
 
 hathop!" rmen d our punishments: jefus Chrift 
 cor prop< new way for the attainment of 
 
 th ; p ace an happinefs which we fearch r ter ; 
 detachment from and contempt of the world, mor- 
 tification 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 expecl:, 
 even in this life, but by reprefting our paiiions, 
 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 bellow happinefs, or make real fages, 
 becaufe it alone regulates the mind, fixes the 
 heart, and, by refloring man to God, reftores him 
 to himfelf. All thofe who have purfued other 
 ways, have found only vanity and vexation of fpi- 
 rit ; 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 pleafures make none happy ! Come then, 
 and relume thy influence over a heart which in 
 vain endeavours to fly from thee ; and which its 
 own difgufts recall to thee in fpite of itfelf : come 
 to be its Redeemer, its peace, and its light, and 
 pay more regard to its wretchednefs than to its 
 crimes. 
 
 Behold how the luftre of the miniftry of Jefus 
 Chrifl: would operate as an inevitable occasion of 
 idolatry in men, were he only a ample creature. 
 
 Let 
 
&&4 Sermon vn. 
 
 "L-x us now fee how the fpirit of his miniftfy would 
 be^uie the fnare of our innocence. 
 
 P,\r.t II. The luftre of the miniftry of Jefus 
 Chrift is not the moft auguft and moft magnifi- 
 cent fid!e of it. However dignified he hath ap- 
 peared, in confequence of all the oracles which 
 have announced him, the works which he hath o- 
 $?.er?fed, and the mining circumftances of his myf- 
 teries, thefe are merely the outward appearances, 
 as 1 r nay fay, of his glory and of his grandeur ; 
 and, in order to know all that he is, we mud enter 
 into the principle and fpirit of his miniftry. Now, 
 In the fpirit of his miniftry are comprifed his doc- 
 trine, his favours, and his promifes. Let us dif- 
 play thefe in their proper extent, and prove, either 
 that we muff, deny to Jefus Chrift his quality of a 
 righteous man, and of a meffenger of the almigh- 
 ty God, which the enemies of his divinity grant 
 him to have been, or we mud admit that he is 
 himfelf a God mattifefted in the flefh, and come 
 down upon the earth in order to fave mankind. 
 
 Yes, my brethren, this is an inevitable alterna- 
 tive : if Jefus Chrift be holy, he is God ; and, if 
 his miniftry be not a miniftry of deceit and impo- 
 fition, it is the miniftry of eternal Truth itfelf 
 which hath been manifefted for our inftru&ion. 
 Now, the enemies of his divine birth are forced to 
 admit, that he hath been a man righteous, inno- 
 cent, and friend of God : and if the world hath 
 beheld dark and impious minds, who have like- 
 wife 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST.^ 265 
 
 wife dared to blafpheme againft his innocence and 
 tp 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 buried in the 
 fame darknefs from which the horror of their im- 
 piety originally came. 
 
 In effect, what man, till then, had appeared up- 
 on the earth with more inconteftable marks of in- 
 nocence and fanctity than Jefus, Son of the living 
 God ? In what philofopher had ever been obferved 
 fuch a love of virtue, fofmcere a contempt of the 
 world, fo much chanty towards men, fuch indiffe- 
 fence for human glory, fuch zeal for the glory of 
 the fupreme Being, fuch elevation above whatever 
 is admired or fought after by men ? How great is 
 his zeal for the falvation of men ! It is to that ob- 
 ject that he directs all his difcourfes, all his cares, 
 all his defires, and all his anxieties. The philofo- 
 phers criticifed only the men, and folely endea- 
 voured to expofe their weaknefs or their abfurdi- 
 ties : Jefus Chrift never fpeaks of their vices but 
 in order to point out their remedies. The former 
 were the cenfurers of human weakneiTes ; Jefus 
 Chrift is their phyfician : the former gloried in be- 
 ing able to point out vices in others, from which 
 they themfelves were not exempted ; he never 
 fpeaks, but with the bittereft forrow, of faults, 
 from which his own innocence protects him, and 
 even fheds tears over the diforders of an unbeliev- 
 Vol.OI. LI ing 
 
266 SERMON VII. 
 
 ing city : it is eafily feen that the former had no 
 intention to reclaim men, but merely to attract 
 efteem to themfelves, by pretending to contemn 
 them ; and that the only wifh of the latter is to 
 fave them, and that he is little affetted with their 
 applaufes or efteem. 
 
 Purfue the whole detail of his manners and of 
 his conduct, and fee if any righteous character 
 hath ever appeared on the earth more generally 
 exempted from all the mod infeparable weaknefies 
 of humanity. The more narrowly he is examined, 
 the more is his fanftity difplayed. His difciples, 
 who have it bed in their power to know him, are 
 the mod affected with the innocence of his life ; 
 and familiarity, fo dangerous to the moll heroical 
 virtue, ferves only in his to difcover frefh matter 
 of wonder. He fpeaks only the language of Hea- 
 ven : he never replies but when his anfwers may 
 be ufeful towards the falvation of thofe who inter- 
 rogate him. We fee not in him thofe intervals, 
 as I may fay, in which the man re- appears ; on 
 every occafior he is the meffenger of the Mod 
 High. Th ommoned actions are extraordinary 
 in him, tiiough the novelty and the fublimity of 
 the difpofitions with which he accompanies them ; 
 and . n he eats with the phanfee, he does not 
 a] pear a man lefs divine than when he raifes up 
 Lazarus. Surely, my brethren, nature alone could 
 never lead human wtakneis fo far ; this is not a 
 philofopher who enjoins to others what he doth 
 
 not 
 
THE BIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. l6j 
 
 not himfelf, it is a righteous character who, in his 
 own exanples, adopts the rules and precepts of his 
 doctrine ; and holy muft he indeed be, feeing the 
 very difciple who betrayed him, fo interefted to 
 juftify his own perfidy by an expofure of his faults, 
 renders public feftimony, however, to his inno- 
 cence and fanctity ; and that the whole challenged 
 malice of his enemies hath never been able to con- 
 vict him of fin. 
 
 Now, I fay that, if Jefus Chrift be holy, he is 
 God ; and that, whether you mould coniider the 
 doctrine which he hath taught us with refpect to 
 his lather or with refpect to men, it is no longer 
 but a mafs of equivocations or qualified blafphe- 
 mies, if he be only an ordinary man, merely de- 
 puted by God for the inftru&ion of men. 
 
 I fay, whether you mould confider it with re- 
 fpect to his -Father. In effect, if Jefus Chrift be 
 but a fimple monger of the Moft High, he comes, 
 then, for the fole purpofe of manifefting to idola- 
 trous nations the unity of the divine effence. But, 
 befides that his miflion princioally regards the Jews, 
 who, for a long time paft, had not returned to ido- 
 latry,and,confequently,needed not that God mould 
 raife up a prophet to reclaim them from an error 
 of which they were not guilty, and a prophet whom 
 they were taught from the beginning of the world 
 to expect as the light of Iirael, and the Redeemer 
 of his people ; and, befides, in what manner doth 
 Jefus Chrift fulfil his miniftry, and what is his lan- 
 guage 
 
268 SERMON VII. 
 
 guage with regard to the fupreme Being ? Mofes 
 and the prophets, charged with the fame million, 
 never ceafe to proclaim that the Lord was one and 
 thefame ; that it was impious to compare him to 
 the fimilitude of the creature ; and that they them- 
 felves were only his fervants and meflengers, vile 
 inftruments in the hands of a God, who, through 
 them, operated great things., No dubious expref- 
 fion efcapes from their mouth on fo effential a 
 point of their miffion; no comparison of themfelves 
 to the fupreme Being, always dangerous, in con- 
 fequence of the natural tendency of man to prosti- 
 tute his homages to men, and to raife up for him- 
 felf palpable and vifible gods ; no equivocal term 
 which might have blended themfelves with the 
 Lord, in whofe name they fpake, and have given 
 birth to a fuperflition and an idolatry, to combat 
 which they only came. 
 
 But, if Jefus Chrift be only a mefTenger fuch as 
 they were, with how much lefs fidelity doth he 
 fulfil his miniftry ! 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 know- 
 ledge 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 n#w, fo 
 
 flrange, 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 269 
 
 ftrange, fo difrefpe&ful towards the fupreme God ; 
 and who, far from rendering glory to God as the 
 author of every good gift, hath attributed to his 
 own efficiency the great things which the Lord 
 had deigned to operate through his miniftry. E- 
 very where he compares himfelf 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 manifefted in fiefh ? 
 And would we not confider as a fool any man who 
 mould ferioufly tell us that the fupreme Being is 
 greater than he ? Even to dare to compare himfelf 
 with the divinity, is it not equalling himfelf to 
 him ? Is there any proportion either of greater or 
 lefs betwixt God and man, betwixt the whole and 
 nothing ? But what do 1 fay ? Jefus Chrift is not 
 content 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 j far from clearly undeceiving them, he con- 
 firms them in the offence : on every occafion he 
 affecls a language, which, unlefs cleared up and 
 juftified by his equality to his Father, becomes ei- 
 ther foolifh or impious. If he be not God, what 
 came he to do upon the earth ? He comes to fcan- 
 dalife the Jews, by giving them room to believe 
 that he compares himfelf to the moft High : he 
 comes to feduce nations, by procuring to himfelf 
 the adoration of the whole earth after his death : 
 he comes to fpread frefh obfcurity over the uni- 
 
 verfe, 
 
27° SFRMON Vir. 
 
 veHe, and not, as he haih vaunted, to fpread un- 
 derftandiner, light, and the knowledge of God. 
 What ! mv brethren, Paul and Barnabas rend 
 their gar ent!> when they are taken for gods ; 
 they load!) proclaim to the people who wifhed to 
 offer up victims to them : Worfhip the Lord alone ? 
 whole fervants and minifters we are, The angel 
 in the Revelation, when St John proftrates himfelf 
 to worfhip him, rejects the ho;nage with horror, 
 and fays to him : " Worfiiip God alone ; I am 
 " only thy fellow-fervant, a*id of thy brethren 
 " that have the teftimony of Jefus." And Jcl'us 
 Chrift tranquilly fuffers, that they render divine 
 honours to him ! And Jefus Chrift praifes the 
 faith of the difciples who worfiiip him, and who, 
 with Thomas, call him their Lord and their God 1 
 And Jefus Chrift even confutes his enemies who 
 conteft 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 lefs impor- 
 tance to him, pointedly to undeceive the people on 
 a miftake fo injurious to the fupreme Being, and 
 which, in facl, deftroys the whole fruit of his mi- 
 niftry ? 
 
 Yes, my brethren, what blefiing hath the com- 
 ing of Jefus Chrift brought to the world, if thofe 
 who worfhip him be idolatrous and profane ? All 
 who have believed in him have worfhipped him as 
 the eternal Son of the Father, the image of his 
 fabftance, and the fplendour of his glory. There 
 N . is 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JEWS CHRIST. 2'j t 
 
 is but a fmall number of men In Chriftianity, who, 
 though they acknowledge him as a meflenger of 
 God, yet refufe to hi n divine honours : even this 
 feci, univerfally banifhed, and execrable even in 
 thofe places where every error finds an afylum, is 
 reduced to a few oblcure and concealed followers ; 
 every where punifhed as an impiety from the in- 
 flant that it dares to avow itfeli ; and forced to 
 hide itfelf in obfcurify, and in the extremities of 
 the mod diftant provinces and kingdoms. Is it, 
 then, that-numerous people 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 mod diftant ifles, princes, and kings, 
 were to come to worfliip ? Are thefe the grand ad- 
 vantages which the world was to reap from the 
 miniilry of Jcfus Chrift? Is this, then, that abun- 
 dance of grace, that plenitude of the fpirit of God 
 med over all men, that univerfal regeneration, 
 that fpiritual and lading reign which the prophets 
 had foretold with fuch majefty, and which was to 
 attend the coming of the Redeemer? What! my 
 brethren, an expectation fo magnificent is then re- 
 duced to the miferable fight of the world plunged 
 into a new idolatry ? That event, fo blefled for the 
 earth, promifed for fo many ages, announced with 
 fo much pomp, fo earneftly longed for by all tl e 
 righteous, and held out from afar to the whole 
 
 univerfe 
 
272 SERMON VIS. 
 
 univerfe as its only refource, was then to corrupt 
 and to pervert it for ever ? That church, fo fruit-' 
 ful, of which kings and Cefars, at the head of 
 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 ihelter for the horror of 
 their blafphemy ? And all the future magnificence 
 of the gofpel was then to be limited to the forma- 
 tion of the deteftable feci: of an impious Socinus ? 
 
 O God ! how wife and reafonable doth the faith 
 of thy church appear, when oppofed to the abfurd 
 contradictions of unbelief! And how confoling 
 for thofe who believe in Jefus Chrift, and who 
 place their hope in him, to behold the abyfles 
 which pride digs for itfelf when it pretends to o- 
 pen new ways, and to fap the only foundation of 
 the faith and of the hope of Chriftians. 
 
 Behold, my brethren, how the doctrine of Jefus 
 Chrift, with relation to his Father, eftablifhes the 
 glory of his eternal origin. Thus, when the pro- 
 phets fpeak of the God of heaven and of the earth, 
 their expreffions are too weak for the magnificence 
 and the grandeur of their ideas. Full of the im- 
 menfity, the omnipotence, and the majefty of the 
 fupreme Being, they exhaufl the weaknefs of the 
 human language in order, if poffible, to corres- 
 pond with the fubiimity of thefe images. That 
 God, is he who meafures the waters of the ocean 
 
 in 
 
TW 7 DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 273 
 
 in the hollow of his liand, who weighs the moun- 
 tains in his balance, in whofe hands are the thun- 
 ders and the tempefts, who fpeaks, and all is 
 done ; who atnufes himfelf in upholding the uni- 
 verfe. It was natural for fimple men to fpeak in 
 this manner of the glory of the moft High ; the 
 infinite difproportion betwixt the immenfity of the 
 fupreme Being and the weaknefs of the human 
 mind muff ftrike, dazzle, and confound it ; and 
 the moft pompous expreffions are too feeble to 
 convey its aftonifhrnent and admiration. 
 
 But, when Jefus Chrift fpeaks of the glory of 
 the Lord, it is no longer in the pompous (tile of 
 the prophets : he calls him an holy Father, a righ- 
 teous Father, a merciful Father, a Shepherd who 
 purfues a ftrayed fheep, and kindly bears it home 
 himfelf; a Friend who yields to the importunities 
 of his. friend ; a Father feelingly affected with the 
 return and the amendment of his fon : it is clearly 
 feen that this is a Child who fpeaks a domeflic 
 language; that the familiarity and the fimplrcity 
 of his expreffions fuppofe in him a fubiimity of 
 knowledge which renders the idea of the fupreme 
 Being familiar to him, and prevents him from 
 being (truck and dazzled, as we are, with his ma- 
 jefty and glory ; and, laftly, that he only fpeaks of 
 what is laid open to his view, and which he pof- 
 feffes 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 oi kings fpeak, 
 
 Vol. III. M m without 
 
■274 SERMON VII. 
 
 without emotion, of fceptres and crowns ; and it is 
 likewife 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 Chrift in all his bleflings, 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 fearing him. Never- 
 thelefs, we ferve him like Haves and hirelings : we 
 dread his chaflifements ; but we are little affected 
 by his love and his promifes : his law, fo righte- 
 ous, fo holy, has nothing pleafing for us ; it is 
 a yoke which oppreffes us, which excites our mur- 
 murs, and which we would foon free ourfelves 
 from were our tranfgreffions againfl it to go un- 
 punifhed : nothing is heard but complaints againfl: 
 the feverity of its precepts, but contentions in or- 
 der to fupport the propriety of thofe foftenings 
 which the world always mingles with their prac- 
 tice : in a word, were he not an avenging God we 
 would never confefs him ; and it is to his juftice 
 and to his chaflifements alone that he is indebted 
 for our refpect and homages. 
 
 But the doctrine of Jefus Chrift, with relation 
 to men, whom he came to inflruct, doth not lefs 
 eftabliih the truth of his divine birth. For I fpeak 
 nor here or the wifdom, the fanctity, and the fu- 
 blimity of that dofHne : in it, every thing is wor- 
 thy of reaion, and of the foundeft philofophy j 
 
 every 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 275 
 
 every thing is proportioned to the wretchednefs 
 land to the excellency of man, to his wants and to 
 his exalted lot ; every thing there infpires contempt 
 for perifliable things, and the love of eternal rich- 
 es : every thing there maintains good order, and 
 the peace and tranquility of dates : every thing 
 there is grand, beciufe every thing is true : r .he 
 glory of the deeds is more real and more mining 
 in the heart than the deeds themfelves. The 
 wife man of the gofpel feeks, from his virtue here 
 below, only the Satisfaction of obeying God, who 
 will one day amply recompenfe him Jor it, and he 
 prefers the teltimony of his own confcience to all 
 the applaufes of men : he is greater than the en- 
 tire world, through his exalted faith ; and he is 
 below the lead of men, through the modefty of 
 his fentiments. His virtue feeks not, in pride, the 
 indemnity of its Sufferings j that is the firft enemy 
 which it attacks ; and, in that divine philofophy, 
 the mod heroical actions are nothing, from the 
 moment that we count them as any thing our- 
 felves : it confiders glory as an error, profperity as 
 a misfortune, elevation as a precipice, affliclions as 
 favours, the earth as a place of exilement, all that 
 happens as a dream. "What is this new language? 
 What man prior to Jefus Chrift had ever fpoken 
 in this manner ? And if his difciples, merely in 
 confequence of having announced this divine doc- 
 trine, were taken by a whole people for gods des- 
 cended upon the earth, what worfhip fhall they 
 
 have 
 
2j6 SERMON VII. 
 
 have it in their power to refufe to him who is the 
 Author of it, and in whofe name they announce it ? 
 
 But, let us leave thefe general reflections, and 
 come to the more precife duties of that love and 
 dependence which his doctrine exacts of men with 
 regard to himfelf. He commands us to love him, 
 as he commands us to love his Father : he infifts 
 that we dwell in him, that is to fay, that we efta- 
 blifh ourfelves in him, that we feek our happinefs 
 in him, as in his Father ; that we direct all our ac- 
 tions, all our thoughts, all our defires, that we di- 
 rect ourfelves to his glory, as to the glory of his 
 Father ; fins themfelves are not remitted but. to 
 thofe who fmcerely love him ; and all the righte- 
 oufnefs of the juft, and the reconciliation of the 
 finner, are the effects of the love which we have 
 for him. What is this man who comes to ufurp 
 the place of God in our hearts ? Is a creature wor- 
 thy of being loved for itfelf, and every noble and 
 eltimable quality which it may poffefs, is it not the 
 fule gift of him who alone is worthy of all love ? 
 
 What prophet prior to Jefus Chrifl had ever 
 fpokeii thu. to men : You fhall love me; whatever 
 you do, you {hall do it for nvy glory. You fhall 
 love the Lord vour God, faid Mofes to the chil- 
 dren of Ifrael. Nothing is amiable in itfelf but 
 what can beltow happinefs upon us : now, no 
 creature can be our happinefs or our perfection : 
 no creature, c-nfequertlv, is worthy of being k ved 
 for itfelf j it would be an idolatry. Any man, who 
 
 comes 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 2JJ 
 
 comes to propofe himfelf to men as the obj-ct of 
 their love, is impious, and an impoftor who feeks 
 to ufurp the mod elfential right of the fupreme 
 Being : he is a monfter of pride and folly, who 
 wants to erect altars to himfelf, even in hearts, 
 the only fanctuary which the divinity had never 
 yielded up to profane idols. The doctrine of Je- 
 fus Chrift, that doctrine fo divine, and fo much 
 admired even by the pagans, would no longer, in 
 that cafe, be but a monftrous mixture of impiety, 
 of prefumption, and of folly, if, not being himfelf" 
 the God blefled in ail ages, he had made that 
 love which he exacted of his difciples, the mod 
 elfential 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 of humility 
 and modefty, while, in fact, he was carrying pre- 
 fumption and unlimited compliance to a degree 
 far beyond all the prouueft philofophers, who had 
 never afpired to more than the effceem and the ap- 
 plaufes of men. 
 
 Nor is this all : not only Jefus Chrift infills that 
 we love him, but he alfo exacls of men marks of 
 the mod difmterefled and moil heroical love. He 
 infifts that we love him more than our relations, 
 than our friends, than our fortune, than our life, 
 than the wjiole world, than ourfelves ; that we 
 fuffer all for his fake, that we renounce all for 
 him, that we ihed, even to the lafl drop of our 
 blood for him : whoever renders not to him thefe 
 
 grand 
 
I78 SERMON VII. 
 
 grand homages, is unworthy of him; whoever put* 
 him in competition with any creature, or with 
 himfelf, infults and difhonours 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 pretenfions ftill further, and requires of 
 man the facrifice of himfelf; 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 
 Mailer of our life, by what right doth he exact it 
 of us ? If our foul be not originally come from 
 him, is it to him that we ought to return it ? Is 
 that regaining it, to have loft it for his fake ? If he 
 be not the Author of our being, do we not become 
 facrilegious and murderers when we facrifice our- 
 felves for his glory, and when we transfer to a 
 creature, and to a fimple meffenger of God, the 
 grand facrifice of our being, folely deftined to con- 
 fefs the fovereignty and the power of the eternal 
 Maker, who hath drawn us from nothing ? That 
 Jefus Chrift die himfelf, well and good, for the 
 glory of God, and even that he exhort us to fol- 
 low his example ; many prophets before him had 
 died for the Lord's fake, and had exhorted their 
 difciples to walk in their fteps. But that Jefus 
 Chrift, if he be not God himfelf, fhould order us 
 to die for himfelf, fhiuld exact of men that laft 
 proof of love ; that he mould command us to offer 
 
 up 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 279 
 
 up a life for him which we hold not of him ; is it 
 poflible that men mould have ever exifted upon 
 the earth fo vulgar and fo ftupid as to allow them- 
 felves to be led away by the extravagance of fuch 
 a doctrine ? Is it poflible that maxims fo ridiculous 
 and fo impious mould have been able to triumph 
 over the whole univerfe, to overthrow all feds, to 
 recall all minds, and to prevail over every thing 
 which had hitherto appeared exalted, either in 
 learning, in doctrine, 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 afhes of their relations and 
 friends, why mould we view, in a more refpectable 
 light, thofe difciples of Jefus Chrift who have fa- 
 crifked themfelves for his fake ? And fhall not his 
 religion be equally a religion of barbarity and of 
 blood ? 
 
 Yes, my brethren, the Agnes', the Lucias, the 
 Agathas, thofe firft martyrs of faith and of modef- 
 ty, would then have facrificed themfelves to a mor- 
 tal man ? And, in preferring to fhed their blood 
 rather than to bend the knee before vain idols, 
 they would have fhunned one idolatry only in or- 
 der to fall into another more condcmnable, in dy- 
 ing for Jefus Chrift ? The generous avowers of 
 faith would then have been only a fet of defperate 
 and fanatical men, who, like madmen, had run to 
 death ? The tradition of the martyrs would then 
 \>e no longer but the lift of an impious and bloody 
 
 fcene ? 
 
250 SERMON VII. 
 
 fcene ? The tyrants and perfecutors would then 
 have been the defenders of righteoufnefs, and of 
 the glory of the divinity ? Chriftianity itfelf a fa- 
 crilegious and profane fed ? The human race would 
 then have totally erred ? And the blood of the mar- 
 tyrs, far from having been the feed of believers, 
 would have anfwered the fole purpofe of inundat- 
 ing the whole univerle with fuperitition and idola- 
 try ? O God ! can the ear of man liilen to fuch 
 blafphemies without horror ? And what, more is 
 neceflary to overthrow unbelief than to fhew it to 
 itfelf? 
 
 Such are our firft duties towards Jefus Chriit ; 
 to facrifice to him our inclinations, our friends, 
 oar relations, our fortune, our life itfelf, and, in a 
 word, whatever may (land in the way of our falva- 
 tion ; it is to confefs his divinity ; it is to acknow- 
 ledge that he alone can fupply 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 a- 
 lone, fays the apoftle John, who contemns the 
 wurld and all its pleafures, who confefles that Je- 
 fus 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 
 confequently more worthy of our love. 
 
 But it is not fufficient to have confidered the fpi- 
 rit of the miniftry of Jefus Chrifl in his doctrine j 
 it is neceflary to confider it, fecondly, in the fpe- 
 cial favours and bleffings which the univerfe has 
 
 received 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 28 £ 
 
 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 
 fecured to them the poffcfTion of the kingdom of 
 God, and of immutable riches : he hath brought 
 to them the knowledge of falvation and the doc- 
 trine of truth. Thele gifts, fo magnificent, have 
 not ended even with him ; feated on the right 
 hand of his Father, he (fill fheds them over our 
 hearts ; all our miferies (till find their remedy in 
 him : he nourifhes us with his body ; he wafnes 
 us from our (tains by continually applying to us 
 the price of his blood ; he forms parlors to con- 
 duct, us j he infpires prophets to initruct. us ; he 
 fancfifies righteous characters to animate us by 
 their example ; he is continually prefent in our 
 hearts to comfort all their wants : man hath no 
 pafllon which his grace doth not cure, no affliction 
 which it doth not render pleafing, no power but 
 what fprings from him : in a word, he afTures us 
 himfelf that he is our way, our truth, our life, our 
 righteoufnefs, our redemption, our light. What 
 new doctrine 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 fa- 
 cred, that we depend almolt more upon that crea- 
 ture than upon himfelf? Would there be no dan- 
 ger that a man, become fo beneficial and fo necef- 
 fary to other men, fhould at laft become their idol? 
 Vol. III. N n That 
 
2 $2 SERMON VII. 
 
 That a man, author and difpenfer of fo many bid- 
 iings, and v\ho difcharges, with regard to us, the 
 office and all the functions of a god, fhould like- 
 wife, in a little time, occupy his place in our hearts? 
 
 For obferve, my brethren, that it is gratitude a- 
 lone which hath formerly made fo many gods. 
 Men, neglecting the Author of their being and of 
 the univerfe, wormipped, at firft, the air which en- 
 abled them to live, the earth which nourifhed them, 
 the fun which gave them light, and the moon 
 which prefided over the night : fuch were their 
 Cybeles, their Apollos, their Dianas. They wor- 
 ihipped thofe conquerors who had delivered them 
 from their enemies ; thofe benevolent and upright 
 princes who had rendered their fubjects happy, 
 and the memory of their immortal reign ; and Ju- 
 piter and Hercu'es were placed in the rank of gods, 
 the one for the number of his victories, and the 
 other in confequence of the happinefs and tran- 
 quility of his reign : in the ages of fuperftition and 
 credulity, men knew no other gods than thofe who 
 were ferviceable to them. And fuch is the cha- 
 racter of man ; his worfliip is but his love and his 
 gratitude. 
 
 Now, what man hath ever benefited mankind fo 
 much as Jefus Chrilt ? Recoiled all that the pagan 
 ages have told us of the hiftory of their gods, and 
 fee if they believed themfelves indebted to them 
 what unbelief itfelf acknowledges, with the holy 
 books, the world to be indebted to Jefus Chrift , 
 
 T<«» 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 283 
 
 To fome they thought themfelves indebted for fa- 
 vourable winds and a fortunate navigation ; to o- 
 thers for the fertility of feafons ; to their Mars for 
 fucctfs in battle ; to their Janus for the peace and 
 the tranquiliry of the people ; to Efculapius for 
 their health. But what are thefe weak benefits, 
 If you compare them to thofe which Jefus Chrift 
 hath fhowered upon the earth ? He hath brought 
 to it an eternal peace, a lading happinefs, righte- 
 oufnefs and truth ; he hath made of it a new 
 world and a new earrh ; he hath not loaded a fia- 
 gle people with his benefits, he hath leaded all na- 
 tions, the whole univerfe ; and what is more, he 
 hath become our benefactor only by fufLring as 
 our victim. What couid he do more exalted or 
 more noble for the earth ? If gratitude hath made 
 gods, coukl Jefus Chriir. fail to find worfhippers a P 
 mong men ? And, were it poflibie that any excefs 
 could take place in our love and in our gratitude 
 to him, was it at all proper that we mould be fo 
 deeply indebted to him ? 
 
 Again, if Jefus Chriit, in dying, had informed 
 his difciples that to the Lord alone they were in- 
 debted for fo many benefits, that he himfelf had 
 been merely the inftrument, and not the author 
 and fource of all thefe fpecial favours, and that 
 they ought, confequently, to forget him, and to ren- 
 der to God that glory which was due to him alone: 
 but very differently than with fuch inftru&ions 
 4oth Jefus cihrifl terminate his wonders and his 
 
 miniftrv. 
 
284 SERMON VII. 
 
 miniflry. He not only requires that his difciples 
 forget him not, and that they do not ceafe, even 
 after 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 prefent with 
 them ; he promifes (till more than he hath already 
 beftowed upon them, and attaches them for ever 
 to himfelf by indiffoluble and immortal ties. 
 
 In effect, the promifes which, in that lad mo- 
 ment, he makes to them, are (till more allonifliing 
 than all the favours he had granted to them du- 
 ring his life. In the firjl place, he promifes to 
 them the confoling Spirit, which he calls the Spi- 
 rit of his Father : that Spirit of the trdth which 
 the world cannot receive ; that Spirit of energy 
 which was to form the martyrs ; that Spirit of in- 
 telligence which was to enlighten the prophets ; 
 thar Spirit of wifdom which was to conduct the 
 pallors ; that Spirit of peace and of charity which, 
 of all believers, was to make only one heart and 
 one foul. What right hath Jefus Chrift 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, afcending to heaven, looks upon it as a 
 thing hardly poilible to promife to Elifeus, indi- 
 vidually, his twofold fpirit of zeal and prophecy : 
 how far was he from promifing to him the eternal 
 Spirit of the heavenly Father, that Spirit of liber- 
 ty which agitates where he thinks fit ! Neverthe- 
 lefs, the promifes of Jefus Chrift are accomplished; 
 
 fcarcely 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 285 
 
 icarcely hath he afcended to heaven when the Spi- 
 rit of God defcends upon the difciples ; the illi- 
 terate become at once more learned than all the 
 fages and philofophers ; the weak more powerful 
 than the tyrants ; the fooliih, according to the 
 world, more prudent than all the wifdom of the 
 age. New men, animated with a new Spirit, ap- 
 pear upon the earth ; they attract, all to walk in 
 their fteps ; they change the face of the univerfe ; 
 and, even to the end of ages, mail that Spirit ani- 
 mate his church, form righteous fouls, overthrow 
 the unbelieving, confole his difciples, fuflain them 
 amid perfecutions and difgraces, and mail bear 
 witnefs in the bottom of their heart that they are 
 children of God, and that they are entitled, through 
 that auguft title, to more real and more folid rich- 
 es 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 (hall 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 effect, hath he over coniciences, to bind 
 
 or 
 
286 SERMON VII. 
 
 or to unbind them at his pleafure. and to transfer 
 to weak men a power which he himfelf could not 
 exercife without blafphem) ? 
 
 Thirdly, But this is not all ; he promifes to his 
 difciples the gilt liKewile of miracles j that, in his 
 name, they mould raife up the dead ; that they 
 fhould reltore fight to the blind, health to the 
 fkk, and fpeech to the dumb ; that they mould be 
 matters of all nature. Mofes promifes not to his 
 difciples the gifts with which the Lord had fa- 
 voured him : he is fenfible that the power is not 
 his own, and that the Loid alone can bellow it on 
 whomfoever he may think fit. Thus, after his 
 death, when Jofhua arrefts the fun in the middle, 
 of his courfe, in order to complete the victory 
 over the enemies of the people of God, it is not 
 in the name of Mofes that he commands that t la- 
 net to Hand fliil ; it is not of him that he holds 
 the power of making even the liars obedient to 
 him ; when he wifhes to exercife it, it is not to 
 him that he addrelTes himfelf: but the difciples of 
 Jefus Chrift can operate nothing but in the name 
 of their Mailer ; it is in his name that they raife 
 up the dead and make the lame to walk ; and, 
 without the affiflance of that divine name, they 
 are equally weak as the rell of men. The minif- 
 try and the power of Mofes terminate with his 
 life; the miniflry and the power of Jefus Chrift 
 only begin, as I may fay, after his death, and we 
 are alfured that his reign is to be eternal. 
 
 What 
 
THE DIVINITY OF J^.SUS CHRIST. 287 
 
 What more mall I fay ? He promifes to his dif- 
 ciples the converfion of the univerfe, the triumph 
 of the crofs, the compliance of all the nations of 
 the earth, of philofophers, of Cefars, of tyrants ; 
 and that his gofpel mail 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 iayeth open the future to his fer- 
 vant. But you are miftaken : if he be not God, 
 he is not even a prophet ; his predictions are 
 dreams and chimeras : it is a falfe fpirit which fe- 
 duces him, and which is concerned in his know- 
 ledge of the future, and the fequel hath belied the 
 truth of his promifes : he prophecies that all na- 
 tions, feated under the fhadow of death, (hall open 
 their eyes to the light ; and he fees not that they 
 are on the point of falling into a more criminal 
 blindnefs in worfhipping him : he prophecies that 
 his Father mall be glorified, and that his gofpel 
 Ihall every where form to him worfhippers in fpi- 
 rit and in truth ; and he fees not that men are 
 going for ever to dilhonour him, in placing upon an 
 equality with him, even to the end of ages, that 
 Jefus who oight to have been confidered only as 
 his fervant and prophet : he prophecies that idols 
 fhall be overthrown ; and he fees not that he him- 
 felf (hall occupy their place : he prophdeies that 
 he will form to himfelf an holy people of every 
 tongue and of every tribe j and he fees not that 
 
 he 
 
288 SERMON VII. 
 
 he comes only to form a new people of idolaters 
 or every nation, who mall place him in the temple 
 as the living God ; whofe actions, worfhip, and 
 homages mail all be directed to him ; who (hall 
 do all for his glory ; who fhalL depend folely upon, 
 him, live only for and through him, and have nei- 
 ther force nor energy but what they receive from 
 him : in a word, who fhall worfhip him, who mall 
 love him a thoufand times more fpiritually, more 
 intimately, and more univerfaily, than ever the 
 pagans had worshipped 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 conducts. Overturn 
 the foundation, which is the Lord Jefus, eternal 
 Son-of the living God, and the whole edifice tum- 
 bles in pieces : take away the grand myftery of 
 piety, and all the religion is but a dream : deny 
 the divinity of Jefus Chrifl, and you cut off, from 
 the doctrine of Chriflians, all the merit of faith, 
 all the confolation of hope, all the motives of cha- 
 rity. Thus, with what zeal did not the flrft difci- 
 ples of the gofpel oppofe thofe impious men who, 
 from that time, ventured to attack the glory of 
 their Mailer's divinity ? They well knew that it 
 was fbiking at the heart of their religion ; that it 
 was ravifhing from them the only alleviation ot 
 
 their 
 
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 289 
 
 their perfections and fufrerings, all confidence in 
 the promifes to come, and all the dignity and 
 grandeur of their pretenfions ; and that, that prin- 
 ciple once overthrown, the whole religion di'ffipat- 
 ed in fmoke, and was no longer but a human doc- 
 trine and the feci: of a mortal man, who, like all 
 the other chiefs, had left nothing but his name to 
 his difciples. 
 
 Thus, the pagans themfelves then reproached 
 the Chriftians with rendering divine honours to 
 their Chrift. Pliny, a Roman proconful celebrat- 
 ed for his works, giving an account to the empe- 
 ror Trajan of their morals and do&rine ; after ! 
 being forced to confefs that the Chriftians were 
 pious, innocent, and upright men, and that they 
 aflembled before the rifing of the fun, hot to con- 
 cert the commiffion of crimes, or to difturb the 
 peace of the empire, but to live in piety and righ- 
 teoufnefs, to deteft frauds, adulteries, and even 
 the coveting of the wealth cf others ; he only re- 
 proaches them with chaunting hymns in honour 
 of their Chrift, and of rendering to him the fame 
 homages as to a god. Now, if thefe firft believ- 
 ers had not rendered divine honours to Jefus 
 Chrift, they would have juftified themfelves againft 
 that calumny ; they would have rejected that fcan- 
 dal from their religion.* almoft the only one which 
 mocked the zeal of the Jews and the wifdom of 
 the Gentiles : they would openly have faid : We 
 do not worfhip Jefus Chrift ; for we know better 
 
 Vol. III. O o than 
 
&$Q S 2 ft M N VII. 
 
 than to transfer to a creature that honour and 
 worfhip which are due to God alone. Neverthe- 
 lefs, they make no reply to this accufation. Their 
 apologifts refute all the other calumnies with 
 Which the pagans endeavoured to blacken their 
 doctrine ; they clear up and overthrow rhe flight- 
 eft accufation? ; and their apologies, addrefled to 
 the fenate, attract, to them even the admiration of 
 Rome, and impofe filence on their enemies. And, 
 upon the accufation of idolatry towards Jefus 
 Chrift, which mould be the mod crying and tha 
 inoft horrible ; upon the reproach of wormipping. 
 a crucified perfon, which was the moft likely to 
 difcredit them, and which ought indeed to have 
 been the moft grievous to men fo holy, fo declar- 
 ed againft idolatry, and fo jealous of the glory of* 
 God, they are totally filent ; and, far from de- 
 fending themfelves, they even juftify the accufa- 
 tion by their filence : What do I fay, by their fi- 
 lence ? They authorife it by their language in pro- 
 fefling to fuffer for his name, in dying for him, in 
 confefling him before the tyrants, in joyfully ex- 
 piring upon gibbets, in the fweet expectation of 
 going to enjoy him, and of receiving, in his bo- 
 fom, a more immortal life than that which they 
 had loll for his glory. They fuffered martyrdom 
 father than bend to the flatue of the Gefars, ra- 
 ther than allow their pagan friends, through a hu- 
 man compaflion, and to fave them from torture, 
 to falfely attefl, before the magiftrates* that they 
 
 had 
 
The divinity of jesus christ. 291 
 
 had offered incenfe to the idols, and they would 
 "have fubmitted to the accufation of paying divine 
 honours to Jefus Chrift, without any attempt to 
 delkoy the imputation ? Ah ! they would have 
 proclaimed the contrary from the houfe tops ; they 
 would have expofed themfelves even to death, ra- 
 ther 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 ftructure 
 hath been reared ; which has formed fo many 
 martyrs, and converted the whole univerfe. 
 
 But what fruit, my brethren, are we to draw 
 from this difcourfe ? That Jefus Chrift is the grand 
 object of Chriftian piety. Neverthelefs, fcarcely 
 do we know Jefus Chrift : we never confider that 
 all the other practices of piety are, as I may fay, 
 arbitrary ; but, that this is the ground-work; of 
 faith and of falvation ; that this is pure and fmcere 
 piety ; that, continually to meditate upon Jefus 
 Chrift, to have recourfe to him, to nouriih our- 
 felves with his do&rine, to enter into the fpirit of 
 his myfteries, to ftudy his a&ions, to count folely 
 upon the merit of his blood and of his facriflce, is 
 the only true knowledge, and the molt efientia^ 
 duty of the believer. Remember then, my bre- 
 thren, that piety towards Jefus Chrift is the cor- 
 dial fpirit of the Chriftian religion ; that nothing 
 is folid but what you fhall build upon that founda- 
 tion ^ 
 
292 SERMON VII. 
 
 tion ; and that the principal homage which he cir:- 
 pecls 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 number of thoie who mail be 
 partakers of his glory. 
 
 SER. 
 
SERMON VIII. 
 
 ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS, 
 
 John xi. 34. 
 Ceme and fee* 
 
 T'i 1 
 
 1 he moft hardened fmner could never fubmit to 
 the horror of his fituation, were he able to fee 
 and to know himfelf fuch as he is. A foul, grown 
 old in guilt, is only bearable to itfelf, becaufe that 
 the fame paflion, from which all his miferies fpring, 
 conceals them from him, and that his diforder is, at 
 the fame time, both the weapon which inflicts the 
 wound, and the fatal bandage which hides it from 
 the eyes of the patient. 
 
 Behold wherefore the church, in order to lay 
 the finner open to himfelf during this time of pe- 
 nitence, almoft continually difplays to us, under 
 
 various 
 
q$4 ' sermon virr. 
 
 various images, the deplorable ftate of a foul who 
 has grown old in his iniquity : one while under the 
 figure of a paralytic young man ; that is, to mark 
 to us the infenfibility and fatal eafe which always 
 follow habitual guilt : another, under the fymbol 
 of a prodigal reduced to feed with the vileft ani- 
 mals ; and, under thefe traits, it wifhes to make us 
 feel his abafement and his infamy : again, under 
 the image of a perfon born blind ; and that is in 
 order to paint to us the depth and the horror of 
 his blindnefs : and, lafiiy, under the parable of a 
 deaf and dumb perfon pofTefled with a devil ; and 
 . that is, more animatedly :o figure to us theme* 
 jection under which habitual guilt holds all the 
 powers of an unfortunate fouL 
 
 To day, in order, as it were, to affemble all thefe 
 traits under a fingle image ftill more terrible and 
 striking, the church propofes to us Lazarus in the 
 tomb, dead for four days, emitting flench and infec- 
 tion, bound hand and foot, his face covered with 
 a napkin, and exciting only horror even in thofe 
 whom affection and blood had mofl clofely united 
 to him in life. 
 
 Come then and fee, you, my dear hearer, who* 
 live, for fo many years pafl, under the fhameful ye£e 
 of diffipation, and who are infenfible to the mifery 
 of your.fituation. Approach this tomb which the 
 voice of Jefus Chrift is now to open before your 
 eyes j and, in that fpe&acle of infecli a a td pu're*' 
 faftion, behold the 'true picture of yen* feuL Y j$ 
 
6N THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. £93 
 
 By to profane fpe&acles, In order to fee your paf- 
 fions reprefented under pleafmg and deceitful co- 
 lours : approach, and fee them exprefled here fueh 
 as they are: come, and, in that infectious and 
 linking carcafe, behold what you are in the fight 
 of God, and how much your ikuation is worthy 
 of your tears. 
 
 But, in expofmg here only the horrible fituatioja 
 of 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 j that I 
 may omit nothing of our gofpel, I (hall divide it 
 into three reflections : in the firft, you will fee how 
 mocking and deplorable is the fituation of a foul 
 who lives in habitual irregularity ; in the fecond, 
 I (hall (hew to you the means by which he may 
 quit it ; and, in the third, what the motives are 
 which determine Jefus Chrift to operate the mi- 
 racle of his refurredion and deliverance. O my 
 God ! let thine all-powerful voice be now heard 
 by thofe unfortunate fouls who deep in the dark- 
 nefs and (hadow of death ; command thefe wither- 
 ed bones once more to be animated, and to recei- 
 ver that light and that life of grace which they 
 have loft. 
 
 Reflection I. I remark, at firft, three princi- 
 pal circumftances in the deplorable fpe&acle which 
 Lazarus, dead and buried, offers to our eyes, iftlfa 
 Already become a mafs of worms and corruption, 
 fee fpreads infe&ioa aad fteach : and behold the 
 
 profound 
 
$9<S Sermon vin. 
 
 profound corruption of a foul in habitual fin. idly, 
 A gloomy napkin covers his e/es and his face : 
 and behold the fatal blindnefs of a foul in habitual 
 fin. La/lly, He appears in the tomb bound hand 
 and foot : and behold the melancholy fubje&ion 
 of a foul in habirual fin. Now, ft is that profound 
 corruption, that fatal blindnefs, and that melan- 
 choly fervitude, typified in the fpedtacle of Laza- 
 rus, 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 
 of a carcafe already a prey to worms and putrefac- 
 tion. Thus the holy books every where repre- 
 fent the ftate of fin under the idea of a mocking 
 death ; and it feems as if the Spirit of God had 
 found that melancholy image the mod calculated 
 to give us, at leaft, a glimpfe of all the deformity 
 of a foul in which fin dwells. 
 
 Now, two effects are produced on the body by 
 death : it deprives it of life ; it afterwards alters 
 all its features, and corrupts all its members. It 
 deprives it of life ; in the fame manner it is that 
 fin begins to disfigure the beauty of the foul. For, 
 God is the life of our fouls, the light of our minds, 
 and the fpring, as I may fay, of our hearts. Our 
 righteoufnefs, our wiidom, our truth, are only the 
 union of a righteous, wife, and true God with our 
 foul : all our virtues are only the different influ- 
 ences 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 297 
 
 ences of his Spirit which dwells within us : it is 
 he who exciteth our good defires, who formeth 
 our holy thoughts, who produceth our pure lights, 
 who operateth our righteous propenfities ; info- 
 much that all the fpiritual and fupernatural life of 
 our foul is only, as the apoflle fpeaks, the life of 
 God within us. 
 
 Now, by a fingle fin that life ceafes, that light 
 is extinguifhed, that fpirit withdraws, all thefe 
 fprings are fufpended. Thus the foul, without 
 God, is a foul without life, without motion, light, 
 truth, righteoumefs, or charity ; it is no longer 
 but a chaos, a dead body : its life is no longer but 
 an imaginary and chimerical life ; and, like thofe 
 inanimate fubftances fet in motion by a foreign 
 influence, it feems to live and to act. j but " it is 
 " dead while living." 
 
 Behold the firft degree of death which every fin 
 that feparates a foul from God introduces into' it ; 
 but habitual fin, like inveterate death, goes fur- 
 ther. 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 infection. 
 For although the firft fin, which caufcs the lofs 
 of grace, leave us, in the eyes of God, without life 
 and without motion ; yet we may fay, that certain 
 impreffions of the Holy Spirit, certain feeds of fpi- 
 ritual life, certain means of recovering: the erace 
 loft, (till remain to us. Faith is not yet extin- 
 guifhed ; the feelings of virtue not yet effaced j a 
 
 Vol. III. P p fenfe 
 
298 SERMON VIII. 
 
 fenfe of the truths of falvation not yet loft : it is a 
 dead body in truth ; but, life being only juft with- 
 drawn, it (till preferves, I know not what, of marks 
 of warmth, which feem to fpring from fome re- 
 main of life. But, in proportion as the foul re- 
 mains in death, and perfeveres in guilt, grace with- 
 draws ; all extinguifhes, all changes, all corrupts, 
 and its corruption becomes univerfal. 
 
 I fay univerfal ; yes, my brethren, all changes, 
 all corrupts in .the foul, through a continuance of 
 diforder ; the gifts of nature, gentlenefs, rectitude, 
 humanity, modefty, even the mental talents ; the 
 bleflings of grace, the feelings of religion, the re- 
 morfes of confcience, the terrors of faith, and faith 
 itfelf j the corruption penetrates all, and changes, 
 into putrefa&ion and a fpe&acle of horror, both 
 the gifts of heaven and the bleflings of the earth : 
 nothing remains in its original fituation ; the love- 
 lieft features are thofe which become the molt hi- 
 deous and the molt undiilinguifhable ; the charms 
 of wit become the feafoning of debauchery and the 
 paflions; feelings of religion are changed into free- 
 thinking ; fuperiority of knowledge into pride, and 
 a vain and mocking philofophy j nobility of mind 
 is no longer but a boundlefs ambition 5 generofity 
 and tendernefs of heart but a yielding to the fway 
 of impure and profane connections ; the principles 
 of glory and honour, handed down to us with the 
 blood of our anceitors, but a vain orientation, and 
 the fource of all our hatreds and animofities j our 
 
 rank, 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 299 
 
 rank, our elevation, the caufe of our envies and 
 mean jealoufies ; Iaftly, our riches and our profpe- 
 rity, 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 impoffible to live long in debauchery without 
 the fmell of a bad life making itfelf felt. In vain 
 is every precaution employed to conceal the igno- 
 miny of a diforderly life ; in vain is the fepulchre, 
 full of putrefaction and infection., externally whit- 
 ened and embellithed', the (tench fpreads ; guilt, 
 fooner or later, betrays itfelf ; a black and infecti- 
 ous air always proceeds from that profane fire 
 which, with fo much care, was concealed. A dif- 
 orderly life betrays itfelf in a thoufand ways ; the 
 public, at lad undeceived, opens its eyes, and the 
 more their character becomes blown, the more 
 they difcover themfelves ; they become accuftom- 
 ed to their fhame ; they become weary of con? 
 ftraint and decency : that guilt, which is only to 
 be purchafed with attention and arrangements, ap- 
 pears too dear ; they unmafk themfelves ; they 
 throw off that remainder of reftraint and modefty 
 which made us Hill cautious of the eyes of men ; 
 they wifh to riot in diforder, without precaution 
 or care ; and, then, fervants, friends, connections, 
 the city and country, all feel the infection of their 
 irregularities and example. Our rank our eleva- 
 tion, no longer ferve but to render more finking 
 
 and 
 
300 SERMON VIII. 
 
 and more durable the fcandal of our debaucheries : 
 in a thoufand places our exceffes ferve as a model : 
 the view of our manners perhaps drengthcns, in 
 fecret, confciences whom guilt Hill rendered un- 
 eafy ; perhaps they even cite us, and make ufe of 
 our example in feducing innocence, and in con- 
 quering a dill timorous modedy : and, even after 
 our death, the fame of our debaucheries mall dain 
 the hidory of men ; mail perhaps embellifh lafci- 
 vious tales ; and, long after our day, in ages yet 
 to come, the remembrance of our crimes mall (till 
 be an occafion and a fource of guilt. 
 
 Ladly, But I would- not dare to enlarge here, 
 the corruption which habitual guilt fheds through 
 the whole interior of the finner is fo univerfal, that 
 even his body is infected : debauchery leaves the 
 fhameful marks of his irregularities on his flefh : 
 the infection of his foul often extends even to a 
 body which he has made fubfervient to ignominy. 
 He 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 mocking picture of that of his foul. 
 
 Great God ! can I then flatter myfelf that thou 
 wilt yet cad upon me fome Lpoks of companion ! 
 Wilt thou not groan at ( the fight of that mafs of 
 crimes and putrefaction which ray foul prefents to 
 thine eyes, as thou now groaned in the fpirit over the 
 to a b of Lazarus ? Ah ! avert thine holy eyes from 
 the fpectacle of my profound wretchednefs ; but, 
 
 let 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 30I 
 
 let me no more turn away from it myfelf, and let 
 me be enabled to view myfelf with all that horror 
 which my fituation deferves : tear afunder the veil 
 which hides me from myfelf; my evils (half, in 
 part, be done away from the moment that I fhall 
 be able to fee and to know them. 
 
 And behold the fecond circumftance of the de- 
 plorable fituation of Lazarus ; a mournful cloth 
 covers his face : that is the profound blindnefs 
 which forms the fecond character of habitual fin. 
 
 I confefs that every fin is an error which makes 
 us miftake evil for good ; it is a falfe judgment 
 which makes us feek, in the creature, that eafe, 
 grandeur, and independence which we can find in 
 God alone : it is a milfc which hides order, truth, 
 and righteoufnefs from our eyes, and, in their 
 place, fubftitutes vain phantoms. Neverthelefs,afir{l 
 falling off from God does not altogether extinguiih 
 our lights ; nor is it always productive of total 
 darknefs. 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 flill left in the 
 foul : thus, though the fun be already withdrawn 
 from our hemifphere, yet certain rays of his light 
 ftill tinge the Iky, and form, as it were, an imper- 
 fect day ; it is only in proportion as he finks that 
 gloom gains, and the darknefs of night at lait pre- 
 vails. In the fame manner, in proportion as fin 
 degenerates into habit, the light of God retires, 
 
 darknefs 
 
3©2 SERMON VIII. 
 
 darknefs gains, and the profound night of total 
 blmdiiefs at laft arrives. 
 
 And then all becomes occafion of error to the 
 criminal foul ; all changes its afpecl: to his eyes ; 
 the moft fhameful pafiions no longer appear but as 
 weaknefles ; the moft criminal attachments but 
 fympathies brought with us into the world and 
 inherent to our hearts j the excefles of the- table 
 but innocent pleafures of fociety ; revenge but a 
 juft fenfe of injury ; licentious and impious <con- 
 verfations but lively and agreeable fallies j the 
 blacked defamation but a cuftomary language of 
 which none but weak and timid minds can make 
 a fcruple ; the laws of the church but old-fafhion- 
 ed cuftoms ; the feverity of God's judgments but 
 abfurd declamations which equally difgrace his 
 goodnefs and mercy ; death in fin, inevitable con- 
 fequence of a criminal life, mere predictions, in 
 which there is more of zeal than of truth, and re- 
 futed by the confidence which a return to God, 
 previous to that laft moment, promifes to us ; laft- 
 ly, heaven, the earth, ^hell, all creatures, religion, 
 crimes, virtues, good and evil, things prefent and 
 to come, all charge their afpeft to the eyes of a 
 foul who lives in habitual guilt ; all (hew them- 
 felves 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 thofe of Lazarus, and be- 
 hold 
 
ON THX RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 303 
 
 hold yourfelf, like him, buried in darknefs ; all 
 covered with putrefaction, and fpreading around 
 infection and a fmell of death ! But now, fays our 
 Saviour, all thefe things are hid from thine eyes ; 
 you fee in yourfelf only the embellifhments 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 railed up ; but, remove the (tone 
 which covers that place of horror ; look within, 
 judge not of yourfelf from thefe pompous outfides, 
 which ferve only to embellilh 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 ilavery at lead roufe 
 and recall you to yourfelf. 
 
 Laft circumftance of the fituation of Lazarus 
 dead and buried ; he was bound hand and foot ; 
 and behold the image of the wretched flavery of a 
 foul long under the dominion of fin. 
 
 Yes, my brethren, in vain does the world decry 
 a Chriftian life as a life of fubje&ion and flavery ; 
 the reign of righteoufnefs is a reign of liberty ; the 
 foul, faithful and fubmiffive to God, becomes maf- 
 ter over all creatures ; the juft man is above all, 
 becaufe he is unconnected with all ; he is mafler 
 of the world, becaufe he defpifes the world ; he is 
 dependent neither on his mailers, becaufe he only 
 ferves them for God j nor on his friends, becaufe 
 
 he 
 
3©.4 SERMON VIII. 
 
 lie only loves them according to the order of cha- 
 rity and of righteoufnefs ; nor on his inferiors, 
 becaufe he exacts from them no iniquitous com- 
 pliance ; nor on his fortune, becaufe he rather 
 dreads it ; nor on the judgments of men, becaufe 
 he dreads thofe of God alone ; nor on events, be- 
 caufe he confiders them all as in the order of pro- 
 vidence ; nor even on his paffions, becaufe the 
 charity which is within him is their rule and mea- 
 fure. The juft man alone, then, enjoys a perfect 
 liberty : fuperior to the world, to himfelf, to all 
 creatures, to all events, he begins, even in this 
 life, to reign wi'th Jefus Chrift ; all is below h&r, 
 while he is himfelf inferior to God alone. 
 
 But the fmner, who feems to live without either 
 rule or reflraint, is, however, a vile Have j he is de- 
 pendant on all, on his body, on his propenfities, 
 on his caprices, on his paffions, on his fortune, on 
 his matters, on his friends, on his enemies, on his 
 rivals, on all furrounding creatures; fo many gods 
 to which love or fear fubject him ; fo many idols 
 which multiply his ilavery, while he thinks him- 
 felf more free by calling off that obedience which 
 he owes to God alone ; he multiplies his mafters, 
 by refufing fubmimon to him alone who renders 
 free thofe who ferve him, and who gives to his fer- 
 vants dominion over the world and over every 
 thing which the world contains. 
 
 You often complain, my dear hearer, of the 
 hardfliips of virtue ; you dread a Chriftian life, as a 
 
 life 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 305 
 
 life of fubjecllcn and follow : but what, in ir, could 
 you' find fo gloomy as you experience in debauch- 
 ery?, Ah. ! If you durft complain of the bitternefs 
 and of the tyranny of the paflio'ns ; it you durft 
 confefs the troubles, the difgufts, the frenzies, the 
 anxieties of your foul ; if you were candid on the 
 gloomy tranfactrons of your heart, there is no lot 
 but what would appear preferable to your own ; 
 but you difguife the inquietudes of guilt which 
 you feel : and you exaggerate the hard (hips of vir- 
 tue which you have never known. But, in order 
 to hold out to you an ailifling hand, let us conti- 
 nue the hiftory of our gofpel, and let us fee, in the 
 refurrecYion of Lazarus, what are the means offer- 
 ed to you, by the goodnefs of God, of quitting fo 
 deplorable a fituation. 
 
 Reflection II. The power of God, fays the 
 apoflle, is not lefs confpicuous in the converfion 
 of finners than in raifing up the dead ; and the 
 fame fupernatural power which wrought upon Je- 
 fus Chrift to deliver him from the tomb, ought to 
 operate upon the foul long dead in fin, in order to 
 recall it to the life of grace. I find there only this 
 difference, that the almighty voice of God meets 
 no refinance 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 dura- 
 tion of guilt, feems to retain a remainder of 
 ftrength and motion only to oppofe that powerful 
 voice which is heard even in the abyfs in which it 
 
 Vol. III. Q^q \s 
 
J 
 
 06 SERMON VIII. 
 
 h plunged, and which refounds for the purpofe 
 of refloring it to light and life. Neverthelefs, 
 however difficult may be the converfion of a foul 
 of this defcription, and however rare fuch exam- 
 ples may be, the fpirit of God, in order to teach us 
 never to defpair of divine mercy when we fincere- 
 ly wifh to quit the ways of iniquity, points out to 
 us at prefenr, in the refurre&ion of Lazarus, the 
 means of accomplifliing it. 
 
 The firfl is, confidence in jefus Chrifl : Lord, 
 fays Mary the filter of 'Lazarus, if thou hadfl been 
 here my brother had not died ; but I know that, 
 even now, whatfoever thou wilt afk of God, God 
 will give it thee. I am the refurreclion and the 
 life, faid Jefus unto her ; believed thou this ? 
 Yes, Lord, faid fhe, I believe that thou art the 
 Chrifl, the Son of God, which mould come into 
 the world. It is through this that the miracle of 
 raifmg up Lazarus begins, viz. the perfect confi- 
 dence that Jefus Chrifl is able to deliver him from 
 death and corruption. 
 
 For, my brethren, the delufion continually em- 
 ployed by the demon, in order to render our de- 
 fires of converfion unavailing, and to counteract 
 their progrefs, is that or defpondency and miflruft ; 
 he warmly retraces to our imagination the horrors 
 of an entire life of guilt : he fays to us, in fecret, 
 that which the fillers of Lazarus fay to Jefus Chrifl, 
 though in a different fenfe ; that we ought, at a 
 much earlier period, to have checked our career ; 
 
 that 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 307 
 
 that It is now impoffible, when fo far advanced, to 
 return ; that the time for attempting a change is 
 now paPc ; and that the virulency and ar.e of our 
 wounds no longer admit a refource. Upon this 
 they abandon themfelves to languor and indolence; 
 and, after having incenfed the ri^hteoufnefs of God 
 through our debaucheries, we infult his mercy 
 through the excefs of our miftruft. 
 
 I confefs that a foul, long dead in fin, mud fuf- 
 fer much in returning to God ; that it is difficult, 
 after fo many years of diilipation, to form to one's 
 felf a new heart and new inclinations ; and that 
 is even fit, that the obftacles, the fufFerings, and 
 the difficulties which always attend the converfion 
 of fouls of that defcription, fliould make great fin- 
 ners feel how dreadful it is to have been almoft a 
 whole life-time removed from God. 
 
 But I fay that, from the moment a truty con- 
 trite foul wifhes to return to him, his wounds how- 
 ever virulent or old, ought no longer to alarm his 
 confidence : I fay that his wretchednefs ought to 
 increafe his compunction but not his defponden- 
 cy : I fay that the firft ftep of his penitence ought 
 to be that of adoring Jefus Chrift as the refurrec- 
 tion and the life ; a fecret confidence that our 
 wants are always lefs than his mercies ; a firm per- 
 fuafion that the blood of Jefus Chrift is more 
 powerful in waffling out our rtains than our cor- 
 ruption can be in contracting them : I fay that, 
 the fewer refources of ftrength a criminal foul may 
 • find 
 
308 ' §ERMON VIII. 
 
 find In himfelf, the more ought he to expect from 
 him who taketh delight in rearing up the work of 
 grace upon the nothingnefs of nature ; and that 
 the more he is inwardly oppofed to grace, the 
 more does he, in one fenfe, become an object 
 worthy of divine power and mercy, for God wifii- 
 eth that all good ihall evidently appear as coming 
 from above, and that man (hall attribute nothing 
 to himfelf. 
 
 And in effect, my dear hearer, whatever may 
 the horror of your pall crimes be, the Lord will 
 not long reftife you grace, from the moment that 
 he hath irifpired you with the define and the refo- 
 folution of afking it. It is written in Judges, that 
 the father of Samfon, terrified by 'the apparition 
 o' the angel of the Lord, who, after announc- 
 ing to him >he birth of a fon, commanded him 
 to offer up a facrifice, and then, like a devour- 
 ing fife, confutned the victim and the pile, and 
 vanifhed from his fight ; that, terrified, I fay, at 
 that fpeclacle, he was convinced that both him- 
 felf and his wife- were to be flruck with death be- 
 caufe thev had feen the Lord. But his wife, holy 
 and enlightened, condemned his miftruft. If the 
 Lord, faid me to him, wifhed 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 difcovcred to 
 us his fecrets and his wonders, and what we had 
 hitherto been ignorant of. 
 
 And 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 309 
 
 And behold what I now anfwer to you. You be- 
 lieve your death and your deftruction to be inevita- 
 ble ; the ftate of your confeience difcourages you ; 
 in vain do fparks of grace and of light tall upon 
 your heart; in vain do they touch you, folicit 
 you, and alinoft gain the point of confumin the 
 facrifice of your paffions ; you perfuade yourfelf 
 that you are loft beyond refource. But, if the 
 Lord.wifhr.d to abandon and to deflroy you, he 
 would not make fire from heaven to defcend upon 
 your heart ; 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 pailions, he 
 would not manifeft to you the truths of falvation ; 
 he would not open your eyes on thofe miferies to 
 come, which you prepare for yourfelf. Beiides, 
 how do you know if Jefus Chrift has not permit- 
 ted your falling into fuch a deplorable fiate for 
 the purpofe of making a prodigy of your conver- 
 fion an incitement to the convention of your bre- 
 thren ? How do you know if his mercy has not 
 rendered your paflions fo notorious, in order that 
 thoufands of fmners, witnefies of your errors, def- 
 pair not of converfion, and be inflamed at the 
 fight of your penitence ? How do you know if your 
 crimes, 2nd even your fcandals, have not entered 
 into the defigns of God's goodnefs with regard to 
 your brethren ; and if your fituation, which feems 
 hopelefs like that of Lazarus, is not rather an oc- 
 
 cafion 
 
310 SERMON VIII. 
 
 cafion of manifefting God's glory than a prefagc 
 of death to you ? 
 
 When grace recalls a common fmner, the fruit 
 of his converfion is limited to himfelf ; but, when 
 it angles out a grand fmner, a Lazarus, long dead 
 and corrupted ; ah ! the defigns of its mercy are 
 then much more extenfive : in one change it pre- 
 pares a thoufand to come : it raifes up a thoufand* 
 chofen out of one : and the crimes of a 'fmner be- 
 come the feed of a thoufand j aft. You give way 
 to defpondency in feeling the extremity of your ' 
 wretchednefs : but it is perhaps that very extre- 
 mity which draws you nearer to the happy mo- 
 ment of your converfion, and which the goodnefs 
 of God has referved for you, that you might be a 
 public monument of the excefs of his mercies to- 
 wards the greatefl: tinners. Only believe, as Jefus 
 Chrift faid to the fillers of Lazarus, and you fhall 
 fee the glory of God ; you (hall fee your relations, 
 your friends, your inferiors, and even the accom- 
 plices of your debaucheries, become imitators of 
 \our penitence ; you (hall fee the molt hopelefs 
 fouls fighing after the happinefs of your new life ; 
 and the world itfclf forced to render glory to God, 
 and, in recalling y ur paft error's, to admire the 
 prodigy of your prefertt lot. Take, even from 
 your wretchednefs itfelf, new motives of confi- 
 dence : blefs, in advance, the merciful wifdom 
 of that Eeing, who, even from your pafiions, fhall 
 know how to extract advantages to his glory ; e- 
 
 very 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 31 1 
 
 very thing co-operates towards the falvaiion of his 
 chofen, and lie permitteth great exceffes only in 
 order to operate great mercies. God ever wiiheth 
 the falvation of his creature ; and, from the mo- 
 ment that we form a wim of returning to him, 
 our only dread ought to be, not that his juftice 
 reject us, but left our intention be not fincere. 
 
 And the fur eft proof of our fincerity is the at- 
 fenting ourfelves from every occafion which may 
 place an obftacle to our refurrection and our de- 
 liverance ; obftacle, figured by the ftone which 
 fhut up the mouth of Lazarus's tomb, and which 
 Jefus Chrift orders to be removed before he be- 
 gins to operate the miracle of his refurrection ; 
 remove the ftone. Second mean, marked in our 
 gofpel. 
 
 In effect, every day (hews Tinners, who, tired of 
 diforder, wim to return to God, but who cannot 
 prevail upon themfelves to . quit thofe objects, 
 thofe places, thofe fituations, and thofe rocks, 
 which have been the caufe of their removal from 
 him : they vainly perfuade themfelves that they 
 fhall be able to extinguifh their paffions, to termi- 
 nate a diforderly life ; in a word, to rife from the 
 dead, without removing the ftone, they even make 
 fome efforts ; they addrefs themfelves to men of 
 God ; they adopt meafures for a change ; but, it 
 is of thofe meafures which, not removing the dan- 
 gers, do not, in the fmalleft degree, forward their 
 fafety j and thus their whole life forrowfully paffes 
 
 away 
 
112 SERMON VIII. 
 
 O 
 
 away in deleft ing their chains, and in the utter in- 
 ability of breaking them afunder. 
 
 Whence comes this, my brethren ? It is that the 
 paffions begin to weaken only after the removal of 
 fuch objects as have lighted them up ; it is abfurd 
 to fuppofe that the heart 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 connections, the fa- 
 miliarities, the pleafures, which have a thoufand 
 times corrupted your heart; you would vvifh to re- 
 flect ferioufly on your eternity, and to place fome 
 interval betwixt life and death, yet you are unwil- 
 ling to place any betwixt death and thofe debauch- 
 eries which prevent you from reflecting on your 
 falvation ; and, in the midft: of agitations, pleafures, 
 trifles, and worldly expectations, from which, on 
 no account, will you abate, you expect that the 
 inclinarion and relifti for a Christian life will come 
 to you unfought-for : you would that your heart 
 form new propensities, furrounded by every thing 
 which nourifhes and fortifies the old ; and that the 
 lamp of faith and grace blaze up in the midft: of 
 winds and tempefts, it which, even in the fanctu- 
 ary, fo often extinguishes through want of oil and 
 nourishment, and, to lukewarm and retired fouls, 
 converts into a danger even the fafety of their re- 
 treat. 
 
 You come, after that, to tell us that good-will 
 is not wanting ; that the moment is not yet come. 
 
 How, 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 313 
 
 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 confe- 
 quence, which never leads to any thing real, and 
 never ferioufly adopts a fingle meafure towards a 
 change ? That is to fay, that you would wi(h to 
 change could it be done for nothing ; you would 
 wifh to work out your falvation by the fame con- 
 duct which occafions your deflruction ; you would 
 wifh that the fame manners which have feparated 
 your heart from God fhould approach you to him; 
 and that what has hitherto been the caufe of your 
 ruin fhould itfelf become the way and the mean of 
 your falvation. Begin by removing the occafions 
 which fo often have been, and hull continue to be, 
 the rock of your innocence ; remove the ftone 
 which fhuts up the entry of grace to your foul; 
 after that you mall be entitled to demand of God 
 the completion of his work in you. Then, fepa- 
 rated from thofe objects which nourifhed iniquitous 
 paflions within you, you 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 Mill fetter it ; I have re- 
 moved 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 Lord, 
 canft change the heart ; it depends upon thee now 
 to complete what yet remains to be done, to break 
 the invilible chains, to overcome all internal obfla- 
 Vol. III. R r cles, 
 
3*4 SERMON VIII. 
 
 cles, and totally to triumph over my corruption :• 
 I have removed the fatal (tone which prevented 
 me from hearing thy voice; let it now refound, 
 even through the abyfs in which I am ftill buried j 
 command me to depart from that fatal tomb, that 
 place of infection and putrefcence, but command 
 me wkh that almighty word which makes itfelf to 
 be heard even by the dead, and is to them a word 
 of refurrecYion and life ; give me in charge to thy 
 difciples, to be unloofed from thofe chains which 
 hold captive ail the powers of my foul ; and let 
 the miniftry of thy church put the laft feal to my 
 refurreclion and my deliverance. 
 
 And behold, my brethren, the laft mean held 
 out in our gofpei. Immediately, on the removal 
 of the (tone, our Saviour cries, with a loud voice, 
 Lazarus, come forth ! Lazarus comes forth, (till 
 bound hand and foot, and Jefus Chrift remits him 
 to his difciples to be unloofed. 
 
 Obferve here that Jefus Chrifl doth not order 
 his difciples to unloofe Lazarus till after he had 
 entirely quitted the tomb. We mull manifeft. our- 
 felves to the church, fays an holy father, before we 
 can, through its miniftry, recei?e the bleiTmg of 
 our deliverance. Lazarus come forth, that is to 
 fay, continues that father, how long wilt thou re- 
 main concealed and buried inwardly in thy con- 
 ference ? How long wilt thou conceal thine iniqui- 
 ty within thy breaft ? 
 
 You 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 315 
 
 You undoubtedly are not ignorant, my breth- 
 ren, that remiiliori of our (ins is only granted 
 through the miniftry of the church, and that it is 
 neceffarv to lay opc-n and to prefent our bonds to 
 the piety of the minifters, who alone have autho- 
 rity to bind and to unbind on the earth ; this is 
 no r upon what you require infraction. But, I fay, 
 t at, in order that rhe converfion be folid and du- ' 
 rable, we mult, like Lazarus, (hew ourfeives quite; 
 out of the tomb. An ordinary confeftion is not 
 the rearer in queftion : an hardened {inner ought 
 to go back even to his infancy ; even to the birth 
 of his paffions ; even to the yaungeff, periods of his 
 life, whit!: have been the commencement of his 
 crimes Neither doubts nor obfeurities mult long- 
 er be (eft in the confeience, nor mifts oyer the 
 youthful manners, under pretence that they have 
 already been revealed ; a general manifestation is 
 required, and whatever may hitherto have been 
 done mufl be reckoned as nothing ; every duty of 
 religion, performed during a diforderly and world- 
 ly life, is even to be ranked among our crimes ; 
 the confeience mufl: be considered as a chaos, into 
 which no light has, as yet, penetrated, and over 
 which all our fictitious and paft penitence has 
 fpread only additional darknefs. 
 
 For, alas ! my brethren, a contrite foul, after 
 returning from the errors of the world and the 
 paffions, ought to prefume that, having to that pe- 
 riod lived in criminal habits and propensities,. eve- 
 ry 
 
3i6. 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 ry time the facrament has been received in that 
 ftate was only a profanation and a crime. 
 
 In xhefrji place, becaufe, having never felt real 
 contrition for his errors, nor, confequently, any 
 fincere defire to purge himfelf of them, the reme- 
 dies of the church, far from having purified, have 
 only completed his foulnefs, and rendered his di- 
 feafe more incurable. 
 
 2dly, Becaufe he has never been known to him- 
 felf; and, confequently, could never make himfelf 
 known to the tribunal of his confcience. For, a- 
 las ! the world, in the midft of which this foul has 
 always lived, and in which he has ever thought 
 and judged like it ; the world, I fay, finding rea- 
 fonable and wife only its own maxims and man- 
 ner of thinking, does it fufficiently know the holi- 
 nefs of the gofpel, the obligations of faith, and the 
 extent of duties, to be qualified to enter into the 
 detail of thofe tranfgreflions which faith condemns ? 
 
 2,d/y, and la/ily, Becaufe that, even admitting he 
 mould have known all his wretchednefs, never ha- 
 ving had any real forrow for it, he has never been 
 qualified to make it known ; for nothing but heart- 
 felt forrow can explain itfelf as it ought, or truly 
 reprefent thofe evils which it feels and abhors ; it 
 mull be a feeling heart that can make itfelf to be 
 underftood on the wounds and the fuffe rings of a 
 heart itfelf. A finner, full of a profane paffion, 
 expreffes it much more eloquently, and with more 
 animation ; nothing is left unfaid of the foolifh 
 
 and 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 7> l 7 
 
 and deplorable fuiFerlngs he endures ; he enters 
 into all the windings of his heart, his jealoufies, his 
 fears, and his hopes. As the inind of man, fays 
 the apoftle, alone knows what paiTes in man, fo 
 likewife it is only the heart which can know what 
 paifes in the heart. Contrition gives eyes to fee, 
 and words to exprefs every thing ; it has a lan- 
 guage which nothing can counterfeit : thus, in 
 vain may a worldly foul, dill chained by the heart 
 to all his diforders, come to accufe himfelf, he can- 
 not be underftood ; without any abfolute intention 
 of concealing his wounds, he never expofes all 
 their horror, becaufe he neither feels nor is (truck 
 with them himfelf; his words always relifh of the 
 infenfibility of his heart ; and it is impofiible that 
 he fhould 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 paft life as a period of darknefs and blindnefs, 
 during which he has never viewed himfelf but with 
 the eyes of flefh and blood j never judged but 
 through the opinions of paffion and felf-love; never 
 accufed but in the language of -error and impeni- 
 tence ; never exhibited himfelf but in a falfe and 
 imperfeft light. It is not enough to have removed 
 the ftone from the tomb ; the criminal foul mud 
 come forth from it himfelf, that he may exhibit 
 himfelf, as I may fay, in open day ; that he may 
 manifeft his whole life ; and that, from his earlieft 
 years even to the bleffed hour of his deliverance, 
 
 nothing 
 
318 SERMON VIII. 
 
 nothing be concealed from the eyes of the minif- 
 ters ready to unbind him. 
 
 But this ftep, you. fay, has difficulties which 
 may be the occafion of carting trouble, embarraff- 
 ment, and difcouragement, through the confidence, 
 and of fufpending the refolution of a change of 
 life. What ! my brethren, you involve yourfelves 
 in difcuflions fo arduous and fo endlefs, for the 
 purpofe of 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 investigations are 
 required ? How often do you proclaim, when a de- 
 cifive ftep is in agitation which may determine the 
 ruin or prefervation of your fortune, that nothing 
 mull: be neglc&ed, nothing mufl be left to chance; 
 that one's own eyes mufl: look into every thing, 
 that every thing mud be cleared up, every thing 
 fathomed even to the bottom, that you may have 
 nothing afterwards wherewith to reproach your- 
 felves ; and this maxim, fo reafonable when con- 
 nected with fleeting and frivolous interefts, 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 life, of more import- 
 ance 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 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS, 319 
 
 to fay, the care of regulating our confcience, of 
 difpelling its darknefs, of purifying its ftains, of 
 clearing up its eternal interefts, of confirming its 
 hopes, of ftrengthening ourfelves .as much as the 
 prefent condition permits, and making ourfelves 
 acquainted, as far as in our power, with its fitua- 
 tion and its difpofitions ; and not to make our ap- 
 pearance before God like fools, unknown to our- 
 felves, uncertain of what we are, and of what we 
 mull for ever be. Such are the means of conver- 
 sion marked out to us in the miracle of raifing up 
 Lazarus : let us conclude the hiflory of our gof- 
 pel, and fee what the motives are which deter- 
 mine Jefus Chrifl to operate it. 
 
 Reflection III. To enter at once into our 
 fubjecl:, without lofing fight of the confequence of 
 the gofpel j the firft motive which our Saviour 
 feems to have, in the refurreclion of Lazarus, is 
 that of drying up the tears, and rewarding the 
 prayers and the piety of his fitters. Lord, faid 
 they to him, he whom thou loveft is fick : and 
 behold the firft motive which often determines 
 Jefus Chrifl to operate the converfion of a great 
 Tinner ; the tears and the prayers of thofe jufl 
 fouls who entreat it. 
 
 Yes, my brethren, whether it be that the Lord 
 thereby wifh to render virtue more refpectable to 
 Tinners, by according favours to them only through 
 the mediation of jufl fouls : whether it be that he 
 intend more clofely to knit together his members, 
 
 and 
 
320 SERMON VIII. 
 
 and fo perfect them in unity and in charity, by ren- 
 dering the mini (try of the one ufeful and requifite 
 to the other ; it is certain, that it is through the 
 prayers of the good, and in their interceffion, that 
 the fource of the converfion of the greateft finners 
 fprings up. As all is done for the jufl 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 virtue, or 
 to animate their vigilance, they are alfo recalled 
 from their errors only to confole their faith, and 
 to reward their groanings and prayers. 
 
 To love jufl fouls is a beginning, then, of righte- 
 oufnefs to the greateft fmners ; it is a prefage of 
 virtue to refpect it in thofe who practife it ; it is a 
 profpect of converfion to feek the fociety of the 
 good, to efleem their acquaintance, 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 accomplifh, as it 
 were, the firft ftep in his fervicc. It feems as if 
 our heart already becomes tired of its paffions, 
 from the moment that we take pleafure in the fo- 
 ciety of thofe who condemn them ; and that a re- 
 Hfh for virtue is on the eve of fpringing up in us, 
 from the moment that we take delight in thofe 
 whom virrue alone renders amiable. 
 
 Befides, 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF .LAZARUS, J24 
 
 Besides, the juft, mftru&ed by ourfekes with 
 regard to our weaknei&s, keep tfoe»n continually 
 prefent before the Lord ; they lament, before kirn, 
 over thofe chains which itiii bind us to tlxe world 
 and to its amuf-.-iuentti ; ;hey offer up to Wm ibrae 
 weak detires- of virt e which we ha"ve intruded to 
 their charge, in order to induce his goodnefs to 
 grant more fervent and more efficacious ones ; 
 they carry, eves to the toot of the throne, fome 
 feeble effays towards good which they have noted 
 in us, in order to obtain ioj us the perfection and 
 plenitude of his mercy. More affected with our 
 evils than for their own wants, they pioufly forgel 
 themfelves, in order to fnatch from deCtraclioflt 
 their brethren who are on the point of perilhing 
 before their eyes : they alone love us for ourfelves, 
 becauie they alone love in us but our falvatjon ; 
 the world may furnifh fycophants, flatterers., fecial 
 companions in diffipation, but virtue alone gives 
 us friends. 
 
 And it is here that you who now Kften to me, 
 who, perhaps, like Mary, were formerly flaves of 
 the world and the pafBon?, and who, latterly, 
 touched with grace, like her, quit no more the 
 feet of the Lord ; it is here that you ought to re- 
 member that, in future, one of the moft important 
 duties of your new life is, that of continually de- 
 manding, like the lifter of Lazarus, from jefus 
 Chrift, the refurrection of your brethren, the con- 
 verfion of thofe unfortunate fouls who have been 
 
 Vol. Ill, S s accomplices 
 
322 SERMON VIII. 
 
 accomplices in your criminal pleafures, and who 
 (till, under the dominion of death and fin, forrow- 
 ly drag on their chains in the ways of the world 
 and of error. You ought continually, in the bit- 
 ternefs of your heart, to be faying to Jefus Chrift, 
 like the lifter of Lazarus : Lord, he whom thou 
 loveit 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 fhadow of death, 
 and in the corruption of fin : and I enjoy a deli- 
 verance of which 1 was more unworthy than they ! 
 Ah ! Lord, the delight I feel in appertaining to 
 thee fhall never be perfect while I behold my bre- 
 thren thus miferably perilling before mine eyes : 
 I fhall but imperfectly enjoy the fruit of thy mer- 
 cies, while thou refufeft them to fouls to whom I 
 have myfelf been the fatal caufe of their departure 
 from righteoufnefs : and I fhall never think that 
 my crimes are fully forgiven, while 1 fee them exift- 
 ing in thofe finners who have been removed from 
 thee only through my example and my paffions. 
 Not, my brethren, that you ought to place your 
 whole dependence on the prayers of the good, or 
 to expect: from them alone a change of heart and 
 the gift of penitence. For this is a very general 
 jllufion, and more efpecially among thofe who are 
 high in the world : they fuppofe that, by refpeft- 
 ing virtue, by fhewing favour to the good, and by 
 interelting them to folicit our converfion from 
 pod, our chains fhall drop off of themfelves with- 
 out 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LA2ARUS. 323 
 
 out any effort on our part; they comfort them- 
 felves upon that remainder of faith and religion 
 which renders virtue in others dill dear and ref- 
 peclable to us ; they give themftlves 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 no- 
 thing to king Jehu that he had publicly rendered 
 honour to the holy man Jehonadab ; his vices 
 ftill fubfifted with all that refpeft he had for the 
 man of 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 difcourfes : the deference which he had for the 
 precurfor left him ftill all the excefs of his crimi- 
 nal paffion. The honours which we pay to virtue 
 attract aids to our weaknefs ; but they do not juf- 
 tify our errors : 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 for us victory over the paf- 
 fions which we begin to deteft ; but not over thofe 
 which we ftill love, and which we ftill continue to 
 cherifh : in a word, they aflift our good defires ; 
 but they do not authorife our impenitence. 
 
 The miracle of raifing up Lazarus teaches jufr. 
 fouls, then, to folicit the converfion of their bre- 
 thren ; but the converfion and deliverance of 
 their brethren likewife ferve to animate their 
 
 lukewarmnefs 
 
J24 SERMON VIII, 
 
 lukewarmnefs and Hothfylnefs. Second motive 
 which jefus Chrift propofes: he wiHaes, by the no- 
 velty of that prodigy, to aroufe the faith of his dif- 
 ciples, fiili dormant and languishing. 
 
 And fuch Is the fruit which Jefus Chrift contU 
 fmaily expecls from the miracles of his grace : he 
 operates before your eyes, you who have long 
 walked in his ways, fudden and furprifing conver- 
 lions, in order, by the fervour and the zeal of thefe 
 newly rifen from the dead, to confound your iuke- 
 warmnefs and indolence. Yes, rny brethren, no- 
 thing is more calculated to cover us with confu- 
 fion, and to make us tremble over the infidelities 
 which we flili mingle with a cold and languiming 
 piety, than the fight of a foul buried, but an in- 
 ffcant ago, in. the corruption of 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, of fuch a foul, 
 vivified, a moment after, by grace, freed from his 
 chains, and boldiy walking in the ways of God, 
 more eager after mortification than formerly after 
 pieafure ; more removed from the world and its a- 
 mufements than apparently he was once attached ; 
 fcrupling to himfelf the mofl innocent recreations ; 
 allowing almoft no bounds to the vivacity and 
 tranfports of his penitence ; and every day making 
 rapid advances in piety : while we, after many 
 years of piety, alas ! {till languish in the beginning 
 of that holy career ; while we, after fa many iig- 
 
 nal 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 325 
 
 ml favours received, after fo many truths known, 
 after (o many facraments and other duties of reli- 
 gion attended, alas ! we fl ill hold to the world 
 and to ourfelves by a thoufand ties ; we are yet 
 but in the firft rudiments of faith and of a Chrif- 
 tian life, and ft ill more diftant than at firft, from 
 that zeal and that fervour which conftitute the 
 whole valueandthe whole fecurityof a faithful piety*. 
 
 My brethren, the dreadful prophecy of Jefus 
 Chrift: is every day fulfilled before our eyes. Pub- 
 licans and finners, perfons of a fcandalous conduct 
 according even to the world, and as diftant from 
 the kingdom of God as the eaft is from the weft, 
 are converted, repent, furprife the world with the 
 light of a retired and mortified life, and mall fit 
 down with Abraham, and Ifaac, and Jacob 5 and 
 perhaps we who are looked upon as children of the 
 kingdom ; we, whofe manners prefent nothing to 
 the eyes of the world but what is orderly and lau- 
 dable ; we, who are held out as morals of propri- 
 ety and piety; we, whom the world canoni fes, and 
 which we glorified with the reputation and the ap- 
 pearances of piety, alas ! we (hall perhaps be reject- 
 ed and confounded with unbelievers, for having al- 
 ways laboured at our falvation with negligence, 
 and having preferred a heart ft ill altogether world- 
 ly, in the midft even of our pious works. 
 
 Thus, my brethren, you whom this difcourfe re- 
 gards, do not judge of yourfeives from the com- 
 panion which you inwardly make with thofe fouls 
 
 whom 
 
■$l6 SERMON VIII. 
 
 whom the world and the paflions hurry away. We 
 may be more righteous than the world, and yet 
 not enough fo for Jefus Ghrift : for the world is 
 fo corrupted ; the gofpel is fo little known in it ; 
 faidi is fo weakened $ the law and truth fo little 
 obferved, that what is virtue, with regard to it y 
 may ftill be a great iniquity in the fight of God. 
 
 Rather compare yourfelves with thofe holy pe- 
 nitents who formerly edified the church by the 
 prodigy of their aufterities, and whofe life, even 
 at this day, appears to us fo incredible ; with thofe 
 noble martyrs who gave up their body for the 
 truth, and who, amidft the moft cruel torments, 
 were tranfported with joy in contemplating the ho- 
 ly promifes ; with thofe primitive believers who 
 fuffered death every day for Jefus Chrift, and who, 
 under perfecution, lofs of property, and of their 
 children, thought themfelves (till poffefled of all, 
 as they had neither loft faith nor the hope of a 
 better life : behold the models by whom you ought 
 to meafure your piety, to find it (till deficient, and 
 all worldly. Unlefs you refemble them, in vain 
 do you not refemble the world, you fhall perifh 
 like it ; it is not enough that you do not imitate 
 the crimes of the worldly, you rauft alfo have the 
 virtues of the juft. 
 
 Laftly, Not only the goodnefs of Jefus- Chrift 
 wiihes, in this miracle, to furnifh to his difciples 
 and to the Jewifh believers a frelh motive for be- 
 lievirg in him, but in it his juftice iikevvife fupplies 
 
 a frelh 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 327 
 
 •a frefti occafion of obflinacy and incredulity to the 
 unbelieving Ifraelites ; lad circumftance of our 
 gofpel. They take meafures to deftroy him ; they 
 wifli to put Lazarus himfelf to death, that fo itri- 
 king a teftimony of the power of Jefus Chriit may 
 no longer continue among them. They had weep- 
 ed his death ; fcarcely is he recalled to life when 
 he appears worthy only of their fury and ven- 
 geance. And behold the fole fruit which the ge- 
 nerality of you commonly reap from the miracles 
 of grace : that is to fay, from the conversion and 
 the fpiritual refurreftion of great fianers. Before 
 that the mercy of Jefus Chriit had caft looks of 
 grace and falvation 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 flench of his 
 diforders and fcandals, you feemed touched for its 
 errors and ihame ; 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 conduct experienced 
 from you every forrow and companion of humani- 
 ty ; but, fcarcely hath the grace of jefus Chriit re- 
 called him to life, fcarcely, come forth from the 
 tomb and that abyfs of corruption in which he 
 was buried, does he render glory to his deliverer 
 by the holy ardours of a tender and fincere pietv, 
 than you become the cenfurers even of his piety : 
 you had appeared touched for the excefs of his 
 
 vices, 
 
J 
 
 Z% SERMON VJK. 
 
 vices, and you publicly deride the excefs of hfc 
 pretended piety. You had blamed his warm pur- 
 fuits after pleafure, and you condemn the fervo? 
 of his love for God. Be confident, therefore, 
 with yourfelves, and decide in favour either of ihe 
 juft or of the fmner. 
 
 Yes, my brethren, if the happinefs of a foul, 
 who, before your eyes, returns from his errors, ex- 
 cite not your envy j if the contrition of a flnner, 
 who was formerly the companion perhaps of your 
 pleafures and exceffes, leave you all your indifference 
 with regard to falvation. Ah I infuh not at leaft 
 his good fortune j defpife not in him the gift of 
 God ; take not, even from the miracles of grace 
 fo proper to open your eyes, a frefh motive of 
 blindnefs and unbelief j and do not thus change 
 the bleffings of God to your brethren, into a 
 dreadful judgment of juftice againft you. 
 
 In reading the hiftory of our gofpel s you are 
 fometimes aftonifhed that the obftipacy and blind- 
 nefs of the Jews mould be able to refift the moft 
 ftriking miracles of jefus Chrift ; you da not com- 
 prehend how the raifing up of the dead, the cur- 
 ing of perfons born blind, and fo many other won- 
 ders wrought before their eyes, did not force them 
 to acknowledge the truth of his miniftry, and the 
 fanctity of his doctrine : you fay, that much lefs 
 would convince you ; that any one of all thefe 
 miracles would fuffice, and that you would imm«- 
 diately yield to the truth. 
 
 But, 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 329 
 
 But, my brethren, you condemn yourfelves out 
 of your own mouth ; for, (without refuting here 
 that abfurd manner of fpeaking, by thofe grand 
 and fublime proofs which religion furni/hes againft 
 impiety, and which we have elfewhere employed), 
 candidly, is it not a more arduous and a more af- 
 tonifhmg miracle, that a foul, delivered up to fin, 
 and to the mod fhameful paffions, born with every 
 propenfity to voluptuoufnefs, pride, revenge, and 
 ambition, and more diftant than any one, by the 
 nature of his heart, from the kingdom of God, 
 and from all the maxims of Chriftian piity ; that/ 
 all at once, that foul mould renounce all his grati- 
 fications, break afunder all his warmed attach- 
 ments, reprefs his livelier! paffions, change his 
 mo ft rooted inclinations, forget injuries, attention, 
 to the body and to fortune ; no longer have a re- 
 lilh but for prayer, retirement, the practice of the 
 moft gloomy and difguuing duties, and hold out 
 to the eyes of the public, irt a change, in a refur- 
 re&ion fo palpable, the fpeclacle of a life fo differ- 
 ent from the former, that the world, that free- 
 thinking itfelf (hall be forced to render glory to 
 the truth of his change, and that they fhall no lon- 
 ger know him to be the fame ; is it not, I fay, a 
 more arduous and more aftonifhing miracle ? 
 
 Now, doth not the mercy of Jefus Chrift ope- 
 rate fuch miracles almoft every day before your 
 eyes ? Doth not his holy word, though in a weak 
 and languifhing mouth, ftill raife up, every day, 
 
 Vol. III. T t new 
 
^3© SERMON VIII. 
 
 new Lazarufes from the dead ? You behold them ; 
 you know and you appear aftonifhed at them ; yet, 
 neverthelefs, do they touch you ? Do thefe won- 
 ders which, with fo much majefly, the ringer of 
 Cod maketh to fhine forth, recall 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 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 won- 
 ders ; you feek to trace their motives in caufes al- 
 together worldly ; you confider them as delufions 
 and impofitions ; you attribute to the artifices of 
 man the moft mining operations of the holy Spi- 
 rit ; you infill that fuch a new life is only a frefh 
 fnare to entrap the public credulity, and a new 
 path more fecurely to attain fome worldly purpofe. 
 Thus, the works of the almighty power of Jefus 
 Chrift harden you ; thus, even the wonders of his 
 grace complete your blindnefs ; thus, you make 
 every thing conducive towards your deftrucl:ion : 
 Jefus Chrift becomes to you a ftumbling-block, 
 when he ought to have been a fource of life and 
 falvation. The examples of finners ftain and cor- 
 rupt you : their penitence revolts and hardens you. 
 
 Great God ! fuffer then, in order that a life al- 
 together criminal at laft be terminated, that I now 
 
 raife 
 
GN THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. - 33 I 
 
 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, attach 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 {till remain fettered, and almoft in- 
 capable of any effort towards difengaging myfelf 
 and returning to thee, O my God, whom I have 
 forfaken. But, Lord, out of the depths even in 
 which thou feed me, like another Lazarus, fetter- 
 ed 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 my 
 tears. 
 
 The voice of a repentant fmner is always agree- 
 able, O Lord, to thine ear ; it is that voice of Ja- 
 cob which awakens all thy tendernefs, even when 
 it offers to thy fight but hands of Efau, and flill 
 covered with blood and crimes. 
 
 Ah ! thine holy ears, O Lord, have now fuffi- 
 ciently been turned away from my licentious and 
 blafphemous words ; let them now be attentive to 
 the voice of my fupplications ; and, let the Angu- 
 larity of the words which I now addrefs to thee, 
 O my God ! attract a more favourable attention 
 to my prayer. 
 
 I come not here, great God ! to excufe my dif- 
 orders in thy fight, by alleging to thee the occa- 
 fions which have feduced me, the examples which 
 have led me aftray, the misfortune of my engage- 
 ments, 
 
33^ SERMON VIII. 
 
 ments, and the nature of my heart and of my 
 weaknefs : cover thine eyes, O Lord, upon the 
 horrors of my pafl life ; the only poffibility of ex- 
 cufmg them is, not to behold or to know them : 
 alas ! if I am unable 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 neceflary to turn my fight from them, 
 how, O Lord, mould they be able to fuftain the 
 fanctity of thy looks, if thou fearch into them with 
 that eye of feverity which finds ftains in the pureft 
 and mod laudable life ? 
 
 But thou, O Lord, are not a God like unto man, 
 to whom it is always fo difficult to pardon and to 
 forget the injuries of an enemy ; goodnefs and mer- 
 cy dwell in thine eternal bofom ; clemency is the 
 firft attribute of thy fupreme Being ; and thou had 
 no enemies but thofe who refufe to place their truft 
 in the abundant riches of thy mercy. 
 
 Yes, Lord ! be the hour what it may when a 
 criminal foul calls himfelf upon thy mercy ; whe- 
 ther in the morning of life or in the decline of age; 
 whether after the errors of youthful manners or 
 after an entire life of diffipation and licentioufnefs, 
 thou wouldft, O my God ! that their hope in thee 
 be not extinguifhed j and thou afiureft us that the 
 higheft point of our crimes is but the loweft de- 
 gree of thy mercy. 
 
 But, likewife, great God ! if thou liflen to my 
 defires j if, once more, thou reftore to me that life 
 
 and 
 
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. $7,$ 
 
 and that light which I have loft ; if thou break a- 
 funder my chains of death which (till fetter me ; if 
 thou flretch out thine hand to withdraw me from 
 the gulph in which I am plunged, ah ! never, O 
 Lord, (hall I ceafe to proclaim thine eternal mer- 
 cies : I will forget the whole world, that I may be 
 occupied only with the wonders of thy grace to- 
 wards my foul : I will every moment of my life 
 render glory to the God who fhall have delivered 
 me : my mouth, for ever (hut againft vain things, 
 fhall with difficulty be able to exprefs all the tran- 
 fports of my love and of my gratitude ; and thy 
 creature, who ftill groans ■ under the dominion of 
 the world and of fin, then refiored to his true 
 Lord, fhall, henceforth and for ever more, blefs 
 his deliverer. 
 
 SER- 
 
SERMON IX. 
 
 ON THE- DAY GF JUDGMENT, 
 
 Luke xxi. 27. 
 
 Then jh all they fee the Son of Man coming in a cloud? 
 with power and great glory. 
 
 Such will be that laft fpe&acle which mall termi- 
 nate the eternal revolutions which the afpecl of 
 this world is continually offering to our eyes, and 
 which either amufe us through their novelty, or 
 feduce us by their charms. Such will be the com- 
 ing of the Son of Man, the day of his revelation, 
 the accomplishment of his kingdom, and the com- 
 plete redemption of his myftical body. Such the 
 day of the manifestation of confeiences, that day of 
 mifery and defpair to one portion of men, and of 
 peace, confolation, and ineffable delight to the o- 
 ther : the fweet expectation of the juft, the dread 
 
 of 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 335 
 
 of the wicked ; the day which is to determine the 
 deftiny of all men. 
 
 It was the image, ever prefent to their minds, of 
 that terrible day which rendered the firft believers 
 patient under perfecution, delighted under fuffer- 
 ance, and illuftrious under injury and reproach. 
 It is that which hath fince fupported the faith of 
 martyrs, animated the conftancy of virgins, and 
 fmoothed to the anchorite all the horrors of a de- 
 fert ; it is that which flill, at this day, peoples thofe 
 religious folitudes erecled, by the piety of our an- 
 ceftors, as afylums againft the contagion of the age. 
 
 Even you, my brethren, when the awful folem- 
 nity of that grand event hath fometimes intruded 
 on your thoughts, have been unable to check feel- 
 ings of compunction and dread. But thefe have 
 been only tranfitory fears ; more fmiling and more 
 agreeable ideas have fpeedily effaced them, and re- 
 called to you your former calm. Alas ! in the 
 happy days of the church it would have been con- 
 sidered as renouncing faith not to have longed for 
 the day of the Lord. The only confolation of 
 thofe firft difciples of faith was in looking forward 
 to it, and the apoflles were obliged even to mode- 
 rate, 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 mi- 
 niftry, in order to recall its remembrance to Chrif- 
 tians, and the whole fruit of our difcourfes is con- 
 fined to making it dreaded. 
 
 I mean 
 
3l6 SERMON IX. 
 
 JJ 
 
 I mean not, however, to difphy to you here the 
 whole hiflury of that awful event. 1 wifh to con- 
 fine ttlyfelf to one of its circumitances, which has 
 always appeared 7 to me as the moft proper to 
 make an impreffion on the heart : it is the mani- 
 feflauon 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 diffimulation and cunning. In 
 that grand day he will know himfelf, and will be 
 known. The finntr laid open to himfelf: the fin- 
 ner laid open to all creatures : behold the fubject 
 upon which 1 have refolved to make fome fimple 
 and, I trull, edifying reflections. 
 
 Part I. " All things are referved for a future 
 " day, fays the fage Ecclefiaftes, and no man know- 
 " eth them here 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 clean, 
 " and to the unclean ; to him that facririceth, and 
 (i to him that facrificeth not ; as is the good, fo is 
 " the finner." 
 
 What idea, indeed, fhould we have of Provi- 
 dence in the government of the univerfe, were we to 
 judge of its wifdom and juftice only from the di- 
 vcrfe lots which it provides on this earth for men ? 
 What i The good and the evil mould be difpenfed 
 on the earth, without choice, refpect, or discrimi- 
 nation :' 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 2,37 
 
 nation ? The juft man fhould almoft always groan 
 under affliction and want, whilft the wicked mould 
 live furroundcd with glory, pleafures, and affluence, 
 and, after fortunes fc different, and manners To dif- 
 fimilar, both ihould alike fink into an eternal ob- 
 livion; and that juft and avenging God, whom 
 they fhould afterwards meet, would not deign 
 either to weigh their deeds or to diftinguifh their 
 merits? Thou, O Lord, art juft, and wilt render 
 to each according to r is works. 
 
 This grand point of Chriftian faith, fo confif- 
 tent even with natural equity, fuppofed : I fay, 
 that, in that terrible day, when, in the face of the 
 univerfe, the finner fhall appear before that awful 
 tribunal accompanied by his works, the manifes- 
 tation of confidences will be the moft horrible pu- 
 nifhment of the unfaithful foul. A rigorous exami- 
 nation fhall, in the firfl place, make him known to 
 himfelf : and behold all the circumflances of that 
 awful difcuifion. 
 
 I ought, in the firfl place, to make you obferve 
 all the titles with which he will be inverted who 
 fhall examine you, and which announce all the ri- 
 gour with which he mall weigh in the balance 
 your deeds and thoughts. It will be a rigid legif- 
 lator, jealous of the fanclhy of his law, and who 
 will judge you only by it ; all the foftenings, all 
 the vain interpretations, which cuftom or a falfe 
 knowledge had invented, fhall vanifh ; the luftre 
 of the law will diflipate them j the refources with 
 
 Vol. III. U u which. 
 
33^ SERMON IX. 
 
 which they had flattered the firmer, will fink into 
 nothing ; and the incenfed legiflator will examine 
 almoft more rigorouily the falfe interpretations 
 which had changed its purity, than the manifeft 
 tranfgrefTions which had violated it. It will be a 
 judge charged with the intereffs of his Father's 
 glory againft the (inner, eftablifhed to decide be- 
 twixt God and man ; and that day will be the 
 day of his zeal for the honour of the divinity, a- 
 gainft thofe who mail not have rendered to him 
 that honour which is his due : a Saviour, who 
 will fhew you his wounds to reproach your ingra- 
 titude ; all that he hath done for you will rife up 
 againft you ; his blood, the price of your falvation, 
 will loudly demand your deftruction ; and his def- 
 pifed kindnefles will be numbered among your 
 heavieft crimes : the fearcher of hearts, to whofe 
 eyes the moft hidden councils and the mofl fecret 
 thoughts will all be laid open : laftly, a God of ter- 
 rible majefty, before whom the heavens lhall dif- 
 folve, the elements mail be confounded, and all 
 nature overturned ; and whofe fcrutiny, with all 
 the terror of his prefence, the fmner fliall fmgly 
 be forced to fupport. 
 
 Now, behold the circumftances of that awful 
 examination, ijily, It will be the fame for all 
 men : and, as St Matthew fays, before him fhall be 
 gathered all nations. The difference of ages, 
 countries, conditions^ birth, and temperament, fhall 
 no longer be there attended to j and as the gofpel, 
 
 en 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 339 
 
 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 fubject, to the great and 
 to the lowly, to the anchorite and to the man im- 
 merfed in the affairs of the world j to the believer 
 who lived in the fervor of the primitive times, 
 and to him who hath the misfortune to live in the 
 relaxation of the prefent age ; no diftinction will 
 be made in the manner of proceeding on the ex- 
 amination of the guilty. Vain excufes on rank, 
 and birth, on the dangers of . his ftation, on the 
 manners of his age, on the weaknefs of tempera- 
 ment, will then be no longer liftened to from you ; 
 and, with refpect to modefty, chaftity, ambition, 
 forgivenefs of injuries, renouncement of one's felfj 
 mortification of the fenfes, the jufl Judge will de- 
 mand an exact account, equally from the Greek 
 as from the Barbarian ; from the poor as from 
 the powerful : from the man of the world as from 
 the folitary ; from the prince as from the hum- 
 blefl fubject 5 tajily, from the Chriflians of thefe 
 latter times as from the firft difciples of the gof- 
 pel. 
 
 Vain judgments of the earth, how mall you 
 then be confounded ! And how little fhall we then 
 eflimate nobility of blood, the glory of anceftry, 
 the blaze of reputation, the diftinction of talents, 
 and all thofe pompous titles with which men en- 
 deavour on this earth to puff out their meannefs, 
 and to found fo many vain diflinctions and privi- 
 leges. 
 
34° SERMON IX. 
 
 leges, when we fliall fee, amidft that crowd of 
 guilty, the fovereign confounded with the Have ; 
 the great with the meaneft ©f the people j the 
 learned promifcuoufly blended with the ignorant 
 and mean ; the gods of war, thefe invincible and 
 far-famed characters who had filled the univerfe 
 with their name, at the fide of the hufbandman 
 and labourer; thou alone, O my God ! haft glory, 
 power, and immortality ; and, all the titles of va- 
 nity being deftroyed and annihilated with the 
 world which had invented them, each will appear 
 before thee accompanied folely by his works ! 
 
 2^/y, That examination will be univerfal, that 
 is to fay* that it will comprehend all the different 
 ages and circumflances of your life : the weaknef- 
 les of childhood, which have efcaped your remem- 
 brance; the tranfports of youth, of which almoft 
 every moment has been a crime ; the ambition 
 and the anxieties of a riper age ; the obftinacy 
 and the chagrins of an old age, (till perhaps vo- 
 luptuous. What aftonifhment, when repafling o- 
 ver the diverfe parts which you have acted on 
 the earth, you fhall find yourfelf every where pro- 
 fane, diffolute, voluptuous, without virtue, with- 
 out penitence, without good works ; having patted 
 through a diverfity of fituations merely in order 
 to amafs a more abundant treafure of wrath ; and 
 having lived in thefe diverfe flates as if, to a cer- 
 tainty, all were to die with you 1 
 
 The 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 34! 
 
 The variety of events, wnich fucceed each other 
 here below, and divide our life, fix our attention 
 only on the prefent, and do not permit us to re- 
 collect it in the whole, or fully to fee what we 
 really are. We never regard ourfelves but in that 
 point of view in which our prefent fituation holds 
 us out ; the lad fituation is always the one which 
 leads us to judge of ourfelves ; a fentiment of fal- 
 vation, with which God fometimes indulges us, 
 calms us on an infenfibility of many years ; a day, 
 palled in exercifes of piety, makes us forget a life 
 of crimes ; the declaration of our faults, at the tri- 
 bunal cf penitence, effaces them from our remem- 
 brance, and they become to us as though they had 
 never been : in a word, of all the different ft ates 
 of our confeience we never fee but the prefent. 
 But, in the prefence of the terrible Judge, the 
 whole will be vifible at once ; the hiftory will be 
 entirely laid open. From the very firll feeling- 
 formed by your heart, even to its lad figh, all mail 
 be collected before your eyes ; all the iniquities, 
 difperfed through the different ftages of your life, 
 will then confront you ; not an action, not a de- 
 fire, not a word, not a thought, will there be omit- 
 ted ; for, if our hairs be numbered, judge of our 
 deeds. We (hall fee fpring up the whole courfe 
 of our years, which, though as if annihilated to 
 us, yet lived in the eyes of God ; and there we 
 mall find, not thofe perimable hiftories in which 
 our vain aclions were to be tranfmitted to pofteri- 
 
34 2 SERMON IX. 
 
 ty ; not thofe flattering recitals of our military ex- 
 ploits, of thofe brilliant events which had filled fa 
 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 anceftors, the dignities which 
 have rendered them illuftrious, the luftre which 
 we have added to their name, and all the hiflory, 
 as I may fay, of human illufion and weaknefs ; 
 that immortality fo vaunted, which it promifed to 
 us, (hall- be buried in the ruins and in the wrecks 
 of the univerfe ; but there we fhall fee the moft 
 mocking and exact hiflory of our heart, of our 
 mind, of our imagination \ that is to fay, that in- 
 ternal and invifible part of our life, equally un- 
 known to ourfelves as to the reft of men. 
 
 Yes, my brethren : befides the exterior hiflory 
 of our manners, which will be all recalled, what 
 will moft aflonifh us is* the fecret hiflory 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, dif- 
 guifed from us the fhame of its paffions ; of that 
 heart whofe elevation, probity, magnanimity, dif- 
 intereftednefs, and natural goodnefs we have fo 
 much vaunted ; which the public error and adu- 
 lation had beheld as fuch, and which had occa- 
 sioned our being exalted above other men. So 
 many fhameful defires, which were fcareely formed 
 
 before 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 343 
 
 before we endeavoured to conceal them from our- 
 felves ; fo many abfurd projects of fortune and 
 elevation, fweet delufions, up to which our fedu- 
 ced heart continually gave itfelf; fo many fecret 
 and mean jealoufies which were the invifible prin- 
 ciple of all our conduct, yet, neverthelefs, which 
 we diilembled through pride ; fo many criminal 
 difpofitions which had, a thoufand times, induced 
 us ardently to wifh, that either the pleafures of 
 the fenfes were eternal, or that, at leaft, they 
 mould remain unpunifhed ; fo many hatreds and 
 animofities which, unknown to ourfelves, had cor- 
 rupted our heart ; fo many defiled and vicious in- 
 tentions, with regard to which we were fo ingeni- 
 ous in flattering ourfelves ; fo many projects of 
 iniquity to which opportunity had alone been 
 wanting,, and which we reckoned as nothing, be- 
 caufe they had never departed from the heart : in 
 a word, that viciflitude of paffions which, in fuc- 
 ceftion, had poifefiion of our heart : behold what 
 ihall all be difplayed before our eyes. We mail 
 fee, fays a holy father, come out, as from an am- 
 bufcade, numberlefs crimes of* which we could 
 never believe ourfelves capable. We fhall be 
 ihewn to ourfelves ; we fhall be made to enter 
 into our own heart, where we had never refided : 
 a fudden light fhall clear up that abyfs : that myf- 
 tery of iniquity fhall be revealed : and we fhall 
 fee that which of all we knew leaft, that was our- 
 felves. 
 
 To 
 
344 SERMON IX. 
 
 To the examination of the evils we have com- 
 mitted 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 many circum- 
 ftances where our character engaged us to render 
 glory to truth, and where we have betrayed it 
 through vile motives of interefl, or mean compli- 
 ances j fo many opportunities of doing good, pro- 
 vided for us by the goodnefs of God, and which 
 we have almolt always neglected ; fo much culpa- 
 ble and voluntary ignorance, in confequence of ha- 
 ving always dreaded the light, and even fled from 
 thofe who could have inftructed us ; fo many e- 
 vents fo calculated to open our eyes, and which 
 have ferved only to increafe our blindnefs ; fo 
 much good which, through our talents or our ex- 
 ample, we might have done, and which we have 
 prevented by our vices ; fo many fouls whofe in- 
 nocence might have been preferved by our bounty, 
 and whom we have left to perifh by refufing to a- 
 bate from our profufions ; fo many crimes which 
 might have been prevented in our inferiors or e- 
 quals by prudent remonftrances 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 inutility and an unworthy effeminacy. And what 
 in this is more dreadful, is that, in our own eyes, 
 
 that 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 345 
 
 that was the mod innocent part of our life, offer- 
 ing nothing to our remembrance, 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 mo- 
 ment, confecrated to a God faithful to his promif- 
 es, might have merited the felicity of the holy! To 
 fee fo many meannefTes, fo many fubjections for 
 the fake of riches, and a mifefable fortune which 
 could laft only for a moment ; while a fingle vio- 
 lence, fuffered for the fake of Jefus Chrift, would 
 have fecured to him an immortal crown ! What 
 regret, when he now finds that not half the cares 
 and anxieties were required for his falvation which 
 he has undergone to accomplifli his deftruction ; 
 and that a fingle day of that long life, wholly de- 
 voted 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 infpirations either rejected or only half 
 profecuted ; fo many watchful attentions of Provi- 
 dence to your foul rendered unavailing ; fo many 
 truths, declared through our miniftry, which, in 
 many believers, have operated penitence and falva- 
 tion, but have always been fterile in your heart ; 
 fo many afflictions and difappointments, which the 
 Lord had provided for you, in order to recall you 
 to him, and of which you have always made fo un- 
 worthy an ufe ; even fo many natural gifts which 
 
 Vol. III. X x once 
 
34^ SERMON IX. 
 
 once were bloflbms of virtue, and which you have" 
 turned into agents of vice ; ah ! if the unprofitable 
 fervant be cart into utter darknefs for having only 
 hidden his talent, with what indulgence can you 
 flatter yourfelf, you who have received fo many, 
 and who have always employed them againft the 
 glory of that Mafter 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 for you ; that he hath 
 brought you into the world weak, and of a tem- 
 perament of which you are not the mafter ; and 
 that he beftoweth not the neceifary grace to ena- 
 ble you to refiil the many cpportunities 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 privileged, enlight- 
 ened, called to faith, nourifhed in the doclrine of 
 truth and the virtue of the facrament, inceffantly 
 fupported by his infpirations and his grace ; you 
 will be mocked to fee all that God hath done for 
 you, and the little that you have done for him ; 
 and your complaints will quickly be changed into 
 an utter confufion, deititute of every refource but 
 in the horrors of your own defpair. 
 
 Hitherto the jult Judge hath examined you only 
 on thofe crimes which are efpecially your own ; 
 
 but 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 347 
 
 but what will it be When he (hall enter into a rec- 
 koning with you on the fins of others, of which 
 you have Ixen either the occafion or the caufe, 
 and which will, confequently, be charged to your 
 account ? What a r,ew fink ! All the fouls to whom 
 you have been a fubjecr. of fcandal and ruin will be 
 prefented to you ; all the fouls whom your dif- 
 courfes, your counfels, your example, your folicita- 
 tions, vour irnmodefties, have precipitated, with 
 yourfelf, into eternal deftruction ; all the fouls whofe 
 weaknefs you have either feduced, or whofe inno- 
 cence you have corrupted, whofe faith you have per- 
 verted, whofe virtue you have fliaken, whofe free- 
 thinking you have authorifed, or whofe impiety you 
 have ftrengthened by your perfuafions, or by the ex- 
 ample of your life. Jems 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 precious conqueft, which you have 
 unjuftly ravifhed from him; and, if the Lord mark- 
 ed Cain with the fign of reprobation in demand- 
 ing account from him of the blood of his brother, 
 judge with what fign you fhall be marked when 
 you fhall be brought to a reckoning for his foul. 
 
 But this is not all. Were you a public charac- 
 ter, and high in authority, what abufes authorifed ! 
 "What iniquities glanced over ! What duties facri- 
 ficed, either to your own interefts, or to the paf- 
 fions and interefts of others ! "What refpecl of per- 
 fonsj in oppofition to equity and confcience ! What 
 
 iniquitous 
 
348 SERMON IX. 
 
 iniquitous undertakings counselled ! What wars, 
 perhaps, what confufions, what public evils, of 
 which you have either been the author or the in- 
 famous agent ! You will fee that your ambition or 
 your counfels have been as the fatal fource of an 
 infinity of miferies, of the calamities of your age, 
 of thofe evils which are perpetuated, and pafs from 
 father to fon ; and you will be furprifed to find 
 that your iniquities have furvived yourfelf, and 
 that, even long after death, you were (till culpable, 
 before God, of an infinity of crimes and diforders 
 which took place on the earth. And now it is, 
 my brethren, that the danger of public flations 
 mall be known, the precipices which furround the 
 throne itfelf, the rocks of authority, and with what 
 reafon the gofpel denominated happy thofe who 
 live in the obfeurity of a private ftation; with what 
 it was that religion wi(hed to infpire us with fo 
 much horror at ambition, fo much indifference to- 
 wards the grandeurs of the earth, fo much con- 
 tempt for all that is exalted only in the eyes of 
 men, and fo frequently recommended to us to love 
 only what we ought for ever to love. 
 
 But, exempted perhaps from all thefe vices 
 which we have jufl been mentioning, and attach- 
 ed, for a long time paft, to the duties of a Chrif- 
 tan life, you prefume, that this terrible examina- 
 tion 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, 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 349 
 
 hearer, that will be the day of triumph and glory 
 for the juft ; the day which will juftify thefe pre- 
 tended exceifes of retreat, mortification, modefty, 
 and delicacy of confcience, which had furnifhed 
 to the world fo many fubjetts of cenfure and pro- 
 fane deriiion: the juft (hall, no doubt, appear be- 
 fore that awful tribunal with more confidence than 
 the finner ; but he will alfo appear there, and even 
 his righteoumefs fhall be judged : your virtues, 
 your holy works, will be fubmitted to that rigo- 
 rous examination. The world, which often re- 
 fufes the praifes due to the trueft virtue, too often 
 likewife 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 I mall 
 vifit in the day of my wrath, fayeth the Lord ; that 
 is to fay, thofe finners whom their crimes feemed 
 to confound with the unbelievers and the inhabi- 
 tants of Tyre and Sidon : I mall carry the light of 
 my judgments even to Jerufalem ; 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 molt faithful of the holy Jerufalem. 
 
 I will trace, even to the fource, the motive of 
 that converfion which made fo much noife in the 
 world ; and it fhall be feen whether I find not its 
 origin in fome fecret difguft, in the declenfion of 
 youth and fortune, in private views of favour and 
 
 preferment. 
 
35^ SERMON IX. 
 
 » 
 
 preferment, rather than in the deteftation of fin 
 and love of righteoufnefs. 
 
 I will balance thofe liberalities poured out on 
 the bofom of the poor, thofe companionate vifits, 
 that zeal for pious undertakings, that protection 
 granted to my fervants with complaifance, a defire 
 of efteem, oftentation, and worldly views which 
 have infected them ; and, in my fight, they fhall 
 perhaps appear to be rather the fruits of pride, 
 than the confequences of grace and the work of 
 my Spirit. 
 
 I will recall that train of prayer and other holy 
 practices of which you had made a kind of habit, 
 which no longer roufed within you any feeling of 
 faith and compunction ; and you fhall know whe- 
 ther lukewarmnefs, negligence, the little fruit 
 which attended them, and the little difpofition 
 within you previous to them, have not, before me, 
 conftituted fo many infidelities for which you fhall 
 be judged without mercy. 
 
 I will fearch into that removal from the world 
 and from pleafures, that Angularity of conduct, 
 that affectation of modefty and regularity ; and, 
 perhaps, I fhall find them more the confequence 
 of humour, temperament, and indolence, than of 
 faith ; and that, in a life more regular and more 
 retired, in the opinion of men, you fhall ft ill have 
 preferved all your felf-love, your attachment to 
 the flefh, all the niceties of fenfuality ; and, in a 
 word, all the fms of the moft worldly fouls. 
 
 I will 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. ^^t 
 
 I will fearch, even to the bottom, that pretend- 
 ed zeal for my glory which made you fo deeply 
 lament over the fcandals or" which you were a 
 fpectator, which led you to condemn them with 
 . fuch confidence and pride, and to blaze out, with 
 fuch warmth, againlt the irregularities and weak- 
 nelTes of your brethren ; and, perhaps, mail that 
 zeal be no longer in my fight but a natural feveri- 
 .ty of temper, a malignity of difpofition, an incli- 
 nation towards cenfure and upbraiding, an indif- 
 creet warmth, a vain oftentatious zeal ; far from 
 finding you full of zeal for my glory, and for the 
 falvation of your brethren, you (hall no longer ap- 
 pear before me, but unjuft, obftinate, malicious, 
 and rafh. 
 
 I will demand an account from you of thofe 
 fplendid talents which, it would appear, you em- 
 ployed only for my glory and for the inftruction 
 of believers ; and which had drawn upon you the 
 bleffings of the juif, and the acclamations even of 
 the worldly ; and, perhaps, that conrinual atten- 
 tion 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 fhali curfe thofe la- 
 bours which had fprung from fo impure a fource. 
 
 Great God ! What works, upon which I had i'o 
 firmly depended, mall then be found dead in thine 
 eyes ! How terrible mall be that difcrimination ! 
 
 And 
 
1§2 S E R hio N IX* 
 
 .And, of all the actions which we have performed 
 even for heaven, how few wilt thou acknowledge 
 as thine, and which thou wilt deem worthy of re- 
 ward ! 
 
 Do not from thence conclude, my brethren, 
 that it is then needlefs to labour for falvation, 
 feeing the jufl Judge fhall feek only the condem- 
 nation of men : only their condemnation. My 
 brethren ? He is come folely to fave them, and^is 
 mercies will far furpafs even his juftiee. But be- 
 hold the conclufion which you Ought rather to 
 draw. Thofe righteous fouls whom you fo fre- 
 quently accufe of excefs, of fcrupulofity in the 
 practice of the duties of a Chriftian life, as though 
 they carried things too far ; thefe fouls, expofed to 
 the light of God, (hall appear lukewarm, fenfual, 
 imperfect, and perhaps criminal : and you, who live 
 in the dangers and pleafures of the world j you, 
 who devote to religion and your falvation only 
 the mod idle moments of your life ; you, who 
 fcarcely mingle a fmgle work of piety with an en- 
 tire year of diflipation and inutility, in what fitua- 
 tion fhall you then be, my dear hearer ? If thofe, 
 who fhall have only laudable works to prefent, 
 mail yet be in danger of rejection, what fhall be 
 your defliny ? You, who have only a life entirely 
 worldly to offer ? If the tree full of bloffoms be 
 treated with fuch rigour, what fhall become of the 
 withered and barren tree ? And, if the juft be even 
 with difficulty faved ; I fpeak not of the finner, for 
 
 he 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 353 
 
 he is already judged ; but the worldly foul, who 
 lives without either vice or virtue, how (hall he 
 dare to appear ? 
 
 You after lay, my dear hearer, that your con- 
 feience does not reproach you with great crimes: 
 that, if not good, neither are you bad, and that 
 your only fin is indolence and floth. Ah ! you 
 fhall. then know yourfelf before the tribunal of 
 Jefu% Chrilt. You mail fee whether the teftimony 
 of your confeience, which reproached you not with 
 crimes, and left you fcarcely any thing culpable to 
 confefs, were not a terrible blindnefs, up to which 
 the juftice of God had always delivered you. From 
 the dread in which you fnall fee the juft, you fhall 
 find what ought to be your own fears ; and whe- 
 ther the confidence in which you have always liv- 
 ed, fprung from the peace of a good confeience, 
 or from the falfe fecurity of a worldly one. 
 
 O my God ! cries St Auguftin, could I but fee, 
 at this moment, the (fate of my foul as thou (halt 
 then lay it open to me ! Could I defpoil myfelf of 
 thofe prejudices which blind me. ; mi. fruit thofe 
 examples which confirm me ; thofe cuftoms which 
 quiet me ; thofe talents which dazzle me ; thofe 
 praifes which feduce me ; that rank and thofe ti- 
 tles which deceive me ; and thofe complaifances of 
 a facred guide, which form all my iecurity ; could 
 I but defpoil myfelf of that felf-love which is the 
 fource of all my errors, and behold myfelf alone 
 at thy feet, in thy light : O my God ! what hor- 
 
 Vol. III. Y y ror 
 
354 SERMON IX. 
 
 ror would I not feel for myfelf ? And what mea- 
 fures would I not take, in humbling myfelf before 
 thee, to prevent the public fhame of that awful 
 day, when the councils of hearts, and the fecrecy 
 of thoughts, mail be manifefted ? For, my brethren, 
 not only mail the finner be fhewn to himfelf, but 
 he mall likewife be fhewn to all creatures. 
 
 Part II. That mixture of good and wicked, 
 inevitable on this earth, gives birth to two difor- 
 <Lrs. In the firft place, through favour of that 
 mixture, concealed vice efcapes that public igno- 
 miny which is its due ; virtue, not known, receives 
 not the applaufe it merits. In the fecond place, 
 the finner, high in honours, frequently fills the 
 moll diftinguifhed 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 
 manifeftarion fhall be made, which will repair that 
 two-fold diforder. In the firft place, the finful will 
 be marked out from the juft by the public expo- 
 fition of their confcience. In the fecond place, 
 the -. will be difcerned by feparation from them, 
 and the difference of their ftations before the throne 
 of glory. 
 
 In order fully to comprehend all the fhame and 
 confufion with which the criminal foul fhall then 
 be covered, when fhewn to all creatures, and all 
 his vices, the moft fecret, expofed to the light, it 
 requires only to pay attention : i/?/y, To the num- 
 ber and character of the fpeclators who fhall wit- 
 
 nefs 
 
ON THE BAY OF JUDGMENT. 2,55 
 
 nefs his fhame : 2dfy, To the care he had taken to 
 conceal his weaknefTes and debaucheries from the 
 eyes of men, while on the earth : ^d/y, and lajlly. 
 To his perfonal qualities, which will render his 
 confufion flill more deep and overwhelming. 
 
 Here figure to yourfelves, then, my brethren, 
 the criminal foul before the tribunal of Jefus Chrift, 
 furrounded by angels and men; the juft, the fin- 
 ful, his relations, his fubjects, his mailers, his 
 friends, his enemies, all their eyes fixed on him ; 
 prefent at the terrible fcrutiny which the juft Judge 
 will make into his actions, his defires, and his 
 thoughts ; forced, infpite of themfelves, to affifl at 
 his judgment, and to witnefs the juftice of the fen- 
 tence which the Son of Man Ihall pronounce a- 
 gainfl him. All the refources which, on this earth, 
 might foften the mod humiliating confufion, Ihall 
 fail, on that day, to the unfaithful 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 con- 
 fined 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 
 dwelling to go elfewhere among flrangers, to re- 
 cover a reputation which we had already loft. But, 
 on that grand day, all men affembled mall be ac- 
 quainted with the fecret hiftory of your manners 
 
 and 
 
35^ SERMON IX. 
 
 and of your confcience : you (hall no longer have 
 it in your power to go, to hide yourfelf far fro in the 
 looks of the fpectators, to feek new countries, and, 
 like Cain, to fly into the defert. Each fhall be fix- 
 ed immovable in the place marked out for him, 
 bearing on his forehead the fentence of his con- 
 demnation and the hiflory of his whole life, obli- 
 ged to fudain the eyes of the univerfe, and the 
 whole fhame of his weakneffes. There fhall no 
 longer, then, be any hidden fpot wherein to con- 
 ceal himfelf from the public regard ; the light of 
 God, the fole glory of the Son of Man, will fill the 
 heavens and the earth ; and, in all that immenfity 
 of fpace around you, you will, in every part, dif- 
 cover from afar 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 confequence of fome finking fault, yet 
 there are always fome friends grounded in our fa- 
 vour, whofe efteem and fociety recompenfe us, in 
 fome meafure, for the public contempt, and whofe 
 kindnefs aflifls us in fuftaining the inveteracy of 
 the general cenfure. But, on this occafion, the 
 prefence of our friends will be the objecl: by far 
 the mod infupportable to our fhame. If fmners, 
 like ourfelves, they will cad up to us our common 
 pleafures and our example, which, perhaps, have 
 been the firft rock upon which their innocence 
 fplit : if juft, as they had believed us to be chil- 
 dren of lignt, ah ! they will reproach to us their 
 
 good 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 357 
 
 good opinion abufed, and their friendfhip r educed. . 
 You loved the juft, mall they fay Co us, and you 
 hated righteoufnefs ; you protected virtue, yet, in 
 your heart, you placed vice on the throne : in us 
 you fought that probity, that fidelity, and that 
 fecurity 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 au- 
 thor of all our gifts deferve to be more loved, 
 more fought after than we ! 
 
 And behold the third refource, which fhall fail, 
 to the confufion of the criminal foul. For, mould 
 no friends be found on this earth to intereft them- 
 felves in our misfortunes, there are always, at leafl, 
 indifferent perfons whom our faults do not wound 
 or excite again ft us. But, on that terrible day, 
 we fhall have no indifferent fpedlators. The juft, 
 fo feeling on this earth to the calamities of their 
 brethren, fo ingenious in excufing their faults, and 
 fo ready in covering them with the veil of charity, 
 in order, at leaft, to foften, if they cannot find an 
 apparent excufe for them in the eyes of men ; the 
 juft, then, defpoiled, like the Son of Man, of that 
 indulgence and pity which they had exercifed to- 
 wards their brethren on the earth, mall hifs at the 
 fmner, fays the prophet, fhall infult him, and fhall 
 demand his punifnment from the Lord to avenge 
 his glory ; they fhall enter into the zeal and the 
 interefls of his jufticej and, becoming judges them- 
 felves, they fhall mock him 3 fays the prophet, and 
 
 fay, 
 
358 sermon lie. 
 
 fay, " Lo, this is the man that made not God his 
 " ftrength ; but trufled in the abundance of his 
 " riches, and ftrengthened himfelf in his wicked- 
 " nefs. Behold, now, that foolilh man, who be- 
 " lieved himfelf the only fage on the earth, and 
 " who confidered the life of the juft as a folly ; 
 " who made to himfelf, in the favour of the great, 
 " in the vanity of titles and dignities, in the ex- 
 " tent of his lands and poffeffions, in the good o- 
 " pinion 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 
 " protection." 
 
 Nor (hall finners be more indulgent to his mi- 
 fery ; they will feel for him all that horror which 
 they mall be forced to feel for themfelves ; the fel- 
 lowfhip of misfortune, which ought to unite, will 
 be only an eternal hatred which fhall divide them j 
 only a cruel inveteracy, which (hall fill their hearts 
 with nothing but fentiments of cruelty and fury a- 
 gainft their brethren ; and they will hate, in others, 
 the fame crimes from which ail their miferies 
 fpring. In a word, the men moft diftant from us, 
 the moft favage nations, to whom the name of Je- 
 fus Chrift hath never been announced, come then, 
 but too late, to the knowledge of truth, fhall rife 
 up againft you, and reproach to you, that, if the 
 miracles which God had, in vain, operated amongft 
 you had been wrought before their eyes j that if 
 
 they, 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 353 
 
 they, like you, had been enlightened by the gof- 
 pel, and fuftained by the fuccours of faith, they 
 would have done penance in fackcloth and afhes, 
 and put to advantage, for their falvation, thofe fa- 
 vours which you have abufed for your deftrudtion. 
 Such fhall be the confufion of the reprobate 
 foul. Accurfed before God, he will find himfelf, 
 at the fame time, the outcaft of heaven and of 
 earth, the fhame and curfe of all creatures : even 
 the inanimate, which he had forced to be fubfer- 
 vient to his paffions, and which groaned, fays St 
 Paul, in the expectation of deliverance from that 
 fhameful fervitude, fhall, in their way, rife up a- 
 gainfl him. The fun, of which he had abufed the 
 light, fhall be darkened, as if it were not to fhine 
 on his crimes : the ftars fhall difappear, as if to 
 tell him that they have too long witneflfed his ini- 
 quitous paflions : the earth fhall crumble from un- 
 der his feet, as if to eject:, from Us bofom. a mon- 
 ftcr which it could no longer bear : and the whole 
 univerfe, fays Solomon, fhall arm againft him to 
 avenge ^he glory of the Lord whom he has infult- 
 ed. as ! we fo dearly love to be lamented in 
 our misfortunes : indifference alone irritates and 
 wounds us : here, not only fhall all hearts be (hut 
 to our misfortunes, but all beholders fhall infult 
 our fhame, and the only portion left to the finner 
 fhall be his confufion, his defpair, and his crimes. 
 Firft circumft ance of the confufion of the criminal 
 foul : viz, the multitude of witnefles. 
 
 I take 
 
J 
 
 60 SERMON IX, 
 
 I take the fecond from the care and anrdety 
 they had taken, whilft iiving on the earth, to dif- 
 gu fe and conceal thenifelves from the eyes of 
 men. For. my brethren, the world is a grand 
 theatre on which almofl every one acts a borrow- 
 ed character. As we are full of paflions, and as 
 all paffions have always in them fomething mean 
 and defpicable, our whole attention is employed in 
 concealing their meannefs, and in endeavouring 
 to give ourfelves out for what we are not : iniqui- 
 ty is always treacherous and deceitful. Thus, 
 your whole life, you, above all, who liften to me, 
 and who confidered the duplicity of your charac- 
 ter as knowledge of the world and of the court j 
 your whole life has been only one train of diffimu- 
 lation and artifice ; even your fmcereit and mod 
 intimate friends have only, in part, known you ; 
 you were beyond the reach of the world, for you 
 changed character, fentiment, and inclination, ac- 
 cording to circumftances and the difpoiition of 
 thofe to whom you wiihed to make yourfelves a- 
 greeable ; through thefe means you had acquired 
 the reputation of ability and wifdom j but there 
 fhall be feen, in its native colours, a mean and trea- 
 cherous foul deftitute of probity and truth, and 
 whofe principal virtue had been the concealment 
 of its bafenefs and meannefs. 
 
 You, like wife, unfaithful foul, whom a fex more 
 jealous of honour had rendered (fill more attentive 
 to conceal your weaknelTes from the eyes of men, 
 
 vou 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT* 361 
 
 you were fo artful in faving yourfelf from a difco- 
 very ; you took from fo far, and fo furely, your 
 meafures to deceive the eyes-of a hufband, the vi- 
 gilance of a mother, and, perhaps, the probity of 
 a confeflbr : you would not have furvived the ac- 
 cident which had therein betrayed your precau- 
 tions and artifices. Vain cares ! you only covered 
 your lewdneffes, fays the prophet, with a fpider's 
 web, which, on that great day, the Son of Man 
 fhall diffipate with a fmgle blaft of his mouth. In 
 the prefence of all affembled nations, fayeth the 
 Lord, I will gather around thee all thy lovers. 
 They fhall fee that eternal train of artifices, dif- 
 guifes, and meanneffes ; that fhameful traffic of 
 proteftations and oaths which you made inftru- 
 mental to fo many different paffions, and, at the 
 fame time, to lull their credulity ; they fhall fee 
 them, and, tracing even to the fource thofe crimi- 
 nal favours which you had belt owed on them, 
 they fhall find them not in their pretended merit 
 as you had wifhed to make them believe, but in 
 your own infamous character, in a heart naturally 
 lewd ; you, who pique yourfeives on having a 
 heart fo noble, fo fincere, and fo incapable of be- 
 ing touched but by merit alone. And all this 
 fhall take place before the eyes of the univerfe ; of 
 thofe friends whom an appearance of regularity 
 had preferved to you ; of your relations who were 
 ignorant of the difgrace with which you covered 
 Vol. III. Z v. them ; 
 
362 SERMON IX. 
 
 them ; of that hufband who had fo much depend- 
 ed on your affection and fidelity. 
 
 O my God ! is there an abyfs fufficiently pro- 
 found in the earth in which the unfaithful foul 
 would not then wifh to hide himfelf ? For, in the 
 world, men never fee but the ouifide and the fcan- 
 dal of our vices ; and, befides, our confufion is 
 fhared and countenanced by thofe who are conti- 
 nually culpable of the fame faults. But, before 
 the tribunal of Jefus Chriff , your weakneiTes fhall 
 be ieen even in your heart ; that is to fay, their 
 birth, their progrefs, their mod private motives, 
 and a thoufand fhameful and perfonal circum- 
 flances, which, even more than the crimes them- 
 felves, fhall cover you with fhame : it will be a 
 confufion in which none fhall bear a {hare, and, 
 confequently, will be entirely your own. 
 
 Laftly, The final circumftance, which fhall ren- 
 der the fhame of the finner overwhelming, is his 
 perfonal qualities. 
 
 You paired in the world for a faithful, fincere, 
 and generous friend : it will be feen that you were 
 vile, perfidious, interefled, without faith, honour, 
 probity , confeience, or character. You gave yourfelf 
 out for a towering mind above all the vulgar pre- 
 judices; and you fhall unfold the moft humiliating 
 meannefles and circumflances, at which the vilefl 
 foul would almoft expire with fhame. In the 
 world you were regarded as a man of integrity, 
 and of an approved probity in the adminiflration 
 
 of 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 363 
 
 of your charge ; that reputation had perhaps at- 
 tracted frefh honours, and acquired to you the 
 public confidence ; you, neverthelefs, abufed the 
 credulity of men ; thofe pompous (hews of equity 
 concealed an unjuft and fervile foul, and a thou- 
 fand times had your fidelity been in fecret betray- 
 ed, and your confcience corrupted by views of 
 fortune and motives of intereft ; you were appa- 
 rently adorned with fan&ity and righteoufnefs ; 
 you had always affumed the femblance of thejuft ; 
 you were believed to be the friend of God, and 
 the faithful obferver of his law ; yet your heart 
 was not upright before the Lord ; under the cloak 
 of religion you covered a defiled confcience and 
 ignominious concealments ; you walked in the 
 way of holy things more fecurely to attain your 
 purpofes. Ah ! on that day of revelation you go 
 to undeceive the whole univerfe ; thofe who had 
 feen you on the earth, aftonifhed at your unexpec- 
 ted lot, (hall fearch among the reprobate to disco- 
 ver the upright man ; the hope of the hypocrite 
 fhall then be overthrown : you unjuftly had en- 
 joyed the efteem of men ; you fhall be known and 
 God avenged. Laflly, Yet fhall I dare to fay itj 
 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 of faith, 
 of doctrine, and of piety, was intruded to you ; 
 you appeared every day in the fanctuary, clothed 
 in the formidable tokens of vour dignity, offering 
 
 up 
 
%6jt SERMON IX. 
 
 up pure gifts and facrifices without (lain ; you 
 were intruded with the fecrecies of confeiences ; 
 you fuftained the weak in faith ; you fpoke of 
 wifdom among the inftru&ed ; and, under all that 
 religion hath moft auguft or mod holy, you per- 
 haps concealed whatever the earth has moft exe- 
 crable. You were an impoftor, a man of fin feat- 
 ed in the temple of God ; you indru&ed others, 
 and you taught not yourfelf ; you infpired horror 
 againft idols, and your days were only numbered 
 by your facrileges. Ah ! the mydery of iniquity 
 mall then be revealed ; and you (hall at lad be 
 known for what you have always been, the curfe 
 of heaven and the fiiame 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 lad take place of ours ; and 
 the remembrance of our difgrace fades away, and 
 difappears with the rumour which had published 
 them. But, at the great day, fhame fhall eternally 
 remain upon the criminal foul ; there fhall no long- 
 er be any frefh events to obliterate his crimes and 
 his confufion ; nothing mail more change: all fhall 
 be fixed and eternal : that which he fhall have ap- 
 peared before the tribunal of Jefus Chrift, that 
 will he for ever appear : even the nature of his tor- 
 ments fhall inceffantly publifh the nature of his 
 
 crimes j 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 36$ 
 
 crimes ; and his fliame (hall eveTy day be renewed 
 in his punimment. My brethren, reflections here 
 are neediefs ; and, if fome remains of faith Mill exift 
 within you, it is for you to found your own com- 
 fciences, and, from this moment, to adopt fuch 
 meafures as may enable you to fuftain the maoi- 
 feftation of that great day. 
 
 But, after having (hewn to you the public con- 
 fufion with which the fmner fnall be covered ; 
 why may not I expofe to you here what mail be 
 the glory and the confolation of the truly juft: man, 
 when the fecrecies of his confcience mall be laid 
 open to the univerfe ; when the whole myflery of 
 his heart mall be unfolded ; of that heart, of which 
 all the lovelinefs, concealed from the eyes of men 
 was known only to God ; of that heart in which 
 he had always fuppofed ftains and defilements ; and 
 of which his humility had concealed from himfeli 
 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 fan&uary, hitherto fo impenetrable, 
 then offer to the eyes of the beholders, when the 
 veil mall be removed from it ! What fervent de- 
 fires ! What fecret victories ! What heroical facri- 
 fices ! What pure prayers ! What tender lamenta- 
 tions ! What faith ! What grandeur ! What ele- 
 vation above all thofe vain objects which form 
 all the defires and hopes of men ! Then it fhall in- 
 deed 
 
366 SERMON IX. 
 
 deed be feen, that nothing was fo great, or fo 
 worthy of admiration in the world, as a truly jufl 
 man ; as thofe fouls who were confidered as ufe- 
 lefs, becaufe they were fo to our paffions ; and 
 whofe obfcure and retired life was fo much def- 
 pifed. It fhall be feen that the heart of the faith- 
 ful foul poffefTed 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 of God 
 a fight more worthy of angels and men than all 
 the victories and conquefls, which here below, fill 
 the vanity of hiftories, to which pompous monu- 
 ments are erected in order to eternife their re- 
 membrance, and which, then, fhall no longer be 
 confidered but as puerile fquabbles, or the fruit of 
 pride and the human paffions. Firfl diforder re- 
 paired on that great day : vice concealed here be- 
 low from public fhame, and virtue from the ap- 
 plaufes its merits. 
 
 The fecond 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 ex- 
 change of their lots. It is with the prefent age 
 as with the image of which Daniel explained the 
 myftery : the jufl:, like the clay which we trample 
 under our feet, or, like iron hardened in the fire 
 of tribulation, in general occupy, here below, only 
 the meaneft and moft contemptible ftations ; while, 
 on the contrary, the fmful and the worldly, typi- 
 fied 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. %6j 
 
 fied by the gold and filver, vain obje&s of their 
 paflions, almoft always find themfelves placed at 
 the head of affairi, and in the moft eminent pla- 
 ces. Now, this is a diforder ; and, although the 
 good be thereby exercifed, and the wicked hard- 
 ened ; although this confufion of good and evil en- 
 ter into the order of Providence ; and that, by ways 
 and means impenetrable to man, God make ufe of 
 them to lead the juft and the finner to his purpo- 
 fes, yet it is neceffary that the Son of Man gather 
 together all things ; and that it mail at laft be dif- 
 cerned between the righteous and the wicked ; be- 
 tween him that ferveth God, and him that ferveth 
 him not. Now, behold the grand fpectacle of that 
 laft day : order (hall be re-eftablifhed ; the good fe- 
 parated from the wicked: the fheep fet on his right 
 hand, and the goats on the left. 
 
 Separation, V?/y, altogether new. It will not 
 be demanded 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 
 unclean animal or an innocent fheep : the prince 
 (hall not be feparated from the fubjecl: ; the noble 
 from the peafant ; the poor from the powerful; the 
 conqueror from the vanquifhed ; but the chaff 
 from the good grain ; the vefTels of honour from 
 the vefTels of fhame ; the goats from the fheep. 
 
 The 
 
$6$ 3ERMON IX. 
 
 The Son of Man fhall be feen from on high, 
 calling his regards 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 
 pailions or of the virtues of men ; he fhall be feen 
 gathering together his chofen from the four quar- 
 ters ; choofing them from among every tongue, e- 
 very ftation, and every nation ; re- uniting the 
 children of lfrael difperfed through the univerfe j 
 unfolding the" fecret hiftory of an holy and new 
 people ; bringing forth to view heroes of faith til! 
 then unknown in the world ; no more diftinguifh- 
 ing ages by the victories of conquerors, by the ef- 
 tablifhment or the fall of empires, by the polite- 
 nefs or the barbarity of the times, by the great 
 characters who have blazed in every age, but by 
 the diverfe triumphs of grace, by the hidden victo- 
 ries of the jufl over their paffions, by the eftablifh- 
 ment of his reign in a heart, by the heroical forti- 
 tude of a perfecuted believer. You (hall fee him 
 change the face of all things, create a new heaven 
 and a new earth, and reduce that infinite variety 
 of people, titles, conditions, and dignities to a peo- 
 ple holy, and a people reprobate, to the goats and 
 the fhcep. 
 
 Separation, idly, cruel. The father fhall be few 
 parated from his child ; friend from friend ; bro- 
 ther from brother : the one fhall be taken, the o- 
 ther left. Death, which deprives us of thedeareft 
 friends, and whofe lofs occafions to us fo many 
 
 fighs 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT, 369 
 
 fighs and tears, leaves us, at leaft, a confolation in 
 the hope of being one day re-united to them. Here, 
 the feparation is eternal ; no hope of re-union fhall 
 more exift ; we (hall no more have relatives, fa- 
 ther, child, friend ; no other ties than everlafting 
 flames, which fhall for ever unite us to the repro- 
 bate. 
 
 Separation, \dh, ignominious. We are fo touchy 
 on a preference, when neglected, or left blended 
 with the crowd on ary fplendid occafion ; we are 
 fo peevifh and fo irritated, when, in the distribu- 
 tion of favours, we fee novices carrying off the 
 palm and the principal offices ; our fervices for- 
 gotten, and thofe, whom we had always feen far 
 below us, now exalted and placed over our heads: 
 bur, on that grand day it is that preference fhall 
 be accompanied with circumflances the moft humi- 
 liating and the moft galling to the criminal foul. 
 In that univerfal filence, in that dreadful expecta- 
 tion, in which each one fhall be for the decifion of 
 Ills defliny. You mall fee the Son of Man advan- 
 cing in the heavens, with crowns in one hand and 
 the rod of wTath in the other, to carry off, from 
 your fide, a juft foul whofe innocence you, perhaps, 
 had blackened by rafh difcourfes, or whofe virtue 
 you had infulted by impious pleafantries ; a believer 
 who was, perhaps, born your fubject ; a Lazarus 
 who in vain, perhaps, had importuned you with the 
 recital of his wants and poverty ; a rival whom you 
 had always beheld with an eye of fcorn, and upon 
 Vol. III. 3 A whofe 
 
37© SERMON IX. 
 
 whofe ruins your intrigues and artifices had per- 
 haps 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 Ha- 
 inan, rejected, humbled, and degraded, fhall no 
 longer have before your eyes but the preparation 
 of your punifhment. 
 
 Yes, my brethren, every galling and overwhelm- 
 ing circumftance fhall attend that preference. A 
 favage converted to faith fhall be ranked among 
 the fheep, while a Chriftian inheritor of the pro- 
 n ifes fhall be left among the goats. The layman 
 fhall afcend, like the eagle over its prey, while the 
 minifter of Jefus Chrift fhall grovel on the earth, 
 covered with fhame and reproach. The man of 
 the world (hall pafs to the right hand, while the 
 reclufe paries to the left. The wife, the learned, 
 the critic of the age, fhall be driven to the fide of 
 the unclean ; and the ideot, who knew not how to 
 anfwer even the common falutations, fhall be pla- 
 ced on a throne of glory and light. Rahab r a fin- 
 ful woman, fhali mount up to the heavenly Sion 
 along with the true Ifraelites ; while the fifter of 
 Mofes, and the fpoufe of Jefus Chrift, fhall be dri- 
 ven from the camp and the tents of Ifrael, and 
 fhall appear covered with a fhameful leprofy. Thou 
 art determined, O my God ! that nothing fhall be 
 wanting towards the defpair of the criminal foul. 
 It is not fufficient that he fhall be overwhelmed 
 under the weight of his own mifery ; thou fhalt 
 
 create 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. tyi 
 
 create for him a new punifhment in the felicity of 
 the juft:, who, preferred to him, mall be feen con- 
 ducted by angels into the bofom of immortality. 
 
 What change of fcene, my brethren, in the uni- 
 verfe ! It is then that, all fcandals being plucked 
 out from the kingdom of Jefus Chrift, and the juft 
 wholly feparated from the finful, they (hall form a 
 holy nation, a chofen race, and the church of firft- 
 born, whofe names were written down in heaven; 
 It is then that the commerce of the wicked, inevi- 
 table on this earth, fhall no longer occafion their 
 faith to lament, or their innocence to tremble. It 
 is then that their lot, no longer connected with the 
 unfaithful or the hypocrite, fhall no more conftrain 
 them to be witnefies of their crimes, and fome- 
 times even the involuntary agents of their paflions. 
 It is then that, all the bonds of fociety, of authori- 
 ty, or dependence, which attached them on this 
 earth to the impious and to the worldly, being 
 broken afunder, they (hall no longer fay, with the! 
 prophet, " Lord, why lengthened thou out here 
 " our banifhment and our fojourning ? How long 
 " fhall the land mourn, and the herbs of every 
 " field wither for the wickednefs of them that 
 " dwell therein ?" Laflly, Then it is that their 
 tears fhall be changed into joy, and their fighs in- 
 to thankfgivings ; they fhall pafs to the right hand 
 as the fheep, while the left fhall be referved for the 
 goats and the impious. 
 
 the 
 
J? 2 SERMON IX. 
 
 The difpofition of the univerfe thus laid out ; all 
 nations of the earth thus divided ; each one fixed 
 in the place allotted to him ; ,furprife, terror, def- 
 pair, and confufion marked in the countenance of 
 one part ; on that of the other, joy, ferenity, and 
 confidence : the eyes of the juft raifed on high to- 
 wards the Son of Man, from whom they await 
 their deliverance ; thofe of the impious frightfully 
 fixed on the earth, and almoft: piercing the abyfs 
 with their looks, as if already to mark out the 
 place which is deftined for them : the King of glo- 
 ry, fays the gofpel, placed in the middle of two na- 
 tions, fhall come forward ; and, turning towards 
 thofe who (hall be at his right hand, with an af- 
 pe& full of fweetnefs and majefty, and fufficient of 
 itfelf to confole them for all their part fufTerings, 
 he will fay to them, " Come, ye blefled of my Fa- 
 41 ther, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from 
 " the foundation of the world. The finful had 
 " always confidered you as the outcaft, and the 
 " mod ufelefs portion of the earth ; let them now 
 " learn that the world itfelf exifted only for you, 
 " that all was created for you, and that all hath 
 " finished from the moment that your number was 
 * c completed. Quit, then, an earth where you had 
 " always been travellers and flrangers ; follow me 
 " into the immortal ways of my glory and felici- 
 '* ty, as you have followed me in thofe of my hu- 
 " miliation and fufTerings. Your toils have en- 
 
 " dured 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 373 
 
 cc dured but for an inftant ; the happinefs you go 
 " to enjoy (hall be without end.'* 
 
 Then, turning to the left hand, vengeance and 
 fury in his eyes, here and there calling the molt 
 dreadful looks, like avenging thunderbolts, on that 
 crowd of guilty ; with a voice, fays a prophet, 
 which fhall burfl open the bowels of the abyfs to 
 fwallow them up, he fhall fay, not as upon the 
 crofs, Father, pardon them, for they know not 
 what they do, but, " Depart from me, ye curfed, 
 " into everlafting fire, prepared for 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 
 " fhall be eternal." The juft, then, mounting 
 with the Son of Man, fhall begin to fing this hea- 
 venly fong, Thou art rich in mercy, Lord, and 
 thou haft crowned thy gifts in recompenfing our 
 good actions. Then fhall the impious curfe the 
 Author of their being, and the fatal day which 
 brought them forth ; or, rather, they fhall enter 
 into wrath againft themfelves, as the authors of 
 their mifery and deftruclion. The abyfs fhall o- 
 pen ; the heavens fhall bow down j the reprobate, 
 fays the gofpel, fhall go into everlafting punifh- 
 ment, and the juft into life eternal. Behold a lot 
 which fhall change no more. 
 
 After a relation fo awful, and fo proper to make 
 an impreffion on the moft hardened hearts, I can- 
 not 
 
374 SERMON IX. 
 
 not conclude without addreffing to you the fame 
 words which Mofes formerly addreiTed to the If- 
 raelites after having laid before them the dreadful 
 threatenings, and the foothing promifes contained in 
 the Book of the Law. " Children of Ifrael, be- 
 " hold I fet before you this day a bleffing and a 
 " curfe : a bleffing, if ye obey the commandments 
 " of the Lord your God which I command you 
 " this day ; and a curfe, if ye will not obey the 
 " commandments of the Lord your God, but turn 
 * c afide, out of the way which I command you this 
 " day, to go after Other gods which ye have not 
 * s known." 
 
 Behold, my brethren, what I fay to you in con- 
 cluding a fubjed fo terrible. It now belongs to 
 you to choofe and to declare yourfelves : the fight 
 hand and the left are before you : the promifes 
 and the threatenings : the bleffings and the curfes. 
 Your deftiny turns on this awful alternative : you 
 either (hall be on the fide of fatan and his angels, 
 or you mall be chofen with Jefus 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 of thefe two 
 do you now walk ? And on which fide do you be- 
 lieve that you mould find yourfelves, were you, at 
 this moment, to appear before the awful tribunal ? 
 We die as we have lived : tremble left your defti- 
 ny of this day be your everlafting deftiny. Quit, 
 
 and,. 
 
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 375 
 
 and, from this moment, the ways of the finful ; be- 
 gin now to live like the juft, if you wifh, 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. 
 
 SER- 
 
SERMON X. 
 
 THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 
 
 Matthew v. 4. 
 
 Blejfed are they who mourn, for they Jh all be com* 
 forted. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 If the world were to fpeak to you in place of Je- 
 fus Chrift, it undoubtedly would not fay, " bleffed 
 " are they who mourn." 
 
 Happy, would it fay, the prince who has never 
 fought but to conquer, and whofe mind has al- 
 ways been fuperior either to the danger or to the 
 victory : who, during the courfe of a long and 
 a profperous reign, has enjoyed, and ftill conti- 
 nues to enjoy, at his eafe, the fruits of his glory, 
 the love of his people, the efleem of his enemies, 
 the advantage of his conquefts, the fplendour of 
 
 his 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. $77 
 
 his actions, the wifdom of his laws, and the auguft 
 pfofpect of a numerous poflerity ; and who has 
 nothing left now to defire, but the continuance of 
 what he pofTefTes. 
 
 In this manner would the world fpeak ; but, 
 Sire, Jefus Chrifl does not fpeak like the world. 
 
 Happy, fays he to you, not him who is the ad- 
 miration of his age ; but he who makes his ftudy 
 of the age to come, and lives in the contempt of 
 himfelf and of all the things of the earth ; for to 
 him is the kingdom of heaven. Not him whofe 
 reign and actions hiftory will immortalize in the 
 remembrance of men ; but he whofe tears (hall 
 have effaced the hiftory of his fins from the re- 
 membrance even of God ; for he fhall be for ever 
 confoled. Not him who, by new conquefts, fhall 
 have extended the bounds of his empire ; but he 
 who has fucceeded in confining his defires and his 
 pafiions within the limits of the law of God ; for 
 he fhall inherit a kingdom more durable than the 
 empire of the univerfe. Not him who, exalted by 
 the voice of nations above all preceding princes, 
 tranquilly enjoys his greatnefs and his fame ; but 
 he who, rinding nothing even on the throne wor- 
 thy of his heart, feeks no perfect happinefs on this 
 earth but in virtue and in righteoufnefs ; for he 
 fhall be filled. Not him to whom men have giv- 
 en the pompous titles- of .great and invincible; but 
 he to whom the wretched mall give, before the 
 tribunal of Jefus Chrift, the title of lather and of 
 
 Vol. III. 3 B merciful j 
 
$7$ SERMON X. 
 
 merciful ; for he mall be treated with mercy* 
 Laftly, Happy, not him who, always difp^fer of 
 the lot of his enemies, has more than once given 
 peace to the earth ; but he who has been able to 
 give it to himfelf, and to banifli, from his heart, 
 all the vices and diforderly inclinations which dis- 
 turb its tranquility ; for he fhall be called a child 
 of God. 
 
 Such, Sire, are 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 un- 
 exampled profperities, with which thou haft favour- 
 ed the glory of his reign, 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 fanctify man, 
 can never make the happinefs of man. Whatever 
 does not place thee, O my God ! in an heart, pla- 
 ces only 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 that the church, on the occa- 
 fion of this folemnity, confines its whole fruit. As 
 the common error, that the life of the faints has 
 been gloomy and difagreeable, is one of the prin- 
 cipal artifices employed by the world in order to 
 prevent us from imitating them, the church, in 
 renewing their memory on this day, gives us to 
 remember, at the fame time, that not only they 
 
 now 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 379 
 
 now enjoy an immortal felicity in heaven, but alfo 
 that they have been the only happy of the earth, 
 and that he who carries iniquity in his bofom al- 
 ways carries terror and anxiety ; and that the lot 
 of the godly is a thoufand times more tranquil 
 and more fatisfa&ory, even in this world, than 
 that of finners. 
 
 But, in what does the happinefs of the juft in 
 this life confift ? It confifts, \Jlly* In the manifelta- 
 tion of truth concealed from the fages of the 
 world. 2dly, In the relifh of charity denied to the 
 lovers of the world. In the lights of faith which 
 foften all the fufferings of the believing foul, and 
 which render thofe of the finner flill more bitter : 
 this is my firft point. In the comforts of grace 
 which calm all the paffions, and which, denied to 
 a corrupted heart, leave it a prey to itfelf : is the 
 laft. Let us examine thefe two truths fo calculat- 
 ed to render virtue amiable, and the example of 
 the faints beneficial. 
 
 Part I. Our forrows proceed, in general, from 
 our errors ; and we are unhappy only becaufe we 
 are inadequate judges of what is really good and 
 evil. The juft, who are children of light, are, 
 therefore, much happier than hnners, becaufe they 
 are more enlightened. The fame lights which 
 correct their judgments alleviate their fufferings : 
 and faith, which ihews the world to them fuch as 
 it is, changes, into fources of coniblaiion for them, 
 <he very fame events in which fouls, delivered up 
 
 to 
 
380 SERMON X. 
 
 to the paffions, find the principle of all their dif- 
 quiers. 
 
 And, in order to make you fenfible of a truth io 
 honourable to virtue, obferve, I pray you, my bre- 
 thren, that, whether a contrite foul recall the paft, 
 and rhofe times of error which preceded his peni- 
 tence ; whether he pay attention to what palTes be- 
 fore his eyes in the world ; or, laflly, whether he 
 look forv ard to the future, every thing confoles, 
 every thing ftrengthens him in the caufe of virtue 
 w! ich he has adopted, every thing unites in ren- 
 dering his condition infinitely more pieafing than 
 that of ^ foul who lives in difiipation, and who 
 finds, in thefe three fituation^, only bitternefs and 
 in w ard terrors. 
 
 For, in thtfirji place, however the fmner may 
 be delivered up to all fervency of his heart, he is 
 nor fo violently hurried away, by prefent gratifica- 
 tions, but that he fometimes gives a look back to 
 thole years of iniquity which he amaffes behind 
 him.. Thofe days of darknefs, which he has con- 
 fecraied to debauchery, have not fo completely 
 perimed, but that, in certain moments, they ob- 
 trude themfelves up his remen.brance. Gloomy 
 and troublefome images force themfeives upon his 
 foul, and, from time to time, aroufe him from his 
 lethargy by holding out, as if collected into one 
 point, that {hocking mafs of crimes which make 
 lefs impreffion, during their commiflion, becaufe 
 he only fees them in fucceffipn, At one glance of 
 
 his 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 381 
 
 his eye he fees favours always contemned, infpira- 
 tions always rejected, a vile perverfion of a difpo- 
 fition naturally good and originally formed, it ap- 
 pears, for virtue ; weaknefles at which he now 
 blufhes, phantoms and horrors againft which he 
 would wiih for ever to fhut his eyes. 
 
 Such is what the finner leaves behind him. He 
 is miferable if he look back to the pad. His whole 
 happinefs is, as it were, (hut up in the prefent mo- 
 ment ; and, to be happy, he muff, never think, 
 but allow himfelf, like the dumb creation, to be 
 led away by the attraction of the prefent objects ; 
 and, to preferve his tranquility, he mud either ex- 
 tinguifh or brutify his reafon. And thence thofe 
 maxims fo unworthy of humanity, and fo circulat- 
 ed in the world ; that too much reafon is a forry 
 advantage ; that reflections 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 which 
 thou art enlightened, or to aflift thee in fearch of 
 the truth, which alone can render thee happy ? 
 Could that divine light, which embellifhes thy be- 
 ing, be a punilhment rather than a gift of the 
 Creator: And, mould it fo gloriouily diftinguim 
 thee from the bead only that thy condition may 
 be more wretched ? 
 
 Yes, my brethren, fuch is the lot of an unbeliev- 
 ing foul. Intoxication, delirium of paflion, and 
 the extinction of all reafon alone can render him 
 
 nappy ; 
 
382 SERMON X. 
 
 happy ; and, as that fituation is merely momenta- 
 ry, the initant the mind becomes calm and regains 
 itfelf, the charm ceafes, happinefs takes wing, and 
 ma 1 finds himfeli alone witli his conicunce and 
 his crimes. 
 
 But how different, O my God ! is the lot of a 
 foul who walks in thy ways, and how much to be 
 pitied is the world which knows thee not ! In ef- 
 fect, the fweeteft thoughts of a righteous foul are 
 thofe by which the pad is recalled. He there en- 
 counters, it is true, that portion of his life which 
 had been engrofied by the world and the paffions ; 
 and the remembrance, I confefs, fills him with 
 {hame before the fanctity of his God, and forces 
 from him tears of compunction and foirow. But, 
 what confolation in his tears "and in his grief! 
 
 For, my brethren, a contrite foul can never re- 
 trace the whole train of his pad errors without 
 difcovering all the proceedings of God's mercy 
 upon him. The fingular ways by which his wif- 
 dom hath gradually, and, as it were, ftep by ftep, 
 conducted him to the bleiled moment of his con- 
 verfion. So many unexpected favourable circum- 
 ftances, fo many accidents of difgrace, of lofs, of 
 death, of treachery, and of affliction ; all provided 
 by a watchful Providence to facilitate the means of 
 breaking afunder his chains. Thofe fpecial atten- 
 tions of God, even when in the paths of iniquity. 
 Thofe difgufts, even in the mid ft of his piealures, 
 provided for him by his goodnefs. Thofe inward 
 
 calls 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 383 
 
 calls which inceflantly whifpered to him, return 
 to virtue and to duty. That internal monitor^ 
 which, go where he woulJ, never left him, and 
 unceafingly repeated to hitn, as formerly to St 
 Auguftin : Fool ! How long wilt thou hunt after 
 pleafures which can never make thee happy ? 
 When, by terminating thy crimes, wilt thou termi- 
 nate 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 
 malt not be more happy, and if I luffice not to fill 
 the foul which poffefles me ? 
 
 Such is what the paft offers to a contrite foul. 
 It there fees the accomplices of its former plea- 
 fures ftill delivered up, by God's juftice, to the er- 
 rors of the world and of the paflions, and it alone 
 chofen, feparated, and called to the knowledge o£ 
 the truth. 
 
 With what peace and confolation does that re- 
 flection fill the believing foul ! " How infinite, O 
 " my God," cries he with the prophet, " are thy 
 " mercies ! Thou haft covered me in my mother's 
 " womb : Thou halt compafled 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 deignefl 
 " not to open, and to manifeft the feverity of thy 
 " judgments and of thy juftice ? How marvellous, 
 " O God ! are all thy works, and that my foul 
 
 " knoweth 
 
3$4 SERMON X. 
 
 " knoweth right well." Firft advantage of righ- 
 teous fouls : the remembrance even of their pad in- 
 fidelities confoles them. 
 
 But, fecondly, if they find fources of folid ccnfo- 
 lations in reviewing the pad, their piety is not lefs 
 comforted while viewing the prefent occurrences 
 of the world. And here, my brethren, you will 
 prefently fee how effentially requifite is virtue to 
 the happinefs of life, and how that very world, 
 which gives birth to all the paflions, and, confe- 
 quently, to all the difquietudes of fmners, becomes 
 the fweeted and mod confolatory exercife of the 
 faith of the juft. 
 
 What indeed is the world even to the worldly 
 themfelves, who love it, who feem intoxicated with 
 its delights, and who cannot do without it ? The 
 world ? It is an eternal fervitude where no one 
 lives for himfelf, and where, in order to be happy, 
 we mud bring ourfelves to hug our chains, and to 
 love our flavery. The world ? It is a daily revo- 
 lution of events, which* fuccemvely aroufe, in the 
 hearts of its partifans, the mod violent and the 
 mod melancholy paflions ; cruel antipathies, hate- 
 ful perplexities, torturing fears, devouring jealou- 
 fies, and corroding cares. The world ? It is a land 
 of curfe, where even its pleafures are productive 
 only of bitternefs and thorns. Gaming fatigues 
 and exhaufts by its frenzies and by its caprices : 
 converfation becomes wearyfome through the con- 
 trariety of tempers and the oppofition of fenti- 
 
 ments : 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 3S5 
 
 merits : paffions and criminal attachments are fol- 
 lowed with their difgufts, their disappointments, 
 and their unpleafant reports : theatres, no longer 
 having as Spectators but fouls grofsly diifolute and 
 incapable of being roufed but by the molt mock- 
 ing exceffes of debauchery, become infipid while 
 moving only thofe delicate paffions, which only 
 ferve to (hew guilt from afar, and to lay fnares 
 for innocence. Laftly, the world is a place where 
 hope itfelf, confidered as a paffion fo fweet and fo 
 pleafing, renders all men unhappy ; where thofe, 
 who have nothing more to hope, believe themfelves 
 ftill more miferable ; where every thing that pleaf- 
 es foon ceafes to pleafe ; and where inanity or liit- 
 lefs infipidity is almoft the befl and mod fupport- 
 able lot to be expected. Such is the world, my 
 brethren ; nor is this that obfeure world, to which 
 neither the great pleafures, nor the charms of pro- 
 fperity, of favour, and of afiluence 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 paintings of which the reali- 
 ty is no where to be found. I paint the world 
 after your own heart, that is to fay, fuch as you 
 know it to be, and fuch as you yourfelves conti- 
 nually experience it. 
 
 Such, neverthelefs, is the place in which all Tin- 
 ners feek their happinefs. That is their country. 
 There they would willingly eternife themfelves. 
 
 Vol. III. 3C Such 
 
3$6 SE R MO N X. 
 
 Such is that world which they prefer to the eter- 
 nal inheritance, and to all the promifes of faith. 
 Great God ! how juft art thou in punifhing man 
 through his pafiions themfelves, and to permit that, 
 wifhing to feek his happinefs elfewhere than in 
 thee who alone art the true peace of his heart, he 
 form for himfelf a ridiculous felicity of his fears, 
 his difgufts, his wearinefies, and his difquietudes ! 
 
 But that which is fo fortunate here for virtue, 
 is that the fame world, fo tirefome and fo infup- 
 portable to fmners who feek their happinefs in it, 
 becomes a fource of the mod foothing reflections 
 to the righteous, who confider it as an exilement 
 and a foreign land. 
 
 For, in the jirjl place, the inconflancy of the 
 world, fo dreaded by thofe delivered up to it, fup- 
 plies a thoufand motives of confolation to the be- 
 lieving foul. Nothing appears to him either con- 
 flant or durable upon the earth ; neither the moil 
 Hourifhing fortunes, nor the warmeft friendships, 
 nor the mod brilliant reputations, nor the moil en- 
 vied favour. He fees a fovereign wifdom through 
 all, which delights, it would appear, in making a 
 fport of 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, on- 
 ly a moment before, were groveling at the bottom; 
 by introducing, every day, on the theatre of life 
 new heroes to eclipfe all thofe who formerly play- 
 ed on it fo brilliant a part j by inceffantly giving 
 
 new 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 387 
 
 new fcenes to the univerfe. He fees men pafling 
 their whole life in ferment?, projects, and plots ; 
 ever on the watch to furprife each other, or to a- 
 void being furprifed j always eager and active to 
 profit of the retreat, the difgrace, or the death of 
 a rival ; and of thefe grand lefibns, fo fitted to in- 
 culcate contempt of the world, make only frefh 
 motives of ambition and cupidity : always engrof- 
 fed either by their fears or by their hopes ; always 
 uneafy either for the prefent or for the future \ 
 never tranquil, ail ftruggling for quiet, yet every 
 moment removing themfelves farther and farther 
 from it. 
 
 O man ! why art thou fo ingenious in render- 
 ing thyfelf miferable ? Such is, then, the reflection 
 of the believing foul. That happinefs thou feekeft: 
 Is more eafily attained. It is neceflary 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 chagrins and the endlefs agitations of 
 finners ! How tranfported 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 paflions and of human hopes ! Thus the Ifrael- 
 ites formerly efcaped from the danger of the R.ed 
 fea, feeing from afar Pharaoh and ail the nobility 
 of Egypt ftill at the merty of the waters, felt all 
 the luxury of their own fafety, thought the barren 
 
 paths 
 
588 SERMON X. 
 
 paths of the defert delightful, and were infenfible 
 to every hardfhip of their journey ; and, compar- 
 ing 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 praife and of 
 thankfgiving in which are celebrated, with fuch 
 magnificence, the wonders and the tender mercies 
 of the Lord. 
 
 idly, The injuflice of the world, fo humbling 
 to thofe who love it, when they fee themfelves for- 
 gotten, neglected, and facrificed to unworthy ri- 
 vals, is alfo a fund of foothing reflections to a foul 
 who defpifes it and fears only the Lord. For, 
 what refource is left to a (inner who, after having 
 facrificed his eafe, his conscience, his wealth, his 
 youth, and his health, to the world and to his maf- 
 ters ; after having fubmitted in fiience to every 
 circumftance the molt mortifying to the mind, fees 
 at ^nce, and without knowing why, the gates of 
 favour and advancement for ever (hut againft him; 
 fees places fnatched from him to which he was en- 
 tiiied by his fervices, and of which he thought 
 himfelf already certain ; threatened, mould he dare 
 to murmur, with the lofs of thofe he (till enjoys ; 
 forced to crouch to more fortunate rivals, and to 
 be at the beck of thofe whom, only a little before, 
 he had deemed unworthy of even receiving his or- 
 ders ? Shall he retire far from the world, to eva- 
 porate, in continual inveclives againft it, the fpleen 
 and the rancour of his heart, and thus revenge 
 
 himfelf 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 389 
 
 himfelf of the injuftice of men ? But of what avail 
 will be his retirement ? It will afford only more 
 leifure for retrofpeclion, and fewer relaxations from 
 chagrin. Shall he try to confole himfelf with fi- 
 milar examples ? But our misfortunes 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 reflected from others ? 
 Shall he entrench himfelf in ftrength of mind, and 
 in a vain philofophy ? But, in folitude, reafon foon 
 defcends from its pride ; we may be philoibphers 
 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 
 pafiion, the heart only changes the punifhment. 
 Shall he feek, in indolence and inactivity, an hap- 
 pinefs he has never been able to find in all the fer- 
 vency of hopes and pretentions ? A criminal con- 
 fcience may become indifferent, but it is not there- 
 by more tranquil. One may ceafe to feel misfor- 
 tune and difgrace, but infidelities and crimes muft 
 always be felt. No, my brethren, the unhappy 
 fmner is fo without refource. Every comfort is 
 for ever fled from the worldly foul from the mo- 
 ment that he is deferted by the world. 
 
 But the righteous man learns to defpife the 
 world even in the contempt which the world has 
 for him. The injuftice of men, with refpecl to him, 
 only puts him in mind that he ferves a more equi- 
 table Mailer, who can neither be influenced nor 
 
 prejudiced ; 
 
39© SERMON X. 
 
 prejudiced ; who fees nothing in us but what, in 
 reality, there is ; who determines our deftinies up- 
 on our hearts alone, and with whom we have no- 
 thing but our own confcience to dread : confe- 
 quently, that they are happy who ferve him j that 
 his ingratitude is not to be feared ; that every thing 
 done for him is faithfully recorded ; that, far from 
 concealing or neglecting our fufferings and our 
 fervices, he gives us credit even for our good willi- 
 es ; and that nothing is loft with him but what is 
 not done folely for him. 
 
 Now, in thefe lights of faith, what a frefh fund 
 of confolation for a believing foul ! How little is 
 the world, in this point of view, with all its fcorns 
 and ill ufage, capable of affecting him ! Then it is 
 that, throwing himfelf into the bofom of God, and 
 viewing, with Chriflian eyes, the nothingnefs and 
 vanity of all human things, he feels in a moment 
 all his inquietudes, infeparable from nature, chan- 
 ged into the fweeteft peace ; a ray of light mines 
 in his foul, and re-eftablifhes ferenity ; a trait of 
 confolation penetrates his heart, and every forrow 
 is alleviated. Ah ! my brethren, how iweet to 
 ferve him, who alone can render happy thofe who 
 ferve him ! Why, O bieffed condition of virtue, 
 art thou not better known to men ! And wherefore 
 art thou held out as a dilagreeable and forrowful 
 lot, thou who alone canff confole the miferies and 
 alleviate all the fufferings of this banifhment ? 
 
 La/ 
 
THE HAPPINESS OP THE JUST. 39 c 
 
 La/lly, The judgments of the world, fource of 
 fo many chagrins for the wordly, complete flill 
 more the confolation 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 wilh to be efteemed even by thofe 
 we defpife. In vain are we exalted above others : 
 the more we are exalted, we are only the more ex- 
 pofed 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 expected. In vain may the 
 fufl'rage 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 ; relentment and revenge al- 
 ways fuppofe a fenfe of guilt ; and. befides, the cha- 
 grin of having encountered fcorn is much more 
 lively than any pleafure that can accrue fro n re- 
 torting it. Laftly, From the moment that you 
 live folely for the world, and that your pleafures 
 or your vexations depend wholly on it, the judg- 
 ments of the world can never be indifferent to 
 you. 
 
 Neverthelefs, it is in the midfl of all thefe vex- 
 ations that happinefs muft be at leaft profefled. 
 Every thing attributed to you, either bv truth or 
 vanity, is called in queftiou : your birth, your ta- 
 lents, 
 
39 2 S E R M ON X. 
 
 lents, your reputation, your fervices, your fucceft* 
 your prudence, and even your honour. If you go 
 to wreck, your incapacity accounts for it : if fuc- 
 cefsful, the honour is given to chance, or to your 
 inferiors : if you enjoy the good opinion of the 
 public, the judgment of the more knowing is ap- 
 pealed to from the popular error ; if pofleffed of 
 the art of pleafing, it is immediately faid that you 
 have made a thorough ufe of your talents, and 
 that you have been only too agreeable : if your 
 conduct be fuperior to any attack, the mod poig- 
 nant ridicule is directed againfl your temper. 
 Laftly, Be whom ye may, high or low, prince or 
 fubject, the moft defirable fituation for your vani- 
 ty is that of being unacquainted with the world's 
 opinion of you. Such is the life of the world. 
 The fame paffions which bind us together, difunite 
 us : envy and deftruclion blacken our noblefl qua- 
 lities ; and our gratifications find cenfurers even 
 in thofe who copy them. 
 
 But a believing foul is fheltered from all thefe 
 unealineifes. As he courts not the efleem of men, 
 neither does he fear their fcorn ; as he has no in- 
 tention of laying himfelf 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 teflimony of his own 
 confcience. His reputation he feeks in the fulfil- 
 ment of his duty, lie confiders the fuffrages of 
 
 the 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE jtFST. 39^ 
 
 the world, as the rock of virtue, or as the reward 
 of vice ; and, without even paying attention to its 
 judgments, he is fatisfied with giving it good ex- 
 amples. 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 worfhippers, 
 is forced to refpecl 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 what, of divine, which at- 
 tracts the veneration and almoft the worfhip of 
 worldly fouls : it appears that his intimate union, 
 with Jefus Chrifl occafions his being irradiated, as 
 I may fay, like the three difciples on the holy 
 mount, with a part of that celeftial fplendour 
 which the Father fried 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 paffions it infpires, and refpects 
 the virtue it ilrives againft. Not that the efteem 
 of the world, fo worthy itfelf of being defpifed, 
 can be any great confolations to the believing foul. 
 But his confolation is, that he fees the world con- 
 demned even by the world, its plealures decried 
 even by thofe who hunt after them, finners be- 
 come the apologifts of virtue, and the life of the 
 world to pafs lbrrowfully away in doing what they 
 condemn, and flying from what they approve. 
 Vol. III. 3 D Such 
 
394 SERMON X. 
 
 Such is the manner in which the prefent age 
 becomes a fource of confolatory reflections to a 
 Chriftian foul ; but, in the thought of futurity, he 
 alfo finds confolations which are changed into in- 
 ward and continual terrors for finners : Laft ad- 
 vantage drawn by the juft from the lights of faith. 
 The magnificence of its promifes fuftains and con- 
 foles them : they await the bleffed hope, and that 
 happy moment when they (hall be aflbciated with 
 the church of heaven, reunited to their, brethren 
 whom they had left on the earth, received eternal 
 citizens of the heavenly Jerufatem, incorporated 
 in that immortal aflembly of the elect, where cha- 
 rity will b« the law that (hall unite them ; truth, 
 the flame that fhall enlighten them ; and eternity, 
 the meafure of their felicity. 
 
 Thefe thoughts are fo much the more confoling to 
 the godly, as they are founded on the truth of God 
 himfelf. They know that, in facrificing the pre- 
 fent, they facrifice nothing ; that, in the twinkling 
 of an eye all fhall have pafTed away j that, what- 
 ever muft have an end cannot long endure ; that 
 this moment of tribulation ought to be reckoned 
 as nothing, when put in competition with that e- 
 ternal weight of glory which he prepareth for us ; 
 and that the rapid paflage of prefent things fcarce- 
 ly deferves that we mould be at the pains of num- 
 bering the years and the ages. 
 
 I know that faith may fubfifl with criminal 
 manners j and that the fan&ifying grace is often 
 
 loft 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. $g$ 
 
 loft without lofing a fmcere fubmiflion to the 
 truths revealed to us by the Spirit of God. But 
 the certitude of faith, fo confoling to the righte- 
 ous foul, is no longer for the finner who ftill be- 
 lieves but an inexhauftible fund of inward anxie- 
 ties and cruel terrors. For, the more that fmners 
 like you, who bear upon your confcience the fink 
 of a whole life of irregularity, are convinced of 
 the truths of faith, the more inevitable muft the 
 punilhments and the mifery appear with which it 
 threatens fuch finners. All the truths offered to 
 your faith, in the holy doctrine, excite frefh a- 
 larms in your bread. Thole 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 enlight- 
 en you, in fpite of yourftives, on what you would 
 wifh to be "for ever ignorant. Your faith itfelf 
 conftitutes your puniihment before-hand. Your 
 religion is, here below, if I may venture to fay fo, 
 your hell ; and, the more you are convinced of the 
 truth, the more unhappy do you live. O God ! 
 how great is thy goodnefs towards man, in having 
 rendered virtue neceflary even to his quiet, and 
 in thus attracting him to thee, by making it im- 
 poffible for him to be happy without thee ! 
 
 And here, my dear hearer, allow me to recall 
 you to yourfelf. When the lot of a criminal foul 
 
 fhoul<J 
 
 \ 
 
396 SERMON X. 
 
 fhould not be fo fearful for the age to come, fee 
 if, even in this world, it appears much to be en- 
 vied : his afflictions are without refource, his evils 
 without confolation, even his pleafures without en- 
 joyment : his anxieties upon the prefent endlefs, his 
 refit cticns on the pait and on the future gloomy 
 and fad ; his faith is the fource of all his anguifh ; 
 his lights of all his defpair. What a fituation ! 
 "What a miferable lot ! What (hocking changes 
 are operated, by a fmgle act of guilt, both inter- 
 nally 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 paffions is ftill 
 infinitely more arduous and painful than that of 
 the gofpel ; and that there is more toil and vex- 
 ation of fpirit in gaining the kingdom of hell, if it 
 be proper to fpeak in this manner, than in gaining 
 the kingdom of heaven? O innocence of heart, 
 what bleflings dofl thou not bring with thee to 
 man 1 O man, what lofcft thou not when thou 
 lofeft thine innocence of heart ! Thou lofefl all 
 the confolations of faith, the fweetefr. occupation 
 of the piety of the righteous ; but thou alfo de- 
 priveft thyfelf of all the comforts of grace by 
 which the lot of the godly is rendered fo truly en- 
 viable here below. 
 
 Part II. When comforts and confolation, fays 
 St Auguflin, are promifed to worldly fouls in the 
 obfervance of the law of God, they confider our 
 promifes as a pious mode of fpeaking employed to 
 
 give 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 397 
 
 give credit and confequence to virtue ; and, as a 
 heart which has never tailed of thefe chafte de- 
 lights is alfo incapable of comprehending them, 
 we are obliged, continues that holy father, to reply- 
 to them, " How vvouldft thou that we convince 
 " thee ?" We cannot fay unto thee : " O tafte 
 " and fee that the Lord is good I" feeing a difeaf- 
 ed and vitiated heart can have no relifh for the 
 things in heaven. Give us an heart that loves, 
 and it will feel the truth of every thing we fay. 
 
 My delign, therefore, here, is not fo much to 
 enlarge upon all the inward operations of grace in 
 the heart of the juft, as to contrail the happy fitua- 
 tion 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 confolations 
 here below to the godly : the one internal and fe- 
 cret, the others external and fenfible ; both of 
 them fo effential to happinefs in this life, that no 
 earthly gratification can ever compenfate for them. 
 
 The firft internal benefit accruing to the believ- 
 ing foul from grace, is the eft abiimment of a folid 
 peace in his heart, and a reconciliation with him- 
 felf. For, my brethren, we all bear within us na- 
 tural principles of equity, of modefty, and of recti- 
 tude. We come into the world, as the apoflle 
 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 fir ft duty. In vain does paflion 
 
 fometimes 
 
39^ SERMON X, 
 
 fometimes undertake fecretly to perfuade us that 
 we are born for pleafure ; and that, after all, ten- 
 dencies implanted by nature, and v/hich every one 
 finds within himfelf, can never be crimes. This 
 foreign pcrfuafion is ineffectual in quieting the 
 criminal foul. It is a defire, for we would hearti- 
 ly wim to be lawful whatever pleafes us ; but it is 
 not a real conviction. 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 inceffantly adopts 
 the caufe of virtue againft our dearefl inclinations; 
 who blends with our mod headftrong paflions the- 
 troublefome ideas of duty ; and, who renders, us 
 unhappy even amidft all our pleafures and abun- 
 dance. 
 
 Such is the flate of an impure and a fullied con- 
 fcience. The finner is the fecret and conftant ac- 
 cufer of himfelf; go where he will, he carries a 
 torment within which the hand of man cannot al- 
 lay. Unhappy in being unable to conquer his law- 
 lefs tendencies: more unhappy flill in being unable 
 to ftifle his inceffant remorfes. Enticed by his 
 weaknefs, and withheld by his lights, the permif- 
 fion of every crime is a conflict with himfelf: he 
 reproaches himfelf for the iniquitous gratification, 
 even in the moment of its enjoyment. What (hall 
 he do ? Shall he combat his lights in order to ap- 
 peafe his confcience ? Shall he fufpect his faith to 
 fin in tranquility ? But unbelief is itill a more hojr* 
 
 rible 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 399 
 
 rible ftate than even guilt. To live without God, 
 without worfhip, without principle, and without 
 hope ! To believe that the mod abominable tranf- 
 greffions and the pureft virtues are merely names ! 
 To confider all men as only the vile and fantaflkal 
 puppets of a low theatre, and merely intended for 
 the arnufement of the fpe&ators ! To confider him- 
 feif as the offspring of chance, and the eternal pof- 
 feOion of nonentity ! Thefe thoughts have fome- 
 thjng, I know not what, of gloomy and horrible, 
 that the foul cannot look 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 
 he find himfelf alone with his conscience, he ran- 
 ges from object to object, from paflion to paffion, 
 from precipice to precipice. He thinks to com- 
 penfate the emptinefs and the infufficiency of plea- 
 fures by their variety ; there is none which he does 
 Hot try. But in vain is his heart fucceflively offer- 
 ed to all the created ; all the objects of his paflions 
 reply to him, fays St Auguftin, " Deceive not thy- 
 " felf in loving us j we are not that happinefs of 
 •* which thou ait 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 worthy of being lov- 
 " ed than we." Such is the lot of the finner. 
 
 Not that the heart of the jufl enjoys a tranquili- 
 ty fo unalterable but that they, in their turn, ex- 
 perience 
 
400 SERMON X. 
 
 perience troubles, difgufts, and anxieties here be- 
 low. But thefe are pafiing clouds, which fhade, as 
 I may fay, only the furfece of their foul. A pro- 
 found calm always reigns within ; that ferenity of 
 conference, that (implicit)- of heart, that equality 
 of mind, that lively confidence, that mild refigna- 
 tion, that calm of the paflions, that univerfal peace, 
 which begins, even from this life, the felicity of 
 innocent foul?. Vain creatures, what can ye, over 
 an heart which you have not made, and which is 
 not made for you ? Firfl confolation of grace, viz. 
 peace of heart. 
 
 The fecond is love, which mollifies to the juft 
 all the rigours of the law, and, according to 
 the promife of Jefus Chrift, changes his yoke, 
 fo infupportable to fmners, into a fweet and con- 
 foling yoke for them. For a believing foul loves 
 his God Hill more fervently, more tenderly, and 
 more truly, than he had ever loved the world. 
 Every thing, therefore, even the mod rigorous, 
 that he undertakes for him, is either no longer a 
 trial to his heart, or becomes its fweetefl care. For 
 the attribute of the holy love, when mailer of the 
 heart, is either to mollify the fufFerings it occafions, 
 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 con- 
 fidence, mortifies itfelf with pleafure, flies from the 
 world with delight, prays with confolation, and 
 fulfils every duty with an holy fatisfaction. The 
 
 more 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 40I 
 
 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 iove what is 
 become eflential and neceffary to us. 
 
 But, rhe firmer, the more he loves the world the 
 more unhappy he is: f >r the more he loves the 
 world the more do his paffions multiply, the more 
 do his defires inflame, the more do his fchemes get 
 perplexed, and the more do his anxieties bt~ome 
 fharpened. His'love is the caufe of all his evils : 
 its vivacity is the fource of all his fufferings ; be- 
 caufe the world, which is the caufe of them, is in- 
 capable of furnifhing him with their cure. The 
 more he loves the world the more is his pride 
 ltung by a preference; the more does his haughti- 
 nefs feel an injury, the more does he fink under a 
 difconcerted project; the more does a difappointed 
 defire afflict him, the more does an unexpected lofs 
 weigh him down. The more he loves the world 
 the more do pleafures become neceffary to him ; 
 and, as no one can fill the immenfity of his heart, 
 the more infupportable does his wearinefs become: 
 for wearinefs is the infeparable attendant of every 
 pleafure ; and, with all its amufements, the world, 
 ever fince it was a world, complains of its laflitude. 
 
 And think not that, to accredit virtue, I here af- 
 fect to exaggerate the mifery of worldly fouls. I 
 know that the world feems to have its happinefs ; 
 and that, amid all that whirlwind of cares, mo- 
 tions, fears, and anxieties, a fmall number of for- 
 
 Vol. III. 3 E tuuate 
 
402 SERMON X. 
 
 tunate individuals is feen, whofe happinefs is en- 
 vied, and who Teem, in appearance, to enjoy a 
 f i : ng and tranquil lot. But inveftigate thefe 
 vain outfides of happinefs and gladnefs, and you 
 will find real forrows, diftra&ed hearts, and agi- 
 tated 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 reafon : they all confefs that they 
 are any thing but happy, that the blaze of their 
 fortune mines only at a diftance, and appears wor- 
 thy of envy only to thofe who know it not. They 
 confefs that, amidft all their pleafures and profperi- 
 ty, they have never been able to tafte any pure and 
 unadulterated joy ; that the world, a little fearch- 
 ed into, is nothing ; that they are aftonifhed them- 
 felves how it can be loved when known ; and that 
 happy are they alone, here below, who can do with- 
 out it and ferve God. Some long for the oppor- 
 tunity of an honourable retreat ; others are con- 
 tinually propofing to themfelves more orderly and 
 more Chriftian manners. All admit the happinefs 
 of the godly ; all wifh to become fo ; all bear tef- 
 timony againfl themfelves. They are the forced 
 rather than the voluntary followers of pleafure. It 
 is no longer inclination, it is habit, it is weaknefs 
 which retains them in the fhackies of 'the world 
 
 and 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 403 
 
 and of fin. They feel this ; they lament it ; they 
 acknowledge it ; and they give way to the current 
 of fo wretched a lot. Deceitful 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 yourfelf, my dear hearer, fmce the many 
 years that you ferve the world, have you greatly 
 forwarded your happinefs ? Put in a balance, on 
 the one fide, all the agreeable moments and days 
 you have patted in it, and, on the other, all the 
 forrows and vexations you have there experienced, 
 and fee which fcale will preponderate. In certain 
 moments of 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 into all your former anx- 
 ieties. Even now, when fpeaking to you, queftion 
 your own heart : are you at peace within ; is no- 
 thing 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 fafhion- 
 ing a confcience fo as to remain tranquil in'guilt ? 
 
 Even 
 
404 SERMON X. 
 
 Even then, when you have plunged to the very 
 bottom of rhe fea of iniquity to extinguifh your 
 remorfei, and have fucceeded, as you thought, in 
 flifling that remnant of faith which Mill pleads in 
 your heart for virtue, hath not the Lord com- 
 manded the ferpent, as he faith in his prophet A- 
 mos, to foliow and fling you even in the abyfs 
 where you had fled for flielter ? And, even there, 
 haVe you not felt the fecret gnawings of the raven- 
 ous worm ? Is it not true that the days you have 
 coniecrated to God by fome religious duty have 
 been the happieft of your life ; and that you have 
 never lived, as, I may fay, but when your con- 
 science has been pure, and that you have lived 
 with God ? No, fays the prophet with an holy 
 pride, the God whom we worfhip is not a deceit- 
 ful God, nor is he, like the gods which the world 
 worfhips, unable to reward thofe who ferve him : 
 let the worldly themfelves be the judges here. 
 
 Great God ! What then is man, thus to wreftle 
 his whole life againfl himfelf, to wifli to be happy 
 without thee, in fpite of thee, in declaring himfelf 
 againfl thee ; to feel his wretchednefs, 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 contradiction of 
 his errors ? 
 
 Would I could finifh what I had at firfi intend- 
 ed, and prove to you, my brethren, that the lot of 
 the godly is flil] more worthy of all our withes for 
 
 this 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 405 
 
 this reafon, that, when the internal confolations 
 happen even to fail them, yet they have the exter- 
 nal aids of piety to ftrengthen and to affifl them: 
 the fupport of the facrament, which, to the reluc- 
 tant finner, is no longer but a melancholy tribute to 
 decency, equally tirefome and embarrafling : the 
 example of the holy, and the hiftory of their won- 
 ders, from which the finner averts his eyes, left he 
 fee in them his own condemnation : the holy 
 thankfgivingt. and prayers of the church, which, to 
 the finner, become a melancholy fatigue : and, laft- 
 ly, the confolation of the divine writings, in which 
 he no longer finds but menaces and anathemas. 
 
 What invigorating refrefhment, in effect, my 
 brethren, to the mind of a believer, when, after 
 quitting the vain converfations of the world, where 
 the only fubjects have been the exaltation of a 
 family, the magnificence of a building, the indivi- 
 duals who act a brilliant part on the theatre of the 
 univerfe, public calamities, the faults of thofe at 
 the head of affairs, the events of war, and the er- 
 rors with which the government is continually ac- 
 cufed j laftly, where, earthly, they have fpoken on- 
 ly of the earth ; what a refrefhment after quitting 
 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, ii he thereby lofe his foul; 
 that the moll vaunted conquers mall fink into ob» 
 
 livion, 
 
406 SERMON X. 
 
 livion with the vanity of the conquerors ; that the 
 heavens and rhe earth fhall pai^ away ; tha ; ihe 
 kingdoms of the earth and all their glory (hall 
 wafle away like a garment ; but that God alone 
 will endure for ever ; and, eonfequently, that to 
 him alone we ought to attach ourfelves ! The fool- 
 ifh have repeated vain things to me, O my God ! 
 fays then this foul with the prophet; but O how 
 cl fferent from thy law ! 
 
 And certainly, my brethren, what foothing pro- 
 mifes in thefe holy books ! What powerful in- 
 ducements to virtue ! What happy precautions a- 
 gainft vice ! What inftructive events ! What fu- 
 blime 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 
 fmners ! 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 pro- 
 perty and fortunes, driven from Jerufalem and the 
 temple where the abomination of idols had taken 
 place of the worfhip of the holy God ; and, fcarce- 
 ly emerged from fo afflicling a fitua'ion, they are 
 in need of nothing, for they have the holy books 
 
 in 
 
THE HAPPINESS OP THE JUST. 407 
 
 in their hands. And, in an extremity fo new, fur- 
 rounded on all hands by nations of enemies, hav- 
 ing no longer, in the midft of their army, either 
 the ark of Ifrael or the holy tabernacle ; their 
 tears ftill flowing for the recent death of the in- 
 vincible Judas, who was alike the fafeguard of the 
 people and the terror of the uncircumcifed ; hav- 
 ing feen their wives and children murdered before 
 their eyes ; they themfelves on the point every day 
 of finking under the treachery of their falfe bre- 
 thren, or the ambufcades of their enemies ; the 
 book of the law is alone fufficient to comfort and 
 to defend them ; and they think themfelves in a 
 fituation to difclaim that affiftance which an an- 
 cient treaty and alliance entitled them to demand. 
 
 I am not furprifed after this, that, in the confo- 
 lation of the fcriptures, the firft difciples of the 
 gofpel mould forget all the rage of perfecution ; 
 and that unable to bring themfelves to lofe fight 
 of that divine book during life, they mould 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 Chrifl on the day of 
 revelation, as the facred claim by which they were 
 entitled to heavenly riches, and to all the promifes 
 made to the righteous. 
 
 Such are the confolations of believing fouls up- 
 on the earth. How terrible then, my brethren, to 
 
 live 
 
408 SERMON X. 
 
 live far from God under the tyranny of fin ; al- 
 ways 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 paffions ; infupportable to our- 
 felves through the capricioufnefs of our defires ; 
 hated of God through the horrors of our con- 
 science : deprived of the comforts of the facrament, 
 feeing our crimes permit us not to approach it ; 
 deprived of all confolation from the holy books, 
 feeing we find in them only threatenings and ana- 
 themas ; without the refource of prayer, feeing the 
 pra£lice of ir is forbidden, or, at leaft, the habit of 
 it loft by a life wholly diifolute. What then is 
 the finner but the outcaft of heaven and of the 
 earth ! 
 
 Thus, know ye, my brethren, what mall be the 
 regrets of the reprobate on that great day, when 
 to each one (hall be rendered according to his 
 works ? You probably think that they will regret 
 their pad felicity, and fhall fay, " Our days of 
 c< profperity have flipt away like a (hadow, and 
 " that world, in which we had fpent fo many 
 " fweet moments, is now no more : the duration 
 " of our pleafures has been like that of a dream : 
 " our happinefs is flown, but, alas ! our punifh- 
 " ments 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 allur- 
 ed 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 409 
 
 ed by the Spirit of God, they (hall 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 beginning of our mis- 
 fortunes and fufferings ; we weaned ourlelves 
 in the way of 'wickednefs and deflru&ion ; our 
 paffions have always been a thoufand times 
 more intolerable to us than could ever have 
 been the moil auftere virtues ; and we have fuf- 
 fered more in working our own destruction, than 
 would have been neceflary to fecure our falva- 
 tion, 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 purchafed miferies which mud en- 
 dure for ever IV 
 Would you then, my dear hearer, live happy 
 on the earth j live Chriftianly. Piety is univerfal- 
 ly beneficial. Innocence of heart is the fource of 
 true pleafures. Turn to every fide ; there is no 
 reft, fays the Spirit of God, for the wicked. Try 
 every pleafure ; they will never eradicate that dif- 
 eafe of the mind, that fund of latitude and gloom 
 which, go where you will, continually accompanies 
 you. Ceafe then to confider the lot of the godly 
 as a difagreeable and forrowful lot ; judge not of 
 their happinefs from appearances which deceive 
 you. You fee their countenance bedewed with 
 tears ; but you fee not the invifible hand which 
 Vol,. III. 3 F wipes 
 
41© - SERMON X. 
 
 wipes them away : you fee their body groaning 
 under the yoke of penitence ; but you fee not the 
 unction of grace which mollifies it : you fee for- 
 rowful and auiiere manners ; but you fee not a 
 confcience always cheerful and tranquil. They are 
 like the ark in the defert : it appeared covered on- 
 ly with the (kins of animals : the exterior is mean 
 or difgufting ; it is the condition of that melan- 
 choly defert. But, could you penetrate into the 
 heart, into that divine fanctuary ; what new won- 
 ders 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 fervor of the prayers which are continually 
 mounting upwards to the Lord ; the facred fire 
 which is never extinguifhed on that altar ; that 
 filence, that peace, that majefty which reigns 
 there ; and the Lord himfelf, who hath chofen it 
 for his abode, and who hath delighted in it. 
 
 Let their lot infpire you with an holy emulation. 
 It depends wholly on yourfelf to be fimilar to them. 
 They perhaps have formerly been the accomplices 
 of your pleafures ; why could you not become the 
 imitator of their 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 expects 
 you : banim iniquity from your foul, and you will 
 
 banim 
 
THE HAPPINESS OF THE JUST. 4(1 
 
 banifli the fource of all its forrows ; you will enjoy 
 the peace of innocence ; you will live happy upon 
 the earth ; and that temporal happinefs will be 
 only the commencement of a felicity which fhali 
 never fade nor be done away. 
 
 SER- 
 
SERMON XL 
 
 ON THE DISPOSITIONS FOR THE 
 COMMUNION. 
 
 Luke iii. 4. 
 
 Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his fatbs 
 Jiraight. 
 
 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, prepare the way of the Lord 
 who defcends from heaven to vifit and to redeem 
 his people ; make his paths flraight j let the hol- 
 lows be filled up and the mountains levelled j let 
 the crooked ways become flraight and the rugged 
 even. Or, to exprefs the fame meaning without 
 metaphor ; prepare yourfelves, fays fhe to us, to 
 gather the fruit of that grand myflery which we 
 
 are 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 413 
 
 are going to celebrate, by humiliation of heart, 
 meeknefs and charity, rectitude of intention, uni- 
 formity cf living, renunciation of your own wif- 
 dom and of your own righteoufnefs ; mortifying 
 the flefh and humbling the fpirit. 
 
 Allow me to hold the fame language to you 
 Chriftians, my brethren, who, on this folemn oc- 
 cafion, come to purify yourfelves in the peniten- 
 tial tribunals, in order to give a new birth to Jefus 
 Chrift in your hearts, on receiving him at the fa-, 
 cred table : prepare the way of the Lord. The 
 deed you are going to perform is the moft holy 
 act. of religion, and the fource of the moft fpecial 
 favours : undertake it not, therefore, without all 
 the cares and all the precautions 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 dif- 
 ference between the righteous man and the finner, 
 between the foul who diicerns the body of the 
 Lord, and him who treats it as a common food, 
 were he equally to have birth in the heart of all 
 who receive him ? Deceive not yourfelves then, 
 my brethren ; 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 
 
 o 
 
 him, we deprived ourfelves only of thofe favours 
 which follow an holy communion ! Ah ! my bre- 
 thren, 
 
414 SERMON XI. 
 
 thren, unlefs the communion gives birth to Jefus 
 Chrift in our hearts, it brings death to him there ; 
 if it do not render us participators of his fpirit and 
 of his grace, it is the fentence of our condemna- 
 tion ; if it be not a fruit of life to our foul, it is a 
 fruit of death : terrible alternative which ought to 
 excite our fears, but which ought not entirely 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 ftrong, the fup- 
 port of the weak, the confolation of the affli&ed, 
 the pledge of a bleffed immortality : how danger- 
 ous would it then be to abftain from it ? But, infi- 
 nitely more fo would it be to eat it without prepa- 
 ration. On that account I again repeat to you, 
 my deareft brethren, with the church, " Prepare 
 *' the way of the Lord :" let your preparations for 
 receiving him be of long Handing ; banifh from 
 your hearts whatever may offend him j inftrucl: 
 yourfelves in the difpofitions which he exacts of 
 thofe who receive him j ufe every effort to acquire 
 them ; there is no other mean of avoiding the rifk 
 of an unworthy communion, and of attracting Je- 
 fus Chrift into your fouls. 
 
 This is aa important matter, which demands all 
 your attention. On one fide, there is queftion of 
 making you fhun the horrible crime of profaning 
 the body and the adorable blood of Jefus Chrift ; 
 on the other, of inftru&ing you how to reap from 
 the communion all the grace which it is capable 
 
 of 
 
BISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 415 
 
 of bringing forth in our hearts. What, then, are 
 thofe preparations fo eflential towards a profitable 
 and worthy communion ? I reduce them to four, 
 which (hall be the fubject and the divifion of this 
 difcourfe. 
 
 Reflection I. The eucharift is an hidden 
 manna ; it is the food of the ftrong, a fenfible and 
 permanent teftimony of the love of Jefus Chrift, 
 the continuation and the fulfilment of his facrifice. 
 Now, it is necefiary to know how to difcern this 
 hidden manna from common food, left it be taken 
 unworthily : fir ft preparation. It is the food of 
 the ftrong ; we ought, therefore, to examine our- 
 felves before we venture to make ufe of it : fecond 
 preparation. The teftimony of the love of Jefus 
 Chrift ; it can be received, therefore, only in re- 
 membrance of him, that is to fay, in feeling arouf- 
 ed in his prefence every tender and exquifite fen- 
 fation which can be excited by the remembrance 
 of a dear and beloved object : 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 
 refpectful faith which enables us to difcern, a pru- 
 dent faith which makes us to examine, an ardent 
 faith which enables us to love, an exalted faith 
 which makes us to immolate j this is the fummary 
 of the apoftle's doctrine, in relating to us the infti- 
 tution of the eucharift 3 and likewife that of all the 
 
 faints 
 
4l6 SERMON XI. 
 
 faints with regard to the ufe of that adorable fa- 
 crament. 
 
 Flrft preparation : a refpectful faith which makes 
 us to difcern. Think not, my brethren, that I 
 mean here to fpeak of that faith which diftinguifh- 
 es us from unbelievers. Where is the merit of be- 
 lieving when the prejudices of childhood have ac- 
 cuftomed reafon to it, and when belief is, as it 
 were, born with us ? Exertion would even be ne- 
 ceffary to cafl off its yoke ; and, to pafs from faith 
 to error, a greater effort is perhaps required than* 
 to return from error to the truth. 1 fpeak of that 
 lively faith which pierces through the clouds, 
 which furround the throne of the' Lamb ; which 
 fees him not myftically, 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 himfelf 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 ralhly 
 examining into his majefty, is, neverthelefs, over-, 
 powered with its luftre ; which fees the celeftial 
 legions covering themfelves with their wings, and 
 the pillars of the firmament fhaking before this 
 King of terrible majefly : of that faith to which 
 the fenfes could add nothing, and which is bleffed, 
 not beeaufe it believes without feeing, but becaufe 
 it almoft fees in believing. I fpeak of that refpecl:-, 
 ful faith which is feized with a religious trembling 
 
 at 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 417 
 
 at the fole prefence of the fanctuary, which ap- 
 proaches 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, in fear, cries out like Peter, " De- 
 " part from me, for I am a finful man, O Lord." 
 I fpeak of that faith of which the refpect approach- 
 es almoft to dread, and which it is even necefiary 
 to comfort ; which, from the fartheft fpot that it 
 difcovers Jefus Chrift upon the altar, feels an eclat 
 of 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 ftill remain up- 
 on the earth ? Ah ! in vain doft thou ftill manifeft 
 thy prefence to the world ; it knows thee no better 
 than formerly: thy difciples themfelves often know 
 thee but according to the flefh ; and, by being con- 
 ftantly with thee, their eyes become habituated, 
 and almoft no longer difcern thee. When thou 
 fhalt fhew thyfelf in the heavens upon a bright 
 cloud, men mail be confumed with terror, and the 
 impious mail feek to hide themfelves in the deep- 
 ed caverns, and mail entreat the mountains to co- 
 ver their heads : ah ! art thou not the fame in the 
 fancluary as upon a cloud of glory ? Are the hea- 
 vens not opened above thee ? When the prieft pro- 
 nounces the awful words, do not the heavenly fpi- 
 
 Vot. III. 3 G rits 
 
418 SERMON XI. 
 
 rits come down from heaven to officiate as thy fer- 
 vants, and to furround thee with their homages ? 
 Doft thou not judge men upon that myfterious tri- 
 bunal, and call looks of difcernment upon that 
 multitude of worfhippers which fills thy temples ? 
 Doll thou not feparate the goats from the fheep ? 
 Doft thou not there pronounce fentences of life 
 and death ? In one hand doft thou not hold thy 
 wrath, and in the other crowns ? Doft thou not 
 feparate me there, and ftamp, with an invifible 
 hand, upon my forehead the mark of my election 
 or of my eternal reprobation ? Alas ! and, while 
 thou art perhaps condemning me, I have the pre- 
 emption to draw near ; while thou art calling me 
 off from before thee, I boldly prefent myfelf there; 
 while thou perhaps layeft open the abyfs to mark 
 out my place, I impudently come to take it at thy 
 table ; while thou perhaps art ranging me with the 
 children of 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 ftain, 
 which breaks the feven feals of the book of death, 
 is the laft feal which fills up and clofes that of mine 
 iniquities ; and thou, who fhouldft be my Saviour, 
 becomeft my guilt. 
 
 Ah ! my brethren, God could not be feen in 
 former times without inftant death being the con- 
 fequence. A whole people of Bethfhamites was 
 exterminated for having only too curioufly exa- 
 mined the ark : the angel of the Lord covers He- 
 
 liodorus 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 419 
 
 iiodorus with wounds, becaufe he had dared to 
 enter into the fanctuary of Jerufalem : the Israel- 
 ites in the defert were not permitted even to ap- 
 proach the holy mountain from whence the Lord 
 gave out his law ; the thunders of heaven defend- 
 ed its accefs ; terror and death every where pre- 
 ceded the face of the God of Abraham. What ! 
 becaufe whirlwinds of fire no longer burft forth to 
 punifh the intruders and the profaners of our fanc- 
 tuaries, refpecl: and dread no longer accompany us 
 there ! Weak men, over whom the fenfes have 
 fuch dominion, and who are never religious but 
 when the God whom they worfhip is clotlied in 
 terror ! For, fay, were we to difcern the body of 
 the Lord ; did the faith of his prefence make thofe 
 grand impreffions upon us which it would un- 
 doubtedly do were we openly to fee him; ah! 
 would we tranquilly and almoft unfeelingly come 
 to feat ourfelves at his table ? Should a few mo- 
 ments, employed in reciting, with a languid heart 
 and an abfent mind, fome flight formula, prepare 
 us for an action fo awful ? Should a communion, 
 be the bufmefs of an idle morning perhaps gained 
 from a cuflomary (lumber, or the vain cares of 
 drefs ? Ah ! the thoughts of it mould long previ- 
 oufly occupy and affect us : time mould even be 
 neceffary to ftrengthen us, if I may venture to fay 
 fo, againft our own feelings of refpecl:, and againfh 
 the idea of his majefty : the days previous to this 
 facred feitival fhould be days of retirement, of fi- 
 
 lence ? 
 
42© SERMON XI. 
 
 lence, of prayer, and of mortification : every day 
 which brings us nearer to that bleffed term, ihould 
 witnefs the increafe of our anxieties, our fears, 
 our joy. The thoughts of it mould be mingled 
 with all our affairs, all our converfations, all our 
 meals, all our relaxations, and even with our fleep 
 itfelf : our mind, filled with faith, ihould feel its 
 inability to pay attention to any thing elfe ; we 
 ihould no longer perceive but Jefus Chrifk : that 
 image alone mould 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 perhaps the law, require his prefence 
 at the altar. But, O my God ! thou who fathom- 
 ed thefe troubled hearts, are fuch thofe religious 
 terrors of faith which fhould accompany an hum- 
 ble creature to thy altar? Ah! it is a fadnefs which 
 operates death j thefe are inquietudes which fpring 
 from the embarraffments of a confcience which re- 
 quires to be cleared. They are gloomy and fad, 
 like the young man of the gofpel, whom thou or- 
 deredft to follow thee : they dread thefe bleffed 
 days as fatal days : they look upon, as dark and 
 gloomy myfteries, 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 gofpel : that is to fay, that the laws of thy 
 church mull drag thefe faithlefs fouls, as if by 
 force, from the public places, from the pleafures 
 
 of 
 
BISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 42 I 
 
 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 pomble, 
 this religious duty ; the fole thought of it empoi- 
 fons all their pleafures. Thou feed thefe unbeliev- 
 ing fouls dragging on the load of a wavering con- 
 science ; long hefitating betwixt their duties and 
 their paffions ; foftening at laft, by the choice of 
 an indulgent confeflbr, the bitternefs of this ftep ; 
 appearing before thee, O God, who becomeft their 
 nourifhment in this myftery of love, with as much 
 reluctance as if they went to face an enemy ; and, 
 perhaps, in the courfe of a whole year, experien- 
 cing no other circumftance to grieve them than 
 that of receiving a God who gives himfelf to them. 
 Ah ! Lord, therefore, thou invifibly rejected thefe 
 guilty victims who oblige themfelves to be drag- 
 ged by force to the altar, thou who willed none 
 but voluntary Sacrifices : therefore, thou reluctant- 
 ly givefl thyfelf to thefe ungrateful hearts who un- 
 willingly receive thee ; and, wert thou (till capable 
 of being troubled in the fpirit, as thou permitted!!: 
 to be vifible over the tomb of Lazarus, ah ! we mould 
 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 deared brethren, 
 that the faith which makes us to difcern the body 
 
422 SERMON XI. 
 
 of Jefus Chrift is very rare. We believe, but 
 with a fuperficial faith, which only (kirns the fur- 
 face, as 1 may fay, without entering into the effi- 
 cacy and the myfteries of this facrament : we be- 
 lieve, but with an indolent faith, which grounds 
 its whole merit in fubmitting without opposition : 
 we believe, but with an inconftant faith, which 
 profeffes 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 po- 
 pular faith, which leaves us only weak and puerile 
 ideas : we believe, but with a fuperftitious faith, 
 which tends to nothing but vain and external ho- 
 mages : we believe, but with a faith merely of cuf- 
 tom, which feels nothing : we believe, but with an 
 infipid faith, which no longer difcerns : we believe, 
 but with a convenient faith, which is never follow- 
 ed with any effects : we believe, but with an igno- 
 rant faith, which fails either in refped through fa- 
 miliarity, or in love through its backwardnefs : we 
 believe, but with a faith which enchains the mind, 
 and leaves the heart to wander : laftly, we believe, 
 fcut with a tranquil and vulgar faith, in which there 
 is nothing cither animated, grand, fublime, or 
 worthy of the God which it difcovers to us. Ah ! 
 to difcern thy body, Lord, through faith, it is to 
 prefer this heavenly bread to all the luxuries of 
 Egypt ; it is to render it the only confolation of 
 our exilement, the tendered foother of our fuffer- 
 
 ings, 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 423 
 
 ngs, the facred remedy of all our evils, the conti- 
 nual defire of our fouls ; it is, through it, to find 
 ferenity under all the frowns of fortune, peace in 
 all our troubles, and equanimity under all the 
 flings of adverfity ; it is to find in it an affylum a- 
 gainfl our difgraces, a buckler to repel the flam- 
 ing darts of Satan, a renovated ardour againfl the 
 unavoidable lukewarmnefles of piety. To difcern 
 thy body, Lord, it is to devote more cares, more 
 attention, and more circumfpection towards wor- 
 thily receiving thee, than to all the other actions 
 of life. To difcern thy body, Lord, it is to ref- 
 pect the temples in which thou art worfhipped, the 
 minifters who ferve thee, and our bodies which 
 receive thee. Let every man examine himfelf, 
 let him thereupon liften to the teftimony of his 
 own confcience ; and this is the fecond prepara- 
 tion, a prudent faith, which makes us to prove 
 ourfelves : let a man examine himfelf. 
 
 Reflection II. I know that we are unac- 
 quainted with our own heart : that the mind of 
 man is not always informed of what takes place in 
 man : that the paffions feduce, examples harden, 
 and prejudices drag us away j that our inclinations 
 are always victorious over our lights ; that the 
 heart is never in the wrong ; that, to examine one's 
 felf, is frequently only to harden one's felf in er- 
 ror. Such is man, O my God ! delivered up to 
 his own underftanding : he is continually deceived, 
 and nothing appears to his eyes but under fictiti- 
 ous 
 
424 SERMON XI. 
 
 ous colours : he but imperfectly 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 direct his judgments, 
 open the eyes of his foul, become the reafon of his 
 heart, teach him to know himfelf, lay open the 
 folds of felf-love, expofe all the artifices of the paf- 
 ftons, and exalt him to that fpiritual man, who 
 conceives and judges of all. By the rules of 
 faith, then, my brethren, rauft we examine our- 
 felves ; all human doctrines, the mollifications of 
 cuftom, the examples of the multitude, our own 
 underftanding, are all deceitful guides : if ever it 
 was of importance not to be deceived, it furely is 
 in a conjuncture where facrilege is the confe- 
 quence of miflake. 
 
 But upon what mall we examine ourfelves ? 
 Upon what ! Upon the holinefs of this facrament, 
 and upon our own corruption. It is the body of 
 Jefus Chrift, it is the bread of angels, it is the 
 Lamb without flain, 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 ? 
 Bringeft thou there thy modefty, thine innocence ? 
 Haft thou always poflefled the veffel of thy body 
 in honour and in holinefs ? Hath thy heart not 
 
 been 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 425 
 
 been dragged through the filth of a thoufand paf- 
 fions ? In the fight of God, is not thy foul that 
 blackened brand of which the prophet Ipeaks, 
 which impure flames had blafted and confumed 
 from thine earlieft years, and which is no longer 
 but a mocking veftige 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 reit upon thy tongue ; that 
 pure and immaculate body upon a tomb which 
 hath never exhaled but infection and flench ; that 
 body immolated with fo much gentlenefs upon the 
 inftrument of all thy vengeances and bitternefs ; 
 that crucified body on the feat of all thy fenfuali- 
 ties and debauches. What ! he (hall defcend to 
 thy heart ? But will he therein find where to re- 
 pofe 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 plea- 
 fures, profane attachments, ambitious projects, 
 emotions of hatred, of jealoufy, and of pride ; it 
 is amidft all thefe monfters that thou haft prepar- 
 ed his dwelling-place? Ah! thou delivered him 
 up to his enemies, thou once more putteft him in- 
 to the hands of his executioners. 
 
 You have examined yourfelves, fay you to me. 
 Before drawing near you have made your con- 
 feflion. Ah ! my brethren, and, with the fame 
 mouth from which you have fo lately vented all 
 
 Vol. III. 3 H your 
 
426 SERMON XI. 
 
 your iniquities, you go to receive Jefus Chrift ? 
 And, the heart dill reeking with a ihoufand illex- 
 tinguiflied paffions, and which to-morrow (hall 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 (till 
 ftained with the ideas of fhofe recent excefles 
 which you have jufl been recounting to the pried, 
 you go to eat of the pure bread of the chofen ? 
 What ! on your departure from the tribunal the 
 communion, in your eyes, fupplies the place, and 
 anfwers the purpofes of penitence ? From guilt 
 you rufh headlong to the altar ? In place of dif- 
 folving in tears with the penitent, you come to re- 
 joice with the righteous ? In place of nourishing 
 yoirrfelf with the bread of tribulation, you run to 
 a delicious feaft ? In place of lingering at the gate 
 of the temple, like the publican, you confidently 
 draw near to the holy of holies ? In former times, 
 a penitent came not to the table of the Lord but 
 after whole years of humiliation, of abftinence, of 
 prayer, and of aufterity, and they purified them- 
 felves in tears, in grief, and in the public exercifes 
 of a painful difcipline : they became new men ; an 
 heart-felt regret was the only -veflige of their 
 former life : no traces of their pafl crimes were to 
 be recognifed but in the grace of penitence, and 
 of the macerations which, at lad, had expiated 
 them j and the eucharifl; was that heavenly bread 
 which no man, a finner, then eat but with the 
 
 fweat 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 427 
 
 fweat of his brow. And, at prefent, to have con- 
 feffed crimes is believed to have already puniih- 
 ed them ; that an abfolution, which is only given 
 under the fuppofition of an humbled and contrite 
 heart, actually 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 infection of their fores. Unworthy 
 communions, my brethren ; you eat and you drink 
 your damnation : in vain may we comfort you ; 
 can man juflify when God condemns ? 
 
 Befides, it is pure and without leaven ; it re- 
 quires to be exempted from leaven to eat of it : 
 now, candidly, have thofe worldly perfons, whom 
 the circumstances of a folemnity determine to ap- 
 proach the holy table, quitted the old leaven in 
 prefenting themfelves at the altar ? Do they not 
 bring along with them every paffion Mill living in 
 its roots ? Judge thereof from the confequences. 
 On their departure from thence they find them- 
 felves exactly the fame ; hatreds are not extinguifh- 
 ed, the empire of voluptuoufnefs is not weakened, 
 animation in the purfuit of pleafures is not blunt- 
 ed, inclination for the world is not lefs violent ; in 
 a word, cupidity has loft nothing of its rights. We 
 fee no greater precautions than before againft dan- 
 gers already encountered : the fociety of the world 
 again refumes its influence ; converfations are re- 
 newed ; the paffions awaken ; every thing refumes 
 its former train, and, in addition to their former 
 
 ftate, 
 
428 SERMON XI. 
 
 ftate, they have now to add the profanation of this 
 awful myflery. How is this ? It is that a fimple 
 confeilion 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 firft 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 iirft pleafure ftifles ; who, from his 
 earlieft years, has been in the alternate practice of 
 weaknefFes and holy things, and who has feen a 
 conftant fuccefTion of crimes to repentance, and of 
 the facrament to relapfes : is a foul of this defcrip- 
 tion a ftrong foul ? Is it not its duty to examine it- 
 felf, to increafe, to ftrengthen, and to exercife it- 
 felf in charity ? Scarcely in a (late to digeft milk, 
 ought it to load itfelf with folid food, and fuch as 
 can ferve the purpofes of nourifhment only to the 
 perfect man ? 
 
 It is written in the law that, if the fin-offering 
 be placed in an earthen veffel, the veffel mail im- 
 mediately be broken ; but, if in a brazen veffel, it 
 mall be both fcoured and rinfed in water. Would 
 thefe circumftances, fo carefully and minutely 
 marked, be worthy of the holy Spirit, did they not 
 contain inftructions and myfteries ,? Doth not a 
 weak foul, who receives the true victim, refemble 
 
 that 
 
BISP0S1TI0NS FOR THE COMMUNION. 429' 
 
 that earthen veflel which falls in pieces, as I may 
 fay, being unable to endure the violence of this fa- 
 cred fire ? On the contrary, the firm foul, like the 
 brafs, is purified, lofes in it all its flains, and comes 
 out from it more beautiful and brilliant than be- 
 fore. What is the coniequence, according to Je- 
 fus Chrift, of putting new wine into old bottles ; 
 do they not burft, and allow the wine to be loft 
 upon the ground ? What is the application cf this 
 parable ? You put the myftical wine, that wine 
 whofe ftrength operates an holy intoxication in 
 pure fouls, into a decayed and worn-out heart, 
 which long eftabliihed paffions have almoft con- 
 fumed. Ah ! I am not furprifed that it is unable 
 to endure its ftrength, that the blood of Jefus 
 Chrift cannot tarry there, and that, on the firit oc- 
 canon, you ftied and trample it under foot ; it re- 
 quired to have gradually accuftomed your heart to 
 it, to have prepared it by retirement, by prayer, 
 by daily conquefts over yourfelf ; and, through the 
 means of thefe continued and faiutary trials, to 
 have ftrengthened and rendered it capable of re- 
 ceiving Jefus Chrift. 
 
 It is the pafTover of Chriftians: now, Jefus Chrift 
 celebrates his parTover with his difciples alone. 
 
 Now, what is it to be his difciples ? It is to re- 
 nounce one's felf, to carry his c*rofs, to follow him. 
 Are you mortified in your defires, patient under 
 your afflictions ? Do you walk in the ways in 
 which Jefus Chrift hath walked before you ? To 
 
 be 
 
430 Sermon xr. 
 
 be his difciples is mutually to love each other; and 
 how often have you come to eat of this bread of 
 union, how often have you made your appearance 
 at this banquet of charity, your heart inwardly 
 loaded with gall and bitternefs againft your bro- 
 ther ? How often have you come to offer up your 
 prefent at the altar without having reconciled your- 
 felf with him ? 
 
 Laftly, It is a God fo pure, that the ftars are 
 dimmed in his prefence ; fo holy, that, after the 
 fall of the angel, heaven was rent and the abyfs o- 
 pened that he might place an eternal chaos be- 
 tween fin and him ; fo jealous, that a fmgle wan- 
 dering defire injures and offends him. Thus, my 
 brethren, it is neceffary that you examine your- 
 fdves upon your own inclination? : are not thofe 
 defires of the age, of which the apoftle fpeaks, it ill 
 iiourifhed 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 Chritl, and to con- 
 vert it into my own fubitance ; but, when he fhall 
 have entered into my foul, he who knows and 
 difcerns its intentions and mod fecret inclinations, 
 will he find nothing there unworthy of the fancn- 
 ty of his prefence ? He will immediately proceed 
 to the fpring and to the caufes of my wanderings - % 
 he will examine whether their fource be dried up, 
 or their courfe only fufpendcd ; he will perceive 
 what are flill the dominant inclinations of my 
 foul, and what is the weight which ffiil turns the 
 
 balance 
 
DISPOSITIONS OT THE COMMUNION. 43 I 
 
 balance of my heart ; Alas ! will he be enabled to 
 fay, as formerly when entering into the houfe oi - 
 Zaccheus, " This day is falvation come to this 
 " houfe r" Have I fincerely cad off that pafTion 
 fo fatal to my innocence ; that bitternefs of heart 
 of which I have fo lately expreffed my deteftation 
 at the feet of the prieft ; that idolifing of riches 
 which leads me to grafp at even iniquitous profits ; 
 that madnefs of gaming by which my health, my af- 
 fairs, and my falvation are injured ; that vexatious 
 and variable temper which the flighted contradic- 
 tion inflames ; that vanity which leads me to foar 
 above the rank in which my anceflors had left me; 
 that envy which, with malignant eyes, has always 
 viewed the reputation and the profperity of my e- 
 quals ; that proud and cenforious air which judges 
 upon all, and never judges itfelf; that fupreme in- 
 fluence over me of effeminacy and voluptuoufnefs, 
 which are, as it were, interwoven with the founda- 
 tion and principle of my being ? Has the avowal, 
 which I come from making, of my weaknefles, to 
 the minifter of Jefus Chriit, 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 ami fo, O 
 my God ? Do I not bear the name of living, though 
 flill, in effect, 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 ? InftrucT: me, Lord, and fuffer not that 
 
 thy 
 
432 SERMON XI. 
 
 thy Chrifl, that thy holy defcend into corruption, 
 Such, my brethren, is the way to examine our- 
 felves. The Lord had formerly -forbidden the 
 Jews to offer up honey and leaven in the facrifi- 
 ces : 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 effe- 
 minate and fenfual chara&er, enemy of the crofs, 
 and incompatible with falvation. Approach not, 
 if you do not feel yourfelf fufficiently pure : this 
 holy body, fays the prophet, would not purge your 
 iniquity, it would only increafe it ; your religion 
 would be vain, your heart idolatrous, your facri- 
 fice a facrilege. 
 
 Examine, therefore, yourfelf, and afterwards eat 
 of the heavenly bread. But we are not to flop at 
 the fimply difcerning and examining. Hitherto 
 you have only removed the obfta'cles ; but you 
 have not fettled the laft preparations : you have 
 lopt off whatever might repel Jefus Chrifl: from 
 your foul ; but you have not acquired what might 
 attract him to it : you have arranged fo as not to 
 receive him unworthily ; but you have not fo as 
 to receive him with fruit : it is not fufficient to be 
 free from guilt ; it is neceffary to be clothed with 
 righteoufnefs and fanclity : it is little not to betray 
 him like Judas ; it is neceffary to love him with 
 the other difciples : it is little, in a word, to be 
 no longer profane, worldly, voluptuous, effemi- 
 nate, 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 433 
 
 nate, proud, and revengeful ; it is necefiary to be 
 fcdate, meek, humble, firm, chafte, believing, Chrif- 
 tian. " As oft as ye do this do it in remembrance 
 " of me :" this is the third difpofnion to commu- 
 nicate in remembrance of Jefus Chrift. 
 
 Reflection III. What is it to communicate in 
 remembrance of Jefus Chrili ? It is, in the jirjl 
 place, internally to defcribe all. that pafled in the 
 heart of Jefus Chrift in indituting this adorable 
 facramcnt. •' With defire," faid he to his difciples, 
 " I have defired to eat this paffover with you be- 
 " fore I fuffer." He fighed for that blefled mo- 
 ment ; he never loft fight of it ; in the remem- 
 brance of it he was comforted for all the bittcrnefs 
 of his paflion. What did he thereby mean to 
 teach us ? Ah ! that we ought to bring to this di- 
 vine table an heart enflamed, penetrated, confum- 
 ed ; an eager, earned, and impatient heart ; an 
 hunger and a third after Jefus Chrift ; an inclina- 
 tion roufcd by love : in a word, what I have term- 
 ed a burning defire which impels us to love. This 
 bread, faid a father, requires a famiftied heart. 
 Ah ! Lord, fays then the believing foul with St 
 Auguftin, who will give me that thou mayft enter 
 into my heart to take poireflion 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 ; there to conftitute my pureft delights ; lo fhed 
 through it a thoufand inward confolations ; to fa- 
 tiate, to gladden it, to make me forget my mife- 
 
 Vol. III. 3 I ries, 
 
434 SERMON XI. 
 
 ries, mine anxieties, my vain pleafures, all man- 
 kind, the whole univerfe, and to leave me wholly 
 to thee, to enjoy thy prefence, thy converfation, 
 and all the delights which thou prepared for thofe 
 who love thee ? Perhaps, Lord, the tenement of 
 my foul is net yet fufficiently embellifhed to re- 
 ceive thee ; but come and be thyfelf all its orna- 
 ment. Perhaps thou perceived ftains which repel 
 thee from it ; but thy divine touch will purify 
 them all. Perhaps thou difcoverefl invifible ene- 
 mies flill there ; but art not thou the mighty ? 
 Thy fole prefence will difperfe them, and peace 
 alone will reign there when once thou fhalt be in 
 pofleffion 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 
 flamed with the blemifhes of its former infideli- 
 ties ; but thy blood will wafh them entirely out. 
 Come, Lord, and tarry not ; every bleffing will at- 
 tend me with thee : defpifed, persecuted, afflicted, 
 defpoiled, calumniated, I will confider as nothing 
 my forrows from the moment that thou fhalt come 
 to alleviate them : honoured, favoured, exalted, 
 furrounded with abundance, thefe vain profperities 
 will ceafe to interefl me, will appear as nothing 
 from the moment thou fhalt have made me to tafte 
 how fweet thou art. Such are the defires which 
 ought to lead us to the altar. 
 
 But, alas ! many bring there only a criminal 
 difgufl and repugnance : occafions are required to 
 
 induce 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 435 
 
 induce them to determine upon it ; of themfelves 
 they would never have thought of it. But, what 
 do I fay, occafions ? Thunders and anathemas are 
 required. Good God ! that the church mould be 
 reduced, through the lukewarmnefs of ChrilHans, 
 to make a law to them of participating in thy body 
 and in thy blood ! That penalties and threatenings 
 mould be required to lead them to thy altar, and 
 to oblige them to feat themfelves at thy table ! 
 That the Chriftian's only felicity upon earth mould 
 be a painful precept to him ! That the moil glori- 
 ous privilege with which men can be favoured by 
 thee fhould be an irkfome reftraint to them ! O- 
 thers approach it with an heavy heart, a pallid ap- 
 petite, a foul wholly of ice : people who live in the 
 commerce of pleafures and of the facrament j who 
 participate at the table of Satan and at that of Je- 
 fus Chrift ; who have dated days for the Lord and 
 days alloted for the age : people to whom a com- 
 munion cofls only a day of reftraint and referva- 
 tion ; who, on that day, neither gamble, mew 
 themfelves, fee company, nor fpeak evil. But this 
 exertion goes no further ; all devotion ceafes with 
 the folemnity ; it is a deed of ceremony ; after this 
 fhort fufpenfion they are at eafe with themfelves j 
 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 of profane : the facrament calms us upon 
 pleafures ; pleafures to be more tranquil on the 
 
 fide 
 
436 SERMON XI. 
 
 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 cloyed with the amufements and the delights 
 of the age, with the embarraflments of affairs, with 
 the tumult of the paffions : they feel not the inef- 
 fable fweets "of this heavenly food ; they retrace, 
 even at the foot of the throne of grace, the images 
 of thofe pleafures they have io lately left : interelts 
 which occupy us, projects which puzzle us, ideas 
 which force us from the altar to drag us back to 
 the world, make much deeper imprefiions upon 
 the heart than the prefence of Jefus Chri(t. But 
 is it not, Lord, ae-ainft thofe monfters of Chriflians 
 that thy prophet, incenfed, formerly faid to thee, 
 " Ah ! Lord, let thy table become a fnare before 
 " them; and that which mould have been for 
 " their welfare, let it become a trap." 
 
 In the fecond place, to communicate in remem- 
 brance of Jefus Chrift, is to with to awaken, 
 through the prefence of this facred pledge, every 
 impreilion which his memory can make upon an 
 heart which loves him. The firmed bonds are 
 locfened by abfence: Jefus Chrift well forefaw that, 
 afcending up to heaven, his difciples would infen- 
 fibly forget his kindnef'es and his divine inftruc- 
 tions. Alas ! Mofes remains only forty days upon 
 the mountain, and already the Ifraelites ceafe to 
 remember the miracles that he had wrought to de- 
 liver them from Egypt. We wot not, laid they 
 
 among 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 437 
 
 among themfelves, what is become of this Mofes, 
 the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt; 
 let us make gods who (hall go before and defend 
 us againfl our enemies. Jefus Chrift, to guard a- 
 gainfl thefe inconftancies of the human heart, wifh- 
 ed, in afcending to the heavenly Sion, to leave us 
 a pledge of his prefence : it is there that he wifhes 
 we Ihould come to confole ourfeives for his fenfi- 
 ble abfence ; it is there "that we ought to find a 
 more lively remembrance of his wonders, of his 
 doctrine, of his kindnefTes, of his divine perfon ; it 
 is there that, under myfterious figns, we come to fee 
 him born at Bethlehem, brought up at Nazareth, 
 holding difcourfe with men, and traverfing the ci- 
 ties of Judea, working figns and miracles which no 
 one before him had ever done, calling as followers 
 rude difciples, in order to make them mailers of 
 the world, confounding the hypocrify of the Pha- 
 rifees, announcing falvation to men, paving marks 
 every where of his power and goodnefs, entering 
 in triumph into Jerufalem, led to mount Calvary, 
 expiring upon a crofs, conqueror of death aad of 
 hell, leading with him into heaven thofe who were 
 captives as the trophies of his victory, and forming 
 afterwards his church with the overflowing of his 
 fpirit and the abundance of his gifts ; in a word, 
 we (hall there find him in all his myfteries. 
 
 You €nvy, faid St Chryfoftom, the lot of a wo- 
 man who touches his garments, of a fmfui one 
 who bathes hib feet with her tears, of the women 
 
 of 
 
43$ SERMON XI. 
 
 of Galilee who had the happinefs to follow and to 
 ferve him in the courfe of his miniftry, of his dif- 
 ciples with whom he familiarly converfed, of the 
 people of thofe times who liftened to the words of 
 grace and of falvation which proceeded from his 
 mouth ; you call bleffed thofe who faw him ; ma- 
 ny prophets and kings have vainly wifhed it ; but 
 you, my brethren, come to the altars and you mall 
 fee him ; you mail touch him ; you fhall give him 
 an holy kifs, you fhall bathe him with your tears, 
 and your bowels mall bear him even like thofe of 
 Mary. Alas ! our fathers went into the holy land 
 to worfhip the traces of his feet, and the places 
 that he had confecrated with his prefence. Here, 
 they were told, he propofed the parable of the 
 good fhepherd and the loft fheep ; here he recon- 
 ciled an adulterefs ; here he comforted a linful 
 xvoman ; here he fanctified the marrisge and rhe 
 ieaft with his prefence ; here he multiplied the 
 loaves to fill a famifhed multitude ; here he chec- 
 ked his difciples who wanted to bring 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 to drive them away ; here he 
 reftored fight to the blind, made the lame to walk, 
 delivered thofe poffeffed with devils, made the 
 dumb to fpeak, and the deaf to hear. At thefe 
 words our fathers felt themfelves tranfported with 
 an holy joy ; they (bed tears of tende* ;itfs and of 
 
 religion 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 439 
 
 religion upon that bleffed land ; this fight, thefe 
 images, carried them back to the times, to the ac- 
 tions, to the myfleries of Jefus Chrifl:, infpired 
 them with frefh ardour, and confoled their faith j 
 finners found there a fweet truft, the weak a new 
 force, and the righteous new defires. 
 
 Ah ! Chriflians ; 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 wifli it, upon your 
 mouth and in your heart : open the eyes of faith, 
 behold thefe altars ; they are not places confecrat- 
 ed formerly with the prefence, it is Jefus Chrifl 
 himfelf: approach in remembrance of him j come 
 to rekindle all that your heart hath ever felt of 
 tender, affecting, and lively, for this divine Savi- 
 our. Let the remembrance of his meeknefs, which 
 would not permit him to break the reed already 
 bruifed, nor to extinguifh the yet glimmering lamp, 
 quiet your tranfports and your impatiencies : let 
 the remembrance of his toils and of his trouble- 
 fome life overwhelm you for your effeminacy : let 
 the remembrance of his modefty and of his humi- 
 lity, which made him fly when they wanted to 
 make him king, cure you of your vanities, of your 
 fchemes, of your frivolous pretenfions : let the re- 
 membrance of his fall for forty days reproach you 
 for your fenfualities : let the remembrance of his 
 zeal againft the profaners of the temple teach you 
 with what refpecl, and with what holy dread you 
 ©ught to enter there : let the remembrance of the 
 
 fimplicity 
 
44® SERMON XI. 
 
 fimpliclty and the frugality of his manners con- 
 demn the vain fuperfluities and the exceffes -of 
 yours : let the remembrance of his retirement and 
 of his prayers 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 indifpenfi- 
 ble practice of prayer : let the remembrance of his 
 tender compaflion for a famifhed people give you 
 bowels of commiferation for the unfortunate : let 
 the remembrance of his holy difcourfes teach you 
 to convene innocently, holily, and profitably with 
 men : in a word, let the remembrance of all his 
 virtues, there more lively, more prefent to the 
 heart and to the mind, correct you of all your 
 weakneffes : this is what is called to communicate 
 in remembrance of him. 
 
 But, to bring continually to the altar the fame 
 weakneffes ; to familiarife ourfelves in fuch a man- 
 ner with the body of Jefus Chrift, that it no long- 
 er awakens in us a new fentirnent, but leaves us 
 always fuch as we are ; to nouriih ourfelves with 
 a divine food, yet not to increafe ; frequently to 
 approach this burning furnace without any addi- 
 tional heat to your lukewarmnefs ; to appear there 
 with faults an hundred times detefted yet ftill dear, 
 with habits of imperfection, which, though light in 
 themfelves, are no longer fo, however, through the 
 attachment and the bent which render them ine- 
 vitable to us, and through the circumftance of the 
 facrament which there is the rifk of profaning ; to 
 
 make 
 
BISP0SITIONS OF THE COMMUNION. 44I 
 
 make profefiion of piety, of eftrangement from the 
 world, to be almoft every day in the commerce of 
 holy things, and to have determined, as ic were, 
 upon a limited point of virtue beyond which never 
 to rife, and, after ten years exercife of piety, to be 
 no farther advanced than 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 alteration for the better in the difeafe ; 
 to heap facrament upon facrament, if I jmay dare 
 to fay fo, yet never to empty the heart in order to 
 make room for this heavenly food j to nourim en- 
 vies, animofities, fecret attachments, a fund of fen- 
 fuality, of vain defires to pleafe, to be courted, to 
 be profperous ; to permit, in converfation, the ha- 
 bit of witticifms and every freedom of fpeech upon 
 others, of endiefs nothings, of fentiments wholly 
 profane, of quibbles which wound fmcerity, of con- 
 cealments by which falfehood becomes familiar, 
 of haftinefles and burfts of paflion ; to be jealous to 
 an extreme wherever felf is concerned ; to rife in- 
 dignant at the fmalleir. appearance of neglect, and 
 to be incapable of digefting a fingle difobliging 
 gefture ; and yet, with all this, to feed upon the 
 bread of angels ; O my God ! how much lefs 
 than this ought to make us tremble ! 
 
 But, is it to eat of this bread unworthily, to eat 
 it with fo many imperfections and weaknefTes ? 
 "Who knows this, O Lord, but thee ? All that we 
 know is, that it is not communicating in remem- 
 
 Vol. III. 3 K vbrance 
 
44^ SERMON XI. 
 
 brance of thee ; that many rightecufneffes fliall ap- 
 pear in thy fight, at the great day, as a foiled cloth; 
 that many, who had even prophefied in thy name, 
 (hall be rejected ; and that every thing is to be 
 dreaded in this ftate. Peter is not admitted to thy 
 fupper till after thou hadfl warned his feet ; never- 
 thelefs, thou aiiureft us that he was altogether pure. 
 Magdalene is fent away, and thou fayed unto her, 
 " Woman, touch me not," becaufe a too fenfible 
 affection was the caufe of her eagernefs ; and, ne- 
 verthelefs, her love had been great, and me had 
 warned thy facred feet and her own fins with her 
 tears. And we, Lord, full of wants, empty of fin- 
 cere fruits of penitence, made up wholly of effe- 
 minacy and fenfualities, lukewarm and without de- 
 fire, fixed in a certain (late of languifhing and im- 
 perfect piety, more fuftained by habitude and the 
 engagements of an holy profeffion 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, unrepented of, multiplied to infinity, 
 and which are as the fhoot upon which a thoufand 
 new profanations are afterwards grafted ! What 
 gulphs, once more ! And what terrible fecrets mall 
 thy light make manifeft 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 ad- 
 mits not of thofe middle ftates of virtue which 
 hold, as it were, a mid way betwixt innocence and 
 
 guilt ; 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 443 
 
 guilt ; if not a faint, I am a monfter ; if not a vef- 
 fel of honour, I am a veifel of fhame ; if not an 
 angel of light, there is no room to hefitate, I am 
 an angel of darknefs ; and, if not a living temple 
 of thy fpirir, I muft be its profaner. Good God ! 
 what powerful motives for vigilance, for felf-ex- 
 amination, for circumfpeclion, for approaching 
 thine altars with trembling ; for humility, tears, 
 and compunction, while waiting the manifeftation 
 of thine adorable judgments ! But ftill, my bre- 
 thren, it is not enough to communicate in remem- 
 brance of Jefus Chrift ; and, in order to retrace 
 his life, it is likewife neceffary, and this is the lad 
 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 us to facrifice. 
 
 Reflection IV. As oft as you fhall eat of the 
 body and drink of the blood of the Lord, you will 
 mew his death until the kingdom of God fhall 
 come. How this ? Literally fpeaking his death is 
 mewn, becaufe this myftery was a prelude to his 
 paffion ; becaufe Judas there determined to betray 
 him ; becaufe Jefus Chrift, eager to undergo that 
 baptifm of blood with which he was to be baptif- 
 ed, anticipated its fulfilment, and facrificed himfelf 
 beforehand by the myftical feparation of his body 
 and of his blood ; becaufe the eucharift is the per- 
 manent facrifice of the church, the fruit and the 
 fulnefs of that of the crofs : laftly, becaufe Jefus 
 
 Chrift 
 
444 SERMON XI. 
 
 Chrift is there as in a ftate 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 juft man, fhews 
 the death of the Lord as oft as he eats of 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 inftitu- 
 tion, and not a difpofition for approaching it. 
 Now, the defign of the apoflle here, is to prevent 
 the abufes, to inftrucl: believers how to eat worthi- 
 ly of the body of the Lord, to explain to them, in 
 the myfteries contained in this facrament, the dif- 
 pofitions which it requires. There is a way, there- 
 fore, of fhewing the death of the Lord, which 
 mould be wholly in our hearts, which difpofes and 
 prepares us, which fits the fituation of our foul to 
 the nature of this myftery, which makes us to bear 
 upon our body the mortification of Jefus Chrift, 
 which immolates and crucifies us with him. Let 
 us refume the reafons we have touched upon, and 
 change the letter into fpirit. 
 
 i/?/y, The death of the Lord is fhewn, becaufe 
 this myftery was a prelude to his paffion. In for- 
 mer times the eucharift was a prelude to martyr- 
 dom. From the moment that the rage of the ty- 
 rant was declared, and the perfecution 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 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 445 
 
 when they had before their eyes the beloved pledge 
 of their immortality : they even defired it ; and 
 the ineffable confolations which the prefence of 
 Jefus Chrift, hidden under myflical veils, already 
 med through their foul, made them to long for 
 that torrent of delight with which he will over- 
 flow his chofen when they fhall behold him face 
 to face. Were they dragged to prifon, and, like 
 felons, loaded with irons, they of whom the world 
 was unworthy; they carefully concealed the divine 
 eucharift in their bofom ; they feafted upon it in 
 the hope of martyrdom ; they grew fat upon this 
 heavenly food like pure victims, that their facrifice 
 might be more pleafmg to the Lord. Chafle vir- 
 gins, fervent believers, holy rninifiers, partook al- 
 together of the bleffed bread : and what delight 
 even in their chains ! What ferenity of mind in 
 thefe dark and gloomy abodes ! What fongs of 
 thankfgiving in thefe horrible places where the 
 eye encountered nothing but the fad images of 
 death, and preparations for the moil cruel tor- 
 tures ! How often did they fay to Jefus Chrift, 
 prefent with them in this adorable facrament: Ah ! 
 we fear no ill, Lord, fince thou art with us: though 
 hoits furround us yet will we not be afraid ; our 
 enemies may deftroy our bodies, but thou wilt ref- 
 tore them to us glorious and immortal ; for who 
 can deftroy thofe whom the Father hath bellowed 
 upon thee ? Bleffed chains which thou deigned to 
 fuftain ! Holy prifons which thou confecrateft with 
 
 thy 
 
446 SERMON XI. 
 
 thy prefence ! Beloved dungeons in which ihoa 
 filled our fouls with fo many lights ! Precious 
 death which is to unite us with thee, and to with- 
 draw the veil which conceals thee from our fight ! 
 Thence what fortitude under their tortures ! Filled 
 with the body of Jefus Chrift, warned in his blood, 
 they quitted their prifons, fays an holy father, like 
 lions out of their den Hill raging and thirfting for 
 death and carnage ; they flew upon the fcarTolds, 
 and, with an holy pride, launched here and there 
 looks of confidence and magnanimity which ap- 
 palled the moil ferocious tyrants, and even difarm- 
 ed their executioners : they (hewed then the death 
 of the Lord in preparing themfelves for martyr- 
 dom by the communion. 
 
 The tranquility of our ages, and the religion of 
 the Cefars leave us no longer the fame hope ; death 
 is no longer the reward of faith, and the eucharift 
 makes no more martyrs : but have we not domef- 
 tic perfecutors ? Has our faith only tyrants to 
 dread ? And is there not a martyrdom of love as 
 well as cf blood ? In approaching the altars then, 
 my brethren, a believing foul iighs for the diffolu- 
 tion of his mortal body ; for, could he love this 
 life, and fhew the death of Jefus Chrift, and re- 
 new, 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 fanc- 
 tuary, a fpirit of death and of martyrdom : " Ah ! 
 4i Lord, fmce thou art dead and crucified to the 
 
 " world. 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR. THE COMMUNION. 447 
 
 world, why detain me there ? What can I find 
 upon the earth worthy of my heart, feeing thou 
 art no longer there ? The myffery itfelf, which 
 mould confole me through thy prefence, recalls 
 to me thy death : thefe covers which veil thee 
 are an artifice of thy love ; and thou half con- 
 cealed 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 
 c God whom I feek ? What anfwer do ye make 
 4 when my foftened heart bends towards you to 
 
 * foothe its anxieties ? Return, fay you, to him 
 - who hath made us j we groan in awaiting his 
 c coming to deliver us from, this fervitude, which 
 4 makes us fubfervient to the paffions and to the 
 4 errors of men : feek him not among us, thou wilt 
 4 not find him, he is rifen, he is no longer here ; 
 4 if he appear it is only to die again ; recall the 
 4 deGres and the affections which thou meant to 
 4 place upon us, and turn them towards heaven ; 
 4 the bridegroom hath been carried away, the 
 I earth is no longer for a ChriPiian now but a 
 6 vale of mourning and tears : fucfa is what they 
 4 anfwer to me. What then detains me here, 
 4 Lord ? What are the ties and the charms which 
 4 can attach me to the world ? Reltlefs in plea- 
 4 fures, impatient in abfence, tired of the conver- 
 4 fations and the commerce of men, afraid of foli- 
 4 tude j without relifh for the world, without relifh 
 4 for virtue j doing the evil I would not, and Leav- 
 
44^ SERMON XI. 
 
 " ing undone the good that I would ; what keeps 
 " me here ? What delays the diffolution of this 
 " body of fin ? What prevents me from foaring 
 " with the wings of the dove upon the holy moun- 
 " tain ? I feel that I mould then be happy ; I could 
 " then feaft at all times upon this delicious bread : 
 " I tafte no real delight but at the feet of thy al- 
 * c tars ; thefe are, indeed, the happieft moments 
 " of my life : but they are fo fliort, and I rauft fo 
 " foon return to the infipidities and to the difgufts 
 " of the world ; I am under the neceffity of being 
 " fo long abfent from thee : no, Lord, there is no 
 " perfect happinefs on the earth, and death is a 
 " gain to whoever knows to love thee." 
 
 Are thefe our fentiments, my brethren, when 
 we draw near to the altars ? Where are now the 
 Chriflians who, like the firfl believers, await the 
 bieiTed hope, and haften, by their fighs, the end of 
 their banifhment, and the coming of Jefus Chrifl ? 
 This is a refinement of piety of which they have 
 no idea ; it is merely a language of the fpecuiift ; 
 it is, however, the ground-work of religion, and 
 the firft ftep of faith. The necefiity of dying is 
 confidered as a cruel punifhment ; the fole idea of 
 death, with which our fathers were fo comforted, 
 makes us to fii udder ; the end of life is the term 
 of our pleafures in place of being that of our fuf- 
 ferings ; the attentions paid to the body are end- 
 lefs ; our precautions extend even to abfurdityj or, 
 if it fometimes happen that this laft moment is de- 
 
 fired, 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 449 
 
 fired, it is in confequence of being wearied of life 
 and of its chagrins ; it is a difgrace, an habitual 
 infirmity preying upon us, a revolution in our 
 worldly matters which leaves no more pleafures to 
 be expected here below, the difappointment of an 
 eftablilhment, a death, an accident, or, laftly, a dif- 
 guft and a wiih of felf-love ; we tire of being un- 
 fortunate, but we are not eager to go to be reunit- 
 ed with Jefus Chrift : and, with all this, they come 
 to eat of the Lord's fupper, to renew the remem- 
 brance of his paffion, and to mew his death until 
 he mall come ; what an outrage ! 
 
 adly, His death is fhewn in this myftery, becaufe 
 Judas there finally determined upon delivering him 
 up. Now, what does this remembrance exact of 
 us ? Ah ! my brethren, an ardent defire of repair- 
 ing, by our homages, the impiety of fo many (hoc- 
 king communions which crucify Jefus Chrift a- 
 frefh. So many impure, revengeful, worldly, 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 fuf- 
 fers ; to humble ourfelves before him, feeing that 
 his moft fignal bleffing is become the occafion of 
 the greateft crimes ; to tremble for ourfelves ; to 
 admire his goodnefs, which, for the profit of a 
 fmall number of chofen, hath graciouily been will- 
 ing to fubmit to the indignities of that endlefs mul- 
 titude of finners, of all ages and of all times, who 
 have, and ftill continue to difhonour him; to avert. 
 
 Vol.. III. 3 I, by 
 
45° SERMON XI. 
 
 by the tears of our heart and a thoufand inward 
 lamentations, the fcourges which unworthy com- 
 munions never fail to draw down upon the earth. 
 For, if the apoftle formerly lamented that general 
 plagues, epidemical difeafes, and fudden deaths 
 were only a confequence of the profanation of the 
 facrament ; ah ! thy finger has long been upon us, 
 Lord ; the cup of thy wrath is poured out upon 
 our cities and provinces ; thou armed kings againft 
 kings, and nations againft nations : nothing is now 
 fpoken of but battles and the rumours of war ; our 
 fields are ftricken with fterility ; our families are 
 confumed by the fword of the enemy, and the fa- 
 ther is deprived of the only prop and confolation 
 of his old age ; we groan under burdens, which, 
 though keeping the enemy of the (late from our 
 walls, yet leave us a prey to famine and want ; the 
 arts are now almoft of no avail to the people ; 
 commerce languiflies, and induftry can hardly fup- 
 plv the common necefiaries of life j yet what are 
 even the public calamities, when compared with 
 the private miferies 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 advantage of our dit- 
 fentions, and ufurps thine inheritance. 
 
 Whence proceed thefe fcourges, great God ! fo 
 continued and fo terrible ? Where are formed thofc 
 clouds of wrath and indignation which have fo 
 long been pouring out their torrents up »n us ? Is 
 
 it 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION". 451 
 
 it not to punifh the facrilegious that thou art arm- 
 ed ? Do not the outrages which are every day com- 
 mitted agatnft thy body, at the feet of the altars, 
 draw down upon us thefe marks of thy wrath ? O 
 ftrike us then, Lord, and avenge thy glory ; (top 
 not the arm of thy angel who hovers over us ; let 
 the houfes where the traces of a profane blood are 
 Hill imprinted not be fpared ; thine anger is juft. 
 But no, give us not the water of gall to drink be- 
 caufe we have finned againir. thee ; give peace in 
 our days ; liften to the cries of the righteous who 
 entreat it of thee : " Lord," fay they with the pro- 
 phet, <£ we looked for peace, but no good came ; 
 " and for a time of health, and behold trouble." 
 Terminate the profanations which are ever the at- 
 tendants of wars j ceafe to punifh facrileges by 
 multiplying them on the earth ; once more reflore 
 majefly to fo many temples profaned, worfhip and 
 dignity to fo many churches defpoiled, peace to 
 our cities, abundance to our families, confolation 
 and gladnefs of heart to Ifrael ; let the child be 
 reftored to his father, and the hufband to the de- 
 folate wife ; and, if our evils touch thee not, O 
 pay attention to the miferies of thy church. 
 
 $dly, The death of the Lord is fhewn in this 
 my fiery, for Jems Chrifl facriMces himfelf in it, by 
 the myftical feparation of his body and of his blood. 
 What follows from thence ? That we muft be at 
 the foot of the altar as if we were at the foot of 
 the crofs : that we muft enter into the difpofitions 
 
 o£ 
 
452 SERMON XI. 
 
 of the difciples and of the women of Jerufalem 
 •who received the dying figh of Jefus, and were 
 prefent at the confummation of his facrifice. Now, 
 what hatred had they not againft a world which 
 had crucified their Mafter ? What meafures did 
 they think it necefTary to keep with his murderers? 
 Were they afraid of declaring themfelves the dif- 
 ciples of him who had fo openly declared himfelf 
 their Saviour, and that at the price of his blood ? 
 Did they not fay to the heavenly Father, Ah L 
 itrike us, Lord, who are the guilty, and fpare the 
 innocent. What horror at their pafl faults, which 
 had attached fo good a Mafter to the crofs ! What 
 a lively imprefiion in their heart of his fufferings ! 
 Thus, my brethren, fiill to keep meafures with the 
 age, to be afraid of declaring openly for piety, to 
 be afhamed of the crofs of Jefus Chrift, to calcu- 
 late 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 abftaining from a theatre where he is in- 
 fulted, from an affembly where he is offended, 
 from a proceeding by which innocence muft fuffer, 
 from I know not what train of life of which the 
 world makes a neceffity to you, from certain max- 
 ims which wound the gofpel, and which cuftom 
 has eftablifhed as laws ; to pretend to keep up all 
 thefe conciliatory meafures with the world, and 
 yet to come to eat the paffover with the difciples 
 of Jefus Chrift j to preferve a correfpondence with 
 
 his 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 453 
 
 his enemies, and yet to feat yourfelves at his table; 
 to efteem the maxims which crucify him, and yet 
 to wifh to be the fpectators and the faithful com- 
 panions of his crofs ; ah ! it is a contradiction. 
 
 He hath overcome the world ; he hath fixed it 
 to his crofs : along with himfelf he hath given 
 death to its maxims and errors : confequently, to 
 fhew his death in the communion is to renew the 
 memory of his victory. And, if the world lives 
 and (till reigns in your heart, my brother, do you 
 not annihilate the fruit of his death ? Do you not 
 conteff. with Jefus Chrift the honour of his tri- 
 umph ? And, in place of mewing his death, do you 
 not come to renew it with his enemies ? 
 
 Befides, in the fourth place, his death is fhewn 
 in this myftery, for it is the confummation of the 
 facririce of the crofs, 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 in- 
 ward life. For, fay, living in delights, fhall you 
 dare to nourifh a body, like yours, enervated by 
 pleafures, flattered, careffed ; fhall you dare, 1 fay, 
 to nourifh it with a crucified body ? Shall you dare 
 to incorporate Jefus Chrift, dying and crowned 
 with thorns, with delicate and fenfual members ? 
 Would this connection not be horrible ? Will you 
 dare, by converting his body into your own fub- 
 ftance, to transform it into an effeminate and vo- 
 luptuous body ? Ah ! it would be the perfection 
 
 of 
 
454 SERMON XI. 
 
 of iniquity. To be nourifhed with the body of 
 Jefus Chrifl your members muff, become his mem- 
 bers ; his body mufl take the figure of your body. 
 Now, his body is a crucified body ; his members 
 are fuffering members : and, if you live without 
 fullering ; if you bear not upon your body the 
 mortification of Jefus Chrift ; if, perhaps, you 
 have never pra&ifed a (ingle inflance of felf-de- 
 nial ; if your days are paffed in a tranquil effemi- 
 nacy ; if afflictions excite impatience ; if you fee! 
 hurt at every thing which oppofes your humour ; 
 if you prefcribe to yourfelf no works of mortifica- 
 tion ; if thofe fent to you by heaven are unwilling- 
 ly and unlhankfully received ; how will you that 
 you unite your body to that of Jefus Chrill ? This 
 is never reflected upon, my brethren ; and, never- 
 thelefs, a foft and fenfual life can be a prefage only 
 of an unworthy communion. 
 
 Lq/ily, The death of the Lord is fhewn in this 
 inyftery, for he is there himfelf as in a (late of 
 death. He hath a mouth and fpeaketh not ; eyes 
 and ufeth them not ; feet and walketh not. View 
 then, my brother, and act according to this model; 
 behold how you ought to mew his death in par- 
 taking of his body : you mufl bring there eyes in- 
 ftruCted to be clofed for the earth ; a tongue ac- 
 cuftomed to filence, or to fayings of God, as St 
 Paul fays ; feet and hands immovable for the 
 works of iin ; fenfes either extinguifhed or morti- 
 fied : in a word, to bring there an univerfal death 
 
 over 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 455 
 
 over your body : the ftate of Jefus Chrifl in the 
 eucharift is the date of the Chriftian on earth ; a 
 flate of retreat, of filence, of patience, of humilia- 
 tion, cf divorce from the fenfes. For, what is Je- 
 fus Chrift in the eucharift ? He is in the world as 
 if not there ; he is in the midft of men, but invi- 
 fible ; he hears their vain difcourfes, their chime- 
 rical plan?, their frivolous expectations, but he en- 
 ters not into them ; he fees their folicitudes, their 
 agitations, and their enterprifes, and he allows 
 them to act ; divine honours are paid to him, and 
 he is infulted ; and, ever the fame, he feems infen- 
 fibie alike to the infults as to the homages : he 
 looks on while families, empires, and ages are re- 
 newed ; manners are changed ; the tafte of men 
 and of ages are inceffantly fluctuating : he fees 
 cuftoms fink into decay and then revive; the fi- 
 gure of this world in an eternal revolution ; his 
 inheritance divided; wars, feditions, and unexpec- 
 ted revolutions ; the whole univerfe fhakcn ; and 
 he is tranquil upon its ruins ; and nothing with- 
 draws him from his clofe and ineffable fhuly of 
 his Father ; and nothing interrupts the divine 
 quiet of his fanctuary, where he is always living 
 for the purpofe of interceding for us. Once 
 more, confider and act according to this model - 
 let us bring to the facred table eyes long finee 
 clofed upon every thing which may hurt our foul ; 
 a tongue furrounded with a guard of circumfpec- 
 don and of modefty ; ears chafle and impenetrable 
 
 to 
 
£$6 SERMON XI. 
 
 to the hidings 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 thine,, or this earth, 
 and prooi againft all the revolutions of life ; the 
 fame in good or in bad fortune ; viewing, with in- 
 different eyes, every occurrence here below ; ef- 
 teemftig the good or the evil which occur to him 
 as a matter that does not regard him ; and, through 
 all the agitations of the earth, the tumult of the 
 fenfes, the contradiction of tongues, the vain en- 
 terprifes of men, always watchful to guard over 
 his peace of heart, to move continually with a 
 fteady 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 ftate of death : 
 alas ! it is the bufinefs of a whole life ; and the 
 body of Jefus Chrjft is an aid eftablifhed to fortify 
 and to afiift us in this undertaking. But, our in- 
 clination ought to bend to it, left we approach the 
 altar unworthily ; we muft be at open war with 
 the fenfes, with our own corruption, with our own 
 weakneffes, and be continually gaining the advan- 
 tage in fome article ; Chriftian felf-denial muft be 
 practifed ; the daily victories, which the impref- 
 fions of the world and of the fenfes gain over us, 
 muft be expiated by retirement, by filence, by 
 tears, and by prayer j we muft rife with frefh vi- 
 gour 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 457 
 
 gour from every backfliding. But, I mean you to 
 underftand that a communion is not the concern 
 of a day, or of a folemnity ; that our whole life 
 ought to be a preparation for the eucharift ; that 
 all our actions mould be as fteps which lead us up 
 to the altar ; that the life of too many in the world, 
 GiXen of thofe who are not in debauchery, who re- 
 ftrict themfeives upon nothing, who live accord- 
 ing to the fenfes, who are warm only on the inte- 
 refls of the earth, is a life which (hews not the 
 death of the Lord, and which, confequently, ex- 
 cludes you from this myftery. I mean you to 
 comprehend, that the eucharift is a feftival, if I 
 dare to fay fo, of mourning and death ; that de- 
 lights, pleafures, and vain decorations disfigure 
 this facred table, and occafion your being rejected 
 equally as him who appears there without the wed- 
 ding-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 of 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 j that thofe communions, determined 
 by a folemnity, give rife to more profaners than 
 true worfhippers ; that the body of Jefus Chrift 
 cannot be eaten without living by his fpirit ; that 
 the plenitude of the holy fpirit rauft even reft up- 
 on a foul, as upon Mary, before Jefus Chrift can 
 Vol. III. 3 M enter 
 
<!5* SERMON XI. 
 
 enter into it, as it were, to aflume once more the 
 human nature. I mean you to comprehend, that 
 the reading of the holy books, and the falutary ri- 
 gours of penitence, fhould 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 law and the rod 
 of Aaron. I mean you to understand, that no- 
 thing fhould alarm you more, you who live in the 
 dangers of the age and who love them, than all 
 the communions of which you have partaken with- 
 out preparation. I mean you to underftand, that 
 the bread of life becomes a poifon to the majority 
 of believers ; that the altars witnefles almoft more 
 crimes than the theatre ; that Jefus Chrift is more 
 infulted in his fancluary than in the aflemblies of 
 finners ; and that the folemnities are no longer but 
 myfteries of mourning for him, and days fet apart 
 to di (honour him. I mean you, in a word, to un- 
 derftand, that, in order to approach it worthily, 
 a refpectful faith is required which enables us to 
 difcern ; a prudent faith which leads us to exa- 
 mine ourfelves ; a lively faith which caufes us to 
 love ; a noble faith which induces us to facrifice 
 ourfelves : without thefe it is rendering one's felf 
 guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord j 
 it is eating and drinking their own condemnation. 
 Ah, Lord ! how little have I hitherto known 
 the innocence and the extreme purity which thou 
 required of thofe who come to eat of this heaven- 
 
BISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 459 
 
 ly 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 people, who raifcd up 
 edifices to thy name, and appropriated them to pub- 
 lic prayers, and to the interpretation of thy fcrip- 
 tures ; that man does not think himfelf worthy 
 even to receive thee in his houfe : even the purefl 
 of virgins, when informed by thy angel that thou 
 wert to defcend into her womb, is terrified at it ; 
 fhe contemplates her own nothingnefs ; and, if the 
 power of fpeech flill remains to her, it is to afk, 
 how can this be? And who am J, Lord, to dare 
 to feat myfelf at thy table with fo little precaution ? 
 I, who come to appear empty before thee; who 
 have nothing to offer to thee but the refufe of an 
 heart fo long ehgroffed by the world ; who am 
 thine only by intervals, and who flill leaves to the 
 created and to the pa (lions the main part of my 
 heart ; who bring to thine altars only weak eflays. 
 of falvation, and confummated works of fin ; who 
 have nothing above other finners but the abufe of 
 thy bleflings ; but unavailing lights ; but fenti- 
 ments which evaporate in vain wifhes ; but a thou- 
 fand infpirations, which gain nothing from me but 
 fruitlefs fteps to converfion ; but an heart incapa- 
 ble of familiarifmg itfelf either with fin or with 
 virtue ; but a difpofition naturally good, and al- 
 mofl intuitively inimical to excefs and to vice, and 
 which I, however, have fpoiled. 
 
 Ah, 
 
460 SERMON XI. 
 
 Ah, Lord ! the fruits of an holy communion are 
 fo abundant, fo fenfible ; the foul quits it fo over- 
 flowed with thy bleflings and thy grace, that, when 
 I had no other proof of the unworthinefs of my 
 communions than their inefficacy, I ought to trem- 
 ble and be humbled. When thy body is eaten 
 worthily, we are told that the hunger is not allay- 
 ed ; and I withdraw from that facred table wearied 
 out, and tired of mine homages : I breathe, on quit- 
 ting 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 relifh 
 excited, it is for the world and for pleafures. 
 When thy body is eaten worthily, we abide in 
 thee, and thou abided in us ; that is to fay, that 
 thy precious blood, which flili flows in our veins, 
 leaves us thy inclinations, thy traits, thy refem- 
 blance, and that we are another thee ; noble and 
 heavenly inclinations fhould alone be feen in us, 
 and fentiments worthy of the blood we have re- 
 ceived : and, neverthelefs, I always find in me only 
 terreftrial defires, mean and groveling tendencies, 
 and an heart ftill crawling in the dirt, and incapa- 
 ble 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 to 
 live for the world, for myfelf, for thofe around me, 
 for my pleafures, for my fchemes of advancement, 
 
 for 
 
DISPOSITIONS FOR THE COMMUNION. 461 
 
 for mine affairs, for a family, for children, for my 
 glory ; for you, fcarcely a fmgle moment in the 
 day. What then muft I do, Lord ? Muft I retire 
 from thy table ? What ! this fruit of life fhould be 
 forbidden me ? What ! the bread of confolation 
 fhould no longer be broken for me ? No, Lord, 
 thou doff, not mean to exclude me from it, but on- 
 ly that I be prepared for it ; thou refufeft me not 
 the bread of children, but thou wouldft that mine 
 unworthinefs force thee not to give me a ferpent 
 in place of 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 ; correct, my inclina- 
 tions, or rather create within me new ones. Thou 
 alone canft be thy precurfor, and prepare the way 
 for thee in fouls. Fill us then, Lord, with thy 
 fpirit, to the end that we may eat of thy body wor- 
 thily, and live eternally for thee. 
 Now, to God, &c. 
 
 FINIS. 
 


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