Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/74

 delights to  come? Justly; do  you  try  in  every  relation of  life  to  do  to  others  as  you  would  like  to  be done  by? Godly; are  you  faithful  in  your  duties  to religion  and  to  God? Ah, how  true  it  is  that  Christ was set  for  the  ruin  of  many  and  a  sign  that  shall be contradicted;  for  alas! there are  many  temples into which  He  has  not  entered,  nor  cast  thence  them that buy  and  sell  therein. Again, this  shall  be  a  sign unto you. You shall  find  the  infant  wrapped  in swaddling  clothes  and  laid  in  a  manger. Is your  soul a proud,  obtrusive  mansion,  or  a  humble  stable  in  the background, warmed  by  the  spirit  of  love  as  was that of  Bethlehem  by  the  breath  of  the  kine? Ah, Brethren, it  is  all  very  well  to  receive  Christ  in  communion, but  He  will  not  be  born  in  us  unless  we permanently  amend  our  lives. Nay, such  communions lead  to  final  impenitence. Christ said  to the  adulterous  woman :  "  Go,  and  sin  no  more,  lest something  worse  befall  thee.,,  And  Judas,  you know,  had  scarcely  received  holy  communion  when he  rushed  off  to  betray  the  Lord.

Brethren, no  man  can  serve  two  masters,  God  and the world. The world  reminds  me  of  an  obsequious innkeeper; you  put  up  at  his  place  for  a  while  and he effusively  gives  you  the  freedom  of  his  house  and encourages you  to  eat,  drink  and  make  merry;  but the time  of  reckoning  comes,  and  the  landlord,  with a sterner  face,  declares  you  shall  not  go  hence  until you pay  the  last  farthing. Let us  turn  from  such an artful  deceiver  to  the  lovely  Babe  of  Bethlehem; let us  learn  well  the  truths  that  object  lesson  teaches,