Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/168

 an inexhaustible  source  of  patience,  fortitude,  and  joy. Do they feel the  law  of  the  members  warring  against  the  law  of  the  spirit, and exciting  commotions  which  bring  innocence  to  the  very  brink of the  precipice? They are  not  ignorant,  that  after  the  dissolution of the  earthly  frame,  it  shall  be  restored  to  them  pure  and  celestial; and  that,  delivered  from  these  bonds  of  misery,  they  shall then resemble  the  heavenly  spirits;  and  that  remembrance  soothes and strengthens  them. Do they  groan  under  the  weight  of  the yoke of  Jesus  Christ;  and  their  faith,  more  weak,  is  it  on  the  point of relaxing  and  sinking  under  the  rigid  duties  of  the  gospel? Ah! the day  of  the  Lord  is  nigh;  they  almost  touch  the  blessed  recompense;  and  the  end  of  their  course,  which  they  already  see,  animates, and  gives  them  fresh  vigour. Hear in  what  manner  the apostle consoled  the  first  Christians:  My  brethren,  said  he  to them,  time  is  short,  the  day  approaches,  the  Lord  is  at  the  gate, and he  will  not  delay:  rejoice  then;  I  again  say  to  you,  rejoice. Such was  the  only  consolation  of  men,  persecuted,  insulted,  proscribed, trampled  upon,  regarded  as  the  scum  of  the  earth,  the disgrace of  the  Jews,  and  the  scoff  of  the  Gentiles. They knew that death  would  soon  dry  up  their  tears;  that  for  them  there would then  be  neither  mourning,  sorrow,  nor  sufferance;  that  all would be  changed:  and  that  thought  softened  every  pain. Ah! whosoever had  told  these  generous  justifiers  of  faith,  that  the  Lord would never  make  them  know  death,  but  would  leave  them  to dwell  for  ever  on  the  earth,  would  have  shaken  their  faith,  tempted their constancy,  and,  by  robbing  them  of  that  hope,  would  have deprived them  of  every  consolation.

You, my  brethren,  are,  no  doubt,  little  surprised  at  this,  because death must  appear  a  refuge  to  men  afflicted  and  unhappy  as  they were. You are  mistaken;  it  was  neither  their  persecutions  nor  sufferings which  occasioned  their  distress  and  sorrow;  these  were their joy,  consolation,  and  pride;  we  glory,  said  they,  in  tribulations;  it  was  the  state  of  separation  in  which  they  still  lived  from Jesus Christ,  that  alone  was  the  source  of  their  tears,  and  what rendered death  so  desirable.

While we  are  in  the  body,  said  the  apostle,  we  are  separated  from the Lord;  and  that  separation  was  a  state  of  anguish  and  sorrow  to these  faithful  Christians. Piety consists  in  wishing  for  a  re-union with Jesus  Christ,  our  Head;  in  sighing  for  the  happy  moment which shall  incorporate  us  with  the  chosen  of  God,  in  that  mystical body, which,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  is  forming,  of  every tongue, every  tribe,  and  every  nation;  which  is  the  completion  of the  designs  of  God,  and  which  will  glorify  him,  with  Jesus  Christ, to all  eternity. Here we  are  like  branches  torn  from  their  stem; like strangers  wandering  in  a  foreign  land;  like  fettered  captives  in a  prison,  waiting  their  deliverance;  like  children,  banished  for  a time  from  their  paternal  inheritance  and  mansion:  in  a  word,  like members separated  from  their  body. Since Jesus  Christ,  our  Head, ascended to  heaven,  the  earth  is  no  longer  the  place  of  our  establishment:  we  look  forward,  in  blessed  expectation,  to  the  coming  of