Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/170



There is  something  peculiarly  striking  and  incomprehensible  in the  human  passions.

All men  wish  to  live:  they  look  upon  death  as  the  most  dreadful of  all  evils:  all  their  passions  attach  them  to  life:  yet,  nevertheless, those  very  passions  incessantly  urge  them  toward  that  death for which  they  feel  such  horror;  nay,  it  should  even  seem,  that their only  purpose  in  life  is  to  accelerate  the  moment  of  death.

All men  natter  themselves  that  they  shall  die  the  death  of  the righteous; they  wish  it,  they  expect  it. Knowing the  impossibility of remaining  for  ever  on  this  earth,  they  trust  that,  before  the  arrival of  their  last  moment,  the  passions  which  at  present  pollute and hold  them  in  captivity,  shall  be  completely  overcome. They figure to  themselves,  as  horrible,  the  lot  of  a  sinner  who  expires  in his  iniquity  and  under  the  wrath  of  God;  yet,  nevertheless,  they tranquilly prepare  for  themselves  the  same  destiny. This dreadful period  of  human  life,  which  is  death  in  sin,  strikes  and  appals them: yet,  like  fools,  they  blindly  and  merrily  pursue  the  road which leads  to  it. In vain  do  we  announce  to  them,  that,  in  general, men die  as  they  have  lived. They wish  to  live  the  life  of  a  sinner, yet, nevertheless,  to  die  the  death  of  the  righteous.

My intention,  at  present,  is  not  to  undeceive  you  with  regard  to an  illusion  so  common  and  so  ridiculous,  (let  us  reserve  this  subject for  another  occasion);  but  since  the  death  of  the  righteous appears so  earnestly  to  be  wished  for,  and  that  of  the  sinner  so dreadful  to  you,  I  mean,  by  a  representation  of  them  both,  to  excite your  desires  for  the  one,  and  to  awaken  your  just  terrors  for the other. As you  must  finally  quit  this  world  in  one  of  these  two situations, it  is  proper  to  familiarize  yourselves  with  a  view  of them  both,  that,  by  placing  before  your  eyes  the  melancholy spectacle of  the  one,  and  the  soothing  consolations  of  the  other, you may  be  enabled  to  judge  which  of  the  lots  awaits  you;  and, consequently, to  adopt  the  necessary  means  to  secure  the  decision in your  favour.

In the  picture  of  the  expiring  sinner,  you  will  see  in  what  the world, with  all  its  glory  and  pleasures,  terminates;  from  the  recital of  the  last  moments  of  the  righteous  man,  you  will  learn  to what  virtue  conducts,  in  spite  of  all  its  momentary  checks  and troubles. In the  one,  you  will  see  the  world  from  the  eyes  of  a sinner  in  the  moment  of  death;  and  how  vain,  frivolous,  and  different from  what  it  seems  at  present,  will  it  then  appear  to  you! In the  other,  you  will  see  virtue  from  the  eyes  of  the  expiring