Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/324

 able before  God  than  the  sins  of  the  commonalty  of  believers. First, the  scandal;  secondly,  ingratitude.

The scandal. There is  no  crime  to  which  the  gospel  leaves  less hopes of  forgiveness  than  that  of  being  a  stumbling-block  to  our brethren: "  Woe  unto  the  man,"  said  Jesus  Christ,  (e  who  shall offend  one  of  these  little  ones  which  believe  in  me;  it  were  better for  him  that  a  millstone  were  hanged  about  his  neck,  and  that  he were  drowned  in  the  depth  of  the  sea."  First,  because  you  destroy a  soul  which  ought  eternally  to  have  enjoyed  God.  Secondly, because  you  occasion  your  brother  to  perish,  for  whom  Jesus  Christ hath  died.  Thirdly,  because  you  become  the  minister  of  the  devil's designs  for  the  destruction  of  souls.  Fourthly,  because  you  are that  man  of  sin,  that  antichrist,  of  whom  the  apostle  speaks;  for Jesus  Christ  hath  saved  man,  and  you  destroy  him;  Jesus  Christ hath  raised  up  true  worshippers  to  his  Father,  and  you  deprive him  of  them;  Jesus  Christ  hath  gained  us  by  his  blood,  and  you snatch his  conquest  from  him;  Jesus  Christ  is  the  physician  of souls,  and  you  are  their  corrupter;  he  is  their  way,  and  you  are their snare;  he  is  the  shepherd  who  comes  in  search  of  his  perishing sheep,  and  you  are  the  ravenous  wolf  which  slays  and  destroys those his  Father  had  given  him. Fifthly, because  all  other  sins die, as  I  may  say,  with  the  sinner;  but  the  fruit  of  his  scandals will outlive  him,  and  his  crimes  will  not  go  down  with  him  into the tomb  of  his  fathers.

Achan was  punished  with  so  much  rigour  for  having  taken  only a wedge  of  gold  from  among  the  spoils  which  were  consecrated  to the  Lord:  My  God! what then  shall  be  the  punishment  of  him who deprives  Jesus  Christ  of  a  soul  which  was  his  precious  spoil, redeemed not  with  gold  and  silver,  but  with  all  the  divine  blood  of the  Lamb  without  stain? The golden  calf  was  reduced  into  powder for  having  occasioned  the  prevarication  of  Israel:  great  God! and could  all  the  splendour  which  surrounds  the  great  and  the powerful shelter  them  from  thy  wrath,  when  their  exaltation  becomes only  a  stumbling-block  and  a  source  of  idolatry  to  the  people? The brazen  serpent  itself,  that  sacred  monument  of  God's mercies  upon  Judah,  was  broken  to  pieces  for  having  been  an occasion  of  scandal  to  the  tribes:  my  God! and the  sinner  already so odious  through  his  own  crimes,  shall  he  be  spared  when  he  becomes a  snare  and  a  stumbling-block  to  his  brethren?

Now, my  brethren,  such  is  the  first  character  which  always accompanies your  sins,  you  who  are  exalted  through  rank  or  birth, over the  commonalty  of  believers: — the  scandal. The obscure  and vulgar live  only  for  themselves. Mingled in  the  crowd,  and  concealed by  the  abjectness  of  their  lot  from  the  eyes  of  men,  God alone is  the  secret  witness  of  their  ways,  and  the  invisible  spectator of their  backslidings:  if  they  fall,  or  if  they  remain  steadfast,  it  is for  the  Lord  alone,  who  sees  and  who  judges  them;  the  world, which is  unacquainted  even  with  their  names,  is  equally  uninstructedby  their  examples;  their  life  is  without  consequence;  they  may depart from  the  right  path,  but  they  quit  it  alone;  and  if  they