Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/362

 crilegious profaner;  and  even  a  king  of  Israel,  who  thought  himself entitled, through  his  regal  dignity,  to  come  there  to  offer  up  incense, was  instantly  covered  with  leprosy,  degraded  from  his  royalty, and excluded  for  the  rest  of  his  life  from  all  society  and  commerce with men. Lastly, after  so  many  barriers  and  separations,  appeared the  holy  of  holies;  that  place,  so  terrible  and  so  concealed, covered with  an  impenetrable  veil,  inaccessible  to  every  mortal,  to every  righteous,  to  every  prophet,  even  to  every  minister  of  the Lord, the  sovereign  pontiff  alone  excepted;  and  even  he  was  entitled to  appear  there  only  once  in  the  year,  after  a  thousand  strict and religious  precautions,  and  bearing  in  his  hands  the  blood  of  the victim for  which  alone  the  gates  of  that  sacred  place  were  opened.

Yet, after  all,  what  did  that  holy  of  holies,  that  spot  so  formidable and  so  inaccessible,  contain? The tables  of  the  law,  the  manna, the rod  of  Aaron;  empty  figures,  and  the  shadows  of  futurity:  the holy God  himself,  who  sometimes  gave  out  from  thence  his  oracles, yet dwelt  not  there  as  in  the  sanctuary  of  Christians,  the  gates  of which  are  indiscriminately  opened  to  every  believer.

Now, my  brethren,  if  the  goodness  of  God,  in  a  law  of  love  and grace, hath  no  longer  placed  these  terrible  barriers  between  him and us,  if  he  hath  destroyed  that  wall  of  separation  which  removed him so  far  from  man,  and  hath  permitted  to  every  believer  to  approach the  holy  of  holies,  where  he  himself  now  dwelleth,  it  is  not that his  sanctity  exacts  less  purity  and  innocence  of  those  who come to  present  themselves  before  him. His design  hath  only been to  render  us  more  pure,  more  holy,  and  more  faithful,  and  to make  us  feel  what  ought  to  be  the  sanctity  of  a  Christian;  seeing he is  every  day  obliged  to  support,  at  the  foot  of  the  altar,  and  of the  terrible  sanctuary,  the  presence  of  the  God  whom  he  invokes and whom  he  worships.

And for  this  reason  it  is  that  Peter  calls  all  Christians  a  holy  nation;  for  they  are  all  equally  entitled  to  present  themselves  before the holy  altar:  a  chosen  generation;  for  they  are  all  separated  from the world  and  from  every  profane  custom,  consecrated  to  the  Lord, and solely  destined  to  his  worship  and  to  his  service:  and,  lastly, a royal  priesthood;  for  they  all  participate,  in  one  sense,  in the  priesthood  of  his  Son,  the  High-priest  of  the  new  law,  and because the  privilege  of  entering  into  the  holy  of  holies,  formerly granted to  the  sovereign  pontiff  alone,  is  become  the  common  and daily right  of  every  believer.

It is  solely  through  the  sanctity,  then,  of  our  baptism  and  of  our consecration, that  these  sacred  gates  are  opened  to  us. If impure, we, in  some  respect  forfeit  this  right;  we  have  no  longer  a  part  in the  altar:  we  are  no  longer  worthy  of  the  assembly  of  the  holy,  and the temple  of  God  is  no  longer  for  us.

Our temples,  my  brethren,  ought  therefore  to  be  the  house  of the  righteous  alone. Every thing  that  takes  place  there  supposes righteousness and  sanctity  in  the  spectators;  the  mysteries  which we there  celebrate  are  holy  and  awful  mysteries,  and  which  require pure eyes;  the  victim  we  there  offer  up  is  the  reconciliation  of  the