Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/416

 longer justify  the  world  itself;  since  whatever  you  blame  in  that virtue is  only  that  portion  of  it  which  the  world  supplies.

And, in  order  to  make  you  more  sensibly  feel  how  far  you  are from being  candid  on  this  head,  you  continually  take  a  pride  in repeating  that  we  despair  of  human  weakness;  that  in  order  to  act up to  all  that  we  say  in  these  Christian  pulpits,  it  would  be  necessary to  withdraw  to  the  deserts,  or  to  be  angels  rather  than  men: nevertheless, render  glory  to  the  force  of  truth. If a  minister  of the  gospel  were  to  deliver  to  you  from  this  place  a  doctrine  quite opposite to  that  which  we  teach;  were  he  to  announce  to  you  the same maxims  which  you  daily  hold  forth  in  the  world;  were  he  to preach  to  you  in  this  place  of  the  truth,  that  the  gospel  is  not  so severe  as  it  is  published;  that  we  may  love  the  world,  and  yet  serve God; that  there  is  no  harm  in  gaming,  in  pleasures,  in  theatres, except what  we  ourselves  occasion;  that  we  must  live  like  the  world while we  live  in  the  world;  that  all  that  language  of  the  cross,  of penitence,  mortification,  and  self-denial,  is  more  calculated  for cloisters than  for  the  court,  and  for  persons  of  a  certain  rank;  and, lastly, that  God  is  too  good  to  consider  as  crimes  a  thousand  things which are  become  habitual,  and  of  which  we  wish  you  to  make  a matter  of  conscience; — were  he,  I  say,  to  preach  these  maxims  to you  in  this  holy  place,  what  would  you  think  of  him? What would you say  to  his  new  doctrine? What idea  would  you  have  of  this new apostle? Would you  consider  him  as  a  man  come  down  from heaven to  announce  to  you  this  new  gospel? Would you  believe him to  be  better  instructed  than  we  in  the  holy  truths  of  salvation, and in  the  rules  of  the  Christian  life? You would  laugh  at  his ignorance or  his  folly;  you  would  perhaps  be  struck  with  horror at the  profanation  which  he  would  make  of  his  ministry.

And what,  my  brethren,  these  maxims  announced  before  the altars would  appear  to  you  as  blasphemy  or  madness;  and,  promulgated in  your  daily  conversations,  would  they  become  rules  of reason  and  of  wisdom? In the  mouth  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel you would  look  upon  them  as  the  speeches  of  a  madman;  and,  in your  mouth,  should  they  appear  more  solid  and  more  weighty? You would  laugh,  or  rather  you  would  be  struck  with  horror,  at  a preacher  who  should  announce  them  to  you;  and  you  wish  to persuade  us  that  you  speak  seriously,  and  that  you  are  consistent with yourselves,  when  with  so  much  confidence  you  hold  them forth to  us.

Ah! my brethren,  how  treacherous  we  are  to  God! and how terrible will  he  be  when  he  shall  come  to  avenge  upon  the  lights  of our  own  heart  the  honour  of  his  holy  law! Our apparent  obstinacy for the  abuses  of  the  world,  of  which  we  maintain  the  innocence,  is a  secret  persuasion  that  the  world  and  its  abuses  are  a  path  of  perdition: we  publicly  justify  what  we  condemn  in  private:  we  are the hypocrites  of  the  world  and  of  its  pleasures;  and,  through  a most  deplorable  destiny,  our  life  passes  away  in  dissembling  with ourselves, and  in  obstinately  determining  to  perish  in  spite  of  ourselves. And surely,  says  the  apostle  John,  if  our  heart,  notwith-