Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/418

 sition of  vanity,  we  make  a  boast  of  being  tranquil  in  our  errors; we glory  in  a  peace  which  thy  mercy  is  still  willing  to  disturb;  and, far from  publishing  the  riches  of  thy  grace  upon  our  soul,  which leaves us  still  open  to  the  truth,  we  vaunt  an  obstinacy  and  a  blindness which,  sooner  or  later,  shall  be  realized,  and  shall  at  last  be the  just  punishment  of  an  ingratitude  and  of  a  deceit  so  injurious to thy  grace. — First character  of  the  evidence  of  the  law  of  God: it is  evident  in  the  conscience  of  the  sinner;  but  it  is  likewise  so  in the  simplicity  of  its  rules.

Part II. — Since man  is  the  work  of  God,  man  can  no  longer live but  conformably  to  the  will  of  his  author;  and  since  God  hath of man  made  his  work,  and  his  most  perfect  work,  he  could  never leave him  to  live  by  chance  upon  the  earth  without  manifesting  to him  his  will;  that  is  to  say,  without  pointing  out  to  him  what  he owed  to  his  Creator,  to  his  fellow-creatures,  and  to  himself. Therefore, in creating  him,  he  imprinted  in  his  being  a  living  light,  incessantly visible  to  his  heart,  which  regulated  all  his  duties. But all flesh having  perverted  its  way,  and  the  abundance  of  iniquity  which had prevailed  over  the  earth,  (unable,  it  is  true,  to  efface  that  light entirely  from  the  heart  of  men,)  no  longer  permitting  them  to  reflect or  to  consult  it,  and  apparently  no  longer  even  maintaining itself in  them,  unless  to  render  them  more  inexcusable;  God,  whose mercies seem  to  become  more  abundant  in  proportion  as  the  wickedness of  men  increases,  caused  to  be  engraven,  on  tables  of  stone, that law  which  nature,  that  is  to  say,  which  himself,  had  engraven on our  hearts:  he  placed  before  our  eyes  the  law  which  we  bear within us,  in  order  to  recall  us  to  ourselves. Nevertheless, the people, who  were  its  first  depositaries,  having  again  disfigured  it  by interpretations  which  adulterated  its  purity,  Jesus  Christ,  the  wisdom and  the  light  of  God,  came  at  last  upon  the  earth  to  restore  it to  its  original  beauty;  to  purge  it  from  the  alterations  of  the  synagogue;  to  dissipate  the  obscurities  which  a  false  learning  and  human traditions had  spread  through  it;  to  lay  open  all  its  sublimity;  to apply  its  rules  to  our  wants;  and,  in  leaving  to  us  his  Gospel,  no longer  to  leave  an  excuse,  either  to  the  ignorance  or  to  the  wickedness of  those  who  violate  its  precepts.

Nevertheless, the  second  pretext  which  is  opposed  in  the  world to the  evidence  of  the  law  of  God,  is  the  pretended  ambiguity  of  its rules; they  accuse  us  of  making  the  Gospel  to  say  whatever  we wish;  they  contest,  they  find  answers,  they  spread  obscurities through all,  and  they  darken  the  law  in  such  a  manner  that  the world itself  insists  on  having  the  Gospel  on  its  side.

Now I  say,  that,  besides  the  evidence  of  the  conscience,  the  law of God  is  also  evident  in  the  simplicity  of  its  rules,  and  consequently that  the  sinners,  who  wish  thus  to  justify  their  iniquitous ways, shall  one  day  be  overthrown,  both  by  the  testimony  of  their own heart  and  by  the  evidence  of  the  holy  rules.

Yes, my  brethren,  the  law  of  God,  says  the  prophet,  is  pure,  enlightening the  eyes  even  of  those  who  would  wish  to  conceal  it  from