Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/478

 soling our  faith,  while  recounting  the  wonders  of  him  who  is  its Author and  Perfecter;  and  to  reanimate  our  piety  in  exposing  to you  the  glory  and  the  divinity  of  our  Mediator,  who  is  its  object  and its sweetest  hope.

It is  even  proper  to  renew,  from  time  to  time,  these  grand  truths in the  minds  of  the  great  and  of  the  princes  of  the  people,  in  order to strengthen  them  against  those  discourses  of  infidelity  which  they, in general,  are  only  too  much  in  the  way  of  hearing;  and  it  is  expedient sometimes  to  raise  up  the  veil  which  covers  the  sanctuary, that they  may  have  a  view  of  those  hidden  beauties  which  religion only holds  out  to  their  respect  and  their  homages.

Now, the  divinity  of  the  Mediator  can  only  be  proved  by  his  ministry; his  titles  can  appear  only  in  his  functions;  and,  in  order  to know  whether  he  be  descended  from  heaven,  and  equal  with  the Most High,  it  requires  only  to  relate  the  purposes  for  which  he came  upon  the  earth. He came,  my  brethren,  to  form  a  holy  and a believing  people;  a  believing  people,  who  subject  their  reason to the  sacred  yoke  of  faith;  a  holy  people,  whose  conversation  is  in heaven,  and  who  are  no  longer  responsible  to  the  flesh,  to  live according to  the  flesh:  such  is  the  grand  design  of  his  temporal mission.

The lustre  of  his  ministry  is  the  firmest  foundation  of  our  faith: the spirit  of  his  ministry,  the  sole  rule  of  our  morals. Now, if  he was  only  a  man  commissioned  of  God,  the  lustre  of  his  ministry would be  the  inevitable  occasion  of  our  superstition  and  idolatry; the spirit  of  his  ministry  would  be  the  fatal  snare  to  entrap  our  innocence. Thus, whether  we  consider  the  lustre  or  the  spirit  of  his his ministry,  the  glory  of  his  divinity  remains  equally  and  invincibly established.

O Jesus,  sole  Lord  of  all,  accept  this  public  homage  of  our  confession and  of  our  faith! While impiety  blasphemes  in  secret,  and under the  shades  of  darkness,  against  thy  glory,  allow  us  the  consolation of  publishing  it  with  the  voice  of  all  ages  in  the  face  of these  altars;  and  form,  in  our  heart,  not  only  that  faith  which  confesses and  worships  thee,  but  also  that  which  follows  and  which imitates thee.

Part I. — God  can  manifest  himself  to  men,  only  in  order  to teach  them  what  he  is,  and  what  men  owe  to  him;  and  religion  is, properly speaking,  but  a  divine  light,  which  discovers  God  to  man, and which  regulates  the  duties  of  man  toward  God. Whether the Most High  show  himself  to  the  earth,  or  whether  he  fill  extraordinary men  with  his  spirit,  the  end  of  all  his  proceedings  can  be  only the knowledge  and  the  sanctification  of  his  name  in  the  universe, and the  establishment  of  a  worship  in  which  they  render  to  him what is  due  to  him  alone.

Now, if  the  Lord  Jesus,  come  in  the  fulness  of  time,  was  nothing more than  an  upright  and  innocent  man,  only  chosen  to  be  the messenger of  God  upon  the  earth,  the  principal  end  of  his  ministry would have  been  that  of  rendering  the  world  idolatrous,   and  of