Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/498

 peace, a  lasting  happiness,  righteousness  and  truth;  he  hath  made of it  a  new  world  and  a  new  earth;  he  hath  not  loaded  a  single people with  his  benefits,  he  hath  loaded  all  nations,  the  whole universe: and  what  is  more,  he  hath  become  our  benefactor  only  by suffering  as  our  victim. What could  he  do  more  exalted  or  more noble for  the  earth? If gratitude  hath  made  gods,  could  Jesus Christ fail  to  find  worshippers  among  men? And were  it  possible that any  excess  could  take  place  in  our  love  and  in  our  gratitude to him,  was  it  at  all  proper  that  we  should  be  so  deeply  indebted to him.

Again, if  Jesus  Christ,  in  dying,  had  informed  his  disciples that to  the  Lord  alone  they  were  indebted  for  so  many  benefits, that he  himself  had  been  merely  the  instrument,  and  not  the author and  source  of  all  these  special  favours,  and  that  they  ought, consequently, to  forget  him,  and  to  render  to  God  that  glory  which was due  to  him  alone;  but  very  differently  than  with  such  instructions doth  Jesus  Christ  terminate  his  wonders  and  his  ministry. He not  only  requires  that  his  disciples  forget  him  not,  and  that they do  not  cease,  even  after  his  death,  to  hope  in  him;  but,  on the  point  of  quitting  them,  he  assures  them  that,  even  to  the  consummation of  time,  he  will  be  present  with  them;  he  promises still more  than  he  hath  already  bestowed  upon  them,  and  attaches them for  ever  to  himself  by  indissoluble  and  immortal  ties.

In effect,  the  promises  which,  in  that  last  moment,  he  makes to them,  are  still  more  astonishing  than  all  the  favours  he  had granted to  them  during  his  life. In the  first  place,  he  promises  to them  the  consoling  Spirit,  which  he  calls  the  Spirit  of  his  Father; that Spirit  of  truth,  which  the  world  cannot  receive;  that  Spirit  of energy,  which  was  to  form  the  martyrs;  that  Spirit  of  intelligence, which was  to  enlighten  the  prophets;  that  Spirit  of  wisdom, which was  to  conduct  the  pastors;  that  Spirit  of  peace  and  charity, which of  all  believers  was  to  make  only  one  heart  and  one  soul. What right  hath  Jesus  Christ  over  the  Spirit  of  God,  to  dispose  of it  at  his  pleasure,  and  to  promise  it  to  men,  if  it  be  not  his  own Spirit? Elijah, ascending  to  heaven,  looks  upon  it  as  a  thing hardly possible  to  promise  to  Eliseus,  individually,  his  twofold spirit of  zeal  and  prophecy:  how  far  was  he  from  promising  to  him the eternal  Spirit  of  the  heavenly  Father,  that  Spirit  of  liberty which agitates  where  he  thinks  fit! Nevertheless, the  promises  of Jesus  Christ  are  accomplished;  scarcely  hath  he  ascended  to heaven  when  the  Spirit  of  God  descends  upon  the  disciples:  the illiterate become  at  once  more  learned  than  all  the  sages  and  philosophers, the  weak  more  powerful  than  the  tyrants,  the  foolish, according to  the  world,  more  prudent  than  all  the  wisdom  of  the age. New men,  animated  with  a  new  Spirit,  appear  upon  the earth: they  attract  all  to  walk  in  their  steps;  they  change  the face of  the  universe,  and,  even  to  the  end  of  ages,  shall  that  Spirit animate his  church,  form  righteous  souls,  overthrow  the  unbelieving, console  his  disciples,  sustain  them  amid  persecutions  and  disgraces, and  shall  bear  witness  in  the  bottom  of  their  heart  that