Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/500

 truth; and  he  sees  not  that  men  are  going  for  ever  to  dishonour him, in  placing  upon  an  equality,  with  him,  even  to  the  end  of  ages, that Jesus  who  ought  to  have  been  considered  only  as  his  servant , and  prophet:  he  prophesies  that  idols  shall  be  overthrown;  and  he sees  not  that  he  himself  shall  occupy  their  place:  he  prophesies that he  will  form  to  himself  a  holy  people  of  every  tongue  and  of every  tribe;  and  he  sees  not  that  he  comes  only  to  form  a  new people of  idolaters  of  every  nation,  who  shall  place  him  in  the  temple as  the  living  God;  whose  actions,  worship,  and  homages  shall all be  directed  to  him;  who  shall  do  all  for  his  glory;  who  shall  depend solely  upon  him,  live  only  for  and  through  him,  and  have neither force  nor  energy  but  what  they  receive  from  him:  in  a word,  who  shall  worship  him,  who  shall  love  him  a  thousand  times more spiritually,  more  intimately,  and  more  universally,  than  ever the pagans  had  worshipped  their  idols. This, then,  is  not  even  a prophet;  and  his  relations  according  to  the  flesh,  are  guilty  of  no blasphemy  when  they  say  "  he  is  beside  himself,"  and  that  he bestows,  on  the  dreams  of  a  heated  imagination,  all  the  weight  and reality of  revelations  and  mysteries.

Behold to  what  unbelief  conducts. Overturn the  foundation, which is  the  Lord  Jesus,  eternal  Son  of  the  living  God,  and  the whole edifice  tumbles  in  pieces:  take  away  the  grand  mystery  of piety,  and  all  the  religion  is  but  a  dream:  deny  the  divinity  of  Jesus Christ, and  you  cut  off,  from  the  doctrine  of  Christians,  all  the merit of  faith,  all  the  consolation  of  hope,  all  the  motives  of  charity. Thus, with  what  zeal  did  not  the  first  disciples  of  the  Gospel  oppose those  impious  men  who,  from  that  time,  ventured  to  attack the glory  of  their  Master's  divinity? They well  knew  that  it  was striking at  the  heart  of  their  religion;  that  it  was  ravishing  from them the  only  alleviation  of  their  persecutions  and  sufferings,  all confidence in  the  promises  to  come,  and  all  the  dignity  and  grandeur of their  pretensions;  and  that,  that  principle  once  overthrown,  the whole religion  dissipated  in  smoke,  and  was  no  longer  but  a  human doctrine and  the  sect  of  a  mortal  man,  who,  like  all  the  other  chiefs, had left  nothing  but  his  name  to  his  disciples.

Thus the  pagans  themselves  then  reproached  the  Christians  with rendering divine  honours  to  their  Christ. Pliny, a  Roman  proconsul, celebrated  for  his  works,  giving  an  account  to  the  emperor Trajan of  their  morals  and  doctrine;  after  being  forced  to  confess that the  Christians  were  pious,  innocent,  and  upright  men,  and  that they assembled  before  the  rising  of  the  sun,  not  to  concert  the commission of  crimes,  or  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  empire,  but to live  in  piety  and  righteousness,  to  detest  frauds,  adulteries,  and even the  coveting  of  the  wealth  of  others;  he  only  reproaches  them with chaunting  hymns  in  honour  of  their  Christ,  and  of  rendering to him  the  same  homages  as  to  a  god. Now, if  these  first  believers had not  rendered  divine  honours  to  Jesus  Christ,  they  would  have justified themselves  against  that  calumny:  they  would  have  rejected that scandal  from  their  religion,  almost  the  only  one  which  shocked the zeal  of  the  Jews  and  the  wisdom  of  the  Gentiles;  they  would