Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/501

 openly have  said, — We  do  not  worship  Jesus  Christ,  for  we  know better than  to  transfer  to  a  creature  that  honour  and  worship  which are due  to  God  alone. Nevertheless, they  make  no  reply  to  this accusation. Their apologists  refute  all  the  other  calumnies  with. which the  pagans  endeavoured  to  blacken  their  doctrine;  they clear up  and  overthrow  the  slightest  accusations;  and  their  apologies, addressed to  the  senate,  attract  to  them  even  the  admiration  of Rome,  and  impose  silence  on  their  enemies. And, upon  the  accusation of  idolatry  toward  Jesus  Christ,  which  should  be  the  most crying and  the  most  horrible;  upon  the  reproach  of  worshipping  a crucified  person,  which  was  the  most  likely  to  discredit  them,  and which ought  indeed  to  have  been  the  most  grievous  to  men  so  holy, so declared  against  idolatry,  and  so  jealous  of  the  glory  of  God,  they are totally  silent;  and,  far  from  defending  themselves,  they  even justify the  accusation  by  their  silence? What do  I  say? By their silence? They authorize  it  by  their  language,  in  professing  to suffer  for  his  name,  in  dying  for  him,  in  confessing  him  before  the tyrants, in  joyfully  expiring  upon  gibbets,  in  the  sweet  expectation of going  to  enjoy  him,  and  of  receiving,  in  his  bosom,  a  more  immortal life  than  that  which  they  had  lost  for  his  glory. They suffered martyrdom  rather  than  bend  to  the  statue  of  the  Caesars, rather than  allow  their  pagan  friends,  through  a  human  compassion, and to  save  them  from  torture,  to  falsely  attest,  before  the  magistrates, that  they  had  offered  incense  to  the  idols,  and  they  would have submitted  to  the  accusation  of  paying  divine  honours  to  Jesus Christ, without  any  attempt  to  destroy  the  imputation? Ah! they would have  proclaimed  the  contrary  from  the  house-tops;  they would have  exposed  themselves  even  to  death,  rather  than  to  have given room  to  so  hateful  and  so  execrable  a  suspicion. What can unbelief oppose  to  this? And, if  it  be  an  error  to  equal  Jesus Christ to  God,  it  is  an  error  which  has  been  born  with  the  church, and upon  which  the  whole  structure  hath  been  reared;  which  has formed so  many  martyrs,  and  converted  the  whole  universe.

But what  fruit,  my  brethren,  are  we  to  draw  from  this  Discourse? That Jesus  Christ  is  the  grand  object  of  Christian  piety. Nevertheless, scarcely do  we  know  Jesus  Christ:  we  never  consider  that all the  other  practices  of  piety  are,  as  I  may  say,  arbitrary;  but that this  is  the  ground-work  of  faith  and  of  salvation;  that  this  is pure  and  sincere  piety;  that,  continually  to  meditate  upon  Jesus Christ, to  have  recourse  to  him,  to  nourish  ourselves  with  this  doctrine, to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  his  mysteries,  to  study  his  actions, to count  solely  upon  the  merit  of  his  blood  and  of  his  sacrifice,  is the  only  true  knowledge  and  the  most  essential  duty  of  the  believer. Remember, then,  my  brethren,  that  piety  toward  Jesus  Christ  is the  cordial  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion;  that  nothing  is  solid  but what you  shall  build  upon  that  foundation;  and  that  the  principal homage which  he  expects  of  you  is,  that  you  become  like  him,  and that his  life  be  the  model  of  your  own,  in  order  that,  through  your resemblance to  him,  you  may  be  included  in  the  number  of  those  who shall be  partakers  of  his  glory.