Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/530

 Here figure  to  yourselves,  then,  my  brethren,  the  criminal  soul before the  tribunal  of  Christ,  surrounded  by  angels  and  men;  the just, the  sinful,  his  relations,  his  subjects,  his  masters,  his  friends, his enemies,  all  their  eyes  fixed  on  him,  present  at  the  terrible  scrutiny which  the  just  Judge  will  make  into  his  actions,  his  desires, and his  thoughts;  forced,  in  spite  of  themselves,  to  assist  at  his judgment, and  to  witness  the  justice  of  the  sentence  which  the  Son of Man  shall  pronounce  against  him. All the  resources  which,  on this  earth,  might  soften  the  most  humiliating  confusion,  shall  fail, on that  day,  to  the  unfaithful  soul.

First resource. On this  earth,  when  guilty  of  a  fault  which  has sunk us  into  contempt,  the  whole  has  turned  on  a  certain  number of witnesses  confined  to  our  nation,  or  to  the  place  of  our  birth; we may  have  removed  ourselves  from  them,  in  the  course  of  time, to avoid  continually  reading,  in  their  eyes,  the  remembrance  and reproach of  our  past  shame;  we  may  have  changed  our  place  of dwelling,  to  go  elsewhere  among  strangers,  to  recover  a  reputation which we  had  already  lost:  but  on  that  grand  day,  all  men  assembled shall  be  acquainted  with  the  secret  history  of  your  manners and of  your  conscience:  you  shall  no  longer  have  it  in  your  power to hide  yourself  far  from  the  looks  of  the  spectators,  to  seek  new countries, and,  like  Cain,  to  fly  into  the  desert. Each shall  be fixed  immoveable  in  the  place,  marked  out  for  him,  bearing  on  his forehead the  sentence  of  his  condemnation  and  the  history  of  his whole life,  obliged  to  sustain  the  eyes  of  the  universe  and  the  whole shame of  his  weaknesses. There shall  no  longer,  then,  be  any hidden spot  wherein  to  conceal  himself  from  the  public  regard; the light  of  God,  the  sole  glory  of  the  Son  of  Man,  which  fill  the heavens and  the  earth;  and  in  all  that  immensity  of  space  around you, you  will,  in  every  part,  discover  from  afar  only  watchful  eyes fixed on  you.

Second resource. On the  earth,  when  our  shame  is  even  public, and when  degraded  in  the  minds  of  men,  in  consequence  of  some striking fault,  yet  there  are  always  some  friends  grounded  in  our favour, whose  esteem  and  society  recompense  us,  in  some  measure, for the  public  contempt,  and  whose  kindnesses  assist  us  in  sustaining the  inveteracy  of  the  general  censure:  but,  on  this  occasion,  the presence of  our  friends  will  be  the  object  by  far  the  most  insupportable to  our  shame. If sinners,  like  ourselves,  they  will  cast  up to  us  our  common  pleasures  and  our  example,  which,  perhaps,  have been the  first  rock  upon  which  their  innocence  split:  if  just,  as they  had  believed  us  to  be  children  of  light,  ah! they will  reproach to us  their  good  opinion  abused  and  their  friendship  seduced. You loved the  just,  shall  they  say  to  us,  and  you  hated  righteousness; you protected  virtue,  yet,  in  your  heart,  you  placed  vice  on  the throne: in  us  you  sought  that  probity,  that  fidelity,  and  that  security which  you  found  not  in  your  worldly  friends,  but  you  sought not the  Lord  who  formed  all  these  virtues  in  our  heart:  ah! did not the  author  of  all  our  gifts  deserve  to  be  more  loved,  more  sought after than  we!