Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/536

 or the  fall  of  empires,  by  the  politeness  or  the  barbarity  of  the times, by  the  great  characters  who  have  blazed  in  every  age;  but by the  diverse  triumphs  of  grace,  by  the  hidden  victories  of  the just over  their  passions,  by  ^the  establishment  of  his  reign  in  a heart,  by  the  heroical  fortitude  of  a  persecuted  believer. You shall see him  change  the  face  of  all  things,  create  a  new  heaven  and  a new  earth,  and  reduce  that  infinite  variety  of  people,  titles,  conditions, and  dignities,  to  a  people  holy  and  a  people  reprobate,  to the  goats  and  the  sheep.

Separation, secondly,  cruel. The father  shall  be  separated  from his child;  friend  from  friend;  brother  from  brother:  the  one  shall be taken,  the  other  left. Death, which  deprives  us  of  the  dearest friends, and  whose  loss  occasions  to  us  so  many  sighs  and  tears, leaves us,  at  least,  a  consolation  in  the  hope  of  being  one  day  reunited to  them. Here, the  separation  is  eternal;  no  hope  of  reunion shall  more  exist;  we  shall  no  more  have  relatives,  father, child, friend;  no  other  ties  than  everlasting  flames,  which  shall  for ever unite  us  to  the  reprobate.

Separation, thirdly,  ignominious. We are  so  touchy  on  a  preference, when  neglected,  or  left  blended  with  the  crowd  on  any splendid occasion;  we  are  so  peevish,  and  so  irritated,  when,  in the  distribution  of  favours,  we  see  novices  carrying  off  the  palm and the  principal  offices;  our  services  forgotten,  and  those  whom we had  always  seen  far  below  us,  now  exalted  and  placed  over  our heads. But, on  that  grand  day,  it  is  that  preference  shall  be  accompanied with  circumstances  the  most  humiliating  and  the  most galling to  the  criminal  soul. In that  universal  silence,  in  that dreadful expectation,  in  which  each  one  shall  be  for  the  decision  of his  destiny,  you  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  advancing  in  the  heavens, with crowns  in  one  hand,  and  the  rod  of  wrath  in  the  other,  to carry  off,  from  your  side,  a  just  soul  whose  innocence  you,  perhaps, had  blackened  by  rash  discourses,  or  whose  virtues  you  had insulted by  impious  pleasantries;  a  believer  who  was,  perhaps, born your  subject;  a  Lazarus,  who  in  vain,  perhaps,  had  importuned you  with  the  recital  of  his  wants  and  poverty;  a  rival  whom you had  always  beheld  with  an  eye  of  scorn,  and  upon  whose  ruins your intrigues  and  artifices  had  perhaps  exalted  you. You shall see the  Son  of  Man  place  a  crown  of  immortality  on  his  head, seat him  at  his  right  hand,  while  you,  like  the  proud  Haman,  rejected, humbled,  and  degraded,  shall  no  longer,  have  before  your eyes but  the  preparation  of  your  punishment.

Yes, my  brethren,  every  galling  and  overwhelming  circumstance shall attend  that  preference. A savage  converted  to  faith  shall  be ranked  among  the  sheep,  while  a  Christian  inheritor  of  the  promises shall  be  left  among  the  goats. The layman  shall  ascend, like the  eagle  over  his  prey,  while  the  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  shall grovel on  the  earth,  covered  with  shame  and  reproach. The man of the  world  shall  pass  to  the  right  hand,  while  the  recluse  passes to the  left. The wise,  the  learned,  the  critic  of  the  age,  shall  be driven  to  the  side  of  the  unclean;  and  the  idiot,  who  knew  not