Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/554

 ourselves in  the  way  of  wickedness  and  destruction;  our  passions have always  been  a  thousand  times  more  intolerable  to  us  than could ever  have  been  the  most  austere  virtues:  and  we  have  suffered more  in  working  our  own  destruction,  than  would  have  been necessary to  secure  our  salvation,  and  to  be  entitled  to  mount  up now  with  the  chosen  into  the  realms  of  immortality. Fools that we are! by a  sorrowful  and  unhappy  life  to  have  purchased  miseries which  must  endure  for  ever! "

Would you  then,  my  dear  hearer,  live  happy  on  the  earth,  live Christianly. Piety is  universally  beneficial. Innocence of  heart is the  source  of  true  pleasures. Turn to  every  side;  there  is  no rest,  says  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  the  wicked. Try every  pleasure; they will  never  eradicate  that  disease  of  the  mind,  that  fund  of lassitude  and  gloom,  which,  go  where  you  will,  continually  accompanies you. Cease, then,  to  consider  the  lot  of  the  godly  as  a disagreeable  and  sorrowful  lot;  judge  not  their  happiness  from  appearances which  deceive  you. You see  their  countenance  bedewed with tears;  but  you  see  not  the  invisible  hand  which  wipes  them away; you  see  their  body  groaning  under  the  yoke  of  penitence; but you  see  not  the  unction  of  grace  which  softens  it:  you  see sorrowful and  austere  maimers;  but  you  see  not  a  conscience  always cheerful  and  tranquil. They are  like  the  ark  in  the  desert:  it appeared  covered  only  with  the  skins  of  animals:  the  exterior  is mean  or  unattractive;  it  is  the  condition  of  that  melancholy  desert. But, could  you  penetrate  into  the  heart,  into  that  divine  sanctuary, what new  wonders  would  rise  to  your  eyes! You would  find  it clothed  in  pure  gold:  you  would  there  see  the  glory  of  God  with which it  is  filled:  you  would  there  admire  the  fragrance  of  the  perfumes, and  the  fervour  of  the  prayers  which  are  continually  mounting upwards  to  the  Lord;  the  sacred  fire  which  is  never  extinguished on that  altar;  that  silence,  that  peace,  that  majesty  which  reigns there; and  the  Lord  himself,  who  hath  chosen  it  for  his  abode,  and who hath  delighted  in  it.

Let their  lot  inspire  you  with  a  holy  emulation. It depends wholly on  yourself  to  be  similar  to  them. They perhaps  have formerly been  the  accomplices  of  your  pleasures;  why  could  you not become  the  imitators  of  their  penitence? Establish, at  last,  a solid  peace  in  your  heart;  begin  to  be  weary  of  yourself. Hitherto you have  only  half  lived;  for  it  is  not  living  to  live  at  enmity  with one's self. Return to  your  God,  who  calls  and  who  expects  you: banish iniquity  from  your  soul,  and  you  will  banish  the  source  of all  its  sorrows;  you  will  enjoy  the  peace  of  innocence;  you  will live happy  upon  the  earth;  and  that  temporal  happiness  will  be only  the  commencement  of  a  felicity  which  shall  never  fade  nor  be done  away.