Come, after placed; let us then convert it into the bitterness of repentance, that it may be changed into future sweets and consolations. my beloved friends, follow now the wisest counsel that ever can be given you: take the effectual resolution to bend your necks to the yoke of Jesus. Suffer for him, instead of suffering for the world; your pain will, at most, be but equal; but how different your recompence! What have I said, my brethren? your pain will be equal. No; by no means. The sufferings of virtue are attended by a thousand exquisite delights. Peace and joy are their delicious fruits. The thorns of vice leave in the conscience an excruciating sting, and the gnawing of the worm that never dies: the thorns of virtue give pain for a while only-a pain which is quickly changed into the most pleasurable of all sensations. If we but turn to the Lord, and take his yoke upon us, then, to use the beautiful expressions of the prophet, then our light will break forth as the morning, and our health will speedily arise, and our righteousness will go before our face, and the glory of the Lord shall gather us up. Then we shall call, and the Lord shall hear: we shall cry out, and he shall say: Here I am. Then the Lord will give us rest continually, and fill our souls with brightness. Isa. Iviii. SERMON XX. PASSION SUNDAY. THE HAPPINESS OF A VIRTUOUS LIFE. If I say the truth to you, why do you not believe me?-John viii. 46. THE children of this world are ever ingenious at creating difficulties in opposition to the dominion of virtue; and their inordinate self-love is constantly seeking for arguments against the truths, maxims, and decisions of the gospel. Captivated by the alluring pleasures of this life, they figure to themselves nothing but distresses and pains in those who carry the yoke of Jesus; and therefore violently struggle, before they will bend to it. If the service enjoined by the gospel be a yoke, they cry out, how can it be sweet? If a burthen, how is it light? Insomuch that they deserve to be reproached in the same manner, as the obstinate and incredulous Jews were reproached by the Saviour of the world: If I say the truth to you, why do you not believe me? Why not? Alas! my brethren, the answer is ready, the same answer which Jesus gave to the Jews: Because they are not of God. He, that is of God, heareth the words of God: therefore you hear them not, because you are not of God. There are many truths of which only experience can give us a full conviction; and the lovers of this world can have no experience of the consolations which flow into the souls of God's faithful servants, because they have never yet entirely devoted themselves to his service. To induce them to make the experiment, it might be sufficient to remind them, that the Lord, who is incapable of leading men into error, hath repeatedly assured us, that all his ́ways are pleasantness, and all his paths are peace. But we will enter into the lists with the champions of this world; and we have no doubt but by the force of arguments irresistible we shall, at least, reduce them to silence, if we do not even triumph over all their opposition. They imagine, that, by following the calls of divine grace, they shall be harassed by rough ways, and wounded at every step by sharp and painful thorns; and that, on the other hand, the ways of sin, are smooth, commodious, pleasant, and bordered with smiling flowers and, consequently, their minds revolt at the idea of exchanging ease for constraint, and quitting a calm and delectable situation, to enter on a scene of trouble, disgust and wretchedness. But oh! they are grossly imposed on. The followers of Jesus, who experience the pleasures of virtue, pity their fatal delusion; and pray with ardent charity, that the veil may be removed from before their eyes, which now blinds them to the destruction both of their present and future peace. They are deceived, as the Israelites were by the deputies, whom Moses sent to view the land of promise, and who on their return spread consternation through the camp. To believe them, Palestine was a land of miseries and horrors: a land that devoured its own inhabitants to fix a dwelling there was to seek a grave. But when the people entered into that rich and beautiful country, they exclaimed in transports of joy: Where is the wild and barren heath, where the giants, to devour us, and the abysses open to swallow us up? Limpid streams, refreshing verdure, bland zephyrs, and all the beauties of nature are here in sweet assemblage. The same would be the language of all men, if they would but take a near survey of virtue by entering into its lovely paths. With an earnest desire to convince you of this truth, I will endeavour this day to shew you, that, if at the approaching solemn festivals you will effectually devote yourselves to the service of your Redeemer, you will find consolations of various kinds, and consolations so exquisite, that no pleasures on earth can compensate for the loss of them, or furnish us in place of them with any thing like an equivalent. 1. The first blessed fruit of your reconciliation with Jesus will be the establishment of peace in your heart, by reconciling your affections with the dictates of your reason, and making your desires and your judgment harmonize perfectly together. For, natural principles of rectitude are deeply rooted by our Creator in every human breast. We are born, as the apostle admonishes us, with the rules of the law written on our hearts. Passion attempts in vain sometimes to persuade us, that we are born for the enjoyments of sensuality; and that inclinations, which we receive from nature, and which each one finds in the constitution of his being, cannot be condemned as criminal. Such a suggestion, which is listened to in the hour of temptation, can never satisfy the sinner's judgment. It is a desire; for we could wish, that what pleases us, at the moment, should be lawful: but it is not a real conviction. It is an opinion, which the pride of a libertine will maintain in public, as well that he may apologise for his licentiousness, as that he |