http://www.romancatholicism.org
/ Quesnel’s Moral Reflections / Gospel of St. Matthew
|
|
The Gospel of Jesus Christ According to
St. Matthew Pasquier
Quesnel Translated
by the Rev. Daniel Wilson, D.D., Vicar of Islington and now Bishop of Chapter XXIV. Sect. I. Destruction Of The Temple.
Deceivers. Wars. Famine. 1. AND Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to Mm for to shew him the buildings of the temple. Jesus Christ, by going now the last time
out of the temple, denotes the reprobation of the
Jews. He bears with the curiosity of his disciples, to teach us how to make
that of our friends subservient to their instruction and edification. It is a
very extraordinary talent, to know how to improve every unprofitable part of
conversation to the advantage of religion, by taking occasion from thence still
to mention something which is edifying, and to sow the seed of some
beneficial truth. 2. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. This temple was destroyed, justly, on the
account of the sins of the Jews; mercifully, to take away from them the
occasion of continuing in Judaism; and mysteriously, to show that the ancient
sacrifices were abolished, and that the Jewish worship was ceased. If God
spared not his own temple, what will become of those profane edifices built
and cemented with the blood of the poor? Happy that person who labours only
to erect an eternal building! 3. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? Human curiosity makes a great progress in
a little time. This of the apostles is commendable, because they only pursue
the intimation given them by Christ, and make him the only subject of their
inquiry. There are three different comings of Jesus Christ, which serve
mutually to make known and illustrate one another. One in anger, to punish
the Jews, and to put an end to the reign of the law. Another in mercy, to
form his church, and to begin the reign of the gospel and of grace. The third
in glory, to judge the world, and to con summate the kingdom of God in his
saints, and that of his justice in hell. Abundance of people are curious to know the time “of the end of the world;”
but very few endeavour to prepare themselves for the end of their own life. 4. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. The world is full of deceivers, (2 John
7.) This is a temptation belonging to all times, and to which the three
comings of Christ are subject. The deceit which is covered with the mask of piety, is more to be feared by those who seek God than by
others. False Christs to the Jews, false apostles
to the first Christians, and false reformers in the last ages. False pastors,
false directors of the conscience, and pretenders to the Spirit in all times.
It is not without cause that Christ gives us this caution, as we must not
neglect it, so we must not abuse it. 5. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. In this and the following verses, Christ
points out unto us several means and occasions of being seduced. The first
means proceed from false Christs. The delivering
the Jews up to them was a just punishment for their having rejected the true
during his life, for their having ascribed his miracles to the illusion of
the devil, and treated him as a deceiver after his death. How dangerous is it
not to profit by the cares of a good pastor! God oftentimes, by way of
judgment, takes such a one away, and permits a hireling to come in his place.
Men lose the opportunity of a wise, exact, and experienced guide, and fall
into the hands of a deceiver. To avoid this first seducement,
we must watch, pray, and carefully examine. 6. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. The second occasion of being seduced is,
when the sight of the disorders and confusions, which seem to denote the end
of the world, causes men to despair of seeing the divine promises fulfilled.
Let us not be troubled, whatever happens; God will accomplish his own work, and
be faithful to his promises. What means is there for men to avoid being
troubled at a scourge so terrible as that of war,
except by continuing always intent on God, his promises, and his law, and
endeavouring to appease his wrath by a serious conversion? “Wars and rumours
of wars,” as to the generality of mankind, serve only to excite the trouble
and disorder of their passions, their ambition, revenge, hope, curiosity,
avarice, and desire of new events. The true Christian adores God; bewails
both those sins which are the causes, and those which are the effects of war;
beholds with a holy dread the justice of God, executed by the rage of men;
laments the loss of so great a number of souls; casts his eyes on God’s
eternal vengeance, of which this is only the shadow; and beseeches him to
make all these things subservient to his glory, and to his designs concerning
the elect. 7. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8. All these are the beginning of sorrows. The third means of being seduced, is the
attributing that to man which comes from God. Thus the heathens ascribed all
the misfortunes of the empire, and all the plagues which God inflicted, to
the contempt which the Christians showed toward their idols; whereas these
evils were only the punishment of the wicked, and the trial of the good. Men
gene rally turn every thing to the disadvantage of piety. If a man, from the
time of devoting himself to God, suffer in his estate, his health, or
otherwise, it is, say they, because he is imprudent in his conduct,
indiscreet in his mortifications, excessive in his devotions, etc. Revolts,
famines, pestilences, earthquakes, and all the other evils of this life, are
emblems of those of the other, which they warn us to prevent by repentance;
and of the vices and disorders of our hearts, which they solicit us to
correct. Sect. II. The Righteous Persecuted. False
Prophets. Charity Grown Cold. Perseverance. 9. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. The fourth occasion of being seduced is, the public and general hatred, and the persecution of
the world. Can a religion, said they, which is abhorred by all
the world, be the true? Can a handful of men, pursued with fire and
sword by all the powers of the earth, and despised by the wisest philosophers
can such as these be the favourites of God? How often does it happen, that
good men are persecuted as criminals, merely on the account of this fourth
means of seducement? To be hated of all the world
is nothing, provided one is beloved of God. 10. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. The fifth occasion of being seduced, proceeds from the scandals or offences given by
those of the household of faith, their divisions, and the treacheries of
false brethren. No thing is more serviceable to the devil, in seducing the
weak and simple. We must still adhere to God, by and for him self; and not
forsake him, though we should be left alone. Good example is a great help in
piety, but it is not the foundation of it. Our being mingled with the wicked
is somewhat inconvenient and troublesome; but it is necessary to exercise our
virtue, and to put us in mind of human infirmity. 11. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. The sixth means of being seduced, arises from false prophets, mercenary pastors, and
teachers of error. All those who advance such doctrines of religion or
morality as are contrary to the gospel, are of this number; and this number
is great in all ages. Had Jesus Christ foretold the fall but of two or three
persons, ought we not to have feared lest we should be of the number? He has
foretold the fall of many, and we tremble not. Let us keep ourselves closely
united to God by faith, and believe that this gift
proceeds from his pure goodness alone. 12. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. The last occasion of being seduced is, the
observing how charity grows cold; which still decays in proportion to the
increase of concupiscence. It is a grace which is very un common, for a man
to hold out against the iniquity of the age, and to secure his virtue from
being at all weakened thereby. One of the most subtle and dangerous seducements of all, is the example of some person of
great reputation for piety, who, through fear of men, grows faint and cool in
the cause of truth. Such a one often draws many after him, either by the
weight of his authority, or perhaps because he is the more earnest to make
his weakness pass for a virtue, to maintain and justify it, and to procure as
many imitators of it as he can. 13. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. God alone gives perseverance, no man
merits it. Can any one who knows his own weakness, and considers all the seducements and temptations of life, trust at all to
himself? We are so much the less secure of receiving this gift, the more
confident we are of it; and we have so much the more reason to hope for it,
the more unworthy we think ourselves thereof. It belongs to him who has begun
the work of salvation, to finish and complete it in us. But in order to this,
it belongs to us to fear, to pray, to humble ourselves, and to labour. 14. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations: and then shall the end come. The destruction of Jerusalem and of the
temple was deferred, till the gospel had been preached everywhere; to the
end, that the Jews might see the completion of the prophecies in the vocation
of all the Gentiles; that all the Jews dispersed abroad might be called,
before the execution of the divine vengeance; and that the church, even from
its infancy, might have a kind of universality, and be visible to all the
earth, before the shadow of the synagogue disappeared. But how many Jews were
there then, how many Christians are there in all ages, to whom
the knowledge of the gospel served, and still serves, only to their
condemnation! Sect. III. The Abomination In The Holy
Place. Flight. Great Tribulation. 15. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand,) We are not at all troubled at the dreadful
signs of the desolation of Jerusalem, because all that is past. We are little
concerned at the desolation of the church by Antichrist, because this seems
at a great distance. But how come we not to fear the desolation of the soul
by sin, of which we have so many present examples, the principle of which we
carry within us, and the abomination of which all the prophets and all the
Scriptures so plainly represent unto us! The profanation of holy things is a
terrible mark of God’s displeasure. We are affected only with such as are
external and extraordinary; but the frequent abuse of the sacraments,
especially unworthy communions, the sacred ministry in the hands of wicked
men, the contempt of the divine word, and the sins of ecclesiastical persons,
ought much more to make us sigh, and dread the last effects of the wrath of
God, and even the extinction of religion itself in a country. 16. Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: To quit all in order to save our souls, is a counsel proper for all times, but which on
some occasions may become a necessary duty. The world is judged, and is about
to be given up to the divine Justice, and yet we still cleave to it! There is
not one person to be found, but who, for fear of God’s judgments, ought to
flee into the mountains, either by retirement, or by a life of prayer, or by
separating himself from the company of sinners, or by renouncing the
conversation, maxims, and impertinences of the world, or even by forsaking
his best friends, if they have forsaken God. When retreat is necessary to a
man’s salvation, he must not barely retire, but fly.
17. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18. Neither let them which is in the field return back to take his clothes. Unhappy is that man who loads himself with
earthly cares and riches, when he should think of nothing but how to escape
the divine wrath by forsaking all! He who desires to save all, hazards all.
Let us leave that to perish which must do so; let us save that which is
eternal. Death surprises almost all mankind in some particular engagement;
the carnal after one manner, the spiritual after another. The body is an
earthly house; when a life of faith or mortification has once raised us above
it, our salvation is secured by our not descending or coming down. The body
is a garment; he who has once laid aside his
affection toward it, in order to work out his salvation, must by no means
take it again. 19. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! Happy is that man, whom the consequences
of marriage, and the encumbrances of a family, hinder not from saving his
soul by flying from the world! Men are generally big with desires and designs
as to the world, and filled with the love of it, when they are forced to
leave it. How advantageous is it to disengage and free ourselves from them
betimes! A soft and effeminate soul is fond of the body, and entirely
employed about it, as a nurse about her child, to gratify its de sires, to
please it in every thing, and breed it up in an animal and carnal way of
life. How terrible to these effeminate spirits is the bare name of death! yet it is not the less unavoidable. 20. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: We must fly from sin and the wrath of God while
we can. It is a fatal imprudence to wait till some great occasion present
itself, ere we think of making any provision of virtue; and to delay the work
of our salvation, till we are unable to perform any thing; and our flight
from the obstacles of it, till the winter of a languishing, inactive, and
infirm old age. It is chiefly by means of prayer that the Christian furnishes
himself with provisions, that he proposes himself to depart, and that he
converts the barrenness and coldness of his heart into an abundance of
charity, and his inability to work into the strength and vigour of grace. 21. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. Every thing is disposed and ordered in
favour of the elect. The destruction of Jerusalem was hastened, to prevent
those among the Jews from falling under such temptations as were above their
strength; and the reign of Antichrist will be shortened, for the sake of
those who shall live in the last times. How suitable to the goodness of God
is this care of his elect! How happy is it to be his! Let us adore and love
him; and let us, by our prayers and fidelity, draw down upon ourselves this
love, vigilance, and care of God, so conspicuous in proportioning the
temptation to the strength of the elect, or in taking them away even from the
temptation itself. Sect. IV. False Christs.
The Elect Almost Deceived. The Eagles Gathered Together. 23. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. There is but one Christ or Saviour, to
whom alone we must steadfastly adhere. The way of faith, as well as that of
virtue, is a single and narrow way; let us take
great care not to leave it, to seek new paths. When we have once been
ascertained of the mission of our blessed Saviour, by the completion of
prophecies, and the seal of miracles, all that which comes afterward is but
temptation and illusion. 24. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. No miracle, how astonishing soever it may appear, should induce us to change our
faith; there is but one Mediator, one gospel, one church, and one faith. The
devil himself knows, that an extraordinary mission
without miracles deserves not to be regarded or examined, since he endeavours
to support seducers by the shadow of this sort of evidence. Prophecy and
miracles are two proofs which strengthen and confirm each other; prophecies
foretell miracles, and miracles show the accomplishment of prophecies. False
proofs compared with those of Christ, make the truth of the latter more
evident and illustrious. Since the elect belong to God, and are peculiarly
his who has undertaken to save them, there is not the least occasion to fear
that even one of them shall be lost. No man is certain that he is of this
number; but every one ought with confidence to think so, and to confirm that
confidence by a good life and conversation. 25. Behold, I have told you before. 26. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. Every secret and strange doctrine, unknown
to the apostles and holy fathers, is false and pernicious. Let us have no
manner of curiosity for these new discoveries. It is not the good grain, but
the chaff, which is carried about with every wind of doctrine. There are but
too many Christians who seek here and there for such remedies in their
miseries as God has not promised them; and neglect to have recourse to Jesus
Christ, the sole Deliverer from all our miseries, whom all the Scriptures
point out to us. Blind and miserable is every one who hopes to mend his
condition by forsaking Christ! It is to him we must apply ourselves; it is he
whom God has given us; whatever turns us aside from him is fatal to us. 27. For as the lightning coraeth out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. The faith received everywhere in so short
a time, not only without any human assistance, but also notwithstanding the
greatest opposition from all the powers of the earth, was, as it were, a
lightning which shone from east to west, and a miracle from heaven, to
confound the incredulity of the sages of the world. The last coming of Christ
will be yet more surprising. 28. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. True Christians are spiritual eagles,
raised by faith above all things here below, and soaring still with ardour
toward Jesus Christ. Wherever his mystical body the church, or (the
representation of) his natural body in the eucharist,
is found, there the elect are gathered together, as so many eagles to their
prey. As soon as Christ shall appear at his second coming, with the scars of
his wounds, and the standard of his cross, which will renew the memory of his
death; then all men, become, as it were, eagles by the resurrection, shall
rise in the air to meet him; and gather about this carcass, or dead body, as
the Greek expresses it, which, being the victim of God, was sacrificed on the
cross; there to receive the sentence of their eternal portion. Let us
earnestly endeavour to be of the number of those blessed eagles who shall
present them selves with confidence before Jesus Christ, and be united to his
immortal body to all eternity. Sect. V. The Sun Darkened. The Coming Of
Christ. 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: The Jewish church ends in the persecution
which fell on the Jews; the Christian church is established by the
persecutions of the Gentiles. In times of trial, when the sun of faith seems
to be darkened, and the church not to give her light, when many of her
doctors fall, and her pillars are shaken, then even her greatest lights and
strongest supports have sufficient reason to be afraid. Christian prudence
consists in humbling ourselves, and being prepared for all events. 30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. The sign of the true Jonas is the glory of
his resurrection; and the faith of this resurrection, received by Jews as
well as Gentiles, is the triumph of his cross, the establishment of his
heavenly kingdom, and the fulness of the body of
Christ. Happy they who, in these last times, shall,
with a true contrition of heart, mourn and bewail the misery of their sins!
Unhappy they who, by a grief arising from sensual desire, shall lament only
their temporal evils and misfortunes, cross of Christ, exposed then again to
be the subject of contradiction! Savour of life, savour of death; salvation
to some, perdition to others; the comfort of the elect, the confusion of the
reprobate! 31. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Lovely and desirable assembly of the
elect, august senate, college truly sacred, why art not thou the sole object
of human ambition! No man shall have any place therein who has not been a
member of the true church, which alone is spread over the four parts of the
world. To this church the visible angels call us with the trumpet of God’s
word; whoever obeys not this call, shall never be
called by the invisible angels to the church of the elect. How sweet and
comfortable is it to a Christian, separated from his brethren, banished to
the remotest parts of the earth, and treated as excommunicate for the cause
of Christ, to think of this reunion, so much to be desired, and which shall
never have an end. 32. Now learn the parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. The belief of the coming of Jesus Christ
is the consolation of the righteous. Let us not wait for the last trumpet,
ere we prepare ourselves for judgment. The sound of it in the gospel is even
now heard by all those who have the ears of the heart. Whoever has not these stopped by the amusements of this life, and is not
stunned by the noise of his passions, thinks that he is continually called
upon by it. Let our faith incessantly say to us, The Son of man is near, even
at the doors. Let the voice of thy grace, Lord, repeat this to me both
frequently and effectually! 34. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. The hope of the righteous is founded upon
the stability of the divine word; which is therefore their chief delight.
Whatever difficulties our understanding may find in that which God has either
foretold or promised, there is not the least reason to doubt concerning it;
to engage our belief, it is sufficient that he has said it. One person
readily believes another on his bare word, who yet will not believe the word
of God; so great is the corruption of the mind of man. Sect. VI. The Last Day Unforeseen. 36. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Our ignorance of the last day ought to
make us vigilant every moment of our life. God has not discovered to us the
time wherein he intends to judge us, to the end that we may always keep
ourselves in a readiness to be judged. A foolish desire of knowing that which
is to come, renders abundance of persons incredulous as to this oracle of the
Son of God; and credulous, even to superstition, in respect of the vain predictions
of men concerning the end of their lives, or of the world. They neglect a
beneficial and useful kind of uncertainty, to rely on a false and deceitful
appearance of certainty. 37. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. There are two deluges: the first of water,
the second of fire, to purge the world of iniquity, to save the elect, and to
punish the wicked. Christ here instructs us how to inform ourselves of what
is to come, not by a vain observation of the stars, but by a holy meditation
on the Scriptures; not in order to discover in them what he designed to
conceal from us, but to prepare ourselves to do his will, in pursuing the
discoveries which he himself vouchsafes to make, and in contemplating the
mysteries to come, in those representations which his Spirit has given of
them in what is past. 38. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 39. And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. The generality of mankind, through the
enchantment of the cares of this life, are surprised by death and judgment.
They are not always gross and heinous sins which throw men into a
forgetfulness of God and his judgments, and into a contempt
of his law; sometimes an irregular application to the common employments and
affairs of life insensibly extinguishes our faith. Every one has his own
proper way to attain salvation; and every one who misses of it, does it by
corrupting his way after his own manner. The surprise which is here
threatened proceeds not from God’s design, but from the sinner’s negligence,
and his abuse of the long patience and forbearance of God. A man is never in
danger of being surprised when his heart is devoted to God, when his faith is
pure, his hope lively, his charity fervent and sincere, and his life full of
good works. Sect. VII. The One Taken, The Other Left.
We Must Watch Continually. 40. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Terrible but adorable choice! Men have still
something to fear, even in the most innocent employments, and in the exercise
of such arts as are necessary to life. In this state, indeed, they are not so
subject to extravagant desires; but then they are often very ignorant of
their duty, and forget to direct all their labour to God’s glory, to look on
it as a means of salvation, and to make it an exercise of repentance. Neither
the church in this life, nor any state or condition in the church, can
pretend to consist altogether of elect. There is a mixture in every state;
and therefore, in every one there is occasion for fear as well as hope. 42. Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. The vigilance necessary to prepare us for
death and judgment is not a supine and inactive vigilance, but such as is
employed in examination of our faults, in attention to our duty, in
application to good works, to prayer, repentance, etc. 43. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. It is much for our advantage to be obliged
to be always in uncertainty, always in expectation of our Master, to the end
that we may be always on our guard against sin and sloth. The heart is then
ready, when it is in order; and it is never so, but when God is master of it,
when nothing but his love reigns therein, and when this love regulates that
of our neighbour, and the use of all other creatures. How great is the folly,
to be more careful and vigilant on the account of a small temporal advantage,
than of the eternal salvation of the soul! Sect. VIII. The Wise Servant. The Evil
Servant. 45. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? It is not the work, but the fidelity,
which God rewards in his servants. We must all live in the same expectation
of the coming of Jesus Christ which a servant has with respect to his master;
but this expectation must be more vigilant in the ministers of Christ than in
the rest of the faithful. Here is an abstract of their duties: (1.) Such a
person must be called and appointed, not by himself, but by the vocation and
lawful mission of his Lord. (2.) He must look on himself, not as the master
of the family, but really as a servant. (3.) He must be exactly faithful in
his ministry, and in observing his Master’s commands, at the expense of all.
(4.) His fidelity must be wise, prudent, well-informed:
faithful and wise, this comprehends all. (5.) He must make it his chief care
to give the household their meat; not out of his own stock, but distributing
what he has received. (6.) He must do it in due season; and it is always a
proper season to instruct and serve souls, because their needs are always
present; the time of many of them may expire every hour; and for want of
improving a moment, eternity is sometimes lost. 46. Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. This blessedness consists not barely in working, but in working according to the law
and will of God. “We must then work continually in the ministry, since our
Master should find us so doing; and he may come every moment. The exactness
which is used in serving earthly princes in their own way is scarcely to be
conceived. Does not God deserve at least as much? A servant thinks himself happy when his services are grateful to his
master. Oh, what happiness attends us, if we please the best and most
powerful of Masters! 47. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. He
who is not satisfied with the reward which God promises him, knows not what
it is to be made ruler over all his goods. His goods are himself; and nothing
less is promised us, if we continue faithful to him. The ministers of the
Lord have in heaven a reward proportioned to their labours and their
character, and shall there partake of his authority
over souls. Let us not refuse to give ourselves to God, who will freely give
himself to us. 48. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delay- eth his coming; 49. And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; Here are three characters of a bad
prelate: the first is, to have little faith as to the judgments of God, or
the coming of Christ. Does a man believe there is another life, when he
either undertakes of his own accord to be accountable for souls, by taking on
himself the pastoral office, or trembles not at the thoughts of this account?
The second is, to govern with an absolute dominion, to oppress his
colleagues, and to exercise violence over his inferiors and on the weak. The
third, to lead an irregular life, and to converse chiefly with the imitators
of his passions. Lord, abandon not thy flock to such wolves; but send it
pastors according to thy own heart. 50. The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51. And shall cut him asunder, and appoint 1dm his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Here are three punishments which answer to
the three characters of the evil servant: the first is, a sudden death, and
the weight of God’s wrath falling upon him, without a moment’s time to avert
it: this answers to his infidelity and his forgetfulness of the divine
judgments. The second is, a general and eternal separation from the society
of the church, from the communion of saints, and from all those gifts which
he has abused: and this is answerable to the abuse of his authority in the
church. The third consists in tears and eternal pains: which answer to his
voluptuous life; as the company of hypocritical pastors, who under an
angelical office concealed a diabolical life, does to his criminal
acquaintance and conversation. Every wicked Christian, every man who does not
worship and serve God according to his law, is this evil servant, who shall
be judged according to his sins against that faith and religion which are due
to God, according to his in justice and violence against his neighbour, and
according to the corruption of his heart and the irregularities of his life.
My God! how dear will the sinner pay for the
pleasures of a moment, and the transient satisfactions of sin! |
 |