I had given it to thee, in order that it might enable thee to overthrow thine enemies, and might lead thee on to glory: by that cross it is that I will judge thee. Thou shouldest have perceived in it the dignity of thy nature; and thou hast seen there only my ignominy; and hast sought thy greatness in the vain advantages of the world, or in the indulgence of thy guilty passions: thou shouldest have rested thy hope thereon; and thy expectations and desires have had no other aim than the vanities of life thou shouldest have found there an example; and thou hast lived as if in ignorance of it, or else, through thy pride, thy corruption, thy enmities, thy complaints, thou hast continually revolted against its lessons. Since, therefore, thou wouldest not that it should be thy salvation, be it then at this final day thy condemnation everlasting. Go, then, ungrateful and rebellious soul!-Go, enemy of the cross! I cast thee off-I reject thee! By despising the title of glory which I hold out to thee, thou hast denied me before men: I now deny thee before my Father; and I cast thee forth for ever, to take thy lot with those lost beings whom I know not." Let us, My Brethren,-let us save ourselves from this awful sentence, this dread decree, which for ever cuts us off from our Saviour and our God. To that end, let us fix our thoughts steadily upon THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST. Let us recognize in it our greatness, our privileges, the triumphs of our Lord. May the contemplation of that sacred object so elevate our souls, that they may place all their glory in those divine prerogatives of the Christian; and may we, after having, during our entire lives, gloried in the Saviour's cross, be enabled, when he shall come to exercise his awful judgments, to say: "Lord Jesus, my Saviour and my God, that didst die upon THE CROSS! thy cross alone hath ever been my refuge, and is the continual subject of my glory. When overwhelmed by a sense of my unworthiness, it was that which raised my desponding mind; when, looking upon my disobedience and wretchedness, I despaired of salvation, it was that which recalled hope into my saddened heart; when I wandered in the ways of vice, it was that which brought me back, by means of thy great example, in the way of holiness. I cast myself therefore at thy feet, waiting for the fulfilment of thy divine promises: Oh, may I, in spite of my deep corruption, have obtained pardon through the merits of that blood which flows from thy wounds! May I, through THAT CROSS which is our salvation, be admitted into those blessed abodes, where thou wilt make us beholders of thine eternal triumph, and sharers in thy glory!" Amen. |