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Sermon II.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TRUE MINISTERIAL ZEAL.

A SERMON PREACHED TO A SYNOD.

BY J. B. MASSILLON.

ROMANS X. 2.

They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

I LATELY discoursed to you, my brethren,*

upon the necessity of zeal in ministers; and endeavored to convince you, that zeal against vices and scandals is a duty essentially binding upon Christian ministers. But as there is a zeal according to knowledge, and a zeal of ignorance and rashness, it is important to distinguish them by their proper characters, and by laying before you what is necessary to render zeal beneficial, to guard you at the same time, against a false zeal which can produce no good fruits.

Now, as the zeal which ministers ought to possess is nothing but that charity, which implies not only a sincere desire that sinners may be saved, but also a lively and eager wish to labor for their salvation, to know whether our zeal is true, we have but to examine, whether we can apply to it those characters

* See the preceding Sermon.

which St. Paul represents as inseparable from charity. For whatever zeal does not resemble charity, and is not indeed active, compassionate, humble, mild, patient, and disinterested, is not that zeal which is according to knowledge, that zeal which honors the ministry, and which Christ requires in his ministers.

I know that zeal, though the fruit of the divine Spirit in all who possess it, assumes different appearances, according to the different natural tempers of those whose hearts it inflames. In some it is more pleasing and insinuating; and in others more terrible and menacing. But notwithstanding this diversity, charity is a fixed point to which it is directed in all : these are but different ways which lead to the same end, and which are all enstamped with the mark of the divine principle from which they proceed. Every one has his peculiar gift and talent; but as it is charity which forms them all, there is no one which is not marked with its indelible traits. Let us then consider some of the characteristics of charity, as they are represented by the Apostle Paul, in the thirteenth chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians, for they are the same which distinguish true zeal.

1. Zeal formed by charity is long-suffering. "Charity suffereth long." First characteristic.

Yes, my brethren, whatever desire we may have for the salvation of sinners, we ought to wish and expect it only according to the appointment of God. In consequence of secret pride, many grow weary and discouraged, if their labors are not crowned with immediate success; they wish to make the grace of the Spirit subservient to their own glory; in discharging their functions they seek for that applause of men which follows those sudden and visible blessings with which God is sometimes pleased to accom. pany the labors of his servants. As soon as this

support fails, their zeal which was the effect of pride rather than of charity, is weakened, if not extinguished; the work of the ministry becomes disgusting and insipid; and they think themselves unprofitable, because their self-love is no longer gratified according to their wishes.

Sometimes we ascribe it to the hardness of sinners, that the holy word meets with so little success. In consequence of their inattention to the truth, we believe them unworthy of our cares; it is no more but with regret that we bestow any pains upon them; their insensibility excites our murmurs and complaints, rather than our pity and charity; we grow cold with regard to them, in proportion as their necessities ought to render us more tender and more disposed to help them. Instead of viewing their obduracy with a tranquil eye, it should excite our compassion; and it should increase our cares and zeal, instead of lessening them.

We frequently see ministers who complain of the inattention of their people, and who speak of this too much to men and not enough to God. Their impatience proceeds from pride and self-love. If actuated by no better zeal than this, we shall wish to succeed in our labors, merely because success flatters us; we shall attribute our success to ourselves and feel irritated against those who deprive us of this satisfaction. We shall think they take from us a glory which was our due, and that they refuse an attention to our instructions which our vanity prompted us to believe we had a right to expect from them. In consequence of this we shall despise them; and give them up, almost with pleasure, to their hard hearts; we shall revenge ourselves for their insensibility by feeling an indifference with regard to them; and appear as little affected with their miseries, as they are with our preaching.

But, my brethren, the zeal which springs from charity disposes him who possesses it to " reprove,

rebuke, exhort;" his patience increases with the progress of vice, and to new obstacles he opposes only the patience which produces hope; that is to say, new cares and new instructions, "with all long-suffering and doctrine." He expects success from God only; his tears, his sighs, his prayers incessantly solicit this; the longer God seems to defer it, the more he strives to obtain it, by redoubling his labors and his prayers; the little success of his ministry he attributes to himself alone, to his secret sins, to his want of faith, and to the imperfections attending his labors.

Those pastors to whom God refuses a visible success in their ministry ought to feel the disposition expressed by the disciples of Christ, when they had been fishing all night without success. "Lord," said they to their Master, "we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing; nevertheless, at thy word we will let down the net." The following is the language of true zeal, which charity always renders patient: "Lord! unto this time all my attentions to the people, whom thou hast deigned to commit to my care, have produced no effect; their hardness seems to increase with my labors; Icease not to cast in my net, but it always returns to me empty, and I have not the consolation of having drawn one soul from the deep waters, from the abyss of iniquity. However, thou commandest me still to labor, and not to be weary; thou wilt that I imitate thy patience and paternal goodness, which are never weary of knocking at the door of a rebellious heart, and which after having been repeatedly driven back from it return again with new eagerness. With this consoling example before me, I will not abandon the holy work; thou appointest me to it, and thy commands are always a sure indication of success; thou grantest it when thou pleaseșt, and our impatience, instead of

* Luke.v. 5.

hastening, retards it. Thou art displeased that man should wish to anticipate the secret and adorable order of the dispensation of thy grace; thou wilt that we realize that the bestowment of it is not with us that he who waters is nothing that the increase is wholly from thee-and that to change the heart is the work of thy grace and thy power.

Thus the first mark of true zeal is to be longsuffering.

2. From this springs kindness; the second characteristic of zeal formed by charity. "Charity-is kind:"

The kindness which the Apostle places among the characteristics of true zeal is not that softness, that pusillanimity, that over-strained benignity, which would render us so obliging and complaisant to our fellow men-so attentive to refrain from every thing calculated to make them melancholy-so eager to conciliate their affections, and make them pleased with us so careful to speak to them only the language of peace, confidence, and mercy, that instead of frightening them, on account of their sins, we should encourage them, and in our mildness furnish them with a resource against the secret alarms of conscience. This fault may proceed from two sources; either from a natural weakness and timidity of character, or from an ignorance of the strictness and severity of those rules which are the standard of our duty; either our good nature does not permit us to use the light we enjoy, or our light itself is false and drawn from erroneous sources. In the first rank we must place certain ministers who, though well instructed, enlightened, and fully acquainted with the pure maxims of Christian holiness, are so incapable, in consequence of a natural weakness of character, of any thing firm, great, and noble, that they have not force of mind enough to say to a sinner, "Thou art the man." It seems they fear they should afflict

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