The Worlds Great Sermons, Volume 3 | Page 9

it is meanness of mind
to oppress the wretched, who have no defense but cries and tears; and that nothing is so
unworthy of an enlightened man as that ferocity with which some are inspired by dignity,
and which obstructs their respect for human nature, when undisguised by worldly pomp;
that nothing is so noble as goodness and grandeur, associated in the same character; that
this is the highest felicity; that in some sort it transforms the soul into the image of God;
who, from the high abodes of majesty in which He dwells, surrounded with angels and
cherubim, deigns to look down on this mean world which we inhabit, and "Leaves not
Himself without witness, doing good to all."
"He reasoned of temperance." There he would paint the licentious effects of
voluptuousness. There he would demonstrate how opposite is this propensity to the spirit
of the gospel; which everywhere enjoins retirement, mortification, and self-denial. He
would show how it degrades the finest characters who have suffered it to predominate.
Intemperance renders the mind incapable of reflection. It debases the courage. It
debilitates the mind. It softens the soul. He would demonstrate the meanness of a man
called to preside over a great people, who exposes his foibles to public view; not having
resolution to conceal, much less to vanquish them. With Drusilla, he would make human
motives supply the defects of divine; with Felix, he would make divine motives supply
the defects of human. He would make this shameless woman feel that nothing on earth is
more odious than a woman destitute of honor, that modesty is an attribute of the sex; that

an attachment, uncemented by virtue, can not long subsist; that those who receive illicit
favors are the first, according to the fine remark of a sacred historian, to detest the
indulgence: "The hatred wherewith 'Ammon, the son of David,' hated his sister, after the
gratification of his brutal passion, was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her"
(II Sam. xiii., 15). He would make Felix perceive that, however the depravity of the age
might seem to tolerate a criminal intercourse with persons of the other sex, with God,
who has called us all to equal purity, the crime was not less heinous.
"He reasoned," in short, "of judgment to come." And here he would magnify his ministry.
When our discourses are regarded as connected only with the present period, their force, I
grant, is of no avail. We speak for a Master who has left us clothed with infirmities,
which discover no illustrious marks of Him by whom we are sent. We have only our
voice, only our exhortations, only our entreaties. Nature is not averted at our pleasure.
The visitations of Heaven do not descend at our command to punish your indolence and
revolts: that power was very limited, even to the apostle. The idea of a future state, the
solemnities of a general judgment, supply our weakness, and St. Paul enforced this
motive; he proved its reality, he delineated its luster, he displayed its pomp. He
resounded in the ears of Felix the noise, the voices, the trumpets. He showed him the
small and the great, the rich man and Lazarus, Felix the favorite of Caesar, and Paul the
captive of Felix, awakened by that awful voice: "Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment."
But not to be precipitate in commending the apostle's preaching. Its encomiums will best
appear by attending to its effects on the mind of Felix. St. Jerome wished, concerning a
preacher of his time, that the tears of his audience might compose the eulogy of his
sermons. We shall find in the tears of Felix occasion to applaud the eloquence of our
apostle. We shall find that his discourses were thunder and lightning in the congregation,
as the Greeks used to say concerning one of their orators. While St. Paul preached, Felix
felt I know not what agitations in his mind. The recollection of his past life; the sight of
his present sins; Drusilla, the object of his passion and subject of his crime; the courage
of St. Paul--all terrified him. His heart burned while that disciple of Jesus Christ
expounded the Scriptures. The word of God was quick and powerful. The apostle, armed
with the two-edged sword, divided the soul, the joints, and the marrow, carried
conviction to the heart. Felix trembled, adds our historian, Felix trembled! The fears of
Felix are our second reflection.
What a surprizing scene, my brethren, is here presented to your view. The governor
trembled, and the captive spoke without dismay. The captive made the governor tremble.
The governor shuddered in the presence of the captive. It would not be surprizing,
brethren, if we should make an impression on your hearts (and we