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II . These triumphs will not be obtained without battle ; for , with St . Paul at Ephesus , each one of us may say , there are many adversaries * But unavoidable struggle will inspire fear only in him for whom the holy ministry is no other than a maintenance in life . If he believe he will not fear ; assured that Christ is with us even to the end of the world ; and that these three things will not fail , —faith , hope , and qharity . One cause of unquietness alone will be well founded , namely , that of seeing antagonists where there are none , and of deceiving ourselves as to our adversaries . Let us try , then , to distinguish who they are .
The first which presents itself is false shame . ' 1 / say men often , at my age , after enjoying so long a period of religious tranquillity , shall I quit my habits , —shall I ask the passers by the forgotten road to the sanctuary , that they may stare at me and be astonished at seeing me returning to it ? I , shall I go to the communion , after so many years passed without communion ; and shall I in one day give the lie to all the former part of my life ? It is too late / And thus false shame prevails over God himself , a respect for the world over the fear of God , and a dread of banter over the dread of eternity . Ah ! with all our power we must attack without ceasing this dangerous enemy of faith , in showing , above all , how cowardly it is to yield to it . False shame is a littleness of mind , and all they who yield to it are drivellers ; men who have not their heart aright , who know not how to hold up their heads in the world ; whence it happens that a blush rises on their countenances without a cause . They fear what is least to be feared , —the sarcasm of scoffers , the disdain of the impious ; and they resemble children , who , instead of fearing a real danger , draw back with terror before an impure insect , which , had they waited a moment , would have soon disappeared in the mire from which it came out . And it sometimes happens in these same
minds , in which false shame gives birth to little fears , that pride sheds its illusions—pride , which makes us think ourselves just before God , which prevents our knowing the need of a Saviour , and which , from step to step , leads men to regard the Christ as a sage , the gospel as a system of morals , and immortality as a blessing that is obtained for us , and which we need only take the trouble to accept : a fatal error , which denaturalizes Christianity , and places the narrow wisdom of man in the place of the immense wisdom of God . My brethren , it was not seen only at Ephesusalas f it is seen everywhere . To contend against it with success , we must strive without fanaticism—we must act upon the principle that man , here below , is neither a demon nor an angel , but a being moral and free , who has reason for his guide , and grace for his helper , in the midst of passions which subject him and lead him astray ; and in order to reach the term of his heavenly vocation , to stand before him to whom on a thousand charges he will not answer for one of them ! he has need of a Saviour . —This Saviour
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Reformed Chutch in France . 421
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1832, page 421, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1814/page/61/
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