and drink this cup of the LORD unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the LORD. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eatethand drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the LORD'S Body. For this cause, many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the LORD, that we should not be condemned with the world."*

Thus, my dear brethren, let us be careful to have our consciences cleansed from sin by the power of the HOLY GHOST when we draw near to GOD's holy altar, and then let us in devout adoration desire His fatherly goodliness mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.

JESUS is the first who could give thanks. He gave thanks when He offered Himself-thanks for a world's redemption. When we offer Him as our thank-offering, we offer Him as being one with Him. Oh! in what sense do we give thanks

* 1 Cor. xi., 26-32.

for Him? Do we take Him as our thank-offering merely in the ceremonial of His holy Liturgy, intending to go back to the world as those who have never tasted the powers of the world to come? Good GOD! How can it ever be so? How can it be that we are not perfected already, who so often draw near to so sublime a mystery? We carry the Heavenly Victim within us when we return to the work of the world, and His presence within us is a claim that our lives shall henceforward be the reproduction of His own. If we have really given thanks in the Son of GOD for the Son of GOD, let us remember the duty which is involved, to which we also have pledged ourselves. In the strength of the SON of GOD let us act upon those words of self-sacrifice spoken in union with Him:-"Here we offer and present unto Thee, O LORD, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto Thee."

Indeed, "we have an altar”* of heavenly sacrifice belonging to that greater and more perfect "tabernacle which the LORD hath pitched, and not man." To JESUS, therefore, let us come,

and "by Him let us offer the sacr GOD continually, that is, the fr giving thanks to His name." B sacrifice by which you have prais of the life in which

you will pers good, and to communicate" to ot hath communicated Himself to yo for with such sacrifices GOD is we

SERMON III.

SACRIFICE, AN ACT OF PRAYER.

(Preached at S. Thomas, M. in Oxford, 5th Sunday in Lent, being also Feast of Annunciation, 1860.)

HEBREWS V., 7.

"In the days of His flesh, He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared."

WE

have now considered the work of sacrifice as directed to GOD in token of the honor and gratitude which are due to Him for His lordship over us and His mercy towards us. We now pass on to consider the same action in regard to mankind. Sacrifice is the highest form of prayer.

Indeed, prayer has no real character, unless associated with sacrifice; and for this reason prayer itself is often called a sacrifice. It is not the less important on that account to remember that it is the sacrifice which gives power to the prayer, as well as a name; otherwise, we fall back into the vague aspirations of those who are external to

GOD's covenant, and our prayers los which the prayers of His children sh

The practice of sacrifice for th obtaining gifts from GOD, implies relation to GOD. Its value depends u institution, whatever the means ma by which that appointment was n all that we have belongs to GOD, it only be by submission to His ordin offering could ever be supposed to for the obtaining of further blessi fellow-creatures we carry gifts when win their regard, for they who giv need of help themselves: we all dep another, as members of society. But on no man, nor can we increase the w by anything we can give. The s

our goods" would be "nothing The institution of intercessory sacrifi a feature of covenanted relationship and man, not a part of the natur between the creature and the Creat

Indeed, is not prayer itself a rev divine love? Could we have imagin