LENT LECTURES ON THE

HOLY EUCHARIST.

No. IV.

The Christian Sacrifice.

`VER since the Fall, whereby man rendered him

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self liable to eternal death, and found himself cut off from communion with God, the object of the Divine dispensations towards him has been two-fold. First, to subdue the pride of his corrupted nature, by constantly reminding him of his liability to punishment to satisfy the Divine justice; and secondly, to excite him to love and obedience by pointing out a way of deliverance provided by the Divine mercy. No sooner had man afforded the most signal instance of his ingratitude, than the promise went forth which declared how he might be cleared of the guilt of that terrible sin; and whilst he hears the sentence of his expulsion from Paradise, he is cheered with the hope of forgiveness through the aid of a promised Redeemer, Who should bruise the head of the serpent.

Now the appointed means by which man was thus to be made conscious of his relation to God as one who had lost all claim to the Divine favour, but who was yet the object of the Divine love and com

passion, was through the institution of sacrifice. The very first act of worship we read of after the expulsion from Paradise is connected with sacrifice. When Cain and Abel seek to hold communion with their Maker, we read that they each bring an "offering unto the Lord;" and it would appear that the offering of Abel was accepted in preference to that of Cain, because those dispositions of heart which the sacrifice was intended at once to excite and to indicate had accompanied Abel's offering, whereas Cain's had been purely formal.

Again, after the second exhibition of God's justice in the well-nigh total destruction of the whole human race by the Flood, when Noah and his family seek to draw near to the Almighty Father, and to thank Him for their deliverance from the universal destruction, we read that Noah "builded an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt-offerings upon the altar."

And thus throughout the whole age of the patriarchs from Adam to Moses, although we are not able to point to any express words authoritatively enjoining the rite of sacrifice, yet it is clear that it was constantly observed in accordance with the Divine will; and when accompanied with, and prompted by, proper motives and feelings, was regarded as the fitting means by which man should hold communion with his Maker.

But when we come to the Levitical dispensation, which supplied rules and regulations for the religious

worship of the chosen people, we find the rite of sacrifice not only recognised and perpetuated, but elevated into a divine ordinance, and the regular and careful performance of it ensured by the appointment of a duly - commissioned Priesthood. Though, however, the Jews were taught that an exact compliance with the whole law of sacrifice, with all its minute ceremonial, was binding on all faithful children of Abraham, as the appointed means of sharing in the blessings of the covenant: yet it is clear they knew that those sacrifices possessed no intrinsic value, and had in themselves no virtue or efficacy to procure those blessings. The warnings and expostulations of the prophets to the Jews, especially in the later period of their history, wherein the heartless formality of their acts of worship are exposed; and their sacrifices, as "vain oblations," declared to be offensive to God on that account, testify to this. The sacrifices could only be acceptable to God, in so far as they really and truly betokened the inward sacrifice of the heart and spirit, and the craving for a deliverance from the burden and power of sin. "The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit: a broken and contrite heart Thou wilt not despise."

In the surrender of the victim as an offering, the pious worshipper would see a plain acknowledgment of his own sin, and of the punishment which is its due; whilst, in the outpouring of the blood of the victim, he would see the shadow and type of a far

higher and more effectual deliverance to be wrought by some great one yet to come.

Now that which the inward consciousness of each Jewish worshipper, and the explicit declarations of Prophets and Psalmist taught him, with more or less distinctness, according to his spiritual apprehension as to the meaning and significance of the law of sacrifice, has been made quite clear to us, who look at it by the light of the Gospel revelation. The Epistle to the Hebrews was written to remove the scruples and difficulties of the Jews who were converted to Christianity, and who, in consequence, found themselves precluded from taking any part in the Mosaic sacrifices; and it shews how needless those scruples were, because these very sacrifices which they were hankering after had all been fulfilled in the one great sacrifice of our Lord on the Cross. That was the great Sacrifice, the great Atonement, the great act of Reconciliation, whereby the debt due from man to God was cancelled, and a return to the peace of a cleansed and renewed heart made possible.

The Psalmist, speaking in the spirit of prophecy, had declared, “Burnt-offerings and sacrifice for sin hast Thou not required; then said I, Lo, I come." And St. Paul directly applies these words to Christ, telling the Jewish converts "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins; wherefore when He cometh into the world He saith, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me."

Christ, then, in virtue of those qualities which belonged to Him as the eternal Son of God made Man, was enabled in the fulness of His love and compassion to supply in His own sinless Person a sufficient sacrifice and offering for the sins of the whole world. Surrendering Himself into the hands of wicked men, and permitting them to be instruments of shedding His Blood and slaying Him on the Cross, He made that one voluntary sacrifice of Himself which can never be repeated, and in which all the sacrifices of the old covenant have found their entire completion.

The Jewish priests stood daily ministering, and were obliged day by day to offer fresh victims, because each sacrifice was a mere type and sign of that which was to come, and the repetition was needed, in order to set continually before the people the hope of something truer and better. But Christ, "having offered one sacrifice for sins," because that sacrifice was all-sufficient and satisfied all the requirements of God's justice, "for ever sat down on the right hand of God." It were to dishonour our Blessed Lord, and to contradict the fundamental truth of His Gospel, to suppose that any other offering or act of service can be required to enhance the atoning efficacy of His sacrifice. That sacrifice has been the means of procuring for us every gift which man can need, or a loving Father can bestow; no other atoning and saving victim can be required, than that meek and spotless Lamb which

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