to shake off the trammels of death, and rise from the dust, shall the full perfecting of our nature be accomplished. And yet, during this life we must ever be advancing towards that end, the great object of our hope, or we prove that it has taken no real hold of us, and that our position as God's sons is lightly esteemed by us. "Every one that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as He is pure."

Most surely this must be the work of our lives, if we would profit by the hope that is our portion as God's children. We are no longer at liberty to follow the dictates of our own wills, and to spend our energies upon mere selfish gratification. Christ, my brethren, has made us His own, He has purchased us unto Himself, He has made us His servants, and as such has given us a work to do. That work consists in the gradual purification of our nature, under the operation of His indwelling Spirit. By the diligent practice of well-doing; by a constant and earnest opposition to the temptations of the world, the allurements of sin; by a determined choice to obey the voice of Christ in spite of every difficulty, our wills, and our whole inward being, will by degrees be purified from sin, under the influence of the indwelling Spirit, and made more and more like unto Him who is our perfect Pattern.

This, my brethren, is the Christian's privilege, that he should work together with Christ; that through his union with Christ he should be enabled by Divine grace to contribute his own efforts to the accom

plishment of the great purpose of our Blessed Lord's Incarnation.

Clearly then, my brethren, as it is only through our relationship by grace to Christ, through our having been made very members of His Body by incorporation into His Church, that we have obtained this precious hope of future perfection, and are emboldened to strive for it; so must it be only through that relationship that we are to obtain strength for so great a work. "There is but one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus" through Him alone can we obtain Divine grace and aid. Christ, as Man, is the channel through which all Divine influences are transmitted to us, cleansing and healing our fallen nature. Το Him, then, we must cleave, if we would desire to co-operate with Him; without Him, nothing that we do, however good it may seem in our eyes, can be acceptable to God. United to Him, and working in His strength, even our most feeble effort to cast out sin and to do righteousness, shall be pleasing to God for His sake. And as it is clearly our duty to seek to be united in ever-increasing nearness to Christ, and most diligently to beware of every sinful thought and act which may cloud the brightness of His Presence in our hearts; so, my brethren, we must be careful to preserve and strengthen that union, by the means which Christ Himself has appointed. It is not by inward thoughts and feelings, or any intellectual operation of the mind, that we

are to obtain the strengthening presence of Christ in our hearts. As it is by His coming in the form of man, and taking upon Him our flesh, that He has opened out a way by which Divine mercy and love may be applied to the healing of our souls; so is it by certain outward means of His own appointment, that He wills to convey to us that love and mercy in one' continual stream. Placed as we are by Holy Baptism in His Church in which He dwells, and united to Him, we are at once brought under the healing influences of Divine grace, and made partakers of that spiritual life, which is in Christ in all its fulness.

In all the ordinances of His Church we draw nearer to His blessed Presence; but this is true in an especial way of the Holy Sacrament of His Body and Blood. In this sacred ordinance we have set before us the special means by which He wills to communicate Himself to us; the special means by which He would impart to us the virtue of His Incarnation, the strengthening food by which He would support our fainting souls, and restore health to our whole inward being.

Brethren, if we have any sense of our infirmities, of our constant need of Divine strength to help us to gain the victory in the daily and hourly struggles with sin in which we are engaged; if we are sure that we are really earnest in our work, and have a conscience clear from the memory of unrepented sins, and from the presence of sins still indulged;

if we do really desire and feel our need of perpetual union with Christ; surely we can never too highly value that Holy Sacrament. "He that eateth My

Flesh and drinketh My Blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him." "As the Living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me."

These, brethren, are most precious and solemn words, and shew us of how great blessedness we deprive ourselves by neglecting this Holy Sacrament. Without it we can have no spiritual life and strength; by worthy partaking of it, we are enabled to hold by Christ, and our inward sinfulness dies down and disappears. Earthly desires, inclinations, and thoughts will gradually be cast out; for the light of His Presence will be poured down in ever-increasing brightness, and raise and purify our hearts and affections, and fill us with love and an holy will.

SERMON XX.

The Means of Attaining to Encreased Perfection.

ST. MATTHEW v. 48.

"Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

M

Y brethren, in drawing your attention to these words of our blessed Lord on Sunday last, I insisted on their general application to all Christian men and women without exception; and having shewed that the spiritual condition to which they refer is one towards which we ought all to be gradually progressing, I pointed out that the desire and longing after perfection is one chief means of reaching it; and that, if we are wise, we shall endeavour to fix and strengthen these good desires and holy aspirations, while our hearts are fresh and pure, and as yet unhardened by contact with an evil world.

Now, before we pass on to consider further the means which are most suitable for helping us to reach the high standard set before us, it will be well for us to be able to meet one or two difficulties which this text may suggest to our minds.

First, it may be said, is not a requirement here laid down which it is plainly beyond man's power