sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE" "For by ONE oblation he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." Then where is the necessity for the perpetration of this sacrifice. The Catholic Church says that the unbloody sacrifice of the mass is a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the dead and living; now, I say, that it therefore lacks the main characteristic of a propitiatory sacrifice, for the apostle Paul, as I read in the Douay Bible, says in this very chapter, that "without shedding of blood there is no remission."

SECONDLY, This doctrine and practice are not sustained by remote antiquity. I give you one passage from Justin Martyr's celebrated description of a Sabbath service in a Christian congregation contained in his apology for Christians. It may be found in the second volume of his works, Paris edition, page 97.

"Then the bread and the cup of the water and of the wine mixed with it, is offered to the president of the brethren, and he, taking it, offers up praise and glory to the Father of all, in the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and at some length he performs a thanksgiving, for having been honoured with these things by him. When he has finished the prayers and the thanksgiving, all the people present, joyfully cry out, Amen. Amen signifies, in the Hebrew tongue, so be it. But the president having returned thanks, and all the people having joyfully cried out, those who are called by us deacons, give to each of those who are present, a portion of the bread and the wine and the water, over which a thanksgiving has been performed, and they carry away

some for those who are not present. And this food is called by us the Eucharist, of which no one is permitted to partake but he who believes that the things taught to us are true, and who has been washed for the remission of sins and for regeneration, and who lives as Christ has enjoined. For we do not receive these things as common bread, or common drink; but as the incarnate Jesus became, by the Word of God, Christ our Saviour, and received flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food which is made the Eucharist by the prayer, according to his word, by which our flesh and blood are nourished, is both the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus. For the apostles, in the histories which they have written, which are called gospels, have thus recorded that Jesus commanded them; that he taking bread and giving thanks, said, 'Do this in remembrance of me, this is my body;' and that he, in like manner, taking the cup and giving thanks, said, 'This is my blood.' And, in all that we offer, we bless the Maker of all things by his Son Jesus Christ, and by the Holy Spirit. And on the day that is called Sunday, there is an assembly in the same place, of those who dwell in towns or in the country, and the histories of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, whilst the time permits; then, the reader ceasing, the president verbally admonishes and exhorts to the imitation of those good things. Then we all rise in common and offer prayers, and, as we have already said, when we have finished our prayers, bread and wine and water are offered, and the president, in like manner, offers prayers and thanksgivings as far

as it is in his power to do so, and the people joyfully cry out, saying, Amen. And the distribution and communication is to each of those who have returned thanks, and it is sent by the deacons to those who are not present. Those who are rich and willing, each according to his own pleasure contributes what he pleases, and what is thus collected is put away by the president, and he assists the orphans, and widows, and those who, through sickness, or any other cause, are destitute, and also those who are in bondage, and those who are strangers journeying, and in short, he aids all those who are in want. But we all meet in common on Sunday, because it is the first day in the which God, who made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day arose from the dead."

Roman Catholics sometimes taunt us with the assertion that there is no true Church amongst us, because we have no altar, no priest, no sacrifice. No altar! We have an altar whose foundations are the glorious attributes of God, cemented together by divine love, whose superstructure is the world; an altar around which shines the radiant glory of the everlasting covenant! No altar! We have an altar which is stained with the precious blood of God's eternal Son, and upon which has descended the approving fire of heaven. WE HAVE AN ALTAR. Sometimes we find it on the cragged rock, at others in the groves of the mantled forest; sometimes on the silent beach, at others on the top of the ocean wave; it may not be adorned with the gold and the silver, the tapestry and

the paintings, the statues and the candelabra which deck the altars of our Roman Catholic friends; but all nature adorns our altar; the glorious firmament is its over-hanging canopy, and the candles which have been lit around it are those orbs of light which illumine day and night. Wherever the true Christian goes he finds an altar. Sometimes he is like Abraham, who found an altar in the vale of Mamre; or like Isaac, whose evening altar were the fields in which he prayed. Sometimes he is like Jacob whose pillow of stone became his altar; or like David, when he fled from Saul and found an altar in the caves of the wilderness; or like Solomon, who erected his altar in a magnificent edifice. With Paul the Christian sometimes finds his altar on the wreck of a ship, or with Brainerd, in the forests of America within sound of the Indian war whoop, or with Judson, on Eastern sands and plains. The Christian may be on the mountain top, or in the busy town; he may be on the lonely island, or in the peopled city; he may find himself gliding down the flowing river, or tossed upon the rolling billow," "Tis nought to him," he has an altar,

"Since God is ever present, ever felt,

"In the dark waste as in the city full:

"And where He vital breathes there must be joy."

Sometimes we are told that we have no priest. No priest, while Jesus lives in heaven! Jesus who once for all hath offered himself without spot to God, for our sins and for our uncleanness! Jesus who hath passed within the glorious vail of the temple of the Universe not without blood, Jesus who hath presented himself before

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the throne of the Eternal with a propitiatory sacrifice! No priest ! While HE is there who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities-He the Son of God who is able to succour them that are tempted-He who ever liveth to make intercession for us-He who is able to save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by him. No priest! While he stands before the throne of the Eternal with the golden censer in his hand sanctioning by his presence the access of every sinner who cometh to that throne with a humble and contrite spirit! But you have no visible priest." No visible priest! While every saint in the company of Christ's faithful ones belongs to the Royal Priesthood of the Christian dispensation. No visible priest! While the voice of every saint of God is privileged to exclaim, "unto Him that hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us kings and priests unto God, and his Father be glory and dominion for ever and ever!" God's people are the priests of the Christian temple, and wherever you find a Christian, you find a priest of the most High God.

And who are they that affirm, "You have no sacrifice!" The Lamb of God is our sacrifice; perfect, spotless, precious, infinite; once offered-" ONCE FOR ALL ”—offered for me, for you, for every child of the family of Adam. No sacrifice!—