II. OF THE SACRIFICE OF OUR BODIES (Rom. xii. 1). If in separating the body from common uses and yielding our bodies instruments of righteousness to God (Rom. vi. 13), we seem to suffer inconvenience, privation, &c., it is not really so. This sacrifice brings" joy and gladness of he11,rt." Not unseldom are we (IOnscioue of the present gain. "Virtue is its own reward." The "testimony of the con- science" is no slight recompense. llow great, for example, is the guerdon of purity l " So dear to Heaven is saintly chastity That when a soul is found sincerely so A thousand liveried o.ngels lacquey her, Drinng fo.r off each thing of sin and guilt, Aud in clear dream e.nd solemn vision Tell her of things that no gross ear can hee.r," &c. There is a story told of George Herbert which shows how little sacrifices become great feasts. On his way to a musical gathering, he stopped by the way to help a poor waggoner out of the rnls. .Arriving late and bespattered with mud, he was commiserated for the loss and inconvenience he had sustained. But he would not allow that it was loss. " The remembrance,'' he said, "will bring music into the heart at midnight." III. OF THE SACRIFICE OF OUR ALMS. True, they are lose when given to serve self, or for the praise of men. "Verily I say unto you, they have (i.e., 6' haust, ,h·ixovo-,v) their reward" (Matt. vi. 2). Such givers get what they bargained for; they receive " their good things" (Luke xvi. 25). But then there was no oblation to Goel. A Scottish laird having put a crown piece by mistake into the plate, asked for it back again. On being told that he might put what he chose in, but take nothing ont, be said, "Well, well, I suppose I'll get credit for it in heaven." "Na, na," was the just reply, ''ye'll only get credit for the penny." But if the alms be true offerings to God, then they have both a present and an eternal reward. Present, in hearing the widow's heart sing for joy, and in the blessing of him that was ready to perish " (Job xrix. 13) ; eternal, in that " God is not unrighteous to forget," &c. (Heb. vi. 10), and that a" cup of cold water only" shall in no wise lose its reward (Matt. x. 42). Such gifts are the truest and safest investments (Prov. :rix. 17). "We lose what on ourselves we spend, We have e.s treasure without end Whatever, Lord, to Thee we lend." There is on record an admirable prayer of Thomas Sutton, the pious founder of tb.e Charterhouse, '' 0 Lord, Thou hast given me a large estate, give me a large heart." We cannot lose what we 6ive away. IV. OF THE SACllIFICE OF ouB OBLATIONS. We use "oblations" here in the liturgical sense of the word, i.e., of the oblations of bread and wine in the Holy Communion. For these were anciently, and should be still, solemnly offered to God, as our thank-offerings, as a sort of first-fruits of Hie creatw·ee. .And now con- sider bow they are given back to us. " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion (,co,vwvia, the joint participation in) of the blood of Christ? the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" (1 Cor. x. 16.) We have presented to the Divine Majesty bread and wine, and He gives us in return the body and blood of our Lord (ib., xi. 24, 25). v. OF THE SACRIFICE OF WORLDLY PROSPECTS, &c. Men often speak of the B<terifices they have bad to make for the sake of their religion. And time was when great sacrifices were demanded ; these are sometimes demanded still. Bn~ they involve no losa, no real and abiding injury. On the contrary, they are actually, and in the long run, a gain. "'!'here is no man that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sa.ke and the gospel's, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in thi~ time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with per- secutions; and in the world to come eternal life " (Mark x. 29, 80). On which CH. VIII. 1-66.] THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 171
Bengel beautifully remarks that nature gives us each but one father and one mother, but the Church gives us many. (Cf. Rom. xvi. 18.) " What shall I do," so.id Amaziah, " for the hundred ta.lents which I have given to the army· of larael?" "And the mo.n of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this " (2 Chron. xxv. 9). Who had made more sacrifices than St. Paul? And yet who was it wrote of" havin 6 nothing, yet possessing all things?" (2 Cor. vi. 10). The man who had such loved and loving friends as Rom. xvi. proves him to have had, cannot be caJled poor. Well might be write, 11 1 have all and abound" (Phil. iv. 18). The sacrifices he had made procured him a con- tinual feast. It is the same with all our sacrifices. The Great King cannot receive gifts, but be must return them "according to his royal bounty " (1 Kings x. 13). The Greatest Giver in the world will never be outdone in generosity by king Solomon. (A beautiful illustration of the leading thought of this homily will be found in one of Mrs. Gatty's "Parables from Nature," called II The Circle of Bless- ing," 2nd series, 6th ed., pp. 5 sqq.)