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in mind the feathers which like wings were wont to be fixed upon the shaft of the arrow for the purpose of steadying it and making sure its

course.

If

:

But the chief likeness of the preachers of the Gospel to a bow is seen in this, that how straight soever the arrow goes to its mark, the bow does not receive the glory; for it cannot pull itself, nor of itself guide the course of the arrow. the bow be crooked it shall be broken in pieces but if it be straight and fit for use, the skill and the strength are wholly and only in the arm of him who holds the bow and draws its string. This is the very truth which St. Paul proclaims when he says, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament ;" and again, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Thus then were the words of Zechariah fulfilled in the sending forth of St. Matthew and the other Apostles to the great war whereby Christ's kingdom was set up on earth; thus likewise, brethren, is the same prophecy still fulfilled at this holy season of the Ember-week and

of Ordination time. In every Christian land throughout the world does God at these sacred times raise up fresh sons of the spiritual Zion against the Gentile world: more sworn soldiers are at every Ordination time sent forth to fight the Lord's battle, since even from the beginning those things which the Apostles taught were committed "to faithful men who might be able to teach others also." For whilst the Bible is a quiver full of very sharp arrows, even of the words which God spake by the mouths of those Prophets and Apostles of old, a bow is needful to shoot the arrows, as well as a quiver to keep them in; a priest to teach as well as a Bible to be taught. Woe be unto the bow when the arrows come not from the Lord's armoury; woe be unto the priest when his words are not drawn from Holy Scripture! But also woe unto the people when the Lord hath taken away His bow, when there is no priest to speak unto them in His name. The bow and the arrow together will subdue the enemy; the sling and the stone together shall slay the Philistine when God gives strength.

In conclusion, so long as the ministers of God remember that they are but a bow in the hand

of the Lord to send forth His

arrows, so long

But so soon as

shall they prevail in His might. they speak their own words, or trust in their own wisdom, or in the wisdom of other men, then do they speak a lie, and their strength is departed from them. And this concerns you also, beloved brethren: for whilst you regard the bishops, priests, and deacons of the Church as God's bow, as instruments in His hand, by Him raised up to minister before the Lord for you in His word and in His sacraments, you shall surely receive a blessing from the Lord through them, weak and unworthy though they may be in themselves. But on the other hand, if you regard them as rising up in their own strength to fight for you, and not as raised up by the Lord against the evils of your hearts; if in their sacred offices you look upon them merely as men and in themselves, beware lest God answer you according to your imaginations, and give to you no blessing from above upon their ministrations; and then what will all gifts and graces in us avail you, if the Lord of Hosts prosper not upon you our labours for your edification? if He open not your hearts? if He, though unseen, be not present with you in all that we do in His name? When

God hath raised up His warriors against the evils of our gentile hearts and hath overcome them, may He of His free mercy render unto all of us, for these sorrows and toils of our warfare, double joys in His own presence for evermore, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

JOHN HENRY PARKER, OXFORD AND LONDON.

Sermons for the Christian Seasons.

ST. MICHAEL'S DAY.

THE SERVICES OF ANGELS.

HEBREWS i. 14. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

THE mysterious leaves of the book of Job open out an awful and startling view of the scenes which are enacted in the unseen world, a view which should be anxiously contemplated by all who would understand the real state and real perils of man in his pilgrimage on earth. "There was a day," we read, "when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

Regarding at present this first assertion of the evil one, we are indeed drawn to the contempla

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