ADDRESS TO THE CANDIDATES FOR CONFIRMATION, IN CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL, VENTURES OF FAITH. MY YOUNG FRIENDS,— Before I commence the special service appointed for the Confirmation, I wish to speak to you; and while I hope you will be attentive to what I am saying, I pray God to give both me and you grace to make good use of this solemn occasion of our meeting in this His Sanctuary. First, I will notice one truth, which you may learn from the circumstances of your being now, in this unusual manner, gathered together from the several congregations* in the city to receive, at the hands of your Bishop, the chief Pastor of the Church in this portion of our Lord's vineyard, this holy rite of Confirmation. As here this day in Montreal, so from every other congregation in the Diocese, at stated periods, it is directed by the Church that every baptized member should be thus presented to their Bishop. It is, perhaps, in the case of many, the only time that they ever come into immediate contact with him, so as to receive directly from his *There were 368 Candidates presented on this occasion. This Address was also delivered to the Candidates at St. Johns, Sorel, Lacolle, Clarenceville, Bedford, Rawdon, St. Andrews, Waterloo, Vaudreuil Coteau, Rougemont, Portage du Fort, Potton, and Brome. hands any spiritual ordinance. Besides Confirmation, there are two other acts, which are only performed by the Bishop-viz.: Ordination of ministers and Consecration of churches. Let us see, then, what we may learn from this. The Bishop is the chief shepherd under Christ, the father in God of all within his jurisdiction or diocese. As such, all have a claim upon him and his services, in a way that they have not upon any one else, except their own particular clergyman. But personally the Bishop cannot minister to all; therefore, as at the first, when the Church began to increase and multiply, the Apostles provided for the ordination of elders and ministers in every city,* to serve and tend the sheep of Christ's flock, and seek after those who were gone astray, so it is now. The Bishop ordains men, who may take the oversight of the several congregations, preach the Word, and receive into the fold those that come unto them, "baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," and feeding them with the bread of life. And that there may be fitting places in which to worship God, as occasion offers and such provision can be made, the Bishop, by a special service, dedicates, gives up to God, and sets apart, buildings for that purpose. Thus, by providing ministers and places for them to minister in, arrangement is made for the general oversight of the people, and the due and orderly celebration of the worship of God. But this being so, then it is ordered that, as with you now, so with every baptized member, once in their lives, all are to be presented in their own persons to their Bishop, the chief Pastor, to make to him, with their own mouth, their profession of the Christian faith, and to receive, with the laying on of his hands, is solemn blessing. In this ordinance, then, we have an outward token of the unity of all the members, and of their communion in one common faith and ministry. However, widely scattered throughout this large Diocese, baptized, watched over, taught and fed, as they are, by so many different ministers, and unknown, for the most part, to each other, they all testify outwardly and before the world, by their attendance for this service upon the same chief Pastor, that they, though "being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." Titus i. 5. But still further: if this rite of Confirmation be, what we are taught to believe that it is, it not only serves as an outward symbol and token of unity, but it is an actual and real communion in one Spirit. You have all of you been receiving, from your several clergymen, special instructions respecting this holy rite, during many weeks past; and I am bound to believe that, so far as man can judge, you come to me with a good understanding of what you are doing, and with a faithful purpose of living hereafter in accordance with the tenor and spirit of those Christian obligations, which you are now about personally to undertake. If any of you, now here before me, cannot answer to their own conscience as before God, that such is the case-better, far better that you should now desist from coming forward to receive the outward sign, while you are not true in God's sight. For how could such a person answer to me, as I shall by and bye call upon you each to do: would it not be lying unto God? Besides, however, being a solemn ordinance observed in the Christian Church, in every age and place, from the days of the Apostles until now, as you will hear it stated in the service, that the Bishop lays his hands upon you, "after the example of the holy Apostles," there is this also to be remembered, that it is an act which is never, in the same way and with the same sanction, to be repeated by you; and, therefore, what is only to be done once in your lives, and specially so solemn an act as this, ought to be done all the more carefully and thoughtfully. And since it is a holy covenant between God and you, which as baptized Christians you are required now to ratify, while you are thus, by your own act and deed, pledging yourselves to God, by the very same act you are engaging God to fulfil his promises to you. How much, then, does it concern you not to come in any light or careless manner, but with a full consciousness of the greatness of the covenant to be confirmed between you and your God, and of the privilege vouchsafed to you, in being invited thus to bind, as it were, God to give you all those good things which are promised to them that love and fear Him! And who, and what are you that are thus about to draw so nigh to God, in the way which he has appointed? Born into a world of sin, with a fallen nature and a perishable body, you are nevertheless created for eternity. But an eternity of what kind; and where to be passed? It was to redeem you when in bondage, and save you when lost, that Christ took on himself our nature and sanctified it; and by His death for sin, who knew no sin, purchased the gift of eternal life for us. To Christ you were all dedicated at your baptism; and by His Spirit a seed of this better life and sanctified nature was implanted within you. Shall that seed be nurtured, that it may grow and bear its proper fruit unto God? Or shall it be stolen away by the devil, or trodden under foot, or choked amidst the thorns and briars of this naughty world? Christ invites you to come to him for safety and for succour, as He is set forth the one Mediator between your God and you. And it is in and by this ordinance of Confirmation, that you are to hope and believe, that, having been already enrolled amongst the soldiers of the Cross, you will receive strength to war a good warfare; and gain still closer union with Christ, with a confirmation of the Divine promises to you, even as you are now to confirm and renew your vows and promises to God. So also in prayer at all times, private or family prayer, public worship, in secret searchings of heart, patient submission to the will of God, and the earnest endeavour to obey him,- these are ways in which we shall all continually find our union with Christ—our inner life, which must all depend on Him,-strengthened and matured. But as the chiefest of all, in the holy Communion of his Body and Blood,-which blessed Sacrament was ordained, as you have been taught in your Catechism, "for the continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and of the benefits which we receive thereby." And on Sunday next there will be a special early celebration of that holy sacrament in this Cathedral, at nine o'clock, in order that any of those this day confirmed may so draw nigh to God, in that ordinance, for "the strengthening and refreshing of their souls by the body and blood of Christ," as our bodies receive strength from bread and wine. There will also, no doubt, in all the Churches, be early opportunities for all of you thus to draw nigh to Christ,—doing, what He has invited us all to do, in remembrance of Him. You will all, from this day, have the privilege of joining with the faithful, wherever you may be, |