19. Have there been Sacrifices at all times?
Yes, there have been Sacrifices from the beginning of the world, and under the Old Law they were strictly commanded by God Himself.
20. Why were the Sacrifices of the Old Law abolished?
Because they were only figures of the unspotted Sacrifice of the New Law, and were, therefore, not to last longer than the Old Law itself.
'For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things, by the self -same sacrifices, which they offer continually every year, can never make the comers thereunto perfect; for it is impossible that with the blood of oxen and goats sin should be taken away. Wherefore when He [Christ] cometh into the world He saith: Sacrifice and oblation Thou [O God] wouldst not; hut a body Thou hast fitted to me. Then said I: Behold, I come: in the head of the hook it is written of me, that I should do Thy will, God. . . . He taketh away the first, that He may establish that which followeth' (Hebr. x. 1-9).
21. What is the Sacrifice of the New Law?
The Sacrifice of the New Law is the Son of God Himself, Jesus Christ, who, by His death on the Cross, offered Himself to His Heavenly Father for us (Hebr. ix. 14).
22. Was all Sacrifice to cease with the death of Christ?
No; there was to be in the New Law of Grace a Perpetual Sacrifice, in order to represent continually that which was once accomplished on the Cross, and to apply the fruits of it to our souls.
23. Was such a Sacrifice promised to us by God?
Yes, even in the Old Law it was prefigured by the Sacrifice of Melchisedech,1 and was foretold by the Prophet Malachias.2
1 As Melchisedech offered bread and wine (Gen, xiv. 18), so also Christ offers Himself under the species of bread and wine unto the end of the world. Therefore it is said in Ps. cix.: 'The Lord hath sworn, and Be will not repent: Thou art a Priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech. 2 'I have no pleasure in you [Jews], saith the Lord of Hosts, and I
