forget our dependent situation, and that we owe every thing to the mercy of God.

59. What is meant by our taking no thought for our life, what we shall eat, or what we shall drink, or yet for our body what we shall put on? A. That our thoughts should not be entirely taken up in considering what we shall eat or drink, or be clothed with, such immoderate care and anxiety taking off our attention from our duty towards our Heavenly Father.-v. 25.

60. What is meant by, Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? A. That why should you doubt the further protection of that merciful Being? why should you not trust to his goodness for food and raiment, when he has already given you much more valuable gifts, by conferring on you life and a body "wonderfully made?" Since he has done so, surely he will give you the means of preserving them.

61. By what examples does he tell us to depend on the mercy and providence of God? A. By those of the fowls

of the air and the lilies of the field.

62. How does he teach us from these? A. He says, Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap or gather into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them; and so the lilies of the field toil not, neither do they spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.-v. 26.

63. What is meant by adding a cubit to our stature1? A. Making ourselves taller by the height of a cubit, which is eighteen inches.

64. Why does our Lord propose this question? A. To teach them that this anxiety is useless; for they may see, by considering their own helplessness, that they are entirely dependent on the mercy and providence of God, who will protect them, if they put their trust in him.

65. Who was Solomon? A. A king of the Jews, son of David, and the richest, wisest, and most powerful of the kings of all Israel, or of the kings after the separation of the tribes.

66. Why was Solomon, in all his glory, arrayed inferior to the lilies? A. The one is clad by the art of man, the

1 This may be also translated, adding to our age.

D

others robed with a glorious clothing, wrought by the hand of the Almighty, which man with all his boasted skill can never equal.

67. What may we learn from God's clothing the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven? A. That he will much more gloriously clothe man, created after his own Divine Image in the beginning, whom he constituted lord of the creation.

68. Why does he say, O ye of little faith? A. He calls them persons of little faith, for doubting and distrusting his Providence.

69. How many reasons, in those few verses, does our Lord give us for not being too anxious about what we shall eat, or drink, or be clothed with, and thus distrusting God's future protection? A. Four; his having conferred on us greater gifts than these, by giving us our lives and bodies. 2d. The examples of his care of the birds and of the lilies. 3d. The uselessness of doing so; for, without him, we cannot do any thing for ourselves: this he shews by the example of our not being able to add one cubit to our stature and, 4thly, because such things should not engross our thoughts, and prevent our directing them to

heaven.

70. What are we to seek first? A. The kingdom of God and his righteousness.- ―v. 33.

71. What is meant by that? A. That our chief object should be to seek for the means of admission into that glorious kingdom prepared for the righteous; and that we should be incessant in our prayers to the Giver of all good things for a heart to love him, and to fit us, through Christ Jesus, for eternal happiness.

72. If we do this, what additional reward shall we receive? A. That we shall also receive from God the necessaries and comforts of life, for being over anxious about which our Lord had been just rebuking his hearers.

73. What persons does he say are always employed in thinking about what they shall eat, and drink, and how they shall be clothed ? A. The Gentiles or Heathen: there may be some excuse for them; we may expect this conduct from such persons, from their being sunk in idolatry and ignorance; but the Jews were totally without excuse, as well as we Christians, who are better instructed.

74. What is meant by Take no thought for to-morrow? A. That we are not to be over anxious for the future; for the same Providence which has preserved us until this day, will also protect and supply us to-morrow, with what is necessary; we are to commit our cause to him.-v. 34.

75. What is meant by Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof? A. He tells us that we have sufficient trials every day, and sufficient anxiety at the present, without making ourselves more unhappy at the thoughts of future evils.- -V. 34.

GENERAL QUESTIONS.

76. On how many subjects does our Saviour give advice to his disciples in this chapter? A. On six. 1st. On giving Alms. 2d. On Fasting. 3d. Praying. 4th. Ava5th. Worldlymindedness; and 6th. On anxiety for the future.

rice.

CHAPTER VII.

1. Why should we not judge? A. Lest we ourselves may be judged.

2. What is meant by judging? A. Attributing wrong motives to the actions of our neighbours; speaking in a contemptuous manner of the faults of others, as if we ourselves were altogether free from offence, when, on the contrary, we should rather mourn over them as fellowsinners.

3. What is meant, by With what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again? A. That as it is fair that whatsoever measure a person makes use of in selling to another the same should be used in selling to him; so in like manner, if we judge others uncharitably, we must expect to be judged in return by them, and finally judged before the Great Judge of Heaven and Earth.

-v. 2.

4. What is a mote? A. Some say, a little splinter of wood, others a small seed.- -V. 3.

5. What is a beam? A. A large piece of timber.

6. What is meant by our beholding the mote in our brother's eye, while we neglect the beam in our own eye ? A. Our being employed in finding out, and pointing to the trifling faults in our neighbour's character, while we pay little attention to those crimes which our own depraved and wicked hearts prompt us to commit.

7. Who is here meant by our brother? fellow-sinner.

A. Any

8. What is here meant by our asking him to let us pull the mote out of his eye? A. It means that we very officiously pretend to censure the conduct of our neighbour, when our own may be more deserving of reproof.— v. 4.

9. What ought we to do first? out of our own eye.—v. 5.

A. To cast the beam

10. What is meant by that? A. That we should correct our own faults before we take upon us to censure or reprove our neighbours.

11. Why does our Lord call such a person an hypocrite ?" A. Because he lays claim to the character of being religious, merely by affecting a great abhorrence of such crimes in others; but he shews that he is not influenced in his censures by the love of God, for if he were, he himself would be induced to amend his own life.

12. What advantage will it be to ourselves and to others to cast the beam first out of our own eye? A. It would be much more effectual to teach others by example than merely by precept; for if we do not amend our own faults, we prove that we are influenced by wrong motives in giving advice to them.

13. What does our Lord mean by commanding his disciples not to give that which is holy unto dogs, nor to cast our pearls before swine1? A. That we should not continue to preach or apply the promises of the Gospel to those

It has been well remarked, that in this verse there are two descriptions of persons alluded to. The swine represent the sensual, filthy profligate, who, discerning no beauty or excellence in "the pearl of great price," trample it under their feet; and the dogs, the snarling sneering infidel, who scoffs at the words of truth and soberness, and rends those who use them by the keenness of his ridicule and malice.

whom we know, from experience, to be obstinate and inveterate enemies to Christ's holy religion.—v. 6.

14. Why should we not do so? A. Lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend us.

15. What is meant by this? A. That such profane and wicked persons, so far from thanking us for our advice, or profiting by it, will rather persecute and hate us for our interference, and, as swine disregard pearls, so they will pay no attention to those divine truths.

16. Does this forbid us to advise sinners? A. By no means; for the above-mentioned parable of the "beam" and "mote" teaches us to amend our own faults, and that then we may advise others. This only teaches us to desist from advising or addressing the truths of the Gospel to those who, by their conversation and conduct, have repeatedly shewn that they disregard our doctrine and advice.

17. Why should we advise our fellow-sinners? A. From that grand principle of Christian love of which our Lord shewed us an example : We are brethren under one Heavenly Father, and we ought ever to exert ourselves, that the benefits of Christ's passion and atonement should be extended to as many as possible.

18. By what means shall we obtain what we want? A. By asking our Heavenly Father for it, who will never withhold his counsel or his Spirit to guide us, or his blessing to reward us, if we seek for them in the right way.—v. 7.

19. What is meant by Seek, and ye shall find? A. Search diligently and constantly, by prayer to God, and you shall find eternal riches.

20. What is meant by knocking? A. Praying earnestly to God.

21. In what manner must we ask, that we may receive? A. With humility and faith; not for our own sakes, but for the sake of our blessed Lord, Jesus Christ.

22. By what example does our Lord encourage us to ask? A. He says, What man of you is there, who, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?-v. 9.

23. How does our Lord teach us to apply this? A. If we, who are imperfect and evil in our nature, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more shall our