S. It appears so by their answer.

T. Does Christ upbraid them?

S. No; but He prepared them for another instance of His divine power.

T. (The seven loaves are a type of God's perfect gifts, and the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit.) How did Christ distribute the food to this great multitude?

S. By the hands of the disciples, His chosen ministers. T. What does this teach us?

S. To expect His mercy still at the hands of those whom He sends to dispense His gifts.

T. What spiritual gift most resembles this miraculous feeding?

S. Christ's body and blood, which are verily and indeed taken by the faithful in the Lord's Supper; and which sufficeth to the feeding of all nations.

T. What do the circumstances of this miracle teach us concerning seeking spiritual gifts?

S. To lay aside our business and pleasure in this world and follow after Christ, even into the wilderness of repentance and self-denial.

T. How does Christ teach us to receive God's temporal and spiritual gifts?

S. With thankfulness.

T. Finally, what must we remember?

S. To gather even the fragments which remain, that nothing be lost; to think nothing, however small and insignificant, which He has given, to be neglected and despised. We may be called to give an account of it hereafter.

T. (The Jewish loaves were broad and thin, like cakes; therefore broken, not cut.)

THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

The Collect.

O GOD, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech Thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which be profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

T. What do we acknowledge in this Collect?

S. That God's never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth.

T. What do we mean by providence ?

S. His care of, and providing for, His creatures.

T. Show that this is always at work in the highest and lowest matters.

S." He telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by their names." Ps. cxlvii. 4. "The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will." Dan. iv. 17, 25, 32. "Who giveth food to all flesh." Ps. cxxxvi. 25. "He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry." Ps. cxlvii. 9. "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Matt. x. 29, 30.

T. Give an instance of God permitting the things in heaven to change their course out of His providence for His chosen people.

S. The sun standing still upon Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, at the word of Joshua, till the people were avenged of their enemies. Josh. x. 12, 13.

T. What do we pray God to put away from us?

S. All hurtful things; i. e. things which would be injurious to our bodies and our souls.

T. From what hurtful things do we pray God to deliver us in the Litany?

S. All sin and the crafts and assaults of the devil; lightning and tempest; plague, pestilence and famine; battle and murder, and sudden death.

T. How does David describe the safety of the righteous? Ps. xci. 5-7.

S."Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee."

T. What do we pray God to give us, with His protection ?

S. "Those things which be profitable for us."

T. Does this mean worldly prosperity ?

S. No.

"For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" Matt. xvi. 26. "How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God." Mark, x. 24.

T. What is always most profitable for us? S. That God's will should be done in us. not that any should perish." 2 Pet. iii. 9.

"Who willeth

T. What things may He give us as profitable to our salvation ?

S. Trials, and sickness, and tribulations: "knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed." v. 3-5.

Rom.

The Epistle. Rom. viii. 12.

BRETHREN, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ: if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.

T. What is it to be a debtor to the flesh?

S. To be bound to, or owe some obligation to, the corrupt nature which we inherit from our first parents.

T. What was the custom in ancient times concerning debtors?

S. Forasmuch as they had nought to pay they were sold, (Matt. xviii. 25), or became bondmen to their creditors. 2 Kings, iv. 1.

T. (So he who would satisfy the desires of the flesh is sold unto sin, and becomes the slave of his passions.) What is it to live after the flesh?

S. Not only to commit the grievous sins of the flesh described in Gal. v. 19, but to yield to the inclinations, and desires, and weaknesses of our nature, which hinder our active service to God.

T. How did our first parents sin in this way?

S. They ate of the forbidden fruit, seeing that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise. Gen. iii. 6.

T. How was their punishment suited to their offence?

S. They desired pleasure, and wisdom, and exaltation, and to live for ever; and received sorrow, and pain, and subjection, and death.

T. Is mortal death the sole punishment of those who live after the flesh?

S. No; they die eternally to peace and the favour of God. T. How can we resist our evil dispositions?

S. Through the Spirit, "which helpeth our infirmities." Rom. viii. 26.

T. Is it sufficient to escape them?

S. We must mortify them, crucify them, i. e. do things contrary to them, and punish them.

T. What is our reward?

S. We shall live, i. e. live eternally with Christ.

T. How do we prove ourselves the sons of God?

S. Being led by the Spirit, i. e. bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit. Gal. v. 22, 23.

T. What was the bondage of the early people of God?

S. They served God in the spirit of fear under the law, and "through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Heb. ii. 15.

T. What is our service?

S. A free service of love; no more that of servants, but

sons.

T. What are we called by St. Paul, being neither children of promise as the Jews, nor sons of God as Christ our Lord?

S. Children of adoption.

T. How was our adoption completed?

S. When "God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son