called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

T. How does our Lord's answer to St. Peter agree with His teaching concerning the offending brethren in the preceding verses?

S. It shows that their punishment, even excluding them from Church fellowship, must be done out of the spirit of love to lead them to repentance. As St. Paul says, "If any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed; yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." 2 Thess. iii. 14, 15.

T. Does Christ limit our forgiveness of our brethren ?

S. No; He will have it beyond all human reckoning. "If he trespass against thee seven times a-day, and seven times a-day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; then thou shalt forgive him." Luke, xvii. 4.

T. What do we understand by the kingdom of heaven? S. The visible Church of Christ on earth.

household."

T. Under what image is God spoken of?

"God's

S. A king who would take account of His servants. T. What does the great debt (after 58. the oz., 1877. 10s.) signify?

S. The sins of men against God, for which they can never give satisfaction.

T. What custom is referred to in the sentence on the servant who could not pay his debt?

S. The sale of the debtor and his family, which was allowed by the Mosaic law, as we read (Lev. xxv. 39), "If thy brother be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee;" and the widow (2 Kings. iv. 1) complained to Elisha, "The creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen."

T. How does our Lord's conduct to sinners agree with the parable?

S. He pities and forgives freely those who acknowledge "Thou, their sins and pray earnestly for His mercy. Lord, art good and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee." Ps. lxxxvi. 5. T. What do we notice in the servant's prayer?

S. His readiness to promise to do even impossible things in the moment of fear.

T. What do we remark in his fellow-servant's debt? S. The exceeding smallness of it compared to the immense sum he owed to the king; showing how small our sins are to each other compared with those against God.

T. Does the forgiven servant learn mercy of his Lord? S. No; though his fellow-servant prayed to him in the words he had himself used.

T. How can we explain the fellow-servants' sorrow who saw what was done?

S. By the complaint of the righteous, who mourn in their prayer and are vexed at the oppressions of the ungodly.

T. Why will our Lord reproach men, even as the king the unmerciful servant?

S. Because "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is Christ Jesus." Rom. iii. 23, 24.

T. How is the unmerciful punished?

S. Having sinned so deeply against grace, he forfeits God's forgiveness; for "He shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy" (Jam. ii. 13); and is delivered to the tormentors.

T. Could he gain relief by ever after paying his debt? S. No; when the day of punishment comes, it is too late for repentance and forgiveness.

T. What does our Lord warn all men to do to escape the like judgment?

S. Forgive as they hope to be forgiven. Not only abstaining from revenge and complaint, but " from the heart;" being ready to obey St. Paul's admonition, "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink." Rom. xii. 20.

THE TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

The Collect.

O GOD, our refuge and strength, who art the Author of all godliness; Be ready, we beseech Thee, to hear the devout prayers of Thy Church; and grant that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain effectually through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

T. How is God addressed in this Collect?

S. As our 66

godliness.

refuge and strength," the Author of all

T. How does David declare God to be such? (Ps. xlvi. 1; lvii. 1.

S." God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble;" and, " In the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast."

T. When do we feel God to be our refuge and strength? S. In sorrow, when we pray to Him, and find "God comforteth those that are cast down (2 Cor. vii. 6); and He chasteneth us "for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness." (Heb. xii. 10.) In temptation, when He will "with the temptation also make a way to escape, that we may be able to bear it (1 Cor. x. 13); strengthening us to overcome," because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." 1 John, iv. 4. T. How is God the Author of all godliness?

S. "There is none good but one, that is, God." (Matt. xix. 17.) We can do no good thing without Him. "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Philip. ii. 13.) "Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith." (Heb. xii. 2.) "We believe according to the working of His mighty power" (Ephes. "and are led by the Spirit of God."

i. 19);

viii. 14.

T. What do we pray God to be ready to hear?

S. The devout prayers of His Church.

T. When are such continually offered ?

Rom.

S. "When we meet together to render thanks for the great benefits that we have received at His hands; to set forth His most worthy praise, to hear His most holy word, and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul."

T. Why may we hope such united prayers are acceptable to God?

S. Our Lord has declared, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. xviii. 20); and St. Paul exhorts, "Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is." Heb. x. 24, 25.

T. How are we continually reminded of our belonging to the Church, and requiring the united "devout prayers" of the whole body?

S. By the services in which every ordinance is administered; such as Holy Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion, Matrimony, the Visitation of the Sick, and at the Burial of the Dead.

T. Are our united prayers alone intended in the Collect? S. No; it includes the private devout prayers of every member of the Church.

T. What things can we alone hope to obtain effectually?" S. Those which we ask faithfully.

T. What do we mean?

"Let him ask in

S. Believing in Christ's promises. faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." Jam. i. 7.

T. When are our prayers ineffectual?

S. When they are not from the heart. "God is a Spirit; and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." (John, iv. 24.) "Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. vii. 21.) "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss." Jam. iv. 3.

T. Who can alone make our prayers acceptable with God?

S. Jesus Christ the righteous.

The Epistle. Philip. iii. 17.

BRETHREN, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.