V. Of the Lessons.

Q. What lessons are appointed to be read?

A. The first lesson is Deut. viii. and the second 1 Thes. v. 12, to verse 24. The former of which is an exhortation to obedience in regard of God's dealings with us; showing that it is not enough to hear the word, except we practise it; and that to receive God's benefits, and not to be thankful, is to contemn God in them. And the latter contains divers excellent precepts for the government of ourselves in the performance of our duty.

VI. Of the Epistle.

Q. What is the design of the epistle?

A. To lead us to acknowledge God as the fountain and author of all goodness; to hearken to his word as the only rule of our faith and manners; to meditate upon it, and to act accordingly; for otherwise we may seem to be truly religious, but are not really so.

VII. Of the Gospel.

Q. What is the design of the gospel?

A. To teach us to be imitators of God, in doing good to all mankind;-particularly, to love our enemies, and to labour after perfection in the exercise of our charity, which must be universal, and not confined to persons of any particular descrip

tion.

CHAPTER XX.

Of the Forms of Prayer to be used in Families.

JOSHUA Xxiv. 15.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

2: WHAT does the church require of every master and mistress of a family?

A. That every morning and evening they shall call together as many of the family as can conveniently be present ;* and that one of them, or any other person whom they may think proper, shall say, all kneeling, the form that is suitable to the hour.

2. Why ought every family to pay this daily homage?

A. Because they are every day dependent on God; and every day, to express their gratitude, should begin and close with pious acknowledg ments of this their dependence. Every morning, we should jointly look up to God for a renewal of his mercies; and every evening, ask forgiveness for the errors of the preceding day. When we rise, we should jointly implore his guidance; and before we lie down, we should unitedly supplicate his protection.

Q. How are we encouraged to perform this duty? A. By the strongest assurances from the God of truth, that our prayers shall not ascend to heaven in vain; that if we ask, we shall have; if we seek, we shall find; and that if we knock, it shall be opened unto us.

* Monsieur De Renty, a late pious nobleman in France, used to assemble his family every evening to prayers, and discoursed to them every Saturday on the gospel for the next day.. -May others imitate his example.

Q. What are the conditions necessary to render our prayers acceptable to God?

A. Attention, fervency, faith, humility, and submission to the will of God; confidence in his goodness, and integrity of heart.

Q. How does is appear to be a duty to worship God by family devotion?

A. From the dictates of reason, the authority of scripture, and the universal practice of all nations. Q. How are these prayers introduced?

A. With the divine prayer of our Lord.
Q. Why ought we to use this prayer?

A. Because Christ has expressly commanded it; and also because it is the only prayer that we are sure is perfectly agreeable to the will of God, as having been dictated by Christ himself; by whom alone our prayers are made acceptable to our heavenly Father.

2 What is the method and order of these forms? A. In the morning, they begin with an acknow. ledgment of God's mercy and preservation, especially through the night past. Then we proceed to a dedication of soul and body to God's service, with a resolution to be growing daily in goodness. After this we unite in a prayer for grace to enable us to perform that resolution. And, lastly, we pray for grace to guide and keep us the following day, and for God's blessing on the business of the same.

In the evening, they begin with a confession of sins, and a prayer for contrition and pardon. Next is a prayer for grace to reform our lives. Then the intercession. After that the thanksgiving. And, lastly, a prayer for God's protection through the ensuing night.

2. How are these prayers concluded?

A. With the benedictory prayer of St. Paul. 2 Cor. xiii. 14. In this blessing alone consists Christian happiness; and till it is possessed, the soul must feel an aching void. For, infinite in its desires, and immortal in its nature, the possession of

the earth, and all that is therein, can never satisfy it; nothing but Christ and his grace, God and his love, the Spirit and his consolations. This, and this alone, will effect such a blessing; for herein is the proper and true supply of all the wants of the soul. He that is partaker of this happiness, is able to deny all worldly lusts, and thirsts after no sinful enjoyments. In prosperity, this blessing heightens every comfort, and delivers him from the abuse of his abundance; in sickness and adversity, it is a source of patience and of peace; in retirement, it happily supplies the absence of friends and company. In short, this fellowship is light in darkness, Joy in sorrow, and life in death.

A Meditation.

"Since all things demonstrate the being and government of a just and holy God, what a madness it is to live as though there were none! Nothing is more uncertain than human life; it is as a flower or vapour, and even as nothing. Our sins also add to this uncertainty; for God may make my bed this night in the grave, and thenceforth in hell. But who can dwell with everlasting burnings! Who can bear the knawing of the worm that never dies! I am resolved to live more christianly than I have done; I will retire and fall on my knees before God, and say, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants, for Jesus' sake." Amen.

CHAPTER XXI.

Of the Selections and Book of Psalms, in Prose

1 CHRONICLES xxiii. 28, 30.

Their office was to wait-and stand-to thank and praise the Lord.

9. WHY are the Psalms denominated the Psalms 2. of David?

A. Not because they were all composed by him, but because the most of them were; the whole receiving their denomination from the greater part. 2. Whence is this translation in the prayer book

taken?

A. Out of the great English Bible, translated by William Tyndal and Miles Coverdale, and revised by Archbishop Cranmer.

2. Why is this translation adopted by our church, rather than any other?

A. Because it is very plain and easy; for the Hebraisms being not so much retained as in other translations, the verses generally run much more musically, and fitter for devotion.

2. How is the book of psalms appointed to be read?

A. The church has ordained that the psalter beread through once every month, as it is there divided both for morning and evening prayer. But in February it is to be read only to the twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth day of the month. And whereas January, March, May, July, August, October, and December, have each one-and-thirty days, it is ordered, that the same psalms shall be read the last day of the said months which were read the day before; so that the psalter may begin again the first day of the next month ensuing.