Divine grace and direction.

COLLECT, EPISTLE, GOSPEL, LESSONS.

1. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. PSALM 1xxxiv. 11.

2. My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. 2 COR. xii. 9.

3. We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 COR. vi. 1.

4. O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. JER. X. 23.

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5. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. PSALM Xxxii. 8.

6. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. PSALM Ixxiii. 24.

What are our wills and affections naturally? (Collect.)

From whom must we seek for grace to order our wills and affections aright? (Collect.-James i. 17. John i. 16-17.)

In the Collect, what do we pray for grace to love and to desire?

From whom must we seek all good gifts? (James xi. 17.)

Amidst the changes of the world, where should our hearts be fixed? (Collect.-Heb. xi. 9-10.) Are we able to guide ourselves? (Jer. x. 23.) Whose guidance did our Lord promise to his disciples-in what were they to be guidedand what would they be shewn? (John xvi. 13-14.)

What does the Collect for the nineteenth Sunday after Trinity say on the subject of divine direction?

How did God guide the Israelites through the wilderness? (Exod. xiii. 20-2.)

May we hope to be guided by the word and providence of God? (Psalm xxxii. 8; lxxiii. 24.) In the first lesson for the morning service, how were the Israelites cautioned against forgetting God as their guide? (Deut. vi. 10-15.)

In the first lesson for the evening service, how were they reminded of the grace and favour of God towards them? (Deut. vii. 6-11.)

Christian obedience.

COLLECT, EPISTLE, LESSONS, ARTICLES XII. XIII. XIV.

1. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work; this man shall be blessed in his deed. JAMES i. 25.

2. Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is better than to sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 1 SAM. XV. 22.

3. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way By taking heed thereto according to thy word.

PSALM CXIX. 9.

4. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. PSALM cxix. 4.

5. 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. ST. MATT.

vii. 21.

5. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 1 JOHN V. 3.

To whom was the law given, and where was it given? (Deut. ix. 8-11.)

On what were the commandments written ? (Exod. xxxiv. 1 and 27-8.)

Where were the tables of the law put? (Exod. xxv. 16. Heb. ix. 4-5.)

Why were the Israelites led forty years in the wilderness? (Deut. viii. 2.)

In what part of the Church service are the commandments read, and what prayer are we taught to offer after each commandment?

What precept sums up our whole duty to God? (Matt. xxii. 37.)

What precept sums up our whole duty to man? (Matt. xxii. 39.)

How are our duty to God and our neighbour explained in the Catechism?

What does St. Paul say is the fulfilling of the law? (Rom. xiii. 10.)

For what must we pray in order to think and do what is right? (Collect.)

In the Gospel, in whose name does our Lord teach us to pray? (John xvi. 23-4.)

What should be the extent of a Christian's obedience? (1 Cor. vi. 20; x. 31.)

How are we to give evidence of our love to God? (1 John v. 3. Matt. vii. 21.)

Point out, in the first lessons, the warnings and encouragements given to the Israelites respecting God's commandments. (Deut. viii. and ix.)

COLLECT, GOSPEL, LESSONS,

ARTIOLB IT.

The Church this day celebrates our Saviour's ascending into heaven in his human nature, and his sitting at the right hand of God. His ascension was forty days after his resurrection, and during that time he confirmed the truth that he was risen from the dead, by appearing several times to his disciples, discoursing with them, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Thus they became witnesses of his resurrection. The Apostles were permitted to behold our Lord's ascension in order that they might become witnesses of that event also. And further, before our Saviour ascended he told his Apostles where he was going, and what power and dignity would be conferred upon him; and, as an evidence of this his exaltation to the right hand of God, he promised to send down the Holy Ghost upon them in a sensible manner: so that when they afterwards received the wonderful gifts of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they had abundant evidence of his exaltation to heaven.