He turned and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.—v. 23.

52. Why was our Lord displeased? A. Because, if he did not suffer death for guilty sinners, that great object would remain unfinished for which he came into the world. 53. What is meant by Get thee behind me, Satan? A. He intended to rebuke Peter, who thought that he was prompted solely by his affection for his Divine Master, because he had listened to the suggestions of Satan, who ever endeavoured to defeat the purpose for which our Lord came upon earth.

54. What is meant by thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of man? A. Thou dost not regard or relish the things that are ordained by God, respecting the Messiah, but thy thoughts are occupied with worldly objects, and temporal honours.

55. What did Jesus then say to his disciples? A. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.—v. 24.

56. What is meant by these words? A. If any man be a professor of my doctrines, and declare himself to be my disciple, it will be necessary that he should deny himself the indulgence of the sinful propensities of his heart, and keep himself unspotted from the world; and also, that he should cheerfully submit to any affliction imposed upon him, for my sake: looking forward to another world, where all his sorrows will be at an end. (Vide chap. x. Quest. 63.)

57. What is meant by taking up our cross? A. It was customary that persons about to be crucified, should carry the transverse beam of the cross on which their hands were to be fastened; hence, taking up our cross is applied to our bearing our misfortunes and afflictions with patience.

58. What is meant by whosoever will save his life, shall lose it? A. Whosoever shall give up his religion, and the righteousness which it inculcates, to save his life, shall lose it eternally. v. 25.

59. What is meant by whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it? A. Whosoever, rather than renounce the religion taught by the Saviour of the world,

shall suffer himself to be put to death, shall obtain eternal life.

60. How does our Lord express the value of the soul? A. He says, What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?—v. 26.

61. What is meant by this? A. What advantage will it be to any man, to gain possession even of the entire world, if, after this life is at an end, he is cast into hell?

62. What is meant by giving any thing in exchange for the soul? A. If, for the sake of enjoying guilty pleasures for a few years, we act in such a manner as the Gospel declares will consign us to everlasting misery hereafter.

63. Why cannot a man receive, in this life, sufficient compensation for the loss of his soul? A. Because the enjoyments for which he sells it are those only of this life, which last at most but a few years; while those which he gives up are those of eternity, of which there will be no end.

64. What prophecy does our blessed Lord make of his future coming? A. The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

--v. 27.

65. Why does he make this prophecy? A. To show us, that although the wicked may prosper for a short time in this life, and may seem happy in the enjoyment of their guilty pleasures, yet the time will come when, standing before the judgment-seat of the Son of man, they will deeply feel the folly of sacrificing an immortal soul for the vanities of this life.

66. What other prophecy does our Lord make? A. Besides, I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

67. What is meant by their not tasting of death? A. Their not dying.

68. What is meant by this prophecy? A. That some of his apostles, then present, would be living when he should

1 Some refer this to our Lord's transfiguration, others to his resur rection.

2 John survived the destruction of Jerusalem,

exercise his judgments at the destruction of that ungrateful city, Jerusalem. (Vide John xxi. 22.)

69. Upon what other occasion, in this Gospel, did our Lord allude to his coming again, to exercise judgment upon Jerusalem? A. When he was giving directions to his disciples about preaching the Gospel, he said, they should not have gone over all the cities of Israel until the Son of man came. (x. 23.)

GENERAL QUESTIONS.

70. Where in this Gospel do we find the term leaven made use of, besides in this chapter? A. In the thirteenth chapter, in the parable of the woman who hid the leaven in three measures of meal.

71. What is the difference of the term, as used in both places? A. In the one place it means the gradual influence of the Holy Spirit upon the heart, or the growth in grace of the Christian: in the other, it means the gradual spreading of the natural evil propensities of the soul, uncorrected by the Spirit of God.

72. Upon what other occasion did our blessed Saviour say to his disciples, O ye of little faith! besides that mentioned in the eighth verse of this chapter? A. In the eighth chapter, twenty-sixth verse, when the disciples were afraid of the storm in the ship. He also said it to Peter, when he was afraid of sinking in the sea, (xiv. 31.)

73. What reason had the people for supposing that our Lord was Jeremiah the prophet? A. They had an ancient tradition, that Jeremiah the prophet would appear, when the Messiah came to recover the Ark of the Covenant, which they supposed he had hid, (2 Maccabees ii. 5.) The power also given by God to Jeremiah, over the kingdoms and nations, (Jeremiah i. 10.) seems to agree with their notions of the Messiah, and they imagined that he was come to reassume this dominion.

74. What did Peter mean when he said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God? A. That he was that holy person promised by God, at the time of the fall, who should be anointed by the Holy Spirit, to be a prophet, priest, and king. (Vide General Quest., chap. i.)

75. What is to be inferred from Peter's conduct, for which our Lord rebuked him? A. That when our Lord

addressed him in the preceding part of the chapter, he was very far from conferring on him any infallibility: it was against his Church, built upon the confession made by Peter, not upon Peter himself, that he declared the gates of hell should not prevail.

76. In what sense were the keys of the kingdom of heaven committed to Peter? A. He was the apostle who, after our Lord's resurrection, first preached the Gospel; the true means of entering the kingdom of heaven: he was the first preacher of it to the Jews, (Acts ii. 14.) and he was also the first preacher of it to the Gentiles, (Acts x. 28.) in the instance of Cornelius.

CHAPTER XVII.

1. WITH what remarkable event does this chapter commence? A. With an account of our Lord's transfigu

ration.-v. 1.

2. How long after the conversation mentioned at the end of the last chapter, did this event take place? A. In six days.

3. What is meant by the term, Transfiguration? A. Change of appearance, change of form.

4. Where did it take place? A. On a high mountain, whither our Lord retired, that he might not be liable to observation or interruption.

5. What persons were present at it? A. His three disciples, Peter, James, and John.

6. Why was our Lord accompanied by three of his disciples? A. That they might bear testimony to the truth of what happened there; for by the Jewish law, it was necessary to have two or three witnesses to establish any fact. (Deut. xix. 15.)

7. What change in his appearance took place when he was transfigured? A. His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.—v. 2.

8. Who appeared with him? A. Moses, and Elias, or Elijah. v. 3.

9. Who was Moses?

bed he was chosen by of Israel out of Egypt.

A. The son of Amram and JocheAlmighty God to lead the children Exod. vi. 20.

10. Who was Elias, or Elijah? A. A prophet of God, who performed many miracles. 1 Kings xvii. &c.

11. What was there remarkable in Moses and Elias appearing with our Lord? A. Moses was the giver of the law to the Jews; Elias was the restorer of the law by his preaching repentance to the children of Israel; and Christ was the glorious finisher of the law, the ceremonial part of which was fulfilled by his death, and the moral by his obedience to it himself, and by his establishing it in the hearts of his true followers, by the gift of his Spirit. (Vide Matt. v. 17.)

12. How were Moses and Elias employed? They were talking with our Lord about his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Luke ix. 21.

13. Did any of the three disciples address our Lord? A. Yes; Peter said unto him, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias.-v. 4.

14. What is a tabernacle? A. A tent or hut to dwell in.

15. Why did he wish to make the tabernacles? A. That he might induce Moses and Elias to remain upon earth with his Divine Master.

16. Was there any thing wrong in Peter's proposal? A. We may collect from it, he still cherished the thought, that the kingdom of the Messiah was to be of a temporal nature, and had forgotten that it was not to be of this world.

17. While Peter was speaking, what remarkable circumstance occurred? A. A bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

18. What is meant by, "Hear ye him?" A. Obey his commands, receive his instructions.

19. Upon what other occasion do we read in this Gospel of our Lord's being addressed by the voice from heaven? A. At his baptism by John1. Matt. iii. 17.

1 We read in John xii. 28, of another testimony borne to our Lord from heaven.