QUES. 16.-Will you please tell us what is meant in 1 John 5 :16,17 by the sin not unto death which we are to pray tor, and the sin unto death of which the Spirit writes, "I do not say that he shall pray for it " ?

Some of us are not absolutely clear on this matter, and would like to know what you can tell us on this subject.

ANS.-It is the government of God among His redeemed people. The doctrine of it is seen in 1 Cor. 11:29-32. The grace of God was being taken advantage of among the Corinthians, as we see in chap. 5 of the same epistle. This is hateful to God. But He never imputes iniquity to His people ; so He chastens them, even unto removing them from the earth by death. We have a striking illustration of this given in detail in Acts 5:3-5-Ananias and Sapphira.

"All unrighteousness is sin" ; and when we see a brother in unrighteousness, we may well pray for him; for who knows the end of it? All sin, in the end, leads to the judgment of God. But there is sin of such great guilt, or of such public dishonor to God, that power for the prayer of faith on behalf of such an offender will not be given. The summary judgment of God in such a case is the only adequate means of meeting the sin.

QUES. 17.-Does "in hope of eternal life " (Titus 1) refer to a hope of which the promise of God before age-times was the basis and inspiration in Old Testament times, now manifested and realized in the gospel; or does it refer to the hope of glory in another scene, with which the present possession of eternal life is linked? In other words, does the word "hope" in this passage carry us backward or forward ?

ANS.-We believe it covers the whole ground, both backward and forward. The first creation ruined, God announces another which begins with the New Birth and ends in eternal glory. " In hope of eternal life" stands thus in broad contrast with the ruin of the present life, and the attending consequences.

QUES. 18.-Is it according to Scripture to have family worship- that is, to assemble the family every day for reading of the Scriptures and prayer? And if the husband (a believer) takes no part, is the wife free to do it ?

ANS.-Not only is it according to Scripture to have family worship, but it is most contrary to all Scripture not to have it. Even in Old Testament times they were commanded, "Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul. . . . And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up" (Deut. 11:18, 19).

In the New Testament, "And. ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath :but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4). Timothy "from a child" knew the Holy Scriptures. How? By his godly mother and grandmother. Indeed, there is no place where the Scriptures can ever be learned like in the home circle, and where piety can ever be so well cultivated. The Sunday-school, the meetings of God's people, are a great help and blessing, but they are only at stated times:the home is always-from morning till night.

The family is a divine institution, and there is the seed-time for every good thing, the beginnings which have no endings, for good or 99:There is none in all the earth with as much responsibility toward my children as myself, and none who can exert so deep and lasting an influence.

Did parents realize this sufficiently, they could not allow the cares of earth to dismiss the, at least, one daily family worship.

If the father does not lead it, the mother is most surely free to do it, and God will bless her and her children in it.

QUES. 19.-Should children of Christian parents be taught from infancy that God is their Heavenly Father, aud to pray to Him as such?

ANS.-It would be a grave error to teach them that God is their Father apart from the truth that they are sinners needing salvation, and that repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to become children of God. Faith in us can count upon God's promise (Acts 16:31); but conscience must be exercised in them, or it will be but a superficial thing.

Our children being "holy" (1 Cor. 7:14), we can associate them with us in all our home worship and Christian exercises ; but they are sinners by nature as others, and must be faithfully taught the way of salvation. In their prayers they will, of course, address God as their Father ; for it is the character in which He has revealed Himself in the New Testament; but that is a different thing from teaching them that God is their Father. This is to be left to themselves, and to come in a natural way.

QUES, 20.-We are told in Scripture, "Forsake not the assembling of "yourselves together." There are none near me who as-semble in the name of the Lord Jesus alone, and as member! of His body only; they are all denominational assemblies. What am I to do?

ANS.-To forsake the assembling of ourselves with God's people where they assemble according to God, indicates a bad state of soul. To refuse to identify ourselves with assemblies which are not according to God, is faithfulness. If we walk with God in secret, in our loneliness, He will not only bless us, but also make us a blessing in the end.