Quesnel: Moral Reflections on the Gospels Vol 1

216 ST. MATTHEW.
which they make upon our mind and heart, as to the
use which our faith makes of them, as to the conse-
quences which we should draw from them for the
regulation of our lives, and as to that estrangement
from worldly lusts and amusements which they ought
to inspire into us.
" 52. Then said he unto them, Therefore every
scribe, which is instructed unto the kingdom of
heaven, is like unto a man that is an householder,
which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new
and old."
A small degree of knowledge is not sufficient for
a preacher of the gospel. Above all things, he
ouoht perfectly to understand the holy Scriptures,
and to make them his treasure. His knowledge
does not consist in being furnished with a great va-
riety of human learning, but in being well versed in
whatever concerns the kingdom of heaven, and the
art of conducting souls thither. To this the learned
ouf^ht to direct all their skill in the law and the
prophets, their natural talents, and their attainments
in profane arts and sciences; and to make them all
subservient thereto. It is not enough for a man to
have these advantages in his possession ; he must
bring them forth out of his treasure, and distribute
them abroad. A good pastor will always remember
that he must not, like a miser, keep these things to
himself, only to please his own fancy ; nor yet, like
a merchant, traffic with them to enrich himself; but
that, like a bountiful father or householder, he must,
with a prudent economy, distribute them freely for
the good of his family.