Is the storm raging around us? Is our bark tossed by the tempest? Let us not, like helpless children, look only to the storm: let us not give ourselves over to despair, expecting that the next blast will overset us, the next billow sink us. We happy without him, and be contented to think Adversity.-Counsel in rarely of him? On the contrary, the loving wife longs for her husband's return. "Oh, when will he come back!" is her frequent exclamation. Wife of the Lamb, Church of the Saviour! where is thy waiting, hoping, longing for the second coming of thy Lord? Is this thy blessed hope, as did not make the bark; we cannot steer it; we it was that of the primitive Church? O Christian! cannot save it. Let us therefore, with the wisdom are these not wanting here? Every morsel of that of Christian sailors on the sea of life, be regardless bread thou eatest at the sacramental table, every of the storm, while all our attention is rivetted on drop of wine thou drinkest, is the voice of Christ the Pilot. Him let us watch; Him let us obey; saying to thee-"I will come again, and receive in Him let us put all our trust and confidence. He you to Myself;" and should draw forth thy long-will, if it pleaseth him, say to the hollow waves of ing desires-"Come, Lord Jesus; even so, come quickly!"-J. A. JAMES. Advent.-Yearning for the Second Brother. Stand ofttimes on the watch-tower to The Christian has advanced but a little way in religion when he has overcome the world; for he has still more powerful and importunate enemies -self, evil tempers, pride, undue affections, a stubborn will. It is by subduing these adversaries that we must chiefly judge of our growth in grace. -CECIL. Adversary.-The Way to Meet an this troubled world-" Peace, be still!" Or, if not, He will impart to us strength and encouragement to ride the storm in safety.-Canon GIRDLE STONE. Adversity.-The Gain of The good man suffers but to gain, Adversity.-Happy in A wise and virtuous man when in adversity, may, like a dark lanthorn in the night, seem dull and dark to those who are about him; but within, he is full of light and brightness; and, when he chooses to open the door, he can show it.— FELTHAM. Adversity.-No Complaint to be Made of Let not man complain when suffering adversity; for by the bitterness of the lower he is taught the love of the higher. Let not the traveller going to his native land prefer the stable to his home.— St. AUGUSTINE. Adversity.-None like God in Thou hast a healing balm, a sheltering tower; Nor wound, nor grief, nor storm can overpower: Gifts of a King! gifts frequent and yet freeThere's none like thee, O Lord, there's none like Thee! -JEWSBURY. Adversity.-Pious Meditations in However ill men may treat us, we should never give them a handle to say that we misbehaved Pious meditations much advantage men in adverourselves. Were I to meet my most bitter adversity. Such as these are to consider first, that sary, and know that he was come with the most malicious intentions, I should endeavour to be so on my guard, that he could not lay his finger, with truth, on any part of my conduct.-CECIL. more are beneath us than above us; secondly, many of God's dear saints have been in the same condition; thirdly, we want superfluities rather than necessaries; fourthly, the more we have, the 1 more must we account for; fifthly, earthly blessings, through man's corruption, are more prone to be abused than well used; sixthly, we must leave all earthly wealth at our death, and "riches avail not in the day of wrath;" seventhly, the less we have, the less it will grieve us to leave this world; and lastly, it is the will of God, and therefore both for His glory and our own good, whereof we ought to be well assured.-Dr. FULLER. Adversity.-Prayer in I ask What he would have this evil do for me? And make me in some goodly sense like Him Advice. Counsel on Giving Let no man presume to give advice to others that has not first given good counsel to himself. -SENECA. Advice.-The Gentleness of Advice should be like a gentle fall of snow, and not like a driving storm of hail : it should descend softly, not be uttered hastily. The true Shepherd leads, and does not drive; and all true Christians must imitate His perfect example.-J. Cox. Advice-Given to Friends. I have seen too much of life to have anything to do in the troubled waters of my friends by way of giving advice, unless they will allow me to remain in secret. This especially applies to some Christians of more sincerity than prudence. An opinion given on difficult and controverted cases, in confidence of its being used only as a private principle of action, has been quoted as authority in defence of the conduct founded on it.-CECIL. Advice.-Good Love all, trust a few, Do wrong to none; be able for thine enemy Rather in power than use, and keep thy friend Under thine own life's key; be checked for silence, But never taxed for speech.-SHAKSPEARE. Advocate.-Christ our See the infinite love of God in Christ-of God, that He should appoint an Advocate for us! If we were left to ourselves and our own pleas, our least sins would ruin us: there are daily sins which would sink us to hell, were it not for this daily intercession. And this love is further enhanced in appointing, not an angel, or one of the highest cherubim most dear to Him, but His own Son, the best and noblest person He had in all the world, to this office of advocacy for a company of worms; one that is equal with Himself in glory, and is equal with Himself in the distinct knowledge of all our cases, better acquainted with them than we ourselves; and one equal to us in our nature, experimentally acquainted with all our burdens and grievances. How great also is the love of Christ, who, when He was properly our judge, takes upon Him to be our advocate; when He had a mouth to condemn us, and a wrath to consume us, He binds the arms of His wrath, and employs His tongue to solicit our cause and procure our mercy! He is not only an advocate for Himself and the glory promised Him, but for an unworthy sinner, for those penitents he hath left behind Him in the world. He remembers them as well as Himself. As Satan never appears before God but he hath some to accuse, so Chirst never appears before God but He hath some to defend.-CHARNOCK. Advocate.-Prayer Presented by our A child that is willing to present his father with a posy, goes into the garden, and there gathers some flowers and some weeds together, but coming to his mother, she picks out the weeds, and binds the flowers, and so it is presented to the father. Thus, when we put up our prayers, Christ comes and picks away the weeds-the sin of our prayer, and presents nothing but flowers to His Father, which are a sweet-smelling savour.-T. WATSON. Advocate.-A Sight of the Divine I see, I see Him, my Advocate, with the eyes of faith, crowned with glory and honour, standing for ever in God's presence, at the right hand of Majesty, to make intercession for us. And what breath can harbour misgiving of the love that inspires, or the mercies that flow out of that mediation?-St. ANSELM. Advocates. -Our Divine There are two sorts of advocates: the one pleads before the judges, the other instructs and advises the clients. Jesus is an advocate of the first of these classes. He is our pleading advocate before the Judge; but the Holy Ghost is our chambercouncillor, who advises, instructs, and comforts us-gives us courage to address ourselves to God, boldness to speak to Him so that we may prevail. -DUBOSC. Affection.-The Blessedness of There is, in life, no blessing like affection : Affections-Compared to Angels. Glorious is the blending Of light affections, climbing or descending Like those good angels whom a dream of night To speed their errand with the wings they wore. Affections. --The Design of our Earthly The affections of earth were given us to prepare and train our dull hearts for worthier emotions and desires. Through the filial confidence of infancy, through motherly tenderness and honest attachment, we are led upward to a higher, holier, stronger love. These lower affections are meant to open, not to fill the heart. If rightly governed, they enlarge its capacity for loving Christ; He alone is the portion that justifies the deep craving of a Christian soul for love.—Bp. MACKARNESS. Affections.-The Exaltation of our When the Lord drives us from one creature-rest, we presently perch upon another; but He will not allow us to fix long upon any. At length, like the bird, we are sensible that we can have no safety, no stable peace below; then our hearts take flight, and soar heavenward, and we are taught by His grace to place our treasure and affections out of the reach of changes.-J. NEWTON, Affections.-The Filling of our I have heard that a full wind behind a ship drives her not so fast forward as a side wind that seems almost as much against her as for her; and the reason is that a full wind fills but some of her sails, which keep it from the rest, but a side wind fills them all. Now, our affections are our sails. If the Lord give us a full wind and continued gale of mercies, it would fill but some of our affections -joy, delight, and the like; but when He comes with a side wind-a dispensation that seems almost as much against us as for us—then He takes up all our affections; then we are carried faster to the haven where we would be.-Dr. OWEN. Affections.-The Harmony of the A curious musician never leaves tampering with his instrument till it be in tune; and so the Christian ceases not to compose his affections till they agree among themselves in harmonious peace.— DREXELIUS. Affections.-The Heart and Holy It is out of a broken heart that all truly holy affections do flow. Like as the precious ointment that Mary poured on Christ's head, and that filled the whole house with a sweet odour, was poured out of an alabaster broken box; so all gracious affections that are a sweet odour to Christ, and that fill the soul of a Christian with a heavenly sweetness and fragrancy, are broken-hearted affections. Pres. EDWARDS. Affections.-Moderation in the In the renewed man there is a newness of moderation in his affections. His Heavenly Father puts so many virtues into his soul, to be tutors and guardians to his unruly and childish affections. He sets patience to moderate our sorrow, faith to moderate our fears, and the sear of God in our hearts to moderate our desires and delight in things worldly.—COLVILL. Affections.-Young and Matured When harvest is nigh, the grain is more solid and pithy than ever it was before; green corn is soft and spongy, but ripe corn is substantial and weighty so it is with Christians; the affections of a young Christian, perhaps, are more fervent and sprightly, but those of a grown Christian are more judicious and solid; their "love to Christ abounds more and more in all judgment." The limbs of a child are more active and pliable; but as he grows up to a perfect state, the parts are more consolidated and firmly knit. The fingers of an old musician are not so nimble, but he hath a more judicious ear in music than in his youth.-FLAVEL. Affliction.-The Afterward of In the first anguish of the soul when it refuses to be comforted, the mourner is tempted to despair of the good of affliction, and to say-" Can it ever be otherwise than very grievous?" But presently, like Sabbath chimes fall the words on the ear"Nevertheless afterward." So, in the faith of this "afterward," the stricken heart strives to endure in patience that chastening which for the present is only "grievous;" content to "sow in tears," believing that "after many days," the "peaceable fruits of righteousness" will be yielded-love, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.-W. BROCK. Affliction.-The Bed of This bed is itself hard; but to prevent the Christian tossing and tumbling in it through anguish of present sorrow, the Lord lays the soft pillow of the promise under their head.-GURNALL. Affliction.-The Benefit of nevertheless, He is all the while entertaining thoughts of peace and love toward you, and sends these very sorrows as so many errands to bring you to His blessed feet.-Dening. Affliction.—Companions in Attention to the scriptural account of the Christian character will greatly assist you in distinguishing real Christians from those who, equally forward and corrupt, have at all times assumed their name and mixed in their society, to their grief and scandal. Leaving these unhappy exceptions to their proper Judge, follow the unerring rule which He has put into your hand, and those who walk by it; particularly such as are your companions in affliction. You will see them passing before you with not only the same wounds in their hearts, but almost the same words in their lips. Study their course; mark their progress; observe how they hold His arm, plead at His throne, repose in His bosom, and magnify His truth, who walks with them in a furnace, which, like that of the three children, burns nothing but their bonds. In eternity, when you come to reckon up your mercies, you will point to affliction as one of your greatest blessings. God has a strange way with us. Joseph found his way to the prime-minister's chair by being pushed into a pit. The wheat must be flailed; the quarry must be blasted; the dia--CECIL. mond must be ground; the Christian must be afflicted; and that single event, which you suppose stood alone, was a connecting link between two great chains, one chain reaching through eternity past, the other through eternity future-so small an event fastening two eternities together!-Dr. TALMAGE. Affliction.-Bliss Borrowed from A lump of woe affliction is, Yet thence I borrow lumps of bliss ; -E. ERSKINE. Affliction.-The Christian's Conduct in The angel of affliction has crosed the threshold of your home, and hung over it the dark pall of sorrow. You have, in such a crisis, tried the world's physicians; you have gone from stream to stream, from cistern to cistern, and on all you have been found to inscribe-No hope, because they were broken cisterns that could hold no water. You have also carried your burden to some earthly friend, and pressed them to watch with you in your Gethsemane; but the spirit of slumber has fallen heavily upon them, and you have watched and wrestled alone while they slept. Yet there was no chance in that affliction; the Lord would never have sent it without a "needs be." You may entertain hard thoughts of God, because He has shaded your heart with grief, pencilled your brow with sadness, written the sentence of death upon your brightest hopes, and shivered all your idols ; Affliction.-Consolation from Christ in Above the seas of gold and glass The Christ, transfigur'd, stands to-day; Through that environ'd blessedness The anguish that in nature lies; Affliction.-The Design of As they lay copper in aqua-fortis before they begin to engrave it, so the Lord usually prepares us by the searching, softening discipline of affliction for making a deep lasting impression of Himself upon our hearts.-NOTtidge. Affliction.-The Example of Christ in They tell us that in some trackless lands, when one friend passes through the pathless forests, he breaks a twig ever and anon as he goes, that those who come after may see the traces of his having been there, and may know that they are not out of the road. Oh, when we are journeying through the murky night, and the dark woods of affliction and sorrow, it is something to find here and there a spray broken, or a leafy stem bent down with the tread of His foot and the brush of His hand as He passed; and to remember that the path He trod He has hallowed, and that there are lingering fragrances and hidden strengths in the remembrance, "in all points tempted as we are," bearing grief for us, bearing grief with us, bearing grief like us!-MACLAURIN. Affliction.-God with us in Affliction is a thorn, but still it is from God, by which He pierces through the leaves of pride. Many trees grow better in the shade than in the sunshine. Oh, if God is only with us, the furnace is changed into a fire of joy, a prison into a pleasure-ground, an earthquake into a cheertul dance! Even the rod of His anger, like Aaron's rod, blossoms and bears almonds, like the staff of Jonathan, with honey on its point.-Dr. KRUM MACHER. Affliction.-Instruction Given by O affliction! when sent to instruct, thou becomest a deep and faithful casuist! Of many past transactions and present habits I said-"It is nothing;" or, "It is settled." Thou bringest the book again before me. What errors in the account! What blindness in the adjustment! Poor bankrupt! I said I was "rich and increased in goods;” and behold I am "miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Who is the man that, in health and spirits, abounds in his own sense and in self-satisfaction? He may perhaps live to learn that his God can make an affliction present such views in one day as a whole life of contemplation and study would never have afforded.-CECIL. Affliction. -Melancholy under Prurient desires would taint his easy heart. Affliction.-Offering Presented in When bitter affliction fills a cup to the brim, cast in the fine flour of the sanctuary offering, and pardon will come, and mercy will fly down with silver wings and a shining countenance from heaven; and then the ravishing sense of divine love will extinguish all discontents from earthly sorrow. Dr. LEE. Affliction.-The Offices of Affliction is the guide to reflection, the teacher of humility, the parent of repentance, the nurse of faith, the strengthener of patience, and the promoter of charity.—Bp. MANT. Affliction.-Patience Enjoined under Outward mercies are like the tide, which ebbs as well as flows; like the sky, which sometimes is clear and another time clouded; or like a budding flower, which a warm day opens and a cold day shuts again. If God bless us in taking as well as in giving, let us bless Him for taking as well as for giving. That is a choice artist who can play well on a broken instrument. To be impatient with our affliction, and patient with our corruption, is to be angry with the medicine which heals us, and in love with the poison which kills us.— W. SECKER. Affliction.-Prayer in Relation to Affliction, indeed, is the only gift for which we are not commanded to pray; but a wise and instructed Christian will know that he ought to pray for a sanctified use of it when sent: we ought to pray that all this cost may not be in vain; we ought to pray that by all these afflictions we may be brought nearer to God, and more out of the world, and never doubt any word of God, or murmur against any of His dispensations, however much we may for the present suffer.-CECIL. The truth is when we are under any affliction, we are generally troubled with a malicious kind of melancholy; we only dwell and pore upon the sad and dark occurrences of Providence; but never take notice of the more benign and bright ones. Our way in this world is like a walk under a row of trees, checkered with light and shade: and because we cannot all along walk in the sunshine, we therefore perversely fix only upon the darker passages, and so lose all the comfort of our com- | Affliction.—The Privilege of Rejoicing in forts. We are like froward children who, if you take one of their playthings from them, throw away all the rest in spite.-Bp. HOPKINS. Affliction.-Mercy in It was a wise decree, that man should bear Afflicted brother! is it a sad necessity imposed upon us that "we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom?" Oh no! let us not be startled at affliction, nor provoke God to listen to our prayers for its premature removal. Be patient, therefore; and while nature pours out her complaints, use no undue method of being rid of your trouble; but be more anxious for the accomplishment of the purposes of affliction than for the removal of it. Is it too much to require you to |