CHURCH.-Orders and Gifts in the

Christ, the incarnate God, who descended first into the Virgin's womb, then into the bowels of the earth, and afterward ascended that He might fill all things, is the true and only source of orders in the Church, or of gifts by the Holy Ghost. And these orders and gifts are both various and essential.-Heard.

CHURCH.-Outside and Inside the

There are multitudes of Christians—true and spiritual members of Christ's body, partakers of His redemption, and heirs of His glory-who are outside the Church; and there are multitudes within that visible communion who, with the utmost stretch of charity, cannot be looked upon as, in any real sense of the word, belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ.-Dean Day.

CHURCH. The Perfection of the

The Church will become perfect, and perfectly one, because the Church is the body of Christ, and Christ is the body of God; but it will not presently come to perfection.-Dr. Pulsford.

CHURCH.-The Perils Arrayed against the

We hear much of the perils which array themselves against the bulwarks of the Church; but the sound of this warning should admonish us not to pace round the towers of our fortress, and to number them with a proud and indolent security. It should prompt us to strengthen and adorn them by our own labours, that all who look upon them may say-"Of a truth, this is a city compact together, and at unity with itself,-a city whose walls are salvation, and her gates praise."-Bas.

CHURCH.-The Persecution of the

If you can follow the Christian Church in her early history, it is by the track of her blood; and if you would see her, it is by the light of those fires in which her martyrs have been burnt.-Archbishop Leighton.

The cold water of persecution is often thrown on the Church's face, to fetch her to herself when she is in a swoon of indolence or pride.-Spurgeon.

CHURCH.-Pillars in a

They are persons not so much of talent, of genius, of learning, of wealth, of family influence, but of deep, sound piety, of judicious, cautious mind, of consistent, stedfast principle. Upon such as these the Church rests for support, and they really constitute her most conspicuous and attractive ornaments.-Dr. Davies.

CHURCH-The Porch of a

Ah! thou art indeed a "beautiful gate of the Temple!" Well and piously did our ancestors in bestowing so much wealth and labour to make thy walls so fair and lovely; and well ever have they done in crowding these noble porches with the sacred emblems of our faith. Rightly have they deemed that the very highest efforts of human art could not be misapplied in adorning the threshold of God's house, so that, ere men entered therein, their minds might be attuned to the solemnity of the place.-Field.

CHURCH.-The Power of the

A thousand grains of powder, or a thousand barrels, if you please, scattered a grain in a place and fired at intervals, would burn it is true, but would produce no concussion. Placed together, however, in effective position, they would lift up a mountain and cast it into the sea. Even so the whole Church, filled with faith and fired by the Holy One who gave the tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost, will remove every mountain, fill up every valley, cast up the way of the Lord, and usher in the jubilee of redemption.—Boardman.

CHURCH.-The Prayers of the

The prayers are full of hope and consolation. They, at least, are safe beyond human caprice, conceit, or incapacity. Upon them, too, the man who is distressed at the thought of how little of the needful food he had been able to provide for his people, may fall back for comfort in the thought that there at least was what ought to have done them good-what it was well worth their while to go to Church for.-Dr. Macdonald.

CHURCH.-Preparation for

Not only should there be prayer beforehand for God's blessing there, but a studious effort to concentrate on its services all our faculties. In the spirit of that significant Oriental usage which drops its sandals at the palace-door, the devout worshipper will put off his travel-tarnished shoes,-will try to divest himself of secular anxieties and worldly projects,-when the place where he stands is converted into holy ground by the words "Let us worship God."-Dr. J. Hamilton.

CHURCH.-The Preservation of the

The only thing which preserveth the visible Church in being is the faith that in its ordinances all the blessings of the invisible Church are held, as the water in a cistern, and through them conveyed to the lips of the elect of God.E. Irving.

CHURCH.-The Promises Belong to the

The Church being "the fulness," or creaturely development of Christ's own nature, all the "exceeding great and precious promises" belong to the Church, as a matter of course. They are already fulfilled in Christ, and must be fulfilled in His body. His joy, His glory, His throne and dominion, are the joy, the glory, the throne and dominion of His Church.-Dr. Pulsford.

CHURCH.-The Property of the

The great mass of Church property is itself the product of charity, the permanent result of the love of souls and the love of God. Cathedrals, hospitals, educational institutions, parochial endowments, are but visible memorials of ancient liberality.-W. A. Butler.

CHURCH.-Providence for the

As there is a general Providence for the government of the world, there is a special Providence for the destinies of the Church. She is the object of the eternal affection of Him who saved her, and He guards her "as the apple of His eye," defends her from her enemies without and her enemies within, and protects her even while He seems to abandon her to the fury of her adversaries. Like a

physician, as enlightened as kind, He deliberately applies to her painful remedies, and it is then the Church, reviving, manifests most brightly His strength and life. The very sighs she utters on earth are echoed by songs of triumph in heaven. While dynasties and empires melt and glide away, alone amid the foaming billows, the rock of the Church stands secure. The convulsions which utterly subvert the foundations of civil society, respect that everlasting religion which dreads neither the instability of opinions nor the course of ages.-Professor Vinet.

CHURCH.-The Purification of the

As a lovely bride was purified and prepared for her marriage with a monarch by washing and by anointing, so the Church-the bride of Christ-is to be prepared for union with Him. Outwardly there is to be the application of waterthe symbol of purity; and within there is to be purity of heart. St. Paul says of the Corinthians-"I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.-A. Barnes.

CHURCH.-Reasons for Blessing the

Because the Episcopal Church is a reformed Church, and not revolutionary; because her Book of Prayer is rich and venerable above all in the English tongue; because her ritual promotes decency, dignity, prosperity, and permanence; because her historic union through the Apostles with Christ comforts and satisfies so many souls; because she adopts her infant children, and provides for them a Christian education, and because with large hospitality she proffers her Sacrament to all true believers of every name; therefore from her own Psalter let us take the words wherewith to bless her:-"They shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and plenteousness within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes I wish thee prosperity. Yea, because of the House of the Lord our God I will seek to do thee good."-T. K. Beecher.

CHURCH.-Restoration to the

We must restore the penitent to the fellowship of the Church. As we must not teach an offender to make light of discipline by too much facility, so neither must we discourage him by too much severity. We must also charge the members of the Church that they imitate Christ in forgiving and retaining the penitent person; and that they never reproach him with his sins, nor cast them in his teeth. Finally, we must give God thanks for his recovery, and pray fervently for his confirmation and future preservation.-Baxter.

CHURCH.-Retiring from the

Ministers have often occasion to regret the change which takes place among their hearers when they are dismissed from the house of prayer. Many who appear deeply impressed with the word of God and the solemnites of His worship become, as soon as these are ended, frivolous and careless; their conversation is unprofitable, their manner light, and their general deportment so inconsistent as to excite an apprehension in the mind of their pastor, that, so far as they are concerned, he has "laboured in vain, and spent his strength for nought." If it be required to observe decency and order while we are in the sanctuary, engaged in its important work, surely it is needful that somewhat like these should be discernible in the manner of our retiring from that holy place and employment; this should not resemble that of a gay, tumultuous throng, who have just quitted

scenes of fashionable dissipation or public entertainment. Whoever desires to obtain permanent advantage by the public celebration of religious ordinances, must retire from them with a serious mind to the performance of private duties; and, above all things, endeavour to preserve a lasting remembrance of that which has been spoken unto him by the Word of the Lord.-Draper.

CHURCH.-A Re-United

The pulse quickens, and the eyes fill with tears, at the bare thought of this vision of peace,-at this distant but blessed prospect of a re-united Church. What dark doubts would it not dispel! What deep consolations would it not shed forth on millions of souls! What fascination would not the spectacle of concordant prayer and harmonious action among the servants of Christ exert over the hearts of sinners! With what majestic energy would the re-invigorated Church-" terrible as an army with banners"-address herself forthwith to the heartier promotion of man's best interests, to the richer development of the Christian life,-to more energetic labours for the conversion of the world!-Canon Liddon.

CHURCH.-Reverence in

When once thy foot enters the Church, be bare:
God is more there than thou; for thou art there
Only by His permission. Then beware,

And make thyself all reverence and fear:

Kneeling ne'er spoiled silk stockings. Quit thy state:
All equal are within the Church's gate.-G. Herbert.

CHURCH.-The Roof of a

Give all thou canst; High Heaven rejects the lore
Of nicely calculated less or more:

So deemed the man who fashioned for the sense
These lofty pillars,-spread that branching roof,
Self-poised, and scoped into ten thousand cells,
Where light and shade repose, where music dwells
Ling'ring and wand'ring on, as loth to die,

Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof
That they were born for immortality.-W. Wordsworth.

CHURCH.-The Ruins of a

Now deserted, now desecrated, defiled, what a change is there! Save in the ivy, that, like pity, clings to the crumbling wall, sustaining and veiling its decay, and in some sweet wild flower rooted in window-sill or gaping rent, beauty and life are gone. Yet there, once on a time, many a beautiful babe was baptized to God; there holy words were spoken, holy vows were taken, and holy communions held. There are eyes in glory that turn with interest to that lonely spot; God and man often met within these roofless walls; "this and that man was born there." But now the only sounds are the sighing of the wind, or the roar of the storm-the hoot of the owl, or the hiss of the serpent; nor life is found there now, but in the brood of the night-bird, which has its nest among the ruins above, or in the worms that fatten upon the dead in their cold graves below. "The glory is departed."-Dr. Guthrie.

CHURCH.-The Safety of the

The very existence of the Church supposes a ceaseless interposition of the Almighty arm. It is a standing miracle that there should be a nominal Christianity and a large and powerful Christian Church. Yet the current of the world, the tide of human affairs, has always been opposed to her. Persecutions, wave after wave, have rolled over her. Civil power, philosophy, history, science, poetry, fashion, custom, wit, have all in their turn been made engines to assail the impregnable fortress of Christianity. Intrigue has spared no wicked device to undermine her foundations; cruelty and unrelenting hate have poured out the vials of their wrath; heresy, infidelity, and misguided zeal, have, in their turn, done what they could to prostrate the fair fabric of religion, or so to undermine confidence in her, to arrest or neutralize her benevolent influences, as to make her appear to the world of little worth. And what has been the result? The Church has outrode every storm. She has passed unscathed by the lightnings of human violence. Like the oak that strikes its roots deeper, and clings to its rocky soil the more tenaciously, as the storm beats and the tempest rages, the Church has been strengthened amid the rigours of persecution, and nourished by the blood of her martyrs.-Read.

CHURCH-Satan at

Satan is very diligent at duties; he is every Lord's Day the first at Church. The children of God never gather together but Satan is among them. His great design is to render the engine of the Word fruitless, whereby the strongholds of his kingdom have been battered and broken down; therefore, as a gaoler will sometimes let his prisoners have their hands and feet at liberty, so long as the doors of the prison are barred and bolted, that they cannot run away, so he will let thee have thy hands at liberty for some acts of charity, and thy feet at liberty to walk in some paths of civility, so long as he can but have the doors of thy ears and heart locked so fast that thou canst not get from him.-Swinnock.

CHURCH.-Satan's Servants in the

As Christ had His saints in Nero's court, so Satan has his servants in the outward court of His visible Church. His language is-Let them give me their hearts, let God take all the rest; let them be of the Church, but not in the Church,―partakers of Church privileges, but no true proprietors of the graces and benefits thereby accruing.-J. Spencer.

CHURCH-Schisms in the

Why doth my mother blush? Is she the rose,

And shows it so? Indeed Christ's precious blood
Gave you a colour once, which when your foes
Thought to let out, the bleeding did you good,
And made you look much fresher than before;
But when debates and fretting jealousies

Did worm and work within you more and more,
Your colour faded, and calamities

Turned your ruddy into pale and bleak;

Your health and beauty both began to break.-G. Herbert.

CHURCH.-The Scripture before the

The Scripture is the sun; the Church is the clock. The sun we know to be sure, and regularly constant in his motions; the clock, as it may fall out, may go