Bible, enemies and friends of the 131 Blackwood, S. A. Conscious and unconscious tes- Courage faint heart 193, 265, 282, 308, Creation, wonders of 468 198 Cup of wrath, the Blessings of foreign missions 263 temper, by E. A. W. 18, 78, 100, 275 Evil 107 545 Exhortation to Christ's church 111 371 387, 405 90 Father, I feel so happy 543 Fellowship with Christ 257 Female training. 419 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF VARIOUS WINTER. AN OUTLINE OF A DISCOURSE BY THE REV. JOHN HALL, D.D., PHILADELPHIA. 'He giveth snow like wool; He scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice liko morsels: who can stand before his cold?'-Ps. CXLVII. 16, 17. OD hath spread before us two volumes | —the book of nature and the book of revelation; both in harmony with and illustrative of each other. We should study the book of nature as unfolded in the mountains and valleys, the sky and the ocean, and admire the majesty and glory of the Creator as displayed in the work of his hands. But especially should we peruse the volume of revelation, and learn his moral character, our relation to Him, and the way of pardon and salvation. In the nineteenth Psalm both these volumes are referred to: The heavens declare the glory of God. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.' This effect is not ascribed to nature. Conversion, and the other effects here enumerated, flow from the word of truth. Nature, however, has her lessons; and the present season of cold and dreariness furnishes interesting instruction. Let us dwell upon four thoughts suggested by winter. 1. The winter affords evidence of the divine attributes. We see in it the infinity of God. Man is finite; and such is the limited nature of his faculties, that he can produce but a single result at a time; but the effects of the divine workmanship are multiform, and scattered over all creation. The crisped grass, the sparkling frost, the ice-bound river, the feathery snowflake, the shortened day and prolonged night, and other effects of winter, declare his wonder working skill. And as the relative position of the sun and earth produces one result on our planet, it produces other or similar effects on other planets; and the productions of Jehovah at one time fill the vast system of worlds, of which the sun is the centre. The wisdom of God is manifest in the beautiful arrangement of the seasons, rendering the changes of temperature conducive to animal health and the growth of vegetation; nurturing the herbage of the field with a covering of snow, that it may come forth in spring with fresh beauty and fruitfulness. His goodness, too, is visible; for though winter may be desolate and dreary to us, yet our winter brings genial summer to those who live on the opposite side of the globe, and thus we are brought into communion with them, and made to share in common comforts and trials. The power of God: Who can stand before his cold?' I think of the poor shivering in the piercing wind, and of the mariners toiling in the storm with icy ropes-as toil they must, or perish,—and of the vast glaciers and snow-capped mountains in regions of perpetual winter, and stand in awe of the power of the Almighty. And his faithfulness. Through all the centuries since God said to Noah, 'Seed-time and harvest, summer and winter, shall not cease,' his covenant has been faithfully kept; and this should encourage our confidence in the covenant of grace, and all the promises which the God of grace has given for our comfort. |