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been all our calculations of the effects which the discoveries and information of our age would produce! But this state of things cannot last! If it does, it will afford a phenomenon in history, far more extraordinary than any that has occurred in this age of wonders! But, I repeat it, this state of things cannot last. The nature of the events which have occurred; the character of the actors in these events; the turbulent spirit and military taste which these events have produced; the lateness of the time; but, above all, the utter disregard manifested towards the Lord and the works of his hand, by the governors of the nations--all forbid such an issue, and forbode still greater calamities to be in store for Europe. No such moral and religious improvement of the providence of God has been made as to warrant even the shadow of hope that the peace of Europe will be permanent. I speak not as a politician, though a sound politician must perceive more than ordinary grounds of apprehension of a new convulsion; but as a Christian, taking the word of prophecy and the dealings of God's providence in all ages, for my guides. Greater judgments

and still heavier sorrows are in store for Europe. And in them we must expect to be more or less involved. Prepare then for the worst, by returning unto the Lord with your whole heart. Then you will be safe in every situation, having God for your helper, your refuge, your portion. AMEN,

THE CONVERSION OF LYDIA.

ACTS XVI. 13, 14, 15.

And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made. And we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us.

"FAITH Cometh by hearing," saith the apostle, "and hearing by the word of "God"." As salvation is connected with

a Rom. x. 17.

faith, so God orders the events of his providence, that the heirs of eternal life shall hear the word, and receive it in the love of it. Being infinite in his wisdom and power, he never can be disappointed in the exercise of his grace. Having the hearts of all men in his hands, he uses them as his instruments to promote his own purposes, which he purposed in Christ Jesus before the world began. Wherever the lot of his chosen is cast, he will either bring them to the place where his word is known, or he will send his word by suitable messengers, to the place where they reside.

The Acts of the Apostles furnish us with many instances of the truth of these remarks. Among these, that which is contained in the chapter from whence the subject of our discourse is taken, is not the least remarkable. Paul and Timothy having gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in the province of Asia. Being thus diverted from thence they came to Mysia, another adjoining province, intending to go from thence into Bythynia; but the Spirit suffered them not.

Leaving these places, they went under the direction of the Holy Spirit to Troas, which was near the place where the celebrated city of Troy had stood, on the Ægean Sea. Here a vision appeared to Paul in the night. "There stood a man of Macedonia and "prayed him, saying, come over into Ma66 cedonia and help us." From this he and his companion, together with Luke, who seems to have joined them here, concluded with certainty that the Lord called them to preach to the Macedonians. They accordingly crossed the sea from Troas in Asia, and landed at Neapolis on the European side, from whence they proceeded to Philippi. This was, says the sacred writer, the chief city of that part of Macedonia. It was originally a city in Thrace, but Philip the Father of Alexander the Great, having conquered Thrace, and added a part of it to Macedonia, changed its name to Philippi, after himself. It was situated upon the river Hebrus, which appears to have been navigable. A colony of Romans was plant

b v. 9.

c See Bishop Pierce, on the correctness of Luke's account. d Well's Sacred Geography. e Acts xx. 6.

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