standing? Must I depend upon my good works, or upon the greatness and support of my friends? Alas! these will all fail us; for of what value can all these things be to Him who inhabiteth Eternity? "Sirs! What must I do to be saved?" These holy preachers of the only true faith shall give the answer. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." A true justifying faith in Christ is the only mean of man's salvation. This foundation must be laid deep and strong; it must rest on solid and substantial motives. We must believe and be saved; we must not possess a barren unproductive faith, but such a lively sense of God's mercies through Christ, as will enable us to give such an evidence of our belief, as the fine fruit does of the tree from whence it springs. This, and this only, will operate to our everlasting salvation. But it may be inquired, How shall we know that we possess this saving faith? It will manifest itself by the change which it makes in the heart. "The tree is known by its fruits." How smooth does it render the most rugged temper, how soft the most obdurate! How does it instill the sweetest principles of kindness, and make the man at ease with himself, and friendly to all around him! What tender longings after immortality does it excite within the soul, and "a desire to be with Christ, which is far better." How does it abstract the mind from what gives to the unregenerate pain, and fix it on the serene sunshine of an heavenly mansion!

The conduct of the jailor is an instance of this

truth. He, who but a little before was cruel and hard-hearted, now melts with tenderness and compassion. He, who treated his prisoners with unusual severity, now soothes them with every expression of benevolence; takes them from their dungeon, washes their wounds, presents them with seasonable refreshment, listens to them with attention while they open to him the pure doctrines of Christianity, and, finally, accepts, with his whole household, the first distinguishing mark of the Christian Covenant he, and all his, were baptized straightway.

When the jailor had accomplished this important change of principles, he would gladly have obeyed the order of the Magistrates, who appear to have been now convinced that they had inflicted an undeserved punishment, and dismissed his prisoners. But St. Paul resisted the order, pleading his privilege from such a punishment as he had suffered, as a citizen of Rome, and attesting his innocence. At length, however, they complied, and returned to the hospitable board of Lydia, where they continued till their departure from the city, exhorting and comforting the converts they had made in that place.

The circumstances which have been detailed in this Lecture reflect particular lustre on the character of St. Paul. His prudence, his patience, and humility, are particularly displayed. When he declared himself a Roman citizen, it was not to preserve himself from suffering; and when he refused to leave the prison, it was not to gratify his

pride. The Magistrates had illegally exercised their function, and to administer reproof was a part of the Apostle's duty. His answer to them was manly and dignified, becoming the character which he now held in trust, and compatible with the purest sentiments of Christian forbearance.

When we are called upon to fulfil the duties of our station, let us remember that we have a character to sustain, a character that we should neither stain by wickedness, nor sully by infirmity; a character which will support us in the hour of death, and will be our best recommendation in the day of judgment, the character of a Christian.

LECTURE XVII.

ACTS XVII.

St. Paul's second Apostolic Journey continued.-Amphipolis.— Apollonia. Thessalonica.-Berea.-Athens. A. D. 53, 54.

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It is a strong, increasing, and invincible argument in favour of the Christian doctrines, that they are calculated for every clime, applicable to every age, and adapted to every description of men. this reflection, we possess both an external, and an internal, evidence of the truth of the Gospel; external, as there is no circumstance of time or place which opposes a general diffusion of its practical advantages; internal, as there is no conformation of the human heart which does not, or may not, closely embrace its salutary and sacred principles. Apply this argument to the institutions of false religions, and the result will not be the same. tificial means of support will betray the origin from whence they flow. The luxurious follower of Mahomet is captivated by promises congenial with an Arabian sky. The soft and effeminate Hindoo would find his lustrations, and even his diet, impracticable in the colder regions of the North.

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Even Idolatry itself, which once had spread its baneful influence far and wide, and even now occupies a considerable portion of the globe, adapts its rites of worship, and even the characters of its idols, to the climate in which it is found, or the degree of knowledge which it happens to possess. It propitiates an alluring or a feeble deity on the island of Cyprus, or in the warm influence of an Egyptian sun; it averts, amidst the storms of the polar regions, the stern and unrelenting vengeance of a Saxon divinity.

But Christianity, like the manna in the Wilderness, conforms itself to every palate, and finds an asylum in every country. The travels of the first preachers of the Gospel, carry with them a strong conviction of this truth. The primitive Apostles do not confine their labours to villages, or to cities, to cultivated, or uncultivated, nations; but they pass on, like the great luminary of the heavens, and indiscriminately diffuse the blessings they convey. They equally proclaim their high commission to the barbarous native of Melita, the polished inhabitant of Thessalonica, Ephesus, or Corinth, and to the profound, and much celebrated, philosopher at Athens.

This variation of country, and uniformity of design, render St. Luke's narrative more interesting and instructive; and produce at every interval arguments adapted to every capacity.

After St. Paul and his companions had left Philippi, they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, two cities of Macedonia, to Thessalo