doubtless she was a seller of purple dye. From this we are taught that God is no respecter of persons. The rich man's soul and the poor man's soul are equally precious in his sight: "The rich and the poor meet together, the Lord is the maker of them all." We are further taught that the Lord is ready to bestow his choicest blessing upon such as follow honestly their lawful calling. The Saviour, in his own life, gave to labour an especial honour, by working (according to tradition), at his trade as a carpenter, until he was thirty years of age. Say not then that you are poor, and must earn your sustenance by the sweat of your brow, and therefore the gospel is not suited to your case. Remember that the Saviour has said that "the poor have the gospel preached to them." The same Saviour especially blessed Lydia, when on this memorable occasion she attended to Paul's preaching, by opening her understanding, and changing her heart, to see and receive the salvation wrought out for her by Christ Jesus. Read the text carefully, every sentence is significant. "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 that were spoken of Paul." It might otherwise be expressed. There was a certain woman named Lydia, who, some time ago, lived at Thyatira, a city in Asia Minor, where she learned to worship the God of Israel; from this place she removed to Philippi in Macedonia,-followed her honest calling as a seller of purple dye, but though diligent in business, she was also fervent in spirit, she served the Lord, and observed his ordinances. Paul and his fellow labourers were divinely directed thither, to proclaim the truth as it is in Jesus, and to make known his will. They joined themselves to the congregation, she heard Paul proclaim the gospel of the grace of God, and the Lord himself opened her heart to receive the truth, and spake peace to her soul.

Brethren, whatever you may leave undone in your

worldly callings, attend to the interests of your neverdying souls; they are of more value than the whole world; see that they be fed with heavenly manna,-the food which God himself has provided. In order to effect this you must keep holy the Sabbath day. Let no vain trifling excuse hinder you from worshipping your God. Before you come to God's house, establish this also as a rule not easily to be broken, namely, to pray for yourselves, your families, and your minister. By this means your hearts will become solemnized, the fallow ground will be broken up,-and you will be more likely to receive the good seed of eternal life, so as to bring forth the fruit of righteousness and true holiness.

The next that we read of Lydia is that "she was baptized and her household." How exact was our Saviour in fulfilling all the requirements of the ceremonial law! We find also the apostles, in this particular, walking in his steps, sometimes baptizing whole households, as in the cases of Lydia and the Philippian jailor, at other times individuals only, as the Ethiopian eunuch. May we not suppose that persons of various ages would be found in these two families: infants, children, and others more advanced in years? Are we not here expressly taught, using the words of the article, that "the baptism of young children is in any wise to be retained, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ."

Finally, we do indeed see, from the closing sentence in the text, the fruits of divine grace in the heart of Lydia. "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." And here let us remark how love to Christ produces love to his people. I know of no better criterion to ascertain the state of religion in a neighbourhood, a family, or an individual, than this:-Do they love Christ's ministers, his servants, and his work, for their Lord and Master's sake? For this we have scriptural authority: 1 John iii. 14.-"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." Love to Christ's servants will

ever be proportioned to the love a man has for Christ himself. Notice particularly this feature in Lydia's behaviour; first it is recorded of her, "she besought us, saying, come into my house and abide there;" next we read," she constrained us." She had received the love of God into her heart, and it must needs manifest itself in her conduct: she would take no denial, "she constrained us." Her heart, her house, her household, are all open to the Lord; she dedicates herself and them to him in baptism, and we have no reason to doubt but that she would continue in his faith, fear, and love, to the end of her days. For we are confident that he who had begun the good work in her would perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Happy Lydia! Thy works of faith, and labours of love, have been long, long ago, closed for ever on earth, but thy record is on high. It is now about eighteen hundred years since the Lord opened thy heart to the things which concerned thy soul's everlasting welfare, and where art thou now? Even in the possession and enjoyment of those good things which God hath prepared for them that love him, and which " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man to conceive." Thou art come to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly, and church of the first born; thou art come to God, the judge of all, and joined the spirits of just men made perfect. May the same Lord who opened thy heart, open ours also, that we may attend to the things that belong to our everlasting peace, before they be for ever hid from our eyes; that when the days of our probation here are ended, we may join those who are gone before,

"And chant eternal anthems o'er,

Till days, and years, revolve no more."

SERMON XII.

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ON ASSURANCE.

2 TIMOTHY I. 12.

"I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him, against that day."

THESE words speak the almost dying experience of that eminent "vessel," chosen of God, to bear his name before the Gentiles; and to suffer great things for his name's sake. In the verses preceding the text, St. Paul reminds Timothy, whom he had ordained to be a minister of the Gospel, of his own call to be an Apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles; and although he was now a prisoner, and suffering affliction for the truth's sake, yet he calls on him, whom he denominates his "dearly beloved son" in the faith, neither to be ashamed of him, nor of the gospel that he taught. He then adds, "nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed," or as it is in the margin, "trusted," "and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him, against that day." Or, in other words: I feel assured that the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom I have trusted, will take care of my precious and immortal soul, during its separation from the body, until that day when he shall descend from heaven with a shout that shall awake the dead, and with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God. If you turn to the eighth verse of the fourth chapter of this epistle, you will learn St. Paul's conclusion of the whole matter. "Henceforth," he says, "there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous

judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

Here then you have brought before you, in its allimportant results, the doctrine of Assurance. Brethren, may you and I possess this assurance; it is worth living, suffering, and even dying for. It will ever render its possessors superior to the world, by raising them far above its cares and vexatious pursuits; and it will give peace to the soul of man, in death's solemn hour, by enabling him to resign it into the hand of God who gave it, and who alone is able to receive and place it in a condition of rest and blessedness. This is indeed a doctrine in which every one is deeply concerned. Every person therefore ought very carefully to examine into his faith, hope, and manner of life, so that he be not deceived in this all-important matter, by saying to his soul" peace, peace, when there is no peace.'

Let us take the infallible word of truth as our guide, in all that concerns our souls; let us, on the present occasion, compare scripture with scripture, and thus educe those salutary and obvious lessons which St. Paul meant to impart unto Timothy when he wrote-"I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him, against that day." These words place before us the following important truths,

I. That man needs salvation.

II. That this salvation is attainable.

III. That an assurance of this salvation is attainable also.

First, I trust that I need not multiply words to prove to any one who reads or believes his bible, that we need salvation; or that by nature we are all sinners, and come short of the glory of God; or that dying in this state, we must all perish everlastingly. If it were not so, why did the Son of God descend from the throne of his glory, which he had with the Father before the world was? Why did he become a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief? Why did he offer his back to