baptized, he and all his straightway. Beloved, who, as parents, imitate the example of the Philippian jailer, bring the little children whom the Lord hath lent you, and make them His in holy baptism. Lead them, from earliest childhood, to the house of God, that they may hear His word. Teach them, yourselves, when you sit in the house, and when you walk by the way, when evening draws its curtain round your hearth, and when the morning wakes your household to new life, its saving truths, its holy precepts, its attractive promises. Send them to him, who is their pastor for the Lord, that he may nourish them as lambs of His pasture, and mature them for His fold in heaven. And constantly present before them, and enforce the precepts by your own example, the sacred duty and the blessed privilege of the self-dedication, which the laying on of hands provides for them, with grace if they will have it, to prepare them for that sacred feast which Jesus spread for them and you, and sealed it to you in His blood. Then shall it be written in heaven of you, as in the Scriptures, of the jailer at Philippi, he rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. Then, at each consecrated hearth of yours, heaven shall begin on earth.

"All blessings of the breast and womb,

Of heaven and earth beneath,

Of converse high and sacred home,

SERMON XII.

GOD'S OPENING OF THE HEART.

ACTS XVI. 14.-Whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

THE subject of these words was Lydia. She was a woman of Thyatira. Her occupation was the sale of purple vestments. Business had doubtless brought her to Philippi. In this way she was brought to Paul; and so to Christ. Such are the orderings of Providence. We know not what a day may bring forth. We know not to what our steps are tending. But we know this; if we walk in the fear of God, He will direct our paths. In the pursuit of a lawful calling, upon a social or charitable errand, no matter how, or why, if we desire God, we shall find Him; and find peace. It was clearly so with Lydia. She was engaged in business. She had a family, to care for. She was away from home. Yet she found time to go to prayers. And being there when Paul came, she found Christ. I wonder more of you, my brethren, do not make the same experiment. You cannot come amiss. For Paul is always here; and Christ, if you will hear them.

It was the Sabbath day: our Saturday. Paul and Silas were staying, for a few days, at Philippi. He had come to Macedonia by express command of God. In a vision in the night, "There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us!" Immediately he started with his friend : assuredly gathering, that the Lord had called him, "for to preach the Gospel unto them." While they waited for the will of God, they went out of the city, on the Sabbath, by the river-side, not to indulge their taste for natural beauty, or to dream the day away in dim poetic reveries, but to a place where prayer was wont to be made. There was but one temple for the Jews. Wherever they were gathered, in sufficient numbers, there were synagogues. In other cases, there were rooms, or places, as at Philippi, by a river-side, or, it might be in a grove, where they were wont to meet for prayer. They were brought up in the religious duty of a daily service. And it was not disregarded even in foreign cities, or with strangers. It would seem, that then as now, the men were wont to delegate the duties of religion, to their wives, their mothers, and their sis ters. And so, the sacred record is, "we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither." "And a certain woman, named Lydia," the evangelist continues, " a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us." The phrase, "which worshipped God," is most expressive. It denotes that Lydia, though by birth a heathen, and so the worshipper of many gods, had found the only and

the true. Consorting with the Jews, she had been drawn to their religion. And so upon the Sabbath, at their place of prayer, she was present. And with such providential mercy: present, when Paul was there, to speak to them of Jesus.

The text then follows: "Whose heart the Lord opened; that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul." A passage, most remarkable, "Whose heart the Lord opened." Had it ended there, the vul gar would have said at once, another miraculous conversion! But, it adds, at once, "that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she be sought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us." I infer from this:

I.

may ing.

THAT THE LORD MUST OPEN THE HEART, BEFORE

PREACHING CAN BE PROFITABLE;

II. THAT HE OPENS THE HEART TO MAKE IT SO;

III. THAT HE OPENS THEIR HEARTS, WHO ARE IN THE
FAITHFUL USE OF ORDINARY MEANS;

IV. THAT THE PROFITABLE PREACHING OF THE GOS

PEL WILL RESULT IN BAPTISM;

V. THAT CHRISTIAN BAPTISM IS FOR HOUSEHOLDS;
VI, THAT TO BE BAPTIZED IS TO UNDERTAKE THE
WHOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF CHRISTIANITY.

I. The Lord must open the heart, that preaching be profitable. Too much is often made of preach

More has been ascribed to it by some, than

ever has been claimed by Romanists, as the effect of Sacraments. But preaching is, after all, man's work. Paul preached. Apollos preached. I preach. As preaching, merely, it is but proclamation of God's truth. An Apostle may do it. Or a Bishop. Or a Priest. Or a Deacon. It matters not, who does it. It is a sinful man, proclaiming, to other sinful men, the word of God. It may be "with wisdom of words," or it may not. "The preaching of the Cross," it must be, if it is God's word. "The preaching of the Cross," it may be; and yet "foolishness," "to them that perish." "The power of God," only to them, whom it shall save. You clearly see, then, that it is not preaching merely, that can save. In them, that "are saved, it is the power of God." "To them that perish," the same preaching will be "foolishness." There must be else, and more; or preaching is in vain. Preaching may be argument. Preaching may be rhetoric. It may be conclusive. It may be persuasive. Were it addressed to a court, upon a point of law, it might convince them. Were it addressed to a jury, on a point of fact, it might unite them. But, it is addressed to a sinful heart. Its purpose is to turn it, against itself. It has the devil and the world, for odds against it. And Apollos found, and Paul, though mightiest in the Scriptures, and in humanity, that to "preach Christ crucified" might be to Jews and Greeks, "a stumbling-block" and "foolishness," unless the Jews and Greeks were " called," and, only then, would be the power of God, and the wisdom of God.