in the conversion of the soul to God. But let it not be thus with you. Let the word of God, and not the word of man, be your guide. Let every thing be received from him with the simplicity of little children. And if there be in his word things which you cannot understand, sit not in judgment upon them with unhallowed confidence ; but spread them before the Lord, saying, " What I know not, teach thou me." You will bear me witness, that " the whole counsel of God has been declared to you ;" nor has any thing ever been kept back from you, because it did not square with this or that system of man's device. Let every part of the inspired volume be treated in the same way by you. Never be afraid to trace every thing to the sovereign counsels of your God : and, on the other hand, never forget that your condemnation is, and will be, the work of your own hands, even as your salvation is of God alone. By your- selves, indeed, must salvation be wrought instrumentally : but, if you ever attain to it, you must say, " He that hath wrought us to the self-same thing, is God ;" for it is altogether the fruit of his counsel, and the operation of his grace.]
Acts xx. 31. Therefore watch, and remember, that, by the space of three years, I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
IT is, for the most part, a blessing to mankind that they cannot look into futurity : for, on the one hand, they would have their present enjoyments almost entirely destroyed by the prospect of future ills, while, on the other hand, a prospect of remote good would prove but a small alleviation of their present troubles. Nevertheless, from a wise foresight of probable and contingent events, the most incalculable benefits arise. St. Paul knew, by immediate revelation from God, that, after his departure, some would be found amongst the leading members of the Ephesian Church, who would labour to introduce divisions and dissen- sions among them : and the probability was, that, unless extraordinary watchfulness were maintained by the elders of that Church, the restless sectaries would succeed in their efforts : he therefore, in the