more important than any of the passing interests of time; that they had, verily, a commission from heaven to teach the way of eternal salvation; and that he and others, who had taken part in their imprisonment, had acted most iniquitously.  For what now could be more evident than that the apostles were the servants of the Most High God?  When everything around them was enveloped in the gloom of midnight, they seemed able to tell what was passing all over the prison.  How strange that, when the jailer was about to kill himself, a voice should issue from a different apartment saying—­Do thyself no harm!  How strange that the very man whose feet, a few hours before, had boon made fast in the stocks, should now be the giver of this friendly counsel!  How remarkable that, when all the doors were opened, no one attempted to escape!  And how extraordinary that, during the very night on which the apostles were imprisoned, the bands of all the inmates were loosed, and that the building was made to rock to its foundations!  Did not the earthquake indicate that He, whom the apostles served, was able to save and to destroy?  Did it not proclaim, trumpet-tongued, that He would surely punish their persecutors?  When the jailer thought on these things, well might he be paralysed with fear, and believing that the apostles alone could tell him how he was Lo obtain relief from the anxiety which oppressed his spirit, it is not strange that “he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said—­Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” [96:1]

The missionaries were prepared with a decisive reply to this earnest inquiry, and it is probable that their answer took the jailer by surprise.  He expected, perhaps, to be called upon to do something, either to propitiate the apostles themselves, or to turn away the wrath of the God of the apostles.  It is obvious, from the spirit which he manifested, that, to obtain peace of conscience, he was ready to go very far in the way of self-sacrifice.  He may have been willing to part with his property, or to imperil his life, or to give “the fruit of his body for the sin of his soul.”  What, then, must have been his astonishment when he found that the divine mercy so far transcended anything he could have possibly anticipated!  With what satisfaction must he have listened to the assurance that an atonement had already been made, and that the sinner is safe as soon as he lays the hand of faith on the head of the great Sacrifice!  What delight must he have experienced when informed that unbelief alone could shut him out from heaven; that the Son of God had died the just for the unjust; and that this almighty Saviour now waited to be gracious to-himself!  How must the words of the apostles have thrilled through his soul, as he heard them repeating the invitation-"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” [97:1]