. All this wretchedness
is brought upon men for the punishment of their sins.

5. _Observe what bearing the events recorded have upon the church of
Christ._ One of the great laws of God's moral government upon earth,
appears to be, that he directs and overrules all things with particular
reference to the kingdom of Christ. Often, events which seem, at first
glance, to be altogether foreign to the interests of this kingdom,
appear, upon a closer examination, to be intimately connected with it.
Take, for example, the conquests of Alexander the Great. As the life of
this extraordinary man stands out alone, unconnected with the subsequent
history of the church, we see nothing but the wild career of mad
ambition. But, in taking a more enlarged view of the subject, we
discover that he was the instrument which God employed for spreading
over a large portion of the world one common language; and so to prepare
the way for the introduction of the gospel. Wherever the arms of
Alexander extended, the Greek language was made known; and this was the
language in which the books of the New Testament were written. And, no
doubt, if we could discover it, every event of history has a bearing,
equally direct, upon the interests of Christ's kingdom.

But, in order to keep all these things distinctly before your mind, you
must maintain, in the midst of your reading, a constant spirit of
prayer.

In reading church history, you will have occasion to observe the same
things, because the history of the church is necessarily connected with
the history of the world. But there are also some things to be noticed,
wherein the history of the church differs from that of the world. The
dealings of God with his own people differ from his dealings with his
enemies. The afflictions which he brings upon the former are the
wholesome corrections of a tender Father, and designed for their good;
those he brings upon the latter are designed either to lead them to
repentance, or they are just judgments, intended for the destruction of
those who have filled up the measure of their iniquities. But be
careful, in reading church history, that you do not lose sight of the
true church of Christ. Most of the histories which have been written,
are filled either with accounts of individuals, or of bodies of wicked
men, who could lay no claim to the character of the church of Christ. A
church consists of a society of people, professing the fundamental
doctrines of the g