not the voice of a stranger." He often said, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.' Our dear brother was fully conscious that the love of God was shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him. He knew that it was not natural for him to love God, "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." He was, therefore, satisfied that the love he enjoyed in his soul, was a divine principle implanted by the Holy Ghost. Sweet peace filled his soul, and he sang, "Calm on tumults wheels I sit, 'Midst busy multitudes alone, Sweetly waiting at thy feet, Till all Thy will be done." It was not now a matter of doubt with brother Heap, as to whether he was a child of God or not. He had an inward evidence or consciousness that he was born of God—that the principle or seed of the life of God was in his soul, Because he was a son, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into his heart, crying, Abba, Father." All doubt was removed, and he said, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him unto that day." "I know that my Redeemer liveth;" and on his dying pillow he was able to say, Through God's mercy I have retained the evidence of my acceptance to the present day." 66 That our beloved brother lived in the possession of true religion, was evidenced by a Consistent life. Having joined a Christian church, he felt that it became him so to walk that his life might correspond with his profession. I know no person who doubts the piety of brother Heap. He was sincere, "without plaits and folds; he had no subtle subterfuges; religion lined with sincerity was his every day dress. His constant aim in life was to know more and more of his Saviour, and in all his actions to glorify God. He was an ornament, in our Zion, for his punctuality in attendance at his class; hence, he said, a few days prior to his departure, "I now declare, through the mercy and grace of God, I never once wilfully absented myself from my class meeting." His heart was right, and his delight was with the sons of God. He loved the house of God-the gates of Zion-the tabernacles of the Lord of hosts, because there the name of his God was recorded, and because there God deigned to visit him. Twice every Sabbath (except prevented by sickness) he sat with delight and profit under the ministration of God's Word. He loved the Word of God. He strictly attended to the command, "Search the Scriptures." It was to him a pleasurable exercise, agreeable to his taste, and refreshing to his Spirit. The Word of God was his pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night; hence he said, "Thou shalt guide me by thy counsel." God's Word having his affections, it found a place in his memory. I do not know that I ever conversed with any man who could quote the Word of God so readily, and, at the same time, so correctly; it appeared as though the whole Bible was treasured up in his memory and heart; it was, indeed, "his shield and buckler." He loved Private Devotion.. He considered closet prayer an important branch of Christian duty, enjoined upon him by the Word of God, by the example of God's people in all ages, and especially by Jacob, who sought his God with so much success at Peniel, and also by Daniel, who braved the danger of death rather than give up the privilege of calling upon his God in his own habitation. The closet was his delight, to it he always ran with eagerness when he returned from his business, to converse with his God; he allowed nothing to prevent him; neither would he allow any one to disturb him while privately engaged with God. Frequently in his closet, it would seem that, the state of the world deeply affected him, hence he would be heard to weep, and sometimes in an agony of distress, he would exclaim, "I see teeming millions of human souls-yes, teeming millions of my fellow beings, allied to me by the common sympathies of nature, perishing! perishing! their souls, for lack of knowledge die. O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end."" burden of souls rested upon him. The Brother Heap had learned that the children of God are not governed by selfishness, but that higher and more exalted motives, induced by a Divine principle of heavenly origin, actuate the heaven-born followers of Jesus. This principle kindles in the breast the fire of holy love, which causes its possessor to delight in doing good to the bodies and souls of men. Our late brother felt that he was called by Heaven to live and act for the glory of God, and the good of others; yes, he was conscious that he was not his own, but bought with a price, and that it was both his duty and interest to glorify God in his body and spirit. About twelve months after his conversion to God, at the urgent request of the church, he entered upon the important office of prayerleader. Referring to this, he said, "My heart being then warm with the love of God, I could not gainsay or resist, so I entered upon the work with trembling, but often found my spiritual strength renewed." He, however, had such humbling views of himself, and of the greatness and responsibility of the work of a class leader, that it was with diffidence he entered upon it; but having yielded to the solicitations of his brethren, he gave himself afresh to God; yes, he felt more than ever the need of having" clean hands and a pure heart," that he might walk before his members consistently, teaching them by example as well as precept. In this service of the Lord's house he was extremely kind, tender-hearted, and faithful. He talked to his little charge as one that must give an account, often urging upon them the necessity of holiness of heart and holiness of life. His frequent prayer was that they might, in the last day, "stand, perfect and complete in all the will of God." If he found any of his members absent during the public ministration of the Word; it was his constant practice to go to them, enquiring if sickness had prevented them, thus showing them that he was concerned about their best interest. He also opened a public prayer meeting in his own house, that his poor neighbours, whom he conceived were ignorant of the things of God, might be privileged with an opportunity of assembling together, to learn the things that would make for their peace. Whenever suitable opportunities were presented for talking to poor sinners about their souls and the way to heaven, with tears in his eyes, he would converse with them. With him "no moment lingered unemployed:" he was constantly engaged in his Master's work. He was a faithful man, and feared God above many." 66 In his protracted afflictions he possessed an unshaken confidence in God, which kept him from sinking in deep waters. Believing that his sickness was unto death, he felt anxious to "set his house in order," by adjusting all his worldly and domestic affairs. He therefore appointed an evening for that purpose, and settled his worldly affairs. Immediately after this, he had a very extraordinary manifestation of the Holy Ghost, which those who were present will ever remember; his own account of it was as follows-"The Lord broke in upon my soul and so filled my heart with his love, and my mind with such rays of light, and my tongue with such a flow of language that I never experienced before. Those present caught the flame, and the whole house was full of the power and glory of God. I was constrained to speak, and to continue for a considerable time speaking of the goodness of my God. Through that baptism of the Holy Ghost, I feel my heart still warm, and am fully conscious that I am sanctified wholly throughout, body, soul, and spirit; and now my earnest cry to God is, that while I continue to live, my every power and faculty of body and soul may be fully and constantly employed for Him to whom my all is due." His affections were fully weaned from earth and set upon things above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. His treasure was in Heaven, and his conversation also, from whence "he looked for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change his vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." As death drew nearer, his prospects became more glorious, and the scenery, that presented itself to his vision, more lovely, and he longed to go over the narrow river to his heavenly mansion. In a letter which I have received from one of his members, I find the following statements"I spent many hours, I may say days, with brother Heap during his illness, they were the happiest moments of my life, it was like being in heaven. From the commencement of his affliction to the close of his life, it was one scene of enjoyment. One evening, a little before his death, he heartily sang "The men of grace have found, Glory begun below- Celestial fruit, on earthly ground, From faith and hope may grow. We are marching through Immanuel's land, To fairer worlds on high." Oh what a delightful season we had, the glory of the Lord shone upon us.' When I last saw him, he was so anxious to bear his dying testimony to the efficacy of the blood of Christ, that he said, “ Perhaps I may not see you again, if not, let what I have said to you be sufficient to satisfy you, and every other person, that I am gone to heaven. If there are any whom I have not told of my glorious prospects, I now appoint you my mouth-piece, 'Who is a god like unto our God.'" I never met with any other person who enjoyed so much of the love of God. When the world was receding from his view, he said to his wife, "This corruptible shall soon put on incorruption, and this mortal shall soon put on immortality; So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ."" He then took her by the hand, and, with heaven beaming on his countenance, he looked up, and beholding his smiling Lord and the angelic company, he said with his dying voice, "Come, Come!" His request was instantly granted. Heavenly messengers took charge of his enraptured soul, and carried it "Away to his eternal rest, Away to his Redeemer's breast." He departed this life on the 31st of March, 1841; his funeral was attended by a very large concourse of persons, who were addressed at the grave by the Rev. E. Darke, in a very appropriate and solemn manner. At his own request his death was improved, by myself, in Lever Street Chapel, from Deut. xxxii. 29, to a respectable and attentive congregation. ON DILIGENCE IN BUSINESS. serving the Lord." Rom. xii. 11. I CAN readily suppose that some of my readers, on casting their eye over the motto of this short essay, may be disposed almost involuntarily to exclaim, "How unnecessary to inculcate worldly. mindedness, and attention to worldly things!" "Surely," they will in all probability add, "it is difficult enough to wean people's minds from the world, and make them spiritual:-that the soul ever cleaveth' unto the dust,-there is no necessity of offering a single reason why their attention should be more exclusively occupied with earthly affairs." In all this, there is no difficulty in saying, the writer feels, that there is but too much of reality; for it is indeed true, that there is by far too much of the spirit of the world in the hearts of professors; that worldly business often altogether engrosses attention when spiritual matters, the things of Christ, and his church, should engage the mind and affections. But then, where such a state of things exists, it must be evident, that the principle involved in the quotation from the apostle, and that upon which alone a Christian can acceptably, in the sight of God, conduct his worldly affairs, is not, and cannot be realized; he is then confessedly not " serving the Lord." The concerns of life are not managed by such persons with an eye to God's glory, and in reference to another world; their minds are evidently "of the earth," and they "mind earthly things." But, after all, there still remains the scriptural exhortation, not to be slothful in business; a command as binding and imperative, upon every Christian, as the command to love God supremely: and the very fact of such a rule existing in the connexion in which it is placed, teaches that by giving proper attention to our business, we are serving the Lord," and that God accepts such service, when done unto him, in the same way that he accepts praise and worship, or acts of love and charity. It is, therefore, most important that we should clearly understand our duty, in order to its constant and faithful performance. 66 We are taught, by Divine revelation, and the nature of things, that the design of Providence in our present probational state is, that man, every where, and in every station of life, should employ his mental and corporeal powers for the benefit of himself and others. It is true that many persons are placed in circumstances which raise them above the operation of the original curse, by which the earth was made comparatively sterile, and a necessity created for man to obtain his bread by the sweat of his brow. But even in cases where diligence and industry are unnecessary for such purpose, the claims of family and kindred, and of the world at large, render it impossible that those persons can, with impunity, waste their time and energies; seeing that no man is to live unto himself. The great bulk of mankind are, however, necessitated to be usefully employed, in order to obtain the means of subsistence for themselves and for those committed to their care. It is evident that such engagements are not only right, and proper in themselves, and need not be allowed in any manner to interfere, either mentally or practically, with religious and spiritual duties; but that the Almighty receives, and actually enjoins, such duties, as a part of the obligations we owe to him, and that in discharging them we are really " serving the Lord." That will truly be a happy state of things, when all the members of Christ's church shall so understand the character they are called to sustain, and become so endued with power to exhibit it, as that, whatever they may be engaged in, either secular or spiritual affairs, "whether they eat or drink, or whatever they do," all shall be done to the glory of God. Then will the vision contemplated by the prophet Zechariah be realized, when trade and commerce, now too often considered as opposed to spirituality, shall be elevated, purged, and sanctified, and holiness unto the Lord, be written on the bells of the horses.' دو Innumerable are the reasons which may be assigned, for obedience to the apostle's injunction; why men of business should not be slothful, careless, or negligent, in, their worldly avocations-in their laborious callings--in their buying and selling-their manufactures, their commercial transactions-and why all these should be attended to, in the same spirit, and, with the same zeal and diligence, that any other religious duty is to be performed: it being ever remembered that the object is the same, whether the obligation refer to ourselves, our families, the church, or the world; and that in performing it in a right spirit, we are "serving the Lord." Among a variety of im |