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On being asked how he found his mind during his illness, he replied, "I find my mind calm and easy, and quite reconciled to the will of God, whether for life or death. I have a good hope through grace, that, die when I may, all will be well."* Next morning, about seven o'clock, he was found dead in his bed; and, to all appearance, he had expired in his sleep.

On Friday, February 20th, his remains were deposited in the vestry, agreeably to his request. Mr. Upton spoke over the grave; and Dr. Rippon preached his funeral sermon the next Lord's Day, to a crowded and sorrowful audience. He died in the 59th year of his age,

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Mr. Rance had been twice married. By his first wife he had three daughters; all of whom survive him. In September 1798, he married Miss Anne Cole, of Blackfriars Road. In little more than two years afterwards, he was a second time a widower; and continued so till his death. He had several severe trials in his family, which he bore with Christian patience and resignation, By his death, his children are deprived of a tender parent, —and his church of an affectionate and faithful pastor.

As a preacher, he chiefly dwelt on experimental and practical truths: his aim was to direct his discourses to the hearts of his hearers, to humble sinners, and to exalt his Divine Master. While he held fast the important doctrines of the gospel, he manifested liberality and candour toward such as differed from him in matters of inferior moment. Humility was a prominent feature in his character. Speaking of his preaching in his Diary, he says, "I acknowledge, it is wonderful that any body comes to hear me. O Lord, make me more humble and thankful, for I am the weakest of all thy servants! but still I know God can do great works by feeble instruments." At another time he said, "Mr. was so excellent in the afternoon, that I appeared to myself very mean and contemptible." On another occasion, a few months before his death, he observes, "I think, on the whole, this was the best day I ever had in my life: my soul was humbled before the Lord under a sense of his kindness to so poor and unworthy a sinner. O what a mercy it is that, in the latter part of my days, I should be thus honoured of God as an instrument of any good; and I desire from my soul to ascribe to him all the glory.' The sudden manner in which he was removed,

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affords an additional motive to those who survive to attend to the admonition of our Lord "Be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh."

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In this Diary of February 1st, he says, 'I was very poorly this morn ing with my breath; and believe the disorder I now have, will be the cause of my death; yet, through rich mercy, I can look forward to that time without dismay, " for I know whom I have believed," Lord make and keep me more alive to thee!'

PERSEVERING PRAYER HONOURED;
OR, GREAT EVENTS FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS.

ILLUSTRATED IN THE CASE OF ELIJAH.

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AFTER the contest with Baal's priests, in which Truth prevailed over Error, and the honour of Jehovah was vindicated by a sign from Heaven, Idolatry was overturned, and its advocates were either silenced or slain; but, to shew that God delighteth in mercy, and that when judgment is inflicted, it is from necessity, not from pleasure; no sooner does Israel renounce idolatry, than a pardoning God promises to withdraw that famine, under which they have long been suffering, through the want of rain. No sooner had God promised to shower salvation upon suffering Israel, than we are told that "Ahab went up to eat and to drink; and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel: and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees; and said to his servant, Go up now and look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. - And he said, Go again seven times: -and it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand." 1 Kings xviii. 42-44. While the conduct of this prophet holds out an example worthy of our imitation, his success is calculated to encourage us to persevere in the same duty.

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Let us notice his conduct. Abab and Elijah had separated; but Ahab went, not to humble himself before that God whom he had insulted; not to reproach Jezebel for her bad counsel; — not to devise means whereby he might honour God, and bless his country; but he went to eat and to drink; to console his beloved Jezebel on the loss of her priests and her God; and to regale himself in the prospect of approaching plenty. On the contrary, Elijah seeks retirement. After the painful, but honourable, service of the day, he climbs the mount of Carmel; there to obtain, not food for himself, but God's favour to Israel. There his faith feeds on the promise, while his prayer is filled with ardent supplications to obtain the blessings it held out. In the evening, his God had answered him by fire from Heaven;but now he pleads, that He would bless Israel with abundance of

rain.

What deep humility appeared in his address! "He cast himself down upon the earth." Behold the man who, on the preceding evening, stood before Israel, honoured and obeyed as the prophet of Jehovah, now prostrating himself on the ground, rising gradually on his knees! but, still to shew how greatly God was to be feared, even by a prophet, when he approached him, he bows down his head to the earth. Prayer is indeed the proper exercise of the heart. In it the soul wrestles

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with God for a blessing. In vain do we draw near him with our lips, if the heart be far from him. Though bodily exercise can profit little, yet, even that should bear some correspondence with the disposition of the mind. Those honours which earthly sovereigns coufer on their subjects, are generally received on their knees. Let us, therefore, come and kneel before the Lord our Maker: and were the pulpits and pews in all our places of worship, suitably accommodated for such a position in our public addresses, it might be as proper. In particular cases of advanced age, or bodily infirmity, a sitting posture may be necessary; but when it is the habitual practice of healthy individuals, or of whole congregations, to sit during the time of prayer, the appearance is not only indecent, but inexcusable. Elijah prostrated himself in the presence of God; and were it the general practice of worshippers to kneel in prayer, to stand while they sing, and to sit while hearing the sermon, it would be productive, not only of greater variety and of sweeter harmony, but of stricter attention. But where the people sit to sing, to pray, and to hear, can we wonder to behold so many nodding heads, or drowsy countenances, when they should be all at

tention?

Great earnestness was also manifest on this occasion. His heart was fixed and fervent. He continued, and probably long, wrestling for that blessing so much needed by Israel. His God, and his servant (whom some suppose to have been that son of the Shunamite, born in answer to a promise, and afterwards restored to life as a miracle of God's power) were the only witnesses of this solemn scene. Often as the servant had looked at his master, he does not appear to have interrupted him in his devotion but once. In compliance with the prophet's order, he went and looked toward the sea; and, upon his return, saying, There is nothing, the prophet bade him go yet seven times; that is, though he was to repeat his visits again and again, he wished not to be interrupted in his devotion, till the discovery was obtained. Not a word, nor so much as a whisper was to be heard! It was the inward devotion of the heart; the wrestling of the mind-earnest, fervent, inwrought prayer. The servant went, and came. Probably, upon every repeated visit to the summit of the mount, as well as upon his return to the place where he had left his master, he might make some stay; yet he always found his master in the saine place, and in the same position. Still he continued in prayer. Could we have read the language of his heart, when there was not a word on his tongue, it would have been to the following effect:-"Lord, as I was yesterday called to be an advocate for thee, I now appear as an intercessor for Israel. Follow the convictions they then felt, with ap effectual impression on their minds. Forgive the iniquity of this people. Do not abhor them, for thy name's sake. Remember them in great mercy; and break not thy covenant with them.

I cannot let thee go till thou grant a blessed rain, to render a barren land fruitful; and to convince them that there is a God and a prophet in Israel."

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Confidence gave vigour to his earnestness in this prayer. was the prayer of faith; founded, not on the mighty power of God, or the general goodness of God, but on his gracious pro mise. Before the least exhalation appeared from the sea, or a cloud to indicate the approach of a shower; - while the heavens were as a heated furnace above, and the earth like fuel, half consumed beneath, Elijah had been commissioned to assure Ahab, that rain was coming in abundance. The prophet, therefore, might be certain that the promise would be fulfilled; but, to let us see that while promises furnish matter for prayer, faith is the hand to be employed to squeeze the blessings of divine goodness out of those promises, Elijah, by prayer and supplication, makes known his request to God. Instead of going, like Ahab, to eat and drink; or retiring to Carmel, there to sit still in his sloth; instead of, with some, saying, "If it is to be, it will be; my prayers will neither frustrate nor forward the performance of the promise," he pleaded with God to bestow that blessing he had promised. He believed that he shouk! have the blessing, before he asked it; and, therefore, he would give God no rest till he had obtained it.

Perseverance in prayer accompanied his confidence. Though God seemed to tarry, the prophet kept waiting for him, and pleading with him. His servant was probably more impatient, while running backwards and forwards so frequently without success. Six times had the young man gone and returned; but he saw nothing. How happy would he be on the seventh to break the silence, saying, "I see a cloud like a man's hand, rise out of the sea!" As if he had said, "O, my father, give over thy pleading! thou hast had power with God, and hast prevailed! Thy prayer is heard. is heard. Yes; I have seen, as it were, the hand of God, as that of a man, rising out of the sea, to subscribe his. Amen to all thy petitions. Only, master, rise, behold, and acknowledge it thyself!" Thus,

"To patient faith the prize is sure.”

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Let this prophet's success in pleading, encourage God's children to persevere in prayer. The servant said, Behold there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea," &c. In this, as in many other instances, we behold great effects arising from very small beginnings. Things, which at first appeared almost insignificant, have enlarged into very extensive blessings. This cloud, which appeared no bigger than what might have been covered by a man's hand, kept gradually ascending, and extending itself, till at last it covered the whole sky. Thus also hath it ben with truth in the church, with grace in the heart, ૨ ૧ 2

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efforts to promote the interests of religion in particular places, and with the diffusion of happiness in, the world.

In taking a view of the rise and spread of divine truth in the church, we behold it rising like a man's hand out of the ocean of human misery, in the first promise of God after man's fall:I will put enmity between the serpent and the woman, and between the seed of this and of that; but in bruising the heel of the one, the head of the other shall be crushed. Probably, at first, this promise would appear to these progenitors of mankind dark, obscure, and insignificant. But it has proved a cloud full of blessings, which have often refreshed and inade glad the city of God. Rising out of its former obscurity, it has extended itself wider and wider, till it has become amplified into all those exceeding great and precious promises, which now appear yea and amen in Christ Jesus. For what is the whole Bible but the first promise expanded, illustrated, and applied? - It was no less than Christ, grace, glory, and immortality in the promise.

The same may be said of grace in the heart. Like this cloud, or like a grain of mustard-seed, to which it is compared in Scripture, hardly perceptible at first, it unites with the soil, swells, germinates, bursts the shell, springs up, forms itself into branches, and extends them till the birds come and lodge under its shadow. While the mind is under concern and conviction, grace remains hid under a cloud of obscurity. In appearance it is all cloud; but there is a blessing behind, which, like a hand, brings help, and works deliverance. Thus, that work of grace, which commences in conviction, advances to a serious concern, increases with hopes, which are often beclouded with fears, gradually becomes like the shining light, or like this extending cloud, issues in all the blessedness of salvation. Increasing with the increase of God, it grows up toward a perfect nan in Christ, till it attain to the mark of the stature of his fulness. Take courage, O ye timid followers of the compassionate Jesus,-He that hath begun his good work in you, will preserve and perform it, till he has perfected that which concerneth you.

Efforts to promote the interest of religion, in particular places, like this little cloud, have afterwards been greatly extended. A Cornelius has prayed in private; or two or three who feared the Lord have CORVersed together, and united in prayer, for the direction and blessing of God upon their liberal designs. The Lord has hearkened, heard, and answered the prayers which his Spirit indited in their hearts. A messenger from divine mercy has been sent amongst them. One, like the Philippian jailor, has heard and trembled; another, like Lydn, found her heart opened to attend to the word preached; a third, like the wandering Onesimus, has been impressed by the very same truth upon which he had formerly turned his back. prayers of a pious few have proved like the dew from Heaven,

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