Acting on these great principles, our departed brother served his own generation _in accordance with the revealed will of God in the Bible_. Whatever peculiarities distinguished him as a member of the Society of Friends, he believed them to be in conformity with the holy Scriptures; and I am sure that, so far as the office of a christian servant is concerned, he would acknowledge no will that appeared to him to be contrary to “the will of God” as revealed in the inspired volume. If he followed the light within himself, it was because he believed it to be from the same divine source with the light without, which shines upon the sacred pages. He was a most attentive and devout reader of this holy book, not only in the family, but in the closet, and in the study; and it was not unusual with him to invite the visitors at his house to join him in those morning readings in the Greek Testament, in which, after breakfast, he was accustomed to engage. The frequency and devotion with which he searched the scriptures, to ascertain his Lord’s will, he earnestly recommended to others; and you are all witnesses how often, in his Bible society Speeches, he repeated and enforced the apostolic declaration, “all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.”
He served his own generation, under a deep conviction of _the supreme and rightful authority of God over him_. There are many persons who live and act on the principle that they have a right to do what they will with themselves, and with what they call their own. “Our lips, say they, are our own, who is Lord over us?” “I am not my own,” was the language of our christian brother. “I belong to Christ, my Lord and Master.” And in language literally his own, he declares, “there is nothing more distasteful to the natural man, than the piercing spirituality, the comprehensive grasp, and the binding authority of God’s precepts. The child of darkness prefers his own devices—he is a rebel to the core. But Christianity requires an uncompromising compliance with the whole counsel of God as it relates to our conduct. Our whole life must be regulated by the directions of his perfect law. No rebellious feeling, no corrupt motive or thought must be harboured; no favourite sin spared; no unwelcome duty omitted.” { 19}