Defend the Bible? I'd sooner defend a lion. You don't defend the Bible; you open its cage and let it roar.

I trust there are none here present, who profess to be followers of Christ who do not also practice prayer in their families. We may have no positive commandment for it, but we believe that it is so much in accord with the genius and spirit of the gospel, and that it is so commended by the example of the saints, that the neglect thereof is a strange inconsistency.

My witness is, that those who are honoured of their Lord in public, have usually to endure a secret chastening, or to carry a peculiar cross, lest by any means they exalt themselves, and fall into the snare of the devil.

Christ also takes from us all inclination or power to boast of our national prestige. To me, it is prestige enough to be a Christian--to bear the cross Christ gives me to carry and to follow in the footsteps of the great Crossbearer.

A man is not saved against his will, but he is made willing by the operation of the Holy Ghost. A mighty grace which he does not wish to resist enters into the man, disarms him, makes a new creature of him, and he is saved.

The waiting itself is beneficial to us: it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing when it comes.

If your creed and Scripture do not agree, cut your creed to pieces, but make it agree with this book.