Few preachers of religion do believe thoroughly the doctrine of the fall, or else they think that when Adam fell down he broke his little finger, and did not break his neck and ruin his race. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on his throne . . . But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. To be a minister of Christ is in my estimation an infinitely higher honor than the world can bestow. As well might a gnat seek to drink in the ocean, as a finite creature to comprehend the Eternal God.
Thy feelings are fickle things . . .
To ask a sign from God when he pledges his word seems to me to be out of all reason. The most useful members of a church are usually those who would be doing harm if they are not doing good. To every saved man, it is the greatest miracle of all that he is himself a believer. He that will not believe in Christ would murder God if he could. No man should give sleep to his eyes or slumber to his eyelids while he has a doubt about his eternal state.