Russell H. Conwell

“ The old Roman had probably seen so many religions that he had no faith in any. The religious maniacs are those men who have broken down their brains by laborious study over these insoluble problems. Therefore, while no one should discourage reasonable research anywhere, and while it is not sacrilegious or foolish to think on these things, it does seem best to admit that to the most faithful Christian there are unsearchable things of God which he cannot sanely hope to understand in this life. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. ”

“ The love for the Holy Bible revives. The prodigal will come to himself and come back. The spirit of the Christian religion is a necessity to human progress and human happiness. The world needs it. It may come slowly, but, nevertheless, it will come surely. The spirit will awaken. The winter cannot last forever. Prayer is as necessary to the spirit of man as breath is to his body. The soul's sincere desire will ever seek expression. The seeker after God will surely find him when he shall truly seek him with all his heart. ”

“ One writer who evidently has been reared to believe sincerely in "emotional religion," who shouts and groans and wrings his hands at any devotional meeting, but whose probity and strong good sense are the admiration of his friends, states that he knows "that his Redeemer liveth, by the direct assurance of the Spirit." He claims that when a man tells him a lie he feels the presence of evil. He testifies that in his most exalted moments following a season of fervent prayer he knows what it is to realize the fact that he lives and moves and has his being in God. ”

“ From that fact he entertains a faith in a possible return of that event and by faith he puts up a lightning rod on his barn.
The observer notices that sin brings its own punishment in many cases, and he has faith that such will be the universal experience of the future. So he keeps his soul insured by safe and sane investment in righteousness. Every sane man knows that we must at all times walk largely by faith. Faith is a constituent part of the natural human constitution. The degree of faith determines the character of the individual. Faith, like water, seeks its level. ”

“ Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory, our faith remains unmoved. A general view of the field of prayer shows that the great fundamental facts remain undisturbed. God is. God answers prayer. The Bible is the inspired work of the Spirit of God. Jesus is the Son of God. The Christ is the Saviour of a sinful world. "I know that my Redeemer liveth!" Entering upon this investigation with a firm determination to hold an unbiased mind and trying to examine the evidence as an impartial judge there were moments of doubt as to the wisdom of setting one's mind so free. ”

“ One brother prayed continually, "Oh, for one view of the holy city!" and another seemed never to leave out of his daily prayer, "Lord, open my eyes to see the faces of the dear ones hovering about me!" But our eyes are still holden. Our pleading hearts are unsatisfied. We are not permitted to see our future home nor catch more than a glimpse of the angels' wings. When, however, we seek an explanation of this divine arrangement, this separation of this life from the other, the faithful believer in God's wisdom and love can easily set up a reasonable theory concerning it. ”

“ The testimony of the millions who believe or hope that they have had messages from their beloved who have gone on before counts for much and is not a testimony confined to professional mediums. The rejection of the theory that it is possible for angel beings to communicate with mortals, and that they are sent of God to do so, involves the rejection of the whole Bible as a divinely truthful Book. If there is no open path through the subconscious self to the spirit world, then the recorded visits of the Holy Spirit to the hearts of men are only idle tales. ”

“ Faith must grow reasonably, like a grain of mustard seed. It also develops mysteriously by natural increase until the fowls of the air nest in its branches and its growing root will cleave off the side of the mountain. ”

“ Man's mind is so constructed that it is impossible to believe that the Creator controls all things and arranges the details of even our thoughts and yet leaves man free to choose to defeat the Lord by his own thoughts and actions. It is impossible fully to believe that man can voluntarily do evil without in some way interfering with the designs and power of God. ”

“ I must increase my skill. I must have more influence and do more good. I must get more wisdom and more understanding. This farm is too small a place for me. I will stay at home if I can, or as long as I can, but I must begin to study to-morrow, and never thereafter lose a day. God helping me, I will be something worth while." His parents, with sad hearts, saw the reasonableness of his ambition and gave their consent to his proposed education. ”

“ We know that in a thousand matters we can choose the good or choose the evil. We see also that liberty is limited by great laws and there are a myriad of things a man cannot possibly do and about which he has no choice. When a man reaches those limitations his responsibility for choosing ceases.
With these simple facts the teaching of the Bible is fully in accord. The necessity for sustenance and protection beyond our ability to supply is ever a great apparent fact. The recognition of that fact leads the thoughtful man to prayer. ”

“ The testimony of nearly all those at the Baptist Temple who report an answer to prayer, mention the fact that their prayers seemed to be the most productive of results when offered in the silent moments at the close of some inspiring service.
It is clearly impossible for one finite mind to shape a petition which will include and express all the desires of the multitude. Neither can an uninspired writer in one age fully appreciate and comprehend the conditions and needs of another age. ”

“ No human theory concerning them is even helpful. The labyrinth is absolutely trackless to the human mind when once the worshiper becomes entangled therein. So we will not attempt to explain any of the even unthinkable intricacies of its strange region. Nowhere in the Bible does the Lord answer the questions which millions have asked about it. Two persons, equally sincere, pray for success in a matter where the victory of one must be the defeat of the other. Nations at war pray hard and long for victory, and not even God can answer both. ”

“ The patriot, earnestly seeking victory, lets no possible agency pass unused to overcome the enemy. When he has prepared fully and laboriously for the battle he will then pray for the help which God may give him. Even should he strongly doubt that the Great Power moving on events beyond his knowledge can or will hear him, yet he will not fail to pray. Any man who calls on the Christian's God will not ask him to aid an unholy cause. A murderer seeking an opportunity to kill will not call on God for aid. The thief ever fears some providential interference with his plans. ”

“ The preacher who enters his pulpit with an almost agonizing prayer that God would aid him in his presentation of the Christ to men must ever ask that God will turn aside any arrow which would do harm to the cause. In his ignorance or weakness he may mistake the Gospel message, or may not present the whole truth, and he must ever ask that, whether he gain or lose in the esteem of his congregation, the truth shall always prevail. Christian nations are often wrong in their diplomacy or in their wars, as they discover after a while. ”

“ Such servants of God can offer prayer which avail much more than the frightened call of the worldly minded, egotistic, and selfish enemy of good people and good principles. God loves all men with an everlasting affection. But the kind of intensity of his affection for the saint and the transgressor is quite different. Christ loved the priest and the Levite in a true sense, but he loved the Good Samaritan more. He can love and care for his own without encouraging evil. ”

“ The redeemed soul is one whose permanent disposition, called his "subconscious" or "subliminal self," is controlled by the magnetic influence of the spirit of truth and goodness. The few matters on which the brain acts directly are the deeds of the conscious mind. They are controlled by the will and reasoning powers of the independent portion of man's being. They may or may not accord with the heart's general impulses or they may be the direct product of the heart's purposes. The will and the subconscious self interact, each influencing the other. ”

“ All sorts of foolish speculations have been given creedal expression until men have declared, with strange assurance, that man cannot trust his reason or his conscience in any matter. They have tried to prove that the laws of nature are inflexible and that prayer cannot have any influence whatever in current events. Gifted men and women of culture and high purpose have convinced themselves that there is no evil, that men never sin, that the Bible theories concerning prayer are fanciful and too miraculous to be possible. ”

“ The young farmer was an only son. But his parents had wisely kept him from selfishness and egotism. He had been taught to work and to be grateful for the necessities of life. He had a loyal disposition and loved his parents with a half-worshipful devotion. He had been contented, industrious, careful, and honest. His only pride seemed to be in the distance he could see and in the large burden he could shoulder or carry. He had left school because his father needed him on the farm and he had abandoned the expectation of further education. ”

“ The consensus of religious opinion among the common people is decidedly in favor of trusting more and, consequently, doubting less. "We will be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness." We have put away childish things and here we stand, men and women, saved by grace, and "Who can separate us from the love of Christ? ”

“ As, however, true prayer requires a devotional state of mind there can be no denial of the statement that the forms, ceremonials, scenic effects, and processions of the different creeds and races have a most potent effect on the devotional natures of their supporters. Whatever awakens a spirit of devotion is more or less useful; but when a strong desire for communion with God has been aroused by music, exhortation, processions, or scenery the most effective method appears to be to then leave each soul alone with God in silent prayer. ”

“ But now the seeming inconsistency of asking the Lord to aid his own cause, or praying that Christ may soon come into his own kingdom, is ever a stumbling block to the doubt ful ones. If the Lord has all power and has a sincere desire to make the world good, why does he not do it by one sweep of his hand or by one magic word? ”

“ Hence, while the petitions of friends, priests, or pastors have a strong influence with the Creator, the one vital necessity in making acceptable appeals to God is that each petitioner should ask for himself. No character can be changed from the outside. No wicked heart can be made pure without its own consent, and the Lord seems to have limited himself so that he never crosses the threshold of the soul unless he is sincerely invited by that individual householder. ”

“ I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, not things to come, not height, not depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ”

“ When that California uncle showed his nephew all that luxury, beauty, and wealth, and told him that he would some day own it all, it was a foolish act—almost criminal. The young man's mental and moral development was stopped then and there. The young man lost far more than the estate could be worth. Suddenly acquired riches are ever harmful. Dissatisfaction with this life is a fatal sin. God commands us to be content and toil. ”

“ As all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, no one would be heard if God would not hear sinners. Jesus was more inclined to heed the requests of John and Peter than he was to listen to the requests of the sacrilegious Sadducee. But a repentant Sadducee would not be neglected, and the fact is apparent that there is a clear distinction between the influence with God of a righteous man and the influence of a wicked or a frightened sinner. ”

“ The fear that faith might be lost has increased our estimate of its everlasting value. The faith of our fathers stands secure. The testimony of unbalanced minds to the Sonship of Christ did not defeat the Saviour in his day, and they cannot do so now. The mistakes, errors, and superstitions of the extremists and deceivers have not made more than a ripple in the current of Christian faith. ”

“ There are faint suggestions and half-formed motives of which we catch glimpses and which never seem to be fully developed. Also the natural instincts of our animal nature still continue and persist in our higher station in the creative order. It can be noted by anyone that perhaps not one in a thousand of our muscular contractions or of our decided actions is consciously dictated by our will. The human race is seemingly, in a large measure, a collection of automatons. ”

“ It is amazing to the careful student of our mental constitution to find out how meager is the part of our thinking which originates in the suggestions of our five senses.
From the Grecian and German philosophers some psychologists derived the hypothesis that the subconscious self is only the aggregation of all the faint or half-formed ideas which are not strong enough to force themselves up into full recognition by the brain. Consciousness includes only those thoughts which the brain accepts and uses in positive action. ”

“ The speaker illustrated his sermon by showing the value of an education. He mentioned the happiness of the men and women who knew the structure of vegetation, of animals, and the laws which control their life. He mentioned cases of self-made men who had read good books and whose minds could walk with God through his wonderful natural creations. He spoke of the uselessness or curse of possessions which the owner cannot enjoy for lack of knowledge. He said that the discipline of obtaining wisdom was in itself of great value and that God promised riches, and honor to the man who would earn them. ”

“ When, at last, he opened his heart to a faithful Christian friend, that friend's prayer was heard instantaneously, and the seeker knew by an instinct axiomatic that he was received by the Lord.
There is a general belief that God does hear the pure Christian more readily than he does the vile reprobate. That belief is founded in the moral laws universally recognized in human relations. ”

“ Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men....) ”