Quotations from the Journal

These quotations are from Elias's journal as recorded here

"We stand in need of those fresh, powerful manifestations from heaven. We are, alas! accustomed to go on with the service of God in human strength; praying, hearing and preaching in that way! We are so lukewarm, without the light and the power of the Spirit! We neither feel nor see others experiencing His powerful operations! It is not often that unbelievers may, when they come to our congregations, cry out, ‘God is of a truth among you.’ And, alas! there is hut little lamentation on that account!"

"Ministers seem often satisfied with having freedom to speak, and seeing many hearing them with attention and delight; but alas! without experiencing the effects of the power promised to attend the ministry of the gospel, the power necessary to produce a saving change in the sinner1 The ministry neither alarms, terrifies nor disturbs ungodly persons who sit under it…No experimental, thoughtful Christian can deny that God has withdrawn Himself from us, as to the particular operations of His Spirit and the especial manifestation of His grace."

"There is but little thirst for the gracious and powerful visitations of God, and also, the prayers for these blessings are weak and cold…Is there not reason to fear that the prayers of many of us are merely customary and formal, asking many things without feeling the need of them? We seldom inquire whether our prayers are answered; and if not, what hinders them? Do we avoid indulging in those thoughts or practices that hinder and mar our prayers? Are we indifferent as to the aid of the Spirit in prayer? O seek His face – His face; seek Him with all your heart! There are many in the church, I believe, who have seen better days, but they sleep heavily now."

"It is difficult to judge by the fruits of hundreds of professors that they are godly! There are signs of worldly-mindedness in many of the aged. In others there is a lack of principle in doing righteousness. The young people conform to the world, following its ways and foolish fashion. Others delight in wrangling disputes, and foolish and unprofitable questions. There is a multitude of mixed people lusting after the things of Egypt – hankering after the expressions and the baser things of other denominations and religious parties. They delight in swimming in the stream of the spirit of the age in things political and religious."