The Preacher in the Pulpit - Earnestness, 1877

The slumbering conscience of unrenewed men demands the greatest fervency in the preacher. There is a terrible insensibility about spiritual and eternal things which it often seems as if no motives could penetrate. And this stupor is found everywhere. Now, it is true that the Holy Ghost alone can break through this obstacle and arouse the heart to its danger and refuge; but it is also true that the Holv Ghost ordinarily works by means, and that by the means that are naturally the best adapted to accomplish the desired end.