Richard Cecil (1748 – 1810)
Leading Evangelical Anglican clergyman of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Christian's fellowship with God is rather a habit than a rapture.
Religion is such a belief of the Bible as maintains a living influence on the heart.
Abraham teaches us the right way of conversing with God: "And Abraham fell on his face, and God talked with him." When we plead with Him, our faces should be in the dust.
I have often had occasion to observe, that a warm blundering man does more for the world than a frigid wise man.
I cannot look around me without being struck with the analogy observable in the works of God. I find the Bible written in the style of His other books of Creation and Providence. The pen seems in the same hand. I see it, indeed, write at times mysteriously in each of these books; thus I know that mystery in the works of God is only another name for my ignorance. The moment, therefore, that I become humble, all becomes right.
Sin, without strong restraints, would pull God from His throne, make the world the minion of its lusts, and all beings bow down and worship.
Solitude shows us what should be; society shows us what we are.
Regeneration is God's disposing the heart to Himself; conversion is the actual turning of the heart to God.