The Atheist

I think it was three years later that I was preaching in the same big tent.
As I stepped down to greet friends from the audience, a bright-faced man came forward with a huge Bible under his arm, and exclaimed,
"Do you remember me?"
I was at a loss for a moment, then replied, "I seem to recall your face, but cannot remember your name."

"I am the man who told you I would be a Christian if I could believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and you set me to reading the Gospel of John."

Even this did not bring all back to my mind, for I have asked many other unbelievers to do the same thing. But when he reminded me that I had told him he was a coward if he would not face the issue fairly and give God a chance through His own Word to settle the question, it all came back to my mind.
"Yes, now I remember our conversation. Did you make the test? And, if so, what happened?"

Then he told me that he had begun the careful reading of the Gospel, asking God if He really existed and if Jesus Christ was His Son, to make it clear.
Night after night he read in the little book: not lengthy portions, but a few verses, pondering each expression carefully.

I think he told me he had not finished the sixth chapter before the truth that Jesus Christ is God and his Saviour came alive inside him with crystal clearness.
"I fell on my knees and cried,
'Lord, I know You are the Son of God, and I take You as my Saviour.'"
And the joy of the Lord filled his soul, a revelation that he could no longer refuse to acknowledge as the very Word of the living God.

I found that he had become an active Christian. He had joined a group of believers in church-fellowship, and was teaching several men's Bible classes, meeting in fire department houses in various parts of the city.
His radiant face told the story of a heart that had been filled with the peace of God, a constant joy in seeking to make Him known to others.

The Holy Scriptures are God-breathed.
They are living and energetic, and can be depended upon to do their own work if men are but willing to search them with honest hearts, ready to act on the truth when the Holy Spirit reveals it.