"I may as well be frank with you; I am not in the least interested in these things.”
The speaker was a man nearing middle age, seated in an express train recently. A gospel booklet entitled, "A Preacher of the Old School," had just been handed him.
"I am an agnostic, so that kind of thing does not appeal to me at all," he continued.
"I very much appreciate your frankness," I replied. "It is so much better than false appearances and professions. Since you have been good enough to express yourself, will you allow me to ask you one question?”
"Certainly," he replied, "ask what you will.”
"Are you really happy?”
"Well," he replied, hesitatingly, "tolerably.”
"Which means, to be frank again, that you are NOT!" "That is so," he admitted.
"May I add one more question? Have you any hope?" "None whatever," he replied. "The only thing I am certain about is that sooner or later I have to die.”
"Then I would like to sum up to you that in a few words you have admitted three sad facts about yourself: you have NO GOD, NO JOY, and NO HOPE. It certainly does not commend agnosticism!”
As he seemed prepared to listen, I took the opportunity to continue.
"If you will allow me, I will tell you what, through the grace of God, I have received through the gospel. First, the knowledge of God, God Himself revealed in Christ—His beloved Son—as the living and true God. Then I have a true and deep joy, which increases as the years pass by, and will last forever. Beyond this I have a sure and certain hope through the atoning work of Christ on Calvary, and by His precious blood shed for me, of a blissful eternity with Himself. That is what Christianity means to me! And all this is open to you through faith in Christ.”
He winced and tried to evade the issue; but after a few minutes' silence he said: "I will read your book; I think you Christians ought to speak to people. Indeed, you are responsible to do so!”
The train drew up to the station and we parted. I breathed a silent prayer that God might awaken true repentance toward Him and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ in that dark heart.
May God grant that the scales of darkness, doubt, and unbelief may fall from the eyes of any doubter or unbeliever who may read this incident. May you be brought to know Him as your GOD, to possess present and eternal JOY, and to have that HOPE "both sure and steadfast" as the stay of your soul in life or in death.