A professor, seeing a student reading his Bible during his lunch hour, said to him, "I'm surprised to see an intelligent man like you read that Book. Why, you don't even know the writer, say, of the book of Daniel for instance."
"Do you use the multiplication table?" the student replied.
"Why of course," was the reply, "but what has that to do with it?"
"Do you know the author of it?"
"No, of course not."
"Well, why do you use it?" the student asked. "Because it works," came the answer again. "That's why I read this Book—because it works," said the delighted believer.
The great test of all theories, remedies or devices is—Do they work? Detailed explanations of them are unnecessary; it they work they are accepted and sought after.
For instance, we cannot explain or understand the process by which food becomes flesh, bone, blood, etc., or how it restores strength and energy and maintains life. But it does, and we continue to eat and drink.
Again, consider the medicine some of us take; can we explain or understand how it attacks and repels the disease or infection? No, but it works, and so we hopefully take it.
So it is with the gospel. The wisest sage or most holy saint cannot adequately explain or fully understand the ways of God in saving a soul, but it has worked in numberless cases, and among them, my own. So I value it and commend it to my fellow creatures, who are all in need of deliverance from sin.
The difficulty seems to be in bringing others to realize their need. A friend of mine approached a man about his soul's salvation, but he replied, "I'm young yet." He didn't feel the need of a Savior. Do you?
Whether you realize it or not, you do need the Lord Jesus Christ to save you from sin's awful power and penalty. No one else can save you, "for there is none other name under heaven... whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:1212Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12).
All our strength, wisdom and righteousness combined are no use against the evil nature which works within us. But, "when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." Rom. 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6).
Only God can deliver a lost soul, and He does this by the work of redemption which was accomplished by His own blessed Son on the cross.
"God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8). And because of that great and wonderful work on the cross, "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7).