The gray-haired man looked very worried as he approached the preacher. He spoke anxiously, "I've been reading your papers and going to meetings for many months, and I'm sure I have tried my best to be different, but I know I'm still a sinner—I'm still lost. It all seems no use."
"No, friend," the preacher answered, "and let me tell you, it not only seems no use, but it is no use. And if you go on another six months, or six years, or all your life, it will still be no use."
"What a strange thing to say! What's the good of preaching and giving us tracts if it's no use our trying?"
"Look, friend, you show how little you believe what you say. You begin by telling me it's no use trying, and when I agree with you, you turn around and argue that everything depends on your trying.
"If you are a sinner, a lost sinner, no trying of yours will ever bring you nearer to God, or make you fit for His holy presence. After years of trying, you will still be a lost sinner. If you are to be saved at all, you will have to come to Him as a lost, guilty sinner. Jesus invites you to come now and to trust Him who died for sinners."