“Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ…” (Rom 16:25). Paul took the gospel personally, didn’t he! And yet he understood its power was in the presentation of the Word, and of the Lord Jesus in particular.
John Duncan began his theological study while still an atheist, that is, until he had a meeting with the soul-winner César Malan of Geneva. Malan answered every argument with a quotation from Scripture. In frustration, the sceptic finally retorted, “Don’t you see, I don’t believe the Bible!” To this the Christian replied, “Jesus said, ‘If ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins.’”
Years passed. Then one morning Dr. Malan received a letter from Duncan. It said, in part, “Every time I tried to parry the blade and get you to use your hands, and not the Heavenly steel, you simply gave me another stab. You made me feel I was not fighting you, but God.” “Rabbi” Duncan became a great evangelist to the Jewish people.