Spurgeon And The "Girl"

 

The following incident is taken from an experience of Charles H. Spurgeon with an atheist.

There was an atheist in the vicinity of Mr. Spurgeon's home and he was very ugly to anyone who believed the Bible.

Mr. Spurgeon asked the Lord to direct him in what he should read for morning devotions. Then he seemed strongly impressed to read the book of Joel in its entirety. When he came to Joel 3, he read the third verse: "And sold the girl for wine." Whereupon, Mr. Spurgeon checked his concordance to see how many times the word "girl" occurred in the Bible. To his great surprise, he found the word only occurred once.

A little later he thought he would take a walk. About a block and a half away he looked up and there was the atheist's house. He went up and knocked.

The atheist growled, "Well, what do you want?"

"I would like to read the Bible to you," Spurgeon replied.

"The atheist began his usual abuse, then suddenly stopped and said, "Will you tell me how often the word 'girl' is in the Bible?"

Mr. Spurgeon answered, "Once."

The atheist then said, "Tell me where it is found and I will let you in."

Spurgeon replied, "Joe_3:3."

The atheist then said, "Tell me before I let you in, how did you know it?"

Mr. Spurgeon answered, "I haven't known it two hours. In my morning devotions I read the book of Joel."

Then Mr. Spurgeon stepped in, and in half an hour the atheist was on his knees asking God to forgive his sins.

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