“Young man, were I to say I am pleased with you, you would go down that stair in a happy frame, but you are yet far from the kingdom of God. You have never yet dealt with the justice of God. His justice in condemning you for breaking his law has never entered your thoughts. I see you are angry with God for not giving you salvation as the reward of works. But it must be grace from first to last.”

These words were spoken by an elderly Pastor on October 26th, 1846. The object of his words was a young Scotsman by the name of Duncan Matheson. Duncan Matheson was a struggling young man who had lost his younger sister and his mother within a year, and was seeking answers regarding his own relationship with God – at least partially at the behest of his dying mother in her last wishes to him.

Duncan Matheson gave his life fully to Jesus Christ that day, as the words of this elderly Pastor penetrated his previously hardened heart.

So, who is Duncan Matheson? Duncan Matheson became Scotland’s greatest evangelist. This struggling, questioning young man preached and wrote for 20 years during the Great Awakening – leading thousands to a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Thank God for that elderly Pastor who was there with God’s answer to Duncan Matheson’s questions. Whose questions might you answer, and how might those answers from God change the world?