Pastors John Sherwood and Peter Simpson, and Mr Graham Parkhouse (Epsom), were preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified in the centre of Slough on July 18th.
Mrs Pilkington had a useful conversation with a group of Roman Catholic School children, who thought that they knew about the Christian faith, but who, when they heard the gospel explained to them, about the need for each sinner to be saved by a personal faith in the crucified Saviour, said that they had not heard such a message before! May the Lord open their hearts.
A Romanian Christian, who was interested in being baptised, was referred to a church in nearby Colnbrook, and it is hoped that he will be able to find good fellowship there.
As Pastor Simpson was handing out leaflets, a Muslim woman told him that she had no interest whatsoever in the Christian message because she was a Muslim, and she refused to take a tract. This reaction was of course disappointing, but it also left one wondering about the Muslim attitude to Christian evangelism. Is it the case that Muslims regard witnessing Christians as engaging in inappropriate and offensive behaviour? Is it the Muslim position that handing a leaflet to a Muslim about salvation only in Christ is simply not something that should ever be done? The ideal situation is surely that of a level playing field within an environment of religious liberty, where each side (Muslims and Christians) tries to convince the other of the truth of their faith, but is there such a level playing field in lands where Muslims are in a majority?
Pastor Simpson asked another Muslim young woman, “Are your sins forgiven, because you can only get to heaven through the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ?” The answer which is always given to this question is that Allah will be merciful, but if Allah is also just and holy, does he not have to punish sin? On what basis can he forgive and thereby bypass the execution of justice?
In contrast, in the death of Christ we see that forgiveness of sins is never at the expense of justice. The Lord Jesus in His death underwent the penalty for sin as the sinner’s representative, thus opening up a way for forgiveness to be granted whilst at the same time satisfying the justice of God. May the Lord open the hearts of many Muslims to realise that there is salvation only through faith in the crucified Saviour.
