The urgency of repentance from sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ was proclaimed in the centre of Uxbridge on July 5th by Pastors John Sherwood and Peter Simpson, helped by some faithful and more immediately local brethren.
Pastor Sherwood had a long conversation with a young Polish man, who was sadly putting much emphasis upon dreams which he had experienced. He was also quite involved with the false teachings of Mormonism, which asserts that “there are many gods, with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit being three separate gods among many others. Furthermore, (the Mormons claim that) it is … possible for humans to ascend to godhood … Observance of religious rituals (is) central to the Mormon faith … (They also shockingly believe that) God … was once a man who (then) became a god” . The young man was directed by Pastor Sherwood to trust only in the inerrant word of God in Scripture for leading him into all truth. He thankfully did receive a copy of the New Testament.
A middle-aged man was offered an evangelistic tract by Pastor Simpson, but became angry, saying that he had no time for such nonsense, since the Bible was just the opinions of men. Pastor Simpson responded that every single word of the Bible was given by the Spirit of Christ working through the various authors over many centuries. So it is all infallibly inspired by the Holy Spirit, and is accordingly utterly reliable and trustworthy.
The man totally refuted this assertion, and said that the two world wars of the 20th century were evidence enough for the falsehood of Christianity. The minister responded that, on the contrary, the horror of war actually confirms the primary tenet of the Christian gospel, namely, that man is by nature sinful, and the advent of war in every generation is simply an outworking of that sinfulness. The sceptic continued to be angry and dismissive, and was not interested in carrying on a serious debate, which was a real shame. May the Lord open his heart to see his great need.
As Pastor Simpson was preaching. He managed to gain eye-contact with some girls walking by, and he directly asked them if they were good people, and iof they have ever done anything wrong. One of the girls incredibly and apparently quite seriously claimed that she indeed had never sinned. She was told in response that by asserting sinlessness, she was effectively calling God a liar, who tells us in His word that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God … There is none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:23,10).
Pastor Simpson took as one of his key texts Ecclesiastes 9:3, which states, “The heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart”. What a superb gospel verse this is for undermining people’s sense of their own virtue, which undermining is so vital on the path to becoming a Christian.
So the preacher strongly emphasised the corruption and uncleanness in the heart of all men until there is resort to the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone is able to confer upon men new hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. This removal of inward pollution and corruption as a man repents of sin and believes in Christ is what the Lord calls the new birth. All people without exception MUST born again, or else they will never enter into the kingdom of God. All must be inwardly washed by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5). Without the new birth, also called the “washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5), no one can escape the eternal condemnation of hell.
At one point during the preaching, a policeman came up to read the posters on display and to take notes concerning them. Three of them were Bible texts, and the fourth one stated, “What happens when a nation abandons the Bible : drug-taking, knife crime, no respect for the Lord’s Day, abortion, The LGBT agenda in schools, unnecessary anxiety over climate change”.
The policeman did not speak to the preachers, so it is not clear why he was taking his notes. It is quite possible that a passer-by had rung in with a complaint about the posters. However, the pastors are not over-concerned, because displaying the word of God is a liberty which must never be challenged. Also, confronting the fashionable sins of the day is an essential aspect of gospel preaching. To be able to do this is, as it were, a line drawn in the sand which we cannot allow to be moved. If preachers cannot call, sin sin or question society’s fashionable embracing of sin, then there is no freedom for Christians at all. We particularly state this in the light of the new government’s intention to introduce conversion therapy legislation. May the Lord have mercy upon our land.