Pastor Simpson was preaching the gospel in the centre of Aylesbury on 5th September, helped by Mrs Lesley Pilkington from Chorleywood.
A young Muslim came up to Pastor Simpson and was offered a tract. He as reluctant to take one, because he said that the Bible has been changed and is corrupted. The minister asked him in response, When was it corrupted? We are reading the same text of the Bible today as Mohammed would have had access to. The Muslim was also told that the Quran itself affirms the truth of the Bible. Sadly, the young man did not stay to continue the conversation, but there follow a few useful arguments to employ, when we are witnessing to Muslim people.
Surah 3:3 and 18:7 of the Qur’an state concerning Allah,
“He sent down the Law and the Gospel … “None can change His words”.
‘The Law’ means the first 5 books of the Bible written by Moses and ‘the Gospel’ means the 4 gospel accounts in the Bible which make up the one Gospel of Jesus Christ.
If none can change Allah’s words, then the Islamic claim that the Christian Bible has been changed and corrupted is a denial of the Qur’an’s own teaching.
Surah 5:43 is addressed to Mohammed concerning the Jews. It states,
“Why do they come to thee for decision, when they have (their own) Law before them? Therein is the command of Allah”.
The context of verse 43 is Jews approaching Mohammed for help to settle a dispute. This prompts Allah to ask Mohammed, Why do they come to you for guidance, because they already have the Torah? So Allah affirms here that Mohammed does not have more light above what these 5 books of the Bible (the Torah) have already revealed. Therefore, these books must be inspired and utterly trustworthy, and so cannot have been corrupted .
Surah 5:46 says of Allah,
“We sent Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him. We sent him the Gospel : therein is light and guidance”.
Here the Qur’an tells us that Jesus confirmed the trustworthiness of the first 5 books of the Bible, the Law. The verse further states that the Gospel provides light and guidance, doing so in Mohammed’s day. So here the Qur’an is stating that the 4 gospels of the Christian Bible are totally reliable
Pastor Simpson had a long conversation with a Roman Catholic priest. He expressed admiration for the public proclamation of the gospel which was taking place. He seriously refuted some of the teachings of the present Pope, which matter Pastor Simpson raised with him. He sadly affirmed the Catholic view of Mary’s eminence and importance, but surprisingly stated that we must always make Scripture our final authority, which is not the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, which also asserts the authority of the Church in deciding what is true. Because of this positive attitude, and his sympathy with the outreach, the minister chose not to focus on Roman Catholic doctrinal errors on this particular occasion.
A teenager listened to the preaching for a while, and when he began to walk away, Mrs Pilkington engaged him in conversation. He was a professing Christian. During the discussion another teenager was listening. She had already declined leaflets, but after listening to the conversation, she changed her mind, taking some literature and beginning to read it. May the Lord speak much to her heart.
Another teenage couple refused leaflets and walked on by. However, they later came back and listened to the preaching. They wanted to ask Pastor Simpson a question, as he was preaching, and so he directed them to Mrs Pilkington. They were Hindus, but very open to the gospel, and said they had never heard this message before, and that they were very interested. They took a copy of John’s Gospel and several leaflets, and said that they lived nearby and would come back again. Prayer is being offered up that they will indeed do so.
A young Polish man was again listening to the preaching same as he did 2 weeks ago. On the previous occasion he had taken a lot of literature, and so it was encouraging that he came again.
At one stage there was a group of young men playing loud music near to the witness. Mrs Pilkington asked them to turn it down, which they did. This resulted in a long conversation with the group. They were mainly from Afghanistan, and could not speak much English, but one could, who said that he was a student. He interpreted for the rest what the witnessing sister was saying. Providentially, Mrs Pilkington had some gospels with her in Farsi, and they said that they would read them. May they indeed do so, and be convicted of sin and see their need to flee to the Saviour.
Indeed, may this be the case with many others also who heard in Aylesbury upon this day of Jesus Christ crucified and risen as the only means of salvation and everlasting life.