Pastor Peter Simpson was calling upon the lost to repent and come to the only Saviour in the centre of High Wycombe on September 19th, helped by Mrs Elisabeth Outten and Mrs Lesley Pilkington.
As Pastor Simpson was preaching, he asked a man going past, Are you a good person? The man replied, “I try my best”. The minister responded by asserting that his best would never be good enough and could never deal with the problem of a sinful heart. May this man be brought to see that he needs a brand new nature, which can only be received through repentance from sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As Mrs Pilkington handed out a leaflet to a lady, she exclaimed, “You don’t really believe all this do you?”. She was asked to explain. She replied, “Oh you know, Noah’s Ark, Adam and Eve etc”. The witnessing sister told her that she most certainly did believe the Biblical narrative about man’s origins and the universal flood in Noah’s day.
The lady then explained how she had come from a Christian family, but did not believe, because none of the message was credible. She would not take any literature, saying she had Bibles at home. She was then asked if she would read John’s Gospel , and Mrs Pilkington prayed for her that she might come to know the truth. She did not object to this, so this was a step in the right direction. May the Lord be pleased to work on her heart and show her her need.
Mrs Pilkington also saw a young homeless man speaking to a large group of schoolchildren. She went over to the group in the hope of obtaining an opening for the gospel, and they were willing for her to join in their conversation. The young man had been expelled for bad behaviour from the same school as those in the group. The teenage schoolchildren had bought him some food from McDonalds. The youngsters knew nothing about the gospel and sadly declined to take any tracts, but at least this was a starting place for more conversations with the same group on a future occasion.
Pastor Simpson took as his opening text for the preaching, “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). He went on to explain in a loving appeal to the lost: “If you do not believe in God the Son, Jesus Christ, you will not see life. You have no spiritual life here in this earthly existence and you will have no everlasting life when you die. The Lord Jesus Christ is explaining that the wrath of God, God’s anger upon our sin, is resting upon you. You are not innocent. You are not neutral. You are actually in a state of condemnation.
The Lord Jesus further said, “He that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). So if you do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ you are right now in grave trouble. If you were to die tomorrow, you would end up in hell, because that is what the justice of God demands. The preacher then went on to declare, Yet there is abundant mercy for those who humbly acknowledge their sin before the holy God and come in repentance and faith in the only Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
May many who heard in High Wycombe upon this day come to see the truth of these words for themselves, before it is too late.