Pastors Peter Simpson and John Sherwood were proclaiming Jesus Christ and Him crucified in the centre of Uxbridge, west London, on May 9th.
One of the helpers, Mrs Helen Jackman, from the church at Penn, spoke to a Muslim man, who felt that Christianity and Islam had more or less the same message. He said that he too followed Jesus, but when he was told that the Lord Jesus died on the Cross paying the penalty for men’s sins, he sadly became angry and said Muhammad was the final messenger from God, and that Christians were wrong to claim that Jesus died as a result of His crucifixion.
The Muslim was directed to a consideration of the life of the Lord Jesus and His sinless life, which proved that he was fully God, as well as fully man. If he had just been a man, as Islam teaches, He would have been a sinner as well. Sadly, the gentleman continued to be somewhat irate, and so was not in the right frame of mind to carry on with a sensible discussion on these vital issues.
Mrs Jackman also spoke with some schoolboys. One Muslim boy amongst them that said that he hopes that Allah would be merciful to him. He was told in response that in a court of law, if one has committed a crime, any good works which one may have done cannot compensate and exonerate the guilt of the crime. It is the same with God, the perfect Judge of all the earth. It is only through the Lord Jesus, dying in the sinner’s place, thus satisfying justice, that forgiveness can be obtained. One of the schoolboys hung back after this exchange, and asked for a second tract. He said that he would read it and seemed sincere.
By God’s grace, Pastor Simpson was also able to enter into some useful conversations, including one with a young lady from Africa who used to be a Muslim, but was now sceptical about all religions. She said that she was a very evidence-based person, and so what is the evidence for the truth of Christianity? Pastor Simpson replied that there is ample historical, documentary evidence that Jesus Christ really lived and had a great impact on those around him. Regarding His resurrection from the dead, no less than 500 people saw him risen from dead on one occasion (1Corinthians 15:16).
This intelligent lady queried how Christianity could claim to be more true than any other religion. What about all those who were brought up in non-Christian cultures and who have never have opportunity to hear the Christian message. Is it fair that they should be condemned and end up in hell?
The minister said to her in response that Christianity can claim to be unique truth, precisely because that was the claim of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He taught, “I am the way, the truth, and the life : no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also … He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:6,7,9). He supported this claim by His many mighty miracles, including raising the dead. He also received worship (e.g., John 20:28).
Regarding the young woman’s point about the injustice of those who have never heard the gospel being eternally condemned, Pastor Simpson replied there is no one anywhere in the world who has not been spoken to by the one true God. Simply, by virtue of living in the world created by him, all are without excuse for their unbelief. living in and observation of God’s creation render men under an obligation to believe in the Creator. The Bible plainly teaches this. We read in Romans chapter 1,
“That which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20).
All people are also without excuse for not believing in the Trinitarian God, because He is not distant and unknowable, but has rather declared, “Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you” (Jeremiah 29:13-14). In other words, all are under an obligation to seek Him, even if they have been brought up to follow a false religion.
Furthermore, by the gift of God’s ‘common grace’ towards sinful men, all people possess a sense of right and wrong in their hearts by means of their God-given consciences. Let us think, for example, of the Gentile nations in the Old Testament period who had not received the commandments of God or any other revelation of God’s truth in the way in which Israel had. Nevertheless, Paul tells us in Romans chapter 2,
“For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves : Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness” (Romans 2:14-15). So to a certain and limited degree, and although this knowledge is constantly suppressed, non-Christians do have in their hearts an awareness of God’s righteous requirements for their conduct. One commentator puts it like this : The Lord “rules the actions of men … by the instincts and affections which He has implanted in them. Every good action that men perform by nature, they do by their (God-given) constitution, (but) not from respect to the authority of God” . In other words, by His common grace, the Lord restrains men from the full evil that the God-rejecting disposition of their fallen natures would make them well capable of.
At one stage a group of schoolchildren were sitting on a nearby bench, and so Pastor simpson approached them and asked if they were good people. They did not mind being approached in this way. One girl aged 13 insisted that she was good, and so she was told that the Bible teaches that no one is good by nature, but all have sinful hearts and all have inevitably broken God’s commandments. She was asked if she had ever lied or stolen or harboured hatred in her heart? She did not feel that she had done anything particularly wrong and was quite unconcerned about the judgement of God. The preacher gently mentioned to her that by asserting that she was basically good, she, as 13 year old, was claiming to know better than the Bible, which is the very word of God. Was that really sensible?
A middle-aged man walking nearby, seeing this conversation taking place, shouted at to Pastor Simpson, “Leave the kids alone!”, the plain implication being that it was some kind of dangerous indoctrination, and even bullying behaviour, to attempt to encourage young people to consider the Christian faith. Pastor Simpson responded in a loud voice, Why should I withdraw and stay silent? This is the most important message which anyone could ever hear, and all, whatever their age, need urgently to receive it.
May the Holy Spirit be pleased to convince many who heard the gospel in Uxbridge of the reality of this urgency and turn to the Saviour without any further delay.