The gospel was declared in the centre of Slough on February 27th by Pastors Peter Simpson and John Sherwood and Mr Graham Parkhouse from Epsom.
Whilst Pastor Sherwood was preaching a passing man took great exception to what was being said and railed against the preacher. Mr Parkhouse endeavoured to engage him in conversation and he said that science had caused the Bible to be out of date and irrelevant. He did not realise that the one to whom he said this is a keen scientist with a first class degree in engineering from Cambridge University. Scientific conclusions can often go out of date, being superseded by new findings, but the truth of God stands for all time. The conversation between the two became constructive. May the sceptic be brought to humble himself before the God who is the author of all science and the Creator of all things.
Another passer-by told Pastor Simpson, “I wish you would go to another town”. The minister responded Christianity had brought enormous benefits to the nation. The man then put his fingers to his ears and carried on walking away.
An atheist also told Pastor Simpson that the moon landings had proved the non-existence of God. The preacher struggled to follow this logic, and referred to the wonderful photographs of the beautiful earth which God had created which were taken from outer space.
A lady who was a Jehovah’s Witness claimed that Jesus could not be the Almighty God appearing on earth in human form, because John 14:28 states, “Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father : for my Father is greater than I”. Those final words are proof, she argued, that the Lord Jesus is not “God manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16).
The Lord is not saying here that He is inferior to the Father. Earlier on in the very same chapter He has been asserting His equality with the Father, e.g, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). In verse 28 He is referring to His laying aside some aspects of His full deity in order to become a man and accomplish man’s salvation. He is soon to die as a common criminal, so in that, in his frail humanity, He is inevitably inferior to the Father, but He was soon to resume the full divine glory of His status as the eternal Son of God in His resurrection and ascension. he accordingly speaks to His Father of soon being restored to “the glory which I had with thee before the world was” (John 17:5).
A man from Kyrgyzstan spoke to Mr Parkhouse and Pastor Simpson, saying how interested he was in learning more about God. He was well educated and was indeed a professional scientist. Mr Parkhouse explained to him the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ being Almighty God appearing on earth in human form. He desired to learn about the Bible, and so was given a free copy of a new Bible with the assurance that it is God’s word and utterly trustworthy. The man was intrigued to hear about the Flood in Noah’s time, which he had never heard of before.
May the Lord speak powerfully to his heart as he reads his new Bible, and also some tracts. Indeed, may the Lord graciously work on the hearts of many others who heard some gospel truth in Slough upon this day.