UXBRIDGE : PLEADING WITH MUSLIM THAT ONLY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST CAN BRING FORGIVENESS OF SINS On the Friday before last Pastors John Sherwood and Peter Simpson were preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners in the centre of Uxbridge. At one stage Pastor Simpson entered into a conversation with a Muslim young man. He struggled with the concepts of God becoming a man and His subsequent dying on a Cross. It was explained to him that it was the Son of God in His humanity who died on the Cross, and then Pastor Simpson said to the Muslim, “He died for you personally, for there is no other way to be forgiven, except though the shedding of His precious blood. The minister challenged the Muslim, who argued that Allah will be merciful, saying, But if he is a just God, he cannot overlook sin, but must judge according to His own laws, just as no judge in any human court of law can subjectively decide to set aside the laws of the land and acquit a guilty man, as he thinks fit. Islam rejects the whole idea of atoning death and Jesus dying bearing the sins of the world. It rejects the truth that forgiveness is only through the shedding of His sacrificial blood. It rather teaches that forgiveness is by God’s mercy, but with human works and merit making God’s mercy more likely. Thus in Muslim teaching “forgiveness comes after reparation. Reparation means doing good deeds to repair the consequences of the sins” (1). Surah 11:114 states, “Establish regular prayers at the two ends of the day and at the approaches of the night. For those things that are good remove those that are evil” (2). Here again we see the Islamic concept of a person adding his good works and his religious duties in order to compensate for his sin, whereas the truth is that there is no good work or religious performance whatsoever which could ever compensate for man’s hopeless guilt before the holy God. Rather, all have to throw themselves solely on God’s mercy in Christ - no one can meritoriously earn the right to be forgiven. Pastor Simpson had a very frustrating conversation with an older man who was adamant that God did not exist and that there was no heaven or hell. When challenged about his own moral condition, he claimed to be a good person. May the Lord open his eyes to see the corruption in his heart and the need to turn to the only Saviour. As Pastor Simpson offered a teenage a girl a tract, she said that she went to church, perhaps implying that she did not need to read the leaflet. The minister gently asked, Would you call yourself a Christian, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, because church attendance in and of itself does not make anyone a true Christian? She then said that she was a Roman Catholic. She was asked if she had repented of all sin and she responded that she did not know! She sadly did not stop to continue the conversation, but may the Lord cause her to see her need of a personal fleeing to Christ for mercy, coming in repentance and faith and with a broken and a contrite heart. Indeed, may many others who heard the gospel in Uxbridge this day likewise thus respond. 1. https://www.jpost.com/features/atonement-in-islam 2. The Qur’an, Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation, Amana Corporation, p541 (fb)

AYLESBURY : ENCOURAGEMENT AS YOUNG GIRLS SHOW REAL INTEREST IN THE GOSPEL Pastor Peter Simpson was preaching the gospel in the centre of Aylesbury on August 12th, with Mrs Lesley Pilkington, Saw Bee Ang and Jenefer Campbell in vital support. Pastor Simpson opened his preaching by declaring the following : “We all need to come to Jesus Christ for cleansing, because we are all unclean by nature. No one possesses a basic goodness, and only Jesus Christ can make us clean. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can cause our sins to be forgiven. When Jesus died on the cross, shedding his blood, he was paying the penalty for sin, the penalty which our sins really deserve, namely death. He took the penalty in our place. He shed his blood on the sinner's behalf, as the sinner's representative. It is only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ that you can be forgiven. You need to come to Him for cleansing. “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:28). A young woman in her early 20's was very interested to hear about the Saviour. She seemed to have some learning difficulties, but as the gospel was carefully explained to her, she appeared to be really taking some of the facts on board and genuinely interested in coming to faith. Mrs Pilkington prayed with her that she might be truly drawn to repent of her sins and trust in the Saviour with all of her heart. Mrs Pilkington had further interesting encounters with 3 different Muslim men. One was reading the posters and then began to walk away, and so he was asked if he had any questions. He said that he did not. Thankfully he was willing to receive a leaflet explaining just how how much Jesus is referred to in the Qur’an, and which states how the Qur’an itself speaks of how God sent down the Gospel which tells of Jesus. Therefore, how can Muslims claim that the Bible is corrupted, if the Qur’an itself confirms that the Gospels are of divine origin? Another young Muslim man had his 2 children with him, and he listened for a while to the preaching. He also took the Jesus and Qur’an leaflet. A third Muslim man sadly would not engage in any conversation with Mrs Pilkington, and was also unwilling to receive the leaflet. Nevertheless, he was briefly told about who the Lord Jesus Christ really is. May the Lord use these encounters to remove scales from eyes and to reveal to these Muslims that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and world’s only Saviour. As Pastor Simpson was preaching, a man and his young daughter, aged about 7, came up, and the little girl said that she knew the Lord Jesus. She told of how she read her Bible, and her brother did too. The father was very excited about his children following the Lord. The father and the girl spoke enthusiastically of their heavenly hope. This encounter was very heart-warming. Two young girls about 14 also approached Mrs Pilkington, and again said that they read the Scriptures. One of the girls sounded as if she really understood the gospel, although her family did not attend a church, and therefore she did not either. After speaking with Mrs Pilkington, however, she said that she really ought to start attending a place of worship, as there was a church very near to where she lived. It is earnestly hoped that this is a church which upholds the authority of Scripture and preaches the gospel. May the Lord be pleased to lead these girls into all truth, and indeed many others who heard the gospel in Aylesbury upon this day. (fb)