In my work as an evangelist I find that most people are fairly polite. Most people, while not interested in the Gospel, do not re-act with rage when they are offered a Christian leaflet or I tell them that Jesus died for their sins. However, from to time I come across someone who does re-act with anger after being simply offered a leaflet or being told that Jesus loved them so much that He died for them. Several examples are as follows:
Only last week I was on the receiving end of sharp comments when I told a Muslim man, in his 60s, that Jesus died for his sins. During the course of this encounter he was outraged to be told that Jesus is the only way to eternal life and called me an arrogant bigot (this from an adherent of the religion of peace!)
Some years ago I was delivering leaflets to houses near where I live and a man came out onto the street and angrily confronted me. He threatened me with violence and my response was to warn him that he would face God one day.
On another occasion a "lady" came over to me and tore the leaflet up, showering me with the "confetti" that she had produced from her efforts, all the while pouring out invective. I hadn't even spoken to her, she just saw me there with a text on a board and "lost it".
Moreover, when I open my "inbox" it is not unusual to find obscene and abusive comments from militant atheists who are clearly full of rage.
(When people abuse me in this way they are actually doing me a favour because Jesus promised that when His followers are badly treated their "reward is great in Heaven" -Matthew 5 v 11-12).
Why is it that they behave like this? I would suggest that the answer lies in Ecclesiastes 3 v 11 where we read that God has put eternity in peoples' hearts.
Deep down even the most ardent atheists know that they will have to meet God one day and give account of their lives. They know that there is an eternity to face; and they know that, if they don't repent of their sins, they will endure Hell for all of that eternity. It is for that reason that they lose all their sense of balance when offered the Gospel. In Romans 1 v 18 we read that people "suppress" the truth in their hearts and lives. It is as if the truth of God's infallible word is being pressed down like a lid in a "Jack in the box" and when the Gospel is presented the lid flies up again.
Experiences like the above only strengthen my resolve to carry on spreading the Gospel. If people are getting cross after being simply offered a leaflet or being told that Jesus died for them then it is a sure sign that I must be doing something right!
I've no doubt that other evangelists have also had opposition but I would encourage them not to be dis-heartened but to boldly point people to Christ knowing that He is the ONLY way to eternal life.
"Whoever believes in Him (Jesus) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son Of God" John 3 v 18.
Friday, 9 August 2013
Thursday, 1 August 2013
"What about those who've never heard?"
As a Christian evangelist I believe passionately in the Biblical doctrine of the Lord Jesus being the only way to Heaven. Our Saviour said Himself in John 14 v 6 that He was the only way, and this was re-iterated by Peter in Acts 4 v 12 "...there is salvation in no-one else..."
However, one question that often perplexes people is the title of this article - "What about those who have never heard?" As a young Christian back in the 1970s this question used to disturb me and I sought the advice and counsel of older Christians for the answer. It troubled me to think that a person could be living in a remote area and never hearing the Gospel; would such a one be cast into Hell? Surely it's not their fault that they have never heard?
Various answers have been suggested to this question. One states that as God is just He will do right by them. We read in Genesis 18 v 25 that the Judge of all the earth "will do right". Another answer is that if a person is truly searching for God, having seen His handiwork in nature, then God will reward such a search by bringing the Gospel across that person's path. The Biblical reference for this would be Jeremiah 29 v 13 "If you search for me with all your heart you will find me". Moreover, Cornelius in Acts chapter 10 was a devoutly religious man who was searching for God and the Lord brought Peter across his path with the Gospel.
There is nothing wrong with the above answers, they are Biblically valid. However, there is another answer that we often don't give consideration to and it runs like this - in John 6 v 37 the Lord Jesus said "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out". It is clear from the Bible that those given to Jesus by the Father are those who have been elected in accordance with foreknowledge as we read in 1st Peter 1 v 2. Moreover, Ephesians 1 v 4 tells us that such have been chosen in Christ before the world was created.
What does this tell us? Simply this - before the world was made God the Father gave His Son a people, chosen "in accordance with foreknowledge" and that every one of those people would come to believe Christ at some point in their lives. Such a person may be living in a remote area with no chance, humanly speaking, of hearing the Gospel, and God will bring the truths of Christ to the hearing or sight of that person.
Consequently, in the light of this glorious truth we can have absolute confidence in the sovereignty of God. The golden chain of redemption in Romans 8 v 29-30 is crystal clear "Those whom He did foreknow He also did predestine to be conformed to the image of His Son..........whom He did predestine, them He also called; and whom He called He also justified, and whom He justified He also glorified."
God is sovereign, He WILL ensure that all those given to Christ will hear the Gospel and be saved.
However, one question that often perplexes people is the title of this article - "What about those who have never heard?" As a young Christian back in the 1970s this question used to disturb me and I sought the advice and counsel of older Christians for the answer. It troubled me to think that a person could be living in a remote area and never hearing the Gospel; would such a one be cast into Hell? Surely it's not their fault that they have never heard?
Various answers have been suggested to this question. One states that as God is just He will do right by them. We read in Genesis 18 v 25 that the Judge of all the earth "will do right". Another answer is that if a person is truly searching for God, having seen His handiwork in nature, then God will reward such a search by bringing the Gospel across that person's path. The Biblical reference for this would be Jeremiah 29 v 13 "If you search for me with all your heart you will find me". Moreover, Cornelius in Acts chapter 10 was a devoutly religious man who was searching for God and the Lord brought Peter across his path with the Gospel.
There is nothing wrong with the above answers, they are Biblically valid. However, there is another answer that we often don't give consideration to and it runs like this - in John 6 v 37 the Lord Jesus said "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out". It is clear from the Bible that those given to Jesus by the Father are those who have been elected in accordance with foreknowledge as we read in 1st Peter 1 v 2. Moreover, Ephesians 1 v 4 tells us that such have been chosen in Christ before the world was created.
What does this tell us? Simply this - before the world was made God the Father gave His Son a people, chosen "in accordance with foreknowledge" and that every one of those people would come to believe Christ at some point in their lives. Such a person may be living in a remote area with no chance, humanly speaking, of hearing the Gospel, and God will bring the truths of Christ to the hearing or sight of that person.
Consequently, in the light of this glorious truth we can have absolute confidence in the sovereignty of God. The golden chain of redemption in Romans 8 v 29-30 is crystal clear "Those whom He did foreknow He also did predestine to be conformed to the image of His Son..........whom He did predestine, them He also called; and whom He called He also justified, and whom He justified He also glorified."
God is sovereign, He WILL ensure that all those given to Christ will hear the Gospel and be saved.
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