Hi Everyone

Present today: Pastor Jarryd, Mike & Peck.

I opened with John 19:

“After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

(John 19:28-30)

We spoke of how there is nothing we can do to add or take away from the Gospel. We prayed and thanked God for His perfect plan of salvation, for the awesome privilege of sharing this news, and for the boldness to do it!

It was a lovely day down at the shops – quite mild for winter!

I got a lift from Mike. When we got out of the car, Mike noticed 3 guys sitting on the park bench eating Asian snacks, and immediately made a beeline for them with tracts. They said they were from Myanmar and Thailand – Lah Moo Daw, Moo, & Win. They thought getting to heaven was as easy as being good. Mike took them through the law, and they discovered that they wouldn’t make it. They submitted the usual remedies – saying sorry, working harder, changing their ways. Mike showed then how it wouldn’t get them off a crime on earth, and therefore why it wouldn’t work with God. They couldn’t think of any other way, so Mike shared the only way, via the Gospel. They understood what he was saying and were very respectful. I didn’t see any heart change from them, but that part is up to God!

Josh – We decided to split up and have our own chats. It was then that I spotted Josh sitting on the bench by the playground. He was at first a bit suspicious of why I wanted to talk to him. Then he loosened up and started answering. He would end up in hell if he died tonight. It was when I got to the Gospel that his partner came nearby and started listening in. After a minute, she stormed into the conversation asking me to leave because they were here on a supervised visit of their grandson. I had no doubt not to believe her, but part of me was thinking that if I was talking about the weather or sports she wouldn’t have worried. I thanked him for the talk.

Pola – this Fijian man had his hands full trying to catch up with his young family, who were running amok. I asked him the afterlife question, and one of the older siblings took charge of the young ones. He was glad I asked the question, saying he was thinking of going back to church. I said that was a good idea, but would God save him for that alone? He said it would help. I decided to go straight to the law with Pola. He failed miserably with following the law, and agreed that God should send him to hell. I asked him how he could avoid his hell punishment, and he again pointed to going back to church, and reading the Bible to his family. I used a judge analogy to prove that no amount of good works would sway an innocent decision. I asked him on a scale of 1-100 how sure was he that he would go to heaven. He said 40%. I said the reason it’s only 40% is that he is relying on his good works, and so long as he is relying on himself, he could never be 100% sure. It was one of those situations where the listener knew and agreed with everything they heard, but not convicted enough to do anything about it. In other words, God was withholding His Holy Spirit from coming to repentance right there and then. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t leave a stone in his shoe. He told me he might come to our church  – a statement I’ve heard plenty of times but not yet witnessed. I told him that it was more urgent than that. As soon as he died he would be in hell if he didn’t place his trust in Christ for the forgiveness of his sins. I’m pretty sure it didn’t sink in, so all I could do was wish him well.

While I was waiting for Mike to finish a chat, I saw Johnny. He was standing in the sun with his beautiful black labrador named Xanthe. I asked him about the afterlife, and he said “Well,, not in the Christian-Judeo sense anyway”. It was interesting he should go directly there. I guess that since they hate Christ and everything He stands for, it will be an automatic response. I asked about creation / creator. He tried to dance around evolution. In the end he said I could be right, but so could all the other religions – another blanket statement designed to put me off and give up. If he was being sarcastic I would have. I tried different analogies to draw him into the law. He said he was a good person, so the conversation flowed a lot better, as he understood the mechanics of justice. He admitted that he would not meet God’s standards, and therefore would not make it to heaven – but then rebutted by bringing in all the other religions. What was to say that theirs is true and Christianity is false? He used that as an excuse to justify rubbishing all religion. Johnny said I was wasting my time trying to convert him to anything, so I shook his hand and scratched Xanthe’s ears. She liked that!

Matea – this young Pacific Island lady took a tract, and was eager to talk. She told me she was a Christian. I asked her how sure she was that she would go to heaven. I shouldn’t be surprised anymore – but her reply was 30-40%. There must be millions of deceived people out there walking around thinking they are right with God, but no sense of assurance. And with no assurance, God will give them what they deserve – a justified punishment based on who their trust is really in – themselves. I gave her a couple of examples of what true trust really looks like. Matea agreed with me, but her voice sounded lethargic like she didn’t care. She was eager to go, but I asked her for 2 minutes, and fortunately she agreed. I asked her How much of her sins did she think Christ died for? She said all of them. Not 30-40% of them? No, all of them. So if Jesus died for 100% of her sins, how much was left for her to pay for? Matea said zero. So if she had no sins left to pay for, how sure could she be that she would go to heaven? She said “100% I suppose”. I said that she didn’t sound very confident about that, and that tells me that her faith really wasn’t in Jesus, it was mostly Jesus and some of herself. And as soon as Jesus becomes number two or three or whatever, saving grace is forfeited. She said she really needed to go, thanked me for talking to her, and shook my hand. I said I hoped she would think about what we talked about, but I prayed that she would not be able to sleep without surrendering her trust in herself.

And that was my last chat for the day.

So it was still a great day out regardless of what we thought was going on with each person we talked to. We could read their faces, but only God knew their hearts. So what better hands to leave them in?

Blessings

Craig.