Battle Log
Saturday 13 June 2020
Posted 14 June 2020, 1:06 AM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink
Saturday night in the city was a thrill of an outreach! The levels of people out are basically back to normal and the result is lots of gospel conversations! The team of fourteen met up, prayed together, and spread out through King George Square and the nearby areas, seeking to engage people with the gospel.
The night was a whirlwind. In fact, after ten conversations, almost without a pause, the night was over! What an exciting three hours!
It all began with a man named Etchie. He is a Pastor's son and yet didn't know the gospel. He came to see how desperate his position is before God and that he was definitely on his way to Hell but when asked for the solution suggestion only "changing his life". He came then to hear the good news and was surprised by it. But was struggling with the challenge as he knew he wanted to hold onto his sin and the pleasure that it brings. He saw that God's rules are for his good and that no pleasure in this world is worth going to Hell for and was left with the sobering reminder, that death could come at any time and only those who trust in Christ alone, as the payment for their sin will enter Heaven.
There were six people who saw God's existence and that they were heading to Hell and then for one reason or another left. First were two guys who were trying to justify their sin and kept being shown how we know God exists and at one point, upon realising how serious this rejection was they left. Next was a "Mormon" girl and her bf who saw the gospel in part but said they preferred to live their own way and last was Jack and Jay, two Aussie guys who were a little intoxicated and ended up leaving without the answer to their biggest problem.
A brief chat with four teens, enabled them to piece together the good news of the gospel for the first time and ended with them being challenged to consider the seriousness of this response. But this was followed by a conversation with three Muslim men.
The first was a professing Christian, who went asked could not explain what Jesus said the way to Heaven was. The next was an immensely proud Muslim who had many words but every time he was scrutinised it was shown that all his bold claims were based on very little. He also kept trying to avoid the most important question, "How can someone who is guilty and deserves Hell not end up there".
He kept attacking the Bible as reliable but was constantly shut down with simple questions about it. The first time he raised it, he was asked if he'd read it? He said no. It was pointed out that it was unwise to criticise something you haven't read. He raised it again, he was asked what language it was written in. Again he didn't know. It was pointed out that it was probably unwise to criticise something he knows very little about. This repeated itself. At one point he said, "I know the Bible more than you". He was asked if he could summarise the main point of the Bible, how a guilty person gets to Heaven and again he had no answer. It was pointed out, that making claims, regarding something he knew nothing about was not a wise idea.
Finally as it came to a head, the trio was shown, that God declare Himself as just and yet they believed that He wouldn't uphold justice. They declare God as merciful and yet they argued that God would "let people off" based on merit. And lastly, they had no answer to how God paid for their sin, so that He could forgive. They were too resistant and would constantly avoid the question and sadly they didn't get to hear the good news.
But the finale was intense. The "leader" declared that Jesus never claims to be God. He was challenged, "If I can be demonstrated where Jesus claims to be God, would you at least listen to what He declares is the way of salvation?" He agreed begrudgingly and then the group listened to John 10:27-33.
The first two verses were read, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand."
They were asked, "Who gives them eternal life?" (Jesus, and it was pointed out that only God has the power to give eternal life) and "Whose hands are the sheep in?" (Jesus' hands). Then the next verse was read, " My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand."
It was re-iterated, "Whose hands are the sheep in?". This time it says, "The Father's hand". The point, Jesus and the Father have the same "hands". They both together have the sheep in their hands because as Jesus says in the next verse, "I and the Father are one". At this moment, their anger was rising but to emphasise the next two verses were read, with the question asked, "How did the hearers of this respond?"
"The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The final nail in the coffin, "Why did the Jews try to stone Jesus?"
The final verse was read, "The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”"
They had no argument, they had no answer, the only thing the ringleader could get out of the overflow of his heart to his mouth, "That is utter #$^%%#$".
He had nothing. The text was clear, Jesus declares Himself as the one who gives eternal life, one with the Father and they left in anger, cursing the God who gave them life, pursing an idol who cannot save. It was made clear to these men over the course of the discussion that the desperate desire for them was that they would not end up in Hell. Please be praying that would be the case, that they really would consider the fatal flaws of their idol and come to the true and living God who is able to uphold justice, give mercy and forgive sinners based on His own righteous work, in the person of Jesus Christ!
View previous Brisbane (QLD) report (6 June 2020)
Brisbane Team (Night) (QLD)
Meets Fridays (7-10pm) & Saturdays (6-9pm) & Sundays (7:30-9:30pm) in King George Square.
Contact Ryan Hemelaar for more information.