Battle Log

Saturday, 27 April, 2019

Posted 1 May 2019, 11:57 AM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink

On Saturday night in Brisbane City, as with every other day of the year God in His providence provided those he wanted the team to speak with. Evangelism is hard work. It isn't that articulating the gospel is a feat that is overly strenuous (though some gospel conversations take more effort than others), it is that investing in and caring about someone's eternity takes effort. It makes a lot of sense that Christ needed time alone with the Father and often retreated to have quiet time, compassion for the lost takes energy.

This evening was filled with fewer conversations than normal but these were conversations that were invested in strongly. It wasn't that lengthy apologetics took place, or all the questions raised were flawlessly answered but that whilst attempting to lead those spoken to, toward an understanding of the gospel, a great burden was carried knowing the reality of their eternity without Christ.

The first conversation was with two young men who came up to the table being silly and mocking and they asked for a Bible but they ended up walking away with far more than they had bargained for, they left with the gospel. These two young men were being silly but their silliness was cut short as they heard the seriousness of their sin, their current eternal destination and the only offer of hope. They ended up leaving quite abruptly but not before they had heard what God had done to save sinners.

Next was a conversation with two men, one of whom was headed for prison in three days. Sadly though, these men in their pride were opposed to God's gospel. They were unwilling to hear of what Christ has done, they simply wanted to try and justify themselves by pretending they weren't guilty, arguing that there was no God, followed by arguing that they weren't that bad. What was so sad was that these two men didn't have a good reason to reject the gospel. They didn't know it, they didn't have information that disproved it, they simply were to hard hearted, too much in love with sin to acknowledge that they had a problem.

The last two conversations of the evening were very different though. Eban and Eugene were chatting to another team member, trying to argue about the origin of the universe and how it couldn't be created by God, when they posed an idea that he wasn't sure how to answer. But rest assured there is a very simple answer to proclaimed "intellectual" arguments against the existence of God, the law. A quick segway was given, "That's an interesting question you raise but let me ask you, do you think you've ever told a lie before?" following into a straight forward gospel presentation, where many questions were asked leading Eban and Eugene to not raise another single objection against Christianity but instead ended up seriously pondering the good news of what Christ has done. It was beautiful to watch God's law at work, it truly did silence their mouths and enable the gospel to do its work.

Lastly was a conversation with Paul and Mary, Germans who had a church background but were living however they wanted, were trusting in their goodness to get them to Heaven and actually were more hoping for reincarnation. Paul and Mary were shown God's law and very quickly realised the seriousness of the conversation. The saw the penalty they deserved and how grave their position was. And with some helpful questions, simple analogies and patience, they came to comprehend the simple gospel of justification by faith alone that will be followed by obedience to God.

They were thankful for the discussion and said that for the first time in a long time light had been shed on this important issue in their lives. They were encouraged to open up their Bibles and to read the Gospel of John and to consider what had been said that they may trust in God for salvation!

Praise God that He continues to use those who were once His enemies to be the proclaimers of His grace and that He delights to display His wisdom through the foolish gospel! Please be praying that God may be gracious to those who heard His law or gospel tonight!