Muslims, Gnostics, and the Gospel – Southampton Evangelism

What a difference a day can make. Yesterday, our Salisbury outreach was cancelled due to heavy rain and strong winds, but today there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was perfect weather for evangelism in Southampton. With Christmas upon us, the city was busy. The increase in footfall also meant more people took tracts, spoke with us, and received copies of God’s Word.

The open-air preaching commenced when Mike spoke on the subject of “Symptoms”. In this message, he showed that certain common issues in our society are the result of turning away from God. There was good engagement, with people asking questions.

Over at the literature table, I had a good conversation with four young ladies. Three of them were cultural Christians, and one was an atheist. I was able to share some basic apologetics with them, and soon the atheist backslid to agnosticism. She admitted that God was there, but she wasn’t sure who He is. This allowed me to share the gospel and point them all to Jesus. All four gladly received copies of John’s Gospel.

It was then my turn to preach, so I spoke on “Christmas Signs”. In this message, I used different prophecies from the Old Testament to show that they were signs pointing to the coming of Christ. About halfway through my message, some youths asked what I was speaking about. When they heard, they revealed themselves to be Muslims and began to chant, “Allahu Akbar!” I replied by pointing out that ‘Allah’ must submit to the Lord Jesus. The chanting was then joined by some Muslim children, who all began to shout out the same call to their false god.

I decided the best way to deal with this attempt to silence the gospel was to tackle their beliefs head-on. I pointed out that the Qur’an is wrong in its account of the crucifixion of Jesus, and that Islam is a religion built in the air, as it has no foundation upon which to establish itself. As I addressed the claims of Islam, I noticed people beginning to stop, and locals started calling out in support of us. I am not interested in arguing with Muslims; I want them to see the truth, leave Islam, and come to the freedom found in Jesus Christ. With this in mind, I made sure to present the gospel. At the end of the open-air preaching, three people who had stopped to listen in support received copies of John’s Gospel.

Next up to preach was Ben, who took common objections people raise and used them as a means to present the gospel. He did a great job of clearly explaining the good news.

Jeremy preached next, speaking on the subject of “What’s Christmas Without Christ?” There was good engagement as people paused to listen. Richard then finished off the preaching by speaking on “Life: What’s the Point?”

I spoke with one man who had listened to Richard. He told me he was a ‘Christian Gnostic’. Those two words don’t go together, so I knew it would be an interesting conversation. The man rejected all biblical authority, except for the verses he believed justified his own views. He claimed that all of us have a ‘divine spark’ within us, and that Protestants are certainly wrong in their belief that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, and that Scripture alone has authority.

For over thirty minutes, we went back and forth on various points, but the man continued to rely on his own wisdom and intellect. The claims he made against Scripture were inaccurate, so there was much work to be done in correcting his beliefs. At one point, he said, “If God wanted me to believe what the Bible says, He would put something in my path to direct me that way.” I replied, “He has put something in your path to point you that way — me! But you won’t listen or believe.”

Eventually, I had to break away from the conversation, as the man was simply going round in circles and not seriously engaging. He was proud and full of his own wisdom. He heard the gospel and was called to repentance. I pray that the Lord would grant him salvation.

As we packed down the outreach, we were amazed at all the Lord had done. Many tracts had been handed out, and numerous people expressed a desire to read the Bible. May the Lord bless the sowing of the seed. Please pray for all those who heard the good news.

SDG!

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Josh Williamson is a full-time evangelist with The Open-Air Mission. Since 1853, OAM has been sharing the good news on the streets of the United Kingdom. To stay updated about the work of the Mission, please sign up for the free quarterly magazine and monthly prayer notes.

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