What is the word of the Lord to Britain?
What is the word of the Lord to Britain today as we grieve for the families of those who lost their lives in this latest act of terrorism that has shocked the nation?
The enemies of peace have struck a blow at the very heart of our civilisation and democracy with the indiscriminate murder of innocent civilians going about their ordinary daily lives in the tourist centre of London. It is a crime of unspeakable savagery that is hard to imagine how any human being can carry it out – to deliberately drive a car at pedestrians and to attack an unarmed policeman with a knife.
First: we can be sure that God is grieving with those who have lost loved ones and is reaching out to them in his compassion and comfort. This is where the Christian scriptures penetrate the darkness and wickedness of humanity by reminding us that “God is love; and whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16).
The Apostle John also reminds us that “If anyone says, ‘I love God’, yet hates his brother, he is a liar. Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:19-21). Although this was addressed to Christians, its teaching also means that we should reach out in love to our Muslim neighbours who are no doubt fearful of retribution falling upon them because a fellow Muslim has carried out this atrocity in the name of Allah, their god. We have to remember that not all Muslims follow the creed that has been embraced by Islamic State.
Speaking the Truth about Islamic Terror
Nevertheless, a great danger facing us is that we do not know how many radicalised Islamists there are in Britain (or any other Western nation) today, which creates fear and uncertainty. This is not helped by the problem that most Muslims have not integrated into Western society but remain a separate enclave. We do not know what they teach in mosques as much of their teaching is in Arabic. This inevitably creates suspicion.
Christian scriptures penetrate the darkness and wickedness of humanity by reminding us of God’s love.
Ik Aldama/DPA/PA ImagesThe terrorist who drove the car and killed people in Westminster was doing exactly what Islamic State has called for in a statement that has many references to the Qur’an, where Muhammad calls upon Muslims to kill Christians and Jews. A small part of the statement is quoted below:
If you are not able to find an IED1 or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman, or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him.2
If this statement shocks us, it is because our Western leaders and the media have been brainwashing us for years with lies about Islam being a religion of peace. These lies are now coming back to haunt our leaders – both politicians and church leaders.
It is dangerous to say that terrorism has nothing to do with Islam – it has everything to do with Islam, because it is the policy that Muhammad established for the forcible propagation of the Islamic faith. But there is a conspiracy of silence in the Western media and among our political leaders to suppress the truth. The only journalist I know in Britain who tells the truth is Melanie Phillips, who published an excellent article on this subject yesterday.3
This is a Spiritual Battle
There will be no peace in the Western nations where Muslims have settled in great numbers during the past 40 years until we recognise the spiritual nature of the battle that is raging across our part of the world today. Part of this battle for truth is between the teaching and practice of Jesus and the teaching and practice of Muhammad.
Surely even secular humanists can see that it is better for humanity to follow the teaching of the man who said “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy’. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:43).
By contrast, Muhammad’s teaching was, “And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists [Christians and Jews] wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush." (Al-Tawbah 9:5).
Part of the battle for truth is between the teaching and practice of Jesus and that of Muhammad.
Alerting Us to Danger
If we return to our original question at the beginning of this article, we need to ask: Why did the Lord allow this act of terrorism to happen in Westminster? Could it be that God is using Islam to shake the nation, alerting us to the major spiritual battle that is taking place for the soul of Britain?
This battle is typified by the woolly-minded politically correct platitudes that have come from our politicians since the attack on Parliament, such as the statement by Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who said:
The British people will be united in working together to defeat those who would harm our shared values. Values of democracy, tolerance and the rule of law. Values symbolised by the Houses of Parliament. Values that will never be destroyed.4
It is platitudes like this that have got us into the problems we face today! We can no longer go on sweeping the real issues under a secular humanist carpet. The issues we face are far too serious! It is a battle between truth and lies, between the forces of light and the forces of darkness of which Islam is a part. The liberal intelligentsia, who have been creating a climate of deception for decades, do not realise how they will suffer if Islam gains power in this land.
The Church is Responsible
Meanwhile, there has been no large-scale, co-ordinated strategy among mainline church leaders for communicating the truth of the Gospel to Muslims. It is the churches in Britain that are particularly responsible for the spiritual state of the nation!
The liberal intelligentsia do not realise how they will suffer if Islam gains power in this land.
But largely we have left Muslims to set up their own mosques, to bring in imams who do not speak a word of English and to establish separatist communities – a kind of voluntary apartheid – in Britain.
The city of Leicester is the only place I know where the churches have come together to form a united outreach to the Muslim community, though this is on a relatively small scale.
Overcoming Deception
There has been no national policy, from politicians or from the Church, of engaging with Muslim leaders to call for a critical examination of the Qur’an and the teaching and practice of Muhammad and its relevance for today, as Clifford Denton calls for in his article this week. Until this is done, the teaching of Islamic State, who claim to be followers of Muhammad, doing exactly as he did, will continue to be a thorn in the flesh of Western society.
We are suffering from a large dose of what Jesus described as spiritual deception:
Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand… For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. (Matt 13:13-15)
But how can the politicians in Westminster understand if they never hear the truth from church leaders – or even from the bishops in the Upper House of Parliament?
Surely God holds his Church responsible for the state of the nation today?
The sword of judgment fell very quickly upon David Cameron’s career when he crossed a red line, but even this message of warning was not heeded by Parliament. Is not this one of the reasons why God has now shaken the whole of Westminster?
References
1 Improvised Explosive Device.
2 Griffin, A. Isis told supporters to run French over with cars before Nice truck attack. The Independent, 15 July 2016.
3 In the midst of grief, still confusion. Melanie Phillips, 23 March 2017.
4 Home secretary: Terror will never destroy our values. ITV News update, 22 March 2017.
