Most Christians who take an interest in the affairs of the nation know that Britain is in a mess! This has been increasingly evident over the past 10 years as we have stumbled from one crisis to another.

7 July this year will be the 10th anniversary of the London bombings when 55 people lost their lives and hundreds were wounded. This showed that God’s protection had been removed from over the nation.

God Speaks

God always gives us forewarnings. The Prophet Amos said “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plans to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). But we have to be looking and listening, and able to interpret the signs that God sends.

The great hurricane in October 1987 was a dramatic warning that God sent. 15 million trees were felled, disrupting road and rail transport around the rich commuter area of London. It was followed 3 days later by a dramatic fall on the stock market. Both of these signs were rightly interpreted in the magazine Prophecy Today, but the warnings were not heeded.

When warning signs are ignored God says, “I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen” (Isa 65:12). There are inevitable consequences when we do not listen. Some more recent ones are listed in the article “What Is God Doing?”.

Consequences

The history of Israel recorded in the Bible shows the consequences when a nation refuses to heed the warnings that God sends to them: things start to fall apart in the life of the nation. It was at one of these times that the Psalmist cried out “Help, Lord, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men. Everyone lies to his neighbour; their flattering lips speak with deception” (Ps 12:1). In another of David’s Psalms he asked “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Ps 11:3).

The response of Christians should be, “Is there any word from the Lord?” (Jer 37:17) This was the question King Zedekiah asked the Prophet Jeremiah when the Babylonian army was surrounding Jerusalem. But it was too late then. He should have asked this question much earlier.

Is it too late for us? Is Britain already in a time of judgement?

Foundations Crumbling

Certainly, the Judaeo-Christian foundations of our nation have been steadily eroded over the past 40 years! We have passed one law after another that has undermined the biblical values of the nation:

• the Abortion Law has killed millions of unborn babies,
• the Sunday Trading Act has turned every day into a day of commerce with no time for the family, for quiet reflection and worshipping God,
• the Divorce Laws that the Bible says God hates have devastated family life (Mal 2:16), and most heinous of all political crimes:
• the Same-Sex Marriage Act, which actually dares to 'redefine' marriage, part of God’s act of creation!

So what can Christians do? The General Election gives an opportunity to eject ungodly MPs. But where are the godly men and women to replace them?

Here are a few things we can do.

1. Use your vote. Be determined to use your vote. And use it wisely.
2. Find out who your local candidates are and find all you can about them. If you have a sitting candidate discover how he or she voted on key questions such as the Same-Sex Marriage Act. Information on this is available on the Marriage Foundation’s website. Ask the candidates questions – for help look at the special election websites provided by Christian Concern and CARE.
3. Meet with other Christians and discuss the local situation and arrange to meet candidates. If there is no local meeting – organise one!
4. Read the Bible; study the word of God with other believers, especially the prophets.
5. Pray together: ask the Lord what should be done and decide on a plan of action. Agree to meet both before and after the election to pray for candidates and pray for the new MPs.
6. Get involved in local action instead of leaving it to the secular humanists. Paul says the whole “creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed” (Rom 8:19).

Time for Action

Surely it’s time for Christians to make the word of the Lord heard in this land! With Paul, we should be saying, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16). If we remain silent at such a time as this we will be accountable to the Lord for the mess in our nation.

Now is the time to awake from sleep; to rise up in the power of the Lord and declare the truth to a corrupt generation!

We need to pray for boldness and the power of God’s Spirit and he will certainly respond with the promise “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty” (Zech 4:6).