A biblical understanding of repentance.

Idolatry is not hidden from the Lord.

“Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my name, and say, ‘We are safe’ - safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching!” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 7:9-11)

This would rank highly among the most devastating pronouncements of any of the prophetic writings in the Bible. The phrase “I have been watching!” was designed to strike terror into the hearts of the people. It is part of Jeremiah’s famous ‘Temple Sermon’, spoken to the crowds at the gate of the Temple, in which he highlighted six outstanding sins: false religion, injustice, oppression, violence, idolatry and immorality.

Spreading Idolatry

This incident in front of the Temple is generally thought to have been delivered near the end of the reign of Jehoiakim in the late 7^th Century BC. Ever since the death of Josiah in 608 BC Jeremiah had been bringing warnings to the people of Judah and especially to those in Jerusalem about the idolatrous practices that were increasingly gaining a hold on the nation, especially in the countryside. These practices had now spread into the streets of Jerusalem and onto the rooftops of the houses.

The people were ignoring their covenant relationship with the Lord, which had been renewed by Josiah following the discovery of a scroll of the Torah while carrying out repairs of the Temple. Jeremiah had added his voice to the strong warnings about the consequences of breaking the covenant and worshipping foreign gods. It was not just at the hilltop shrines, but actually in the streets of Jerusalem that people were offering worship to the ‘Queen of Heaven’, the pagan goddess Astarte.

Ever since the death of King Josiah, Jeremiah had been bringing warnings to the people of Judah about the idolatrous practices that were increasingly gaining a hold on the nation.

Whole families were involved in idolatrous practices: “The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger” (7:18).

The theme of the so-called Temple Sermon was designed to shock the people into facing up to the reality of the situation. They were not only indulging in idolatry of a particularly repulsive kind with Astarte, the goddess of fertility, but their social life was full of self-indulgence that included violence and immorality. They were breaking all the commandments at the heart of the Torah.

Safe?!

Jeremiah then reminded them of what had happened to Shiloh, the most ancient sacred place in Israel that had not been spared from destruction. Jeremiah recalled how the people in the northern Kingdom had not listened to any of the prophetic warnings God had sent to them, so he had allowed Shiloh to be destroyed. God was now warning that this would actually happen to the Temple in Jerusalem, in which the nation of Judah was putting its trust.

The word of the Lord was “I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim.” Jeremiah was then told to stop praying for the welfare of the people of Judah: “Do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you” (7:16).

Three times Jeremiah was given the same command to stop praying for the welfare of the nation. This is the first, and it occurs in the midst of a most shattering passage where God spelled out to the people the reason why he was giving notice of his intention to withdraw his covering of protection over the nation, over the city of Jerusalem and over the Temple that bore his name.

Three times Jeremiah was given the same command to stop praying for the welfare of the nation.

Jeremiah must have almost choked when he spoke the words in today’s reading – “Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal…And then say ‘we are safe’…? Safe?!” He thundered. “Safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my name, become a den of robbers to you?"

This was followed by the most devastating words in the whole of the prophecy: “‘But I have been watching’, declares the Lord!” God was watching and taking notice. He could see all that was going on that was in direct contravention of the teaching he had given to Moses. He was watching; and he knew that the people of Israel were breaking the covenant, thereby sealing the death warrant of the nation.

Timeless Message

500 years later, Jesus, who probably knew Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon by heart, said almost the same words as he swept through the outer courtyard of the Temple with a whip in his hand, driving out the sheep and the cattle, overturning the moneychangers’ tables, sending their money clattering to the ground, creating chaos and forcing the merchants to flee from his wrath. “My house will be a house of prayer for all nations”, Jesus declared, “But you have made it a den of robbers” (Mark 11:17).

2,000 years later this same message is coming to the nations of the West whose civilisation is crumbling before their eyes, but every warning has been ignored. They have eyes and ears, but they neither see nor hear. They have had the Bible for centuries; they know the truth, and yet they have deliberately turned away to worship the gods of this world. “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie” (Rom 1:25). “‘But I have been watching!’ declares the Lord”.

This article is part of a series on the life and ministry of the Prophet Jeremiah. Click here for previous instalments.

Do not be hasty to point the finger at MPs.

No-one can deny that the nation is in a great crisis. The antics in the House of Commons in the past couple of months have been exposed to the world through television and reports in the British press. It has not been a pretty sight to see all our politicians shouting at each other and no-one listening to anyone else. Passions have been reaching fever pitch, yet no clear majority view has been emerging.

The plain truth is that nobody knows what to do or how to solve the problems that face the nation. Most of our MPs know what they do not like, but they are short on solutions.

The massive majority of the vote to reject Theresa May’s deal brought together people with vastly opposing views; but they were all in agreement on one thing – they did not like what was on offer. Even the Remainers who prefer to stay within the European Union voted against the deal because it would have reduced Britain to the status of having to observe EU rules and regulations without having any say in their formulation.

No Standard of Truth

As we have said many times in these editorials, there are no political solutions to the problems confronting the nation and this is the reason why there is such confusion. Our MPs do not understand the issues, because they have lost the objective standard of truth provided by the biblical foundations of our Judeo-Christian faith that has provided stability and direction for the nation over many centuries.

Without that standard of truth there is no yardstick for measuring different proposals. It allows the propagation of lies and the use of fear to promote proposals that have no basis in truth, such as the fear of leaving the EU with ‘no deal’. It is said that this will collapse the British economy. But less than half of our exports are linked to the European Union and Europe sells us £95 billion more in goods annually than we sell to them!¹ That’s the trade deficit with the EU.

As we have said many times in these editorials, there are no political solutions to the problems confronting the nation and this is the reason why there is such confusion.

It is clearly a pack of lies that our economy will collapse! Once we are free of obligations to the EU, we can do deals with the rest of the world and our economy will flourish if we put our trust in the Lord. But the truth is hidden from the British people by the lies of those who have no trust in God and no understanding of the way he blesses a nation that is founded upon righteousness and the teaching of the word of the Lord.

Lack of Vision

But who is to blame for the fact that our politicians have little or no knowledge of biblical teaching? Why are there so few voices in Parliament championing Judeo-Christian values? And why do only a minority of committed Christians engage in politics?

The simple answer to these questions is that church leaders and preachers do not rightly handle the word of the Lord, so the truth of God’s word does not get embedded in the lives of churchgoers, let alone those who have loose connections with the Church.

This is largely because most preachers lack prophetic vision - they no longer fearlessly declare the word of the Lord in their churches, or prophetically relate biblical teaching to social and national issues. They give nice, cosy little homilies on biblical themes that lack the dynamic thrust of the two-edged sword of the Lord. So, we now have a generation of closet Christians with no mission to transform the nation. If the whole word of the Lord is not heard in church, it will not reach out into the nation.

Silent Church

Let me put a plain question to all those of you who go to church regularly: when was the last time you heard the minister address national issues in the context of the word of God? Do you regularly hear from the pulpit the teaching of the Bible – both the word of God through the Prophets of Israel and the Gospel proclaimed by Jesus and taught by the apostles – expounded and applied, not only to personal and local issues, but also to national issues that our politicians and leaders are having to face?

In your church do you pray for the nation? Do you have intercessions for those in authority (1 Tim 2:2), where you pray for your town council, or your city council, or your Member of Parliament, or the Government, or the Queen?

If the whole word of the Lord is not heard in church, it will not reach out into the nation.

Why is the Church so silent on national issues and so separated from the world in which we all live? When was the last time you heard a sermon unpacking the Bible and applying its truth to current issues? Do you ever hear the preacher explaining the word of the Lord revealed through the Prophets in the Bible – Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel?

When did you last hear the basic teaching of the Torah expounded in your church?

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (Deut 6:4-7)

This surely shows that responsibility for passing on the faith rests not only with church leaders, but with ordinary believers. Do you impress biblical teaching in your conversation with your children or grandchildren? Do you talk about the word of the Lord at home and when you walk along the street?

We have no right to criticise our Members of Parliament for not knowing biblical truth if we have not rightly handled the word of the Lord in our own family, or among our friends and neighbours.

Reformation Starts with You and Me

Of course, the nation is in a mess; but who is really to blame? In biblical times God always held the preachers and prophets responsible for the nation – as Jeremiah said:

My people do not know the requirements of the Lord…actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely…From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. (Jer 8:7-11)

Can the same charge be levelled at the Church today? Not just the preachers: all of us, to some extent, bear responsibility. Should we not all be weeping before the Lord in repentance? The reformation of the nation does not start in Westminster: it starts in the Church - with you and me.

References

1 Statistics on UK-EU trade. Research Briefing, House of Commons Library, 30 November 2018.

We need to be honest about the root causes of our national problems.

In last week’s Editorial we said that successive Governments have undermined the central importance of marriage and family, thereby damaging the social stability of the nation. This is a major reason why we are now seeing so many children and young people who have no understanding of right and wrong and whose behaviour is uncontrollable. And this is why so many young people are dying on our city streets in a wave of knife crime, drugs and gang warfare.

20 years ago, I was working with Home Secretary Jack Straw MP, compiling a report to Members of Parliament on the health of the family in Britain. It was presented in July 1998 at a meeting in the Moses Room (appropriately) - with its great wall murals depicting Moses receiving the 10 Commandments.

Mr Straw promised a White Paper stressing the importance of measures to strengthen family and marriage in Britain. In a Green Paper, Supporting Families, he had correctly stated that marriage was the most reliable framework for raising children: but this caused dissension from LGBT members in the Cabinet which prevented him from issuing the White Paper or taking any concrete measure to support and strengthen married families.

The rallying cry of the secular humanists driving Government policy was “the family is not deteriorating, it is only changing”. They said that all kinds of family are of equal value. This was the beginning of Government policy focusing upon ‘equality’. Hence the value of the married couple family could not be taught in school in case a child from a single-parent family was made to feel inferior.

The rallying cry of the secular humanists driving Government policy was “the family is not deteriorating, it is only changing”. They said that all kinds of family are of equal value.

In defiance of all the evidence, children were taught what is now known as ‘alternative facts’ (laying the groundwork for ‘fake news’!). This was a milestone in the reshaping of Britain in accordance with secular humanist objectives.

Church and State Collude

At that time, the Lords and Commons Family and Child Protection Group recognised that child poverty, ill health, drug abuse, mental health problems and youth crime all stem from marriage failure and family breakdown. The evidence was said to be conclusive and incontrovertible, but ‘political correctness’ prevented the Government dealing with these root issues. In the Foreword to the Report The Cost of Family Breakdown it was stated:

Different sexual and child rearing lifestyles are decisively not ‘equal’ in the sense of ‘equality’ that is applied in all other areas of legislation; that is, ‘equal’ in their average results for good or harm on the present population and on generations to come.

Although the Report was received warmly by MPs on both sides of the House and in the Upper House, there was no change in Government policy. It was as though a veil was drawn over the eyes of politicians of all parties shielding them from the truth.

Worse was to come: at the time this report was published in July 2000, an Education Bill dealing with what pupils should be taught in school about sex and child-rearing was going through Parliament. A peer attempted to include Jack Straw’s statement in Supporting Families saying that “marriage is the most reliable framework for raising children”.

The Government fiercely opposed teaching children the truth that married families are the most reliable unit for raising children. There were extraordinary scenes in the Lords with the largest turnout of the session. No fewer than 234 peers voted against the Amendment, including nine bishops! It was a very tight vote and if the nine bishops had voted the other way it would have been carried. So, the Church of England’s representatives in Parliament voted against holy matrimony being taught to children in the schools of Great Britain!

In 2000, Church and State colluded to destroy family and marriage on one of the saddest days in our Parliamentary history.

Church and State colluded to destroy family and marriage on one of the saddest days in our Parliamentary history. Therefore, surely, in the sight of God, the Church of England must be held responsible for what we are now seeing on our city streets!

Veil of Deception

The veil of deception is still over the eyes of senior Church leaders today. I have seen evidence showing that the Bishop of Liverpool, a strong LGBTQ+ supporter, is using his power to prevent evangelical clerics from being appointed to Liverpool churches.

The Methodist Church has appointed a homosexual man as their National Director of Evangelism with the specific intention of creating more LGBTQ-friendly inclusivity; and the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster has banned evangelist David Hathaway from hiring it. He held a prayer meeting there last month but evidently said some things that were unpopular with some of the staff.

As I said in my recent book, The Reshaping of Britain,

The intensity of the great shaking of the nations is increasing rapidly. We may all soon be engulfed in a modern ‘Babylon’ of unbelievable intensity. But God is offering to Christians the most incredible opportunity, because only those who have put their trust in him will be able to stand and be overcomers.

Spiritual, Not Political

What we need to recognise is the hand of God in the deepening national crisis! Truth being upturned in the public square, confusion over Brexit, violence on the streets, soaring mental health problems, public institutions on the verge of collapse: all speak of a nation under judgment – both Church and State.

We have turned the word of God upside-down and he is saying, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight” (Isa 5:20-21).

We need to recognise the hand of God in our deepening national crisis!

As the Brexit crisis deepens and the confusion among politicians increases, we have to recognise that there are no political solutions to our problems, because they are primarily spiritual.

The cleverest politicians in the land will not solve the present crises! The only solution – the only way forward for the nation – is repentance and turning to the word of God. If we do this, whether we have a deal OR no deal, God will reach out and restore peace and prosperity to Britain. But if we simply continue as we are today, the result can only be catastrophe.

The People’s Vote

The people of Britain are being offered a choice at this astonishing juncture in our national history. This is the true ‘people’s vote’!! Joshua presented the same choice to the people of Israel: “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Josh 24:15). To the people of Britain, the choice is whether we will serve ourselves, and the pagan gods of the European Union, or the God of the Bible who has preserved us and so richly blessed our forefathers in times past.

To Christians in Britain, the choice is whether we will stand up and declare the truth, or stay silent. The good news is that it is always in times when God shakes the nations that the greatest opportunities for evangelism are presented.

Why has God blessed Britain so much?

As we bring our short series to an end it is clear that we have barely scratched the surface of what God has done for Britain.

When God cut a covenant with Abraham, that he would be the father of many nations, and even when Jesus suffered on the Cross, making the New Covenant available to the whole world, it nevertheless remained hidden just how much God would do for nations such as ours. Yet history is full of testaments to God’s loving kindness towards the people of the British Isles.

But why have we chosen to write a book of remembrance, echoing Malachi 3:16?

Pleasing God Through Obedience

One reason is that we learn from the Book of Malachi that it pleased God for the people of Judah to recall his goodness to them (Mal 3:16-18). So, surely our remembrances might please God today in the same way – it is a good thing to do at any time.

Secondly, remembering is a principle built into the yearly cycle of the Feasts of the Lord. For example, at Passover deliverance from Egypt is remembered, which in New Covenant terms brings remembrance of the Lord’s sacrifice for sin – “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). Quite simply, if we do not remember, then we will forget.

History is full of testaments to God’s loving kindness towards the people of the British Isles.

Thirdly, we live in days of great decline from the ways of God, particularly in Britain. In such days we can easily meditate only on the negative aspects of our times. Remembering God’s help in times past can give us a balanced perspective and, indeed, kindle our hope again, leading to thankfulness and renewed prayer:

Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. (Habakkuk 3:2)

Fourthly, we live in a generation where more and more people, especially the young, have little knowledge of what God has done for us in the past. They must be taught.

Understanding His Deeper Purposes

But I think there is also another reason, deeper down, to be understood. As we set out all that God has done and consider it in prayer before him, we may find that he grants us a new perspective on what he is doing now, today.

God is always moving forward in fulfilment of his covenant promises. Historically, Britain has been greatly used as part of this – as a base for sending forth the Gospel message around the world, and also in helping to fulfil God’s purposes for Israel – working to prevent satan from annihilating the Jewish race in World War II, and participating (albeit imperfectly) in enabling the Jews to re-establish the land of Israel.

If we can understand some deeper reasons behind the blessings God bestowed upon Britain, we might wake up to what he is doing in our day.

As we consider what God has done for us in the past, we may find that he grants us a new perspective on what he is doing now, today.

As the nations fall into disarray, having had 2,000 years of opportunity for hearing the Gospel, the scene is set for God’s final plans for Israel to be fulfilled prior to the return of the Messiah. To put the past in perspective might enable us to understand where the time-clock of covenant history is now, so that we might participate in rather than oppose the work of God today.

Would God be pleased with us if, in our Bible study and prayer groups, we spent some more time recalling past blessings and asking him to show us how to prepare for and pray concerning the future? I think this is the deeper reason why we have been led to begin writing our Book of Remembrance.

This is the final instalment in our short summer series 'Our Book of Remembrance'. You can read the rest of the series by clicking here.

A study on eternal judgment.

In our final article on the basic principles of Hebrews 6, Campbell MacAlpine turns to the subject of eternal judgment.

We now come to the last of the six truths which should be absorbed into our lives if we are going to continually advance to maturity. We considered in the previous two articles the glorious prospect and hope for the Christian who dies before Jesus returns. However, as well as a resurrection of the just, there is also a resurrection of the unjust. As well as salvation, there is condemnation; as well as heaven there is hell; as well as there being eternal bliss, there is also eternal judgment.

Why should this teaching be so important? How should it affect our lives? There are various answers:

• We should be continually grateful to God that he ever saved us. Daily we should be thankful for his mercy to us, and that he has “delivered us from wrath to come”. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him” (Rom 5:89).
  
• We should continually desire to see people saved. The truth is that man without Christ is lost, and lost forever. We are called to be signposts to Jesus, to intercede for the lost, and to be available to bring the good news of the Gospel so that people can be saved from eternal judgment. As the old hymn puts it, “Rescue the perishing, care for the dying.”
  
• We should present the truth of the Gospel. Paul could boldly declare, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew; then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Rom 1:16-18).

Paul states that the Gospel reveals two things: the righteousness of God and the wrath of God.

The Righteousness of God

First, the Gospel reveals that for man, who is totally unrighteous and can do nothing to make himself righteous, Christ's righteousness has been imputed to him when he believes in the Lord Jesus. “There is no-one righteous, not even one” (Rom 3:10); “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21) and “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

Paul states that the Gospel reveals two things: the righteousness of God and the wrath of God.

What a powerful, life-changing message is contained in the Gospel. How gracious of God to pronounce a ‘not guilty’ verdict on us when we came to him. How merciful of him to look upon us as righteous because on the Cross Jesus took our unrighteousness.

The Wrath of God

The second thing the Gospel reveals is God’s wrath; his holy and just anger against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the sceptre of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy” (Heb 1:8-9).

How is the wrath of God revealed?

• It is revealed in man’s conscience. If a man does something wrong, he knows it, and although he may not agree, knows his wrong deserves punishment. Therefore, his first impulse is to hide his sin.
  
• God’s wrath is revealed in history when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden. The wickedness of mankind increased and increased, until God in his holy justice had to intervene and everyone was destroyed when the Flood came, with the exception of eight people who were saved in the ark. God’s wrath on cities rife with immorality was revealed in Sodom and Gomorrah.
  
• As well as nations and cities, God's wrath against all ungodliness has been revealed in his judgments on individuals such as King Belshazzar, Korah, Gehazi, King Uzziah, King Herod, Ananias and Sapphira and the Corinthian believers failing to discern the Lord's Body during communion.
  
• God’s wrath is revealed in death. Satan lied to our first parents and assured them that if they disobeyed God they would not suffer – “you will not surely die” he whispered to them. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” Every time we pass a cemetery, or see a funeral, or read an obituary, we need to remember that the word of God declares, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23).
  
• However, the greatest revelation of God's wrath against sin is seen at the Cross. There we see what it cost the Lord Jesus, sinless, holy, spotless, pure, taking the punishment for our sins, taking the judgment, taking the wrath, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Hallelujah, what a Saviour! “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isa 53:5).

The greatest revelation of God’s wrath against sin is seen at the Cross.

Importance of Warning

There are two essential contents of good teaching. One is feeding, and the other is warning. When you study the ministry of the Lord Jesus you find that his teaching was punctuated by warnings. “Watch out for false prophets”; “Be on your guard against men”; “Watch out! be on your guard against all kinds of greed.”

You also find this content in the teaching of Paul and the other Apostles. When Paul was visiting the leaders in Ephesus for the last time he exhorted them to “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers”. Then he said, “…for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears” (Acts 20:28, 31).

So it is with the message of the Gospel. There is the proclamation and teaching of its glorious message which is “the power of God unto salvation.” It brings the wonderful invitation “whosoever will may come”, although the late Dr Tozer, in one of his wonderful writings, said the Gospel is not an invitation but an ultimatum: “God commandeth all men everywhere to repent.”

However, the message also brings a warning. The verse that says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned”, is the same verse that says, “whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18).

We do not seem to hear much warning today. When did you last hear a sermon on hell, or the wrath of God, or eternal punishment? I am not speaking about preachers taking delight in dangling their congregations over the hot flames or hell to try and scare them into the Kingdom of God. In years gone by that kind of preaching seemed to be quite prevalent. However, I think the pendulum has swung in the other direction.

Years ago I asked God never to allow me to preach about judgment unless my heart was filled with his love for the lost. In his faithfulness he has answered that prayer, sometimes causing others embarrassment. Although I have not been embarrassed, I have had to pause and weep.

In the same way that we cannot fully anticipate the joy awaiting the Christian, neither can we understand the desperate loss for those who reject the message of his love and grace. At a conference in Belgium some years ago, I sat next to a lady from a Middle Eastern country one lunch-time. In conversation I asked her how she came to know the Lord Jesus. She told me it was the result of a dream. She dreamt that she was in hell and described some terrors and horrors that were shown her. One thing that so impressed her was that there was fire but there was no light. She never rested until she came to the place of yielding her life to Christ. Yes, the message speaks of the righteousness of God, and the wrath of God.

In the same way that we cannot fully anticipate the joy awaiting the Christian, neither can we understand the desperate loss for those who reject the message of his love and grace.

What Then is Eternal Punishment?

There is no need to conjure up some human description or pass one’s personal opinion. The safest thing to do is simply take what the word of God says. Eternal punishment is:

• Eternal separation from God: “This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power” (2 Thess 1:7-9).
• Being in the company of the devil and his angels: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41).
• Darkness and sorrow: They “will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 8:12).
• Everlasting shame: “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake; some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan 12:2).
• A place of no return: Jesus gave one of the most revealing insights when he told the story in Luke 16, of the rich man and Lazarus. To the rich man who lived without God, and died without God, he said, “And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us” (Luke 16:26).

Who Will Be There?

Those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36). “If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15). “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practise magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death” (Rev 21:8).

In the light of this sobering truth it is good to know that God does not want “anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). How great is the love and grace of God in sending the Lord Jesus to die and rise again that we might be delivered from wrath to come. What confidence we can have in the Gospel. It is the power of God for salvation to all who will believe it. So let us be thankful for his salvation and his keeping power. Let us proclaim the good news of a Saviour, and let us go on to maturity.

Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptism, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment (Heb 6:1, NKJV).

Let us take as our resolve the words of the next verse, “This will we do…”

Questions

1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is an invitation, and also a warning. Why is the warning so important?
   
2. Why is it, do you think, that so little is preached about God’s wrath?
3. How will this teaching affect your life in the future?
4. Why do you think that Jesus preached more about hell than anyone else?

This article is part of a series. Click here for previous instalments.

A word from Dr Clifford Hill.

For several weeks, in my prayer times, I have been hearing something I did not want to hear. The weekend before last, at a team retreat with Issachar Ministries trustees and the Editorial Board of Prophecy Today, I shared with them the message that I’m hearing – “stop praying for the nation”.

This sounds outrageous, but before you pick up stones to throw at me, please join me in a little Bible study. The Prophet Jeremiah spent 40 years of his life bringing God-inspired warnings to the people of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah. He pleaded with them to repent of their idolatry, injustice, oppression, violence and immorality; all of which are detailed in his famous ‘Temple Sermon’ in chapter 7.

He constantly pleaded with God on behalf of the nation for mercy and for God’s continuing protection, even though he knew the people to be unworthy of the Lord’s blessings.

But there came a point where God told Jeremiah to stop praying for the nation as he would no longer listen to his pleas. His Temple Sermon concluded with a striking passage:

Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”…?

Jeremiah then almost exploded,

Safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.

This was followed by the Lord’s declaration, “I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim.” This was followed by a direct command to Jeremiah, “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you” (Jer 7:16).

Jeremiah constantly pleaded with God for mercy on behalf of the nation, but there came a point where God told him to stop praying.

Repeated Warnings Ignored

Three times Jeremiah was given the same instruction, to cease praying for the nation. The other two times are in 11:14 and 14:11. The latter enables us to understand just what God was saying. It says, “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not pray for the well-being of this people. Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.’”

You notice that God did not say that he would not listen if they repented, but that he was no longer interested in their ritual religious offerings while they continued all their idolatrous practices and showed no trust in him. This is very similar to what Isaiah had said some 200 years earlier:

The multitude of your sacrifices – what are they to me? Says the Lord. I have had more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals…When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. (Isa 1:11, 15)

God had been calling for repentance for 40 years and his words, through Jeremiah, had been ignored. The corruption in the nation had now reached the point where the people were being driven by evil forces that made them blind to the danger facing them and deaf to the warnings they were given.

After giving his Temple Sermon, God said to Jeremiah, “When you tell them all this they will not listen to you; when you call to them they will not answer. Therefore, say to them, this is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips” (Jer 7:27).

Disaster Inevitable

I believe this is the situation we have reached in Britain – not only in the nation where our politicians are squabbling among themselves in confusion and the BBC forces homosexual propaganda on us on a daily basis, but also in the Church of England, our official state church, which has departed from the truth. As Charles Gardner pointed out two weeks ago, the Archbishop of York declared to the General Synod that the Bible should be ignored and measures passed to please lesbians and homosexuals.

The Synod also voted to call on the Government to ban the practice of ‘conversion therapy’ for gay people and is considering whether transgender people could be given special church services to celebrate their new gender identity. 25 years ago David Noakes sent a prophetic warning to Dr George Carey, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury. The warning is even more relevant and urgent today.

Surely the Lord is saying of the Church of England: “Truth has perished from their lips!”

I believe this is the situation we have reached in Britain - not only in the nation but also in the Church of England.

Justine Greening, the lesbian Secretary of State for Education who is determined to brainwash all our children with LGBT values from the age of five, put further pressure upon the Church last month saying, that if churches do not perform same-sex marriages they are “not part of a modern country”.¹ Our politicians and our church leaders are colluding to distort the truth and deceive the nation: “truth has perished from their lips!”

By contrast this week, the Archbishop of Uganda has stated that he will not attend the next meeting of Anglican leaders because he cannot have fellowship with those who deny biblical truth. Good for him!

God holds his Church primarily responsible for the spiritual and moral state of the nation. When the church becomes as corrupt as the nation, judgment becomes inevitable.

This is the reason why I can no longer pray for the welfare of this nation. I cannot pray, “Peace! Peace!” When the Lord is saying: “There is no peace!” I believe some kind of catastrophe is now inevitable in order to open eyes that are blind and ears that are deaf, and the Lord will use it to bring the nation to our knees. I also believe that this is the only way that God’s salvation is going to reach this nation.

A Coming Harvest!

In the 40 years before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in the year 586 BC, God raised up three prophets in Judah – Jeremiah, Zephaniah and Habakkuk. All three brought strong warnings to the people; but all three saw beyond the catastrophe to the time of restoration, blessing and prosperity that would follow.

I am convinced that there will be a great spiritual awakening and harvest for the Kingdom in Great Britain with multitudes being saved - but it will not happen until there is repentance and turning. Just as many people whose lives are broken by sin, hear the Gospel and respond with joy as their sins are forgiven and they come into a right relationship with God, the same can happen with the nation.

I believe that some kind of catastrophe is now inevitable in order to open eyes that are blind and ears that are deaf.

For many years God has been warning that the time will come when he will shake all nations. The prophecy of Haggai 2:6-7, repeated in Hebrews 12, is coming true today: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations’”. Note also that the prophecy concludes with a promise of restoration, “I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord Almighty”.

I am looking forward to the great spiritual awakening that will follow the great shaking! I can no longer plead with God to spare this nation from the judgment we so richly deserve. My prayer now is, “Make the shaking effective, Lord! And work out your good purposes!”

References

1 Interview with Sky News, 23 July 2017.

Helen Belton concludes our series on the letters to the churches of Revelation 2-3.

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realise that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

(Revelation 3:14-22)

The seventh and final letter to the churches in Revelation 3 is to Laodicea, a city known for its wool industry, situated 11 miles west of Colossae and with a large Jewish community. It was in an area prone to earthquakes – but its prosperity was such that when an earthquake struck in 60 AD, the population were able to refuse financial help from Rome for the rebuild.¹

Blazing Forth Light

As with the previous letters, it is addressed to the “angel of the church”, perhaps suggesting that each church is represented in heaven by an angel. There are seven angels and seven churches. Seven is the divine number indicating completeness: “The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches” (Rev 1:20).

The lampstand imagery is derived from the seven-branched golden lampstand that stood in the Temple in Jerusalem, in Hebrew the menorah. Its light was a symbol of God’s Spirit shining in a dark world. The symbol of the seven churches as lampstands (menorot pl.) suggests that now the Temple is gone they are the ones meant to blaze forth God’s light into the darkness of their pagan surroundings to bring God glory: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:16).

In Scripture, seven is the divine number indicating completeness.

True, Faithful and Over All

In verse 14, the Lord Jesus is referred to as the “Amen”, which may echo Isaiah 65:16 where “the God of truth” is literally ‘the God of Amen’ (Heb. belohe amen).² The Hebrew word ‘Amen’ means to confirm or verify. The divine origin of the message is therefore being emphasised and we are also being reminded that the Lord Jesus speaks with the authority of ‘the God of Amen’ - the Lord God himself.

Jesus also has two further titles: the “faithful and true witness” and “the ruler of God’s creation”. In Scripture, a threefold emphasis can indicate completion and finality.³ So the threefold assertion of his truthfulness, faithfulness and rule puts beyond doubt his unimpeachable authority. His truth and faithfulness as God’s witness also contrast with the Laodicean church’s tepid witness to the faith.

The third title, “the ruler of God’s creation”, also takes us to Isaiah 65, verse 17 this time: “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.”⁴ Jesus is the ruler of this new creation, whose astounding revelation overshadows all that has gone before.

The threefold assertion of Jesus’ truthfulness, faithfulness and rule puts beyond doubt his unimpeachable authority.

Pure Rebuke

Western theatre, Laodicea. See Photo Credits.

This letter differs from the letters to the other churches because the Laodiceans receive no praise, only rebuke. It is not as though they had been neglected in instruction. They would have known the letter to their nearby sister church in Colossae which we know from this verse in Colossians: “After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea” (Col 4:16) (the 'letter from Laodicea' has been lost, but some speculate that it is the same as the letter Paul wrote to the Ephesians).

However, they are being reminded that Jesus is “ruler of God’s creation” as though it was a teaching they had neglected, despite the letter to the Colossians’ emphasis on Jesus’ overarching authority over creation and over the Church:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. (Col 1:15-18)

It seems that the Laodiceans had lost sight of Jesus’ authority. They thought they were wealthy and lacking nothing; however, they were “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (v17). Their smug complacency was entirely misplaced because any riches they had were received from the One who is the Ruler and Source of all Creation, as Colossians teaches.

However, it is also possible they had absorbed Gnostic teaching, which was prevalent in Colossae, that denigrated Jesus’ role as Creator of the material world.⁵ ‘Arche’, the Greek word for ‘ruler’ in verse 14 means not only ‘ruler’ but also ‘beginning’ or ‘cause’, confirming that Jesus is the one through whom “all things were created” (Col 1:15), a teaching rejected in Gnosticism.⁶

The Laodiceans had lost sight of Jesus’ authority.

Charged with Being Lukewarm

Jesus warns the Laodiceans that he knew their deeds, which were neither hot nor cold (v15). Note that their faith is not mentioned - only what they have done. Evangelicals tend to focus on the John 6:29 sense of works: “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” However, James’ Hebraic emphasis on actions teaches that our faith only lives through our works: “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17).

Were the Laodiceans’ deeds evil or simply ‘lukewarm’, going through the motions? Did they perform a meagre or carefully measured amount of good deeds, perhaps giving a careful amount of their wealth away, but ultimately remaining ungenerous and certainly not self-sacrificial? We do not know, but we can speculate.

In the Wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament), heat and cold relate to a person’s self-control. In Proverbs 15:18, “A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict”, but Proverbs 17:27b, “…whoever has understanding is even-tempered” (literally is cool or has a cool spirit). Heat is associated with lack of self-control and coolness with self-control. It has been suggested that this imagery may have been inspired by the water supply in Laodicea, which was lukewarm in contrast to the hot springs of Hierapolis and the cooling waters of Colossae.⁷

In the Wisdom literature of the Bible, heat and cold relate to a person’s self-control.

Being lukewarm suggests they were ineffectual and unproductive; their ‘deeds’ were futile, useless. The lukewarm metaphor carries an echo of Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

The Laodicean believers were on shaky ground, but thought they were safe. The remedy was to purify themselves, verse 18: “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.” They were to pursue purity and holiness so they could obtain the true riches that are only available through Jesus.

The refiner imagery echoes Malachi 3:3 where it is the Lord God himself who refines, reminding us that Jesus is inextricably identified with the Lord God, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness.”

The Laodiceans were to put on purity (white clothes) and seek healing for their spiritual sight (salve) so they could truly understand the revelation of Jesus.

The Laodiceans were to put on purity and seek healing for their spiritual sight.

‘Lord, is it I?’

Many have identified the Laodicean church with today’s Western Church – rich and self-satisfied. It has also been suggested that the seven letters correspond to seven church ages, with the Laodiceans typifying the current and last age. However, as David Pawson points out, the seven churches of Revelation are types of the Church in all ages, rather than a progression. He counsels against attempting to categorise various churches, but to look to our own church and to check our own hearts: “As we read these seven letters, let us ask: ‘Lord, is it I?’”⁸

The Laodiceans were counselled “to be earnest and repent” (v19). We need a new seriousness in the UK Church today. We, too, are smug, complacent, self-satisfied and self-indulgent. We are stuffed full of tepid, convenient, gospel-lite messages and yet starved of the full fiery counsel of God’s Word. Pastors and leaders are plate-spinning, running to stand still, preaching about reaching out with the Gospel on Sundays, their flock in turn talking about reaching out with the Gospel in their mid-week small groups, yet very few actually doing any meaningful outreach.

Many are churchgoers rather than disciples - tourists and passengers cheering from the side-lines rather than dedicated Gospel workers. Our lifestyles are remarkably similar to our non-Christian neighbours and many of us dip in and out of the Christian life and worship, only serving the Lord when convenient. Most Christians have never led a non-believer to faith, let alone discipled someone, yet this is the one task Jesus asked us to do.

We need a new seriousness in the UK Church today - we, too, are smug, complacent, self-satisfied and self-indulgent.

Jesus is at the Door

Ultimately, would Jesus feel at home in our churches? Is Jesus a stranger tapping on the door, hoping we will hear his gentle but insistent knocking (Rev 3:20)? We talk about him all the time, but do we know him and are we doing what he asked us to do?

In the material world, we have insurance for every danger we may encounter. Perhaps ‘faith’ for many of us is just eternity insurance. Mistakenly, we think our mental assent to some doctrines is the same as biblical faith. We are pathetically poor in terms of true riches - like the Laodicean church. We are starving but unaware of our plight.

However, if we will heed the warning we have this glorious promise: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Rev 3:20).

“So be earnest and repent” (v19).

References

1 Aune, DE, 1997. Revelation 1-5, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol 52, p249.

2 Osborne, GR, 2002. Revelation, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the NT. Grand Rapids, Michigan, p203.

3 Patterson, RD. The Use of Three in the Bible, 26 February 2008.

4 Osborne, p204.

5 Osborne, p205.

6 Aune, p256.

7 Aune, p257.

8 Pawson, D, 2008. A Commentary on the Book of Revelation. Anchor, Ashford, pp45-46.

A call to prayer.

Several significant anniversaries in recent years have reminded us of what it has taken to defend our nation against physical enemies through two world wars: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, D-Day and - last week - the horrific Battle of the Somme.

Through such battles Christians have recognised that wars are not fought on earth alone and, through intercessory prayer, they have joined in a spiritual battle that parallels what is experienced on earth.

We are in such a time today. There is a spiritual battle raging right now for the heart of our nation, as evidenced by the confusion among our national leaders following the Referendum. God granted us a door of opportunity through the vote to come out of Europe, but this is no more the end of the battle for Britain than Dunkirk was the end of the Second World War. It is another 'end of the beginning', to remember Winston Churchill's stirring speech after Dunkirk.

Responsibility of Christians

The divided Britain that has been exposed as a result of the Referendum exists because we have lost the biblical principles that once united and defined our nation. Now is the time to re-discover these principles, which brought us through other dark days in our history.

The vote to leave the EU was no more an end of the battle for Britain than Dunkirk was the end of the Second World War.

The topics on top of the Referendum agenda were business, finance, border control, immigration and sovereignty. Across the spectrum of the mainstream debate, the arguments being put forward about these topics were based on humanistic objectives. These objectives have not united Britain – neither have they inspired any party or campaign group to put forward a positive vision for the nation's future.

In the aftermath of the Leave vote, it is now time to re-discover deeper principles that God can bless - or we will simply shift from one set of humanistic objectives to another.

It has fallen to Christians to steer the country through, primarily in prayer and increasingly in witness. We, out of the entire nation, are able to interpret the times in biblical perspective and are able to access and articulate God's vision for Britain and the British people.

Defining 'Britishness'

What is it to be British? Attempts to define what it means to be part of a particular community or nation are where constitutions come in.

If Britain's constitution were left to believers, I would hope that we would use biblical principles to frame the governance of our land in a way that would ensure God's blessing and protection. That would be our constitution – our definition of 'Britishness'.

But we do not need to start all over again. Over many centuries, thanks to God's grace and the faithful efforts of believers down through the ages, Britain has developed the best constitutional framework of any Gentile nation (albeit that it has been betrayed by successive leaders of the nation).

It is time to re-discover principles of governance that God can bless - or we will simply shift from one set of humanistic objectives to another.

Now that we are freeing ourselves from Europe and its secular humanist constitution, a window of opportunity has been opened up for us to re-group on the ancient foundations of our own constitution that God has blessed in times past.

Britain's Unwritten Constitution

Britain has a largely unwritten constitution bound up in laws and customs, but that does not mean that it is vague or difficult to pin down.

At its heart, a key principle is the concept of the Crown, which distributes responsibility for governance interactively among the Monarch, the two Houses of Parliament, the Courts and other tribunals, the servants of the Crown, local authorities, the police and the armed forces.

This principle has been developed and refined over the years, especially through Magna Carta in 1215 and the Coronation Oath Act of 1688, keeping the Monarch central to our constitutional framework but in healthy balance.

The following summaries, taken from Halsbury's Laws of England,¹ illustrate this sharing of power, as well as the balance between laws and customs in the constitution of the UK:

By law the Monarch is the Head of State.
By custom she acts on the advice of her ministers.
By law she has no power in judicial systems.
By custom she can only give opinion and advice.
By law she is not responsible for the acts and decisions made on her behalf.
By law she can choose whichever minister she wishes.
(p26)

The Monarch is the principle source of legislative, executive and judicial power.
By custom the term "Crown" can mean either the Monarch or the body that is delegated to execute the responsibilities of the Monarch.
By custom, Parliament sets out primary legislation.
By law, the Monarch gives Royal Assent to laws presented to her by Parliament.
By law, the courts administer justice. This power has been taken from the Monarch.
(p27)

The Principles Behind our Constitution

Behind the laws and customs which are applied by our leaders lie deeper moral principles which, again, have developed in Britain over centuries. According to AV Dicey, these include the idea that everyone is equal before the law (including those in power), as well as the notion that people are only punishable if they breach the law. Such principles are designed to protect people and to hold authorities to account.²

These deeper principles owe a great debt to scriptural values and ethics. This is nowhere stated more clearly than in the Coronation Oath, the importance of which we have highlighted elsewhere. The Oath acknowledges God and his word as central to the governance of our nation. Its main tenet, sworn by the Monarch, is to "maintain the laws of God [and] the true profession of the Gospel".³

The promises to God made by the Monarch as the Coronation proceeds illustrate a wonderful balance in our constitution between law and Gospel, justice and mercy, dependence on God, responsibility of Christian leaders within Government, responsibility to the Commonwealth - with all parts of the nation held before God for his help and blessing.

Is it any wonder that there is difficulty for our Government to get its hands firmly on the rudder to steer the nation into the future, when these principles are neglected? Is it any wonder that this wake-up call from God seems like the shaking of an earthquake? The shaking is intended to stir us to repentance – a return to our constitutional principles, which we will also find is a pathway back to God.

The current shaking is intended to stir us to repentance and take us back to our constitutional principles – which we will also find is a pathway back to God.

The Bible Central

In a British Coronation, the Bible is placed on the altar along with the paten and chalice, which are used for the Communion Service. This takes place after the taking of the Oath and before the Anointing, prior to events leading up to the Crowning. The entire ceremony is drawn from biblical parallels for the crowning of kings.

The Monarch takes the Oath with their right hand on the Bible, with these words being said:

...to keep your Majesty ever mindful of the law and the Gospel of God as the Rule for the whole life and government of Christian Princes, we present you with this Book, the most valuable thing that this world affords.

Here is Wisdom; this is the royal Law; these are the lively Oracles of God.⁴

Today, the Bible is no longer central to the life of Britain and our Oath to God is betrayed. But what if, with repentant hearts, we were to confess this to God and seek his help to restore biblical precepts in our nation?

Christians must lead the way at this time of appointing new leaders, praying that eyes will be opened and that Godly men and women will come into office. If we are open to such prayer, God will give us the understanding that we need as we engage in the spiritual battle that lies ahead.

Dare We Believe?

Additionally, we might all do well to revise the Oath itself, as there is a sense in which every British citizen has been committed to it because of the declarations made by our Queen.

If we return to its principles, then God will look after those priorities that prompted fear in our nation as Referendum day drew near. He will help us protect our borders and show us how to care for the strangers in our midst. He will help us reverse laws that displease him. He will help us in our businesses, hospitals, schools and homes.

Dare we believe this? Surely God has opened the door for us - so surely he will help us.

There are Christians in our Government, among them some seeking to take leadership roles. Now let eyes be opened, clarity of understanding re-kindled, and with repentant hearts let us go forward to put our constitution back on the rock of biblical intent. Let this again be how our nation as a whole is identified in the world – what it is to be British.

Postscript

If, as a nation, we had more deeply sought God's guidance, we would not have been led into the errors that currently beset our generation. The results of the Chilcot Inquiry illustrate the serious consequences that we are reaping from what has been sown in various aspects of our nation's life.

We cannot go back and restore the multitudes of lives lost in the Iraq War and its fallout. Sadly, had we had biblical truths at our heart and through listening prayer, we would have had the guidance of Almighty God – and things may well have turned out very differently. That is how serious this is.

References

1 Taken from Vol 8, 1996 edition, edited by Lord Hailsham, published by Butterworths.

2 Dicey, AV, 1885. Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution. Discussed on Wikipedia's page on Rule of law in the United Kingdom.

3 Read the text of the Coronation Oath here.

4 For more information on the structure of the British Coronation Service, click here.