The Partygate Enquiry and the Search for Justice

Britain’s prophetic call to administer justice at home and abroad

What next for beleaguered Britain?

What are the spiritual dynamics behind all the Brexit fury?

Is this the start of a new era of hope?

Mr Boris Johnson fulfilled his lifelong ambition this week to become British Prime Minister. The rogue old Etonian began in his usual breezy style of easy optimism. But however much we may wish him well in tackling the multiple crises in the nation, realistically the challenge facing any new Prime Minister is no different from that which plagued – and overcame - Theresa May’s administration. The question is: can a new government do anything new?

The challenge of which I speak is that we have an elected parliament that defies the electorate. Whatever deal the new PM does with Brussels in order to fulfil his promise to leave the European Union by 31 October 2019, the possibility of getting the approval of this Parliament (without divine intervention!) is virtually nil. He not only faces the opposition of Labour, the LibDems and the Scottish Nationalist Party, but he also faces the threats of rebels on the Tory backbenches who say they are willing to bring down the Government rather than agree to leave the EU without a deal.

Today, Britain is a more divided nation than it has ever been since the days of the Civil War between Cromwell’s Parliament and supporters of Charles I. How should Christians understand what is going on in the nation? And are there any signs of hope?

Reflecting on the Past

In last week’s editorial we were asking “Is there any word from the Lord?” This led us to some of the things Britain has done wrong on the international scene and especially the need to recognise and say we are sorry for the dreadful things we did to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust back in 1947. Recognising that injustice would be an act of righteousness that I believe would be pleasing to the Lord.

I believe there is a real message of hope and good news in the midst of all the doom and gloom we’ve been hearing for a long time. But we ought also to recognise where we have gone wrong: not only abroad, but also in the things we have done at home in Britain. As we have said many times in these editorials – turning away from biblical values has led to the present days of crisis. This era of great cultural change began with a political Act of Parliament in 1951.

Today, Britain is a more divided nation than it has ever been since the days of the Civil War. What is going on – and is there any hope?

Political Decisions, Cultural Consequences

It was the Fraudulent Mediums Act which abolished the Witchcraft Act that had been on the Statute Book of Britain for centuries. In 1951 witchcraft was legalised. All occult activities were made legal, in direct defiance of biblical teaching:

Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or is a medium or spiritist or consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord… (Deut 18:10-12)

This political decision to defy the Bible was taken by the Government led by Clement Attlee, a Jew-hating atheist, and paved the way for other major policy turnarounds which precipitated great cultural changes in the nation.

The first great cultural change was in the 1959 Obscene Publications Act which paved the way for the legalisation of obscenity in publications, film, video and the internet.

The second cultural change was in the Abortion Act (1967) which made it legally acceptable to kill unborn babies. Currently, about 450 babies a day are killed in British hospitals, bringing the total since 1967 to over 9 million. 2018 saw the number of UK abortions reach an all-time high, and our dysfunctional, rebellious Parliament has now ruled to impose abortion on the only part of the British Isles that still upholds biblical values, defying the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland – as we noted last week in an excellent article from our Managing Editor.

These changes follow the classic path to the corruption of civilisation noted by the Apostle Paul in the first chapter of his letter to Rome. He says that once we stop believing in the God of Creation and start suppressing the truth, we believe anything. We “exchange the truth of God for a lie” and then we abandon all restraints upon our behaviour.

The Apostle Paul says that once we stop believing in the God of Creation, we believe anything and abandon all restraints upon our behaviour.

Church Leaders Responsible

But God does not expect an ungodly nation to repent of things that are not even publicly recognised as being wrong! The history of Israel in the Bible teaches us that God holds the religious leaders responsible for the moral and spiritual state of the nation – it was they who had the truth and the responsibility of declaring it to the people, who otherwise remained ignorant.

Applying that teaching today, God holds church leaders responsible for the nation. But can we expect repentance from them? The bishops in the House of Lords didn’t even bother to turn up for the vote on forcing same-sex marriage and abortion upon the people of Northern Ireland last week. If they had been there, they would probably have voted in favour of imposing LGBTQ+ values upon Ulster.

Hope for the Future

Amidst this seemingly lost situation, God is doing two things: he is blessing the many thousands of local fellowships, large and small, where the word of God is faithfully preached and taught. And he is withdrawing his blessing from those churches that have turned away from the word – including churches within the traditional denominations, which are crumbling, losing members and closing buildings as a result.

The hope for the future lies with the faithful remnant in Britain of Bible-believing, praying people who refuse to be driven by the values of the world and are prepared to take a stand for truth whatever the cost. God is faithful to hear and to heed the prayers of the faithful remnant who grieve over the state of the nation; who repent for our silence when ungodly laws were being passed in our Parliament; but who nevertheless cry out to the Lord to have mercy and to bless the new Government.

We should be appealing to God to remember his covenant relationship with our forefathers, who placed the Bible at the centre of the British legal system, governing the nation, and made it part of the Coronation Oath sworn by our Queen, whom God has wonderfully preserved for these perilous times.

We should be appealing to God to remember his covenant relationship with our forefathers.

There is a solid biblical principle for such an appeal to God on behalf of the nation. Paul says that as far as the Gospel is concerned the people of Israel put themselves outside God’s protection, although he himself would never break his covenant promises “on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29).

This is undoubtedly a special passage concerning Israel, but it also shows that God respects the spiritual heritage of a nation. As he has blessed Britain in the past, using Britain to get the gospel to many nations, we can call upon him to bring us through this time of trial and to restore faith and belief – especially among young people in the United Kingdom – to give us “a hope and a future” (Jer 29:11) as he promised to the people of Jerusalem enslaved in Babylon at the worst moment in their history.

Pray he will follow our Queen in acknowledging a far greater authority

As a Christian who believes in God’s great eternal purposes for Israel as spelled out in the Bible, I welcome the choice of Boris Johnson as Britain’s new Prime Minister. And I will pray for him; he certainly needs it.

He has indicated strong support for the Jewish state – in sharp contrast to the message from the official opposition – describing himself as a “passionate Zionist” for whom wild horses wouldn’t keep him away from visiting Israel as British premier.¹

But there are other factors that leave cause for concern, not least the unprecedented move into No. 10 of a Prime Minister setting up home with his live-in girlfriend – hardly a suitable role model for family life in a country already beset by major problems in this area.

No-nonsense Politics

I warmed to him when he first appeared on the political scene in his jovial, gung-ho, ‘can do’ style, and I am particularly encouraged by his apparently unequivocal rhetoric on Brexit – always on the important basis of regaining our national sovereignty. It’s fudging on the issue that has caused much of the division in the nation.

And I would hope that his no-nonsense attitude on Europe would be extended to wider horizons in order better to deal with irksome regimes like Iran which will no doubt be one of his big tests, in light of the oil tanker crisis.

We have been tainted and weakened for too long as a soft target due to our constant appeasement of dictators over the past century – first the Arabs, then the Nazis and now Iran.

Britain has been tainted and weakened for too long as a soft target due to our constant appeasement of dictators.

The Best Candidate for Years?

Humanly-speaking, Boris seems the best candidate for years to turn the tide of Britain’s propensity for pussy-footing about with dictators. But again, he will need our prayers for the wisdom, strength and authority to deliver. And as one who loves to be loved, and hates to be hated – no doubt the effects of an insecure childhood – this is obviously no guarantee.

As a light-hearted (if a little worrying) aside, I have three times read in recent days of his childhood ambition to be ‘World King’, the infamous role played by the so-called Anti-Christ in the last days before Christ’s return.²

But Londoners assure me that he performed extremely well as Mayor of that great city, except in the case of the buses carrying adverts supporting gay lifestyles, when he apparently intervened to prevent Christians from responding with an ad campaign of their own.

Many Distractions

I don’t know Boris, but have met several members of his delightful family, including his father Stanley who I heard on the radio suggesting that climate change would be an even bigger issue than Brexit for his son to deal with.

But this would be such a distraction from reality. I note that former Education Secretary Damian Hinds encouraged pupils to berate parents for leaving their car engines running at the school gates, in view of the adverse effects on children of the fumes.³ Though I commend Johnson’s general optimism, he must distance himself from this sort of politically correct nonsense if he is to impact the real world.

Israel is also infected by godless cultural changes that have swept the West, but these are merely signs of coming judgment on such sin and lawlessness, as with the increasing violence that preceded the great flood through which only the righteous Noah and his family were saved (Gen 6:11).

Humanly-speaking, Boris seems the best candidate for years - but he will need our prayers for the wisdom, strength and authority to deliver.

Inspiration from the Queen

At some stage the likes of Boris will have to give an account to God for their actions (2 Cor 5:10), which are better based on faith than human wisdom. I am not talking of merely assenting to a set of beliefs, as he might have done many times in Eton’s school chapel, but of acknowledging Jesus as Lord and Saviour, and humbly bowing the knee to the Suffering Servant who will soon return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Humility is required. Jesus, though he was God, became man and humbled himself, even to death on a cruel execution stake. Boris should follow the lead of our Queen in acknowledging the awesome authority and power of someone far greater than her. The most important decision the new Prime Minister will ever make is whether or not he bows the knee to Christ as his redeemer and Lord!

References

1 World Israel News, 23 July 2019, quoting Jewish News.

2 Sebastian Shakespeare’s Saturday Essay, Daily Mail, 20 July 2019.

3 The Times, 22 July 2019.

What are we to make of the would-be Prime Minister’s claims?

Ugly domestic row casts political spotlight on the family

Why is the joker leading the pack?

To the despair of my wife and me, our middle daughter, when she was at primary school, used to invite all the naughty boys in her class to her birthday party. We took all necessary precautions of removing vulnerable artefacts but they were usually riotous events! We survived these birthday celebrations with minimum damage (apart from the odd broken window) and usually the household returned to normality after an intensive clear-up.

Reflecting upon these annual hijinks I became convinced that there is something in our human nature that likes living dangerously – flirting with risk, enjoying adventure tinged with the threat of the unknown.

It’s what I now call the ‘Boris Factor’, because I believe it accounts for the popularity of the front-runner in the Conservative Party’s race for our next Prime Minister – Boris Johnson. His popularity in the country, despite his well-publicised imperfections, is quite remarkable.

Promises, Promises

I cannot claim to know Boris very well, although I have met him a few times. On one occasion when he was canvassing support for his first term as Mayor of London, I spent two hours alone with him. His team had been chasing me around London for several months, keen to exploit my links with African-Caribbean community and church leaders. They coveted the black vote in inner-city boroughs, but I was not keen to be involved in a political campaign.

And then there were six: the Tory leadership hopefuls. Photo: AP/Press Association ImagesEventually I agreed to a meeting with Boris, provided I could talk about the special needs in these communities. We had a very good and frank conversation, particularly on what he would do with issues such as guns, drugs and knife crime. I was even able to quiz him on his personal faith (with dubious results!). After receiving a lot of promises I subsequently helped to bring some 80 leaders to meet with him, although I have to say that he did not keep his promises once he was in power.

I was nevertheless impressed by the way he addressed the black leaders using a mixture of humour and serious social policy strategy, while also acknowledging their particular community needs. He is an excellent communicator which probably accounts for his popularity in the country across widely different communities. But it is still surprising that so many are willing to overlook his blunders and alleged moral deficiencies and take the risk of making him Prime Minister.

There is something in our human nature that likes living dangerously – flirting with risk, enjoying adventure tinged with the threat of the unknown.

No Discernment

Why is this? Is it like the childhood fascination with the naughty boy? Do we like to take a risk and go for the charisma factor rather than the drab, boring, safe, pinstripe type of politician? The country certainly fell in love with Tony Blair as an exciting contrast to John Major, though the Blair factor only lasted a few years.

Public opinion, of course, is notoriously fickle, but it is surely surprising that there are some characters whose misbehaviours will be overlooked and who will be supported even though people know it is a risk. There is a telling statement made by the Prophet Jeremiah during the reign of the notoriously immoral King Jehoiakim in Jerusalem in the late 6^th Century BC. Jeremiah was having one of his prayer-time conversations with God and reporting on the state of the nation. He said “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land! The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way” (Jer 5:30-31).

Jeremiah was used to false prophets promising “Peace! Peace!” when the Lord was saying “There is no Peace!”. He was constantly countering the lies of these popular prophets who told the people there was nothing to worry about in the rumours that the Babylonian army was on the march. They said that no enemy would ever get into Jerusalem, because God would defend the city.

The priests confirmed the lies of the prophets and instead of rightly teaching the people and giving judgments in accord with the teaching given by God to Moses, they made up their own rules and their own interpretations of the word of God. Sadly, the people had no discernment; they loved things as they were – lies and deception were quite acceptable to them.

In Jeremiah’s day, the people had no discernment; lies and deception were quite acceptable to them.

Self-interest vs. Righteousness

Once the word of God is discarded, anything becomes acceptable. This is the situation in Britain today. The public are disgusted with the antics of the politicians in recent months: they have lost trust in their MPs, who have been seen on TV day after day arguing but never agreeing on anything. The business of governing the country seems to have been grossly neglected while Brexit issues have dominated everything. People of all political leanings want resolution. They also want a leader who will tell them what they want to hear, to make them feel comfortable, just like the people in Jeremiah’s day before disaster befell Jerusalem!

The public are looking for a strong leader and there are few outstanding characters on either side of the House. This is why Boris is very likely to be chosen as the next Prime Minister, despite the reservations of discerning people.

Conservative MPs are well aware of the unpopularity that their Party has suffered through three years of weak leadership under Theresa May, whose stubbornness was not matched with political skill. This is where the ‘Boris Factor’ may influence those MPs who have no love for him, but are still willing to vote for him: he is widely regarded as the only one who can both hold Nigel Farage at bay and defeat Jeremy Corbyn. Under these circumstances self-interest takes precedence over righteousness, especially when MPs know that the public have long ago discarded values of righteousness.

People want a strong leader who will tell them what they want to hear, to make them feel comfortable.

Prospects for Britain

Will Britain get a Prime Minister who is able to exercise righteous government? Certainly, mature Christians know that Britain does not deserve godly government and there are many signs that we are a nation already under judgment. But God is merciful and I believe he still has a purpose for Britain. Could he use Boris? Of course he could! God used Cyrus to do his will and bless his people even though Cyrus did not even know the name of the Lord. But is it God’s intention to bless the nation, or to allow us bring judgment upon ourselves?

Boris at least professes a faith in God, but is that enough to provide Britain with a God-fearing Government? If the Conservative Party installs Boris and his partner in No. 10, will he lead a Government that can restore standards of righteousness in the nation?