The coffee-time conversation with Steve continues. Nina and Simone catch up with us on our way to the cafe’s bar for fresh, full mugs and hear Steve exclaim,

“What! What on earth’s good for believers about the ssm Bill?”  The startled looks our wives dart at each other convey;  “What on earth have our men been talking about?”

Back in our secluded corner, Steve summarises our conversation and he’s ‘champing at the bit’ to take charge. I want to steer it another way but Simone beats us to ‘the off’.  As a solicitor she brings a fresh view.:

Legal eagles’ views

“How the Bill was rushed through and given royal assent clearly smacks of censorship in a totalitarian state. A barrister and senior lecturer at the University of London wrote a splendid professional paper quite relevant to this issue. David McIlroy explains why a democracy’s legal system can’t have a morally neutral playing field. I noted his opinion that,

A public square from which religious influences are excluded is not a neutral public square. It is a public square in which all influences bar the secularist ones have been censored.  That is not a public square in which everyone’s voice is heard and everyone’s views are respected, it is a public square in which religious voices are silenced and anti-religious views are imposed.  This is not a tolerant society, it is a tyrannous society.

“What he also says about the double-importance in a Christian society of how the Last Judgement affects the law is especially interesting…I recall bits like:

…It means today’s rulers are understood, and (should) understand themselves, to be answerable  to a higher authority in their actions. They know they will be judged for how they exercised their power and this accountability is the foundation of accountability to the people.

…citizens know the ultimate judge isn’t the government but almighty God, and this contributes hugely to human freedom.

“It’s an exciting summary of how Christianity has provided a sound basis for secular law..”

“I know, Simone, I’ve got a copy thanks to a fellow blogger – an excellent document! And I wrote about examples of creeping tyranny back in 2009!”  [See 1 & 14 below]

“Also Richard, contrary to what you said about Archbishop Welby and bishops being overwhelmed in the House of Lords, the barrister who founded Christian Legal Centre issued them a written challenge over his version of events and concluded:

I am surprised that the Church of England appears to be vacating the public square when it comes to the issue of marriage. Given the rich teaching of Scripture and strong tradition of marriage, this is something that the CofE should be able to comment on clearly, intelligently and winsomely. Marriage is something to be celebrated, promoted and, at this time, preserved. At a time when the nation needs to hear a prophetic voice on marriage, the CofE’s message is sadly mixed and, as a result, unclear.

“The account of her corresponding with him and CoE’s response laments their inability to copy the politicians’ action in ensuring full attendance for voting.” [2]

Raising my finger, “I like her bit on ‘prophetic voice’ as I was struck by the sharp contrast between the Telegraph’s report on Welby’s ‘cop-out’ and what Sharon Stone taught and did [3] – the first started my morning and the second closed it in a much Godlier way!

“Also, in one of many debates on that other blog I pointed out that wise leaders would wait and watch what happens to other countries before foisting it on the British public. It’s opening Pandora’s Box – next will come legal recognition of bigamy, bestiality and paedophilia, as in the customs that defiled ancient Canaan which God spoke against when Hebrews took it over as the land ‘vomited out its inhabitants’.”

“I’ve read John McTernan’s excellent teaching on those socially sanctioned practices,” . adds Simone. “I said to Stan to read too” nodding at her husband. [4]

Nina expresses her deep concern over Her Majesty giving assent to the Bill in view of her Coronation oath “to maintain the laws of God and profession of the Gospel”.

My long spoon lances a hole in the cappuccino’s thick froth as I respond, “Being a constitutional monarch, there was absolutely nothing she could have done about its passing into Law as the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act.

“But from my perspective as lookout on the walls – as it were – our national leader became much more motivated to introduce the Act – come hell or high water – by President Obama during his state visit. So it’s possibly a result of that influence…”

“I’ve read,” reports Simone, “Obama is a long-standing ‘gay pride evangelist’, as can be seen in his recent call to African nations to be ‘converted’. Their righteous leaders have repudiated his overtures…on fact they’re sparked a real backlash!” [5]

“That’s so,” I add. “I’ve followed it all closely through Bill Koenig, a Christian White House journalist.  Cameron’s now copying Obama as an ‘evangelist’, which His Grace Cranmer scathingly lampoons [6]. He notes Cameron’s clearly stated intention [7]:

Only other thing I wanted to say is that I know that the job isn’t yet fully done. It is something to celebrate that Britain is now – and it’s official – the best place to be gay, lesbian or transgender anywhere in Europe. That is a great achievement. That’s not my measure; that is an inter-nationally recognised measure. But there’s still a lot more work to be done.

“God is not and will not be mocked and these national leaders are treating Him with the utmost of contempt. Unless they humble themselves, repent deeply and renounce their ways there is very little hope for their future – but God may have mercy.”

“But at least they’ve not committed the unpardonable sin,” interjects Nina, to which Steve asks, “What’s that?”

She replies, “That’s saying a work of the Holy Spirit is of Satan. In my opinion, many believers have unwittingly done that when attributing God’s presence and His work to the demonic! Some think so about a Canadian whom we know. Whilst at a church in Bath, he sensed God wanted to heal and that evening I was able to walk and dance again – I went from permanent disability to normal ability in an instant! As we all love Jesus, then that could not have been of the devil.” [8]

“Now,” I ask, “Do you want the good or the not-so-good news first? Let’s keep the best for last – after some opinions encountered in fellow believers.”

Not-so-good points

“I’ll try to be brief on what’s very unsettling to my spirit. As I don’t want to have a closed mind on this issue I’d monitored Gillan Scott’s several well-balanced posts on the topic, to which some readers gave a window upon the state of their souls.

“Whatever gay folk say and do they’re no different to any believer for we’ve fallen short of the glory of God and are deeply loved by Him, otherwise Jesus wouldn’t have died for them too. So we love them too as individuals  but, as with all sin, we don’t like their sin but hate it for what it is and does in preventing their accessing the fullness of life in Christ.

“Some who claimed to be Christians, however, were not only very supportive of this anti-Biblical Bill but also muddled and confused about what scripture says – even twisting its meaning – as well as being ignorant of sin!  One pastor to the gay community even tried to explain why I’m mistaken!

“One regular pundit couldn’t understand what’s wrong with redefining marriage! We got the measure of one another when I commented: if that were correct there was no need for me to have repented of having been in the occult.”

“Just an aside and reminder,” whispered Simone, “I’d like to check the dangers of yoga as its spirit may be messing around with me.”

I continued, “My remark met a haughty, incredulous retort, ‘Upon what basis do you equate same-sex relationships with occultism, Richard? Your logic is seriously skewed, to put it mildly…!’  It was both sad and amusing because the answer was simple…so very simple.

“I parried it by alluding to the oft-quoted legal totem of ‘equality’, as well as its proper  mathematical meaning, and took precise aim: ‘Your own logic has missed the point, to put it bluntly…The basis of my equation is straightforward, namely ‘equality of sin’ (ie. ‘missing the mark’).’ We ended up agreeing to disagree.

“But there were lamentable tales of some dear folk engaged in unions they think the Lord has ok’d and then wonder why things went wrong. For example, the miscarriage of a child being carried by one of a female partnership – a terribly sad state brought about by sin to their detriment. It reminded me of sin crouching ‘by the door’ to take Cain and make him murder his brother Abel. (Genesis 4:6-7)

“The accounts and opinions come with a sense of despoiling. I recalled Nathan Morris’ strong preaching on Jesus’ admonition to the early churches infected by sexual sin of their needing to be cleansed from wearing defiled robes. No wonder many wise and anointed preachers sound the alarm bells.” [9] & [10]

THE GOOD POINTS

“From a Christian standpoint, the good things of this Act are not so much the adverse  ones but more the scriptural ones. We can, for instance, be most positive about these facts.:

1. This Bill and Act were never in the Conservative Party’s election manifesto. Thus, in my opinion, the electorate as a whole can’t be held responsible for the revolt against God and traditional values and the consequences.
2. In requiring and enforcing the Queen’s compromising of her Coronation oath her Prime Minister actually took upon himself the full personal responsibility before God for having broken and contravened it – I wouldn’t like to be in his shoes for deliberately being ignorant in such a gravely foolish action.
3. David Cameron and everyone voting for the Bill is personal accountability to their Maker for going against His revealed and express will for all mankind – no matter whether they believe in God or not. I pray they’ll have personal revelation on this and take the opportunity to repent before they take up their post-mortem existence – as happened to me when I stood on the trapdoor down to hell [11  In Your wrath remember mercy, Lord.
4. The sweeping international attempts to redefine the meaning of marriage are so intensely orchestrated that even conspiracy theorists would be left dumbfounded. Therefore, it is and can only be a dark spiritual phenomenon – not one of God but from the one who’s always wanted to usurp His place. But its time on earth is now very short so it wants to take as many humans it can and prevent their salvation.
5. This so-called cultural change was announced well in advance, in fact 2,000 years ago by no less a person than Jesus Christ himself!”

“How do you make that out?” thrusts Steve with one of his bespectacled glares that reminds me of a hen pecking seed. I hear ‘tap-tap-tap’ and turn to see a solitary man at the next table tapping on his tablet. His face and sound mirrors my friend’s and I gently smile. But then I grin in self-deprecation over my natural tonsure as I reply:

“Off the top of my head…a couple of Jesus’ sayings spring to mind.:

“First of all, His teaching about persistent prayer (Luke 18:8) refers to a time like today; one lacking in not only personal but also corporate faith – as widely shown in ditching Christian values for purely hedonistic aims. This is what Jesus foresaw:

Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

“Secondly, He instructed His disciples about the coming of the Kingdom of God and to expect exceptional consequences for socially sanctioned wickedness (Matt 24):

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. ³⁷ But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸ For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 

“Dr Luke’s carefully collected account of Jesus’ life from witnesses adds (Luke 17):

Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; ²⁹ but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

“Also, His apostle Paul confirmed that Jesus told him the same about a future ‘Last Days’ great apostasy or falling away from faith in God. One of his letters to the early Greek church in Salonika (2 Thessalonians 2) refers to it this way:

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, ² not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. ³ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. [Emphasis RB]

“Paul carries on with extra details to the gospels, which you can check yourself.

“Moreover, rabbinical teaching is said to confirm the connection between Noah’s time and today’s. Five years ago two separate people on a radio show spoke about the ancient Babylonian Talmud’s interpretation of Genesis and the cause of the Flood. ‘America’s Rabbi’, Aryeh Spero, said the Talmud’s writings show, “before the Flood people started to write marriage contracts between men…which is more than homo-sexual activity…in other words, giving an official state stamp of approval, a sanctifica-tion of homosexual partnership.”

“Rabbi Spero went on to say, “Even in ancient Greece they did not write  marriage contracts between men.  There was homosexuality, and it was wrong, but  there was not an official ‘blessed’ policy. … Marriage is ‘sanctification’ (not  simply a partnership).”  He said to confer the title of sanctification and holiness upon this behaviour is “probably one of the greatest sins of all that  one does against God’s plan for this world.”

“Another source quotes from the Midrash Rabbah Genesis, a specific commentary upon the Torah, and from the Second Book of Enoch, both of which support the claim about the real events of the ‘days of Noah’, from which we may infer they’re the festivities of which Jesus knew and was referring to. I’ve not yet completely cross-checked those sources, but I can let you have them for checking. [12&13]

“Also the widespread persecution of Christians in Africa and Middle East connects into the Daniel 7 end-times prophecy!” [14]  On top of that, the status of Jerusalem is being discussed in Washington. With three major aspects of prophecy now at the fore we’re definitely entering the End-Times, as stated at the outset of my writing four years ago – The End-Time Is Now In Play – maybe you’d like to check it out?” [15]

Nina adds, “What’s going on proves the Bible is absolutely true and correct!”

“We’re definitely entering into times foreseen by the Lord Jesus and His first apostles as well as Old Testament prophets. What’s happening across the world has been written about and we know the outcome – the return of King Jesus for His Bride.  It can’t be much longer now…As Jesus said when teaching about signs of the end of the Age.:”

“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” (Luke 21:28)

Sources:

1. Theos website article, Is Secular Law Possible?
2. Challenge issued to Archbishop of Canterbury.
3. Revd Dr Sharon Stone: Britain is at a crossroads.
4. Homosexuality vs Holiness – Ordinances of the Amorites.
5. US and British promotion of LGBT rights sparks backlash
6. Exporting gay marriage – the ‘gospel’ of St Dave.
7. Prime Minister thanks campaigners and workers.
8. From Disabled to Enabled – how Jesus healed Nina’ spine.
9. Are ‘Christians’ leading homosexuals to hell?
10. Steve Hill: Warning for this hour – stop spiritual avalanche.
11. Part 2 of From Death to Life.
12. WND Janet Porter: How SSM Points to the End of the World.
13. End-Times Prophecy Watch: Days of Noah:
14. Muslim Persecution of Christians.
15. The End Time is Now In Play.