Welby, the wedding and the Gospel

My colleague Charles Gardner has written a splendid piece on the Royal wedding, eulogising the sermon from Bishop Curry that made such a great contribution to the union of Harry and Meghan. It was a powerful message delivered with great skill and passion that captivated not only the congregation in St George’s Chapel, Windsor, but countless millions watching the service around the world.

At the risk of being a spoilsport and dubbed a ‘prophet of doom and gloom’, I want to offer a few thoughts to go alongside what Charles has written. I too watched the wedding on TV and I was delighted with the charismatic message delivered by the Bishop. And I was really pleased that he did not only speak about love in a sentimental, romantic context, but he spoke about the love of God and got some Gospel into his message.

I applauded him for taking the opportunity of presenting the Gospel in simple words that would have communicated clearly to probably the largest congregation any preacher has ever faced. It was certainly good for Christianity.

Changes in the Church

My concern was not with the message but with the whole event and with the enormous changes that are taking place within the Church – especially the Church of England as our state Church. The last time a prince of the realm wanted to marry a divorced American lady whose ex-husband was still living, it resulted in the abdication of King Edward VIII. 

My concern is not with the message but with the whole event and the enormous changes taking place within the Church.

That was the 1930s and much has changed since then. But Harry and Meghan’s wedding could not even have taken place 10 years ago, when Dr Rowan Williams was Archbishop of Canterbury and Prince Charles wanted to marry Camilla Parker-Bowles whose ex-husband was still alive – something that was directly against the teaching of Jesus (Luke 16:18).

I remember discussing it with Rowan at the time. He was steadfastly against allowing a full Anglican wedding service and Charles and Camilla had to go to Windsor Town Hall and have a civil ceremony, after which they went to St George’s Chapel for a blessing.

Now, everyone is so delighted that the Royal family have accepted a beautiful, racially-mixed young lady into their midst that no one takes any notice of her divorce. I believe it is right under exceptional circumstances that the Church should offer a full wedding service where someone has been divorced – I have done this myself – and I don’t know the circumstances of Meghan’s former marriage, so I’m in no position to make any comment on this. My concern is really with Archbishop Justin Welby who has said publicly that it is his intention to make the Church of England ‘more inclusive’.

Gospel Truth?

It was Welby who advised Harry and Meghan to have Bishop Curry as their preacher, knowing full well that Curry is an advocate of same-sex marriage and the propagation of the LGBT code of immorality. I know that the Archbishop sent out guidelines to all CofE primary schools last year urging teachers to encourage the children to cross-dress in preparation for living in a gender-free society. 

What message is the Church sending to the world?

So, I wonder what Welby’s next move will be in undermining our Judeo-Christian heritage? How far does he intend going in promoting the LGBT agenda, destroying biblical truth and promoting an apostate Church?

Yes, it was a lovely wedding and only the British could put on such an amazing pageant in such an historic setting, blessed by perfect weather. It was great to have a national celebration in the midst of the dark Brexit-laden days we are enduring. It was great for the public to enjoy such a celebration and it was good for the national image worldwide. My only concern is: what message is the Church sending to the world? Does the Church of England even know the truth of the Gospel it is supposed to proclaim?

The future of the Church in Britain.

This is a question that was fiercely debated by members, clergy and bishops in the Church of England following the consecration of David Jenkins as Bishop of Durham in York Minster on 6 July 1984. Some hours later a bolt of lightning struck the Minster and burned the south transept where the consecration had taken place.

It was particularly remarkable because weather maps showed clear skies over the whole of the UK and northern Europe except for this one tiny cloud no bigger than a man’s hand crossing Yorkshire and delivering an electrical strike of such magnitude that it overrode a newly installed lightning conductor at the Minster.

Even the secular media saw this as an ‘act of God’ but not so the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, who declared that God does not do such things. It later emerged that he was faced by a ‘God or Mammon’ dilemma as the Minster’s insurance might not have covered ‘acts of God’!

Liberal Theology

Jenkins had some unorthodox views on central tenets of Christian doctrine including casting doubt on the resurrection of Jesus. Although the Archbishop did not publicly support the views of Jenkins, he nevertheless continued to promote non-Bible-believing clerics to senior posts in the Church of England which brought liberal postmodernist teaching into the leadership of the Church that still has an influence today.

In last week’s editorial we were examining the influence of ‘postmodernism’ in the nation and noting its objective of destroying the family in its war against Christianity. We said:

The central tragedy of recent history over the past half-century is that neither Church leaders nor politicians have understood the philosophy of postmodernism, with its objectives of destroying Judeo-Christian civilisation.

For the Church to play a significant part in guarding the nation against destructive philosophies that undermine basic truth, its leadership must have an unshakeable grasp of truth that is derived from its source in God, the Creator of the universe.

For the Church to be able to guard the nation against destructive philosophies, its leadership must have an unshakeable grasp of truth.

When church leaders lack understanding of the truth - as revealed in Scripture, through the prophets of Israel and through Jesus the Messiah - and promote obscurity, distortions and lies instead, they come under the judgment of God. Paul makes this clear in Romans 1:18:

York Minster's south transept after the lightning strike, 1984. See Photo Credits.The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

This particularly applies to Church leaders who claim to be men of God but are not faithful in declaring the truth. In the same passage Paul continues:

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.

This is similar to Jeremiah’s complaint about the leaders of the nation in his day: “The shepherds are senseless and do not enquire of the Lord” (Jer 10:21). They were relying upon human wisdom; in 23:1 he elaborates this: “‘Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!’ declares the Lord.”

Undermining Truth

This exactly describes many church leaders and professors of theology in our seminaries and universities today, most of which are steeped in liberal theology and driven by its spirit of postmodernism, which has roots in anti-Semitism, atheism and Marxism.

I can speak from personal experience because I did a doctorate in liberal theology. I went up to university with a strong faith in God and a conviction that my life was to be devoted to preaching and living in accordance with biblical truth. Most of my faith was destroyed by the time I left university and it took me some years and a personal experience of spiritual renewal to regain my faith.

I went up to university with a strong faith in God and came away with most of my faith destroyed – having studied liberal theology.

Please do not misunderstand me – I am not despising biblical scholarship; indeed, we need good, sound, biblical scholarship to guard against deception in the Church and in the nation! But the postmodernist heresies that began in Germany in the late 19^th Century have penetrated deeply into our academic institutions, such that biblical scepticism undermining truth has been taught in many of our theological colleges and universities for the past century and more.

What is ‘the Church’?

In the light of this statement we can now return to the question at the beginning of this article: Can the Church come under God’s judgment? Here we must define our terms: what do we mean by ‘Church’?

If we mean the Church founded by Jesus on the Day of Pentecost when he fulfilled his promise to send the Holy Spirit upon his disciples, enabling and empowering them to take the Gospel to the nations beginning in Jerusalem, then to Judea, Samaria and out to all the world – if we mean the true Church that is the ‘Body of Christ’, then we must conclude that such a Church can never come under the judgment of God!

But are the institutions that we call ‘churches’ the true Body of Christ? I was recently discussing this with my wife who has for many years been studying church history. She told me about an incident of which I was not aware. When King James I became King of England (having previously been King James VI of Scotland), he brought with him a strong Christian faith although, like his father Charles I, he had Catholic sympathies. James wanted to make the Bible available in English to all his subjects.

At that time most Bibles were in Latin which many people, even among the clergy, could not read. He called together a group of Protestant scholars, some of whom were Church of England clergy while others were Dissenters (Nonconformist ministers). They allocated different parts of the Bible to individual scholars and collectively set about the task of translating the Bible into what became known as the ‘Authorised Version’ or the ‘King James Version’.

The group of scholars worked well together but there was one word upon which they could not agree, so they all came together to consult the King. It was the word ecclesia which in the original Greek of the New Testament means ‘a gathering’– or ‘congregation’ – ‘a gathering of people committed to a particular purpose’. The Dissenters wanted to translate ecclesia as ‘congregation’, whereas the Church of England clergy wanted to translate it as ‘church’, as in the Roman Catholic Bible.

The King agreed with the CofE clergy and the word ‘church’ came into the Authorised Version of the Bible and in most English translations since then.

The true Body of Christ can never come under the judgment of God!

What an amazing difference it would have made if our Bibles had all read ‘congregation’ instead of ‘church’. We might have been saved from the mess that we have today where ‘church’ can mean a building, a denomination, an organisation, a congregation, or a small group of believers in Jesus. We might even have been saved from the disgrace of whole denominations becoming infected by unbelief: becoming ‘a broad church’ tolerant of everyone’s beliefs (or unbelief).

Hope for Reformation

The prophecy in Hebrews 12:26-29 that all man-made institutions will be shaken and will crumble, appears to be happening: not only to banks, finance houses, business institutions and politicians, but also to the man-made denominational institutions that we call ‘churches’. This is surely the judgment of God falling upon corrupt institutions! `

The good news is that many Christians are recognising these institutional failings and are meeting in small groups for prayer, Bible study and fellowship similar to the first Christians. Luke describes this in Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

Maybe what we are seeing today is the beginning of a new Reformation rediscovering the spiritual dynamic of the Early Church.

Further Response from Clifford Hill

Susan and Randall have asked me to explain why I believe that the true church as the Body of Christ cannot come under judgment. Let me say straightaway that I am not infallible and I’m open to correction from brothers and sisters in Christ – in this way we all learn from each other: so I really appreciate comments which I always read carefully.

I found the comments on this subject particularly helpful and I am happy to explain a little more of what I was trying to say. I was distinguishing between the true ‘ecclesia’ of God and the man-made institutions that we call ‘churches’. John is perfectly right in saying that of the 115 references to ecclesia in the New Testament only two are correctly translated in most English Bibles. They both refer to the riot in Ephesus where the whole town came together to oppose Paul’s teaching, chanting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” This gathering [ecclesia] is referred to as “an assembly”.

All the other references are to ‘gatherings of believers in Jesus the Messiah’ and in each case ecclesia should similarly be translated ‘congregation’, or ‘assembly’ (of believers). It is entirely wrong to translate ‘ecclesia’ as ‘church’, as in most English Bibles.

Confusion can arise over the concept of God’s judgment because the word is so often used to mean his wrath and punishment. In fact, the word used for judgment in the New Testament (krima) can mean these things, but is also broader, simply meaning a verdict or decision. In this respect, we will all be judged – for we will all one day stand before the judgment seat of God, as Paul says in Romans 14:10.

It is true that a church can go off track and come under condemnation like the church at Laodicea. But if we are part of the true ecclesia of Christ, it is his intention to present us spotless before his Father – it was for this that he shed his blood. Paul says this in Ephesians 5:25-27:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the ecclesia and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word to present her to himself as a radiant ecclesia, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

The New Testament teaching is that the true ‘ecclesia of Christ’ can never come under condemnation, for “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 5:9). True believers still undergo trials, but these are appointed for God’s paideia - his discipline - so our faith can be refined (1 Pet 1:7; Heb 12:4-11).

As such, the reference to “judgment beginning at the household of God” (1 Peter 4:17) most certainly does not refer to God’s wrath! It is referring to the persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire. It is the wrath of human beings upon God’s people – not the wrath of God upon his own people. That is made very clear in the context of the passage beginning 1 Peter 4:12: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering…But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ.”

Jesus himself said “Remain in me, and I will remain in you…if you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love” (John 15:4 and 10). Provided we remain in Christ we cannot come under his wrathful judgment: we are bound to Him in love.

Cliff

We re-publish a prophetic word from David Noakes, given to the Church of England in 1992.

In light of the decisions made recently at the General Synod meeting, and in conjunction with our editorial this week, we have chosen to re-publish a word given to the Church of England through David Noakes more than 25 years ago. Though it is an 'older' word, we believe it is still as powerful today, and submit it afresh for weighing and testing.

SENT TO GEORGE CAREY AT LAMBETH PALACE IN JUNE 1992

When I formed you, I took you and drew you out and separated you from an institution which was lost in the darkness of unbelief and false teaching. I restored to you the truth of my word, and I set you in this nation as a repository of that truth, and in order that you might declare and act as guardian of that truth, as it is contained in my holy word.

I appointed you in order that you might be salt and light in this nation where I have placed you; in order that through you I might bring godly wisdom and enlightenment to the rulers of this nation and the knowledge of the way of truth and upright living to its people. I inspired those who wrote your Prayer Book and through it I provided you with direction as to how you should uphold the nation’s rulers before me.

Ever since I formed you, I have cherished you and protected you from your enemies, both within and without, in order that you might continue to be an instrument of my righteousness. Yet, despite all this you have disregarded the sacred trust which I have given to you and you have lightly esteemed the rich inheritance which I placed into your hands.

Your leaders have despised me and have rejected my word. They have played the harlot, loving the world and the things of this world. In seeking to be pleasers of men they have discarded piece by piece the doctrines contained in my word, in order that they may not give offence to men.

Instead of sounding a trumpet call of warning to those who were turning aside after teachings which were not true, they have chosen rather to join hands with them and walk in the paths of darkness, closing their eyes to the portions of my word which have become inconvenient. Your nation has turned away from me and gone astray with the approval of the church. It has passed laws which are an offence to me, while the voices of your leaders have been either silent or sometimes heard in approval. Instead of standing as a bulwark of strength against the flood which threatens to engulf your nation and sweep it away in a tidal wave of anarchy and immorality, they have assisted those who in foolishness have opened the door to these forces of darkness.

The position of your Sovereign as the upholder of the Gospel, according to the oath which she swore before me, has been compromised as a result of walking according to the counsel of her spiritual advisers, who have sacrificed godliness and truth on the altar of political and social expediency.

I have called to you many times in order that you should repent and return to walking in the ways of the Lord and declaring his truth to a nation lost in darkness and confusion, but you have stubbornly blocked your ears. I am deeply grieved over the state of your godless nation; but with you I am exceedingly angry on account of your faithlessness and apostasy. I warn you that unless there is speedy repentance on the part of your leaders, I will hold them accountable for the blood of many. If there is no repentance, then I will give you up to those things which you are bringing upon yourselves, and there will be no turning back. Because of your lukewarmness, I will spew you out of my mouth; because of your refusal to love the truth, I will give you up to delusion and darkness.

Even that which you still have will be lost to you. There will be division and strife and utter confusion within your own ranks. Your wealth will disappear from you and your buildings will be occupied by those who do not know me. Because of their disregard of my authority, your leaders will become a laughing stock and their pronouncements will become the subject of open ridicule by the world which for so long they have sought to please.

Oh, Church of England, hear the cry of my heart as I warn you, for in my anger I speak of impending judgment, but in my steadfast love I plead with you, for I still love you and I still desire to bless you on account of the faithfulness of former generations.

Return to my word and obey it. Re-discover the paths of righteousness and walk in them, for if you will do so, I will even now save what little remains of your former glory and use you as an instrument of salvation in this nation; but if you do not, I will give you up to the destruction which you have chosen for yourselves, for your condition in my sight is now worse than that of the institution out of which I first rescued you.

About the author: David Noakes was a solicitor in London until he joined Clifford Hill’s ministry in 1984. He has been part of the Prophetic Word Ministries/Prophecy Today team since that time, although he has also exercised an independent ministry speaking at conferences both in Britain and overseas. He has visited Israel many times and until recently was chairman of Hatikvah Film Trust, working with Hugh Kitson making films about Israel. He is a well-known Bible teacher with an established ministry and remains an official advisor to Issachar Ministries (Prophecy Today UK's parent charity).

Has the glory departed from the Church of England?

A great tragedy has befallen the Church of England, whose Synod (parliament) has just completed a session in the ancient city of York. It could well be argued that, as a result of decisions made there, the lights have gone out and the glory has departed.

Having already conveyed mixed messages on sexual ethics and failed to rule out ‘marriage’ for same-sex couples, the body has now voted to provide special services designed to mark a person’s gender transition. And the Archbishop of York has effectively rejected the authority of the Bible.

When a motion called for politicians to “prioritise the common good of all people”, synod member Andrea Williams proposed an amendment inserting the words “as revealed in the Bible and taught by the church”.

She spoke of the need for the Bible to inform our understanding of the common good and proposed a further amendment calling for the protection of life, the promotion of marriage and family and the maintenance of Christian freedoms.

Bishop John Sentamu. See Photo Credits.But both amendments were rejected, with Archbishop of York John Sentamu replying: "If you’re going to serve the whole community, please don’t limit our language…The Word became flesh and sadly we are now making it Word, Word and Word again. Resist the amendments."¹

Conforming to the World

In an interview with Premier Radio, Andrea said it was “unkind – not gracious – to leave people in their sin,” adding that the Church had merely reflected the world and its standards by ingratiating herself to man’s demands, which of course flies in the face of St Paul’s teaching against being conformed to the world’s pattern of thinking (Rom 12:2).

She said she was “so upset at the lack of witness to the truth, beauty and glory of the gospel,” which was a message of healing, hope and transformation, adding that “Jesus welcomes us just as we are, but doesn’t leave us where we are.”

She said it was possible that the Church of England’s mission to the nation had been irreparably damaged, and that it was “absolutely shocking” that the Archbishops had failed to give a lead on the subject.²

Andrea Williams' amendment recognising the authority of the Bible was rejected.

Indeed, we are urged by Jude, Jesus’ half-brother, “to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 3). As Sam Gordon puts it in his new book, Cuckoos in the Nest (Christian Year Publications), “It is the written Word of God that he is focusing on. It is the truth of God, penned by men of God, under the control and illumination of the Spirit of God, for all the people of God.”

He goes on: “This truth has not been thought up by a handful of people sitting in a committee room…it has come from God. It is the good news that the holy God has revealed and made known to man…It has come from heaven.”

The Glory Has Departed

Andrea had earlier reminded the Synod of how, 64 years ago, the Queen had assented to a Coronation Oath acknowledging the Bible as “the most valuable thing that this world affords”. Clearly, its value has significantly diminished among today’s bishops.

However, most of the world’s 70 million Anglicans neither live, nor worship, in England – and the Synod’s latest suicide pact is unlikely to bring the whole house down because most of our African brothers, for whom many British missionaries gave their lives, will have no truck with it. And despite the diabolical vote, neither will a significant minority of C of E clergymen.

It is possible that the Church of England’s mission to the nation has been irreparably damaged.

One of them, a vicar known to me, told of a harrowing experience which conveyed to him that the lights had gone out in the Church of England, and the glory of the Lord had departed.

“At the very time the transgender vote was being passed, I was leading communion and in the middle of the consecration prayer when an altar candle went out. And it was in a glass container, so it was not blown out by a breeze.

“At the next service at another of my churches, when I was talking about the state of the nation, I noticed that none of the altar candles had been lit, which was highly unusual as the person in charge is so vigilant – and worse still, I saw petals and leaves from a large display of flowers suddenly fall to the floor!³ I was so overwhelmed that I cried and, at that moment, the Lord said to me, ‘Ichabod – the glory of the Lord has departed!’

“In 1 Samuel 4.21, the boy Ichabod was so-called because he was born after the capture of the Ark of God by the Philistines. In the same way, it would seem, God’s presence has left an institution whose leaders have denied his glory and his unchanging word.”

A Profound History…But What Future?

Jesus warned the early Christians at Ephesus that he would remove their lamp-stand if they did not recover their first love for him (Rev 2:5), and conveyed dire warnings of intense suffering to those in the church at Thyatira who tolerated teaching which leads to sexual immorality (Rev 2:20).

Far from being merely the result of Henry VIII’s pique at the Pope’s refusal to grant him a divorce, the C of E was largely a product of the Protestant Reformation – as can be attested by its thoroughly biblical ‘39 Articles’. As such, she has served this country – and indeed the world at large – with great distinction.

Christianity across the globe has been profoundly shaped by figures such as John Wesley, William Wilberforce, Bishop J C Ryle and John Stott, and the Church’s sons and daughters have taken the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Historically, the C of E has served the world with great distinction – but a light has undoubtedly been snuffed out.

I owe a great debt to my own Anglican background, which was steeped in a biblical liturgy that proved a strong foundation when I finally put my personal trust in Christ. At All Souls, Langham Place, in London’s West End I was thoroughly grounded in the scriptures and even now I am proud to be associated with the Church’s Ministry among Jewish people, an Anglican society dedicated to the spiritual re-birth of Israel.

But a light has undoubtedly been snuffed out, and maybe God is calling those who refuse to bow the knee to Baal to “come out from among them”? As St Paul asks in this context, “What fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2 Cor 6:14-17).

References

1 Christian Concern, 7 July 2017.

2 Premier Christian Radio, 10 July 2017.

3 “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isa 40:8)

As same-sex issue divides, who will speak up for the truth?

The Church of England has once again failed to give a moral lead to the nation.

Their Synod (parliament) has voted against the Bishops’ recommendation that, in the face of huge pressure to allow same-sex ‘equality’, they should continue to take the traditional view of marriage.

Those within the Church desperately trying to honour the clear biblical teaching – that a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife (Gen 2:24) – have reached a discouraging impasse.

Heresy Within, Confusion Without

Is it not time to say: ‘enough is enough’? Undermining the authority of the Bible only leads to heresy within and confusion without. Sure, the watching world sees a Church divided, and some would say that is a bad witness. But there are surely issues over which it is impossible to compromise.

Endless debates create much heat, but bear little fruit. What, after all, is there left to debate? If the choice is whether or not to follow Scripture, then the advice from the Apostle Paul is: “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you” (2 Cor 6:17). Those pushing for same-sex marriage are surely touching something ‘unclean’.

At the end of the day, we will all stand before God to give account of the decisions we have made or haven’t made (Rom 14:12).

Undermining the authority of the Bible only leads to heresy within and confusion without.

Danger of Deception

The letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor recorded in the Book of Revelation give as much emphasis on teaching as on behaviour – the key doctrines of Christian belief are hugely important.

The Apostle John, in his first letter, reminds his hearers that those who were spreading false teaching had come from within the churches. “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us,” he wrote (1 John 2:19).

Heresy was a great danger in the early Church, just as Jesus predicted it would be in these latter days. When his disciples asked him about signs of the end of the age, the first thing he said was: “Watch out that no-one deceives you” (Matt 24:4).

Yes, Jesus prayed passionately for unity among his followers. It was never meant to be unity at any cost, however, but the sort of oneness about which Paul spoke in his letter to the Ephesians when he explained that the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers were there “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature…” (Eph 4:12f).

The context is clearly about developing maturity within the body of Christ as disciples learn to walk in harmony with the Word of God.

But because the modern Church has failed to give a moral lead on the issue of homosexuality, the entire Western world is now in the grip of ‘redefining marriage’, if that is really possible.

Jesus prayed passionately for unity among his followers, but it was never meant to be unity at any cost.

Seek The Truth

We have seen the same thing happen over Israel. Undermining the authority of the Bible has led to the heresy of ‘Replacement Theology’, teaching that the Church has replaced Israel in God’s affections. As a result, there is very little understanding of Israel in the UK Church today, and yet God’s end-time purpose is for Jew and Gentile to work together for the Gospel! How far we have fallen behind God’s programme!

Tragically, the Church has succumbed wholesale to worldliness, ignoring the Bible’s directive: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2).

Isn’t it time we re-committed ourselves to seeking the truth, perfectly demonstrated in Jesus Christ – “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6)?