Good evening and welcome to this live broadcast. At the moment I can see I'm the only person here. We had some technical problems. The live chat wouldn't work and I tried several things to fix it but it didn't work so I had to restart the system. Getting the system up and running for a live broadcast I think must be a bit like doing all the pre-flight checks in an airliner because there's a lot to do. You've got sound, you've got camera, you've got software and things. Ian Harris, welcome and good morning. to you in Australia there, and thank you for finding us after all that hassle. The live chat failed and that's why I had to restart, so just a YouTube glitch. These things are said to try us. So, yes, so here we are for the Bible Believers podcast. I'm David Macrith, your host. I wish you a very warm welcome. We meet in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ because this is a Christian podcast and we love the Lord Jesus. We love the gospel. We're saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone and we want to study things relevant to that this evening. So I notice, how can I not notice, as I'm speaking the war between Israel and Iran is brewing up. And this is, of course, very significant. It's something as Christians, many of us are watching very carefully because of the prophecies in the Bible relating to Ezekiel 38 and 39. Even so, we've seen destruction on a tremendous scale taking place, for example, in Beirut. And we do really feel for those innocent people that have been caught up in this. I support Israel. I believe Israel has the right to exist as a nation. I think that was clear from the Bible. But that doesn't change the fact that sadly many innocent people get caught up in wars and terrible things are going on. We need to pray for Christians on all sides, that God would have mercy and help them in these times. We're not yet experiencing that, but I noticed that this week, again in the Telegraph, there was an article saying that this country needs to set up an Iron Dome system like Israel's, because we are soon going to be under attack ourselves. These are all very sobering things. So welcome, Hannah. And as I said, Ian, welcome. Sonia, a very warm welcome to you in Canada, and Bernadette in Ireland, and Kathy also in Australia. Welcome to you, friends. And thank you for rejoining us after some technical glitches. As I said, the reason for the technical glitch was that the live chat wasn't working. And I think you'd agree with me, it's worth stopping and trying to get it working, because we all enjoy the live chat very much. Let's read the scriptures, and then we'll pray, and then we'll come to the material this evening. I'll be talking about Christy Higgs and other things that have happened. I did want to give another talk on the subject of Steve Lawson, by the way, because as I speak, people are putting up new videos saying this new revelations or i think it's not so much new revelations as new material available which flesh out the details of the things that have happened relating to pastor steve lawson who's been removed from the ministry um i'm going to wait till next week my concern is more with christians and how christians react to this than now than with Pastor Lawson himself, or ex-Pastor Lawson himself. And there is more that needs to be said on this, but I'll let others say what they want to say first, and then we can come back to a Bible study on the subject next week. It's a very sad, very tragic situation. I just need to move the keyboard and lift that in place. All my pre-flight checks, and I missed that. There we are. Now I've got somewhere to put my notes. So our reading this evening is from Acts chapter 5, verses 16 to 26. Acts chapter 5, verses 16 to 26. And we're thinking about, I want to talk about the old empty barns I'm referring to, of course, our Church of England cathedrals. And I want to talk about a passage of scripture which I have found myself relevant in this situation. Sally, a very warm welcome to you, and you're in Leeds today in the north of England, so the Lord bless you and your fellow conference attenders there. Amy, a very warm welcome to you. Amy very kindly was present at a live reading of a Spurgeon sermon I did over on the other channel earlier, and I should point out that I've changed the name of that channel. It was Spurgeon's Devotional Bible, but there's not been a lot of uptake on that. I want to continue the Spurgeon's devotions for those who'd like to hear them, and that will be on at podbean.com. but I've changed the name of the channel to Spurgeon Live because I want to do more live readings of Spurgeon sermons on YouTube with the aim and intention of encouraging people and preaching the gospel. Lan, welcome to you from Dallas in sunny, shiny Texas. I hope you haven't been affected by that hurricane that has affected other states. Lan, I hope things are okay where you are. I know the hurricane has hit the churches in Texas and I'm very sad about that and pray for you and others that the Lord Jesus will enable you to weather that storm. I'm talking about Steve Lawson and what happened with him and churches in Dallas, no doubt some churches in Dallas will be very, very sad about what has happened. So let me read from Acts chapter 5 verses 16 to 26. This is about the apostles preaching the gospel after they've been threatened and beaten by the Sanhedrin for healing a man in Jesus' name who was lame from birth. So, verse 16 of Acts chapter five, there came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were healed, every one. Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation, see how the religious authorities get angry when the gospel is being preached, and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison, But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, Go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest came and they that were with him and called the council together and all the senate of the children of Israel. and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned and told, say, the prison truly we found shut with all safety and the keepers standing without before the doors. But when we had opened, we found no man within. And when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then went the captain with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. Verse 20, go, this is the angel of the Lord, maybe the Holy Spirit, we think, or the Lord Jesus. Verse 20, go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. So they were sent back into the very temple where they had been teaching already and the very place where the religious authorities would at least expect them to go because of their wrath and anger against them. And verse 21, their obedience. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. And then verse 25, then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Astonishing. Father, we pray that you'd be with us for this Bible study this evening. Lord, we pray that You would speak to each of us. Show us what You want us to do. Lord, we pray for the raising up of Your cause in these days. Raise up godly men filled with the Holy Spirit to preach Your Word. We see some of these who lead the people of God falling into sin, Lord. It grieves our hearts. We ourselves see our own weakness, our own sins, and our own failings. Cleanse us in Jesus' blood. Grant us your grace that we would not fall into such sins, Lord. How easily we could but for your grace, Father. Lord, make us like Jesus. Thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, that he loves us and died for us, there upon that cross of Calvary. Oh Father, how we pray that others would come to know the Lord Jesus too. I want to pray for the preaching of the Gospel this week, the little amount that I did this week, preaching God's Word, preaching the Gospel, calling sinners to repentance, and pray that your mercy would be found through that preaching. I want to pray, Lord, for the Christy Higgs case, Lord, and as the judges deliberate, Lord, I pray that you, by your Spirit, would turn their hearts, because their hearts are in your hands, Father, that they would rule in favor of what is obviously right, and rule in favor of Mrs. Higgs, Lord, and rule in favor of truth, and rule in favor of freedom of speech as well, Lord. But above all, that Christians would be free to stand up and say, I'm a Christian in a free society, where that freedom comes from Christianity in the first place. Father, I pray that you'd have mercy upon your people in Israel, have mercy on Christians in Lebanon, Lord, mercy upon Christians in Gaza, have mercy upon your people in Iran, and Lord, we pray that for all of these terrible, terrible wars, that your gospel would continue to grow in these places. And Lord, we pray that you'd have mercy upon the Jews. We know that you'll defend Israel. We know that's clear in your word, but we pray that you would have mercy upon the Jews and that they would look upon him whom they have pierced and mourned. So be with us now, Lord, and help us. Encourage us, strengthen us, teach us, and feed us. Speak to us, Lord. If you have anything to say to any one of us, Lord, Help us to be obedient to what you have to say to us and to stand firm in the truth. On this we ask and pray in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Amen. Well, thank you again for being with us this evening. Hedge, a good evening to you. J.A. from Arizona, welcome to you. And thank you, yes, Lance says she's praying for all that are in harm's way. And that would include people in Florida, I guess, and of course, Christians in Dallas and other places because of the earthquake, the spiritual earthquake that's taken place, sadly, in the churches there. but we look to the Lord Jesus. May a good evening, Kathy from Kent, welcome to you. Sorry, Sally, I did say hello to you in Leeds, and Lance being very friendly and saying hello to all and to Sally. So right, let's hedge again, Kathy again, Bernard again, I think I've greeted everybody now. Let's get into what we're talking about. Now this really is just a bit of me going through the events of the last few days and commenting on them, but I've got quite a lot to say. We've spoken about Steve Law, we've got the Christy Higgs case, and I've put quite a lot about that on this page. It's an extraordinarily important case, Mr Higgs. was a school teaching assistant in England here. She lost her job for making statements of concern about the content of sex education material and transgender education material being given to primary school children in England. She made her comments on a private Facebook post. She was treated shamefully by her employers. She was sacked. and she went to an employment tribunal, which threw out her case basically. She then appealed and won her appeal, but the appeal in the Employment Appeals Tribunal, which I myself have been to and lost my case, the appeal was sent back to the original court, which is grossly unfair. So the Christian Legal Center, on behalf of Mrs. Higgs, appealed to a higher court. So this was the appeal court. in England, and this was the case that's taken place over Wednesday and Thursday this week. It's an extraordinary, if you go to the Christian Concern webpage, christianconcern.com, they'll explain why it's such an extraordinarily important case, why it's so important to all of us Christians that Mrs Higgs wins her case, Because if she wins her case, then we win freedom for Christians to speak the truth in love. But if she loses her case, then we lose our freedom to speak up for the truth, to criticize. In a free society, we should be free to criticize the sex education that's put in schools, especially if we feel that it is immoral and is harmful. That's what freedom means in a free society. So we're very, very concerned that Christy wins her case. Now what happened was that the Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Center arranged a demonstration outside the courts before the case began, and this generated publicity. and i had the privilege of being invited because of my own case because i lost my job for refusing to use transgender pronouns as a christian doctor my car welcome um and uh there were there was an extraordinary i've almost called it a rogue rogues gallery but i'm the rogue i don't think any of the others were i was with people who have also been clients of the christian legal center and also lost their jobs for saying just small things. There was Joshua Sutcliffe who's been struck off from the teaching profession on the grounds that on a balance of probabilities over a two-year period he may have misgendered a pupil. There was Felix Ngole, a Christian social worker, who won his legal case, and yet he's still being persecuted for his Christian views, despite the law being on his side, apparently, so the Christian Legal Center are helping him. There was Aaron Edwards, who is a Bible teacher, a lecturer in a Bible college, who lost his job for stating the Bible's position on homosexuality, and he was a lecturer in a Christian, in an evangelical Bible college, and was sacked. And his case is ongoing. There was Victoria Culf, who is a Christian artist, who was banned by a council from attending her own exhibition because of her views on transgenderism. Oh, and there was me as well. And there were others as well. There were the Rose from the Isle of Wight and others. And we were all very, very glad to be there to protest outside the courts because of Christy Higgs' case. We see a situation where Christians are being persecuted, where we are losing our freedoms, where it is difficult, where if we stand up for the Lord Jesus Christ, we do get hurt. You see sadly too many Christians who are simply going with the flow and not paying the price and thinking that this is acceptable as Christianity. So we were very glad to be at the Christy Higgs case. Now I just want to briefly say as well what I saw in court. I was only there for the morning of the first day. This is my personal opinion, but Richard O, I've forgotten his name, the counsel, that is the Christian lawyer who was representing Mrs. Higgs, who was there with her husband and children, is a very experienced employment lawyer. And yet i saw a man who is very experienced being constantly interrupted by a judge will be at a senior judge. I'm constantly interrupted constantly told his arguments were irrelevant and i thought this was whether this is just how the legal system works to me that was a bit like a very senior very experienced physician being treated as if he just come out of medical school. it would have been very, very unkind and unpleasant, and potentially it would interfere with the course of medicine. And in this case, it may interfere with the course of law. But that's what I felt I saw. I saw a man of considerable experience, of considerable ability, being constantly interrupted, not being able to make his case. Even so, that should tell us at the very least, as the judges deliberate, we must pray And we must pray that the outcome would be righteous. Technically speaking, Christy has already won her case. The previous court said that she had not done anything wrong. But at the same time, now that it's in the higher court, I know from my own experience that judges don't want to handle these cases. They're afraid of the LGBTQ plus lobby, in my opinion. And even when it's very obvious that somebody has been wronged, they rule against them. So we must pray for the Christy Higgs case. If you go to the material from Christian Concern, you'll find them saying that this is a very significant case, the outcome of which will have significant implications for Christians for a very long time. That's why we need to pray for the Christy Higgs case. And of course, if we're not in England, we know now that in the Western world, if a case takes place in any of our countries, it will affect cases in other countries as well. So we are standing up for the truth. Well, let's move on from Christy Higgs' case. My text is about the apostles having been imprisoned for preaching the gospel, going straight back into the temple at the commandment of Almighty God. They'd been threatened and maybe they would have been afraid and they wouldn't have gone there and preached. But God told them to do that very thing. Go back to the very heart of things. Go into that temple and preach the gospel there. And that's exactly what they did to the astonishment of the establishment. Now, God very specifically said that to them. And by his spirit or the angel of the lord might be the lord jesus might be the holy spirit i'm not sure but to go to that very temple at very center that very place. First of all it was needful for them to be there to go to use them in that way to stand up to the religious authorities the organized religion of that day. It was extraordinarily bold, but God gave them the boldness. They were ignorant and unlearned men, but they had boldness because God gave them, they weren't ignorant and unlearned men, but they were according to the Sanhedrin ignorant and unlearned men. But they were the men that God chose that the Lord Jesus picked handpicked to be his, um, his apostles. It was a bold move and the authorities Roth was bound to be, um, aroused. That's why they went back. And of course, what happens is Gamaliel says, counsels them to wait and see what happens. And they say, okay, we'll accept that council, but then they have to go on and beat them again. Anyway, showing what spirit they were off. Certainly not a gentle, loving, kind spirit, such as we find in the Bible in those who believe, but these were the same men that crucified the Lord Jesus Christ organized religion. Um, So Ian says reportedly lawyers here that's in Australia seeking to be judges need to demonstrate strong DEI activism. I think that's DEI activism. I think that'll be activism in favor of diversity, equity and inclusion. It's the thing about that is I think the judges here have already done that. They've already drunk the Kool-Aid. They're already part of the of the problem. That's been my personal experience. I speak from personal experience. My judgment didn't make sense and I wasn't then allowed to take my case further in court, but that's enough about me. But these are all really important cases and they're really significant for us as Christians. Sonia W says, not the professionals. Peter, welcome Peter, Charlie says, it will become harder to personally live up to and outwardly to stand up for the truth in the last days. The Bible clearly warns people of this. Absolutely, Peter. That's why we must pursue this and say, as Christians, we need to stand up and be counted for the Lord Jesus Christ, who has saved us by his blood and delivered us from the wrath to come and given us his salvation. Look, it was the Lord, Jesus who gave them strength to go into the temple. It was the Lord Jesus who helped them there, and it was the Lord Jesus who maintained their testimony despite their human weaknesses. The same is true with us. If we're dependent on the Lord and we walk with the Lord, we will be bold for the Lord. If we walk in our own strength, we will fall. We'll bring shame on the Lord Jesus Christ because we won't stand, and I fear that many Christians are doing that today. They're compromised. Charles M, welcome. Faith comes by hearing, says the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the people of God are truly hated by the world today, from inside and outside the church today. Prayer sent from Australia. Thank you, brother, or sister, because you haven't told us whether you're... I think the picture is of a man, so apologies. Thank you, brother. I can only see a tiny, tiny little picture there. So these men, These men did what God wanted them to do. It provoked the authorities, but it was a testimony to those authorities as to the power of the gospel. That's what was taking place there, so thank God for that. Now I need to move on to what I did. Let me just see what Sally Richardson says. Matthew 24 warns us, in the last days, the love of many will grow cold. We are seeing that, Sally. I believe we're seeing that. I believe that this is what I'm talking about as well. As I go on, you'll see. And the thing is, don't let it happen to you. Don't let your heart grow cold. No matter what, don't let your heart grow cold. Okay, so what did I do? Over the last two weeks, I've been to two cathedrals and preached the gospel. Some will say, well, that's irrelevant, David. And others will say, well, you're a hothead. I was a hothead when I was younger. Hopefully, I'm not as much of a hothead now, I hope, by the grace of God, a mark of the work that God has done in me. But that's not why I went to the cathedrals. I went to the York Minster. obviously in the city of York in the north of England, and I went to St. Paul's Cathedral in London, world famous. And I preached as I was able to, and on each occasion I preached from Isaiah 53, especially on the words, he, speaking of Jesus, was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. And, uh, I need to say how this came about. How did I go into the cathedral? So I didn't just happen to find myself in York at the loose end. I'll go in there, went in there and thought, why don't I preach? This began with a conviction, an unexpected conviction. While I was praying about the state of the church of England conviction that God wanted me to do this. Um, suddenly the idea, this had never occurred to me before the idea occurred to me that, that it might be right. The right thing to go into these large empty barns and preach. It was conviction, it came from the Lord. And as a conviction coming from the Lord, I spent time praying about it, asking God to make it clear to me. And I came to the conclusion that God was, yes, calling me to do this. Why St Paul's? Why York? Because last November I was at the General Assembly of the Church of England, I was in the Visitors' Gallery, when these two bishops played the leading role in persuading the Church of England to vote in favour of blessing same-sex relationships, i.e. blessing sodomy in the churches, thereby making themselves the enemies of God and making the Church of England an apostate organisation. As a result, these seem to be the right cathedrals to go to. But I went prayerfully. I went with a desire to give glory to God with the conviction that God was sending me. Jason says spinning. Uh, are you spinning or am I spinning? Um, Jason, not sure. Um, Sally says there's a big difference between a hothead and you, David standing outside St. Paul's cathedral. Well, I wasn't standing outside. I was inside Sally. I was inside St. Paul's cathedral. That's what I felt. God wanted me to do. after much prayer and consideration. In fact, the first thing I did was phone up the Christian Legal Center, who were representing Christy Higgs, and I said, look, what would happen if I just walked into a cathedral off the street, took my Bible out and preached the word of God? And their advice was, as far as they could tell, that this wasn't illegal, but if somebody official in the cathedral asked me to stop, I would be legally bound to stop. And if they asked me to leave, I would have to leave. So the first reason I did it was because of conviction. The second conviction reason I did was because I'm absolutely fed up with the church of England and she is apostate before almighty God. And the third reason for doing this, the third reason for doing this is a genuine desire to really shake things up. Because I'm fed up with the failure of evangelical Anglicans to play the man. They should be thundering the gospel. They should be going into their own buildings and thundering the gospel and calling the people to repentance and pointing out the idolatry and the wretchedness of everything that's going on. I mean, I went into St. Paul's Cathedral. There was nothing there that would tell you anything about the gospel. There were candles everywhere. There was an icon of the Virgin Mary, but nothing that I would call Christian at all. So I'm fed up with the failure of evangelical Anglicanism. I'm fed up with hearing from GAFCON that at some point they might leave. But they seem to be addicted to the Archbishop of Canterbury. They seem to be addicted to their buildings and these big old empty barns. God doesn't pay any attention to these barns. One Christian soul is of far greater value than all of these barns, all these cathedrals put together. Because it's not about buildings, it's about the Lord Jesus Christ and it's about everlasting life in the hearts of sinners, saved by grace. So I'm fed up with evangelical Anglicanism, always promising to do something and failing to deliver. I'm a Baptist and I went into their cathedrals and I thought, I will preach the gospel. Now, I didn't take it to the next level. What's the next level? The next level is this, the next level is, Going into a cathedral, for example, I haven't planned to do this yet, by any means, it's a matter of prayer, and I may never do this. There are reasons for not doing it, and there are reasons for doing it, is going into a cathedral, taking out my Bible, preaching the gospel, and when they tell me to stop, continuing, carrying on, and seeing what happens next. At that point, my lawyer friends will probably say, the law will not protect you. So it's a choice, but it's one that has to come from the Lord. Now, I haven't done that, but that's the next level. I'll come to why I did these things shortly, but there are good reasons for not doing it, and there are good reasons for doing it. But the gospel must be preached. Remember, the apostles went straight back into the temple at the insistence of the Lord, and they preached with great boldness to the horror of those who hated the gospel. We need to be very bold in these days. We need to stand up for the gospel. Have we realized yet, with the Christy Higgs case, with the situation in the Church of England, have we realized yet that we are fighting for our spiritual lives? We're not. We can't lose our salvation. But what I mean is this. that everything in England is against the gospel. The police seem to be afraid of Islam and therefore Islam is moving forward very rapidly. The Church of England is as consistent as a jellyfish and as strong as a jellyfish. It seems to me spiritually and And we have got to be very bold. We have got to find ways of making the Lord Jesus Christ known. It's not that sometime in the future we might or there's a gradual decline. The gradual decline is over. God's judgments are abroad in the land. We are in trouble. We need to show God that we're serious about serving Him. We need the same boldness, the same help, the same power of the Holy Spirit that those apostles had when they went into the temple. I mean, the temple itself in those days had ceased to have its religious function because the Lord Jesus had died and been crucified and raised from the dead and ascended to heaven. And the New Testament had come in, the testament of His blood. When I was in York, I was treated very politely. I had seven minutes to preach the gospel. I was very happy that I'd managed to preach the gospel in that time. A number of people came and sat down behind me and listened. In St. Paul's, things were a lot tougher. I had five minutes. And the chapel that I was in, it was empty. It was a chapel at the side of the entrance. And I preached for five minutes, and then five men came up. And one man who was about 50, who was dressed in clerical garb, saw my Bible, a look of hatred came on his face. He grabbed my Bible by the pages, doing slight damage to it, shut it and slammed it down on my rucksack. And it was as though he didn't like me preaching, but he hated the Bible with an absolute hatred. This is shocking. I should say also that, It is a beautiful thing, and insects are beautiful. It's a wonderful thing, but of course the authorities do not like that. Now, the thing about that is, yesterday I was preaching in the open air here in Kidderminster, and I was preaching to a large group of young people, and they became very, very angry. And a girl came along, and the same Bible that had been grabbed the day before by a Church of England clergyman and slammed down, was now kicked by a girl in the open air and sent flying. There's this hatred towards the Bible. That was a very tough thing in Kinnaman's yesterday. We're very, very angry, but God delivered me. Two of them at least threatened to do me significant harm if I didn't go, and I refused to go. God had mercy upon me. Oh, pray for these people. We must preach the gospel. These are lost. They are on the verge of hell. They are ruined as young people in England. They are on the verge of being called up and sent to the meat grinder in Ukraine or maybe to the Middle East or somewhere. The world is descending into chaos. We must preach the gospel. Evangelical churches, as my friends call them, Sally. Yes. And some of my friends call them that, too. And I think that's appropriate. Amy says that was a great sermon, the dignity of the Lord Jesus and his heaviness and power were very majestic. Thank you, Amy. Jesus says, high good will be called evil, and evil will be called good. This is the thing about St. Paul's. When you see a group of very grim-faced people with some hefty security, there's nothing Christian about that. You see, compare that with the New Testament, or compare it with the apostles in the temple. The same thing, the Sanhedrin, the people who crucified Christ were appalled. They were angry. They wanted to put the disciples to death, but they were restrained by Gamaliel. And in this situation, it's just the same. There's no, thank you for preaching the gospel, brother, or we appreciate that you, being a Baptist, David, would like to preach in this building, but this isn't appropriate because it's a public space, therefore you can go here or there. It was get out, basically. I went before they told me that, but the thing about it is this, there was nothing Christian, no Christian love, no Christian compassion that I could find, no Christian concern, no recognition of the Bible or the gospel for what it is. That's very concerning indeed. And of course, when it comes to both the Archbishop of York, so I preached in York-Winston, and the Archbishop of London, who is a woman, which is very strange because she can't be the husband of one wife, as the Bible says, although when the Church of England puts its transgender agenda through, which is one of the things that Christie Higgs has been in so much trouble for, then perhaps she can be the husband of one wife, but only in the Anglican Church and the way that it's going. We don't find Church of England bishops in the Bible, let alone female bishops. I'd have more to say on that. But the thing is this, they're not preaching the gospel. They're not unswervingly, faithfully teaching the word of God and preaching Christ Jesus and him crucified. It's interesting, in the Christy Higgs case, a number of other organizations came in and spoke in her favor, including the European Commission on Human Rights, which said that the ruling should go in Christy Higgs' favor. That's a very big thing, and there were other organizations as well. The one organization that weighed in on the legal case against Christie Higgs was the Archbishop's Council of the Church of England. The archbishops were upholding her sacking for speaking Christian truth. That says many, many things, doesn't it, about the Church of England. So I'm very glad I spoke in those cathedrals. I did it with fear and trembling. I didn't do it lightly. I didn't think I was going to have an easy time. And particularly with St. Paul's two days ago, I felt absolutely, after five minutes of preaching, I felt as though I preached for five hours. And I actually got quite a lot of chest pain afterwards. And you know I have a heart condition. It was not easy. I'm not saying it was easy. There was no jolly, you know, hockey stick sort of attitude to let's go ahead and just do it. It's all going to be fine. This was costly, just as the apostles were told to go into the temple. And of course, the temple has some value, but I would say these great barns have no value at all, not in God's eyes. One Christian, the poorest Christian, is of greater infinite value before the Almighty God than any of these and all of these supposedly beautiful buildings. There's no doubt about that. So that's why I did that. I felt called by God. I had to do it. And God sees what happened in those churches. He sees that the gospel isn't welcome, that it's put out. He sees that the Bible is slammed down and torn, not torn, but crumpled. He sees that. And also, even though I was only in a side chapel in St. Paul's, This before God is a genuine witness and he sees that too. It leaves them without excuse. It opens the door for their final judgment from God, which may come in the form of Islam or it may come in the form of a ship with 20,000 tons of fertilizer on it sailing up the Thames and being detonated by Vladimir Putin to stop Britain from being involved. In the Ukraine war, for example, I'm not saying that these things are going to happen. I don't know. All of those things are in God's hands. My heart and desire is that they should repent, but they're not showing any signs of repenting. They have been warned by others what the Bible says, and they hate the Bible, it would appear. Anyway, I felt drained afterwards, but the Lord enabled me to do it, and I felt that this was my obedience to Him. Yeah, I've said about the open air preaching and kidney mints yesterday. Many young people, very angry. The Bible was being taught. God delivered me, but they were very angry. There is this rage against God's word, this rage against Christians. And again, we're not, we have to contend for the faith. We have to pray that God would raise up men full of his Holy spirit to preach his gospel. That's what I'm praying. So reasons why the church of England is spiritually bankrupt. We've said most of those already, and these are large empty barns. As I said, they're ornate buildings. Maybe they took centuries to build. Maybe they're beautiful, but God attaches no value to them whatsoever. He's in the business of saving people, not buildings. Leave the saving of buildings to the National Trust. But God is in the business of saving souls. And of course, none of these buildings, which are so important, none of these buildings say anything about spiritual things. There's nothing about cathedrals in the Bible. There's nothing, you know, the temple was ordained by God until 80, 70, but there's nothing about cathedrals in the Bible. It's people. There's nothing about clerical garb. It's people. There's nothing about candles. It's people icons of the Virgin Mary is pure idolatry. and men going their own way in the spiritual sense, teaching things which are contrary to God's word, teaching the LGBTQI doctrines. Thank you, J.A., for your comment about boldness. Kathy, the Archbishop's Council agreed and supported her sacking. In fact, they were the only organization that came in on the side of the school sector. All the other organizations, including the European Commission on Human Rights, were on the side of Christy Higgs. The Archbishops have shown where they stand. We knew that already, but that's one of the things. The vindictiveness of that towards Christianity, towards Christians. Why are Christians still in the Church of England? We have this departure from this truth, this horrible idolatry, this persecution of Christians. Just like the apostles and the Sanhedrin wanting to destroy the apostles in the first century, today we have the Church of England and it seems the same spirit against the Word of God. against the truth, against the gospel. We cannot tolerate a man walking in off the street and telling people that he loves Jesus Christ because he is the savior of the world. Surely not in a church building. We can't have that. Gee, you're absolutely right. It's bonkers, really, when you think a scripturally sound Christian can be asked to leave church. But you see, again, it's instructive that if there's no love and there's no compassion, there's no Christianity in that, then it speaks absolute volumes. And after that, I went back to the court to try and get the afternoon with the Christy Higgs case, but I couldn't get in. They said there was no room. Brummie Pilgrim, I found that there are many in the pew Anglicans in the church, pews who are still loyal to our Lord Jesus and his gospel, but it's the leadership. Well, Brummie, I take issue with you. If the leadership are like that, then you shouldn't be in the Church of England because you are a submission to those leaders and God sees it. You need to come out of the Church of England if you're in it. You need to flee from it because it's under the wrath of God. You have no business. You see, all of those evangelical Anglicans are supporting St. Paul's Cathedral, for example, and there's nothing of the gospel there, nothing of the truth, nothing that would bring honor to the Lord Jesus Christ and plenty that would bring shame to his name. Why are you under the authority of these bishops? No excusing it, no justifying it, no saying, well, God wants us to be Anglicans. Anglicanism is not biblical. Christianity, we meet together as Christians. We may have a building that we call the church, but the church is the people, not the building. We have no bishops as such. The bishops we have, bishops in scripture, were local elders of local churches. And now we have men who live in palaces, and they have great cathedrals, and women as well. And none of this is pleasing to God. And there's no justification. Evangelical Anglicans are supporting the establishment, which is attacking them. If they are evangelical Anglicans, if they really love the Lord Jesus Christ, they have no business being associated with those men whatsoever. Gavin pay S.O.S. C.O.C. You say S.O.S. C.O.C. I say R.A.P. C.O.V. C.O.V. But SOS, it's past that stage. You see, I believe that if God sends a man like me to preach, even if I only preach from Isaiah 53 for five minutes and I preach Christ Jesus and him crucified, and my Bible is snatched and I'm forced to leave, that is a testimony. And it may be the last testimony they hear. It's a mercy of God. He warns them, but they won't take it. And they don't have ears to hear it. And they think that God is pleased with them and they persecute the saints. They're persecuting Christie Higgs. And they stand up for those things which God hates. You see, we can't play around here. We cannot play around here. I am so tired of evangelical Anglicans talking, talking, talking. If they do such and such, we'll leave. And they don't leave, and they don't leave, and they don't leave. They are compromised. And the only way they can put away that compromise is by coming out. Jesus says, come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, is it? and being unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Here they are supporting unbelievers. We don't need these cathedrals. They're empty barns, spiritually speaking. They'll be preaching of the gospel in Birmingham City Centre on the first Saturday of the month. Good, that's good. So let me come now to say why I did this. And I've said already, I wasn't being a hothead, I spent quite a lot of time praying about it, and I took legal advice before I did it as well, and I decided that where the line was drawn, when they asked me to leave, I decided in advance that when they asked me to leave, I will leave, unless I know for certain that God is telling me something else. And there's a reason for that, I'll come to that in a second. But the first thing is I did it because I believe God called me. I might have no other reason, I might be able to say, well, I can't think of any good reason why I should go into a cathedral and preach. I just believe that God wants me to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in those buildings. Obedience to the Lord, obedience to what I believe his will for me is. And that is a sufficient reason to do it without knowing anything else. But there were other reasons too. The second reason I did it was because it is a sign to them. It's a sign to the Church of England. It's a sign to those bishops. It's a sign to those clergy. It's a sign to those who are there from God. He sends his preacher. He sends his preacher to thunder the gospel. He sends his preacher to preach the word. He sends his preacher to give them one more chance. The chance they will repent, the chance they will turn. But if they don't, they are without excuse. This might be the last chance that God gives them by sending me there. It leaves them without excuse. Oh, you say, well, you were only preaching in the side chapel at the entrance of St. Paul's. Yes, I was, but it makes no difference. It was St. Paul's Cathedral. I was preaching the gospel. I was stopped. God sees that. God sees how they react to his gospel. God sees how they react to his word. God sees it. It is significant. Just takes one man to go in there for five minutes and God sees it. Now, the third reason I did it was to set an example of boldness. To me, it was a very bold move. I've never done anything like that before. I've done other things, but I've not done that before. But it was an example of boldness. We're going to have to be very bold in our witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. If we want the church to survive in the West, in our countries, in our nations, we've got to stop sitting around. We've got to stop sitting around and saying, well, we might leave the church at some point, or maybe we can persuade them. Or we might do some evangelism at some point. We've got to be very bold. We have got to be very bold. I thought it was very bold to go in there and do that. Others may not think so, but I thought it was. And we need to set an example of boldness. If I'm an evangelist, I need to set an example of boldness in these days. And I wanted this to be an example to GAFCON as well, because I'm a Baptist. They need to walk into their own buildings and thunder the gospel, not obfuscate, not weak, pathetic messages, but solid biblical messages exposing sin and calling the people to repentance and saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I did it to be bold and to shame gaff con for their week and tepid response to what happened in november at the general assembly. They need to come out. They need to to to to to forsake anglicanism anglicanism is not biblical christianity is biblical faith in jesus christ is biblical anglicanism is an unbiblical bolt on if you think i'm wrong try and persuade me. So the next reason I did this was to encourage others to be bold as well. And that's why I stopped short of getting arrested, because there'll be young men, young evangelists, and some of them have certainly been encouraged by this, and I'm glad about that, who have families and incomes, who, if they get arrested, will be putting those things at risk. So I didn't want to set in this time an example of getting arrested or being martyred, so to speak, for the sake of this, because I would carry in my conscience the effect on those young men. Now I know of at least one younger evangelist who has been into a cathedral, Gloucester Cathedral, in fact, as a result of my witness in York and has done the same thing. His report was the first time they were very kind to him, the second time they were not kind to him. But I salute him for doing that. My prayer and hope is that evangelists everywhere will go into church buildings and go into cathedrals, especially, and preach the gospel. If it's not illegal to do so, as long as you leave when they tell you to, then maybe we could have a lot of people doing that, going into the cathedrals and preaching the gospel, because that's what we need. But I don't want to set an example that would cause another man to lose his livelihood or his family to lose their income. But nevertheless, it may be that God calls me to do that, to say, I've got to be prepared like those apostles who went into the temple knowing that they would be arrested. I've got to be prepared to go down the same road myself. That is what God requires of me. We go into these churches in love. We love the people there. We long for their repentance. We long that they would find the truth. We long that they would turn back to Jesus Christ. This is not an aggressive act at all. It's not a desire. to cause trouble, will cause trouble, but it's not a desire to cause trouble. It's a desire to preach Christ faithfully where he should be preached. And then the fifth reason for me going there was to see for myself, and I learned so much. I saw these empty buildings. When you're on the outside, you tend to think, what beautiful buildings, aren't they amazing? Perhaps we should have some respect for that. But when I was preaching there, I saw that it didn't matter. God has no interest in these buildings. God is interested in Christians and people who love Jesus Christ. And they might, as I said, might be in a tin tabernacle or a tent in the wilderness, but it's a place where God meets with his people. I saw for myself the emptiness of vain religion, of organized religion, of empty religion masquerading as Christianity. And I realized, I realized more than I ever had done before how these things aren't important. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. It's that religion and the heart, the truth in the heart of knowing Jesus Christ that really, really matters. So I went to see for myself and I saw and I came back enlightened. I could not find anything in those places that would encourage me to follow Jesus Christ. So it's not the buildings. It is the Bible. It is the gospel. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the true Christian who is saved by faith in Jesus Christ. Those are the things that matter to God. But we have our heavily guarded cathedrals, our pride in the buildings. And I saw for myself how spiritually bankrupt the Church of England is. And then sixthly, and this is a bit personal, but I wanted to try out the acoustics in these buildings. I said to myself, I wonder if I can fill York Minster with sound. I wonder how far I can get. I mean, St. Paul's Cathedral is massive. and I came back very satisfied. The acoustics in these buildings are absolutely beautiful. That really is the one thing they have which is good and that is that if before the age of loudspeakers and PA systems a preacher could be heard to the ends of the building if he was loud enough. I can say from personal experience the acoustics in these buildings is absolutely beautiful but that's not why I went. and Ian says Cathy's experience is troubling, I'm not sure I picked up on that, but I know that the two of you have spoken to Church of England people in Melbourne, but there's a time to come out, there's a time to forsake these. The church in Jerusalem would be forced to leave the temple, and the temple was of much greater value than any of these cathedrals. St Peter's in Rome as well, which is such a hotbed of antichrist activity. Jason says they were built in a very clever way. Well again, human cleverness, Jason. This is not what honors God. It's truth in the heart. It's knowing the gospel. It's loving Jesus Christ. That's what God looks for in us. So I'm gonna summarize now. In summary, the Church of England is under the judgment of God. There's no getting away from it. She has called down the judgment of God, and if I preach in those two cathedrals, only those two cathedrals, that adds to her judgment. God sent me, and therefore God, just as he sent his apostles, God sent me for a reason, and he sees the outcome. And I'm not the only one, there are others, but the thing about it is this, that it's under the judgment of God for her apostasy. that they are without excuse. They can't say they don't know. They have heard the Bible. I heard several people, including Ben from Christian Concern, speak at the General Assembly, and he was thoroughly biblical and utterly, I believe, filled with the Holy Spirit when he said it, and they just ignored him. God spoke to them, sending them one after another, and they would not listen. They have been warned, and they need urgently to repent. Maybe they have one last chance. I don't know. God knows what he's doing, but he has warned them. They have not repented. Come out of her, my people. Stop wasting your time trying to persuade them to turn. Remember what happened to the temple in A.D. 70? Not one stone was left upon another. Again, I don't know what God's judgments are, but God's believers need to stop being unequally yoked. They need to stop pretending that they're where God wants them to be, and it doesn't. In 1967, they were taught by, or 1966, they were taught by John Stott, it's fine to be in a mixed church, that's where God wants you, and they still believe it. God will have his people separate. He will have his people pure. He will have his people together, not in these dead denominations, not in these apostate organizations, but he will have his people to be together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know Jesus Christ? Have you found the Lord Jesus Christ to be your Savior from sin? Have you turned from your sin? Have you repented? Have you believed on Him to the saving of your soul? The Lord Jesus came into the world to die upon the cross of Calvary. Now he may be excluded from church organizations and organized religion, and he may be excluded from church buildings, which are very, very grand, but he may be excluded from them. But does he live in your heart? Do you know him? Have you found Jesus Christ? Are you saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Father, I pray that you'd raise up leaders in Australia, in Canada, in Germany, America Lord, in Scotland, England and Wales, in Ireland Lord, I pray that you'd raise up bold men filled with the Spirit, instructed by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel wheresoever you send them. I pray that your people, those who truly love you and know you, would forsake the false shepherds, and the shepherds who are leading them astray, and the shepherds who won't speak up, who are like dumb dogs and don't preach the gospel as they should. Bring them away from the wolves in sheep's clothing and have mercy and bring them out, Lord. And oh, Lord God, that you would have mercy upon your people and that the gospel of Jesus Christ would be preached. And Father, as I was preaching and they stopped me and there was no Christian compassion or mercy there. And as they snatched my Bible with obvious hatred and slammed it down, Lord, I pray, Lord, that you would see that. And I pray that you'd require it of them, Lord, because they've had every opportunity to repent. Now they've chosen to hate your word and attack your Bible. Father, I pray that those who are truly your sheep and your people would come out from this organization which has voted to bless what you hate and has turned her back on the gospel by a very, very large degree. Father, I pray for the young people of Kidderminster who were furious that the Bible was being preached to them yesterday to the point of threatening significant violence. And I thank you for your intervention on my behalf. I pray that your spirit would come down in convicting power. And I pray that those precious young people would be born again of your Holy Spirit and find your salvation and look to the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Father, bless each one of us. Thank you that we've been able to study this together tonight, this solemn, this serious subject. We just pray again for people in Israel and Lebanon, Lord, and in Gaza, who love Jesus Christ, that you would have mercy upon them, and that the gospel would also be preached, even in war in these places. We also pray, Father, for the Christy Higgs case. Lord, I pray you'd look upon the Archbishop's Assembly attacking Christy Higgs, persecuting Christy Higgs for her Christian convictions. I pray, Father, that you would vindicate your servant Christy Higgs, Lord, and vindicate the Christian Legal Center as well, and vindicate your people and your cause over against the Archbishop's Council, Lord. I pray, Father, that we would be free to preach the gospel in this country. I pray, Lord, that you'd raise up evangelists and men filled with the Holy Spirit in these days to preach your word faithfully and fully and everywhere that you send them. And I pray that you'd have mercy upon the people and lead them to you for saving, for salvation. And this I ask and pray, thanking you for the forgiveness of our sins. In Jesus' precious name, Amen. Amen. I think I must have, I live in a flat, I think I must have raised the roof because I think the neighbors were leaving there, but I don't know. But this is so important. It's so important that we don't think that our duty as Christians is to reform the Church of England. Far too many do. She is gone. We shouldn't be wasting our time doing that when we should be serving God in other ways. And we shouldn't be found in these places when God's judgment is about to fall. Read the Old Testament if you want to know the kind of things that can happen. Um, thank you, Amy, again, and in, um, we pray for the elect to be drawn out of the one is true. And I pray the elect will be drawn out of the church of England in, I have to say that it's my duty before God to say that church of England is gone. Anglicanism is gone. If the church of England was not Anglican, then I would fight much harder to see her return, but she is Anglican and Anglicanism is not biblical. If you disagree with me, come and discuss it. But it's not Anglicanism in the Bible, it's New Testament Christianity, that's what we're looking for. Peter Charlie, two of history's greatest Christian preachers, namely John Owen and John Bunyan, had to rely upon people attending their true but outlawed evangelical message in farmhouse buildings and barns. Yes, well, you can say an awful lot in a farmhouse building or a barn. It's interesting, John Owen was the one who said they would give all his learning if you could just preach like that tinker, he said, speaking of John Bunyan. Bunyan, a great preacher and theologian, and Owen, known as England's greatest theologian. Thank you, Ian. Ian fully agrees. Of course, you know, What about the Baptist Union in England? The Baptist Union in England is compromised just to the same degree. It's not Anglican, it's Baptist, but it's, some of you know, a year ago, I was attending a Baptist Union church here, thinking maybe I could do something for them, preach the word, but that was not gonna work out, so I didn't continue there. But it's not just the Anglican church that's completely compromised, but God's people must come together. And for some of us, that's really hard, because we don't have people we can come together with. And these are difficult times. Perhaps I want to emphasize most, though, the need for boldness. We're fighting for our lives. We need to fight like tigers, but we can't without the grace of God. So Clarice, welcome, and thank you for your comment, Clarice. The Lord bless you, sister. BC, your hard work is... God's work never comes back void. Believe me, you can preach a lot in five minutes. certainly it shook the establishment. Here we are in the last days, Hedge, we are at the very end of the very end I think almost what's happening in Israel. Russia is getting drawn in, Turkey is getting drawn in, Iran obviously is getting drawn in as Israel is preparing to strike Iran after they fired all those missiles. And as Christians we need to look up because our redemption draws nigh. These are things we're going to see more and more of It wouldn't be nice to be a Christian living in Beirut or in Israel at the moment. I mean it's not just Christians but non-Christians as well. I think peace is being taken from the earth and you can see how in our countries as well peace is being taken away. The aggression I see towards the Bible and the aggression I see in people everywhere is really concerning. All the restraints of a civilized society based upon Judeo-Christian values have gone. It's every man for himself. Gavin says, fight like tigers. Haha, rich blessings heard here every time. Thank you. Well, I say fight like tigers, but of course I'm saying fight with love, with spiritual weapons. We're not using worldly weapons. I probably have to say that because someone will listen to this and accuse me of sending Christians out to fight like tigers with their fists or something. I'm absolutely not. but we need to pray for the same boldness that the apostles had when they were released from prison by the Holy Ghost and by the angel of the Lord, it says, and sent into the temple to preach. And if, I don't know if the church, the church might find a way of stopping this, it's a matter of prayer, but if God raised up a significant number of men to go regularly into cathedrals and preach, you can tell that might shake the establishment. I don't know. I don't think perhaps we're going to make any progress without being imprisoned, some of us, and I don't know who that will be, and it may be any of us here, but we must be obedient to the Lord. It's not enough to be half-hearted, indifferent Christians who think that to be a Christian just means to keep our head below the parapet and let others take the bullets for us, the spiritual bullets for us, because the Lord Jesus Christ, he's got his winning fan in his hand. Judgment begins at the house of God, And if there are Christians in the Church of England who are not being led out by their leaders, then they need better leaders. Those leaders compromised when they became ministers in the Church of England. They had to compromise to get there, and now that compromise is stopping them from getting out. Those that love the Lord Jesus, I believe, will come out. It's just that the Lord Jesus, I believe, is calling them out now. The case is absolutely clear. The Church is doing something which is wicked and abominable before Almighty God, and she's trampling the blood of Jesus Christ underfoot by doing so. I've spoken enough. Any questions, comments, criticisms? I noticed a number of the comments on my preaching in St. Paul's. One was from a Roman Catholic monk, and of course, he's welcome to comment. But the emphasis there is on the building. People come there to pray, so you shouldn't stand up and preach the gospel. But again, the biblical emphasis is on the gospel and on the heart. In St. Paul's, when I started preaching, the chapel was empty. But very quickly, three people came and sat in front of me, and they were listening very carefully to what I was saying. That was really thrilling. until the security came along and moved them out, and then security came to me. So even for that reason, it was well worth preaching there. but will God raise up a generation of men to do this work? What, where next? What next? We've got to be very bold. We have to be very bold in the gospel now. Stop expecting everybody else to do what we should do. And again, primarily I'm thinking of men raised up by God to preach the gospel. And we need to pray that God would raise up such men because we desperately need them in these days. Well, thank you for listening, and the Lord be with every single one of you, and may we all grow in grace, and may we all obey the Lord and do what God wants us to do. Bold is loving when it's combined with truth, I would say, Ian. But if we love people, we must be bold. If only boldness will reach them with the love of God in Christ Jesus. But boldness is something which comes about not by human strength, but only by the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Human boldness will go as far as Peter's profession that even if everybody else forsook Jesus, he would not deny him. That's where human boldness goes. BC 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14, but a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised. I get the impression in these cathedrals and in the Church of England it's full of natural men and women believing they're serving God when they persecute the saints of God. Ian, blessings to you as well brother and to Kathy and to everybody else here. The Lord bless each one of us. I'm going to sign off now. Thank you very much for listening but my prayer is that this message would be a means of awakening some and helping others and may it be glorifying and honoring to the Lord Jesus Christ Amen. Bless you, Bernadette. Thank you.