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Again, I welcome Mr. Callum Webster
to the pulpit here. He's going to come now and bring
to us the Lord's Word and speak to you what the Lord has laid
in his heart. May the Lord bless you, brother,
and be with you as you bring God's truth tonight. Well, thank
you very much for the invitation to share with you this evening.
It's a privilege to be with you tonight in Ballymena Free Church.
It's great to see and be with you in the time of prayer before
the meeting. It was such an encouragement
to hear so many praying for our nation, praying also for the
MacArthur family and Asher Speaking Company. We, as you will know,
and I will share some of that with you later on in our service,
but it is a matter very dear to our hearts in the week that
lies ahead. And we do value the prayer that
you make on our behalf. The Institute is engaged in a
spiritual battlefield and we can't do the work that we undertake
without the prayers of God's people. So such an encouragement
it was to hear your prayers for that short time. before this
evening service. We want to look together at the
Word of God, and we have two readings tonight. The first of
them from chapter 16 of the book of Acts. The first of them from
Acts chapter 16, and I want to read from verse 16 to the end
of the chapter. Acts chapter 16, reading from
verse 16 to the end of the chapter. And it came to pass, as we went
to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met
us, which brought her master's much gain by soothsaying. The
same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are
the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way
of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned
and said to the Spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ
to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. And when her masters saw that
the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas and
drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers. and brought
them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly
trouble our city, and teach customs which are not lawful for us to
receive, neither to observe, being Romans. And the multitude
rose up together against them, and the magistrates rent off
their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had
laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging
the jailer to keep them safely, who, having received such a charge,
thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the
stalks. And at midnight Paul and Silas
prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard
them. And suddenly there was a great
earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And
immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands
were loosed. And the keeper of the prison,
awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open,
he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing
that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice,
saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called
for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down
before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what
must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word
of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took
them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and
was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had
brought them into his house, he set meat before them and rejoiced,
believing in God with all his house. And when it was day, the
magistrates sent to the sergeants, saying, Let those men go. And the keeper of the prison
told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let
you go. Now therefore depart and go in
peace. But Paul said unto them, They
have beaten us openly, uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us
into prison. And now do they thrust us out
privily? Nay, verily, but let them come
themselves and fetch us out. And the sergeants told these
words unto the magistrates, and they feared when they heard that
they were Romans. And they came and besought them,
and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of
Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren, they confronted
them, comforted them, and departed. And amen. There ends our reading
from Acts 16. I also want to read four verses
from 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2. And I wish to read the opening
four verses. And I want to consider the 1
Timothy 2 passage once we have read it. 1 Timothy. Chapter 2,
verses 1 through to 4. I exhort, therefore, that first
of all supplications prayers, intercessions, and giving of
thanks be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in
authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness
and honesty. For this is good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved
and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." Well, there ends
our reading, and just before we consider this passage, let's
unite our hearts together in prayer. Let's pray. Our Heavenly
Father, we come this evening before the God who is reigning
over this world and over this universe, the God who has enthroned
in the heavens, even the very heaven of heavens. And Lord,
we come this evening recognizing we come to one who is far greater
than us, one who is beyond human comprehension and understanding,
the God who fashioned us of the dust of the earth, the God who
hath the very hairs upon our heads numbered, the God in whose
hand is our next breath, and our next heartbeat. And, Lord,
we recognize tonight, as the Scriptures would remind us, all
of us have sinned and fallen far short of the glory of God. We fail Thee in so many ways
and in so many respects, and we can come only this evening,
as the publican did, and cry out, God, be merciful unto me,
the sinner. And we rejoice that there is
a way of salvation. We rejoice in the Lord Jesus
Christ, the beloved Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. And we give thanks as thy word
tells us of him, that he is the brightness of the Father's glory,
the express image of his person, the one who upholdeth all things
by the word of his power. And we give thanks that he hath
purged our sins. Those of us that are believers,
he has paid in full the debt that was ours, and he has finished
that work for us, and he liveth forever to make intercession
on our behalf. And we come this evening not
because of anything we have done, but we come because of the perfect
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks for the
transaction that has been done, our sin laid upon Him and His
righteousness accredited to our account. And we pray for help
tonight as we would consider Thy Word, as we would seek to
apply its truth to each one of our hearts. Lord, speak to us,
give us attentive ears, give liberty in speaking and listening
ear to ear. And we pray that in all that
is said, in all that is done, that the worthy name of the Lord
Jesus Christ would be uplifted. We give thanks, He has promised,
that if he be lifted up, he would draw men unto himself. And so
we pray this evening that Christ would be glorified and would
be uplifted here in this meeting house and throughout our province,
throughout our United Kingdom, throughout these islands. O Lord,
make way, draw many into thy kingdom tonight, for we ask in
his precious name. Amen. I want to speak first of all
tonight from these verses in 1 Timothy chapter 2, because
here in this passage the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, is writing about something he clearly regards
as extremely significant. That's why he urges us to consider
it in verse 1, first of all, that is, of utmost importance. And the subject of the apostle
Paul's enthusiasm is the subject of prayer, prayer for all men
or prayer for everyone in general, but prayer for kings and for
all that are in authority in particular. And since the Word
of God considers prayer for earthly governments to be such an urgent
duty of Christian believers, we stand to learn important truths
by considering this passage in greater detail. So first of all,
we are called to pray for kings and for all that are in authority. And for those first century believers
receiving that letter, this must have sounded like an extraordinary
instruction. They were living in the Roman
Empire, and at that time there was no Christian ruler anywhere
in the world. The Roman emperor of the day
was Nero, who was an anti-Christian despot. He was throwing believers
to the lions, putting them in prison, torturing them, executing
them. And this is who they are called
to pray for. And throughout Church history,
at various times and in various places, Christian believers have
had good reason to fear their governments. But nevertheless,
note the kind of prayer we are urged to bring before God in
these verses. It is not simply a general appeal
that God would judge the pagan rulers and replace them with
some kind of recognizably Christian government. Whether the political
authorities were hostile to the church, or whether they were
benevolent toward us, or whether their attitude fell somewhere
in between the two, the urgent instruction of Scripture is that
Christians offer supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving
of thanks on their behalf. And the passage goes on to explain
why it is so important to pray for those in authority. It's
important in verse 2 that we may lead a quiet and peaceable
life in all godliness and honesty. The preservation of peace and
stability, the upholding of the rule of law and order is a key
purpose of civil government. The Bible reminds us of that
in Romans chapter 13. The powers that be are ordained
of God. They bear the sword to avenge the evil doer. And a good government will make
laws that result in a free and a stable society. Christians
within those societies will be free to worship God and free
to live quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty. So is the motive, is the reason,
is the rationale to pray for those in authority basically
a selfish one? Should we be praying for those
ruling over us so that we can have an easy time of it? Well,
by no means. In case we missed the ultimate
point, it is spelled out for us in verses 3 and 4 where we
read, For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge.
of the truth. So, ultimately, the matter of
praying for those in authority is a matter of evangelism and
the freedom to share the gospel in public. The full and the widespread
proclamation of the gospel, which we read in these verses is good
and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, depends largely
on the freedom of individual Christians to live quiet and
peaceable lives. Now, sometimes we in the West
in the 21st century, we can get into our minds romantic notions
that religious persecution would be a wonderful catalyst for gospel
outreach. And certainly, there have been
occasions in history when the blood of the martyrs has been
the seed of the church. But those occasions are remarkable
precisely because they are the exception. If we were to go this
evening to our brethren in North Korea, or in Vietnam, or in Saudi
Arabia, and we were to ask them how easy they find it to share
the gospel in their countries, I expect that many of them would
give their right arm in order to have a government that allowed
them to live quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty,
and they would give their right arm in order to have a government
that would allow them to share the gospel in public. The full and the widespread proclaiming
of the gospel, which is good and acceptable in the sight of
God our Savior, depends largely on the freedom of individual
believers to live quiet and peaceable lives. So, how does that relate
to us here today as believers in Northern Ireland, in Ballymena,
in the United Kingdom, in the Western world in 2015? Well, here in this nation, God
has been very gracious to us. We have enjoyed a long period
of generally speaking good government in these islands by the Bible's
definition. For decades, indeed for centuries,
the governing authorities in the United Kingdom have maintained
political stability. They have refrained from interfering
in the affairs of churches. They have permitted individual
Christians to practice the Bible's teaching in their day-to-day
lives, and they have allowed virtually unrestricted the proclamation
of the gospel. our parliament and our law courts
have laid down many precious liberties and freedoms which
remain even to this day. Today in 2015 in this country
there is still no law against sharing the gospel in public. Today, in 2015, in this country,
churches still have complete freedom to decide who they will
or will not admit into membership. They have liberty to govern their
own affairs. You know, in some nations of
our world there are state-registered churches where the government
controls what is preached. What doctrines are practiced?
Who is admitted into membership? But here in the United Kingdom,
thankfully that does not happen, and the church has great liberty.
Today in this country, Bibles can still be placed in many hospital
bedsides and in many hotel rooms. And today in this country, street
evangelists can still freely preach the gospel on the street
corner and freely distribute gospel tracts, evangelistic literature,
door-to-door, house-to-house in the housing estates and towns
and villages of our nation. And we should thank God for this
Christian heritage. We should seek to take advantage
of every opportunity that it presents us with to share the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we cannot take it for granted. If you read the newspapers, if
you follow current affairs and developments in our nation, you
must surely be aware that there is an active atheist attack upon
our culture at the present time. There are people in positions
of influence in government departments, in public bodies, in education,
and in the media. people who would gladly abandon
our Christian heritage. And of course, they don't say
that that's what they're trying to do. They're more devious than
that. They're more sly. They use buzzwords. They use
smooth-sounding arguments. They talk about promoting equality
or diversity or human rights. But in reality, when you scratch
beneath the surface, when you read the small print, what these
people are trying to do is to take away the liberties that
currently allow Christians to live godly lives and take away
the liberties that currently allow us to share the gospel.
in public. No doubt you may be aware of
some individual examples within the last five years in the United
Kingdom. A nurse has been suspended from
her job simply for offering to pray for a sick patient. And
a school receptionist has been investigated for gross misconduct
after she sent a private prayer email request to a small group
of friends in her church asking them to pray about a situation
her daughter was facing in the classroom. And you might be aware
of legislation that is bringing about cases like these, equality
and human rights legislation that is impacting upon the liberty
of believers. Well, these developments, they
are matters for concern. But not for despair, we do still
have gospel freedom in this nation, but the threats to it are subtle,
they're persistent, they're like the waves gradually coming up
a seashore. And the prayers that we bring
before God for those in authority over us must include an awareness
of those threats. But, and this conclusion will
underline everything else I share with you this evening, it is
surely true that whatever it is right to pray for, it is also
right to work for. It was C. H. Spurgeon, the famous
Baptist pastor in 19th century London who once said these words,
he said, �Some praying takes the form of action, and an act
may be a kind of consolidated practical And bear in mind, too,
that perhaps the most basic liberty we have as believers living in
a democracy is the liberty to use democratic means to defend
liberty. In other words, the most effective
way of preserving existing gospel freedoms is to use them. And
the apostle Paul provides us with a biblical precedent for
that. The same apostle who in 1 Timothy 2 writes urging prayer
for those in authority for the sake of gospel freedom, that
same apostle defends gospel freedom by reminding the governing authorities
of his legal entitlements. I'm referring, of course, to
the events described in chapter 16 of the book of Acts that we
read earlier on. And you probably know some parts
of that passage well. You know about Paul and Silas
in the prison cell, them praying and singing praises unto God
at midnight, and the earthquake, and the chains that bind them
falling loose, and the doors swinging wide open, and the Philippian
jailer through a turn of events in God's providence. coming to
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And those are the events we know
well in Acts chapter 16. But what about some of the other
details? Why were they in the prison cell? Well, the magistrates in Philippi,
in response to what is really an anti-Christian lobbying campaign
going on in that city, have Paul and Silas flogged and thrown
into prison without ever having faced any trial. But Paul and
Silas are Roman citizens. They declare themselves to be
Romans in that chapter. They are Roman citizens, and
their punishment was outrageous. The idea that the magistrates
could flog and imprison them without giving them proper legal
trial is outrageous. And at the end of Acts 16, when
the magistrates are confronted with that information, when they
realize that these men are Roman citizens and they've flogged
them and imprisoned them without due trial, they try to release
them privily, that is, discreetly, quietly. But the apostle Paul
has none of it. He insists that the magistrates
come down to the prison cell and escort them out in person. And this action serves as a warning
to the Philippian magistrates. They can't simply flog and jail
Christians because they do not like them. Preaching the gospel
was not illegal in the city of Philippi, and after that forceful
reminder from the Apostle Paul, they would be much less inclined
to deal heavy-handedly with believers in the future. So it was for
the benefit of the church in that city. So let's make sure
we take on board those lessons from the Word of God, both from
the life of the Apostle Paul in terms of praying for those
in authority and his example of defending gospel freedom in
the book of Acts. These have laid down for us a
series of principles which remain strikingly relevant even today
in 2015. First of all, religious liberty
is very precious because it allows us to openly live out our faith
and to publicly proclaim the gospel. Secondly, governing authorities
have the power to protect or to restrict our gospel freedoms. Thirdly, we should therefore
urgently pray for those in positions of authority in our nation. And
fourthly, our prayers should be accompanied by courageous
action which uses the gospel freedoms we already have and
which challenges all threats to them. And it's my prayer that
at the end of our service together this evening, each one of us
will have a better idea about some of the things we can be
praying for and some of the things we can be acting upon. And we
trust that the Lord will be pleased to use our prayers and our actions
as His ordained means of preserving gospel freedom here in the United
Kingdom for the honor of His name and for the glory of His
Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And tonight, those of
you who know the Christian Institute work know that we exist to defend
gospel freedom and liberty of conscience here in this United
Kingdom, that the Lord Jesus Christ would be glorified. I'm conscious tonight there may
be varying positions among you. Some of you may be well informed
about the Christian Institute work. Some of you may know a
little about it. Some of you, it may be very new.
You may only have heard the name before. So let me give you a
very brief description of our work before I report on some
of the cases. I want to tell you tonight that
the Christian Institute is a Christian charity. It was established in
1991. We have a headquarters in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
in the northeast of England. It is an unashamedly evangelical
organization by constitution and we exist to uphold the truths
of the Bible on current moral issues within the public arena. So things like, areas like the
sanctity of marriage, we're seeing an awful lot of attacks on marriage
in public policy and in government legislation seeking to undermine
it, seeking to create alternative marriage arrangements and set
them on a par with it, seeking to disadvantage married couples
in the tax system. We work on areas such as the
sanctity of human life, issues such as abortion and euthanasia. We look at things, matters such
as drugs legislation. There are campaigns underway
to liberalize drugs laws. We look at alcohol licensing
legislation, we look at sex education materials used with children
in schools, and many other areas where the teachings of Scripture,
biblical principles, are under challenge in the public square
in our nation. Things that Perhaps were issues
only in very extreme cases forty, thirty years ago, but issues
which are facing believers in workplaces and in schools and
in colleges more and more. Our children, our grandchildren
are affected by those things and our Christian faith is under
attack. in those areas, and the Institute seeks to present and
help and equip Christians to respond to those matters. So
how do we go about that work? Well, we conduct research. We
have a number of staff employed as researchers who go through
the government schedules, the parliamentary agendas who look
at medical and scientific reports, who look at legal documents,
and they gather all those facts, figures, statistics, and collate
all of this research. And then we provide a news service
on our website. Every day, staff are employed
to go through the media outlets, the newspapers, the television
news from across the British Isles picking out stories that
have been in the news that day that may have relevance to Christian
believers for one reason or another, and then we publish those news
items on our website. So it's like a Christian version
of the BBC News website. Every day, every working day,
stories are updated from across the country. And we like to believe
it's news without the secular spin. You go on the BBC website,
there are many news items, but often they are written from a
very secular perspective. But we like to present news without
the secular spin to inform Christian people of those issues, so if
you go on our website you will see those news items reported. They're not necessarily issues
that we are directly dealing with, but they are issues that
have an interest for believers for one reason or another. And
then we produce briefings and publications to inform Christian
people and churches of the key issues of the day. And this evening,
I have brought with me some publications which are available in the table
in the foyer. I have, for instance, this briefing
on the issue of assisted suicide. There is pressure to legalize
euthanasia in our United Kingdom. People are taking cases to court.
People in very tragic circumstances are taking cases to court to
try and challenge the law. which expressly prohibits doctors
or anybody else assisting another to commit suicide, and they want
to overturn that in law in our nation. And this briefing explains
the biblical position on euthanasia and helps give you some practical,
detailed arguments. So if any unbelieving friends
ask you, why as a Christian do you believe what you do about
euthanasia, there's something that might help you articulate
an answer. I have this one on the genetic
modification of babies. Again, the Westminster Parliament
earlier this year legalized the genetic modification of babies,
and this again sets out the dangers associated with that. I have
a flyer regarding our legal defense work. We help Christians who
are in difficulty because of their faith, because of their
stand for biblical truth, and this flyer, this short flyer,
tells you more about that. I have a general newsletter which
covers a number of the cases we're involved in. It has the
picture of Daniel MacArthur of Asher's Bakery on the front.
And I have this DVD on the issue of abortion. Now, this issue
has been in the news in our province even earlier this year. There
is pressure to liberalize our legislation here which protects
our unborn neighbor and to allow for abortion. The media spin
on this issue has presented some very tragic, some very heart-rending
cases, and I don't diminish the heartache and the pain that people
are facing in those circumstances. But the impression being given
by the BBC and by a number of our newspapers is that abortion
is the solution in these situations. Well, the Christian Institute
has prepared this DVD. It contains interviews with 11
different people in our province whose lives have been touched
by sanctity of life issues. There are parents interviewed
who had children with very tragic conditions, which meant their
lifespan was maybe only a few days or a few weeks, and they
share their circumstances and how, yes, there was great tragedy
and great sorrow, and yet at the same time there was a consolation
and a closure there which they would not have received had they
gone down the abortion route. There's adults share their story,
adults living with profound disability today whose mothers were recommended
to have an abortion when they were expectant and yet they tell
their story and how they live life to the full and how they
bring blessing and joy to others despite the great disabilities
they face. And one or two other cases, so
it's not a graphic DVD, it does not show pictures of abortion
or anything like that, but it is eleven different people in
our province sharing their stories and sharing why they did not
choose the abortion route and the blessing received in those
situations. So again copies of that are available
on the table in the foyer. It has already been said tonight
that I am a Scotsman by birth, I did grow up on Dundee, or near
Dundee, on the east coast of Scotland. But it's my joy and
delight to live in Northern Ireland, a place of great blessing. And
Scotsmen are known for something. They're known for being tight
with the purse strings. And the good news this evening
is that all of the literature there is free of charge. So tonight, you Ballymena people
have been offered free literature from a Scotsman. That might never
happen again. So do make sure you avail of
that free offer at the end of our service and take the literature
and take for friends who may be interested in those matters
as well. So we produce briefings and publications
to inform Christian people of the day, the issues of the day.
We help people write to those in authority. The Institute provides
materials to help people write to MPs, to write to MLAs, to
submit responses to public consultations that are held. nationally and
within our province. We present a Bible-based perspective
on the media from time to time. We're asked to make comment on
radio phone-in shows, give comment to newspaper journalists, and
sometimes we do television interviews as well. And we would brief politicians
and others in decision-making roles, those who are making laws
and policies that Christians must abide by in their day-to-day
lives and And what about the scale of the work? Well, the
Christian Institute has been blessed with over 40 staff members,
all of whom are committed Christian believers. Most of the staff
are based at our headquarters in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the
northeast of England. Well, there is a small office
in Belfast where two of us work to represent the organization
in the province. There's a small office in Glasgow
where two people work representing the organization in Scotland,
and there is a small office in London where two people work
close to Westminster. And we have our website christian.org.uk
which provides that news service I mentioned. It also has audio
lectures and apologetics available for download. There are a number
of resources available on that website. For instance, we have
a database on that website with the voting records of all of
the MPs in our nation, so if you want to see how MPs have
voted on issues of biblical concern like marriage, like abortion,
like euthanasia, you can go on that website and you can see
how MPs have voted on those issues. So, that's the work in a nutshell,
so to speak. But one of the growing areas
of the work is the issue of defense of religious liberty. You see,
today we are living in a collapsing culture, a culture that is shredding
many of the Christian values that have blessed our nation
for centuries. There is a growing disregard
for the Word of God, and there's an increasingly aggressive opposition
to Christian thinking and even to individual believers themselves. And it's in the face of this
background that ten years ago the Christian Institute first
became involved in defending religious liberty cases, in supporting
individual Christians who are being unlawfully harassed and
discriminated against because of their faith. And the Institute
has a legal team, a legally trained team, who help defend Christians
in these situations, and of course There are a number of cases running,
I want to tell you about a few of them just now, but one that
is most pertinent to us here in Ballymena is the case of Asher's
Baking Company down the road in Newton Abbey. Most of you
will probably know that last summer Asher's Baking Company
were approached by a customer who came into their shop and
asked them to design and decorate and ice a campaign cake in support
of same-sex marriage. And when the MacArthur family
reviewed that order, they could see it conflicted with their
sincerely held biblical beliefs about marriage. They politely
declined the order. They refunded the customer his
deposit. They thought nothing more of
it. And six weeks later, they received a letter from the Equality
Commission threatening them with legal action and accusing them
of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. Well,
the MacArthur family and the shop assistants did not know
the sexual lifestyle of the customer. That was not even a question
they asked him. The issue was the message on
the cake that they were being asked to design and decorate
on ice, which so clearly conflicted with their conscience and with
their biblical beliefs. The Equality Commission continued
to pursue legal action against them, and the case went to the
county court in Belfast at the end of March. It was a two-and-a-half-day
hearing. The Equality Commission presented
the case on behalf of the customer, the Christian Institute, and
our legal team. It defended Asher's Baking Company. The judge presided
over that case, and the judge, Judge Brownlee, is to give her
verdict on Tuesday, God willing. So I know you were praying in
the meeting tonight, and that was so encouraging. Please continue
to pray in the run-up to Tuesday. Pray that the Lord would overrule,
that there would be a fair and a just ruling, a ruling that
will protect liberty of conscience for believers. Pray for the MacArthur
family. They have presented such a gracious
response in the face of that great provocation. And we thank
God for his work in their lives and for enabling them. to testify
to the Lord Jesus Christ even in the midst of this great trial.
Pray for the media coverage too. You know, during the court hearing
there was widespread media coverage and the majority of it was fair. We don't always get a fair representation
in the media as Christian believers, but during the court hearing
at the end of March the media coverage was generally quite
fair and favorable. Pray that that may likewise be
so in the aftermath of Tuesday's decision. Pray for the Institute
staff, myself and my colleagues and the legal team, that God
would give us wisdom, that he would help us and enable us in
responding to those matters. So that's Asher's Baking Company.
Let me tell you about a couple of other cases the Institute
has had the privilege of defending. The next case I want to tell
you about involves a Christian lady from Gateshead in County
Durham. This lady was a foster carer,
she cannot be named for legal reasons, but she was a foster
carer looking after many children out of the local authority care
system until adoptive parents were found. So adept was she
at this work and providing this care that she gave up her other
employment to become a full-time foster carer. And the local social
services department placed many children through her care. And
just a couple of years ago, a 16-year-old girl from an Islamic background
was placed with this lady. And while she was staying with
this lady, the 16-year-old girl became interested in Christian
things and asked to go to church. Now, the social workers forbade
the foster carer to take the girl to church. So each Lord's
Day in the morning, the foster carer went off to church in her
car, and the girl walked to the same church, and they met up
at church together. But social workers forbade her
to take the girl. And during her time under the
sign of the Word of God, that girl was gloriously saved, and
she put her trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior and
the one who had paid the penalty for her sins. And what an encouragement
that was to see. And the girl then went forward
for baptism at the church. And as soon as social services
heard about the baptism, they went berserk. They took the girl
out of this lady's home and placed her back in local authority care. They ruled that the foster carer
had allowed inappropriate behavior to take place, and they struck
her off the foster register, which meant she was not allowed
to foster children again. And foster care was her only
real source of regular income. She was unable to do that, so
she was left in a terrible situation. But the lady got in touch with
the Christian Institute. Our legal team were able to defend
her in a tribunal, and thankfully After that legal process, the
tribunal ruled that Gateshead Social Services had acted unlawfully. The lady has now been restored
to the foster register and she is allowed to foster again. So
we give thanks to God for his overruling in that case. And one third case. I could be
here for a series of about 10 weeks and share with you every
case we have been dealing with. But one third case I'll mention
tonight is a case from the northwest of England. It's the case of
a man called Jamie Murray, who was the owner of a Christian
cafe, Salt and Light Coffee House in Blackpool. And the cafe had
links to a local church. And gospel tracts were on display
within the cafe. There was a flat-screen television
on the wall of the cafe on which the verses of the New Testament
were played continuously in the background. And many Christian
people used the cafe because they wanted to support such a
work and a witness in their town. But one day there was a lady
having refreshment in the cafe, and she saw the verses of Scripture
on the flat-screen television and was offended by them. and
when she left the cafe she telephoned Lancashire Police and claimed
that offensive material was on display in the Salt and Light
Coffee House. And so Lancashire police went
to the Salton Lake Coffee House without even reviewing the material
or looking at it. They told Mr. Murray, the cafe
owner, that he was in breach of public order legislation in
England for displaying those materials and told him to take
down the materials and they warned him that they would be watching
him. Well, Mr. Murray was very upset by this
incident, as any of us would be if we were in those circumstances,
and he contacted the Christian Institute for help. Our legal
team were able to work with him to look at what the law actually
said, and as we examined it, and we examined what was on display,
we could see that the materials were not in breach of any public
order legislation. We assisted Mr. Murray in writing
to Lancashire Police, explaining what the law actually said and
explaining the materials that had been on display. And thankfully,
eventually, Lancashire Police responded by dropping their complaint. So we do give thanks to God for
that good outcome. It is not against public order
laws, even in England, to display verses of scripture in businesses
and in public buildings. And we thank God for that because
we want to keep the liberty to display his word in public places. Well, you may be saying those
cases are concerning, but what as Christian believers can we
do in response to those issues and in answer to the call to
pray for those in authority? Well, I want to leave you with
three practical points of things each one of us can do about those
issues. And the first practical point
I want to leave you tonight is a very obvious one. It is simply,
be informed. being informed or being aware
of what's going on is the first step to being an effective Christian
influence. If you want to influence the
community around you, the nation around you, the society around
you, you've got to be aware of what's happening in that nation,
in that society, and in that community. And there are many
different ways to be informed. We can read the newspapers every
day. We can follow debates in Parliament, on television, on
the radio, on the internet. But most of us don't have the
time to go through that level of detail. So there are easier
ways to stay informed through organizations like the Christian
Institute. And hopefully tonight, most of
you got one of these cards, maybe in your pew or on your way in.
If you want to be kept informed by us, then you can simply fill
in your details on the card or one of the cards. There's more
in the foyer. And there's a gray basket exactly like this on the
literature table. Pop your card into the basket
and you can join our mailing list. And again, the mailing
list is free. People may give if they wish
to, but they're not under any requirement to give a subscription. So you've been offered two free
things by a Scotsman tonight. And we don't bombard people with
material either. We're not sending out literature
or prayer news to you every other day. We only write to you as
issues arise. We ask you what to pray for.
We ask you what to write in response. Being informed is vital. because
it makes everything else we do so much more effective. And I
know tonight there are a few folks in the congregation already
receive our mailings, you're already on our list, and I'm
sure you will testify that it is informative and it is helpful.
But for any who are not, just put your details on the card
and pop it in the grey basket. The second practical point is
prayer and in fact prayer is the most important practical
thing we can do about those issues but the only reason it was not
the first of my practical points is because if you haven't been
informed about it how can you be praying about it but once
you've been informed The next thing you must do is to pray. We have looked already this evening.
The Scriptures command us as believers to pray for kings and
for all that are in authority. Why? That we may lead a quiet
and peaceable life in all godliness. and honesty. We're told to pray
for our rulers so that freedom to follow God's Word and our
biblical conscience in our businesses and in public square is preserved. We're told to pray that there
would be freedom to proclaim the gospel publicly up and down
our land. Those things are being challenged
in our nation, in the courts, in the media, and in the political
arena. So, as Christians, Let's get
on with praying. Let's pray more for our rulers.
Let it be a spur to us to pray for those in authority that the
gospel may spread in our nation and that believers may have freedom
to live according to his law in their business. Thirdly, and
finally, I want to make a practical point in relation to the media. I don't know how many of you
listen to these radio phone-in shows we have here in Northern
Ireland. You know what they're like, the
Nolan Show, Talk Back, you know the cut of them. If you suffer
from low blood pressure, then switch them on and you'll be
cured very quickly without recourse to medication. If you suffer
from high blood pressure, then take the tablets first. But you
know, joking aside, you know what they are like. They are
usually attacking a Christian position. They're trying to undermine
what the Bible has to say. They're trying to get Christians
who phone in to lose their tempers on air. And maybe, like me, you
have listened to one of these debates and you've asked yourself
a question. Have you ever asked yourself,
why isn't there a Christian phoning in and presenting the Christian
case in a reasoned way? Have you ever asked yourself
that question? Well, you know, there is an answer to it. Pick
up the phone yourself. You might be the only believer
listening to that debate at that time. You might be the only believer
who can make reasoned comment on the issue at that moment.
And my top tip to you is this, don't be nervous about the radio
presenter. Before you phone in, jot down
three points you want to make about the subject, phone in,
and regardless of what questions you're asked, you just give those
three points and repeat them. We hear politicians do it, so
why shouldn't we as members of the public? And we don't know
who listens to the radio in the privacy of their own home. So
if we were to phone in and say two or three sentences on air,
somebody listening could be convicted of their sin through what we've
said. Somebody listening could be appointed to the Lord Jesus
Christ as their Savior through what we've said. And we'll never
make that person this side of eternity. But by God's grace,
in His providence and mercy, our comment or two could be used
in bringing someone to salvation. The opportunities are endless
if we will use them for His glory and for His honor. Well, thank
you this evening for allowing me to share with you. It's been
a privilege to share the Word of God and the call to pray for
our rulers and to defend gospel freedom and to share with you
a report on the Institute's work and the cases we are involved
in. Before we come to our closing
hymn, let's unite our hearts in prayer. Again, let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we again
draw nigh unto thy presence, and we come indeed to the One
who is sovereign over this world and over this universe, the God
who is the King of the nations, the One indeed who raises up
kings and who removes them, who changes the times and the seasons,
the One who is enthroned in the heavens, and the One who is sovereign
in the affairs of men. None can stay thy hand or say
what doest thou. And Lord, we rejoice our ultimate
destiny is not in the hands of our media or of our politicians
or of our armed forces. Our ultimate destiny is in the
hands of the living God. And Lord, we sometimes see the
turmoil of those around us as we see uncertainty and insecurity
in our land. Lord, how that would perplex
us. It would distress us in many ways. But Lord, we recognize
that there is a line drawn. that may not be passed, and even
the actions of evil men can be used to advance thy kingdom and
thy purposes and thy will. Lord, the very wrath of man redounds
unto thy praise, and Lord, thou art the God who can take terrible
situations and use them for thy purposes. We know nothing beyond
thy will will happen, and thy will must and will prevail, and
we rest in that certainty, although at times it is difficult for
us to comprehend, and so we pray for thy help. We pray for our
nation in these days as a new government has been elected at
Westminster. Lord, we pray for those who serve
in that parliament. Lord, draw nigh unto them, those
that be believers. We pray that thou would strengthen
them, that thou would protect them, thou would watch over them,
keep them walking humbly in thy service, make thy word their
final guide and their final rule as legislation is made and debated. We pray for those, those many
who as yet are strangers to Christ in that place. Lord, be pleased
to bring them under godly influence. Be pleased to speak unto their
hearts and conscience. Lord, we cannot create an anxious
thought, but we know that the Spirit of our God can. And so
we pray, be pleased to work among the new MPs. Speak to them. Convict
them of sin, of righteousness, of judgment to come. Draw many
to the Savior and even the ungodly. Influence them by thy word, Lord,
the God who was able to use even pagan King Cyrus to advance thy
purposes, for the benefit of thy people. And so we pray, be
pleased to do something similar in our nation. We pray for our
province. And Lord, we see attacks upon biblical truth, even in
the public square here. Lord, we think of those who would
seek to redefine marriage in our province, to take it away
from the man-woman union. And Lord, we pray that thou in
mercy would frustrate their plans. Lord, they have attempted four
times in Stormont in the last three years. And Lord, we pray
that thou would put them to flight. Lord, we think of the protection
of the unborn child and, Lord, how we see children aborted and
destroyed for such needless and wicked reasons. And, Lord, we
pray, as one of old did, O Lord, revive thy work in the midst
of the years. In the midst of the years make
known, in wrath remember mercy. Lord, we pray that abortion would
not be liberalized in our province, that men and women would see
the blessing of human life in all its frailty, Lord, that they
would turn and we would repent as a society of what we have
done in the United Kingdom. Lord, we pray for ourselves.
Help us to live godly lives in our businesses and in our communities
and in our callings. Lord, we fail, we fall short
in so many respects. Lord, have mercy upon us. Forgive
us and cleanse us and pardon us through Christ's precious
blood. And we remember the week that lies ahead. We remember
again the MacArthur family. Lord, comfort them, calm them
in their soul and in their spirit. Lord, take away any nerves they
have, and may they know that there is a higher judge than
the county court, a higher judge than the Human Rights Commission
and the Equality Commission. There is the judge of all the
earth. And Lord, thou wilt do right and thou wilt do just.
And we pray because we give thanks that they are vindicated in this
matter before thee. But Lord, we pray that they may
know earthly vindication too. And Lord, we pray for those who
have taken the case. Lord, speak unto them. We don't
want or will their destruction, but Lord, we pray that thou would
be merciful to them as thou hast been merciful to us. Lord, turn
their hearts and convict them and draw them from sin to the
Savior. Lord, we can say, and such were some of us if it wasn't
for the grace of God. Lord, we would be doing the same
things. And so we pray, be merciful to them also. We pray for the
media coverage. We pray that it would be favorable,
it would be widespread, it would be fair. We pray the ruling would
be just and would protect liberty of thy people. We pray for the
Institute and the legal team. Watch over us all. Protect us
in our walk with thee. keep us from sin and from falling
and enable us and guard us and shield us from all of the enemies
snares and attacks for we pray these things we pray for the
witness of this meeting house here lord in this city of balamina
lord we pray that they may know many saved in the days that lie
ahead that they would know thy kingdom advanced even in this
corner of the vineyard bless the pastor in all of us preaching
and ministry of thy word and each member as they would minister
and be witnesses for Christ in their own neighborhoods and communities.
Lord, be pleased to bless that thy kingdom may advance and that
Christ would be glorified, for in his precious name we ask it.
Amen.
Praying For Those In Authority
| Sermon ID | 517151330194 |
| Duration | 1:10:24 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | 1 Timothy 2:1-4; Acts 16 |
| Language | English |
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