Welcome to the Lion's Roar podcast with myself David Macrith and the topic today is will the next Archbishop of Canterbury be a Muslim? Now at first sight this sounds or looks like a preposterous idea, clickbait or maybe just the rantings of madmen. But in light of things that have been going on in British politics in recent times, anything could happen. All the norms are being removed. The Church of England is being renamed the Community of England. Maybe that's a move away from Christianity altogether for the Church of England by the authorities, by the people who have power in the Church of England, not by the people themselves. Maybe it's a sign of the days in which we live. Maybe it's a sign of things being cleared out for the coming religion of Antichrist. Maybe that religion will be Romanism, or maybe that religion will be Islam, or maybe it'll be, as some say, Chrislam and a combination of the two. But surely a Muslim couldn't be appointed as the Archbishop of Canterbury. Now, just before I continue, I want to read one verse from Nehemiah, the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament. And this is in Nehemiah 13, verse 7. And Nehemiah says, I came to Jerusalem and understood the evil that Eliaship did for Tobiah in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. Ezra had gone back to reestablish the Jewish religion at that time in Jerusalem. to see the reopening of the temple or the rebuilding and reopening of the temple. But a city without a wall can't be defended. And Nehemiah went back to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. And once the wall had been rebuilt and the religion had been re-established, then Jerusalem became a mighty political power once more among the nations. But the point was here that Tobiah and Sanballat and others had inveterately opposed the rebuilding of the temple and the building of the wall. They had set themselves to cause all kinds of trouble, including putting together armed vans to raid those who were rebuilding the wall to the extent that people needed to hold a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other. The work was so hindered by this man, Tobiah. But Tobiah then switched to diplomacy. He was very angry when the wall was completed, when the work which Nehemiah came to do wasn't thwarted because God was with them and God helped them. And this man who was an inveterate enemy of the Jews, we now found him with a room in the very heart of the temple. Even though the wall has been built, the enemy has come right in and not just right into the city, but right into a room in the temple. So you see when I'm saying that The next Archbishop of Canterbury could be a Muslim. It's not without precedent that the enemy can put his people into the most important places in order to undermine or even destroy the truth. Of course, we know that Islam is a threat to Christianity in the United Kingdom at this time. We know that Islam theologically is irreconcilable with Christianity. You can't say that Allah is the God of the Bible because in the Bible, God is shown clearly to be a Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ is the Son of God. If you want evidence that Christianity is Trinitarian, historically, you only have to go up and down England and look at all the churches which are called Holy Trinity Church. Christianity is Trinitarian. Islam denies the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. and we must be clear that we must be free to discuss and debate and disagree and to preach the truth without hindrance if the gospel is to prosper. Now it's the duty of every bishop and archbishop to preach and teach the Word of God constantly, with all of their strength, with all of their might, faithfully, not diverging to one side or the other, but to say what God says in his Word, which is the Bible. The greatest disaster that's come on this nation is not political, But the greatest disaster that has befallen this nation is the fact that our bishops and archbishops have departed from the word of God and have taught things which are the doctrines of men, and they've declared good what God calls evil, even to the point of blessing sodomy in the churches, which is what's going on now. And God's wrath is kindled against the Church of England. Thinking back to the last Archbishop who left in shame, Justin Welby, I can well believe that he may even have been appointed for the express purpose of destroying the Church of England. But the thing about it is this, the Church of England at present is like a ship without a rudder, and she has been so for some time. We are told that the committee that appoints the next Archbishop of Canterbury will make their deliberation this month and that there may be a public announcement next month as to whom the new Archbishop may be. But let's just think about this. Any bishop called by God, and I'm a Baptist, I don't believe in hierarchies with bishops and archbishops and cardinals and popes and things like that, but let's just consider what a man who is considered to be a shepherd of the sheep, an elder of the people of God, his duty is to preach the word of God. His duty is to defend the faith with all his might. Now, if the king, who has taken on the title of defender of the church, defender of the faith. And if the King of King Charles III, who has sworn with his right hand on the Bible to uphold the Protestant Christian religion with all his might, departs from that truth, or dilutes that truth, or fails to defend that truth, as he certainly has, then it is the duty of the bishops, without fear or favor, to rebuke him, to call him back to the narrow path, to instruct him in the scriptures, and to call him to do what he has sworn to do before Almighty God to defend the faith. But our king hasn't done that. Neither have our bishops stood up and warned him or advised him or called him to repentance. He needs open rebuke. And it's the duty of the bishops to do that. We see the incursion and the encroachment of Islam in our nation. Not only are many Islamists coming into the United Kingdom. but we also have, and speaking very freely, of taking over the United Kingdom. I believe they can do that peacefully through the political process, the way things are going, but they're getting a lot of help. Our Prime Minister seems deaf to the cries of the people. You know the pantomime when the hero is standing and there's a bear on stage and all the children are shouting, he's behind you, he's behind you, and to get the kids wound up, the hero says, what? And the Prime Minister saying what to the people? We're saying that we're warning the Prime Minister, we're standing up to the politicians and they're saying what? They can't hear us. They won't listen. They are willfully deaf to what the people are saying. There is a threat. And yet they are promoting these very things. The Church of England is in a state, her bishops will not teach the gospel. They will not preach the truth. They will not adhere unswervingly to the word of God and stand up and preach Christ Jesus and him crucified. And if they fail to do that, there is no Christianity to speak of. Now, those bishops are duty bound before Almighty God to teach the word of God. But I strongly suspect, I don't know who they're going to announce, I strongly suspect that the person that will be announced next month as a new Archbishop of Canterbury will be an ecumenist. That means not only saying that everything that calls itself is Christian, but saying that all religions lead to God. There's been ecumenism around for a long time, but an ecumenist is denying the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. unfit and unworthy for office in any Christian institution. He may well be a leftist, speaking up for Palestine and decrying or denouncing Israel. He might well be somebody who is leaning strongly towards Roman to potpourri a reversal of the Reformation. That will not surprise me one little bit. And I think publicly he's more likely to be a woke bishop who is promoting LGBTQI plus doctrine, which is abominable to almighty God. According to the Bible, the church should speak out against it lovingly, kindly, but nevertheless speak up and speak out because that is her duty before God. and failure to do so allows people to perish in their sins. It puts them into a fool's paradise of believing that God justifies their sins when he doesn't. God is a God who will judge sinners and cast us into hell if we do not repent for our sins. Now, recently in the city of Worcester, which is not far from where I'm sitting, a new bishop has been appointed. And at first, when that bishop was appointed, there was hope. He put out a letter that was very hopeful that he would uphold true Christian values. But then he showed his true colours and said that he would push forward LGBTQI plus ideology with all his might and all his strength. And the hearts of many Christians sank. In fact, I know for a fact on good authority that many young ministers, vicars in the Church of England who are evangelical are being bullied into the ground for trying to stand up against such ideology here in Worcestershire. I'm told this by a reliable source. Now, what if the new Archbishop of Canterbury is woke? In that way, it would not surprise us at all. But this provokes the wrath of God, not only against the Church of England, but against the nation. And the most important thing that needs to happen in the nation is that the bishops turn back to God through faith in Jesus Christ. that they preach unswervingly the gospel of Jesus Christ, that they stand up and teach the Bible as the word of God, that they expose error, including exposing graciously and lovingly but firmly and powerfully the errors of Islam, and that they call the politicians and the government and the people of the land to repentance and to saving faith in Jesus Christ. But I'm going further, if our Prime Minister cannot hear what the people are saying, if our King has spent much time promoting Islam and seems to have done nothing to defend the faith, Christianity, Bible-based Christianity, and if we have a Home Secretary now who is Islamic and others who are promoting Sharia law in the country, in the government, then it's certainly possible that with all the other things that are being overridden, with all the other things that are being ignored, and all the other things that are being pushed upon the people against their will, an archbishop could be found who is actually a Muslim. After all, you have in the Church of England ministers who are atheists, avowed openly atheists. The Church of England is a church for all, whatever their belief, whatever their background, it seems. And it seems to me if Tobiah the Ammonite can find a room in the temple after he has militarily opposed the Jews, but come in stealthily and secretly by by stealth, by diplomacy, that we may even find that the next Archbishop of Canterbury, appointed by our godless Fabian Socialist Prime Minister, might even be a Muslim. It certainly isn't beyond the bounds of possibilities. Jaw-dropping things have happened altogether. But if it happens, it will happen because the bishops and the archbishops have mocked God. because they have trampled the blood of Jesus Christ underfoot, because they have failed to shepherd the flock, because they are blind leaders of the blind, because they are dumb dogs that cannot bark, because they are men and even women who have forsaken the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't know what's going to happen, but I do know that our nation is in a mess. I do know the most important thing here is the infidelity and the perfidy of our bishops in the Church of England. They must repent. They must turn or there is no hope for the Church of England and no hope for the nation. And make no mistake, Islam is a judgment from God against this nation. And as individuals, we need to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know Jesus Christ? The gospel is that we should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and we should be saved and nothing else, no one else. Is faith alone in Jesus Christ alone that saves us? That is the clear teaching of the Bible. Do you believe on him? Do you know him? Have you turned to him? Are you following him? Because the Lord Jesus Christ died and is resurrected and he will save you from your sin. That's the most important message that we can hear in this world. Woe betide, woe to the bishops who teach vain and false and foolish things. Woe to the bishops that call good evil and evil good. Woe to the bishops that prophesy in their own strength and speak smooth things to the people when the nation is perishing in her sins and needs to be called back to God and to repentance and to a true saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nehemiah put Tobiah and his stuff out of the temple, out of Jerusalem. And we must put unbelief away in these days. And we must return to the Lord. We must return to the Bible. We must return to the Lord Jesus Christ. For as a nation, we are absolutely finished on account of our sins. It is God with whom we have to do. Amen.