“. . . if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law,” Romans 13:9-10.
The crisis I refer to is the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants that seem to be able to freely enter the United Kingdom, there to be feted with what can only be called outlandish benefits heaped upon them, and that in a time of national austerity endured by lawful citizens!
They are referred to as those crossing the English Channel from France in ‘small boats’!
In truth, I have seen all too many Royal Navy vessels and RBNI boats unloading ‘cargos of illegals’!
Text
By and large, those thus ‘invading’ our shores are met by either hatred or a ‘hypocritical love’.
Our text is very plain and easily understood. The whole law of God is encompassed by the command, “Love thy neighbour as thyself.”
To ‘love’ our neighbour is ‘to feel and exhibit esteem and goodwill to a person.’ In truth, only a person who has been redeemed by the grace of God is capable of such.
Paul tells us that, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us,” Romans 5:5.
Without that experience, which is one of the effects of the “New Birth” whereby, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new,” 2 Corinthians 5:17, no such love is possible.
Being thus renewed by the grace of God, such true love is achievable, where before it was not.
Natural Man
Natural man, unconverted, unregenerate man, has only a perverted love, which entails being a lover of his own self . . . without natural affection . . . lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, 2 Timothy 3:2-4.
Much of the animosity demonstrated of late, regarding illegal immigrants, is born of self-interest and a sense of being deprived of that which is our due, by those who have no such right!
Core
Now, it must be acknowledged that there is a core of truth in such a reaction, especially when it may well be true that the benefits bestowed on these illegals appear to surpass the welfare benefits that may be claimed lawfully, by true citizens.
Such a situation will naturally engender hostility!
However, there has been manifested an attitude that really has no justification in any feeling of being ill-done by others. Rather it is xenophobic!
Hypocrisy
I said that here was another response manifested toward the illegal immigrants, ‘hypocritical love’!
I refer to those so-called ‘liberals’ who argue in favour of a welcoming and embracing of those who come here illegally and in truth ‘demand’ that their needs, indeed ‘greeds’, be met!
It has been widely reported in the news media that asylum seekers receive free NHS benefits, bus passes, new mobile phones and a weekly allowance as well as other free benefits denied to citizens. This is upheld and rationalised by those who, generally speaking, show a despising of all things British.
Flags removed
The tearing down of the flag of England and the erecting of the flag of Palestinian terrorists, by various councils in the UK, is evidence of this!
Patriotic flag raisers attacked with ‘petrol bombs’ after hanging St George’s crosses in community but they say ‘it won’t stop us’
No, the professed love for the immigrants by such is utterly hypocritical. It is but taking advantage of the crisis, and under the cover of love and concern, pushing the left-wing agenda!
What should we do?
What should the attitude of a Christian be in the face of this crisis?
1. First of all, no Christian should show sympathy with the activities of criminals and frauds. Here in Ulster, we are well used to Irish Republicans favouring every cause which will cost the British Exchequer money! That was made very evident by the late leader of the Nationalists Party, Edward McAteer. He is credited with once publishing a scheme whereby his supporters could add costs to the administration of the social services. It entailed delaying a reply to government letters, then replying inaccurately when a reply is sent, forcing further communications and added expense.
That spirit has ever been manifested amongst Irish Republicans as a means of hurting the economy of the United Kingdom.
It is the same spirit that is very evidently seen amongst many left-wingers and socialists in the rest of the UK today. They see the ‘illegal immigrants’ as a means of hurting the nation and changing the ethos of it, so they show support and chant ‘love’!
2. There are cases where people are forced to flee their homeland because of a persecuting government. In particular, I think of Christians who suffer under Moslem governments, though there are other examples.
I do not include those who found life in their land hard because of their embracing of a perverted lifestyle. I would not welcome those who so blatantly defy God and His Law. They will only bring with them their contaminating influences where they are welcomed.
They have an easy way of avoiding prosecution, etc in their own land — abandon their ungodly lifestyle and obey the Lord!
However, the genuine ‘refugee’ from persecution for righteousness sake, should be given shelter and offered every aid by the Christian. That is what it is to “love thy neighbour as thyself”. It is a love with the same rules and restrictions that govern ourselves. We are not required of God to tolerate in others what we would not tolerate in ourselves. Neither are we to demand of others what we do not demand of ourselves!
This what the Lord requires of us. “It is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy,” 1 Peter 1:16.
This, of course, does not entail refusing to help those who are not converted. No, but it does require us to not offer help to those who will but use our help to corrupt and contaminate by their lifestyle, all those around them!
3. It is very evident that there is a ‘muslimising’ of British society. There have been many allegations of ‘Islamic no-go areas’. There has been a denying of such by government agencies, police and left-wing groups. Personally, I refuse to believe such denials for the simple reason that for years, especially during the IRA terror campaign, there were many areas here in Northern Ireland which were controlled by the IRA and their ‘rule’ dominated the people of the area. Proper law and order was set aside.
In many parts of England, Islamic ‘Sharia Law’ rules. Its purpose is the implementation of Muslim views, particularly regarding severe penalties for specific offences.
It is officially stated that ‘Sharia councils which operate within the UK’s legal framework, cannot overrule UK law, and are not courts. While these religious councils provide guidance, particularly on family matters like marriage, divorce, and inheritance, their rulings are not legally enforceable and must align with national law.’
Not for one moment is that statement to be believed. There are areas where ‘Sharia Law’ is the LAW!
Sharia law made LEGALLY BINDING in Austria despite warning over ‘incompatible’ values
Soon it will be the same in the UK
This can only spread and increase in the face of Islamic militancy and Government complacency!
4. The root cause of this crisis is the United Kingdom’s abandoning of God and His Law. The developments we see over the last one hundred years in our nation are but of the same character as took place amongst nations, as recorded in the Bible, nations which defied the Lord.
It was, of course, the repeated experience of recalcitrant Israel. As punishment for their departure from the Lord, He removed His protection from them and moved the neighbouring heathen nations to invade. How often the Philistines, the Ammonites, the Moabites, to name but a few of Israel’s neighbours, invaded and afflicted Israel for her sins?
I read just today: “Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about. So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden . . . But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death,” Jeremiah 52:1-7, 8-11.
That is an account of the prime example of God handing over a disobedient people to their enemies.
Anyone who cannot see this pattern of events being repeated in the United Kingdom, and especially here in Northern Ireland, is deliberately blind! Here we are under the dominance of the IRA and its supporters and sympathisers.
Disobedience
The disobedience of Christians in particular has brought this about. All my Christian life I have been but one of many who has called for a rejection of ‘Ecumenism’, with its unbiblical doctrines and policies, which has ensconced itself within the main ‘Protestant’ denominations.
That Bible-based call has been very largely rejected.
Then again, Christians within the political realm have likewise embraced policies that were considered ‘politically advantageous’ while being blatantly unscriptural. The Democratic Unionist Party, aided by Free Presbyterians, has been to the fore in this wickedness.
The leadership of the Free Presbyterian Church has repeatedly refused to see what has been taking place and sought to avoid any confrontation with those guilty of betraying God.
A dying language
An example is the Irish language, a dying language, which for political reasons, Sinn Fein is trying vainly to resuscitate. Of course, it is demanding British money to raise it up from the dead. Street names are duplicated in Irish, whether wanted by or not by residents, in council areas controlled by Irish Republicans!
Courts are under pressure to provide for its proceedings to be conducted in Irish when it is demanded. Irish schools are established with British money.
The unjustified promotion of the Irish language by Sinn Fein for ulterior motives has become ‘a bone of contention’ with Unionists because of the demands of Republicans that their linguistic ambitions be funded out of the public purse!
Soon there is to be appointed an ‘Irish Language Commissioner’. He will have power to force the use of the Irish language on all public authorities. (See TUV warns again of the powers of Irish Language Commissioner)
It is the parallel situation to that which exists in ‘Roman Catholic’ French Canada. The whole country must put up with ‘French’ duplications of all public notices, whether they want it or not!
The Ulster situation is but of the same in essence as that seen in the days of Israel’s waywardness in the days of King Saul.
“Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock. Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads. So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan,” 1 Samuel 13:19-22.
Hapless
The ‘haplessness’ of Ulster’s Unionism is but a reflection of the same wretchedness as experienced long ago by Israel!
Never in the history of Northern Ireland has such a woebegone bunch of Unionist representatives been elected! The DUP, led by a ‘lawyer’, has presided over our separation from the rest of the United Kingdom by its agreeing to the ‘Windsor Framework’, a post-Brexit legal agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom which adjusts the operation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which in turn was an agreement which regulates some aspects of trade in goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
The ‘Framework’ and the later ‘Adjustment’ effectively treats Ulster as ‘foreign land’ from the rest of the UK and places it under the rule of the European Union, from which the UK withdrew five years ago!
Earlier this year, Mr Jim Allister KC, MP, issued a statement on the damage to trade between the British mainland and Northern Ireland.
Commenting on the latest data from the Office for National Statistics back in June 5th of this year, Jim Allister said:
‘The figures speak for themselves. In 2020, before the imposition of the Protocol, 20.1% of GB manufacturing firms sold to Northern Ireland. Now that figure has collapsed to just 12.9%. In the retail and wholesale sector, the drop is just as stark—from 17.5% down to 12.4%. And across all business sizes and sectors, the share of GB firms trading with NI has fallen by around a third.
“Behind those numbers are real consequences: fewer choices for consumers in Northern Ireland, higher costs for local businesses, and Northern Ireland’s economy being nudged ever closer to the orbit of the Republic of Ireland. That is not accidental — it is the direct consequence of the framework.”
“The figures also reveal something else: businesses are not just ceasing trade with Northern Ireland; even those who continue are scaling back. For example, in the retail sector, 14.2% of GB firms report declining sales to Northern Ireland, with only a tiny 1.5% seeing an increase. And 11.4% have stopped trading with Northern Ireland altogether.
“Small and medium-sized enterprises — the backbone of the UK economy — are being disproportionately hit. The extra bureaucracy, costs, and delays caused by the Irish Sea border are discouraging trade.
“When asked directly, GB and NI firms identified the Protocol/Windsor Framework as a major challenge to intra-UK trade. In manufacturing, 24.1% of businesses reported it as a problem. Across all sectors, almost one in every nine businesses pointed to the Framework as a barrier to doing business within their own country.
So much for the promise of unfettered access.’
This ‘commercial folly’ was endorsed by the DUP, to their shame!
How could things go right for this backsliding political party? DUP representatives, some professing faith in Christ, sit on an Education Authority board which promotes transgenderism and other perversions among school children.
It has stupidly been argued that since the guidelines on ‘Transgenderism etc’ were in place before prominent DUP man, Mervyn Storey took up the chairmanship of the EA, he cannot be faulted!
In truth, such a situation makes him even more blameworthy since he took the position, which pays some £50,000 per annum, most willingly KNOWING that he would be presiding over an Education Authority charged with promoting modern perversions and immorality amongst schoolchildren!
What a flawed excuse supporters of the DUP are depending upon!
Furthermore, the DUP has helped to fund sodomite organisations and ‘Gay Pride’ marches. It has become as polluted as the party it swore it would never share power with, Sinn Fein/IRA.
When it broke that promise back in 2007, that betrayal was the means of Sinn Fein/IRA reaching its present dominance.
It has recently been disclosed in a ‘Belfast Telegraph, article that recently released Government papers from the early 2000s showed the DUP leadership lied about its links with Sinn Fein!
Sam McBride on the DUP’s route to power sharing: Deceit, flattery and secret Sinn Féin talks
“Publicly the DUP refused to speak with Sinn Féin – but declassified files show a different side to the story. Flattery, deceit, a bung, MI5, and the secret back-channel to Sinn Féin – uncovered files have revealed the DUP’s route to power-sharing. Publicly the DUP refused to talk to Sinn Féin, Ian Paisley wanted ‘Sackcloth and Ashes’.
But the truth was that the party was in direct talks with Republicans.
In public, Ian Paisley’s party insisted it was united – but the reality was very different.
Peter Robinson was briefing the government on how to deal with an increasingly frail Paisley – and the two big factions of the party disagreed on power-sharing.
To tell this tale of political intrigue, money, and what some might call betrayal, Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph’s Northern Ireland editor Sam McBride, who has been looking through the formerly classified Kew Files in London.”
(Extracts from the Belfast Telegraph article, 8th August 2025.)
The Lord Jesus said: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth,” Luke 11:17.
Thus we see the reason for the continuing disintegration of the party that once had as its slogan, ‘The truth shall make you free’. That was a quote taken from John 8:32 and are the words of the Saviour!
Sadly, in pursuit of political ambitions they abandoned that slogan and the ‘truth’ they claimed they would speak, and so forfeited the ‘freedom’ which speaking the truth brings!
We cannot rightly understand the course of events around us here in Ulster without a close study of God’s Word.
What a ‘WORD’ the Bible has for us in these latter days of rebellion and apostasy, if we are but willing to listen.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
1st September 2025