The end is nigh!

The newspaper report which follows was sent to me by a kind friend who seeks to keep me informed of such events, knowing that I like to comment upon them in the light of the Word of God.

I take my title from the of-derided slogan on a poster, carried by a dishevelled character which cartoonists have delighted to use of Bible-believing Christian. The warning of the words have been mockingly rejected and spurned but time will prove the mockers wrong. Paul employs these words in 1 Corinthians 15:24. “Then cometh the end.” And come it most certainly shall and its approach is heralded by events set out in the news report which follows.

The content of the article, apart from anything else, indicates the rising tide of apostasy within the Church of England. Where it goes, most if not all other denominations follow soon after.

The reason for that is simple. The mainline churches and by that I mean all churches with the exception of those who have publicly declared themselves to have separated from the modernistic and theologically liberal trends of today, chiefly manifested in the ‘Ecumenical Movement’, have all succumbed to the corruption of the ‘latter-day apostasy!

Of this apostasy Paul said: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron,” 1 Timothy 4:1-2. That spoken of here by the apostle emerged on the religious scene at the beginning of the 20th century. Here is something of what the Encyclopaedia Britannica says on the subject.

“Early 20th-century ecumenism derived impetus from the convergence of three movements: international Protestant missionary conferences, beginning with the Edinburgh Conference (1910) and taking shape as an institution in the International Missionary Council (1921); the Faith and Order Conferences on church doctrine and polity, commencing in the conference at Lausanne (1927); and the Life and Work Conferences on social and practical problems, beginning with the Stockholm Conference (1925). In 1937 at the Oxford Conference of Life and Work, proposals were drawn up to unite churches with Faith and Order. To this end, the World Council of Churches, a consultative and conciliar agent of ecumenism, working with national, denominational, regional, and confessional bodies, was inaugurated in Amsterdam in 1948. The International Missionary Council joined the World Council of Churches in 1961.”

God’s separated remnant has witnessed against this movement and it was the reason behind the formation of the Free Presbyterian Church in 1951. Opposition to this apostate movement is still the official position of our denomination, each minister at his licensing and ordination and each elder at his ordination vowing before God to faithfully oppose this evil.

The article signals the approaching embracing of an utter defiance of God by the Church of England for nothing intimates total rebellion as does the claiming that sodomy and its related practices are of God and are to be honoured and welcomed within the camp of ‘Christendom’!

As a flash of lightning is invariably followed by the rumble of thunder, so is sin followed by God’s judgment. History shows that while all sin is hated by the Lord some sins are particularly provocative to Him.

“Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah (terms used to denote the sinfulness of Judah and Jerusalem, 1:1). To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them,” Isaiah 1:10-14.

The spirit of apostasy rendered their worship detestable to God. So it is with the worship and witness of mainline churches worldwide.

What the Church of England is doing, is not merely returning to the dark days prior to the awakening of the Protestant Reformation, but a reverting back to utter heathendom! That which brought down the nations in the days of Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Lot, Babylon, Greece and Rome in the heyday of their wickedness is what the Church of England and all like-minded religious bodies, are endeavouring to do today.

The article states: “The bishops of Worcester and Dudley have written to all clergy in their area saying “the time has come for the church to celebrate and honour same sex relations”.” The article indicates the swathe of bishops who agree with this position and call.

The response of the pro-sodomite fraternity says volumes about what this all means. Jayne Ozanne, a prominent campaigner for LGBT+ equality in the C of E, said: “It is really heartening to see a number of bishops now stepping forward and adding their voice to (Bishop Steven of Oxford) Croft’s calling for a church that seeks to honour and celebrate same-sex love.” “The silence has been deafening, and has only ever served to embolden conservatives whilst leaving LGBT+ people feeling angry and alone.”

It is to be noted that in the reported comments and statements of the bishops advocating this wickedness, there is not one mention of the name of God or a reference to the Bible. It is depraved man’s own notions of what is right or wrong which govern their comments. That says a lot!

“There has been a measure of opposition to this call by bishops” say the news report. The article reports that: “The Church of England Evangelical Council said it rejected the bishop’s theological argument. “CEEC continues to believe that the C of E’s current position on human sexuality is built on the teaching of scripture and is therefore good for individuals and society as a whole.” Andrea Williams, the chief executive of Christian Concern, said: “Our society is reeling from the damage caused by the sexual revolution: sexual licence, divorce, pornography, abuse and gender ideology have caused untold harm.” Any move by the church “to revise the doctrine of marriage will cause open rupture in the Anglican communion, not only in the UK but all over the world”.

The utter futility of this ‘inside’ group of professed evangelicals who have disobeyed God’s Word by refusing to separate from this apostate denomination and sought to resist the departure within their church from within. Today’s news illustrates just how useless have been their efforts. You cannot ‘fight the good fight’ by disobeying God’s commands as to how the fight is to be conducted. By rejecting God’s word these evangelicals are like the disobedient Israelites of Numbers 14:40-44, faced inevitable defeat.

“And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you. But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.”

God will not honour protests mounted in a manner contrary to His Word. This why the Church of England evangelicals have been unsuccessful in their attempts to turn the tide in their church. That which is rotten and corrupt must be abandoned! From such we are commanded to “turn away,” 2 Timothy 3:5. The phrase means to ‘shun and avoid’.

We can see the future of the Church of England in the harvest reaped by those in the past who followed such a path as it is presently doing. I quote at large a portion of 2 Kings.

“In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, and walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: and there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: for they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing. Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them. And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only,” 2 Kings 17:6-18.

Despite the ‘mouthings’ of modernist preachers, God has not changed. “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed,” Malachi 3:6.

What he has done in response to sin in the past He will do again.

Time will show this to be true and that very soon.

Sincerely in Christ’s name,

Ivan Foster.


Five more Anglican bishops back same-sex marriages in church

Church of England bishops say clergy should be able to act according to conscience on issue that has divided Christianity

 

A blessing ceremony for a couple in a Catholic church in Cologne, Germany, in 2021. Photograph: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Five more Anglican bishops have publicly backed a call for the Church of England to lift its ban on same-sex marriage, in a sign that momentum may be building for a historic change.

The bishops of Worcester and Dudley have written to all clergy in their area saying “the time has come for the church to celebrate and honour same sex relations”. John Inge, a senior bishop, and Martin Gorick, a junior bishop in the diocese, said they favoured same-sex couples being able to marry in church, although clergy should be permitted to act according to their conscience on the issue.

Inge added in a tweet: “I stand convicted of being silent for too long in what, I persuaded myself, was the imperative of unity. I offer my apologies to all those who have been hurt.” The bishops of Reading, Buckingham and Dorchester all tweeted their endorsement of an essay published on Friday by Steven Croft, the bishop of Oxford, arguing that the C of E should end its refusal to allow same-sex couples to marry in church.

Olivia Graham of Reading and Gavin Collins of Dorchester both said Croft had set out “compassionate and courageous views”. Alan Wilson of Buckingham thanked Croft for “articulating an honest and Godly view”. All three are junior bishops in the diocese of Oxford.

Croft became the most senior serving bishop to publicly state his support for same-sex marriages to be conducted by the church, and for clergy to be permitted to marry a same-sex partner.

He said the church’s refusal to treat same-sex couples equally had angered and alienated a generation. He apologised that his own views “were slow to change”.

Croft’s intervention came after C of E bishops met for three days this week to discuss the issue, which has bitterly divided the church for decades. Next month, they will decide on a recommendation to go before the General Synod, the C of E’s governing body, in February.

Although Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, recently affirmed the validity of a 1998 declaration that gay sex was a sin, there are signs that the C of E may be moving towards allowing clergy to follow their conscience on the issue.

A recent survey found that more than 1,100 licensed C of E priests were willing to conduct same-sex marriages if they become legal. A separate analysis of the views of 6, 400 church-goers warned that division within the church over the issue was a “disaster that will go on and on”.

Jayne Ozanne, a prominent campaigner for LGBT+ equality in the C of E, said: “It is really heartening to see a number of bishops now stepping forward and adding their voice to Croft’s calling for a church that seeks to honour and celebrate same-sex love. The silence has been deafening, and has only ever served to embolden conservatives whilst leaving LGBT+ people feeling angry and alone.”

There were also strong condemnations of Croft’s stance. The Church of England Evangelical Council said it rejected the bishop’s theological argument. “CEEC continues to believe that the C of E’s current position on human sexuality is built on the teaching of scripture and is therefore good for individuals and society as a whole.” Andrea Williams, the chief executive of Christian Concern, said: “Our society is reeling from the damage caused by the sexual revolution: sexual licence, divorce, pornography, abuse and gender ideology have caused untold harm.” Any move by the church “to revise the doctrine of marriage will cause open rupture in the Anglican communion, not only in the UK but all over the world”.

Anglican churches in the US, Scotland and Canada have already moved to start conducting same-sex weddings, while the church in Wales has started offering blessings to married gay couples.