“For the mystery of iniquity (lawlessness) doth already work,” 2 Thessalonians 2:7.
The uncharacteristic scenes in Ballymena are a stark indication that society in Northern Ireland is most certainly not what it was in the not too distant past.
Many politicians in Stormont have been giving their usual utterly inept counsel as to the cause and the cure for such behaviour. The nationalist and republican members there have churned out the usual ‘anti-unionist’ responses, straight out of the well worn ‘glossary of sectarianism’ we have heard quoted since time immemorial!
It is to the Word of God that we MUST turn for an explanation of the events. Yes, it is right to refer to the impact of illegal immigration but that does not fully explain the totally wrong scenes witnessed in Ballymena.
The modern view of morality as witnessed in the lives of the ‘famous’ in the world of entertainment, those who change ‘partners as causally as one might change their socks, is also to be seen as a contributor to the rioting since the wickedness of men guilty of the indecent assault on a 14-year old girl, whoever they were, feature as a chief cause of the rioting.
AMUSEMENT
It is worthy of noting that the word ‘amusement’ means ‘a diverting away of the attention’. That is what the activities of the world of television, films and games have done — diverted our attention away from the eternal realities of God’s Word to the adopting of the lifestyle of the fables and fancies conjured up by man’s depraved nature!
The understanding of the moral law of God and the Bible’s teaching on modesty and decorum has evaporated from our society over the past generations due mainly to such influences!
The impact of the violation of God’s law by successive British governments and the Stormont assembly also, has aided the development within our society of attitudes bereft of virtually all regard for common decency and virtue. The DUP particularly has abandoned its former stance and wickedly endorsed sodomy and its allied perversions and such is openly practised amongst its members. They have sanctioned that which God calls an ‘abomination’, Leviticus 18:22.
SHAME on every Free Presbyterian who supports or even votes for this party which so openly defies God. A terrible harvest awaits such action!
Like any disease, the moral plague breaking forth amongst us has many symptoms and features. But the true ‘diagnosis’ of what is wrong is found only in the Word of God. In a society which obviously desires to divorce itself from the teaching of God’s Word, there is absolutely no possibility of a coming to the truth regarding our trouble.
WHY?
Perhaps we ought to remember first of all why Ulster has become largely severed from God’s Word. I recall the input of a man who became the Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher, back on ‘St Patrick’s Day’, 17th March 1970. He was no ‘St Patrick’ however.
He had hardly unpacked his suitcase before he was loudly and arrogantly pontificating his views to the ‘peasants’ under his care, that the Bible was utterly untrustworthy and that his opinion was to be trusted because he was a ‘very learned man’! His name was Richard Hanson.
He was the embodiment of ecumenical modernism and liberal theology. He began his ‘ministry’ with a series of lectures in Enniskillen cathedral hall berating the Bible and all who believed it.
I challenged him to a debate on the issue and published a response to his falsehoods and deceits in 1971 — ‘The Rage of a Bishop against the Rock of Holy Scripture’. I hope to have the full text of this early publication mounted soon on the ‘Burning Bush’ website.
Sadly, it was the response to his attacks on the Orange Order, rather than any offence taken by Church of Ireland members at his iniquitous attacks upon the truth of the Bible, that ended his career in Clogher. He packed his bags and returned to England in 1973!
He was not alone of course. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the Methodist Church here also had their ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ (Matthew 7:15)!
Collectively they persuaded many thousands in Ulster to reject the view of our forefathers and the teaching of their own creeds and confessions, which they swore to uphold at their ordination, and embrace the anti-scriptural ‘Romeward Trend’ which was then rife and has become even more rife in recent times.
It is this abandoning of God’s Word and its moral teaching that has led to a tidal wave of immoral behaviour in schools, homes, churches and seats of government. There has occurred in Ulster that which has, of course, happened before in history.
“And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed,” Judges 2:7-15.
Without an understanding of the inspired and infallible record of man’s folly in past times, as a result of his apostasy from God’s truth, we can never rightly or fully understand the cause of the lawlessness in recent events in Ballymena.
Here is a prophesy of that behaviour to which mankind has ever resorted. “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us,” Psalms 2:1-3.
This is that spirit of lawlessness to which Paul refers in our text as “the mystery of iniquity”. It was at work in the days of the Psalmist, in the days of Paul and in our day! Indeed the record of this wicked ‘lawlessness’ is to be found ever since the ‘fall of Adam’ into sin and the resultant contamination of all mankind which sprang from him.
Cain’s murder of his brother Abel is an early manifestation of this depravity. “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you,” 1 John 3:11-13.
NOAH
The actions of the post-diluvian populous at Babel is a further example of the inherent rebelliousness of fallen mankind. Noah and his descendants were commanded of God to replenish the earth. “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,” Genesis 9:1. But this command was subsequently rejected, according to Archbishop James Ussher’s acclaimed ‘Annals of the World’, some 100 years after the command was given to Noah.
We read in Genesis chapter 11: “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar (‘land of two rivers’, Babylon); and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth (what the Lord had commanded). And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel (‘confusion’); because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth,” verses 1-9.
Many times I have drawn attention to the phrase: “and they left off to build the city”. It is similar to what men say on a Friday evening on building sites universal as they intend to return to their labours after the weekend! What men had been engaged in before the Lord scattered them by confounding their language, they instinctively intended returning to!
This mankind has invariably done throughout the ages. The history of the Babylonian, Media-Persian, Grecian and Roman empires, and the innumerable lesser examples of man’s empire building on a foundation contrary to God’s Law, were all examples of this spirit of defiance and ‘lawlessness’!
It will continue and grow until God reacts to it ultimately at the second coming of Christ. He shall intervene in the days of the future Antichrist and put down all such rebellion and become King.
“And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one,” Zechariah 14:9.
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh,” Revelation 19:11-21.
MILLENNIAL REIGN
The Saviour’s return will usher in that age of lawfulness and peace which will be in complete contrast to these days of apostasy.
“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years,” Revelation 20:1-4.
Presently, the earth is “corrupt before God” and “filled with violence,” as it was before the flood (Genesis 6:11). But that will gloriously change when Christ takes utter control of His earth. “And he (Christ) shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,” Isaiah 2:4.
“Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth,” Psalm 96:11-13.
“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea,” Isaiah 11:9.
“And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,” Micah 4:3.
I make no apology for multiplying such quotations. All too many ministers are blind to these truths and mislead their flocks!
TODAY
The essence of today’s rebellion is stated by the Psalmist.
“The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us,” Psalm 2:1-3.
Man has ever striven to be free of God’s ‘cords’, the strictures of His laws and commandments. It was what the devil set before Eve when he tempted her. “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil,” Genesis 3:1-5.
The devil set before Eve a better life experience ‘outside’ a life of obedience to God’s Law! He has been doing that ever since and most successfully!
It is the ongoing consequences of this evil deception that overshadowed Ballymena and resulted in the attacks on homes which some thought justified because of the alleged wicked crime of those who are not native-born. Whoever is guilty, irrespective of the race, I pray that they will be prosecuted and sentenced to a punished equated with their wickedness.
CHRISTIANITY
It is a uniques feature of Christianity that its adherents are commanded by Christ to ‘love’ our enemies.
“But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,” Luke 6:27. This was a command that was embodied in the Ten Commandments.
“Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s,” Exodus 20:13-17.
That does not at all mean that the Christian is to ignore crime! No, both the Old Testament and the Epistles of the New Testament in particular, set forth a system of law and order that has been the basis of proper government wherever their tenets have been adopted. There ought to be both the punishment of sin within the Church of Christ, by the officers appointed to such duties, and in society generally, by the civil law and those appointed to administer such.
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake,” Romans 13:1-5.
There have been corrupt and evil magistrates and they are not to be obeyed. The example of this sort forth by the apostles.
“Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men,” Acts 5:28-29.
In this land we have the freedom to deal with such corruption under the rules of democracy — one of the mercies brought to us by the gospel. Sadly, it is part of today’s apostasy, that every effort both in church and state is made by those who would seek to take to themselves powers which they have no right to and remove the rights of a people, moved by a love for God’s truth, to replace such officials by those who fear God.
This is all part of the battle against the apostasy and we in the Free Presbyterian Church are likewise engaged in the battle against the deviation from God’s truth and the usurping of power away from the God-appointed offices within the church.
The Bible is a Book of LAW AND ORDER. Its abandonment under the leadership of false prophets and foolish men, who ought to know better, has contributed to the state of lawlessness we see in the homes, streets and seats of power in our land!
The Ballymena riot is but ‘the spewing of a suppurating boil’ which has infected society for quite some time!
Christians should take heed!
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Thursday 12th June 2025