What greater depths of God-rejecting immorality can Britain descend into? Is this the nation that was once instrumental in taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to the four corners of the earth?
One refers to the London Pride parade which took place in our capital city on Saturday. Pastors Peter Simpson, John Sherwood and David Carson, Dr David Mackereth and Mr Ryan Schiavo were amongst the preachers, along with some dear brethren from Northern Ireland who had come over especially in order to help the witness, including Ross Holmes, Robert Little, Simon Bell and Simon Hailes.
Amongst the faithful saints who were also in attendance holding up posters and talking to passers-by where possible were Mrs Lesley Pilkington, Mr David Skinner and Steven and Patricia Newman. The witness comprised around 20 Christians, and all present played a vital role, including of course those not named.
It was necessary for those witnessing to be enclosed by protective barriers on all four sides. The goal was to challenge with Biblical truth some 30,000 parade participants, and over a million members of the public, who seemed to think that something was happening in London which was worth ecstatically celebrating.
Mrs Pilkington had a good conversation with a young girl, who said she was ‘gay’ from birth, which of course is not true because lesbianism is not genetically determined She was sadly wearing men’s clothes, with a shaven head and studs on her face. She was told that she had been created by God, and that He only made people either male or female. The witnessing sister also quoted Psalm 139 to her, especially verse 13, which speaks of how the Lord carefully formed and fashioned each person in the womb. The girl was sceptical but listened, and agreed to take away a copy of the psalm which Mrs Pilkington had with her. May the Lord speak powerfully to this needy girl’s heart through His word.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, was at the parade, officially endorsing the proceedings, and he declared ‘Here in London you are free to be who you want to be and to love who you want to love’. That statement pretty well sums up the whole ethos of Pride and the attitude of the revellers, but if we stop to analyse it, it could be used to justify, say, adultery as well as homosexuality. No one, however, is free to take another person’s wife or husband. It is relevant to make this point because the word ‘love’ is so abused, and because adultery and homosexuality are actually listed alongside one another in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 as both excluding people from entering into the kingdom of God.
All the posters on display were quotations from the King James Bible, with particular emphasis on Romans 1:24-27. This Bible-only policy was in order to demonstrate that our Christian witness was not simply on the level of an alternative opinion, but to affirm that the parade was at its heart a distinctly anti-Christian event which was all about the public trashing of the word of God.
The LGBT agenda is not about certain people wishing to quietly get on with their chosen lifestyle. It is rather an ‘in your face’ statement that all must accept certain sexual practices or else be stigmatised as nasty bigots who have no place in a civilised society. Gay rights activism has become a spearhead to destroy the most basic foundations of our Christian civilisation. After all, what could be more fundamental than the God-ordained creation of two immutable genders and of the family unit headed up by a mother and a father?
The only exception to the Bible-only rule for the posters was one which quoted Isaiah 5:20 (‘Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil’), but which also added some perceptive words about the stages through which a nation passes as it descends into becoming a God-hating nation. The progression starts off with overlooking sin, then permitting sin, then using the legal system to deny the sinfulness of sin, then actually promoting and celebrating sin, and, finally, persecuting those who dare to still call it sin.
What kind of society have we become that we are meant to celebrate men parading through the street in scanty underwear, men dressing up as women (including fishnet stockings, high heels and bare buttocks), men dressing up in leather as dogs on leads, and men and women deciding to change their gender, the possibility of which has no scientific foundation whatsoever? What kind of society thinks that children should be exposed to all of this and even be told that it is virtuous?
One of the most shocking aspects of the parade was how throughly ‘mainstream’ it all was, with so many national institutions and well known commercial concerns wishing to display to the world their impeccable woke credentials. This led me to say to the crowds in my preaching at one point, ‘You are the establishment. You have the politicians and big business on your side, but to follow Jesus Christ you must come apart from the crowd and be separate. Remember how the Lord warned us, Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat’ (Matthew 7:13).
Parade participants whose presence was particularly noticed included Netflix, Cancer Research UK, the London Ambulance Service, Royal Mail, NHS England, the NHS Blood Transfusion Service, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, Microsoft, M&S, NatWest Bank and Lloyds Bank, to name just a few. One wonders on the basis of recent evidence, will the banks be desiring to close the accounts of all Bible-believing Christians who refuse to embrace the obligatory LGBT orthodoxy?
How deeply saddening it was to see all three armed services marching in the parade in uniform. The official website of the British Army carries a recent post entitled, ‘Military celebrate diversity at UK Pride’. This post speaks of the need for ‘freedoms that will allow everyone to live their lives without discrimination’.
One wonders if the Army’s top rankers who permit this tedious virtue-signalling are aware of the fact that Christians are currently being sacked from their jobs, particularly in the public sector, for standing up for Biblical morality? How would an Army chaplain fare, one wonders, if he dared to affirm to soldiers the Bible’s teaching on the sinfulness of homosexuality? Would his fate be similar to that of the school chaplain, the Rev. Bernard Randall, who was sacked from his post and reported to the government’s terrorist watchdog for very mildly telling pupils that it was legitimate for them to criticise the school’s pro-LGBT stance?
The witnessing Christians at the parade had to endure a stream of abuse and endless vulgar gestures. It appears that as far as LGBT activists are concerned, the necessity to be inclusive does not actually apply to anyone who dares to disagree with them, and especially Bible-believing Christians.
Those making a stand for Biblical truth also had to endure the opposition of false Christians from compromised, fashion-following mainstream churches, who were quite literally claiming that the Lord Jesus Christ was endorsing all that was happening in the parade. These pseudo-believers made a point of standing right by the true Christians in an attempt to nullify and spoil the witness.
This ‘ecclesiastical’ opposition of course highlights why the nation is in the mess it is in. So many churches have not done their job. They have abandoned the authority of Scripture as the inerrant word of God and have substituted it with the foolish fashions of the day. Shame on those churches.
Mrs Pilkington and Mrs Newman spoke to some of the false Christians trying to sabotage the clear message of the Bible-based witness. One of them carried a poster which read, “Jesus thinks you’re fabulous”, speaking of those in the parade. The other carried a poster which read, “We are all created in God’s image. Love is love”, implying, blasphemously, that to be homosexual is an aspect of being made in God’s image.
Much grieved, Mrs Newman challenged two women in particular, asking them why they hated the Lord. They both replied that they loved Him, but were then asked, “Why then do you work against Him? You are leading people to hell by supporting their sinful lifestyles. The Lord Jesus never did that. He came to save people from their sin, not affirm them in sin”. It is clear from their response that these two women tragically had no understanding of the true gospel. May the Lord open their eyes.
Despite the gross spiritual darkness of this parade many thousands of people heard the glorious gospel of salvation for all who turn from sin and trust in Christ for mercy. By God’s grace there will be some who went home thinking seriously about their eternal destiny, and it is for that reason that the presence of the preachers and other Christians was so absolutely essential and worthwhile.