CHRISTIAN WATCH PUBLIC MEETING
BRIGHTON – 30th OCTOBER, 2015
A Public Meeting of Christian Watch took place as planned on Friday, 30th October, 2015 in the coastal resort of Brighton. This was our first visit to Brighton and it was encouraging to see so many young people in attendance.
The subject of the meeting was “The Spiritual State of the Nation – is there a Remedy?” and the Vice-Chairman, Ian Henderson, in leading the meeting outlined the reasons why Christian Watch was originally formed some 15 years ago – formed for the sole purpose of informing Bible-believing Protestants of the danger of remaining silent whilst the devil – in a variety of guises – made inroads into our Protestant country and Constitution.
Referring to the continuing desecration of the Lord’s Day; ecumenism – with all its links with a range of false religions; the growth and general acceptance of gay rights with its ensuing depravity and the introduction of women Bishops into the Established Churches and the current threat to introduce Constitutional changes, Mr. Henderson gave three possible options:-
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- Total capitulation and surrender – Things have changed, let’s move on with the times – but that’s the easy option. It will make us popular with some – and maybe others will raise an eyebrow in disbelief and confusion – but for the real Bible-believing Christian it is not an option to be considered. The Word of God tells us in Romans 12 verses 1–2:- “that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be NOT conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” That’s where we stand in Christian Watch – on the Bible’s clear message.
- Bury our heads in the sand – and follow the see no evil, hear no evil, touch no evil – approach. But, by being so Heavenly-minded, we can become of no earthly use and we have a responsibility to remind our fellow men of the goodness of God and the mercy to be found in Christ. To bury our heads is to be guilty of neglecting our duty to warn others of the consequences of engaging in sin and refusing to turn away from ways that lead to disaster and ruin.
- But the 3rd option is to be an example to the decaying world all around us. That means neither joining the majority popular opinion nor running away from reality. We must ever remember – ‘there go I but for the grace of God.’ People are blind – lost – and dead in sin – and so they need to hear the right message. We must remain convinced of the truth and teaching of God’s Word and the complete holiness of our triune God and the total depravity of man’s sinful nature.• It is the Gospel of Christ that will cleanse man’s life-style behaviour.
• It is the Gospel of Christ that will convince men of the truthfulness of God’s Word.
• It is the Gospel of Christ that will show what is the God-ordained way of marriage
– no matter what worldly Governments may enshrine in law.
And Christian Watch endeavours to take this stand all over the country – through the work of individual members in their own localities.
The guest speaker for the evening was Pastor James Zenker, Principal of Crown College UK – who came to England nearly 10 years ago to set up a branch of Crown College in the West Midlands. Students come over from America on a regular basis to spend a term in England studying English Church history and other subjects and now the College is also engaged in Church-planting – opening up Churches that have previously closed their doors to the preaching of the Word.
Taking as his text Ezra 9 v 8-9, Pastor Zenker described the spiritual state of our nation today, outlining:-
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- The symptoms all around us.
Antipathy – apathy – apathetic – who cares what God thinks? Great Britain used to be a Christian nation but now it is lower than 5% of people who attend Church. Statistics indicate also that 50% of 11 year olds do not have parents that are married. 73% of British people believe that religion should have nothing to do with politics. - The correct diagnosis – a heart problem – but the disease is sin.
He emphasised the need to know, honour and obey God and warned against trying to make this world a better place to leave – to spend eternity in Hell. Laws may need changing; cultural issues may be challenging; internet access – wrongly used – may be a curse but the spiritual state of the nation was a heart problem. The problem of the heart is the heart of the problem. - The direction to look – Ezra 9 v 5-6. Ezra looked to God. In dark days, there is hope in God.
- The remedy – Ezra 9 v 8-9. Grace hath been shown from the Lord our God –
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense – a little reviving from God – and verse 9 – God hath not forsaken us but hath extended mercy to His remnant. Nuclear bombs may be the biggest weapons around, but Christians have God, the Bible and Gospel power. We must continue to hope in the Lord – and seek His encouragement – and never give up.
- The symptoms all around us.
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Pastor Zenker closed by emphasising Romans 1 v 16 – “for I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.”
The meeting closed with a rendering of ‘O God, our help in ages past’, based on Psalm 90 v 1-5 and a Christian Watch book table was made available with free literature to be taken away for widespread circulation.
(CD copies of the address by Pastor Zenker (including the introduction by the Vice-Chairman)
are available at £2.50 per CD (inc. P&P) from:
Christian Watch,
PO Box 2113,
Nuneaton, CV11 6ZY
Email: jean@christianwatch.co.uk
