On February 28th of 2017, Christian street preachers Michael Overd and Michael Stockwell were convicted of a public order offense under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. During the proceedings, one prosecutor stated that the public quotation of the Bible should be "considered to be abusive and is a criminal matter." The prosecution also asserted that "To say to someone that Jesus is the only God is not a matter of truth. To the extent that they are saying that the only way to God is through Jesus, that cannot be a truth."
This story does not come to us from a Sharia court in Iran, but from the Bristol Magistrates' Court in the United Kingdom. Gentlemen, we need to see this miscarriage of justice for what it is. What transpired was a gross abuse of power by an overreaching government carrying out the wishes of a culture that is hostile to the Word of God. This hostility stems from man's desire above all else to deny the truth. The prosecution admitted as much when it asserted that the gospel "cannot be a truth." A lawyer, of all people, knows better than to make an unprovable absolute statement as a matter of fact. And yet, not only did he make the statement, setting himself up as the sole arbiter of truth in a legal context, but was upheld in doing so by the court, which exists to defend the rights of its people, including the two that it trampled on that day. The man of God has a few responses.
To those who raise themselves up against the knowledge of God:
God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it. You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting. Your kingdom has been divided (Daniel 5:26-28). We are not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). Repent and be saved.
To our brothers who are being persecuted and hated on account of Jesus' name:
"Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matthew 5:12). God Himself said that men like you are "men of whom the world [is] not worthy" (Hebrews 11:38a).
To the church around the world:
Even though with all of our heart we say "Come, Lord Jesus," and at the same time with all of our heart we intercede before God overlooking Sodom and Gomorrah, let not your heart be troubled. "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary fainting in your souls" (Hebrews 12:1-3).