There’s a war on…but this war is directed against the Word of God where the Bible is increasingly being banned as “hate speech.”
The War on the Bible
[1]
There’s a war on…but this war is directed against the Word of God where the Bible is increasingly being banned as “hate speech” so how long do you think it will be before the Bible is banned in America, or will it ever be? In the course of human history, the Bible has been banned, burned, banished, and forbidden, but this hasn’t stopped the Word of God from going out into the world. In one remote part of the world in Africa, there was so much opposition to the Bible that the Muslims went from house to house trying to find a copy of the Bible, and if they found it, they would not only burn it, but sometimes the person who it was found with, but to those who hold to the precious Word of God, they don’t care. They have such a hunger and thirst for the Word of God that they are willing to risk their life for possessing a Bible.
Hiding God’s Word
There was a group who had only one Bible, but they all wanted to read it, so what did they do? They took the Bible apart and gave each person one book of the Bible (i.e. the Gospel of John). Then, thirty days later, they came back and exchanged their book for another and memorized that one. After a few years, the over dozen men had memorized much of the Bible and could recite it by heart to those who didn’t have a Bible. They had hid God’s Word in their heart. In this way, even if they came and confiscated the Bible, they couldn’t touch their minds which had the rich Word of God in memory. They might remove the physical part (the Bible) but they can’t touch what’s been hidden in a person’s heart. In many nations, the Bible is illegal to own, however they just don’t get it? God’s Word is indestructible.
Forbidden Preaching
When it comes time to preaching the gospel in Canada, there are some Bible verses that this nation now considers hate speech and a pastor can be jailed and fined for preaching it, but this is nothing compared to how other nations are persecuting preachers of the Word. An American evangelist said he was arrested and interrogated about his Christian faith after he was caught on a London sidewalk preaching that homosexuality is a sin, even though the Bible states that it is. There was a Swedish pastor who preached a sermon on the Biblical prohibitions against homosexual behavior and was waiting to see if the Supreme Court of Sweden will send him to jail for six months for doing so. The pastor was charged with violating a Swedish hate speech law that protects homosexuals from “intimidation” and “agitation.”
[2]
Attacked for the Word
And sometimes there doesn’t even have to be a target audience for preaching as retired Pastor James McConnell found out. He was still waiting to see if his next sermon will be given from a prison pulpit or not. What was his crime? On May 18, 2014, the 79-year-old pastor was speaking at the church he founded in Belfast, Ireland and simply preached a sermon on 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Pastor McConnell reacted to a pregnant Muslim woman who was converted to Christianity and received 80 lashes and had a death sentence hanging over her head. The pastor was warned about the potential of being arrested for telling the truth that Islam is satanic and is a “doctrine spawned in hell.”
Anti-Preaching Laws
The Canadian government apparently has an ax to grind against biblical preaching. Preaching only about the love of God is okay, but if a preacher mentions specific sins and those who do these sins are in danger of God’s judgment, then it is considered hate speech and the consequences are not just a slap on the wrist. Father Alphonse de Valk, who is Canada’s leading pro-life voice among Catholic clergy, has said that the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal has forbidden evangelical pastor Stephen Boisson from expressing his moral opposition to homosexuality. Boisson was told to apologize to the “human rights” advocate who filed the complaint, and then they threatened him with a $5,000 fine for the “pain and suffering” he caused the man. We could expect this from the tribunals in Stalin’s Soviet Union or in Mao’s China, but in Canada? And perhaps the US is next with such laws.
Biblical Persecution
[3]
In the end, the courts ordered Boisson to provide the complainant with a written apology for his letter to the editor, but Ezra Levant, a Jewish-Canadian author and lawyer, said it’s “This is like a Third World jail-house confession — where accused criminals are forced to sign false statements of guilt. ” Levant said, “We don’t even ‘order’ murderers to apologize to their victims’ families because we know that a forced apology is meaningless to them, but not so if their purpose is to degrade Christian pastors and more importantly, the Word of God.
The Future and the Bible
The day is swiftly approaching where mentioning specific sins in the Bible will be seen as a hate crime in America. It is very close right now, so that might be the next step to banning the Bible altogether in the U.S. When or if this will happens, we just don’t know, but there are things in the air that say it may be coming. Already, parts of the Bible have been and are still being removed from the public square because some are “offended by it,” so things like the Ten Commandments have been removed, even in very conservative states such as Oklahoma and Alabama. What is even more tragic is that some ministers, like in the Episcopalian Church, have actually ordained as homosexual ministers, which is contrary to biblical doctrine (Rom 1:18-10, 26-27; 1 Cor 6:9-11).
The Apostle Paul warned of such a day when he wrote that “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Cor 4:3). Will the Bible ever be banned in America? Perhaps the preaching of it will be someday, and not just from behind the pulpits, but even in the streets. It’s growing more and more difficult to be able to preach the Word of God anywhere because the Word of God afflicts those who reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Summary
Several Canadian pastors and street preachers have faced hate-motivated charges or controversy and been arrested, primarily surrounding anti-LGBTQ2+ comments, despite the fact that these comments were verses from the Bible. Key cases involve accusations of inciting hatred, harassment, and public nuisance, rather than being prosecuted solely for Scripture reading which they actually did. From one Saskatchewan court of appeals, the Bible is now considered hate literature in Canada, even if it is quoted verbatim and in context, specifically if it is used to condemn homosexuality. Sadly, there is a double-standard for the Koran as it has not been labeled as having hate speech, even though it contains verses that demand the death of all who reject Allah and fail to be assimilated into the Islamic faith. Just another double standard, showing people hate the truth and will try to ban it, banish it, or make it illegal. That day may be coming sooner than later. Despite all the attacks on the Bible, “The word of the Lord endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8; 1 Pet 1:24-25), and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.
[4]“The word of the Lord endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8).
Conclusion
I pray you have put your trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If that has not happened yet, my friend, you are in real danger of hell fire. And I mean, in immediate danger. You’re one breath, one heartbeat…one accident away from eternity when it will be too late to repent. Today is the best day to believe (2 Cor 6:2) since tomorrow is no guarantee. If Jesus Christ came today, here is your fate (Matt 7:21-23). This is why I plead with you as you read this, repent today…and I mean right now. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. If you do not, you will face God’s judgment after death guaranteed (Heb 9:27) or at Jesus Christ’s appearance (Rev 20:12-15), which could happen at any moment.
Here is some related reading for you: How Persecution Purifies the Church and Spreads the Gospel [5]
Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.