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The Interceders Encourager No. 64 - The European Union Referendum

Some Christians may think that the European Referendum is just a political matter with which we should not be concerned.

A) To a certain extent, this is true. Political matters are of the world and temporary, whereas the kingdom of God is spiritual and to do with the things of eternity. However, conditions in the world can help or hinder the growth of the kingdom of God. The political situation in Britain over the last three hundred years, from the end of the 17th century to the second half of the 20th century, combined with the spread of the British Empire, along with the maritime supremacy of Britain, all proved very conducive to the spread of the gospel over this land, and from it to the ends of the earth.

B) We are probably familiar with the arguments against Britain remaining part of the European Union. Most of them are to do with money.

1) Belonging to the EU costs Britain billions of pounds every year, (estimates vary between nearly £6 billion to nearly £9 billion per annum).

2) The EU is inefficient. It is a huge organization where millions of euros go astray with all the different amounts going backwards and forwards through the system. Its inefficiency and corruption are so bad that the auditors have not been able to balance the books for many years.

3) The EU is unfair and wasteful. 40% of its budget goes towards supporting its Common Agricultural Policy, yet agriculture employs only 5% of its workforce, and generates only 1.65% of its income.

4) Being in the EU weakens our control over immigration. We are a small country, already one of the most densely populated countries in the world; and our public services, providing homes, schools, hospitals, medical surgeries, roads, policing, social services, etc., are already straining to cope with our present population, yet we are still taking in over six hundred thousand new immigrants every year. Such a situation cannot continue. We need to get back control of our borders.

5) Being within the EU means we are obliged to provide all the benefits of our welfare state freely to all registered residents. This is a drain on our resources; and a situation never envisaged by the makers of our welfare state.

6) The EU is becoming weaker economically, pulled down by the poorer countries in the south of Europe, and would become far weaker if Turkey was admitted, which now seems more likely.

7) The EU has imposed too many restrictions on British business, especially our fishing industry, causing unnecessary expenses and job losses.

8) Being within the EU means we cannot stop the "dumping" of cheap products from other countries, resulting in the crippling of our steel industry.

9) Being in the EU means all new work tenders have to go to all EU countries, and we have to accept the lowest tender, so we cannot favour British companies, causing unemployment in Britain.

10) Being in the EU means that we have to accept that laws formulated by the unelected commissioners in Brussels take precedence over British laws. As a consequence, most of our laws come from Brussels, which is unfair and undemocratic.

11) Being in the EU means that the European Court of Justice decisions take precedence over our law courts.

12) Britain has been a sovereign, independent nation for hundreds of years. It is the birthplace of democracy and of the agricultural and industrial revolutions. Its empire circled the globe. It does not need to be politically united with other countries, any more than the United States of America does. It already has strong links with the USA, with all the countries of the British Commonwealth and many other countries. It is not right that it should be limited, confined, pulled down and told what to do by other countries, many of whom do not share our values.

These, and many others, are all good reasons for Britain to leave the European Union, but above all these, there are spiritual factors.

C) Many Christian leaders have written over many years about the dangers of belonging to the European Union, including Ray Borlase of "Intercessors for Britain;" Clifford Hill of "Issachar Ministries" and David Hathaway of Eurovision, who have pointed out that the European Union is not only the most inefficient and undemocratic organization that has ever existed on the face of the earth, whose statutes have been enforced upon our parliament; but that it is an anti-Christian organization.

The headquarters building of the EU is modelled on a painting of the Tower of Babel, which was purposely built in defiance of God. To show that this was done deliberately, the EU Commissioners would not allow any reference to Christianity as part of the heritage of Europe in the constitutional document of the EU. Moreover, its regulations imposed upon us over many years, have been restrictive, limiting and very damaging to this country, with many of them enforcing anti Biblical standards on this land; including the promotion and teaching of homosexuality, the allowance of same gender marriage and the breakdown of traditional marriage, etc; which can all be linked in with the Frankfurt School agenda, whose goal was to destroy traditional values, and remove the Christian religion from having any influence over human affairs.

It is not surprising, therefore, that many people believe we should not have gone into the EU, or even its predecessor, in the first place, and certainly, once we realized the way it was going and the programme they were bringing in, we should have got out of it years ago.

D) In connection with this, may I draw your attention to, or remind you of, this prophecy from David Noakes, given at a Ministry Leaders meeting held in November 2015, quoted In Clifford Hill's December 2015 Issachar Update Message

"Nation of Britain, I have loved you with a love which has not ceased, despite the state of apostasy and degradation into which you have fallen. My anger towards those church leaders who have taught false things in my Name, and encouraged others to believe and act as they do, is intense and my judgment upon them will be severe.

"Hear Me, O once godly nation and respond to my call, or you also will come to ruin in that same judgment of destruction. This is not my will for you, but you must choose the course which you will take. I urge you to respond to Me and choose life under my hand of discipline and protection, rather than death in the disaster which is even now coming upon Europe."

This also ties in with a prophecy I have read from an unknown source. The writer stated that, after thinking and praying about the Smith Wigglesworth prophecy that there would be a mighty revival of Word and Spirit in Britain,
"the Father showed me that indeed the Word and the Spirit came together some time ago and that the work was gradually building. And then He showed me the relevance of the part about the Holy Spirit flowing from the United Kingdom into Europe. We have all these 'unholy laws coming out of the EU,' and the Lord showed me, just as when the angel told Daniel that the Prince of Persia withstood him. I saw, above the EU Parliament there was a satanic mirror image in the heavenlies. I saw a cabinet room, with comings and goings, just as in the earthly one. And all the activity there was for one purpose, to try to prevent the coming revival spreading across Europe and the world. I realized then that this is why we have to be fighting and battling in prayer against the European Union, that the workings of the devil will be destroyed."

This also ties in with part of a prophecy given to Paul Slennett in February 1989:

"My children, the alarm bells are sounding all over Europe, for judgment is being spoken out over the nations…. Over your nation, …Great Britain, My judgment that has been withheld for so long must now be unleashed on your nation in order that my church repent and lead this nation in repentance, for I am a righteous and holy God, just in all my ways, a God who longs to show mercy, but one who will no longer tolerate the unrighteousness of my dear church. It is out of love that I visit this nation with judgment. You must know that this must always be the case. My children, repent now before it is too late, for already the day of my return draws near and you must not be found wanting, like the virgins who did not fill their lamps with oil; but awake, my children, and be my watchmen, and speak with a prophetic voice of the judgment that is about to come upon the nations. If you repent and turn from your wicked ways, I will visit your nation, Great Britain, once again, not with judgment, but with revival power, and I will protect you from all the strategy of the enemy.

In regard to Europe, come out of her, my dear children, for she will align herself with the Beast and the False Prophet who will arise and appear for just a short while. My children, take heart, for I am with you always. Do not give up, but pray without ceasing and see the salvation of your God."

This also ties in with part of a prophecy from Wendy Alec, given in 2007 after the terrorist attacks:
I saw several pockets of small fires across Europe. They were the fires of wicked men and organizations. They were very small, hardly noticeable on the map, but they burned furiously and had fiercely burning blue flames. Then I saw that some kind of net was being loosed from the heavenlies down to earth, and I heard the Lord say, "This is the snare of heaven," and I saw a great angelic host, the warring host of heaven being dispatched across Great Britain and Europe and other northern and Middle-Eastern parts of the earth with swords that glistened like flaming fires. And the Lord said, "As in the ancient of times, so as My people humble themselves and pray, a great and mighty roar of battle shall be unleashed from the heavenlies, and My mighty warring angels shall go forth. For I shall send them from the North and from the South." God was saying these were the fires of wicked men and organizations across Great Britain and Europe and beyond.

Then I saw prayer start to rise, first from small pockets of intercessors across the British Isles. These were not just prayer movements and organizations, but they were the heartfelt prayers of the saints from towns and villages all across Great Britain. These were the praying mothers and grandmothers and grandfathers. These were the prayers of the intercessors across Great Britain, and yes, they were mostly women in their homes and in tiny prayer and home groups, fallen on their knees and on their faces. And I could see that they had the full attention of the Lord. And then I saw the men, and the men were the ministers of God, the pastors and the ministers from all across Britain who rose and joined their prayers in the Spirit with the prayers of the handmaidens. Then the prophets started to prophesy, and join with the apostles and the intercessors, and then they were joined by the praying saints from across pockets in Europe and then from the North, East, South, and West.

And I saw a great Hand arise from the North and the South and the East and the West, and the Lord said, "Because of the heartfelt prayers of My saints, I shall send my Angelic Host and the sound of their battle cry shall resound through the four corners of the earth as they prepare to meet the princes of darkness. For I tell you, My children, a great and terrible darkness has been unleashed upon the earth in these days, but I am raising up a mighty army of My people who will gird themselves up for battle; and as the sound of their voices rises up to Me, and as the sound of their prayers and supplications comes before My throne, so in turn, My mighty warring angels will be unleashed to do battle in the heavenlies."

"And through the prayers of the saints and My followers in Great Britain, the stupour and the slumber and the secular humanistic spirits that have bound My people in this nation shall start to uproot. For My Church has had an outward semblance of power, yet its sound has been a whisper, even as My children have raised their voices in the streets of Great Britain, so the spirits of secularism and humanism have bound the mouths of My saints, but I tell you My children, there dawns another day, This is the day and this is the hour to arise," says the Lord."

Then as the saints rose and started to pray, not with lip service but fervent, heartfelt prayers from the heart, I saw another fire with fierce white and orange living flames, start to burn. This was the prayers of the Church in Britain; and although it, too, started in pockets, this was the most incredible fire in the way that it spread across the nation. It was so fierce that as it took on power, it seemed that nothing could stop its path. But the people who created the fire were fallen on their knees, and God said "Penitent hearts," and I knew somehow that these praying saints were repenting on behalf of Britain for the sins of the nation and for the sins of omission of the Church in Great Britain.

And these prayers gave the angels much strength; and the Snare of the Lord fell like a net across the dark hidden places of the earth; and I saw the terrifying whirlwind of the Lord like a fierce, black whirlwind literally chase some of the evil, blue pockets down; the winnowing whirlwind of the Lord of Hosts.

Then the Lord showed me a large lion, and He said, "This lion represents the nation of Great Britain." It was a shocking sight, for where the lion should have been filled out and sleek and gleaming, it was almost a skeleton. Is mane was barely visible, its coat was covered in mange, and its roar which should have shaken the nations in its power and in its ferocity was strangled and barely audible. Then the Lord said, "This represents both the glory of this nation at present and the state of My Church as a whole in Great Britain." And I saw in great letters, the glory has departed from the lion, but the glory of the Lord of hosts will return, and the lion will roar again."

And the Lord said - "Bring back My glory. Bring back My glory that your nation may once more walk in the glory of its destiny, and the Church may show forth My glory,." Then the Lord showed me e huge, green flourishing tree that was planted in the European mainland, its huge trunk seemed to be planted in Brussels and the foliage had grown so dense that the tree's branches and foliage had grown over the English Channel and covered Britain in a great, dark shadow. Thousands of smaller offshoots and branches had taken deep root in Great Britain - and I saw the roots tangled and grown into London and then through the British Isles all the way up to Scotland.

But the second group seemed to be those whose roots and foundations were from the established traditional denominations of Britain; yet they were just as affected as this first group. I saw written over their heads, 'pride, scepticism, closed mindedness,' and I sensed that the roots around their ankles had bound them in a different manner. Even if they heard the call of the Spirit in these days, that the spiritual forces had them so bound that they could not move with the tide and the times of God. And I saw the green foliage literally cover and shadow their foreheads and eyes, and I saw the word 'blinding.'

And I said to the Lord, "Father, what does this mean?" And He said, "The spirits that led Europe into post-Christian decline have invaded Great Britain over these past decades, and have infiltrated and overshadowed the nation with the same humanism and paganism and secularism, and yet Britain is still so blinded by her roots and her foundations that she is still declaring herself a Christian nation." But the Lord says, "she has been shackled by the enemy."

And I said "Lord, what can beak the shackles?" And the Lord answered and said,"The prayers and fervent supplications of my saints in Great Britain, with repentance for the sins of commission and omission committed by the governments of Great Britain."

Then I asked the Lord about the Church, and He showed me thousands of people, all belonging to different denominations with divisions and literally multitudes of opinions. And I realized that the people considered their opinions were all more important than God's opinion. Then I heard Him say, "Until their opinions become My opinion, the Church will continue to be divided among itself and be weak and underfed and lack the true power of God. "There are many meetings," said the Lord, "many committees and many opinions, but it is not the opinions and thoughts of men's hearts that will change the destiny of Great Britain, but the opinion and the thoughts and intents of the word of the Living God. So, humble yourselves and put aside your opinions and press into Me, the Living God for a Living Word. A humble and penitent heart I will not despise." And I saw the words written, "Divisions and Factions."

Then as people dropped to their knees all over Britain from every walk of life and denomination, the lion started to change. He grew strong and sleek and his roar grew stronger. And I saw written in the spirit, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." And as the people started to seek the face of the Lord I saw the word 'courage,' and I knew that, in the spirit realm, Great Britain had been endowed from the beginning of time with the mantle, courage.

And God said, "Britain has yet to move into her end time destiny in the nations." And I saw again in great letters, the words, "The glory has departed from the lion, but the glory of the Lord of hosts shall return." And the lion's roar by now had gained strength.

And then He started to speak of Great Britain's destiny. "Oh, Great Britain, isle of walls and fortresses, I tell you that even as the glory of the Lord has departed from the Lion, so the glory of the Lion of Judah shall return, and My glory shall rest upon the lion, and the lion once again shall open its mouth and its roar shall be heard again among the nations of this earth. For even as in times past, the Lion whelped many, many cubs and sent its missionaries even to the uttermost parts of the earth, so I tell you that the glory of these latter days shall be greater than that of the former, and even though in centuries past, I sent missionaries out from this nation even to Africa, to India, to China and beyond, so I tell you, beloved, that in the decades to come, a great mobilizing of My called out ones shall occur, of men and women and boys and girls from these shores, those who even slumber at this time shall start to arise," says the Lord.

"For even as many of My children, even as much of My Church in Great Britain slumbers even this day, so I declare that I am about to blow the trumpet," says the Lord, "Yes, I, the Lord God of Hosts, am about to blow the trumpet in Zion, and it shall resound with a mighty roar from the heavens, and My glory shall start to fall. My Church and My called out ones shall rouse themselves from their stupor and from their slumber," says the Lord.

For even now, I have heard the prayers of My people. Even now, although it be but a remnant, I have heard the prayers of the watchmen on the walls of Great Britain, the watchmen who neither slumber nor sleep, and even as they have cried out to me in the midnight hour for Britain to heed My voice and to seek My face, so I tell you my children, that the day of the Lord is appearing……

"And there will be a great joining of the Lion and the Eagle, an alliance between the United States and Britain. For even as the Eagle came to the Lion's aid in times gone by, so I tell you that in this coming season, once again this alliance between the Lion and the Eagle shall be forged, and the forge shall not be broken," says the Lord, - "because it is destined by Heaven."

And a great wave of prayer will rise up from the East Coast of America through the heartland to the West; and that wave of intercession will wash across Britain as a fiercely burning flame to cleanse and protect. But in the years ahead, the prayers of the saints in Britain shall rise, and like a wave they shall spread across America. A great joining shall occur; not the joining of man, but the joining of Almighty God. And this nation shall return to its Christian roots, and the glory of the Lion of Judah shall once more return and rest upon the Lion."

But all this will happen only "if my people repent of the sins of this nation and humble themselves and pray."

We know that all prophecies have to be tested and seriously considered, and many so called prophecies where they prophesy good things without any cost can be disregarded, for they are not true to the Biblical revelation of the character of God, but this one seems more realistic, emphasising the need of humility, penitence, repentance and heartfelt, fervent prayer by God's people on their knees in unity. Moreover, the similar tone of all these prophecies about the evil influence from Europe, though they come from very different people, should make us think very seriously about them, especially when combined with all the other warnings about the European Union that have been issued by Christian organizations over many years.

In addition, the words about the joining in prayer with the believers in America is also important, as there are many more committed Christians there than on continental Europe, who share the same concerns as we have, and who look to Britain as a special place connected with them through their ancestors. We should be looking to them for prayerful support at this time.

Consequently, we should be very thankful that, at last, the people of Britain are being given the opportunity to vote on coming out of or staying in the European Union. For us, it is a wonderful opportunity to pray for God to cause the British people to vote strongly in favour of Britain leaving the secular, humanist, atheist and domineering European Union, so we can get our country back again, or rather, so God can get this country back again.

But above all, as we have been reminded above, we need to rouse ourselves and truly repent of our sins, of the sins of the churches and the sins of people of this land, and the sins of the governments of Britain; so that through our humility, our penitence, our repentance and our intense, fervent praying in unity. God can pour out His Spirit, and have His way in this land that He has favoured so much in the past, and still waits to bless and use again.