Apocalypse 4 The Persecuted Preacher

On Thursday Matty didn't go straight home. She went down to Newcastle City Centre. She had
to tell everybody. She wasn't sure what she was going to do. She saw a man on a market
stall selling battery megaphones. Matty bought one. She stood on the stones next to Grey's
Monument and began preaching.
"These events were prophesied in the Bible," she said. "The volcano in Yellowstone Park.
The sun turning red. The asteroid hurtling towards Earth."
"They say it's a comet now," said a man in the crowd.
"All right, a comet, that's even more like the Bible. It's going to be horrible when that thing
strikes."
"They don't even know it's going to hit us," shouted somebody else. "Even if it could, don't
you think President Elias would send a missile up to destroy it?"
"He might not be able to," said Matty. "In the Bible the comet, if that's what it is, hits the world.
It causes a huge tsunami, it poisons all the water in the rivers and the streams."
"What are we supposed to do about it? You could get knocked down by a tram tomorrow."
"You've got to repent. You've got to turn from your sins and put your trust in God. Some of
you think that you're Christians but you're not. It isn't enough to have some second rate
experience of God in your life. God is in everybody's life. There's a certain amount of divine
providence for everyone, that door that opened to you at that particular time, that bad thing
that nearly happened but didn't happen. He is the Lord of the universe, no surprise if he
sometimes manipulates events to your favour. Doesn't mean your one of his followers, does
it? He causes his sun to shine and his rain to fall on the evil and the good. Some people ask
Jesus to be their Saviour and live like the devil. That's why they're still here. That's why they
weren't taken away in the rapture."
"They were taken away to be reeducated," shouted someone in the crowd. "The government
teleported them away to a reeducation centre while President Elias brought about the
kingdom of Heaven on Earth."
"No, they weren't taken away to be reeducated, they were taken away because God's
judgement is going to come on the earth. The earth cannot be reformed, it has to be
destroyed. This is your last chance. You must believe in Jesus now. God hates hypocrites.
You need to be a disciple. You need Jesus to be your number one. He isn't your hobby, he
isn't that nice music that you listen to and the place you go on Sunday, he's the most
important thing in your life and everything you do is somehow done for his pleasure. He isn't
your friend, he's your Lord. If you offend him, you've got to get down on your knees and ask
for forgiveness."
"President Elias is good, President Elias is good," the people started shouting, drowning out
the sound of Matty's voice through the small megaphone. An elderly couple walked up to
Matty.
"Don't speak ill of the president," the old woman said. "He's done this world a lot of good.
He's creating paradise."
"He's creating the kingdom of Heaven on Earth," said her husband.
"No, he isn't creating the kingdom of Heaven on Earth," said Matty, through the megaphone.
"God's judgement is coming, the Earth and everything in it will be destroyed. But you don't
have to go to Hell, if you turn from your sins and turn to Jesus you can still be saved." The
old man started punching Matty on the back with his fists. A policeman came along.
"Do you intend to continue preaching?"
"Yes, I do," said Matty. "I've come down here for a whole day. I've only been here ten
minutes."
"In that case I'm arresting you for your own personal safety. You have the right to remain
silent but anything you do say will be taken down as evidence and may be used against
you." The policeman handcuffed Matty and took her down to the police station. He locked her
in a cell. This was like it had been in the early days of Christianity, Matty thought. If you
wanted to restore the New Testament church, you had to remember what it had been like. The
majority of people in it spent a lot of time in prison. She prayed in the cell.
"Oh God, let these people listen to me. I pray that they will understand. I pray that they won't
believe the lies of President Elias. I pray that they won't worship him, that they won't let him
put a chip in their hand, that they will turn to Jesus." An hour later the policeman led her out of
the cell into the interrogation room where he sat down with a policewoman.
"Now, let us see what we could charge you with," said the policewoman. "Obstructing an
officer in the course of his duty."
"I didn't," said Matty, "I came quietly."
"About the only thing you do quietly," said the policeman.
"Using language likely to cause alarm, harrassment and distress," said the policewoman.
"When that comet hits the world it'll cause alarm, harrassment and distress. I didn't insult any
of the people I was talking to, I wasn't harrassing them."
"You were insulting President Elias," said the policeman.
"I think you will find, officer, that I have not broken any laws."
"Is she right?" the policeman turned to the policewoman.
"What did you say about President Elias?" the policewoman asked.
"That he couldn't rebuild the kingdom of Heaven on Earth, that the world would be destroyed."
"Your behaviour was likely to cause a breach of the peace," said the policeman.
"I wouldn't call an old man punching me a breach of the peace."
"Wouldn't you now?"
"No, I would call it assault. You should have arrested him."
"Your words were calculated to provoke him to violence," said the policewoman.
"You put yourself at considerable risk," said the policeman, "so I had to remove you. You
insulted President Elias. You provoked people to violence."
"A report will be sent to the Attorney General. He will decide whether to prosecute. But Matty,
after what you said about the president, I'm sure that he will prosecute."

A few weeks later Matty was summoned to court. The policeman spoke.
"This woman insulted President Elias. She considers herself to be a disciple and believes
that all of President Elias' followers are going to Hell, and that she and her few friends are the
only people who will be saved. She also said that President Elias would fail in his attempt to
build the kingdom of heaven on Earth. The comet would hit the earth, everything would be
destroyed, and that would be God's judgement on President Elias and his followers. The
language and the content of her sermon, which she shouted through a loud hailer, provoked
the people in the crowd to start shouting very loudly and caused an old man to start punching
her. When warned about the extreme danger of her behaviour, this woman insisted that she
had only just arrived, had only been preaching for ten minutes, and intended to preach all
day. I arrested her for her own personal safety. Not only that, but even after her arrest this
woman has continued to preach in the city centre several times a week, in spite of the fact
that she was told that this case was under review by the Attorney General and that it could
result in criminal proceedings."
"Are you Matty Thornton?" asked the Magistrate.
"I am," she said.
"Is your address caravan 27 at the Southwick Local Authority camp site?"
"It is."
"Well Ms.Thornton, I have heard the evidence against you. I will pass an Anti-Social
Behaviour Rehabilatation and Treatment Order. You will attend counselling sessions and do
50 hours community service. I also order you to pay 1500 Euros costs."

A few weeks later Matty sat in a small office in front of the counsellor and the psychiatrist.
"Good afternoon, Matty," said the psychiatrist. "This is my colleague, Mr. Jones, he's a
counsellor."
"Hello Matty. I'm going to ask you some questions just so we can try to understand you a bit
better and maybe you can understand yourself a bit better as well. Who is President Elias?"
"He is the Anti-Christ."
"Why is he the Anti-Christ?"
"He is the lawless one prophesied in the Bible. He stands in the temple of God and claims to
be God."
"If President Elias isn't God then who is God?"
"Jesus is God."
"Explain what will happen to the world."
"There will be a terrible time of God's judgement and a time of awful suffering never seen
since the beginning of the world. The elements will melt. The earth and everything in it will be
laid bare."
"How will this happen?"
"When the comet collides with our planet."
"What will happen then?"
"The comet will split into two. One part will fall into the sea. The other part, the icy part, will fly
through the atmosphere disintegrating and poisoning the water supply."
"Who will be saved?"
"The disciples will be saved."
"You and your friends who you call the disciples. Will anyone else be saved?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"We are the only true disciples of Christ."
"What will happen to the follower of President Elias?"
"They will go to Hell."
"Why will they go to Hell?"
"Because Jesus is God and President Elias is the Anti-Christ. Worshippers of the Anti-Christ
will go to a lost eternity."
"What will happen to the disciples of Jesus?"
"They will go to Heaven. They will live with Jesus forever in paradise."
"I think you're having a stress related emotional crisis," said the psychiatrist. "We've all been
under a lot of stress lately, haven't we? It's not the end of the world but it probably feels like it.
You are going through a distressing time in your life. There will be happier times in your life.
You will recover from this temporary reduction in your mental health. I'm sure that when you
see that President Elias has done everything right and the world has survived you will feel
much better. I would give you some anti-depressants but I am unable to access your medical
records as you don't have a chip. It doesn't really matter, the symptoms will be severe
without the medication but this is a temporary problem in your life and I really do expect you
to come out of it. There is nothing seriously wrong with you. You have nothing to worry about."

Matty began doing her community service. She had been put with a group of people who
were putting up fences in the park.
"What did you do?" asked a woman who was hammering nails.
"I'm a preacher," said Matty.
"Are you one of those disciples?"
"Yes."
"Are you and your friends the only true disciples anywhere?"
"Yes, I suppose we are. We are disciples of Jesus."
"We are disciples of President Elias," said one of the men. "Isn't he going to save the world?"
"No one can save the world. There is still time to save your souls. This world and the things in
it are passing away."
"You disciples think we're all going to Hell," said the woman. "I don't go around murdering
people."
"A third of the women in this country have had abortions. They probably think they're nice
people," said Matty.
"That's not the same as murder," said the woman.
"Isn't it? The little thing has its own heartbeat and its own brain. Who's to say it doesn't have
feelings too? Can you live your whole life without breaking God's commandments?"
"We tithe our ten percent," said the man. "President Elias knows who are his. I can do what I
like. I don't have to obey the commandments."
"When you stand before God on the day of judgement do you expect to go to Heaven or
Hell?"
"I'll hear no more of this," said the woman. "Don't talk to me like that when I'm holding a
hammer in my hand."
"Well, I don't have to worry about being sentenced to two hundred hours community service,"
said the man. "According to the disciples the world is going to end this year, so I'll only have
to complete fifty hours." They all laughed.