The State of the Nation

[0:00] Music Now in America the President has a regular address, the State of the Nation Address.

[0:17] ! What is the State of the Nation? the state of Australia. Last time I counted, the resident population of Australia was 22,125,546.

[0:32] So says the population clock on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website yesterday. Australia has one birth every one minute and 45 seconds. One death every three minutes and 40 seconds. A net gain of one international migrant every one minute and 51 seconds. Leading to an overall total population increase of one person every one minute and 11 seconds.

[0:58] And we'll hit our next million mark early 2010. There's lots of statistics that we could talk about about our fair land of Australia. Aussies owe more than $41 billion on their 13.7 million credit cards. We are told that there are 2 million Australians who do not have an acceptable standard of living. They lack the bare necessities of housing, work, education, healthcare and community services. But compared to many nations, we know Australia really is a healthy and wealthy place to be. Our legal system, our system of government has been heavily influenced by principles from the Bible that stem back from the British heritage, from systems of laws, from Christian values that underpin that foundation of that civilisation. And Australia has developed into the great nation today that we all love. How do we measure a nation though? How do we declare the state of the nation of Australia today? How do we assess its condition?

[2:08] Now Australia really doesn't feature in the Bible. There are some people that use Isaiah 49 verse 12 to say that Australia is in the Bible. So you can check that out for yourself if you like later. It says there, these from the north and from the west and these from the land of Sinim.

[2:29] Sinim. Some commentators say that this land Sinim means Australia. Now I'm not too sure about that brother and sister today. Could be meaning the lands of the south. Apparently it can be shortened to the land of Sin. In the Hebrew word Sin. Well I'm not sure what the meaning of that Hebrew word is but maybe Australia is the land of Sin. The land of Sin. That might be a good term for it.

[2:54] In the Latin Vulgate, not that we divert from the King James, but the Latin Vulgate uses this land of Sin and it translates it Terra Australi. Terra Australi because Jerome thought that that was what was referred to in Isaiah 49 verse 12. So it's interesting isn't it? Australia could even be in the Bible.

[3:14] But that is just an aside. The southernmost land. The land of Sin. The land of Sin. Our fair land of Australia. Brothers and sisters. Proverbs 14.34 says, Righteousness exalteth the nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

[3:32] How does Australia reign in these terms? As far as religion goes, recent polls show that the majority of Australians believe in God.

[3:48] So they claim believe in God. Or some universal spirit of some kind, some kind of fuzzy wuzzy kind of God. 68% of people believe in that. 24% said they do not believe in God or a universal spirit.

[4:05] 7% were unsure. So, now I would reckon that of those 68%, there's not a lot that are really, really taking that seriously.

[4:17] In the 2006 census, 30% of Australians either wrote no religion or left the space blank. 30%! That was 2006. That's a rise from 25% in 1996. The numbers of Australians writing no religion between those two censuses has risen from 25 to 30%.

[4:38] So a lack of faith seems to be our fastest growing belief system in Australia. Followed by Buddhism and Islam. Our most popular religions are Catholic, down from 27 to 25%.

[4:53] And Anglican down from 22 to 18.7. The National Church Life Survey showed that in 1960, 41% of the Australian population attended church at least monthly.

[5:05] 41% in 1960 went to church. But by 1980, it was 25%. It's heading down to 20% by 2000.

[5:17] These are old figures. It's probably at that level now. What a change. A changing face of Australian. Not that going to church makes you a Christian any more than going to McDonald's makes you a hamburger.

[5:28] But we know that it's a way of gauging the trends, isn't it? Of what's going on. And the proportion of the Australian population present at church on a typical weekend in 1996 was 9.9%.

[5:44] In 2001, it had fallen to 8.8%. So there's many figures we could cite. Overall weekly church attendance in Australia declined by 7% between 1996 and 2001.

[6:02] It's been said that the churches that are dying are the modernist and liberal churches. Those that reject the Bible as the Word of God, these are the churches that are declining and dying.

[6:15] And from our frame of reference as Bible believers, we can see that Australia as it stands today, on this Australia Day weekend, it's truly a spiritual wasteland.

[6:27] Brothers and sisters, Australia needs a bit of a spiritual revival, doesn't it? When we measure a nation, when we take its pulse, when we consider the state of a nation, what really matters, what really counts?

[6:40] People who claim a religion or claim church attendance? None of those things really. I read one report that said that Australia as a nation rates as one of the highest nations in the world for its national pride.

[6:54] We Aussies, Aussies, Aussies, Aussies, Aussies, or whatever they say. I don't even know what they say. But, you know, people go nuts about Australia when the cricket's on, don't they?

[7:06] Except the people barracking for India or Pakistan. And we can see that Aussies go nuts over their nation. And this particular graph showed that Australia was right on the top as far as national pride.

[7:18] National pride. As a nation, we are proud. Maybe that's a sign as well, isn't it? Maybe that's a sign that, as we can see, the pride of Australia.

[7:31] It's not really national pride that God wants, but national humility. A national repentance. A national humbling of ourselves before our God and Saviour.

[7:43] In James 4 verse 6 it says, Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but he giveth grace to the humble. Don't we want his grace? Don't we want God to visit us by his grace?

[7:56] To give us his blessing? For us to find his favour? To know his salvation? He gives grace to the humble. As we know, the word of God says elsewhere in 2 Chronicles 7.14.

[8:09] Of course, the context is talking to the nation of Israel. The Lord says, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.

[8:28] Of course, this is referring to Israel. And we could consider though, the principles here, that they could apply likewise to our nation. That God rates repentance, national humility above national pride.

[8:42] That's what we should have. As it's been said, although all scripture is not written to us, all scripture is written for us. All scripture is written for us.

[8:53] Friends, today, the reality is that our nation is spiritually in crisis. Our nation, our beloved nation of Australia, our culture is godless.

[9:06] Our people are spiritually dead. Nearly half of the population believe in psychic powers, such as ESP, extrasensory perception. 41% believe in astrology.

[9:19] Can you believe it? Such a joke, really. Astrology, because we know when you scrutinise an examiner, it's based on a false premise of the astronomical system.

[9:32] Astrology is a total falsehood. About 41% of people believe in it, according to that recent census. And some 42% of people in Australia say they believe in evolution.

[9:46] That's even more astounding, really, isn't it? In Psalm 11, verse 3, we're told that, if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

[9:59] What can the righteous do? The very foundations. We know there's a video on the net by Ken Ham, along the theme of the state of the nation. And he refers to the assault on creation.

[10:11] The assault on Genesis 1 to 11. As it's undermined in society, in the schools, where people are undermining faith in the God, the Creator of the universe, and promoting this falsehood that is the theory of evolution.

[10:27] No wonder the foundations are being destroyed. What can the righteous do? Brothers and sisters today, we are in the midst of a moral decline, an abandonment of Christian values, a perilous hedonism.

[10:40] Hedonism means a devotion to pleasure as a way of life. We see that in 2 Timothy 3, 4, where it talks of lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.

[10:51] We could really describe the typical Aussie. You know, the typical Aussie. I'm an adopted Aussie. I'm a naturalised Aussie. I've adopted Australia, and Australia's adopted me.

[11:03] Aussie! But this nation that we love, the people taking perilous journeys on boats falling apart to get to this land, there's people loving to come here to adopt this nation, and yet this nation is in a perilous state.

[11:22] A perilous state. Because it's a godless nation, Australia is not a Christian nation. The Australian culture, the Aussie culture, of booze and bravado, of secular humanism, of moral bankruptcy, that's the nation.

[11:36] That's the nation of Australia today. And we need to pray for our leaders, for our Prime Minister, Kevin Rudin, the opposition, all the parties in our government, that God would get their attention, that they would see their great need of Christ, of His salvation.

[11:54] That our lawmakers and our governments would bow the knee to Christ. And yet, as we see presently, sadly, currently, the constant drive is to make perversion the new normal.

[12:06] Our lawmakers and governments are bringing laws in that makes perversion the new normal. Isaiah 5.20 says, Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.

[12:26] Woe unto the government of Australia, when it calls good evil. When it calls evil good. Woe unto the nation of Australia.

[12:38] Woe unto our government leaders. As we see sexual promiscuity in all its forms, in homosexuality, it's dangerous just to the sensible thinking man.

[12:50] The high risk behaviour of such a lifestyle. And yet it's promoted and applauded and lauded. That which is depraved and unclean and perverse, is heralded and advertised and the new normal.

[13:05] God forbid. To children and youth they market sex as more or less a recreational sport. Through movies, books and magazines, TV commercials, video games, sex education programs in schools, to children as young as five.

[13:24] What is going on in our nation? The state of the nation. Meanwhile, freedom of speech is being undermined. It's under attack around the globe. And in our nation too.

[13:36] As legislation makes it more and more difficult for us to speak on such matters. To speak in the open air. To evangelise. To speak freely with anti-discrimination and hate speech laws.

[13:51] Used against godly men and women who are simply quoting, Thus saith the Lord. And Australia as a land is reducing in its religious freedom.

[14:03] It's reducing brothers and sisters all around us. Inch by inch in incremental ways. Our Christian values are being eroded day by day.

[14:15] This is what's happening. One in five babies that are conceived in Australia never see the light of day because they are aborted. One in five. Many of the children who do grow up in Australia do with scarce context, Christian teaching, scarce knowledge of the basics.

[14:35] Whereas at least in time gone by there was some token reference to God and Bible education. Now the scamp, if any, or if any it's against the Bible by virtue of what is taught and promoted.

[14:53] And of the young people who do attend church, a survey by Barna not long ago suggests that some two thirds of young people who grow up in church will walk away.

[15:04] Two thirds. We want to reach the young people for Christ. We want to see them commit to Christ. We want to see the Sunday school blossom and thrive as young people are reached, as families are reached, as children are reached by the gospel.

[15:18] It's needful that we as parents, as those that can adopt these bus kids that come, that we can bless them and encourage them to find the wonderful truth of salvation through God's grace and faith in Christ.

[15:32] It's a wonderful opportunity we have as we do reach out as a church. We can pray for Pablo and Alison, for Rashmi and others who feel that ministry to reach the young people.

[15:44] For Peter and Elena and Paul as they minister through youth and us and outreach. Every opportunity that we can to reach what we can reach. While we still have an open door, let's reach out.

[15:57] Commentators are describing what's being called in the US the collapse of Christian America. There's books about subjects, there's lots of material on the net about what's happening in America.

[16:09] And more so in fact, there's an American commentator, it's actually in Ken Ham's video about the state of the nation, he showed some video clips about the Great Britain.

[16:21] What used to be great. What used to be great. It's no longer Great Britain. I don't think brothers and sisters today, as we see churches being taken over for all kinds of crazy things, tattoo and piercing parlours and music stores and all kinds of things, lovely buildings that were built and dedicated to the glory of God in their day.

[16:45] Not so much that the building is anything to speak of, but it's just that we can see the trend where formerly churches, buildings that house God's people worshipping and praising in are being turned over.

[16:57] At times to seek temples and other religions turned over. Brothers and sisters, it's very sad and this commentator was saying that America is following Britain and brothers and sisters, we're right next in line.

[17:11] What's going on? We're following close behind. In Judges 21-25 it says, In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

[17:24] That's Australian culture today. Doing what is right in our own eyes is a growing disrespect for Christianity, for Christian values and culture, for that foundation that we once had as a nation or certainly as a civilization from the British Empire days.

[17:41] As much as we know there was good and bad back then, there was a Bible foundation to much of the law making that was the start of those nations. And yet today where do we see things like purity and modesty, Christian values and culture, godly truths.

[17:57] Now we're living in days of political correctness gone mad. Absolutely mad. The world's values and belief systems are being changed. Changed.

[18:08] Incrementally changed. Manipulated. People are being conditioned day by day to accept more and more of the same. For example, there's a recent movie I'm told people would have heard of Avatar.

[18:21] For example, a spellbinding blockbuster with astonishing special effects and maybe it might be entertaining for entertainment's value. But the media's influence, you can see that there in just that one picture for one example of many.

[18:36] And there's another one, Legion I'm told, and there's another one that kind of glorifies Lucifer as the saviour virtually of the end times of the world. These are some of the movies that are coming through on the silver screen.

[18:50] And Avatar is one example. For example, I'm told, it has worshipping a tree and communing with spirits as some of the philosophy that it promotes. Pantheistic.

[19:02] In other words, lots of gods and goddess worship of ritualistic magic, of communion with spirits, of shamanism, which means like witch doctors and witches and so on, of blatant idolatry.

[19:14] This is what the Hollywood is giving our kids. It's feeding this junk into people's minds and homes. And no wonder Australia is in a mess.

[19:26] We find the US's trend in the church world too. You can see much on the net that's going on in some circles that just blows your mind what's happening. The man-centred, entertainment-oriented, kind of churchianity that is predominating the skyways, the airways, the TV channels.

[19:45] The message that is promoted. It's a message, a gospel, often all about self. Instead of Christ and the denial of self.

[19:56] We should deny ourselves. And yet this teaching, it's sweeping in and it's becoming mainstream. Even those that were once conservative in that way of thinking as I once was when I was in that scene, all that's gone by the wayside.

[20:14] They don't speak against these false teachers so strongly anymore. It's becoming acceptable in the mainstream of the Pentecostal scene, for example. And why is this?

[20:25] Because there's a doctrinal vacuum. There's a doctrinal vacuum that makes them vulnerable to false teaching. There's a doctrinal vacuum so they just get sucked in to all the false teaching that prevails.

[20:37] And they'll just swallow any lie. And it's as if being relevant is more important than being biblical today. Being relevant. Being relevant. Being relevant.

[20:48] Australia is following that trend. It's following the Pied Pipers. We've lost that biblical authority and been swept along by these winds of doctrine, religious deception on many fronts.

[20:59] People today, there's an urgency to this hour. There's an urgency to get back to the Bible. To get back to the basics. Proverbs 18.12 it says, Before destruction the heart of man is haughty or proud.

[21:13] And before honour is humility. If you're proud, national pride, oi, oi, oi. Destruction. Before destruction the heart of man is haughty.

[21:27] And before honour is humility. Humility. Let's humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt us in due time. There is hope for Australia.

[21:39] There is hope for Aussies. For Australians. For people that live in this land. This nation. As we hear God's call. As we return to the authority of God's Word.

[21:50] Obedience to the Scriptures to our Lord and Saviour. Jesus Christ. To get back to the Word. To get back to prayer. George Mueller said of prayer.

[22:01] I live in the spirit of prayer. I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk about. When I lie down. And when I rise up. And the answers are always coming.

[22:13] Revival. Revival. Revival. Not some crazy antics or a masquerade. Or some kind of hoo-ha.

[22:24] But a revelation of who God is. That the Word. Sensual. And revered. And trembled at. The Word of God. Brothers and sisters. Turn to Isaiah 64 to close.

[22:37] In preparing this. I was searching some thoughts from here and there. And I came across. There is an editorial in the advertiser. Of the 27th of October.

[22:48] 2009. So just a few months back. The 27th of October. The editorial in the advertiser. It said. It calls for a city revival. Stating that it must start now.

[22:59] The editor of the advertiser. He says. We need a city revival. Starting. Right now. Of course he was talking about urban regeneration.

[23:10] He was talking about knocking down old houses. And building high density housing in the inner city. But I would agree. That we need a city revival. And we need a city revival.

[23:21] Starting right now. A revival. A spiritual revival. A revival of a love for our Saviour and His Word. For His truth. And of obedience to it.

[23:33] A revival of spiritual life in God's people. You know. He was talking that Adelaide needs 30,000 more homes in the next five years. So Stuart's going to be busy.

[23:45] 30,000 more homes in the next five years. To cope with an expected population increase. But it's not urban regeneration that we really so much need today.

[23:56] It's not an urban regeneration. But a spiritual regeneration. A Bible regeneration. A Bible revitalization. Of God's church. Of God's people.

[24:07] A city revival. And it must start now. With you and me. One by one. Each one of us. As we get on track. As we get re-fired. As we get revitalized.

[24:18] As we get re-energized. Not a working of man. As we know in times past. Even in some way back. Revivals have been somewhat critiqued. Because there was some flesh there.

[24:30] As we're all still flesh. We don't want any of that. But we want God to be glorified. We want God to be praised. We want Him to be lifted up. Not a work of man. But a work of His spirit.

[24:41] And Isaiah 64 to close. We could class this really. We could take this as a prayer. To finish our time here. Oh that thou wouldest ran the heavens. That thou wouldest come down.

[24:53] That the mountains might flow down. At thy presence. As when the melting fire burneth. The fire causeth the waters to boil. To make thy name known to thine adversaries.

[25:04] That the nations may tremble. At thy presence. That the nations may tremble. At thy presence. At thy presence. Would it be good if the nation of Australia trembled. At the presence of God. Who He is.

[25:15] The wonder of it. The wonder of Calvary. The wonder of His blood shed. The wonder of His grace given. The wonder of the faith that He grants to the believing heart. The wonder of Calvary today.

[25:26] And there is none that calleth upon my name. That stireth up himself to take hold of thee. For thou hast hid thy face from us. And has consumed us. Because of our iniquities.

[25:38] There is none that calleth upon my name. Verse 8. Verse 8. But now O Lord. But now O Lord. Thou art our Father. We are the clay.

[25:50] And thou art potter. And we all are the work of thy hand. Let us put it in context. Brothers and sisters. As people. As Aussies. As people in this nation of Australia.

[26:02] We are just clay. We are just lumps of clay. Let's be mouldable. Let's be malleable. Let's be shaped by His hand. Let's tremble at His word. Let's종nerยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยย