Perilous Times

[0:00] ยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยย unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, petty, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away.

[0:59] The last days. The last days of planet Earth. The last days. Let's examine some of the signs of the last days. Let's examine them.

[1:10] Some marks of the perilous times. Marks of the perilous times. Verse 1. In the last days, perilous times shall come.

[1:20] Perilous times shall come. It's the final hour. The final hour. Times of trouble. Perilous times. Times of distress. Times of trouble.

[1:32] A paradigm shift is happening in planet Earth today, I believe. And it's like someone puts it, the front pages of your newspaper read like the last pages of your Bible.

[1:45] It's getting that way, isn't it? Earthquakes and troubles, wars, rumors of wars. We see the hearts failing for fear. The perilous times shall come.

[1:58] And these are days of pride. Days of pleasure. Days of powerless Christianity.

[2:08] We're living on borrowed time, brothers and sisters. Borrowed time for planet Earth. I believe the evidence is undeniable. There's a world's world's world climate change.

[2:21] A world climate change. This world is getting colder towards God. Amen. Amen. It's a climate change. This world is getting colder towards God.

[2:35] Amen. Colder towards the truth. The love of many shall let wax cold. Amen. And verse 2, the first point, proud hearts.

[2:47] The first mark of the perilous times, I'll put it to you here, is proud hearts. Verse 2, for men shall be lovers of themselves, lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.

[3:11] Lovers of their own selves, self-lovers. There's a lot of self-love, self-esteem, self-love.

[3:23] It's an unthankful, unholy generation. You see that when you go shopping. There's very few P's and Q's anymore, isn't there? When you get your, you know, $9.95, not thank you or please or such like.

[3:38] It's all unthankful. Unholy. Amen. Ungrateful. Irreverent. It's the days that we live in. It's selfish. It's self-centered. Proud hearts.

[3:50] And verse 3, we're told, without natural affection. Truth breakers. False accusers. Incontinent. Fierce. Despisers of those that are good.

[4:01] Incontinent. Incontinent. It's got the sense of uncontrolled. There's a loss of control. There's a loss of law-keeping. There's a lawlessness in our world, isn't there?

[4:13] Amen. There's a sense where there's a hostility towards that which is good. Towards that which is right. Towards that which is true. Haters of those that are good.

[4:24] Despisers of those that are good. Of that which is good. Lovers of themselves. Lovers of pleasure. Lovers of money. It's a sense of covetous. There's a love there.

[4:35] But it's not a love towards our Lord and Saviour. It's a loving of self. It's a loving of money. It's a loving of pleasure. That's a replacement love for the love that we should grant to our Lord and Master.

[4:51] And at the heart of this perilous state of planet Earth is the self-absorbed, arrogant heart of man. It's at the heart of man that we find the issue.

[5:05] Men are obsessed with status and prestige. Living by the mantra, what's in it for me? What's in it for me? It's as if I've heard it said, as it's commonly abbreviated, W-I-I-F-M.

[5:25] It's like a radio station everyone tunes into. What's in it for me? It's the radio station. They tune in. Everything's based on and guided by, what am I going to get out of it?

[5:37] Look out for number one. At the heart is the heart of man. Proud hearts. Self-censoredness. And the scarcely restraint in our world today.

[5:50] Our cities are filled with rebellion. With brutality. With blaspheming. With immoral lifestyles. With booze. With drugs. And lawlessness.

[6:00] Man's proud hearts want no restriction placed upon them. No restriction. In terms of sexual promiscuity. To have no God to answer to.

[6:12] To do what they will. Without abandon. Without accountability. No consequence. No shame. They think. No salvation. When the world considers sexual behaviour between consenting adults.

[6:27] They want no rules. No rules. No need for the sacred bonds of marriage. No accountability. No commitment. No judgment. Yet it is God.

[6:38] No. Who sets the rules. God sets the rules. About what is right. And what is wrong. How mankind should live. How humanity should be guided by.

[6:49] To live by. And we see. When God's laws. And God's authority is respected. And adhered to.

[7:00] When there's an authority. When there's a moral purity. When there's a marital commitment. It promotes strong family ties. And a stable society. Where there's communities that have Christian values that dominate.

[7:14] And direct. Where there's principles and godliness. And wholesome values. That predominate. And yet moral deterioration. It's abounding today. It's all about us.

[7:26] All around us. And in our lifetimes. We see the social fabric. Is being torn apart. Shredded. And discarded. It's unraveling. Before our eyes.

[7:38] The moral fabric. The moral deterioration. As we know. It's so true that. People casually utter. Obscenities in the public streets. And one of the obscenities.

[7:49] Is the very precious name. Of our dear Lord Jesus Christ. That his name is cast into the gutter. As a swear word. As a curse word.

[8:01] As a common vulgar crude word. That his precious holy name. Should be treated so. God forbid. Something.

[8:12] That by bringing some kind of global governance. That mankind could be his own saviour. That mankind can save the planet. As if you can save the planet.

[8:26] By converting to solar hot water. Or going green. Or whatever it is. That you might want to do. As much as they might be good things. In part. But that mankind can be his own saviour.

[8:38] That we can somehow save the planet. What? Buncombe. Friends today. There's no saviour but Christ. One saviour.

[8:49] And man cannot save himself. It's in vain that they seek for this humanistic philosophy. As if that's the answer. As if humanism is the answer. Fact is.

[9:00] Humanism has changed our world. It's changed our world. It's changed our mindset. It's changed our world view. And in humanism.

[9:10] There is no right or wrong. Only experience. And an endless struggle to become enlightened. To evolve. That's all that humanism can bring.

[9:22] It's a pointless exercise truly. Because it's a world without God. Without a saviour. Without salvation. And their mantra is.

[9:34] No deity will save us. We must save ourselves. As if we can evolve into some higher life form. And save our planet.

[9:46] Humanity is considered to be. Not sinners. In need of salvation. But man is seen. As basically good.

[9:57] And self-sufficient. This is the lie. Of humanism. Of humanistic philosophy. And people today. Brothers and sisters this morning.

[10:08] We are in a culture war. You are in a war. A clash of cultures. Clashing constantly. A clashing of man. And humanity.

[10:19] And proud hearts. Versus the almighty God. With whom we have to deal. A world filled with human hearts. Where man is enthroned.

[10:30] As the God. Small g. Of his own destiny. This is what you would be taught. In schools. In universities. There is this saturation.

[10:42] There is this. This vile. Humanistic philosophy. That is embedded. And intrinsic. In our world today. You see it. The kids are getting it.

[10:53] In the cartoons of today. This is what they are being. Indoctrinated in. It is a mind control. A manipulation. Man shall be lovers.

[11:04] Of themselves. Lovers of their own selves. Lovers of pleasure. We are marking. The marks of perilous times. The marks of perilous times.

[11:15] Number one. Proud hearts. Men shall be lovers. Of their own selves. Secondly. We see a mark. In that. This world.

[11:26] Is pleasure mad. It is a pleasure mad world. A pleasure driven populace. A pleasure mad culture. Verse four. Traitors. Heady.

[11:37] High minded. Lovers of pleasure. More than lovers of God. It has got the sense of. Lovers of pleasure. More than or even rather than.

[11:50] Lovers of God. A pleasure mad culture. They will put pleasure. In the place of God. This is Australia. This is Aussie. Fair dinkum culture.

[12:01] Pleasure. Pleasure. Pleasure. No thought for God. It's pleasure. On the throne. It's pleasure that is worshipped. A substitute God.

[12:11] That's bowed down. And honoured. And adored. God. It's a brainwashing. A conditioning. A transformation. A paradigm shift. A dangerous drift. Away from truth.

[12:23] And God. And Christ. And salvation. To something. That's a very poor substitute. Indeed. A substitute God. The vain pursuit.

[12:33] Of pleasure. A world where pleasure. Is self-obsessing. Self-indulgent. Self-gratifying. Gratifying. And. It's where pleasure.

[12:45] Becomes the centre. It's where pleasure. Becomes the dominating. The dominant. Factor. I mean. We all. Can enjoy some pleasure. Harmless pleasure.

[12:55] And. Worthwhile pleasure. But we're seeing a world. Where pleasure. Is the absolute focal point. It's. Please yourself. No matter what.

[13:06] There's no God to answer to. And I know. A brother. Paul and I. Were down. At the Clipsall. And you could see them. Streaming in there. Not that there's anything wrong. With a car race.

[13:16] But they were there. With all their finery. With all their caps. And scarves. And. And. And. And. T-shirts. And. And. Obsessed. With that car race.

[13:27] That was their. Mindset. That was. Their. Their blink of viewpoint. To get in those gates. To go and watch the race. To. And. As well as. Partake of all the. All that goes.

[13:38] Alongside of it. And people today. They were obsessed. With pleasure. Pleasure mad. Pleasure driven. Pleasure obsessed. The modern. Pleasure seeker.

[13:50] Thinks. That he is free to do. As he pleases. Without self-control. And there's an epidemic today. Of this degeneration. A feeding of pleasure. Above all else.

[14:00] That overrides all sense. Of morality. And decency. I know. Brother Paul and I were there. And there was another brother. From another. Fellowship. And. One of the tracks said. Moral purity.

[14:12] On the. On the front. Of the track. And they just. Laughed us to scorn. And these. Words such as repent. That was just. Laughed at. And mocked.

[14:23] And friends today. God will have the last laugh. God will have the last laugh. Brothers and sisters. It's a world. It's a culture. Of degeneration. Of feeding of pleasure.

[14:35] Without sense of morality. And decency. As someone has put it. The hard fact is. That whenever people. Choose freedom. From all restraints. They become slaves.

[14:46] Of their own passions. They don't realise. That they're in chains. They're in bondage. They're behind prison bars. Of their own lust. And. Lifestyle. There's no saviour for them.

[14:58] They haven't. Met him. Friends. What a tragedy. To be. So close to the truth. To. And yet. To scorn it. And deride it. Sin. Is aggressively.

[15:09] Flaunted. And forced upon. Globally. On our. Society today. As our. Children. Are growing up. Learning it. Trained in it.

[15:21] Versed in it. The leaders of tomorrow. Will be well and truly. Moulded. And fashioned. After. Their God.

[15:31] The God. Of this world. Jesus warned that. The last days. Would be. Terrible times. Perilous times. Like the days of Lot. Who lived in wicked Sodom.

[15:42] And yet. Exciting times. For us. That trust him. Amen. Because. Look up. Your redemption. Draweth nigh.

[15:53] He says. There's a blessed. Hope. For you. And whilst I'm. Dwelling on the. On the darkness. There's a light. Shining. There's a light.

[16:04] Coming. Friends. Today. If you love the Savior. There's no fear for you. There's no. Shadow for you. There is light. And life for you. But friends. For the world.

[16:14] It's perilous times. There's an addiction. It's insatiable. It's arousing. It's indulging the senses. Love is a pleasure. Of amusements. And friends. Today.

[16:25] This. Mindset. Is encroaching. In the very church. Of the living God. Even the churches. Of today. Have. In times. This addiction. This addiction.

[16:35] To pleasure. This addiction. To preachers. Who will aim. To please the people. Rather than. Please God. As Galatians 1. 10. Paul puts it.

[16:46] For do I now. Persuade man. Or God. Or do I seek. To please man. For if I yet. Pleased man. I should not be. The servant. Of Christ.

[16:59] It's needful. That. Every one of us. Every one of us. Declare the truth. Not. Not. Mindful of man. And of pleasing them. But of pleasing our God.

[17:10] And Lord. As his servant. Rather. Ought we to aspire to God's approval. Than man's. And this appetite. Is. Encroaching in the church. Where. It's pleasure and entertainment.

[17:23] That is predominating. Such that the truth. Is sidelined. And. Scarcely. Reclaimed. God forbid. That should be so. That's a great.

[17:33] Tragedy. That God's word. Should be placed. Secondary. To some kind of. Sensory. Performance. But truly. The pursuit. Of pleasure. Ends not in fulfillment.

[17:45] But in emptiness. And real pleasure. Is found in. Right living. Amen. Real pleasure. Real fulfillment. Real satisfaction. Real. Enjoyment.

[17:56] Is found. In the joy. Of Jesus our Lord. As. He. Is our delight. He is. Our passion. He is. Our obsession.

[18:09] Romans 12. 9. It says. Abhor. That which is evil. Cleave to. That which is good. Abhor. It means to. Utterly detest.

[18:20] That which is evil. To. Loathe it. To. Have a sense of horror. About that which is evil. That which is wicked. And to cling to. To stick to.

[18:30] To cleave to. That which is good. That which is right. Yet today. Friends today. You are being. Brainwashed. Day by day.

[18:41] Hour by hour. By the idiot box. That. Tolerance. Tolerance. Tolerance. Is the new speak. It's the. The new way. It's the new age.

[18:52] It's the new world. Tolerance. Tolerance. Tolerance. It's become the all consuming. Ethic. And ideal. Of our world today. But God says. Abhor.

[19:03] That which is evil. Don't cling to it. Cling to that which is good. Cling to that which is right. And good. Don't toy with. The wickedness.

[19:13] Don't accommodate it. But detest it. And marks of the perilous times. Brothers and sisters. Marks of the perilous times. Are proud hearts. Proud hearts. That will not bow the knee.

[19:25] To Christ. Pleasure driven culture. Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. And thirdly. Powerless religion.

[19:36] Powerless religion. Verse 5. Having a form of godliness. But denying the power thereof. From such turn away. An outward form of godliness.

[19:47] But denying the power thereof. Devoid of the power. Devout but devoid of the power. A make believe godliness.

[19:58] A make believe kind of religion. Of faith. Of sorts. But denying the power thereof. As I say. By and large in the public schools.

[20:13] There's a battle going on. A brainwashing. For the minds of your children. And grandchildren. And great grandchildren. God forbid bro and sisters. There's a conditioning process happening.

[20:25] Christianity is shunned. In the school system of today. While tolerance. Is advocated. For other religions. And other ideologies.

[20:37] And other abominations. Tolerance is. The new mantra. For our world today. And at the same time.

[20:49] There's a rising interest. In the supernatural. The supernatural. Spirituality.

[21:01] A belief system. That denies god. Believe what you want to believe. Songs it's not this. The word of God.

[21:12] But where do you stand? Where do you stand? Brother. Sister. Are you standing on God's holy word? For biblical truth. Are you willing to stand with the dissenters?

[21:25] The dissenters. We think back in old time. Of the church of the day. The established church. It was the dissenters. Who spoke for the word of God.

[21:37] Against the establishment. Against the ecclesiastical authority. Of its day. That abandoned. The truth.

[21:49] And the light. In the dark ages. We need to stand with the dissenters. Who went to the stake. For their faith. Friends. Are you willing to stand?

[22:01] Are you for. Genuine. Biblical. Christianity. True godliness. Is being eroded today. Our biblical heritage. Our biblical doctrine. Biblical standards.

[22:13] There's a form. Of godliness. There's a form. There's a fad. There's a fashion. There's a flow. Of godliness. There's a. An abundance.

[22:24] Of godliness. But. Without. The power. The power. The power. The power. There's a lot of talk about power. Power signs and wonders maybe.

[22:36] But the power. The real power. Is neglected. The real power. Is neglected. It's denied. It's questioned. It's forsaken.

[22:46] It's lost. What am I talking about? The authority. Sola scriptura. The authority of the word of god. God's word. It's sufficient.

[22:57] It's all sufficient. The message. Of the gospel. Of salvation. The authority of god's word. Of accountability to god. The power of god. Unto salvation.

[23:08] To everyone. That believer. Instead we have. A plastic jesus. One you can kind of shake. To your own liking. You can.

[23:19] Make him fit. With your lifestyle. A new age. Counterfeit jesus. A new age. Counterfeit spirituality. The church. So called.

[23:29] The church. Is replete. With multiplied. Manifestations. With showmen. With spectacles. With entertainment. But. The power.

[23:40] Isn't there. Ichabod. The glory. Has departed. Is written above. The entrance. The power. Has gone. The glory. Has gone. The power.

[23:51] That is. The still. Small voice. The still. Small voice. He that has ears. To hear. Let him hear. What the spirit. Says. The word of God.

[24:03] The sufficient word. Is neglected. The power. Has gone. The still. Small voice. Has gone. It's been crowded out. Friends.

[24:13] We must get the power. We must have the power. The power. The power of the gospel. The power of God. Unto salvation. To everyone. That believer.

[24:24] Don't mess with the leaven. Don't mess with it. Don't toy with it. Don't. Play with the festering canker. Of sin. But excise it.

[24:36] Cut it out. Where there's an infection of apostasy. We must address it. The word. We must. This is not a time. For some new. And improved message.

[24:48] Some new way. Some new flow. Some new thing. Some new message. Some new method. Some new machinery.

[24:59] But rather. It is time. To return. To the old message. We don't need a new move. A new car.

[25:11] A new manifestation. Friends. I've seen some. Crazy things. Gold dust. Falling from the ceiling.

[25:25] People with. Jewels in their hands. Somehow falling. Miraculously. Into their hands. Diamonds. And jewels. What a spectacle. It's a sign.

[25:35] It's a wonder. Is it God? Does God have to do that? That we believe? Hasn't he given us his word? Friends. There's some wacko things.

[25:47] Wacko things. Amazing things. We don't need some new manifestations. Especially not extra biblical ones. Some. Manifestations that.

[26:02] We can't see evidence of here. People falling over backwards. It's not anywhere in here. I've searched from Genesis to Revelation. And it ain't in here brother. It's not in here.

[26:13] We don't need some new manifestations. We need to return to the old landmarks. The old landmarks that shouldn't be shifted. Where God has put his stake in the ground.

[26:23] We've got some landmarks over here. It's been staked out. They've taken the measurements. They've got it right. God's taken the measurements. He's given us the plumb line. He said, this is the truth.

[26:36] Walk in. We need to get back to the old landmarks. The old, old story. It's ever new. The old power. A revival of real godliness.

[26:48] I heard a quote. Went like this. Give me that old time religion. I'm tired of the new stuff. Amen. Give me that old time religion.

[26:59] I'm tired of the new stuff. I want the new. I want the old. The old, old story. The word of God. We need a biblical alignment.

[27:10] To get it all in alignment. I know we've got some builders here. They get in alignment. They get that special ray. And everything's got to be in alignment. It's got to be right.

[27:21] It's got to be straight. It's got to be true. We can't have some crooked rule. We need to have that which is straight and true and reliable.

[27:32] The old time faith in Christ. We need the plumb line like Amos had. The plumb line. It's either in alignment or it's not in alignment.

[27:44] We need a biblical division of truth and error. Of light and darkness. We need to say that's dark and that's light.

[27:56] Not grey. We need light. And we need to get it from the word. A biblical division and a biblical unity. A biblical unity. We want to be of one accord.

[28:08] Of one mind. In one heart. In one faith. One doctrine. One love. Friends of Christ. Of truth. We need. As Isaiah 28.10 says.

[28:19] That. God speaks there. In Isaiah 28.10. How we are to build. For precept.

[28:33] Must be upon precept. Precept upon precept. Line upon line. Line upon line. Here a little.

[28:44] And there a little. So. The word of God. It's light. It's life. It's truth. That must be our guide. Our authority.

[28:55] Not the religious spin doctors. Not the indoctrination of counter truth. Of suedo truth. Experience based Christianity. Friends today.

[29:06] I put it to you. Experience based Christianity. Is replacing the Bible. As the standard. It's about the experience. It's about. The latest. The latest.

[29:16] Church growth. Doctrines. And philosophies. And. Fads. The ecumenical movement. Is manipulating. A unity. At the expense. Of the truth.

[29:29] Christ's exclusive claims. Are being negated. For the sake of. Tolerance. No wonder we have today. A church. Where the salt.

[29:39] Has lost. Its savor. The salt. Has lost. Its potency. We've lost. Something. We need to regain it. It's like. Samson.

[29:51] Didn't realize. That he lost the power. We can get like that. I can get like that. We need to get the power back brother. The power back sister. Get back to the altar.

[30:02] Tear down the altars of Baal. And build up the altar. Of the Lord. Amen. As a society. We've lost something. As a church. Worldwide. We've lost something.

[30:14] We've lost the sense of the fear. Of the Lord. We've lost the sense of the truth. Of his word. Of the relevance of it. There's a climate change problem in the church.

[30:26] You might be getting a bit cold today. Worry about the air conditioning. No. There's a climate change. In the church. The love of many shall wax cold. Amen. Love of the truth has gone cold.

[30:39] Brothers and sisters. We need to regain it. To refresh it. That sense of the holy terror. Of God. The holy boldness. We need to have. As his people. That holy faithfulness.

[30:51] That truly God empowered church. That he wants us to be. A church of faith. Where there's a revolution. On the inside of us. To seek the Lord.

[31:02] While he may be found. To renew that first love. To refresh. That self-denial. That humility. That obedience to him. Friends. Let us. Prayerfully consider.

[31:13] Perilous times. Perilous times. Be guarded. About having a proud heart. Don't have a proud heart. Have a heart. Humbled. A heart bowed.

[31:26] A pleasure man. Culture. Don't be driven by that. Don't be misled by that. Don't be geared by that. Let that. Let that not. Guide you.

[31:38] But let. Pleasing God. Guide you. And then. True pleasure will be found. True pleasure will be found. Not in the pokies. Or the booze. Or. Or the drugs.

[31:50] Or the immoral. Lifestyle. Not in any pleasure. Of man's. Sinful heart. But. The pleasure. Of pleasing him. Of desiring him.

[32:00] Of a passion. For him. And then. That we be a powerful church. A powerful church. Powered by. The spirit. Of the living God.

[32:11] Powered by love. A passion for the truth. That we want to give it. And extend his kingdom. That we want to live it. To be a powerful church.

[32:30] Thank you.