The False Gods of Australia

[0:00] In Australia today there is a spiritual seduction going on. A lawlessness, an overtaking of evil. Across our land, a slide into oblivion.

[0:15] ! We're witnessing a desensitisation to violence. I was just seeing for example some popular video game called Fortnite. I don't know much about it but there's a lot of mayhem and killing and senseless violence and people spend hours and hours on such games as these. Playing these games hour after hour. Into the way into the night. Obsessed with such things and it's conditioning a whole generation to think that violence is normal and fun and entertaining.

[0:52] Ezekiel 16 tells us about Sodom. Sodom and Gomorrah. It tells in Ezekiel 16.49 in part it says, Behold this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom. Pride, fullness of bread and abundance of idleness was in her.

[1:07] And we see this abundance of idleness such that people would spend these mindless times and days. Mindless occupation in games that are violent and potentially harmful and destructive.

[1:23] An abundance of idleness. An abundance of idleness. An abundance of idleness. And we see back in Old Testament days of course idolatry. And you might think, well we don't have that in Australia. We don't have idolatry in Australia. We're much more civilised than that.

[1:36] But I put to you that our nation is under threat. Families are under threat. Decency and morality is under threat. And the church is largely asleep. As was prayed before. As the church we're meant to be. Really as heaven will ultimately be.

[1:51] That ultimate global village. You know to use a kind of new world order term. A global village. Ultimately we will be a global village. A separated God led people. We are meant to have close fellowship together. And we founded squarely upon the truth.

[2:10] That's God's will. That's God's purpose for his church. For the church of God. And then ultimately in heaven. That we will be such a people. And for the meantime we know that we're under threat. Godly principles are under threat. Godly truth is under threat.

[2:25] And there's a need for a unity. A godly unity. A rightful unity that holds us together as God's people. As we encourage one another. As we see the day approaching. So we can get ready for heaven. And be that unified. That unity of the faith. That unity of godly spirit. That we ought to have. In preparation for heaven to come.

[2:46] On the other side of the coin. Of course we don't want a unity. That is at the expense of the truth. Really that would be treason. To use a kind of wartime analogy. For us to side with the enemy. We can't fraternize with the enemy. There's a sense where we're a separate people.

[3:05] Separated from sin and evil and unholiness. And as the church. We know we've got much opposition. That we're faced with. That we contend with all the time. Within and without. There's a constant battle going on.

[3:20] And we see all around us. Many things that we need to be wary of and steer away from. For example. False brethren. We read of false brethren. Those who claim to be Christians. That are actually not truly Christian.

[3:34] They're false. False Bibles is another one. Where we see many false Bibles. Causes much confusion. It becomes a Bible of Bibles. Where you don't know. Where does it. Where does it fit.

[3:47] How does that. You almost lose track. When you hear someone reading from a false Bible. Then there's false unity as well. There's false teachings. There's false teachers.

[3:58] And we're living in a culture that by and large is God rejecting isn't it. A godlessness prevails. There's this full on God rejecting attitude in many.

[4:09] Where some would really attack Christians and discount those that might try to witness to them. As we know. When we go witnessing. We see a real tendency for rejection. For rejection of the gospel.

[4:22] And at the heart man is a rebel. In Jeremiah 5.23 it says. But this people have a revolting and a rebellious heart. They are revolted and gone. A revolting and rebellious heart. Jeremiah 5.23.

[4:37] Man is rebellious. Aussies are rebels. Let's face it. Aussies are rebels just like every other nation and culture and persuasion. The whole world is in rebellion. In revolt against the kingdom of God. Against God.

[4:52] Australia is a nation in rebellion. Revolting. Revolting against the authority of God. As we see these talks of these laws that are being mooted to decriminalize prostitution.

[5:05] As we see the freedom of being able to deliver the message loudly and clearly and publicly is under threat in our land. And I know I met some folk as we were out there on the streets of Adelaide.

[5:20] We've got the liberty to do that now. But yet who knows when that will be curtailed. We're witnessing signs of a slide of the nation's slide into apostasy and a rejection of truth and morals.

[5:32] In fact as many are backsliding and many are ignorant. Amongst Christians as a nation we've forgotten God and follow after other gods.

[5:45] Now friends today we can expect trials and tests as Christians. This is normal. That's the norm. If it wasn't so it would be abnormal wouldn't it? If things were, if things were going perfectly and there's no dramas then we would think what am I doing wrong?

[6:01] But we can know yes if things are going wrong that's all the more reason we should press forward. And know that we are going to overcome. We shall overcome one day shall we?

[6:12] One aspect I'd like to point out today for us as Aussie Christians is something that we do face. Even though often we don't even conceive of it that we are living in a pagan nation.

[6:27] A pagan land. Some would say Australia, Christian nation. Really we know it never really has been and it will not be until one day when Jesus comes.

[6:40] But there's a sense where our nation is pagan, it's rebellious, it's a revolting, a people who has a revolting and a rebellious heart. Jeremiah 5.23. Australia is in rebellion against God.

[6:55] Friends, I put to you tonight, we're seeing a paganisation of our culture. As if we're not pagan enough we're becoming more pagan. And the word is clear about the worship of idols.

[7:08] In 1 John chapter 5, the last verse in the book. In the first letter of John, his last chapter, chapter 5, and the last verse of the book, verse 21, it says, Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

[7:26] So you might say, Preacher, what are you going on about? We don't have statues and images that we bow down to. Really an idol is anything given worship, honour and devotion that only our Lord God should get.

[7:45] And friends, what do we see in Australia? Australia is given over to false worship. Our nation is full of false gods. Today, here and now, what do people worship?

[7:59] We could reckon many things. Some worship material things. Some worship fleshly things. In Colossians 3 verse 5, Paul says, Paul defines idolatry as covetousness.

[8:26] So greed or covetousness, it can become an idol. People money hungry. The love of money. Of gathering wealth. And don't we see that in Australia?

[8:38] It's almost like the ultimate. That's when you've arrived, when you've got all that you can lay your hand on and you need to brag about. That you've realised the Australian dream or whatever it be.

[8:50] That you've got everything that moves and shakes. Another God that seems to control many people is, and I know I'm going to tread on some toes here tonight, but let's face it and let's be honest here tonight, sport.

[9:05] Sport. It could be loyalty to a team. Loyalty to a team. Now you might say, oh, don't have a go at me about the crows or port or whatever it is. But a loyalty to a team can be such a driving factor for some people that they're just totally obsessed by it, aren't they?

[9:22] I know there's one woman I used to work with. He used to fly all over the nation to go to the Port Power games and had a room devoted to Port Power with her idol worship room.

[9:35] As it were, she tells me, not that she caught it that, but where there was posters of all the players and such and the paraphernalia and the scarfs and the beanies.

[9:46] And it can become someone's totally driving passion that it just obsesses them so much. It consumes their money, their time, their energy. Sounds like an idol, doesn't it?

[9:58] Interesting that idols were often fashioned of old time after animals, such as the golden calf. And we can't say that about Port Power, but we could think, for example, names of sports teams, such as, for example, the Rams, the Tigers, the Wildcats, the Eagles, the Broncos, Bulldogs, Bears.

[10:21] It's interesting, isn't it? Maybe that's purely coincidental, but it's interesting, isn't it, that the idols of old time were fashioned after animals.

[10:34] Of course, the golden calf, we'll talk a little about that. How do I know whether I'm serving or worshipping an idol? Here's some questions you could ask.

[10:45] Am I serving a false god? What is it that I bow down to? Now, you may not have a statue of Buddha in your garden, but what is it that you bow down to?

[10:59] What do I value? What is it that I'm giving my time and attention to? What do I give priority to?

[11:10] What do I give money to without a thought of how much it costs? What am I addicted to? What is it that consumes my thoughts?

[11:21] Could it be that is replacing God in my heart? Now, let's be honest tonight. We might consider, for example, we must guard against addiction, consumerism, celebrity worship.

[11:35] What is it that the media is constantly getting us to worship? The love of the world, the things of the world. Some people worship entertainment. The numbers of people that talk about, oh, have you, oh, we missed out on Cross Lotto, the recent thing.

[11:53] The thing is that's what obsesses some people, isn't it? I know there was one fellow I used to work with years ago and he would do it religiously. Religiously, he would pay his money to the Cross Lotto and he would always be talking about it.

[12:09] And sadly, one day I heard that his car struck a tree and some wondered whether it was suicide. I just wonder, I did witness to that man, but you wonder, maybe he just gave up trying the Cross Lotto.

[12:24] It just wasn't working for him. Smashed into a tree. He's gone now. Some people worship their career, power, fame, lust, sensuality, relationships.

[12:38] Even our family can be put on an altar. Things that are harmless of themselves we can worship. I put to you tonight that there is a paganisation of our culture happening.

[12:51] In ancient years, people would worship the stars. What do we do today? We could compare it nowadays with how some people worship people as stars, don't they?

[13:05] They worship them as stars. For example, we have the sports stars. They're almost demigods, aren't they? Almost superhuman. The achievements and the credits and the medals and the celebration, the applause they garner.

[13:25] And we have the music stars. It's like they're just above us, isn't it? They're adored and revered. And then we have film stars, of course, as well.

[13:39] Could it be the stars? People are worshipping people as stars. False worship. Sometimes it seems to be like the real thing.

[13:50] See, in some circles where it's a false worship and false doctrine just prevails such that you can't tell the truth from the error anymore. And what becomes the mainstream kind of Christianity is way off track.

[14:04] I'm astonished about the developments in Christianity, by and large, the mainstream Christianity of today. It's just gone totally left field.

[14:15] You could think there was conservative ones of times. There was some biblical foundation at one time, but it's been eroded such you can't tell much Christianity in it at times.

[14:32] Sadly, I'm being frank here tonight. 2 Corinthians 11.14, it says that Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

[14:46] 2 Corinthians 11.14. Now, some people follow angels of light. They write down supposed holy books and they talk about golden plates. They talk about these shimmering, shining angels giving them new testaments, new translations.

[15:03] It's not uncommon to see today new age fairs and psychic fairs and such where people just, they come flocking to go to seances and to adopt Ouija boards and to hear crystals and tarot card readings and such.

[15:23] There are false gods, false gods in Australia today. And brother, sister, friends here tonight, keep clear of any of that. Idols were often a snare for God's people.

[15:35] Through the scriptures we see much of that. We see in Acts 17 where Paul visited Athens. Acts 17 verse 16.

[15:46] Now, while Paul waited for them in Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given over to idolatry.

[15:57] Now, Julie and I had the blessing of being able to visit Athens and we went to Mars Hill. We saw where Paul preached from. We saw the Acropolis and I visited some of those sites and some various pagan temples.

[16:15] I've got to be honest. I prayed after I'd been to them. But, you know, there's this sense where you see these, there's still the remnants of this civilization, of really a godless civilization.

[16:26] And we went to a museum where there's these very ornate carvings of stone and such of gods, so-called small g. And Paul saw this stuff and his spirit was stirred in him because he saw the city wholly given over to idolatry.

[16:45] Look at Australia today. The pagan gods that were worshipped way back, we see them worshipped in modern Australia today.

[16:58] Maybe unknowingly. The false gods of the Bible, we see today that the false gods of the Bible are still evident today in our time.

[17:13] For example, gods of gold. Exodus 32, 31. Exodus 32, 31. Moses returned to the Lord. He said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin and have made them gods of gold.

[17:30] On the Mount, Mount Sinai, just earlier, the Lord had given Moses the instructions of the law, including the Ten Commandments. And as part of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, verse 3, it reads, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

[17:49] Verse 23 of Exodus 20, it says, Our Lord says, You shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

[18:00] Gods of gold. Don't we have gods of gold in Australia today? That sense where there's some who would worship material things and gathering, amassing wealth such that they virtually worship such.

[18:16] God was giving Moses here a first hand, the clear word of God and direction as to how to live and what to avoid. Gods of gold. Even while all this was happening, here was Moses, 40 days and 40 nights on the Mount, getting face to face instruction from God, God's direction.

[18:36] And what happened? Down on the plain, the people started to play up. Exodus 32, verse 1. When the people saw Moses delayed to come down out of the Mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, Up, make us gods.

[18:54] They got impatient. Moses was there 40 days and 40 nights. They say, Aaron, hey Aaron, we want to make us some gods, which shall go before us.

[19:05] For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we want not what has become of him. We don't know what's going on with Moses. Aaron, make us some gods. Exodus 32, verse 4.

[19:17] It says that they fashioned with a graving tool. They made a molten calf. And they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. What a shameful thing that these ones rescued out of Egypt, redeemed from slavery, from bondage, and the evils of Egypt would ask Aaron to fashion a molten calf, a graven image, to fashion their own god.

[19:48] The pagan gods were manufactured gods. And these gods were made. How were the gods of the heathen made? They were fashioned by men out of material things.

[20:00] Don't we have some material things in Australia that Aussies tend to worship? Deuteronomy 4.28, it reads, There ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

[20:16] I like to tell the story how I did walk into a Buddhist temple one day. They didn't ask me to preach, but I happened to walk into this Buddhist temple.

[20:27] I had a reason to go there for some purpose. And I saw this golden Buddha on the central place of this temple. And people were there bowing down with incense and flowers and mantras going on.

[20:43] And this golden Buddha was a very impressive structure. It was a very handsome looking specimen of Buddha, but it was nevertheless what the people were worshipping.

[20:55] And I was talking to someone and they told me, well, it's actually concrete. It's concrete. You know, they brought it down at the concrete plant and they fashioned it into this shape of a Buddha.

[21:08] And then they put gold paint on it. And I went up to that Buddha and I banged him on the head and nothing happened. It was just a piece of concrete painted with gold paint.

[21:20] Nothing that you have to be fearful of or certainly not worship. This is the work of men's hands. It's vanity. It's false. These gods, so-called, neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

[21:34] Vanity of vanities. Made by human hands. Effectively, they're powerless. Some people in Australia worship material things. Maybe it's the piece of metal they park in their garage.

[21:48] Or the shiny toys they play with. You know, some people are obsessed with their Harley Davidson's or whatever it be. Not saying there's anything wrong with such things necessarily.

[22:00] But it's the worship, isn't it? It's the adoration. It's the preoccupation with such things that they can become alike to gods for us. How were these gods made?

[22:12] By human hands. There's a story in an ironic way in Isaiah 44 of a man, a carpenter, taking some word from the forest, you know, chopping that tree down and carting it off to his home.

[22:28] This is Isaiah 44 from verse 15. And then he takes that word and those pieces of word and it says that he makes a fire and he cooks a meal with it. This is Isaiah 44, verse 15.

[22:41] Then shall it be for a man to burn, for he will take thereof and warm himself. You know, have a nice little wood fire, stoke the logs up and get the kindling going and the lovely warmth from that fire.

[22:53] And then it says he kindleth it and he baketh bread. Yea, he maketh a god and worshipeth it. He maketh it a graven image and falleth down thereto. There's a lot of irony here, isn't there?

[23:05] This same word from the same forest, the same tree. He cooks a fire with it. He warms himself with it. He warms himself with it. And then he bows down and worships it. What vanity is that? The same word.

[23:18] The man bows down and worships. In Isaiah 44, 17, likewise it tells of a graven image. He falls down, he worships it. He prays unto it. He says, deliver me for thou art my God.

[23:31] Speaking to this piece of word. People do that in Australia today. We know there's sadly idol worshipping people, but there's also the average common garden variety Aussie has vain idols that they worship.

[23:48] Isaiah 45, 20 says that they pray unto a God that cannot save. Isaiah 46, 6 tells how they lavish gold, they weigh silver, they hire a goldsmith and they make it a God.

[24:03] They fall down, yea, they worship. Whether it be gold, silver, whether it be wood, stone, vain gods, idle gods, false gods. How do we see these so-called gods in Australia today, in our time?

[24:18] In Matthew 6, 24, our Lord says, No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.

[24:29] You cannot serve God and mammon. Now, when I was down in Adelaide lately doing a little bit of reaching out, a man talked to me and he said that he took this literally, that he didn't want to serve mammon anymore.

[24:44] And so he wasn't, he was just trusting the Lord for his income. And that's pretty radical, isn't it? I gave him 50 bucks just because I felt sorry for him.

[24:56] And he said, I'll go and buy Bibles with that, because he said he was fasting. I thought, okay. You know, what a blessing. A man is so dedicated to the kingdom of God. But I'm not saying necessarily that's for all of us to do such a thing.

[25:08] Some would try and serve God and money, wouldn't they? They'd try to serve God and money. And for some, it's as if their God is their belly. You know, they're always thinking about, oh, we've got to go to the latest flash restaurant and gorge ourselves.

[25:23] Philippians 3.19, it tells us some whose God is their belly. His God is their belly. It's as if they worship at the altar of pleasure. As it says in 2 Timothy 3 verse 4, tells us some who are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.

[25:39] Now, another God that we see often mentioned in the Bible is the God, small g, the God Baal. Baal. Baal was the sun god or the storm god, the fertility god.

[25:54] And Baal was a popular god amongst the Canaanites and in Egypt. Of course, we know Elijah withstood the prophets of Baal. 1 Kings 18.40 says, Elijah said unto him, take the prophets of Baal, let not one of them escape.

[26:09] And they took them and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and slew them there. What we need to do with false prophets. It's interesting that in 2017, this is 2017, right?

[26:25] The World Government Summit held a meeting in Dubai bringing together some of the most important leaders in government and business to discuss international problems.

[26:36] Dubai 2017, the World Government Summit. And this globalist meeting featured a reconstruction of the Arch of Palmyra. The Roman triumphal arch that once welcomed travellers to the ancient temple of Baal.

[26:51] Interesting, isn't it? That they would choose a reconstruction of this entrance to the Temple of Baal for their World Government Summit.

[27:06] There's things going on that we can't really fully grasp. Why is this happening? Because there are dark secrets out there. Now, obelisks around the world are a sign of Baal worship.

[27:18] Obelisks. Baal was a male god. An obelisks literally, literally it says, is Baal's shaft. It's Baal's symbol.

[27:30] And satanic occult symbols are all around us today. I was in Adelaide just the last day or two and I saw an obelisk in Adelaide. They're all around us. They're all around us.

[27:41] And of course we see in Washington's monument, in Washington DC, they have the obelisk. We see in the city of London, they have an obelisk. And the Vatican.

[27:53] The Vatican is full of Satan's dark secrets and pagan symbols. Occult symbols. The obelisk is one very clear satanic symbol. And why on earth would a professing Christian church, I'm talking about the Roman Catholic Church, why would they place in front of the Vatican an obelisk?

[28:17] An obelisk that once stood in Egypt. And this very same obelisk that stands centre square in front of the Vatican today, once stood at the ancient temple, which was the centre of Egyptian paganism.

[28:37] This obelisk in the Vatican came from Egypt. It was at one time in front of an Egyptian pagan temple.

[28:48] And it now stands before the mother church of Romanism. This is more than a coincidence. As an aside, apparently the word Vatican literally means divining serpent.

[29:00] And of course we know the Freemasons today adopt these symbols such as obelisks and pyramids and such, and pagan signs and symbols.

[29:11] It could be said that bale worship continues today in the obvious preoccupation of modern culture with sensuality and of lust.

[29:22] You know, the bale worship was quite sensual kind of worship. And I won't labour the point, but you get the picture. That that is bale worship. What is our world obsessed with today? Sensuality.

[29:34] Look at the MTV, the music TV, the music disco, the modern music type videos. It's very sensual.

[29:45] It's very much preoccupation with that, with lustful things. And I put to you that Australia is following bale, in effect.

[29:56] Pagan idols. They're all around us. If we just have our eyes opened, we'd see them. They're all around us. Not just in the Freemasonic signs and symbols and such, but just embedded in the culture of Australia, of modern day Australia.

[30:15] And what happened to the idols of the Bible? We see what happened to the idol of Dagon. In 1 Samuel 5 verse 4, it reads how Dagon, they'd set it up in the place before the ark of the Lord.

[30:29] And on the morning they came and they saw Dagon was fallen before the ark of the Lord. This is 1 Samuel 5 verse 4. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold.

[30:43] There was just a stump left of Dagon as the false god, the idol, this false idol, fell. That's what will happen to the false gods of this world.

[30:55] The Bible speaks of another god quite a bit called Ashtaroth or Ishtar, the fertility goddess. And she's known as the Queen of Heaven.

[31:06] We read of her in Jeremiah 7 verse 18, where it says, The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the Queen of Heaven, to pour out drink offerings unto other gods.

[31:23] Making these cakes to the Queen of Heaven. It's interesting, again, the Catholics incorrectly revere Mary and they give her this title, this same pagan title, the Queen of Heaven.

[31:36] It's a pagan title. Ashtaroth is a supposed deity associated with sexuality, fertility and of war.

[31:47] Solomon followed Ashtaroth, it says in 1 Kings 11 verse 5. Even Solomon, with all his wisdom, was misled and detoured with that false worship.

[31:59] Then we have the god of Molech as well, where we read of him in Leviticus 20 verse 2. And Molech speaks of destroyer. His worshippers made child sacrifices.

[32:11] It talks about how they gave seed, they gave children unto Molech in Leviticus 20 verse 2. We think of today, what's happening today? Abortion.

[32:23] There's this slaughter of the innocents. There's this sacrifice. And some have reckoned that Satanists are involved with some of this where they take such things and they sacrifice the fetus and such.

[32:38] And I'm not exaggerating that unduly. But there is that sense where there's that sense of disregard of these fragile, innocent lives.

[32:50] And again, as parents, as we want to see our children follow after the Lord, we don't want to sacrifice our children unto the pagan gods of this world.

[33:02] We want to see them ransomed and redeemed following the Saviour. And so there's much realisation of these truths we can practically make application of today.

[33:13] Think of the false gods spoken of in the Bible. And of course the ultimate false god, the ultimate false god, small g, behind, that is really behind all such false worship that we've seen, is the God of this world.

[33:30] As the Bible tells of him, small g, the God of this world, in whom the God of this world, has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

[33:48] So friends, the God of this world is really the puppet master pulling the strings. And there's a sense you could reflect that there is a sense where there is an occultic, kind of demonic, a spiritual realm that potentially there are demon spirits that are behind such false worship.

[34:08] When people bow down and worship false gods. You could even say that with false doctrine. If it's false doctrine, where does it come from?

[34:19] It doesn't come from God. So false worship doesn't come from God. It's contrary to God. It's against God. In Deuteronomy 32, 17 it says, They sacrificed unto devils, not to God.

[34:33] To God, small g, whom they knew not. To new gods that came nearly up, whom your fathers feared not. The context there is of idol worship, is of the worship of false gods.

[34:44] And Deuteronomy 32, 17 says, They sacrificed unto devils. So there's a sense where someone, and this is why as Christians, as people have been illuminated by the word of God, we know that we cannot have a bar of anything that is doubtful or questionable that we should have even in our homes.

[35:06] For example, as we know some would innocently have perhaps a gnome in the garden, or a Buddha in the garden, as it were, as some kind of harmless ornament, as a kind of feature of their garden.

[35:21] But we know that what is behind that is false worship.

[35:56] It's a little bit too far. I don't know. But I think I probably would have done the same, really. I don't have anything, I don't want anything to do with so-called Father Christmas. But we know we should destroy those things that have any question over them.

[36:09] They're false gods. And they will fall, because the enemy's days are numbered. In 1 Corinthians 10, 14 it says, Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

[36:20] Don't have a bar of it. Don't toy with it. Don't tinker with it. Don't kind of play around the edges with it. If it's questionable, reject it.

[36:32] Have no place in your life with it. We want to get this right in our lives because we have to answer for ourselves, don't we? We have to guard our minds and our families.

[36:43] And realise, as someone has put to me, really the most valuable piece of real estate that you own is the six inches between your ears, isn't it? Guard your minds.

[36:54] Guard your minds. Don't let those things come of these false gods, as it were, of these stars that people worship, as it were, of materialism, of covetousness, of other loves, of the loves of this world, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, the things of the world, the love of the world and the things of the world.

[37:20] The love of the Father is not in such things. Away with false gods. Flee from idolatry. Run for your life. It's got that sense of run and escape. Flee.

[37:31] And those six inches between your ears, we want to guard that, don't we? You know, don't spend mindless minutes and hours and days and weeks playing violent video games.

[37:45] Use your time wisely and sensibly. And let's not put idols in our hearts where there's things that take God's necessary place.

[37:56] What will my legacy be when life is done? What will people remember me for? What will it be that has got some value there? There'll be some value. May we cast down our idols.

[38:08] May we cast them down. When they found false gods, they pulverised them to powder. They demolished them. They smashed them.

[38:19] They got the jackhammer out and the sledgehammer out. They wanted to have nothing left of those false gods. And friends, tonight, Australia is a pagan land.

[38:31] And we need to be alert and aware of that. We're going to stand out like a sore thumb as Christians because when someone's off at their weekend worship down at the footy game, you know, there's going to be something more important, something more precious, something that is eternal, something that is of value as we are a God-led people and we are going to be the ultimate global village.

[38:55] And there'll be no such false gods there. So let's rightfully worship. Let's worship in spirit and in truth. Let's worship our true God, not the false gods of this land.

[39:07] And let's reject them. And let's point those who are sadly pagan idol worshippers, let's lovingly reach out to them and point them to Christ because they're worshipping a God who cannot see, cannot hear, and they're praying to a God who cannot help them.

[39:25] It's as if they were praying to a block of wood or a piece of stone or a lump of concrete. God help such people. We want to see them saved, don't we? And I urge you tonight, put your trust in Christ.

[39:37] He is the true God. This is the true and living God, not some false god, some idol of manufactured men, but of God the Creator.

[39:50] We can worship Him. And it says of Him, in Him we live and move and have our being. What a contrast with the false and vain gods, the false and vain worship of those who know Him not.

[40:02] Let's pray. Our Lord God, we thank you for each hearer here tonight that our hearts might be challenged, Lord, that our minds would be guarded as we know this space between our ears, Lord, as it were, that our thinking might be tempered with eternal truths and that that might make our love, our attention might be on that which is meaningful and what matters, Lord, in a world wayward and hellbound, Lord, that we might have truth eternal that transforms.

[40:48] Lord, we pray for any that know you not, they might simply see, Lord, you died on the cross for man's sin. And our reception of that wonderful, gracious gift is the fundamental that saves our soul, Lord, if we can but trust in you.

[41:05] And Lord, help us as believers to meaningfully live this life we've been called to live. Help us to be messengers to those still lost in the false worship of this land, of this world, as ultimately people worship the small g God of this world who will fall.

[41:27] He'll fall on his face like Dagon. And Lord, we know his days are numbered. Help us, Lord, to be a faithful people that one day we will, as it were, be, as we know you tell us we will be.

[41:41] A glorified church, gloriously in your glorious presence. And Lord, nothing can compare with heaven that awaits those who know you.

[41:53] Lord, what you've prepared for those who love you. Lord, we thank you for those things. And help us, Lord, to live this life with a zeal and a resolution, each one, that we have decided, Lord, to follow you.

[42:10] By your grace you've changed and made us who we are. We thank you for these things in Jesus' name. Amen.