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[0:00] What the message to you today is that truth is at stake. In Proverbs 23, 23 it says,!

[0:30] Truth, wisdom, instruction and understanding. The truth is a precious commodity and it's getting scarcer, I put to you.

[0:42] We're living in a world where many say truth is relative. I have my truth and you have your truth. Truth is what is true for you at the time.

[0:54] Also there is no absolute truth, some say. Relativity, they say. Our world sets its own morality, so they think. Its own values, so called, based on situational ethics, on man's reasoning.

[1:08] Man chooses his own moral code as he sees fit, depending on what he thinks is right at the time. Yet God calls the way of some error.

[1:19] Some folk are taking a track that is wrong, deadly wrong. James 5 verse 20 says, Let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

[1:37] Proverbs 14 verse 12 says, There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Many folk are sincerely believing their own truth, and they are dangerously wrong.

[1:51] It's like someone taking a, what appears to be a bottle of lemonade, which is actually filled with some poison, out of a shed cupboard. Easily done.

[2:02] Sincerely believing that it's just lemonade when it was not. Definitely not. We can be sincerely believing our own truth, yet it can be a lie. It can be error.

[2:14] The great news though, is that the truth is out there, as they say. And the Lord wants people to know the truth, who will have all men to be saved, it says. 1 Timothy 2 verse 24, And to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

[2:29] Now, not only can we know the truth, when we do it liberates us and releases us. In John 8 verse 32, our Lord says, And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

[2:43] Our world is at a crisis point on many fronts. We desperately need the truth. We're going to look at the crisis for truth. Look at the issues of sin, of false doctrine, false Christians, and the answer for our crisis.

[2:57] Firstly, the crisis is the sin crisis. That's what it is. That's the virus we should be worried about. We need the truth because of the sin crisis. We're living in a world of disinformation.

[3:08] People are prisoners to a system of deliberate lies. The media is not telling us the truth. If we hear something often enough, we will come to believe it.

[3:19] The biggest problem facing Australia, I understand, some would say it's climate change. Some would say it's terrorism. I believe the greatest crisis facing our nation is not the coronavirus.

[3:32] It's a crisis of godlessness, a moral crisis, a sin crisis. Like the people of old, they have no fear of God before their eyes. Be not wise in thine own eyes.

[3:44] Fear the Lord and depart from evil. Truth is, there is a judgment. A heaven, a hell. I'm quoting authority here. Final authority, absolute truth.

[3:57] This note also that in the last days perilous times shall come. They shall come. We are warned that there will be a breakdown of society, of morals, of the world as we know it.

[4:10] The question is where are we getting our truth from? It's a sad fact that the average 20 year old in the US spends just about two and a half years of his life in front of a television set.

[4:23] The TV's mind numbing power is brainwashing you, programming you, controlling you, shaping your perceptions, your views. We are the TV generation. Our senses are bombarded with messages constantly.

[4:36] And there's a danger that we're becoming desensitized to sin and perversion, becoming a generation of robots. The change agents are teaching our children in the schools as the social engineering goes on.

[4:51] Could it be that we are becoming conditioned, slaves to a police state, living in a world where global governance will take over? A world in crisis where tolerance is the highest truth.

[5:04] Christians are being regularly lampooned, mocked and scorned. Immorality and nudity is flooding the airwaves. There's a war on real freedom where the powers that be are themselves controlled by secret societies and dark forces.

[5:19] Where the lunatics are in charge of the asylum. Maybe ultimately with nanotechnology, humans will be merged with technology. There's all sorts of crazy things going on.

[5:30] Truth is the world is in trouble. And there's little hope from the powers that govern us of getting things sorted. Because the real problem is not security or climate change.

[5:42] The real problem, the real crisis is the sin crisis. We need the truth because of the sin crisis. Secondly, we need the truth because of the crisis of false doctrine.

[5:54] Secondly, we need the truth because of the truth because of the crisis of false doctrine. 2 Timothy 3.13. It says, But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

[6:11] But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned of, and been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. This is as good as it gets. It tells us to expect it to get worse.

[6:23] Evil men and seducers. Expect them. They're going to water down the gospel. And the church is going to be changed. The truth is going to be abandoned. The Bible foretells this.

[6:35] 2 Thessalonians 2.3. It says, Let no man deceive you by any means. For that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.

[6:48] We are living in these times, an age where there is a crisis of truth. Amos 8 verses 11 through 12 says, Behold the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.

[7:04] And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, and they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. Acts 20 talks about teachers coming in like our savage wolves.

[7:19] Prosperity preachers are very much the case today. Prosperity gospel preaching is heresy. The charismatic movement. Right and wrong cannot agree. We cannot compromise.

[7:31] A man said this, The word doctrine is found 55 times in the Bible. 49 of those times it's found in the New Testament. This word does not include the many other ways this Greek word is translated.

[7:44] It comes from the word didaka, or some variation of it. It basically means a doctrine or teaching. And to be sound, it has to come from God. We've got to get the doctrine right, the teaching right.

[7:56] The doctrine is the teaching of the whole Bible. Christianity is an empty shell without doctrine. And the Bible specifically warns believers not to become involved in false doctrines.

[8:09] Hebrews 13.9 it says, Be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron.

[8:29] 1 Timothy 4 verses 1 through 2. Friends, it's the pure word of God that we need. The undiluted gospel is what saves. The established church is getting all sorts of bother these days.

[8:42] It's been derailed because it's gone off track. It's off the track of the truth. There's news about various changes to numbers of churches, accepting and approving women bishops and homosexual ministry and such.

[8:58] As someone has put it, Half truths equal full lies. You cannot deviate from the truth. We must be front and centre, lock in step with God's word. We need the truth because of the sin crisis.

[9:11] We need the truth because of the crisis of false doctrine. Thirdly, we need the truth because of the crisis of false Christians. We need the truth because there is a danger that there are false Christians.

[9:24] Matthew 7, 15, it says, Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Churches are filled with false Christians.

[9:35] Pulpets are filled with false Christians. Sadly, we won't always get the truth down at the local church. As Tex Mars put it, While they are waiting for the rock and roll band to warm up, At many churches, congregations can now be entertained by Christian magicians and weightlifters.

[9:52] In Florence, Alabama, the first assembly of God, The youth minister has been presenting a program called Fear Factor, In which youths swallow live fish and lay in a coffin.

[10:03] And through this ministry, they say, Kids are surrendering their lives to Jesus And developing a deeper relationship to Jesus. I put to you that not every preacher is to be believed.

[10:15] Not everything that claims to be true is true. We see there's numbers of false items that the Bible warns us of. False gospels, false doctrines, false messiahs, False prophets, teachers and evangelists, False ritual, false gods and false righteousness.

[10:37] How much better if we could have something real to turn to. We have it on the assurance of good authority. John 17, 17 our Lord says, Sanctify them through the truth, thy word is truth.

[10:52] The word tells us study the word. To study, to show thyself approved unto God, A workman that needeth not to be ashamed. Rightly dividing the word of truth.

[11:04] 1 John 4 tells us there is a spirit of truth and a spirit of error. We've got to decide between the two. Discern between the two. Church, we need to be wide awake and alert as to what is going on And realize what is happening.

[11:19] We need to exercise discernment. A phenomenon that is taking over many churches of today Is what is called the emergent or the postmodern church. And the language of the new age is the language of the emerging church.

[11:32] They use words like paradigm shift, change agent, transformation, New order, enlightenment, personal development, self-actualization, Synergy, contemplative, mystic, transformed life, meditation, Spiritual disciplines, assumptions of this old and new paradigm, Of the awakening, of new consciousness, of wholeness.

[11:56] These are all new agey kind of terms that are kind of sneaking into the church of God. And churches are being transformed. Seeker friendly churches so called. Do not talk about holiness.

[12:07] It might make some people feel uncomfortable. Some things are really the new age movement cleverly disguised and repackaged. For example, what's called the secret.

[12:18] The new age is really the old lie of Genesis repackaged. The truth is worth fighting for. I put to you today, believers this morning. Jude 1 verse 3, it says, Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, It was needful for me to write unto you, And exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith Which was once delivered unto the saints.

[12:42] Another trend is towards liberalism. Christianity teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ is God. Liberalism teaches that he was a good man, That God was with him in a special way, But that we can best know God by looking at Christ.

[12:58] But with all this praise, liberalism falls short. It will not say that he is God, In the usual sense of that word. As Thomas fell to his knees and cried out, My Lord and my God.

[13:10] Christianity teaches that man is fallen into sin, And can only be redeemed by the death of Christ. Liberalism says man is getting better all the time, And that the Lord's life and death only inspire us, They do not save us.

[13:24] Christianity teaches that the Bible is uniquely the word of God, And is true in everything it affirms. Liberalism says the Bible is an elevated book, With many dear things in it, But it also is rife with errors.

[13:38] Both the facts like the flood they say never happened, Of theology, like the just anger of God against sinners, Not to mention the role of women in the church, The need for corporal punishment of children, And so on.

[13:49] Really liberalism, let's call it for what it is, It is unbelief. It is unbelief. And it's lies. Another area of this subtle change is seen in music in churches.

[14:01] Music fits women's tastes, Wrote David Murrow in his article, Create an environment where men can worship. Reformation hymns spoke of battle, of blood, and victory.

[14:12] But today's praise songs are mainly love songs to Jesus. The lyrics grow more romantic by the day, And they have the same breathless feel as top 40 love songs.

[14:23] Hold me close, let your love surround me, Bring me near, draw me to your side, I'm desperate for you, I'm lost without you, Let my words be few, Jesus I am so in love with you.

[14:34] Think of the mental gymnastics that must take place Inside a man's subconscious mind as he sings lyrics like these. He's trying to express his love to Jesus, A man who lives today using words no man would dare to say to another, Set to music that sounds like the love songs his wife listens to in the car.

[14:53] The church has been demasculated, And we need to, man of God, rise up. Richard Moe, president of Fuller Seminary, Spoke at the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, And he apologized on behalf of the evangelical church For labelling them as the cult they are.

[15:11] These are sad trends going on. There's a move in the, amongst the Protestant churches To bring them back under Mother Church, the Roman Catholic Church. Friends, we need the truth because of the sin crisis.

[15:24] We need the truth because of the crisis of false doctrine. We need the truth because of the crisis of false Christians. And notice the trends away from the truth. It's evident in the emergent church, liberalism, music, The move back towards Rome.

[15:39] We must be valiant for the truth. Jeremiah 9 verse 3. I put to you in closing that the answer for our crisis is Christ. Whatever is going on in our lives, in every crisis of life.

[15:52] And we know there's much turmoil at this present time. But whatever the case of life and its crises, We can rely on the faithfulness of God. Amen. You can rely upon the faithfulness of God.

[16:03] We can turn to God's truth between the pages of this book, Between the covers of this book. And it's real, it's relevant, it's applicable for our situation, Whether the present or the future.

[16:17] We can overcome and find completeness, wholeness. Not in some kind of mystic experience of some new age, Self-actualization with angels or gold dust or spooky stuff.

[16:29] But by letting the God of truth speak to us, Letting the God of truth enter our hearts and minds As we are understanding and taking heed of his word. When we face critical issues, we can find the truth.

[16:42] Without it we are incomplete. One has said, I am the truth. Friends, just to wrap up, not far from New York City, There is a cemetery where there is a grave that is inspired upon its headstone, Just one word, forgiven.

[16:58] There is no name, no date of birth or death. The stone is undecorated by the sculptor's art. There's no epitaph, no eulogy, just one word, forgiven.

[17:10] But that is the greatest thing that can be said of any man or written on his grave. Truth is, he's still in the business of truth and he still sets people free.

[17:21] I urge you today, put your trust in Christ. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word, for the encouragement it is to our soul. In a world full of lies and falsehoods, Lord, we know that there is the truth that stands unshakable, And we are grounded upon the word of God.

[17:38] We thank you that we can have faith and know your faithfulness, As your word is true and always will be. And it is what we need to lay in our hearts and act upon in your precious...

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