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[0:00] First of all, fasten your seatbelts.

[0:15] ! The war against Christianity is what I'm talking about.

[0:45] These are ever darkening days. And meantime, many Christians are playing games. Acting like little children in the playground when the war is on.

[1:06] And we need to be alert to this. And when such shadows are darkening all around us, how much more we need God's light to shine into the darkness.

[1:18] And in Isaiah 8 verse 20 it says, To the law and to the testimony. If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

[1:31] If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Sadly, as many that preach, it's got very little to do with the Bible.

[1:43] I know I was talking of a recent time, how I tuned into a Christian radio station and it was all gobbledygook. It wasn't anything scriptural. It was just dreams and visions somebody had and it was just totally left field.

[1:56] It wasn't according to this word. It's because there is no light in them. We've got to be watchful for that. Latter-day revelations, extra-biblical revelations, these have to be weighed and examined and scrutinised.

[2:10] Does it measure up to what this says? That's what counts. And friends, there is a war on. And it strikes me that many well-meaning Christians seem totally oblivious to what is going on.

[2:24] They are oblivious to it. They can scarcely sense what is going on. It's like they have lost all sense of scriptural reality these days.

[2:35] And there is a phrase that has been coined which I believe applies to this time. So these times it is called truth wars. Truth wars.

[2:47] And as it has been described, these truth wars if you like, as it has been described, it's like there is a clash of two universes engaged in mortal combat.

[2:59] The kingdom of God versus the cosmos. The fallen world system under the authority of Satan. So you've got the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness.

[3:11] It's a war that is going on. And it's called a truth war, as some have termed it. A war. A war of ideas. A war of ideals. A philosophical war.

[3:22] And I know some of us might have some tertiary training or be in the midst of it or not long from it or may have yet to undertake such tertiary study.

[3:33] And you see this war going on, this clash. You know, you that might be tertiary students here tonight, you might know that in reality. That in the classroom there is this constant conflict.

[3:44] And in the workplace, in secular workplaces, more and more so. This philosophical war. These truth wars. And this kind of war that is going on, it has been described by some as a war of attrition.

[4:01] A war of attrition. Now I had to look up attrition. So I've got to confess. It sounds like a good thing to say. So I think I better check the dictionary or Google and find out what does the war of attrition mean.

[4:15] It's a war of attrition. Take note of that. What is it? Attrition warfare. Attrition warfare is defined as a prolonged war or period of conflict with continuous pressure or harassment.

[4:30] or harassment aimed to gradually wear out the enemy. Wear down the enemy. Wear out the enemy by a series of small scale actions.

[4:41] And a war of attrition. In other words, they're gradually wearing us down as Christians. They're gradually wearing down the church. And the Bible says here, wear out the saints.

[4:52] The Antichrist I believe. There's that sense where there's a wearing down. There's a wearing out. There's this war of attrition. This clash of cultures that we're in the middle of. A clash of philosophies.

[5:04] And as I say, this war is by attrition. In other words, it's a relentless assault. It's a relentless, a gradual breaking down of resolve. A dismantling of values.

[5:18] An eroding. And a disarming. And an undermining of values. A deliberate attack against Christianity. And we're seeing that as has been said in one nation in the news of late.

[5:32] But it's one of many nations that we're seeing these changes going on. Everything is being redefined by the change agents. Change agents.

[5:44] And some of these change agents happen to be presidents. And happen to be prime ministers. Or other ministers of government. The leaders of the lands of the world of today.

[5:56] Change agents. With a mantra. With a design. With an intent. With an agenda. To change. To bring change. You know, that's what President Obama said, wasn't it?

[6:09] Change. Wasn't that a slogan? Doesn't change that one of these. No. Some people are seeing what he meant by that now. And look, we're not picking on President Obama as one.

[6:21] He's one of many. One of many. One of many. And what we see today would have been unheard of. 10 or 20 years ago. You know, when I was a little boy. You know.

[6:32] When some of these changes would have been unheard of. Such a time ago. And yet today what Christians are swallowing. And going along with. Yeah.

[6:43] As if it's normal now. It's very questionable. I put it to you. God says, Woe to them. In Isaiah again, 5 verse 20.

[6:54] It says, The Lord 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.

[7:07] Amen. Now you can change the label on the salt and pretend it's sugar. But no. It's bitter, isn't it? It's not sweet. You can say, This room is lit up when the lights are turned off.

[7:21] And you would be wrong. Because it's darkness. You can call darkness light. You can call light darkness. But it doesn't change what it is. You can call marriage something that it isn't. And it doesn't change what it really is.

[7:35] And so this is a time, friends, today. It's a time which we are called to exercise boldness. Boldness. And courage. And we ought to pray for that.

[7:47] And as much as this is a secular quote and a secular man who, I'm not sure whether he was a saved man. Possibly not. Possibly not. Sadly. But as Churchill said, when Britain faced the Battle of Britain, he said this.

[8:03] That men will look back and say, this was their finest hour. This was their finest hour. At that time, Britain faced a perilous time.

[8:16] The world faced a perilous time. As they had their backs against the wall. As the Allies looked like it was pretty hard going. And Nazi Germany had overtaken many countries.

[8:30] Churchill said, exhorting the nation that men will look back and say this was their finest hour.

[8:41] The Battle of Britain. And we're not big noting Britain or war or victories in war necessarily. But it's a historical fact. And friends, it's a fact today that we are at war too.

[8:53] With a cunning invisible enemy that is nevertheless as real and as active as the enemy that Britain faced at that time. And I believe it is for such a time as this.

[9:06] That God's people need to be awakened. That we need to get awakened to what is happening, spiritually speaking, for such a time as this. For God's own precious people to be on the alert.

[9:18] And I pray that this will be their finest hour. Their finest hour. 1 John 2 verse 18. It says, Little children, it is the last time.

[9:29] And as you have heard that the Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time. The last time.

[9:41] Literally the last hour. I believe that there are fast reaching, we are fast reaching a pivotal time in history.

[9:52] Like I say, 10, 20 years ago, I know my folks would say, you know, how the world's changed even in that time. Even before that time. But we see that we are literally in the last hour, I believe.

[10:07] And let it be the finest hour of the church. In 1 John 5 further it says, verse 19. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

[10:19] And we know that the Son of God has come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true. Even in His Son, Jesus Christ.

[10:32] This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. We know that the whole world lieth in wickedness.

[10:43] This world lies in wickedness. It's saturated by it. That which is popular by and large. That which is popular by and large in movies.

[10:54] That which is popular by and large in music. That which is popular by and large in the world's heroes, and those they look up to and idolize.

[11:05] It's wickedness. By contrast, we that are saved, that know the Lord, that have been regenerated, born again by the Spirit of God, we know Him that is true.

[11:20] And Pilate asked the Lord Jesus when he faced Him, what is truth? What is truth? What is truth? It's a question that today you get all sorts of answers to.

[11:34] What is truth? What is truth? What is truth? We are talking T, capital T, truth. Someone has defined it as this. Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory and being of God.

[11:56] Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory and being of God. Truth is the self-expression of God. He is the truth. It's one of His names. The way, the truth, the life.

[12:07] The Lord is the truth. He is the God of truth. It says that in Deuteronomy 32, 4, Psalm 31, 5, Isaiah 65, 16.

[12:18] He is the God of truth. The Old Testament shows that He is the God of truth. Make no mistake today, brothers and sisters, we are engaged in truth wars today.

[12:29] Truth wars. It's truly a battle. It is a battle. It's a battle for your soul. It's a battle for minds. It's a real conflict of ideals.

[12:41] A war between darkness and light. Between truth and error. And as someone has described it, wrong ideas are dangerous ideas. Beliefs carry consequences.

[12:53] What we believe will direct what we do. If our beliefs are dangerous, our actions can be dangerous. What we believe is important. Beliefs ultimately lead to actions.

[13:06] And there are deadly ideas, deadly philosophies that are causing escalating terrorism going on all around us. We know what that belief leads to.

[13:19] The secular system of our world are propagating and celebrating and vaunting and promoting and are bringing a tidal wave of sexually transmitted diseases and rampant promiscuity among the youth of the world.

[13:35] That's right. So that young men and young women don't keep themselves pure.

[13:52] It's like anything goes. No holds barred. Just, if it feels good, do it. That's the morals of this world. That's the values of this world.

[14:04] There's a total blurring and discarding of that which is seen as right and moral and decent and proper. Because who says what the truth is anymore?

[14:15] If we've got no God to answer to, we'll just do what we please. There's no fear of God before their eyes. So modern truth has this godless agenda where the dividing lines have been blurred and seem to be lost altogether.

[14:31] A godless agenda has been foisted on us by forces that are against God. There's mercy with God. You might have messed up.

[14:42] You might have done things. Well, I've done that. There's mercy with God today. Thank God for that. We'd all be shocked. There is mercy with God.

[14:53] I'm just talking about a philosophy that's got a grip on this planet and upon this people. Modern truth, it seems like it's more hazy and uncertain than ever before.

[15:04] And it's spreading like this mindset even into churches. Someone has described churches, there's a mist in the pulpit and a fog in the pew. It's just all blurred and hazy.

[15:18] The foggy truth. The foggy truth. It's not distinct anymore. And maybe it's not even knowable anymore. Your truth is your truth. My truth is my truth. No, it's this truth that matters.

[15:30] This is the truth. That's what matters. And God says in contrast that doctrine and theology are truth. We want to get that right, don't we?

[15:41] If it's false doctrine, then it means it's against the doctrine or the teaching that is true. That's dangerous. We don't want a bar of it if it's false doctrine.

[15:52] And so the truth is under attack today, I'll put to you, especially in the postmodern church. Now we're living in what some describe as a postmodern world. It doesn't mean we absorb that which is godless in this culture that we live.

[16:08] And it seems ever more so that the postmodern church is just adopting the mindset of the world. And adopting and absorbing the godless culture such that churches are becoming little more than discos and nightclubs.

[16:23] With mosh pits and concerts. Why? Shouldn't there be a difference? It says God puts a difference between the clean and the unclean.

[16:35] Shouldn't there be a difference in what God's people want to love and run after and feed their minds, their souls, their spirits with? Shouldn't it matter? The church has lost its way.

[16:48] Lost its way big time. And no one dares speak out against the false teachers. Oh, don't touch my Benny Hinn or whoever it be. No one dares speak out against the false teachers.

[16:59] We might tread on toes. It might be called unloving or divisive. The spirit of Babylon has taken over the church. And they just as well have a golden calf to worship in some circles.

[17:15] Friends, I put it to you that God does not change. His truth does not change. His truth does not change to suit the fickle, carnal hearts of men. His truth is steadfast and sure.

[17:27] That doesn't mean we have to be old fashioned as it were, as if old fashioned is what matters. But what matters is the truth. That is what matters.

[17:38] And so this should dictate how we worship. The songs that we sing should be sound doctrine. The truth that we deliver should be sound and sure and not questionable.

[17:51] So the truth of the scriptures should set the agenda for our church. Not that we change everything to make church more attractive to godless people. We are not here to draw the tears as it were.

[18:04] I saw something about the tears kind of church. It is a church full of tears. Now, the Lord Jesus spoke of tears and weeds. Tears are like rubbish weedy grass that looks like the real weeds.

[18:17] And it is like in some churches they are filled with people who are not born again. They are not saved. They don't know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. They might come week after week and midweek and still be lost.

[18:30] The tears kind of churches where people are not truly saved. They are not truly born again. God hasn't saved them. And we don't want to set the agenda by the world's kind of methods and then blur this distinction of truth.

[18:46] And sadly people are confused these days by half-truths and increasingly liberal views. There are increasingly liberal voices that have got a lot of airplay in some quarters.

[18:58] And it is a process of seduction. You know there was a book written some years ago called The Seduction of Christianity. And Christians are being seduced. Seduced by the secular world.

[19:10] And it is a war of attrition. It is a mind shift that is slow and subtle. A conditioning yet that is planned and intentional. A war of attrition.

[19:22] Breaking it down. Bit by bit. Just a little bit here. Just a little bit there. Just take a little bit more. Take a little bit more. Until there is nothing left. And churches are filled with heresies.

[19:33] And doubtful practices. Now they may be trendy and cool. But it doesn't make them right. That is what matters. And those who dare to speak the truth are lambasted and mocked.

[19:47] And this was the case even in Paul's day. When he spoke to the Galatians he was brutally honest with them. And he said to them, Am I therefore become your enemy? Because I tell you the truth.

[19:58] This was how they treated him. And the truth was that we are engaged in it's a propaganda campaign. That is deliberate. Propaganda. Let me define that one. It's the systematic effort to manipulate other people's beliefs, attitudes or actions by means of symbols or words, music and pictures.

[20:18] Propaganda includes doctrines or teachings, ideas, arguments and propaganda can distort the truth. Now years ago a man who was a master of propaganda said this.

[20:31] If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.

[20:42] His name? Adolf Hitler. He told many lies about the Jews. He twisted the mindset of a nation against a race of people.

[20:54] He turned this nation into a hatred of this race of people. If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.

[21:08] I put it to you today, this is going on now. Now some of you might argue the case with me on these things. But let me put it to you. The terms are repeated over and over and over again.

[21:24] Turn on your radio and listen for those buzz words. The buzz words. For example, you turn on the radio, count how many times this phrase comes up.

[21:38] Climate change. Climate change. It's the problem. That's the reason behind everything that's going wrong, isn't it? Just about. Climate change.

[21:50] Climate change. Now you could question this. Look, there's this philosophical argument. I don't want to get off track here. But I'm just making the point. When something is told enough times, when you hear that phrase enough times, you start to believe it.

[22:04] Whether there's substance for believing it or not. And it used to be the case too with weapons of mass destruction. Weapons of mass destruction. That's why they went into the Middle East.

[22:16] Because there was weapons of mass destruction. Were there any? No. They didn't find them. The world has changed since 9-11. You hear that a lot, don't you?

[22:27] People say the world has changed since 9-11. So in other words, there's need for lots and lots and lots of more control. More and more control. More and more police state kind of thinking.

[22:38] We love our police. But there's times when the police might get a bit too in your face and do things that may be unnecessary. A police state.

[22:49] You see this kind of thing. You see it in some nations where, wow, you've got to watch it. Julie and I, some year or two back, we went to Greece.

[23:00] And there was, in Athens, there's military police. And soldiers with machine guns. It seemed like they were on every street corner, didn't it?

[23:11] And it was almost like routine. And in Israel too. They're just all over the place. We don't have that in Australia. Yet. The world has changed since 9-11.

[23:24] So that's why we need all this help and security. And the phrases are used over and over again, aren't they? Just tune in. And it's a conditioning process.

[23:36] Here's another buzzword. The new buzzword is marriage equality. It sounds good, doesn't it? Oh, we all want marriage and we all want equality.

[23:47] Marriage equality. And people are actually starting to believe what they are being told. What they are constantly being told.

[23:58] It doesn't matter whether God says some things are abomination or not. It's all about marriage equality. It just sounds kind of catchy.

[24:11] Know this, that every time you tune into the world's media, you're being subjected to these messages. These ideas and values and opinions. And some of it is not true.

[24:22] It's simply not true. By definition, what is out of accord with the Bible is not true. If it's not according to this word, it is because there is no light in there. And we are being lied to.

[24:34] Lied to all the time. The culture is anti-God. We face a constant barrage of propaganda. It's a conditioning process. It's a war of attrition. It's a bombardment of propaganda when we tune into the world's wavelength.

[24:49] And the media fosters this hatred of Christians. When did you ever see a Christian portrayed in a positive light? Very rarely, if ever.

[25:00] And there's this hatred. They call us right-wing fundamentalists. Whatever it be. Bible bashers. Hate preachers. The Bible tells us of the Antichrist that he will deceive those who do not love the truth.

[25:16] 2 Thessalonians 2 tells of him coming after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in men that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

[25:30] And for this cause God gave them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Some will just say, just go along to get along.

[25:43] Just go along to get along. Just, you know, we've had people say, in churches where we question things, and look, question me. Question things. It's good.

[25:54] It's a healthy thing to question your pastor, your preacher, the doctrine. Question me. I don't shy away from your questioning. I've had pastors of mine, or churches of mine in past times, just go with the flow.

[26:15] Or go. Go with the flow. Now sometimes, when there's a waterfall, you don't want to go with the flow, do you? You don't want to do that. So just go along to get along, but those who believe a lie will be damned.

[26:30] And it seems like the trendy church has got this quite closely with the culture in some quarters. So there's never a confrontational message. It's all non-confrontational.

[26:41] You know, I stepped in the back of a church, and on one rare occasion where I had a Sunday off, and the preaching, the message that day, and this was the Influencers Church down at Paradise, and the message that day was how to win friends and influence people.

[26:59] That was the subject of the message that day. I was only there for five minutes, I think. But it's just that, what are we doing? Non-confrontational messages, this superficial gospel, this light and fluffy, warm and cozy, candy-coated kind of preaching.

[27:17] In Bible times they would set on the city a watchman. They would set watchmen on their gates, watchmen on their walls to keep alert for the enemy, to scan the horizon and sound the warning.

[27:28] Where are the watchmen? Where are the watchmen? Where are the gutsy preachers who will face up to error and declare the word of the Lord? Declare the unadulterated truth.

[27:41] We need that more than ever in these days. Will this be the finest hour? Our finest hour? We need to be fearless, we need to be resolute. We need to not hold back, we need to be fearless in the face of attack.

[27:55] Truth has a way of drawing a line in the sand. Truth can divide. You know, I was Facebooking a guy lately and he was saying, oh you're being divisive.

[28:07] Division is not always a bad thing. It's not always a bad thing. You know, when your toes get cancer, it's a good thing to cut them off.

[28:19] Isn't it? Yeah. Otherwise you'd get gangrene, could kill your whole body. Division has to happen. A separation, a separating of the cancer.

[28:31] So you can be saved. And truth has a way of dividing. And division is not always a bad thing. I've put it to you today. In recent times, we've heard the recent news stories.

[28:42] The battle lines are being drawn now. And we need to decide which side we're going to stand on. Will we submit to God's standards of truth? Or will we deny God's truth and create our own truth?

[28:56] If you tell a big enough lie, and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed. Sadly, some have fallen for lies. A big fat lie.

[29:07] That's what Adam fell for in the garden, wasn't it? A big fat lie. And just like the father of lies in the garden, some have fallen for his lies today. They've swallowed it, hooked, line and sink it.

[29:19] And their conscience has been seared. Their hearts have been darkened. In 1 Timothy 4 it tells of those speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron.

[29:30] They're strong words, aren't they? That Paul would say so strongly, some have had their conscience seared with a hot iron. In other words, when something gets burnt, it gets dull and doesn't it?

[29:46] The nerve endings get deadened and it loses that sense of feeling. And that's what happens to people's consciences. They get these buzz words, marriage equality, marriage equality, marriage equality.

[29:58] The conscience gets deadened. The nerve cells get deadened. So they don't see the truth anymore. It doesn't matter that it's a lie. We need to be fearless today and resolute.

[30:10] Friends, I urge you. And it's happening all across our nation. It saddens me when I know some people who should know better. They should know better.

[30:21] People who have a knowledge of the Bible are turning against it. They're twisted. This is astounding, astonishing. Their conscience has been seared with a hot iron.

[30:33] As God's own people, we need a conscience that is clear, that is biblically based. Biblically based. And look out for that hot iron that's trying to sear your conscience.

[30:47] The truth should not be twisted and manipulated but received and stood with. And we need to speak against that which is plainly wrong.

[30:58] We need gumption and guts in these days, people, to be that people who will stand up and speak out. Now, of course, I was talking with a friend, and how we do that has got to be measured.

[31:13] Now, the Bible says, Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Someone's not receiving it. There's no point. But pray for them that they will receive it.

[31:24] And find that opportune moment. I know there's times when you want to tell them, you want to enter into a debate, an argument. But it's prayerfully doing that, isn't it?

[31:35] It's waiting prayerfully, and it's seeking God prayerfully, and for how we put that truth, so that we're speaking wisely. Because some will just want to trip us up and get us into trouble.

[31:48] That's what goes on, isn't it? And the Lord Jesus, sometimes He was silent. And sometimes He answered with a question. And so we need to be tactful and wise about how we confront this culture, but nevertheless stand firm.

[32:03] We're not to follow this thinking of the world, but rather to stand against it. 1 John 5, it says, Little children, keep yourselves from idols. You know, friends, the truth can be uncomfortable. There's a saying, truth hurts.

[32:15] The truth hurts. Sometimes. A bit like your dentist. Oh, I hate that guy sometimes. But he helps me a lot. You know, sometimes the pictures are like that, you know.

[32:26] It's uncomfortable. Oh, here he goes again. He's just jabbing me in the guts again. The truth can be uncomfortable, but it does us good. And we're not here to get more comfortable. We're not here to make others comfortable, but we're here because of the truth.

[32:39] Because it counts. And there's a danger in toning down the truth so that it becomes so inoffensive that we wind up having nothing to say. And sometimes a lack of truth happens through ignorance or immaturity.

[32:53] In Ephesians 4, Paul exhorts the Ephesians. He says, A son, they're tossed to and fro. They're like this boat on the sea with every wind of doctrine, just blowing this boat all over the place with the slight of men, with cunning craftiness.

[33:07] But rather, speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him who is the head, even Christ. Grow up into him. And I urge you today, brothers and sisters, in these darkening days, in this last hour, as it were, and I've gone over an hour now, but in this last hour, as it were, of the church, that we are to reach out with compassion, holding steadfastly the truth.

[33:35] It talks about holding fast and holding forth the Word of God. We're in the midst of a culture war, a cultural war, a truth war. Everything is being redefined.

[33:48] And what you believe, the world doesn't want it anymore. It probably never did. But we're in the midst of what has been described as a truth war. And a war between an objective standard of truth, an objective standard of truth.

[34:04] This is it. Not what the guy down the road wants to prophesy, supposedly. But an objective standard of truth.

[34:14] It's objective. It's in black and white and red. And we can believe it. It's an objective standard of truth. And this world has a subjective standard of truth. It's whatever you feel like today, and tomorrow you might feel a bit different.

[34:27] Truth is under attack in our culture. And so I urge you, nothing is more important than the truth. When error and falsehood and lies from the father of lies are being broadcast across this planet, nothing is more important than the truth.

[34:43] Nothing is more valuable than that. So what will our response be? I'll put it to you. We're in a truth war. Let's make it personal now. Let's make it something applicable now that you can apply, you can put in your kit bag and put it and carry it with you from this place.

[35:00] What will you do? Our response must be to grow up. Paul says to the Ephesians, grow up into him. Stop being children and grow up into maturity in Christ.

[35:12] Our response must be to speak up. In Psalm 94, 16, the psalmist cries, who will rise up for me against the evildoers? And who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

[35:26] God says, who will rise up for me? Who will stand up for me? Our response must be to speak up, to stand up. We must join the war effort.

[35:37] We must stand firm. And our response must be to be bold. We have desperate need of boldness. Desperate need of boldness. In Proverbs 28, it says, We could flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

[35:53] That's what we should be. We need to exercise biblical discernment in these times of deception. And so, how do we do that? It's getting grounded in this, the objective standard of truth.

[36:07] Not the subjective one. The objective standard of truth. Not subjective, in other words, feelings based, but it's objective. It's here. 66 books. That's what we believe.

[36:18] We must be grounded in that. And friends, I'll put it to you in this last hour, as it were, of these closing chapters of Earth's history. We must be prepared for persecution.

[36:33] You know, we pray for the persecuted countries. We pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters. And here we are in the lucky country. Yeah. Oh, just put another snag on the bar there.

[36:50] She'll be right, mate. Take it easy. We must prepare for persecution. It's happening now.

[37:01] I know folk have been telling me how they're getting bailed up and harassed. It's happening now. It's not new, really, but we must prepare for persecution and more of it, more of the same.

[37:14] And we must stand faithful. Stand faithful in your workplaces, in your school places, in your home places. Stand faithful. Even when all around you is shaking and falling to bits, we need a rightful dividing.

[37:27] A needful division between truth and error. Gay marriage. Oh. It's officially passed and will be recognised in all 50 states of the US.

[37:42] Yeah. What next? What of our nation here? It's a lie. It's a lie. It's a damnable lie. And this decision has many ramifications, not least of which is God's judgement.

[37:57] And the Christian message could be labelled as hate speech. Christianity, it's a matter of truth. And truth is always worth fighting for. This is not something you can debate.

[38:11] It's very clear, this one. I firmly believe that we face some of the darkest hours of our nation in days ahead. And we need more discernment. How do we get discernment? Get more Bible.

[38:22] Get more Bible. That's how. We need to learn to think biblically. I believe that we will be hated more than ever before. Along with this message that we love.

[38:34] Luke 21, verse 17. And you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. Get ready to get hated. Get ready for it. I believe we see many tears among the wheat.

[38:47] Many are not genuinely saved. How many got saved in Noah's day? Eight. The whole planet. Eight people. We need to get serious.

[38:59] We've got a dire need of biblical preaching. Pray for me. Pray for Adam. Pray for those who preach. That we'll be biblical. We'll be strongly exhorting you. That we won't hold back.

[39:10] We'll pull out all the stops. Because now more than ever the truth must be proclaimed. Whatever the cost. Truth is too important.

[39:21] Truth transforms. This is what our world needs. And we're facing a mounting attack. You know, it's been said when freedom of religion is gone, so is freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of opinion, freedom of press, freedom of expression, and many other freedoms.

[39:38] These are freedoms that are being eroded. It's a war of attrition. And the end game, the end game is the total destruction of Christianity.

[39:50] That's the end game. They won't stop until we get there. Preaching the Bible as God's word to the world is not hate speech. This is the most loving thing we can tell anybody.

[40:03] What it says in here. It's an act of love. To preach the Bible. So what will our response be? Jeremiah 51.6 It says, Flee out of the midst of Babylon.

[40:14] I don't know if there's any country we can go to though. But we see pastors being charged today with hate crimes. Because they're simply preaching the Bible. They're simply preaching what the Bible says.

[40:27] On the biblical view of traditional marriage, there's a man called Pastor Green in Sweden convicted of a hate crime. Just for preaching the Bible.

[40:39] He was sentenced to one month in prison on a charge of inciting hatred against homosexuals. Preaching, I believe, in his own church. A hate crime.

[40:51] Hate crimes have been expanded in Canada. They want to outlaw all criticism of homosexuality. I spoke some weeks back about a man in Ireland.

[41:02] He's facing, going to jail for preaching his own church as well against Islam. The truth wars have begun. It's begun.

[41:14] It's already, it's been going for some time. There are moves afoot now to silence the pulpit. Silence the preachers. Silence the men and women who want to stand up for God's truth in this land.

[41:26] More than ever before we need boldness, people. What will our response be next for? It says, it was a time, a context of persecution. It says, Now Lord, behold their threatenings.

[41:38] Grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. By stretching forth thine hands to heal and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

[41:50] And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And they spake the word of God with boldness. Where's the boldness gone?

[42:02] Where is it? The context here is of prayer, of persecution. Enough of the cotton candy. Enough of the fairy floss kind of Christianity.

[42:14] It's better to offend people with the truth than to damn them with a lie. What matters is not being politically correct but being biblically correct.

[42:25] Biblically correct. Pray for us. Pray for yourself. Pray for your families. Pray for your loved ones that they will find the truth that sets people free. You may say, Preacher, you're judging me.

[42:38] I'm not judging you. The word of God judges you and me. I truly believe that we have life transforming truth and it's between the covers of this holy book.

[42:51] This is the truth. Life transforming truth. And I believe again of this incrementalism, this war of attrition inch by inch by inch incrementally forces against Christianity.

[43:06] They're dumbing down the doctrine and the practice in churches. There's a liberalisation that includes an embracing of anti-Christian views by the established church. Now you see these men and women in frocks who call themselves priests and you see what they go on about, what they stand for.

[43:25] It's disgusting. I saw a good t-shirt lately. It said, Put down your toys and pick up your cross.

[43:36] That's what we need to do. Put down your toys and pick up your cross. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child.

[43:48] But when I became a man, I put away childish things. We need to grow up, don't we? Be men, be women of God. Put the toys away and take up your cross and expect an increasing persecution.

[44:02] What will our response be? This last hour, this is a time for boldness. For God's sin, manly faith. In this truth war, we are well and truly outnumbered.

[44:14] But we are not outgunned. We're not outgunned. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against God's church. We know what the ultimate result will be.

[44:25] And so we're answering, I put it to you today, a period of a war against Christianity. An ever-evident war against Christianity. This is the truth.

[44:36] I tell you the truth. Before God, I earnestly believe this is the case. That we are seeing this escalating war against Christianity. And we're seeing a land under the judgment of Almighty God.

[44:50] A church under God's judgment. Where we're seeing Christianity being criminalized. In 1 John 5, it says, We know that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

[45:00] The last hour. Now friends, it can seem like a losing battle. A losing battle. Let me sum up quickly. I know I've gone a long time here. Let me sum up quickly these key messages.

[45:12] I believe it's important. I believe we are in a truth war. It's happening now. And what are we to do? If this is the case, what are we to do? What are you to do?

[45:23] What am I to do? How do we win this truth war? By knowing the truth. Study the Bible, the King James Bible. Study the Bible. Don't believe the change agents.

[45:36] Leave the church of the tares. Don't believe the propaganda that you're being fed, spoon-fed by the world's media. Get grounded in sound doctrine and theology.

[45:47] Get to the Bible study of this church where you'll know that you'll get sound doctrine and theology. Reject the false teachers and the false movements. Separate from error.

[45:59] Make that division happen. That dividing line. Step over the line. Reject heresy. Reject the apostate, ecumenical, charismatic churches and all the movements thereof.

[46:12] Have your conscience filled with the light, not darkness. Grow up into him. Put away your toys and take up your cross. Keep yourselves from idols. Be bold and get ready for persecution.

[46:25] Get ready, people. Truth is always worth fighting for. And let us never be afraid to stand on the side of the truth. Friends, it says 1 John 5, little children, keep yourselves from idols.

[46:39] May it be one day in eternity, we will look back and say, this was their finest hour. This was their finest hour. Let us pray.

[46:51]  Let us pray.