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[0:00] Salt and light. Salt and light. There's an election coming very soon.! May, likely.

[0:11] ! Salt and light.

[0:31] And it was very interesting information. So I'm going to share some of that and encourage you to think on these themes today. The key message was that we are salt.

[0:42] God calls believers to be salt and light and to let our light shine. We see that in Matthew 5. If you want to turn there, Matthew 5, and I'll project some of it on the screen here.

[0:55] Matthew 5. It tells us from verse 13. Matthew 5 from verse 13. Ye, the church, the saved people, ye are the salt of the earth.

[1:14] But if the salt has lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under the foot of men.

[1:28] It says that God's people are to be like salt, acting as a preservative to stop the rot in our culture, in a more godless culture.

[1:42] Salt, it is a preservative. It affects what it comes into contact with. You know, in old time, before fridges, they used salt, I believe.

[1:55] Does anyone know how that works? It's before my time. But they used to use salt to keep me and whatnot from going off. And salt stops the rot.

[2:08] And we're meant to be salt, the salt of the earth, to stop the rot, as it were. That's what we're meant to do. How is our saltiness? How would you rate it on a scale?

[2:21] How is our saltiness, our usefulness? Or are we useless? The Lord says some salt is good for nothing. It's lost its flavour. It's contaminated.

[2:31] Maybe moisture's got in. It's kind of lost its impact. Have we lost our flavour? Or will we be salty salt? And then he goes on to say, Ye are the light of the world.

[2:45] Elsewhere we know our Lord says, I am the light of the world. And he says, Ye, you people, the church, ye, are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be heard.

[2:59] Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. He's saying people don't light a light and put it under some kind of cover, put it under some bucket or a container.

[3:17] But they display the light. They put the light where it can shine. And likewise, it gives light to all that are in the house. And then it goes on, verse 16, Let your light, your light, so shine that men, before men, that they may glorify your Father which is in heaven.

[3:41] Let your light so shine. We need to get up and shine, don't we? To be shining Christians. Like light, we're meant to have an influence. An influence on the circle of influence around us, the people in our lives.

[3:55] The light shines out and the light dispels the darkness. Now we could demonstrate that by turning off the light. We'll notice it. Why do we need to be salt and light?

[4:05] Australia is a darkening nation, I put to you. I'm going to talk about some of the signs of this. It's in the newspapers and you might think this is maybe getting a bit political.

[4:19] I'm not meaning to take a party line here. I'm not doing that. I'm just talking about issues and what's happening in our nation where we live.

[4:30] We will consider some signs of this darkness that is encroaching. There's a darkness in this world. A darkness. A spiritual wickedness, it says, in high places.

[4:42] A spiritual wickedness. A prevailing darkness in this world. And Ephesians 6 verse 12 says, For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

[5:10] There is a darkness and it's a spiritual wickedness and it's in high places. A prevailing corruption in our nation. Darkness. It needs salt and light.

[5:24] You know, open your newspapers. I know people share with me some newspaper stories. And the more you read, the more alarming it is, isn't it? As you turn on the newscast and get the propaganda, oh, the news, and you get that conditioning, that information, that misinformation, and the Bible says that the spiritual wickedness in high places.

[5:50] Could that be Canberra? Within our parliaments, within the state and federal parliaments, within local government, the spiritual forces at work, rulers of the darkness of this world, there's an impact.

[6:05] And sometimes we as Christians, we're not aware of these things. Sometimes we just don't take action. Meantime, what's the enemy doing? He doesn't sit on his hands. The enemy of our souls.

[6:17] He's roaming around. He's out to find some weak spot, isn't he? And meanwhile, the God-hating groups like the Greens and Get Up, and I don't know that there's any Green voters here today, but any of these God-hating groups like the Greens and the Get Up and whatnot, they're very active, aren't they?

[6:40] They're very active. They're aggressively spreading wicked propaganda and influencing generations of people. And the Bible tells us if we light a candle, if we light a light, we don't put it under a bushel, we don't hide it, what good is that?

[6:56] The light has to shine. Like a city on a hill. Like a city set on a hill. That's what we're meant to be. May we rather stand out. Make a bold stand.

[7:07] Will we be a city on a hill? You know, you see some, as you drive past the hills, you see a house up there and you think, wow, now they just stand out, don't they? You can see them from miles away.

[7:17] That's what we should be, a city on a hill. We're called to be active and stand for what is right and true. May people see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

[7:30] May we long and thirst for righteousness. May we seek his righteousness to shine through us. So let's consider some of these signs that you could consider and you might think of this next time you plug into the propaganda news channel.

[7:49] And one of the things is there's a bit of a police state going on. In places like China, for example, I know there's one of my friends here who knows all about this. And this is a news story that I read on the 18th of March.

[8:04] It tells how China has banned one of the Ten Commandments. They're only allowed nine commandments in Chinese churches now. So if you've got, you know, the Ten Commandments on the wall, you've got to take the first one away.

[8:17] It's national policy now in China apparently. I believe this is a true news story. But Chinese officials apparently, they entered a church in recent weeks and they ordered a removal of one of the Ten Commandments.

[8:32] The first one, another example of the nation's crackdown on Christianity. And this was in a government approved church. It was not an unregistered one. And about 30 government officials came in, they marched in, they examined the church.

[8:45] You know, they might have had a look at all the notice boards and found something to find fault with. And they found fault with the Ten Commandments. And one of the officials pointed to that Ten Commandment, the first commandment, and says, this must be removed.

[8:59] He was referencing the first commandment, thou shalt have no other gods before me. The Chinese don't want that. The Chinese government. We don't face such a direct attack in Australia.

[9:10] But there is a growing anti-Christian sentiment, isn't there, in our nation? An anti-Christian sentiment in our own nation. And China's got this horrifying social credit system that they've unveiled.

[9:24] It means that no dissent is tolerated. It's a totalitarian state. A police state, really, isn't it? Essentially, it freezes out anyone who does not conform to the state's version of the ideal citizen.

[9:39] And this is a system that's a frightening control system, when you think about it, being rolled out. So that your wages are tied to this control system. So it's got the ability to control, your ability to gain or lose money.

[9:53] And this system sees that any form of dissent... So if you disagree, you get cut off your credits, you know, cut off your benefits, whatever. You're not able to work, eat or even exist in society.

[10:07] It's the end of dissent and real individuality. That is China. That is China. But the framework, this story, this article said, this framework could easily be portable to another country.

[10:23] It could easily be adopted by other nations, as these surveillance systems, as these tracking systems, can easily be redeployed in many nations.

[10:35] What of Australia? Australia! Religious persecution is here. Religious persecution. Forces are at work to make us a socialist nation.

[10:47] We see an increased tracking. You know, I used one of these on the way to pick someone up today. You know, there's a tracking going on. The government knows where you are.

[11:00] We're being watched. There's an increased tracking. And there's a real threat of invasive technology. There are moves towards a police state where the government defines and controls morality.

[11:13] The state says what's right and wrong, not the Bible anymore, so they think. And it means that the government can force people to do things that they consider to be morally wrong and to do what is contrary to Christian values.

[11:28] The godless would love to implement such a control system, wouldn't they? Can you imagine what it would be like? There's an increasing censorship across Facebook, Google.

[11:40] If anyone dares to question these things, you know, upload some Christian content to YouTube and it could well get taken down. So-called hate speech.

[11:53] There's a, as someone put it, free speech is hate speech. They will decide what is inappropriate or harmful. They will decide. People who differ are called haters, homophobes, bigots.

[12:08] The Christian voice is getting silenced. They put the duct tape over, don't they? In its place, some have vainly put their faith in money and power or some other false god.

[12:18] Godless ideologies are being trumpeted constantly. It's an outrage. There's the death of reason. And there's an activist-driven media. The media is increasingly hostile.

[12:30] It's anti-God, anti-Christ, hostile to religious liberty. We see this political propaganda pushing these godless ideologies and the media is dominated by radicals who hate God.

[12:43] They hate the truth. And belief is ridiculed. I'm told that the majority of the UK population identify as atheists now. There's a rampant anti-Christian secularism.

[12:56] It's like you can't talk about God or the Bible. In this increasingly pagan society, our nation, Australia, we see this increasing immorality, this anti-Christian culture and a godless activism.

[13:10] It's like there's a different paradigm, a post-Christian era. It's a culture shift, isn't it? This culture shift. I'm told that people in times past, they used to be neutral.

[13:22] Towards Christianity. Sort of accepted it, you know, sort of as something that was tolerated. They were neutral. And now the prevailing popular culture is increasingly hostile towards Christianity.

[13:35] So the Bible. People are increasingly hostile. And we're losing generations. Some have described the younger generation. Just got to make this work here.

[13:52] Sorry. Not sure how to get to the next slide. Could someone just help me? I don't know how to get to slide 10.

[14:06] Oh, here we go. I can see it now. Sorry, it's just different from what I can see here. Okay. Some have described the younger generation today as the most depressed and anxious generation.

[14:21] There's a hopelessness, isn't there? They've got all the mod cons, the iPhones and all the gadgets, but it's the most depressed and anxious generation. And the world is seized by a heterophobia.

[14:34] It's a new thing. Heterophobia. Heterophobia. So the fear of a normal, old-fashioned matrimony. You know, of a marriage about what's right.

[14:49] There's a hatred of that, an opposition to that. We see this erosion of free speech and of religious freedom. There's a crisis of knowledge. And I put to you today that Christian values are constantly under attack.

[15:02] Through the media, it's like that's the norm now, isn't it? There's a fight on for timeless truth in this contemporary culture. We need to be a bold minority that asserts the truth.

[15:17] We've got a message to deliver. We are light and we are salt. And yet the mantra now is everything is moral except for telling someone that their behaviour is immoral.

[15:30] I'll say that again. Everything is moral except telling someone that their behaviour is immoral. They just tolerate everything now. And religious liberty is under threat.

[15:42] And this moves to bring vilification laws hostile to Christians. So it's like you can't say anything anymore wherever you are. Yet you're facing court action if you speak up for what is decent and reasonable and common sense.

[16:01] There's an anti-truth agenda. Now is the time we call to be salt and light. To make a bold stand for the truth. If the Bible calls it sin, then that's what it is.

[16:12] There's no debate. Our opinion, their opinion, your opinion doesn't count. It doesn't matter. If the Bible says it's sin, then it is sin.

[16:25] And we have a mission to fulfil. And in the meantime there's these forces at work that are undermining and to bring about the destruction of the family unit. It's like these puppet masters pulling the strings.

[16:38] We've got things like parental rights are getting undermined. The education system. The education system itself has been hijacked to push social agendas. So when your children go to school, they're being socially engineered.

[16:53] We're living in a perverted, sick world. A world where there's no moral boundaries. And that's what our children are being taught by the social engineers called teachers.

[17:07] And there's this loss of honour and dignity and decency. And some people are standing up and speaking out. One of the things people might have seen, these wicked campers, these camper vans with all these curse words and hateful speech towards women or whatever it be.

[17:27] A threat to public decency. Some people are saying that's something we don't want to tolerate. We don't want that. They're speaking up. Some Christians are speaking out. What about the unborn? The unborn.

[17:39] How sad it is. The most dangerous place for a child is in the womb. It's in the womb. Even at five weeks the tiny heart will start to beat.

[17:51] But the way Australia is headed, every taxpayer will be paying for more and more and later term abortions. Hospital funding could be tied to abortions. So even hospitals who might have an objection or don't want to go that track, their funding will be tied to it.

[18:08] So they'll be pushed into it. In South Australia, the Greens want to completely deregulate abortion. We already have 4,300 abortions every year.

[18:20] The current Greens bill is the most radical abortion bill in the country, even in the world. This would mean that babies can be terminated all the way until birth, until the point of birth.

[18:32] This would mean, in fact, sometimes babies are actually born alive and are left to die. The abortionists don't like to talk about that, but that's what can happen.

[18:45] Abortion, it disregards the humanity of the unborn, the right for someone to have a life. It's a life taken, a life taken. Now, let me just say this, that if you've had an abortion, there is forgiveness.

[19:00] There is grace from God, and he can heal the hurt and the loss of that. This is not to leave that subject without that knowledge of God's hope and help for you, if you're in that situation.

[19:16] The Greens have just got this, they're just very active, very vicious in what they're planning. And they will remove the right of a conscientious objector.

[19:27] So if you're in a hospital and you're called to attend an abortion, you've got no conscientious objection rights. You've just got to help kill the baby. And the Greens also want to decriminalise prostitution, to remove all controls, just no holds barred.

[19:43] Many will deny the truth. And so we need to be the people who stand up, don't we? To be salt, to be light. What we're seeing, it's been called cultural Marxism.

[19:55] There's a tolerance for all these things that are just abomination. These gender studies that say we aren't born male or female, we choose our gender as we get older.

[20:06] They call it a gender fluidity. It doesn't matter what your physical parts say you are, you can just make your own mind up of what you want to be. And there's radical moves for our children to be taught LGBT relationships from a very early age.

[20:24] There's a prospect they might try to bring the safe schools propaganda in and spread it to more classrooms in Australia. Many young children are being brainwashed. There's a brainwashing going on, this ideology that's just getting fed to them.

[20:39] These falsehoods in young minds, from childcare centres even. Childcare centres, you hear stories, from kindergarten. And this ideology, it's changing a generation.

[20:51] The amount of transgender treatment is skyrocketing apparently. And that's chemical and surgical impersonation of the other sex. Satan is robbing children of who they are.

[21:04] And it becomes a confused world. Even faith-based schools are under threat. And Christian teachers will face this in time, possibly.

[21:15] There's prosecution, there's bullying from government. And parental rights over education, it's being taken away. The state is doing things to our children without parental consent.

[21:27] And the social engineers are pushing these books into school libraries for children as young as six and seven. Books like The Gender Bread Person. There's full of these messages that are evil.

[21:40] And there's some political parties openly stating they're committed to brainwashing kids into believing their gender is fluid. It's not based on biology.

[21:52] And it's already the case in the UK. It's mandated that all schools will teach transgender ideology in the UK from 2020. So children as young as five will be taught about gay and trans relationships.

[22:07] Now, I don't even like talking to you about this here. And I know it's better not to speak of wickedness. But this is just information so you're informed. I'm not going to dwell on the detail, the gory detail of it.

[22:19] But the fact is there's a definite campaign, an indoctrination, radical ideologies are being pushed on our children. In some schools they're moving towards gender neutral uniforms.

[22:33] It's just another sign, isn't it? And then you've got politicians pushing this de-gendering of society. And so attempts have been made to criminalise parents who would dare to say that they affirm the biological sex of their gender confused children.

[22:50] Parents are banned from telling the truth. And people have said that, people who have said that a child needs a mum and a dad have faced threats of prosecution. That's in Australia.

[23:01] I heard stories of that. It's quite mind boggling. And then we've got men who pretend to be women winning women's sports. And not long ago Tasmania tried to make inclusion of a baby's gender on a birth certificate an opt-in decision.

[23:14] You can choose to have it or not. Meantime, heterosexuals are being attacked. In some countries they ban the words mother and father from official documents. Instead they'll use parent one and parent two.

[23:26] Some are saying that in France they'll ultimately remove the words mother and father from the French language. What? What? The WA government is pushing to allow surrogacy for men.

[23:39] So a single man or a man with a man can decide that they want to have a child and they'll custom design their family with no mother. And then we've got the attack on masculinity.

[23:52] It's toxic. Don't dare to say you're a man or act like a man. A man and masculinity with those positive attitudes of honour and strength and sacrifice and Aussie mateship.

[24:04] Yet ours is an increasingly fatherless society, isn't it? Now I speak to you as a heteronormative white man. So some might say I'm biased in saying this.

[24:14] But I put to you that the radicals want to destroy masculinity. To say it's something bad and toxic when a man acts like a man. Radical feminism is painting men as thuggish and violent.

[24:30] Some of them are. Yes. But they're saying some feminists hate men so much they hate all men. And human dignity is being attacked. Pornography. Apparently 49% of children under 13 are exposed to it.

[24:46] What are we doing? What are we going to do in such a culture? And let me put to you some response to these gross things I've been talking about. Let me come back to the scriptures and put it in that context now.

[24:59] But what is going on and who is leading us? What's God's plan? God's design. Government is part of God's design. He set up authority in the land with the intent to protect the innocent and to maintain proper order.

[25:13] Romans 13 talks about that every soul be subject. There's a subjection. There's a coming under authority. Romans 13.1 and through the following verses.

[25:25] There is no power but of God. God's designed government. It's his plan that it be righteous. He invented it. His authority is for our good. That we be governed well and wisely for our benefit and our blessing.

[25:40] God's plan for civil government is to punish evil and preserve the peace. Our Lord said at his rising and his descending that all authority is given unto him.

[25:52] All authority is God's truly. And government authority should be for righteousness and against evil. It tells us that righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people.

[26:04] Through the scriptures we see the records of government. We see kings of Israel and of Judah. Some did what was right in the sight of the Lord. Some did what was evil.

[26:16] And that was what counts it. That's how we should judge our government. Shouldn't it? Are they going to do right in the sight of the Lord or evil in the sight of the Lord? Doesn't matter what political party.

[26:28] You might have always voted a certain way. Are they doing good or are they doing evil? That must be the defining factor as to what we do at the ballot box.

[26:40] It says, Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil. Put darkness for light, light for darkness. Bitter for sweet, sweet for bitter. God says woe to them.

[26:50] If they're doing evil, it's evil. They can call it what they like. It's still evil. And God's people have a role to play to accountability of our governments.

[27:01] You know, it's rightful and good for you to talk to your local member of parliament when you have a concern with the direction of the government. John the Baptist called Herod out for what was right and wrong.

[27:12] But government today has lost its moral compass. And actually people are facing penalties for speaking what is right and speaking what is true. There's an autistic child that was removed from a family in the UK when the parents dared to say that they didn't agree with the transitioning of this young child to another gender.

[27:36] The child was taken from them. There was penalties. There's a prevailing darkness. Here's a little cartoon that says, Remember, this is the teacher.

[27:47] You're supposed to obey the state, not your parents. Now that's the kind of conditioning that's going on, isn't it? The activists are going into our schools. They're telling very young children to explore, identify, discover yourself.

[28:02] You know, you might have always thought you're a boy, but maybe you're actually a girl in a boy's body, you know. And the end result is that lives are being destroyed. There's a long-standing damage, a lifelong damage that's being done, an indoctrination.

[28:16] And it's multi-generational from the childcare centres and the kindergartens through to the universities. There's cultural Marxist thinking, the leftists pushing their policies that are destructive.

[28:28] And we need to rise up, don't we, as the people of God. And we need to be salt and light. And friends, it's a spiritual battle. You know, there's political parties and politicians, but they're just the human flesh and blood, the spiritual forces pulling them in these directions.

[28:44] And we need to know this, that there's a pulling down of strongholds. We need to pray, pray for our politicians, pray for our nation's government, for the one in power and the one in opposition, that God would lead them and guide them into truth, casting down imaginations and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

[29:08] It's a spiritual battlefield. And it might feel like we're like David against Goliath. It might feel like we're outnumbered. We're so few.

[29:19] Those who care, those who even would give a consideration to this issue. And we might feel like Elisha's servant.

[29:30] You know, he was out there and it looked like they were just outnumbered. He looked out and he was discouraged. He saw the overwhelming army coming against them, the horses and the chariots surrounding the city.

[29:41] And he cried out to Elisha, Oh no, my Lord, what shall we do? And this is 2 Kings 6, chapter 6, 16 through 7. And Elisha answered and he said, Fear not, for they that are with us are more than they that are with them.

[29:57] We've got angelic hosts. We've got God. That's the majority. One with God is a majority, isn't it? God is a majority. And it goes on to say that Elisha, sorry, Elisha prayed and he said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see.

[30:15] And he opened his eyes and he saw and the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. There's more with us than with them. Because God is on our side.

[30:26] We are on God's side. Amen. So let us go into the public square and not be afraid to speak up. Challenge your politicians when they're trying to bring in ungodly laws. Share the light.

[30:37] Write letters. Write to the Premier, the Prime Minister. We can expect increasing righteous persecution for righteousness sake. We can expect to get persecuted.

[30:49] Our Lord said that. It would come. Men are going to revile you. They're going to hate you. They're going to say all manner of evil against you. They're going to lie about you. He says rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven.

[31:02] It's hot and it's going to get hotter. Be the light for others to follow. Of course, we know with government there's laws and there's times where we ought to obey law, all civil law, unless the law contradicts the law of God, the commandment of God.

[31:22] So there was an occasion in Acts 4 where the people of God were preaching, teaching and declaring the name of Jesus. And the authority of the day hold them in and told them not to do that.

[31:37] And then Peter says, Peter and John answered and said, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge you. And we must obey God rather than men.

[31:49] And so they continue to witness. And so should we when it's illegal to gather, when it's illegal to pray, when it's illegal to witness. It must not stop us.

[32:01] Our Lord calls us to be salt and light despite what is happening in this dying world. They continue to witness despite the threats against them. And we're called to this truth of being salt and light.

[32:16] We're called to be that, to pray for our government and those in authority, to pay our taxes, to do what is godly.

[32:27] It tells us that when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked bear rule, the people mourn. That's Proverbs 29 too. Proverbs 29. We need to have the courage to stand and fight.

[32:44] To stand for the truth. To speak out for innocent life. When there's laws that threaten to bring abortion or increase abortion, we should stand up for the unborn. God creates life and God takes life.

[32:56] Same as euthanasia. There's a rightful aspect that God is in charge. We come under his authority. We've got the right and the freedom for parents to educate their own children.

[33:10] How they want to bring up their own children. And yet there's things now where they're even pushing people to use incorrect pronouns. So he, she, switch it around.

[33:22] Even though it's a he, you're supposed to call him a she. And that's a denial of truth. We should have the freedom of conscience to say what is true. And to be people of conviction and principle.

[33:36] That doesn't mean we want to be rude or harsh or hurtful. But we want to tell the truth. That's what matters. And as the world is getting sicker, we need to stand up and defend what is right.

[33:51] And pray for leaders who will govern us wisely. In Exodus 18 verse 22, it talks about able men who fear God. Men of truth, hating covetousness.

[34:02] The ones who we should elect, the people we should put on our ballot papers, God helping us to wisely discern that, is able men who fear God.

[34:12] Men of truth, hating covetousness. That's Exodus 18, 21 through 22. Now, we don't live in a dictatorship. We've got a democracy where we can help make a decision.

[34:24] We can help move the vote to those that are godly. And it's ultimately God's determination who gets elected.

[34:35] But we can have a say. And so we should have a say. Now, of course, the ones who stand for election, there might not be any who fear God. But there might be those who are at least truthful, who've got some integrity, who hate that which is clearly wrong, who stand for what is at least decent.

[34:54] And so it's important for us to consider these things. Because if we vote for someone who is promoting evil, we're effectively joining forces with them. We're saying Godspeed to them in their sin.

[35:06] We become partaker of their sin. So it's really needful as Christians to think of these things, to be salt and light. Right? This is kind of just more of an information blurb here this morning.

[35:20] But I pray it's helpful information to help us to consider these things. We're living in a culture that's godless and darkening. We need to be salt and light. And that means speaking up.

[35:31] It means standing out. It means writing to politicians. It means protesting. It means standing for what is good policy and good governance of our nation.

[35:43] To be strong and of a good courage. Like Joshua was told. To be strong and of a good courage. To think of men and women of God. People like Joseph and Daniel.

[35:54] They served in a civil government. They had a great godly influence in their time. Godly leaders. Ordinary people. People like Joseph. Deborah. Gideon. Samuel. David.

[36:04] Nehemiah. Daniel. And even the most unlikely people in their capacity served. Even the prostitute Rahab. Moses despite his stuttering.

[36:15] Isaiah had cried out, Lord, here am I. Send me. We can all have a part to play. To be salt and light. In different ways. In this anti-God culture.

[36:26] It tells us that the end times will be a time where people will turn away their ears from the truth. You know, they just don't want to hear the truth. They'd rather hear some fables. Some false stories.

[36:39] There's a clash going on. This culture shift between secular views and biblical truths. Men and women of God. Let's be salt and light.

[36:50] Just stand for what is right and true. Paul says, We can do nothing against the truth but for the truth. I ask you, in closing, whose side are you on?

[37:01] Are we against the truth or for the truth? For the truth. Will we be doers of the word? Will we stand up for what is right? When we see ungodly bills and intent to bring ungodly laws.

[37:16] Will we stand for the right? Will we speak up? It says, The people who know their God shall be strong and do exploits.

[37:26] And we've got that wonderful promise of prayer. If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray, seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and heal their land.

[37:41] Now the Christian worldview, it doesn't just stop at the church setting, at our church gatherings. It's our lives. The Christian worldview is about how we live in this world, this damned, fallen world, this hell-bound world, that we can stand and speak truth.

[38:00] We can even visit and pray for our politicians to be the salt and light that our land needs. Ultimately, Jesus is the truth, isn't he?

[38:15] The Lord Jesus is the truth. He's the way, the truth and the life. He is the light of the world. He's the one who can stop this corruption that is in the world. He is the one who can save the corruption that is in human hearts by his cleansing blood.

[38:31] And he's the only answer. Ultimately, it's a spiritual battle. We need the saviour. We need to be standing fast for what is right and true. If you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your saviour here today, he is the one that you need.

[38:49] The one. He is the one who takes us out of darkness into his marvellous light. He's the one that takes that corruption of sin, of misery, of that lost and hopeless condition and gives us an eternal hope, a light that shines brightly in our hearts.

[39:09] It says that the light of the knowledge of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ. And we don't have some picture on the wall to paint. Not that we could ever represent him fully.

[39:20] But the knowledge of the glory of God, it's in the face of Jesus Christ. Look unto him. By faith, look upon his face. See that face scarred. That face bruised and wounded.

[39:32] That face, those loving eyes tenderly looking deep into your soul. And he says, come unto me. Come unto me. Look into the face of Jesus today. Look into his face.

[39:44] And I pray that you'll say, Lord, save me. Save me. I trust you. In a world full of lies and falsehood, there is truth. Deep down in my soul as I put my trust in you.

[39:56]  And for every believer here, Lord, let us be that salt and light that this corrupt and dark world needs. Lord, let us be such a people. In Jesus' name. Amen.