What hope is there for the future? Zephaniah 2 verse 11 says, The Lord will be awesome to them, for he will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth. People shall worship him, each one from his place, indeed all the shores of the nations. What has happened? How has humanism come to hijack our culture? And how did communists come to take control of our governments? How did it come to the point where church synods are even debating what constitutes marriage, and whether Satan or hell exists, and whether unrepentant homosexual perverts can be ministers of the gospel? That professors can be removed from universities for stating the obvious, that biologically there's actually only two genders. Plainly Marxists have been infiltrating the five culture-carrying institutions of Saudi. which they identify as education, entertainment, news media, religious institutions, political institutions. The five culture-carrying, five culture-transforming institutions of Saudi. Well, our educational institutions have been subverted by evolutionism, and situation ethics, and sex education, and values clarification, now radical gender ideology, and critical race theory, and all kinds of hate campaigns. The entertainment industry has been so subverted as to glamorize evil, popularize profanity, and to celebrate ugliness. And now their woke films are getting to such a point that even the left has stopped complaining. In all too many sections of news media, reality is being rearranged by selective focus, and rather than news, you are receiving humanist views and propaganda, Marxist propaganda. Many religious institutions have been liberalized, ecumenicized, and syncretized in order to harmonize with the New Age, secular humanist, globalist New World Order, interfaith religion, and a revived paganism. Now, considering the infiltration and subversion of education, entertainment, the news media, and religious institutions, it shouldn't surprise us that in all too many of the political institutions, socialism, secular humanism, and globalism have succeeded in legalizing vice and criminalizing virtue, trying to disarm potential victims in preparation for a new world order, globalism with transhumanism, and all of this is antichrist. But on the church's side, we need to recognise that this disastrous hijacking of our culture has been enabled by the prayerlessness, compromise and cowardice in the church, by neglect of the Bible. There are many churches where they don't even open the Bible. The gullibility, naivety, ignorance of history. All of this combined has enabled the pagans to entice an entire civilization into chaos and to basically suicide. The enemy has used the time-proven tactics of corrupt and conquer and confused divide and conquer. Incompromising cowardice of many church leaders have kept many from identifying these threats and countering them with a bold and biblical response and opposition. We have been distracted from fulfilling the Great Commission. We've been diverted from obeying the cultural mandate. Through guilt manipulation, through the rewriting of history, through the distortion of reality, Christians have been overwhelmed, undermined, and neutralized. Is there hope for the future? With terrorism increasing, people talking about a possibility of a Third World War, what hope is there for the future? Well, as Christians, we can say God is sovereign and God is all-powerful. He is working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. There is power in prayer, and the Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. God is chastening His people, and He is purging and preparing us to be more prayerful and to be more powerful in His service. We need to understand the times, and we need to rightly divide the Word of Truth. Humanist society will inevitably collapse. It is self-destructive. Evil will destroy the wicked. What a man sows, that shall he reap. The AIDS plague and the sexually transmitted diseases, which I'm informed are about 65 varieties of them, will heap a bitter harvest of death, for millions have sown in the flesh. Zimbabwe and Venezuela are classic examples of the economic self-destruction that humanist societies bring upon themselves. But God is sovereign over the pairs of men, and history is his story. God is not predestined defeat for his people. The ultimate victory of the Kingdom of God is inevitable. Christians are not doomed to defeat, we are called to conquest. We are called to be salt and light, to preserve what is good, to expose what is bad, and to create a thirst for the living waters of Christ. We are commanded to make disciples of all nations. teaching obedience to all things that the world has commanded. We are to evangelize or fossilize. We are to pray or perish. The last command of Christ must be our first concern. We must give up our small ambitions and follow Christ. The Great Commission must be our supreme ambition. We are working towards the fulfillment of Christ's Great Commission and the complete and utter destruction of communism, Islam, paganism, secular humanism, transgenderism, and transhumanism. Psalm 2 declares, Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter. You shall smash them to pieces like pottery. Therefore, you kings, be wise. Be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear. Psalm 22 declares, All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before Him. For dominion belongs to the Lord. He rules over the nations. Psalm 72 declares, In his days the righteous shall flourish. He will rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. His enemies will lick the dust. All enemies will bow down to him. All nations will serve him. In these and so many other Psalms, it is made clear that the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ will be fulfilled. All the families of the nations will bow down before Christ. He will rule the nations. Because of these scriptural prophecies, we can have every confidence that the Great Commission will be fulfilled. All kings will bow down to Christ. All nations will serve Him. We are neither working at uncertainty nor are we afraid for the result. God's cause will triumph. The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. Revelation 11 verse 15. Wonderful to hear that pounded out in Handel's Messiah. Our duty is clear. We are commanded to pray. I urge you therefore that First of all, prayers, requests, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all those in authority, so that though we may live our lives peacefully and quietly in all godliness and holiness. 1 Timothy 2. We are to repent. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin and I will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7.14. We are to expose evil. Ephesians 5 verse 11, have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. We are to rebuild the walls, Nehemiah 2 verse 17, see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem is in ruins, its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem so that we may no longer be in disgrace. We are to seek justice, Isaiah 1 verse 16, stop doing wrong, learn to do right, seek justice. We are to select God-fearing leaders. That should be a nice change. Exodus 18.21 says, but select capable men from all the people, men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain. Appoint them as officials. God is sovereign. He raises up and he brings down kings and presidents. Jesus Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We praise God for the power of his word, the Bible, and for the power of his mighty answers to prayer. When we say there's power in prayer, we're actually saying there's power in God's answers to prayer. Now, many of us see a position like that of the Dutch building dikes to keep out the ocean. And much of Holland lies below sea level, and I've driven there, and it's quite strange when you're driving down, and there's the ocean up there, and they've got these massive dikes to keep the ocean's tides away from their lands. Maybe you've heard the story of the young Dutch boy who found a leak and he sticks his finger in the dike and he sends his sister to raise the alarm and gets help. Well many of us feel like that often, like we've got all ten fingers stuck in different dikes and our knees and our toes and our forehead and we're trying to just keep those leaks from spreading and we feel like we are standing against the tides and the ocean is out there, an ocean of evil and we're trying to build up the tides. as humanism and atheism threatens to overwhelm and flood everything we love and hold dear. We're trying to hold back the tide of the ocean of paganism, but we should consider the fact that the situation is actually the reverse. It's not our calling or within our power to hold back the tide of paganism, but we're called to turn the tide against paganism for the advancement of the Gospel. Time and history and the power of Almighty God are actually on our side. We are called to be the light of the world. All the darkness cannot put out the smallest light. Even a small flickering candle can defeat the darkness around us. That was the symbol of the Leipzig prayer meeting, which was the inspiration for the 7-year Jericho prayer march. Not all the darkness of atheism or communism could put out the smallest candle. It's humanism. which is busy frantically building dikes of online censorship to keep up the tide of Christianity, which they term against our community standards and hate speech. But the scripture makes clear, Habakkuk 2 verse 14, for the earth shall be filled with the glory of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Now, when I first heard that, I thought, the world's 70% covered in water, so we can expect the world to be 70% evangelized. But that's not what it's saying. It's not just as the water covers the earth, but as the waters cover the sea. How much of the sea is covered by water? Pretty much 100%. So basically, we've got the gospel is symbolized as having the power of the oceans. And humanism is trying to build its dykes to keep Christianity out of their society and off their online platforms and off their Facebook and MyFace and Twitter and all these other things. And they are failing. There's all kinds of cracks. Zephaniah 2 verse 11 says, The Lord will be awesome to them when he destroys all the gods of the land. The nations on every shore will worship him, everyone in his own land. Zechariah 14 verse 9 says, the Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord and his name will be the only name. The Lord has granted the keys of the kingdom to his people. What we bind on earth will be bound, what we loose on earth will be loosed. The gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus who loved us. Greater is Jesus Christ who is in us than whom is in the world. Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from us. This is what the Great Commission is calling us to. Jesus said, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And I know I will be with you always to the end of the age. This is what it means to pray the Lord's Prayer. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. When we understand this, it becomes clear that in fact it's a paranoid atheist and humanist who are desperately trying to plug up the cracks in their dikes against a rising tide of Bible-based evangelical Christianity, which threatens to sweep away all their filth and decadence and their degeneracy and deceit. Their rebellion against Almighty God is in danger because light is more powerful than darkness, because the ocean of Christianity is going to overwhelm their filth and come through their dikes. Successful films like Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ, Hacksaw Ridge, and C.S. Lewis' Narnia series, and the expelled No Intelligence Allowed film, or Ray Comfort's Evolution vs. God, and The Atheist's Delusion, the amazing Grace film on this victory of William Wilberforce against the slave trade, and then the great films by the Kendrick brothers, Flywheel, Facing the Giants, Fireproof, Courageous, War Room, and Franz Kanier's great films, Faith Like Potato, Hansi, Born to Win, The Roar. These are all putting cracks into the dikes of Hollywood humanism. And then Roe v. Wade and Lifebark and Unplanned. These are serious cracks coming in through the dikes of humanism. And Christian community radio stations are breaking the secular humanist monopoly of the airwaves. Christian magazines are breaking into what has been a secular humanist-dominated market in the magazine racks of shops and supermarkets. Desktop publishing, the World Wide Web, social media, podcasts are opening avenues for mass communication which once were reserved for media mongrels and billionaires, now a housewife at home can start to communicate to thousands through the wonders of the World Wide Web. There's a great spiritual hunger growing. Tens of thousands of people are turning up for transformation prayer meetings, mighty men's conferences, stadium events. The Cross Sabantu Ministers' Conference can mobilize 2,500 ministers from 68 countries around the world in one venue. 7,000 young people at a youth conference at Cross Sabantu. And twice a year these youth conferences are gathering young people from all over the country. Now these are serious breaks in the dikes of humanism. The rise of independent Christian schooling, home education, the growth of focus in the family, Way of the Master, Onsen Genesis, the establishment of the Creation Museum, one of the greatest museums in the world today, and the Ark Encounter, all these represent seismic events that are putting major cracks in the dikes of humanism. And that's why they're going hysterical with their online censorship and their fact-checkers, so-called. It's pointed out Satan was actually the first fact-checker in the garden. He said, has God really said? And so Satan is a fact checker, which means they're trying to stop the facts. Hate speech is, well, truth is hate to those who hate the truth. And so these fact checkers are not there to stop deceit, they're there to stop the truth from upsetting their deceit. And so we are seeing that the dikes of humanism cannot stand, because spiritual revival is coming that will fill the earth with the knowledge of the Lord as the seas are full of water. It is for us to remain steadfast, immovable, faithful, diligent, energetic for the Kingdom of God. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling, for God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and labor of love which you have shown towards His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. We desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end. Hebrews 6 verse 10 to 11. Not all the darkness can put out the smallest light. The candle in the dark is a symbol of the Leipzig prayer meeting, the protest against decades of darkness and the communist oppression and atheist indoctrination. The flame of faith and freedom spread. The Berlin Wall was breached, 9th of November 1989. The Iron Curtain collapsed, the Soviet Union was dismantled by 1991. The light of the Gospel of Christ triumphed over the darkness and deception of demonic communism. Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. He has conquered death, hell and the grave. He is risen. He has ascended. He is reigning on high. He is coming again to judge the living and the dead and there is no power on earth that can stop him. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to God except through Him. The Bible is the Word of God. It is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. It is like a hammer that breaks the rocks in pieces. It is sharp than any double-edged sword. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 15, 57-58. So, to people around you saying, are we in the last days? Are we heading towards Armageddon? Is Antichrist about to take over? You can point out to them there's always hope if you're a Christian. If you've built on the rock of God's word, if you're trusting in the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, then you're undefeatable. Of course, those people building the lands in the sand, they should be seriously worried, because their dykes are going to crack, and the floods of spiritual revival will come, and there's nothing they can do to stop it. Jesus Christ is Lord, and His Kingdom is going to come, and Lord will return, and He will destroy the armies of Antichrist, and there's nothing they can do to prevent it. They will have to call for the mountains to fall upon them. They will be so terrified they would prefer to be buried under an avalanche than to face the wrath of the Lamb when the Lord returns. Let's pray. Lord God, we want to thank and praise you for the power of your word, for the power of truth. We thank you, Lord, that we can know the truth and the truth will set us free. Lord, as we live in such a time of so much fear and so much anxiety about the future, we pray, Lord God, that you would help us to inspire and encourage our timid and fearful friends and neighbours and family members and point them to the hope in the future and for the absolute inevitable assurance of the victory of your kingdom and the fact that all your enemies will inevitably be defeated. We ask Lord God that you would help us to build our faith solidly on your rock and to inspire all those around us to fulfill the Great Commission. We pray this in Jesus' precious and holy name. Amen. Any comments, questions, complaints or criticisms? Well, yes. The Apostle Peter in Acts 2 said, this is what the Prophet Joel spoke about, in these last days God will pour out his Spirit upon all flesh. And so we've been in the last days since then. Also the book of Hebrews says in the past God spoke to the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us in and through our Lord Jesus Christ. So in one sense, we're in the last days since then. Yes, well I've had over the years some people ask me, do you think the Lord's coming before the end of the year? And I say no, and they say well I hope he does because I have to study for my exams or things like this. So a lot of people are putting those kind of hopes. There's some very irresponsible ideas out there. What we should be more concerned about is fulfilling the Great Commission, because the Lord said that this gospel will be preached to all nations, witnessed to all mankind, then the end will come. So if we want the Lord's coming to come sooner, we just work to fulfill the Great Commission earlier. The Lord will not return until his Great Commission is fulfilled. I think that's a more constructive way of looking at it. We had somebody put a bumper sticker on one of our cars. He's an American. He put, Behold, I'm coming soon. And then it said, Jesus Christ, Revelation 22. So I said to him, so that's good for you, quoting that sticker. When was that written? He didn't want to answer, but Behold, I'm coming soon. Yes, but that was written in the first century, wasn't it? And of course, that was speaking about the Lord coming in judgment upon Jerusalem, which happened in the 1870s, so that's a bit taking something out of context. But that's a popular bumper sticker out there as well. Speaking of bumper stickers, one of the more amusing ones I saw out there was, more people have died in Ted Kennedy's car than in nuclear accidents in the United States of America. which is also interesting because Ted Kennedy did have a girlfriend drowned in his car while he took about a day and a half to report to the police while she was lying at the bottom of the creek and very suspicious but he still carried on to be a senator because yeah right, justice isn't exactly equal out there. Any other comments or questions?