The recent federal election results are now evident in their landslide win. It was a resounding victory for a political system which is essentially anti-Christ in its ethos and practice. As such, given historical precedent and Jesus’ own words, this was bound to happen sooner or later. Australians have now taken yet another step further away from Godly morality. Thus, we as a part of the church collective face the age-old challenge of living as exiles in an increasingly foreign world.
Our identifying name of Australia was derived from the Portuguese explorer who, on navigating the world, named what he thought was “The South Land of the Holy Spirit,” literally, “Terra Australis de Spirito Santo.” Australia thus began as a penal colony in the 1700s but quickly grew on the fertile soil of Christianised values. Much of our history has been culturally Christian, that is, until the late 1950s.
How many old-timers recall the decade of the fifties, where one could leave their car unlocked in a Sydney car park, windows wound down with key still in the ignition, to later return from shopping to discover that their vehicle remained exactly as it was, untouched.
The metric of basic honesty is what an older generation remember when witnessing today’s current violent crime statistics. Theft, for example, has risen to an all-time high. Sadly, some judicial and political voices see theft through the alternate leftist view of it simply being “wealth redistribution” that insurance can afford to cover!
Throughout the world’s documented biblical history, God has always had faithful people who stood tall when all around them society cascaded into evil misadventure. Noah was one such example. In his faithfulness and fidelity, he found favour with God.
Another example was when the prophet Elijah felt threatened and alone, fleeing for his life under the death sentence from the incumbent evil queen Jezebel. At that time, God reminded him there were also some 7000 faithful people who also did not bow their knee to the pagan Canaanite deity of Baal.
The evidence of man’s independence of God is clearly seen at Babel, where God noted that: “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” (Genesis 11:6 ESV)
The spirit of Babel is still strong and alive, at least for a little longer. We are at the pinnacle of knowledge in science, physics, mathematics, astronomy, biology and quantum computers. Our latest fascination is with AI, a large language model that attempts to mirror human reasoning and intellect.
So as the faithful people of today, how do we adequately navigate the times in which we live?
Today, history again seems to repeat itself. The church collective is facing its season of societal irrelevance. Against the backdrop of recent royal commissions into systematic child abuse, where the institutionalised church shared the limelight, many Australians have been turned away from what the church offers. For many, Christianity has become synonymous with “stench!” Media of course has had a heyday capitalising on this narrative.
Millennia ago, the prophet Isaiah lamented that, “Truth has been lost in the public square.” There is a sense of prevailing dishonest dialogue in our post-Christian culture.
Do we trust the promises made by politicians at election time? Do we trust the media with their known selective reporting and leftist bias? Education also has its lies to atone for, indoctrinating our youth in the lie of evolution and sexual misadventure.
In 1910, 90% of all Australians identified as culturally Christian. When a town or locality was established, often the first civic asset to appear was a church building. We have concrete evidence of this when travelling throughout our countryside, where many abandoned church buildings exist. The status quo of Australia being known as a culturally Christian country continued through to the end of the 1950s.
By the time the roaring sixties arrived, the birth control pill was in widespread use. Coupled with promiscuous music, we saw the hippie movement and the sexual revolution that went with it.
Abandonment of Christian virtues led to increased crime rates, changed family values and a redefining of identity.
Today, some sixty years hence, we’re not only dealing with increasing crime, rampant drug usage but also the seemingly insoluble tragedy of increasing suicide rates.
Have we forgotten the stabilising roots that blessed us with greatness and prosperity? We’re certainly experiencing the consequences. At the heart of our collective yearning is a search for identity.
Having long abandoned the Christian ethos that acknowledges a Creator God and His teachings of absolute moral values, we have found ourselves in new, unexplored territory.
Sadly, our “experts” encourage finding identity by exploiting sexualisation in our youth. The masquerading Safe Schools program, for example, was targeted at those in their early primary school years. The mantra is that anyone can choose to be of any of the allegedly 57 identified sexual preferences – all, of course, in defiance of basic, human biology.
As one commentator put it, “We are searching for a new way forward, but we haven’t yet found anything to replace Christian virtue,” as epitomised in the Ten Commandments, and manifesting as love and care for the less fortunate (as opposed to the survival of the fittest mantra.) Christian virtue was foundational in the development of Western law and civil mores.
Historically, what we’re talking about is described in biblical language as the far-reaching tentacles of symbolic “Babylon,” an anti-God rhetoric, an anti-God educational system, and an increasingly hostile anti-God government legislation.
The tentacles of Babylon are now strangling the very foundations of western democracy, which was founded on Christian ideals.
Note that democracy can only successfully function where its peoples are fundamentally honest and truthful. Democracy cannot and does not work where there is corruption, self-interest, misinformation, and oppression.
Our generation is on a roller-coaster ride away from workable and proven moral values. Australian history professor Dr Elizabeth Taylor recently stated that, statistically every civilisation throughout history that embraced LGBTQ values, within a generation, were conquered by a stronger foreign power.
So, what is the Christian response to this backsliding? How do faithful believers successfully navigate the times in which we live? Foremost, of course, what does Jesus say?
Well, we need to read no further than his warnings in Matthew chapter 24 and the prophetic vision He gave as recorded in the book of Revelation.
“As in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man…” stated Jesus, implying that life continued normally and unabated, with people not caring to know of what the impending consequences are.
The reference to the times in which Noah lived also includes the characteristic of extreme violence, sexual depravity and every imaginable evil.
The cry in Revelation is, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues.” In other words, be separate. Don’t hedge your bets both ways, with one foot in the world and the other allegedly in Christ! No one can serve God and mammon at the same time. Lukewarm isn’t an option!
To that end, Jesus’ prayer as recorded in John chapter 17 is interesting in that Jesus prayed that His followers were to remain in the world, but not be of the world.
There is a distinction, a fine red line between what is good, holy and true, and that which is perverse and evil. Many, unfortunately, do not know when the subtlety of compromise begins.
We must know what to embrace, and what to flee from or stand strong on. For example, we find in the biblical story of Daniel and his three Hebrew friends, as exiles in a foreign land, that they didn’t object to being given Babylonian names, nor did they oppose the wearing of Babylonian clothes, or for that matter having to learn the Babylonian language.
What they did object to and drew a firm non-negotiable line was when it came to eating the gentile king’s food. That’s where they did not compromise. They knew where the line of demarcation was. Their love for God and His ways were greater than the edict of a most powerful king!
The lesson for us is to know what it is to be Christ-centred, Bible-believing, Spirit-led and Commandment-observing faithful disciples, and in doing so, resolutely know where such high principles stand in today’s society. Sometimes this involves sacrifice.
And the only way to know where the proverbial line of demarcation is to fully abide in Jesus Christ, and allow His words to abide in us. As such, only then can we be lights in a darkening world. Only then can we reflect a powerful witness of Godliness in all we do and speak.
Of course, in anchoring ourselves on the sure rock of Jesus Christ, in order to adequately stand against today’s adversarial winds, we must prayerfully seek not only favour but also wisdom.
Favour is the divine providential grace that provides amazing opportunities and reception, and wisdom is the divine prerogative of God’s word emanating from our hearts and minds. To quote Jesus, “That men may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
The Babylon of Daniel’s day still “tower’ over society today! In a vision to the incumbent King Nebuchadnezzar, this Babylonian image would exist in various manifestations until Jesus returns.
And, at that time when Jesus does return, coming out of the “great tribulation” as detailed in Revelation, is an innumerable multitude from every nation, tribe and language, now repentant and singing salvation songs to God and to Jesus Christ. “These are they who have come out of tribulation,” the angelic messenger told the ageing John, who himself was exiled on the Isle of Patmos.
Formerly enchanted and held captive by “Babylon”, they are the ones who witnessed the testimony of our lives today. They heard our confession of faith in Jesus, regardless whether it was politically correct or not. They witnessed the suffering of faithful followers of Jesus. And it made an impact.
You see, when Babylon falls, so will the deceptive and untruthful narrative that dominated the public square for so long. The blinded and enslaved will finally be liberated. This is what we’ll call the third exodus.
The first exodus occurred 3500 years ago for the ancient Israelite people, as they departed victoriously from sinful and oppressive Egypt, to sojourn for a season in the wilderness before entering the promised land.
The next exodus was our own personal redemptive journey from sin and enslavement. When responding to the divine call, and repenting from our sins, Jesus our Good Shepherd led us through trial and difficulty to green pastures where we are already citizens in the promised Kingdom of God.
The third exodus is when the domineering and unassailable Babylon finally falls; when the anti-Christ rhetoric that looked so compelling, so powerful, that controlled the narrative, manipulated the economy, and by its “sorcery” enslaved its billions.
The Babylonian system or towering image as depicted in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream has existed for millennia. It began as the golden age of the Babylonian dominance, to be replaced by the silver age of Persia’s rule, only then to fall to the bronze age of the Greeks. Eventually, Greece fell for the iron grip of Roman conquest. Today, the prophetic image of feet of mixed iron and clay (strong and weak countries) is none other than our own United Nations – Babylon’s last stand!
The Babylonian age is inevitably coming to a close. The towering image collapses at the arrival of Jesus. Our exodus from sin and Satan, now as proverbial first-fruits (enlisted ahead of time in Christ in order to bless everyone else who follows), is a precursor to the redemptive hope that exists for the everyday person who had been deceived and were haplessly held captive by an evil system.
Until that day, followers of Jesus have work to do. We must not fail in our authentic stewardship as faithful witnesses of Jesus by knowing who we are, where we stand firm, and where the proverbial red line of no compromise exists. Our testimonies will eventually aid many others in what we’ve described here as the third exodus.
Knowing that our identity is in Jesus Christ, with our names written in heaven’s Book of Life, also comes stewardship and responsibility. Jesus, thus confident of his good work in us, says, “You are the light of the world!”
“Don’t hide under a blanket what I’ve given you. Shine this light from the highest vantage point!”
In his letter, the apostle John reminded the faithful that, “He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world,” – the latter referring to the devilish puppet-master manipulating the towering Babylonian image.
The final word on this comes from Jesus when He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go, and make disciples of all nations…starting at Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”
We just happen to live at the ends of the earth aptly named, “The South Land of the Holy Spirit!” The task we have is big. However, the God we serve has equipped us with His Spirit.
In our exodus from this world’s ways, we who are commissioned with a divine calling, Paul’s advice is apropos:
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2 ESV)
