Latest / The Slippery Slope / Prophecy, Power, and the Battle for Truth.

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Prophecy, Power, and the Battle for Truth. · The Slippery Slope

• 0:10
  OK, welcome back to the Slippery Slope Podcast.
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  So today's conversation is going to be fairly intense,
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  thoughtful, probably a little a little uncomfortable for some.
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  I've got Brian from Man of Faith Ministries with me.
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  Brian, thanks for joining me today.
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  Always good to be here with you, Jay.
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  We're with what we're seeing around us at the moment.
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  There is. These are serious times, and I
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  believe serious times call for serious conversations.
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  Yeah, they they really do. So today we're going to talk
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  about prophecy, biblical prophecy, and whether what we're
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  seeing unfold in the world lines up with Scripture, and
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  specifically how modern governments like in Australia
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  and the UK are shaping cultural and legal shifts that some
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  Christians believe mirror prophetic warnings.
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  So true, we're not quite as bad here as as the UK at the moment,
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  but I'll say this clearly, we're not here to attack individuals
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  or or set groups. We're here to examine ideas and
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  the spiritual trends because Scripture tells us in Ephesians
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  6, verse 12 that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
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  against principalities and against powers.
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  So this is about spiritual realities that are influencing
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  the systems. OK, so let's let's start.
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  We'll start fairly broad. OK, so when people talk about
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  prophecy unfolding, they usually jump straight to Revelation.
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  But prophecy isn't just about beasts and symbols, it's about
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  patterns. Do you, do you think?
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  Do you agree? Exactly.
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  The Bible shows us many recurring patterns.
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  I've just done a video on Revelation and Daniel where what
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  Daniel was talking about hundreds of years before is what
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  Revelation is then speaking about.
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  But in another one, in Timothy 3 verses 1 to 5, Paul writes in
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  part this Know also that in the last days perilous times shall
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  come. Then he goes on to describe
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  people as lovers of self, and we're seeing that with this
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  modern generation. Then lovers of pleasure more
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  than lovers of God. Now, you don't need a theology
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  degree to see the cultural shift towards self exaltation.
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  Lovers of self, It's me, me, me. We see more of it, but the
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  question is, are we watching society move towards what
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  Scripture describes? Yeah.
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  Yeah, yeah. 1 theme that keeps coming up is the idea of
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  authority and who has it, who deserves it.
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  Historically, Western nations were built with at least an
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  acknowledgement of God. Now we seem to focus more on
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  acknowledgement of country. But we had, you know, at least
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  that acknowledgement of God. But now there's increasing
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  tension between biblical convictions and state state
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  directives. Exactly.
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  It's and as you said, it's we seem to be going to with the
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  welcome to country and worship at that.
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  We seem to be going towards worship, worshipping the
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  creation and not the creator, and that will steer us on the
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  wrong path. And Romans 1 describes what
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  happens when societies do suppress the truth.
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  It says they did not like to retain God in their knowledge.
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  When that happens, moral confusion is set to follow.
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  That's that's a given. And the issue isn't just policy
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  changes, it's the underlying philosophy.
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  Is the state becoming the ultimate moral authority?
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  Well, I say it's the immoral authority, but that's the
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  question. Yeah, and that's it's it's
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  fairly strong language. I've I've spoken before previous
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  called podcast. My opinion is that the
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  government is trying to replace God, is putting itself forward
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  as God and that's why you referred to Rome as one.
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  We have that reprobate mind. When you look up what reprobate
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  is talking about, it's, it's saying that you've got a mind of
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  lesser quality. You literally, these people
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  literally cannot think properly. They have low quality.
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  They just cannot think properly because they've given themselves
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  over, completely given themselves over.
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  But biblically it's, it's not a new concept, is it?
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  Most definitely not when we think about the tower of Babel
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  in Genesis 11. It is humanity said let us
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  build, let us make a name now that was collective self
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  exaltation back then and we see more and more of that now and
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  then we can look to Daniel 3. Nebuchadnezzar erects an image
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  and commands worship. And when government begins to
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  define morality, identity and truth, and truth's a big one and
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  sort of defines them apart from God, that's historically been a
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  warning sign. And we all need to see that as a
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  red flag and as a a warning sign today, Jay.
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  Yeah, so some Christians see parallels in modern governments
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  with biblical views on life. Gender, speech or or conscience
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  increasingly clash with these modern legal frameworks.
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  What? What do you think?
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  And yeah, true, they're they seem to be making up the laws to
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  suit those type of constructs. But here's the key to it all.
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  Prophecy often warns of centralized authority demanding
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  conformity. I look at that as the one world
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  government 11 leadership for the whole world.
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  And going back to Revelation 13, it speaks of a system that
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  regulates buying and selling and enforces allegiance.
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  And we must. We've got to be careful today.
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  Not every regulation equals prophecy fulfilled, but the
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  trajectory, the direction we're going on, the direction that the
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  hierarchy and the elites and that want us to go on, that is
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  what really matters. We need to keep an eye on that.
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  OK, so let's talk about fear for a second.
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  One reoccurring theme in discussions like like this is
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  the idea that the fear is a powerful social tool.
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  Well, it's more than a, a tool. It's, it's a way of it's
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  becoming a way of life for, for governments to instill fear.
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  Look, we, we look at the World Health Health Organization and
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  our own health departments and that they instilled fear in the
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  people to get to the ends of the main or the means of the ends of
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  what the government wanted. And Scripture repeatedly tells
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  believers to fear not that God governs throughout truth and
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  love or through truth and love. Sorry, tyranny, biblically
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  speaking, often governs through fear when the public discourse
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  is dominated by the fear. Fear of a crisis, fear of
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  instability, fear of social inclusion even, and fear of
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  economic factors. It can condition populations to
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  surrender their freedoms more easily.
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  And that is that's dangerous for the people.
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  It's good for the hierarchy, but it's dangerous for the people.
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  Yeah, well, some argue that modern institutions, not just
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  governments, I think that's what you're saying, that not just
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  governments, but corporations and media, they're just
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  amplifying fear based messaging because it's good for their it's
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  it's good for their stats basically.
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  Absolutely that's we need balance governments, they do
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  respond to real crisis with we, we see that they, they do help
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  us in real, real sort of crisis times.
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  But then they they seem to be going that step further to bring
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  those crises into line with what they want to establish.
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  And the the issue isn't about whether that fear exists.
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  It's whether the fear becomes the primary lever of influence
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  that they're using. And as you said, yeah, the the
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  institutions. And it's not just the
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  government, it's the institutions as well.
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  And in Second Timothy one verse 7, it says, for God hath not
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  given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a
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  sound mind. We all need to have a sound
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  mind. If public culture increasingly
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  discourages sound minded dissent, that's concerning.
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  So. So I suppose this is where
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  things get controversial. Some Christians believe
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  authorities sometimes shape narratives strategically.
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  I think I've seen that emphasizing certain threats
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  while downplaying others to influence behaviour.
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  What? What do you think?
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  You're absolutely right there, Jay.
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  It's we are seeing it and we must also be careful because
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  it's easy to slide into speculation.
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  But historically governments have used messaging to shape the
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  public response. Look at in Queensland during
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  COVID how the people who didn't want to have that medical
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  procedure were being segregated by the the society around them
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  because of what the government was saying.
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  The government was saying it's those people that were causing
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  the problem to spread and things like that.
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  And that is a public, they get a public response to that
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  strategy. And it wasn't a conspiracy.
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  We saw that it's documented political strategy that they
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  use. And the prophetic question is
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  this, does society become more compliant when it operates in
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  constant anxiety? Because that fear, that anxiety,
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  will bring people into line if they think, if they constantly
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  hear, it's for your own good. Yeah.
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  And you know that compliance, it makes it easier to centralized
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  power, I'd say. I think that's the way it goes.
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  Oh yeah, certainly does. But going back to Scripture, it
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  warns about deception in the last days.
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  I don't know if we're in the last days or not.
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  I'm not a prophet. I'm just a just a street
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  chaplain that Jesus said in Matthew 24 verse 24 that
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  deception would be so strong that if possible it would
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  deceive even the elect. The issue isn't about partisan
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  politics. It's about spiritual discernment
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  because everything happens in the spiritual world and then it
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  comes down into our physical world.
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  OK mate, let's let's bring this a bit closer to home.
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  So we've got in Australia and the UK, we've been seeing
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  increasing debates around speech laws, religious freedoms
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  depending on the religion and public morality.
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  What are your? What do you think about this?
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  That's that's it's so true. It's that's the believers,
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  Christians feel attention and it doesn't matter where they are in
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  the world when biblical teachings conflict with evolving
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  social standards. And we're definitely seeing
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  social standards evolving all over at the moment.
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  But we must decide as Christians, do we conform or do
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  we stand firm? And Acts 5 verse 29 says to us
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  we ought to obey God rather than men.
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  Now that doesn't mean open rebellion.
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  It means conscience before God if we see the government telling
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  us to to do something that goes against God's law.
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  I would personally follow God's law over government over man's
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  law any days a week. So history shows that whenever
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  government authority, what expands into defining ultimate
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  truth, it creates conflict, conflict with faith communities,
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  I think. Well, yeah, the the early church
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  faced that under the Roman rule. They weren't persecuted for
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  worshipping Jesus privately. They were persecuted for
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  actually refusing to say Caesar is Lord.
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  And that's the line. It's it's not about them saying
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  that that Jesus is Lord, that he didn't worry about that in
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  private. But they wouldn't say that he
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  was the Lord. So that's why he took action
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  against them. Yeah.
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  So, OK, so then ask the question everyone, I think a lot of
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  people want answered. Is this it?
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  Are we living in the final prophetic phrase, do you think?
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  Phrase. I think nearly every.
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  Generation phrase, yeah. It's all good.
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  Do you want to read? I also, yeah, I was just saying.
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  So do you believe? Are we living in the final
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  prophetic phase? Well, Jay, every generation, I
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  think, has asked that question. The early Christians thought so.
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  But here's what I I think is the wise answer.
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  We don't set gates. It's like it tells us in the
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  Bible that that we're not supposed to know everything, but
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  we can watch the patterns. And Jesus said to Matthew in 24
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  verse 8 that certain signs are the beginning of sorrows.
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  We hear about the birth pains and they increase in frequency
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  and intensity before delivery. Whether this is the same final
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  stretch or just another cycle, the spiritual preparation that
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  that we've got to be ready for is the same.
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  So, So what, what do you think? What should believers, people
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  that would call themselves Christians, what do Bible
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  believers actually? What should they actually be
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  focusing on then? OK, I always tell people what 3
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  main things to start with. Their faithfulness, their
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  holiness, and using their discernment.
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  The danger isn't the government overreach alone.
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  The danger is our spiritual complacency.
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  If society drifts away from God, which it seems to be doing, the
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  church which is the body of Christ, which is Christians all
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  over the world, we must not drift with it.
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  We need to keep the focus on God.
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  So you you're kind of saying so instead of instead of panicking
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  and living in that fear with, with you, you're looking for,
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  you're calling for clarity. Yep, most definitely.
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  Christians are are not called to paranoia.
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  Some dabble in paranoia. It's not like some dabble in
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  spiritualism and things like that.
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  But we're called to be Watchmen. We're called to watchfulness.
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  Revelation 3 verse 2 says be watchful and strengthen the
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  things which remain and that's the posture that we have to
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  adopt as Christians we need to be watchful and we need to
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  strengthen our faith if if what we're doing and what we're we're
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  looking forward to otherwise we're not setting a good example
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  the. Question So, so tell me, do you
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  think, do you think Western governments are moving towards
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  this, this posture I suppose you can say that marginalises
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  biblical Christians or biblical Christianity?
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  I believe that cultural Christianity is fading, and when
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  society moves away from the biblical foundations in this
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  book here, the the laws of the land will reflect that shift.
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  And that's not persecution yet in most cases, it's a cultural
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  transformation. But if truth becomes negotiable
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  and conscience becomes conditional, then yes, believers
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  will feel the increasing pressure.
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  That's what do we know is truth. OK, So what is truth?
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  So what? What's the antidote then?
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  What do you think? How do we fix it?
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  OK, well, just just my opinion. We need boldness.
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  We need to be bold Christians. That's that's have our
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  principles rooted in love. We speak the truth.
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  We know it's the truth in this book, but we don't hate.
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  We stand firm, but we don't rage.
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  It's not our, not our our place to offer judgement on people or
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  to get angry at people. That's his.
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  That's his position, not ours. The early Church changed the
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  world not by seizing power, but by refusing to compromise.
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  OK, so listen, a lot of Christians seem to think that
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  like Bible prophecy, we've been talking, that's the main
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  framework we're talking about Bible prophecy.
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  They, it seems that they they have this opinion that's very
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  heavy and it's kind of scary. Do you think is there actually
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  hope in prophecy? I think there's more hope in
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  prophecy than than in our in our material world.
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  Prophecy isn't about doom and gloom, it's about the victory at
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  the end. And you and I both know that
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  revelation ends with Christ reigning.
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  Governments rise and they fall. They're only human empires
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  collapse. That Psalm 2 reminds us that
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  earthly rulers ultimately answer to God, like everyone.
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  It doesn't. They still have to answer to God
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  at the end of it. And the believers security, our
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  security blanket so to speak, is not in the Parliament in
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  Canberra or the Parliament in Westminster.
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  Our security is in Christ and what He tells us and what He did
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  for us. So, so if someone you know a
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  Christian out there is feeling they're listening and they do
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  feel anxious, what would you, what would you say to them then?
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  OK, firstly I would tell them to turn off the noise, stop the
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  distractions around them because they the the dark 1 uses those
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  distractions to to lure us away or to to tempt us with other
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  things. Open your Bible people and pray
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  for discernment that overall, don't let fear shape your
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  worldview. Let scripture shape it.
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  And remember that prophecy is meant to prepare us for what's
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  coming, not terrify us to what's coming.
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  Yeah, that's good. That's good, man.
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  That's, that's really good. Thanks.
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  Not a worry. It has to be J The Church has
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  survived Rome King's revolutions and ideological movements, and
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  one of those ideological movements is still being pushed
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  massively today about turning from truth altogether,
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  biological truth, scientific truth.
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  But they don't realize they've already lost this battle.
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  Christianity will survive this era as it has through all the
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  eras. And the question is, will we
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  stand faithfully in our generation?
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  With regards to the future generations, the way they're
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  going, we can only pray for them.
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  Mate, thanks very much for saying all that.
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  Listen, how encourage anyone listening to this please follow
• 21:44
  Brian, what's your channel? Please give you a plug for your
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  channel on that. Please mate.
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  It's at Man of Faith Ministries on YouTube.
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  Man of Faith Ministries on YouTube and I see all your
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  shorts and that quite a bit. What are you focusing on at the
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  moment? I'm doing a series on Ezekiel
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  and how the book of Ezekiel actually talks to how people are
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  being deceived by organisations, by things groups in our society
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  that's trying. They say they're for for set
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  purposes, but what they are is actually leading people away
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  from the goodness of scripture, the goodness of God and the
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  Ezekiel's a very a book that's full of wisdom when it comes to
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  things like that. I speak mainly in the in the
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  context of things like Freemasonry, how we can't or
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  anything that's done in secret where the people don't know what
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  the end game is, the initiates don't know what the end game is.
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  They need to be wary of that and the Christians especially.
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  Nice. OK mate.
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  Thanks very much for joining me today.
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  Thanks everyone for listening to the slippery slope.
• 23:12
  Please check out check out Brian on Man of Faith ministries on
• 23:16
  YouTube. Please like and subscribe and
• 23:19
  hype if you can. My name is Jay Fallon, Brian
• 23:22
  Mayne. Thanks for listening to the
• 23:24
  slippery slope. They just.
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  Feel