There are three reasons why people don't want to believe the gospel.
Number one, they don't want to have to acknowledge that God's laws exist.
They have pleasure in unrighteousness and they enjoy sin and they want to sin without
feeling guilty about it and acknowledging that it's wrong.
And the only way they can sin without feeling guilty about it is saying, this isn't a sin.
There's nothing wrong with this.
People don't want to go through their life doing some activity every day or every week
or every month knowing that it's wrong and feeling the guilt associated with knowing,
hey, I'm doing wrong every day.
So they don't want to feel that guilt.
So they'd rather just say, what I'm doing is fine.
What I'm doing is okay.
What I'm doing is right.
So that they don't feel guilty about it.
That's the first number two reason why people don't believe the gospel is because they have
too much pride to believe the gospel.
You see, the gospel is a humbling experience because you're basically acknowledging that
you have nothing to do with getting yourself to heaven, that it's not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
We want to think, well, I got there on my own or I'm good enough to go to heaven or
so and so is going to hell, but not me.
I'm much better than they are.
And so pride doesn't want to just say, I'm a sinner.
I deserve hell.
Nothing that I do is good enough to get me there.
I'm just trusting completely and relying on what the Lord Jesus Christ has done.
That takes a humble person.
A proud person does not want to acknowledge that.
That's why it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to
be saved because rich men are filled with pride because they've accomplished a lot in
life.
They've succeeded in life and a lot of times they've done it themselves.
A lot of times they've come from nothing, from not having any two nickels to rub together
and they have come to the place where now they have great wealth and power and prestige
and they got there all on their own and so they're filled with pride in their accomplishments
and a proud person is going to have a very hard time accepting the fact, hey, I can't
get to heaven.
I have to rely on someone else completely.
I'm a loser when it comes to my righteousness.
My righteousness is a filthy rag.
They don't want to acknowledge that and therefore it is very difficult for a rich person to
be saved.
A person who has failed in life, a person who has pretty much messed up everything that
they've done, that person is actually more likely to get saved because they realize the
difference between, and sometimes even a very sinful person, like remember the harlots and
the publicans, remember they flocked to Jesus because it was very easy for them to see the
fact, hey, I'm not good enough to go to heaven.
Well when you see the fact that you're not good enough to go to heaven, you're halfway
toward getting saved right there.
Once you can just acknowledge that and realize, hey, I can't make it on my righteousness,
I can't make it on my good works, I mean you're halfway there.
And so those that are sinful are halfway there.
Now people who think that they're righteous are very far from the kingdom of God.
And often they're just as sinful as the one who knows they're sinful.
They're just sinful in other ways that they're able to more easily justify.
Everyone's a sinner, my friend.
So those who believe that they're righteous, it's very difficult for them to swallow the
fact that they are condemned to hell without Jesus Christ.
And so that's the second reason.
So first of all, it's because they don't want to acknowledge God's laws.
Second of all, they have too much pride, and really pride is part of why they don't want
to acknowledge the laws.
Because they don't want to admit, I'm doing wrong every day of my life.
And here's the thing, they don't want to stop doing wrong.
And they don't want to admit that it's wrong.
So basically they just say, well God doesn't exist, or well the Bible's not true.
Or I just have a different interpretation of the Bible that allows me to believe that
drunkenness and fornication and all these things are acceptable in God's sight.
But number three is that people do not believe the Gospel because they can't accept the negativity
of the Gospel as far as the fact that hell exists, or negative things in the Bible.
You know there are a lot of things in the Bible that are negative today.
I mean don't tell me that the Bible's all positive or that the Bible's all fun and games.
I mean there is a lot of negativity in the Bible.
And they don't want to believe that because they want to believe in a positive only God.
They want to believe in a God who will never allow anyone to suffer, who will never punish
anyone.
That's just what they want to believe in.
Now look, I can understand that, can't you?
Can't you understand wanting to believe that hell's not real?
I understand that perfectly.
I mean can't you understand wanting to believe in a God who loves everybody, is good to everybody,
takes care of everybody, whether you've been naughty or nice, I mean he's going to take
care of you.
You know what I mean?
You're still going to get a gift under the tree or whatever.
They want to believe in a God who basically allows everyone into heaven.
Now look, I can understand that.
I can sympathize with that.
But you know what overrides that?
My love of the truth.
Only those who receive the love of the truth.
Those who love, and look Jesus said, I am the truth.
He said, thy word is truth.
And look, those who love truth, whether it's positive or negative, they just want to know
the truth.
And those who love the truth say, you know what?
We live in a negative world.
And of course there's going to be negativity in the Bible, and of course God is negative
in the Bible.
Yes he's positive, yes he's negative.
I mean he's a God of love, but he's also a God of wrath and indignation and judgment
and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries.