The question is, why does one person believe and another not believe?
And the answer is given throughout the Bible.
Because often people believe what they want to believe.
No matter what facts are shown them, no matter what the evidence shows,
many times people just choose to believe something because it's what they want to believe.
Now let me show you why that's important and show you that in the Bible.
Jump back if you would in the same chapter.
We saw in verse 9 that God's not willing that any should perish.
But look at verse 3 of the same chapter.
Knowing this first that there should come in the last days scoffers
walking after their own lusts.
Now let's focus in on that.
What does it mean to walk after your lusts?
It means whatever you desire to do and more notably what your flesh desires to do.
And of course in our flesh dwell is no good thing.
Whatever your sinful flesh desires to do,
you just do it without any regard for whether it's right or wrong.
You just live a life that says if I want to do something, I'm going to do it.
I'm going to do what I think is going to make me happy.
And I don't care about right and wrong.
I'm just going to walk after my own lust.
And what is lust?
It's a desire that's a wrong desire.
That's a covetous desire.
Desiring things that are supposed to be off limits to you.
And when you're just walking after your own lust, it means just if it feels good, do it.
You know, I'm just going to do what I want to do.
And that is the way a lot of people are living today.
If we were to go to the campus of Arizona State University 10 minutes away,
you'll find a lot of people who just walk after their own lusts.
They just live a life after their lusts.
Now look what it says in verse four.
These are the same people, right?
From verse three that walk after their own lusts.
It says, and saying, where is the promise of his coming?
Talking about the second coming of Jesus Christ.
For the fathers fell asleep.
All things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
For this they willingly are ignorant of.
That by the word of God, the heavens were of old,
and the earth standing out of the water and in the water.
So let me ask this.
Why is it that these people do not believe that in the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth?
Why is it that they do not believe that the earth was once destroyed by a flood of water?
Why is it that they do not believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ?
Why is it that they do not believe what verse seven deals with,
which is obviously God's wrath and destruction upon the wicked?
Why they don't believe in it is clear because they don't want to believe in it,
because they're not willing to believe in it.
It's their will that's the problem.
You see in Revelation 22, and if you would turn to John five.
In Revelation 22 verse 17, the Bible says,
and the spirit and the bride say, come and let him that heareth say, come
and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely.
Whosoever will, we often use the word will just to denote the future tense.
You know, I will be there tonight.
But often in the Bible, when the Bible use the word will, it means to want to.
Okay.
And so when he says whosoever will let him take the water of life freely,
he's saying whoever wants to, that's how we would put in our modern vernacular.
Whoever wants to let him take the water of life freely.
So why are people unsaved today?
Because they don't want to believe the truth.