Now in this chapter we see a concept come up a few times that is actually something
that's taught throughout the Bible and it's something that I've observed a lot in my life
and that is the fact that people believe what they want to believe.
Now the Bible says in the famous verse there in chapter 3 verse 9, the Lord is not slack
concerning his promise as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing
that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
So the Bible there says that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should
come to repentance.
He said elsewhere in 1 Timothy chapter 2 that God will have all men to be saved and to come
unto the knowledge of the truth.
And so God wants people to be saved and what does a person have to do to be saved?
Well over and over again the Bible tells us they have to believe and the Bible says that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.
The questions asked one time in the Bible, what must I do to be saved?
And they said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house.
And I'm not going to go through the hundreds of verses in the Bible that teach that salvation
is by faith not of works lest any man should boast.
It's based upon believing.
Well what we see is that God wants people to be saved and the thing that they have to
do to be saved is to believe but then the question comes up sometimes, well why does
one person believe and another doesn't?
That's what philosophers will ask and you know those that are Calvinists will say well
the reason that one person believes and another doesn't is because God just chose for that
person to believe.
He makes them believe and He makes another person not believe.
No that's not what the Bible says.
The Bible says that Jesus Christ by the grace of God tasted death for every man and Calvinism
is a false doctrine that teaches that Jesus only died for certain people and that's why
they believe because He chose them and died for them and whatever.
That's not biblical.
So 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 4.
These are the same people, right, from verse 3 that walk after their own lusts.
It says in 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 7 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 5, 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 athirst 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 uses 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 put it 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.
Look down at your Bible there in John 5, look at verse 38, and ye have not his word abiding
in you, for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
So these are people who do not believe on Jesus Christ.
It says in verse 39, search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life,
and they are they which testify of me, verse 40, and ye will not come to me that ye might
have life.
So these are people that believe not, and what's the problem?
Is it God's willingness that's the problem?
He's not willing that any should perish.
He will have all men to be saved, but he said you will not come to me.
I will that you believe on me, I will that you come to me, but you will not come to me
that you might have life.
Go back to John chapter 1, very beginning of the book of John.
Look at verse number 1 of John 1, the Bible reads, In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God, verse 3.
All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended out.
So we know that the Word of God is a light.
David said, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
And by extension, Jesus Christ is light, because the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus Christ said, I am the light of the world.
He said, as long as I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world.
The Bible said the Word of God is a light to our path.
The Bible said in verse 5, the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended
it not.
What does it mean to comprehend something?
To understand.
The Bible says the darkness comprehended it not.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light.
What's he bearing witness of?
Jesus Christ.
What's he bearing witness of?
The Word of God.
And it says that certain people would believe that God chose before the foundation.
Is that what it says?
No, it says that all men through him might believe, that all men through Jesus Christ.
What was God's intention in sending John the Baptist?
What was the purpose of sending John the Baptist?
That John the Baptist might preach and bear witness of the light and point people to Jesus
Christ, and the purpose was that all men would believe, that all men would be saved.
That was the goal.
But look what the Bible says.
He was not that light, saying John the Baptist was not that light, but was sent to bear witness
of that light.
That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on his name.
So his goal was that all men through him might believe.
Did everyone believe?
No.
The majority rejected him, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
Go to John 3, just a few pages over on the right, and I'm going to show you where the
believing what you want to believe comes in.
Look at John chapter 3 verse 16, of course the famous verse, For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
But let's keep reading to figure out why they don't believe.
Why did his own receive him not?
Why are people willingly ignorant of the fact that God created the earth, and that God is
going to bring all man's deeds into judgment?
Look at verse 19, and this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved.
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that
they are wrought in God.
These verses are often twisted and taken out of context to teach a works-based salvation.
Some people will use these scriptures to teach a works-based salvation and basically say
this, well you see the reason why these people can't get saved is because they're not willing
to give up their sin.
They're not willing to give up their sin, they love the sin too much, and they can't
give it up.
No, no, no.
There's nothing in the Bible that teaches you have to give up your sin to be saved or
else none of us would be saved, because if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us.
None of us can say I am pure, I've freed myself from sin.
We are still living in the flesh even after we're saved, we're still going to commit sins,
that's why we need to walk in the Spirit so that we don't obey the lusts of the flesh.
That is not what this is teaching.
But what this is teaching is that many people don't want to believe the truth because of
the fact that they do not want their sins to be reproved or rebuked.
They want to believe that anything goes.
They want to believe that there are no commandments that they have to follow.
They want to believe that everything's relative and that we can just live a life that's right
in our own eyes.
They don't want to believe in an absolute, this is right, this is wrong.
They want to have no rules.
Why?
Because they want to walk after their own lust.
The Bible said that the people who want to walk after their own lust, they won't believe
that God created the earth, because they don't want to believe that.
And here the Bible is saying that when people have evil, sinful deeds, they hate the light.
Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.
You see, those who are living in sin don't want to be exposed.
They don't want the light shined on them.
They want to go through life feeling that what they're doing is right and what they're
doing is okay, and they want to live in darkness.
Now Jesus Christ is light.
The Word of God is light.
The Gospel is a light.
The Bible says that in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that
believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel should shine unto them.
Now the Gospel is such good news, it's amazing why people would not want to receive it.
Because it's so easy to be saved, it's so simple to be saved.
Jesus paid it all.
I mean, it's all through Jesus Christ, it's the gift of God, eternal life.
And you wonder, this is such a positive message.
This is such a free gift.
Why would anyone not want to receive it?
But I'll tell you why.
Because it acknowledges the fact that they're a sinner.
It shines a light on their sin.
Because if Jesus died on the cross for you, for your sins, that means that you have sins.
And if Jesus died on the cross to save you from hell, that means you're on your way to
hell.
Or you wouldn't need to believe on somebody who's going to save you from hell.
And you wouldn't need to believe on somebody who's going to save you from your sins unless
you acknowledge that you've done wrong.
And people, they don't want to acknowledge that they are sinful, they don't want to acknowledge
that they're not good enough to go to heaven on their own, and therefore they reject the
Gospel because their deeds are evil.
Not only that, but just by believing on the Gospel.
See a lot of people try to separate it like you can just believe in Jesus and not believe
the Bible.
Jesus is the Word, number one.
And number two, when you believe on Jesus, the Bible says that he that is of God heareth
God's words, ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God.
Those that are saved believe the whole book, because it's a package deal.
You can't sit there and say, well I believe in Jesus but I reject everything else in the
Bible.
Wrong.
Jesus is the Word.
And so you have to believe the whole Word.
You don't have to know the whole Word, but you do have to believe on Jesus and those
that believe in Jesus will believe the whole Word.
They will hear God's Word and believe it.
And so by receiving Christ as Savior, by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, they are acknowledging
the truth of the Bible by doing that.
And in doing so they're acknowledging the sinfulness and wickedness of their own lifestyle.
And that is something that they're not willing to face and they're not willing to come to
grips with.
Go if you would to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, we see the same thing.
2 Thessalonians chapter number 2.
Why do people not want to believe?
If it all comes down to people believe what they want and those who want to believe will
believe and be saved and those who don't want to believe will not believe, you have to ask
why would anyone not want to believe?
Why would anyone not want to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?
And I'm going to give you three reasons why people don't want to believe the Gospel and
they don't want to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 10, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness
in them that perish, talking about those that are not saved, those that are going to die,
that's what perish means, to die, because they receive not the love of the truth that
they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie that
they all might be damned who believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Now look, why is God sending them strong delusion?
Is it just because He chooses certain people to send a strong delusion to?
No, it says they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion.
So you can see they're the ones who made the first move of not receiving the love of the
truth that they might be saved, and that's why God sent them the strong delusion that
they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believe not the truth but had
pleasure in unrighteousness.
You see, those who have pleasure in unrighteousness, and then basically when you bring them the
Gospel and the Word of God, you know what you're bringing them?
Righteousness.
The truth.
The Bible says that some people receive the love of the truth and some people don't receive
the love of the truth.
You know what that tells me?
That tells me there are two types of people in this world, those who love the truth and
those who don't.
That's the two types of people.
Now, the one who loves the truth, they want to believe the truth.
And you know, I've been in many situations in my life and had many issues brought before
me where I honestly did not care what was right or what was wrong.
I just wanted to know the truth.
You know, I didn't say like, man, I really want this to be the truth, or man, I really
want this to be the truth.
No, I just approached the Bible as just, what is the truth?
Whether I like it or not, I love it just because it's the truth and I love the truth.
But some people don't care about the truth.
Some people just want to believe what they want to believe, whether it be true or not.
They just want to believe what they want.
And you can show them evidence and show them facts and they will not believe in it because
they don't want to believe it.
Other people are a type of person who loves the truth.
And so when they're exposed to the truth, they embrace it.
Whether it's positive, whether it's negative, whether it's something that they would have
liked or something that they would have not liked, they just love it just because it's
the truth.
Because they love the truth.
Now look, 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 and 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 can't rely on someone else completely.
I'm a loser when it comes to my righteousness.
My righteousness is filthy rag.
They don't want to acknowledge that and therefore it is very difficult for a rich person to
be saved.
Now 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.
And 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.
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.
And 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, you know 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.
You know, 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.
See 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.
And so a lot of people, and look, I think those three reasons pretty much sums up why
most people aren't saved.
You know, either they just will not acknowledge God's laws, or they just have too much pride
to put all their faith in Jesus, they want to believe in their own righteousness, or
they just say, well I just can't believe in a God that would send anyone to hell, or I
just can't believe in a God that would send fiery serpents amongst the Israelites just
because they complained.
I can't believe in a God that would say, you know, that adulterers and murderers and rapists
should be put to death.
I just can't believe in a God that's so negative toward people.
But I believe in the God that's the real God, you know, whatever he's like.
And people's logic here is so ridiculous how they're just willingly ignorant of the truth.
For example, you know, you listen to these big time atheists like Richard Dawkins, and
he'll say things like this, he said, you know, I know for a fact, because people have said
to him, you know, isn't it possible that God could exist?
Like how do you know, how can you prove that there's no God, I mean you can't prove it.
And he said, well okay, it's possible.
And then he said, is there any chance that the God of the Bible is real?
No.
No chance.
He said space aliens might have created the earth.
Said it's possible.
You know, it might have been extraterrestrials that created the earth.
But he said, you know, God of the Bible, no chance.
And it's like, well why not?
Why is there no chance the God of the Bible?
Because the God of the Bible is homophobic, misogynistic, racist, you know, and it's like,
but here's what's so silly about that.
And obviously we know that God is a just God, a loving God, a righteous God.
I don't have a problem with who God is.
I like him.
I don't just love him, I like him, okay.
But let me say this, that is such a foolish reasoning to say, well because I don't agree
with or like God, I'm just going to click my heels together and he's just going to disappear
and go away.
I mean isn't that just foolish?
Well God's too mean so he must not exist.
Okay let's pretend for a minute that God were mean and I don't think God's mean.
God so loved the world.
Now obviously once people cross a line and, you know, get on God's bad side, you know,
they're going to face the consequences.
But in general God is a loving God, a long suffering God, he's slow to anger and of great
mercy the Bible tells us.
He is truly good and just and loving and kind.
But let's pretend for a minute that he weren't.
Let's just pretend that he were just really mean.
Would that mean?
Well he must not exist then.
And I often say to these atheists, well, you know, I'm homophobic or against homos or whatever.
Does that mean I don't exist?
Like do you not believe in me?
I'm misogynistic by your definition.
Does that mean I don't exist?
So isn't that stupid to say, well he must not exist because he's the X, Y, and Z.
Whether you like God or don't, and I like, I happen to like, I happen to love God very
much, but let me tell you something.
Whether you do or not, that doesn't have anything to do with whether he's there or not.
And those who love the truth just will say to me, show me the true God.
Not the God I want to exist.
Not the God that I have formed and fashioned in my own mind, but bring me to the true God.
Show me the true God.
Show me what the reality is of who God is, because I love the truth.
But they don't want to believe in the negative aspects of the Bible, but that is so foolish.
People will say, well, you know, I just see all the negative things in the world today
and it just tells me, you know, I can't believe in God.
Well look at all the negative things in the Bible, then look at all the negative things
in the world, and they match up perfectly.
The Bible matches reality.
The world is filled with suffering.
Just because we live in one of the nicest parts of the world, where there's much less
pain and suffering and sorrow, you know, the world's a pretty negative place, my friend,
because it's filled with sin and ungodliness.
And it matches up perfectly with what the Bible teaches.
Now go, if you would, to Isaiah chapter 30.
See the Bible says, for this they are willingly 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, whereby the world
that then was being overflowed with water perished, but the heavens and the earth, which
are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment
and perdition of ungodly men.
He says they're willingly ignorant that God once destroyed the earth with water, and then
in the future He'll destroy the earth with fire.
They're willingly ignorant of both those two things.
Why?
Because it's too negative.
Just way too negative.
And I just want to be all positive all the time.
Well, you know what?
You are living in a dreamland.
You're not living in reality.
You don't love the truth, you love lies.
Now you're in Isaiah 30, I'm going to read for you from 2 Timothy 4, because you know
that covers why unsaved people are unsaved, why they don't want to believe.
But the sad thing is that a lot of Christians today, they don't want to know the truth in
other areas of life.
They don't want to hear the truth about other areas of life.
Because the Gospel, believing on Jesus Christ getting saved, is just the beginning.
It's just the beginning.
There are so many other things we need to learn, and so many other areas in which we
grow.
We need to make sure that we keep the love of the truth alive in our hearts at all times.
And when we come to church, let's love the truth.
Bring your Bible to church with you, and open your Bible, and don't ask yourself, do I like
this sermon?
Do I like what the pastor's saying right now?
Do I like the implications of what the pastor's saying?
Do I like the changes that I need to implement in my life in light of what the Bible is teaching?
Do I like what the Bible is teaching right now?
Do I like this?
No, ask yourself, is the preaching that I'm listening to right now the truth?
Is it true?
That's all that matters.
And if you love the truth, you'll say, I love that preaching, and you know why I love that
preaching?
Because it's so true, that's why I love it.
Not why I just love it, it just makes me feel good.
I love it because everything he tells me to do, I'm already doing.
And everything he condemns is stuff I don't like, and stuff I don't even want to do.
But he's telling me that it's wrong, and I think it's great, because I've always thought
that stuff was wrong.
I've never liked that stuff.
No, no, no.
Is it true?
Just sit there and just think, is what I'm hearing the truth?
And if you love the truth, you'll love true preaching.
And if you don't love the truth, you'll reject a lot of true preaching just because it's
not what you wanted to hear.
Because often the truth is not what we want to hear.
Now you're in Isaiah 30, but I'll read for you from 2 Timothy 4.
Preach the word.
This is a commandment unto a preacher.
Preach the word.
Instant in season, out of season.
See sometimes the truth is in season, sometimes the truth is out of season, meaning that sometimes
it's popular, sometimes it's not.
You know, you think of clothing being in and out of season, in and out of fashion.
But you know what?
The truth is sometimes popular or stylish or, you know, it's like, hey man, I rejected
the pre-trib rapture before it was cool.
You know what I mean?
Because things go in and out of fashion.
They go in and out of style.
You know, and look, but it's not about what is popular or it's not about what the style
is or the fashion.
It's about what the truth is and it never changes.
And the Bible says preach the word.
Be instant in season, out of season.
Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine for the time will come.
And I do believe that he's talking about the day in which we're living, but I also believe
that he means that the time will come in every preacher's life.
I think the time came in Timothy's day.
He said the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.
But after their own lust, notice the same thing as those who walk after their own lust
or willingly ignorant.
He says after their own lust they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears
and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned into fables.
And they're choosing to go with a fable.
They're choosing to go with a fairy tale or a lie instead of going with the truth because
they just have itching ears.
It means that they just want their lust to be fulfilled.
They just want to hear what they want to hear.
And if they want to hear a positive only message, they're going to find a preacher that will
give them a positive only message.
His name is Joel Osteen.
You know, they're going to go out and they're going to find a preacher that tells them what
they want.
If they don't want to believe that salvation is by faith alone, they'll go find a preacher
that will tell them you have to earn it yourself.
And that strokes their pride.
That strokes their ego.
I've given up all these sins and I'm living a righteous life.
I'm following the Ten Commandments.
And it's all what they want to hear, it's what they want to believe.
He says people will turn away their ears from the truth and be turned to fables.
Look at Isaiah chapter 30 verse 9, that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children
that will not hear the law of the Lord.
And what that means, again the word will, they don't want to hear the law of the Lord,
he said.
Which say to the seers, see not.
And to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things.
Prophesy deceits, get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy
One of Israel to cease from before us.
The Bible tells us right here that there are people out there who just willingly just
do not want to hear the truth.
And I mean they'll say to the preacher, you know the prophet is the preacher, they'll
say to the preacher, do not preach what's right.
Preach us what we want to hear.
Preach lies.
And why would anyone want their preacher to preach lies to them?
Because they want the preaching to be smooth.
Listen to me now, according to this passage, the opposite of smooth things is right things.
Does everybody see that?
Cause he says right here, see I just don't like hard preaching.
You don't like right preaching.
Because hard preaching is right preaching.
Rough preaching is right preaching.
Because look at it in the Bible there, it's right there.
It says in verse 10, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things.
So the opposite of right things is smooth things.
So the one that's right is not smooth.
And then it says prophesy deceit.
So if you're deceptive, you're being smooth.
The preaching is going to be smooth.
You say, I don't know, Pastor Anderson is just so rough around the edges.
The preaching is just so rough.
It's like this abrasive, it's like those metal scrubbies that you do the dishes with.
You know what I'm talking about?
What is that called?
Steel wool.
See the steel wool, good preaching is like steel wool preaching.
It's rough and it's like you come to church and this is you and it's like.
But that's going to get you cleaned up.
Honestly, if you're doing the dishes and you have a really dirty dish when everything's
really crusted on there, and then you go get that poofy thing from the bathtub that women
use, what's it called again?
The loofah.
You get this little like puffy thing and you squirt the body wash on.
Okay, but look, if you take that into the kitchen and try to really clean a really dirty
and crusted dish, it's not going to work.
Some of you need to take that steel wool into the shower, but no, I'm just kidding.
But anyway, you know, I'm just joking.
But anyway, you take that little loofah, it's not going to get the job done, okay?
And right preaching, you know, it'll scrub you sometimes.
The point of going to church and learning the Bible is to get cleaned up.
You know, to get scoured and scrubbed of all the filth that we get in the world and all
the filth that gets in our mind and all the filth that we get in our life and when you
come to church, you know, and look, it might not be pleasant, but it's what's necessary
and if you love the truth, you'll love it.
But you know, there are those who love the loofah.
You know, they love to go to loofah Baptist and, you know, where everything's smooth and
everything's soft and everything's not.
And look, I'm not going to pretend that every sermon that I preach is enjoyable to listen
to, you know, and when I used to be in the pew before I was in the pulpit and I used
to sit in the pew and I went to a fire-breathing, independent Baptist church, you know, not
every sermon was pleasant to listen to, but I'll tell you right now, it was the truth
and so I kept coming back because I loved it, because I wanted to learn the truth, because
I wanted to believe the truth.
But you see, there are many people out there today who desire false preaching, false teaching,
and they just want to go to a church that can make them feel good.
And there are a lot of churches that can make you feel good, where you walk in, the music
makes you feel good, and you know, you get a really motivational, encouraging sermon,
but so much of the truth is being left out.
So much is being left unsaid.
And people who love the truth, they go to a church like that and they come out and they're
still hungry.
You know, they come to church hungry, and I hope you come to church hungry.
The Bible says, Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall
be filled.
And you know, I remember being a young person, being a teenager, and just hungering and thirsting
after righteousness and just showing up at church, I've got the knife in one hand, I've
got the fork in the other hand, I've got my bib on, and I'm like, I'm ready for the truth!
I'm ready for righteous, I'm hungry!
And then it's like you're given, you know, a salad and a glass of water.
And you're like, man, where's the main course?
You know, and I like to eat salad.
You know, and I like to drink or eat tomato soup.
My wife makes this really good tomato soup, and it's so good.
And I'll eat that tomato soup and think, wow, this is so good, this is the best meal.
But you know what?
If that's all I eat, an hour later, man, I'm starving.
That doesn't fill you.
That's like drinking a glass of water.
I mean, you're just not hungry, you're just not full from it.
And you know, it's like you're going to church and you're hungry, you know, you want something
with some meat on the bone, and you're just getting tomato soup, tomato soup, tomato soup.
And look, I love tomatoes, and look, I include tomato soup in my preaching.
But there's a big fat piece of garlic bread next to it, you know?
And then next to that, there's this giant drumstick, you know, of meat with all the
skin left on it and everything, you know?
And look, that's the way it should be.
A full rack of ribs should be there, you know?
Not the half rack.
Don't go to half rack Baptist, you know?
You want to have something that's going to give you that full feeling, and that's going
to give you the protein and the carbohydrates that you need to do something, to be something,
to build something, to work something, to get something that will give you the energy
and that will give you the meat on your bones to be strong in the Lord and in the power
of his might, to be able to withstand in the evil day, so that you're not spiritually emaciated
because you're hungering and thirsting after righteousness and you're getting just a little
smooth, you know, everything's gone, everything's been liquefied, everything's been put through
a strainer, you know?
Every sermon is strained out to get all the pulp out and all the chunks.
You know, we're going to take tomatoes and pour it through a strainer, it's just going
to be pure liquid, but then you're going to be even less full than it is when it doesn't
go through the strainer and that already doesn't fill me up.
So what I'm trying to say is that there are two kinds of people in this world, those who
love the truth and those who don't.
Now look, those who don't love the truth in regard to the fact that the Bible is the
word of God and that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world, the cost of that is to be damned.
The Bible says that they all might be damned who believe not the truth but at pleasure
in unrighteousness.
The cost for rejecting the word of God, the cost for rejecting Jesus Christ is eternity
in hell.
And you say, why would anyone reject it?
Because you know what?
They love things that are wrong.
Somebody who just loves everything that's sin and perverse and wicked, right?
Is the Bible wicked?
Is the Bible perverse?
Is the Bible unrighteous?
No.
So that's why they just don't like it.
Other people in their life, some people are not saved, listen to me now, there are people
that are not saved but they still are a truth-loving person and a truth-seeking person.
Wouldn't you agree with that?
You run into people who love the truth in so many other areas of life and they're a
truth seeker, they're a truth lover, and you know what?
When you give a person like that the gospel, they're very likely to receive it.
Because the gospel's the truth, they love the truth, it's a perfect match-up.
Other people just want to walk after their own lust and believe whatever they want.
But after we're saved, the search for truth doesn't end there.
It's not like, okay, the Bible's the word of God, Jesus is my savior, I'm on my way
to heaven, now I'm going to go find smooth Baptists and sit down and just live out my
life and do what I want and live after my own rules and whatever.
You know what?
We need to remain people who just want to know the truth.
And when you come to church, you come to hear the truth.
Get mad at the preaching if you like.
If I preach something and it makes you mad, that's fine, as long as you're getting mad
because what I preached wasn't true.
If I preach something that's not true and that makes you upset, you have every right
to be upset.
But if I'm preaching something that is mean or offensive or it goes against our society
or our culture and that makes you mad, you're not right with God.
Because that is just you not loving the truth enough.
And look, does the truth sometimes hurt?
Sometimes the truth is pleasant.
Sometimes the truth is great.
Sometimes the truth is very unpleasant.
Sometimes the truth is downright ugly.
But you know what?
I love it because I love the truth.
And you know what?
Be a truth-loving person in your life.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word and most importantly, we thank you for it
because it's the truth.
I love the truth and that's why, dear God, I'm thankful for having the word of God in
my hand that I know is the truth.
There's so many other sources of information that we hope are the truth but we can't always
be sure that what we hear is true.
But the one thing we can be sure of is that your word is true.
And so thank you for that rock that we can anchor our soul to of the word of truth.
And in Jesus' name we pray.