They Believed a Lie by Pastor Keith Boothe

In this transcription, the speaker talks about the danger of believing lies and false teachings in the last days. They discuss how some churches preach that everyone is a child of God and will be saved, but the Bible says otherwise. They also mention that many preachers focus on money rather than preaching about sin, hell, and godly living. The speaker emphasizes that there is only one way to God and heaven, through Jesus Christ and his finished work on the cross. They warn against believing the lie that being a good person is enough for salvation. And the title of my message this morning as we go into the word of the Lord is they believed a lie. They believed a lie. Paul was writing to the Thessalonians and he said this in verse 11 and verse 12. And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned. God who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. I'll go back to verse two. Let me read another passage of scripture, starting at verse two. Now, we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him that you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that as God sits in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. Remember you not that when I was with with I was yet with you, I told you these things and now you know that withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time for the mystery of iniquity does already work only he who now less will let until he be taken out of the way and then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivable deceivableness and unrighteousness in them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved and for this cause, once again, verse 11, God shall send in strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned to believe not the truth, but a pleasure and righteousness. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. Let me read that last part again, for God has from the beginning what chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth, where unto you are called by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our father, which has loved us and has given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work and word. Let's pray this morning. Father, we come before you once again, Lord, just asking you to bless your word today. Father, how that we need your word each and every day. Lord, how it encourages us and blesses us and teaches us and also reproves us. And father, we ask you now just to be with us during this time in Christ's name and a man and a man. We are warned in the word of God that in the last days, perilous times will come. Perilous, that word means dangerous, uncertain, frightful days full of peril. As I thought about what this means, I came to the conclusion that these days would be full of dangerous deceit and cunning lies about the gospel. And in these last few decades, we have seen it come to pass. How do we know that we are in the last days? Because we are living in those perilous times. Here is a true doctrine. Here is a true doctrine. The Lord will save his people from their sins. Matthew 121 in the King James Version says this, And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Who are his people? Who are his people? He is going to save his people. He will save every one of his people. None will be lost. None will be forsaken. None will be left. Who are his people? The word of the Lord tells us, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved. Who are his people? They are those that he has chosen before the foundation of the world. According as he has chosen us in him. When did he do that? Before the foundation of the world. That we should be holy, and get this, and without blame before him. We talked about that in Sunday school this morning. How the Lord has taken our sin and cast it as far as the east is from the west, to the sea of forgetfulness, never to be remembered against us again. Why? Because we have been predestined unto this adoption by children by Jesus Christ. To who? To himself. We are hidden now in Christ with God. To the praise of the glory of his grace, and by the good pleasure of his will. 1 Peter 1 says this, But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you brothers, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. It also tells us, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according to his great mercy. Peter tells us this, That he has caused us to be born again. Who caused us to be born again? The Lord has caused us to be born again. It is not of ourselves. He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. Who by God's power, listen to this, Who by God's power are being guarded through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. That's a true doctrine this morning. True doctrine. True doctrine. This is the truth of scripture. But here is the lie that is being preached in the vast majority of churches today. Here is the lie. As the preacher stands in front of the altar bench, he gives this invitation. Sinner, come to the Lord today. He loves you and wants you to come to him and be saved. Come on down to this altar and give your heart to Jesus. We've all heard this. He has done all he can do. But now the decision is yours. Once you come to him today, Jesus is a gentleman. He will not force himself on you. You can choose him or not. But he desires you to choose him. Now think about that. Think about that. The God that created this vast universe. The God that has numbered all the hairs on our head. The same God that sees a bird when it falls from the sky. The same God that knows the intents and every thoughts of our hearts. Has no power according to these people. He has no power to save. The other lies. Everyone on earth that has ever lived is a child of God. So God will never send anyone of his creation to hell. How many have heard that? God loves everybody. Eventually everybody will be saved. God loves us. He'll never send his children to hell. But here's what the Bible says. You know, I've learned a long time ago. Don't take a man's word for it. Look it up. Study to show yourself approved. Rightly dividing the word of truth. Study the word and don't take a man's word for it. Because when they say that, that God will send none of his creation to eternal torment and hell. What does the Bible say? In the book of Revelation. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Right? Many of today's preachers do not preach on sin or hell or godly living or morals. But they do preach on money. And they draw tens of thousands to their cathedrals. They are whitewashed tombs. Clean on the outside, yet rotten on the inside. Their God is their belly. And this is scripture. Their God is their belly. They make money on the backs of their congregations and get richer and richer while their communities around them are suffering and in need. Still they close up their bowels of compassion and let those in need stay that way. That's the truth. Another lie in these last days. These perilous times where people's minds are being convinced of these things. They shall believe a lie. Another lie in these last days. There are many ways to God, therefore there are many ways to heaven. What they are saying is, it does not matter if a person is a Muslim, Hindu, Shinto, Japanese, Buddhist. It does not matter. Just be a good person. But here is the truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to me. No man comes to the Father except by me. There is a straight and narrow way. There is a right road to travel. There is a right way to heaven. And this way, this road, this gate, all goes through the name of Jesus Christ. And Him alone. And His finished work on the cross. That's what it means to be a believer today. We believe in the finished work of Christ. We believe in Christ alone. Faith alone. Grace alone. They shall believe a lie. I've heard this many times. As long as you are a good person. I often think about growing up in the Pentecostal church. That's where my family went. That's where we went growing up. Growing up. It was scary at first. Have you ever been to a Pentecostal church? It was scary at first. Let's pray. Everyone got up and they all prayed out loud. Everybody. Everyone praying at the same time. Speaking in tongues. Fainting and falling out on the floor. Running the aisles. Shouting. I was in a church service once where a man sat back there in that back pew and groaned for about 20 minutes. That's it. For about 20 minutes. Shouting. They were interpreting tongues. Messages as they themselves were the oracles of God. Scaring the congregation with a you better threat. You better. You better. Fill in the blank. You better or you will lose your salvation. I grew up with that. The rules and regulations were extensive. Back in the 30's in the organization we were in it was a sin to chew gum. Or go to the nickel movie to see Buck Rogers. Buck Rogers. They had a whole list. People were getting resaved every Sunday. Why? They believed that if you told a lie on Tuesday you're out. There was absolutely no assurance in the salvation given to them. There was no assurance. None whatsoever. Talk about a religion of fear. And a religion of lies. But here is the truth of our salvation today. Ephesians. For by grace are you saved by faith and this is not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. Jesus said I am the good shepherd of the sheep. I will leave the ninety and nine and I'll go out and I'll find the one that strays. He will lose none. Jesus said if any man comes to me I will in no wise cast him out. Well what if I mess up? What if I sin? What did Jesus say? If you come to me I will in no wise cast you out. Romans chapter 8 Paul said who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. And when you look at the disciples all of them were murdered except for the Apostle John. And he was exiled to an island with his eyes gouged out. All the rest were killed in various ways. For thy sake we are killed all the day long. But he says this But in all things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. He said Paul said for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height or depth or any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. What can separate us? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The song says he will hold me fast. He will hold me fast. For our Savior loves me so. He will hold me fast. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1. Listen to this. To an inheritance that is imperishable undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for you who by God's power are being guarded through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this rejoice though now for a little while if necessary you have been grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes though it be tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ though you have not seen him you love him though you do not now see him you believe in him yes we do and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory obtaining the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls if you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. Romans 10.9 Let me read that again. If you declare with your mouth. In other words you testify of the Lord. You believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. Romans 8.1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Are we under condemnation now as believers? No. No. No. And we never ever will be again. The Lord has paid the price for us. Listen to what John 10 says. My sheep listen to my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. No man shall pluck them out of my hand. 1 John 5. These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. Ephesians 1 In whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that you believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. We talked about that seal many times around here. A seal that cannot be broken. Which is the earnest or the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. We've been sealed. The Lord saves us. He sanctifies us. He has sealed us. He has given us the promise of our inheritance and he has kept it and he guards it himself. But they will tell you the lie that oh you can lose all that. You can lose all that. Paul wrote to Timothy and said this for the witch calls I also suffer these things. Poor, I tell you Paul, he was, his life after the Lord saved him it wasn't a bed of roses. Stoned and shipwrecked and left for dead and beaten finally beheaded. He said this for the witch calls I also suffer these things nevertheless I am not ashamed for I know in whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. The writer of Hebrews said let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Draw near with a true heart in full assurance, full assurance, full assurance. Let us look to the word of God to lead us today. Be careful who you listen to, what you listen to. There are wolves in sheep's clothing out there that are leading people away with words of man's enticing so called wisdom leading people astray. These people will believe a lie and the scripture tells us they will be damned forever. Salvation is a serious business. It's life and death eternal life and eternal death. Trust in the Lord and he will direct your path. What are we supposed to not do? Look not to the right or left. Don't look to the right or left. Stay focused on the prize. Eternity with Christ.