In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2,
Paul has this to say of the day of Christ to come when Christ
shall return in power to judge this world and all that lives
therein. He says in verse 3, let no man
deceive you by any means for that day of Christ shall not
come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin
be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself
above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that
he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that
he is God. Remember ye not that when I was
yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what
withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time. For the
mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now let, if
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 deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish. 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. But we are bound to give thanks
all way to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. In the midst of this, speaking
of those who receive not the love of the truth that they might
be saved, Paul says this, for this cause God shall send them
strong delusion that they should believe a lie. Strong delusion. Now we live in days where it
is perfectly evident if you look around either in society as a
whole or in the religious world, that this is a day full of strong
delusion, strong delusion. The world and its media and the
messages which go out, which influence the people, constantly
preach a message set diametrically against the truth of God and
his gospel. The world says emphatically,
there is no God. Or if there is a God, there are
many gods. Or if there is a God, there are
many ways to attain unto God, to reach God. Or if there is
a life after death, there are many ways to reach unto that
life. They will say many things, but they will not own the one
true living God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. and they
will not own that there is one way unto salvation. The world is set against God
and his gospel. Why? Because it is strongly deluded. And from whence comes this strong
delusion? It comes because God sent them
strong delusion that they should believe a lie. And why did they
do this? Because they received not the
love of the truth that they might be saved. And receiving it not,
God sent them that which they cried out for, that which they
longed for. They longed to be masters of
their own destiny. They longed to worship themselves
and not God. They longed to have pleasure
in this world rather than in the world to come. They long
to have their own way. They long to worship their own
opinion. So God has said of them, all
right then, go your way. Have your pleasure now. Believe
the lie you create. Eat, drink, and be merry. Prosper. Have it your way. But in the end, you will be damned. who believe not the truth, but
have pleasure in unrighteousness. The world is in strong delusion,
and not just the world, but the religious world. If you look
upon the masses of churches, of which there are many of one
description or another, whether they are those churches and congregations
professing to follow Christ, or whether they are of the various
other religions which have grown up in this world, You see these
various religions and churches prosper and grow. You see them
have their followers, many of which are devout. And yet you
hardly hear a word of the truth in their midst. They follow a
strong delusion. And they reject Christ and his
gospel. They think all these things are
in their hands. they set themselves to their
various ends they set themselves to growing in number and influencing
the world around them and sending forth their various messages
that they might have their various converts and proselytes and they
use various means to these ends and they meet with great success
in many quarters where God's church and God's people find
themselves persecuted, cast out, scattered and often in twos and
threes. There are many congregations
which prosper greatly, which have their hundreds in their
midst and have all their programs to evangelize the community around
them and to cater for every class of society. They're programs
for children and young people, for single mothers, for the drug
addicts, for the drunkards, for the lost and the lonely, for
those with debt and financial troubles. They have an answer
for every problem. And meeting the social problems
of the day, their numbers are added to. And they gather with
their great joy and their great bonhomie one to another and they
gather with their great musical entertainment that they call
worship and they grow and they prosper and yet God says of them
that for this cause that they receive not the love of the truth
for this cause God has sent them strong delusion and what they
think is doing God service is a delusion. And what they proclaim
to be right, is in reality a lie. And what they think is leading
unto everlasting life, is really leading unto damnation, because
they believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
They have a Jesus, if they profess his name, who endorses all the
sin of this world and all the pleasure and wickedness that
men indulge in whilst also promising them everlasting life. They want
everything now and everything to come. And they tell people
that they can have everything now and everything to come. And
that God judges them not that they can have all the riches
of this world and indulge in all its filthy entertainment.
And God is not against this, but he's for it. Because he's
a God of love. And because he's a God of love,
you can do what you like, and he won't mind. So they run after
their strong delusion. But they don't run after the
truth. Yes, there's a strong delusion
in our land and our world in the day in which we live. Both
in the general world at large and in the religious world. Even
in that where that professes to follow God. They will accept
anything and embrace any idea except the truth of God's gospel. accept the reality of a sovereign
God, accept the reality that justification is by faith alone,
that salvation is at the command of God, that Christ died for
his people and he did everything necessary to save that people,
that he wrought righteousness, that he came to save them from
their sins and to deliver them from their sins and to lead them
in a different way, not to leave them there. that He has separated
the people under Himself, delivered them from this world and all
its persuasion and all its thinking, that He has sanctified them,
washed them clean, that He has chosen the people unto salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. This is the people whom God saves
and this is salvation and yet the world and its religion will
receive anything but that. Anything but a God who chooses
a people under sanctification and chooses a people under salvation
through sanctification, separation of the spirit and belief of the
truth. and yet that's exactly what Paul
says is the manner in which God saves it's exactly what he quotes
here in verse 13 but we are bound to give thanks always to God
for you brethren beloved of the Lord because God have from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth Not we give thanks unto you because
you have chosen to follow Jesus. Not we give thanks unto you because
you have chosen to join our church. Not we give thanks unto you because
you live in this world happy to continue in its indulgences
while proclaiming Jesus' name. But we give thanks unto God that
he have chosen you unto salvation. through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who believed, and those who were saved, and those who
would inherit eternal life, at the time at which Paul wrote,
were not those who were sent strong delusion. were not those
who believed a lie, were not those who rejected the gospel,
but were those who heard the gospel, by which God called them
unto salvation, by which he made known unto them that he had chosen
them from the beginning, from the beginning of the world, from
the beginning of time, from before the beginning of the world. He
had chosen them in eternity past in Christ before ever they were
born, before ever they lived, before ever they did a good or
an evil thing, before ever they made a decision. They were chosen
to be saved before ever they came to the point of hearing
about Jesus Christ and have any thoughts of whether they should
follow Him or reject Him. God knew them from all eternity. God sent his son into this world
to lay down his life in their stead, that he might take their
sins away, that their sins might be judged not in them but in
another, in their substitute, that his blood should be shed
rather than their blood, that he should die rather than they
should die, and that they through his death and the judgment of
their sins in him should be brought into everlasting life, should
be made righteous. God chose them to that end, and
that is why in the fullness of time they came to hear the gospel,
and why they received the gospel, why they believed the gospel,
why they turned from lies and a strong delusion, and had pleasure
in the truth, not in unrighteousness. And that is why they were saved.
when others would be damned. You either follow the delusions
and the lies which come from that wicked one, from Satan with
all his power and signs and lying wonders and all deceivableness
of unrighteousness which he has wrought in them that perish,
you either believe the truth in the gospel, or you receive
a strong delusion. which Satan spins, but which
Satan only does as God sends him forth to do his bidding. For Satan, though he thinks he
does his own will, and though he rejoices over those whom he
leads into destruction, and though he thinks that he is winning
a battle against Almighty God, Satan is simply a puppet in God's
hand. And everything he does and everything
he rejoices in, he does only as God, the Sovereign God, the
Almighty God, says go on then. go on then, delude those but
you won't touch these because these are mine whom I chose from
the beginning through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth unto everlasting life yes you're either strongly deluded
or you believe the truth there's no middle ground, there's no
apathy You believe a lie or you believe the truth. And if you're
spared from the strong delusion, if you're spared from that delusion
that permeates the whole world's thinking and all the thinking
of false religion, if you're spared from it, it's not because
you're any better than any other. It's not because you studied
the word of God. It's not because you had greater
wisdom. It's simply because God by grace
chose you. God by grace looked upon you
as a wicked sinner just as wicked and deluded as everyone else
and said but this one I will open his eyes. this one i will
lead unto righteousness this one i will save this one i love
for no other reason but that i have pleasure in choosing to
love him this one i will give my son for as a ransom as a redemption
price this one will hear the truth this one will believe this
one will say will be saved if we're spared from this strong
delusion which so greatly works in our day if we're spared from
it it's by God's grace and God's grace alone we've nothing to
boast in nothing whatsoever when we look around and we see the
errors of so many when we see the evil in the world when we
see the way the world is rushing headlong towards destruction
when we see how our nation overturns righteous laws from a former
age and turns its back on the things of God and undoes all
the godly influence which was in its midst from former days
when the gospel was preached in our land when we see our nation
embracing evil laws and when when it calls black white and
white black when it tramples underfoot the word of God, when
we see the media put out its lies, continuously rejecting
the existence of God, continuously rejecting the idea that there
is a creator, continuously rejecting the idea that there is such thing
as righteousness, as good and evil, continuously rejecting
the idea that there is life after death and that there is a judgment
to come, that man is accountable. When we see the media pump out
its lies and the people following after it lemon-like as they jump
off the cliff into destruction. When we see this going on in
the world around us and when we look upon the churches and
those who profess Christ's name and we see the multitude of errors
which are embraced. and the evil that has come into
the churches, the sheer evil in which those who are godless
take the name of Jesus on their lips and talk about building
up his kingdom and talk about having converts in their churches
when they have evil in their hearts and reject the truth utterly. And when they dress and speak
and act like the world around them without a single change
in their heart, but they take Jesus' name on their lips blasphemously,
when we see all these things going on, let us be mindful. Let us be mindful, believers,
that there but for the grace of God go I. and there but for
the grace of God there until the grace of God came our way
there we went for we were as deluded as the rest and except
God opens our eyes except he brings the sound of the gospel
to our ears except he looks upon us and says of this one and that
one live then there we remain dead blind and lost however religious
we might have claimed to be Accept God, open our eyes, it doesn't
matter how religious you are. Accept God, open your eyes, you
will be blind. Believing a lie, rejecting the
truth, despising the truth of God, despising the truth of the
gospel. When one comes unto you and says
that God saves those whom he has chosen, whom he has elected
unto salvation, from the beginning. When one says that to a natural
man, the natural man, however religious he claims to be, says
no. No, that's not fair, I hate that. Take your Calvinism away, take
your election away, I will not have it. And yet that is exactly
what the word of God says. We give thanks always to God
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation. You could not be more categorically
clear. Not you have chosen, but God
hath chosen you to salvation. It's one or the other. You can
make your choice and go to hell with your choice in your hand,
doing nothing for you. With a paper Jesus and a scroll
of paper, taking a refuge in lies you can go to hell with
such an idea such a strong delusion that you simply choose to be
saved or you can go to glory having heard the gospel having
had your ears opened and your eyes open to see knowing that
you go to glory for one reason only because God in grace freely
chose you in Christ Jesus from the foundation of this world
because God in grace have chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth it's one or the other you
either believe the gospel or you reject it and this is the
gospel and there is no other There is no other gospel. There's not a right gospel and
a slightly wrong gospel. There's not Christianity, all
of which preaches the gospel, some of which is purer than the
rest. There is one gospel and there are lies. and that which
says that God does not choose under salvation but man makes
the choice God leaves it under him to choose or man must turn
over a new leaf or man has to contribute some form of works
righteousness that which overturns this gospel is a lie and no matter
who they are no matter what name they call their church no matter
what they call their gospel, whether they be the Church of
England, whether they be the Church of Rome, whether they
be Presbyterian, whether they be Baptist, whether they be Brethren,
whether they be Methodist, whether they be Evangelical, if they
say that salvation is by the decision of man, the choice of
man and not the choice of God, then they are taking refuge in
a refuge of lies. They are under a strong delusion
strong delusion they have believed a lie and they have believed
a lie because God has given them what they want they would believe
it they would reject the truth they receive not the love of
the truth that they might be saved So God hardened their hard
hearts like he hardened Pharaoh's heart of old. They would fight
against God so God made them harder in their opposition. They
would reject the truth and he hardened them in it. So God sent
them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they
all might be damned to believe not the truth but had pleasure
in unrighteousness. And it's unrighteous to believe
that man can save himself. It's unrighteous to believe that
man's decision contributes to his salvation. It's unrighteous
to despise the electing free grace of God. And yet this strong
delusion is rampant. And the only way that any of
us will be spared from it is if God sends his gospel in power
by his spirit and opens our ears to hear it. It's grace. It's grace. Yes, there's strong
delusion. We see the delusion of our day
in many facets and many aspects. In the world around, the first
delusion which is promoted greatly is that there is no God. None
of these things matter, they say. None of what you believe
matters. The Bible doesn't matter. Going
to church, worshipping, doesn't matter. None of it matters because
there simply is no God. This was for a former age, a
former generation, a simpler people than us sophisticated
intelligent people in the 21st century today. There is no God,
they say, so it doesn't matter. There's nothing after death.
There's no such thing as sin. There is no God. We're just here,
we're just an accident. It's just scientific principles
has brought this world into being and sustains it. Well this is
a lie, an obvious lie, a ridiculous lie. A lie which appeals to man
in his blindness and folly, but which everything speaks against. The heavens, the creation, everything
around cries out and says there is a God. God's fingerprints
are in all the world and all creation. God is the one that
keeps every heart beating, every breath breathing. we wouldn't
even be stood here able to discuss whether God is real or not if
it wasn't that God kept us alive and gave us the breath to discuss
it. And yet God has sent them strong delusion that they as
fools should say in their hearts there is no God. But where the
masses follow after this delusion the few whom God has looked upon
in grace in His Son, go another way. For Christ knew, and Christ
knows, that there is a God. Because He is the Son of God. And He dwelt with God from all
eternity. He is from everlasting to everlasting. And in eternity past, He and
His Father covenanted that the sun should come into this world
of sinners into this dark and evil world and he should be made
a man God made man and it should come made a little lower than
the angels even for the suffering of death. He knew there's a God.
And as God, as the Son of God, He came into this world of men
to save a people, to lead a people unto that God, to make known
that God, to make known His salvation, to make known His truth, to make
known the wonders of His grace. Man in his blind delusion shuts
his ears and his eyes and says there is no God. But Christ came
in the midst of the darkness to make the light of God known
in this dark and evil world. And you will not know God and
you will not know for truth that there is a God until you come
to know Christ and hear his voice in the gospel. But He came, He
was born, Emmanuel, God with us, God came and walked with
man, that He should make known that there is a God and there
is a judgment to come. But I, for those whom I love,
am come in my Son to die in their place, to save them. Oh, there is a God, but you will
only know that God if you hear the voice of His Son. And those
that hear the voice of His Son, though they be dead in the grave,
will live. Another delusion is that if there
is a God, if there is an afterlife, then all religions lead to Him.
There are many religions in this world, but we can see that there
is common ground amongst them. These religions speak of a life
to come, they speak of a God, they speak of worshipping. They're
all trying to get to the same place in the end, just by different
means. And we can see that those who
follow Islam, or those who are Buddhist, or those who are Hindu,
all these things, we can see that these are devout people,
serious people, just as serious as the Christians. What makes
one religion more right than the other religion? They're all
devout, they're all serious. If they are right, then they're
all right. If there's anything in this,
then they're all right. If there is a God, then surely
all roads lead to God. What does it matter whether I'm
Catholic or Protestant? Whether I'm Hindu or Islamic,
what does it matter? As long as I'm serious and sincere
in my beliefs, as long as I try to live right, then all roads
will lead to God. And yet this delusion, though
it deludes many, simply takes all on its road, along a broad
road that leads unto destruction. There are many roads which all
converge in one. And yes, they are heading one
way. but they're not heading unto God. For the only road that
leads unto God, the only way that leads unto God is the Lord
Jesus Christ. For as he said, he is the way,
the truth and the life. And you will only know the Father,
you will only know God by him. You will only be led to God through
Him. You will only come to know the
truth of God through Him. And you will only know what it
is to be delivered from the death of this world and to come into
eternal life and to have life after you die in this world.
When your 70 years comes to an end and you pass through, you
will only know what it is to have eternal life if you know
Christ. he made an exclusive and an absolute
claim and either he is a liar because that claim is not exclusive
to him but is true of Muhammad and all his others or his claim
is true it's one or the other there is no possibility that
Christianity can be true and other religions can be true there
is no possibility because Christianity makes exclusive claims Christ
says plainly that he is the one mediator between God and man,
that there is only one way to be saved which is to believe
on him and on his name. He says plainly that he alone
is the only way unto God the Father. He alone is eternal life. He alone is the one by whom we
will know the truth. then either he alone is right
and all others are wrong or he is a liar in which case you have
no more reason to believe anything that Christianity says as any
other religion says and you might as well treat them all as lies. But Christ is no liar. And he
really did come. And he really is the way, the
truth, and the life. And if you ever come to hear
his voice in his gospel, and if you ever come to hear the
spirit of God making him known, you will know that he alone is
the savior of sinners. And everything else is a lie
that leads unto destruction. Another delusion is that that
which is new is better than that which is old. Oh how this is
permeated in these days. Oh we live in the 21st century
with our great advancements, with our increase in knowledge
and our electronics and our computers and our gadgets and how the masses
follow after the sorcerers and wizards and conjurers that waltz
out their latest invention before man and how the worshippers go
after these signs and wonders in our day. How they bring out
their gadgets and the people would rather worship that which
is created of man than the God who gives man life. How they
go after these things and they say that we in our generation
are wiser and smarter than the previous generation because we
know how to make these things and they didn't. The reality
is the opposite. The reality is that modern man
is not as intelligent as the former generation. And whilst
he can invent gadgets, he has no wisdom on life and on eternal
matters. In his wisdom he has become a
fool, as Romans tells us. He has his knowledge and he can
make his great inventions, but he has no answers for those problems
that people really have. Man's problem is not how to surf
the web. Man's problem is not how to organize
his telephone contacts. Man's problem is not how to while
away his idle moments in entertainment. Man's problem is the sin in his
heart and his eternal destiny. And none of these wizards and
intelligent men in our day have any answer or any hope to present
to a generation which has lost its way they lead our young people
astray with their music and their ideals and they're seeking after
riches and their pleasure and their outward ways they say that
happiness is in how you dress how you appear what you drink,
where you go. And yet the suicide level and
the depression in our society and amongst young people has
never been greater because there's no hope in these things. And
they have them save up all their money to spend on all these things
that they think will bring pleasure when really they just bring misery
because they have the one thing and they're after the following
thing. They breed a spirit of covetousness in the ages. There's
no hope in these things. They have no answers for eternal
matters. And the new is not better than
the old. They have no answer to death.
The well-known leader of a very large electronics company which
is adored the world over by its followers. I won't bother naming
him. But he recently died, a youngish
man. And he had no answer for that
which killed him. However much men may speak of
him, however great they may adore these characters, they've got
no answer for death. And that's what people need to
hear. They need to hear the truth.
about God, about life and death, about their state before God,
about the world to come, about where they stand before a holy
God, about their need of salvation, they need to hear of Jesus Christ. And they will hear that in a
gospel which has been preached from the beginning of time, unaltered. unaltered Christ knew that truth
is unchanging from everlasting unto everlasting and he knew
that the covenant the new covenant made between his father and him
and the Spirit of God which actually predates that which is called
the old covenant in the scriptures he knows that that covenant that
everlasting covenant is the means by which man will be saved new
is not better than old except in the naming of the covenants. Another delusion is that there
is might in numbers. That there is might in numbers.
That if more people think one thing, then they must be more
right than those who think another thing. That if only a few think
one thing, they're surely wrong. Oh, so many people could not
be wrong. And people think that where there
are large congregations in churches, that proves the blessing of God
upon them. and how mocked and scoffed those
tiny congregations that seek to hold on to the truth are.
But this is a delusion. And everywhere throughout the
scriptures it constantly tells us that this is a delusion. Gideon
was sent forth with 300 to fight thousands and roar to victory
because his strength was not in numbers, not in man, not in
man's might, but in his God. And Christ knew that strength
is not in numbers. for Christ wrought the salvation
of his people. During the hours upon the cross
in which he hung alone on the cross in the darkness, he saved
the countless multitude as he hung alone. All the world rejected
him, they all despised him, even his disciples in his hour of
need left him, and yet alone one man save the countless multitude
there's not mighty numbers another delusion is that God loves all
and God wants all men to be saved and as God is a God of love then
surely all sin will be forgiven God won't judge it because he's
a God of love he'll turn his face he'll turn his back upon
it he'll forget about it all will be forgiven in the end so
it doesn't really matter how we live if there is a God if
there is a heaven if there is salvation then it all of us will
be saved because God's such a loving God he won't judge me for my
sins and all will be saved and how this is preached by the churches
in the end how many worldly people go to the Church of England for
example and they take their late mother or father who's just died
to the funeral service held by the priest in the Church of England,
who effectively prays a prayer before the people convincing
everyone that this so-and-so who never stepped foot in a church
in their life, who never read the bible, who never had a good
word to say for Jesus Christ and his gospel, this rogue in
society is going to heaven. because he's British, because
he was sprinkled at birth by his parents, therefore he's saved. And because God is so loving
that he surely wouldn't judge this one or that one. They've
lived a fairly decent life by and large haven't they? What
a delusion this is and how many accept it and embrace it. But
God, though he is a God of love, is also a God of righteousness.
and God will judge sin. It will either be judged in us
for all eternity when we stand before God and give an account
of our deeds both good and bad throughout all our life and if
we have nothing to say for our evil deeds then we will pay for
them forevermore. It will either be judged in us
or it must be judged in another. If it's not judged in us it must
have been judged in Jesus Christ as our substitute. Christ's salvation
came at a price. Christ saves his own, but he
saves them because he died for them. Because God would judge
their sins. Because sin must be judged, it
cannot be swept aside. He died in their place. And Christ
knows. that he loves his own. He knows
God is love because he is God and he knows his love, but he
knows what that love cost him. He knows that in order to save
those whom he loved, he gave himself for them. And he knows
that it was in death, through his death, that he knew the judgment
and wrath of God poured out upon him for those whom he loves. God's love is not at the expense
of judgment and Christ knew that more than any other. because
in his death he swallowed up the wrath of God for those whom
he loves. And only through his death, and
only through his life, and only through believing upon him and
what he did on that cross in the place of sinners, only through
his death will we know life. There's no other way but through
the cross. No other way. related delusion
is that God wants to save everyone that he's attempting to that
he sends forth his message and is trying to persuade people
to believe it and he stands as it were frustrated when people
turn their backs on it and mock it and scoff it and he can hardly
do anything about it but he wants everyone to be saved he doesn't
want anyone to go to hell yet this stands in direct opposition
to this passage because if God wants all men to be saved then
why does it say? that for this cause, that because
they did not receive the love of the truth that they might
be saved, that for this cause God sent them strong delusion
that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned
who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
This lie that God wants all men to be saved is utterly destroyed
by this passage. This cannot stand up in the face
of that. God sent them strong delusion
that they should believe a lie, that they should be damned. God
did this, then why would God do that if he's trying to save
them? He would not. He sent them strong delusion
that they should be damned who had pleasure in unrighteousness
and would not receive the truth. 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. There are those who hear
the gospel, who believe, who were chosen of God unto salvation,
those whom he wants and has saved, those whom he loves with an eternal
love, those whom he elected with an eternal election, those whom
he saved with an accomplished salvation upon the cross. He
saves everyone whom he purposes to save, and the rest he has
sent a strong delusion, and the rest he determinedly damns. Like it or not, it is rubbish
to even try to attempt to say that God loves and wants to save
all men in the face of passages like this. You have to chop the
Bible up and throw it in the bin. For those who believe a
strong delusion and a lie, do exactly that. They get their
translations, they chop out the passages they don't like, they
twist all the other passages, they alter the words, and eventually
they get their Bible saying just what they want it to say. Deluded. Finally, it is a delusion that
anything we do, will or work, any of our works or our attempts
to be righteous, contribute to salvation. It's a strong, strong,
strong delusion that something that we do can help to save ourselves. And this is the prevalent teaching
throughout just about every form of religion the world over. Every
religion is about what you do to be saved. Whether you're a
Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist or a so-called Christian. They're
all teaching the same thing that you live right and God will bless
you. You walk in the right way and
God will bless you and salvation will be yours. God just wants
us to live by his 10 commandments. Just live right and God as a
God of love will save you. or just choose Jesus, make the
right decision, and as a consequence you will be saved. All you've
got to do is receive him. God puts the money down on the
table, but if you don't pick it up, it's not yours. So in
the end, although God's done 99% of the work, the final 1%
is your taking. If you don't do that, then you're
lost. But effectively they make it 99% you, because it all hinges
on you taking. This is a lie because we have
no strength to take it. We're dead like Lazarus in the
tomb. We can't get out of the tomb
to take it. We can't make ourselves live.
We're dead, dead, utterly dead. We have no strength and our wills
are set as dead wills against God. We will not believe the
truth because we will believe a lie because we've received
not the love of the truth. We love the delusion which is
around us and if we're spared from it it's by nothing that
we do say or will it's because God sends his gospel his gospel
of grace to open our ears to hear Christ knew Christ knew
more than anyone that salvation is by grace because he wrought
that salvation and he knew that except he came into this world,
except he laid down his life as a substitute in the place
of sinners, except he swallowed up the wrath of God against the
sins of his people, then in the grave they would lay. He knew
it was by grace and it could only be by grace. and he knew
that that grace was received through faith and that that faith
was a God-given gift and it could only be. When he died upon the
cross he went there as a work of faith. He went there believing
that God would do all that he promised. He gave himself freely
to save those who would not and could not save themselves. He
hung upon the cross believing that God would judge their sins
and that through judging them in him, through slaying him,
that they would live. He knew it was by grace and knowing
it's by grace, having risen again victorious, having wrought a
mighty salvation, a mighty victory, having wrought this gospel, knowing
it's by grace he has not rested even until this day and he does
not rest in this day and he will never rest until the end of time
until he has sent forth the message of that gospel by his spirit
in power to every single one for whom he died. For in this
world full of delusion, in this strongly deluded world, he sends
forth preachers sent by God who speak by his Spirit to find out
those who are lost in trespasses and sins, to find them out. Who
are under strong delusion, believe in a lie, he finds them out and
he comes to them in his gospel and says unto them, this is the
truth. I am the way, the truth and the
life. I came into this world named
Jesus to save my people from their sins. I am the only mediator
between God and men. I am the only one who can save
your soul. God is real. everlasting life
is real and i come to bring it to those whom i love and he comes
unto those who are dead and blind and says unto them sinner thy
sins be forgiven thee take up thy bed and walk here and live
and he comes in power to declare that this is the truth and everything
else is a lie sent by the father of lies the devil. You either
receive and hear this gospel from Christ as he comes unto
you or you are Those who are believing a lie, however religious,
however many you might be in your meetings, wherever you might
go, whatever you might say, you either hear and believe this
gospel or you are dead. Yet Christ comes in power to
those, to those whom God have from the beginning chosen unto
salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth, he comes unto them that they should hear this gospel
and that through hearing it they should obtain the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Is that you? Have you heard this
gospel? Has he loved you from all eternity? Do you know that he is the only
way unto everlasting life? Do you believe a strong delusion
or do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.