​ 
Today, we finish what we started last Sunday morning about the 10 Big Lies the World tells. I was only able to cover the first five last week, so, today we finish with the remaining five.
 
I heard a big lie recently from a national personality who is supposed to be something of a noted leader. He said that what Jesus talked about in loving your enemies and turning the other cheek does not work. His view of the Bible and particularly the New Testament is that it is outdated. He proposed a more aggressive position saying that “It is time for action.” In other words, crush your enemies and eliminate anyone who stands in your way. His was the old “eye-for-an-eye” formula. Talk about outdated.
 
The world’s lies are contrary to scripture. Remember what Jesus said, “I have given them Your word and the world has hated them” (John 17:14). The world simply prefers lies instead of truth. So, try not to become discouraged by the Big Lies the World tells.

     6. A Good Job with a High Salary Provides the Happiness You Need –
 
That’s not so. There are plenty of miserable rich folks who find it hard to go to work every morning. The Bible says, “I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men: God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil” (Ecclesiastes 6:1-2).
 
Remember what Jesus said to the Rich Young Ruler, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:21). God’s treasure includes happiness.

     7. You Can Watch Whatever You Want on the Internet or TV without Agreeing with Its Message –
 
That’s not only a lie; it’s a dumb lie. My mother used to say,

 
You cannot see something ugly and not be impressed with an image of something ugly. The Bible says, “Finally, brother, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is loving, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things” (Philippians 4:13).


          8. You Don’t Need to Discipline Your Children –
 
Society tells you to put a collar on your pet or implant a chip inside the body of that pedigreed animal so you will know where they are at all times, but don’t implant the difference between right and wrong inside your children. You might discourage their creativity if you do. There’s a good word for that lie--BOLOGNA. The Bible says, “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him” (Proverbs 22:15). When the Bible used the word “Rod,” my mother heard “Switch” from a Forsythia Bush. She would switch my legs chasing me around in a circle while holding onto my arm at the same time. Round and around we would go. My mother believed the Bible rather than the lie the world tells, “Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth” (Psalm 127:3-4). Mom wanted her son to become a straight shooting arrow.

    9. You Don’t Have to Study the Bible to be a Christian –  

Can you imagine telling your doctor, don’t worry about studying that MRI or reading up on my cancer? You don’t have to know what you’re doing to be a doctor.
 
How foolish can you be?
 
Yet, some folks believe they can get by in the walk of faith without reading the book of faith. Let’s just put to rest this whopper, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of God” (2 Timothy 2:15). You can be a poor Christian and never open your Bible, but you cannot be a good one apart from the reading and study of God’s word.

      10. Loving Others is Not Important –  

​That’s not a white lie. That one is a black lie straight out of the mouth of Satan himself. Loving others is not an option, it is a requirement—a command, “This is how we know who the children of God are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10).
 
Don’t believe the lies the world tells you. Read your Bible. The word of God always tells you the truth every time.

Truth telling is becoming more and more rare these days. Our world is under the influence of one who delights in spreading tales and untrue fables. Jesus warns us about the tendency our world has to lie and promote untruth, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
 
There are 10 big lies the devil is telling right now. We need to listen to what the Bible says about these lies rather than what Satan wants us to hear:

1. It’s All About You – Take care of number one because if you don’t, no one else will. This lie makes you self-centered and ego-centric. God’s word says, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it”(Luke 9:23-24). The world’s lie is “save yourself.” The Bible’s truth is, “give yourself away.” 
2. A Little Overspending Won’t Hurt You – You can always use plastic. This lie puts you in debt and gives power over you to creditors. The Bible says, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave” (Proverbs 22:7). Jesus added great wisdom to our wise management of finances, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). Greed is not OK no matter what the world wants you to think.
3. Righteousness is Not as Necessary as it Once Was – Go ahead and do it, you can always ask for forgiveness. If righteousness is not important to God, then the blood of Jesus was shed in vain. The Bible says, “…if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Think about righteousness as Light. Jesus lived in the Light of God’s righteousness. He is the Light of the world.  Light drives the dark night of sin away. The Bible says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:24). The world’s lie says that it’s OK to live in the shadows. Don’t believe it. Righteous living is still the quality God expects from us.
4. You Can Say Whatever You Think – Truth is whatever I want it to be. Truth is not determined by popular opinion or by the voice of the majority. Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your world is truth” (John 17:17). Just because you think it or just because you say it, does not make it truth. Truth belongs to God and His truth stands in contrast to the world’s lies. The Bible tells us to control our tongues, “…the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell” (James 3:6). Remember, “Lying Lips Sink Ships.”
5. It’s a Free Country, So Do or Don’t Do Whatever You Please – It’s All About My Personal Freedom. The Bible says, “There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, and lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16-19). People are not free to do whatever they please. Freedom comes through responsibility. Jesus said, “…if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Freedom is given to those who love Jesus and serve Him, not to people who do whatever they want. You are free to do what Jesus wants. Your wants need to agree with His wants.

 
Next week I will give you’re the remaining 5 lies the world wants you to believe. Don’t believe them. Let the truth of God’s word guide you. Remember what the Bible says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).

​Beginning next Sunday our 2022 year-long emphasis called, “The Year of Our Faith” will get underway. This important study will be highlighted by a series of sermons based on the doctrines and beliefs that make us Baptist.
 
Baptist churches and associations of churches have adopted statements of belief that teach, defend, and perpetuate the faith “that was delivered to the saints once for all” (Jude 3). These belief statements, most commonly known as confessions of faith, are intended to clarify and publish the most basic beliefs that frame our faith, witness, and ministry in the world. These faith convictions identify what it means to be a Baptist. They help ward off the influence of false teaching. They provide “instruction in righteousness” so that the believer may be “thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16).
 
On Sunday morning, February 27, every person attending worship will receive a copy of the most recent Southern Baptist statement of faith adopted in the 2000 annual session of the Convention.
 
Dr. Herschel Hobbs said, “This statement serves in large measure to anchor Southern Baptists to their traditional Biblical moorings for a generation.”
 
Each generation must reclaim the priceless heritage of faith passed to it from their fathers. At the dawn of each new era, the Baptist faith must be renewed with conviction and loyalty to what the Bible teaches concerning the faith we all hold so dear. Every believer should know what they believe and why they believe it. The Baptist faith is and will always present solid principles that new believers may grasp and build upon to strengthen them in the faith and build the kingdom of God.
 
Books will be available for you to purchase and read as you follow along with each Sunday’s Sermons ($8 per copy). The title of the books is, “The Baptist Faith and Message.”
 
Great Baptist preachers like Adrian Rogers along with trustworthy theologians like Dr. Chuck Kelley and Dr. Albert Mohler will provide solid guidance for your examination of the scriptures.
 
Through this year’s emphasis, you should be better equipped to offer council to people who are seeking to know more about the Bible and what it means to be a follower of Jesus. You should learn the essentials of the 21 doctrines and faith convictions that make your church family what it is. I look forward to preaching these wonderful beliefs of our faith that date back as early as 1607. So, pray that God will bless our work and desires to know more about the Baptist faith.  Determine to attend, read, and invite others to join you in participating in this year’s worthy emphasis of:

2022
 
The Year of Our Faith

 
Do you know why you are a Baptist?
 
You probably do not know that the Baptist faith was not started by John the Baptist. The earliest Baptist church is traced to Amsterdam, Dutch Republic in 1609 where the separatist John Smyth served as pastor. Separatist means that this church rejected the doctrines of infant baptism and began the practice of believers’ baptism by complete immersion.
 

• General Baptists believed that Jesus died to save all who would believe.
• Particular Baptists believed that Jesus’ death was for the elect alone.

 
Baptist doctrine was a major break away from the Catholic church in those days.
 
Later on, John Helwys added to the Baptist doctrinal expression the notion that the church and state should remain separate in matters of law in order that believers might remain free to express their faith according to the leading of their conscience.
 
The first Baptist church to be founded in this country dates back to Roger Williams who began the first Baptist expression of faith in 1638 among the American colonies.
 
The most profound belief that separates the Baptist Faith from others is its insistence that salvation is by faith alone. “Sole Fide” was the slogan that was used to promote this belief based on Ephesian 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works lest anyone should boast.”
 
Equal to this great teaching of scripture was the Baptist insistence on the sole competency of the Bible as the only adequate rule of faith and practice. The expression of faith the Bible as one’s only guide was “Sole scriptura.” These two major doctrines set Baptists apart from all other forms of evangelical Christianity.
 
We have two more Sundays to go before ending our year-long emphasis on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Beginning February 20, we will kick-off our new emphasis “2022, THE YEAR OF OUR FAITH.” During this year, we will emphasize the 21 doctrines and biblical practices that make us Baptist. I can’t wait to get started.