You Are Dearly Loved by God (Clip)
The sermon emphasizes the importance of preaching the gospel carefully and focusing on the work of God, rather than just getting people to say the right words.
In this sermon, the speaker expresses frustration with the current state of preaching and the lack of supernatural power in the church. He emphasizes the need for preachers who are deeply connected to God and speak truth boldly. The speaker warns against becoming an enemy of those who bring reformation and challenges listeners to prioritize the work of God and the glory of His name. He also highlights the importance of regeneration in preaching and the necessity of suffering for the sake of change.
Full Transcript
Salvation is all about the work of God, demonstrating the glory of God. And that is why men such as ourselves should guard it so severely, and preach it so carefully. Because it's all about God and His name.
That His name be great among the nations. Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done. It's all about God. When you no longer have regeneration in preaching, have nothing.
Nothing. He says, for I will gather you from the nations. Separation.
Separation. I will take you out of there. And I will do it with a strong hand.
If there is no work of separation in your life recognizable at any point in time, you're lost. You say, oh, Brother Paul, if I say that, they'll kill me. Then die! I'll lose my... Then lose your home! It'll cost me! Then make the payment! Don't tell me about that! How many Calvinists do we have? How many men who have good theology, but they are too cowardly to preach it? Because it'll get me in trouble.
What do you expect it to do? All the ones who have gone before us, their blood, they shed. They preach into a largely unregenerate church body. What do you expect them to do to you? But how is it going to change? Except we suffer.
If we tarry not in the presence of God, so to have His fear upon us. You tell a man, you know, the Bible says that you've sinned. And if he says, well, yes, I know I'm a sinner.
Then we go to the next evangelical hoop for him to jump through. Well, he knows he's a sinner. Now let's go to the next question.
Well, let me just put this by you. Go talk to the devil sometime and ask him if he knows he's a sinner or not. He'll say, well, yes, I am.
Thank you very much. You see, the question is not, listen to me. The question is not whether or not this man recognizes he is a sinner.
The question is this. While I have been sharing the gospel with you, has the power of God so regenerated your heart that you now hate the sin you once loved? And then if they say, well, yes, I know I'm a sinner. Then we say, well, would you like to go to heaven? You ever had anybody go? Why, no, I'd just rather go to hell.
Everybody wants to go to heaven. Don't you realize that? Absolutely. Everybody wants to go to heaven.
They just don't want God to be there when they get there. Men love heaven. They don't have a problem with heaven.
It's God they hate. And so the question is not, do you want to go to heaven? The question is this. The God that you have hated, ignored, despised.
Showed no thankfulness toward. Has he so worked in your heart as that now you esteem him and desire him? The Christ who shed his blood for the souls of men. Has God done such a work in your heart that he's now precious to you? If we get them to say that they're a sinner and we get them to say they want to go to heaven.
Then we ask them this question. Well, would you like to pray and ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart? I just don't see anywhere. You know, I use satire because the prophets use satire.
It's a biblical thing to do. But I just don't see anywhere where Jesus walks up and says, you know, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand.
Now, does anyone want to ask me into their heart? I'm standing out here all day and there's no door handle on the outside. If it's going to get open, you're going to be. Jesus Christ owns the door.
If he wants to knock it down, he will. You see, it's just it's got to the point of absurdity. You could do a comedy on this.
Where's the supernatural God you talk about? You got to give him a helping hand because he can't seem to properly save people anymore. If we could fill this place up with old preachers from 150 years ago, they'd be yawning because they all heard this is all they ever talked about. We've got a formula.
We've got a methodology. It's about conversion. It's about preachers.
I am so tired. It's not about little boys who can speak the words of parents. It's about men who dwell in the presence of God.
His word has been burned into the reality of their heart and they speak forth truth. Come hell or high water. That's what brings reformation.
And I'll tell you something, old guys like myself. God's raising up a bunch of them. He is.
Be careful not to become their enemy when they come in and split your church wide open, because you wouldn't do it. Wow.
Sermon Outline
- The Importance of Preaching the Gospel
- The Focus on God's Name
- Regeneration and Separation
- The Importance of Fear and Obedience
- Fear of God leads to obedience
- Obedience is necessary for spiritual growth
Key Quotes
“If there is no work of separation in your life recognizable at any point in time, you're lost.” — Paul Washer
“What do you expect it to do? All the ones who have gone before us, their blood, they shed. They preach into a largely unregenerate church body.” — Paul Washer
“The question is this. While I have been sharing the gospel with you, has the power of God so regenerated your heart that you now hate the sin you once loved?” — Paul Washer
Application Points
- We should focus on preaching the gospel in a way that emphasizes the work of God and the importance of regeneration.
- We should not be satisfied with just getting people to say they are sinners, but rather look for evidence of a genuine work of God in their hearts.
- True spiritual growth comes from dwelling in the presence of God and having His word burned into our hearts.