Summary
Highlights
Paul Washer introduces himself and the HeartCry Missionary Society. He immediately addresses the solemn reality that some in the audience are destined for heaven and others for hell, stressing that preachers are not entertainers but messengers of a life-and-death gospel. He express deep concern for young people raised in a Christian environment who might mistake cultural ties for true faith, urging them to examine if their Christianity is merely superficial.
Washer asks how one truly knows they are Christian, emphasizing that while salvation is by grace, true grace leads to ongoing repentance and belief, and a life of sanctification. He states that one of the greatest evidences of belief is God's work of making you holy, questioning whether attendees truly desire holiness and not conformity to the world. He warns that love for the world indicates a lack of the Father's love.
Delving into Ezekiel 36:22-28, Washer explains this as a new covenant promise. He highlights that God's motive for salvation is not found in man's worthiness but in His holy name and glory. He critiques contemporary evangelicalism where many claim to be Christian but live like 'devils,' blaspheming God's name. Washer asserts that true conversion demonstrates God's power by transforming lives into holiness, asking if God is transforming the listener's life.
Washer explains that when God saves a person, He pulls them out of worldliness and sin, drawing them to Himself. He defines holiness as being 'cut off' from the world — everything that contradicts God's will and nature. Holiness involves both separating from evil and devotion to God. He uses the metaphor of a child letting go of a chair to embrace a parent, illustrating that one cannot hold onto the world and God simultaneously. He passionately warns young people about the deadly nature of culture's lies, which promise both God and the world, calling it a monstrous deception.
Washer emphasizes that God initiates and completes His work in believers to demonstrate His power and protect His reputation. He uses Moses' intercession for Israel and Paul's warning to the Romans to illustrate how the ungodly lives of those claiming God's name blaspheme Him. He challenges listeners to prove their conversion through ongoing sanctification and responsiveness to God's discipline. He humorously recounts his own mother's forceful cleansing of him as a child to exemplify God's sovereign and diligent work in making His children clean from all filthiness and idols.
Washer explains that God's discipline is proof of true sonship, drawing from Hebrews 12:5-8. He argues that if one can live in sin without conviction or divine discipline, they are an illegitimate child, not a true son of God. He contrasts God's 'hatred' for Esau (manifested by lack of discipline) with His love for Jacob (manifested through constant discipline and transformation), asserting that God's goal is holiness, not worldly prosperity.
Washer describes regeneration as a supernatural work of God where a person becomes a new creature. He illustrates this by contrasting a 'heart of stone' (dead, unresponsive to God) with a 'heart of flesh' (living, responsive to divine stimuli). He asks if God has performed this transformation in the listener's heart, questioning if they now respond to God's voice and word. He highlights that conversion is not just a decision but an indwelling of the Holy Spirit, causing believers to walk in God's statutes. He challenges young people to genuinely desire God's will and hate what He hates, instead of loving the world.
Washer uses Charles Spurgeon's 'pig' illustration to powerfully describe conversion: unconverted individuals, like pigs, naturally gravitate towards spiritual 'garbage' (sin). However, when transformed into a new creation by God, they can no longer stomach sin and feel shame for their past affections. He acknowledges that Christians can stumble back into sin, but true believers will quickly recognize its wrongness and repent. He concludes by urging listeners to earnestly examine their hearts and lives, repent of sin, turn to Christ, and seek Him until they know they are genuinely changed and continually being changed by Him.