A Santidade de Deus e a Depravação do Homem - Paul Washer

[Music] it is a great privilege for me to be here with you uh day in this first hour We're going to have something of an introduction to the gospel primarily I want to take one text and study it completely with you each time but in this hour I want to look over a few texts that introduce to us the importance of the Gospel now before I do that I would like to say a few other things what did you come to see here today we live in an age that exalt men in a way that

is not biblical I have had the privilege of knowing some of the greatest men alive today but one of the most amazing things that I learned from them is this they are are just men they are like you and they're like me we must be sincere we must truly desire God we must genuinely want to be holy but in the end we are all just men are we are made of dust our best efforts on our best day would only earn us hell we are utterly dependent upon the grace of God if there is any

knowledge in a man if there is any virtue it is the work of God's grace another thing that you need to understand about men and especially preachers one of the greatest preachers in the world today is Satan now think about that you may have heard a preacher preach on the YouTube you may have heard him say marvelous things but that does not mean he is a man of God how do you know if someone is truly a man of God or truly even Christian you go to their home you see how they love their wives

you see how concerned they are for the welfare of their children you see their private life that they meet early with the Lord they study his word they pray you follow them to their private conversations with other men you watch the totality of their life only then can you truly have an idea of whether or not they're from God you will know them by their fruits and you will know them by their [Music] Brokenness all men sin the best of men sin so you want to know are they broken will they humble themselves before the

most recent convert another thing that you need to understand about a man of God just because he is well known it does not mean that he is the most knowledgeable or that he is the most Godly there are men preaching here this week that have forgotten more about God than I know do you see what I'm saying be very careful of the way that you look at men the Puritans used to say this for every inward look at your own heart you should look 10 times to Christ for every look that you give to a

man you should look 10 times to Christ and if you truly see Christ as he is and you truly see men as they are you will soon stop looking at men Al together and you will look only to Christ now my assignment this this week is to preach on the Gospel of Jesus Christ now some of you might be thinking this why is he teaching on the gospel we're Christians or why is he teaching on the gospel we already know that so many people today in Christianity they see the gospel as only the introduction to

our faith for example if you go to the university and you study biology you study an introductory course first and then you go on to greater things people today treat the gospel the same way it's the introductory course and then you go on to greater things that is heresy that is a lie that borderlines on blasphemy do you honestly think that the doctrine of the second coming of Jesus is more deep than the gospel listen to me you will understand everything about the second coming on the day that Jesus comes but you will be in

heaven for a thousand eternities and you will still not even begin to comprehend the gospel it has inexhaustible Glory it is the greatest revelation of God to men and angels if you are going to be Christian if you are truly going to be mature you must learn to appre appreciate the gospel to discern what is truly valuable so this week well you've heard of art appreciation haven't you go to the university and what do they want to teach you to appreciate art they want to refine you so that you're no longer just a hairless gorilla

but you can actually appreciate the Finer Things I want to do the same here this week that you truly learn to appreciate that which is most valuable in the eyes of God let me just say it this way there are so many preachers today saying so many things they are taking that which is vile and exalting it as that which is most important they are taking the smaller things and exalting them as the larger things and they're taking the greatest things and they're hiding them from God's people when I walk into a church I don't

want to hear a sermon about material Prosperity that's too low for me don't talk to me about silly little things like that I don't have time to deal with those kinds of trinkets don't even talk to me about physical health I really don't care whether or not my flesh rots off the bone if I'm going to take the time and energy to come into your church then talk to me about the greatest [Music] things talk to me about Jesus Christ talk to me about his glory before coming to Earth talk to me about his Incarnation

tell me about his perfect [Music] life talk to me about the cross of Calvary talk to me about how he extinguished the wrath of God on my behalf talk to me about how he rose again in power talk to me about his exaltation and that he ever sits at the right hand of God as my [Music] intercessor talk to me about [Music] Jesus tell me who God is through the greatest Revelation that God God has ever given Jesus Christ now let's go for just a moment in our introduction to the Book of Romans chapter 1

and again we're just going to look at a few introductory text verse 16 of chapter 1 for I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the greatek what is man's greatest and most fundamental problem Sin Sin you want to know the root of every malady and every suffering in this world sin you remove that problem and you've healed the world it's the greatest problem and what's the great result of sin in its most fundamental meaning hell hell

INF Eternal separation from God SE now if you truly understand that what will you desire will you desire your best life now will you desire a Mercedes in a fine home will you desire a comfortable life absolutely not what will you desire salvation freedom from sin you go to a man who's in prison and this afternoon he is to be killed he is to be hung from a tree until he is dead he is well aware of what's going to happen to him and you come to him and you say I've got good news I've

got wonderful news he jumps up out of his seat he runs to the bars what is it what is that good news you can be healed what you have just won a mercedesbenz Mercedes what what are you talking about there is only one truly good news for that man someone else has paid for your crime you are free to go you are saved only that will be good news to a man and the the moment he gets out the moment he's free he will not first want to go back to his home he will not

first want to go back to all the things he owns when he gets out the door of that prison he's going to say where is he where is that man where is the one who paid my debt and when he finds him he will fall on his knees and he will say I owe you my life I am your slave I am your what slave anything you want from me you can have anything you demand of me I will do because the only reason I'm alive is because you paid for my crimes Salvation And The

Gospel is the only message that can bring men salvation I have three little children and as I disciple them at home I'm always telling them this everything that you can see will die and rot every title that you earn will be lost every Glory that you receive from man will turn to nothing live for that which is eternal live live for the one who died for you it is the gospel the gospel it must control your life it must be your life and it must be the thing you most desire the gospel Paul was not

ashamed of the Gospel why was he not ashamed his flesh had good reason to be ashamed to the Jew his gospel was blasphemy to the Greek his gospel was insane but to Paul the Apostle why it was what precious why because it saved him from his sin I sometimes hear preachers say things like this if you're obedient God will bless your life if you're devoted God will give you this if you truly believe in him he will do this for you that disgusts me what if I went to my wife right after marriage right after

the wedding and I said why did you marry me well because your house I get this house why else did you marry me well the car it's a nice car why else did you marry me well the kind of lifestyle that you could give me is that not disgusting would that not break my heart but is that not the very thing that many preachers are preaching today not only is it wrong it's disgusting because it diminishes the glory of Christ what if I walked up to you and I said this I'm going to give you1

billion dollar and you looked at me and said this oh that's wonderful but I really won't be happy unless you also give me that th that pair of dirty socks laying on the floor I would say are you out of your mind I'm offering you a billion but you're not going to be happy you're not going to agree to this unless I also throw in a pair of dirty socks again this is much of what's being preached in Christianity Today they say something like this God gave his son for you he died on on a

cross for you and now because of that you can have material Prosperity I say what why would you even add the last part why do I care about that you've already told me God gave his son for me I don't care about anything else you see you must learn to discern that which is truly valuable and that which has no value at all why was Paul not ashamed of the gospel because it saved him from his sin isn't that enough I have studied for many many years the old preachers and you know what I discovered

about them the thing that most amazed them all and the thing they were almost myoptic they only saw one thing I'm saved I'm saved from sin I'm saved from Hell over and over and over that's what they talked about and that it was done so wonderfully through the person of Jesus Christ that was their theme of every sermon it's what they talked about every time they opened their mouth and yet today you rarely hear such things what do you need to follow Jesus what more does he have to do for you what do we have

to add on to the gospel to make you desire it is salvation not enough for you is is the presence of Christ not enough is fellowship with God not enough for you do we have to throw in cars and fine clothing in order for you to get excited Paul loved the gospel because it was the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to everyone who believes so many preachers today very famous preachers preachers well known here in Brazil and so many large congregations filled with countless people and the main theme of the preaching

is prosperity the main theme of the preaching is what else can God do for me there was a time when I was younger that I looked at those kind of churches and I felt sorry for the deceived people who were in them but as I have grown in the Lord I've realized something those preachers do not want Christ they want the very thing they most talk about Prosperity but here's what else you need to understand the people who follow them who love them are exactly the same way they do not want Christ they only want

what Christ can give because if a true Christian a mature Christian a Christian whose eyes have been open to the glory of Christ if he walks into a place like that if he hears preaching like that he'll go what is this why are you talking about such useless things why because the true Christian their hearts have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit they are new creatures they are new creatures and because they have new natures conformed to the image of God they have new desires they are righteous desires they are very high desires and now

nothing can satisfy them except the infinite Glory of Jesus there were a few Puritans who used to say this when you become a Christian you become a new creature you become a higher creature with higher des and they are so high that if someone gave you the entire world it could not satisfy you and if someone took the entire world away from you it could not defeat you because you see the whole world as nothing compared to the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of of Christ and compared to the Salvation that

you have received through the gospel I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation everyone who believes throughout the history throughout Biblical history God has chosen to reveal himself in many ways he has given light through many Revelations but compared to the gospel all those other Revelations are like a shadow if you truly want to know God God then you must go to the gospel and you must go to the person of the gospel and make him your lifelong study Christ now one more thing I want to say

about this passage the gospel is the power of God for salvation but so many people think of that just as justification that we are freed from our sins through the gospel but I want you to look at something when I said that man has only one problem that it is sin let me even be a little bit more specific when we talk about Sin it can be divided up into two great problems the first one is the condemnation of sin the other is the power of sin and through the Gospel of Jesus Christ both of

these problems are eliminated first the condemnation of sin the moment we believe the gospel we are Justified we are legally declared to be right before God and so that solves the problem of the condemnation of sin but the believer still has another problem it is the power of sin in the believer's life but the gospel also has the answer for that first of all when the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached and someone believes the gospel what has really happened I'll tell you when the gospel was preached the spirit of the Living God came he

regenerated the heart of that person he gave them new desires he opened up their eyes and when they saw Jesus with their opened eyes with their new desires they saw him as all together lovely and that they were irresistibly drawn to [Music] him and so through the gospel that heart is changed and sin no longer has a hold because if anyone isn't in Christ he's a new creature now we still have a problem even though sin no longer has a dominion over us we still struggle with sin but again the gospel is the answer the

more I know about the gospel the more truths I discern about the the gospel the more I see the Christ of the Gospel the more I am going to be conformed to his image and the more I am going to be free from the burden of sin it is looking unto Christ looking unto Christ in imitating Christ but this is not just a work of ours is a work of God the Bible says that when Christ appears he will conform us to himself perfectly and completely but also in this life the Bible teaches us the

more that we behold Christ in the gospel the more we will be transformed by him the gospel is the answer it's the most precious now I want you to go for just a minute to First Timothy First Timothy chapter 3 cap verse 16 by Common confession great is the mystery of godliness he who was revealed in the flesh was Vindicated in the spirit seen by Angels proclaimed among the Nations believed on in the world taken up in Glory by Common confession what does he mean that what he is going to tell us is an except

accepted truth in all the churches it is an accepted Truth by every genuine Christian that you're not going to find anyone who's truly a Believer that's going to disagree with this now what is it what is the one thing everyone in Christendom is in agreement on that is if truly you are in Christianity great is the mystery of godliness now what does that mean I mean everyone agrees with this that has truly been born again what is it that the mystery of godliness is great okay but what is this mystery the gospel look at the

rest of verse 16 Paul lays out for us the gospel now what does it mean mystery of godliness the mystery that leads to true pety that there is a mystery that when someone comprehends it it leads them to greater and greater piety greater and greater Devotion to God greater and greater holiness and righteousness in their thoughts in their words and in their practice but what is that great mystery the gospel the more you know about the gospel the more you comprehend about it now comprehend the word literally means to grab to come around something and

and grab it so I can say this the more you comprehend the gospel you grab it and the more the gospel comprehends you the more that the gospel grabs you the godlier and more devoted you're going to become now you know how Jesus says basically I don't care what you say with your mouth many will come before me on that day they will say Lord Lord and I will say depart from me I never knew you so what comes out of our mouth is not the evidence it's what we actually do what we actually say

now I'm going to ask you a question to those of you here if I were to hang out with you a lot well no let me say that if I were to secretly follow you because often times when you hang out with the pastor you act differently but if I were to be with you and I were to listen to your conversations I were to listen to your pray prayers I were to watch your life would I come to this conclusion the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important thing in this person's life and

the Jesus of the Gospel is the most important person in this person's life or would I Come Away with a different idea this person this person uses God like a vending machine they don't desire Christ they don't want to know more about him they've just believed the lie that Jesus can give them stuff or if I were to to go to your church or if you're listening by video if I were to go to your church and I listen to sermon after sermon after sermon would they be sermons about the attributes of God would they

be sermons about the works of God would I see a man standing before me that only wanted God that counted everything as lost he only wanted Jesus and the desire of his heart was for people to know the gospel so that they could be free from condemnation and then walk in Hope Holiness and true piety is that the kind of sermons I would be hearing would that be the emphasis or would it be all about prosperity and speaking words of faith and getting your best life now and reigning as kings and queens upon this planet

I would only have to hear one sermon like that and I'd knock the doors down running out of that place because a heart for Christ is not there what do you want that will tell me about you do you know what should be our great desire Paul said I want to know him now just listen to this look how different Paul's life is from the modern day prophets he was poor he was poor he was sometimes starving he was beaten in every town he went to he was considered the scum of the Earth but he

never said he wanted that part of his life to change he said I want Jesus what is another thing what is another thing that Paul wanted Conformity to his likeness I drive a 14year old Jeep the door on the right side was rammed by a truck it has no no air conditioning my kids call it the big red tomato I don't want another car I could care less about a car I don't stay up at night praying for a car and if you give me a car I will sell it and give the money to

missions I don't care what I want is to be like Jesus I don't weep because I don't have things I weep because I'm not like Jesus what do you want do you even want Christianity the real one the biblical one the historical one the one that's all about Jesus or do you want what all your silly little prophets want who cry out peace peace when there is no peace and pro and they promise you things that God Never Promised You and I don't know if you've noticed this or not but the only ones that prosper

in their church are the ones preaching it and if you fall for that it's an indication of what's in your own heart you follow them because you want what they want you don't want Jesus because you see other things as more important and why is that because your heart has never been regenerated by the Holy Spirit even now you're still filled with [Applause] carnality you want carnal things because you are carnal and when carnal prophets come to you and offer carnal things you follow them but you follow them not like a lamb following a Shepherd

but like a lamb being led to the slaughter hard words true words Jesus is preeminent in true Christianity Jesus Takes first place in true preaching we don't have time to go to the book of First Thessalonians and go through the first two chapters but when Paul is writing them he he says a few things about his life he says basically this you received the word in the midst of great Affliction and you receive the word with joy he tells them things like this after we had suffered in Philippi we came to you and preach the

same message and he says and you know that and he uses the Greek word o you perceived it you saw it with your own eyes now here's something that's very important uh here's something very important how did they know that Paul suffered in Philippi how did they know it they weren't there they weren't there when Paul was beaten and thrown in prison so how did they know it you know how they knew it because when Paul got L out of prison and he arrived in thessalonica both his feet were swollen they were swollen that's what

happens when they put your feet in Chains and he was walking like this and when he moved his waist or his back it [Music] hurt why because his back was full of bloody wounds so when he would raise his hand and say Jesus is Lord he would go like this Jesus is Lord now I want you to think about something you know what Paul said that his wounds were proof that he was a true servant of God his beatings were proof what do your modern day preachers tell you their prosperity is proof their wealth is

proof their homes and cars and clothes are proofed you know if you would only study the Bible you would be freed from a lot of these Heretics in [Music] brail Brothers I'm not trying to hurt you but I want to get in your heart and I want you to ask yourself a serious question that does desires of your heart reveal the true nature of it do you desire Christ do you want to follow him and do you want to be conformed to His Image Are you ashamed of the Gospel a lot of people say no

no I'm not ashamed you know why they say that because they don't know the gospel because the worldly carnal gospel that is being preached today there's no reason for your flesh to be ashamed of it but the real gospel yes do you want the gospel do you want Jesus now I want to warn you about something when you leave here now you're going to go out there and maybe eat or go out into the town be very careful that this word that's been preached to your [Music] heart that it isn't stolen out of your heart

because your heart is hard some of you need to sit here and really think you need to get alone with God you need to examine your heart you need to do a lot less clapping and a lot more thinking Lord is this me is my heart wrong then I want you not only think about you I want you to think about the church you're attending and the preachers you're listening to is their main theme Jesus Christ crucified is their main theme being holy as God is Holy if not then flee from the Wrath to come

get in a church where the pastor is a humble man of God where you see sacrifice in his life and when he comes to the pulpit he doesn't open up his mouth and tell you things from his heart he doesn't teach you about his experiences and he doesn't flaunt his Prosperity but when he gets in the pulpit he opens up his mouth and explains the word of the Living God not some Vision that he had the night before a vision that he did not have but only his inflated mind led him to see things that

God never told him get in a church where the man is going to open up God's word where he has spent 20 30 40 hours working on that text to bring forth the word of life let's pray father we come before you in the name of your son Lord have mercy on us all examine our hearts use the word to reveal any wicked way in US teach us to lay aside everything that is vile teach us to even lay aside the good things that are not the best things that your son might have preeminence Among

Us in Jesus name [Music] amen [Music]