The Gospel to Young People - Paul Washer

young people i i'm here tonight for you for you i want you to listen to me please please i'm more than anything if if you don't listen for a long time to something else please listen to me tonight okay this is specifically for you i want to talk to you about the gospel of jesus christ there is nothing more important than the gospel of jesus christ absolutely nothing and you need to understand i'm not going to talk to you like a bunch of children i'm going to talk to you like people who can understand me so pay attention please pay attention i know that there's been so many hours in your life when you didn't pay attention to anything so give me an hour i beg you young people want to tell you the greatest news that's ever been given and if you will listen you will be one of those young people one of those privileged people that have actually heard a message that great kings in the past would have longed to have heard they would have considered it the greatest privilege they waited for it and waited for it and it didn't come so you've been giving a message if you're a child you're not a child to me tonight you're a person who can understand if you're a teenager then let's act like teenagers should act realize that what's being put before you tonight is of extraordinary importance now we're going to open up our bibles and we're going to go to the book of romans and yes young person you can understand these things as well as anyone by the power of the holy spirit by the word of god so please pay attention now i'm going to give you an overview of part of the book of romans okay now i want you to look at chapter 1 verse 18 for the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness now you say brother paul what does that mean and i really really want you to understand this god is love he is love unlike anything you could ever imagine i mean you get the greatest illustration of love you could ever find and it will not compare with even the smallest part of how much god loves you see god just doesn't make a decision to love are you listening god doesn't just make a decision to love he just doesn't feel like loving god actually is love he is love he can never stop being love do you understand that but the passage i read talks about god's wrath god's anger and so you say to yourself how can god love and be love and yet the same time it says god is angry in god's love it's it's not just any kind of love it's a good love it's a love that always does the right thing it's a love that delights in life it's a love that delights in laughter it's a love that delights in everything that is good but you see a love that that rejoices in everything that is good is also a love that hates everything that's evil he's so pure he's so loving that everything that is hateful and harmful and dangerous and ugly and twisted everything that kills and destroys god hates it you see that let me give you an example if i truly love jewish people i must hate the holocaust i must hate it i can't be neutral about if i'm neutral about it i don't love jewish people if i love african people of african descent i must hate slavery i must hate it with every fiber of my being and if i don't hate that evil it shows i don't love that good do you see that that's how god is god loves so much all that is good all that is beautiful all that is life that he also hates comes against judges everything that is wicked everything that is evil and that's what god's talking about this passage so when you hear that god is sometimes angry it's because he loves it's because he's good it's because he hates all that's evil and destructive and brings death do you see that well that's good news isn't it important i mean god is omnipotent that means it's a big word that means he's all-powerful there's nothing he cannot do aren't you very very glad that the god who is can do anything he wants only wants to do good you wouldn't want him to be some other way it would be it would be a nightmare but he's good and that's good news that's really good news but you know what else it's bad news you say how can it be good news and bad news well it's good news that god is good but the bad news is we're not have you disobeyed your parents have you lied have you thought more about yourself than you think about other people have you been selfish you see all those things that you've done you say well that's not really bad yeah but that's why adults have wars that's why people kill each other have you ever received something that was absolutely wonderful or beautiful and then turn around and you don't even think about god do you see it's good news that god is good but we're not so what does a good god do with people like us who are selfish and sinful who look in the mirror more than we look at scripture who love ourselves more than we love others who lie and deceive who make fun of other kids we just go on and on and do all kinds of things see there's the problem god is good and god loves but god's love is is just and we're not just all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god that is you that's me you see now many of you may think oh i've seen that guy on on youtube or i've you know my parents talk about him or this or that here's what you need to understand you and i are just alike i'm not more advanced i'm not anything i am a sinner i have sinned against god's law i have broken god's law and because god is good i deserve god's judgment i deserve god to condemn me and cast me away that's exactly what i deserve but here's what i want you to understand it's also exactly what you deserve whether you like it or not it's what we really deserve now i want us to go back in scripture and i want us to see a big picture and you're going to be able to understand this if you will just keep looking at me and paying attention you're going to understand some things tonight that even the adults many adults and many churches don't understand so please this is so important you know what this is this is a matter of life and death this is how serious it is and i want you to know that now here's something and we're not going to be able to read through all these chapters but i want you to see something in romans 1 verses 18 through 32. do you know what many really good students of the bible believe paul is doing he says some really hard things about the world many people think that paul paul was a jew do you remember that he was from the nation of israel paul was a jew and it seems like right there that what paul is doing is he's looking at the world outside of israel and not just the world but the most gross barbarians the wild men the people who were even outside of rome what we call pagans and in this section of scripture what he's doing is he's exposing them all as sinners look what he says in verse 19 because that which is known about god is evident within them for god made it evident to them for since the creation of the world his invisible attributes his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse for even though they knew god they did not honor him as god or give thanks but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened professing to be wise they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible god for an image in the form of corruptable man and of birds and of four-footed animals and crawling creatures now what is he saying crawling creatures i mean what's going on it's like paul is saying okay all that world out there this pagan barbarian world even though they can see in the leaves and the trees and the beautiful designs of the mountains and the flowers and the animals even though all of that is saying someone had to make this they loved themselves more than god they wanted to rule their own life even though they were made by god they rebel against god they deny his existence all his goodness everything not only do they say he's not good not only they say that he doesn't even exist for them and instead of worshiping the one true god who gives us breath and makes our heart beat who made us who blesses us who gives us so many good things instead of worshiping him you know what they did they traded him we don't want this god we want to worship men we want to worship ourselves but you know what they were so twisted and so evil that they didn't stop there then they said no we're going to worship lower animals and lower animals and lower animals so men because god is good and men want to sin what do they do instead of worshiping the one true god they make up their own gods out of their own wicked heart gods that look like beetles and jackals and and an eight-legged people eight armed people and all kinds of horrible twisted nightmarish stuff and when they make their god that way you know what they're showing they're showing their own heart their heart is actually evil they don't want the light of god they want to walk in darkness now paul said this about the whole pagan world do you know what happened do you know what a philosopher is philosopher is someone who claims to study all that is good and beautiful and logical and reasonable so when paul looked at the pagan world and said that whole world is full of darkness irrationality craziness stupidity the philosophers heard paul and they went that's true paul all those barbarians out there all those pagan wild men and all those tribes in europe and all the places that are running wild and like animals you're right paul they are all sinners they're not like us because we're educated and refined and then paul goes and points his finger at them the educated ones the refined ones the philosophers and he says woe is you because you're just as sinful as everybody else and we look over here and we get to we get there to chapter two he says in verse three but do you suppose this old man when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself that you will escape the judgment of god now here's what i want you to see you see someone doing something really bad like committing murder or hurting somebody or kidnapping somebody or somebody starting a war or somebody stealing and you go that's a bad person that's a bad person but paul would say to you yes that's a bad person but in your own heart you do the very same thing you lie you think about yourself you make fun of your little brother and sister everything you see those evil people doing out there you do the same it's just you're little and you don't have that much power but you do the same so when paul's talking about all those wild tribal people in northern europe and all these different places where my family comes from and the philosophers go yes we study we're virtuous we write beautiful poetry paul turns around looks at them and he goes and you're just as sinful as they are you see here's what you're going to find out young people outside of jesus men can write all kinds of beautiful things songs about love and songs about all that is good the problem is they don't do any of it it's all hypocrisy it's all a lie it's a dream so when paul goes after the wild men the philosopher goes that's right they're wicked and paul turns to them and says and you're just as wicked but now let's throw in another group when paul says those wild men and europe those barbarians are wicked the philosophers and the teachers applaud but then paul says no you're just as wicked and when he says that then what happens the religious people the jews stand up and they go paul you're right those wicked barbarians they're evil and the judgment of god should fall upon them and those pagan philosophers that do not know god those pagan philosophers they're wicked too you're right paul and then paul turns and looks at the religious people he looks at his own people the jews and he goes and guess what you're just as wicked so let's say that you're a kid and you go to church all the time and you're in church every day and you're with your parents and you're homeschooled and you do all kinds of devotions and everything else and you see a kid maybe on tv who's living on the street and he's a criminal and everything else and you go that man's that that little boy is a sinner he's not like me is he dead your dad should say no he's just like you and you're just like him and that's what paul did when the religious people stood up his own people the jews and said paul you're exactly right all those people you were talking about are sinful and under the judgment of god and paul goes and so are you because even though you talk about god even though you know god's commands you don't do what god says and your heart is full of anger at times and hatred at times and selfishness at times and wrong desires about the wrong things and so paul gets here and looks what he says in verse 17 of chapter two but if you bear the name jew and rely upon the law and boast in god and know his will and approve the things that are essential being instructed out of the law and are confident that you are yourself are a guide to the blind delight to those who are in darkness a corrector of the foolish a teacher of the immature having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and of truth you therefore who teach another do you not teach yourself you who preach that one shall not steal do you steal you who say that one should not commit adultery do you commit adultery you who abhor idols do you rob temples you who boast in the law you who boast in the law through your breaking the law do dishonor god so let's say let's apply that not just to paul's time or paul's people listen children and young people let's apply it to you been raised in a christian family you study the bible you're only allowed to read good books you watch dvds about christian martyrs and all kinds of things you're in church and you look at other people other children and you go i'm not like them because i know what god's bible says what you need to understand is yeah you do but you break it you disobey it you disobey it says honor your father and mother first commandment with a promise and many times you don't honor your father and mother and you don't obey them many times you're asked to do something you disobey many of the times you get angry many times you hit your little sister and brother some of you teenagers even worse you know that although you're sitting there in church over every every other weekend every week every time every prayer meeting that your heart is actually so far from god so far away yeah you can quote even scripture you learn that in homeschooling but your heart just wanders cares to know nothing about god or maybe you really do want to be right and you want to do the right thing but you find this principle in you that when you try to do good you're still not doing it do you see young people what paul is doing here and what i want to do is something that most people say is well kind of strange do you know what i want to do the very same thing paul is doing i want to condemn you all i want all of you to see something that will make you very very sad i want all of you to see that you have sinned you have broken god's law just like me just like your mom just like your dad just like all these preachers you're guilty and because you're guilty and you're sinful and you're selfish and you're consumed with yourself because of all these things that you are you're under the judgment of god now you say well that's not very loving it's not very kind of you let me share your story you know what a doctor is right what is a doctor supposed to do it's supposed to heal people right well you know what one day my mom asked me to go with her to the doctor she says i've got to go the doctor he says he has news for me my mom and i we kind of we laughed we had a good morning together and we were all happy my mom was happy and we went into the doctor's office and you know what the doctor did he ruined my mother's day he made my mom so sad she cried would you think he was an evil doctor because he did that he did do that but you know why i did it in order to save her life this is what he did he said mrs washer you have cancer and it's very very serious now what he knew was my mom was real hard-headed so i come by it naturally my mom was real hard-headed and my doctor knew it and so you know what he did he had a stack of evidence he knew this woman would not accept it wouldn't like it and so when she said oh that can't be true he goes here's the first x-ray look here's the evidence here's the next piece of evidence here's the next p and what he kept doing was putting before my mother the evidence that was ruining her day it was making her sad it was making her cry he was proving to her you're going to die if you don't do something if you don't listen to me you have no chance now i'm her son i love my mother my mother was unbelievable i mean when my father died she took over sent us all the college she did all these things you'd think you know if i was a good son i'd want to punch that doctor because he made my mom cry but when we left and my mom walked out i went back to the doctor and i said thank you that you loved my mom enough that even though she got mad at you for telling you you loved her enough to tell you to tell her so that she could now make a decision of whether or not she wanted to live longer and see that's what paul's doing paul isn't trying to hurt the pagans up there in northern europe he's not trying to make uh just the philosophers feel bad and he's not just trying to anger his own people the jews he's saying this because he loves them he's saying look you're not what you think you are god is good but being good he's going to judge evil people and we are evil people you tribal peoples up in the north of europe you are under the judgment of god because you have sinned you've philosophers and teachers and poets and artists and you think you're so good but the fact of the matter is you don't obey your own writings you're you're wicked you're evil and then he comes to the religious people yes you have god's law it's true you've memorized it you've read all the bible stories about noah and david and adam but you're lost you're sinful and there's nowhere to go now i want to show you something else paul does let's run over to romans 3. he knows that when he says this people are going to get mad at him he also knows that some of them aren't going to believe him they're going to go like this i'm not that bad i'm not that bad i'm i'm a good guy i mean i'm just not like that paul you don't know me or you can't judge me you don't know what's in my heart so what does paul do even though he's an apostle and he speaks with the authority of christ paul said okay when the jews go paul you're wrong i'm pretty good god's going to accept me paul goes okay let's go to the old testament scriptures let's see what the scriptures say so you may be saying here right now teenager young person you know what this is old-fashioned i don't agree with it i'm not that bad i'm not that sinful and i don't believe that god has any right to judge me okay look at verse 10 of chapter 3 as it is written in the scriptures there is none righteous not even one now do you know what righteousness means it means straight so what does that mean okay imagine that there's a standard and it's perfectly straight to be righteous you've got to be perfectly conformed to that standard okay you got to be just like it who's the standard god and god's law god's nature and god's law is the standard are you perfectly conformed to god's nature and law no you've broken every command he's ever given in one way or another you're not righteous now look what he says there is none righteous but then he adds no not one because you know what i think is going on here if paul goes there's none righteous immediately the response is going to be yeah of course paul i mean there are none righteous except me and paul goes no there's none righteous no not one not one young person not one person who has obeyed the law of god not one not one you know what we all you know we're all related did you know that we are we all have a common ancestor adam and you know what he sinned and you know what we have followed him not only we were we impacted by his sin transformed by his sin but we followed him willingly all of us are family so i'm talking to family and i want you to know all of us have sinned there is none righteous no not one no not one young person listen to me listen to me don't look at your sister don't look at your brother don't talk look at me the bible says that you're not right with god you're not you say well i've memorized scripture i don't care he said well i go to church with my parents i don't care i'm homeschooled really don't care i don't care because you have broken god's law you say well don't talk to me that way i've broken god's law we've all broken god's law do please see this young person please you're smarter than this listen to me you have all disobeyed god he says there's none righteous not even one there's none who understands there's none who seek for god i mean how the young person has answer me this question now look at me look at me how many hours a day do you spend seeking god thinking about god i mean putting a ball through a hoop has more importance than god to some of you playing a video game right anything dad comes in says we're going to have family devotions oh dad you may not say it but it's in your heart do you see how much time look at me answer the question how much time do you spend talking to god reading god's word praying to god talking to your friends when was the last time young person you got in an in-depth two-hour long conversation about god but you say well that's a little bit much isn't it yeah but you're getting that long a conversation about oh one of these games or football or soccer or hunting or whatever thing you do how much time young person have you ac actually sought god and he goes they've all turned aside together they have become useless let me ask you a question young person if i gave each one of you a piece of paper right now and a pencil and i said write down on a list how god is using you how are you surrendering your life right now to do god's will you would go what i don't even know what you're talking about i mean i'm just a kid well you want everyone to treat you like an adult i'm going to treat you like adult are you useless to god do you serve god do you and so then look what he says there is none who does good there is not even one and he goes further and he says some some terrible things their throat is an open grave with their tongues they keep deceiving every time you lie it's like there's a dead person in your mouth the poison of asp is under their lips let's put that in texas vernacular the poison of a diamondback rattlesnake is under their lips whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness you say well i don't curse no but you've been so mad sometimes that if someone wrote it all out on paper you'd sign it their feet are swift to shed blood destruction and misery and their path the path of peace they have not known there is no fear of god before their eyes do you know ever since i've been a child which a long time ago there have been wars if there is one day without shooting it's only because everybody's loading their gun we're a warring people we're a bloody people as you grow up you're going to see that i don't want you to see all the violence that's out there but this is humanity this is humanity and look what he says there is none good when i'm out on the street and i'm telling people about jesus you know it's one of the first things they all tell me i mean it's one of the first things that comes out of people's mouth i'm good if he died right now sir where would you go i'd go to heaven why i'm good okay you may be good in the eyes of some men i mean maybe you're better than hitler but in the eyes of god there's none good there is none good i don't care if you're 13 years old homeschooled never watched a television program have pink bows in your hair and just read little house on the prairie books you are not good your heart is not if i could take out okay teenagers listen to me if i could take out your heart teenager and i could put your heart on a dvd and give it to the media people back there and you knew that at the flick of a switch i was going to show everybody in this room every thought you've ever thought and every deed you've ever done in perfect you would jump out of your seat and run towards me and do anything to keep me from pressing that button because you have thought things and done things so shameful you couldn't share it with your best friend and you know i'm telling you the truth teenager don't kid yourself you know there's evil there you would do anything to stop me how do i know because i'm a prophet no because of the bible and because it's the same thing for all of us so if you would be ashamed for all of your thoughts to be revealed before people who are just like you how ashamed will you be one day when you stand before a holy god and all your thoughts and deeds and words and attitudes and everything are put there before him and before all that is holy in heaven you see young people listen to me this is real this is serious it's why i'm not using big words or anything else i want you to see this is real god is love and god is good and because of that you should rejoice but again because of that you should be afraid because we're not good one of the greatest problems in all the bible is the goodness of god because then we have to answer the question what does a good god do with people like you who are not good and people like me who are not good what does he do and there is the greatest problem but before we get there i want you to look at something look at verse 19 of chapter three now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to god do you know the ten commandments young person don't make me come down there do you know the ten have you like looked at the ten commandments a lot of people think okay i know the ten commandments and i tried to keep them and because of that i think i'm going to get to heaven the ten commandments were never given by god that we would make it to heaven through keeping them not because they're not good they're good they're holy the problem is not the ten commandments the problem is none of us have kept them some way or another every one of us in this room have literally disobeyed every one of the commands every one of them so paul says what does the law do you cannot save yourself you cannot make yourself right with god by trying to keep some rules by being homeschooled by going to church all the time by even praying prayers you can't because you have already broken god's law you've broken god's law it's not like they broke the law of some little mayor of a small town in texas you have broken the law of the lord of the universe who deserves all obedience he deserves your obedience he deserves your worship he deserves your thanksgiving he is so good he has been so kind to you but you and i we have broken his law do you know why sin is so bad it's not just because well we hurt other people or we hurt ourself sin is so bad because god is so good you're sinning against a god who never gave you a reason to sin against him because he's done nothing but good for you do you see that oh young people pray that the holy spirit will shall parents pray that the holy spirit will show teenagers and young people this truth and so paul says everything he's done has one purpose to condemn you do you know what condemn means because if i use that word and you don't understand it it really doesn't matter all right let me give you an idea what condemn means you stand before a judge and he points out absolutely every crime you've committed every sin you have broken every word that was evil every disposition or thought in your heart every time you you know threw a john deere tractor at your sister everything that you did and he goes because of that and they take you they open up the jail cell and they throw you in you're condemned you are guilty you can't say anything you can't defend yourself you're guilty you actually did it you did exactly what the judge said you did and you have to admit not only did i do it but i deserve this punishment that's condemned shut away from god throughout all of eternity shut away from life throughout all of eternity shut away from all the joys of life and god throughout eternity now why has paul done all this for the same reason the doctor did what he did with my mom see my doctor loved my mom and so the doctor said i'm going to show her that she's in danger so that she'll realize she's in danger so that she will take the only medicine that can save her why does paul sit there and go you're a sinner you're a sinner you're a sinner you're a sinner you're a sinner you're condemned you're condemned you've broke god's law you broke god's law you disobeyed it's not because he wants you just to feel horrible sit in a corner and await judgment he's telling you that so that you'll run to the savior so that you'll run to the god who loves you jesus christ it's like this let me give you an illustration see i've got two different groups here so let me this looks a little wider over here so this is what paul is doing young people now watch this here's you okay and you hear that you're a sinner and you're like okay yeah i'm sort of a sinner but i'm i'm pretty good and so you go i can escape this condemnation i'll just go this way as soon as you take a step paul goes boom and puts iron bars here and goes no you're not good and then you go well yeah i i'm good so you turn this way boom another set of bars and then you go but i'm not that bad boom another set of bars and you go well i'll escape out the back boom another set of bars and now you're encaged because every one of these walls is telling you yes you have sinned and you go well i'll go under you start digging but you find out you can't get out that way because the bars go deep you're condemned you can't go this way you can't go this way you can't go back you can't go forward what way can you go where is the one place where there's no bars up up to do what oh god i am a sinner i can't save myself through my these good works i can't save myself through this i can't save myself through this i'm entrapped in my sin i can't go around i can't go under but oh god now finally i'm looking up i'm looking up o god please have mercy on me please save me oh god i have read in the bible that you are a loving god a merciful god a compassionate god a god who is willing to forgive that takes no joy in the death of sinners like me so now i look up to you god save me do you see if i have been in the ministry for three and a half decades i have been in jungles i have been in deserts i have practically frozen to death i have there are so many things guns to my head you name it done so many things young people i'm so tired you say why are you going to heaven brother paul one reason and it has nothing to do with jungles or deserts or good works or orphanages or anything else if i die right now i'm going to heaven for one reason jesus christ died for this sinner that's it i have no other boast young person you see young person what i want you to see is i want you to see that you can't save yourself this way or this way or this way or backwards you cannot do it but this way god i'm a sinner i cannot save myself save me and you say oh wonderful no we got another problem we got another problem now if you'll listen to me on this one you're gonna understand some things okay if you'll just listen to me and and grasp it i'm going to teach you something that even most of the evangelicals don't understand now listen to me here's the really big problem i've talked a lot about a lot of problems having a young people here's the really big problem are you ready let's say that a man breaks into my house and kills my family or kills my family or let's say a man breaks into your house and kills your family and he's got blood on his hands i mean you caught him red-handed he's guilty he's guilty just like you're guilty i'm guilty he's guilty and you capture him and you tie him up and you call the police and the police come and they put him in a jail but then he has to stand before the judge right now there's no doubt this man has destroyed your family all the evidence points to that so one day you're in the courtroom with the people from your town and your friends and they're all there to see justice being done this man killed somebody and the judge comes out and this is what he does he looks at the man who killed your family and he says this i am compassionate slow to anger and abounding and loving kindness and he looks at the man who killed your family and says you're free to go what are you going to say are you going to say oh that was beautiful are you going to say oh what a demonstration of mercy no that's not what you're going to say you know what you're going to say that judge is more corrupt than the man who killed my family that judge is wicked that judge should do righteousness that man has committed a crime he has killed my entire family a judge is supposed to make just decisions that man should be condemned and you're going to look at that judge not as a wonderful forgiving man you're going to look at him as a corrupt politician maybe a corrupt judge a wicked man because he didn't do justice justice demands that this man be punished for his crimes well that presents a problem doesn't it young people you've committed crimes against god if god just forgives you you're forgiven then god's not just he's not good and that's do you want to know something that's what the bible's all about from the very beginning that's what the whole bible is about did you know that some of the older people didn't even know that there is a great problem in the bible that seems incapable of being solved until we get to jesus and that is since god is just he cannot forgive wicked men he must punish them god is a righteous judge and he's going to punish the wicked so how can he just let how can he give adam a promise of salvation how can he save noah you paint all those pictures of noah in his ark but noah was a sinner he should have died in the flood with everyone else abraham is called a friend of god but abraham sinned against his wife and god and put his own wife in jeopardy and lied to the king abraham deserved to die israel deserved to die in the desert when it came out of egypt do you see that david should have died if god is just why did god allow all these sinful people to just go on you see here's the problem god does love you but if he forgives you just okay it's gone do you know what he's like have you ever heard this statement the corrupt judge swept the crime under the rug you see he didn't do justice so how can god forgive you you have sinned how can he forgive you because god's own justice demands that you die but god's love is saying i want to save how can the problem be solved the answer is in christ and the gospel listen to me young person just listen so carefully here jesus christ is everything you see all these preachers up here failures including myself failure everybody's a failure there's only one who didn't fail our father adam failed we failed everyone failed there's only one hero in this story and it's not the preacher it's not the speaker there's only one hero in this story and it's jesus christ god's son here's what god did god in his judgment so let's go back to the judge remember the judge so think about this let's say the judge is just the criminal comes in the courtroom and the judge goes you have committed murder and you must die justice demands you die life for a life eye for an eye tooth for a tooth you must die but then the judge comes down from the bench takes off his robe trades places with the sinner and dies in the sinner's place now that doesn't work out too well in the illustration with men but with god it does here's what god has done god god doesn't play okay god looks at you and says you have violated every law i have ever given you have broken every command you have disdained me disobeyed me given my worship to others even to yourself you are guilty guilty guilty and god's own justice demands that you die but then god himself in his love becomes a man he lives the perfect life that you did not live and then on the cross all your sin is placed upon him and then all the punishment all the wrath of god all the holy anger of god against evil that should fall on you falls on the substitute the one standing in your place jesus christ he lived the life you couldn't live he bore your sin and then all the judgment that god's justice demanded be poured out on you he absorbed it he took it in do you remember when jesus was on the cross what was the last thing he said it is finished right before it is finished it is finished what did he mean i've paid in full i've paid it all you and i have committed crimes against god and we're in debt to god and that debt is death jesus went to the cross he bore our sin he was crushed under the fierce judgment of god because god is love and hates evil he was crushed under all the judgment that should fall upon you and me and when it was finished jesus goes it's finished i've paid in full do you know why i'm going to heaven because i believe in jesus but you know how it works jesus lived the perfect life i couldn't live and he lived it as my substitute he lived it for me isn't that amazing he not only died for me he lived for me so he lived this perfect life as a man for me and then he went to a tree for me and he took like taking off of me all my sin and it was placed on him and then all the judgment of god that should have fallen on me now falls on him and when he suffered everything that needed to be suffered he cried out it is finished i've paid in full for paul and for every one of his people he paid in full and here's the amazing thing the most amazing thing is that i am forgiven of all my sin because jesus died under the penalties of my sin but not only that the moment i believe i'm pardoned of all my sin but not only that the moment i believe that perfect life that jesus lived i'm close in it i had two problems you know what those problems were one i couldn't live a life that was acceptable to god but the other problem is because i couldn't live a life that was acceptable to god i was under the penalties of the law which demanded my death jesus took care of both problems he died under the penalties of the law for me but he also lived for me so now i'm free from the penalty because he paid the price but now i'm also clothed in his perfect life so i'm righteous before god do you see what i have do you know what is so remarkably sad about tonight some of you one day may be preachers and it'll you'll only then will you understand why i'm sad i've sat here i've prayed about it and i've tried to share the gospel with you but i failed you see this jesus is so wonderful god's love is so wonderful what jesus did is so wonderful that any time a preacher tries to explain it he just walks off the platform with his head down because he knows he failed young people there's no way i can show you how wonderful god is the price that he paid for you how much he loves you what christ did i'll never forget i knew a guy many years ago he was a very wicked young man and one day someone told him about jesus and he just seemed to be swallowed up in the love of god he his heart was so hard but he couldn't get over one thing knowing how bad he was how wicked so so wicked to know that god loved him so much that he sent his son to die for him it he couldn't get it out of his head it was almost like a being a prisoner to the love of god and one day he went out on campus and started handing out tracts so happy and everyone made fun of him and then friends came and they got him and they pulled him aside and said people think you're an idiot what are you doing do you know what the young man said over and over he died for me he he said you know me you know what i am you know how sinful how evil i've been he died for me you see a young person here's what i want i don't want your life to be controlled by just trying to be good or respectable or religious i want you to see what jesus christ did for you on calvary and that your heart would literally be filled with the love of christ and that it would control you you would say i believe in him i want to serve him but because i love him and i love him because he loved me first when i didn't love him you see young person that's what it's about everything god has ever done making the world everything is about his son think about it that on the end of your life you realize you wasted everything that the one reason to be alive was to know christ and his salvation and to spend eternity knowing him and loving him being transformed by him if i died right now i would go to heaven if if tonight one of you trusts in christ as your savior do you know what we have in common i mean you're young you haven't preached you haven't been followed through the jungle by terrorists you haven't done all these things you haven't started an orphanage you haven't started a church but if you trusted in christ tonight you know what you and i would have in common we're going to heaven for the exact same reason an old hymn writer said one time nothing in my hands do i bring simply to the cross i cling i have no goodness no righteousness of my own you have no goodness no righteousness of your own i cannot save myself you cannot save yourself you cannot save yourself but christ did it all young person christ did it all and when we trust in him we are forgiven of all our sins past present and future and then we are clothed in the righteousness of christ so that when god looks at us all he sees is perfection legally perfect position before him we will never even not one drop of his anger even if god has to discipline us as he's disciplined me at times it's not because of anger it's because of love to be swallowed up in the love of god when you should be swallowed up in the judgment of god is an amazing thing and then to serve him oh and young people let me tell you something he can do things with your life that you could never even imagine he is so wonderful that i just want to fall down and apologize and apologize and apologize for all my dull stupid words i can't explain to you and that's why the preacher's heart breaks he's so wonderful and i want you to see it please that god would allow you to see how beautiful christ is and to love him and to rejoice in him and to be safe in him if any of you young people with your parents would like to talk or anything afterwards i have no place to go until tomorrow sometime but please young people please to me your soul beautiful you're so precious but you need to understand you must be saved and teenager some of you teenagers who know christ really did he save you so that you could just spend all your time in things that are so frivolous there's nothing wrong with diversion with some entertainment with doing different things i love all kinds of crazy things but teenager if you confess christ as your savior and you're sure you know him how are you living your life and look don't don't do this don't don't look up here don't think there's nothing special here nothing if you lived with me for a while you'd be praying for me there's there's no great men there's no all that is silly and people pretending okay somebody needs to stick some preachers sometime and let all the air out of them we're just people who've been saved when i go to heaven what will be my title saved just saved what are you i'm saved how'd you get i'm saved where are you going i don't know but i'm saved and then here's the thing one day he's going to change the whole world one day we'll see him as he is and no it will not be a 24 hour seven day a week church service when he does that you teenagers i want you to know that that's not what's going to happen okay it's going to be life it's going to be life and it's going to be wild that's the part i like you know why it can be wild because it will also be holy some people i say i can't wait to go to heaven i'm just going to sit there in church or wherever you know in the chapel or wherever is in heaven and i'm just going to sit there and i'll go you don't do that now why are you talking that way you're just trying to sound spiritual no you're going to live you're gonna become everything you were meant to be i want to run i want to laugh i want to desire more than i've ever desired but holy i want to see beauty i want to jump and run and swim i want to do everything i want to live that's what it's about and every thought every step every breath unto his glory and there be no competition whatsoever so the runner will run and not have to worry do i love running more than christ no i love christ and that's why i run don't think that just some enclosed i don't know heaven is some sunday morning service no heaven there is so much beauty there and joy that if you were not supernaturally strengthened and you caught one glimpse of the glory and joy and beauty and life that was there it would explode your mind and leave you insane have you ever heard someone say i saw a sunset this morning and it took my breath away have you ever heard that what are they saying my heart almost stopped why it was so beautiful you will have to be transformed to enter in to glory because the beauty would break you into a million pieces the joy would drown you now that's something worth living for and dying for and you say why is it that way is it because of gates of pearl and streets of gold come on like you can only walk on streets of gold so long and it gets boring we can do swing on gates of pearl for like eternity no it's just that the beauty of christ the power of christ the life of christ is so eternal so infinite so ongoing that you will go through eternity after eternity trying to chase down the glory of god and you'll never get to the end of it and with each step you become more and more full more and more able to experience joy not static by but dynamically being changed and changed from glory to glory to glory chasing after him you say well what happens when we catch him you won't catch him he's infinite he's infinite infinite oh young person young person young please please please listen christ is everything and he always should be let's pray father thank you oh god i am so sorry so much said so inadequate every word every thought every emotion so pale and useless in comparison to your beauty oh god please bless these children please bless these children please lord god these children these teenagers these young adults please dear god convert their hearts save them regenerate them show them christ show them christ's beauty oh god why do we preach why do we preach words words so many words oh god please please get glory for yourself by answering so many prayers of parents save people o god jesus name amen believe on christ believe on christ young believe rest upon him throw yourself upon him trust in him he is a wonderful savior a wonderful savior

Channel: I'll Be Honest

Views: 101,123

Rating: 4.9703403 out of 5

Keywords: Paul Washer, Gospel, Children, salvation, Fellowship Conference, Romans, Catechism

Id: wn81XKDaoHY

Length: 67min 56sec (4076 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 22 2021