BibleSponge

The halls of the convention center rang with deafening silence as brother Paul Washer brought the Gospel as only he can. There were no catchy clichés or comforting ideas about how to receive your “best life now”.  No, the Gospel, the glorious, scandalous Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was put in a manner that all in attendance could understand and began like this:

Your home-school education, nice clothes, and manners cannot save you. Flee to Christ!

He continued as the heavy, grievous Holy Spirit began to fill the room:

My desire is to strip you of every hope in the flesh, to shut you off from every hope whatsoever of somehow making yourself right with God by your own virtue and merit. If you repent of trying to clothe yourself in the filthy rags of your own righteousness and fall on Christ, He will save you. Then you will grow in Christ-likeness, and you will know His presence; this is the Gospel.

This is the way the Gospel was meant to be preached. Not the sugar-coated, safe, non-offensive gospel that pastors dish out either every Sunday either out of fear or for self-preservation of themselves and their churches.

Brother Paul also offered this sound advice…

Judge everything you do by this standard: is it really only for Him? If he took everything away and left you only with Him, would you still have joy unspeakable, because your hope is in Him?

Over 2,600 men, women and children were left in a wake, shaken to the core of our sinful soul in what ended in a somber, sobering revelation of just how messed up and how undeserving of His grace and mercy we really are.

Unlike the talking heads on TV or at mega-church circus revivals, there was no manipulative altar call ending or Biblically-ignorant reductions of salvation to 4 questions or any foolish prayers to repeat.  No, only a heartfelt proclamation that he would meet anyone afterwards and stay all night if necessary for those who wanted to deal with their sin and who had the Holy Spirit inside working on their hearts and drawing them to repentance.  He left us with these words…

Throw yourself on Christ, and you will not be disappointed.

 

JS