Everytime I bring Paul Washer up to my friends, they roll their eyes. They believe he is too hard and doesn't show Grace.
They finally gave "Modern American Christianity" a listen. They agreed but felt there was no Grace at the end.
This isn't about Paul Washer but the question is 'Did Jesus ever speak to people without giving them a chance a the end?'
Hard to answer questions about this in regard to Paul Washer, considering the fact that we are usually not privy to the circumstances surrounding the event he is speaking at.
Also, I find it hard to compare speaking to the average American church group with those Jesus was speaking to.
Not saying we should not take our cues from the Master, just saying things are not always the same.
Many people in America have heard nothing but grace, while others have been under perverted theological bondage and do not know what it is.
I believe Paul Washer prayers before he speaks and presents accordingly.
We are at a disadvantage at times not having all the details surrounding particular messages.
Just some thoughts
I know you did not ask about Paul Washer directly, but I felt these points were worth making note of.
i think after his sermons he does discipleship and probably speaks more in depth on it.
It is the grace and mercy of God that has favored us with few uncompromising preachers filled with the Holy Ghost and the righteous indignation of the holy God.
Dear freind Jesus was very unsparing to self righteous people like pharises. The same Jesus living today in the life of men of God is unsparing to the self sufficent proffessing christians who have mechandize the onointing of God and watered down the word of God.
Today our churches are filled with hypocrite christians who believe a small god of their own currupt imagination, an idol that they have invented to satisfy their corrupt selfish desires.
Today many in our churches worship a stange god without holiness, majesty and wrath.
Most of us want to hear about the love of God but we deliberatly ignore the righteousness, the wrath and holy indignatin of God. Flee from the wrath to come by fleeing to the mercy of God in Jesus Christ on the Cross, thats the message we need to hear today.
People want to go to heaven without being saved from their sins, well Jesus came first of all to save his people from their sins and as a consequence of that they wil be in heaven.
The word of God is like a hammer that crushes to pieces and like a fire that burns and consumes. We need to pray for more prophets with the message of repentance, who will blow the trumpet in Zion and wake the sleeping church, and God will send them, believe me God is not to be mocked.
Good point to all...
I keep thinking of this, and the context:
"Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you." (Luke 10:8-14 RSV)
Its hard to say as TJ said, Jesus said some hard things to, preached sermons that made thousands of people walk away, yet he was the humblest most graceful person to walk the earth.
Jeremiah preached the same hard message for decades and no one wanted to hear him.
I think prayer and where we are in our walk, we should if walk rightly see new light, and more of Christ, and our message may change, not the core and essence of the gospel, but some small things we emphasize. I think David Wilkerson has changed some in his preaching, i think its because god reveals to us more and more, and we see things different with time. Myself have experienced for a season i have been very burdened about regeneration, then that has been on my heart and that is what i have shared, other times it has been about false gospels and that is what i have shared, sometimes Gods love have been so strong and beautiful that is what i have shared.
We are one body, and together we should represent all that is to be preached, some may be "heavy" on the things man dislike to hear, others on what men enjoy to hear. Both be true and in gods will. I think brother Paul Washers message is needed in todays christianity even tho i dont agree on everything the man has ever said. Still i think we could use a lot more men with his burden and message.
I think when we listen to a any preacher, not just Paul Washer, we should be straining to draw spiritual meaning from the message, not from non-essential factors like appearance, race, or the structural outline of the sermon. In looking at so many non-essentials, one can easily lose sight of the treasure that God may have placed in the message.
We should listen with an attitude of humility to learn and improve ourselves, rather than one of prideful criticism or tradition-based expectations.
God does not work within man-made frameworks. When seeking God, we must be ready to be surprised. We must also be grounded in the Word; so as not to be fooled by impostors; and so that we can discern and rejoice at a message of truth.
Is it possible these people are working to discredit Washer because he is stepping on their toes? If one can find a legitimate fault with someone who is speaking for the LORD they somehow feel like this will nullify the message and absolve them of any guilt. If I were you I would explore this idea with these friends without mentioning Washer. If they persist is focusing on what they perceive as being a fault with Washer's method, this should tell you a lot of where there are coming from.
Just a thought.
ginnyrose
Jesus turned away the majority of those who wanted to follow Him.
I believe Jesus held and still holds the world record for the fastest shrinking ministry of any pastorate.
He turned thousands of followers away by narrowing the path of salvation down and down and down until He came to the point of saying unless you hate your father and mother you can't follow me.
Take up your cross and follow me.
Christianity is an offensive scandal to anybody who thinks they're good enough to become a follower. Pick up your cross, die to self, and follow Jesus as a slave no matter the cost.
Christianity is for the dirty sinners who have no other hope except the cross and sacrifice of Jesus Christ on their behalf.
Jesus didn't come to save Christians, Jesus came to save sinners.
I believe Jesus held and still holds the world record for the fastest shrinking ministry of any pastorate. He turned thousands of followers away by narrowing the path of salvation down and down and down until He came to the point of saying unless you hate your father and mother you can't follow me. Take up your cross and follow me.
I agree. The truth hurts. A Christian should expect to BE GOOD, not FEEL GOOD.
To whom is Mr. Washer speaking? What message did God give him to speak to these people?
My guess would be that if Paul Washer was to speak to unbelievers and share the gospel, his message would be full of the grace of God and people would have a chance to respond.
I have not heard the sermon, but I think I can surmise from the title that the sermon is a message intended for the church. I have heard one or two messages by Mr. Washer and have thought them good.
It all has to do with context and the leading of the Holy Spirit within that context.
What do they mean when they say grace?
To get pushed out of the way of a runaway bus can hurt.
I honestly believe Paul Washers sermons are very well seasoned with the Grace of God.
Maybe with alot of prayer God will Give grace to those who will humble themselves and Repent and believe the message God has sent to this world.
This isn't about Paul Washer but the question is 'Did Jesus ever speak to people without giving them a chance a the end?'
I'm not so sure what your friends quite mean. However, grace is something that only comes by faith. The question Biblically speaking is: Did they believe the message they heard with faith? If they believed what they heard with faith, then they have received grace. If they did not believe the message they heard, then even if it was a soft and less pointy message, no grace was given. Ending a message with an altar-call friendly message or an invitation or an exhortation to follow Jesus is not giving people grace. Causing them to believe in Jesus Christ, that is giving them grace.
*edit*
I would be interested in knowing more about what your friends mean. I suspect though, they heard some sort of idea preached to them that sounded like it was good, but they didn't really think it out very well in light of Scripture.
I thought he was hard too in the beginning. But I gave him a listen to because I realized that something was wrong with my heart. I used to love hard messages and now I was becoming soft so to speak. I started to listen to him and began to look beyond the man and see the Christ pleading with His Church. Once I got beyond Paul Washer it was easy to listen to the message and if he read this post, he would appreciate these words because he is not interested in lifting himself to be seen of men.
I can understand those who would oppose it. You have to want to change, and there has to be a heart that is crying out for change even though no change is happening, but the cry is there.
Proverbs 27:7 The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
For those who have heard the gospel, yes certainly. But remember not everyone is preaching the full gospel. So your going to have a mixture of gospel messages. Some are preached in anger thinking that this will bring about the righteousness of God. Others have a balance of being hard and then offering the solution. While others preach a topsy turvy gospel that you neither know to repent or know to come to God, as long as you fill the pew and fill the coffers your okay.'Did Jesus ever speak to people without giving them a chance at the end?'
There was one thing that was different about Jesus messages. He was gentle with the common man, but with the leaders He was constantly reproving them. To regular Joes He'd preach the kingdom of God, the leaders He gave them stiff warnings and judgmental parables.
Jesus gave the average people an impossible message...
John 6:1-67
The people wanted to follow Him, but He turned the crowds away by telling them to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood.
It is a common misconception that Jesus was gentle to the crowds that followed Him.
Yes He was gentle to the broken hearted, and those that were genuinely coming with repentance... but to everyone else, whether commoner or scribe / Pharisee, He turned them away, knowing their hearts.
So could this verse be applied:
James 4:6 (King James Version)
6But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Jesus said, "except YOU repent you shall likewise perish!
He was speaking to his disciples,...those who felt they had eft everything to follow him.
The real gospel message (which we don't seem to want to hear anymore) is "Turn or Burn." If he only forgave us of the penaly of our sin and left us to rot away in it,that would not be good news at all.
Holiness or Hell! Stack arms sinner. Throw down the shotgun of your rebellion that you have trained against the heart of God and repent of every sin that you are so desperately hugging to your breast and you can find mercy.
THIS IS the grace of God. Compelling wretched sinners and enabling them to repent.
God will deal with us on no other terms than this.
He won't even begin to work in us until we surrender undonditionally.
Milton Green said until we love the Lord with all of our heart we cannot even understand or receive the Word of God.
I know this sounds foreign to a generation that has been steeped in the gospel of tolerance from their mother's womb.
But it is the gospel of God.
God knows I have fought against it way too long myself.
May all of us find grace to truly repent before the Lord rises up to shut the door and it is too late.
They believe he is too hard and doesn't show Grace.
Every sermon that is born in heaven, even if it never mentions grace, and is a heavy message on repentance, is a gift of grace. Grace is not simply a doctrine, nor is it making nice. A message of nothing but repentance is a message of grace.
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