寻访古道 - Finding the Old Path — Paul Washer

Jeremiah’s Warning Against Superficial Peace

Let's open up our Bibles first of all to Jeremiah chapter 6. In verse 13 the scriptures say, For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain, and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.

They have healed the brokenness of my people superficially, saying, Peace, peace, but there is no peace. For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain, and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.

They have healed the brokenness of my people superficially, saying, Peace, peace, but there is no peace. These words were declared by Jeremiah thousands of years ago. And yet there has never been a time when they did not fit in every culture.

And the words that we see here today are applicable to you. And to Christianity in the West. I've spent time with Brother Larry. I've spent time with Brother Patrick. I'm not saying that these words apply to them.

Or to the ministers in this church. Or to the preachers in this church. But to the church in the West, these words are true. I want to speak these words as a warning to you. Especially to the young out there.

The Dilution of Christianity in the West

That Christianity in North America Has become so diluted. It has become so superficial. That you can think that you are okay. When you are not okay. And if your soul is troubled about your salvation. If you are troubled about your salvation.

You can go to many ministers today in the West. And they will dismiss the conflict in your heart. And they will pronounce peace over you. When you have no peace. You have no peace inside. And you have no peace with God.

Since from the least of them, even to the greatest of them. Everyone is greedy for gain. And from the prophet, even to the priest. Everyone deals falsely. There are many ministers today. Who are dealing falsely with the souls of men.

There are many ministers today. Who are dealing falsely with the souls of men. Many of them have not been saved. So they are dealing falsely with others. They look like they are rich. They look like they are religious.

But they themselves have not been saved. Others deal falsely simply out of ignorance. We are ignorant of the gospel. Just think about the gospel that is preached today. It is usually just a basic bunch of questions.

The False Gospel of Empty Profession

Someone will ask you, do you know you are a sinner? You say yes. Do you want to go to heaven? Yes. Jesus died for sins. Do you believe that? Yes. Would you like to pray this prayer and ask Jesus to come in?

Yes. And you pray the prayer. And they tell you, you are saved. That is not the gospel. That is an empty creedalism. It is not found in scripture. And it is not found in church history. Because of it we have millions of people walking around.

Who believe they are saved. Because one time they prayed a prayer. They walk through this world in ungodliness. They love the world. They look like the world. They are never convicted of their sins. Because the church they attend is worldly.

They think they have peace with God. But they do not. They are deceived. They are lied to. You say, well that is just your interpretation of the bible. Alright then, I challenge you. Go through church history.

Try to find a gospel that looks like the one that is preached in the Americas today. You will not find it. Go back to Spurgeon. Go back to Martin Lloyd Jones. Go back to the Puritans. Go back to the Reformers.

Read Tozer. You will see their gospel is nothing like the gospel that is being preached today in America. So some preachers do this just out of ignorance. Because they have grown up in a time when the gospel is superficial.

Greed, Doctrinal Neglect, and False Ministry

Other ministers do it because they are greedy for gain. They do. They want big churches. They want to be honored among the people. They want a large salary. They want to be treated like a king. They want everyone to love them.

And therefore they do not preach about the heavier matters of the gospel. They won't preach about the holiness of God. They won't preach about the righteousness of God. They won't preach about the wrath and judgments of God.

They won't even mention sin in their congregation. They are deceivers. They are not following Christ. I heard one minister say this. In our church, we just want to preach the words of Jesus. We just want to preach the words of Jesus, His love for men.

Because of that, we don't talk a lot about hell and judgment. There are only two possibilities. One, the man has never read the words of Jesus. Or he is purposely deceiving the people. Let me share with you something.

Read the Old Testament. You'll find very few mentions of hell. Read the epistles. You'll find very little there about hell. Almost everything we know about hell comes from the words of Jesus. So if we refuse to preach about hell, we are no longer ministers of Christ.

The Holy Spirit Convicts of Sin

There are a lot of churches today that they talk a great deal about the Holy Spirit. But they don't preach about sin. And I can tell you this. The Holy Spirit is not among them. He is not with them. And everything you see is nothing more than false emotion.

You say, Brother Paul, how can you say that? By the authority of Scripture. Because Jesus said, When the Spirit comes, He will convict men of sin. And so if the preacher does not want to preach about sin, His ministry has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit.

And the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with him. They healed the people superficially. Now how did they do that? Verse 14. They have healed the brokenness of my people superficially. Saying, peace, peace, but there is no peace.

True Peace Comes Through Submission to Christ

Everybody wants peace. But most people do not want to submit themselves to God. Which is the only way to have true peace. I want peace. And I want it my way. Jesus says there is only one way. It is His way.

Repent of your sins. Turn from the world. Fall upon Christ. Believe in Him. Follow Him. To many ministers today, and to many Christians, Jesus is nothing more than a means to get what they want. Believe in Jesus and He will prosper you.

Believe in Jesus and He will heal you. Believe in Jesus and He will make you successful. Is it not enough that He died for your sins? And that He promises eternal life? Do you realize if I were to come to Toronto or any other major city in the world, and I were to preach about how Jesus can make your life better, I would fill the coliseums of this city.

With people who want a better life. But if I were to have a conference on the cross of Calvary, what it means that Jesus died, even most of the ministers would not be interested in coming. Be very, very afraid.

Christianity Is About the Glory of Christ

We live in a time where the God of glory is treated as just a means of getting what your fleshly desires call for. Do you know what Christianity is? It's about Christ. It's all about Him. Read your Bible.

The Bible is all about Christ. It's not about you getting your best life now. It's about the revelation of God in Christ. Do you know what the main thing is in the mind of God? The thing that God most sustains, the thing that He most loves, His Son.

Do you know why God does everything He does? He does it for His Son. All this has been created. All this has been planned. Everything has been done for the honor and joy of His Son. And when you walk into a church, it should not be all about you.

It should be all about Jesus. And you should be happy with that. Why did you come here? I came to hear about Jesus. Why else did you come here? I came to sing to Jesus. Why does your heart beat? It beats for Jesus.

Why do you breathe? Breathe for Jesus. This is not some religion. This is not just a part of your life. Jesus is your life. And you have no life apart from Him. That is Christianity. And if your heart has truly been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, you are content with the fact that it's all about Jesus.

And when you hear preaching like this, you say, Amen. All for Him. All for Him. But some of you aren't like that. Some of you are even angry. You want it to be all about you. And you want to go to churches where it's all about you.

It's all about your plans. It's all about the things you desire. Be very afraid. Look what Jeremiah tells his people. Verse 16. Thus says the Lord, Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths where the good way is and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls.

Returning to the Ancient Paths

I was preaching like this one time in Europe. And this pastor came to me and was very angry. And began to defend modern Christianity. And I said, you're wrong. You're wrong. And she says, well, most people believe like I do.

You're the one standing out there all alone. What makes you think you're right? This is what I answered. Yes, it is true that contemporary Christianity would agree with you. That western Christianity would agree with you and not agree with me.

But contemporary Christianity is the only one you have on your side. Do what God says here. Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths. Go back to the preachers of old. Not only in America, but the preachers of old in China before prosperity became important.

Before the west began to contaminate the Christianity in the east. Remember those old preachers in China who walked from village to village barefooted. Hated. Beaten. Imprisoned. And the only thing they preached was what?

Jesus Christ crucified and raised from the dead. Repentance. Faith. Holiness. Remember them? Then go back further. The great preachers of old they're on my side. Go to Tozer. Go to Leonard Ravenhill. Go to Martin Lloyd Jones.

Go to Spurgeon. Go to the Puritans. Go to the early Baptists. Go to the early Presbyterians. Go to the early Methodists. Go to the Puritans. Go to the Reformers. Keep going back until you find yourself at the feet of Jesus.

And you will hear the same message. He's the way, the truth, and the life. Apart from him there's nothing. And we are called to repent of our sins.

To believe the gospel.

To turn our back on the world.

And to follow him.

Even if it costs us our lives. Isn't it amazing when that young couple from the inland part of China came to visit me? The one little girl about young twenties or something she had a picture of herself in her billfold.

And I asked her, I said, why do you carry that picture of yourself? She said, this is a very important picture for me. Well, why? She said, this is the place where I was praying. And God told me that I would die for him.

Christ’s Call to Lose One’s Life

Now compare that to your Western Christianity. It's all about you. And your friends. And the world. And video games. And iPods. And youth groups. And everything else. When Jesus calls a man to come to him.

He calls him to come and die. But here's what you need to understand. That's not a bad thing. Jesus said, he who loses his life will find it. He who keeps his life for himself will lose it. This is a great truth.

An extremely important truth. Young person, listen to me. Look at those around you. Listen to their conversations. They look at magazines. Of famous people. And they want to look like them. They spend their days watching movies and involved in media.

You go to the world and ask, how should I dress? You go to the world and ask, what should I look like? You go to the world and ask, what should be my interests? You go to the world to find out what's right and wrong.

But Jesus says the world is perishing. That it will all be burned up. You spend your life talking about nothing. But trivial things. And then you want to get really good education. So you can get a really good job.

Why? So you can buy more things. And play more games. Is that life? It is not the Christian life. Now in Christ I would want the best for you. If God calls you to go to school. Go to school. For Him. If God calls you to get a Ph .D.

Get it for Him. If you become successful. It's not to buy toys.

It's for Him. And for all those people for whom He died. Just think about your own people for a moment young person. China. That's the largest nation.

In the world. So many without Christ. So many dying in poverty never hearing the gospel. And the only thing you're concerned about is the next.

Video game that comes out. This is not the way to be.

Investing Life in Christ Rather Than the World

I am 50 years old. I'm not as strong as I used to be. I'm so glad that in the last 30 years. I spent my strength on Christ. I'm not going to get stronger. I'm not going to get prettier. I'm growing old.

How sad my life would be if I had invested it in the world. My only regret is that I did not give more to Jesus. Many people my age they think to themselves I'm growing old. But I I say I'm getting closer to home.

Many people my age say I'm dying. And I say I'm about to become alive. Many people my age say this. My candle is going out. But I say my candle is going out. Because the sun is rising. I plead with you.

Stop being a fool.

Stop being a rebel against God. Stop listening to those who would deceive you. Turn from your sin. Follow Christ. Believe in Him. Investigate Him. That you might see His glory. And be drawn by it. Be consumed by it.

Captivated by the Beauty of Christ

Do you think that I live this way because I'm just disciplined? Do you think that I live this way because I like religion? No. I live this way because I'm a prisoner. To what? To the glory of Christ. You catch one glimpse of the beauty of Jesus Christ.

You catch one glimpse of the beauty of Jesus Christ. And you'll never want.

To look at the world again. You taste and see that the Lord is good.

And you'll never want to feed on garbage again. It's the beauty of Christ. I hear these preachers. They talk about your best life now. They talk about prosperity. They talk about all the wonderful things God wants to do with you now.

To me, it is all garbage. Compared to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And isn't that exactly what Paul the Apostle said? When they have evangelistic campaigns today, they bring somebody up on the platform to give their testimony.

And the person says, I was nothing. I was poor. No one respected me. But one day, I asked Jesus to come into my life. Now I'm rich. And I'm healed. And I'm prosperous. And everyone respects me. Don't you want the same thing?

Paul’s Testimony and the Worth of Knowing Christ

Well, let's imagine that we hold an evangelistic crusade. And I call the Apostle Paul to come forward and give his testimony. And he says this. I was a leader among my people. I was respected as one of the great religious leaders.

I was prosperous. I was respected by everyone in the streets. Everyone came to me for counsel. The younger men even feared me because of my power. But then I met Jesus. And he transformed my life. Now I'm a criminal in the Roman Empire.

My own people say that I'm not even worthy to be alive. They call me the scum of the earth. And if someone kills me, the other people will praise him and say that he has done the will of God. I don't think we would want someone to give a testimony like that, would we?

The Cost of Following Jesus

Every time a large crowd began to follow Jesus, he would turn around and look at them and say something so hard, so scandalous, that most of them would leave. He would say things like, if you do not hate your father and mother, you can't follow me.

He who would come after me, let him take up his cross and die. Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part with me. And they would go away. And the apostles would come to him. Say, Lord, that was a hard word.

All the crowds are leaving you. And he would look at them and say, do you want to go too? But they would say, no, Lord. You alone have the words of life. Now, as I said last night, when we come to Christ, he will give us peace.

He will give us life abundant. He can do all sorts of things in our life. But those things he does in our life, they may be done by him prospering us. Or they may be accomplished by him having us thrown in prison.

We do not follow Christ because of what he will give us in this world. We follow Christ because he's worthy of being followed. And he alone has the words of life. Now, we're going to bring this message to a close.

Testing Whether One Is Truly Converted

And in the next, we are going to be talking about something very important. Are you a Christian? You say, well, there's no need to preach that here. If that's your attitude, you have proven that there is a great need to preach this here.

I believe that the Bible teaches that those who have truly been converted are kept by the power of God. I do believe that. But I believe this also. Many believe themselves to be converted when they are not.

And there are probably some of you here today. You believe you are Christian. But there would, if you were put on trial, there would not be enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian. And by your own deeds, you prove that you are not a Christian.

You've prayed a prayer. You believe in Jesus superficially. But you are not truly converted. And that's what we're going to be speaking about in the next session. Oh, my dear friends. I don't say these things because I want to be controversial.

I don't say these things in order to get a large following on the internet. I say these things because they're true. Because I care about your soul. I am willing to have you hate me if that's what it takes to tell you the truth.

Making One’s Calling and Election Sure

The Bible tells you to make your calling and election sure. To examine yourself to test yourself to see if you are truly Christian. Don't leave here today and just superficially walk away. I want you to know that there's a devil waiting at the door.

And his desire is to steal the seed that has been implanted in your heart. Let me tell you what's going to happen when some of you walk out that door today. Right now, you're troubled about your soul.

But before you get to that back door, you'll be laughing again. And before you make it down the sidewalk, you'll forget everything that's been told you. The sower has sown the seed. But it has fallen on your hardened heart.

For a moment, you're troubled. But when you walk out that door, the devil, like a ravenous bird, will steal that seed from your heart. So when it happens, remember that I told you it would. And maybe that will awaken your conscience to cause you to think deeply about the state of your heart.

Come to Christ and Prove Your Faith

Come to Christ. Come to Christ. Follow Christ. You say, well, I'm Christian. Prove it. Prove it. Father, I come before you in the name of your Son. I pray, Lord, that your Spirit would fall upon this place.

That, Lord, the great themes of Heaven and Hell will lie open before the minds of this people. Work, dear God. Lord, not by might. Not by the strength of man. But by your Spirit. To your name be all the glory.