Gospel of Repentance
E.A. Johnston passionately teaches that true salvation requires genuine repentance, emphasizing its necessity for forgiveness and eternal life.
In this powerful sermon, E.A. Johnston challenges modern evangelism's neglect of repentance and calls believers back to the essential gospel truth that repentance is required for salvation. He explains the biblical nature of repentance as a genuine turning from sin and rebellion against God, warning of the eternal consequences of rejecting this call. Johnston urges churches and preachers to recover the full gospel message by boldly proclaiming repentance and the lordship of Christ.
Full Transcript
The great doctrines of the gospel are Rune, Redemption, Repentance, and Regeneration. Today, friends, we will take a look at the doctrine of repentance. Somewhere down the road, in our evangelism, we decided that repentance was no longer necessary for salvation, but we were dead wrong.
Jesus said, Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. If we are to have a recovery the gospel in our churches today, then we must warn men and women and boys and girls of their duty of repentance if they want to stay out of hell. We will look at what scriptural repentance is today.
Sam Jones said repentance was quitting your meanness. That means being one way at church and another way at home, and that's a good indication of a false conversion. The only-believed gospel of the last sixty years has damned its millions, and still today broadens the way of salvation in ways Jesus never did.
Because of man's corruption, he is a rebel against a sovereign. God demands perfection to get into his holy heaven, and no man is perfect, but all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Listen, friends.
God will not allow any rebels into his holy kingdom, and he calls all men everywhere to repent. A sinner must stack arms and throw down a shotgun of rebellion at the feet of a sovereign. Listen, friend.
We have produced a generation of preachers who omit the doctrine of repentance from the pulpit, and many of them have never exercised repentance toward God themselves. Most church folks today have merely entered the church by merely accepting a historical Jesus who died on a cross and who know nothing of a vital union with a living Lord which produces a life of holiness unto God. John the Baptist came preaching repentance.
Jesus began his earthly ministry preaching repentance. His disciples began preaching repentance. If we preach on repentance, then we have to preach on sin and warn men of an awful place of misery called hell, but we don't want to do that, and the main reason we quit preaching man's duty of repentance is we lack a reputation too much and don't want to preach anything that would disturb the 200-pound babies sitting in the sanctuary, because if you tell sinners to repent or go on to hell, you have a fight on your hands.
And if you preach man's duty of repentance, then you must preach about the Lordship of Christ and all the demands that the gospel has on a person, but we can't do that because we don't want a God who gets in the way of our daily living, but without repentance, you can't have forgiveness of sins. Jesus says, except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish, and that means to perish in a devil's hell full of unrepentant rebels who hate God and all things holy. If we are to recover the gospel, friends, in your day and mine, then we must warn men to repent immediately.
Sermon Outline
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I. The Necessity of Repentance
- Repentance is essential for salvation according to Jesus.
- Modern evangelism often neglects repentance to its detriment.
- True repentance involves a genuine turning from sin.
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II. The Nature of Repentance
- Repentance means quitting meanness and hypocrisy.
- It requires a vital union with a living Lord producing holiness.
- Repentance is a surrender of rebellion against God’s sovereignty.
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III. The Consequences of Rejecting Repentance
- Without repentance, there is no forgiveness of sins.
- Unrepentant sinners face eternal punishment in hell.
- Preaching repentance confronts the reality of sin and judgment.
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IV. The Call to Preach Repentance Today
- Churches must recover the gospel by emphasizing repentance.
- Preachers must boldly warn sinners of their duty to repent.
- Repentance is the gateway to experiencing the full demands of Christ’s lordship.
Key Quotes
“Jesus said, Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” — E.A. Johnston
“Sam Jones said repentance was quitting your meanness.” — E.A. Johnston
“Without repentance, you can't have forgiveness of sins.” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- Examine your own heart to ensure your repentance is genuine and not merely outward.
- Preach and teach repentance boldly as a necessary step toward salvation.
- Warn others lovingly but clearly about the eternal consequences of rejecting repentance.