E.A. Johnston passionately warns that true repentance is essential to honor Calvary and avoid eternal judgment, confronting the danger of a false gospel that neglects the necessity of turning from sin.
In 'Mocking Calvary,' E.A. Johnston delivers a bold and uncompromising message on the necessity of repentance as the true response to Christ's sacrifice. He challenges the modern church's tendency to soften the gospel and warns against the dangers of a false gospel that neglects the call to turn from sin. Johnston emphasizes God's justice and the reality of eternal judgment, urging listeners to embrace genuine repentance before it is too late.
Full Transcript
I believe in being honest with the souls of men and preaching the full counsel of God. It's cost me plenty through the years. Few want to support a ministry that is too disturbing and makes you feel uncomfortable.
Folks would rather hear a preacher tell them smooth things and entertain them with amusing stories. Some say doctrines divide a church. Well, maybe some churches need dividing.
Dividing the sheep from the goats. Of the doctrines I have preached in churches, none is more hated than the doctrine of repentance. If I tell men that God is sovereign in election, that you are saved because God gave you saving faith, men are able to swallow that.
If I tell men about redemption, that Christ died for sinners on a bloody cross and was buried and rose again, they are able to swallow that. If I tell men about their rune, that they enter this world with a poison in their blood and a bent toward sin, they will not argue with me. If I tell men about their need for regeneration, that you must be born again, they will nod their heads in agreement.
But if I tell men that they must repent or go on to hell, then I have a fight on my hands. If I preach up man's duty of repentance, why, I have the good deacons come get me. I've had deacons confront me with hatred in their eyes and threats on their lips.
For if you start preaching a different gospel than the one they grew up with, they will hate you for it. Because if you do, then you're not only taking a stand against what they've been taught, but you're taking a stand against their beloved pastor who told them all you have to do to be saved is to believe. And that's all they've done.
Believed. They've never come under conviction for sin, never been awakened to their lost condition, never have they turned from their filthy rotten sins in repentance toward God. But a sinner who has not repented is but an enemy of God.
All my Bible is stacked up against the unrepentant sinner and all of God's threats bear down upon him. For my Bible declares, God shall wound the head of his enemies and the hairy scalp of such as one as goeth on still in his trespasses. The unrepentant sinner makes a mockery of Calvary, insults the suffering and death of Christ, tramples his very blood and scorns the grace of the Father, the church member who sits each Sunday in the sanctuary and sings the hymns and gives his money and praises prayers, yet stays in his sins, is only mocking Calvary.
God is a God who must punish sin. If you believe in a God friend who won't punish sin, then you believe in a fake, a fraud, a counterfeit, a counterfeit God who exists apart from the pages of the Bible. If your God won't send anybody to hell, then your God won't help you to stay out of hell either.
You misunderstand your Bible. You swallow the false gospel. For unless you repent, you will surely go down to hell when you die and suffer therefore your crimes and treason against the sovereign.
God demands repentance. You must repent or go on to hell. God is a God who must punish sin.
Calvary is a demonstration of God's hatred of sin. Calvary is a demonstration of God's justice against sin. For God is a God who must punish sin.
Every stroke of the Roman soldier's hammer was an explanation point that God must punish sin. God must punish sin. God must punish sin.
I'm afraid many in our church today have gotten out their pocket knives and have whittled out for themselves a God who won't get in the way of their daily living. Listen, friend, you better get rid of that little God you serve. He's not the living God of the Bible.
You must repent and forsake your sins. For God's word is plain that they only that confess and forsake their sins shall find mercy. Without repentance, you try to climb your way up to heaven by climbing over the back of Jesus, by trampling all over his blood.
And in the process, you were mocking Calvary and the one who hung there and bore the curse and died for sinners to save them from their sins. Jesus rose from the grave and ascended back into heaven. And he is seated at the right hand of the Father.
And he earned that right by way of a bloody cross. You must repent immediately. If you continue on in your natural condition, you will certainly die in your sins and be dragged down to the hell you deserve when you die.
Repent before it's too late.
Sermon Outline
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I
- The challenge of preaching uncomfortable truths
- The division caused by true doctrine
- The rejection of repentance in modern churches
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II
- The necessity of repentance for salvation
- The danger of a false gospel that only emphasizes belief
- The unrepentant sinner as an enemy of God
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III
- God’s justice demands punishment for sin
- Calvary as a demonstration of God’s hatred of sin
- The consequences of mocking Christ’s sacrifice
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IV
- The call to immediate repentance
- Rejecting a counterfeit God who ignores sin
- The urgency of forsaking sin to find mercy
Key Quotes
“If you must repent or go on to hell, then I have a fight on my hands.” — E.A. Johnston
“The unrepentant sinner makes a mockery of Calvary, insults the suffering and death of Christ, tramples his very blood and scorns the grace of the Father.” — E.A. Johnston
“Every stroke of the Roman soldier's hammer was an explanation point that God must punish sin.” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- Examine your heart to ensure you have truly repented and turned from sin.
- Reject any false gospel that minimizes the necessity of repentance.
- Respond immediately to God's call to repentance to avoid eternal consequences.
