Only Jesus
E.A. Johnston passionately emphasizes that only Jesus, through His sacrifice on the cross, can truly save, sanctify, and transform sinners, calling believers to a revival of genuine faith and repentance.
In this powerful evangelistic sermon, E.A. Johnston calls believers to confront spiritual complacency and embrace the transformative power of Jesus Christ alone. Drawing from Scripture and heartfelt conviction, Johnston challenges the church to seek revival and genuine repentance. He underscores the exclusivity of Jesus as the only way to salvation and eternal life, urging listeners to fix their eyes on the crucified Savior who paid it all.
Full Transcript
It was Dr. Morton Lloyd-Jones who said, if we only got a good enough look at Jesus, we would soon forget ourselves. Listen friend, you get a good enough look at Calvary, and your life will never be the same again. Our trouble is, we're not broken enough, we're not burdened enough, but we are backslidden enough to neither be hot nor cold.
We have adjusted ourselves to the status quo, which means business as usual. We are like lobsters in a pot, slowly dying without even realizing it. Only a Holy Ghost revival will open our eyes and jar us out of our slumber.
We point to our growing church membership and our expanding church campus, and we behave like we are God's favorites because we are on the grow. And a thrice holy God looks down from heaven on all our fleshly methodologies and all our boasting, and he's sickened by our rotten rags of self-righteousness and our fleshly flesh props of self-reliance. D.L. Moody couldn't go to bed at night without sharing Christ with at least one soul a day.
But we climb into our beds, totally deaf to all the hollering and wailing going on right now below us from the tortured dam in a burning hell. As long as we are able to get our Starbucks and a good parking place, we are content with our lives. We're quite content to be Christians in name only and sit on the throne of our lives while society spins out of control in moral chaos, and the final judgment looms larger and larger upon the horizon where the dead, small and great, will all stand before God to give an account of themselves to him.
We preach a comfortable Christianity in our comfortable sanctuaries while our pulpits lack power and authority because of our conformity and compromise. Where, oh where, is the preaching of the crucified Christ today? Where, oh where, is the pastor so filled with the Holy Ghost that he is excitedly pointing to that man on the cross who rise and squirms beneath the weight of sin? Look at that man on the cross, friend. Look at that bloodstained Savior from sin.
See him there with his arms outstretched, beckoning you to come to him and believe on him. Only Jesus can wash my sins away. Only Jesus paid it all.
Only Jesus can give eternal life and pardon from sin. Only Jesus can take my dirty, filthy, rotten sins and wash them in his blood for the remission and forgiveness of sin. Only Jesus can keep me out of the devil's hell.
Only Jesus can speak peace to my heart. Only Jesus can rescue me and save me and change me and sanctify me. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Here Jesus answers the three greatest questions of the human heart. How can I be saved? Jesus said, I am the way.
How can I be sure? Jesus said, I am the truth. How can I be satisfied? Jesus said, I am the life. And if I want to get into God's holy, eternal heaven, there's only one way in.
And Jesus says, the only way to the Father is by him. Only Jesus, Jesus, is my only hope. God's word declares from Isaiah 118.
Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord, that though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Only Jesus' blood can wash my sins away.
Only Jesus can save. Jesus is my only remedy and refuge for sin. I hear the Savior say, thy strength indeed is small.
Child of weakness, watch and pray. Find in me thine all in all. Jesus paid it all.
All to him I owe. A sin hath left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
Lord now indeed I find, thy power and thine alone can change the leper's spots and melt the heart of stone. Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. For nothing good have I whereby thy grace to claim.
I'll wash my garments white in the blood of Calvary's Lamb. Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe.
Sin hath left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. And when before the throne I stand in him complete, Jesus died my soul to save, my lips shall still repeat, Jesus paid it all.
All to him I owe. Sin hath left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
Sermon Outline
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I. The Condition of the Church
- Spiritual lukewarmness and backsliding
- Complacency despite growth and success
- Lack of genuine brokenness and burden
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II. The Need for Revival
- Call for a Holy Ghost revival to awaken believers
- Critique of fleshly methods and self-righteousness
- Urgency of preaching the crucified Christ with power
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III. The Exclusivity of Jesus for Salvation
- Jesus as the only way, truth, and life
- Only Jesus can wash away sin and grant eternal life
- The necessity of faith in Jesus for assurance and satisfaction
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IV. The Response of the Believer
- Repentance and coming to Jesus for cleansing
- Acknowledging personal weakness and need for Jesus
- Living a life fully devoted to Jesus who paid it all
Key Quotes
“Only Jesus can wash my sins away. Only Jesus paid it all.” — E.A. Johnston
“Look at that man on the cross, friend. Look at that bloodstained Savior from sin.” — E.A. Johnston
“Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- Examine your heart for complacency and seek a fresh encounter with Jesus.
- Commit to sharing the gospel with urgency, following the example of faithful witnesses.
- Trust solely in Jesus for forgiveness, salvation, and daily strength.