On the Front Line of the Battle — E.A. Johnston

Brokenness, Repentance, and the Crucified Life

What we need today, friends, in our churches, instead of professionalism, what we need is brokenness before him. Instead of memorized prayers, we need heart cries. Instead of dry doctrine with no heart, we need wet eyes and a broken heart.

Instead of pride backed by academic degrees in the pulpit, rather we need humility upon our knees. Instead of new buildings and more ball fields, we need street preaching on corners and on mission fields.

Instead of easy believism during gospel invitations, we need repentance and consecration. Instead of living the pleased self and enjoy life, die in the self and live in the crucified life. Instead of preaching with no power, we need incarnate preaching with holy ghost power.

Standing on the Front Line of Spiritual Battle

I believe the main problem with many ministries today is that they refuse to exist on the front line, on the front line of the battlefield. Listen to what George Whitefield said in 1740, I received many blows and wounds.

One was particularly large and near my temples. And listen to this, friends. This is from one of the covenanters, John Dick, as he was upon the scaffold at the grass market in Edinburgh. This is his speech he made that day.

I am come here this day and would not change my lot with the greatest in the world. I lay down my life willingly and cheerfully for Christ and his cause, and I heartily forgive all my enemies. I forgive all them who gave me my sentence and them who were the chief cause of my taking.

And I forgive him who is behind me, my executioner. I advise you who are the Lord's people to be sincere in the way of godliness and you who know little or nothing of the power thereof to come to him.

My message this evening, friends, is entitled On the Front Line of the Battle. And I want to give us a quote by the Puritan William Grinnell as we go forward with this message. William Grinnell said, There were two remarkable periods of Christ's life, his entrance and exit, his entrance into his public ministry, at his baptism, and his finishing it at his passion.

And at both, we have the devil fiercely encountering him. The more public thy place, Christian, and the more eminent thy service for God, the more thou must look that the devil will have some more dangerous design or other against thee.

And therefore, if every private soldier needs armor against Satan's bullets of temptation, then the commanders and officers who stand in the front of the battle much more. And that's the focus I want to make this evening, friends, at the front of the battle.

Returning to the Old Paths

In Jeremiah 6, 16, we read, Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way? And walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

And that's the problem with many in our churches today. They refuse to walk in the ways of the Lord as the ruler of their lives. Listen, friends, God wants to reestablish his prominence and preeminence in our sanctuaries on many of our churches.

Restoring the Glory of God in Worship

The word Ichabod is stamped above the doorway. The glory has departed. But listen to the following passage of scripture for a proper apprehension of the way things should be in our churches. This is from 2 Chronicles 7 and verses 1 through 3.

Now, when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house.

And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever.

This is the pattern to follow. Our prayers, our sacrificial lives to God should bring the glory down. When we gather and call upon him, the people, the Israelites that left the temple that day were different from the way they entered it.

They had met their God. Should not this be our goal? Whenever we gather as believers to worship and pray, the task of the preacher is not to open up the Bible so your life will be simply happier, but holier.

God-Centered Preaching and Genuine Revival

The main problem with topical preaching is that the emphasis is often individuals and how Christianity can give you a more pleasant journey in a rough world. But in expository preaching, the text is drawn out and applied to the people of God.

And the focus, the emphasis is God. It's a God-centered way of preaching. When our focus is God-centered with the purpose to bring God glory, whether in preaching or living out our Christian faith, then our entire view of sin will be changed.

We'll see sin for what it is, rebellion against God. Listen, friends, when we pray for revival, we need to be careful that we do not pray selfish prayers, but prayers that are in line with scripture and the heart of God.

When God comes in revival, when he shows up in his manifest presence, all of our programs, our fleshly efforts will be cast aside as our hearts are turned to him. Often today, I hear a young preacher boy say that he's going to be getting outside the box with the gospel when we realize that the gospel does not need repackaging for it to be more acceptable to the masses, but rather we need to get back on the cross.

We need to tread the old path, like Jeremiah said, that God has blessed in former times. If these new methodologies worked, then where is the glory? Why keep using formulas and methods that drive God away?

Why are we more interested in crowds rather than his presence? Are we content to move the pagan world into the church without converting them, just so that we can boast and brag how high our attendance was on Sunday?

Proclaiming the Simple Gospel

This brings me to mind a story I read about D .L. Moody. One day in a downtown area of a city, there was a pastor's conference on evangelism being held in the auditorium, and inside the building, ministers gathered to discuss new ways to reach the lost with the gospel message.

But outside on the corner stood a layman atop an egg crate. He was calling the crowd of listeners around him to proclaim what Jesus did on a cross long ago. Several in the crowd were convicted of their sins and drawn to Christ that day.

The man on the egg crate was a young D .L. Moody, and while the pastors were comfortably inside the auditorium discussing the topic of evangelism, Moody was outside among the masses doing it. Moody did not repackage the gospel, but preached the simple truths, the old doctrines, about how God loved ruined sinners so much that he sent his dear son to die for them.

Moody was a perfect example of one who did not have to get outside the box, rather he got up on the box. Has the message of the gospel lost its power over the years? Of course not. We are the ones who have lost our power.

Biblical Doctrine, Discipleship, and the Great Commission

In a day where many pastors follow the latest bestseller on church growth and behave more like corporate CEOs and shepherds of a flock, it's time to get back to the words of the prophet Jeremiah and again ask for the old paths that are time-tested and honored by the Almighty.

Where is the shepherd that will guide his flock by the still waters of the word of God, rather than the latest fad in church growth? Where is the servant of God who will forget about enlarging the size of the congregation and make the focus on spiritual growth rather than numerical growth?

We need to get back to the great doctrines of the Bible, like ruin, redemption, repentance, and regeneration, and preach them again with power. Listen, friends, God is going to have a future day of judgment, and in his mercy he's provided a redeemer to save his people from their sins.

We need to preach the hard aspects and neglected truths of discipleship and teach what the cross and the life of a believer means, the crucified life. When was the last time you heard a sermon on the crucified life?

We need to be more globally focused and realize that God is a global God and there is a mandate to fulfill, which is the Great Commission, and we must reach this generation with the gospel of the Son of God.

Revival, Rebuilding, and the Battle for God's Glory

We should be living lives of self-denial, furthering the investment of Bible translation into foreign languages. But the modern church today is more like the people of Haggai's day, who are more concerned about refurnishing their paneled houses, and who neglected the rebuilding of the temple of God.

A true return to God is our only hope. Revival is our only hope today, friends. Where are the Nehemiahs today, who desire to rebuild the ruins of the temple? Revival is our only answer. Our priorities need to be changed for us to know how to pray.

We need to put an end to selfish prayers that dishonor God and selflessly pray for God's honor to be defended. Listen, friends, if the church will not defend His holy name, then the Almighty must. God will either pour out His blessings in revival to defend His holy name, or He will pour out His wrath upon mankind to avenge His holy name.

It will either be a defending or avenging to show forth His glory and remind mankind He alone is the sovereign ruler of all. Are you willing to get on the front line of the battle? Are you willing to die to self so that the gospel can be proclaimed throughout your generation?

Let us go now to a time of prayer.