Preacher of the Cross — E.A. Johnston

The Cross at the Center of Paul's Gospel

In 1 Corinthians, in chapter 1, in verses 17 through 18, the Apostle Paul talks about the gospel he preached. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved. It is the power of God. I believe if the Apostle Paul came back today, friends, as an evangelist, there would be very few pulpits available to him.

The Scandal of Preaching Sin, Hell, and Repentance

Because he preached the gospel, we are no longer willing to preach. The cross is too much of a scandal, and we can't have that in our churches, for it might upset some of the good deacons. Paul couldn't get an audience today in our politically correct pulpits.

He'd have to go stand out in a field somewhere and preach in the open air like George Whitefield did, because the established church in Whitefield's day didn't like him either. I believe we have lost something in the gospel that we drag out once a year about this time to briefly give it homage as a segue to our annual Easter message on the resurrection, and to which I speak, friends, is the cross.

A smack dab in the middle of the gospel stands a cross, and on that cross hangs a blood-stained Christ who died for sin. When we quit preaching the cross, we quit preaching on sin. When we quit preaching on sin, we quit preaching on hell.

And when we quit preaching on hell, we quit preaching on repentance. Instead, we just quote John 3 .16 today and ask folks to accept our Jesus. He's knocking at the door of your heart, friend. Won't you let him in?

So you can accept him as your personal savior. What we've done is substituted the old-fashioned gospel that had power to save for a more convenient one, a more pleasant one that was more accommodating to our hearers.

The only believed gospel is the only gospel you will hear in most of our seminaries, denominations, and churches today. And if you dare to preach against it, then you are fighting the religious majority in this country.

But the sad fact is, friend, we have exchanged the old gospel for a newer one. We diluted it of all its saving power. We watered it down to make it more palatable to sinful man. When we took the scandal out of the cross, we took all the teeth out of the gospel, and by doing that, we ended up stop preaching about the cross altogether.

The Crucified Christ and God's Judgment Against Sin

We ceased to hold up a crucified Christ who died for sin, becoming sin for us, taking the curse upon him because God is a God who must punish sin. We don't preach that unless you repent, you will surely go to hell.

Even if you are a seminary professor who teaches that repentance is not necessary for salvation. So instead of preaching about a bloody cross and the Christ who died there, we got out our mop buckets and cleaned up all the blood and gore around Calvary and made it so pristine you can sit and have your lunch there.

The False Invitation and the Need for Conviction

And we smile and say, won't you accept our Jesus, without ever mentioning that the fact is what really matters is his acceptance of us. We know around Easter time the church is crowded with folks who normally don't go to church, so we put on our best and try to put on a good message and hope that we can throw a lasso around them.

But they slip out the door anyhow, not to be seen again until next year about this time. But if we'd only get back to preaching the old gospel of the cross, I believe some of these church visitors would come under conviction of sin and get saved.

Because that old gospel has power. Why? Because it's dripping with Christ's blood.