Genuine Salvation — E.A. Johnston

Oh, Lord Jesus, I come to you now and admit that I'm completely bankrupt without you, without your attending power, and I pray great God that, right now, that through your spirit, Father, you open the eyes of the blind, that you unstop the ears of the deaf, and that you raise to life those that are dead in their sins.

The Need for Genuine Salvation

I pray for your Holy Spirit to attend us today, great God, as I bring forth your truths of your gospel to sinful man. In Christ Jesus' holy name, I pray. It is becoming harder and harder, friends, in this country to hear a man of God preach the Christ of the Cross, and one who is honest with folks about their ruined condition, their need of repentance, and their danger of dying in their sins and being sent to an endless place of torment called hell.

What we get instead are two extremes of laughter and entertainment, or lectures and liturgies. A genuine salvation is so rare today, you'd almost have a better chance at finding Sasquatch or seeing the Loch Ness Monster, but only God can open your eyes and reveal your true condition and show you your great danger, and he does this when you come under Holy Spirit conviction, without which no one can ever be saved.

If you miss Holy Spirit conviction, you miss repentance. If you miss repentance, you miss faith. If you miss faith, you miss the new birth. If you miss the new birth, you miss Christ. If you miss Christ, you miss heaven.

False Gospels and Religious Deception

And if you miss heaven, you are doomed and damned to hell. Ah, Satan will give you false gospel because Satan wants to make men religious without Christ, and it is his aim to control all pulpits through his self-called ministers by promoting a way to heaven that is not Christ's way, and promoting a perverted gospel that omits blood redemption, denies the need for repentance, and omits the necessity of regeneration.

Through the work of the Holy Ghost, the church is in a backslidden condition, away from the support of God, and the average believer is controlled by covetousness and a sinful preservation of self. The church in this pitiful condition is completely unfit to carry forward the advancement of the gospel in our day, and many who have joined the church and been baptized have never, ever heard a true presentation of the true gospel of the Son of God.

Therefore, the majority of church membership has never been convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit, and their eyes have never been opened to their need of repentance, and they are ignorant of the great danger of dying in their sins and being cast down into an eternal prison of misery and hell.

The Cross and the Gospel of Repentance

I am warning you friends today, it is my aim with this sermon today, friends, to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ as I preach to you his gospel of repentance and regeneration. The true gospel has a cross in the center of it, and that cross is covered in the blood of the Lamb.

If you want to get to heaven, friend, you must get under the blood, and you must be born from above. Anything less is eternity in the devil's hell. The title of my message today, friends, is Genuine Salvation, and my text can be found in Luke's Gospel in chapter 19.

You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends. We will be in verse 10, and let me read you the words of Christ Jesus as he states what his purpose was in coming down to earth to die on a bloody cross for the sins of man.

Hear now are the very words of Christ, and may his Holy Spirit attend the reading of his holy word. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Listen to me, friends. The work of salvation has been done on Calvary's cross.

Christ’s Finished Work and the Lost Sinner

Jesus came, he suffered, he died, he was buried, and he rose again, and at this very moment he sits at the right hand of the Father as he reigns as a living Lord, and he earned that right by a way of a bloody cross.

Jesus is still in the business of saving lost sinners, not the self-righteous who have no need of a remedy for sin, but the poor lost sinner who sees his condition, who stands guilty and condemned before a holy and just God, and who feels his need of a savior from sin.

Have you ever come to Christ savingly? Oh, be careful. The devil can pose as an angel of light and give you a feeling or a vision and a false peace and still keep you as captive and slave. He will guard his goods unless a strong man come and bind him and spoil his goods.

The Lord Jesus Christ spoiled principalities and defeated the devil at Calvary. He went to the cross as a sacrifice, a substitute for sin. The God of the Bible must punish sin. The King of Kings hung on that ignoble cross with those nails driven in his hands and feet, and he suffered and writhed and agonized, and with each stroke of the Roman soldier's hammer, it was a declaration to all men throughout all the ages that God must punish sin.

God must punish sin. God must punish sin. Listen to me, my hearers, but don't be deceived by false prophets in the pulpits, and don't be fooled by a false gospel of this day. Have you ever come to the place of a lost sin or friend?

Holy Spirit Conviction, Repentance, and Faith

You must get to the place of seeing you were lost and on your way to hell, and that you deserve to go there. Listen carefully to me, and I will explain to you what genuine salvation is, taken from the pages of my Bible.

Only God can open your eyes and reveal your true condition and show you your great danger, and he does this when you come under Holy Spirit conviction, without which, like I said before, no one can ever be saved.

If you miss Holy Spirit conviction, you miss repentance. If you miss repentance, you miss faith. Acts chapter 20 and verse 21 declares, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

And if you miss faith, you miss the new birth. For Jesus said, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And if you miss the new birth, you miss Christ. And if you miss Christ, you miss heaven.

If you miss heaven, you're doomed to a devil's hell. The gospel is for lost sinners, not for those who have no need. The gospel of Christ is for the hungry, the weary, and the thirsty. In John 6 and verse 35, Jesus declared, I am the bread of life.

Christ’s Invitation to the Hungry and Thirsty

He that cometh to me shall never hunger. And he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Christ is the bread of life. He invites lost sinners to come to him and believe on him. The only duty required, friend, is to come to Christ.

And he has a pure gospel promise to all who come. And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Let me ask you, friend, can you go back to the place where you were a lost sinner? Can you traverse the path and go back to where you took your place as a lost sinner before a holy God?

How can you be saved if you've never been lost? Jesus said, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Were you ever lost? Is there a time in your life where you realized you stood guilty before a holy, sovereign God as a lost sinner?

A Personal Testimony of Conviction and Mercy

I remember the day God got me lost. For only God can show you your lost condition. Only Holy Spirit conviction can open your blind eyes. That's what God did for me. God showed a self-righteous preacher that I was lost and on my way to hell.

And not only that, but I deserved to go there. I became a seeker of God that day. And I became a beggar for mercy as I took my place before him. As a poor, bankrupt sinner who had nothing in him and nothing to bring to him worthy of heaven.

But that God was just and sent me on to hell. I felt my need that day of a remedy for sin. My Bible declares in Matthew, Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls.

Oh friends, how I became a seeker that day. A seeker in the Lord Jesus Christ. The remedy for sin. I knew I was a sinner and I needed a substitute for sin. In the person of Christ Jesus. A merchant man seeking goodly pearls.

Who when he had found one pearl of great price, Went and sold all that he had and bought it. Christ is worth selling all for. And losing all for. So that he can be gained. Friend, have you missed Christ?

Salvation Is Christ, Not Mere Profession

Do you have a religion without Christ? Do you have an empty profession apart from Holy Spirit conviction? Did you miss repentance? Did you miss faith? Did you miss the new birth? Then you have missed Christ.

A saved person is one where self is dethroned. And another is enthroned there. The Lord Jesus Christ. Christ must be a complete master. Salvation is neither this nor that. But salvation is Christ. Have you missed Christ?

It is my prayer. That God by his spirit. Enables you. To take your place. As a lost sinner in need of a savior. And that God by his grace will save you. Through saving faith. Faith in his son. The Lord Jesus Christ.

The only way to heaven friend. Is to be in Christ. And your sins under his blood. I want to leave you with a story I heard about a preacher. He was passing through the city of St. Louis one Sunday morning.

The Thief on the Cross and Union with Christ

And he stopped and parked his car at a downtown church. To go in and hear the pastor. Upon entering the church he took his seat. And he realized once he was in there. He was the only white man in an all black church.

The pastor in the pulpit was an elderly man. And his topic that morning was heaven. Placing his thumbs under his suspenders. He walked around the platform slowly. And said. My message today is on heaven.

Some folks call heaven paradise. Some folks call it Abraham's bosom. But I see heaven this way. Here is Jesus. Just returning from his earthly ministry. And he is greeted at the gates of heaven. By the angel Gabriel.

And old Gabriel had a big grin on his face. As he says. Welcome home Jesus. Sure is good to see you again Jesus. We sure missed you Jesus. Welcome home. But who is that standing with you? Is that that thief?

That thief from the cross? Oh no sir. Oh no Jesus. He can't come in. We can't have no thieves in heaven. Just then. Jesus wrapped his arm around the thief. And replied to Gabriel. Never you mind Gabriel.

Never you mind. He's with me. And that's the only way friend. You'll ever get to heaven. If the Lord Jesus can say to the Father. Concerning you. He's with me. You must get unto the blood. And be born from above.

You must find Christ. And be united to him. Jesus said. I am the way. The truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father. But by me. Let us pray.