It's Not Easy to Repent — E.A. Johnston

The Reality and Terror of Hell

A million souls this week will close their eyes to this world in death and open them in the region of outer darkness called hell. That a million more souls will fall into that bottomless pit, roaring and crying and shrieking in the horrors of hell.

They will begin their endless suffering where the worm doth not experience the miseries of damnation. Listen, friends, hell is a very crowded place, and hell is a very noisy place of constant chaos. My Bible says in Isaiah 57, 20 -21,.

But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. Yes, friends, so many millions drop into that burning region for not repenting.

Repentance as the Forgotten Doctrine

It's not easy to repent, and that's the title of my message this evening, friends. It's not easy to repent. In Mark's Gospel, in chapter 6, we find Jesus as he calls unto him the twelve to send them forth two by two to preach.

In verse 12, we read,. And they went out and preached that men should believe. Is that what it says? That's what we think it says? That's what our preachers today tell us it says? But no, friends, the text reads,.

And they went out and preached that men should repent. I suggest to you this evening that repentance is the forgotten doctrine of the modern church today. It's a lot easier to build and grow a church by just telling folks to believe.

God's Command That All People Repent

But Jesus said, Except you repent, and that means you, brother Deacon, you will all likewise perish. I want to bring before you this evening four aspects in regard to repentance. Number one, God demands repentance.

Repentance as a Gift of Grace

Acts 17 .30 declares,. And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. So God demands repentance, and all men have a duty to repent. Number two, repentance is a grace given.

Acts 5 .31 states,. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we also see that repentance is a grace given in 2 Timothy 2 .25, which declares,.

Why Repentance Is Not Easy

If God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. So we see, friends, that repentance is a grace given. Number three, it's not easy to repent. If the work of repentance was such an easy work, there would not be millions upon millions in hell at this hour, screaming in agony and terror.

However, I suggest to you, friend, it is a hard thing to repent, as it is to make a world or raise the dead. The easy-believed gospel of our day will do two things for you, give you church membership and guarantee your spot in hell.

To only believe and not repent runs the hazard of losing God, Christ, and heaven. If it's so easy to repent, why do the wicked hearts of men rise up in anger against any preacher who demands that they repent?

The fiercest looks I've gotten in churches after preaching man's duty of repentance have come from the good deacons. I've seen the fire in their eyes, and their hate-filled hearts speak against me for telling them to repent or go on to hell.

No, sir, it's not easy to repent. I am reminded of a sermon by Rolf Barnard, which dealt with this very theme. Let me share it with you now from his sermon, Watching Men Die. Listen to his words. I remember Dixie.

The Testimony of Dixie and the Final Call to Repentance

Dixie was the queen of the dancehall girls in my oilfield town in Texas. When she came to die, she was just 23 years old. She'd already been married seven times and was now living in sin with an eighth man.

She'd been on the dance floor, and she was dancing with some man, and another fellow came and tried to take her out of the arms of the other man. They got into a scuffle, and somebody pulled the trigger, and instead of shooting the man, the bullet went into the vitals of Dixie.

They carried her into her bedroom there. There was no use to take her to the hospital. They summoned the doctor and the nurse, and in a little while my phone rang, and someone said, Preacher, you can come.

We have done all we can. There is no hope for Dixie. I went over and sat by the bed. I said, Dixie, this is the preacher, and you sent for me. What do you want, Dixie? Oh, she said, Preacher, don't let me go to hell.

I said, Dixie, I wish I could keep you out of hell, but I can't keep you out of hell. She said, Preacher, won't you pray for me? I said, Dixie, I'm afraid it's too late to pray now. I said, God has never saved anybody unless they were brought to repent and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so she said, well, Preacher, how do you do that? And the best I could. I sat by her bedside in that late midnight hour when I could see almost death in her face. I preached unto her the law and the gospel, and when I finished, Dixie turned, I don't know how she had the strength enough to do it, and faced the wall.

And with great racking sobs filled the room, I thought they'd tear her body in pieces. In a little while, she turned and looked into my face, and I saw hell, brother, I saw hell. And as I demanded that she repent right then and there, Dixie screamed out of that croaking voice, Preacher, I can't repent, I can't repent.

And God help me, she died as she said that last, I can't repent. The last word she ever said, Preacher, I can't repent. This business of repenting is not an easy thing to do. I will stop there, friends, with Rolf Barnard's sermon, and we'll see that repentance is not an easy thing.

The Consequences of Dying Without Repentance

Number four. If you don't repent, you will surely go to hell, for if you die in your sins, even as a good faithful church member, you will drop on down to hell and be bound in that prison forever and ever.

Remember, the sentencing of the law must be carried out upon all guilty lawbreakers, or God should turn in his judge's robe and resign his position as the judge of all the earth. And they went out and preached that men should repent, but let us pray.