Power of the Old Gospel — E.A. Johnston

The Power of God in the Old Gospel

In Psalm 110 .3 we read, Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Today's modern gospel has taken salvation out of the hands of God and placed it in the hands of men. Like in the days of the prophet Amos, the following is true.

The Famine of Hearing God's Word

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. If men attend church where the gospel is not preached, they will remain in a senseless condition Sunday after Sunday.

False Assurance and an Empty Religious Profession

Although they attend faithfully, they will never be better for it. They will live with a false assurance and rest upon a rotten foundation of an empty religious profession. Hell fills by the hour with baptized church members who were never awakened to their lost condition, never came under Holy Spirit conviction, and who were never united saliently to Christ through heartfelt repentance and faith.

The easy-to-believe modern gospel has been diluted of all its power to make it more palatable to sinful man. Multitudes have fallen under its sway and rest upon rotten plank boards that creak and split every time they move because of their false assurance their hope of heaven is nothing more than a hole in the wall.

The Need for Biblical Salvation and Regeneration

In a day of great spiritual declension in the church, we must be honest with ourselves in regard to biblical salvation and answer the following questions. Is God the agent of salvation or is man? Are men saved as a result of a decision they make or as the result of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit?

How we answer will determine if Christianity in America can recover from the great decline it has been in since the end of the Second Great Awakening. If this nation wants to avert disaster, it must experience reformation in the people to keep God's judgments from the land.

Returning to the God-Centered Gospel

It's time to break away from the popular man-centered gospel and return to the old paths of a God-centered gospel. The old gospel is God-centered. It's the gospel of Edwards, Whitefield, Nettleton, Spurgeon, men who knew that the proclamation of the doctrines of grace wielded properly could hew men down like a double-edged claymore because the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit.

But salvation is in the hands of God. It is his voice that raises dead souls. The old gospel thunders the terrors of the law about sinners' ears until they tremble with conviction of sin. Then it shuts men up to God until they receive a revealed Christ for forgiveness of sin.

God's Holiness and Sovereignty in Salvation

The full counsel of God in the proclamation of the gospel should clearly state the following. 1. The holiness of Almighty God and His sovereignty in salvation. 2. The badness of man's heart, which is ruined by nature with a bent toward sin.

The Severity of the Law and Coming Judgment

3. The strictness and severity of the law. 4. A future judgment awaits all mankind where he will be held accountable before the judge of all the earth. 5. The miseries and unending torments of hell. 6. God's demand for repentance.

Regeneration and the Preciousness of Christ

7. The necessity of regeneration. 8. The preciousness of Christ who, like the pearl of great price, is worth selling all for so he may be gained. 9. The sufficiency of Christ's blood and redemption. 10. Jesus Christ is Lord.

Christ's Lordship and the Call to Repentance

He must be one's Prince as well as a Savior. If there is any hope for us as a people of God, we must repent and return to the Lord before it's too late.