You Are Going to Hell — E.A. Johnston

The Diluted Gospel and the Need for Preaching Against Sin

We live in a day of morally corrupt society, a socially corrupt government, and a worldly church. We've got nothing but Sunday school teachers standing in our pulpits with messages for children. There are no longer those who preach, but only those who teach nice little messages that don't upset anybody.

We live in a day of easy-believe-ism and a watered-down gospel that's been diluted of all its teeth and power to make it more palatable to sinful man. Where, oh where, can a person go to hear a man follow the Holy Ghost, preach hard against sin, and warn of a future judgment that awaits all mankind?

Where, oh where, is the fiery prophet in our day who demands that men and women and boys and girls must repent or end up in the devil's hell? There are few today who stand boldly in thunder, thus saith the Lord.

I reckon most ministers want to be like. They want to be popular and accepted by the people, so they give them what they want. They scratch their itch instead of giving them what they need, which are warnings of the terrible consequences of sin and damnation.

But you can put it down, friend, big, plain, and straight. You can't get to heaven on your own merits any more than you can find a bucket of water in hell. Well, I've preached my crowd away years ago, friends, but I'll be honest with your souls.

I didn't come here to entertain you, but to warn you, you are going to hell. So like we say in the South, I'm going to give you the oil straight from the can, and I'm going to give you the truth unvarnished, straight, and strong.

False Conversion and the Refusal of Christ's Lordship

There are several reasons why you are going to hell, and I'm going to unpack those reasons for you today with crystal clarity. Many of you have never been born again. You are merely baptized, hell-bound church members who were greatly deceived by the modern gospel.

You mistook church membership for salvation. You are still in love with your pets' sins, and you hug them dearly, unwilling to let loose of them. Somewhere, back yonder, you can point to a time in your life where you responded publicly to an emotional appeal, and you shed a little tear, and you repeated a prayer, and called that salvation.

Your Christianity is based solely in a decision you made. You are a stranger to a work of grace upon the heart in regeneration of the Holy Spirit. You know absolutely nothing of the life of God in the soul of man.

You may sit on a deacon board, but you still sit on the throne of your life and rule there. You refuse to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ in your life. Rather, your brand of religion is more like one where you've gotten out your pocket knife and have carved out for yourself a God you can live with, one that won't get in the way of your daily living.

But the broad road, friend, is full of rebels who refuse to submit to authority and who push and shove anyone who gets in their way. I was preaching in a Baptist church down in the state of Mississippi, and after my morning sermon, they had a big smorgasbord waiting for me in the church cafeteria where long picnic tables had plates and plates of delicious food for that time of socializing like they tend to enjoy in the South.

And I had preached that morning in a brand new blue pinstripe suit. It was the first time I ever preached in that blue suit. And as I was standing in line in that church cafeteria to put food on my plate, I leaned over to grab a couple of hot dogs, and I lathered them with mustard because I like hot dogs and mustard.

And as I joined the elderly deacon and his wife to eat with them and fellowship with them, they looked at me strangely. Finally, the deacon pointed to my suit jacket, and with a frown, he shook his head.

And when I looked down, I looked down in horror, for I had smeared yellow mustard all over the front of my new blue suit. The deacon said, well, at least we know now that you are human. Well, it was a two-hour drive back to my home in Memphis, and I couldn't wait to get my suit to the dry cleaner that Monday morning.

Sin's Stain Cannot Be Washed Away by Baptism

But the funny thing is, friends, even after I had that blue suit dry cleaned, it always had a green hue to it from the yellow mustard stain. Sin is like that, friend. Sin leaves a stain. You can't whitewash it by being baptized.

Some folks believe in baptismal regeneration. But I'm here to tell you, friend, there is nothing mystical in water. The only thing in there is H2O. Water can't wash away sin. Good works and reformation cannot erase the stain of sin.

Salvation Through the Blood of Jesus Christ

The only thing that can wash sin away is the blood of Jesus. In Isaiah, we hear God say, Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord, that though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

Though they be red like crimson, they shall be like wool. But you must repent or perish. You must be born from above and washed in the blood if you want to get inside God's holy heaven. In the book of Revelation, we read of Jesus, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood.

I want you to turn your eyes upon Jesus, friend. Jesus saves. If you've not trusted this blessed Savior, receive him now. Jesus is the pearl of great price. He's worth selling all for so he may be gained.

The Atonement of Christ and Reconciliation with God

It is time, dear friend, to get serious with God. It is time, dear sinner friend, to deal with your sins and the stain of sin that won't go away apart from salvation in Christ Jesus. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him.

Herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. That word, propitiation, is a fancy word for the atonement, which means expiate, to appease anger and bring reconciliation.

Jesus did this on Calvary. Jesus loved me and gave himself for me on a hill far away in a long distant land a long time ago. Jesus paid it all. He was crucified there at Calvary. Jesus suffered and died and was buried and he rose again and he ascended back into heaven where he now sits at the right hand of the Father.

The Call to Come to Christ Before Judgment

And he earned that right by way of a bloody cross. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Come to Christ, friend, for he is the friend of sinners. Come to him now. Look at that blood-stained Savior for sin, friend.

Come to him now. Throw down your shotgun of rebellion and submit to his lordship and own him as your Savior. I'll be straight with you now, friend. I'll be honest with your soul. Hear me now. If you die outside Christ's blood, it doesn't matter if you are the chairman of the deacons.

You are going to hell as sure as the sun rises in the morning.