Gospel of the Cross — E.A. Johnston

I was born in the 1950s when there was still a fear of God in the land and a sense of shame in society. Back then, marriage was between a man and a woman and you were arrested for public nakedness and indecency.

It was a time when a man's handshake was as good as gold and only sailors had tattoos. And if any atheist cried out against God in public, there were more than enough Christians to shout that person down because God held the majority in the nation back then.

Well personally, my father was an agnostic and my grandfather was an Italian mob boss and the house I grew up in was haunted. Well that's not the very best of beginnings, is it friends? But you know, God can take someone from the worst situation and change their life.

Conversion Through the Gospel of the Cross

And that's what happened to me. I came to Christ in 1968 in a revival meeting outside of Chicago. It was there I heard an evangelist preach the following truths of the gospel of the cross and I want to share those with you today, friends.

The truths he taught me that night were, first he quoted Romans 3 .23 and he said, this was the very word of God. He had respect for the word of God and as he read it, he was very reverent and he said, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Then the preacher was very careful to be clear in the fact that all of us there were sinners, that all mankind were sinners and every one of us was a sinner and he said I was a sinner. Then he said God was a just God who must punish sin.

He will by no means clear the guilty. Then the preacher said that because I was a sinner, I was on my way to hell because I was under God's condemnation for sin and that there was a future judgment that awaited all mankind where every mother's son would stand before God and be judged.

And if their name was not found written in the book of life, they'd be cast into a terrible lake of fire, burning with brimstone, the brimstone of God's wrath for sin. He said my only hope was to trust in the remedy of sin, the remedy for sin in the person of Jesus Christ who left heaven and became man and went about doing good, feeding the hungry and giving sight to the blind.

A cruel man sought to get rid of him and they arrested him and they nailed him to a cross. And the preacher said and he was numbered with the transgressors and he bore the sin of many. And then the preacher commented that although Jesus bore the sins of many, he did not bear the sins of all.

And he said because I was a sinner, I needed a substitute for sin in the person of Christ Jesus and that salvation wasn't something you can earn through good works or a good character, that it was a free gift from God and you could only receive it by faith.

It was a grace given and I had to receive it like receiving a gift in my only hope of escaping hell's punishment for sin was to look to Jesus Christ because salvation is found in Jesus. And that this man Jesus died on that cross and was buried but on the third day he rose again and appeared unto many before he ascended back into the very heaven from which he came where he now sits at the right hand of the father and he earned that right by way of a bloody cross.

And the preacher said for me to come to Christ through repentance and faith and that night friends I heard the voice of God speak to me through the preacher's voice to come to Christ in my heart and surrender my life to him.

And as a 13 year old boy I came to Christ that night friends. And that's the gospel I heard back then, the gospel of the cross. You know you don't hear much of it today. The gospel of the Bible has always been a gospel of the cross for the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1 .18 for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

That word power in the Greek is the Greek word dunamis where we get our English word dynamite from. Old time preachers preach the gospel of the cross with their Bible in one hand and a stick of dynamite in the other and God was honored and souls were saved.

The Diluted Gospel and the Forgotten Call to Repentance

And that was 57 years ago when I got saved that night when I was just a boy. But since that time the gospel has changed in our pulpits in America. It's no longer the gospel of the cross but the gospel of just quoting John 3 .16.

It's been diluted so much through the years. It's just a silly little message of God loves you. He wants you to go to heaven, believe on Jesus, accept him as your savior and you will go to heaven. And people take Jesus like a free stick of chewing gum and chew on him for a little while until the flavor goes out of their religion.

But the gospel today has no mention of man being a lost and helpless sinner, hellbound, apart from Christ's blood. There is no mention of a future judgment that awaits all mankind and the justice of an offended and provoked God.

No mention of man's duty of repentance needed for salvation from sin. Why, it's just believe and you go to heaven. It's like joining a gym or a social club and the result is you have a congregation full of unconverted church members who wear John 3 .16 t-shirts as they send their way to hell.

We preach nice little messages today that don't disturb anyone and the diluted version of the gospel that we preach today has no power to save a flea, much less a lost sinner hardened in sin. But I want you to know, friends, that sin stains.

Sin Stains and the Coming Judgment

I have a two-point message today. Just two little simple points of this gospel message. But these two points are pretty big points as far as your destiny is concerned. And these two points are these.

Sin stains and Jesus saves. If you don't remember anything else from this message today, friends, always remember sin stains and Jesus saves. Well, let's see how sin stains. Let me share a story with you, friends.

Years ago, I was preaching in a church down south in Mississippi one Sunday morning. And it was customary down south after the service to have a big smorgasbord for the visiting preacher. Well, we all went to the fellowship hall.

We're at picnic tables. We're ready. At a long table, buffet food was lined up there. Well, I like hot dogs, so I loaded up my plate with a few hot dogs. And I like mustard on my hot dogs. Some of you kids might like mustard on your hot dogs as well.

So I lathered them up from a jar of mustard on the table that was before me. I sat down with an old deacon and his wife, and I wondered why they were staring at me so, until I realized I had smeared yellow mustard all over the front of my brand new blue pinstripe suit.

The old deacon shook his head and said, well, at least we know you're human. I took that suit to the cleaners, but that mustard stain never came out of that blue suit. It always had a green hue. Every time after that, when I wore that suit and looked in the mirror, it always carried that stain.

And that's what sin does to you, friend. It stains you, and it won't come out. It won't come off of you. You can try to whitewash sin by calling it other names, but that won't do. A fib is still a lie.

Taking something that doesn't belong to you is still stealing. Fooling around is still adultery. You can't whitewash sin by renaming it. Now listen to me, friends. Sin is still sin, and it leaves a stain on you morally that you can't wash out, even by church membership.

My new blue suit had that mustard stain, and it's still there, even though the suit is old. But there's a future judgment that awaits all mankind, and every mother's son will someday give an account of themselves to God.

Well, how will you stand on that day? Will you stand there with mustard on your blue suit, with the stain of sin on you? It'll be too late then, friend, for change, because we read in the Bible, As a tree falls, so it shall lay.

And we read in Revelation 22, 11, these terrible, frightening words. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. And he which is filthy, let him be filthy still. And he that is righteous, let him be righteous still.

And he that is holy, let him be holy still. Like mustard on a blue suit, your sins will find you out. You'll be found guilty of the stain of sin and breaking God's unbending law. And the sentencing of the law will be carried out on all guilty lawbreakers.

But listen to God in this word from Isaiah 118. There's hope here, friends. Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

The old hymn says, what can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. The gospel is good news, because we have a Savior from sin. In the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus saves. But you have to feel your need of a Savior for sin.

Listen to me, friend. The gospel is for the hungry, the weary, and the thirsty. Are you hungry for God? Are you sick and tired of your dirty, rotten sins? Are you thirsty for Christ? Well, keep listening.

The Disturbing Presence of Christ

I've got good news for you. For the gospel of the cross is found in my Bible. And that gospel of the cross speaks of the scandal of the cross. And it's disturbing. Jesus hung there in the shame and pain of Calvary.

It was a disturbing sight. Christ is disturbing. We read in the book of Job. Therefore, am I troubled at his presence when I consider I am afraid of him? For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me.

Christ, in his earthly ministry, was disturbing. As Jesus passed through towns and villages, he disturbed things. The spiritual world was disturbed by him. Devils cried out and besought him to possess a herd of swine that ran violently into the sea.

And the citizens of that coast were so disturbed by that that they begged Christ to depart from them. Everywhere Christ went, there was a disturbance. The complacency of towns and villages were disturbed by him to where the multitude thronged him.

Jesus disturbed hearts and consciences. Jesus disturbed the woman at the well until she felt her sinfulness. Jesus disturbed religious traditions. He disturbed the religious leaders of his day to where they wanted to destroy him.

Christ disturbed lives. He disturbed physical nature in healing the lame, the sick, and the blind. He disturbed death in raising the dead to life. Jesus disturbed one's entire course of life. He disturbed Saul of Tarsus by confronting him smack dab in the middle of the road, knocking him off his ride, his horse, and altering his life's direction and purpose.

Christ disturbed Herod's rotten heart. He disturbed the physical laws of nature by walking on the water. Jesus disturbed reality by multiplying the loaves and the fishes to feed a multitude. In truth, when Jesus passed through towns and villages, he disturbed things.

He disturbs consciences. Jesus disturbed religious pandering, the overturn of the tables of the money changers in the temple. He disturbed the Philippian jailer who cried out, What must I do to be saved?

He disturbed the Roman centurion who cried, Truly, this was the Son of God. Jesus disturbed his first hearers by stirring their animosity in their hearts to want to hurl him headlong off a cliff. Christ disturbed the devil wherever he went because demons would cry out, Son of God, don't torment us before the time.

He disturbed the religious crowd who said he was possessed of a devil. Jesus taught by parables because bare, naked truth would have been too disturbing. Christ disturbed all things, from the touch of a woman's hand to his garment, which disturbed the flow of a plague and healed it when physicians could not.

By the touch of his hand on Jairus' daughter, he disturbed death itself by raising her from death to life. Christ disturbed the very atmosphere on the Mount of Transfiguration where he spoke with Moses and Elijah.

Jesus disturbed reliance upon material possessions by disturbing the rich young ruler's priorities. Jesus disturbed blind Bartimaeus who cried out, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus disturbed the darkness of sight and made him see.

Listen, friends, give me your full attention. Listen to me now. On the cross, Christ was disturbing. It was disturbing to look at him hanging there, soaked in sweat and bloody gore and nailed naked in the shame and pain of Calvary.

To see the Son of God writhing beneath the burden of sin was too disturbing a sight to behold. Even the angels had to look away. It was disturbing to his friends to see him bleeding and suffering so. On Calvary, Christ disturbed the very elements of nature.

The sky darkened. The earth trembled. Rocks were torn asunder. And the veil in the temple, which was sixty feet high and four inches thick, was torn right in two like it was made out of papier-mâché.

Christ disturbed things that day. He disturbed hell itself, reconciling sinners back to God. Jesus even disturbed the dead in their grace through reading Matthew's Gospel. And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of their graves after his resurrection and appeared unto many.

There is nothing like the disturbing presence of Christ in a day as fast approaching, friends, where Christ will come again with his mighty angels. With a shout will his Spirit come among us and disturb someone now.

The Danger of Being Left Undisturbed by God

Let me go along with my message, friends. I was playing golf with a giant of a man. He stood six foot five, and he was wide as a brick wall. And every time this big man took a swing at the ball, he cursed God and cussed man.

He had the filthiest mouth of any man I ever heard. Why, I couldn't take it anymore, so I turned to him on a tee box and said, Friend, can I ask you a question? And he said, Shoot. I asked, How was your relationship with God?

Why, he smiled a big grin and said, Fine, I have a great relationship with God. I leave him alone, and he leaves me alone. That's what the big man said. And do you know what, friends? It breaks my heart to say it, but all you have to do to go to hell is for God to leave you alone, for Christ to never disturb you.

Are you content to have God leave you alone and let you go your own way to hell? Or would you rather be disturbed by God's merciful spirit now and face the consequences of turning to God with all your heart and turning from all your sins and forsaking them for a bloodstained Christ who died for sin?

Only God can open your heart, friend, and disturb you and make a heart of stone. Take a heart of stone and make it a heart of flesh, sensitive to the things of God in eternity. You're not in hell yet, friend.

You better see God in earnest while you still can, friend. Do you want your sins washed away? Do you acknowledge my two points that sin stains? And do you really believe that Jesus saves? Well, if you're stained with sin, why won't you come to a bloodstained Savior for sin?

Repentance, Faith, and the Bloodstained Savior

Listen to the Word of the Lord. Listen to Him, friend. He's speaking to you. Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they should be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they should be as wool.

The gospel is a gospel of grace, friends. It's where God offers mercy to guilty sinners. Are you a guilty sinner in need of a Savior for sin? Jesus is the only remedy in refuge for sin. But you must come to Him in repentance and faith and surrender your all to Him.

Listen, friend. You must lay down your shotgun of rebellion at the nail-pierced feet of the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. God will not run His white flag of peace over a soul who still has their weapons of rebellion pointed at Him.

What are you going to do, friend? It's life or death. It's heaven or hell. Look yonder. I think I see the suffering Son of God upon that bloody cross. Look at that man on the cross, friend. Look at that blessed man on the cross.

See his bleeding hands and feet? Look at that bloodstained Savior for sin. See Him twisting and turning on that terrible tree as He struggles beneath the weight of sin in the turned face of the Father.

Oh, friend, look at that man on the cross with his arms outstretched beckoning you to come to Him and believe on Him and own Him as your Savior and Lord. Look unto Me, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there is none else.

Look, look, look upon Jesus, the only remedy for sin. Hear Him in John 14, 6, for Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. Here, Jesus answers the three greatest questions of the human heart.

How can I be saved? Jesus says, I am the way. How can I be sure? Jesus says, I am the truth. How can I be satisfied? Jesus says, I am the life. Jesus gives everlasting life to those sinners who repent and believe.

I plead with you, friends, I plead with you, don't go to hell. It's a terrible region of darkness and demons. Jesus said, it's a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Weeping speaks of great loss and grief, and gnashing of teeth signifies great anger and regret.

Hell is a place of awful regret, and once you shut up in there, there's no getting out. But you can't get to heaven on your good reputation or your good track record, friends. That's of the flesh, and it's empty, and it's like trying to get to heaven on an empty religious profession.

It's like trying to climb up there on a rope of sand that will soon dissolve into empty air. Wake up, friends. Wake up, you poor, deluded sinner. Stop. Stop and sense your need. Listen to this gospel plea.

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Venture yourself on Christ, friend, and close with Him.

Listen, seek ye the Lord while He may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him.

And to our God, freely will abundantly pardon. Oh, that's good news, friends. Go to God now and surrender to Him. Look, I can't save you, friend. And you can't save yourself. Only God can save you by a work of grace upon the heart.

Closing Appeal to Trust Christ Alone

I have to stop preaching now, friends. I'm just an old man with a pacemaker and I'm plum worn out. I don't think I can go on here much longer. I'm going to have to close this down. I've done my best to point you to Christ, to get you to Jesus, for only Jesus saves.

And it's my hope and prayer that you just didn't hear my old shaky voice. But by God's grace, some of you heard His voice. And you will hear His voice as it comes to you in a demonstration of His spirit and power.

The gospel in the hands of a God-called preacher is pure dynamite, friends. It will blow up every false hope and every false foundation to smithereens, to where you're naked before God and Him alone.

Well, that's the end of my two-point sermon now, friends, how sin stains and Jesus saves. Oh, friends, let me take a minute here to pray for us before we go. Great God, O Ancient of Days, have mercy now and come and open hearts, I pray.

And Lord, by Your Spirit, come and disturb somebody here. Awaken them and alarm them and show them their danger of dying in their sins and grant them grace to flee from Your wrath to come to the only place of safety, to Your only begotten Son, the Lord Savior, Jesus Christ.

The biggest sinner in this town tonight can't come to You and be saved. If only they repent, believe. We're all big sinners, Lord, and we're in need of a Savior for pardon of sin. Come, Lord, and work grace on some hearts, I pray.

And I pray these things in the strong name of Christ Jesus for Your glory and for Your kingdom. Amen.