Preaching Repentance — E.A. Johnston

Repentance as the Core Message of Revival Preaching

When I study church history, especially seasons of revival, I find a common thread in the preaching of those men whom God used mildly in the midst of revival. It's basically the core message of the gospel, repentance, that God demands repentance from all sinners and you must repent or perish.

The False Gospel That Removes Repentance

Now, I know that goes against the teaching of a long-deceased and very wrong-headed seminary professor who founded a seminary and taught repentance is not necessary for salvation. And this error birthed the only-believed gospel of our day, which was the mainspring of football stadium crusades who had you walking out for Jesus.

Billy Graham’s Regret About Preaching Repentance

But I know this for a fact as well, friends. A few years ago, I was standing, speaking with one of Billy Graham's nephews, Jim Wilson, and this is what he told me. He once asked Billy Graham, when he was older, if he had any regrets and he posed this question to him.

Uncle Billy, if you could go back and do it all again, what would you change? What would you do differently? He said they were on the back porch of Billy's home and Billy was sitting in his favorite chair and he got a faraway look in his eye and answered, I would have preached repentance more.

The Consequences of Failing to Repent

And I believe, brother pastor, when we all get to heaven and stand at the beam of sea to review that we will say the same to Jesus that we wished we had preached repentance more. Listen, friends, if you don't repent, you will surely go to hell.

Jesus and the Apostolic Call to Repentance

I'm just repeating what Jesus taught and when he sent out the twelve disciples on their first preaching mission, this is the doctrine that they preached as well. We see this in Mark 6 12, which states, and they went out and preached that men should repent.

Mordecai Ham’s Call to Conviction

I reckon Billy Graham should have paid more attention to his mentor, Mordecai Ham, of whom Billy Graham came to Christ in a tent meeting under Ham. Billy Graham was a member of a church, but unsaved, and he went to hear Mordecai Ham and he got mad at the preacher because Ham called him out as a sinner who needed to repent.

Ham later would comment, I didn't point at him and call him a sinner. But the Holy Spirit did. And that's the key, friends. We must preach the gospel in its purity and proper order so the Holy Spirit can go to work.

The Preached Word and the Holy Spirit’s Work

Picture in your mind two millstones grinding at the mill as they grind flour. The bottom stone is the preached word of God and the top stone is the Holy Spirit making that connection. As they turn together, they grind on the sinner in conviction of sin.

If more preachers preached repentance, more sinners would be saved. I believe that, friends. But the main hindrance to preaching repentance is the risk we preachers face in offending man. We look at what happened to another preacher of repentance who called sin, sin.

For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. Most pastors don't want to upset the apple court by preaching disturbing messages to their congregations because they fear the good deacons more than they fear Almighty God.

They don't want to upset anybody and risk losing their head. But the gospel of the Son of God had a bloody cross right smack dab in the middle of it. And unless you repent, friend, you will die in your sins and be cast into a devil's hell that is full of the unrepentant.