E.A. Johnston delivers a powerful sermon titled 'When the King Comes In,' warning the congregation about the dire state of spiritual blindness and the danger of relying on false security within the church. He emphasizes the necessity of true conversion and regeneration, urging listeners to recognize their natural condition of sin and the urgent need for a genuine relationship with Christ. Johnston warns against the prevalence of unconverted individuals in the church and the misleading teachings that dilute the gospel, stressing that only those who are truly born again will enter the kingdom of heaven. He calls for a return to the undiluted gospel, highlighting the importance of repentance and faith in Jesus as the only way to salvation. The sermon serves as a wake-up call for those who may be complacent in their faith, reminding them that the King will scrutinize their hearts at the final judgment.

We live in a dark time, friends, where few are being saved because few hear the real gospel today. I fear God has withdrawn himself from among his people as a remedial judgment, and there's a famine in the land, a famine for hearing the word of God. And I feel that some of you are in great danger. Some of you are like the well-fed ant fresh from the sugar pile on your way home, and you don't see the size 10 shoe coming down on you that could squash you into just a mark on the sidewalk, and you won't even see it coming. That's how close some of you are to destruction. There are so few being saved today, and the church is full of the unconverted. Men by nature are in darkness. They are blind to spiritual things, prone to delusion and danger. Their minds are set on their business, set on the pleasures of the world, set on the love of their family. And like the prophet Jeremiah said of the Jews, they have followed after idols, and after them they will go. Men are fast asleep and are in need of awakening to the great danger of sin and damnation, but their hearts are full of deceit and full of enmity to God, for the natural mind is enmity to God, is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Multitudes of baptized church people rest in false security on a fragile fabric of a rotten foundation. They'll soon give way beneath their weight as they are blindsided by a holy God who will suddenly remove them from this world and execute his vengeance upon them. Some of you will be victims of your own ignorance in a day where religious denominations lie in the grip of apostasy and unconverted ministers abound. You'll go to your doom under a poor guide to the souls of men. You'll believe a lie, go to hell because you were too lazy to read the Bible yourself, to see what Jesus had to say about conversion. In the words of the prophet Hosea, the people will be destroyed for lack of knowledge. Some of you will be fooled by your own heart and because of self-love you'll go to hell, relying on your self-righteousness. Some of you will be fooled by a false spirit of the devil who will give you a false peace while he's leading you to hell. There are many by-paths of false ways, false refuges to snare you and trip you up. For Jesus said, if you are saved and those who are are saved with great difficulty for it's a straight gate and a narrow way and you have to press in with violence. Listen to me friends, some of you think you're going to heaven because you believe in God but you bypass Jesus who's the only door to salvation. Some of you are going to hell because you've never heard the real gospel before. All you've done is swallowed the modern diluted gospel of only believe and you're only going to hell. Some of you are going to hell because you trusted in just a physical response to an emotional appeal. You walked an aisle or you repeated a prayer but you've never closed with a blood-stained Christ your whole diluted life. Some of you have never been faced with a faithful minister of the gospel who knows how to unravel the hearts of men and lead them into a true understanding of themselves. As the apostle Paul said, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God. To the pulling down of strongholds a faithful preacher will show you the badness of your heart. He won't fear men, he'll only fear God. He'll tell you the truth friend because he cares for your soul. Your duty of repentance must be known and your utter necessity of regeneration and he'll point you clearly to a blood-stained Christ for forgiveness of sin. You want a God called preacher who's full of the Holy Ghost like the Bible says about Joshua. Take Joshua the son of none a man in whom is the Spirit and lay thy hand upon him. You'll want a preacher who's fitted to lead sinners in the right way to Christ and if you're in a hospital dying friend you're gonna want a preacher just like me sitting there with you leading you to your only hope which is in Christ Jesus. A faithful minister is like a sturdy lighthouse in a storm that guides you safely to shore but if a false prophet gets hold of you, you are ruined for sure. Devils in the pulpits are all over the place. Wolves in sheep clothing ravenous after your soul to drag it down to hell. Many settle on a false foundation on a false faith that's no better than a hole in the wall. Hear me now friend I'm trying to help you with the only thing that matters in this world and that's the destiny of your soul. Listen to me you better get the wax out of your ears friend. Sit up straight and pay attention to this message. I don't care if you like me or not. I didn't come here for you to like me. I came here to point you to Christ and it's a difference between life and death. The truth you will hear today in this message will either be water off the back of a duck and it won't affect you one iota or you'll be so disturbed by it you'll be like a lone soldier on a road and up ahead you see thousands of your enemies in your grip with fear and alarm. The dreadful miseries that sinners are in danger of must be brought before their conscience and the spirit of God must apply the truth and make it real in the life. For you must be dead sure of the certainty of your ruin if you continue in a natural condition. You can be a member in good standing of a church and still be in a natural condition. You can be singing in the choir with a smile on your face and still be in your natural condition. You can be the pastor of a great big church be a real hero in your denomination and still be in your natural condition. A natural condition is the description of every person on this planet no matter how religious they are. A natural condition is a condition that's under the condemnation of a holy God because you are dead in sin and if you die in your natural condition friend apart from the regenerating spirit of God you'll die outside of Christ's blood for forgiveness of sin. Listen to me you must be born again. Outward professions of religion will not get one into heaven without a corresponding conversion of the heart. We tend to think every good person who dies will go to heaven but good people don't go to heaven. Only forgiven people get to go there. Many in our churches sit on a rotten foundation of a false profession. Many have been lied to and misled by false teachers standing in a pulpit who are nothing more than cheap raven and wolves in cheap clothing who devour sheep. It would do us all well to camp out in Matthew chapter 7 see what Jesus actually said about salvation. Camped out in John chapter 10 about Jesus being the door and if anybody else try to go up apart from that door he's the same as a thief and a robber. Listen to me friend there are evangelists out there who have broadened the way of salvation in ways Jesus never did. Jesus said few will be saved and those who are with great difficulty for the gate is straight and the way is narrow and few there be that find it but many shun it because of its restrictions of a life of discipleship. Many shun it because they don't want to be united to a holy Christ with holy living and many turned away like the rich young ruler because of the demands of the gospel in man's duty of repentance and his utter necessity of regeneration. Many want an easier way a broader way of hypocrites and the openly profane who say there is no God and if there is one he certainly is too good to send me to hell because he's a God of love and he will not punish sin. But listen to me friend God is a God who will punish sin. He accepts you for he won't accept you for what you are but he'll meet you where you are and you can be saved today. Listen to me friend listen to me the God of the Bible declares I change not. Listen to me friend I'm a God called preacher who's got a burden for the souls of men and my hardest work is before me today because to get a person to turn to Christ to turn to the Christ of the Bible you first have to kill their gods and when you go about doing that you have a fight on your hands from a lost religious crowd but I'm going to be true to my Bible. I'm going to be true to my God and I'm going to be true to you today friends because I care about your soul. I don't want you to go to hell. I know how horrible hell is. I know how unending it is. How much misery there is. How crowded it is. Listen to me friend like we say in the south I'm going to be straight with you and give you the oil straight from the can because I'll preach to you today the undiluted gospel of the cross. There is a cross in the gospel and it's got blood all over it because of a bloody sacrifice for sin in the person of Christ Jesus who loved me and gave himself for me. Heaven help us to have ears today that can hear and that you hear his voice friend that somebody here just maybe somebody is so sick of sin and so weary of it that you're ready to lay that sin burden down at the nail pierced feet of a sovereign a savior for sin. Jesus is hid in the bosom of the father and you must turn to God in earnest sincerity for God to show you mercy and open your blind eyes and reveal Christ to you. Reveal Jesus as the pearl a great price worth selling all for so he may be gained. You get saved by receiving a revealed Christ. Oh that the Holy Spirit will come and disturb some secure sinner sitting here today. Some of you who need this message will listen to this message but won't think I'm talking about you and by doing so you've already blocked and deflected it diminished it and diluted its importance to you. You flatter yourself that your case is good your standing is all right and your eternity is secured. You're like the wedding guest who's enjoying the banquet until the king comes in and points him out finds him out it's not belonging there but here now is the word of God and may the spirit of the Lord attend the reading of his holy word and when the king came in to see the guests he saw there was a man which had not on a wedding garment if I may pause here friends to say the wedding garment speaks of regeneration to where a safe center is clothed in the righteousness of Christ and he saith to him friend how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment and he was speechless then said the king to the servants bind him hand and foot and take him away and cast him into outer darkness there should be weeping and gnashing of teeth for many are called but few are chosen the king came in and pointed this man out friend and that's the title of my message today the king this man was found out under the king's intense scrutiny and his mouth was stopped because he knew he was guilty he knew he had no business there he was trusting in his own merits and not the merits of another the Lord Jesus Christ this man was convicted just like a young clean Billy Graham was convicted convicted when he showed up at a tent meeting where Mordecai Ham was preaching and Billy Graham was a good clean church member and he got mad at the preacher for pointing him out and saying he was a sinner and Mordecai Ham later said at that meeting where Billy Graham got saved that Billy said I pointed my finger at him and called him a sinner well I never pointed my finger at him that I know of but the Holy Spirit sure did and convicted him and it's my prayer today friend if you're here and you're yet an unregenerate person in your natural condition that you're sitting here not clothed in the robe of Christ's righteousness and washed in his blood and born from above that the Spirit of God will speak to you put his finger on you point you out grab you by the conscience turn you upside down and fill you full of alarm and pull you out of this message and meeting and let you know you got to get along with God get a hold of him and get a hold of his Christ in a saving way because he's going to expose you listen to me friends let me pray I'm facing some opposition right now trying to preach this message I've got to stop right now and pray hang on friends Lord Jesus assist me now great God King of glory who is the King of glory you're the King of glory the Lord strong and mighty the Lord mighty in battle this is a battle Lord help me Jesus by your spirit to overcome the enemy open up the hearts and heads these people here listening to this message lift up your heads oh ye gates even lift them up ye everlasting doors and who will come in the King of glory shall come in come in here Lord walk among us today great dreadful King step out of the pages of your book and come walk among us here today come and disturb folks I pray in the strong name of Jesus Jesus the King of glory amen listen to me friend a man had a dream this man wasn't just any man he was a rich powerful man he was the ramrod in his church he gave more money to it than anybody else ran the thing more than the pastor did for he was the chairman of the deacons and this man had a dream he dreamed he died suddenly in a tragic accident and his soul left his body and it was traveling at lightning speed through clouds of gray mist in a vortex like a dark tunnel and he sensed a break on the horizon and he saw a bright light and his spirit lifted in anticipation of a clear sight of the gates of pearl and the streets of gold and as he got closer and closer the more and more excited he got and the more elated he became to be greeted in the glory but as soon as he got closer all he smelled was smoke everything went dark the sensation was now falling and he fell and he fell as if he'd fallen off a great mountain and he tumbled over and over head over heels as he smelled that smoke got stronger and stronger then it happened everything went dark as night he couldn't see his hand in front of his face it was nothing but deep darkness and flashes in the distance disturbing flashes and he saw twisting and twirl twirling he heard screams of the damned and their cries grew louder and louder till he realized he'd entered the very borders of hell in his own shrieks woke him up as his sheets were drenched with sweat i wonder what happens when a good church member dies in their natural condition outside the blood of christ how shocked they are not to wake up in glory but only to wake up in the prison of hell i bet it's kind of like that dream only a lot worse because you can wake up and escape from a dream but you can't get out and escape from a devil's hell i went to an elite private party one time and the only reason they let me in because i knew the person on the inside who was throwing the party and the only way you're going to get inside heaven's high gates of pearl is if you know the person on the inside who resides in that holy heaven the lord jesus christ and he has to know you friend not just you gotta know not just his name and what he did but who he is in relation to you regenerating grace is the key that unlocks the gate to heaven and no one will be admitted into glory unless you're born again without a work of grace performed upon the heart there's no hope for you friend the work of regeneration is an absolute necessity unto salvation and if you've not experienced the change through regeneration then you are yet in your sins you stand upon slippery ground in a perilous lost natural condition it doesn't matter if you've been a church member for years in good standing unless you're a subject of unless you are a subject of regeneration you'll wind up in the chains of darkness in a bottomless pit it doesn't matter friend if you've been a successful pastor for years unless you are the subject of regeneration you'll join the multitude of unconverted ministers in hell it does not matter if you're the head of a denomination if you've missed regeneration then you've missed christ you'll surely end up in hell where your academic degrees will only be fuel for the fire there are few sinners being saved today because preachers are not faithfully warning men and women and boys and girls of their duty of repentance their utter necessity of regeneration we get people to raise their hand if they want to get a free ticket to heaven we tell them it's an only believed gospel they don't have to repent they don't have to turn from their sins and we fail to warn them that conversion means a changed heart resulting in a changed life where the reality of God is evident in the life through the new birth we must first understand what we are and what danger we are in and able to see what it means to be converted the apostle paul in romans speaks of this wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for all for that all have sinned this speaks of our ruined nature friends i was born of my father in the flesh and he was born of his father in the likeness adam that's the natural condition friend of man born with a fallen nature in a bent towards sin we see more specifically in first corinthians 2 14 but the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of god for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned this means man as a result of his fallen adamic nature is unable to understand spiritual truths because he does not possess the ability the indwelling spirit of god to understand those truths a man in his natural state acts from a principle of self-love he must get to god while he can he must get in his place in line while he seek the gospel time is running out an unconverted man is an unregenerate man in his natural condition under the condemnation of a holy god and men must be warned the trouble with this generation is nobody's warning them hear me now of the dangerous of a natural condition for every man whether baptized or not who dies in a state of nature in this natural condition will certainly be damned in the devil's hell and damnation is intolerable it's endless you must be born again through the supernatural work of the spirit of god upon the heart to possess the indwelling spirit of god if you remain an unregenerate church member you'll surely wind up in hell and this is where the rubber meets the road friends is that begin this sermon that's going to bring me more opposition and persecution from a lost religious crowd than i want but i must preach the truth as it's found in the bible so help me god the biggest mission field on the earth today i don't believe are in the jungles of africa we need to go there we need to tell them about christ but in my opinion one of the biggest mission fields in the world today are the churches in america there are more lost people inside the church than there are saved ones inside it we have largely unconverted congregations because we've told people if they only believe john 316 and accept jesus then they can be saved and we've lied to them we've got them to join our church so we could expand our bulging campus we took their money and we destroyed their souls a patient under anesthesia cannot feel the cuts of the scalpel and i fear many preachers a day have anesthetized their congregations to where they sleep the sleep of death while they await the second death in the lake of fire i'm gonna preach the gospel today friends god willing with his strength and by his spirit and i'm gonna preach today the thunderings and lightenings to awaken you to your danger and you better listen up friend because this may be your last opportunity to stay out of hell you may be pulled out of this world through sudden death you never know if the bed you slept in last night you'll ever sleep in it again listen to me now you make dead sure what i'm preaching today lines up with the word of god get out your bible start reading it check everything i'm saying to you because i'm garrisoning myself in my bible with the word of god and i'm garrisoning myself with my jesus and holy christ and i'm just quoting him today the bottom line friend is this every unregenerate man or woman who dies in their sins will be cast into a devil's hell it doesn't make a hill of beans if you've been a faithful member of a church all your life if you die in a unregenerate state you'll only go to one place and that place is the region of the damned it don't make a hill of beans if you've been a pastor of a big church it doesn't matter if you die in your sins you bust hell wide open just like a whorish hollywood actor your good reputation won't keep you out of hell friend your long track record of serving god won't help you either the fact that you went around telling folks about jesus won't keep you out of hell if you die an unregenerate person that's jesus saying it not me not everyone that sayeth unto me lord lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven many will say to me in that day lord lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works and then i will profess unto them i never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity listen to me friends your very life depends upon these things today things are so bad in society right now it's become an open sewer of filth and perversion spilling out all over the land contaminating everything it contacts and the churches hit her head in the sand and by doing so she kept her neck clean but the rest of her is filthy still i'm not mad at the crooked politicians in washington they're just being who they are by nature i'm not mad at the godless judicial system those crooked judges are just who they are by nature listen to me friend i'm mad i'm disappointed at the church in my generation for dropping the ball and refusing to preach hard against sin refusing to preach hard man's duty of repentance and refusing to tell people they must be born again and warn sinners about the dangers of damnation for sin and failing to warn men and women of the future judgment that awaits all mankind we're at the bar of a thrice holy god who sits on a great white holy throne he'll open up the books on all mankind and place them one by one under his scrutiny alongside his strict unbending law and if you stand there friend as an unregenerate person in your natural condition and your name is not written in the book of life you and the rest of the devils beside you will be cast into an everlasting lake of fire we live in a day of liberalism we live in a day where seminaries teach its students that repentance is not a necessary component for salvation and for 80 years or so we've soft-soaked the gospel and bathed the nation of sinners with a diluted gospel of easy believism which hasn't the power to save a flea much less a sinner hardened in sin we live in a day when evangelists have broadened the way of salvation in ways jesus never did jesus said except you repent you'll all likewise perish jesus said you must be born again by the spirit of god or you'll be locked out of god's holy heaven he said salvation was something only a few found and it was a narrow way enter ye in at the straight gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction in many there be which go in there at because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it we live in a day where churches are more concerned about growing their campus and climbing ladders in their denomination more than caring for the souls of man do you know how many people die every second they are christians thinking they're saved but they've never been born again by the work of grace on the heart they just died as unregenerate church members never born from above or washed in the blood don't let that be you friend don't let that be you you're not going to heaven friend unless you've been born again george whitfield and john wesley had to take to the open fields because they were shut out of the churches for preaching regeneration listen to me doors were closed to them john wesley knew what it was like to be a lost religious person coming to america as a missionary to the indians in savannah georgia and all he met was utter failure the sheriff even had a warrant for his arrest had to run him out of town back to england and while he was sailing home to england he wrote in his diary john wesley said i've come here to save the heathen but who will save me then on may 24th 1738 while at a bible study on aldersgate street in london john wesley experienced a new birth he recorded in his diary in the evening i went very unwillingly to a society in aldersgate street where one was reading luther's preface to the epistle to the romans about a quarter before nine while he was describing the change which god works in the heart through faith in christ i felt my heart strangely warmed i felt i did trust in christ christ alone for salvation and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins even mine and saved me and saved me from the law of sin and death listen friend george whitfield preached one message that fueled a revival on both continents and his message was you must be born again whitfield stood in the open air preaching that message to 20,000 hearers while continuously pelted with rotten eggs and pieces of dead cats he was persecuted for that message by the lost religious crowd and while he was in boston in 1740 a new england minister approached him on boston common and asked him mr whitfield since you've been among us you've preached one theme you must be born again when sir will you preach us a new message to which whitfield replied oh when ye are born again george whitfield knew the importance of being born again because he knew what it was like to be a unconverted man an unconverted church member who prayed often fasted often denied himself for god gave alms to the poor and visited widows and orphans but he was a lost religious man still and it wasn't until his good friend Charles Wesley placed a book in his hand by the scotsman henry schugle called the life of god in the soul of man that whitfield saw the reality of a sound conversion by being born again in justification by faith in experiencing the new birth knowing what it was like to actually have the life of god in the soul of man do you know what that's like friend jesus told nicodemus verily verily i say unto thee accept a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of god oh one must be regenerated by the spirit of god through a work of grace upon the heart to see spiritual truth it's much more than just making a decision friend it's much more than just believing a verse and if you're not truly born again by work of grace upon the heart then no angel or christ will let you into heaven jesus answered verily verily i say unto thee accept a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of god unregenerate men can be loving parents trustworthy citizens wonderful neighbors who help their fellow man but they'll still go to hell in the end if you die without experiencing the new birth you'll be barred from heaven even if you've been a faithful member of a church for 40 years that's not me saying it friend that's jesus saying it you got a problem take it up with him if you die in an unregenerate state you're gonna go to hell jesus gonna say to you i never knew you depart from me you work of iniquity many have mistaken church membership for salvation listen friend your only hope is the blessed hope the lord jesus christ he's the only remedy and refuge for sin jesus is the pearl of great price we're selling all for so he may be gained get the jesus friend and own them as your savior and lord you must get to jesus believe on him he's your only hope your heart of stone must become a heart of flesh through the new birth through faith in christ christ alone his blood will wash your sins away god declares in isaiah 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 look at that bleeding christ on that cross friend look that man on the cross and hear him look unto me and be you saved all the ends of the earth for i am god and there is none else let me tell you friend a story that's meant a lot to me and maybe it'll help you i pray that it does there was a man traveling through the city of st louis and it was a sunday and he was a christian so he parked his car at a downtown church and he went inside to worship once inside he realized he was the only white person in an all-black church so he took his seat on the back row and listened to the message up on the platform was an elderly pastor beginning a sermon and his topic that day was heaven he began some folks call heaven paradise some folks call it abraham's bosom i like to think of heaven this way here is jesus just returned from his earthly ministry and old gabriel greets him at the pearly gates hello jesus sure is good to see you jesus oh we sure missed you up here jesus welcome home jesus oh but wait who's that with you is that that thief from the cross oh no sir no sir we can't have no thieves up here he's not welcome here jesus replied never your mind gabriel never your mind and just then jesus wrapped his arm around the thief grabbed him by the waist and he announced to gabriel never your mind gabriel he's with me it's all right he's with me and that's the only way friends a poor sinner will ever get into god's holy heaven that sinner must be born from above and washed in the merits of another through the new birth the lord jesus christ where christ knows you and he can say he's with me where she's with me listen to my friend that's where the rubber meets the road and if god's been dealing with you friend through this message by his convicting holy spirit i want you to take this time seriously now and get serious with god because god gets serious with those who get serious with him listen to my friend what counts cost and what cost counts you better get serious with god while you're still in this world before he takes you out of it if you were standing upon a rotten foundation of a false faith wouldn't you like to find out now instead of winding up in a prison of perdition if you're not really safe from hell wouldn't you like to discover that now instead of finding out before it's too late listen to my friend some of you will go away from here not bettered by this message but maybe just maybe somebody may experience change when jesus passed through towns and villages in his earthly ministry those who encountered him experienced change listen friend maybe today you won't just hear my shaky old voice but you'll actually hear his voice as it comes to you in power majesty and authority listen friend in john 14 6 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 said i am the way how can i be sure jesus said i am the truth how can i be satisfied jesus said i am the life and in john 6 35 jesus says i am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst the gospels for the hungry the weary and the thirsty let me ask you friend are you hungry for god are you sick and tired of your sins are you thirsty for christ don't delight don't delay friend come to him now believe on him trust him the duty required is to come and trust him come empty-handed seeking his mercy and grace for forgiveness of sin jesus won't turn you away he won't turn you away if you come to him friend jesus is the only remedy for sin his blood must be applied though so long as a person thinks they can help themselves they won't get help they will not come to christ alone for help he's the only one that can help your friend man must be driven out of themselves in all their false refuges must be broken up with the hammer of the word of god before they can trust in christ alone to save them are you a lost sinner let me ask you are you a lost sinner will you admit that you are a lost sinner on your way to hell who wants to be saved are you ready for jesus to place his arm around you friend and say he's with me she's with me hear him if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink he that believeth on me as the scripture has said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water look unto jesus friend he is the pearl of great price we're selling all for so he may be gained he is your only hope friend look at that bloodstained savior for sin while you still have time to believe in him come to him and own him as savior and lord jesus is a friend to sinners are you a lost sinner lord now indeed i find thy power and thine alone can change the leper spots and melt the heart of stone jesus paid it all all to him i oh sin hath left a crimson stain he washed it white as snow for nothing good have i whereby thy grace to claim i'll wash my garments white in the blood of calvary's lamb jesus paid it all all all to him i oh sin hath left a crimson stain he washed it white as snow