E.A. Johnston challenges listeners to abandon their false gods and idols and come repentantly to the true and holy God of the Bible, who demands holiness and punishes sin.
In this powerful evangelistic sermon, E.A. Johnston confronts listeners with the reality of sin, judgment, and the holiness of God. He challenges the modern church’s complacency and false security by calling people to abandon their idols and false gods. Johnston passionately urges repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as the only true Savior who can cleanse from sin and grant eternal life. This message is a sobering yet hopeful call to come clean with the God of the Bible before it is too late.
Full Transcript
Well, it's good to be here tonight friends and to be before you with this message. You're not going to want to miss it uh, the old puritans Had long sermon titles because their sermons had so much to say If you will, excuse me friends. I have a long sermon title for you tonight Because I have a lot to say and i'll get to that title in a minute But what we've accomplished In our churches today is to make men and women religious without christ And give them a false sense of security in a society That is on a mad rush to hell Everyone is willing to take a savior that will keep them out of hell But nobody wants a lord who will keep them from sinning the old time puritan preachers had these long Titles attached to their sermons because they had so much truth jammed in there to speak to sinners in their generation And if you pardon me friends, I want to bring you the title of my message this evening, which is Come kill your god and come clean With the god of the bible or just go on to hell clutching your idols Now that's the title of my message this evening friends because I believe everyone has a god they serve We have found us a religion We are comfortable with and we have found us a god We can get by with so long as he doesn't get in the way of our daily living If you're not careful some of you Will go to hell hanging on to your god with one hand and clutching your idols in the other This stuff we call salvation In our church today is a byproduct of anemic evangelism Which has been handed out like free kool-aid And everybody's drunk it and we drank it because it was easy to swallow And it tasted good going down, but it did nothing for a spiritual condition Nor did it fix our sin problem of a broken law of god whereby We stand guilty beneath the condemnation Of a holy god who hates sin Who has to deal with sin and who will punish sin? our trouble is We've never seen our sins for what they are arrows into the heart of god the father No one preaches the law today that shuts men up and women to god for salvation But the law Must be preached because one day the sentencing of the law will be carried out on all guilty lawbreakers God declares that the requirement to get into his holy heaven Is perfection? And no man is perfect, but all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god at a future judgment every mother's son Will be held up to the strictness and severity Of the law of god and everyone will fail that test Because a crime has been committed Through the transgression of god's law The sentencing of the law must be carried out and sin must be punished the trouble with the modern church in our day Is that we have congregations full of nice people who refuse to believe that God is a god who must punish sin They have heard preacher after preacher for years tell them that if you go to hell friend It's because you sent yourself there That's a bold-faced lie You wouldn't send yourself to hell any more than you'd arrest yourself for committing a crime Try yourself pronounce sentence against yourself and lock yourself up in a prison for years Nobody Willingly will go to hell.
That's why it says Listen to me. That's why it says over in the gospel of matthew in chapter 22 in verse 13 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 Uh, you think you're gonna walk on over to hell and jump on in there? No, sir You will be taken by angels with a superhuman power They will tie you up like a dirty hog ready for the slaughterhouse And you will scream your head off and gnash and bite your teeth in anger As they forcibly cast you into that burning pit of torment and misery Now that's the introduction to my message tonight friends and you better pay close attention To what I have to say Because you're gonna hear the gospel tonight in all its bloody colors Some of you have never heard the real gospel before in your whole life and this will shock you because the gospel of the son of god Is an offense to lost religious people. It makes them fighting mad And it is foolishness to the world of pagan idolaters Some of you Won't like my message and you sure shooting won't like me Because I have a dirty job to do friends in hand-to-hand combat with you because Before you will listen to me proclaim the god of the bible.
I first have to kill the god of your imagination And so do you Come kill your god and come clean with the god of the bible or just go on to hell clutching your idols Now you're gonna have to throw them down Cast them aside to get to the god of the bible who declares in isaiah 116 wash you Make you clean Put away the evil of your doings From before mine eyes cease to do evil Now, that's what the god of the bible declares about himself And what he thinks of your filthy rotten sins God will avenge himself against all sin friend My bible is clear on this as it describes the vengeance of god against sin In isaiah by saying The sword of the lord is filled with blood and over in the new testament in second thessalonians We read of the avenging god Coming out of heaven Oh when the lord jesus Shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels inflaming fire Taking vengeance on them that know not god and that obey not the gospel of our lord jesus christ Who shall be punished? with everlasting destruction From the presence of the lord and from the glory of his power Now that's the god of the bible friend and the god of the bible is a god who must punish sin You better get your knife out and kill that little god You whittled out for yourself who lets you sin all you want to and leaves you alone Hear me now our churches are loaded With baptized heathen in love with their sins who just got enough religion to comfort them on their way to hell You better kill your god and come clean with the god of the bible through repentance of sin I'm here to warn you Of the fearful wrath of god due to them that sin You can't hide your sins from a holy All seeing god God will smoke you out of your hole and chase you down And pursue you Right up to the judgment and arraign you before angels and men To prove that you are guilty Of breaking a strict law and you will then have to face The severity of that broken law as a just judge then damns you forever in a devil's hell They will have to hold you down and bind your hand and foot while you're screaming Your full head off. That's when your legs will go wobbly and lose their strength And your knees will knock together like you're doing a mexican cucaracha in isaiah We see your condition as you face the sentencing of the law the sinners in zion are afraid Fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire Who among us shall dwell? with the everlasting burnings Your knees will go to knock and then friend when your sin is found out You better come clean with the god of the bible now before it's too late A man must be awakened to their lost condition And see their danger of dying in their sins and come and tremble before the god of all majesty and eternity Who has power to cast you into hell? Jesus says fear him Jesus says in matthew 10 28 And fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell Men must see their sin And feel their guilt before they will repent and come clean with god and seek him for mercy and forgiveness for sin But the man Who will not see his sin? Will not be troubled in conscience for his sin Nor will he be forced to confess and forsake it and condemn himself for it before a holy god All the powers of hell Will conspire together to keep man from seeing their sins and their guilt of sin Be willing friend To know your condition now and be able to do something about it to be willing for the spirit of god To shine his holy spotlight on your soul and expose your sins To search you and convince you of your guilt and peril to stand one day Before the god of all the earth and give an account to him For it is appointed Unto men once to die but after this the judgment Oh friend Wouldn't you rather come clean with god now in repentance? And throw down your most beloved idols and get to a blood-stained savior from sin Who hung on a ignoble cross on a hill called calvary? Jesus christ is the only remedy And refuge for sin and he was nailed to a cross and crucified for sin There he bore the curse becoming sin for us But you must get to christ friend salvation is christ The cross is the place Where wicked men sought to get rid of him, but by his death it becomes the place Where his saving power flows out to all hear me now flows out to all Who come in repentance? Confessing they are sinners and own a master savior and lord i'm all worn out friend from this message I feel like a Excuse me I feel like a dishrag that's been wrung out But I feel I can't leave you without giving you An opportunity to come clean with god and do business with his son I'm gonna sing a hymn friend and if god's been dealing with your awakened soul Through this message then don't delay you get to christ You get to christ as fast as you can in matthew jesus said and as moses Lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so Must the son of man be lifted up Look at that man on the cross friend See the nails in his bleeding hands and feet Uh, look at that blood-stained savior from sin as he hangs there Beckoning you to come to him. He says that whosoever Believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life For god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever Believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life How about you friend? Are you ready? and willing To kill your god and come clean with the god of the bible To throw down your shotgun of rebellion At his nail-pierced feet to get rid of your filthy idols once and forever And confess and forsake your dirty rotten sins Then come you come To this blessed savior from sin the lord christ and surrender All you are to all he is You come as I sing My hope is built on nothing less than jesus blood and Righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on jesus name On christ the solid Rock I stand all other ground is sinking sun All other ground is sinking sun When darkness fails his lovely face I rest on his Unchanging grace in every high and stormy gale My anchor holds with in the veil On christ the solid Rock I stand All other ground is sinking sun All other ground is sinking sun
Sermon Outline
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I. The False Gods We Serve
- Modern religion offers a false sense of security without true repentance
- People cling to comfortable idols and a god who permits sin
- The need to 'kill' the god of imagination before embracing the true God
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II. The Holiness and Judgment of God
- God is holy and must punish sin according to His law
- The certainty of future judgment and eternal punishment for the unrepentant
- The law convicts sinners and reveals their guilt before God
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III. The Call to Repentance and Salvation
- The necessity of seeing one’s sin and feeling guilt to repent
- Coming clean with God through confession and forsaking idols
- Salvation only through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross
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IV. The Urgency of Responding to the Gospel
- The Spirit’s work in awakening the sinner’s conscience
- The danger of delaying repentance and clinging to sin
- Invitation to surrender fully to Christ as the solid rock
Key Quotes
“We have congregations full of nice people who refuse to believe that God is a god who must punish sin.” — E.A. Johnston
“You better kill your god and come clean with the god of the Bible through repentance of sin.” — E.A. Johnston
“Jesus says fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- Examine your life for any false gods or idols you may be clinging to and be willing to let them go.
- Recognize the seriousness of sin and the certainty of God’s judgment to foster genuine repentance.
- Place your full trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, surrendering all to Him.
