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God Leave Me Alone
E.A. Johnston
0:00
0:00 9:03
E.A. Johnston

God Leave Me Alone

E.A. Johnston · 9:03

E.A. Johnston warns that turning away from God and insisting He leave us alone leads to spiritual ruin, emphasizing the necessity of God's intervention for salvation.
In this powerful evangelistic sermon, E.A. Johnston challenges listeners to consider the grave consequences of rejecting God and insisting He leave them alone. Drawing on vivid illustrations and biblical examples, Johnston emphasizes that salvation is only possible through God's sovereign intervention and the breaking of the human will. He warns of the spiritual peril facing a generation indifferent to God and calls for a heartfelt response to the gospel invitation.

Full Transcript

Years ago, I was playing golf with a giant of a man. He must have stood nearly seven feet tall, and he was as big as a parking garage. And every time this man took a swing at his golf ball, he took a swing at God, for he had one of the filthiest mouths I ever heard.

Every time he hit his ball, he would spit and cuss and curse. He damned God and cursed Jesus. Finally, I turned to him on a tee box, and I said, Friend, can I ask you a question? He said, Shoot.

I inquired, How's your relationship with God? And this big man threw his shoulders back and stuck his broad chest out, and he grinned a big grin from ear to ear and replied, Fine, I have a great relationship with God. I leave Him alone, and He leaves me alone. And as I drove home that day from the golf course, I reflected on what that big man said.

I leave Him alone, and He leaves me alone. And I thought out loud, All one has to do to wind up in hell is for God to leave you alone. Men lie in great darkness, friends, and they are blinded to their peril of dying in their sins and their terrible punishment of damnation in the devil's hell If their eyes could be opened to see the reality of their eternal sufferance and misery of separation from God, they would cry out now for mercy and beg God for forgiveness of sin.

Statisticians tell us that there are presently around 8 billion people in the world today. And I'm afraid, friends, that most of those 8 billion people are crawling all over each other's backs as they are going to hell by droves as fast as they can because all you have to do to wind up in hell is for God to leave you alone. The gospel call in the book of Revelation is a free offer of the gospel.

We read in Revelation 23, 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come, and let him that is the thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. That word thirsty in the Amplified Greek reads, who is painfully conscious of his need. I don't believe a man can be conscious of his need until God's Spirit regenerates the heart and gives him a disposition for spiritual things.

I don't think a man hardened in sin with a stony heart will go to God for a drink of that living water because he is not painfully conscious of his need. In the epistle to Romans in chapter 1, the Word of God describes the downward course of man who despises God's Word and His work and creation and falls into such God-provoking sins of depravity and debauchery that it says God gave them over to a reprobate mind. I believe the majority of the world is in that category right now because when I look at society, it's full of the ungodly, the spiritually ignorant.

People are reaping sin's harvest of atheism and perversion and corruption because God has left them alone because they wanted God to leave them alone. And the nations of the world today are full of the unconverted as they line up like dominoes in a stance against the God of the Bible. But all it will take is one strong wind from heaven to blow and that long line of dominoes will come crashing down.

And as they fall, they fall end over end until they bust hell wide open because God left them alone. I think I can read you that verse from Revelation about whosoever will. And it won't make a hill of beans to most folks because they are not interested.

They have no need for it. And I believe if you're saved, friend, it's because God gave you saving faith. That's right.

And not one of you people are ever going to get saved if you can help it. You'll never get saved if you can help it. Listen, friends.

If God Almighty doesn't break your stubborn will in your old black heart and invade your life and conquer you, then you'll just have to go on to hell. If He left it up to you, you'd never get saved. In Genesis we see that an angel wrestled with Jacob.

Old Jacob said, I'm not going to surrender, not me. And finally the messenger smote him and crippled him. And then old Jacob came to his senses and almighty God hasn't saved a sinner yet that He didn't first cripple him.

For a sinner doesn't want to be saved. He doesn't want to go to hell. But he doesn't want to be united to a holy Christ either.

God can send a messenger and cripple Jacob. And when Jacob is crippled, he'll have some sense, some sense of his need. He will be painfully conscious of his need for a remedy of sin in the person of Christ Jesus.

And when the messenger started to leave him, Jacob grabbed hold of his coattail and cried, You can't leave me till you bless me. If it was up to you, friend, you'd just go on to hell. This nonsense of God's done His part and it's up to you to do your part is the bane of easy believism.

Today we've taken salvation out of the hands of God and placed it in the hands of man. You decide. God is absent from your decision.

It's up to you. But when I read my Bible, I see a man by the name of Saul of Tarsus and he's on his way, going down the road to go kill some more Christians. And Jesus Christ met him smack dab in the middle of the road and invaded his rotten life and knocked him off his horse, got his attention, revealed Himself to him and saved him by His grace.

And God is still doing business today, friend, intervening in sinners' lives because He still hears prayer. I believe if you're going to get saved, God's going to have to knock you off your high horse and regenerate your heart by His Spirit. I believe, friend.

And it makes me sick to my stomach, but I believe it's true. I believe things have gone so far today that it chokes me up to say it. I believe we have a generation today of folks who don't give a hoot about God or care about eternity.

And they are lined up like dominoes in the wind because we told God to leave us alone.

Sermon Outline

  1. I. The Danger of Leaving God Alone
    • Illustration of a man who curses God yet claims a good relationship
    • The peril of spiritual blindness and eternal separation
    • The widespread condition of humanity rejecting God
  2. II. The Gospel Call and Human Need
    • Invitation in Revelation to come and drink the water of life freely
    • The necessity of being painfully conscious of spiritual need
    • The hardness of the unregenerate heart
  3. III. God's Sovereign Intervention in Salvation
    • Man cannot save himself without God's breaking of the will
    • Example of Jacob wrestling with God and being crippled
    • The story of Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus
  4. IV. The Urgency of Responding to God
    • The danger of easy believism and human-centered salvation
    • The current spiritual condition of society as a warning
    • The call to recognize God's work and respond in faith

Key Quotes

“All one has to do to wind up in hell is for God to leave you alone.” — E.A. Johnston
“If God Almighty doesn't break your stubborn will in your old black heart and invade your life and conquer you, then you'll just have to go on to hell.” — E.A. Johnston
“Today we've taken salvation out of the hands of God and placed it in the hands of man.” — E.A. Johnston

Application Points

  • Recognize your need for God's intervention and do not rely on your own ability to be saved.
  • Respond to the gospel invitation with humility, acknowledging your sinfulness and need for Christ.
  • Avoid the danger of spiritual complacency by actively seeking a relationship with God.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean to 'leave God alone'?
It means rejecting God's presence and influence in one's life, choosing to live apart from Him.
Why can't people save themselves?
Because human will is stubborn and sinful, only God's sovereign intervention can regenerate the heart and bring salvation.
What is the significance of being 'painfully conscious' of spiritual need?
It refers to a deep awareness of one's sinfulness and need for God's grace, which is necessary for seeking salvation.
How does God intervene in a sinner's life?
God breaks the sinner's will, often through difficult circumstances or spiritual conviction, to lead them to repentance and faith.
What is the main warning of this sermon?
That ignoring God and insisting He leave us alone leads to eternal separation and damnation.

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