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Lordship Or Hell
E.A. Johnston
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0:00 6:32
E.A. Johnston

Lordship Or Hell

E.A. Johnston · 6:32

E.A. Johnston passionately warns that true salvation requires the full lordship of Jesus Christ over one's life, rejecting the false gospel of easy-believe Christianity that leads to spiritual death and hell.
In 'Lordship Or Hell,' E.A. Johnston confronts the alarming spiritual decline in modern churches caused by a diluted gospel that neglects the true lordship of Jesus Christ. He challenges believers to recognize that salvation demands full surrender to Christ's authority, warning against the dangers of false conversions and easy-believe teachings. This urgent message calls the church back to biblical truth, repentance, and the necessity of regeneration for genuine faith.

Full Transcript

We live in a day of moral chaos in society and spiritual apostasy within the church. As a nation, we have legislated God out of our country by legalizing sin. As a church, we have lived in spiritual declension for so long that we cannot discern good from evil.

When the churches in America replaced the God-centered gospel of the Bible with another gospel that is man-centered, we created a breeding ground for spurious conversions. The churches gradually watered down the gospel to make it more palatable to sinful man. All the rights and claims of the Lord Jesus Christ of the gospel were removed and replaced with an anemic Jesus who had no rights or claims on anyone.

In a bad dash to grow our churches, we handed out an impotent Jesus who stands helplessly at the door of the sinner's heart, hoping you will let him in. But that's not the Jesus found in the Bible, who sits in authority at the right hand of God and has all power in his hands. As denominations made a grab for power, they sold out the God of the Bible and began to traffic in the souls of men in an attempt to grow their church campuses through brick and mortar, but with the blood of souls on their hands.

We stopped preaching against sin and stopped preaching on hell and stopped preaching man's duty of repentance and his utter necessity of regeneration. And subsequently, we mirrored the methodology of a famous evangelist who broadened the way of salvation in ways Jesus never did. Jesus said it was a narrow way and a straight gate and one had to strive to enter in.

Jesus said there was a cross in the daily life of all followers of his. Jesus said if one did not forsake mother, father, children, or even one's own life, he could not be a follower of his. The cost of discipleship involves a life of self-denial as one follows the Lord Jesus along a narrow way.

As a church, we have lied to people by telling them all they had to do to go to heaven was to accept Jesus as their personal savior, even if that's not even found in our bibles. We handed folks a easy-believe gospel and herded them like cattle into our churches to financially support our denominational programs and pay the bills on our lavish church campuses. We have baptized pagans and told them they were now Christians.

Through all of this, the church lost her voice of authority in the land and her witness to the world. We have ordained men to ministry whom Jesus does not know. We have hired pastors who are either entertainers or babysitters for the grown babies in our congregations.

The sad consequence of all of this is that very few are saved today, or young people leave the churches in droves as soon as they become adults because they themselves are sick of the hypocrisy and the missing reality of God in the so-called people of God. When you feed a man a false gospel, then baptize that man and make him a member of the church, you have simply made a unconverted man, an unconverted church member who will never know the reality of God in his life and will never have power over the sin in his life because he is yet dead in his sins. The self still sits on the throne of the heart and rules there even if he is the chairman of the deacons.

When a sinner is saved, self is dethroned and another enthroned there, the Lord Jesus Christ who has all rights and claims on all followers of his. Either Jesus Christ is Lord of your daily living or he is a stranger to you and you are a stranger to him. The Lordship of Christ is the missing doctrine in our preaching today and by its omission we have damned the souls of men.

Jesus is either your Lord in every aspect of your life or he is merely your servant and if he's not your Lord friend then you are none of his. Where the rubber meets the road it's either Lordship or hell. He is either your glad sovereign or he was never your savior.

We need to quit lying to folks and stop feeding them a false gospel just so we can have a big church and a six-figure income. We need to be honest with folks and be true to the souls of men by warning them of their danger of dying in their sins and informing them of their duty of repentance, their utter necessity of regeneration as they surrender all they are to all Christ is. He is Lord.

He is a living Lord. He must be your complete master if you want to be saved from the fires of a burning hell. It's either his Lordship or hell.

Sermon Outline

  1. I
    • Moral chaos and spiritual apostasy in society and church
    • Legislating sin and removing God from the nation
    • Spiritual declension leading to inability to discern good from evil
  2. II
    • The replacement of the God-centered gospel with a man-centered gospel
    • Watering down the gospel and removing Christ's lordship
    • Consequences of an impotent Jesus in evangelism
  3. III
    • The necessity of preaching sin, hell, repentance, and regeneration
    • The cost of discipleship and self-denial
    • The false assurance given by easy-believe gospel
  4. IV
    • The true lordship of Christ as essential for salvation
    • The danger of false conversions and unconverted church members
    • Call to repentance and surrender to Christ's complete lordship

Key Quotes

“Either Jesus Christ is Lord of your daily living or he is a stranger to you and you are a stranger to him.” — E.A. Johnston
“Where the rubber meets the road it's either Lordship or hell.” — E.A. Johnston
“We need to be honest with folks and be true to the souls of men by warning them of their danger of dying in their sins.” — E.A. Johnston

Application Points

  • Examine your life to ensure Jesus Christ is truly Lord over every area.
  • Reject any gospel message that minimizes the cost of discipleship and the necessity of repentance.
  • Commit to preaching and living out the full gospel that includes sin, hell, and regeneration.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main problem E.A. Johnston identifies in modern churches?
He identifies the watering down of the gospel and the removal of Christ's lordship, leading to false conversions and spiritual decline.
Why does the speaker emphasize the lordship of Christ?
Because true salvation requires Jesus to be the sovereign Lord of every aspect of a believer's life, not just a servant or a figure to accept.
What does the sermon say about repentance and regeneration?
Repentance and regeneration are absolutely necessary for salvation and must be preached clearly to avoid false assurance.
How does the speaker view the 'easy-believe' gospel?
He condemns it as a false gospel that produces unconverted church members who remain dead in their sins.
What is the ultimate choice presented in the sermon?
The choice is between accepting the lordship of Christ or facing eternal hell.

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