The Exclusivity and Universality of the Gospel
by Darrell W. Johns
Atlanta West Pentecostal Church (Lithia Springs, GA)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: John 3:16-19, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, Hebrews 9:27, Galatians 1:6-9, Luke 16, Mark 9, Matthew 25, Matthew 13, Matthew 10, John 14:6, John 8:24, John 3:36, Mark 16:15-16, Acts 4:12, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 4:4-6, Acts 2:38-39, Joel 2:28-29, Joel 2:32, Luke 2:10-11, John 7:37-38, Acts 10:34, Romans 1:16, Revelation 22:17, Revelation 7:9-10

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/darrell-w-johns--the-exclusivity-and-universality-of-the-gospel
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

------------------------------------------------------------
for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish should not perish [Music] but have everlasting life for god did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved he who believes in him is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god and this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil i'd like to preach to you today a fundamental message of the church you may be seated at least a decade ago i've spoken on this theme i felt to revisit it but fully revised in case just to let you know i do my work right i think you may know that i have an aversion to anything that is unnecessarily complicated or intellectual for the sake of being i like to keep things simple and if i should ever preach a deep sermon i try to make it so clear that it doesn't appear to be deep so that said my title today is the exclusivity and universality of the gospel the gospel of jesus christ is the only means of salvation everywhere it's exclusive but it is available for everyone everywhere it is a universal message that works for everyone in every culture regardless of who they are or what their background may be anyone can be saved by the gospel of jesus christ and no one can be saved without it i know i'm redundant right now but the gospel of jesus christ is the only means of salvation for all people everywhere and it is available for everyone everywhere i want to make it abundantly clear today that anyone can be saved by the gospel of jesus christ that there is no sin too deep that he cannot forgive him there is no life too far spent that he cannot redeem it there is no habit that has bound you so strongly that he cannot deliver you from it amen he can bring the runaway back to him he can save even the worst sinner amen and if you know the power of salvation in your life would you just take a moment to applaud the lord and testify amen [Applause] anyone can be saved by the gospel of jesus christ and no one can be saved without it while there's no one so bad that the gospel cannot save them there is no one so good that they don't need it for all have sinned and come short of the glory of god all of our righteousnesses are but filthy rags and there is none righteous the bible says no not one without exception anyone can be saved and without exception everyone must be saved there are no exceptions and there are no exemptions so i want to refresh you today on the need of salvation and refocus us on the mission of our church we as a church be as christians our commission to reach lost people with the gospel of jesus christ and our motivation to share the good news gospel means good news is a reality of an eternity without god people are lost without the gospel and they are blinded to it by satan the bible says this in second corinthians 4 but if our gospel be hid it is hit to them that are lost in whom the god of this world satan hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of christ should shine unto them every person you know will one day die and after death there is the judgment that's what hebrews 9 27 says and as it is appointed unto men wants to die and after this but after this the judgment the reason our church exists is to lead people into a saving relationship with jesus christ and to develop them into fully devoted followers of him we hope there are a lot of things that guests like about our church we're not a perfect church and you're the reason why and i'm the reason why that's why we're not a perfect church but regardless of what you like or dislike about this church if this church preaches the message that will save your soul from hell and take you to heaven then it's a good church amen and if this church or any church preaches a message that is watered down that will not deliver you from sin and will not save your soul from hell then it is not really a church it's not worth being called a church if it has a form of godliness but denies the power thereof it doesn't deserve to be a church amen we deserve to be a church if we have the mission of jesus christ and if we have the power of god that changes somebody somebody like a heather that can come down to an altar during the worship service and receive the gift the power of the holy ghost that's what makes this church a viable church amen ultimately it's a church that no matter how you live or what you've done it changes how you live and how you die and how you face god in the judgment i preached in the past about noah's ark it was a smelly thing it was not a pretty boat but it did one thing that mattered that boat floated in a flood and it saved noah and his family from the judgment of god it doesn't have to be a pretty church or a perfect church but if it helps you stand in a good stead with god in the judgment then that's a place that can save your soul amen we want to affect your life here but to hereafter is what really matters so i want to remind you of the exclusive nature of the gospel that no one can be saved no one can experience eternal life without it the bible says that there is no other gospel we're going to go through some scriptural support of this premise galatians 1 and 6. paul said i marvel to these people that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of christ to a different gospel which is not another but there are some who would trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of christ but even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you then what we have preached to you let him be accursed as we have said before so now i say again if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received let him be a curse the word is anathema maranatha cursed it is coming you see jesus christ is the source of salvation and believing and obeying the gospel is the only way to be saved now i know that that is a narrow assertion it is an exclusive assertion that there's one way and only one and you cannot be saved outside of that one way now jesus said this in his ministry enter into the strait or the skinny gate for wide is the way the gaydon broad is the way that leads to destruction and many people will go in that wide easy path to a way that leads to hell but jesus said it's a it's a skinny game and it's a narrow way some translations say a difficult way it's not easy to sacrifice your old life of sins but this way leads to eternal life amen and it's few there be who find it you've got to feel after god and find him you've got to be willing to seek for him with all of your heart jesus boldly declared that he was the only way to salvation he made no room for alternative routes to heaven there's no other religious persuasion that can get you to heaven if you can have a sincerely held belief that is erroneous it will not save your soul now in our culture we place a premium on sincerity and we say they really believe that with all of their heart they're very sincere they believe this and i will tell you that there are many sincere people in the world and there are some people who know the truth and who do not live it in a sincere way and shame on you if you are not sincere in living for god but having a sincerely held but erroneously based belief will not save your soul people all over the world hold a sincere faith but it is an erroneous faith and it will not save you the apostle paul wrote about keeping truth with sin with sincerity and truth amen for example when it comes to faith faith in your faith will not save you it is not that you believe it is what you believe that will save you and we live in the south but if you lived in the north if you walk out on a frozen lake it is not going to be your faith in the thickness of the ice that saves you you can stand at the water's edge of the ice's edge and you can say to yourself all day long i believe that this ice is thick enough to hold me up i believe i believe with all my heart that this ice is thick enough to keep me from falling through but when you step out on thin ice it will not hold the weight of your body it is not that you believe it is what you believe that matters it is the thickness of the ice that will keep you on the surface and it is important to have faith and belief but it is what you believe that will save you it is the cross of jesus christ that was the sole means of salvation for the entire world it is an exclusive message and nothing outside of the sacrificial death of jesus christ will save your soul from hell amen it is a substance of your salvation that will save you in the judgment salvation really is about saving souls from hell it is not being about being a church member it is about being in a right relationship with jesus christ if you sincerely believe that there is no literal lake of fire a place called hell it does not mean that hell does not exist it doesn't matter what you think or i think it matters the reality of what really exists it matters reality of what is revealed in the holy word of god that really matters and is going to determine your eternal destiny no one in their right mind would wish for anyone to go to hell and no honest person who believes in hell can pretend that hell is not real can look the other way hell is not a figurative place it is a literal place and jesus talked about hell the lake of fire more than any other person in the bible in luke 16 he says that there's a chasm between here and hell that no one can cross over in matthew 25 jesus told us that there are people who will go to hell that will be banished to eternal fire jesus talked about hell more than he talked about heaven and he described it even more vividly there's no denying that jesus knew and believed and warned people against the reality of hell he doesn't just reference hell he describes it in great detail in luke 16 jesus says that hell is a place of great eternal torment he describes it as being a place in mark 9 of unquenchable fire in mark 9 he says it's a place where the worm does not die indicating that is eternal it is not just the annihilation of the wicked but it is the eternal punishment of the wicked jesus said in matthew 13 that hell is a place where people will gnash their teeth and anguish and regret in luke 16 jesus explains that it is a place from which there is no return even if you want to tell loved ones about this terrible place called hell jesus calls play hell a place of outer darkness in matthew 25 and in matthew 10 jesus compared hell to this place called gehenna which was a city dump outside the city of jerusalem where rubbish were was burned and people were thrown if they were discarded because there was no burial for them jesus talked a lot about hell because he came to save us from it he's not willing that any should perish but there's a condition that all should come to repentance this is the exclusivity of the gospel of jesus christ that jesus came to give us the one and only way out of eternal torment john chapter 14 jesus said i am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father but by me and john 8 and 24 jesus said therefore i said unto you that you will die in your sins for if you do not believe that i am he you will die in your sins in john 3 16 jesus said for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish he uses this word perish because that is the alternative to believing in jesus christ but have everlasting life john 3 36 jesus said he who believes in the son has everlasting life and he who does not believe the son shall not see life but the wrath of god abides on him jesus told martha the sister of lazarus who was dead at this time i and the resurrection and the life he that believes in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die that is a message of jesus christ mark chapter 16 verse 15. he said unto them these are the words of jesus go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature he who believes and is baptized will be saved but he who does not believe will be condemned or in the king james version will be damned the apostles of jesus christ preach the exclusivity of the gospel in acts chapter 4 and 12 for neither is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved paul wrote in romans 6 23 for the wages of sin is death but the gift of god is eternal life through jesus christ our lord paul wrote in ephesians 4 there is one body and one spirit just as you were called in one hope of your calling one lord one faith one baptism one god and father of all who is above all and through all and in you all there is one god and there is one way to be saved he did not need an alternative route because the one he provided was enough to save anybody anywhere from hell [Applause] you know i've heard people say that going to heaven is like going to chicago or like coming to atlanta they say you know if you want to go to atlanta there's a lot of ways to get there they say that's how it is if you want to go to heaven you can get there any way you sincerely choose the land is a crossroads of the south and depending on your place of origin you can pick the route that makes the most sense for you you can come in on i-20 or i-75 maybe maybe you might get at least close depending on the day right you can come in on i-85 or georgia 400 or any number of other state highways and alternate routes and pig trails and you can get to atlanta a lot of ways but going to heaven is not like coming to atlanta i said this several years ago but going to heaven is more like going to key west florida have you ever anyone ever driven to key west florida let me get a witness i was raised in miami i've been there a few times if you want to go to key west florida by car there's one way in and one way out it's called us-1 on a map it might say highway 5 and if there's a hurricane coming then it's one way out and you ain't getting in if you want to drive your vehicle to key west you can argue with the map all you want you can say i'm going to take an alternative route but all you'll find on the left and all you'll find on the right is mangrove swamp the atlantic ocean to the east the gulf of mexico basically to the west it bends around you know that's all you're going to find if you really want to go there you've got to make up your mind i'm not going to stubbornly resist the map i'm not going to ignore the only way to get to my destination it may offend me to say that i'm a sinner it may offend me to tell me that i'm not good enough but if jesus said that he is the way and if i want to go to heaven that i'm going to give my life to jesus christ because i want to go to heaven more than anything in the world this is the explosion exclusivity of the gospel of jesus christ if you want to enjoy key west you've got to take us 1. and if you want to go to heaven you've got to take jesus christ who said i am the way and i am the true and i am the life amen while i'm on the subject of alternate routes let me just mention briefly that alternative means a choice other than the conventional one different from the usual and there are a lot of people who live alternative lifestyles both religiously and morally and both of them are equally wrong amen jesus said that there is a skinny gate and there's this narrow way and i know that the gospel on the face of it is kind of offensive you know that it says that you're a sinner and you can't please god in your own right but jesus loved you enough to come to this earth and die in your place for your sins amen and even though you're a sinner and you can't earn your way to heaven jesus gave you a way to go to heaven amen there's a way and there's one way and there's only one and you can choose an alternative life but that alternative life has consequences you can choose to ignore the gospel of jesus christ but the consequences are irreversible and they are eternal the gospel the good news is found in the bible throughout the new testament it refers to the death burial and resurrection of jesus christ death doesn't sound good burial sounds terrible but because of who died and who was buried and because of what happened on the third day it makes the death and the burial of jesus christ good news amen and our identification with the gospel the burial death burial and resurrection of jesus christ is what changes a sinner into a saint it is what delivers you from the power of satan into the power of god it is what takes you out of darkness and brings you into life amen when you tell god you are sorry for your sins and you want to change your eternal destination when you confess your sins and you walk away from them when you turn your life over to the lordship of jesus christ that identifies with the death of jesus christ you are dying to your own life you're dying to self-will you're dying to your sins you're looking to jesus christ as your savior and when you go down in the waters of baptism in the name of the lord jesus christ the bible says that we are buried with him by baptism amen it doesn't say buried with them plural it says him jesus died for your sins and baptism is burial with jesus christ and if you've been baptized another way where the titles of god were called i invite you today to be baptized in the name of the lord jesus christ not as an outward sign of an inward work but for the remission of sins it is powerful to be baptized in the name of the lord jesus christ let me pause to say we have changing rooms baptismal garments clean warm water somebody that will guide you through that process we believe that baptism is essential to salvation so we baptize you when you're ready not when we're ready we're always ready by the grace of god and if you've never taken the name of jesus christ in baptism then today is your day and we're ready for you today amen the gospel of jesus christ the good news of salvation his death burial and resurrection and your death descends by repentance your burial to your old life by baptism your resurrection from the dead by receiving the gift of the holy spirit with the evidence of speaking in a new language that god gives you as a sign that you have been filled with the spirit of almighty god this is the exclusive gospel of jesus christ now let me recap this plan of salvation and the apostle peter preached the first sermon on the birthday of the christian church there are people who felt the conviction of their sins and they said what shall we do acts chapter 2 verse 38 and peter said unto them repent that's an about it's a change of mind heart and life direction away from sin and toward god repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost not on the screens but in my mind he then once said for the promises unto you and to your children and today that are far off even as many as the lord our god shall call this is god's plan of salvation and this message of the gospel is exclusive there is no other message that will deliver you from the power of sin there is no other message that will save your soul from hell there is no other message that will allow you to spend eternity in the presence of jesus christ this is clearly the exclusivity of the gospel of jesus christ there are simply no alternatives but let me tell you the good news that this gospel is also universal for no sin is too deep as i said in the beginning that he cannot forgive it it does not matter what you've done it doesn't matter how far you've fallen it doesn't matter how many people you've heard i know that you cannot wind back the clock and there's some life behind you but if you will completely give your life to jesus christ he will forgive you of every sin he will cleanse you from every wrongdoing by the power of his blood that is applied to your life amen no life is too far spent that he cannot redeem it i've told you before that i saw a man we called hob johnson aged 95 he had resisted the lord 95 years but at 95 years of age i watched him go down in the waters of baptism in my home church i was a teenager i watched him come up out of the water i saw that older man receive the gift of the holy ghost because you may have wasted your life but you don't have to waste your eternity amen jesus christ has a power to save you this is a message that is for everyone this is a universality of the gospel of jesus christ [Applause] no habit too strong jesus can save the bible says to the utter most in john chapter 3 our text jesus is speaking to a jewish religious ruler if anyone knows anything about the bible they may know psalm 23 in the old testament and they probably are somewhat familiar with john 3 16 in the new this is the heart of the gospel of jesus christ for god so loved the world that he gave he sacrificed his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shouldn't would not perish should not perish but of everlasting life i'm not going to read these other verses but just to say that jesus did not come to condemn you he came to save you and if you or if i go to hell i will go to hell over the blood and body of jesus christ i will go to hell with god loving me as i go into eternal darkness no one has to go to hell because jesus christ came to save anyone who will turn to them him from their sins see there's one god he created people in his image through disobedience to god man fell from grace and sin enter the world sin is our problem it's the cause of every evil thing in the world sin fractures relationships sin destroys families and lives wow we see it so much sin is at the root of every dysfunction and all of the insanity of our world the woke culture upside down values the promotion of perversion is at the heart of the enemy enemy of your soul and god's eternal enemy satan who loved to take you to hell with him the bible said that there are people who will go to hell but that hell was prepared for the devil and his angels meaning that you are not predestined to be lost and go to hell you may feel like you're a bad person and that too much water is gone under the bridge but if you will turn your life over to jesus christ you can alter your eternal destiny no one has to go to hell you can save yourself amen and so jesus did not come to condemn us for our sins we were we were already condemned came to save us from our sins and because there are not two gods or three gods or three forms of god are partitions of god because there is one god he only needed one plan i've already said it but that plan was enough and it will save anyone who will accept it in the old testament a prophet named joel told us about god's future of salvation and it shall come to pass afterward after the death burial resurrection of jesus christ after the ascension of jesus christ that's what afterward meant that i will pour out my spirit on all flesh that means it's not just for religious people not just for churchy people but anyone who will believe can be saved he said your sons and daughters they're going to prophesy your young men your old men he goes on in verse 29 to talk about slaves in those days who had very few privileges if any at all but joel said there's a day coming that god is going to give his spirit to all flesh in joel chapter 2 32 he said that it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the lord shall be saved and i'll stop with that verse in luke chapter 2 verse 10 jesus spoke about this the angel said to them this was at the announcement to the shepherds of the birth of jesus christ let me give you the context the angel said to them fear not for behold i bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people for unto you is born this day in the city of david a savior which is christ the lord he wanted these blue-collar shepherds to know that god has come to earth and that there is a savior and he will bring great joy good news of great joy to all people i want to just remind you that this gospel is a universal message that it will work in north america it will work in every continent of the world it will work in every socio-economic strategy it will save the most wealthy billionaire it will save the poorest poverty-stricken person on this entire planet it will save the most depraved person that we think should deserve death but jesus christ came to save anyone who will turn to him good news for anyone you know if someone wins the sweepstakes that's good news for them but the gospel is not a sweepstakes it's not just for a select few i know you're thinking i wasn't raised in church i'm not a church person amen i've been around people who needed to take a vocabulary course to learn a few new non-cuss words i've been around people whose lives were just just marked by sin they were not raised going to church they don't know anything about god at all but here's what i know one prayer one prayer to say father forgive me lord have mercy on me i am sorry for my sins when you ask jesus christ to forgive you of your sin all the power of heaven will come sweeping into your life it will deliver you from darkness and sin [Applause] jesus was at a jewish feast john chapter 7 verse 37 on the last day that great day of the feast jesus stood and he cried out saying if anyone thirsts let him come unto me and drink he who believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart the king james says belly out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water but this he spoke concerning the spirit who those believing in him should receive for the holy spirit was not yet given because jesus was not yet glorified the very first non-jewish convert that came into the church in acts chapter 10 that book of salvation in the bible the apostle peter said i perceive that god is no respecter of persons i like that good old king james word god doesn't have respect for good and bad other translations says that god shows no partiality it doesn't matter who you are i'm saying it again that this exclusive message will save anyone the apostle paul writer of 13 books in the new testament the apostle to the gentiles in romans chapter 1 16 he said with great boldness for i am not ashamed of the gospel of christ for it is the power of god unto salvation to everyone who believes amen it will work for the jew and it will work for the non-jew the greek also and in the last book in the bible in the last chapter god gives this great invitation revelation 22 17 and the spirit and the bride say come on and let him that hears your hearing today why don't you say it's time to come and let him that is thirsty but him that is a thirst come and then i love these two words this long king james word and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely there are no prerequisites of attending a class there are no prerequisites of being raised in church as i've said several times all you have to do is believe and if you believe whosoever will come and if you will obey this exclusive message of salvation you can be saved i wanted to give you a picture of heaven in revelation 7 9. after these things i looked and behold a great multitude he's going to heaven the bible says it's a great number a multitude which no one could number of all nations tribes peoples tongues or languages remember i said that this is a universal message and when we get to heaven it's they're going to be people there from all over the world and they're going to be clothed in white robes they're standing before the throne and before the lamb they're clothed in white rose which depicts cleanness righteousness a right standing with god and they're going to have palm branches in their hand a sign of victory of overcoming then they're going to be crying out with a loud voice saying salvation belongs to our god who sits on the throne and to the lamb this gospel is for everyone it is a universal message of hope and that means that it is for you would you bow your heads right now lord jesus i come today i thank you for this great salvation and i pray lord first of all that someone who feels so unworthy [Music] they feel like this life is not for them i pray jesus that you would give them hope they've heard this gospel message and faith comes by hearing lord hearing the word of god can bring faith in our hearts so i pray lord right now that you would let faith be birthed in the heart of a sinner right now i ask you jesus to give a person hope that if they will turn to you that they can be saved i pray for that in jesus name i pray for every person lord who calls himself a christian but as weak in their witness help us realize lord that we live in a fallen world that is headed for an eternal lake of fire and that there is only one way out one way to go to heaven help us lord feel the conviction of the weight of sin in this world and help us bring a message of hope to people who are lost and dying in their sins i pray today god that you will let someone's eternal destiny be altered today and i pray for that in jesus name