The Coming Sifting
E.A. Johnston warns that a divine sifting, likened to the judgment in Amos, is imminent for both America and the Church, separating the faithful from the hypocrites in preparation for Christ's return.
In 'The Coming Sifting,' E.A. Johnston delivers a prophetic message warning of an imminent divine judgment upon America and the Church. Drawing from the book of Amos, Johnston emphasizes the certainty of God's sifting that will separate true believers from hypocrites amid rising persecution and national decay. This sermon calls listeners to repentance and readiness for Christ's return, highlighting the purification necessary for the Church as the bride of Christ.
Full Transcript
In the book of Amos, God speaks of the certainty of Israel's desolation. And Almighty God compares His coming judgment upon the people of God to a sifting, like corn shaken to and fro and sifted in a sieve. Listen to God's word from Amos 9 in verses 8-10 as it speaks of this coming sifting.
Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth. Saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve.
Yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not take nor prevent us. I will stop their friends.
As the hand of the former holds the sieve to separate the chaff from the corn, so too the hand of God holds a divine sifter to separate the useless from the useful. God is declaring that a separating, a sifting was coming, and it was a certainty bringing desolation. America is a nation in a sieve, ready to be sifted in judgment from on high.
A nation cannot keep on sinning and fill in its cup of iniquity without a final judgment upon it. Ancient Rome was destroyed because, historians tell us, Rome had become a brothel. America has become a brothel.
She is a harlot nation that has perverted other nations by her promotion of evil. The coming sifting of this nation may come by way of financial collapse so staggering it will make the Great Depression look like a cakewalk. Or the coming sifting of America may come from her enemies by nuclear war bringing a holocaust to this nation.
Either way, a sifting is coming, much sooner than we realize, for this country cannot go on sinning and shaking its defiant fists in the face of a holy God and survive. The Church will go through a sifting as well, for hot persecution will come to the Church in America, bring it with it such intense hatred of Christians that the churches will be sifted like flour in a sieve. The sincere convert will be separated from the hypocrites, as only the true believers will be willing to stand for their faith in the face of persecution and the risk of losing all that is dear to them.
The hypocrites will run for the doors and empty out the churches who will no longer be able to pay their bills to carry all the debt to support the larger campus they have built by trafficking in the souls of men. A sifting is coming, for as God drowned the old world and burnt up wicked Sodom, He will not stand idly by while this country continues on its sin-loving path in a continued rejection of Him. The Church will stand accountable as she is sifted in the hand of Almighty God.
What remains will be purified, for a bride must be dressed in white for a coming wedding day, for Christ will not come back for a dirty bride. The nations of the world will stagger at the shock of the sifting, as they too will be pressed into the divine sieve and shaken in the hand of God. The coming sifting is a certainty as certain as the sunrise of tomorrow.
God have mercy on us all.
Sermon Outline
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I. The Certainty of God's Sifting
- God's judgment likened to sifting corn in Amos 9
- The inevitability of desolation for sinful nations
- America as a nation poised for divine sifting
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II. The Causes and Forms of the Coming Judgment
- Nation's sinfulness and cup of iniquity filled
- Possible financial collapse or nuclear war
- Comparison to ancient Rome's moral decay
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III. The Sifting of the Church
- Persecution will separate true believers from hypocrites
- Hypocrites abandoning faith under pressure
- Church accountability and purification
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IV. The Outcome and Hope
- True believers purified as a bride for Christ
- Nations shaken by divine judgment
- Call for mercy and readiness for Christ's return
Key Quotes
“As the hand of the former holds the sieve to separate the chaff from the corn, so too the hand of God holds a divine sifter to separate the useless from the useful.” — E.A. Johnston
“A nation cannot keep on sinning and fill in its cup of iniquity without a final judgment upon it.” — E.A. Johnston
“What remains will be purified, for a bride must be dressed in white for a coming wedding day, for Christ will not come back for a dirty bride.” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- Examine your faith to ensure you stand firm in truth amid coming trials.
- Repent from national and personal sin to avoid the consequences of divine judgment.
- Prepare spiritually as the Church will be purified and refined through coming challenges.