When a Nation Needs Revival
E.A. Johnston warns that America urgently needs a divine revival to avert impending judgment due to widespread sin and godlessness.
In this prophetic sermon, E.A. Johnston reflects on the urgent need for revival in America, drawing on the warnings of Puritan John Owen and biblical examples of judgment. He highlights the moral decay, lawlessness, and apostasy that threaten the nation’s future. Johnston calls believers to recognize the signs of spiritual decline and to seek God’s mercy before destruction comes. This message serves as a solemn reminder of the critical choice facing the country today.
Full Transcript
I remember standing beside the grave of the Puritan John Owen in Bunhill Fields in London and reflecting on his large and useful life, and a quote by him still sends chills down my spine because it prophetically sums up the day in which we live. Owen wrote, When a sinful church or people have passed the utmost bounds of divine patience and forbearance, they fall into such abominable crimes, sins, and provocations as shall render the utmost vengeance beneath their desserts. So Josephus affirms of the Jews and their generation, after they had rejected and slain the Lord Christ, that they fell into such a hell of provoking abominations that if the Romans had not come and destroyed them, God would have sent fire and brimstone upon them from heaven as he did on Sodom.
I'm afraid, friends, I have never seen America fall into such God-provoking sins and out-and-out lawlessness as this nation stands in direct opposition to the God of the Bible, and if God doesn't send revival to America, he will have to surely destroy it to give her its just desserts. We need revival like never before. A nation needs revival when evil is called good and good evil.
A nation needs revival when there is no shame in society and no fear of God in the land. A nation needs revival when perversion runs rampant and is promoted as a good thing. A nation needs revival when greed and avarice rule society and the poor are mistreated.
A nation needs revival when there is a prominence of godlessness in the land. A nation needs revival when the laws of the land are recklessly broken for personal gain. A nation needs revival when the church is sunk into such an apostate condition they are unaware of it.
A nation needs revival when the entire country feeds on the entertainments of nudity and sex. A nation needs revival when an immoral society becomes an open sewer sending up a noxious stench up to heaven. A nation needs revival when it has sinned its way into hell and sits on the very verge of destruction.
America will either be revived by a heaven-sent revival or destroyed by heaven-sent judgment. Heaven help us all.
Sermon Outline
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I
- Reflection on John Owen's prophetic warning
- Historical example of Jewish judgment
- Parallel to current American society
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II
- Signs a nation needs revival
- Moral decay and godlessness
- Lawlessness and societal corruption
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III
- The church's apostasy and unawareness
- Cultural promotion of sin and immorality
- The consequences of ignoring revival
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IV
- The choice between revival or destruction
- Urgent call for divine intervention
- A plea for God's mercy on the nation
Key Quotes
“When a sinful church or people have passed the utmost bounds of divine patience and forbearance, they fall into such abominable crimes, sins, and provocations as shall render the utmost vengeance beneath their desserts.” — E.A. Johnston
“A nation needs revival when evil is called good and good evil.” — E.A. Johnston
“America will either be revived by a heaven-sent revival or destroyed by heaven-sent judgment.” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- Examine your own life and repent from sin to prepare for revival.
- Pray earnestly for God to bring spiritual awakening to the nation.
- Engage with your local church to promote holiness and awareness of apostasy.