E.A. Johnston warns that the church's silence amid national calamities reflects a departure from biblical truth, urging repentance as America faces God's judgment for its sins.
In 'Why the Church is Silent,' E.A. Johnston delivers a prophetic message addressing America's moral decline and the resulting divine judgment evident in natural disasters. He challenges the modern church's silence and calls for a return to biblical truth and repentance. Drawing on historical examples and Scripture, Johnston urges believers to awaken to the seriousness of sin and the necessity of revival.
Full Transcript
I have never seen a time in my life, friends, where this country has suffered so many natural disasters, from fires to floods to hurricanes to tornadoes, where unsuspecting victims either lose their homes or their lives. I scratch my head and wonder at the silence of pastors who refuse to speak publicly about what's taken place in our nation. God is judging America for her multiplied sins, and this nation is reaping what she has sowed, which is violence and murder and perversion and debauchery, my Bible says in Galatians.
Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Since Roe vs. Wade and this country, we've murdered over 50 million human babies.
3,000 babies are butchered every day in this country whose logo is One Nation Under God. But this nation mocks God and rejects the God of the Bible. Oh, this nation worships some kind of God, a God of their own creation, one that is politically correct and one who won't get in the way of your daily living.
We kicked God out of the public schools in 1962 and our school grounds have become killing fields. Mass shootings take the lives of our young people today before they can even grow up to enjoy it. The legalization of marijuana, homosexuality, or the signs of a nation in decay, ready for the junk heap of history.
Ancient Rome was destroyed because it had become one huge brothel. So too with ancient Greece. America today is one huge brothel, from the west coast to the east coast, from perverted Hollywood movies to human trafficking of massage parlors in Florida.
Another tragedy hits our nation through a tornado where 23 people perish in twisted rubble and the church is silent as to the reason why. But pastors in former days were wiser. They recognized the remedial judgments of God upon society through natural calamities and they used those disasters as opportunities to preach revival sermons, calling their community and nation and congregations back to the living God of the Bible through repentance and humility and nights of desperation and prayer.
Listen to a sermon, friends, preached by a leading pastor in Boston in 1755 when an earthquake shook that city. Listen to the title of his sermon, Earthquakes, the Works of God and Tokens of His Just Displeasure, being a discourse on that subject wherein is given a particular description of this awful event of providence made public at this time on occasion of the late dreadful earthquake which happened on the 18th of November, 1755. The text of the sermon was Psalm 187.
Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken because he was wroth. We don't believe in a wroth God today who would punish sin by any remedial judgment upon a sin-loving city or even outpour his wrath upon a sin-loving society like he did to Sodom and Gomorrah or God wouldn't act that way today, we believe.
The church is silent because the God she serves no longer resembles the one found in my Bible, but this nation nonetheless is reaping what she has sowed for the word of God is sure. God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.
Sermon Outline
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I. The Reality of National Calamities
- Natural disasters as signs of judgment
- The scale of suffering in America
- The silence of contemporary pastors
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II. The Sins of the Nation
- Abortion and the shedding of innocent blood
- Moral decay: perversion and debauchery
- Rejection of the true God for a man-made deity
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III. Historical Precedents for Judgment
- Ancient Rome and Greece as examples
- The biblical examples of Sodom and Gomorrah
- Pastors’ response to calamities in colonial America
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IV. The Call to Repentance and Revival
- Recognizing God's wrath as just
- The need for humility and prayer
- Restoring the church’s prophetic voice
Key Quotes
“God is judging America for her multiplied sins, and this nation is reaping what she has sowed.” — E.A. Johnston
“The church is silent because the God she serves no longer resembles the one found in my Bible.” — E.A. Johnston
“Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- Recognize the seriousness of sin and its consequences in society.
- Encourage the church to boldly proclaim repentance and biblical truth.
- Respond to national tragedies with prayer, humility, and calls for revival.
