Church Loosened Grip on God — E.A. Johnston

Israel Rejects God's Rule

In the days of Samuel the prophet, the nation of Israel desired a king. In 1 Samuel chapter 8 we read,. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.

And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people, and all that they say unto thee. For they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should reign over them, according to all the works which they have done since the day I brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day.

The Church's Former Moral Authority

Wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Listen, friends. There was a time when America honored God and feared Him. But a day came when the nation of America rejected the God of the Bible, and the church was silent when she needed to be heard.

There was a time in America when the church had a voice of authority and exercised influence upon society. The hearts of men have always been corrupt, but when the church had a strong grip on God, she had a strong grip on righteousness and a restraining power over evil in society.

In 1960, a television commercial was kept off the air because it had an outhouse in it, and the Methodist church collectively raised its voice against it as a weakening of morals, and they kept that offensive commercial off the air.

The church spoke up, and the world backed off. The church as a whole back then had a strong united front of preserving the word of God and preaching the full counsel of God, and the church was respected.

The Church's Silence During Social Decline

It was a force to be reckoned with. But as society unraveled in the turbulent 1960s, government backed away from God and the Bible. Public prayer in school was outlawed in 1962. In the next decade, the murder of the unborn would be legalized.

In the coming decades, homosexual marriage would be legalized, narcotics would be legalized, and society spun completely out of control. And where was the church in all of this? She was silent. She was afraid she would lose members by maintaining strictness in her ethics and truth in her message.

Conformity, Compromise, and a Watered-Down Gospel

So she loosened her grip on God and began to accommodate sin, and she watered down the gospel message to make it more palatable to sinful man. And she led the world into her church to such a degree that she fell asleep on the two pillows of conformity and compromise.

And as the church loosened her grip on God, she lost her grip on the world. And that's the title of my message today, friends. When the church loosened her grip on God, she lost her grip on the world.

Entertainment Culture and the Church's Compromise

It's ironic that the church kept an outhouse out of a TV commercial when the television programming of our day is nothing more but an outhouse where filth and perversion flow into our households and taint our life and families with the sordidness of sin and the wickedness of perversion to where it's become commonplace.

The most pornographic language is featured in so-called Christmas holiday movies, and sex scenes and nudity are expected, if the film means to be a commercial success. And where is the church in all of this, sitting right along with the world on the front row?

I was attending a Baptist church once where the pastor was doing his best to fit in with his millennial congregation so he could be acceptable to them. Instead of being a godly role model to them, he just wanted to blend in with them.

So in the middle of his Sunday morning message, he told his church that his favorite TV show was Keeping Up with the Kardashians and that he was addicted to it. He couldn't miss an episode. Basically, he just informed his church that he was addicted to watching nudity and perversion on a regular basis.

And this is the compromise with a sin-loving society that has weakened the power and lessened the influence of the church and makes it a little more than a local social club where the lost gather to have a good time.

International Moral Decline

As America turned her back on God, she led the way for other nations to follow. And one by one, they each fell like dominoes in the wind. Down went England. Down went Scotland. Down went Wales. Down went Australia.

Down they went. Down they fell. They all legalized homosexual marriage and ordained homosexual ministers. And the vortex just gets bigger and bigger each day. You can't watch a PG -13 movie today without flashes of nudity and outbursts of perversion.

Or radio waves are polluted by profane language in song and conversation. Or news media posts photos of full nudity with no remorse or shame. Society has become one big outhouse, and the church is still silent on sin.

The Casualties of Spiritual Neglect

The casualties are numerous. The casualties are enormous. The casualties are our young people today who know not God nor believe in Him. It's our fault. We dropped the ball, and we need to own up to our own responsibility.

The Need for Heaven-Sent Revival

Only a heaven-sent revival can keep us from utter destruction. God have mercy on us all.