While the Church Slept Satan Raged — E.A. Johnston

Divine Patience and the Limits of Judgment

Before we begin, I would like to read us a quote from the Puritan, John Owen. When a sinful church or people have passed the utmost bounds of divine patience and forbearance, they fall into such abominable crying sins and provocations as shall render the utmost vengeance beneath their desserts.

So Josephus affirms of this 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.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane While the Disciples Sleep

My message today, friends, is entitled While the Church Slept, Satan Raged. Our text today is found in Mark's Gospel, chapter 14. You can turn in your Bibles there now. We will be in verses 32 through 42.

Here now is the word of God. And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane. And he saith to his disciples, sit ye here while I shall pray. And he taketh with him Peter and James and John and began to be sore amazed and to be very heavy and saith unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death, tarry ye here and watch.

And he went forward a little and fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee, take away this cup from me.

Nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt. And he cometh and findeth them sleeping and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? Couldst not thou watch one hour? Watch ye and pray. Lest ye enter into temptation, the spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

And again, he went away and prayed and spake the same words. And when he returned, he found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy, neither which they what to answer him. And he cometh the third time and saith unto them, sleep on now and take your rest.

It is enough. The hour is come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. So here in our passage, we have a picture of the sleeping church and the person of the disciples. And while the church sleeps, Satan is raging in the approaching mob that is coming to arrest Jesus.

Satan is raging through his human dupes who will end up crucifying the Lord of Glory. The church slept while Satan raged. But when a nation turns its back on God and refuses to heed divine correction through the remedial judgments of God, then that nation must face the rejection of God.

Israel’s Backsliding and Jeremiah’s Call to Return

This occurred with the Israelites in the days of the prophet Jeremiah. Israel was enjoying a period of peace and material prosperity, but rather given God the glory through thankful and humble lives in submission to his commandments, they rebelled against the Most High and lived both selfishly and sinfully.

The favored people of God eventually moved so far away from the heart of God that their lives reflected as much evil as the pagan nations surrounding them. Actually, their sin was worse than the pagan nations, for they had sinned against favor and light.

Therefore, their punishment would be far more grievous for their aggravated sins and transgressions against the holy God. Through repeated remedial judgments, God chastised his wayward and rebellious people, but they failed to learn the lesson and repent of their wicked ways and return to God.

However, although the patience of the Almighty is tried by his backslidden people, he continued to call them back into a loving relationship with him. We see this from the following passage from the book of Jeremiah.

Surely, as a wife treacherously departed from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. A voice was heard upon the high places of weeping and supplications of the children of Israel, for they have perverted their way and they have forgotten the Lord, their God return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.

Behold, we come on to thee for thou art the Lord, our God. If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me. And if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove and thou shalt swear the Lord liveth in truth, in judgment and in righteousness, and the nation shall bless themselves in him and in him shall they glory.

For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns, circumcise yourselves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my fury come forth like fire and burn that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings.

Listen, friends, because the people of God had failed to interpret the divine chastisements that issued forth from the hand of a loving father who with the purpose to correct the wayward and backslidden people, then the consequences of their sin would follow them.

They would be faced with a spiritual vacuum as the divine favor was lifted from them. No longer would God defeat their enemies, but rather God would allow the enemies of Israel to become the instruments of divine chastisement because the people of God would not return unto him through repeated warnings and beckoning.

They would suffer divine judgment and retribution for their sins of spiritual adultery. America is a nation once favored of God, which has turned its back on the almighty. When a morally ill society fails to heed the admonishments from the almighty, which come through remedial judgments of which unheeded become more severe with each testing, then that nation must do one thing, and that is to prepare to meet thy God.

America’s Unheeded Judgments and the Failure of Christian Leadership

God has chastised America through natural calamities, floods, fires, droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and attacks from our enemies, but to no avail. But the larger, more grievous sin is that the church has failed to recognize the hand of God and to call the people of God at times of fasting, prayer and repentance.

The sad fact is, friends, that the pulpits of America have failed to heed the warnings as well. It's as if God has said, fine, you're not willing to spread my gospel around the world by living sacrificially unto me.

Rather, you build unto yourselves in times of prosperity, you build larger buildings and build your own empires. Therefore, what you have not done in times of plenty, you will now be tested to do in times of want and persecution.

When the leadership, the priests of the Lord, failed to lead the people back to God through a call of solemn assembly, prayer, fasting and repentance, then the nation itself grows more evil and wicked for the lack of light.

Crime increases. Morality hits all time lows. It's as if an open sewer of filth is let out on a nation to overflow and contaminate it. That's what's happened to this country, friends. There's a huge failure of Christian leadership in our communities.

Therefore, communities grow more wicked each day. Well, whenever there's a vacuum, it's either filled with light or darkness. The church in this country has failed to lead the nation back to God. And the saddest aspect of times of spiritual declension is this.

The church herself cannot return to God. She's become like Israel, a backslidden and away from the very heart of the Almighty. When God judged the pagan nations which surrounded Israel and Judah, he judged them with a lesser judgment than the people of God who had enjoyed his favor and blessings.

The Withdrawal of Divine Presence and the Spread of Wickedness

When the church in America, Canada and Great Britain fails to acknowledge God through lies of holiness and obedience to his written word, then the people of God must face divine judgment of God. This comes in several ways, two in particular.

Number one, the withdrawal of his presence. Number two, a chastisement from his hand. When restraints on evil are lifted from society, then wickedness flourishes unchecked and uncontrolled. A nation away from God and its laws and behavior will perish like other nations before them.

Just look at ancient Rome and ancient Greece, friends, in times of spiritual and moral declension. The church becomes worldly and enacts new laws to redefine sin. Homosexuality is now considered a civil right, no longer an abomination.

Christians in the West today feel they have certain rights and privileges and many feel they are the fair haired people of God. This is false security for the people of Israel felt that they, too, would always have divine favor upon them because of their position to him.

However, they discovered too late that their position to him was tied not to past traditions and previous blessings, but to their present actions and current relationship to him. If the church of the West fails to heed the remedial judgments of divine displeasure and does not return to God and repentance, humility and prayer, then all that remains is divine rejection.

God will pass over this part of the world and work in other places until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Many churches and entire denominations will have their candles extinguished, as did the seven churches in the book of Revelation who refused to repent.

If the pulpits of the land fail to recognize the hand of God in the land and do not return to God, then only severe judgment is left. God is no respecter of persons. Friends, no nation is immune from his wrath to rest in the false security of government wealth and a strong military is a sign of a backslidden nation.

Only God himself can protect the nation from complete ruin. When will America, Canada and Great Britain return to God and cry out to him to come and heal our lands? Will it take nuclear annihilation to get our attention?

Will a great famine have to starve our families off the face of the earth before we listen? Will a great plague or natural disaster of epic proportions come upon us in order for us to repent, to grip our hearts and conscience and turn back to the God of the Bible?

Spiritual Decline Across the Western Nations

There is a crisis in the land. And it developed while the church slept. Great Britain, once known for the printing of the Bible, great preaching and heaven sent revivals, is now spiritually impotent. Canada, once known for her large missionary forces, is crippled.

America, a country founded on God, once known for its great spiritual awakenings, is now snoring loudly and fast asleep. So what has happened while the church has slept for the last four decades in both Great Britain and America?

While the church has slept, society changed, marriage was redefined and a once God fearing people have become a godless society which tolerates sin, indulges in sin and wickedness in high places, is exalted and lifted up.

The Need for Heaven-Sent Revival

Only a heaven sent revival can alter our seemingly hopeless and pitiful condition. When will the church turn back to the God of the Bible? Only he can send us the repentance and grace that's necessary.

May God have mercy on us all.