America's Economic Chaos
E.A. Johnston warns that America is facing severe economic and natural judgments similar to those in Amos, urging the nation to repent and return to God before catastrophe strikes.
In this urgent and prophetic sermon, E.A. Johnston draws a parallel between the judgments faced by ancient Israel in the book of Amos and the current economic and moral crises in America. He warns that the nation is on the brink of severe judgment due to its rebellion and refusal to repent. Johnston challenges both the nation and the church to recognize the signs of impending disaster and to turn back to God before it is too late.
Full Transcript
I have a very solemn message to bring before you today, friends, and it is a message tended with urgency. In the book of Amos, in chapter 4, we have a composite of how the backslidden Jews were under the remedial judgments of God, but rebellious Israel would not learn the lesson, and they refused to repent and turn back to the living God of the Bible. So God sent a series of judgments upon them, one more severe than the other.
We read, beginning in Amos 4, 6, as God laments over his stubborn people. And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places, yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. Judgment number one was that God sent a famine in the land.
In his mercy, he sent them a famine to get them to return to him, to respond to God. But how did they respond? Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. So God sent them another judgment.
This one was more severe. In verse 7, we read, And also I have withholding the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest, and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city. One peace was rained upon, and the peace whereupon it rained not withered.
God sent drought to his disobedient people. A person can go a week without food, but man cannot live long without water. Did this remedial judgment turn the people back to God? No.
Yet have ye not returned unto me. So God sends judgment number three upon them, and this one is even more severe than the other two. I have smitten you with blasting and mildew.
When your gardens, and your vineyards, and your fig trees, and your olive trees increased, the palmer worm devoured them. Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. God sent them a financial collapse.
America has been hit with floods, and fires, and tornadoes, and natural disasters, one right after another, and she has refused to turn back to God. Now this nation sits on the verge of an economic collapse. They will make 1929 look like a picnic.
The stock market drops more and more each day as we draw closer to a global recession. Has this country turned back to God? No. America has gone the other way.
She has legalized sin and legislated God right out of the country. Evil is called good, and it is promoted by our government. God had to send the rebellious Jews a devastating final judgment.
We read about it in verse 10. I have sent among you the pestilence after the manor of Egypt. Your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses, and I have made the stink of your camps to come up onto your nostrils.
Yet ye have not returned unto me, saith the Lord. God sent a plague among them, and cut the young men off in their cities. Listen, friend.
You take the young man out of a community, and that community has little future. The current coronavirus is creating fear and panic all over the globe, and it spreads more every day. The remedial judgments that God sent among the rebellious Jews increased in severity, but they refused to repent and turn back to God.
What horrible, catastrophic event will have to take place in America for this nation to turn back to God? Will she ever turn back to God, or will this nation end up on the ash heap of history like ancient Rome and ancient Greece? And where is the church in all of this? She is silent in her self-preservation, with her head buried into sand.
Sermon Outline
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I. The Pattern of God's Remedial Judgments
- Famine as a call to repentance
- Drought and withholding rain
- Devastation of crops by pests
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II. America’s Current Crisis Reflects Biblical Judgment
- Natural disasters and economic instability
- Moral decay and rejection of God
- Comparison to ancient Israel’s rebellion
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III. The Final Judgment and Its Consequences
- Plague and loss of youth
- Fear and panic from global crises
- Warning of national collapse if unrepentant
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IV. The Church’s Role and Responsibility
- Silence and self-preservation criticized
- Call for bold repentance and leadership
- Hope for national restoration through God
Key Quotes
“Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.” — E.A. Johnston
“America has gone the other way. She has legalized sin and legislated God right out of the country.” — E.A. Johnston
“What horrible, catastrophic event will have to take place in America for this nation to turn back to God?” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- Examine your own life and repent from any rebellion against God.
- Pray for national repentance and spiritual revival in America.
- Encourage the church to boldly proclaim God’s truth in times of crisis.