Weeping for America
E.A. Johnston passionately calls the church to heartfelt repentance and fervent prayer, urging believers to weep for America's moral decay and seek God's revival.
In this prophetic sermon, E.A. Johnston challenges believers to confront the spiritual crisis facing America with genuine sorrow and fervent prayer. Drawing from Jesus' example in Luke 19, Johnston highlights the nation's moral decline and the church's alarming complacency. He calls for a revival of intercessory prayer and repentance, urging the church to rise above distractions and seek God's mercy for a nation in desperate need.
Full Transcript
In the Gospel of Luke, in chapter 19, and in verse 41, we see Jesus weep over a city in the grip of sin. And when he was come near, he beheld the city and wept over it. Is anyone weeping over America tonight? Is anyone weeping over all the college-aged girls being kidnapped and murdered? Are our bedroom floors wet with our tears? Can we not turn the TV off long enough to get down on our faces before a holy God and cry out to him to heal our land? Is anyone weeping over the senseless murders and moral perversion in the land? Is anyone out of bed right now and on their knees crying out to God all over our teenagers who are going to hell in droves, who are self-harming themselves and killing themselves because they don't know Christ Jesus? Does the church go without to groan in sacrificial intercessory prayer for this country of ours? Does the church weep and pray over the sins of the land? Or does she waste the time that should be given to prayer in frivolous activities like pizza nights and movie nights and football nights while this nation sinks deeper into moral depravity? Are pastors burdened for revival to such a degree that they have turned their sanctuaries into Bethels, as in the book of Joel, where the priests of the Lord lie in sackcloth and ashes and weep between the porch and the altar, weeping for the sins of the land, weeping for America, travailing over this godless young generation who is carelessly going to hell? Does the church have a prayer list packed with names of the unconverted youth in their community? Where are the nights of desperation in prayer and travailing? Where are the nights of prayer where the broken-hearted people of God cry out to God over their own sins and the sins of America that grieve a holy God? Are our congregations on our faces before God, weeping for America, weeping for God to send revival to our pagan nation? Are we weeping for America, for what she has become, a godless nation that promotes evil, who today is on their knees, who tonight is on their faces, crying out to God and weeping for America? I believe other nations weep for America more than we do.
I believe the Chinese underground church weeps for America because she knows how bankrupt and how spiritually rotten to the core our Christianity is, how full our churches are of hypocrisy, how our pulpits teach false doctrine all over this land, how apostatized our denominations are. I believe there are Christians in other countries who weep over America because America will not weep for herself. This nation sits in a sensual stupor of sin and totters on the very verge of destruction for her grievous sins and perversions, and the church is as cold as a cucumber and as dry-eyed as a clam.
Oh heaven help us all.
Sermon Outline
-
I
- Jesus weeps over sin in Luke 19:41
- The church's lack of mourning for America
- The urgent need for heartfelt intercession
-
II
- The moral and spiritual decay of America
- The church's complacency and distractions
- The consequences of ignoring sin
-
III
- The example of the Chinese underground church's prayers
- America's spiritual bankruptcy and apostasy
- A call to repentance and revival
Key Quotes
“Is anyone weeping over America tonight?” — E.A. Johnston
“Are our bedroom floors wet with our tears?” — E.A. Johnston
“I believe the Chinese underground church weeps for America because she knows how bankrupt and how spiritually rotten to the core our Christianity is.” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- Commit to regular, heartfelt prayer for the nation and its youth.
- Avoid distractions that hinder spiritual intercession and focus on seeking God.
- Cultivate a spirit of repentance and mourning over personal and national sin.