Gimme That Old Time Religion”

Illus: Some of the words that the congregation sang were, “Gimme that Old Time Religion” because they said:

• It will do when I am dying, it will do when I am dying. It will do when I am dying, it’s good enough for me.

• It will make us read our Bibles, It will make us read our Bibles, It will make us read our Bibles, it’s good enough for me.

• It will make us love everybody, It will make us love everybody, It will make us love everybody, it’s good enough for me.

• It will take us all to heaven, it will take us all to heaven, it will take us all to heaven, it’s good enough for me.

“Gimme that Old Time Religion, Gimme that Old Time Religion, Gimme that Old Time Religion, it’s good enough for me.”

WHY DID THEY ASK THE LORD TO GIVE THEM THAT OLD TIME RELIGION?

Because they were convinced it was a lot better than what we see in today’s church.

WHY DO WE SAY THAT? Because of two reasons.

1. WE CAN SEE THAT IN THE MODERN MINISTERS

The pastors of liberal churches spend a great deal of office time like the night club owner. That is, they spend much of their time trying to decide who they are going to book for the next act.

WHY DO THEY DO THAT? Because they know this is the age that is looking for entertainment anywhere they can find it.

They know that the age in which we live, is the age in which Paul spoke of to Timothy, in 1 Timothy 3:4, saying that men would be “…lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.”

You can see that in the way they promote their churches.

Illus: For example, a Church in Columbia, South Carolina, was passing out handbills in the neighborhood. Here are the reasons they said that people should visit their church.

• We have a beautiful building to worship in

• We have plenty of exciting programs for all age levels

• We have Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts

• We have two kind of church services that meet at the same time, (traditional and contemporary) if you do not like the one, you are bound to like the other

• We have lots of fun

• You can come in your regular clothes (you do not need to dress up)

Come worship with us!

Listen, we do not have a problem with some of the things they do, BUT NOT ONE TIME DID THEY MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT THE PREACHING OF GOD’S WORD.

Illus: For example, a preacher asked another preacher how the revival meeting at his church turned out. He started laughing and said, “Oh man we had a blast!” He then said “Bro. _________is the funniest man we have ever had.”

Hold it! Isn’t there something wrong with this picture? Since when is the success of a revival meeting determined by how funny the evangelist was?

• He never mentioned that anyone got saved

• He never mentioned that any marriages were restored

• He never mentioned that church leaders stood up and apologized to the church for the disgrace they brought on the Lord’s work

• He never mentioned that some were convicted of robbing God of His tithes

• He never mentioned Sunday school teachers repenting of how they had failed the Lord

• He never mentioned how people hit the altars crying, and asking the Lord to forgive them for the way they have been living

• He never mentioned choir members repenting of their sins

We can truly say, based on the Word of God, they did not have an OLD FASHION REVIVAL.

WHAT DID THEY HAVE? What they had was a “Show Time” religious meeting, trying to compete with David Letterman and Jay Leno.

Many churches today have gone to a “Show Time” religion. WE CAN SEE THAT IN THE MODERN MINISTERS.

Also, -

2. WE CAN SEE IT IN THE MODERN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN OF TODAY’S CHURCH BUILDINGS

Someone might be saying, “Preacher, what do you mean?”

For example, many of our modern day liberal churches are building church buildings like theaters.

• Some have large platforms to accommodate their frequent dramas

• Some of them have rising platforms

• Some of them have revolving platforms

• Some of them have flickering lights

About everything entertaining that you would expect to see in a night club, you will find in these God-forsaken churches.

This should greatly trouble Bible-believing Christians.

We all need to reject this “Show Time” religion, and pray and sing unto the Lord, “Gimme That Old Time Religion.”

• That keeps us in the Word of God daily

• That keeps us on our knees before God daily