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
• That makes us love everybody
• That keeps us on the streets witnessing to a lost world about how they need to become like us, not us becoming like them
Many people collect antique furniture and cars. Why? Because they are convinced that old furniture was built out of better lumber, and old cars were built out of better steel than we have today.
And the “Old Time” religion is certainly better than this “Show Time” religion we have today.
WHY DO WE COME TO THAT CONCLUSION?
Because many Christians in today’s churches have a shallow conversion, that demonstrates that if God is in their life, He certainly is not on the top of their priority list.
WHY DO WE SAY THAT?
Because many today who profess to be saved by the grace of God, if they are saved, do not show it in the way they live.
They seem to love the same things the lost world loves and craves.
But our forefathers preached and practiced a life changing salvation. You could tell by the lives they lived that they personally knew the Savior. That is, they lived differently than the ordinary man who walked down the street.
The book of Acts tells us how this “Old time religion” works in our individual Christian life and in our churches.
They did not come to be ENTERTAINED, they came to worship the living God.
I. THEY WERE A GREAT CHURCH
WHY DO WE SAY THEY WERE A GREAT CHURCH?
• Because they did not have the million dollar buildings to worship in each Sunday as we have today
• They did not have the padded pews to sit on
• They did not have the modern day pianos and organs to sing with
• They did not have the carpeted floors to walk on
• They did not have the wonderful heating and air-conditioning that we have, to keep them comfortable while they worshipped
There certainly is nothing wrong with these things, but we see their greatness was not in THINGS, it was in a PERSON! (The Lord Jesus!)
All they cared about doing was promoting Him! We can not say that for the liberal churches today.
Illus: We are familiar with a segment of our society that is always trying to outdo their neighbors. That is, whatever their neighbor gets, they are going to outdo them somehow.
This same thing has happened to our churches. If one church today:
• Gets a big chandelier, the church down the street is going to outdo them somehow
• Builds a big family life center, the church down the street is going to outdo them somehow
• Builds a big sanctuary, the church down the street is going to outdo them somehow, even if they have to declare bankruptcy in doing it
Listen, it is a never ending situation. But while we might not be able to outdo other churches when it comes to THINGS, WE CAN HAVE AS MUCH OF GOD IN OUR CHURCH AS ANY CHURCH IN TOWN.
The early New Testament church did not have the THINGS that the modern churches have, but they had GOD ALMIGHTY IN THE MIDST OF THEIR WORSHIP SERVICES LIKE NO OTHER CHURCH HAS EVER HAD.
Look at Acts 2:42-47, “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
One of the things God’s church today desperately needs, is the
DISTINCTIVE that we are different from the lost world.
• We are not trying to become like them, we are trying, through godly living, to get them to become like us
• The “Show Time Religion” churches are making every effort they can make, to become just like the sinful world in which we live
They say, “We are changing our methods to reach the lost.”
Listen, there was a time when we called the changes they have made, COMPROMISE, and we recognized how shameful it was to be a “COMPROMISER”.
Illus: One such church, on national television, had the pastor enter the sanctuary riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle. And instead of those thousands who had gathered there getting up and marching out of that building, they applauded him like he had done something great.
The “Old Time Religion” refused to compromise the Word of God, because they knew He is much better than anything the LOST WORLD has to offer us.
Just as you can tell those who have “Show Time Religion”, YOU CAN ALSO TELL THOSE WHO HAVE “OLD TIME RELIGION!”
For example:
• Those who had the “Old Time” religion, showed their love for the Lord by the way they dressed
Illus: They did not have expensive clothing as we have today, but they had what they called their “Sunday Go To Meeting” clothes. And when it was time for church, they took those Saturday night baths, and put on the best they had, to come to the house of God.
• Those who had the “Old Time” religion, gathered in church and in the community talking about the Lord and His goodness, not about who won the game last night
We spend too much time talking about politics and Hollywood, and not enough time talking about the Lord.
• Those who had the “Old Time” religion, prayed daily
• Those who had the “Old Time” religion, spent time each day in the Word of God
• Those who had the “Old Time” religion, spent time praying at the altar after hearing the Word of God preached
You could observe from their lives that they knew the Lord in a very intimate way. They refused to replace THE PREACHING OF GOD’S WORD with ENTERTAINMENT.
THEY WERE A GREAT CHURCH! Also -
II. THEY WERE A GOING CHURCH
The Lord spoke to the church in Mark 16:15, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
That is exactly what they did. They went everywhere preaching the gospel to every creature.
They did it with intensity, in fact, with such intensity that:
1. THEY WERE ACCUSED OF BEING DRUNK
Look at Acts 2:14-15, we read, “But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.”
Peter was saying, “No, we are not drunk! We have something that is so exciting to tell the lost world, that we can hardly control ourselves.”
2. THEY WERE ACCUSED OF TURNING THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN WITH THEIR DOCTRINE
Look at Acts 17:6, we read, “And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.”
Listen, the early church recognized that the lost world was upside down, and it needed to be turned upside down to get it straightened out.
3. THEY WERE THREATENED
Look at Acts 4:18, we read, “And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.”
But look at the response of this great church. They responded in verses 19-21, we read, “But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done.”
They were ACCUSED and THREATENED, but the devil could not stop them. They were a GREAT CHURCH, a GOING CHURCH, and also-
III. THEY WERE A GROWING CHURCH
Look at Acts 2:41, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Also, look at verse 47, we read, “Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
In this age of ungodliness, God’s church does not grow like a wild fire. How many people do you know that are really hungry for God?
But there are those who are out there, and they are looking for Bible-believing, Bible-preaching churches. And they will not stop until they find them.
Notice, in Acts 2:47 the Bible says, “…And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
“Show Time” religion can draw people into a building, but it takes the “Old Time” religion to draw people to Christ.
Conclusion:
There are many today who feel that there are all kinds of ways of spreading the gospel. And I want to close by saying that many of the things they do, I find no fault with.
But it all comes down to this: It is not that all the things that they do ARE BAD, it is simply this, IT IS WHAT THEY DO NOT DO!
• They have replaced the preaching of God’s Word with entertainment
• They have replaced the Holy Spirit with comedians and entertainers
And it is so sad that these churches across this country are filled with people who have done this, and they do not even know what they have done.
I. THEY WERE A GREAT CHURCH
II. THEY WERE A GOING CHURCH
III. THEY WERE A GROWING CHURCH
