BIBLICAL REPENTANCE & FAITH LOST IN THE 19th C.
Hebrews 6:1b. “not laying again the foundation of repentance”
“not laying again the foundation of…faith”.
PLAGUE OF AMERICAN NEW ENGLAND THEOLOGY’S LEGACY.
1) The 19th C emergence of new genre evangelism and its sensational new type of preacher quickly introduced a new type of repentance which was said to be merely a ‘change of mind’.
a. It bypassed biblical sorrowful anguish brought by the Spirit through the prayers of the saints
b. It made the godly sorrow Paul wrote of in 2 Corinthians 7 something quickly attained in a moment
c. It conveniently suited the automated mass conversions of Billy Sunday and D. L. Moody
d. Though the preaching took Bible texts it added the psychology of New England’s easy-religion
e. It inadvertently expounded the ‘easy-faith’ concepts of William James, the Father of U.S. Psychology.
f. It violated Paul’s warning, not to lay again an alternative foundation to repentance or faith.
g. However, it appealed to the masses and the media and was mislabelled ‘revival’.
h. It overlooked the difference between awakening and conversion presuming both were the same.
i. The disciples were first awakened by the call to ‘follow,’ but only converted when Jesus resurrected.
j. In the preceding 40 months Jesus said they had little or no faith and did not understand his gospel.
k. Though Jesus gave them his powerful name to use in healing of others they remained sceptics.
l. As awakened and zealous followers who had the Spirit with them they needed the Spirit within them.
m. Like the Exodus Jews who followed the presence of God with them they had no faith as sceptics.
n. Only Joshua and Caleb of 600 thousand soldiers had a different spirit: God’s Holy Spirit.
o. Repentance is not just a change of mind but a gift to wholehearted, earnest seekers like Joshua
p. St. John 20 and Luke 24 tells how the risen Christ turned sorrow into godly repentance and faith
q. The Eleven then had more than ideology, knowledge, or the mere ‘willing suspension of disbelief’.
q. i. They were not told how to say a prayer
q. ii. They were not told how to believe
q. iii. They were not told ‘how to be sure they knew they were on their way to heaven’.
q. iv. As followers, not yet Christians, they had learned that their own faith and willpower had failed.
q. v. They had learned that their own knowledge of the Scriptures had failed
q. vi. They had learned that their own zealous profession of lips had failed
q. vii. They had learned that their own faith and willpower had failed
q. viii. They had learned that their own knowledge and ‘change of mind’ was a fickle failure.
q. ix. They had learned that they did not know how to pray without a different spirit.
q. x. They had learned that their own loyalty was turned to cowardice and denial in a moment.
DOWN THROUGH CHURCH HISTORY until 19th C masquerade by new easy-automatic evangelism, counsellors of seeking respondents always made room for the Spirit to do his peculiar work of conversion, or regeneration, in the lives of seekers. This was so until the wane of the 2nd Great Awakening on both sides of the Atlantic, which had started in 1825 and had been ushered in by a spreading spirit of prayer.
Counselling assurance was not given because a sinner’s prayer was offered. The evangelist/preacher/soul-winner waited for the Lord Jesus to work and convert sorrow into repentance; despair into hope; doubt into faith; and self-condemnation into joyful assurance. They knew that the Lord needed no help to do His peculiar work of grace and regardless of church denomination the inevitable outcome was the result.
Where there is a spirit of prayer and the seeker is wholehearted the inevitable outcomes always occur. They are described in Luke 24; John 20; Acts, and the New Testament Epistles. Awakening is the beginning of the journey, not the end, which only occurs with the illuminating of the awakened into newness of life.
This cannot be simulated by mechanical ideology and persuasive approaches of psychology in which men and women take it upon themselves to convert souls by the methods of easy-religion that has dominated evangelism for over a hundred and fifty years.
Even indoctrinating select verses of Scripture to justify this simulated evangelism produces, for the most part, false converts who are both inured against true evangelism and become its resisting until death, only to discover that they are part of the five foolish virgins whose borrowed oil had been inadequate for meeting the Bridegroom (Christ). When finally they had realized their mistake and were willing to pay the price for their own oil it was too late and they were shut out of the kingdom.
SCRIPTURE: What Jesus said to those followers who presumed that God’s presence with them was enough for eternal life.
• Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
(Matthew 25: 1-12)
• When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Luke 13:25-27
• Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
(Matthew 7:22-24)
Scvriptures quoted are from King James Version which is Public domain. (Not quoted from the Authorised KJB)
https://www.biblegateway.com/
Biblical knowledge cannot give eternal life anymore than affirmation, lip confession, and the water of the baptism.
CONCLUSION.
“One thing we have learned from history is that we do not learn from history”. Most of the best church members are taught to choose only Scriptures which agree with the preacher’s belief. By pragmatism one scripture is said to supersede another scripture. This is not willing amnesia but bibliolatrous twisting of whatever scripture they want to believe that suits their own false version of Christianity. This is “Ichabod” or the curse of apostasy, making the status quo of Christendom confident of their insight when in fact they are blind and deaf to God’s entreaties from the whole of the Scriptures No part of the New Testament supersedes another part, nor do they contradict one the other if contextual place, time, audience, speaker, background and antinomy is duly considered. Popular literalistic bibliolatry of the right wing moral majority and the hundreds upon hundreds of fringe sects which follow suit conveniently block their ears to the whole counsel of God in the New Testament and exploit that which suits them in their reactionary pragmatic wresting of Scripture to their own destruction.
Popular mass easy-evangelism of the globe for two hundred years has smoothed the dying pillow of the lost with its false hopes, condemned by Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Jesus:-
Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. Luke 11:35
