One of the most important things Christians should talk about right now is repentance. With the plethora of problems we are facing at the moment, the fact is that, almost universally, among Christians, there lacks a deep humbling of ourselves before the Lord in true repentance.
It really is the height of arrogance for us to avoid the question of why nothing is going well. We are plagued by wars and rumors of wars, economic fall-out, corrupt leadership, and a lingering pestilence that has brought mass confusion as we watch the systematic destruction of a nation before our eyes. And the people seem to expect the government to save us as de facto God. Yet, we angrily respond in outrage to the newest hypocrisy of the day, lobbing “gotcha articles” for our side and the corresponding pot shots toward our enemies. But maybe we’re missing the real issue, the most important of issues.
Fire From the Throne
The reason things are not going well and why it feels like everything is going to hell in a hand basket is because temporary judgments are being issued from the throne room of heaven. You cannot have this kind of chaos, disorder, abuse, sickness, and confusion part from what David called the heavy hand of the Lord. But Christians, by and large, seem afraid to talk about God’s temporary judgments. For clarity, I’m not talking about the Pat Robertson kind of stuff, namely, that God is judging because of some specific group of sinners. Jesus corrected that thinking in Luke 13. Let’s move on from that to a right understanding of dark providence.
We sing from the psalms that Christ “judges the nations” and executes justice on oppressors, as the wrath of God is revealed from heaven in the present (Rom. 1:18ff). We are told from the book of Revelation (a book meant to encourage the church in times of great persecution and satanic assault by the corrupt, beastly governments of this world), that God, in answering our cries and prayers, throws fire back down on the earth. That this fire comes in the forms of the “earth burning up” or the “sea becoming blood” or the “water becoming bitter” is meant to be understood as God answering the cries of his elect (see. Rev. 8).
Why then are Christians falling apart in shock over the things that are happening on the earth? The governmental grabs for power, the ungodly responses, and the many oppressions in the earth by the wicked, are desperate attempts to “save Babylon” from heaven’s divine blows. Yet, we act like we can stop this and “save America.” We sit in front of our computers and yell angrily at the wicked for taking our “freedoms and rights” as if our purpose is to bring calm to the storm in America through activism, on social media. Does anyone stop and think for a minute that what we are facing are symptoms of the world’s panicked response due to divine judgments from the throne? God hears the cries of his people; when we pray, he repays, this is what deliverance from Egypt by plague should have taught us. Read more»
Chris Gordon | “A Much Better ‘Activism’ for Christians in America” | AGR Live | September 17, 2021
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- Heidelcast 135: Calls About Bears, Corporate Repentance, Revoice, FV, And A Poll (UPDATED)
- John The Baptizer: “Produce Fruit Worthy Of Repentance”
- What Is Repentance? Hint: It Is Not “I’m Sorry If Anyone Was Offended”
- Colquhoun: Repentance Does Not Give Us Title To Eternal Life
- Crouching Tiger, True Repentance
- Heidelberg 88: The Two Parts of the Christian Life
As prayerful Christians we often focus on thankfulness and intercessory prayer, but drop the ball when it comes to true confession. Asking God (or others) for forgiveness without confessing specific sin is a form of pride….like an apology without an admission of guilt. True humility before God requires deep self-examination and a willingness to try to see ourselves as God sees us. Once broken before God the rest of our prayers will take on a whole new light. I dare say that most of us need far more and better teaching on the importance of true confession and repentance. Many thanks to Pastor Gordon for his wise counsel.
Given the destruction of our nation currently being played out before our eyes on nearly every front, it is hard for me to think of a more important topic than this. I wish every Christian Pastor in the Land was crying out to all believers everywhere to Repent. Me first. It is so hard, and that reflects on how little teaching I have received on this over my past 50 years of Christian walk. But 2 Chronicles 7:14; Jeremiah 18:8 and 1 Peter 4:17 all seem of infinite importance to the American and the entire Western Church right now. God’s infliction has not gone deep enough I guess.
Lord knows I have plenty to repent of on a daily basis. But are you saying that it is we Christians who are responsible for the state of our secular nation and should somehow repent of what we’ve done to cause it? I thought we didn’t believe in “transformationalism” or Christendom.
Bob,
Did you follow the link to the original article?
I was responding to Randall’s comment. Did I misinterpret what he said?
Bob – I am not advocating for secular reformation led by Christians. Nor am I a transformationalist. I am amill – God will use His Gospel to do what He will to the nations. My comments are based on what the Scripture says: I listed a couple of illustrative passages. But the key for us to know is that God is focused on His Church. Everything that is happening is for His glory and through His Son in His Church. So God told the Church in the Wilderness (Israel) to repent when the nation has issues, bad weather, etc. (2 Chron); and we are promised that God will forgive nations when they repent (Jer) – impossible for worldlings, but possible for believers in the nation, and that judgement can come upon the church and spill into the nation around (1 Peter). Since I do believe the western church has apostatized, I also believe we are seeing the Lord’s discipline come down on us, and on the world. Only God’s people have the Spirit to intercede for us (Ro 8), only God’s people have God’s salvation, so it stands to reason, that God’s people can and should repent and call out to our Lord for mercy, for forgiveness, and for Him ‘to repent of the evil that he thought to do unto them’. I repent because I have sinned. And I pray for my brothers and sisters also, that we all repent because that is part of our role as the salt and light. Sorry for yacking so much.
The 87th General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian church called for a day of prayer and fasting on the Saturday of last August 21, 2021.
(T)hat the whole church may pray as one people, and call upon the Lord with one voice, that we might lament our distress and unworthiness before the Lord, confess our sin, and commit ourselves anew to the faithful service of the Lord our God; that we humbly implore God to send seasons of refreshment, pour His Spirit of wisdom upon us, and draw multitudes to the hope of the gospel by granting faith and repentance unto life.”
In line with the Westminster Assembly’s original Directory of Worship, the OPC’s Directory for Worship provides that “[w]hen great and notable calamities come upon or threaten the church, community, or nation, when judgment is deserved because of sin, when the people seek some special blessing from the Lord… it is fitting that the people of God engage in times of solemn prayer and fasting.” (BCO DPW V, A.1.)
Typically, if not scripturally, days of prayer and fasting have been for times of war, famine and the plague. While arguably the only real plague/pandemic today is of the political and media variety – the current virus is more on par with the ‘57 Asian and ‘67 Hong Kong flu than the Spanish Flu of 1918 – the URC Church Order in Art. 37 allows for the same in briefly mentioning the call for for a special service “in times of great distress or blessing”. Not something the modern P&R church is generally familiar with, but maybe we should be in light of the current national power glide train wreck, if we are going to talk about repentance.
Very encouraging to me to hear this. The PCA, unfortunately, is too busy on other things.
I think we are all too busy, Randall.
Is it a correct interpretation of the Bible
that the promises of 2 Chronicles 7:14 applies to Christians living in the United States today?
Bob,
No, 2 Chron 7:14 does not apply to the USA as a civil-political entity.
Riddlebarger: 2 Chronicles 7:14 Is Not A Promise To The USA
The application I am making is for the Church. That is why transformationalism and its variants are in error. But we as believers part of the Church, can follow it as what God wants us to do, as Christians not as Americans.
Hi Randall: But there is an explicit promise that if His people do these things that that God *will* heal their land. Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think that promise applies to Christians living in the U.S.
It could if we apply it entirely to the church. The people = the church and the land = the church. If the church repents, God will bless the church. That’s true. It’s not true for America or the USA but it is true for the church as church.
RSC, the argument is that for the sake of the church God might bless America, “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty (1 Tim. 2:,2) “.
Is that necessarily going to happen if the church repents and calls upon the Lord to have mercy on the church and nation? Dunno. But our business, is it not, is to do our duty and pray and let him take care of the results?
Who is arguing this?
No, I don’t know about a causal relationship between our repentance a necessary peace.
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 1 Timothy 2:1,2
OK, Paul didn’t say presidents or congress, but what did he say?
Is a peaceful and quiet life a desideratum?
Is national chaos and a moral shipwreck conducive to the same?
What then do we pray for, regardless if God will answer our prayers the way we want him too?