part 2 of 2

The Cross and Denominational Repentance

How will this precious “spirit of grace and supplications” be poured out? What can we possibly do to hasten the fulfillment of this prophecy? Must we go into our graves as have previous generations and leave this marvelous experience to await some future generation? If we refuse the experience of repentance Christ calls for, yes. If we hold to “business-as-usual” pride and dignity, yes. If we permit past patterns of denominational reaction to continue, yes.
The answer to the question “how?” is the cross. “They shall look on Me whom they have pierced,” the Lord says. Here is the full recognition of corporate guilt; and the “spirit” bestowed follows the full, frank experience of corporate repentance. All human sin centers in the murder of the Son of God. So long as this is not perceived, the “spirit of grace and supplications” is unwelcome to the proud heart and, therefore, not receivable. We remain like little children contentedly unaware of our true spiritual condition. A knowledge of the full truth brings deep sorrow for sin, not a self-centered fear of punishment, but a Christ-centered sympathy for Him in His sufferings.

This transfer of concern from self to Christ is the most miraculous aspect of this amazing development among God’s people. “They shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn [that dies]” (Zechariah 12:10). To shift the focus of concern in the hearts of God’s people from anxiety regarding their own eternal salvation to such sympathy for Christ—this is absolutely astounding. Were there no power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish the miracle, we might in our human judgment estimate that many decades would be necessary to effect such a change in human nature.

Zechariah goes on to describe how this heart sympathy for Christ will move the people. Taylor seems to have caught the idea;

The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem at that time will be even greater than the grievous mourning for the godly king Josiah, who was killed in the valley of Megiddo. All of Israel will weep in profound sorrow. The whole nation will be bowed down with universal grief—king, prophet, priest, and people. Each family will go into private mourning, husband and wife apart, to face their sorrow alone. (Zechariah 12:11-14, Living Prophecies)

Such “repentance” can be nothing less than receiving the “mind of Christ.” The last church is composed of individuals who, like everyone else in human history, were born with a “reprobate mind,” the natural unregenerate heart of the sinner. But for them the transformation of “mind” will be complete. The more fully the “mind of Christ” is received, the deeper becomes their sense of contrition. The after-perception of the enlightened mind views sin without illusion.

Nevertheless, deep repentance is the very opposite of despair or gloominess. Only when one can view his sinful state with the repentance of such enlightened “after-perception” can he begin to appreciate the “good news” Christ proclaims. Those who fear repentance lest it induce gloom or sadness misunderstand the “mind of Christ” and close their eyes to the healing power of the Holy Spirit. The cheerfulness of the world is superficial and quickly turns to despair under severe trial. “Not as the world giveth” is the joy of Christ which is consistent with the fact that He was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” As the remnant church ministers amidst the tragic disintegration of human life that more and more characterizes these last days, she needs that deep unfailing “joy of the Lord” that can come only from a deep experience of repentance and contrition. We cannot truly “believe the good news” as Jesus wants us to until we truly “repent” as He calls us to do.

Repentance for the individual is the perceptive afterthought that views personal character in the light of Calvary. What was previously unconscious becomes open to perception and understanding. The deep-seated sin of the soul, the corruption of the. motives, all are viewed in the light that streams from the cross. As taught in the New Testament, repentance and faith are interwoven with the experience of appreciation of the atonement.

Repentance for the church body is the perceptive afterthought that views denominational history from the perspective of Calvary. What was previously unconscious within history becomes open. Movements and developments that were mysterious at the time are seen in their larger, truer significance. As with individual repentance, an experience of corporate repentance is possible only when the meaning of faith is clearly appreciated .
Pentecost forever defines the glorious reality of repentance. No one could fully grasp what repentance meant until after the cross. Mincing no words, Peter laid the full guilt of Christ’s murder on his hearers: “Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). The result of this bold proclamation was an experience that was phenomenal, a human response never before (and seldom since) seen: “When they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (verse 37). The events of verses 41 through 47 are glorious. Having experienced the depths of contrition, the early church was prepared to experience the heights of joyful, ministering love.

The “Why” of Apostolic Success

This syndrome of “ye crucified Christ/therefore repent ye” was the basis for the success of the early church. “Christ crucified” became the central appeal of all the apostles’ ministry. Their hearers had no illusions about where the guilt lay. The Book of Acts would have been impossible unless every converted member of the early church realized his full share of the corporate guilt of that generation (as of all previous generations) in the murder of the Son of God, and likewise shared in the joyful experience of appropriate repentance.

From Acts 10 onwards we read of how others beside Jews partook of the same glorious experience. Yet the Gentiles had no personal share in the events of Calvary. The apostles are said to have marvelled that the Gentiles should experience the same phenomenal response to the cross that the believing Jews did, and thus receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44-47). Peter and his followers evidently did not expect this response, because Peter was careful in his sermon in Cornelius’s home to tell the Gentiles that it was the Jews who “slew and hanged [Christ] on a tree.” He said nothing about the Gentiles being guilty. The phenomenal reception of the Holy Spirit was due to the believing Jews’s phenomenal repentance for the sin of the ages—crucifying the Son of God. How could the “innocent” Gentiles share in this experience?

The Holy Spirit sent His words closer home than Peter expected. His contrite hearers identified themselves with the Jews and recognized themselves as fully sharing in the guilt. Only thus could they have shared the depths of repentance which made possible their reception of the power of the Holy spirit. In other words, they experienced corporate repentance.

Nothing in Scripture indicates that the reception of the Holy Spirit in the last days will be any different.
Everywhere Paul went among Jews and Gentiles, he “determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). He brought His hearers to the scene of the crucifixion. He reminded his Galatian converts that “Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you” (Galatians 3:1). He made them attend the proceedings that Friday.

Would You Have Done Better?

Let us try to picture ourselves as one of the crowd that gathered before Pilate that Friday morning. The strange Prisoner stands bound. It is popular to join in condemning Him. Not a voice is raised in His defense.

Suppose you are connected with Pilate’s government, or are in the employ of Caiphas, the High Priest. Would you have the courage to stand up alone before that crowd and say, “We are making a terrible mistake here.’ This man is not guilty of these charges. He is indeed what He claims to be—He is the divine Son of God! I appeal to you, Pilate and Caiphas, don’t condemn this Man”? While it is true that Pilate’s wife sent him a private note making such an appeal, based on her dream, not one person dared to make a public appeal in Christ’s behalf.

Suppose your job depended on the favor of these rulers. Suppose your own close circle of friends have already joined the mockery and abuse of Jesus—would you (or I) have the nerve to face them and rebuke them for what they do?

Realizing how easily your defense of Jesus might put you on the cross, too, would you (or I) have dared to speak out?

“The whole world stands charged today with the deliberate rejection and murder of the Son of God.” “Upon all rests the guilt of crucifying the Son of God.”

When this universal guilt is clearly sensed by human hearts, and God’s forgiveness truly appreciated, Pentecost will be repeated. We dare not say that the church as a body cannot know this repentance, lest when we survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, we pour contempt on His loving sacrifice by implying that it was in vain.