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Discussion Forum : Articles and Sermons : "The Religion of Jesus and the Gospel of Christ" -P.T. Forsyth

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Areadymind
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Joined: 2009/5/15
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 "The Religion of Jesus and the Gospel of Christ" -P.T. Forsyth

The following is an excerpt from the aforementioned essay in the book, "The Person and Place of Jesus Christ." Written by P.T. Forsyth. This book was recommended by Art Katz in his sermons on the incarnation. I purchased it a month or so ago and have not been able to read it at a very fast pace because there are so many pointed and hard hitting sections that I have to sit and think about them for a time.

"The tendency to ignore this distinction, (here Forsyth is referring to the notion that Jesus never "repented" even though he taught the severe necessity of it) and to make classic for Christians a type of faith in which sin is converted into immaturity or ignorance, and repentance becomes but regret-that tendency is at the root of all that does most to weaken and secularize the Churches today; and its exponents are moral reactionaries. They teach a paganism which, however refined in them, will not remain refined for long in those they persuade. Faith is ceasing among many of the religious to be penitential faith; and this is a lack that no mere spirituality (here I think Forsyth uses a more humanly religious 'spirituality' than he means biblical spirituality) can fill. It is a mere sympathetic faith, or a faith of heroics, like Peter's ignorant boast that he would never desert his Master. And it will have Peter's end.

No mere Faith in a Master can ensure that we shall not betray him under sufficient pressure. 'Though all men forsake Thee yet will not I.' 'I know not the man.' The boast was sincere enough, sympathetic and shallow enough. From a platform it would have swept the house. But Christ knew men. His deepest insight was into religious sophistication. And he put the avowal by him. He weighed it at its true worth. Then came the days of horror and humiliation, when Peter lay in a deeper grave than Christ. That is the kind of humiliation that is being prepared for a slight and facile faith. And the only hope for us then is in the Resurrection light upon the Cross. Our only hope is not simply in a deepened spirituality chastened by error. A chastened piety is not the Christian faith, else Martineau were its great modern prophet. Our only hope is to be rooted in repentance, grounded in forgiveness, established in a redemption, and quickened in a real regeneration. It is that we may be "regenerated to a living hope by the Resurrection of Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3). I have used these words not as a mere quotation, but because they are Peter's own account of his experience of what made him a Christian for good. It was the word of the risen Savior 'Tell my disciples and Peter' that raised him from the lying and perdition of those awful days to a life he never lost. It was this that translated him into a confession deeper than that of his sin, that that same Jesus he had crucified was both Messiah and God (Acts ii. 36) It was no remembrance of Christ's teaching and no emulation of Christ's religion that brought that to pass.

Our talk of sin is palpably ceasing to be the talk of broken and contrite men. It has no note of humiliation in it. Our pious heart does not meditate terror. We are not frightened at ourselves. We have a softness, but not the sacred tenderness that comes from that humiliation alone. It has not the patience, the love of the brotherhood, the passion to serve the Church instead of correcting and scourging it, which come over the hearts of men taken from the jaws of death, nay raised from its abyss. Our speech of sin has not behind it the not of 'my sin, my sin!' And in consequence our thought and speech of Christ loses the authentic not of 'My Lord and My God." We do not know an 'eternal sin' and an awful Redemption, and therefor we do not know an Eternal Redeemer in the Christ we praise. That Redeemer must prevail; but his Kingdom and its service may be taken from us and given to others." pp. 53-54, printed 1909 by the Congregational Union of England and Wales, Memorial Hall, E.C. and Hodder & Stoughton Warwick Square, E.C.


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Jeremiah Dusenberry

 2012/7/21 11:20Profile
Areadymind
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 Re: "The Religion of Jesus and the Gospel of Christ" -P.T. Forsyth

This section of his sermon articulates well what has grown to be a major concern of mine over the years. I find it interesting that Forsyth was warning of this particular blend of spiritual declension so many years ago. There are a number of preachers on this website who have pointed out as well the danger of crying 'crocodile tears' and assuming that is sufficient for repentance.

A number of years ago at a church camp there was a little boy that kept getting in trouble, and the youth pastor kept getting on his case about it. After about the tenth time of the boy looking up and pouting out a "sorry." The Pastor just said, "I don't want you to be sorry, I want you to repent." I never have forgotten that.


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Jeremiah Dusenberry

 2012/7/21 11:44Profile









 Re:


"We are not frightened at ourselves."

I believe this is the Bottomline, dear Brother.

I don't know this author, but what I'm thinking mainly is just taken from this one sentence but stretches into HIS Word.

One thing that every author of every book of our Bible had in common was that they did not "prsume to speak for GOD."
Every one of them had had an actual extra-ordinary encounter with The Living GOD. They knew His Voice as well as their own, lest they couldn't have penned what we call the very Scriptures themselves. What they wrote was "Divinely Inspired" in order to become what we now call "The WORD of GOD", Himself.

I fear that the men of today have no concept of this "speaking the very oracles of GOD" and the "extra-ordinary encounter" is something seen as Unnecessary for spokesman 'for' The LORD of Glory.

Human words are never ending. Books, sermons, articles - it doesn't end - but dare these that 'speak for Him' say that they're speaking His Words as these that penned the Bible?

How dare anyone take it upon themselves to speak "in place of" The Word of GOD. To go on and on with their own words and say that they're speaking 'for GOD'.
These that wrote our Bible would never pass on to others what they hadn't obtained by the great cost of "being frightened of themselves" and having SEEN HIM and knowing that if the words didn't come directly from Him and not themselves, that they'd be presuming to speak for Him and would be judged. They knew that it was either Him using their mouths or it was a reproach to even open their mouths.

That jealousy and fear for His Word and WHO HE is should grip us and never let go and that quote above should follow us all the days of our lives, that our presumptuous sin of putting flesh on His Altar for or before others and presuming that's it's an acceptable sacrifice unto The LORD - when He could say in return - "Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?"

I still believe that the book of Job was the first book chronologically to display the Awesome Nature of The Eternal Omniscient GOD - Who's Name we utter so lightly and Who's Word we deem as equal to our own and vice versa, when we "speak 'for' Him".

Until we die, we need to know that there's an ounce of hypocrit in each and every one of us and to speak on behalf of GOD may be where 'the mighty' fall and fail GOD most.
Our words can form a delusionary veil over the faces of who we really are and unless it's His Word - Unless He speaks through us - our words, if we call ourselves instructors/teachers/etc, will only serve to delude us into thinking that we're something that we are not and we, by seeking to instruct others are deceiving ourselves and deceiving others about Who GOD Is and what His Nature is like. Just our presumptuous sin of speaking for GOD when He hasn't authored the words is enough to damage His Image in the hearts of others.
'We are not frightened at/of ourselves.' - and as Nee said, 'the only thing we need to fear is our own flesh.'

To chat with others is not a sin - but to take on an image of authority to be listened to - we risk an awful lot.
GOD judge us now and not wait until we stand before You and cannot repent for what was done while in this flesh.



Thank you, Brother Areadymind. Your post was helpful to us for introspection and carefulness.

 2012/7/22 13:15





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