Video Transcript: The Peril of Counterfeit Repentance - Stuart Olyott

There's a strange thing, being a preacher. Every time you wake up on Sunday  morning, you have this conviction that what you're going to say, ranks amongst  the most important things you've ever said in your life. That's certainly the case  

again today. And I'd like you now to open the Scripture if you will, and Jeremiah  34:8. And I'm going to speak to you about the peril of counterfeit repentance.  Now, you know, ladies and gentleman, Christian friends, that nobody can be  saved without repentance. One of the tragic things about the so called GEM  campaign, which is on at the moment, is that there is not a breath in the leaflet  which has gone round about repentance. That note is completely absent, it is  another gospel. But there's such a thing as counterfeit repentance. There are  many sincere people who believe they've repented, but they haven't. It's  possible it's in this church this morning, there are young people or men, women,  and you sincerely believe you've repented. But you haven't. Well, this chapter, I  hope, under God's blessing will show to you the difference between counterfeit  repentance and real repentance. It's 588 BCE. Jerusalem has turned its back on Babylon, its overlord. It's made friends again with Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar is  furious and has sent his armies to surround Jerusalem. There's been quite a  long siege going on already. Nebuchadnezzar was a very determined man. And  he's made up his mind that he will punish Jerusalem and if necessary, He will  wipe it off the map. He's going to make an example of the Jews. It's wild that  siege is on that there is a certain turn of events. So first of all, this morning, I'm  going to speak to you about the turn of events. Zedekiah, the king had sent a  message to Jeremiah, we learned about that last week in chapter 21. Will God  deliver us? And the answer in simple English was no, he won't because of the  sin of the people. Jeremiah then said these words, and concerning the house of  the king of Judah, say, hear the word of the Lord, oh, House of David, Thus says the Lord, dispense justice in the morning, and deliver him who is plundered out  of the hand of the oppressor. Lest my fury go out like fire, and burn so no one  can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. We read that last week in  chapter 21. God says to Zedekiah the terrible evil in this city, there are wrong  things which need to be put right. There are oppressed people the need to be  freed. Do it. Lest you see really the full extent and volume of my fury. Now we  come to chapter 34:8. That word, met with a response Zedekiah call together  the princes. He called together the important people, and he called together the  whole population. He noticed that Hebrews were remaining enslaved. Under the Old Testament legislation, you could sell yourself into slavery to sell off a debt.  But if you were a Hebrew, you could not remain in slavery more than six years in the seventh year, sometime during the seventh year, you had to be released. So that's gonna be paid off by labor. But what was happening in Jerusalem was that people who were enslaved were being kept in slavery, the sixth year ended and  the seventh year began, but they remained the slaves, the 10th, the 15th, the  20th year, and they remained as slaves. Zedekiah called Jeremiah preach this 

wrong has got to be put right. And you'll see in verses eight, nine and 10 and  verse 15, and verses 18 and 19, that the population did do something about it.  In the central square, they cut a calf in two what so you had the split image, as  we say, in English, two identical halves. Each half of the calf was put on one  side of the road, one side of the road and the other side of the road, and all the  people who wanted to covenant before God to put this wrong, right. Walked in  between the pieces. As you know if you had a house contract. There were two  copies, one for you, and one who was lending the money. A covenant always  has two copies. When people make a solemn promise to God, there are two  copies, the 10 commandments was written in two copies, one for God, one for  us, and they were put in the Ark of the Covenant. That's why there were two  tablets of stone. Abraham had walked between the pieces, when God and he  and God had entered into a solemn covenant with him. Here are the people  solemnly covenanting before God, they will put this wrong, right. So there are  the two calves the two halves of the calf, representing the covenant which has  been made. And sure enough, every man who's a Hebrew, every woman who's  a Hebrew who is a slave, is released. But then there's another turn of events. It's referred to in verse 21, and the beginning of verse 22. All this took place in a  siege. The Babylonian armies are outside the walls and been there for months.  But just at that moment, when the covenant had been made, or very shortly  afterwards, those armies mysteriously withdrew. They looked over the wall one  day, and the Babylonians are gone. Now, there were political reasons for that.  The political reasons for that were that Egypt had suddenly had a resurgence of  strength. And the Babylonian army had withdrawn to defend some other parts.  And while now the danger had gone, the danger seemed to be over the siege  was finished, almost immediately, these people who had covenanted with God,  or suddenly very shortly afterwards, within a few weeks, went back on their  promise. You used to be my slave. And the man was re enslaved. She was re  enslaved. They didn't buy them back. They brought them back, as we read in  the reading. And all those had been released were once more enslaved, and the evil which had been repented of, it seemed, was now there again, like a  weeping saw on the face of Jerusalem. I commanded you said God as He  sends a message to these people in verses 12 to 14, I commanded you only to  keep Hebrew slave six years and to release them and your father's never  listened to me. 12, 13 and 14, verse 15, but you did listen to me. Verse 16, but  then you went back on your word. And the rest of the chapter verses 17 to 22. Is God speaking to these people, telling them that they will now be punished?  Verse 17, I am going to set you at Liberty. What sort of liberty I'm going to set  you at liberty to the sword to pestilence and famine. So it's not being free to  touch you but it will be now. illness has not been free to touch you, but it will be  now. The Under Siege has not been cleaned to touch you, but it will now I'm  handing you over to this great trouble. You covenant breakers says God look at 

verses 18, 19 and 20. You're dead bodies will be eaten by the birds eaten by the beasts. The danger seems to have gone the Babylonian army seems to have  disappeared. That verse 21 and 20 do they're coming back. There will be  slaughter Zedekiah and the priests will be given over into Babylonian hand. The  Babylonians will come back and besiege Jerusalem and take it and burn it. And  the judgment which he was thinking of escaped will fall worse than you ever  imagined. What we have then is a classic example counterfeit repentance. So in the second place this morning, that's the theme I'm going to take up. I want to  speak to you now about the peril of counterfeit repentance. Now you know what  a counterfeit is. Have you ever had one counterfeit note or a counterfeit coin? in  so many respects it looks like the real thing. When I was a boy, a friend of mine  was very proud. He had a counterfeit half pound, you put the two on the table,  half pound by the way, for the uninitiated for 12 and a half pence, I think  something like 12 and a half pence coin. He put the two coins on the table, they  looked identical. You turn them over, they looked identical. You counted the  number of milling marks around the edge, they were the same number.  Everything was the same till he picked them up. When he flicked one rang, and  he flicked the other just went. And then you knew it looked so similar. But what  in fact was completely different. It looks convincing. But in fact, it was not made  of the same substance are taught. Counterfeit repentance is like that. And you  think you've got it until it's tested. And you find you haven't. Let's first of all, see  from the chapter. The ways in which counterfeit repentance is similar to real  repentance. Counterfeit repentance, and real repentance are brought about by  the Word, the Word of God. Here are people in Jerusalem, Jeremiah preaches  to them, dispense justice, put the wrongs rights. It is a word given by direct  Revelation, chapter 21:11-12, if you ever want to read it, the word given by direct revelation from God, the Word of God comes to the people. And it strikes a note. It's brought about by the word. And wherever there's real repentance, wherever  there are truly converted people. That too is brought about by the word. Amazing thing, isn't it, that as I preached this morning, the word of God, in some it will  produce real repentance. But in some, it will produce counterfeit repentance.  There will be changes, some of them for eternal good. And some of them to stir  up false hopes. Some will be propelled along the way of life. And some will be  propelled along the way of death. Here's another thing. When someone has  counterfeit repentance, like people have real repentance, they are conscious of  living in God's sight. To see that in verse 15, you recently turned and did what  was right in my sights. See, the word of God comes, it strikes a note. And the  person is aware that he's not just responsible to his wife, or his husband or his  children or his society, or his boss. But he's actually living his or her life, in the  presence of God. Things have to be put right, because there is a God who  demands that things should be put right. And the person is confronted with the  fact of God. Ladies and gentlemen, the fact that you have had a sense of God, 

sometimes when the word is preached, does not prove that you've repented.  Sometimes when you're sitting, hearing the Word of God or reading it for  yourself, there's a tremendous sense that there is another voice speaking to  you, and searching you out and looking into your heart. And it's revealing things  about you that you've not seen for yourself. That Bible is doing that work in you.  And many of you have been led to think that because that's happened to you  that you've actually been visited in a saving way. The next thing is this.  Counterfeit repentance like real repentance is moved by danger. Here are the  Babylonians and they really are terrifying. Let people know their record is  second only to the Assyrians. They don't normally have mercy on their  prisoners. And if you're anybody at all, you've got any influence in the city, you  can expect torture, cruelty. They know that the moment the wall breaks, and the  Babylonians get in, it's gonna be a time of weeping and screams and fear and  terror. Of course, they want to do something, they're moved by the danger. Here  is God saying, Repent, put the wrongs right. They feel a sense of God. And they  see the danger and they feel the urgency of the situation and it moves them.  Some of you if you've heard the word of God preached You've had a sense of  God. And you've had a sense of the total lostness of the human soul. You've  known yourself, that left to yourself, you're lost and finished, that there is a hell  of certainly as there's a heaven, that there is darkness as certainly as there's  light, that God is as angry as certainly as he is love. You've seen it in the word.  And you've seen the danger, and you've seen the shortness of life, and you've  seen a little of yourself, and you'd be moved by it. but that doesn't mean that  you've had true repentance. Here's something else. Counterfeit repentance  leads people to approach God. Here they are, they cut the calf in two. They  made their solemn promises, they parade up to the only place where God is  worshiped in the world, which is the temple of Jerusalem. It's a time of seeking  God, and speaking to God, and perhaps making offerings, but certainly prayer  and promises. And here are solemnly gathered in quietness and shame. But you see, it's still counterfeit. I wonder if there's one person here this morning. And  you recall the time when the Word of God shook you through through you were  quiet in your spirit, and you approach God with shame, and you made solemn  promises to him. But it could still be a counterfeit experience. Here's something  else. Counterfeit repentance, like real repentance, results in visible, tangible  obedience to the Word of God. Here is God's word broken, and they obey. The  slaves must be freed, and they freed them you must do it because I say it must  be done. And they do it on no other basis. And the word of the searching God  requires it. Every slave in the city is now free. The Word of God has been put  into practice. But it's still counterfeit. It's even in obedience, which lasts some  time. Putting together the historical chronology is not always very easy in a  Chapter like this. But it's quite possible that it lasted weeks, or maybe even  months. And so you can see that if you've only gone that far, you might well 

believe yourself to be a Christian, and you're not. You might well believe yourself to truly repented. But you haven't. True repentance, real repentance has all  those features. But more. So let's go now and see the ways in which counterfeit  repentance is different from real repentance. And may God bless the word  because it might result in the saving of the soul. Most spiritual problems that  professing Christians have, are caused by the fact that they are not converted.  That is the reality. Counterfeit repentance is different from real repentance in this respect. And please pay attention it may affect you. Counterfeit repentance is an event. That's all it is. It's not a permanent characteristic. It is something which  happens in a certain place on a certain day, to a certain person, in a certain set  of circumstances. It is an event. And that's all of this was here. The words that is work. They knew that they were living in God's sight. They saw the terrible  danger. They pray to God and promise to God, they put the wrong right. And  they walked for a few weeks in that obedience, but it was only an event. It was a soul shaking, catastrophic experience. That's all that it was. It didn't last. And  that's why they were able to revert to what they were before. Repentance  happens on the day of conversion. And this happens every day afterwards.  Conversion, as I've said many times now is not an event. It is the first day of a  whole new sort of days, which last to live in. Conversion is not one day that you  mark in red on the calendar. It is the first day that you mark in red on the  calendar, and all the other days afterwards are marked in red. Repentance is the daily experience of the Christian. It is the hour by hour experience of the true  believer. If you can point just to an event, however great, whatever sense of God and of awe or whatever quietness of spirit, and whatever trauma or emotional  upset there was, but it was only an event, you are still not a converted man or  woman. Here is another way in which counterfeit repentance is different, real  repentance. Counterfeit repentance concerns only the outward the word is  present. But the spirit is not. The word has an effect. But the life is not changed.  The word shakes the person. But the spirit of the word is not there. So the  person does not remain transformed. It's like any great emotional experience,  except it's a religious one and done in the name of God. At the end of the day,  qualitatively, it's not really any different from going to a wonderful concert, or  standing on the cup. It's something has a tremendous effect upon you, which  you can't explain all of all the constituent parts. But the spirit is not there. And  the person is not changed forever. Therefore, at the end of the day it is an  outward change because there's no be not been any inward transformation of  the personality. The character has not been regenerated. Here's another way in  which counterfeit repentance is different from real repentance. Look at these  folks in Jerusalem, what are they moved by? They're moved by the danger.  Also, we aren't in real repentance. But they move only by the danger. In real  repentance, what a man or a woman or a boy or a girl is moved by is a sense of  their filthiness. That's the cause of the danger. They're moved by a sense of the 

odiousness of their sin as our forefathers put it. That's the cause of the danger.  And they see putting the wrong rights, not just as a way of escaping the danger.  But this filth, this odiousness, you've got to get rid of it is inward pollution, it's got to go. And they're moved by how awful they are. They're not ashamed only of  what they've done. They're ashamed of the men and women they are. And of  course, a sense of shame, is one of the continuing marks of a Christian and a  Christian life. There are many emotions all at once. that Paul is able to say with  great joy, this is a faithful Saint worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came  into the world to save sinners. And he's, in one sense, the relief and the joy. But  then he says immediately of whom I am chief, he still has a sense of shame  about his present sin. And so he's filled with joy, but it's filled with shame. It's  filled with great rejoicing and the gospel. But he's filled with a sense of his own  unworthiness all at once. Here's another difference between counterfeit  repentance and real repentance. Counterfeit repentance is moved by the danger but not by a vision of God's mercy in Christ. Some people are so moved by the  sight of their own and doneness and filthiness and so moved by a sense of  danger that they become suicidal. That's not repentance. Repentance is I see  the danger. I see the cause of the danger is all in me. But that's not all. I see  thank God. And what moves me is a sense of the mercy of God, the love of  God, which is revealed in Christ. And here, although you've got men and women making solemn promises to God, and there are some aren't they, there's no  sense in the chapter of their hearts going out in overwhelming thankful love for  the one who loved them first. They want to get out of a tricky situation. But  there's no sense of the mercy of God. They want to escape the darkness. But  there's no sense that they want to bask in the light of God's smile. And they look  away to the redeemer of whom Jeremiah has often preached already. There's  no sense that there's any vision or longing for the Messiah. I wonder if there's  anyone like that in church this morning. The danger hurts you, you've got a  sense of your filthiness. But that's not what, that's not what true repentance is  about. What ultimately moves the heart to God is the knowledge that our two  arms outstretched to save. There is an embrace, which comes from a crucified  Redeemer that there is love which has been shown at the cross, that there is  mercy for people like me, and God loves to show mercy. God loves the sinner is  tender and kind. And we move not only by the danger and the warnings, but the  embrace and the Gethsemane and the blood of the cross. That's what brings us  there. And so you see, counterfeit repentance is different from real repentance.  Did they hate their sin? How could they they went back to it. Real repentance  people hate their sin and did they grieve over their sin? How could they they  went back to it. But real repentance grieves over its sin. Did they turn  permanently from their sin. How could they they went back to it. Oh, truly  repentant people fall and fall and fall and fall again. But they never face the way  they used to face and they make every effort they can to walk with God in a new

obedience. The biggest difference between real repentance and counterfeit  repentance is that those who counterfeitedly repented. They ended up under the condemnation of God. Where's the real repentance? They know that there is  therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not  after the flesh, but after the Spirit, because to be carnally minded to be fleshly  minded is death to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Paul said to  Christians, what I in God's name say to you, examine yourself whether you be in the faith.