Faith of Our Fathers: “Evangelism and the Journey Outward” by Harold Ockenga (01-11-26)

Episode Airdate: January 9, 2026
Podcast: Faith of Our Fathers (WDAC Radio Company)
Featured Speaker: Harold Ockenga (with references to Billy Graham and other theologians)

Overview

This episode of Faith of Our Fathers features a compelling, historically-rooted sermon delivered by Dr. Harold Ockenga, influential pastor of Park Street Church, Boston, and a key figure in the American evangelical movement. Addressing “Evangelism and the Journey Outward,” Ockenga explores the twin emphases of Christian experience: propositional truth/revelation and subjective encounter. With urgency and compassion, he calls the church and nation to repentance, renewal, and unity, drawing from biblical example and Christian history to challenge believers toward active faith and societal impact.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Tension and Balance: Objective and Experiential Faith

• Ockenga, referencing Billy Graham and fellow conference speakers, laments the historical division between objective theologies (doctrine, revelation) and subjective experiences (personal encounter, social gospel).
  • “When I was listening to one speaker, I sort of felt that we were so subjectivistic that we almost bordered onto heresy. When I listened to another speaker, I felt we were moving very definitely into the area of the right.” (Billy Graham, 03:56)
• He illustrates past approaches:
  • The “circle” approach: Social Gospel/Liberal theology versus conservative, propositional, individualistic piety.
  • The “ellipse” as a model for evangelical balance—holding together propositional truth and subjective encounter.
    • “In an ellipse you have two points... one is that great truth of divine revelation... and the other is the subjectivistic, the personal encounter... both are absolutely essential to the Christian faith.” (Billy Graham, 06:20-06:42)

2. Scripture Foundations: 2 Chronicles 7:14

• Ockenga anchors his call in the famous revival verse:

  "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked way, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land." (10:19–10:34)

• He connects this Old Testament model of national dedication, repentance, and renewal to the present call for church-based transformation.

3. The Conditions and Promise of Divine Intervention

• The pattern illustrated: Repentance → Prayer → Seeking God → Turning from wickedness → God’s healing response.
  • “You see, we don’t have to have a vast number of people praying. All we need is a remnant of God’s people... God’s remnant and who are ready to seek his face.” (14:15-14:49)
• Connection to contemporary American crises: racial strife, moral decline, addiction, and violence.
  • “What a promise that is to a nation that’s torn by racial strife, a nation that’s facing revolution from within, a nation that’s rocked by violence and crime and by all kinds of addictions…” (16:43–17:05)

4. National and Ecclesial Self-Examination

• Ockenga details the indictment against both nation and church:
  • Hypocrisy in equality, societal pride, fragmentation within the church, moral decay, materialism, and social injustice.
    • “When it comes to the matter of lawlessness... we do every man what is right in his own eyes... there is a rejection of that which is the traditional viewpoint of Western civilization and also of Christian history.” (20:39–21:13)
  • Modern prodigality and affluence set against global poverty.
  • The prophetic biblical call to repentance, echoing Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, John the Baptist, and Jesus.
    • “Jesus came saying, repent, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (24:06)

5. The Call to Repentance and Confession

• Metanoia (to think again) as the heart of biblical repentance.
  • “To bethink yourself is to think again... when we think again, we repent. That’s the translation of that word. We change our minds.” (25:55–26:13)
• Ockenga emphasizes identifying with the sins of the people, not just individual failings, citing Daniel’s prayer as a model.
  • “This man who was one of the three most holy men of the Old Testament... said, O Lord, he said, we have sinned. And then he confessed the sins of the people. And he confessed them as his own sin, identifying himself with that sin.” (27:49–28:11)

6. God’s Consistent Readiness to Intervene

• Through biblical and historical review, Ockenga underscores God’s willingness to act in response to genuine repentance.
  • “Remember that God is the same yesterday, today and forever... God offers today if we’ll meet the conditions that are involved, that he will undertake for us once again with that omnipotence and with that goodness and with that grace. He is still exactly the same.” (29:02–29:39)
• He likens spiritual renewal to waves in history: periods of decline precede revival, which comes in sudden, powerful bursts.

7. Components of Preparation for Revival

• Ockenga urges four steps:
  • United Confession: “What’s represented here in this group needs united confession of our divisions, our unbelief, our fragmentization, our suspicions, all of these things which have marked the evangelical cause.” (34:23–34:45)
  • United Praying: Drawing from historical revivals, he emphasizes corporate, persistent prayer as the engine of renewal.
    • “We need to have united praying in order that there can be the release of power.” (35:27)
  • United Believing: A shared belief—more than mere faith for salvation, but expectant, corporate faith for revival.
    • “If we can unitedly believe that God will do this... revival is possible even until the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (36:13–36:32)
  • United Action: Coordination and unity to multiply impact: “That’s what takes place in the great campaigns of Billy Graham and others. We need united things, united confessing, united praying, united believing and united witnessing for Jesus Christ.” (37:05–37:20)
• He notes the demonstration of such unity and faith among contemporary student movements and evangelistic crusades.

8. Revival’s Broader Effects on Society

• Historical revivals have led to societal renewal: abolition, improved morality, societal reforms.
  • “If we can have revival today, it will not only infuse radiance and power and life in the individual... but it will mean that the masses of men will be moved. And out of the masses which are the reservoir of the antisocial actions of the day, will come those great movements that can be for the glory of God and for the transformation of society itself.” (38:11–38:29)

9. A Closing Warning and Invitation

• Ockenga ends with urgency, warning that time is short—using the “Doomsday Clock” and the fate of Pompeii as metaphors.
  • “Oh, the time’s later than you think... The day may come when we too will find that if we keep on as usual, that there will come that Holocaust, there will come that conflagration, that will come that final denouement.” (38:58–39:53)
• Final invitation: personal and communal humility, prayer, seeking God, and turning from wickedness for God’s promise of healing.
  • “If my people... will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked way... then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.” (40:08–40:28)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Balancing Truth and Experience:

  “In an ellipse you have two points... one is that great truth or that great point of divine revelation and propositional truth... And the other is the subjectivistic, the personal encounter... both of these are absolutely essential to the Christian faith.”
  — Billy Graham, 06:20–06:42

• On National Accountability:

  “God looks at us according to Scripture, according to the light that we have... we have had a great philosophic heritage... written into the warp and woof of the constitutions and of the charters... All this is our heritage... and we’re going to be judged according to the light that we’ve had.”
  — Billy Graham, 19:23–20:39

• On United Confession and Revival:

  “Whenever we as a group got on our knees and confessed to God our sin, our abandonment of biblical objectives, our failures to pray, our lack of love for one another... the Spirit of God came upon us in a remarkable way.”
  — Billy Graham, 33:58–34:23

• On Urgency:

  “Oh, the time’s later than you think. That bullet in the atomic scientists in 1950 went to three minutes to 12. It’s back to eight minutes of 12 now. But when I read of what’s happening... I say the time is short... The day may come when we too... will find that if we keep on as usual, that there will come that holocaust...”
  — Billy Graham, 38:58–39:48

Important Timestamps

• [03:56]: On the tension between subjective and objective emphases in Christian theology.
• [06:20] – [06:42]: Introduction of the “ellipse” model as a corrective for evangelical engagement.
• [10:19]: Introduction of 2 Chronicles 7:14 as the scriptural touchstone.
• [14:15] – [14:49]: Assurance that a remnant can bring revival; God’s people praying.
• [17:14] – [18:26]: Indictment of nation and church; moral shortcomings defined.
• [21:13] – [23:08]: Specific social, moral, and ecclesial failings of the contemporary church and society.
• [25:55] – [26:13]: Biblical foundation of repentance (metanoia - to think again).
• [34:23] – [34:45]: Call for united confession as first step in revival.
• [38:11] – [38:29]: Societal transformation as fruit of spiritual renewal.
• [40:08] – [40:28]: Final scriptural promise and benediction.

Summary Flow/Takeaway

Dr. Harold Ockenga, in a profound and passionate sermon, critiques the all-too-common splits within evangelical Christianity, bargains for a holistic faith combining truth and humble encounter, and grieves the moral drift of both church and nation. With clear-eyed diagnosis and stirring biblical precedent, he urges corporate repentance, united prayer, and believing, culminating in genuine social transformation. His words resonate with gravity and hope, asserting both the reality of coming judgment and the steadfast promise: “If my people will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn… I will heal their land.”