The title of our lesson this
morning is Godly Sorrow Worketh Repentance. Maybe we'll learn
a little something about what repentance really is, and hopefully
we'll see that we've repented, that we see that in ourselves,
what true repentance is. Our lesson begins in verse 8
of 2 Corinthians 7. For though I made you sorry with
the letter, I do not repent. Though I did repent, For I perceive
that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but
for a season." Now, Paul was pretty confident that his first
letter to the Corinthians caused some sorrow. We would easily
understand. We studied through that epistle.
We'd easily understand how that epistle caused some hurt feelings
for some people because Paul dealt very bluntly with some
problems that were going on there. And he was sorry for the hurt
feelings, but he was not sorry that he wrote the letter. Because
the errors that Paul dealt with in that letter had to be dealt
with. He couldn't let those things
just go unchecked. He had to deal with those things.
And he wrote that letter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
So he wrote infallibly. He didn't write something he
ought not have been writing. He was writing under inspiration of
the Holy Spirit. So he wasn't sorry he wrote the letter. But
he was sorry that he had to cause some pain in correcting these
issues. And in the end, Both Paul and the church at Corinth
could be glad that he caused that sorrow because that sorrow
was just temporary. And it was temporary because
they repented of the errors that they were in that Paul pointed
out to them. See here in verse 9, he says, now I rejoice that
you were made, not that you were made sorry, but that you sorrowed
to repentance. For you were made sorry after
a godly manner that you might receive damage by us and nothing.
Now not only was Paul not sorry that he wrote that first epistle,
he rejoiced that he wrote it. And he rejoiced in the outcome
of what happened when they read his letter. Now you know he's
not rejoicing because he caused his brethren grief or pain. That's
certainly not it. When one of our brethren weeps,
we weep with them. So he's not rejoicing in their
pain, but he's rejoicing that the sorrow that they felt was
godly sorrow. was sorrow caused by God, because
godly sorrow always leads to repentance. Always. The Lord
enabled them to see their sin. That they could see these errors
that they were in was sin. It wasn't just an error of thought.
It was sin. Sin toward God. So their repentance
was toward God. Repentance is a whole lot more
than just being sorry. that you got caught in sin. It's
more than being sorry that you're suffering the consequences of
sin. Repentance is a turning. Repentance is turning from our
sin, turning from ourself, and turning to God. Look over in
Hebrews chapter 6. That's what repentance is. It's
a turning. Now sorrow certainly is part
of it, but it's a turning. Sorrow that causes us to turn
to Christ. In Hebrews 6, verse 1. Therefore, leaving the principles,
the beginnings of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection. Let's go on to maturity. Not
laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and
of faith toward God. That's what repentance is. It's
a turning. It's repentance. It's a turning
from dead works to faith toward God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's what this godly sorrow produces, a turning from our
dead works. And you know, we read that first
epistle. They had a lot of works going
on there. I mean, a lot of wondrous works, how the Lord blessed them.
But they turned from those dead works to faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what true repentance is. And that's why Paul could rejoice,
because that sorrow was just first season. It turned them
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the best example that I could
think of that we could relate to is parents. Now parents do
not enjoy spanking their children. Our children think so when they're
little, but you get to be a parent, you understand, you do not enjoy
spanking that child. It grieves your heart. But we can rejoice in the outcome. It's just that proper correction
results in a changed behavior. And changed attitude makes that
child easier to be around, makes the whole house happier because
of proper correction. And I got a good illustration
of this. I don't think Holly will mind me telling this story. She knows the illustration. Holly's
about three years old. She's in the grocery store with
her mom. She decides she's going to throw a fit. to get something
there in the store. She wanted it. She'd seen other
children do it. It worked for them. She's going to give it a try.
Well, it didn't work. Jant told her, now stop that.
And she wouldn't stop it. Jant took the buggy to the manager
and said, put this stuff back. She picked her up and left the
store. How I thought, uh-oh. And she started telling me, I
won't do that again. I won't do that again. Jant said,
I'm glad you won't do that again. But we're going to deal with
this. She went home and wore her little behind out. Called
me at work about in tears. Just, oh, it creeped her soul. She was, oh, she was just nearly
in tears. But she could rejoice in the
results. That never happened again. Never. She and Holly can go to the store
to this day in peace and joy because that doesn't happen anymore. She could be, see, they have
proper behavior. Now, You know, this repentance
comes from the fear of the Lord. We'll see that in a minute. I
don't know that Jan put the fear of God into her, but she put
the fear of Mama. And that's a good start, fear of Mama. And
that resulted in proper behavior. How much more the fear of the
Lord will give us a changed heart, a changed attitude. And when
Paul dealt with these errors in Corinth, He dealt with them
very bluntly, didn't he? He didn't sugarcoat them. He
didn't try to save somebody's feelings. He dealt with these
things very bluntly. But it wasn't Paul's anger that
caused the changed behavior, this repentance. It wasn't some,
you know, threat of the Apostle Paul coming down there that brought
this repentance. It was the goodness of God. Look
over Romans chapter 2. It was the goodness of God that
brought this repentance. Romans 2, verse 4. Or despises thou the riches of
his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? It's the
goodness of God that leads thee to repentance. And all through
1 Corinthians, while Paul was dealing with these issues, he
kept bringing us back to the goodness of the Lord, the mercy
of the Lord, the grace of the Lord, Let's look at a few of
those scriptures. In 1 Corinthians 1, verse 26, we see the goodness of God in
election, in his calling of us in grace. For you see your calling,
brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are
despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to
bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh should glory
in his presence. But of him, of his goodness,
of his grace, of his mercy, of him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made known to us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord." Look over across the page here at
chapter 2 and verse 9. But as it is written, I have
not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the
deep things of God. Now we've received not the spirit
of the world, but the spirit, which is of God, that we might
know the things that are freely given to us of God. These are
gifts freely given to us of God's goodness. Look over at chapter
six. In verse 19. What? Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you? which you have
of God. You have that of God's goodness,
of his grace. And you're not your own, for
you are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. You're bought with
a price. You're bought with a price, the
sacrifice of God's Son for you, for your sin. That's the goodness
of God. Look over in chapter 11. This is the sacrifice of Christ
for you. Talk about the goodness of God.
In verse 23, Paul says, For I have received of the Lord that which
also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night
in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given
thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat, this is my body which
is broken for you, this do in remembrance of me. After the
same manner also he took the cup when he had saying this cup
is New Testament in my blood. This do ye as often as you drink
it in remembrance of me, in remembrance of my gift to you, my sacrifice
for you. And then look over in chapter
15, verse 3. For I delivered unto you first
of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to
the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again
the third day according to the scriptures. You talk about goodness
and grace. He died for our sins according
to the scriptures. And it's that goodness that breaks
the heart and leads us to repentance. Now, verse 10 over in our text. For godly sorrow. Work with repentance
to salvation, not to be repented of. But the sorrow of the world,
work of death. Now repentance is a work of the
Holy Spirit. It comes from godly sorrow caused
by God, the Holy Spirit. It's a work of God. The Corinthians,
like I said, didn't repent because Paul hurt their feelings. It
came as a work of God, from godly sorrow. Sorrow caused by the
Holy Spirit that leads to repentance. You see, it's not the fear of
hell that leads us to repentance. Fear of hell will not turn a
man to Christ. Sorrow over sinning against God
leads us to Christ, causes us to look to Christ. A genuine
grief at offending our Father is what causes repentance. That
kind of sorrow will cause a man to turn from his sin and turn
toward God in faith. It's that kind of sorrow. And
there's not a person in here that thinks sorrow is a good
thing. Not one of us thinks sorrow is a good thing. I just, you
know, I just can't wait till the next time I'm made sorrowful.
Of course not. But godly sorrow is a gift of
God's grace. That's so. Godly sorrow is a
gift of God's grace. That's not God punishing you.
That's a gift of His grace. Godly sorrow. Now, when we would
cause each other to sorrow, that's just because of our meanness.
and our depraved nature. But what God the Holy Spirit
does is just the opposite. It's a gift of grace when the
Spirit causes us to sorrow over our sin, to grieve over our sin,
to grieve over who I am and what I am. Not just what I've done,
but who I am. When we grieve over who I am,
that's repentance unto salvation. When I grieve over my sinful
self. That's what causes me to turn
to look to Christ. And that's the only thing that'll
cause me to turn to look to Christ. To look to Him, to believe Him,
to cling to Him. You see, repentance and faith
are inseparable. It's impossible to have one without
the other. You know, what comes first? I
don't know. They come together, just like
two sides of a coin. They're always together. Faith
and repentance Look over in Acts chapter 20. Repentance and faith,
faith and repentance, they go together. In Acts chapter 20, verse 20,
Paul says, Now you know how I kept back nothing that was profitable
unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly
and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and also to the
Greeks. Repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. They always go together. Repentance
and faith. You can't have one without the
other. And that kind of repentance that causes us to turn to Christ
in faith, that sorrow brings joy unspeakable. If you ever
see the Lord Jesus Christ, it's joy unspeakable to see Him. And you'll never repent of that.
You'll never repent of faith in Christ. You'll never turn
away from him once you've seen him. That's the sorrow, that's
godly sorrow. But the sorrow of the world brings
death. Godly sorrow leads to eternal
life. The sorrow of the world works
death. Now remember, repentance is a
whole lot more than being sorry you got caught sinning. Or being
sorry that you're suffering the consequences of your sin. Now
I'll give you three examples. of worldly sorrow leading to
death. Esau was sorry he lost the birthright. He was sorry he lost all the
earthly privileges that came with the birthright. He wasn't
sorry he lost the spiritual relationship with God and it led to death.
He wasn't sorry he sinned against God. He was sorry he lost all
the money. Second, Pharaoh. Pharaoh was
sorry His firstborn died. I'm confident he loved that boy.
He was sorry that firstborn died. He was sorry to hear the wails
of all those Egyptians whose firstborn died that night. He
was sorry. He was sorry he was humiliated
in front of that shepherd Moses. He was sorry. But what in repentance? What did that worldly sorrow
lead him to do? Get angry against God chased
after Moses and caused him and his whole army to die in the
sea. Or worldly sorrow. Third, Judas. Judas felt some
pangs of sorrow that he betrayed innocent blood. That he had some
unethical dealings, dishonest dealings with a friend. But he
wasn't sorry he sinned against God. Because what did he do?
Went out and hung himself. He spent three years with the
Prince of Glory. The God of all grace and mercy. He spent three years with that
man. Didn't beg for mercy. Because worldly sorrow won't
lead you to seek mercy. Worldly sorrow leads you to go
and hang yourself. He was sorry he betrayed innocent blood. He
wasn't sorry he sinned against God. See, it was just sorrow
of loss of physical things, but not sorrow over the loss of spiritual
relationships, spiritual treasures. And how I pray the Lord would
grant us repentance, true heart repentance. Because look in verse
11, this is what repentance will give us. Get back to my text here. In
verse 11, he says, for behold, this selfsame thing that you
sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it brought in
you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what
fear, yea, what vehement desire. Yea, what zeal? Yea, what revenge? In all things, ye have approved
yourselves to be clear in this matter. Now look what godly sorrow
causes. You look back and see what godly
sorrow produced in you. First, it produced carefulness.
You're careful to correct this behavior that was wrong and careful
to avoid making the same mistakes again. You're careful to avoid
offending your father out of love and respect for him. Second,
it produced a clearing of yourselves. Now that phrase, clearing yourself,
has a bad connotation in our day, because that's what defense
attorneys do. Even though you're guilty, they try to come up and
concoct some way that they can work their way around the law
and clear you. That's not what Paul means here.
He's not trying to justify our bad behavior or deny the fact
that we're guilty. True repentance acknowledges
our guilt. Like Scott Richardson says, true
repentance is taking sides with God against myself. I'm guilty. I acknowledge my sin against
Thee and Thee only have I sinned. We clear ourselves by confessing
our sin and seeking mercy in Christ. Look at 1 John 1. This is what clearing ourselves
really is. There's only one way we can be
cleared, isn't it? In Christ. 1 John 1. Verse 8, if we say that we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth's not in us. If
we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. That's how we're cleared, confessing
our sins, being cleansed in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Third, this godly sorrow and repentance produce indignation. Not indignation against Paul
for pointing out their sin. Not indignation against God for
being holy and having strict holy requirements on us. This
is an indignation against ourselves, against my sin and my rebellion. What did Job say when he saw
the Lord? He said, I heard of you with the hearing of the ear,
but now I see you. And what did he say? Covering my mouth. shamed of
myself, indignation against myself. That's what he's talking about.
Fourth, this godly sorrow wrought fear. Now, it's not fear of punishment
and judgment. This is fear of sinning against
God. Fear of sinning against Him who
loved us and died for us. It's fear of being left alone
outside of Christ. I know what I am. Fear of being
left outside of Him. Repentance always produces reverence. Fear and reverence toward God. Fifth, is godly sorrow produced
a vehement desire. A strong desire to honor God. A strong desire to correct the
way we've been doing things and follow Him. To follow Him. To
live in His will and His way. Sixth, it produces a zeal, a
zeal for God, a zeal for His glory, a zeal to know more of
Him, a zeal to be more Christ-like, to follow Him. Seventh, it produced
revenge. Now, this revenge mostly is revenge
against myself, against my attitude, against my behavior. But this
also has to do with the church. There were errors in the church
that they'd allowed to go on there in Corinth. And there is
an element of this that's revenge for the errors that they'd allowed
to go on in the church. And most people think Paul's
speaking particularly of the incest that they allowed to go
on there at the church in Corinth. And I look this word revenge
up. It has to do with justice. It's not just going out and doing
something mean to somebody to make myself feel better. It's
justice. It's to correct the wrong that
had gone on. And you can do that without just
taking out your hatred on someone. And that's the way the Lord enabled
them to deal with the matter of this man in incest. To correct
the wrong that had gone on in justice. You see how godly sorrow
causes people to cleanse their walls. It causes people to correct
their errors of doctrine and errors of conduct. Repentance
is a changed heart. It's a turned heart. It's a new
heart. And when the heart's changed,
the behavior is going to be changed. When the heart's changed, the
walk changes. The way it must be. You see,
this is what the gospel does. The gospel can wound. It does
wound. It does cause godly sorrow. But
the same gospel heals and causes joy in the Lord Jesus Christ. It causes godly sorrow that brings
joy. And now Paul starts talking about
the joy that he has because of this repentance. He says in verse
12, Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his
cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered
wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might
appear unto you. Now clearly, Paul is referring
to the problem of this incestuous person that they had there in
the church. And even though that man needed to be corrected, that's
not the only reason Paul wrote that letter. And he didn't just
write for the sake to try to correct this matter for the sake
of the father that had been wronged. Paul wrote for the sake of the
whole church, for everyone. Because if this matter wasn't
corrected, the whole church is going to suffer for it. And when
that whole church is permitting this scandal to continue and
suffers for it, that's going to bring reproach on the gospel,
both in Corinth and worldwide. So Paul wrote that this matter
be corrected for the sake of the church. His main concern
was for the glory of God and for the good of the church. Now
he did have care for these two men, but the main reason he wrote
was for the glory of God and for the good of his church. And
if we would take this attitude, We should adopt this attitude
about ourselves, about our own actions, about our own attitude. That my main concern is for God's
glory and the good of His people. We'd be better off personally
and the church would be better off if every one of us would
adopt this same attitude. Now, verse 13, Paul says, therefore,
we were comforted in your comfort. Yea, and exceedingly, the more
joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed
by you all." Now, can you imagine how comforted Paul was to hear
how these Corinthians, who he loved, had corrected all these
errors that he pointed out to him? Now, certainly we grieve
over our own sin, but we also grieve over the sins of others.
We grieve for them. We pray for them. Not in a self-righteous,
judgmental way, but it's a grief over sin. And we rejoice when
they repent. And we receive that fallen brother
with joy. Look back at Luke 15. Luke 15. This is the three-part
parable that our Lord taught in verse 4. He says, What man
of you having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth
not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after
that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found
it, he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he cometh
home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying
unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was
lost. I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth, more than over the ninety and nine just
persons which need no repentance. If the heavenly host rejoices
at one, he repents. That's the way the church on
earth does. We rejoice and receive that brother with joy. Don't
make him eat crow and grovel before us. We receive that brother
with joy, considering ourselves, lest we also be tempted. We fall
the same way if God just lifted his finger off of us. We receive
him with joy. And Paul was comforted to hear
how well Titus was received when he visited Corinth. The people
were refreshed with his message, and Titus was refreshed with
their fellowship. Now he knew the problems that
had been going on there, I'm sure, and he rejoiced to see
these things corrected. I'm pretty sure Titus was worried
when he went there. He heard what was going on. He
was worried he was going to go there. And he was refreshed to
see a place of warmth and love and fellowship, to find warm
worship, people worshiping together instead of a bunch of theologians
running around in different divisions trying to see who's the smartest.
Now, we must have the right doctrine, the truth as it is in Christ,
right? We must have the right doctrine. But I'll tell you a
real good indication that you've got the right doctrine. When
people worship together in love, and unity. When a place is, you
feel like you're coming to a place of warm worship. Not like a college
lecture where they're just giving you the facts. Warm worship. In verse 14, Paul says, If I
boasted anything to him of you, I'm not ashamed. For as we spake
all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made
before Titus, is found the truth. Now, Paul had boasted to Titus
about the faith and the generosity and the hospitality of these
Corinthians. And Titus went there and found
all Paul's bragging to be true. And Paul just sat back. He loved
hearing a good report on those Corinthians that he loved. You
know, I used to keep the roads hot. Traveling everywhere seemed
like preaching. Somebody called me, asked me
to go somewhere and preach. I'd go. And first thing, Henry would
always ask, well, how did it go? How did the people, you know,
how's the situation there at this place or this place or this
place? And, you know, almost always you give him a good report
and he'd sit back in his chair and say, good. That's good. Good. That's good. He just enjoyed
hearing a good report. That's the way the Apostle Paul
eats it. Good. That's good. To see the fruit of the Spirit. And these people that he loved,
we grieve over sin and rejoice over a good report wherever it's
found. In verse 15, Paul had this love
for him and Timothy found out he did too. And his inward affection
is more abundant towards you. Whilst he remembered the obedience
of you all, how with fear and trembling you received him. Apparently
Titus hadn't met the people there, but he went and preached to them,
spent some time with them. And he saw how they received
the message with belief and obedience. And they treated him so warmly.
They had a real affection for him. And he'd never met him before,
but he left there realizing he had a family bond with him, an
inward affection. So Paul says in verse 16, I rejoice
therefore that I have confidence in you in all things. He had
confidence in their faith because he saw how their repentance had
changed their conduct. He saw how they handled his exhortations
in the past, and he's confident that they'll handle his exhortations
in the future right too. Because godly sorrow produced
repentance. It produced a heart that turned
toward God in faith. And I pray that the Lord give
me and you that same repentance.