Second Corinthians chapter seven,
while Matt was singing that song, my mind was brought back to October
of 1982. It was our first service at Grace
Chapel on Limestone Street, a storefront. And Chuck, you were there. Lynn,
you were there. Carla, you were there. And John,
you were there. You don't remember it, but you
were there. And I remember I can't remember the guy's last name. His name was Jack from the 13th
Street Baptist Church. What's his last name? Do you
know, Bob? Well, at any rate, the first special that was ever
sung was more about Jesus. And I thought, we're singing
that 29 years later. And that was a blessing to think
about. 2 Corinthians chapter 7. I have entitled this message,
What Repentance Looks Like. Verse 10 of 2 Corinthians chapter
7, For godly sorrow worketh repentance
to salvation. not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh
death." Now, when he says, Godly sorrow
worketh repentance unto salvation, we can conclude from that that
there is no salvation apart from repentance. Now, I don't know
how many times as a young person, I would listen to messages about
repentance and I would ask myself, OK, but what does it mean to
repent? What is repentance? What does
repentance look like? Now, repentance is as essential
for salvation as faith is. Where you have one, you have
the other. Wherever you have faith, you
have repentance. And wherever you have true repentance, you
have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They always go together.
Turn to Acts chapter 20. Paul says in verse 20 of Acts
chapter 20, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto
you, but have showed you And to talk to you publicly and from
house to house, my message was the same whether I was in public
or private, same thing. And here it is, testifying both
to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, did you notice he said repentance
toward God? repentance toward God. Repentance means a change of
mind. That's what the word means very
simply. A change of mind. A change of mind toward God. There's some things you think
regarding God that you no longer think when you repent. Your mind
is changed. Now, repentance is a gift. It's
a gift of God's grace, just like faith is. Scripture says, for
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.
It's the gift of God. If you have faith, I know this.
You know God gave it to you. You know you didn't work it up.
You know it's the gift of God. And it's the same thing with
repentance. We read in Acts chapter 11, verse 18, that God hath granted,
hath freely bestowed the Gentiles with repentance unto life. Christ
is called And that's chapter 5, 31, a prince and a savior
for to give repentance to Israel, the forgiveness of sins. Those who truly repent, whatever
that means, were given grace to repent by God. It's given
to his elect. And like I said, it's a change
of mind toward God. And I got to thinking about this.
I'm going from my own personal experience. I used to dislike
the way God was. I thought He was too holy, too
strict, too severe, too just. I didn't like the way He was.
But you know what? My mind has been changed. I now
love the way He lives. I love all of His attributes.
I love His holiness. I love His justice. I love His
wisdom. I love His power. I love His
grace. I have had my mind changed toward
Him. I used to not like His way of
saving. I remember election used to irritate
me. I thought, why didn't God elect
everybody? He could have. Why didn't He
save everybody? I'd have a hard time with that. You know what? My mind's been
changed. Now, God changed it, but my mind has been changed.
I now love what I once did not like. You know, I used to think
that I could repent whenever I decided to repent. But now
my mind's even been changed regarding that. I see that I can't even
repent unless He gives me the grace to repent. Now, true repentance,
this change of mind, Here's what it does. It owns and bows to
God's holiness and my own personal sinfulness. That's what true
repentance does. Job said, I've heard of thee
with the hearing of the ears, but now mine eyes have seen thee. Wherefore, I abhor myself and
repent in dust and ashes. His change of mind toward God
acknowledges God's sovereign will. Just like that leopard
did. He came into the presence of
Christ. He said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. You don't have to. It's not mine
by entitlement. I don't have it coming to me.
I'm totally in your hands. If you will, you can make me
clean. But he can pass me by if he wills
to. True repentance justifies God. Now, there are two types of people
in this world. Those who sit in judgment on
God and criticize him for how he does things. Well, I don't
think it's right that God doesn't save everybody. I don't think
it's right that Christ didn't die for everybody. That just
doesn't seem fair to me. They sit in judgment on God. And there
are those who justify God. Turn to Psalm 51. Why did God let this happen?
Why did God let that disaster take place? Why did God let this
horrible thing come into my life? We've all asked those questions,
haven't we? We've all asked those questions, but true repentance
justifies God for whatever he does. David says in Psalm 51,
verse four, against thee, the only have I sinned and done this
evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when you
speak and be clear when you judge. True repentance gives God from
the depths of its heart True repentance gives God all the
glory in salvation. We read in Revelation 16, nine
of those that repented not to give him the glory. True repentance
is continual. It's not a one time act. It's
something you're constantly in the state of. If you've ever
repented, you're still repenting. It's continual and true repentance. Listen to this very carefully.
True repentance looks solely to Christ. for salvation, and
it claims no past, present, or future merit. It looks only to
Christ, and repentance primarily is a change of mind regarding
the remission of sins. Turn with me to Mark chapter
1. Mark chapter 1, verse 4. John did baptize in the wilderness
and preach the baptism of repentance for, and that word for can just
as easily be translated concerning or unto, repentance concerning
the remission of sins. Now, every one of us by nature,
this is what we think. We think, well, if I do this,
if I straighten up my act, if I believe this and if I stop
doing that, I'll be given the remission of sins. Now, when
God saves you, when he grants you repentance, you have a change
of mind concerning the remission of sins. You find out there's
one reason for the remission of sins, not because of anything
you've done, but for Christ's sake. You find out that salvation,
you find out that forgiveness and everything that God has for
the sinner is given wholly and completely for Christ's sake
and for no other reason. You have a change of mind concerning
the remission of sins. Now, here's what we naturally
think. We repent, we believe and we're forgiven. No, you're
forgiven. You repent. And you believe. All the difference in the world,
isn't there? I love what Brother Mahan said
about repentance. He had a message he brought that
had four points. Repentance is a change of mind. Oh, what a change. And that comes
from a change of masters. And where that change of masters
is, there's a change of motive. And where that change of motive
is, there's a change of manners. Every time. Now, you remember
that about repentance. Repentance is a change of mind
that comes from a change of masters. And it produces a change of motives. and the change of manners. Now
this is repentance unto salvation that Paul was speaking of when
he said, Godless sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation not
to be repented of. Now my question is, is what does
this repentance look like? I see the definition of it. What
does repentance look like? And I hope I'm not asking this
so I can look at your repentance to see if you measure up. I hope
I'm asking this so I can look at mine and make sure it's not
a repentance that needs to be repented of. And Paul warns us
of a repentance that needs to be repented of. I don't want
to have that kind of repentance, do you? I want to have this repentance
that's a godly sorrow unto salvation. Now turn back to 2 Corinthians
chapter 7. Paul says in verse 2, to the
church at Corinth, receive us. You know, this church, it's amazing,
was always judging the Apostle Paul. Always calling into question
his authority. Always calling into question
his apostleship. Here's the, has there ever been
a, if there's a better man than the Apostle Paul, I don't know
of him. But yet this church was always sitting in judgment of
him, criticizing him. And he says to them, receive
us. We have wronged no man. We've corrupted no man by false
doctrine. We've defrauded no man. We've
not taken from somebody and ripped them off. Receive us. We've not
done any of this. I speak not this to condemn you.
The prophet said before that you're in our hearts to die and
live with you. That's how much we love you.
Great is my boldness of speech toward you. Great is my glory
of you. I'm filled with comfort. I'm exceeding joyful in all our
tribulations. Now. Paul had written. The first epistle to the Corinthians. And it was very harsh. He had
rebuked them for many things, if you look in the first chapter,
he talked about the divisions that were in the church. One
saying I'm a Paul, another I'm of Apollos, not of Cephas. There
were divisions, factions within the church. And then he said
in chapter three, you're carnal. You walk as men. There's envy,
there's strife, and there's divisions. And then in chapter four, he
spoke of where they were judging. him and setting in judgment on
him. And then in chapter five, he talked about the sexual immorality
that was going on in the church. He said, it's reported commonly
that there's fornication among you. In chapter six, he talked
about the Corinthians bringing each other to law. They were
suing each other, taking each other to court and suing each
other. And then in chapter eight, he talks about the wrong attitude
they had toward liberty. In chapter 11, they had people
that were actually becoming intoxicated at the Lord's table. And there
was a way wrong attitude about alcohol where they were doing
that. And then in chapter 12, they were abusing the gifts.
They had people supposedly speaking in tongues. And all you can read
about that in chapters 12, 13, and 14. In chapter 15, they had
somebody that was actually denied that the resurrection took place.
Now look at all the problems that were in this church at Corinth.
I mean, it was a mess, but it was a true church. You know,
that reminds me, what is a church? It's a bunch of sick sinners
who need a Savior. That's what it is. And the church
at Corinth is an example of that. And Paul wrote a very harsh letter
to him, and he said, at first I regretted sending this letter.
Have you ever written a letter and then wish you didn't send
it? I have many times. Oh, I wish I would have got that
back. Paul felt that way. He was writing this under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but he was still a fallible man.
And when he sent it out, he thought, oh, maybe I shouldn't have done
that. Now let's go on reading. Verse 5. For when we were coming
to Macedonia, our flesh had no rest. But we were troubled on
every side. Without were fighting. Within
were fears and anxieties. Nevertheless, verse 6, God that
comforts those that are cast down, comfort us by the coming
of Titus. What a promise for those who
are cast down. God comforts. God comforts those
that are cast down, and He comforted us by the coming of Titus, verse
7, and not by His coming only. But by the consolation, the comfort
wherewith he was comfort of you, when he told us your earnest
desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me so that I rejoice
the more. Now, Paul saying, I was afraid
you were mad at me because of that letter I sent. But when
he told about your fervent mind toward me, And your mourning
over your sin and your earnest desire for me, he says, I rejoice
the more verse eight, for though I made you sorry with the letter.
And they were sorry over that letter, it was rough, you go
on reading first Corinthians 15, he doesn't pull any punches
for, though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent,
though I did repent. I was sorry that I sent it for. I perceive that the same epistle
had made you sorry, though it be for a season. Now, I rejoice,
not that you were made sorry. I'm not just happy that you were
upset over things, but that you sorrowed to repentance. For you were made sorry after
a godly manner that you might receive damage by us and nothing
for godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation. Remember, the Lord
said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to what? Repentance. That's why he came. He says, I perceive that this
letter worked in you repentance, for godly sorrow worketh repentance
to salvation not to be repented of. Some godly sorrow was produced,
but the sorrow of the world worketh death. And there's plenty of
sorrow in this world, isn't it? This sin, cursed world, there's so
much to make you sorry. The conflict, the anguish, the
problems, the betrayal, just on and on. There's so much sorrow
in this world. And all it works is death. Spiritual death. But oh, this
godly sorrow that he speaks of, that works repentance to salvation,
And then he gives, in verse 11, seven marks of true repentance. Let's read verse 11 together.
For behold this selfsame thing, that you sorrowed after a godly
sort. First, what carefulness it wrought
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 these things you have
approved yourselves to be clear in this manner. Now here is what
repentance looks like. I've, you know, I've heard people
talk about repentance and discuss it. And I remember hearing one
fella, and I guess he thought he was pretty smart. He said,
well, repentance just means a change of mind. Well, he gave a correct
definition, but like one fella said, what a change. What a change. It works these
seven different things. in true repentance. This change
of mind toward God, this change of mind regarding salvation,
regarding the remission of sins, regarding sin, it worked such
a change. Now, the first thing he mentions
in verse 11, what carefulness it wrought in you. What carefulness. That word means earnest haste. Earnest haste. You don't think it's okay to
remain the same way. You're in a hurry to have repentance.
You're in a hurry. Earnest haste. You're careful. You don't have
an attitude of presumption. Oh, repentance is just a change
of mind. No, there's an earnest Whatever repentance is, I want
to repent, and I want to do it now, and I want to keep on doing
it. There's no presumptuous attitude about it. There's an earnest
haste. What carefulness it wrought in
you. Yea, he says next, what clearing
of yourself. Now that is where we get the
word apologetics or apology from. There's the idea of apology in
this. That's included in this idea.
Now, there's no clearing of yourself without a true, honest, before
God, apology. I'm sorry. That's the godly sorrow
that worketh repentance. I'm sorry. Now, when you apologize, you
can't demand forgiveness. Now, I've apologized. You need
to forgive me now. No, that attitude's not there.
When you're truly sorry, you know that forgiveness is in the
hand of the one you sinned against. And you can't demand forgiveness.
but you sure desire it. I'm sorry for my sin against
thee. Oh, how sorry I am." You see,
an apology has two things in it. Number one, it's an admission
of guilt. Guilty as charged. No excuses. No extenuating circumstance. It's all my fault. I don't know how many times I've
said, well, if I've done anything wrong, you know, that's not an apology. No, it's all my fault. But not only is it an admission
of guilt when you apologize, there is a great desire for mercy. There's a great desire for a
restored relationship. What clearing of yourselves? And third, he mentions what indignation. And you know what indignation
is? You know, if somebody tells you you're wrong, you're righteously
indignant. They shouldn't have done that.
Indignation. Now, in repentance, there's indignation. Who is this indignation toward? It's toward yourself. That's
what this nation is toward. It's toward yourself. You lay
all the blame at your own feet and you take sides with God against
yourself. That's what happens when you
repent. You take sides with God against yourself. You're indignant
toward yourself. That's what happens when you
confess your sin. You know, when you when you confess your sin. It's all my fault. Who I am,
what I am, I can't blame. It's all my fault, my nature,
my actions. It's all my fault. I'm indignant
toward myself and I take sides with God. against myself. There's indignation. And then
he says, fourthly, yea, what fear? In true repentance. There's a fear. You're afraid. You're scared. You're afraid
of yourself. You're wondering if you're even
sincere. You're wondering if it's real. You hold yourself
suspect. Now, self-righteousness holds
other suspect. True repentance holds self-suspect. There's a true fear. And that
fear of yourself comes from a fear of the living God, that fear
that's the beginning of wisdom. And when this fear of God is
there, this fear that comes repentance, you're afraid of sin. You're
afraid of sin in any form because it's against God and that's why
you're afraid of it. You're flat out afraid of sin.
That's why you're afraid of yourself. You're a time bomb. And you're
afraid to look anywhere but Christ alone. You're scared to death
to be found looking to yourself. You want to look to Christ only
and rest only in him. Remember, repentance looks to
Christ only and claims no past. present or future merit. It looks
to Christ only, and oh, how afraid you are, that fear which is the
beginning of wisdom. And then he says in verse 11,
yea, what vehement desire. Longing is the word. Longing. Now, when you repent, You long,
this is in your heart, God sees it. You long to be delivered
from your sin. You long for God's favor. You long for God's grace. You
long for God's mercy. You long to be found in Christ. Oh, that's a vehement desire.
Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him, not having my
own righteousness, which is of the law. You long to simply be
found in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you don't want to be found
anywhere else. And this is a vehement desire. You long for God to grant
your repentance. You long to exercise true, saving
faith in Christ. You long to be a Christian. There's
a vehement desire. It's not just a dead thing. There's a vehement longing after
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I long to be found in Him. I don't want to stand before
God on my own in any way. There's a vehement desire in
this thing of repentance. And then he says, what zeal? What zeal? Now, where there's
repentance, there's a zeal. It's not a half-hearted thing.
It's not a lukewarm thing. You know, I think of the church
at Laodicea. The Lord said to them, be zealous and repent. What was wrong with them? Well,
he said, You think you're rich and increased with goods and
have need of nothing, and you don't know that you're naked
and miserable and wretched and poor and blind. He said you're
lukewarm. I would that you were cold or
hot, but because you're neither, I'll spit you out of my mouth.
Now, he says you'd be zealous. Quit having this lukewarm attitude. Be zealous, zealous. For the
glory of God, zealous. It's always good to be zealous
in a good thing. And where there's no zeal, there's
no true repentance. This is what repentance looks
like. It's zealous. What zeal it worked in you. And then he says, finally. Yea,
what revenge? What revenge? Now, what is revenge? It's a just punishment. A just punishment. When you want
revenge, it's because someone has done wrong and you want a
just punishment. A very powerful, powerful emotion. Now, the believer wants his sins punished. He wants a just punishment. But he wants them to be punished
in Christ. And they were punished in Christ. And this is awesome
and glorious. I don't even know what to call
it. But to think that my sin, Christ bore it, and he was actually
punished for it. And I don't find any satisfaction
in anything but that. But when I think of my sin, the
enormity of my sin, the guilt of my sin, the sinfulness of
my sin, and when I think of the Lord taking it upon Himself and
being punished for it, God revenging Himself and His justice upon
my sin in His Son, that's the only thing I get any satisfaction
in and find any rest in and peace in. But there was a just satisfaction,
a just punishment for my sin. Now, this is what repentance
looks like. Paul said. For behold, verse
11, the selfsame thing that you sorrowed after a godly sort,
what carefulness, earnest haste, it wrought, it worked 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 these things you have
approved yourselves to be clear in this matter." Now that is
what repentance looks like. I repent. And you know what the
evidence of true repentance is? Faith in Christ. You believe,
you're repenting. And as you repent, you believe. Repent ye and believe the gospel.