And let's open his word now to the book of Second Corinthians,
Chapter 7, and we'll have a look all the way through to the end
of the chapter tonight as we're continuing our look through this
book. Second Corinthians teaching
expositionally, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, as we're
making our way through it. And the title of tonight's
message is Godly Sorrow that Leads to Life to Corinthians 7.
I'm sure that you have at some point in time had to deliver a
message, and it's been a difficult message.
It's maybe words that you've laboured over how to put
together. Perhaps it might be a position
that you've got in a workplace, or it might just be a challenge
or a rebuke for a family member or for a friend.
And you're wondering, you're not knowing how they're going to
receive it. And there's a fear and anxiety
that comes upon you. And maybe it was a hard letter
that you had to write or a difficult email that you had to
type up or a conversation that you had one to one with somebody
speaking the truth in love. And, and you've, you've hit
send. You've maybe walked away from
the conversation and your heart pounds thinking, oh, how's this
going to go? Will this ruin this
relationship? What are they going to do?
How they're going to receive it? Will they misunderstand my
heart, my intention behind it? Will they ever forgive me?
Will they ever speak to me again?
Well, this was Paul's situation. It was his position with the
church in Corinth. He had written them a severe
letter. We read it in First Corinthians
and there were some very difficult, tricky situations and
scenarios that he had to call them out on, correct them, call
them to task on confronting their sin areas where they
thought that they were OK, that they're in liberty and they're
actually proud of themselves as a consequence.
And he knew that the letter that he had sent them had actually
grieved them again, He'd laboured over it.
He wasn't sure how it was that they were going to respond.
Would they reject him? Would they be dismissive of him
altogether? Would they harden their hearts
and sink their feet in all the more determined and fixed in the
direction that they were going? Or would they actually respond
with the purpose, with the intent that he had in mind and
repent and there would be a greater sweetness of
relationship with him as as the apostle, as the founder of the
church, and ultimately with God Almighty.
Well, Second Corinthians Chapter 7 here, where we're looking at
tonight from verses 2 it, it kind of ends this parenthetical
section that that Paul had embarked on out of chapter 2.
And he returns back to the mention of Titus, a friend of
he's a companion of he's who he had sent to the church at
Corinth to just go and check up on them for me.
Would you go and find out how they've responded to the letter?
And now he returns to this. So all of chapter 3456 have been
him just branching out as Paul often does on a little tangent
side of things. And he was talking a lot about
the authenticity of ministry and and the heart of a servant.
And now he comes back to this fellow Titus and the letter that
he had written. And so this is quite a raw
revelation for you and I of Paul's heart, of his emotions in
this situation. He effectively reports in this
chapter how it all unfolded for him and for us.
He shares his anguish, initially having to try and write this
letter. He shares about their response
and his worry or his concern about that response.
And then he he writes of God's grace at work.
It's a wonderful, wonderful chapter, powerful passage here
about the difference between what we call worldly sorrow that
ends in death, he'll mention, and then godly sorrow, or we
could call it good grief. You ever wondered where that
that phrase good grief comes from?
It's actually biblical and comes out of this.
It's a sorrow that causes someone to draw near through
repentance under God. And the result of that is
goodness in their life, godly sorrow, and it leads to life.
And so it's also a window for you and I tonight as we look at
this passage of how relationships in the church
particularly can be tested, can be broken at sometimes, but how
they can be restored by the power of the gospel.
So as we read these verses, we're going to break it down and
look at it in in three ways. So the slides will be up there
for those of you taking notes so that you don't get lost.
But we're going to have a look from verse two to seven at the
heart of the apostle again. He'll reveal what he was
thinking, what he was feeling and and how it is that he loved
them. And and this whole event, this
whole situation was birthed out of his affection towards them.
And then we'll have a look at the hallmarks, the features of
of true repentance. What is when we talk about
repentance that look like what is entailed in it.
How can we know that somebody is truly sorrowful to the point
where they're going to change or they're just sorry they got
caught and they're they're sorry about the consequences of
judgement coming upon them. And then we'll look lastly,
verses 13 to 16 at the harmony of reconciliation and, and the
joy and, and, and the sweetness of what, what it means when
fellowship is restored together. All right, before we read, let's
pray again. I know we've prayed a bit
tonight, but I really want God the Holy Spirit to guide our
study tonight and for us to hear what he has for us.
So let's close our eyes, bow heads.
God in heaven, the Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, we
come before you as the Saviour of our souls, the lover of our
hearts, as our maker and as our Lord and God.
And we ask your blessing over our study now upon each person
gathered here, upon each household represented here.
May we know your truth, may we live it out, and may we
experience and enjoy the blessing and the sweetness of
fellowship with you. This we pray in Jesus name,
Amen. Let's look at this first one,
the heart of the apostle, verses 2 through to seven.
I'll read the verses and then we'll break down a few little
bits and pieces along the way. I'm reading from the new King
James Version. It says open your hearts to us.
We've heard that phrasing before about Paul and some of our
previous chapters where it's just after a lack of closure
that they were having. You know, again, these false
teachers had crept into the church.
They were trying to dismiss the message of the gospel and and
their means by doing so was to attack the character of Paul.
And it was causing some in the church to be closed off in their
reception of him. So he says, open your hearts
again. Open your hearts to us.
We have wronged no one. We have corrupted no one.
We have cheated no one. I'm reminded of the words of
Samuel, the prophet in the Old Testament, who at the end of his
days, when addressing the entirety of the people of Israel
gathered, was able to declare with full confidence.
Tell me if I've wronged anyone of you by coveting any of your
cattle, coveting any of your donkeys.
And we kind of seem strange, but possessions in any of those.
And there was not one person who could speak out in that crowd in
that throng and say, actually, Samuel, you did.
And Paul is the same. We've wronged no one.
Our conscience is clean. Please open your hearts to us.
We've cheated no one. And I do not say this verse 3 to
condemn you, but I've said before that you are in our
hearts to die together and to live together.
Great is my boldness of speech towards you.
Great is my boasting on your behalf.
There are many things that Paul could have spoken about to other
people about man. Let me tell you about those
Corinthians. But instead Paul chose to brag,
to boast about them. Let me tell you about the church
in Corinth, man, wow, God is moving and God has done this and
he's transformed and saved so many out of this type of
lifestyle, out of this way of living out of this service of
that God and of of this honouring of this but man.
And and he was, he said, I'm actually boasting about you as a
church. I'm filled with comfort.
Verse four, I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation.
For indeed, verse 5, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies
had no rest. Physically.
He was distraught, he was suffering.
We've looked at that. And we were troubled on every
side. Outside were conflicts, inside
were fears. And what was he fearful of?
Not what was happening to his body, but he was fearful of what
could potentially happen to the church, namely in Corinth.
The danger of them being LED astray by the false teachers, of
the danger of them returning to their old lifestyles and ways of
living. Nevertheless, verse 6, God who
comforts the downcast. Now this is a declaration of how
he was feeling. And at this point in time, the
word downcast. There is actually where we get
the English word depressed. Paul had been suffering to the
point here that the fear that the worry that the concern that
he had for the church was causing him almost to to enter
into a bout of depression that had come and sat heavy upon him.
This is the stress, the anxiety, the pain that he's feeling and
then comfort us. God comforted us by the coming
of Titus, his friend. We'll talk a little bit more
about him a bit later in some verses.
And not only verse 7 by his coming, but also by the
consolation with which he was comforted in you.
So the news that he brought of, of what happened with you when
he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal
for me so that I rejoiced even more.
So I've explained a few little things.
But hopefully as we go back over these verses, our understanding
will be all the more and, and importantly, we'll have great
application to it and understanding it.
But Paul begins with a heartfelt appeal.
Verse 2, make room for US. Open your hearts.
We've wronged no one. We've corrupted no one, taken
advantage of no one. We see his integrity highlighted
in verse 2. See the affection that comes
through as he declares that in verses 3 and 4, and then the
concern, the worry, the fear that he had for the church in
Corinth, and the comfort that God, God brought to him through
news that Titus delivered. Now, how good is it as we read
these verses, to hear Paul, the great apostle say that he was
troubled on every side? Ever feel that way?
Lord? I am troubled on every single
side. There's not an area that
surrounds me where I don't feel like there's pressure, where
there's attack, where there's something coming at me.
I'm surrounded by intensity of a fear of anxiety, of worry, of
stress. And the result of all of that
can be pretty disheartening for us.
And as I say to you again, the word in verse 6, downcast is
actually depressed. I don't know if you are aware of
this, but Christians can get depressed.
Think that's what I've been feeling.
And now I can give a label to it somewhat.
It's, it's a part of the battle that we are in as Christians, as
believers, especially for those in ministry.
You know, if you're serving the Lord, if you're devoted to the
call that he has upon you, then you can somewhat expect this.
One Sunday morning, way back in 1866, a famous preacher in the
Victorian era, a fellow called Charles Haddon Spurgeon, shocked
his 5000 large congregation, who were listening in attendance at
the time, went from the pulpit and the church was called the
London Metropolitan Tabernacle. He announced this.
I am the subject of depressions of spirits, so fearful that I
hope none of you ever gets to such extremes of wretchedness as
I go to many times. He would often have to take
what's called a furlough or a sabbatical and head into to
Europe, where the weather was warmer, so that he could recover
from these bouts of depression that he experienced being
immersed in the ministry as he was.
And he was one of the greatest pastors of all time.
I'm not sure if you've read any of his sermons or not.
Maybe you've heard of the name Martin Luther, the Great
Reformer. He was subject to such fits of
darkness that he would hide himself away for days, history
tells us, and his family would remove all dangerous implements
from the house for fear that he might harm himself.
That's how intense it was during one of these episodes in his
life. His wife, Catherina, she did
this. She entered into the room
dressed in morning clothes, black, and startled Luther.
Her husband, Martin, asked her who had died.
She replied no one had but that from the way he was acting, she
thought God had died and the message came through to him to
snap out of it. God's not dead.
He's on the throne. He's in control.
So Paul is getting very real for us here in the passage.
And again, this is the great apostle, the man of God.
He's stressed, he's he's depressed.
It tells us. And notice notice how again he
describes it in verse 5. Outside were conflicts.
This is opposition, persecution physically upon them.
And then inside he says we're fears.
And again, this isn't the fear of of getting hurt physically.
As we read through all that he encountered physically, there
was much that he experienced. We have too much evidence in the
Bible that he was Speaking of something different here.
It was inner fears here that we're concerning what might
happen to the work in the body of believers in Corinth, the
church that he had started in Galatians chapter 4, verse 11.
He often said this of the churches and specific
specifically of the church in Galatia.
He told them, I am afraid I may have laboured over you in vain.
It was for nothing. He wrote to the church in
Thessalonica in Thessalonians 1, Thessalonians 3, verse 5.
For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to
learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had
tempted you and our labour would be in vain.
So can you hear his heart and where these fears were coming
from? It was a concern for the church
and of them being LED astray. In one Corinthians 11 when we
studied in verse 29, he spoke of his daily anxiety that come upon
him as he would pray concerning all of the churches and what a
long list of prayer that would be for Paul praying for glacier
Lord, I pray for the believers. I pray for the church in
Thessalon like I pray for the church in Corinth and on I pray
for the church in Ephesus. All of these these churches that
he had founded in his missionary journeys and concerned very
worried over them and and this is in fact a common fear for
those in ministry. It's a prayer that many of us
pray over the congregation here when we hear of things going on
in people's lives and and the fear that comes upon us.
Our Lord, don't let them be LED astray.
Well, Lord, don't let them be coerced or manipulated into
this. But like any fear, here's what
needs to happen. Quite simply, you have to trust
in God. That was a message that Martin
Luther's wife Catherine has sent to him.
God's not dead. Trust in God.
And I find this point encouraging.
That's why I'm labouring it a little bit here, because it
reminds us that in his own faith, in his own walk with the
Lord, Paul was constantly being stretched on the outside, on the
inside. And it seemed that the Lord
continued to allow him to be put into places that were
uncomfortable, where his faith would be stretched, would be
exercised, would be taxed, would be put in the pressure cooker.
And, and, and just so Paul would often be moving through into new
territory where you'd think, man, if anybody doesn't need to
learn a new lesson in faith, it's Paul.
And yet somehow God would allow these situations, circumstances
and, and emotions and feelings to come upon him and to find
himself in in deeper water than ever before where he'd have to
cry out. God help.
God help me. Many, many years ago, when my
eldest boy, Noah, who's 22 now, was 4 going on five, we'd
visited family in California. And often when we would visit,
it would be around that Christmas time and we'd do all
the theme parks and so on. And so we did a number of rides
at the different theme parks. And I remember, and upon
reflection, many of those rides that I took him on were probably
too scary for a four year old, 5 year old.
So the intensity, the thrill of it and so on.
And afterwards though, he would often say, Noah, how was that?
And he would say that was awesome.
But he was just kind of telling me what he thought I wanted to
hear from it because I would say to him, do you want to do it
again? He'd flat out go, no.
He just said that was awesome, let's do it again.
No, I'm good. I'm done with that and Christian
life often for us as believers in the midst of it, it's scary,
it's hard, it's intense. Afterwards we're going awesome
order. I love what you did in my life
and and how you transform my heart.
You know, I feel deeper and more strongly connected to you.
And then he might whisper and ask, do you want to do that
again? We got no, no thanks, I'm done.
So Paul, Paul was surrounded by trouble.
Outside there was trouble, but even worse, inside were fears.
And this was a hard time for him.
And so that's what he goes into. And now having expressed that,
look at what God does. Nevertheless, verse 6, God who
comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus.
So let me set the stage here in these verses, 6:00 and 7:00.
Paul, whilst he was away from Corinth on another long
missionary journey, as he would do, he'd received reports,
information, remember, from the House of Chloe about what was
going on in the church. That concerned Paul very deeply
as he heard these. And the people in Corinth had
also asked questions of Paul, you know, what do we do in this
situation, this circumstance? But really what concerned him
the most was was the news that he was receiving about all the
trouble going on on there. And so much so he became
troubled that he couldn't even complete the ministry God had
opened for him in a place called Troas.
But what could he do about the situation in Corinth?
It's not like today where he can pick up the phone and ring.
The certain individuals or FaceTime or, or have that
connection, you know, we're talking days into weeks when
news would be received and information and and the
addressing of certain things. He had, in fact, made one return
trip to Corinth that had ended badly with at least one of the
the leaders in Corinth kind of publicly rebuking Paul and and
very few supporting him. And so he decided to send a
letter with his friend and colleague Titus, whose name
we're reading of here. And he would go and effectively
be a representative and an emissary to Corinth from Paul,
as if Paul himself would come. He couldn't travel personally.
And so he sent Titus in his place to try and resolve the
situation, to come back with news and bring a report to him.
And, and Titus did just that. And apparently Titus was very
effective in convincing them of actually, here's what Paul's
heart is in these words. It might seem harsh what you've
read or received from him, but let me tell you, Paul's your
friend. He's not your enemy and he has
what's best for you and he has the heart of God towards you.
And, and you can imagine, you know, the words that Titus would
share and convince them with. And he was able to then come
back to Paul and report to the apostle that the situation in
Corinth was vastly improved. And here's a lesson.
There's many that we can learn out of this in, in these verses
we've mentioned to Titus. One lesson we can learn from
that is this, that that no pastor, no, no minister, no
servant of the Lord can do it all.
No pastor can connect with everybody or or can reach
everybody. So all of us have to know when
another gifted believer like a a Titus can come and perhaps take
our place or or can minister on our behalf or even be a go
between in a in a conflict situation.
And additionally think about this.
Titus was Paul's student, and yet he is used, as we read these
verses by God to bring comfort to Paul.
I think of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and it tells us
that an Angel came and strengthened him, ministering
Angel that Jesus had actually created.
That's a that's an interesting thought, isn't it?
That the Creator who had created this Angel was now being
ministered to by this Creator being this Angel and I I wonder
if sometimes we miss out on receiving the comfort from God
and of God because we don't receive it coming through what
we might perceive to be a lesser vessel right now in in your
life. It might be you know, finances
are tough cupboard bare Christmas, oh man, it's around
the corner. It's going to be here again
before we know it. And the bank balance is looking
low. And Lord, I need some comfort
right now. About 40 grand worth of comfort
would be helpful. And then your little son or your
daughter sensing the stress in the home, the emotion, the
worry, the depression, maybe even says, don't worry dad.
Don't worry mom. God's got it under control.
Hey, let's pray. That's your tightest.
They're bringing the tightest touch, not the Midas touch.
You've all heard of that in Greek mythology.
But but Titus was one who came and he was able to bring comfort
from God, you know, instead of often receiving comfort in those
circumstances. We might say, you know, son,
daughter, you don't really understand, but thanks anyway.
And you know, they've had the the childlike faith to see God
as big in that moment in that situation.
And, and we've only seen the big problems that are before us
instead of saying, you know what, you're right, thanks,
Thanks, son. Thanks.
Thanks, daughter. Thanks.
You know, honey, or whatever terms you have for them.
You know, you're such a, a Titus right now and they look at you
funny. So back to Paul.
Paul was encouraged by the coming of Titus and the report
that he brought that the church had repented.
And there was a particular fellow that was the main
situation that we looked at in First Corinthians and then the
report come back via Titus that they're actually doing well in
in this situation and in those other situations that Paul,
you'd written to correct them on.
And that actually, Paul, there's many there that love you, that
have great affection for you. And and Titus had blessed them
and Titus was now blessing Paul and it encouraged their hearts
and it's now encouraging Paul's heart and here's why.
As we get into the second, the comfort comes through what was
happening in their hearts as though I'm moving towards godly
sorrow that worked towards repentance and brought life into
them. In verses 8 to 12, and Paul
explains now the response that the Corinthians had to his
severe letter, how it had hurt them, yes, and had hurt him in
writing it, but it produced fruit that worked towards
repentance. As a consequence.
Verse 84, even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not
regret regret it, though I I did regret it.
For I perceived that the same epistle made you sorry, though
only for a while. So Paul's kind of playing on
words here. I wasn't sorry to write it,
though I was sorry to write it. What does he mean there by that?
It was almost like I didn't want to write it, but I had to write
it. And I was sorry that it had to
come to this, but it needed to happen.
And, and I'm sorry for, for how it made you feel and how it made
me feel in that. But I'm not sorry for the result
that it brought. Don't we know this as parents
with our kids where we know we have to bring discipline to them
for their willful disobedience of, of commands and of
instructions that would cause them harm?
And we have to institute that if we love them and not leave them
to their own devices, to, you know, to continue in their way.
But, you know, our hearts still hurt for them.
And there's a sorrow that comes out of that, but we're not sorry
for the result of them benefiting from it.
So this is Paul here where he's talking in verse 8.
Now I rejoice, verse 9, that you were made sorry, but that your
sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a
godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.
The godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation
not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces
death. For observed this very thing,
that you sorrowed in a godly manner, what diligence it
produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation,
what fear, what the human desire, what zeal, what
vindication in all things you proved yourselves to be clear in
this matter. Therefore, verse 12, Although I
wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done
the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that
our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you.
So we see in verse 8 to 9 that the sorrow had a purpose, a goal
in mind. And then he highlights the
distinction verse 10 between something called godly sorrow
and worldly sorrow, and then identifies for us the marks, the
attributes in verse 11 of what true repentance looks like.
So let's let's dig into that a little bit more.
Going back to verse 8, you can turn there and and consider it.
Paul is again saying I I really second guessed myself in this
letter. Was it the right thing to do
again? Have you ever sent an email with
a touchy subject pointed afterwards thinking, should I
have sent that quick unsend? Where's the unsend function?
Second guessing yourself? Maybe you jump on and check for
a response every 30 minutes, maybe even quicker.
Paul's in that place again. Should I have sent the letter?
He's prayed about it. He soaked it, no doubt in tears.
Remember again, as we read through First Corinthians that
the letter had some strong words of correction for them and some
discipline attached to them. They were told to remove a
particular fellow out of the church because of his lack of
repentance, the situation of sin that he was living in and their
celebration of it and rebuke can many times feel like what what
Paul has described for us. I think maybe perhaps like being
a surgeon. I don't have the brain capacity
for that. But I sometimes think of how
bittersweet that might be of taking a scalpel to somebody.
But you, you know that you need to operate to, to cause pain, to
take the cancer out, to remove that which is causing them to
suffer. People who say this scare me.
I have the gift of rebuke. What Paul had no doubt he'd
prayed, laboured over his words and his aim in verse 8 was to
see them blessed and and the rebuke then was needed.
And then as we move through verses 9 and into 10, now
there's this huge principle that comes out.
The difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow,
worldly sorrow is this. It says, I'm sorry that I got
caught. I'm sorry maybe for the pain
that I caused. I'm sorry for the mess that I
made. I'm sorry that I disappointed
you, but then the problem is in that that the sorrow then
expressed does not lead them enough to cause change, to
happen, to desire to make things right, not sorrow enough to
humble themselves and to take ownership over actions.
Worldly sorrow makes promises it doesn't really intend to keep.
You know I will never do that again to you.
And sure enough, the very same thing they said they were once
sorry for. They've done it again.
J Vernon McGee puts it this way. He tells the story of how his
dad would tell him of a boat on the Mississippi River.
It had a little, he described it, bitty boiler and a great big
whistle. And when it would blow its
whistle while going upstream, the boat would start to drift
downstream because the boiler was so small that it couldn't
propel the boat and blow the whistle at the same time.
He says. This makes a connection.
There are a lot of folk who have a great big whistle and a little
bitty boiler. They cry a lot of tears, make a
big display and put on a great show, but there's no real
repentance. They blow the whistle, yes, but
they keep on going in the same direction.
That is worldly sorrow. All show no change.
But godly sorrow is different. And that's what they had
displayed, and that's what he expresses for us.
And by the way, sorrow is good. Godly sorrow is better because
it leads and transforms that that sin that led to pain and
the conscience then is affected by it and becomes now a gift of
God that then transforms into repentance.
And repentance is the change, the transformation, the change
of mind to see it as sin for what it is and often no excuses.
A desire to change, an attitude to change direction is literally
what repentance means. And to now do the right things
to let the heart follow in accordance.
You know, we can react with either worldly sorrow or godly
sorrow. It's important to note that both
start with sorrow. Both have an emotional reaction
to what has happened or been done, a remorse that's evident.
And then this sorrow can now lead in one of two directions.
Worldly sorrow leads to guilt, to shame or to frustration of
being caught or it being told on.
Worldly sorrow is a sorrow being exposed and now having the mess
to deal with as a consequence of that.
Worldly sorrow is focused on how things turned out.
And there's plenty of people living with that kind of sorrow,
but they're not ready to change. And that's why many people keep
going back to that which they're sorrow sorry about.
And then I'll commit it and do it again and again and again,
that same behaviour. But Are you ready to repent?
Are you ready to change? Are you ready to stop that and
and go in a completely different direction?
Because that's what godly sorrow is.
Godly sorrow is sorrow over ever having done it in the first
place and a desire to move away from that and towards God.
And I think in Scripture we see a real powerful example and
contrast of how two people were remorseful, were sorrowful, and
yet 1 was godly sorrow and 1 was worldly sorrow.
It's two men, one who tried to deal with it in his own way, and
another who allowed God to deal with it.
It's Peter and Judas, both betrayed, denied Jesus on the
same day. Jesus had warned each of them
specifically about what would happen.
He gave each of them a way out. You know, when Judas showed up
to betray Jesus, Jesus asked Matthew 26, verse 50, friend,
why have you come? And when Peter stood in the
courtyard denying that he even knew Jesus, it tells us in Luke
22 verse 61. What?
That Jesus looked right at him and Peter realised what was
going on, no doubt. And after betraying and after
denying Jesus, both felt sorry for what they'd done, didn't
they? But Judas took it out on
himself. He tried to give back the money
and then he went out and took his own life.
The Scripture tells us Peter, he eventually took his sorrow to
God in repentance. Jesus, Peter, do you love me?
Peter, do you love me, Peter, do you love me Peter?
And he repented and he reversed his course.
He, he changed direction. And as a result, Jesus forgave
him, restored him, gave him an even greater ministry.
The Bible tells us, you know, there's the difference And and
that's what I really wanted to unpack and explain all the more
you know, just because you've sinned does not mean that you're
irreparably broken. It doesn't have to be the Judas
ending. You're not left to deal with it
on your own. If you invite and respond to the
saving work of Jesus on the cross, repent and return to him,
he can and will forgive you, rebuild you, restore you and
help you really change and be transformed.
I mean, look at what happened to the Corinthians in the church
when Paul says and such were some as you when he describes
the the litany, the list of of things and sins that that many
of them were and Paul now proceeds to explain the actions
that manifested their true true godly sorrow and and produce
this repentance. We see the marks of that in
verse 11 and and these were actions over time that were
demonstrated in their life. A new course had been set and
was evident in these things. Look at the words used, He says
what diligence there is a a seriousness in them now about
dealing with sin and there was a desire to deal with it
immediately. Now what eagerness to clear
yourselves, He writes of you know, true repentance doesn't
say maybe I'll I mean, I'll get to it, but but not now, not you
know, next year is is good. We'll take care of it then.
True repentance says this. No, it's wrong.
I'm going to deal with it now and and there's a finality and a
certainty, no matter the cost to it.
What indignation he writes of of them that they've been angry at
sin and and at themselves for giving into it.
He says what fear and and this was a a healthy fear of of the
consequences of a fear of what could be lost, a fear of God and
of judgement to come. Should they not change and
repent. What then?
He says vehement desire. Now within them there was a
longing that that drove, that motivated them to be right with
God and to do the right thing and true repentance and worked
out this, this strong longing for them to know God more and to
be right with God as a consequence.
And I brought out now what he says, what zeal, the Greek word
there actually speaks of heat. It was like they were on fire.
Now for God to do the right thing, we might say that person
is on fire. They had become zealous for
righteousness and, you know, effectively running around
telling their friends of how great God is and here's what
he's done in our lives and here's what he's doing in our
midst. And then he says, what
vindication, a desire for them now to right the wrongs
committed to recompense. Now I'm I'm glad that Paul lays
those things out for us in verse 11 because he really clears up
any confusion about did they or didn't they repent?
You know, many times we kind of wonder that about people.
We've seen tears and is this like the the whistle of that,
that boat going up the Mississippi River?
You know, there seems to be a great show.
But what what will really be the determination of where the true
repentance is set in is the actions to follow, the lifestyle
they're after. And for them, they had truly
repented. So true repentance looks like
this. There's a seriousness about
dealing with sin, not procrastinating a desire to deal
with it now, and anger and a brokenness not over being
caught, but over the sin and, and the damage that it produced.
And there's a healthy fear of that if it's not dealt with.
And it could. Continue what might be the
consequences of that as as judgement might come.
And then a strong desire coupled with zeal to be right with God,
to get close to, to God, and a desire to do the right thing and
to right the wrong now. So that's the, the heart of the
apostle number one, that we've looked at the hallmark of
repentance #2 and let's finish now with the harmony of
reconciliation. Again, verse 12.
We've read it already, but back through to the end of the
chapter. Therefore, although I wrote to
you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the
wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that our
care for you in the sight of God might appear to you.
Therefore we have been comforted in your comfort, and we rejoice
exceedingly more for the joy of Titus, because his Spirit has
been refreshed by you all. For if in anything I have
boasted to him about you, I'm not ashamed.
But as we spoke all things to you in truth, Even so our
boasting to Titus was found true, and his affections are
greater for you, as he remembers the obedience of you all.
How with fear and trembling you received him.
Therefore I rejoice. I have confidence in you in
everything. The chapter ends in joy and it's
been pretty intense. It threw a lot of First
Corinthians into Second Corinthians.
But Paul here, he writes by this we're encouraged verse 13.
Now the purpose of the letter is declared in verse 12.
The encouragement that Titus brought in verse 13 to 14 and
and Paul's reassurance now that comes through the joy of
reconciliation and connection with them.
Titus had been refreshed by the Corinthians.
Paul was glad that he hadn't exaggerated his confidence in
them. And then now there's
reconciliation restored joy to all parties concerned Paul he'd
he'd been excited because the letter he wrote to them causing
godly sorrow led to repentance and now he's ending paragraph in
the verses we just read highlights for us I think 4
important things about confrontation that we might have
that leads to reconciliation. Verse 12, the motivation, the
purpose of it was the spiritual well being of the people.
And then there's a persistent secondly, verse 13, you get this
sense that Paul never gave up on the Corinthian church.
Like man, I've tried this, I've tried that enough already.
I'm done with them. Remember he had visited them in
person. He'd written letters at least
two. And then finally the
breakthrough that Titus comes back with the news now and then
therefore he's wrapped with the news that Titus brings back to
him with the meeting that Titus had with the church in Corinth.
And he's refreshed by the response that Titus brings and
he's excited by this response. The third thing we see in verse
14 is there's this kind of benevolence that a positivity
that Paul has towards the Corinthians.
And what I mean by that is this in public, Paul, it seemed
focused on the positives about the Corinthians.
Paul says, when I talked to Titus about you guys, here's
what I did. I boasted about you guys.
You see that in verse 14. It's like I talked you guys up,
I celebrated you. I I told him how great you are.
How about the love that you have for the Lord about the work that
God's doing in in the midst. And Paul says, I, I wasn't
lying, but I chose to focus on to dwell on the good stuff.
You know, if you have to deal with someone, here's a good
thing to learn from Paul in that don't make it everybody else's
business, man. You don't believe what I'm
having to sort out. And so and so right now.
Oh, what did they do? Let me tell you.
And we go through and just, you know, unveil everything in in
all of its gory details, right? Paul didn't do that.
He he boasted about them and and Titus was the deliverer of the
message And and I wonder until it was open and read before them
whether he even knew the contents of the letter.
That's what Paul really then hopeful is the last in verses 15
to 16, confidence in you and everything in giving them the
benefit of the doubt that they would receive it and respond to
it and repent and there would be a a sweetness of restoration
again of fellowship. So the big picture is the
pattern of the gospel here in these verses of, of
relationships that we enjoy in that, that, yeah, confrontation
might be a part of it, sorrow. But if there's repentance and
godly repentance that's out of it, then reconciliation and joy
as a part of that. And it actually mirrors the
gospel itself in that the conviction of sin that we have
before God of, of the repentance in, in turning towards him of
the restoration and the fellowship that we experience
now with the holy, righteous God because of who he is and what he
has done. So Paul's story with the
Corinthians here in this chapter is actually our story with God.
We have sinned and he has confronted us through his Word,
and that confrontation produces sorrow.
But in Christ, sorrow leads to repentance, repentance leads to
forgiveness, and forgiveness leads to reconciliation and joy.
So the heart of the apostle, as we looked at it in those verses,
shows that correction must flow from love and integrity.
And the hallmarks of repentance remind us that true repentance
is more than tears. It's change, it's
transformation. Then that finally that the
harmony of reconciliation displays the the joy and the
confidence that follow godly sorrow.
John Newton, he wrote Amazing Grace.
He knew about godly sorrow that brought about repentance and
reconciliation with the holy righteous God.
He said I am not what I ought to be.
I'm not what I wish to be. I'm not what I hope to be, but
by the grace of God, I am not what I once was.
That's the journey of repentance.
That's the journey of grace at work in US.
And so again, godly sorrow isn't the end, it's the pathway to
joy. Don't stop at tears.
Let sorrow lead you on to repentance.
Let repentance lead you on to reconciliation, and
reconciliation lead you on to life in Christ.