"Godly Sorrow That Leads to Life" | 2 Corinthians 7:2-16 | Sunday Evening

And let's open his word now to the book of Second Corinthians,

2 Corinthians 7 · chapter mention

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

2 Corinthians 7 · chapter mention

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.

Galatians 4:11

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,

Matthew 26:50

why have you come? And when Peter stood in the

courtyard denying that he even knew Jesus, it tells us in Luke

Luke 22:61

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.