2 Corinthians chapter 7, let's begin reading in verse 8. Brethren, this is the Holy Word of God. For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent, for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance. For ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of. But the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort. 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 things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. Amen. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his precious word this morning. Brethren, by God's mercy, we have seen that the Bible teaches that there are two elements in conversion. Repentance and faith. This is why Paul describes his own ministry as testifying both to the Jews and to the Greeks. Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance is a theme found throughout the scripture. And while the idea of repentance certainly carries an element of regret or remorse, the primary emphasis of the biblical writers is not the emotional aspect, but the change of mind that leads to a change of action. Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of action, a change of lifestyle. So repentance means that we think differently about God and Christ, about ourselves and sin, and about the way we live. In light of this, it follows that repentance is a necessity because Jesus commanded it and because man is a sinner. Jesus said he came to call sinners to repentance. There is therefore no salvation apart from godly, biblical, holy Spirit-inspired repentance. This is why, or I should say this is made obvious by the fact that John the Baptist, Jesus himself, and his apostles all called men to repent. Furthermore, we've seen that repentance and faith always go together. One does not exist without the other. And this is why the Bible sometimes mentions only one without the other. As we've seen in numerous passages, there are times when repentance is mentioned and not a word about faith. Other times when believing and faith are mentioned and not a breath of repentance. But they are not two entirely different things experienced in entirely different times. They are two elements joined together. Two sides of one coin that are always together in the hearts of those who are born of God's Spirit. Repentance is a turning from, and faith is the turning to. We look away from ourselves, and we look into the saving mercy of God in Christ Jesus. We've also seen that repentance is a gracious gift from God, just as is faith. We can neither look to nor rest in our repentance, because that's vanity and legalism. May God strip each and every one of you that falls into the error of trusting in your repentance, or even trusting in your faith. The object of our faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. Always and only we turn from our sins, repenting, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ alone by faith. These things always go together and are a gracious gift of the regenerating power of God's Holy Spirit. Now finally in our last two messages we pause from our studies in repentance to consider the meaning and the content of the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ said in Mark chapter 1 verse 15, repent ye, repent ye and believe the gospel. The biblical evidence leads us to conclude that the gospel is the good news of God's gracious purpose in saving sinners through the person and work of Jesus Christ, the God-man. Evangelism is declaring the evangel, it is proclaiming the message that God has authorized. We are not to change it or modify it. There are certain things that are always part and parcel to preaching the gospel, and we considered those in our last two messages. First, God's revelation shows us that the gospel is the message, or is a message, about God, His holiness, His justice, and His grace. It's a message about man and his sin. It is a message about the God-man Jesus Christ. His life, His death, His resurrection on behalf of lost and dying sinners. And it is a call, a call, a summons to repentance and faith in the resurrected Lord of Glory. Brethren, when we take and declare these truths for the purpose of men's souls being converted to the Most High God, then we are evangelizing. Then we are preaching the Gospel. Now with this passage, in 2 Corinthians before us, we return to our consideration of the crucial doctrine of repentance. Having strongly reproved the Corinthians in his first epistle for their sinful immaturity and their disorderly behavior as saints of God, Paul finds great relief in the context here in hearing from Titus that the severe epistle, the severe letter that he wrote, 1 Corinthians, was used of God to lead the Corinthians to repent. He was concerned. He was in anguish, having written such strong and bold language toward them. He was somewhat apprehensive. until Titus came and told him what wonderful use the Lord had made of his epistle, bringing them to repentance. This turns Paul's heart to great joy. So by carefully looking at this passage, we may once again be instructed regarding the doctrine of repentance. The title of this message is, Godly Sorrow Forketh Repentance. We will consider it, God willing, under these three heads. Number one, repentance and sorrow. Number two, repentance and continuance. Number three, repentance and its fruits. repentance and sorrow, repentance and continuance, repentance and its fruits. So, God willing, we want to consider first repentance and sorrow. As I just said, 1 Corinthians had been a powerful corrective in which the Apostle had used strong, sometimes severe language. Those who oversee God's precious flock are sometimes constrained by God's wise providence to use strong measures and language to correct God's people. Those that are truly God's elders, truly God's pastors, always find this a painful and a difficult thing to do. Just as it is painful for the loving father to chasten a beloved child, it is vital, necessary, and that father's responsibility. So it is with the elders in God's churches. A true pastor can never take pleasure in stringent corrective measures. He never takes pleasure in rebuking someone. But if God is pleased to use his feeble and sometimes stumbling efforts, then the results of those efforts bring much pleasure. Not the effort itself, not the reproof, but the fruit that the reproof brings. And such is the case here with Paul. Look with me at verse 8. For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent. Now what does he mean by that? Perhaps you've read that over the years and found that a little difficult to understand. What he is saying is, though I regretted having to write with such strong language, stinging rebuke, and difficult demands, I now rejoice because that letter made you sorry for a while. Don't mistake my intentions, he's getting at here. I do not rejoice merely at the thought of your sorrow. but that God used my letter to grieve you, humble you, and lead you to repentance. So, when I wrote it, Paul says, I regretted I was full of remorse having to do this. But having heard from Titus, that you have repented of your sin, I do not. regret it at all. Now this leads us to consider the Apostle's next statement, you were made sorry after a godly manner. Now what does he mean by this? You were made sorry after a godly manner. Well, What the Apostle is doing is drawing for us an eternally significant distinction between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. You don't have to be a Christian to grieve. You don't have to be a Christian to be distressed. But there is an eternal difference But don't miss this. There is an eternal difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. And this is what Paul is setting before us. What he is saying is that, though I regretted having to write with you in such strong language here, God has used it to bring you to what is called godly sorrow, or what Paul refers to as sorrow according to God. The word sorrow isn't unfamiliar to us, is it? We all understand the idea of grief, of distress, sorrowing. So how does godly sorrow differ from worldly sorrow. Well, the words translated, godly sorrow, literally mean according to God. He says, you suffered, you were wounded, you grieved according to God. According to God's will is what that means. God has a way that He approves when men sorrow. There is a sorrow that actually is something according in harmony with his will. What could that possibly be? If he's a God of love, if he's a God of mercy, if he's a God of grace, why in the world would he want us to sorrow? Brethren, when we talk about sorrowing according to God's will, what we mean is that when the Spirit of God takes His sword of the Word and cuts deeply into the heart of one of God's beloved children, it is for this purpose. God loves him and desires to bring him to think differently about what he's doing. and how He's living, and tragically in our sinful and wicked state, the Lord must at times resort to stringent and powerful methods of wounding us, not because He receives any pleasure from wounding, but because it alerts, it awakens us to our sinfulness and our wickedness. Brethren, we are blind to how wicked we are. I mean, I know people that walk around moaning and groaning, going, oh, what a wretched sinner I am, oh, what a wicked sinner I am, and all you have to do is watch them closely enough, and sooner or later, something will pop up that shows that there's still pride in their lives, there's still a constant temptation in their lives. There's still sin with their tongues, sin with their minds. And because we mourn a little bit, or because we go to a church that preaches the doctrines of grace, it makes us a little bit better, I guess, than the folks down the street, right? We're a little more holy, a little more righteous. Well, it's about that time. We need the Holy Spirit's Word to pierce our hearts. and make us realize what we're made of. Make us realize that according to the will of God, we're in rebellion against our God. We're shaming Him. We're bringing wickedness upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, infamy. And very often these are things that just go on right under our roofs, or in our workplace. The way we speak to our wives, or to our children, or to our husbands, or the way we deal with someone at work when they err. They begin to look down. What's the matter? Are you some kind of idiot? What's going on here? We tend to become insensitive in our sins, hardened. and we can speak and think and do things, but we don't realize our grieving, not only the Holy Spirit, but God's dear children, and bringing wretched testimony to the holy name of Christ. It is about that time we need, in God's mercy, for His Word to cut deep and bring us to sorrow. There's no merit in sorrow. We need to get that clear. The sorrow is an expression that you understand that you are sinning against a holy God. That He is not worthy that you should live and act the way you are. When you see God from His Holy Word, and by the power of His Holy Spirit, When you see His holiness, His goodness, His righteousness, His purity, His gentleness, His kindness, and then you realize that you're sinning against Him. And when that Word comes home, doesn't it wounds? It's a sign of God's ever-awakening work in His children. That godly sorrow, that sorrow that's in accord with God's will is a sign of life. The world doesn't want to be sad. The world doesn't want to be sorrowful. The world wants a party all the time. The world wants a silly grin plastered on people's faces all the time. But the child of God can actually rejoice before His God. The tears of sorrow run from His eye. When it's the sorrow of this soul, when the Spirit brings home that we're sinning against a good and a wise and a holy God. Are you a stranger to this? Is this foreign language? Oh, if you are, it means you're a stranger to Christ. Sad to say, even among the Lord's children, we'll repent, and it's not very long before we've forgotten and gone back to some of our old weak and foolish and limited ways of thinking. And if we do not seek God's face constantly in His Word, looking in the mirror of God's holy scripture. It's generally not very long before he has to send a Nathan to us to say, Thou art the man. That's why Paul says if we would judge ourselves, we wouldn't have to be judged. Brethren, This is a vital issue. You see, this is the very counsel that Paul himself gave to Titus, his beloved son in the faith. In Titus chapter 1 verse 5 and 6 he says, One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Christians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. Now how would modern American culture finish that? Well, they would have had Paul repenting or reproving anyone who would have written something like that. It would have hurt somebody's feelings. But under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul says, this testimony, or this witness, is true. I've been among them. They're liars! We want to cover our ears and run and say, oh, it's bad to talk about people like that. It's bad to talk about people like that when you are sinfully enjoying pointing out people's weaknesses, thinking somehow or another you're immune to any and every wicked thing anyone else can do. But when we're sizing up character, brethren, according to the Word of God, with grace and salt, we have to speak the truth. Paul said, these people are liars. They're evil beasts. They're gluttons. They live for their bellies and their eating. It's true. So what does he tell Titus to do? Well, call them names, make them feel really bad about themselves. No, that's not what he says. He says, rebuke them sharply. And the word sharply there means cutting down at the core. Rebuke them sharply. Why? that they may be sound in the faith. Those that are liars are not representing the faith of Jesus Christ. Those that live like evil beasts are not bringing glory to the name of the Savior they profess to love and serve. Those that live for their bellies and their desires are not bringing glory to Jesus Christ! As a father in the faith, as one susceptible to all the weaknesses of the flesh, Titus loved them and rebuked them sharply, that they might be whole, healthy, that's what sound means, in the faith. Now this doesn't mean with everything you say. It doesn't mean every time you see them. but win by God's Spirit and the application of wisdom. You find it necessary for their well-being. You can't say you love them if you don't tell them the truth. If you've got to do it standing there stammering and trembling, do it! If the Spirit of God is about them, They will eventually walk in harmony with the Word of God. Why? Because they will sorrow unto repentance. That's a godly sorrow. They'll recognize the truth and they'll believe the healing Christ. And a man that will not He proves himself not only unwise, because the scripture says the wise man loveth reproof, it's likely pointing to the fact that he's unregenerate. Godly sorrow is a goal that God works. to bring an erring or wandering child to recognize his fault and to repent, to change his mind and turn in faith to the Lord Jesus. The sword of God's Word is not wielded by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of maiming and mutilating and in some wicked way, hurting God's beloved children. It is an act of God's love, mercy, and kindness to bring him to think differently. To bring him to think differently! so that he will finally act differently. This is the meaning of godly sorrow, and the work of godly sorrow is enunciated this way. I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, he says, but that ye sorrowed to repentance. You sorrowed to repentance. There's a motion here. There's a moving from here to there. From sorrow to repentance. Godly sorrow is that frame of heart that means God has brought one of his dear children to see his wickedness, which grieves that beloved child. and humbles that beloved child of God, wounds Him. And then, He confesses His sin, and with a wholehearted love for Christ, who loved Him first, turns His eyes upon His Lord. The work of godly sorrow will drive him to the Savior. Will drive him to his advocate. Will drive him to the propitiation. Will drive him to the blood. It washes away all of his filthy and vile sins. Cleansing him. The work of godly sorrow sees the abomination of its sin, and turns the heart to embrace the promises of a precious and blessed Savior. Those of us who have had more than one child know that your children are capable, each of them, of a very different reaction to the proof that they receive Brethren, you know there are times when there's that one you've got and you can discipline them, you can correct them, you can wear the rod out on them and it just doesn't seem to do anything. But then there are those that when you bring that rod upon them and they know your displeasure, they crawl up in your lap and they hold you around the neck. Why? They know That the hand that smoked them, loves them. And they realized that by their actions, they had separated themselves from the fellowship and the love that they knew. And they cleave with all their might to the one who holds the rod. This is the work of godly sorrow. The heart of God's dear child will feel the sense of his sin and turn to the one who has lovingly brought that chastening. It will cleave to him with all of his heart. I say to you children, when your mother and your father bring that chastening hand upon you, do you get stiffer? Or do you repent? Do you become angry? Or do you grieve that you have grieved your parents? your own rebellions against God when your reaction stiffens. Realize that their chastening hand is there as the last effort to awaken you Godly sorrow is a work of God. It is according to His will, and it brings a blessed, peaceable fruit of cleaving to God. This is what Paul was hoping. He didn't have a phone that he could pick up. some way he could send smoke signals to find out what was going on in Corinth. He'd heard about the abominations that were going on, and he had to write, and he had to deal with the wickedness that no doubt broke his heart. Surely it made him angry. Surely it grieved him. But he knew, he knew that what had to be done was absolutely vital. So he wrote to them. Just one example of it. 1 Corinthians 5, he says, there's something happening there I can't believe. He says, there's a sin in your midst that is so wicked that the pagans don't practice this. There's a man there who's got his father's wife. He didn't say, well now, you know, you're probably doing this because of the way mom and dad raised you. You're probably doing this because you've had a bad week. You're a little cranky today. All the excuses we make for our wretched behavior. He said, you're sinning against God. That man is sinning against God. Put him out of the congregation for your well-being. for His well-being and for the glory of Jesus Christ. Brethren, if you've never had to do that, you don't know how hard that is. That's severe talk. Godly sorrow is what Paul was hoping for. He wasn't just trying to jump down somebody's throat. He wasn't just trying to get on somebody's back. He was trying to wake up people that profess to be children of God to something that was there in their midst! And he couldn't believe it. The thing he was, I'm sure, pleading and hoping before God wouldn't happen would be worldly sorrow. What's that? Well, worldly sorrow is the kind of grief experienced by those who are not born of God's Spirit. They weep and moan and groan because their sins make them miserable. And they're tired of the misery. They're destroying their bodies. They've destroyed their marriages. They're ruining their children. They're destroying all of their friendships. They've lost their jobs. They've lost count of how many times they've had to say to somebody, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And they're groaning and they moan and they're really sorry. but not for the right reason. And they can sit, big old tears, rolling off their cheeks, off their chins, oh, I'll never do it again, I'm sorry, it's just bad and wicked, and yet they go right on. They weep because their pride has been torn, injured. They weep because they've suffered sorrow, shame, disgrace, loss. They fear the coming pain of judgment. They fear the coming consequences of their sins. But it's all self-centered sorrow. It wells up from within, and it can terrify them, and it can leave them crumpled heap on the floor. And yet, it never turns them away from their sin to Christ. They just feel bad. And brethren, that's one of the great tragedies in the way modern America thinks sinners are saved. Preacher gets up and preaches long and hard enough and stomps and thumps. Do people go away feeling bad? Well, then they feel better because they felt bad about themselves. And they must have had a wonderful religious experience. Not if it doesn't turn you to Christ! If it doesn't turn you to the living Savior! It's all self-centered. That's worldly sorrow. And it damns Sometimes it's hard to tell them apart, worldly sorrow and godly sorrow, for a time. But they eventually bear a different fruit. The flower is different when it finally comes out of that bud. The work of worldly sorrow is death. We see it in Esau. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 16 said that Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright, For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, and he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears." That is a great controversy here among commentators as to whether this repentance was toward God or toward his father. I think the context points toward his father. Oh, what have I done? What have I done? I've lost the birthright. I was the firstborn. It was all mine. And now it's gone. It's gone. I can't believe it. I'm so stupid. We start beating ourselves up. It's so bad. And he pleaded, Oh Father, Oh Father, don't you have one more blessing? Do you only have one blessing? He sought it carefully with tears. But it was a self-centered, worldly sorrow. It did not lead him to life. Brethren, I hope that is not the confession of some of you. But if it is, you need to realize where you sit just because you feel bad about what you've done. Just because you get a glimpse of what a wretch you really are, doesn't necessarily mean that with all of that shaking and trembling, you for a moment have, in your heart, changed your mind about that sin and turned to Christ, Jesus the Lord. Judas is yet another example. Matthew chapter 27, verse 3. says, then Judas, which had betrayed him, the holy son of God, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself and brought again the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priest and the elders. There was a change of mind, wasn't there? He was full of regret. He was full of remorse. He had walked with Jesus day in and day out. He'd been his companion. He kept the bag. He was the treasurer of the disciples, so to speak. He saw the Lord Jesus Christ raise the dead, heal the sick, do remarkable things, unbelievable things, unforgettable things. He heard the Sermon on the Mount. He heard the glorious words that graciously poured forth from the incarnate Son of God. And when he realized that they were going to kill him, that he had turned him over to his enemies, he felt bad about it. This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available, free and for sale, in audio, video, and printed formats. Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail order catalog, Thank you by phone at 780-450-3730 by fax at 780-468-1096 or by mail at 4710-37A Edmonton Alberta, abbreviated capital A, capital B, Canada, T6L3T5. You may also request a free printed catalog. And remember that John Kelvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since He condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying his word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.