2 Corinthians 7:8

Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. I speak not this to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die and live with you. Great is my boldness of speech toward you; great is my glorying of you. I am filled with comfort; I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.

For when we were coming to Macedonia, our flesh had no rest. We were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. Nevertheless, God, who comforts those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus. And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, and your fervent mind toward me, so that I rejoiced the more.

For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent. Though I did repent, for I perceived that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it was but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you sorrowed to repentance. For you were made sorry after a godly manner, that you might receive damage by us in nothing.

For godly sorrow works repentance unto salvation, not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world works death. For behold, this selfsame thing, that you sorrowed after godly sorrow, what carefulness it wrought in you! Yea, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, what revenge! In all things you have approved yourselves to be clear in this manner.

Father, we ask as we open your Word that you would give us wisdom. Just as you spoke through the Apostle James, if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of you, Lord. We do come before you now and we ask that you would guide and direct us by your Spirit.

As we study Your Word, it's our desire, Lord, that we would be transformed by the renewing of our minds. When we leave this place later today, we want to leave different than we came in. So, God, work in us by Your Word and by Your Spirit, we pray for this. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen. You can be seated.

It was the defining news story of 1998. No, not my graduation from high school, although that was newsworthy to someone, but rather a scandal in the White House. On January 17th of 1998, a little-known independent news website called the Drudge Report broke a story that would forever catapult it into fame—a story that the upper management of Newsweek magazine had killed. The story surrounded allegations of an improper, intimate relationship between the sitting President of the United States, Bill Clinton, and a 23-year-old White House intern.

Twelve months later, the 42nd President of the United States was impeached by the House of Representatives on the charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. In the middle of that scandal, in August of 1998, a shamed president appeared on primetime TV on every major channel with a message in which he humbly admitted, "I misled people." How many of you remember that year? Some considered that four-minute message a sign of genuine penance, while others called it political expediency.

Every time I think about that news story and that presidential scandal of 1998, I'm reminded of the teaching we have here before us in 2 Corinthians chapter 7, specifically verses 8 through 10. Direct your attention there if you would. Here, Paul contrasts two different kinds of sorrow. Verse 8 states, "For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, or I do not regret it. Though I did regret it, for I perceived that the same letter or epistle has made you sorry."

Though it were but for a season, I rejoice not that you were made sorry, but that you sorrowed to repentance. For you were made sorry after a godly manner that you might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow works repentance unto salvation, not to be regretted or repented of. But the sorrow of the world produces death.

So Paul says, though I made you sorry by a letter, a reminder by way of context is definitely appropriate as we look at this passage to bring us back to just what was happening there with the Apostle Paul. The relationship between Paul and the church at Corinth was an interesting one. Paul had planted the church at Corinth and he had spent 18 months among them, pastoring and serving with them.

Upon Paul's departure from Corinth, opposition to his ministry arose within the church. There were questions concerning decent behavior for Christians, and Paul addressed those questions in letters that he wrote to the church there between himself and the Corinthian believers. As he wrote these letters and as various people would come and visit the church from other places, divisions began to develop within the body of believers at Corinth.

Some people were speaking against the ministry of Paul, and there was a revolt against his leadership. This revolt had to do in large part with the personality cults that developed within the church. Some people were saying, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or Peter. Then there were the steadfast ones who claimed, "We are of Jesus." They did not know who the others were of, but they were of Jesus.

There were problems not only due to divisions according to the various personalities of people who came and ministered at that church, but also because of sin that had crept into the church. There were divorces happening and immorality within the body. During Paul's third missionary journey, while he was staying in the city of Ephesus, where God was doing wonderful works, he was there for nearly three years. Paul had to make a special visit to the city of Corinth because of these problems.

That visit was heavy and sorrowful for Paul. He had to rebuke some people and try to set things in order in the church. When he left the church at Corinth after that second visit, he did so with a heart saying, "I'm not doing this again." Can any of you relate to that? Perhaps you've had a visit with some family members, and as you're leaving that holiday, you say, "Never again will we do that."

That's what happened to Paul. He left the city of Corinth after that short meeting, saying that if this is what it means when they get together, they would not be getting together again. He resolved not to return in sorrow or heaviness.

As he returned to the city of Ephesus, Paul wrote a letter. He had a terribly heavy heart about what had happened, so he wrote a challenging letter to the Corinthians, a letter that we do not have today in our Bibles. We don't know why we don't have it, but for some reason, God willed that we would not possess it. I think this has to do with the severity with which Paul wrote to the church. It was a very clear and open rebuke. He tells us that he wrote it with a heavy heart.

That letter was carried by the hand of Titus to the church at Corinth. While Paul stayed in Ephesus and planned another visit, he instructed Titus to take this letter to them and let them know that after they received it, he would come to visit. He hoped that by then, things would be set in order.

With this in mind, I want us to backtrack for a moment to chapter two. Turn in your Bibles to Second Corinthians chapter two, and keep a finger in chapter seven because we will return to it shortly.

In Second Corinthians chapter two, beginning at verse one, Paul says, "But I determined this with myself. I made a decision in my own heart that I would not come again unto you in heaviness." This was after his sorrowful trip and after he had written that letter to them and sent Titus. He states, "I just made a decision. I'm not doing that again."

In verse two, he continues, "For if I make you sorry or I make you sorrowful, who is it then that makes me glad? But the same which is made sorrowful by me." I want you to note how many times he uses this theme.

This word made sorrowful or sorry here in this passage. If I make you sorrowful, then who is it that makes me glad? The same one who made me sorrowful. I wrote this same to you, lest when I came, I should have sorrow from those whom I ought to rejoice. I have confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. Out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote unto you with many tears, not that you should be made sorrowful or grieved, but that you might know the love which I have more abundantly for you.

Furthermore, when I came to Troas, after I left Ephesus, I was on my way to Corinth. When I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, a door was opened unto me of the Lord. However, I had no rest in my spirit because I found not Titus, my brother. Taking my leave of them, I went from there to Macedonia.

So we get the picture. Paul says, "I wrote you a letter and I sent that letter to you by the hand of Titus. I didn't want to cause you grief; I didn't want to cause you any more sorrow, but I needed to write this letter." As I did, I wrote it with many tears. Then I left Ephesus and went north to Troas, on my way into Macedonia and ultimately down to Corinth.

Now turn back to chapter seven, Second Corinthians chapter seven, and focus on verse five. In verse 13 of chapter two, we see Paul leaving Troas to go to Macedonia because he hasn't found Titus. He has a heavy heart.

Look at verse five of Second Corinthians seven. "For when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Without were fightings, within were fears." Nevertheless, God, who comforts those that are cast down or depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus. Not by his coming only, but by the comfort wherewith he was comforted in or of you. When he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me, I rejoiced the more.

For though I made you sorrowful with a letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. I perceive that the same epistle has made you sorrowful, though it were but for a season. But now I rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you sorrowed unto repentance. For godly sorrow, sorrow after a godly manner, leads you to receive no damage from us.

For godly sorrow works repentance unto salvation, not to be regretted or repented of. But the sorrow of this world works death. Twelve times in the verses I just read, Paul uses the noun "sorrow" or the verb "to make sorrowful." He says, "I didn't want to make you sorrowful, but I had to make you sorrowful by writing this heavy letter to you, which caused you great sorrow."

Paul expresses that he is not happy about making them sorrowful, yet he rejoices in it. He made the decision not to come to them with a heavy heart to cause them sorrow because he does not want to make them feel regret. It is not his joy, and he is not excited about making them depressed. It would be a pretty twisted thing if he were happy to make them feel that way, don’t you think?

However, because of their sin, he wrote a sorrowful letter that caused them sorrow. He wrote that letter with a heart of great anguish and with many tears. One commentator noted that Paul's sorrowful letter was written not with ink but with tears. For a time, Paul regretted writing it because it is not his goal to make them feel heavy.

Have you ever had an interaction with someone where you had to rebuke them? You had to challenge them or discipline them for their behavior or speech. Afterwards, did you ever regret it? Did you question yourself, wondering if you were too hard or if it was too much? When Paul wrote that letter and instructed Titus to carry it to Corinth, he experienced a time of great regret and depression. He was back and forth, wondering if he had been too heavy-handed with them or if the rebuke was too much.

In those days, they did not have text messages, so when Titus arrived in Corinth, he could not reassure Paul that everything was okay. It could have been weeks or months between the time Paul sent Titus to Corinth and when they finally met again. During that time, Paul was filled with doubt, thinking, "Oh man, maybe I shouldn't have written such a hard thing to them." He was literally depressed.

In chapter 7, he mentions that those who are downcast are comforted by God. He was indeed depressed, but God, who comforts depressed people, comforted Paul through the coming of Titus when he arrived from Corinth to Macedonia.

In this passage, Paul is expressing his anguish over causing grief. It was not his plan or aim to cause sorrow. In fact, it caused him great sorrow himself to point these things out. However, his brief sorrow turned to joy over their brief sorrow, which produced repentance. That was the goal; that was the aim.

It is important to note that Paul found no joy or pleasure in having to rebuke sinful behavior. In fact, it depressed him to do so. I mention this because there are some in the world who derive a strange, morbid pleasure from causing or observing the pain of others. Have you ever come into contact with anyone like that? I had some teachers in high school who seemed to enjoy making life miserable. Have you ever met anyone like that?

The reality is that every single one of us is capable of such behavior. Apart from Jesus Christ, we may actually enjoy seeing others in pain, especially if we are not being pained ourselves. There are those we might call tyrannical authoritarians who take pleasure in crushing others through rebuke. They seem to derive satisfaction from rebuking people and are often compassionless megalomaniacs.

In contrast, it is the heart of a loving parent, one filled with compassion, that is pained when they must cause pain for the sake of discipline. The reluctant disciplinarian is the one who disciplines with a compassionate heart.

How many parents are here today? Raise your hand if you are a parent. Most people in this room are parents. Every loving parent has thought or uttered those seemingly paradoxical words that every child balks at: "This hurts me more than it hurts you."

Any of you remember hearing that as a child? How many of you believed it as a child? I mean, you hear that coming out of the mouth of your mom or your dad as they're disciplining you: "This hurts me more than it hurts you." And I say to myself, "What, is your hand hurt?" Because I'm not thinking that it hurt you near as much as it hurt me. You can't be serious.

Then you become a parent, and as you're saying it, you're thinking, "Oh my goodness, I've become my dad." "This hurts me more than it hurts you." You only really understand the reality of that when you are charged with disciplining your own child. There is a compassion, a heart of love there that God builds in. If that's not there and you discipline out of anger and enjoy it in some way, that's what we call abuse. But for a loving parent, when they discipline, it truly does hurt them at the core.

Paul considered himself a parent to the church at Corinth, the church at Philippi, and Thessalonica. All these churches that he was involved with—their birth, their establishment—he looked at them as if they were his own kids. Rebuking them was not something that he enjoyed, and I believe that it reveals the heart of God. Know for certain that God is pained by the need to judge. We can see that in the Scriptures.

Turn in your Bibles to the Old Testament, to the book of Ezekiel. Turn to about the middle of your Bible; you'll be in the Psalms, and then go to Ezekiel, right after Jeremiah and Lamentations. Look at Ezekiel 18.

A little background as you're turning there: The prophet Ezekiel lived about 2,500 years ago. When he lived, he was a captive, an exile in the land of Babylon. The children of Israel had been exiled from their promised land because of their sin. God was in the process of judging them. They were being disciplined because of their own sin, and now they were hundreds of miles from their homeland. They were there as prisoners of war, as slaves, in Babylon, and they were under judgment, under discipline.

Now, every child that is under discipline, in the midst of discipline, does not like it, do they? They despise it, and that's biblical. The Bible says in Hebrews that no one in the midst of chastening enjoys it. Kids will say things like, "You don't love me," right? And we find ourselves in the midst of that chastening.

Here are God's people, the nation of Israel, in the midst of judgment, thinking, "God doesn't love us. If He loved us, we wouldn't be here." This is God's word to them in Ezekiel 18, verse 23. He says to those who are under discipline, "Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord God, "and not that he should return from his ways and live?" God questions, "Do you think I enjoy this judgment that's being afflicted upon you? Do you think that I take pleasure in the death of the wicked, that he should not turn from his way?"

Well, there are probably some who, when that question was posed in Babylon as slaves, said, "Yeah, we do think that." He answers the question in verse 32, "For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies," says the Lord. "Wherefore, turn yourselves and live." God says, "I don't enjoy this; therefore, repent and be restored. I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies. Wherefore, turn, repent, and live."

It's not just in the Old Testament. In Hebrews chapter 12, verse 6, we are told, "For whom the Lord loves, He chastens; He disciplines and scourges every son He receives." It is an indication of God's love when we are disciplined by Him, although we don't think that in the moment, do we? Have any of you ever experienced the rod of discipline from God, the rebuke of the Lord perhaps through one of His people? He uses another brother or sister to rebuke you, and you know you're in the wrong. You hear it and say, "I don't like this."

"Whom the Lord loves, He chastens and scourges every son whom He receives." Now, Paul found no joy in having to rebuke the sinful behavior of those at Corinth. In fact, he was full of turmoil in the midst of this, not enjoying it and expressing, I believe, the heart of God in that turmoil and anguish.

But he did so out of necessity. Again, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 11 states, "Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."

Any of you here this morning been exercised by discipline? Not just the Lord, but also by the discipline of your parents. God is the one who instituted that father-child and mother-child relationship. Some, more than others, have been disciplined, and you've experienced the exercising of being disciplined. The purpose of it is to produce good fruit. The desire of chastening is always that it would yield good fruit, that it would produce a sorrow according to the will of God—a sorrow in a godly manner.

Paul says here in this passage that you sorrowed. In Second Corinthians chapter seven, he notes that you sorrowed unto repentance. Paul rejoiced in their sorrow, not because he enjoyed their sorrow, but because he enjoyed the fruit of their sorrow. He appreciated what came from it, for they sorrowed unto repentance after a godly manner. There is no joy in sin, and there is no joy in sorrow, but there is joy and rejoicing in sorrow over sin that produces repentance. Amen. We don't enjoy sorrow, but we enjoy the sorrow over sin that produces repentance.

Paul visited Corinth during his stay in Ephesus and was sorrowful after that heavy visit. The ensuing letter was a sorrowful letter to write. He wrote it with anguish and many tears, filled with pain and sorrow for the Corinthians when they received it. The letter that he wrote to them reminds me of the Psalm, Psalm 126, verse five, where the psalmist says, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."

So Paul wrote it in tears; he sowed it in tears. But then the result brought great joy. The psalmist goes on to say, "He that goes forth and weeps bearing precious seeds shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing in his sheaves with him."

There are two kinds of sorrow here in this passage that Paul contrasts.

There is an interesting contrast between the two. Look at Second Corinthians, chapter seven, verse ten. Paul identifies them here: "For godly sorrow works repentance unto salvation, not to be repented of; but the sorrow of this world works death."

So, we have two kinds of sorrow. One kind results in repentance leading to salvation, while the other results in separation and death. Godly sorrow is produced by words that are bathed in compassion and received by a heart prepared by the Holy Spirit. It is important to note that godly sorrow is produced not only by the one speaking a rebuke but also by the one receiving it. The words of the one speaking need to come from a heart of love, and they must be received by a heart prepared by the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

If you are ever in a position where you are called upon by God to speak or bring a rebuke to someone else in the body of Christ, you need to do so while praying for two things. First, that God would give you, the one bringing the rebuke, a heart of compassion. Second, that God, by His Spirit, would work in the heart of the individual who will receive the word you are going to speak. Unless God works in that individual's heart, they will completely reject it. They will harden their heart, and in their hardness, they will reject the relationship between you and them, as well as what you have to say.

Because of the work that God has called me to, along with the other pastors and elders of our church, there are times when we are called upon to rebuke people. Let me tell you, I get no joy out of that calling. It’s not like I’m sitting in my office thinking, "Oh, right on! I get to call this person out on the carpet for their sin." Yes, even though Pastor Eric may look like he enjoys it, he doesn’t enjoy it either. There is turmoil in our hearts when we are brought to that point. In fact, there are many prayers prayed by pastors who love the Lord, knowing they need to rebuke someone, simply saying, "God, you can do this by Your Spirit. Just speak to them. Just right the wrong."

But there are times when a rebuke is needed. In those instances, you need to pray, "God, give me compassion so that as I speak what I'm going to say, it's from a heart of love." Lord, work in the heart of this individual that they would receive this as Your word.

What does godly sorrow look like? As Paul gives us this principle, we need to understand what exactly godly sorrow is. Look at Second Corinthians chapter seven, verse eleven, because he provides a description of it. In a sense, he defines it for us.

Second Corinthians 7:11 states, "For behold, this selfsame thing that you sorrowed after a godly sort or a godly manner." And here's what it looked like: "What carefulness it wrought or produced in you? Yes. What clearing of yourselves? Yes. What indignation? What fear? What vehement desire? What zeal? What revenge? In all things, you have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter."

So, Paul gives us seven demonstrations or seven practical applications of what godly sorrow looks like in Second Corinthians 7:11. The first one he mentions is that godly sorrow produces carefulness or diligence. Godly sorrow is careful and diligent to repent. Repent means to turn around. You've been going in one direction, and to repent is to go in another direction.

For example, when you're driving with your wife and she's been telling you for 45 minutes that you're going the wrong way, finally you agree and you have to repent. You need to turn and go in the right direction. Godly sorrow is careful. That never happens now that we have GPS, right? In 30 seconds, the nice lady says, "Recalculating."

Now, it seems like it was just an accident; you made a wrong turn, and you knew where you were going. It's no problem. However, godly sorrow is careful and diligent to repent and to maintain rightness. That's what Paul means when he says, "What carefulness it produced in you."

Number two, he says, what clearing of yourselves. Godly sorrow is diligent to clear oneself by a reasoned answer in acknowledging wrong. What is meant by this? Well, the words that are translated as "clearing of oneself" in the original language are the Greek word "apologia." What does that sound like? It sounds like the English word "apology." It's translated in other passages in the Bible, such as 2 Peter 3:15, which says to always be ready to give a defense. It's a defense.

What is meant here when he says that it produced in you a carefulness for yourself or a clearing of yourselves? The idea is that in your defense, as you're repenting, godly sorrow produces this kind of repentance. When you're giving your defense, when you're giving your apologia, your apology, you're doing so specifically for what it is that you have done.

What do I mean? Well, every single one of us has experienced this. Either we've been on the receiving end of an apology, or we ourselves are giving an apology that looks like this: we say, "Listen, I'm sorry." And the person responds, "What are you sorry for?" I'm not the only one who has had this experience. Sometimes we say, "I'm sorry for whatever it was that made you mad." Now, is that an acceptable apology? My wife says no.

When we say, "I apologize, I am sorry for..." and then fill in the blank, such as "I forgot your birthday," it immediately feels like a clearing of oneself that is acceptable. It is a diligent move to clear oneself by a reasoned answer in acknowledging the wrong. This is what I did. That's what godly sorrow does.

Number three, Paul says, what indignation? This is an interesting word to use to describe what godly sorrow looks like, but godly sorrow is indignant towards one's personal sin.

They are angered and irritated. They are vexed by their sin, not just by the consequences that their actions brought. I use the example of a former president, but we see this in politics all across our nation. I'm not singling out one political party or one individual. Every single time a politician gets called on the carpet for something they did—whether they sent a Twitter picture they shouldn't have or whatever it may be—they come out and make their apologies or defenses. It seems to me, when we see it on MSNBC or CNN, that they are more upset that they were caught than that they actually offended the law or did something wrong. They don't have indignation for the actual wrong; they have indignation for the fact that someone caught them in the wrong. If given the opportunity, they would do it again.

A godly sorrow produces an indignation towards one's personal sin. This is evidenced in the life of David in Psalm 51. Some of you may know Psalm 51, where David says, "Against you and you only have I sinned." Some of you know the backstory to Psalm 51: David had committed adultery, and the woman he had committed adultery with became pregnant. In the midst of this, he wanted to cover it up. Her husband, who was out battling against David's enemies, was brought back home. When David couldn't properly cover it up in a way that would make it look like this man got his wife pregnant, he sent him back to battle and put him in the front lines to be killed, making him complicit in the murder of this man.

To top it off, if they had had newspapers in that day, it would have been a headline story in the Jerusalem Post. It would have said, "Our wonderful king, one of his commanders is killed in battle," and he brings the widow into his palace to take care of her because no one else is there to care for her. But nobody knew that he had gotten her pregnant and that he was complicit in her husband's murder. They covered it up for a year. After a year, God sent the prophet Nathan to speak with David. Nathan, in a very tactful and wise way, spoke a story to King David, saying, "You know, there's a man in your kingdom who has everything. He's very wealthy and has all kinds of livestock."

His next-door neighbor is poor; he has very little, almost nothing. The only thing he has is one little lamb that is like a family member to him. They keep it in their house as their pet. This rich man had people come and visit him. He went to the poor man's house, took his single, solitary lamb, killed it, and set it before his guests for their meal.

Jesus said, or I'm sorry, David said, "This man shall, what, he's going to die." So David knew justice. In the midst of that, as he was still speaking, Nathan said, "You are the man." Wow. Now, what could David have done in that moment? He could have dismissed Nathan. Instead, he was broken. His brokenness is revealed in Psalm 51. I encourage you to read through Psalm 51 later this afternoon, where he recognizes, "Against you and you only have I sinned and done this wickedness." David's repentance, as chronicled in Psalm 51, is the reason why that guilt-ridden sinner is called a man after God's own heart. He was broken over his sin.

Number four, godly sorrow produces fear. Godly sorrow produces a goodly fear and reverence for God. David knew justice should be done in the situation of the story that Nathan told him: "This man shall die." So when David was extended mercy, because God spoke through the prophet Nathan after David's confession and said, "God's going to be merciful to you," David knew full well that he should be put to death. He understood that under the justice of God, he deserved punishment, and that brought him into a place of proper reverence for God.

Number five, godly sorrow, Paul says, brings a vehement desire, an earnest longing. It produces a deep longing and desire for restoration and righteousness. David, in Psalm 51, says, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation." He is longing in the depths of his heart, asking God to restore him back to righteousness once again.

Number six, Paul says, what zeal is produced? Godly sorrow restores passion and zeal for God's glory. Again, in Psalm 51, David ends the psalm saying, "I'm going to proclaim your praises to sinners." A godly sorrow causes us once again to be zealous for and passionate about God's glory.

Number seven, Paul asks, what vindication? It is an interesting word to describe godly sorrow that leads to repentance and brings salvation. He says it produces vindication or vengeance, revenge. Godly sorrow does not tolerate the continuance of sin. It is exacting and severe in dealing with sin. Just as Jesus instructed in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapter 5, verse 29, He says, "If your right eye offends you, pluck it out. For it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. If your right hand offends you, cut it off and cast it from you. For it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish and not that your whole body should be cast into hell."

So, godly sorrow produces in the person who has it an exacting severity towards sin. In contrast, Paul speaks of the sorrow of this world. What is worldly sorrow? Well, worldly sorrow may initially appear as indignation towards sin in its emotional sorrow. In fact, a person who has sorrow of this world may look visibly on the outside as if they are totally broken over their sin. We see this in the book of Genesis in the lives of Esau and Jacob. Esau, when he lost the birthright because of his own sinful foolishness, wept bitterly that he would not receive the blessing. However, the book of Hebrews says he found no place for repentance. So, visibly, he looked like he was really broken over it.

The sorrow of this world appears indignant towards sin because of emotional sorrow, but it is not zealously or passionately oriented towards God's glory.

Nor does it long for rightness with God and before man. Worldly sorrow is sorrowful only that it has been exposed, only that it has been found out. It cares little for the hurt that it has caused others but is pained only by the inconvenience and the irritation of being discovered. If the chance arose to do the same sinful thing again and there was a thought that one might escape the consequences, then it would strike fast and quick to sin again. Worldly sorrow is not over the sinfulness of an act; rather, it is over the consequences suffered for a sinful act's disclosure.

Godly sorrow produces repentance. Though I made you sorry with a letter, says Paul, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it, for I perceived that the same letter has made you sorrowful, though it was but for a season. Paul says that when he left Corinth after that heavy visit, he made a decision on his long journey back to Ephesus: "We're not doing that again. I don't want to cause these people sorrow."

However, as he got back to Ephesus, he knew that the sin in their midst was like a little bit of leaven that would leaven the whole lump. It would destroy the church. So, he wrote this letter, penned with many tears, and sent it back with Titus. The whole time Titus was gone, bringing that letter, Paul kept going back and forth, wondering if he should have written it. Maybe he shouldn't have been so severe. He regretted it, but he says, "I don't regret it any longer."

Maybe for a season it caused you to be sorrowful, but I rejoice not that you were made sorrowful, but that you sorrowed unto repentance. For you were made sorry after a godly manner, that you might receive damage by us in nothing. Godly sorrow produces repentance unto salvation. Salvation is the restoration from sin and death. Therefore, godly sorrow works repentance unto salvation, not to be repented of.

But the sorrow of this world works death. For behold, this selfsame thing that you sorrowed after a godly sort produced carefulness in you.

What clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what revenge! In all things, in all of those things, you have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. Paul says it's evidenced by your actions that you have been sorry after a godly sort.

Wherefore, in verse 12, though I wrote unto you, I did not for his cause that had done the wrong. Paul identifies that there was someone in the church, and there is speculation among Bible teachers about who this individual is. However, he states that he didn't write this letter to you just because of this sinful individual in your midst. He wrote it to you because there was a little leaven in the whole lump, and it was going to destroy you all. Nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.

I wrote this letter so that you would see my heart of love for you, even though at the time it didn't seem loving. As Paul says in Second Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 15, "Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved." For a time, as he wrote to them, it was a letter that was challenging to them. It was a rebuke to them. He wrote it from a heart of love and compassion, yet they looked at it and thought, "Well, there he goes again. Always such a hard nose, always so mean to us."

And yet Paul knows he has written out of love. Therefore, in verse 13, we were comforted in your comfort. Yes, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus because his spirit was refreshed by you all. Paul says that letter of rebuke came to you, and that letter of rebuke became a comfort.

It's an interesting thing. How many of you have read Psalm 23 before? "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." He goes on to say, "Your rod and your staff, they..." That's always been a curious thing to me. Your rod is a comfort because when I think of a rod, I think of something that would whack, like, "Come here, sheep!" But the rod is a comfort. The fact that God chastens us is an indication of His love, and it's a comfort.

For if I have boasted anything to him, in verse 14, I am not ashamed. He said, "I spoke boastfully of you in Corinth, and I am not ashamed that I have done so."

As we spoke all things to you in truth, so are our boasting, which I made before Titus, found to be true. He says, "Listen, I've spoken hard, challenging words to you. I've spoken the truth to you. When I told Titus how good and great of a church you were, I spoke truth to him. Now he's seen it with his own eyes, and his inward affection is more abundant toward you while he remembers your obedience, how with fear and trembling you received him."

I rejoice, therefore, that I have confidence in you in all things. How wonderful, Corinthians! Had Paul not penned this, written it for us, all we would have ever thought of the Corinthian church was, "Man, what a bunch of rabble rousers. What a bunch of problem children. Why would Paul even hang around with them?" Yet Paul says, "You have turned back to the Lord once again, been restored back to me once again."

So I rejoice, and I have confidence in you in all things. What a great testimony this church, which had many problems, ends up with as Paul writes of them here in this passage. We would be foolish to say that we're not a problem church. Yet, by the love of God, He disciplines us; He chastens us in some way. Sometimes we don't like it, but it is ultimately for a good purpose. Paul says, "I have great confidence in you all in all things."

What kind of confidence? Well, I believe it was this. It's what Paul wrote to the church at Philippi in Philippians chapter one, verse six: "Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus." I lean upon that verse so heavily for myself, for our church, for the children that God has given me to raise. He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.

So I say, "God, You need to perfect this in me because I'm a fool." Oh, how we need the chastening hand of the Lord, by His Spirit, by His Word, to perfect us.

In us, that good work that is well-pleasing to Him, amen? Would to God that He would do that in us.

Let's stand and pray to that end. Father, I thank You for Your good word to us. I thank You for Your great love for us. There is not a single person in this room today who is without sin, who is perfect. But God, You see us holy and blameless in Christ. You see the finished product. You know that You will be faithful to complete that work that You began in us.

We look forward to the day when we'll stand before You and hear You say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." God, work in us. If in any way we've strayed from You, if in any way we've been estranged from You because of sin, Lord, produce godly sorrow in our hearts today that results in repentance ending in salvation. Draw us by Your loving kindness, Lord.

Praise You. We thank You. In Jesus' name, amen.