Word of Salvation – Vol.43 No.17 - May 1998

Real Sorrow – or False Sorrow – for Sins

Sermon by Rev A. Esselbrugge on 2 Corinthians 7:10

Scripture Readings:  1 Samuel 26:12-24; 2 Samuel 12:1-14 2 Corinthians 7:1-11

Suggested Hymns:

BOW 135:1-4,9-10; 411; 188; 139a

Brothers and Sisters, Young People, Boys and Girls.

A preacher once asked a group of children if they knew the difference between penance and repentance and after a short silence, a little girl said, "It's like this...  Judas did penance and went and hanged himself; Peter repented and wept bitterly."

There are two ways of being sorry for sin in our lives.  Both Judas Iscariot and Simon Peter betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ.  But where the one received God's judgment and rejection, the other was received into His gracious love with open arms.  The difference between the two was their sorrow for their sins.

Two ways of being sorry for sin...  the one leads to salvation...  the other brings death.  The one leads to eternal life...  the other brings eternal death.

How do we react to sin in our lives?  How are we sorry for sin in our life?  Is our sorrow what the Bible calls godly sorrow...  or is it merely a worldly sorrow?

It's often easier for us to talk and preach about the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ than to talk about sin and God's judgment on it.  And yet, there are times when we must face the harsh reality of life and how the gospel applies to us, and be very simple and practical about it.

The apostle Paul wrote some glorious passages, under the impulse of the Holy Spirit, about how people are saved by the blood of Christ, and how, once we are declared right with God by faith, we no longer live under condemnation but are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and heaven bound.

But Paul was also able to be very blunt and to the point, as he is in the verse we are looking at today.  We need to realise that he's talking here to people who know the gospel; they have heard it all before.  They knew every part of the wonderful truth, and yet, they had shown signs that they weren't actually a part of the truth.

If we look back to verse 8, we see Paul saying that he had sent them a letter which caused the Corinthian people to be sad.  That letter is what we call 1 Corinthians... and if you read through it, you will see that Paul had some very hard things to say to the Corinthian church.  For example, he accuses them of breaking up into little cliques which squabbled with each other and accused each other and tried to be more important than the other.  Paul warned them that they faced judgment if they didn't repent and change their ways.

Imagine the shock those people had, and we would have, if someone like the apostle Paul would warn us with such hard accusations.

But Paul had other hard things to say to the Corinthians in that first letter.  He blasted them for failing to exercise discipline.  A young man was living in an immoral relationship with his father's wife... his stepmother... and the people ignored the sin and failed to use the keys of the Kingdom of heaven... and Paul says, "You are proud!  Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?" (5:2).

But that's not all he had to say.  He charged them with ungodly behaviour because they were taking each other to court on false charges... he challenged them about their lack of love... and he accused them of being childish in their attitudes to the gift of tongues and their use of that gift.

Paul was hard and blunt in that first letter, and here in verse 8 he says that on the one hand, he regretted having had to say such hard things, because he knew that he would make them sad, and yet on the other hand he was happy that he did speak up... look at verses 9 and 10: "...I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance.  For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us, Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death."

Paul was happy, because his hard words had their desired effect... they led the church to godly sorrow and not just worldly sorrow.

Paul was happy, because the Corinthians showed that they really did belong to Jesus by the way they responded to his warnings...  he was happy because godly sorrow is evidence of a true turning to God...  to Jesus...  for forgiveness of sin and for salvation.

He was happy because these people didn't express their sorrow for their sins in a worldly way...  the kind of sorrow that brings the curse of eternal death.

Before we go on to discover the difference between these two kinds of sorrow for sin...  let me just ask again.  What is our sorrow towards our sin? Which kind of sorrow do we have? That's the question we need to answer for ourselves right here today.  Is our sorrow for sin godly or worldly? The kind that leads to salvation or the kind that brings eternal death?

Let us look at the sorrow of this world first.  Think of King Saul, the first king of Israel in the Old Testament.  At one time he was filled with envy and jealousy against David... and we're told that he was filled with an evil spirit against David.

Now David had many an opportunity to kill Saul, but he didn't.  He respected the Lord's servant, he didn't believe in killing.  On one occasion, David crept into Saul's camp and took Saul's spear from beside him while he slept.  The next morning he called out to Saul that he could have killed him, but didn't, because he didn't have any evil intent against him.

And right there, Saul was caught out in his sin.  What was his reaction?  Well, it wasn't godly sorrow.  He called "I have sinned.  Come back, David my son.  Because you considered my life precious today, I will not try to harm you again.  Surely I have acted like a fool and have erred greatly."

Saul had to admit to his sin, he had no choice but to admit it...  but we have to see how there was a complete lack of godly sorrow in his heart.  He made no reference to God at all.  He knew he had done wrong, but there wasn't any real conviction in his heart about it.  He wasn't sorry toward God.  He felt sorry for himself... and he still hated and envied David.  Yes, he felt miserable and sad and embarrassed.  He was filled with self-pity and with worldly sorrow... and felt nothing before the Lord.

Many people can have real tears and carry a real burden of sadness.  Esau, for example, sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a single meal, and afterwards, "when he wanted to inherit his blessing," he was rejected.  He couldn't bring about a change of mind, even though he sought the blessing with tears, says the Bible (Heb.12:21).  Esau wept in sorrow when his sin was discovered, but it wasn't godly sorrow... there was no repentance in his heart toward God.

Many Christian counsellors see this kind of sorrow.  A man calls for help and he is falling apart and going crazy with remorse... his marriage is breaking up because he had an affair... a young mother is locked away in her home with shame and embarrassment because she was caught shoplifting... a young woman is living in sin and feeling the effects of her sin... and they are all really sorry for their sins.  But what sort of sorrow is it?  You and I can only find that out by an application of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to that person – or to ourselves and to the problem.  When the gospel is rejected... when there's no desire to hear Christ... then the sorrow is worldly sorrow... it's self-pity for the mess that the sin against God has gotten them into... but it's not godly sorrow.

Often, what goes along with this self-pity is the idea that God is to blame for the mess and the misery, or perhaps the church is, especially when she tries to be faithful to God, and speaks up against sin.  Somehow, self-pity concludes that God is unfair and unjust.  Much of what is called depression today is really just worldly sorrow... self-pity for the mess sin has caused.

That, congregation, is the sorrow of this world... which brings death.  It led Saul to death.  He actually committed suicide.  But it's more than physical death... it's eternal death.

And so, we ask again: what is our reaction to sin in our lives?  Paul said there is a sorrow that leads to salvation, but what is it?  Saul's life shows us what worldly sorrow is... David's life shows us what the sorrow is that leads to salvation.

David was also caught out in sin.  He caused Uriah to be killed because a lust came over him that made him want Uriah's wife.  David murdered Uriah and committed adultery with Bathsheba and he tried to ignore his sin.  But Nathan the prophet came to David and confronted him with his sin.  David's response was, "I have sinned... I have sinned against the Lord."

Saul said, "I have sinned.” David said, "I have sinned against the Lord.”  Saul was sorry for himself.  David was sorry towards the Lord.  Saul didn't feel any real need for forgiveness, because he didn't feel that he had offended God.  David saw that ultimately he had sinned against God, and he cried out to God for forgiveness.

Read Psalm 51, and you can see how David's sorrow was centred in God and the holiness of God... he showed his sorrow by real contrition and turning to the Living God... he repented and was led into salvation... into the joy of God's salvation and the praise of God's goodness.

The Corinthian people also responded with true repentance and their sorrow turned to great joy in the salvation of their God and Saviour and into an earnest desire for living God's way.  Look at verse 11... read what Paul says: "See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.  At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter."  They truly repented; they searched out the Lord and received His forgiveness and His blessing of a sure salvation.

Congregation, how do we express our sorrow for sin?  If it's nothing more than self-pity, then listen to the Word of God... that kind of sorrow only brings death... and we must turn away from it and respond in godly sorrow, so that the invitation of Christ Jesus may be extended: "come to me all who are weary and heaven laden, and I will give you rest."

If, by God's grace, we have responded, and continue to respond in godly sorrow...  then, congregation, we may rejoice in the salvation and mercy of our God.

Let us bring praise to the Saviour, Jesus, and be eager and earnest in the desire to fill our lives with the Lord.  Let godly sorrow bring that evidence of salvation to our souls... filling us with the assurance and conviction that we belong to none other than Jesus the Saviour.

Amen.