 The title of our sermon this morning is Lasting Joy Through Godly Sorrow. Lasting Joy Through Godly Sorrow. This is part 2 in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verses 4 through 16. Inexpressible, invincible, indomitable joy is a sure and certain mark of a lively and godly and mature faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Joy inexpressible, as Peter describes it. Peter says now, though now you do not see him yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. In Matthew chapter 13, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid. And for joy over that treasure, he goes and sells all that he has so that he can buy that field or consider the words of Paul in Romans chapter 5. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this justifying grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Notice that Paul says here that we rejoice in hope. We rejoice specifically in hope in the glory of God. Unlike the passing, fleeting, ultimately empty happiness or empty joy peddled by this world, true joy in the Lord Jesus Christ is steadfast. It is abounding and it is abiding. The joy and rejoicing of the Christian is so abiding, in fact, that by faith it persists through and even in the midst of great sorrow. It persists in the midst of physical suffering. As many here well know, it persists and abides in the midst of emotional suffering. It persists and abides through persecution, through affliction, through trials and tribulations. That is the joy of the Christian. Now, how is this possible? How is it possible? It's possible because, as Paul says, of the hope that we have, hope in the glory of God. That hope described in Hebrews as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, is hope in the glory of God. That hope isn't in our circumstances. Your circumstances, my circumstances, shift like the sand, right? They blow in the wind, they're tossed to and fro like waves on the sea. Our hope is not in any person on this earth. It can be. We will be let down. That person is certain to disappoint us, certain to fail us, where Christ will never fail us. It's not hope in our job, it's not hope in our retirement account, it's certainly not hope in our health, not hope in our youth, not hope in our strength, not hope in our abilities. Our hope, as the author to the letter to the Hebrews says, is with the divine presence behind the veil where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus Christ, our high priest. He is our hope and stay, amen? Now, considering that Jesus Christ, our hope, is there in the divine presence behind the veil, Paul then says in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 10, we are as sorrowful and yet always rejoicing. Despite our circumstances, our unfaltering, unwavering, unshakable hope, it's there. This joy is so unconquerable, in fact, that even in the midst of great trial, Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 4, that I am filled with comfort and I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. Despite the difficulties that Paul faced, we have recounted those often, Paul can say, I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all my tribulation. The Father of mercies, the God of all comfort, as Paul says comforts us in all our tribulation and fills us with joy in him, even in the midst of difficulty and adversity and trial. And it's that gracious work of God, even in the midst of our suffering, that produces lasting joy through godly sorrow. We've got to come to an understanding and experience of that joy, of that unshakable hope. It's a distinctly and it's a uniquely Christian experience and it's often learned through that experience. It's often learned with maturity, that profound and steadfast joy that is unique to the Christian life, that is distinctive of the Christian, is realized or experienced not only in the absence of adversity, but in adversity, through adversity, often because of adversity. As strange as that may sound, William Calper said this, so far from being diminished by what would crush earthly happiness and reduce the stoutest heart without divine grace to hopeless dejection, it is only realized more fully amid the raging fury of the hurricane or the dreary gloom of a starless midnight. Then in the fury of the hurricane, in the dreary gloom of that starless midnight, then the anxious soul flees to God. Then the promises are clasped to the heart. Then the fidelity of the Savior's love is tested, and we could say proven, then the sweet consolations of God rush in upon the soul and there rises louder than the loud winds in the dark night of grief and trial and difficulty and adversity, the believer's song, the believer's hope. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of my salvation. Isn't that true of the Christian life? That's an otherworldly paradox, isn't it? This joy, he says, this living spark struck from the greatest source of light and life, the great source of light and life, outlives all deaths, outlives all changes, all sorrows, until this joy accompanies the freed spirit of the believer, in whom it dwells, back to the abodes of joy from which it came. It's this kind of spirit-authored joy that both Paul and the Corinthians experienced in our passage. We've looked at these circumstances through this text, how difficult and how dire these circumstances are, right? How Paul anguished over them, shed tears over them, praise over them, pleads with them, and then we see how through that sorrow comes lasting joy. Lasting joy comes through godly sorrow. Let's remember together the context of our text before we get into it this morning. There's been a revolt in Corinth. False teachers have infiltrated the church in Corinth, preaching as Paul would later say in other Jesus. These opponents of Paul, these false teachers, are preaching a different spirit. They're preaching a different gospel. With some notable success, they're attempting to discredit Paul, undermine Paul's teaching, undermine his influence with the Corinthians, and many have been persuaded, many have been pulled aside, many have made shipwreck of their faith, do the lies and false accusations of these false teachers. On one visit in particular, Paul visits with the church at Corinth, is a visit that Paul refers to as the sorrowful visit. This is a visit where Paul was apparently openly challenged before the church by one of his own members. Rather than dealing with this man's sin, rather than taking a stand for righteousness, rather than taking a stand for Paul, rather than coming to Paul's defense, taking a stand for the gospel, the church stood idly by and allowed it to happen. It was a shameful and disgraceful thing. They neglected dealing with that circumstance. They neglected to deal faithfully with those who had opposed Paul, stood in opposition to the gospel. They had neglected dealing with a man's sin. They neglected dealing with those false teachers. Their relationship to Paul was becoming increasingly strained. And after this sorrowful visit, this painful visit, Paul returns to Ephesus and resolves to write the church with a severe rebuke for failing in their responsibility to deal with these significant problems in the church. Rather than visit them, which he thought would do more harm than good, Paul decides to write them, not going to shrink back from doing or saying what needs to be done or said, Paul rather decides to write this severe letter. He sends what has been called a severe letter by the hand of Titus, his co-laborer in the gospel. And he sends that letter with instructions to Titus that he has to deliver the letter in Corinth and then to meet back up with Paul in Troas to let Paul know how the Corinthians had responded to Paul's letter. So we pick up the account then in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 5. For indeed, Paul says, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest. We were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts. Inside were fears. From verse 5, we spoke of last time we studied this text together, that Paul is agonizing over the status of the church at Corinth. He is in anguish over how they had responded to his letter. This is a holy concern, a holy anxiety, if you will, over how the Corinthians would respond to his correction to his review. As Virgin has said, that it's here that the Lord is revealed in the backside of the desert. Right? Paul is in the backside of the desert waiting to hear back from Titus. And he says that the Lord is revealed in the backside of that desert while his servant keeps the sheet and waits in solitary awe. In verse 6, despite the fact that Paul is troubled on every side, despite that outside there were conflicts and inside there were fears, nevertheless, verse 6, God who comforts the downcast comforted us by the coming of Titus. You notice it's not Titus that did the comforting. It's God who did the comforting through Titus. God is the one who comforts the downcast. And Paul was comforted in verse 7, not only by his coming, but also by the constellation with which he was comforted in you, Corinthians, when he told us of your steadfast, your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoice even more. So praise God. Right? The Corinthians responded well to Paul's correction. God had used Paul's letter, a letter over which Paul had agonized, over which he had shed many tears. God had used that letter to bring the Corinthians to genuine repentance over their sin. Notice in verse 7 that their repentance is described by Paul with three characteristics or three fruits. They responded with earnest desire, that earnest desire with mourning, and that followed with zeal. So when they realized, when the Corinthians had realized that they sinned against God and it sinned against Paul, they mourned over their sin. They mourned their sin. There was deep and godly sorrow over how they had treated Paul, how negligently they had failed to deal with their sin. And ultimately, they were ruined, you could say, with grief over how they had offended God with their sin. This is a godly sorrow that produced an earnest desire, mourning, and zeal. They responded, mourning over their sin. They responded with an earnest desire to make things right, to please the Lord, and to reconcile with Paul, to do whatever it took to make things right. And then that earnest desire produced great zeal, great zeal to turn from their sin, great zeal to clear themselves of this wickedness in their midst, and to do whatever necessary, to go to whatever lengths possible to make this right in God's sight foremost, and in Paul's sight to reconcile with him. So now as we press further in our text this morning, we come to 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verses 8 through 11 now, where Paul specifically addresses the severe letter that he had written to them, and the nature of their response to it. So now when considering our subject, lasting joy through godly sorrow, we've seen how godly sorrow led to joy in verses 4 through 7. Consider with me now how godly sorrow leads to repentance in verses 8 through 11, in verse 8. Paul says, for even if I have made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it though I did regret it, for I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not 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. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe 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 vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication, in all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. So in verses 8 through 11, Paul acknowledges, particularly in verse 8, that his letter to them had necessarily caused sorrow. It had necessarily caused grief. Paul had written it in an outburst of anger. He wasn't writing in anger, wasn't writing in anger, but the rebuke was severe. What he had written was necessary and loving. It had to be done. Now three thoughts that we want to examine as we look at these verses from verse 8 through verse 11. One, the godly sorrow that leads to repentance is according to the word of God. The godly sorrow that leads to repentance is according to the word. Secondly, the godly sorrow that leads to repentance is according to God. It's according to God. Thirdly, the godly sorrow that leads to repentance is according to or is evidenced by fruits. Godly sorrow that leads to repentance is according to the word of God. It's according to God himself and it's according to or evidenced by fruits. Now notice first in verse 8 that godly sorrow in verse 8 is brought about through Paul's words there. Look at verse 8. For even if I made you sorry with my letter, that seems rather obvious, but it's an important point to make. Even if I made you sorry with my letter, Paul says I do not regret it. Godly sorrow, godly sorrow which produces repentance leading to salvation is brought about through the apostolic word. Hear Paul's words in a letter to them. In our case today, the spirit of God will produce godly sorrow, producing repentance leading to salvation through the ministry of the word of God. It comes through the word of God. We have Paul's letter to the Corinthians, second Corinthians in the canon here before us that we're studying. This is the word of God. Amen. The word of the living God through the pen of Paul. This is the application of the law of God upon the heart of man. Godly sorrow comes in accord with the word of God. Godly sorrow comes in accord with the preaching of God's word, with the application of God's word. Paul, as we consider his letter, is extremely thoughtful. He was careful. He was intentional as he wrote. If you remember from chapter 2 verse 1, put that there with me, in chapter 2 verse 1 Paul decided to write rather than to visit. This was an intentional decision on the part of the apostle Paul. In chapter 2 verse 4, notice there, it was certainly written with the right heart. Paul writes out of much affliction and anguish of heart. Paul writes with many tears, hoping for their joy. Paul is working together with them for their joy. Not for the purpose of grieving them. I'll make them sorry for them having ever done that to me. That's how Paul's attitude. He's not writing to get back at them. He's not writing for the purpose of vengeance. He's not writing for the purpose of grieving them. Not for the purpose of making them sorry for the end of sorrow in and of itself. But verse 4, he writes that they might know the love that he has so abundantly for them. I was told them on an earlier occasion in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 that he didn't write to shame them to send them on a guilt trip but to warn them as his beloved children. This letter, the severe letter, was directed. It was sharp. It's called the severe letter for a reason. It caused them great sorrow, great anguish of heart. And Paul knew that that's what it would do if the Lord would allow it. Paul knew that was the intention he was after to make them sorry. They might suffer loss from him and nothing. Paul knew that his letter would cause them pain. This is loving, isn't it? We see this expressed in chapter 2 verse 4. This is loving for Paul to do this, but it's also really difficult. It's really difficult to do. Anyone who's had to do this or have this kind of conversation knows how difficult this is. Paul obviously struggled with what to do, how to do it, with what to say and how to say it. It's so easy, isn't it, to avoid the conversation, to avoid the conflict, so easy to be superficial or shallow, so easy to justify doing nothing by saying that it'd be better just to avoid the conflict altogether. We just need to pray for them. We can't do anything else. We just need to pray. We'll certainly pray. But Paul knew he could do more and we're responsible to do more. We don't like confrontation. Normal people don't like confrontation. Who does, right? We buy into the lie more often than we'd like to admit that confrontation is unloving. Ultimately, we have to understand it's not that confrontation is unloving. We just love our own comfort, our own peace, more than we love them. If we loved them, we would sacrifice our comfort and sacrifice our peace to confront where necessary in love. That's exactly what Paul's doing here in 2 Corinthians chapter 7. Love is being willing to do what is necessary for their good. It esteems them, doesn't it? It's loving to do what is necessary. Notice Paul's heart in this. It's not a bitter heart. It's not a resentful heart. It's not an angry heart. He's not delighting in their grief or delighting in the fact that he gets to cause them grief, nothing of the sort. He initially regretted sending a letter because of the pain that it would likely cause them. He says in verse 8, even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. Paul doesn't regret doing what needed to be done, doing what love required, bringing the Word of God to bear upon their situation. Paul regretted that he would have to cause them pain in the process of doing that. He'd rather not cause them pain, but pain is necessary. When you discipline your children, do you delight in causing the pain? No. What do you delight in? The fruits of the discipline, the fruits, that peaceable fruit of righteousness that is produced through the discipline. Our Heavenly Father disciplines us in the same way, doesn't he? It's for their good. The godly mother, the godly father, doesn't delight in the spanking, per se. The godly mother, the godly father, delights in doing what is necessary for the good of that son or daughter whom they love. It's for their good. The Bible says that God loves those whom he chases. Incidentally, this is the aim of biblical preaching, isn't it? When you preach the gospel, when the gospel is preached, so the Word of God is preached from this pulpit, this is the aim of biblical preaching. The godly sorrow that produces repentance leading to salvation is produced by conviction over sin. We need conviction over sin. Why? Because we sin. On this side of eternity, we are sinners. We sin. Biblical preaching, or you're preaching of the gospel, you're preaching to family members and friends, people at the office. Biblical preaching can't be entirely or exclusively concerned with encouragement. Biblical preaching cannot be entirely or exclusively concerned with comfort. Paul says in 2 Timothy 3 verse 16 that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for proof, for rebuke, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. Why? So that the man of God may be complete, may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Paul says to Titus, rebuke them sharply so that they may be sound in the face. We're all sinners. We must contend with sin, and we must subject our sinful hearts to the word of God. Conviction comes through the word of God preached here. Conviction coming upon them through the word of God preached in the letter of Paul to them. Now, we consider that and how the Corinthians responded. Praise the Lord that it didn't cause anger or bitterness in the heart of the Corinthians. Right? That was what Paul's concern was. How would they respond to the rebuke? How would they respond to the correction? Would they get angry? Would they be hostile? Would they respond with further resentment or bitterness or further estrangement? Would they reject Paul's correction, reject Paul's rebuke, and follow off after false teachers who were gaining a foothold in the church of Corinth? How would they respond? Well, praise the Lord they didn't respond in anger. Praise the Lord that their pride didn't get the better of them and they respond with hostility or defensiveness. Praise the Lord that they didn't attempt to justify themselves in their sin. That they didn't point their finger at somebody else when they were being confronted by their sin. They didn't try to sidestep the issue by focusing on how, quote unquote, harsh Paul was in his letter to accuse Paul of being harsh in his letter when confronting them with sin. For Paul to have been more gentle, so to speak, would have made him more unconcerned with their sin. Does that make sense? They didn't attempt to offload responsibility by blaming Paul's opponents. They responded. The Corinthians responded with godly sorrow. They took full responsibility for their sin and that godly sorrow produced repentance. I noticed a little addendum there at the end of verse eight. Paul says, for even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it, even though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry though only for a while. Now notice this godly sorrow that is in accord with a word of God brought about through the word of God is only for a while. Godly sorrow is necessary and only for a while. Why? Because this sorrow, godly sorrow, the sorrow that is according to God and in accord with God's word, gives way to joy. Godly sorrow gives way to joy in the Christian life. Paul's initial regret evaporates in the joy of their genuine repentance. Their initial sorrow is swallowed up in the joy that is the fruit of genuine repentance. Isn't that the case with genuine repentance? Paul says in verse nine, now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. Now Paul says I rejoice. In verse 10, repentance leads to salvation, not to be regretted, but to be rejoiced in. In genuine repentance, David prayed in the Psalm 51 Lord restored to me the joy of your salvation. The joy of our salvation comes on the other side of godly sorrow and genuine repentance. That joy, which is the fruit of the spirit and a fruit of faith. We think about this. The sorrow that is produced by guilt over sin or conviction over sin, that sorrow that attaches itself to you like a joy sucking leech over a long period of time, long after the sin has been repented of, long after you've turned from that sin and are worshiping and praising the Lord in renewed repentance. Long after that, that sorrow that clings to you is not godly sorrow. That's sorrow that you wallow in that robs you of the joy of your forgiveness or the joy of your salvation or the joy that follows for the Christian after genuine repentance. That sorrow that clings to you is an ungodly sorrow. It's an example of worldly sorrow that leads to death. That's the work of the adversary. That's sorrow, the work of your own flesh in some ascetic act of penance or some work of penance on your part that refuses by faith to embrace the salvation that we have in Christ, the justification by faith that he's secured for us. It's the work of the adversary. It's a work of ascetic penance. It's a work, if you will, of self-righteousness rather than the righteousness of Christ given freely as a gift of God's grace through faith. One has said that if the enemy cannot keep you from regretting your sin, then he will do his best to keep you from enjoying your forgiveness. If he fails in his attempt to keep you from grieving over sin, he will do his best to turn your godly grief into an ongoing bondage of unwarranted guilt. There are Christians who go through this, what Puritans call the dark night of the soul, what Martin Lloyd-Jones called morbidity or introspection. It is ungodly and harmful. Godly sorrow cast you at the foot of the cross where you by faith love the Lord Jesus Christ and cling by faith to what he has done for you there at the cross. Whereas the hymn writer says, my sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul. That is an exclamation of joy for all that Christ has done for us and godly sorrow leads to that joy. The godly sorrow that produces repentance leading to salvation is a sorrow that turns the heart to Christ, does not leave the heart fleeing from Christ. So as we think about what Paul has done here, that's Paul's desire, that's Paul's aim, that his correction, his rebuke would lead to conviction over sin producing a godly sorrow leading to a genuine repentance in the hearts and minds of the believers there at Corinth for their joy, for their joy. So like Paul, we have to take lessons from Paul in this. Like Paul, we need to be willing to apply the word of God to cause or to bring about, that the Lord would bring about godly sorrow through the preached word of God. You have to be willing to go to your brother, willing to go to your sister with the word of God to confront when necessary in love to bring about conviction over sin and the joy that exists on the other side of godly sorrow, the repentance that is produced by godly sorrow. You've got to be willing to do that, brothers and sisters. We have to be steadfast to do that, loving to do that. We need to love them more than we love our peace and comfort. We need to be willing to apply the word of God to cause godly sorrow. It needs to be done from this pulpit, which we aim to do. We aim to teach in the preach in such a way that God would be pleased to both use his word to convict of sin and bring about godly sorrow that leads to repentance and at the same time comfort and encourage and build up. We have to be willing to apply the word in that way in the way that Paul does here in 2 Corinthians chapter 7. We also have to be willing to have the word applied to us and accept that word or respond to that word with conviction over sin, with godly sorrow, with a soft and tender heart. You have to work to respond in humility. You have to labor to respond and you have to labor to keep yourself from responding in pride and self-defensiveness and self-righteousness. You have to labor to keep yourself from responding in hostility because that's the vent of the natural man's heart. By the power that his spirit provides and through the word of God, we must labor to respond with humility, labor to respond with a tender heart, receiving with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save our soul. We have to be willing to apply the word of God and we must be willing to have the word of God applied. Godly sorrow, the godly sorrow that leads to repentance is according to the word. Notice secondly though, the godly sorrow that leads to repentance is according to God, is according to God. Look further at verse 9. Paul says, now I rejoice. Now that you are made sorry, I rejoice that your sorrow led to repentance because you were made sorry in a godly manner that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. Those words, you were made sorry in a godly manner. Literally, you were made sorry according to God, according to God. You were made sorry according to God. God is the one who made them sorry. God does that by his spirit through his word. Paul's regret in verse 9 was turned to rejoicing, not because they were made to grieve. Paul's regret was turned to rejoicing because their sorrow brought about genuine repentance according to the will and the work of God. There is a sorrow that is intended by God. God intends to make you sorrowful in this way. There is a sorrow that he determines and wants you to experience. There is a sorrow that he decrees that you should experience. The God who works all things together for your good wants you to experience this sorrow. It is according to his will for you. Why? Because that sorrow is the sorrow that brings repentance. It's that sorrow which is without regret that leads to salvation. Often when we consider this word repentance, the definition of repentance is given as a change of mind. It's made up of two Greek words, meta, literally meaning after, but carrying the sense of to change and noia, meaning to think, meta noia, to change how we think. Many things that repentance then is simply thinking differently about your sin, changing your mind about your sin. You used to like it, now I don't like it. You used to think it was okay, now I don't. Just changing your mind. Some would say it includes acknowledgement of your sin, recognizing it before God as sin and intellectual understanding that it is wrong. Often that's where the definition ends. Repentance is just an intellectual acknowledgement that sin before God is wrong. A biblical repentance is going to be defined not through a root fallacy of breaking apart that word, but through the Bible, through text of scripture that teaches what repentance is and what repentance looks like. Biblical repentance certainly begins with a renewed mind. It begins with renewed thinking about your sin, but if your thinking is biblical, if that renewed mind is godly and you share the mind of Christ, then your thinking about that sin isn't all that changes. It's not going to be just your thinking that changes. That change of mind leads to a change in behavior. We have to inform our understanding of genuine repentance from the Bible. To do this, let me give you one example in the time that we have. Turn to Psalm 51. Let's look at an example from David and David's prayer of repentance after Nathan the prophet went to him and confronted him in his sin. Notice Nathan doing the will of God, both for the sake of the Lord and for David's sake, goes to David and applies the word of God to David. To bring David to conviction, to bring David to godly sorrow over his sin, leading, Nathan, I'm sure, praise, to David's repentance. We see that repentance outlined for us, described for us in Psalm 51. Look at verse one. David, praise, have mercy upon me. Oh, God, according to your loving kindness, according to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. And notice, David cries out to God for mercy because he knows that God is the source of mercy. God is a God of loving kindness. He is a God who in and of himself is full of abounding tender mercies. And he cries out to God to blot out his transgressions. Verse two, wash me thoroughly for my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin. Verse three, in keeping with genuine repentance, I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is always before me against you. You only have I sinned. And that's a good acknowledgement, isn't it? That our sin is against God. Against you, you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight that you may be found just when you speak and blameless when you judge. There is no blame shifting going on in David's heart or mind. There's no offloading of guilt or responsibility here. He's not pointing to others. He has fingers squarely pointed at himself that God may be found just when he speaks and blameless when he judges. Verse five, behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, God, you desire truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part, you will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be wider than snow. David's heart filled with desire, a hunger and a thirst for righteousness, a hunger and a thirst for forgiveness, a hunger and a thirst to be right before God. Wash me, God, I shall be wider than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness that the bones you have broken may rejoice, hide your face from my sins, blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence. Do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me by your generous spirit. We work through 2 Corinthians chapter 7. You'll notice many of these fruits that Paul speaks of in 2 Corinthians chapter 7, listed here, exemplified here in David's prayer of repentance in Psalm 51. He says in verse 13, Restore to me the joy of salvation, uphold me by your generous spirit, then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners shall be converted to you. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall show forth your praise. We begin to see action on the part of David, don't we? In keeping with his own renewed mind, changed mind about the nature of his sin, in keeping with David's own heart and mind as he sees God in holiness and justice, David then acts in accord with that understanding. Lord, open my lips and this is what I'll do. My mouth shall show forth your praise. Verse 16, you do not desire sacrifice or else I would give it. You do not delight in burnt offering. You don't delight in hypocrisy. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. These, O God, you will not despise. The one who presumes to repent, apart from a broken heart, apart from a broken spirit and a contrite heart, that's the worship of one that God does despise. That worship is an abomination to God. These, O God, the sacrifices in worship of a broken spirit, the sacrifices in worship of a broken and a contrite heart, these, O God, you will not despise. Do good in your good pleasure design. Build the walls of Jerusalem. Then you shall be pleased with the sacrifices of the righteousness, the burnt offerings, the whole burnt offering. They shall offer bulls on your altar. Back in 2 Corinthians chapter 7, all of this is so that, as Paul says in verse 9, you might suffer loss from us in nothing. To go through this life potty and prideful and lifted up in sin will be ultimately to suffer loss. To go through this life living for yourself, living to indulge yourself will ultimately lead to great loss. You're here today, you've never turned from your sin. You've never put your faith and trust in Christ alone to save you from your sin. If you're not following him wholeheartedly by faith, you may have fleeting and passing pleasure in this life, but you will ultimately suffer immeasurable, incalculable loss. The life of the Christian on this side of eternity is to be a life of repentance. Repentance is not a single moment in time. It's not a momentary period of grief or sorrow over sin. It's not merely conviction. Repentance is in keeping with. It is part and parcel with the Christian life. The Puritan prayer sums it up. Where the Puritan prays, let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed part, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from the deepest wells, and the deeper the wells, the brighter thy stars shine. Let me find thy light in my darkness, thy life in my death, thy joy in my sorrow, thy grace in my sin, thy riches in my poverty, thy glory in my valley. Spurgeon said that the wilderness is the way to Canaan. The low valley leads to the towering mountain. Defeat prepares for victory. The raven is sent forth before the dove. The darkest hour of the night precedes the day dawn. Spurgeon says glory be to God for the furnace, the hammer, and the file. Heaven shall be all the fuller of bliss because we have been filled with anguish here below, and earth shall be better tilled because of our training in the school of adversity. All this, Paul says, so that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. Paul is careful here to distinguish genuine repentance from false or counterfeit repentance. The godly sorrow that leads to repentance is according to or evidenced by fruit. There is a test of genuine repentance or true repentance versus false repentance or counterfeit repentance. That test is the fruits that in every case genuine repentance produces. The godly sorrow that leads to repentance is according to or evidenced by fruit. Look at verse 9. Paul says, I rejoice. Not 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. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe 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 vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication in all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. Paul, you could say, was testing their response by fruits and in their response with fruits, their repentance was proved. Paul is careful now that the Corinthians understand that genuine repentance isn't merely godly sorrow. Godly sorrow by itself is not repentance. Godly sorrow leads to, as Paul says, produces. Godly sorrow produces repentance. The godly sorrow by itself is not repentance. Godly sorrow that inevitably leads to genuine repentance always produces fruit when godly sorrow obviously is produced by the spirit of God. If sorrow does not produce this godly fruit, then it is mere worldly sorrow that leads to death. There are here two types of sorrow, two types then of people and two destinations. You can feel, you can experience sorrow in a way that only leads to death. So how do you distinguish them between true and false repentance? How do you distinguish between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow? How do you distinguish between the godly sorrow that produces repentance leading to salvation and that worldly sorrow that only leads to death and destruction? We distinguish or discern between the true and the false through fruits. Godly sorrow, the godly sorrow that leads to repentance is always accompanied by fruits. Fruits come in verse 11. Look at verse 11. For observe this very thing that you sorrowed in a godly manner what diligence it produced in you. Seven marks here of godly sorrow leading to repentance. Seven marks here of genuine true repentance as opposed to false repentance and that list of seven fruits begins with diligence. Diligence meaning fervor, a fervency and earnestness and eagerness, a death serious intention to flee from sin and flee to Christ. This is a careful, unthoughtful, earnest, fervent, eager fleeing from sin, fleeing in every way possible from sin and fleeing to Christ. Lord Jesus Christ spoke about this in Matthew chapter 5 and it comes under what we would call or describe as radical amputation. In Matthew chapter 5 verse 29, the Lord says, if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. That's serious, right? That's a deathly serious earnestness about fleeing from sin and fleeing to Christ. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, cast it from you. It is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off, cast it from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell. Diligence going to every length necessary, going to every length possible, to flee from sin and to cling to Christ. That list of seven continues with clearing of yourselves, clearing of yourselves. The word is apologia, where we get our word apologetics from. It's a defense, a defense. And here, specifically in context, it's a defense for a clear conscience before God. You're appealing through fruits of repentance for a clear conscience before God. The person who is clearing themselves is quick to judge himself for sin, as we saw of David in Psalm 51. He's quick to accuse himself and vindicate the righteousness and justice of God. He's not concerned with the sins of another. He is concerned too consumed with his own sins. He is quick to judge himself for his sin. He's quick to mourn for his sin. And he pleads with God for mercy, pleads with God for mercy. And in the clearing of himself, he is cleared of guilt in his conscience by God. Clearing of yourselves. The list continues with indignation. Indignation is godly sorrow over sin. And that godly sorrow over sin is a form of godly anger over sin. Indignation is a word that communicates or conveys a sense of anger or disgust, anger or disgust. It's not anger over the fact that your sin got exposed. It's not anger at the person who is confronting you in your sin. It's not anger over your circumstances. It's not simply angry, anger over the consequences of your sin. It's a righteous anger at the presence of sin in you or on you at all. It's a righteous anger at the presence of sin itself. Indignation. Righteous indignation at the presence of sin and the fact that it is attached at the moment to you. And you are disgusted over that. This goes beyond being sorry, right? I'm sorry. No, this goes beyond sorry indignation. It goes beyond a feeling of remorse. It goes beyond a feeling of shame or a sense of guilt. It goes to the point of being angry over the presence of sin. Righteous anger at the presence of sin itself, indignation. Next is fear. Fear communicates a tender, a sensitive conscience over sin. And having a tender conscience over sin, fear in this person trembles before God. We don't have time to go there, but in 1 Samuel chapter 15, Saul is caught in transgression. He'd been given clear command from Samuel to kill the Amalekites. Every Amalekite, every Amalekite, all of their cattle to destroy everything that they owned. The Amalekites had come under the ban of God. And Saul had been given explicit instructions. So Saul fails to do that. And it says there that they decided to keep the best of the oxen, to keep the best of the sheep for themselves, and to leave Agag, king of the Amalekites alive. So when Samuel comes, Saul sees Samuel. And you can just imagine, right? As a sight of Samuel, Saul is convicted. And so Saul, going out to meet Samuel, says, look, I've obeyed the commandment of the Lord. Already trying to justify himself. And so Samuel says, what's this lowing of oxen and the bleeding of sheep that I have in my ears? Saul had not obeyed the command of God. And so then the kingdom is ripped from Saul and given to another. But Saul doesn't respond in Godly sorrow over sin. He doesn't respond with fear before God. He doesn't respond with a fear of God. He responds with a fear of the people. Saul, go out with me and worship with me before the people. Saul's fear there is his own reputation, losing his own reputation, or losing the approval or praise of men, the approval or praise of men that he desired. It wasn't a fear of God. It was a fear of the loss of his own reputation. His concern wasn't sin against the Holy God. It was a fear of the consequences imposed here by Samuel. Fear. The next is vehement desire, vehement desire. One word in Greek translated vehement desire, that word meaning longing. This is a hungering and a thirsting for forgiveness, a hungering and a thirsting for renewed righteousness. This is a deep longing for relationships to be restored, a deep desire for more power, more strength against sin, a longing to be free from the presence of sin. This one who has this desire cries out with Paul in Romans 7, who will rescue me from this body of death. That vehement desire gives way to zeal in our list. Zeal follows and is connected to desire in the sense that true Godly desire bears the fruit of an earnest and diligent pursuit after holiness. vehement desire eventuates in zeal for holiness. Zeal for God. Zeal for righteousness. This is the one whom the Lord says in Matthew chapter 11, that takes the kingdom of God by force, a fervency, a thoroughness, coupled with an urgency to confess sin and deal with sin, to flee from sin, to separate from sin, to clear himself. This is to seek forgiveness and restoration and reconciliation, to do all that is necessary and everything possible to remove the same of sin, to remove the consequences of sin, vindication or justice. Some translations say punishment. This fruit of genuine repentance relates to accepting rather than trying to escape the consequences of sin. It carries the sense of pursuing the eradication of sin, as Thomas Watson said, with a holy malice, a holy malice against sin. We see this example in David, don't we? As a consequence of his sin with Bathsheba, God had said that their child would die. So David prayed, David fasted, he mourned, he wept, pleading with God to spare the life of the child. But when God refused to spare him, David saw that the consequence for his sin, he saw that as just and he saw it as right and God being right and just in his judgment, just and right in his righteousness. And that act, that judgment of God coming from a loving God, when David saw that God had responded in that way, David rose up, washed his face, the Bible says that David worshiped God. This is vindicating the justice and righteousness of God. These fruits are the fruits of the Spirit of God at work in the heart and mind of the genuine Christian who is genuinely repentant, apart from the work of the Spirit of God, apart from the Spirit of God working in you to convict you over sin, to convict you over the exceeding sinfulness of your sin, producing in you a sense of guilt and shame. These fruits are not possible. These fruits will only come through genuine repentance produced by the Spirit of God in the heart of that one who is his own, the heart of the one in whom he dwells. Apart from the Spirit renewing your mind, apart from the Spirit of God informing your conscience, leading you in paths of righteousness for his namesake, it is impossible to be or impossible to produce these fruits. I think the clearest example of a distinction between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow in the Bible is the example of Judas the Spirit in Matthew chapter 27. The Bible says that in Judas that Judas felt remorse, that he was sorrowful over what he had done. He knew that he betrayed an innocent man. He knew that he betrayed Christ. So he attempted to return the 30 pieces of silver by which he was bribed and extorted and he openly confessed his sin. We see that on the pages of the New Testament. Judas confesses I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. He felt remorse over it. He sought to change course. Many would look at that and say that's repentance in Judas. But ultimately we know from the Bible that this is worldly sorrow that literally as it does leads to death when Judas runs out after having thrown the silver into the temple and he went on and he hung himself. If Judas was mourning in a godly manner, if Judas was sorrowful in a godly way, sorrowful according to God with godly sorrow that produces repentance leading to salvation, his repentance would have looked far different, wouldn't it? He walked with the Lord Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry for three years. He knew that the Lord Jesus Christ came to speak and to save that which is lost. He knew that the Lord Jesus Christ came to die for sins and that forgiveness was available to anyone who would have turned from their sin to put their faith and trust in him. That wasn't what Judas was interested in. Judas was ultimately interested in justifying himself through an act of what is pride and self-righteousness in taking his own life by suicide, worldly sorrow that leads to death. Godly sorrow leading to repentance, producing repentance leading to salvation, is a sorrow, a godly sorrow that leads to ultimately lasting joy, joy in our salvation. If you look at chapter 7 verse 15, this led, and we'll look at this text next time, this led to Paul's joy also for them, his tightest 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 that I have confidence in you in everything, godly sorrow leading to lasting joy. Praise God, right? That God is the one who gives us repentance and faith as a gift, as a grace, and that by his spirit, genuine repentance produces fruits in the Christian life, that married with fruits of faith and that leading to salvation, by God's grace, amen. Let's pray. As we pray, to consider your own repentance from sin, consider whether your repentance bears the fruits of godly sorrow and the repentance that leads to life, and let's do business before God. If you're here today and you're not genuinely converted, turn from your sin now and put your faith in trust in him.