Godly Sorrow Versus Worldly Sorrow

December 31, 2023

Scripture referenced 9 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Psalm 100 opening call to worship, 'worship the Lord with gladness'

1 Shout for joy to Yahweh, all you lands!
2 Serve Yahweh with gladness. Come before his presence with singing.
3 Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless his name.
5 For Yahweh is good. His loving kindness endures forever, his faithfulness to all generations.

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Philippians 2

cited in prayer, 'is there any comfort in Christ, is there any consolation in love'

1 If therefore there is any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion,

2 make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;

3 doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;

4 each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.

5 Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,

6 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.

9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,

11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.

14 Do all things without murmurings and disputes,

15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,

16 holding up the word of life; that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ, that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain.

17 Yes, and if I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and rejoice with you all.

18 In the same way, you also rejoice, and rejoice with me.

19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered up when I know how you are doing.

20 For I have no one else like-minded, who will truly care about you.

21 For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.

22 But you know the proof of him, that, as a child serves a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the Good News.

23 Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it will go with me.

24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself also will come shortly.

25 But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and servant of my need;

26 since he longed for you all, and was very troubled, because you had heard that he was sick.

27 For indeed he was sick, nearly to death, but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow on sorrow.

28 I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that, when you see him again, you may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.

29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy, and hold such in honor,

30 because for the work of Christ he came near to death, risking his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.

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1 Corinthians 5

Paul's reference to an earlier letter about not keeping company with sexually immoral people

1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one has his father’s wife.

2 You are puffed up, and didn’t rather mourn, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you.

3 For I most certainly, as being absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged him who has done this thing.

4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5 are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?

7 Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9 I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners;

10 yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortionists, or with idolaters; for then you would have to leave the world.

11 But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortionist. Don’t even eat with such a person.

12 For what do I have to do with also judging those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who are within?

13 But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”

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2 Corinthians 2

Paul explaining he wrote a severe letter out of love, with many tears, not wanting to come and find sorrow

1 But I determined this for myself, that I would not come to you again in sorrow.

2 For if I make you sorry, then who will make me glad but he who is made sorry by me?

3 And I wrote this very thing to you, so that, when I came, I wouldn’t have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy would be shared by all of you.

4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you should be made sorry, but that you might know the love that I have so abundantly for you.

5 But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow, not to me, but in part (that I not press too heavily) to you all.

6 This punishment which was inflicted by the many is sufficient for such a one;

7 so that on the contrary you should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his excessive sorrow.

8 Therefore I beg you to confirm your love toward him.

9 For to this end I also wrote, that I might know the proof of you, whether you are obedient in all things.

10 Now I also forgive whomever you forgive anything. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ,

11 that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

12 Now when I came to Troas for the Good News of Christ, and when a door was opened to me in the Lord,

13 I had no relief for my spirit, because I didn’t find Titus, my brother, but taking my leave of them, I went out into Macedonia.

14 Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and reveals through us the sweet aroma of his knowledge in every place.

15 For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God, in those who are saved, and in those who perish;

16 to the one a stench from death to death; to the other a sweet aroma from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?

17 For we are not as so many, peddling the word of God. But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.

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2 Corinthians 7:8-13

the central passage on godly sorrow versus worldly sorrow producing repentance or death

8 For though I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. For I see that my letter made you sorry, though just for a while.

9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you were made sorry to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly way, that you might suffer loss by us in nothing.

10 For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death.

11 For behold, this same thing, that you were made sorry in a godly way, what earnest care it worked in you. Yes, what defense, indignation, fear, longing, zeal, and vengeance! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be pure in the matter.

12 So although I wrote to you, I wrote not for his cause that did the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered the wrong, but that your earnest care for us might be revealed in you in the sight of God.

13 Therefore we have been comforted. In our comfort we rejoiced the more exceedingly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.

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James 4

why there is war and strife among believers, unmet desires in the heart

1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members?

2 You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask.

3 You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”?

6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

7 Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

9 Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.

11 Don’t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12 Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow let’s go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.”

14 Whereas you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.

15 For you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that.”

16 But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.

17 To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.

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Ephesians 2:8-9

salvation is the gift of God so that no one can boast

8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

9 not of works, that no one would boast.

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Romans 10

whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved

1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved.

2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

3 For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

4 For Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, “The one who does them will live by them.”

6 But the righteousness which is of faith says this, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down);

7 or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)”

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart”; that is, the word of faith, which we preach:

9 that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

10 For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”

12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him.

13 For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher?

15 And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”

16 But they didn’t all listen to the glad news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”

17 So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

18 But I say, didn’t they hear? Yes, most certainly, “Their sound went out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

19 But I ask, didn’t Israel know? First Moses says, “I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation, with a nation void of understanding I will make you angry.”

20 Isaiah is very bold, and says, “I was found by those who didn’t seek me. I was revealed to those who didn’t ask for me.”

21 But as to Israel he says, “All day long I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

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John 13:35

closing prayer, 'by this all men will know that we are your disciples, that we love one another'

35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

On the last Sunday of 2023, Pastor Ray preached from 2 Corinthians 7 on the difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. He stayed outside the narrative flow he had been in and went to this passage because it had been weighing on him personally and relationally. It is a short text with one central truth, but that truth, he said, is foundational for getting along with other people and with yourself.

What was said

Pastor Ray opened with some background on the Corinthian correspondence. Paul almost certainly wrote four letters to Corinth, maybe more, and the two we have in the Bible are not the whole picture. First Corinthians was written to a church marked by factions, known sin, and relational friction. It contains rebukes but also encouragement, with the love chapter sitting at its center. Then there was a severe letter, now lost, written out of much anguish and many tears. By the time 2 Corinthians arrived, Paul had heard from Titus that the church had responded, and he was writing partly to say: now welcome that brother back and forgive him.

The key verse Pastor Ray kept returning to is verse 10: "Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death." Sorrow, he said, is neutral when it first lands on you. It is going to go one way or the other depending on what you do with it. The passage lists what godly sorrow produces in the Corinthians: diligence in their walk, a clearing of themselves, righteous indignation toward real sin, fear of God, and a zeal for doing things God's way rather than winning an argument.

He drew a distinction between holiness and legalism at that point. Legalism is a show. Holiness is actually trusting God in humility and walking forward with diligence. The clearing of yourselves he read in verse 11 is not covering your tracks; it is taking your own part in a relational breakdown honestly before God and before the other person. He pointed out that people often reciprocate when someone owns their portion, though not always, and that is all right.

He brought in a pastoral situation from the week. A close friend had died at 54 from alcohol after struggling his whole adult life. Pastor Ray had taken a call from the man's sister and then stood beside the man's estranged wife as they said goodbye. He was clear that the man had trusted in Christ and that he had no doubt about where that soul was. But the death illustrated what worldly sorrow, sorrow that never turns toward God, leads to. The list in the text for worldly sorrow is short: it produces death, and that is the only place it leads.

For those who have never trusted Christ, Pastor Ray said the point of that pain is like touching a hot stove: it is designed to make you draw your hand back to safety. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, and the pain is part of what prompts that call. For believers, the purpose of sorrow is different: it is meant to draw you closer to God and to others. Jesus is the model here. He is called a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and he went into the fray anyway, taking the hit, forgiving from the cross, dealing with sin on behalf of people who had not yet turned.

Pastor Ray closed by putting Romans 12:18 in plain terms: if it is possible, as far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. He said that belongs on a bucket list and on a daily task list. One side not reoffending helps a peace process enormously, even if the other side has not caught up yet. God threw our sin as far as the East is from the West, and that is the measure of how we are called to forgive. Godly sorrow taken all the way leads to a place where, as Revelation says, God wipes every tear away and there is no more sorrow at all.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

Pastor Ray found letters inside the walls of the church and described his father writing cheerful letters home from Vietnam while going through something very hard. When have you had to choose between honesty about your pain and protecting someone you love, and how did you handle it?
Pastor Ray said sorrow is neutral when it lands in your lap, and that if we don't deal with it we run from it, which causes division and prolonged strife. What does running from sorrow look like in your own life, and what has it cost you relationally?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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Good

morning. Is it me or is it so quiet in here? Is it me or is it quiet in here? Well, good morning, everybody. How are we doing?

Happy New Year's Eve day. Do I have

that right? Yes. I've got a good word. Would you stand with me? And, we'll sing together, but a good word from Psalm 100 to lead us into worship.

It says, worship the Lord with gladness. Let's endeavor to worship the Lord with gladness and come before him singing with joy, recognizing that grace, that favor he's extended toward us. Let's start by singing angels from the realms of glory.

His natal star. Come and worship. Come and worship. Worship Christ, the new born king. Saints before.

Saints before the altar bending watching long in warp and fear. The Lord ascending worship. Worship. Come and worship. Worship Christ, the new born king.

Come and worship. And worship. Worship Christ the new born king.

I Amen. Can have a seat. I've got a

few

announcements. This wins let's see. What's going on? Hey. I wanna see you at Tijuana.

You have something to say about Tijuana, Carl?

Only that it is not on tomorrow.

We're still

on break for our New Year's, and we'll come back on January 8 for PJ night.

Okay. That's good. Ease back into it with pajama night, not this Monday, but next Monday, a week from tomorrow. Twenty twenty four calendars, paper calendars are still available. See a stack of them back there at the back.

Able to We're it'll be between services. So at 10:00, we'll get recognize a our sense volunteers. We'll discuss and vote on this next year's budget. We'll discuss and vote on Tim Williams, who is hopefully stepping on to the Board of Trustees in Berkeley Johnston as an elder. But there will be discussion and vote on those things on the twenty first.

It's a normally scheduled meeting in January every year. We can have special ones, but this one is one that's just a normal matter of course. Volunteers for Connect Hour. If you would sign up in the fellowship hall. Addie Hair is in charge of that.

She does a great job. She's very friendly, no one to be feared or scared of. Call her please. (307) 690-3892 is her number and she'll tell you more. Jackson Hole Men's Alliance is not meeting this week.

It's not meeting in January actually, so not doing a January meeting. So if you wanna get together with some friends, call them and say, hey, let's get together anyway, but it's not gonna happen here in the normal manner. It usually does the first Wednesday. And thank you all.

Staff

too. This is from the whole staff. Yeah. This is from all of us. Every year, it's a different thing every year, but it's always a huge blessing.

Just thank you from the staff for your generosity towards us. It was so sweet and helpful too. So thank you very much. Just wanted to say that. All of us wanted to say that.

Thank you. Thank you. And I think that's oh gracious. Yes, come on. Come on, Yvonne, why not?

had a scare with Russ, and we were out grocery shopping, came home, and he carried some groceries in. And by the time we got to the almost to the kitchen, he slumped over and had pains in his right side, in his chest, in his arm. And between Diane and Ray and I, we convinced Russ to go to the hospital and they checked him out. And for the ATE is, they said he's in wonderful health. They couldn't find anything wrong.

But should something like that happen again, he's to go in and they'll do more. And pastor Ray and the whole staff, because it took the whole staff to let him do this, to drive us all the way to Boise to pick up our grandson for this week. And and we don't want him driving for a little while, so somebody will take us back on on Tuesday. And and so I I and us as a family, I know Hayden Hayden appreciated it as well because he wasn't sure if he was gonna be able to come. And so as a family and as a church, I wanna thank everybody for allowing pastor Ray to do this for us.

thoroughly enjoyed the trip. It was great. So thank you. We had a blast. So, would you stand with us and we're gonna sing more seasonal music here.

Thousand hallelujahs. Amen.

Father, let your will be done. And earth as an heaven right here in my heart. Let's sing that again. Father, let your kingdom come. Father, let your will be done.

And earth has never been right here in my heart. Give us this day. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us. Ones you sin against us.

Forgive them and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us

Lord, we have sung it, but we do make it our prayer. This is how you taught us to pray. Our father in heaven, holy, hallowed is your name. Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Would you, lord, give us today the bread that we need and forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors?

And would you lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Perhaps creation knows how the words to sing. But this joy is mine with a thousand hallelujahs, let's sing. With a thousand hallelujahs, we magnify your name. You alone deserve the glory, the honor, and the praise. To and find your peace.

If you're on down empty handed, come to Jesus and find your strength. Yes. Is. He's the comforter. He's the comforter, counselor, prince of peace, author and maker of everything, defender, deliverer, king of kings, he is helper and healer forevermore, savior and shelter through every storm my refuge redeemer and lord of lord dear child of living son of man

You can have a seat here for a moment. This is the the worship through giving part of the service and I'll invite the ushers to come on forward and we're gonna sing, he shall reign. He shall reign. The lyrics are, and to our hopes and to our fears, the savior of the world appears, the promise of eternal years, Christ the Messiah. But before we sing, Ray, would you pray?

I thank you for thank you for this morning, Lord. Thankful for this gathering place. It's warm, Lord, in both ways. I thank you for the warmth of the consolation and the comfort that we find in Christ. I I think, about Philippians two, Lord, where you say, is there any comfort in Christ?

There is. Is there any consolation in love? There is. Lord God Almighty, would you make our joy complete, that we would be of like mind, that we'd be, here together. In your name, Lord, that we'd find the way to get together.

In Jesus' name, I thank you because you give us that peace. You give us unity. You give us these great gifts, Lord. Would you allow us the wisdom to see that we need them? In Jesus' name, I pray that you would bring that to the fore.

I pray also, Lord, for this offering, for all of the generosity of the saints towards a lost and dying world, Lord. That's they're given to you, but they're given to you with the intent, Lord, that the gospel would move forward, that the peace that we have found would be something, that would pass understanding, and others would find it too. In Jesus' name, Lord, we, come together. In Jesus' name, we, stick together, and in Jesus' name, we go forward together. I pray, Lord, for, this coming year, that it would be unprecedented unity within the body of Christ.

In Jesus' name, we pray to be a part of that. Amen.

In the bee midwinter, all creation grows. Whole world darkness grows a night stone. Naughty is breaking And stay full blown. And he shall reign evermore, evermore. And he shall reign evermore, river more.

A new Us child is born. King of kings alone alone. He shall reign the river more, river more. Well, if I were a wise man, I'd travel far. If I were a shepherd, I would do my part for as I am.

I will give to him my heart. And he shall reign rivermore, rivermore. And he shall reign Rivermore, rivermore. A new world's child is born. King of kings and lord of lords.

He shall reign. Years. Christ the Messiah, and he shall reign rivermore, rivermore. And he shall reign rivermore, rivermore. Under us a child is born.

King kings, the Lord of Lords. He shall reign rivermore, rivermore. And he shall reign rivermore, rivermore.

Amen. It's time for children's church. And there they go. How are you all? Good.

Good. Awesome. Great. Those were the two I heard. That's good.

We are gonna go this morning. I'm not back yet into the narrative flow of the gospels. I've been considering something for a long time and thinking about it a lot relationally. And it came out in the prayer right there. It's kinda it's on my mind.

It's in my heart. And so I I wanna go through something today that is kinda foundational for being able to get along with people, being able to get along with other people, and being able to get along with yourself, honestly. So this is the sermon today, godly sorrow versus worldly sorrow. And it's from second Corinthians. Second Corinthians and first Corinthians.

Amazing. So so so good. Touches on so many different things. But I wanna I wanna go in specifically for this godly sorrow versus worldly sorrow. It's a short passage.

I've been using longer chunks in three different books of the Bible for a long time now. So I don't know where this is going. Alright. Pray for me. It might be ten minutes.

It might be an hour. Pray for ten minutes. Alright. Letters. A stack of letters.

If you find and if you've ever done any work on old houses, I don't know why people did this, but they put them inside the walls. In this church, when I was doing work on the sound booth back there during COVID when nobody was around here. I pulled off and I found a stack of letters inside the walls of the church. When I was at my grandmother's house before she passed, one of the last times I knew right where they were because when we were little kids, we saw them. Go, you pull out this drawer, bottom drawer left of a little desk that she had.

And it was all these letters, and they were edged in red, white, and blue like some of those. And they were from Vietnam. There were letters from my dad to my grandmother mainly. There was one of them in there where my dad had written back to my uncle Jeff, is seven years older than me. He was born in 'sixty four.

So when my dad went to Vietnam in 'sixty eight, '69, he was there, I think '68, '69, December to December, I think. When he went over there, my uncle was in kindergarten, so he wrote him a letter and he wrote it in huge letters and all in print so that he could read it himself when he got the letter back. Well, on the outside of that letter was a stamp that said found in equipment previously thought to be empty from the postal service, and he got that letter about fifteen years later. Yeah. He could read it, no problem.

But it was interesting to see from this stack of letters. I don't know what was going on exactly. He couldn't say exactly where he was. But he tried to be very cheery in those letters for my grandmother's benefit, for my mom's benefit, for my uncle Jeff's benefit. And it was interesting to read through them or my grandfather's log books of saw this many board feet of lumber.

He's a sawmill owner. Rained Tuesday, tractor broke down. It's like one heading. And in the same way, sometimes they carried a real emotional pop. One of them said like this many board feet.

The next day said, Billy left for Vietnam. Like, dang. That's that much information. This is a really short passage today. I'm gonna zero in on verse 10 because I think it's just a truth that we need to grasp, we need to understand, and we need to know how to deal with sorrow because sorrow is all around us.

It was a pastoral week this week. I got a call just before Christmas that a friend, a good friend, who struggled, had passed, and he passed he passed from alcohol. So it's it's I'm I'm not, I'm not always preaching against against against against against. He struggled with it. He struggled his whole adult life with it, and eventually it killed him at 54 years old.

And so I got a call from his sister, and I got a call from his sister to tell his wife, estranged wife, still married, but separated. And so later on in the week, this week, I went down and I stood by her side as we said goodbye to him. Now his soul was heavenward. We're sure. No doubt, he had trusted in Christ.

He still struggled with sin. Relationally, though, relationally, there is sorrow that can either go one way or the other. It's either going to be godly sorrow. I think sorrow is neutral. When it lands in your lap, it's surprise a lot of times.

You don't know that it's coming. And I'm using actually the New King James instead of New American Standard because New American Standard says grief. And I think we automatically associate grief with death. It's always going to be death. It's not always death.

Sorrow, to me, seems a broader term. And there's relational sorrow around us all the time, and we have to deal with it. If we don't deal with it, we'll run from it, and it causes division, and it causes war, and it causes prolonged strife. And we don't want that as believers. The whole prayer this morning about unity is like, bring us together, Lord.

If the community around us and the world around us is gonna see Christ in us. It's gonna have to be because you do it, Lord. It's gonna have to be because you are the one who is motivating us to step in the way of our savior. He's a man of sorrows. He was acquainted with grief, and he went into the fray.

Background of this, Corinthians. First Corinthians and second Corinthians, we have in the Bible. How many letters did Paul write to the Corinthians? What what do you think? Any pastors, theologians, anybody, any historical critical, textual critics?

Four. That's pretty good. At least four, maybe more. Possibly more. At least four, I would say, because in first Corinthians, what we call first Corinthians, he mentions the other previous former letter.

He goes in first Corinthians five, he says, wrote to you in that other epistle, in my other letter, not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet, I certainly didn't mean the sexually immoral people of this world. That's normal. We understand that. Or with covetous, extortioners, idolaters, since then, you would need to go out of the world.

You're not gonna find any good people. Right? We're all variously tempted. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone who's named a brother who is sexually immoral openly in the church at the time. So Paul's writing to him and saying this.

Now, I wrote to you my earlier epistle, he says, but now I'm writing to you, don't even eat with such a person. What what about to do with the judging those who are outside? God's judgment already stands on them. Do you not though have to judge those who are among you, who are part of the family of God because you love one another. Right?

But those who are outside God judges. Therefore, just put away from yourselves evil person. This is a hard message. This is first Corinthians. I wrote to you my earlier epistle.

So that's the second letter probably that he wrote, maybe third, fourth, who knows? But first Corinthians is now the second letter. And what's it about? Well, it hinted at it right there. He starts off talking about how there are divisions and factions.

Some of y'all say I'm of Paul. Some of you say I'm of Peter. Some of you say I'm of Paulus. Some of you even say, I'm of Christ. Oh, you're divided though.

You're not together as one. Relationally, there's friction in your fellowship. So divisions and factions, he starts off with that. That's hard. Known sin among the fellowship, and he mentioned some of those in that passage I just read.

Now he also when I asked Carl this morning, I walked in and said, Carl, tell me what first Corinthians is about quickly. And he said, it's a rebuke. I said, yes. And he said, and an encouragement. I said, yes.

It's both of those things. Oh, the love chapter of Corinthians. So, so, so good. Right? Spiritual gifts, chapter 12.

The love chapter, the guiding principle of all of the gifts that God has given is love. So calling on one another with rebuke when necessary, exhortation, and encouragement. That's what one Corinthians was about. In two Corinthians, he mentions a severe letter. Now if you read one Corinthians, it's got a few hard things in it, but it's not severe.

It's not it couldn't be called harsh or severe, I don't think. But the severe letter must have been a doozy, and we don't have it anymore. Think about that. That is no longer extant. We don't know where it even is.

This is second Corinthians two, Paul says, and I wrote to you this very thing to you, lest when I came, I was planning on coming, but I didn't wanna come and have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy. I didn't wanna come back in while y'all were still struggling so bad with this issue. Having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. My joy is Christ. Your joy is Christ.

I know that Christ can bring you through. I plan to come see you, but I didn't wanna get there and have sorrow all over again because you just weren't out the other side of it. Does that make sense? For out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote to you with many tears a severe letter. Not that you should be grieved.

I didn't wanna grieve you, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you. There are some things that it'll hurt our feelings to hear that are still true. Does that make sense to you? Occasionally, we're gonna hear something from the word. We'll hear it often if we'll pay attention.

We're gonna hear something that is true and hurts our feelings. We have sorrow over what we've read. Second Corinthians. So at least four, maybe more. That's what I see from the text.

We'll start the passage here. Second Corinthians seven eight through 13 says, for even if I made you sorry with my letter, that severe letter, even if I hurt your feelings with that letter, I don't regret it. Though I did at first regret it. I I did. After I wrote it, I was like, I cannot believe that I sent that letter.

I cannot believe I hit send on that email. I cannot believe that I said that. It's true. I labored over it with anguish and tears. I prayed about it.

God was dealing with me about it in the first place. I cannot believe I sent that. Even if I made you sorry with my letter, I don't regret it. Though I did regret it, for I perceived that the very same epistle that made you sorry did so only for a while. There was sorrow in there, but it was temporal temporary.

Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry. I didn't want to hurt your feelings, but that you that your sorrow led you to repentance. And he's speaking to the y'all, to the church at large. It's not an individual. It's to a group.

Now, I rejoice, not that y'all were made sorry, but that y'all sorrow led you to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner that you might suffer loss from us and nothing. I'm prayerful and hopeful, and he could see it by the time second Corinthians got there. He had heard the reports of what had happened, and there was unity that was happening within the church. In fact, part of this is saying there was one guy that was really causing the problem, and that guy, y'all have dealt with him.

Now welcome him back in and forgive him. Wow. Here's the truism apart from all of these other things being true and good. I just love the succinct nature of this verse. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation.

It's not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death. Boom. For observe this very thing, verse 11, that you, y'all, sorrowed in a godly manner. What diligence it produced in you. What diligence?

You were more circumspect in the way that you walked? You cared more about your own walk. It it made you more diligent, not to just cover your rear ends, okay? It's not that. It made you diligent to walk in holiness.

There's a difference in legalism and holiness. Right? Legalism is a show. Holiness is actually trusting in God in humility and walking forward with diligence in the steps that he's provided ahead of us. What diligence it produced in you.

What a clearing of yourselves. Now the clearing of yourselves might sound like it's a cover in your behind. You cleared yourselves. He's saying, no, it clears you from wrong when you say, you know what? I had a part in that.

I had a part in our relational snafu that what happened just now. I'm so sorry. I should not have done that. I've prayed about it. I believe God has forgiven me.

Can you forgive me for that? There is so much relational harmony that can happen from somebody taking part of their part. Often, people reciprocate, not always. What a clearing of yourselves. What?

Indignation. That's righteous anger. It's righteous anger towards real issues, real issues that threaten the purity of the church. That was happening in Corinth. What a clearing of yourselves.

What indignation. What fear, reverence, phabos. It is what reverence or fear, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. It puts you on a different plane where you saw that it's not just the same way the world always works. We've got to do this the same way the world works things out.

Right? Bear in mind that Paul mentions that it's terrible when Christians end up together in court because they just can't deal with it. They've got the same savior, the same lord, and he's saying, there's some bond here. The fear of God, the the Lord's Prayer, forgiven others just as forgive me just as I forgive others, Lord. Do we really want do we really want for God to forgive us the way that we forgive others?

It helps me to know that he can throw things as far as the East is from the West. I want for that to be the way that I feel about it, that I don't just say, oh, yeah. I forgive them, and then but I don't wanna have anything to do with them. That's not the way I want for I want for God to forgive me and then draw me close. I know that there are situations of abuse.

I know that there are hard, hard, hard things. I know that it's not always easy to tell who is and who has not surrendered to Christ. I know that. Godly sorrow. It produces diligence.

It produces the wanting to have open, good communication and relationships. It produces a right kind of anger that is anger but not sin. It produces a reverence for God. It produces vehement desire, zeal and vindication that God's way is right. Not that my way is right.

It's actually about righteousness and not just being right in an argument. In all things, prove yourselves to be clear in this matter. And from the text, we can also see that they had done as Paul suggested and that they needed to bring this fellow back in, bringing back in. The discipline worked. Now love this brother and bring him back into full fellowship.

Therefore, although I wrote to you, I didn't do it for the sake of him who did had done the wrong. It wasn't for his sake Nor for the sake of the one who had suffered the wrong, which could have been lots of different people. But that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you that you know that I love you. I wrote to you because I do love you. Paul had helped to plant this church.

Now Christ always is the one who grows the church. Paul had helped to plant it. He had a sincere desire to see it work out well. There were so many outside forces around him in Corinth. Some of them are very similar to the outside forces that are around us in Jackson.

There's so many outside things that could go wrong. And Paul had visited him and visited him and visited him three times at least, we hear from the text. And while he was in Ephesus dealing with other problems, he hears about what's going on in Corinth. And he loves them so much that he sits down prayerfully and writes two letters that end up in the New Testament and two others that don't. I think there's something there.

The fact that we don't have those other two, Paul's severe letter, oh my goodness, we turn all of Paul's letters into severe letters. But that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you, that you know that what we're saying, we're saying for your own good. Therefore, we've been comforted in your comfort. We've rejoiced exceedingly more for the joy of Titus. Titus is one who delivered the message because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.

The last visit that Paul had made, he refers to it as the sorrowful visit because it was such a shambles. Everything around was like, oh my goodness. This is a difficult situation. How are we ever gonna get out of this situation? I do not see this going well.

How in the world could well, let's pray. God, show us what it is that's going on and allow us the grace to love one another during the repair so that we can come back together. It's powerful, and God's word has to be at the center of it. James four says, why is it that you war? Why is there war and strife among you?

Is it not because of their desires in your heart? They're unmet, and you want them so bad you're willing to fight over them. That's the way wars start. Jesus and all of the songs that we sang is mentioned as the prince of peace, the one who provides peace, the one who provides wholeness and shalom. And he did so as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

He was willing to take the hit to be able to overlook the offense, but also deal with it. He dealt with it on the cross, the power of canceled sin. He forgave sin, but he also dealt with the power of it. His example and his spirit allow us to be able to be sanctified through the process. Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, and it is not to be regretted.

You don't ever look back on something that you sorrow can go either way. Right? That's, I think, the next slide. Sorrow can go either way. It can be according to God or it can be according to the world.

Sorrow of God or sorrow of the world. Godly sorrow is better than worldly sorrow because of what it produces. It produces repentance, which is a change of mind, a change of heart. Is a turning away from sin. So godly it sorrow.

If you are sorrowed about something relationally, and you see that I had a part in causing this, first go to God and ask for his forgiveness. I want for this sorrow, this pain that I'm feeling. I want for this to be redemptive, Lord. Will you help me to walk away from this? You turn in repentance.

First and foremost, that's what is produced by godly sorrow, and it leads to salvation. I would say not only salvation as the concept of, you know, binary in or out of the kingdom of God, that that is part of it, especially for somebody who's not a believer. Sorrow brings them to the point of laying down their life. Yes. That's for salvation.

No doubt. But for for those of us who are believers, it leads to the safety of knowing you've done all that you can do. When you have sorrow and you take it on and you lay it at the foot of the cross and you say, God, I am grieved by my own sin. Will you take it away from me? I'm turning from it, and I'm walking away from it by your spirit.

Will you save me from the consequences of this sin? Will you save me from this sin? And he will, leading to salvation. And it's not to be regretted. Now there is sort of a double mindedness James mentions too.

There's a double mindedness that I ought to just say I'm sorry and be done with it. And that's godly sorrow. Yes, you should. Say you're sorry and be able to overlook the it's on their part. Whether they say they're sorry or not, you should be able to do that.

But they said, but I'm right. The flesh cries out. Right? But I'm right. There's no reason that they should triumph.

How long will my enemy triumph over me? But I trust in your unfailing love. David says, Lord God, if I'm wrong in any way in this situation, would you show it to me so that I can lay it down? And then, Lord, allow me to be as gracious as you are. And while they were yet sinners, be able to take the hit to forgive them.

That should never be regretted. What's next? Bucket list. You all know what a bucket list is? I mean, we live in Jackson, everybody's got a bucket list, right?

I want to climb the Grand. I want to do this. I want to do that. Me neither. I agree, Hayden.

Thank you very much. I have never even thought I want to climb the Grand. I did climb the highest mountain in Costa Rica one time and I made God a promise that I would never do that again if he would get me off that mountain. But running with the bulls, that sort of thing, climbing Kilimanjaro, doing something like that. I don't know why, but it just hit me.

This sermon really hit me so hard that I think I want to put on a bucket list, but it's something I want to be actively doing. You're not getting any younger. If you got a bucket list, don't wait till you're old to do it. Go ahead and do some of that stuff. This is it.

If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. Add that to your bucket list. Add that to your list of daily tasks too. In Christ, we can forgive people. And it's a much freer life that we live if we forgive people.

If you have somebody in mind right now that you're thinking, but they're wrong. You were also wrong when God forgave you. Right? You also are probably still wrong about a lot of things. Does God deal with you graciously?

He does. Does he deal with you and remind you of your sin every single day and condemn you? No. He doesn't. He throws it as far as the East is from the West when you just agree with him about it.

And so I I think that it is possible for you to be at peace with people who are still not at peace with you. Does that make sense to you? A peace process. We hear it all the time when we're talking about Israel and Palestine and all of those, constant conflicts that have been going on forever. We hear about the peace process, the peace process, the peace process.

It is a process. One of the main things that helps in a peace process is not reoffending. And if only one side will not reoffend, it helps tremendously. If one side can say, you know what? Because I was still a sinner when Christ forgave me, I can forgive them.

Because you have done this to me, Lord, I am praying for that person that is an enemy that I can eventually call them a friend. And I'm gonna start that process now. And if they catch up, great. And if they don't, it's not on me. That's a clearing of ourselves right there.

Lord God, father, forgive them for they know not what they do, but I do know what I did. And here it is. Will you forgive me? And he will. Godly sorrow.

So the truth of this verse 10 is for everybody in this room. The purpose of sorrow for those who have never put their faith in Jesus Christ is that it prompts you to turn towards God your maker. If he is putting it on you right now and saying, all of the pain that you are experiencing right now, actually, he gave us our ability to sense pain for our protection and benefit, right? When you touch a hot stove, you draw back because that will burn you. And when you just feel that initial thing, you draw back from it.

It brings your hand back to a place of safety. And if you hit a pain that is this deep and you realize this is because I don't know God, your pain is designed to help you escape the perilous situation that you are in. You don't want for your hand to burn, draw it back. You don't want for your whole life to be about that pain. Take me to a place of safety, God, and he will.

He says whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. The pain is a part of it. Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation. The purpose of sorrow for those who have already trusted in Christ is that it prompts you to grow closer to him and to others. Jesus being man of sorrow and acquainted with grief, he knows what it's like to cry over Jerusalem when he knows they're not gonna accept it.

But he still does the redemptive act anyway. He knows what it's like. Your pain is designed to help you empathize with other people. What happens when you do something wrong and then you realize it? Now I know sometimes we realize it and go, that's wrong, and we do it anyway.

I'm not asking about that right now. That's a different sermon for a different day. What happens when you do something and then you look back and you go, that was my own selfishness. I had framed it in a different way to look good, but that was my own selfishness. That was my own greed.

I am brokenhearted. Now if you've ever felt that way, you might not have, I think you probably have. If you have ever felt that way, consider that your opponent in whatever dispute it is did exactly that. And maybe they haven't gotten to the place where God showed them what they did was wrong yet. You can help that if you surrender your portion.

If there's something that's separating believers, it really needs to be overcome, and Jesus epitomizes godly sorrow. He's he had a lot of times where you can see his empathy and his compassion. Jesus being moved with compassion for this other person brought them in. He epitomizes godly sorrow. So what else does it produce?

Well, verse 11 goes into diligence. I wanna have a more diligent walk in 2024. I do. I wanna be more diligent about the way I act and speak to others. I want to be clear before God.

I don't wanna hold on to any sin just to prove I'm right to another sinner. What? Righteous anger. I don't wanna be angry about the wrong things. I certainly don't wanna sin because I'm angry, but I wanna be angry about the right things.

I wanna be reverent before God. I wanna fear God more than I do man. I wanna have a vehement desire and zeal for God. Vindication. What vindication?

That is showing that you have chosen the right way, and the right way is laying it down before God, trusting in And it's not not a it's like salvation in Ephesians two, eight and nine. It's the gift of God so that no one can boast about it. But you can be vindicated because you have taken the way that God has offered. In all these things, you prove yourselves to be clear in this matter. But what does the sorrow of the world produce?

There's only one thing that's listed, and it's death. That's heavy. It means that if you don't take that sorrow and use it the way God intended it for salvation, vindication, all of those things. If you don't take it in, feel the pain and draw back from it, draw into God with it, then you're gonna die with that sorrow. That's where it's leading.

That's the only place that it's leading. Now praise God for for the guy that I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon. I believe that guy believed in Jesus. I believe it. No doubt about it.

I don't have any doubt that he trusted in Christ. I don't have any doubt that he loved me. I don't have any doubt that he loved his wife. He still struggled in this life. And it caused relational difficulties for a lot of people, honestly.

But this is so good. God will wipe away every one of those tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more death, no sorrow, no crying, no sorrow. Wait a second. There's no sorrow.

There's no sorrow because God brings an end to that. Godly sorrow gets to the end of sorrow here, where he's wiping the tears away, and there's no crying, and there shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away. Would you stand with me? I'm going invite the band back up. God, would you help us?

Would you show us, Lord, the way that we can walk forward, in this new year, in this new week, on this new day? Show us the way that we can walk forward, Lord, laying everything down before you, all of our ugliness, and trust in you that you make beauty from ashes, Lord. In Jesus' name, I ask that you would be magnified in us.

Man. This will be a sign of you. Oh, maybe born in Bethlehem. Come and worship. Do not be afraid.

Unto us a son is given. Every heart prepare his throne. Let every nation under heaven Worship. Do not be afraid. Everlasting father and singing a wonderful

I don't remember ever having done this before, but I've got a brother here from Ghana. Would you come forward? He's a missionary from Ghana that I've never met. I thought he was coming next week. Wow.

Would you say the closing prayer for us?

Yes, please. Let's pray. And so father, we thank you this morning for your love and grace. We thank you that godly sorrow really produces repentance that leads to salvation. We thank you for our lives.

We thank you for your faithfulness to us, and we pray that you continuously strengthen us and keep us in love and keep us in unity so that we can be one. Your word said, by this, all men will know that we are your disciples that we love one another. We bless you in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.

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Church Unity Dealing With Grief Forgiveness Godly Sorrow Repentance

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