Scripture referenced 7 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Deuteronomy 22:5 briefly mentioned as the passage Pastor started in the previous week, about a man not dressing like a woman
5 A woman shall not wear men’s clothing, neither shall a man put on women’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh your God.
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Keep this verse
2 Corinthians 2:10-13
quoted as the passage immediately before the great digression, about forgiving others and not being outwitted by Satan, and Paul not finding Titus at Troas
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.
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2 Corinthians 7:5-7
quoted as the passage immediately after the great digression, about affliction in Macedonia and God comforting Paul by the coming of Titus
5 For even when we had come into Macedonia, our flesh had no relief, but we were afflicted on every side. Fightings were outside. Fear was inside.
6 Nevertheless, he who comforts the lowly, God, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
7 and not by his coming only, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, while he told us of your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced still more.
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2 Corinthians 4:8-9
referenced briefly as a memorized passage about Paul's list of afflictions
8 We are pressed on every side, yet not crushed; perplexed, yet not to despair;
9 pursued, yet not forsaken; struck down, yet not destroyed;
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2 Corinthians 7:10
quoted and expounded as the central text: godly grief produces repentance leading to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death
10 For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death.
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2 Corinthians 7:11
quoted to list what godly grief produces: earnestness, eagerness to clear yourselves, indignation, fear, longing, zeal, and vindication
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.
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2 Corinthians 7:12
quoted as Paul explaining he wrote not for the one who did wrong or the one who suffered wrong, but so the Corinthians' earnestness for the true ministers might be revealed
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.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Mark opened this message from a stretch of 2 Corinthians that shows Paul reunited with Titus in Macedonia, relieved and overjoyed that the Corinthians had received his severe letter well. The sermon centered on one phrase from that passage: godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. The question running through the whole message was whether the grief we experience drives us toward God or away from Him.
What was said
Paul had sent Titus to Corinth carrying a painful, confrontational letter, and then waited in Troas not knowing whether Titus was safe or whether the letter had done more harm than good. The text picks up the thread: Paul's spirit had no rest, his body had no rest, and he carried a fear within him for Titus and for the church. The passage drops a phrase that changes everything - "but God, who comforts the downcast." When Titus finally arrived, Paul was comforted not just by seeing him alive, but by hearing that the Corinthians had received the word, mourned their sin, and changed course.
That report from Titus gave Pastor Mark the hinge of the sermon. Paul says he does not regret the letter now, though he had regretted it while he was waiting. The arrow had been shot into the air and he did not know where it would land. When Titus brought back word that it had hit its mark, the regret dissolved.
The distinction Paul draws is between two kinds of grief. Grief is universal and in itself neutral. Everyone in this room will experience it. What matters is what you do with it. Grief according to God, taken to heart, produces repentance, earnestness, eagerness to be clear before God, righteous indignation, fear and reverence, longing, zeal, and finally a kind of vindication - the sin placed under the blood of Christ. Worldly grief produces only one thing, and the text only lists one: death.
Pastor Mark drew the contrast out using two disciples. Peter denied Jesus three times and was grief-stricken over it. That grief drove him toward God, and from that point on there was nothing timid about Peter. Judas also grieved, genuinely, over betraying innocent blood. But his grief turned inward and produced only death. Same event, same kind of failure, two completely different responses to grief.
God designed pain as a protective warning, not a punishment to be numbed out. Pastor Mark used the image of a child touching a hot stove. The godly response is to recognize the warning and pull back. The worldly response is to press in until the nerve dies. People do exactly that with grief, pressing deeper into whatever produces it until they can no longer feel it, and that path ends only one way.
Pastor Mark was candid that this was not purely an academic week for him. He had written some direct, confrontational messages to a few people during the week and then sat with his own grief over whether he had done it rightly, whether the arrows would land, and whether pride had been more involved than he wanted to admit. He preached this passage out of the same position Paul was in: the letter had been sent, Titus was in the field, and there was nothing left to do but wait and trust God with the outcome.
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.
- The pastor described waiting anxiously for news from Titus, with no way to communicate, and compared it to times we have had to wait without knowing if someone we sent into a hard situation was safe. When have you experienced that kind of helpless waiting, and what did it reveal about where you were putting your trust?
- The pastor drew a distinction between godly grief and worldly grief, saying both start from the same human experience but go in very different directions. What do you think makes the difference between a person who lets grief drive them toward God and one who lets it harden them?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 8,318 words
0:00
Fill out the vestibule out there but usually, they come in here when we start singing. So, if you would stand with me, I'm gonna invite up today Bob Wells who is normally up here nowadays but Christine Schuler and Laura Turner are going to join us in Scott's absence and we're all going to just stand around and sing. So, it's a good old fashioned hymn saying, we're going to start with Love Lifted Me. Hymn number five zero eight, if you want to get your part. Amen.
3:11
This is fun. If that thing right there, if all of us can get closer to it, they can hear more of y'all and that would be better. So, glory to his name. Hymn number four ninety three. I mean, the the the thing is set on a fan like this.
6:00
I've got a few announcements. Y'all can have a seat or stay up here if you want to. Either way, it's kind of a three person choir today. Connect hour happens between services. If you don't know about that, you should.
6:12
We had all kinds of good treats down there this morning and coffee and tea and everything else but it's a better place to just connect with those that are in the first service so we don't get the feeling like they're two different churches here or three or four. We have four different worship services. Actually, one of em is on Monday nights at 06:00 in the evening and that group meets in the fellowship hall and it's a great time. Carl is the preacher slash pastor at that service and he's preaching through Philippians right now. He's just up to about the second chapter and it's just beautiful.
6:42
It's been going great. So, Monday nights at first be meal music and a message happens during Awana which happens in this room every Monday night. There's a small group that is starting this week at Robin Elizabeth Miller's house. It's Wednesday night, 06:30 on Cedar Lane, which is in East Jackson, that way. It's Counter Culture is the Book.
7:02
Do you have any of those books back there, Rinsey? Somebody? Did Elizabeth
7:05
leave any? Think she took off, but they'll have them. If you show up, they'll have them.
7:09
And their phone number is right there. Yep. So if you wanna write that down, do it quick because I'm turning it to Slack. Solid Rock Student Ministry, you can ask us and
7:17
we'll get it
7:17
to you.
7:18
We always ask you guys to look into the bulletin and for the announcements. And if you look today, you'll see that it says Solid rock is not happening this Thursday and Friday. That is not true. It is happening Thursday and Friday, and that was my fault because I told Jenny the wrong thing. But it is happening this week, so we'll see you middle school and high schoolers
7:35
that are
7:35
in here. Thursday evening and Friday morning.
7:37
Thursday evening, 06:30, Friday at 07:30.
7:39
Okay. Very good. Thank you. And we have this coming up this coming weekend, Friday evening, seven to nine. It's a parenting seminar, particularly for parents of teenagers or those who are about to enter their teenage time.
7:52
Tough Guys and Drama Queens is the name of it. Should be really really good. The book is excellent and one of the guys who works in Texas with Heartlight Ministries is coming up to lead this seminar. November 6, that's Friday, seven to nine and November 7, that's Saturday morning, nine to twelve. So, feel free.
8:10
Please do come and tell people about it too because it's open to the whole community and for everything else, just check your bulletin and there should be lots of information. I'm trying to do less and less announcements these days. Hopefully, next week could be even less. Would you stand up and greet one another and we'll bring you back together with a song. Hallelujah.
12:56
It's hymn number one eighty nine. I get the frontline team to come forward And Bob, would you mind saying the operatory prayer?
14:57
Our father, we're thankful for the privilege that we can come and worship you. We're thankful for the for the magnificent grace that you have extended to us for the privilege that we have to honor you through the confession of sin, through recognizing that we do not have the power in and of ourselves, but that power is the power of excellence that comes with the almighty power of the Holy Spirit. We're thankful father for this opportunity that we have to worship you through the giving back of that which you have given us. We pray that it will be for your glory that this is done both by the giver and those that receive the gift. For this we ask in my precious name.
15:54
Amen. Amen.
15:58
We're done. Yeah. We're done. I'm done. Okay.
16:03
Here.
16:05
As I went down in the river to pray,
16:09
studying about that good ole whan. And who shall wear the starry crown? Good lord, show me the way. Oh, sisters,
16:22
let's go down.
16:23
Let's go down. Come on down. O sisters,
16:29
let's go down.
16:30
Down in the river to pray. As I went down in the river to pray, go down, let's go down, come on down. O brothers, let's go down, down in the river to pray.
18:54
I, last week, started in Deuteronomy. Y'all remember that? It was intentional trying to confuse you. The week before, we had been in second Corinthians where we're up to the place where he was talking about not being unequally yoked. Before I get going, I I had something I was gonna mention too.
19:14
Last week sorry. It was a weird week this week. I woke up Monday morning and went through Monday, you know, it's typical Monday. Tuesday, normally my day off. We had an all day board meeting for Turning Point Started in the morning and went all the way till the afternoon.
19:29
Kind of a deep emotional kinda cathartic situation we did. Didn't really take the day off. It was a heavy emotional time because of the the weight of what we're dealing with is pretty heavy. And Judy is a director there. The next day, after that board meeting on Tuesday, Judy was in the paper.
19:47
It was this great article about Judy and about her work in oncology for forty something years and her current work in Turning Point. And I was gonna I'd already scanned in. I was gonna put that image up there and make a a little hay with it, you know? Have some fun and then the next day, my paper was in the picture. What was funny is I started in Deuteronomy last week and I started Deuteronomy twenty two six.
20:10
Deuteronomy twenty two five, it was the night after the follies, the day after the follies. Deuteronomy twenty two five was saying, a man should not dress like a woman for it's an abomination before the Lord and I was gonna put up Mark and Dave's picture from the paper and I just called the whole thing off. Let's not do that. This could get deep. I don't wanna do it every single week.
20:29
So, it's kinda neat for Judy to be recognized. I thought that was great. For me, to be recognized on Thursday morning as receiving a check with a big old smile on my face. You know, of all the things we ministers love. That's the, that's one of em.
20:43
Actually, it was great. Old bills this year, we we raised about almost $11.00 and they matched that up to about $16.00, which gives us the benefit of being able to say yes to people in need. So thank you for that. And I just wanted to mention, it was not $10,500,000 I got so many people texting me from that caption. It said raise receiving a check and right below it said $10,500,000 If you didn't read it clearly, you might have thought that we raised $10,500,000.
21:11
We did not. So lots of people texted me before I woke up about getting a piece of that action. This guy is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He's a poet. And in his day, he was the poet.
21:27
He was very, very popular, probably more popular than any other poet at all his time. And typically, when people are super, super popular, eventually people call him middle of the road and disregard them altogether. Do you all see that happening? John Denver, you remember him? He was very, very popular in the 70s.
21:46
But then people started going, oh, this is just terrible middle of the road junk, you know. Well, his poems were actually really, really good and received a lot of recognition at the time, but people started to just kinda eventually, people started to just poo poo that. That's what they do. I want to read a poem by Longfellow that y'all probably actually know, at least you know part of it. People use it in quotes a lot.
22:11
I mean, they they're talking along, they say, I shot an arrow into the air, and it fell to earth I knew not where. That is the quote that I'm talking about. I had an art professor that used that one almost every lecture. And I've mentioned before that my art professors, it's a three hour long class, and they would lecture the whole three hours and give us very few breaks, even if we were painting or something else. And he said this a lot, and it was something that I thought was kind of odd.
22:36
At the time, I don't guess I knew exactly what he was talking about. He said, I shot an arrow into the air, fell to earth, I know not where, and he'd keep right on talking. And he talked a lot in circles. He's a very lateral thinker. And talking about things, but if he found something that was a particular point that needed to be heeded by somebody, he'd say, I shot an arrow into the air, fell to earth, I know not where.
22:57
So, this is the actual, the whole poem. It's three stanzas long. It's not very long. So, just listen. The arrow and the song is the name of it by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
23:06
I shot an arrow into the air. It fell to earth. I knew not where. For swiftly it flew, the sight could not follow it in its flight. I breathed a song into the air.
23:19
It fell to earth. I knew not where. For what has sight so keen and strong that it can follow the flight of song. Long, long afterward in an oak, I found the arrow, still unbroke, and the song from beginning to end, I found again in the heart of a friend. Oh, yeah.
23:40
That's great, isn't it? I'll refer to that several times maybe today. Longfellow. I I really, really appreciate that. And I didn't understand it, but what's kinda cool is now that I do understand it, the arrow landed.
23:53
Know You what I'm saying? The arrow finally landed where that professor intended it twenty three years ago. We'll get to that in a minute. If you have been following along with us, we've been going through Corinthians, second Corinthians. We went through first.
24:08
We went through Galatians. We're now in second Corinthians and we have been studying for the last two and a half months. The great digression or the great digression is from chapter two fourteen to chapter seven four and it's a long ways out. Now, he digresses. He's talking along and then he it's like he something triggers him to to go into this long defense of his apostolic authority and then give lots of really, really good instruction and so, the last five or six sermons that y'all heard have been about this, this great dig digression.
24:44
It's all important and I actually think that this is probably the heart of the letter is this digression but it's funny if you take the context just before this and just after they fit together like pieces of a broken plate. You just put em back together and they're seamless. They just go straight together. So, this is what was immediately before. Second Corinthians two ten through 13 and he's in the middle of something.
25:09
So, the. Dot. There. Anyone whom you forgive, Corinthians, I've also forgive. Any, indeed, what I have forgiven, I, if I've forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we all would not be outwitted by Satan.
25:23
Do you remember that sermon? That was the one where we're talking about unity. Actually, what everybody remembers is it ended with the pope talking. It was we know the designs of Satan. We are not unaware of his designs.
25:36
We're not gonna be outwitted. We're not gonna let him divide us. We must be unified. That was the point there. We're not ignorant of his designs and then, he talks about his, you could just skip over and go his travel plans.
25:48
You know, don't know where Troas, you know, most of us don't know where Troas is. When I came to Troas, this is where Paul received the Macedonian call for those of you who care. When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was open for me and the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. My spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. Now, Paul and Titus traveled together a lot but Paul also sent Titus ahead of him or back to take care of things from time to time and Paul was sending Titus with a severe letter.
26:26
Paul had been on a tearful visit to Corinth after he wrote first Corinthians. He went back. Things were in a shambles. He did not like what he saw and it broke his heart and so while he was away from Corinth, he sent Titus back there and he sent him bearing a severe letter or tearful letter. He calls him both things and when he sent him there, he had an agreement with him either then or he sent word for him to meet him in Troas.
26:51
And when Paul got to Troas, he says, when I came to Troas to to preach the gospel of Christ because that's what he did everywhere he went. Even though a door was open for me and the Lord, I was, the gospel is landing in fertile soil and people were accepting it and people were getting saved. Even though that was happening, it was all good there. My spirit though was not at rest within me because I didn't find my brother Titus there. Have you ever been doing something that's been going really, really well but at the same time, you had this nagging question in the back of your mind but this is not, this is unfulfilled.
27:23
This is unresolved. I don't know what's going on there and so he said he couldn't find any rest. So, I took leave of them even though the ministry was going well. Now, he left some other guys behind where he was. So, I took leave of them and I went on to Macedonia.
27:37
So, he crossed over part of the GNC there to Macedonia which is where Philippi is. So, I took leave of them and I went on to Macedonia. Now, the great digression comes in between there. He kinda interrupts his own thought and goes for five chapters but this is what immediately follows it. Second Corinthians seven five through seven.
27:58
For even when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest but we were afflicted at every turn, fighting within and fears with the fighting without and fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comfort us by the coming of Titus. Look at this. Look at the way these fit together like the broken plate thing. If you just put em right together, take the five chapters out between em.
28:23
My spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So, I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia and even when for even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest but we were afflicted at every turn. You remember four, eight, and nine that we've memorized. You remember his other lists that we've we've seen his afflictions and he's saying that he was having one of those sleepless times. Our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn, fighting without with the people both in Troas.
28:55
They were against him, and in Macedonia when he arrived, there was all kind of turmoil because anywhere the gospel goes, there's gonna be some resistance. And fear within. What was he afraid of? He's afraid of for Titus. He had sent Titus into what he knew to be a pagan pagan and hostile land.
29:11
Although he knew there was a church there and he trusted that there were Christians there that he loved, that he had seen except the gospel, that he he felt like had good hearts and he sent Titus to that but he feared. He doesn't have rest in his spirit. He doesn't have rest in his body. He's fearing within that he might have sent Titus into harm's way. For even when we had come into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest.
29:37
That doesn't sound good. But we were afflicted at every turn. That doesn't sound good. Fighting without and fear within. But God, that sounds good.
29:49
When you've got all the bad stuff stacking up, whenever scripture has lots of bad stuff stacking up, I am so thankful when I hit a but God but God, who comforts the downcast. Remember how he started the letter in in the first chapter? God who is the God of all comfort. He comforts us so that we may comfort others but God who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus. So, Paul's wondering if Titus is even alive.
30:20
He sent him away. He didn't have a cellphone. How many of y'all have waited on your parents? Or waited on somebody. You didn't have a cellphone and the the plan changed in between time.
30:29
I told the first service, I sat out after basketball practice one time waiting for my parents and I'm in Georgia now and I watched a mud puddle freeze waiting for him. Whole thing. Watched it crystallize in front of me and froze solid. On on right there as I was waiting for them because I couldn't get the word to them and they couldn't get the word to me and we were sitting in two different places waiting on each other. This is what Paul's anxiety was over.
30:54
But God who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming. So, he was glad to just see him. Finally, this guy, he didn't know whether he was dead or alive. He didn't know whether they had received the message well. He didn't know anything about what was going on with Titus and when he got to see Titus, I'm sure he just ran and embraced him like the prodigal's father.
31:15
You know, just came to him, gives him a big hug, and he says, I'm not only comforted by the coming of Titus but verse seven says, not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, Corinthians. Wait a second, not only is Titus here and alive and well but they received that severe letter and they comforted Titus. They loved him. They received him with love and he told us that he was comforted by you and he told us of your longing and your mourning and your zeal for me. So that I rejoice still more.
31:55
The false apostles or the super apostles as Paul called them, whether they were guys that were super legalistic or whether they were prosperity gospel type guys. They were all trying to undercut his authority And Paul knew that these people were real Christians, and he knew that they could accept the word if they were given the shot to hear the word. Paul was comforted by their longing, mourning, and zeal. And if you look at those three and you think, how do these three things bring Paul comfort and joy? Well, his intent in that severe letter is that they would accept what he said as true and it would convict them of sin.
32:36
It would convict them of the problems among them and that they would long to be right, that they would mourn their own sin, and that that they would have zeal to not continue in that path and that's what Paul says comfort him. Now, he fleshes that out for the rest of this section. So, I'm not just making this up on those three words. Paul was brought comfort and joy by their longing, their mourning, and their zeal especially their mourning and this is where he takes off in the direction of grief and sorrow. I have been here for three and a half years as a full time senior pastor.
33:09
Most of y'all know that. If any of you don't, that's that's how long it's been. June 2012, I came in and this is one, this is the first time I think that I've had to re preach a message, preach through the same exact message again and this one, the first time I use a New King James version of the Bible, this is the English standard version that we're using today. And the first time I did all of the study, second time I've I studied it, kind of refresh my memory but I already had slides for it, not these, but close. I already had processed through it and I really kind of thought I knew it.
33:43
You know what I'm saying? I felt like, oh, good. This will be easier this week. I don't have, I don't have to study so much and it was a pretty heavy pastoral week like I mentioned. There was a lot of stuff, lot of heart level stuff going on.
33:55
And so, I wrote a couple of different people, sorry. I wrote a couple of different things this week and as I was writing em, I I was sincere. I would before God completely sincere and I don't usually call individual people out on their stuff, whatever it is they're saying. Usually, I like to stand up here, proclaim what this says. The Holy Spirit and the word do the convict and I don't have to do that.
34:22
That's not my job. I have to worry about myself, you know? But I felt particularly convicted this week that I really needed to to say, hey, I think I think you got a blind spot here. I think you're not seeing something that needs to be seen and took the time to do that with a couple of three maybe situations. And so this week, rather than having to study so deep, I was living out this whether I didn't see it at the time, but I did the same thing.
34:50
And so when I shot that arrow into the air towards those individuals, when I shot it out there, I didn't know where it would land. I didn't know whether it would hit and whether it would take hit the target, and they would take it, and it would produce good things, or whether it would be just bad altogether. I didn't know. So this is Charlie Brown's shirt. Right?
35:14
And what is Charlie Brown always say? Good grief. Good grief. He says, good grief and it's an exclamation. We use it, you know, an interjection sometimes.
35:24
Good grief but if you think about this section, that's what Paul's talking about. He's talking about good grief. Actually, last time I preached this from the New King James, I said it was godly sorrow, good sorrow versus bad sorrow. Grief is what the ESV always translate this Greek word. For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it.
35:50
Now, why would he say that? Why would he say, even if I made you grieve? So I broke your heart. Alright? I wrote what I wrote and it really was hard for you.
36:01
I know it caused you to grieve, but I don't regret it. Now, I don't regret it. Do not regret it. Present tense. Right now, today, I don't regret it.
36:10
Though I did regret it. Why would he say that? Imagine him waiting for Titus. He's waiting for him at Troas and he's not showing up. He's going, I sent a severe letter.
36:21
I shot an arrow into the air and I sent Titus with that severe letter and those pagans, they may have just imploded on him. I was sad and mournful and tearful the last time that I was there. They broke my heart just seeing what was going on, and I sent this young guy back into the mix. I shouldn't have done that. I regret that.
36:45
But then when he saw Titus and Titus gives him a good report, oh, I don't regret it now. They took the word and they accepted it. The arrow hit the intended target. No problem with that. Praise God and Titus is alright too.
37:00
This is wonderful. So, he says, though I did regret it, I don't regret it now. For I see that the letter grieved you deeply. That's a deep sorrow, hurt, longing. It brings about a difference.
37:15
The letter grieved you though only for a while, it did subside. As it is, I rejoice. I'm filled with joy, filled up, and rejoice not because you are grieved, not because you are grieved. I don't want to hurt your feelings. That's not my intent.
37:29
I don't I don't feel like it's just good heart preaching if you're hurting people's feelings. Not because you're aggrieved but because you are grieved into repenting. It made the right difference. It made the right choice. You made the right choice after being confronted with your your own stuff, your sin, whatever.
37:47
You saw it and you turned away from it. You were grieved. You were humbled, you might wanna say, into repenting. For you felt a godly grief so that or such that in a way that you suffered no loss through us. You suffered no loss through us.
38:08
Now, I don't want to hurt your feelings. It's it's kind of like that but you usually get that. So, a lot of times that's a hammer. One of the messages from Acts when the people came to the disciples and said, listen, you're neglecting our widows in the in the mix. The disciples, the apostles could have said, we're the apostles.
38:29
So, what? We're the ones in charge but they didn't say that. They said, you know what? You're right. Choose seven guys from among you.
38:37
Y'all handle that. And they took care of it right then. They considered the merits of the murmuring. They considered the merits of the sermon that was being preached back to them. And so this godly grief, the people took it to heart and they suffered no loss.
38:51
Praise God. Verse 10 says, for godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret whereas worldly grief produces death. Now, grief can go either way. I I remember the first time that I preached this sermon, it wasn't exactly stated the same way but the verses are the same. The power of the scripture is still the same.
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Grief can go either way. Everybody is going to be grieved in this life. If people are not grieved at all, ever, if they don't ever experience sadness or a depth of emotion, negative kind of emotion, difficult emotion, then, we put em in asylums. Grief is normal. Grief is good, Paul says, or can be at least.
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It can go either way though. Since we all experience grief in itself, it's neutral. It but it's how you deal with it. It can be either godly or it can be worldly. Grief can go either way.
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It can be grief and the Greek says, according to God. Grief according to God, godly grief, good grief, or it can be grief of the world and the grief according to God is interesting because because according to God, he takes whatever it is that we get in our our human experience and he can turn that for good. Amen. Period. It can be just run of the mill grief though.
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Run of the mill grief of the world only has one end, worldly grief, bad grief. We'll get to where it leads in a minute. So good grief, Charlie Brown. Good grief. Does it exist?
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And if so, what does it do? What does it produce? I I'm going to pose this. Godly grief is better than worldly grief because of what it produces. Straight up, what it produces in our lives.
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Godly grief is better than worldly grief and I think we'd all say, yeah, if I got a choice between godly or worldly, I think I'll go with godly but that's not always the case. We don't always take it that way. What does godly grief produce? Well, verse seven ten says, godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret. So, repentance, first and foremost, godly grief, when you take what it is that God has Well, when you take whatever it is that has happened to you through your own bad choices, through somebody else's bad choices, whatever it is that produces grief in you or gives you grief, it can produce a repentance.
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Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and without regret. So, repentance is first and foremost. That leads to salvation and that is not to be regretted. Now, most of the people in church on Sunday morning, I know you're junkies for Jesus and you're coming all the time. I got that.
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Most of you are Christians, not all, maybe but for all of you who are Christians, have you ever regretted your salvation? No. Have you ever regretted your savior? No. Godly grief is that which produces in us a longing and a mourning of our sin, a longing for God.
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Blaze Pascal described it as the God shaped void. It becomes very apparent in times of grief that we need God to fill us up. We need to God to make us whole. So, first and foremost, it leads to repentance. Not thinking our way but thinking God's way about things.
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Repentance that leads to salvation which is not to be regretted. I've heard lots of people that regretted the choice of starting at a particular church. We all have church hurt. We're all wounded in some way by you know, church, other groups, individuals, whatever. But I don't know anybody that has had a difficult time in their life that caused them to turn to Christ.
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Reach out for him. Nobody regrets that. Salvation is good. Never to be regretted. Godly grief produces that.
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What else does godly grief produce? If we keep on reading in verse 11, it'll tell us. Foresee what earnestness, earnestness is a a deep, true, profound sincerity, an earnestness, something where there's an intensity to our to our experience that we really, really mean it. Earnest, to be earnest. Foresee what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you.
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You ever met anybody that was just flipping all the time that never got serious about anything or earnest about anything? They didn't really care about anything. He says, godly godly grief produces earnestness where it really matters. The things that matter to you really matter to you. Makes a difference in the way you live your life.
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What earnestness this godly grief has produced in you but also, what eagerness to clear yourselves. Now, there's an eagerness to clear yourselves when you've actually done something wrong and you just don't want to have to suffer the consequences of it but Paul is talking about there's an eagerness to actually be righteous, to actually be clear of the charges from that point forward. Godly grief produces an eagerness to be clear of the charges. If you actually go through the grief and mourning your own sin, you don't want to replicate that, right? Do you agree with me, everybody?
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Alright. You're thinking of something that you used to do that you couldn't get away from, whatever. What eagerness to clear yourself and it's not a specific sin so much. Sin is a distraction. It's not a specific sin.
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It's a mindset. There's an eagerness to clear yourself before God. God, I wanna walk holy before you and that's what he says godly grief produces. You don't wanna feel that pain again, right? You don't wanna feel the pain of grief if you can avoid it.
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Don't let it be your fault. So, it's an eagerness to clear yourselves. Although, acted on by other people. Yes, you may go through some grief that's completely not your fault. You don't want it for it to be your fault.
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It's an eagerness to clear yourselves and an indignation. Indignation is righteous anger. Jesus's anger when he walked into the temple and it turned to a marketplace when he flipped over those tables. Jesus was indignant. He had righteous anger that he should have had and that indignation is when you see maybe the false apostles, super apostles, those guys.
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When you see that, it just gets under your skin. It's an a righteous anger towards them. What fear, all reverence, fear, ESV always calls it fear. What fear of God? What awe?
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What reverence? And it's produced by this godly grief. What longing? Again, it's that God shaped void. It is a longing for something bigger than yourself.
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Have you ever been to, well, a funeral or lost a loved one that it was very apparent that this is not all there is. This cannot be all that is. That's one of the most profound experiences of grief is losing someone. And when you lose them, you feel like there's gotta be more than this. Godly grief produces that feeling, and you reach out to him, and he's there.
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What zeal? Zeal is a very very strong word. Y'all know what zeal is. It's actually the same root as jealous. The word jealous and you know how strong jealousy is.
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So, he's saying that produces a longing and then a zeal to find out what it is about God. I want to know him more. I want to I want to draw into him as he fills me up. I want to draw into him and be a part of his mission. What punishment?
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I almost didn't use the ESV because of this word. Godly grief produces punishment. It I think it's better. I would state it as vindication. Vindication is a just end to some wrong.
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A just end to some wrong. So, the punishment also adjust in to some wrong. If you paid your debt to society after you've committed a crime, then, that was the punishment. That was what was required. That's the grief that you had to deal with.
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Oh, what needless pain we bear. Jesus has already dealt with it but when the grief of our own sin and the mourning for our own sin, it calls us to long for him and see that there's a just end to that sin and that was Jesus's death on the cross. What punishment or what vindication we see? At every point, you've proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So, these are the things that godly grief produces too.
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It produces repentance that leads to salvation that cannot be regretted. It produces earnestness and eagerness to clear yourselves, a righteous kind of anger that's actually righteous, fear, all reverence, longing, zeal, and then vindication. You have finally gotten that under the blood of Jesus. When you experience that godly grief and you turn to him in repentance, he takes it. And at every point, you've proved yourselves innocent in the matter from that point forward.
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Now, what does the text say that worldly grief produces? Only one thing. There's only one thing listed. It doesn't go in and spell it all out. It says, death.
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Worldly grief produces death. You can take it the way God intended and turn to him and receive all of those other things that just will be produced in your life, taking godly grief to heart or you can ignore it and you'll get death. That's what you get. For godly grief produces repentance that leads to salvation without regret whereas worldly grief produces death. So, this truth is for everyone here.
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Whether you're a believer or not, I know most of you are. The purpose of grief for those who have never put their faith in Jesus Christ is that grief prompts you to turn towards God, your maker. You turn towards your creator. He is the one who can and does make whole. And I will say this, our maker designed us to he designed pain to help us escape a perilous situation.
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If you don't have a sensation of pain, that's a real problem. You know why the Bible uses leprosy so often? I think. Why the Bible uses leprosy so often? One of the worst things about leprosy is that you lose your sense of pain.
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You're no longer able to sense the tips of your fingers, tip of your nose, anywhere where the the kind of the growth happens and leprosy. You don't have, you no longer have a sense of pain. So one of the things that usually hurts and kills a lot of people in the places in the world where they still have leprosy is that they don't sense pain and they burn themselves and they hurt themselves and they end up cutting themselves and bleeding out because they don't even know that something's happened. So, God has given us pain he's designed it in such a way to help us escape a perilous situation. Actually, he gave us our ability to sense pain for our protection.
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If you tell a child and tell a child and tell a child, tell a child that that stove is hot, don't touch that, that stove is hot. Occasionally, you're going to have a child that's going to test you on that and go over there and have to touch it for themselves. Now, when they touch it, they know it's hot, right? They got that and the godly way to deal with that is, that's hot. I don't wanna do that again.
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Hey, my mama loves me. She told me not to do that. I did it anyway. I got hurt. Maybe the next time she tells me not to do something, I should listen to her.
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That's a godly reaction to pain. Grief is the same way. That's not always your situation when you're sticking your hand against the stove but let's consider worldly, the worldly rejection of God completely in his design is, you know what I could do? I could touch that thing and if I hold my finger there long enough, it will kill those nerves, and I'll no longer be able to feel that pain. And there are people that do that every day in life.
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They ignore what God has done, and they keep on touching that hot surface to the point that they can't feel it anymore. You eventually die from that. You eventually, it would kill you. Maybe not that one finger example but if you keep on ignoring the sense of pain in your life and you just dive deeper and deeper into whatever you've been doing, it'll kill you. That's what it does.
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God loves you and he's told you there are some things that you should avoid to so that it may go well with you. Remember that? So that it may go well with you. He tells you that and if you don't believe him, you're gonna add to your own grief but hey, that grief can be godly grief or worldly grief. You can learn your lesson from it or you can reject it.
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Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation which is without regret whereas worldly grief produces death. And seven eleven comes next with that whole list of eagerness and all of that stuff. And then seven twelve says this, so although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong. So, yes, there's somebody who's trying to divide the church. There's somebody.
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He said, I didn't write to you because of him. That's not why I wrote to you. The severe letter or this one. That's not why I wrote to you and it's not for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong. In fact, that's probably Paul.
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He's the one who suffered the wrong. The guys are trying to take his legs out from up under him, telling him that he can't be trusted. He's not dignified, that he's not a good speaker, that he doesn't know what he's talking about. He's unlettered. He says, I didn't write to you for the guy who did the wrong and I didn't write to you for the one that was hurt whether that was Paul or some other faithful ministers in the congregation.
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I'm not writing it for him. I'm not writing it for them. I am writing it though in order that you that your earnestness for us, the good ministers of the gospel, those authorized by God to give us pure message of the cross, that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you. You get that? Does that make sense to you?
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So, I'm writing it so that you will see, you will see, and you'll have an earnestness for us and for this message. In the sight of God and therefore, we're comforted. That's why you're longing in your mourning and your zeal are comforting to us because you receive the word that God sent and you made it, it made a difference in your life. You're turning to him and he is building you up and besides our own comfort, he says, mine and the guys running with me. Besides our own comfort, we rejoice still more at the joy of Titus because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.
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Can you imagine being Titus? He's not Paul. He's he's that next level down. You know, he's the next level. He's the associate.
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He's not Paul but he goes and he he delivers this message and the people turn and he sees a revival take place and he's filled with joy. So, he says, we're not only comfort ourselves but we rejoice still more at the joy of Titus because his spirit's been refreshed by all of y'all. By the way, you receive this and then, this is cool. Paul says about the Corinthians, whatever boast I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. When I sent him out, I sent him out.
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I shot an arrow into the air. Send him with this message and when I sent him out there, I told him, hey, these folks are great. You're going to love Corinthians. You're going to love the Corinthians. I can't wait for you to get there.
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Remember this guy and that lady? They're wonderful and when you take this message, it's pure, man. When they hear this message, they're going to their hearts are going to turn. It's going to be a great thing and you're going to see God move. I can't wait for you to get there.
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That's the way he sent it up, sent him out but without resting his spirit, without resting his body, he started to doubt. He started to regret and he was feeling really bad and he says, whatever boast I made to him about you, I was not put to shame but just as everything we said to you was true, little another layer there. Just as everything we said to you was true. So also, all of our boasting before Titus has proved to be true and it proved to be true because you accepted the word. And his affection for you is even greater as he remembers the obedience of you all.
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How you received him with fear and trembling. I rejoice because I have complete confidence in you. It's like the third time he's told him how much confidence he has in him. He has confidence in him through the power of God that they can and will receive this message and he'll sanctify him and keep on moving him along. So, he says, I rejoice because I have complete confidence in you.
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That's a beautiful thing And I think that's the last slide. It is the last slide. So, what you do with this message today, I I heard, let me say this. Back up. Edit that part out.
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I had another professor in seminary and he said, I, you are not responsible for people as a pastor. You're not responsible for people. He said, you are responsible to them to deliver the unadulterated truth of the word. Let them hear exactly what God has said. You are responsible to them to do that.
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You're not responsible for what they do with it. People make bad choices from time to time. Earlier in the week, when I sent out those messages, I shot those arrows into the air. I I don't know where they fall and I I'm not responsible for that but I felt after I sent those two or three messages this week, I started feeling a deep sense of grief for my own sin. I felt a very, very deep sense of mourning and longing to not be proud and not be prideful and not think that I ought to be the mote puller or the spec puller to get everything out of everybody else's eye.
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So, I'm I asked the first service to pray for me. Tanya said, they're going to worry. I said, I'm asking you to pray for me just because I'm the pastor, you know, and because I want to deliver the clear and unadulterated truth of the word. That's what I want. And I want for it to do the convicting.
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But this week, when I sent those things out, they were fairly severe. And I want for those things to go well. I've got two more examples for you, I'll stop. So worldly sorrow and godly sorrow, if you need an illustration from the Bible about this, think of two of the original disciples. Judas and Peter.
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So, there was a rejection of Jesus by Peter. We all know about it before the cock crows three times. You're going to reject me three times. Before the cock crows, you're going reject me three times. That's true.
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He did reject him. That's sin. That's wrong. He shouldn't have but he did it and Judas betrayed Christ, right? He shouldn't have but he did.
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I mean, God uses it. He used it for good but how did the grief affect Judas and how did the grief affect Peter? Peter took that grief and that regret and that remorse and that whole thing, he said, God, have mercy on me. Do you think it produced in him an eagerness to clear himself? From then on, you ever see Peter having any problems with being bold with the word?
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No. What did it do for Judas? What did it produce in Judas? Grief. Grief stricken because he had betrayed the son of God.
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Grief stricken because he betrayed innocent blood. It produced only one thing, death. It produced all that other stuff in Peter because it was godly grief. You can take it and it can go either way. So, praise God.
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I'm I'm going to ask you if you would stand and I think we're going to sing I Surrender All and consider the words of this song while they're up there on the wall and when you're singing em and consider if you're surrendering all to God. Is there something you're holding back? You're gonna only experience the victory in Jesus to the extent that you're willing to surrender to him. Give this grief to him. Amen.
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And so, this week, I've just shot an arrow or a bunch of em into the air, okay? I don't know where they're gonna fall but I'm also singing a song out there into the air and I love the last verse of that poem. It says, I found it years later and I see it years later. May this, may God bless this and take it on down the road, and y'all shoot some arrows into the air just like this. In Jesus name, amen.
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