Godly or Worldly Sorrow

If you'd like to have a title for your notes, the title of today's study is Godly or Worldly Sorrow. Godly or Worldly Sorrow. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to open them again. We're going to turn to 2 Corinthians 7. 2 Corinthians 7, verses 8 through 13. This will be where we will launch off from today. 2 Corinthians 7, verses 8 through 13. While you turn there, let me just set the context a little bit for us. Here we are, and we are now coming to a moment in the Corinthian church. What we have within this Corinthian church is an unidentified individual who has committed a grave sin. Although it's an unspecified offense, the apostle Paul has determined, pastor Paul there of the Corinthian church, has determined that it can't go unaddressed and it can't go undelped. Therefore, he sits down to pin a letter to the Corinthian church. It's a somewhat painful letter, this letter that we come to here. Paul, we note, then sends Titus, one of his colleagues, to follow up and to travel to the Corinthian congregation just to see how they responded to his letter regarding this problem, this problem of sin that occurred in the church family. By the time we read these verses that we come to, by this time Paul is able to feel somewhat relieved. He's relieved because he gets word back that the Corinthian church had responded to his reprimands in a godly way. So, they had responded properly. And so, it's to this relief that we now come to this part of Scripture. So, let's pick up the narrative here. Picking up in verse 8, Paul writes, For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. For I perceived that that same epistle, that same letter, made you sorry, though only for a while.

Now I rejoice not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, so that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. Verse 10, For godly sorrow produces repentance, leading to salvation, not to be regretted. But the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing that you sorrowed in a godly manner. What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what ending nation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication. In all things, you proved yourself to be clear in this matter. Therefore, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered the wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you. Therefore, verse 13, we have been comforted in your comfort, and we rejoiced exceedingly more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. Let's stop there. So this is the primary passage of our study today, and with this we're going to seek to address this comparison that we're given here, because there's essentially two sorrows that are revealed here. Both sorrows are produced by sin, and it is that we can either have godly sorrow or we can have worldly sorrow. Endeavoring to distinguish between the two, hopefully it'll allow us to not have worldly sorrow, but hopefully help us to endeavor to have godly sorrow. They are quite different from one another, as you will notice.

Godly sorrow produces this wonderful fruit there that we saw clearing of ourselves, zeal, comfort, and ultimately salvation. That's a wonderful list from godly sorrow. In contrast to the other sorrow, the worldly sorrow which produces death. There's really a black and white perspective here.

And so, as perplexing as it may seem, Paul wanted to bring the right kind of sorrow into the Corinthian church here. Why? Why? Well, I think Paul knew that if you don't address sin as sin, if we try to heal the wounds of our people too lightly, if we seek to turn away from sin and the experience of sorrow caused by sin, if we turn away from that, then we can actually end up not experiencing the full benefit that godly sorrow can bring here. And so, again, Pastor Paul, if you will, wanted the Corinthian church to understand that there is in fact a proper sorrow for sin. You can see it there at the end of verse 9, the second half of verse 9, for you were made sorry in a godly manner, he says. So, let's look at that phrase. You were made sorry in a godly manner. So, the sorrow they felt was God-intended. So, this isn't just Paul. God wanted to bring his people to sorrow over their sin.

I'll repeat that just for emphasis. God intended for them, for his people, to become sorrowful over sin. Now, that, that Paul is revealing here, that being in the church of God might reconcile in our minds very easily. You know, God wanting to bring us to sorrowfulness over our sin. It's like, okay, I can get that. But remarkably, that understanding actually flies in the face of much of the preaching that you will hear from the world's pulpits. It's the kind of preaching that begins and ends with the idea that God only wants us to be happy. You may have heard this. If you listen to any length of time on Sunday radio stations, your local Christian radio station, so-called Christian radio station, Sunday mornings, across the country, you will regularly hear that you've come to church and you're only supposed to have a wonderful time. And at church, we're only supposed to be positive. And we're always supposed to be happy. Turn the music up louder. If you're feeling any kind of sorrow inside, let's crank up the music. You know, crank up the band, if you will. And no matter what happens in the middle of the preacher's message, he will, in the end, say now, the one thing I don't want you to do is go away unhappy because God always wants you to be happy. And I hear that, and I slowly turn off the radio at that point. And I wonder where he gets that, that God only always wants us to be happy. Except, you know, that is true, we could say. God does want us to be happy.

Although sometimes God wants us to be happy only after we've been sorry. Okay? And with regards to the sin in our lives, God does not want us to be happy about it. I can state that affirmably. But again, in 21st century preaching, by and large, they miss out on this vinyl aspect. And because of that, people don't ultimately become happy because they don't ultimately become sorry first for their sin. And if they would discover to be sorry first, then they could really be happy later. I'm gonna have to play that back to see if that makes any sense whatsoever. But I hope you're staying up with me so far. Because I want us to think about this for a moment. I want us to think about this vital distinction here that's in verse 10. Again, verse 10, for godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death. Okay? Let's really think about this vital distinction here. Here we are. We are men and women sitting here today. We respect and we have a love for the law. But have you ever, you may have never actually deeply thought about this distinction that Paul is laying out here? Perhaps you've never realized that not all sorrow for sin is godly sorrow. I'll repeat that. Not all sorrow for sin is godly sorrow.

That might be eye-opening to you. So, in other words, not all tears of regret over sin is the proper kind of sorrow, where even the tears that people shed in deep regret to sin, it may in fact not be the kind of sorrow that will lead them to salvation.

And in fact, if we read the text for what it says, Paul is saying there's a kind of crying which is actually deadly. There is a worldly kind of crying which leads to death. And so I established the sermon at this point in this way because we can now see how important it is to discover the distinctions between these two types of sorrow. One ultimately leads to life and salvation, the other leads to death. And while there are probably many distinctions that we can discuss amongst each other, there is one distinction, I believe, that is most evident.

First and foremost, maybe the overarching distinction between the two is that godly sorrow always begins with God and His glory.

And it is that worldly sorrow always begins with man and man's need. Okay? I'll repeat that. Overarching distinction. Godly sorrow begins with God and His glory. Worldly sorrow begins with man and his need, you know, man's need.

So when a man or woman of God is confronted with godly sorrow, he or she is made aware of their sin, then at that moment the primary consideration for that man or woman must be God and His glory, where they must be sorrowful over the fact that God and His glory is being tarnished by their sinful actions. Okay? So here I am, a son or daughter of God, and I'm participating in willful and habitual sinful behavior. Sinful behavior to which my Savior came to die and pay the penalty for me and my heart's focus, my heart's sorrow is to be that I've sinned against God and tarnished His name, the name that He gave me. This is the key distinction between the two sorrows, and I hope to really draw a bold line between the two. If you keep your marker here, keep your marker here in Corinthians, I want to turn to a place in Scripture which states this fact most clearly. Turn over to Psalm 51, verse 3 and 4. If you'll turn there, and we'll come back to Corinthians.

Psalm 51, verse 3 and 4. We have this understanding here clearly stated by the psalmist we're going to see. And again, these are two verses. I don't know if you could state it any clearer what we've just established from Paul. Psalm 51, verse 3 and 4, with the psalmist saying, here it is. Psalm 51, verse 3, For I acknowledge my transgressions, my sin is always before me, against you, speaking about God, against you, you only have I sinned, and done evil in your sight, that you may be found just when you speak, and blameless when you judge.

Let's stop there. So again, boy, this is godly sorrow. First and foremost, concerned with God in His glory. And wow! Well, that verse 4 is something of a verse there. You only, against you, he says, God, I have sinned and done evil in your sight. And my desire is that when you speak, that you're found blameless when you judge here. But you see, worldly sorrow is quite different. Because what you'll find in worldly sorrow, when an individual is suffering from that kind of wrong sorrow, instead of explaining their sin, their predicaments of sin, instead of explaining it in relation to how it's broken their relationship with God, instead of explaining it in terms of the grievous nature of their condition before a holy God, instead of saying against you, God, and you only have I sinned, rather, worldly sorrow, with worldly sorrow, they explain their predicament, their sinful predicament, in phrases like, I feel so bad about myself because I've left myself down. I have said those exact words in a sinful state. Perhaps you have too. Or, you know, I'm just so fed up with myself and this sinful behavior.

But just know that being fed up with yourself over your sins, it may not be godly sorrow, and it may still be leading you to death. Why?

I think it's because it's perfectly possible to be fed up with yourself without ever coming to repentance. Okay? It's perfectly possible to be fed up with yourself over your sinful behavior without it ever coming to the point where it produces change in your life. Why can't this sorrow lead to repentance? This kind of worldly sorrow?

I think it's because often with ourselves as the primary focus, that focus on ourselves does not produce enough motivation. It's not sufficient enough to produce the deep gut-wrenching motivation needed to overcome some of the sins that have been in our lives for our whole life. Only godly sorrow can produce that. Only godly sorrow ultimately will lead to repentance, clearing, vindication, and salvation. Godly sorrow is the only sorrow that leads to complete and lasting change. That's the key.

Now, I'm going to quote a theologian from the past. I don't often do this, but ever so often in my studies I come across a good quote, and I'd like to give you this one. This is from a theologian, David Wells, in speaking about God-focused sorrow. He says, Without the holiness of God, sin is just failure. But not failure before God, it's just failure without any presumption of guilt, failure without retribution. Indeed, it's failure without any serious moral meaning at all.

And that is so right. Without the holiness of God, as he is our focus, sin is just failure. Not failure before God. And indeed, it's failure without any serious moral meaning at all.

So, such an individual essentially never truly feels sorry for their sins. They may simply feel sorry for themselves and the predicaments that the sin brought. Again, worldly sorrow is always focused around the self, and that is the self-focus that it stays at and ultimately never moves beyond. So, when you begin to think about these comparisons, and then our eyes raise and begins to look out onto the landscape of the world and its problems and how it's solving its own problems, you quickly realize that worldly sorrow then is where the world lives.

When it's no surprise then when people who are focused on themselves and not focused on God in the Bible, well, then they go to seek what? They go to seek self-therapy. That's where they go to find the remedy. And there are thousands upon thousands daily seeking the clearing of themselves. They're seeking vindication. They're seeking their own salvation, their own saving through self-therapy. But what happens is when they go and seek this therapy, many discover that there's a sense of futility that marks much of modern psychotherapy today. Where the individual, when they go to these therapists, they might experience some solutions, they might experience some relief, but without God, and without God as the ultimate consideration, it will never produce lasting relief. It will never produce a lasting solution. Why can't today's society, psychotherapy realm, why can't it ultimately produce the help for the individual? I'll tell you why. It's because they run into a conflict. And here's the issue with self-therapy. Here's the issue with remaining only in this realm of worldly sorrow. The issue is the more and more the therapist gets the patient in touch with the reality of their wrongful behavior, the more they bring the patient in touch with their wrongful behavior, the more the individual feels sorrow and guilt.

But it is at that point the secular, godless, psychotherapist has a problem. Because at that point, with the sorrow, with the guilt that they brought the wrong behavior that they brought the patient to without God and without the Bible to then turn to, they're ultimately unable to deal with the guilty conscience of the patient. And they find themselves in a very difficult position because they find themselves without truly an ultimate cure for the sinful behavior because they can only bring them to self-guilt, to the feeling of self-guilt, to feel sorry for themselves, to feel fed up with themselves, and ultimately know where to go from there for a solution. Because it's a problem, it's failure without any moral context assigned to it. So they have nowhere to go after that.

And so in man's psychotherapy realm, they find themselves asking the great question of Macbeth. I'm going to quote to you some. You remember Macbeth? How many read Macbeth back in the day in school? Okay, a few of you. It's very telling. To the doctor in the play Macbeth, the husband speaking to the doctor in relation to the wife. You remember the wife is wringing her hands. The wife's attempt to get rid of the dirty spots. The dirty spots are not real, but they're on her hands, but they're real in her heart. And the husband says to the doctor regarding his wife, quote from Macbeth, Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased? Pluck from the memory of rooted sorrow? Raise out the written troubles of the brain? And with some sweet, oblivious antidote, cleansed the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff which weighs upon the heart? Unquote. In other words, can you give me an antidote for my wife's sorrowful heart?

If you go on to read the play, you realize the doctor says, quote, this is from the doctor, therein the patient must minister to himself. Unquote. So no, there's nothing within our realm of psychotherapy, a secular, a godless realm that can ultimately provide an antidote to be offered for the sorrowfulness of a heart. So therein lies the problem. And so with that, with that problem, logically, what we find in 21st century psychotherapy is that they've had to turn away completely from any notion of sorrow over wrong behavior. This is what you find in self-therapy realms today. They've had to completely turn away from guilt, turn away from consequences of wrongful behavior. This is what you find. Again, why? Well, again, because once they've brought the patient to sorrow and guilt, they have nowhere to go from there because they can't bring them to a god that they don't believe in. Therefore, they can't ultimately deal with the wrong behavior. So again, psychotherapy today has to all but dispense of the idea that there's guilt from bad behavior, that there's supposed to be a proper sorrow from sin. And so when you go talk to the average psychiatrist, what you'll find is that they're always externalizing everything. And you go to the guy and you say, I feel bad about this. I feel bad that I cheated on my taxes or I feel bad that I cheated on my wife, let's say.

And the therapist then says today, well, you know, I don't want you to feel too bad about that. In fact, I want to let you know it's not your problem. It's not your problem. And we say that the patient says, oh, that's terrific. I'm glad it's not my problem. That's good to hear. Oh, no, it's not your problem. Of course, it's not your problem. And I'm sure we can get to the bottom of this.

And the therapist says, I'm sure it's because of X, Y, and Z external factors. These external factors, in fact, are the blame. And they are the reason you've been driven to this wrong behavior. The issue is those external factors. The issue is not you. You're fine. You're fine. And so the result of the guilt from consequences of wrongful behavior, the result of that being ignored, then have its deadly conclusion, as Paul would say.

I found a little part in a folk song. I'm not going to sing it to you today, but I'm going to read you some lyrics. If Macbeth wasn't your style, here's from a folk song that kind of now paints this picture of today's modern psychotherapy realm. Quite telling.

This is a folk song written by Anna Russell. And she said this, quote, here's from this song, quote, I went to the psycho, the psychiatrist today to be psychoanalyzed to find out why I killed the cat and blackened my husband's eyes. He laid me down on a downy couch to see what he could find.

So this is what he dredged up from my subconscious mind. When I was one, my mommy hid my dolly in a trunk. And so it follows naturally that I'm always drunk. When I was two, I saw my father kiss the maid one day. And that is why I suffer today now from kleptomene. At three, I had the feeling of ambivalence toward my brothers. And so it follows naturally I poisoned all my lovers. But I'm happy now I've learned the lesson this has taught that everything I do that's wrong is someone else's thoughts. We could have said that last line in unison, I think. Unquote there. So that is the picture of worldly sorrow there.

And it's the picture of today's, unfortunately, it's a picture of today's psychotherapy realm. This is what we find in a godless society. And to this song, Paul would say no. No. In fact, Paul, I believe, I can confidently say is he would say is no. Your sin belongs to you.

My sin belongs to me. It's my sin. It's your sin. It belongs to us. And ultimately, ultimately, if you want to take away everything else, it's ultimately committed against God and no one else. And that's the vital understanding today. Godly sorrow. Godly sorrow bringing it to you today. You know, I can't tell you how long I've lived in the past in worldly sorrow. And there are times current in the future. I overcome it. You know, I can look back at my past and say, Oh, I was part of a broken home, part of a broken home, you know.

And, you know, I didn't receive the love I needed. It fast forward to my relationship with my wife, you know, and the struggles we're having. Well, it's really not my fault. I want to externalize it. And I want to place it back 20 years ago. That's the problem, you see. And living in that realm, there is no clearing. There is no vindication. There's no comfort. You can live in that realm forever. And Satan would be pleased for you to live in that realm forever. And what Paul is making a clear distinction is, no, do the hard work to bring it to yourself and speak to your heart today.

And ultimately clear it all away and know who your sin is ultimately being committed against. It's your loving creator. And his name is at stake in your lives. Godly sorrow, when you begin to look for it, you see it all throughout Scripture. You know, and Paul had a very clear understanding of godly sorrow.

We won't turn there, but I think it's in Acts 9. When Saul of Tarsus, the one who became Paul, was struck down, persecuting all of God's people, right? What was he told by Jesus Christ himself? Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Not. So boy, at that moment, it just cleared all the noise and brought it down to the raw truth. Who was Paul at that time actually persecuting?

If you want to clear it all out, it's the Father and the Son. And again, we see this all throughout Scripture. And grab on to this notion. I want to show you a few. Turn back to Genesis 39, verse 7 and 8. I just want to turn to a few passages of Scripture which speak to the remarkable results of godly sorrow. Genesis 39, verse 7 and 8. This is important to see. This is the godly sorrow. I want you to, after today, really focus on afresh, having godly sorrow in your life in a greater way.

Genesis 39, we're just going to turn to a few examples, verse 7 and 8. Godly sorrow comes through very clearly in the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife. Potiphar's wife wanted to lie with Joseph, participate in that sinful act. And look what Joseph says, Genesis 39, verse 7. And it came to pass after these things that his master's wife, Joseph's master's wife, cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, Lie with me. Verse 8, But he refused and said to the master's wife, Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has into my hand.

There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife.

And then he says, hear this next sentence here, How then, Joseph says, can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?

So I want you to notice what's not here. Joseph did not say, You know what, my brothers, they treated me so poorly. In fact, they sold me into slavery. I didn't have the love, and I'll tell you, I'm longing for it just to be loved. And so here's this woman offering me to fill that empty part in my heart. This isn't my fault. It's actually, I'm going to put this blame on my brothers. No, it's not here. You don't see it. You can't pass off sinful behavior. He didn't to the brothers. Neither will you even see, you know, him saying, you know, my boss is such a great boss. He's put me in control of all these things. He's been a great blessing to me. I can't sin against my wonderful boss. That would be a good thought, but that's not the thought. Rather, putting God in his glory, God's glory foremost in his mind, he says there, how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? God first, his glory first. So, verse 10, that with that motivation in his heart, he says, verse 10, so it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, she didn't, she was relentless, that he did not heed her to lie with her or to be with her. If you want to find the gut-wrenching deep motivation to change, it is God. Focus on God. How can I do this against him? Boy, I don't want to tarnish your name, Father. A name you gave me. Second example of this understanding, and again, there's many more places we could turn. Luke 15 verses 13 through 19. If you'll turn there now, we'll just go to one more example here. Luke 15 verses 13 through 19. One more example of a display of godly sorrow. We find it here in Luke with the prodigal son. Very familiar story. Prodigal, a sinful son. Took all of his father's inheritance, squandered it all, lived a sinful life, removed himself from the authority of his father, came to a crossroads now, and thankfully it revealed a beautiful godly sorrow. Luke 15, let's read verses 13 through 19. Listen to this journey toward godly sorrow. Luke 15, 13. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there he wasted his possessions with prodigal, or sinful, living. And when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in the land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and journeyed himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him, that citizen sent the prodigal son into the fields, to feed swine.

And he, the prodigal son, would have gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. Verse 17. But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bred enough to spare? And I perish with hunger.

I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, Listen, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants. Let's stop there. Did he say what I've said many times in the past? Perhaps you too. Man, I feel so sorry for myself. I'm here in the pigsty. I've made a hash of it. I have no money. All I have is pig food to eat.

No one will give me anything. No one's helped me out. I don't deserve this. And honestly, I don't think it's my fault. My father had too many harsh rules under my household. I'm sure it's his issue. No, he didn't say that. Rather, he says, you'll notice who he puts first to whom he sinned against. He puts heaven first. Heaven. It's God. I've sinned against heaven, he says. This is an echo of the psalmist against you, God, and you only have I sinned.

And as the story goes, verse 20 and 21, and he the son arose. I want you to think of these next two verses in terms. I want you to really raise it up to spiritual and apply it to you today. Look for the spiritual aspect of these next two verses here and how we are to respond with godly sorrow. Verse 20 and 21, and he the son arose and came to his father. Think about you coming to your god the father.

And when the son was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion. And the father ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and in your sight and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

Stop there. Again, let's spiritualize this. Bring this to you today and how you are to go to the only one to whom you're sinning against, ultimately, and actually going to the one who can ultimately give you the clearing that you're looking for.

And I just in passing, you'll notice the father's response. And it's a wonderful response. The father saw him. The father runs to the the sinful, repentant son. Runs to him, falls on his next, kisses him.

Thus, it is godly sorrow that brings the son or the daughter to the father in repentance. So it's godly sorrow. When you acknowledge it's God and God alone that I've sinned against, you're going to God. It's godly sorrow that will bring you to repentance, bring you to the father for repentance, and the pathway for forgiveness and restitution, and ultimately, salvation for the boy. It will bring salvation to you today. You know, I hope you find this godly sorrow. If you've ever participated in godly sorrow in your life and you raise your head up from that prayer and you've just laid it out and you've acknowledged, boy, father, I've just tarnished your name. I'm so sorry. What you will find, I believe what you will find is exactly the fruit that Paul was writing about to the Corinthian church. If you've ever had the weight of sin lifted from you and cleared, it's a wonderful feeling. It's a wonderful feeling, and I hope we can all experience it more and more this upcoming year. So, you know, whether I'm dealing with my own sin or whether I'm dealing as a pastor in my position with others, ultimately, again, the motivation for change is the gut-wrenching motivation that comes from acknowledging the one to whom you're sinning against. And it only comes to the individual, that motivation, when we seek change, help for change from God. It's not enough motivation. It's not enough to say, I want to change for my family or friends. You know, I'm so sorry for the consequences I've given them. That's good. It's not enough motivation. It's not even enough motivation to change for yourself, to want to change for yourself. You know, I'm really hurting myself here, and I'm so depressed all the time. I want this sin out of my life. It's all good. Ultimately, it will not produce the lasting change you're seeking. Rather, the ultimate motivation for change is for God in His glory, the one who breathed life and gave you life today, and He gave you your name to carry every day, and the one who's eager to run and meet you and fall on your neck and kiss you and restore you.

Godly sorrow is the only ultimate appropriate response to sin. Well, let's turn back to 2 Corinthians 7, if you will. We're just going to end here with the great summary statement again from Paul. 2 Corinthians 7. We're going to pick up here in verse 11. Let's pick up verse 11 again. After Paul is rejoicing, rejoicing that their sorrow has led to repentance, and they've sorrowed in a godly manner, that that would produce salvation, not to be regretted. He says, for observe this very thing. So he wants the congregation to observe this process that they've gone through here. And he says, let me just remind you, verse 11, that you sorrowed in a godly manner. What diligence it produced in you. What clearing of yourself. What indignation, what fear, vehement desire, zeal, and vindication. In all things, you proved yourself to be clear in this manner. Fear, sorrow for the sin that brings us death, a desire to vehement desire and zeal to overcome, vindication. I hope we can all experience vindications, being set free from some of the sin that's had a hold on us. And in all things, prove ourselves to be clear in this matter. Again, there's nothing better than to be cleared by God. Oh, may we be clear in this matter this upcoming year. So in the end, all of us here will be led to repentance, led to salvation. Again, may we discover afresh, this godly sorrow, discover in a greater way, and do it all. Remember, do it all for God in His glory.