Godly Sorrow

Minister:
Date: PM
Text: II Corinthians 7:10
Psalters: 111, 102, 363, 83
Preparatory to the Lord's Supper
  1. What it is.
    1. Paul was comforted (7) and rejoiced (9) at their godly sorrow.
    2. Godly sorrow is better understood over against its counterfeit: “sorrow of this world.”
      1. The sorrow of this world (looks genuine, but is an imitation) is found in the world of wicked men, and is only this worldly.
      2. It is when one is overwhelmed or cast down by earthly afflictions, disappointments, discouragements: Esau or Judas.
      3. It is rooted in love of self, so they remain proudly defiant against God (even in sorrow) as Cain or Esau (Heb. 12:16,17).
    3. Godly sorrow is a sorrow that is “according to God.”
      1. It springs from the new man in Christ which is conscious of God, my loving Father and of His relationship to me, even me!
      2. It is rooted in love for God, so I hurt because I have sinned against One Who only loves me and Whom I love.
      3. It longs after God because I feel the pain of separation my sin has caused.
  2. Godly sorrow works repentance not to be repented of.
    1. This kind of sorrow is the cause and origin of genuine repentance.
      1. Repentance begins with grief and self-reproach. Unless I know this sorrow, I will never be converted to God.
      2. Repentance means there is a change of mind and of life, which are the “fruits meet for repentance” (Matt. 3:8).
    2. Such repentance will not be regretted, i.e., “not to be repented of.”
  3. What is the fruit?
    1. First, there is deliverance from the guilt and from the bondage of sin (for that moment).
    2. Second, the outcome is the consciousness of rich and wonderful salvation and of amazing grace.