When Sorrow Comes
Book of 2
Corinthians 7
What is sorrow? To
begin with, we should know that sorrow is the exact opposite of joy!
Sorrow can actually
be bad for your health. It will contract your heart, sink your
spirit, and it will cause injury to good health!
If there was a theme
for our lesson today it would come from verse 10.
2Co 7:10 For
godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of:
"but the sorrow of the world worketh death".
We must be aware
that sorrow becomes sin when it causes us to blame God or we shirk
from our duty to serve God!
Sorrow is also
sinful when we are oppressed so much it threatens our lives!
When we reach a
point that we have no hope, it means we have forsaken the Lord and
abandoned our "faith"!
1Th 4:13 But I
would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which
are asleep, that ye sorrow not, "even as others which have no
hope".
We must never act
like we simply have no hope because we already know that to be absent
from the body is to be present with the Lord!
AND God will never
forsake us even in our times of sorrow!
Let's begin:
*****2Co 7:1
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God.
This verse may
should have been included in the previous lesson but here it is.
Since we have these
great promises of God which are tokens of God's favor toward us.
Since we have them
as proof of God's purchase of us with the "Blood of Jesus".
Since these are
declarations of God's good-will towards His adopted children.
Since these are just
part of God's "Covenant of Grace".
Since God's promises
are the foundation of our "Faith" and the object of our
"Hope".
Then on these things
let's build all our expectations of God!
God has given us
sure directions!
God has provided our
means of encouragement!
God has promised to
listen to and to answer our prayers!
Since God has
already done these things and promises even greater things than
these, why can we not do the very little that He ask of us!
Isa 64:4 For
since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by
the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, "what he
hath prepared for him that waiteth for him".
Then Paul adds, make
room for us in your journey for the Lord and make room in your
hearts!
*****2Co 7:2 Receive
us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have
defrauded no man.
Paul says "receive
us" because the greatest desire of the Apostle Paul was for the
"spiritual" developement of his flock.
This should be the
greatest desire of every Pastor! We need to be growing toward the
Lord Jesus at all times!
It would seem that
no church has ever experienced more problems that this church at
Corinth but in the end, they remained united in the cause of Christ
and were a solid force against the evil of Corinth.
The Apostle Paul and
those with him had been accused of many things and Paul again
addresses some of these things.
Just as the Lord
Jesus was innocent of all charges, Paul, though no way a perfect man
at all, he and those with him were innocent of these charges by some
in this church.
It was a simple
matter of justice!
Paul had not wronged
any one in this church body! Paul had not treated anyone "unjustly"
which is the meaning of "wronged".
Paul did not offer
any proof, for they were his proof if they would look into their
hearts they would know the truth.
Paul had not
corrupted anyone in this church. Paul had not destroyed anyone in
"doctrine" or even "morally". In fact Paul had
been a true example how we should all live for Christ. Paul had only
preached the whole counsel of God which was his command of the Lord.
Paul had not
defrauded anyone. Paul had not taken advantage of anyone in this
church, friend or foe. Paul had not even taken advantage of any
financial help, preferring to work by his own hands to support
himself.
And Paul continued:
*****2Co 7:3 I
speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in
our hearts to die and live with you.
We must remember the
Apostle Paul had certainly been wronged by this Church but he also
remembered the Words of Jesus Christ.
Mat 18:15
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him
his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou
hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16 But
if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that
in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be
established.
Mat 18:17 And
if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he
neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man
and a publican.
Paul was certainly
not trying to condemn anyone but he sincerely wanted to gain a
brother!
Paul had a great
love for this church and this church had a great need for revival.
All these things at
this church needed to be settled before Paul would ever return to
this church.
Again a church that
does take a stand on the Word of God, "does not deserve a Pastor
that does"!
And a faithful
Pastor must always confront error and corruption with boldness!
A revival can only
begin with the truth of God without any compromise!
2Ti 2:24 And
the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men,
apt to teach, patient,
2Ti 2:25 In
meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God
peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the
truth;
2Ti 2:26 And that
they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are
taken captive by him at his will.
When Paul wrote
these words to Timothy we can be sure he had learned many of the
these things at Corinth and these lessons are valuable for every
young Pastor.
*****2Co 7:4
Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of
you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our
tribulation.
Again we see that
Paul had an understanding of people that most do not have.
Obviously this is
because Paul and Paul's words were being led by the Holy Spirit.
Paul could only be
so bold because Paul was confident in the results!
Isa 55:11 So
shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not
return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and
it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Remember Paul was
writing to saved people. Paul was pointing out errors at the same
time he was boasting to people who loved the Lord.
1Th 2:19 For
what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in
the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
1Th 2:20 For ye
are our glory and joy.
A Pastor has every
reason to rejoice when his message is received by people who love the
Lord and who crave for the truth of the Word of God!
To a true Pastor
confidence, hope, and belief are essential.
To a Pastor, a
church that not only has great love for the Lord and for all people,
must be willing to repent if they have strayed in error of the Word.
Repent means
returning to the truth and by the way this is the only means for
revival in any church body. They must repent and return wholly to the
Word of God!
The Holy Spirit will
never work in any church body "that refuses to return to the
Word of God"!
The truth is it is
hard enough to be a Pastor, a Missionary, or Evangelist but if the
"Body of Christ" will not follow the whole counsel of God,
then that effort is not worth the risk.
For this cause many
good Pastors have left the ministry even though they are wrong in
doing so!
*****2Co 7:5
For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we
were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were
fears.
We can just imagine
the stress mentally and physically on the Apostle Paul.
Paul had been beaten
to a point near death more than once.
Paul had stayed in
Ephesus for 2 years teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Paul had traveled to
Troas expecting to meet Titus there but when that did not happen,
Paul had answered the Macedonian call by the Holy Spirit and still he
had not heard from this church at Corinth.
In fact it could be
said, that Paul could have been close to breaking down himself. He
certainly was under great distress mentally and physically!
His flesh had no
rest. There was great opposition to the Word of God.
He suffered from the
enemies of Christ. There was great persecution of the messengers of
God.
All this time Paul
was thinking that even the Church in Corinth could be failing to
survive.
You see that God
knows all things, all the time, and God knew Paul needed some relief!
All these things
began to effect the health of the Apostle Paul and God was not ready
to take Paul home yet!
*****2Co 7:6
Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted
us by the coming of Titus;
2Co 7:7 And not by
his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in
you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent
mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.
The truth is God
will always meet the needs of His faithful servants! This means so
much more than financial means.
It was Titus who had
carried the letter now named 1Corinthians to this church and he had
certainly stayed to make known the truth of what the Holy Spirit had
given to Paul. In fact he may have delivered this message, this
epistle to more than this one church as much time had passed.
It was the return of
Titus that had brought much comfort to Paul but even more was the
message Titus had when he returned.
Paul gave the glory
to God who had known the need of Paul.
Finding that the
church at Corinth had repented and returned to their first love, the
Lord Jesus Christ was certainly good news and a great comfort to
Paul.
God had met Paul's
need at this time in a way that only God can do!
What had Jesus said?
Joh 14:18 I
will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
You see Paul was
cast down, which in reality is depression and that's all God needed
to know.
We should clearly
see that Paul had to endure these heavy trials for a great period of
time before God moved.
Just like Christ
Jesus, Paul had to learn obedience by the things that he suffered and
this we all do but maybe not at the extent of Paul and surely not
that of Christ or He would not be our example.
Heb 5:8 Though
he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he
suffered;
Heb 5:9 And being
made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them
that obey him;
The Lord could never
be the "Author" if He had not suffered the most!
There are a great
many things that can cast us down as we serve the Lord.
We see the wicked
prosper and the Christian suffer.
We see corruption in
trade, in politics, in science, and literature including filth and
open lies.
We see more and more
rejection of the Word of God.
But God never
changes His command.
God will just
comfort us through all these things!
The thing we see is
that God used another Christian, Titus, as His messenger of comfort
and God will do this most of the time and work through the Holy
Spirit that abides within us.
And now we can
understand why Paul, by the Holy Spirit, has put these great words
into this epistle we now know as 2 Corinthians.
The message Titus
brought was that the church at Corinth had repented (earnest desire
and mourning) and had a great desire for the return of Paul. (they
had a fervent mind)
This had to take
place or Paul could have never returned to Corinth!
Again we see that a
church that does not follow the Word of God does not deserve a Pastor
that preaches the whole counsel of God in truth!
*****2Co 7:8
For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I
did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry,
though it were but for a season.
2Co 7:9 Now I
rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to
repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye
might receive damage by us in nothing.
2Co 7:10 For
godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of:
but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
2Co 7:11 For behold
this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what
carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea,
what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea,
what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved
yourselves to be clear in this matter.
When a Pastor
preaches the truth, he has no reason to repent just because the
church body does not like the message!
Paul had no reason
to repent and the Holy Spirit decided that the world wide body of
Christ needed to remember these things through this period we call
"Grace".
The church has no
Holy Ghost power today simply because the Church will not cleanse
itself of sin and continues to allow the world to dictate Bible
Doctrine.
God said what He
meant and God means what He says and He does need some Pope or some
church leader, or some false pastor, or some government to try to
interpret another meaning.
2Pe 1:20
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any
private interpretation.
2Pe 1:21 For
the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of
God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
When the Word of God
gives us the truth, we certainly are never to change it just because
we do not like it!
Paul never rejoiced
because of any pain his letter caused, Paul rejoiced because that
pain had brought repentance!
Godly sorrow should
bring an eagerness to correct any sin.
Godly sorrow should
bring repentance. To acknowledge sin is not enough, we must repent!
Godly sorrow should
increase our hatred for sin but not the sinner.
Godly sorrow should
make us keenly aware of the wrath of God.
Godly sorrow should
create a great desire to eliminate the problem and get back to the
work of God as soon as possible.
Godly sorrow should
bring us to the knowledge of Church discipline, correctly applied.
Godly sorrow should
bring us to a point of innocence again in the eyes of God.
We should all be
very clear, though we sometimes wonder how any church could be like
this church at Corinth, we should know that God gave us these
Scriptures for a reason.
A genuine Church
must demand a true man of God and then that church must care for that
man of God.
That man of God must
preach and teach the whole counsel of God and be unyielding to any
change in the Word of God.
The Church must
discipline according to the truth of the Word of God immediately and
not allow things to spread and cause a loss in the work of the
Church, the work of the Lord.
Together all parties
must care for the righteousness of the Lord's cause!
We should remember
clearly that worldly sorrow only produces death!
Worldly sorrow can
only cause guilt and remorse leading to depression which can lead to
natural death.
Worldly sorrow can
only turn someone against the truth of God and then lead them to
spiritual death.
Godly sorrow is
brought on by Holy Ghost conviction.
Eph 4:30 And
grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day
of redemption.
1Th 5:19 Quench not
the Spirit.
Paul said he
rejoiced because this church had proved themselves clear in this
entire manner.
If we are to
remember this church at Corinth, then remember this church for what
they had accomplished where so many are failing today!
This church had
witnessed its own revival by adhering to the complete truth of God.
So Paul says
"wherefore", for which reason:
*****2Co 7:12
Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that
had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that
our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.
Many had considered
the letter known as 1 Corinthians was too harsh for the church.
Paul explains that
though church discipline is a required thing at all times in most
every church, and those that were wrong should be vindicated
according to the Word of God, the main object of his letter was to
get this church back into the work of the Lord as quickly as
possible.
A church that does
not have a zeal for the work of the Lord has failed in its purpose to
exist!
We all know that one
unhealthy branch on a tree can harm the whole tree. That branch needs
to be removed for the tree to grow properly.
So Paul then says
"therefore", for this reason, for this cause:
*****2Co 7:13
Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the
more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed
by you all.
The goal that the
Holy Ghost had set for the previous letter to these Corinthians had
been achieved and Paul could readily see it in the face of Titus.
Isa_55:11 So
shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not
return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and
it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
It amazes me that
the comfort of one will most everytime rub off to comfort someone
else.
God designed His
church in this manner. If someone is going through a particular
trouble, in almost every case someone else in that church body has
made it through a similar problem and they can then help that person.
I have witnessed this many times in the church I attend.
*****2Co 7:14
For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but
as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I
made before Titus, is found a truth.
2Co 7:15 And
his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he
remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye
received him.
2Co 7:16 I
rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things
Titus was a young
disciple of Paul at this time and had not yet gone to Crete where he
would spend most all his remaining years. These were valuable lessons
for a young preacher boy.
When we can see the
handy work of God it certainly increases our faith but when we
realize that we have been used as an instrument in the hand of God it
certainly can grow our confidence in the thing that God has called us
to do!
It is always a
profit to believers to see God's "Grace" applied when we
can witness the results.
Titus was so over
joyed to witness these things and Paul was caught up in the joy of
Titus.
When the truth of
God is observed in action, then it proves the truth of Scriptures.
The church at
Corinth had been revived!
In other words we
can pray for revival until we are blue in the face but revival will
never come unless as individuals we judge any evil that is in our own
lives!
**Revival cannot
come unless we as individuals put away all filthiness of the flesh
and our own spirit!
Revival is about the
church going back to work more than it is about evangelism.
Fruit will come to a
revived church!
God is waiting on
His people individually to get right with Him and then God will
provide the tools that are needed!
We spend to much
time praying for the lost world to get right with God and not enough
time praying for God to point out the sin in our own lives so we can
be better servants!
Paul had boasted to
Titus that the people at Corinth would repent and follow the Word of
God because they knew the Word of God was true.
Titus had found
these things to be true and his overwhelming joy had increased the
joy Paul felt for this church.
There cannot be
revival unless the pastor of that church shows confidence in his
people!
**Revival can only
come when people hear and understand the truth!
Love for God and
God's people is a key to revival in every church!
When people
understand that they stand before a holy and righteous God who only
seeks the best for His people, who is more a Father than a God, then
they will yield to His truth.
**A church can only
have revival when it understands that God demands repentance or else
the facing of His judgment.
**Revival can only
come when our fear of failure to do what God's love demands is
greater than our own demands!
Php 2:12
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my
presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13 For
it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure.
**We have also seen
that when we allow doctrinal error into the church we are binding the
hand of God and doomed to failure!
2Jn 1:9 Whosoever
transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not
God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the
Father and the Son.
Every man called of
God is commanded to be ready to preach the truth at all times!
2Ti 4:2 Preach
the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke,
exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
For there is coming
a time when the world will close its ears to the Word of God and we
may be there now.
2Ti 4:3 For
the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears;
2Ti 4:4 And
they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned
unto fables.
The strength of
every Pastor comes from the Holy Spirit but it certainly does not
hurt for the Pastor to have confidence in that church to understand
the truth!
Questions?
Let's Pray!