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All right. Amen. Second Corinthians chapter number seven. So we're going to be here tonight with a few other places we're going to go to, but I titled the sermon where Christians, of course, we teach godly sorrow with repentance. Okay. Obviously that's off that popular trend that's going around right now. But if you would turn over to verse number 10, so same chapter, chapter number seven, I want you to look at verse number 10. I'm going to give you a little bit of a problem here to start with, and then I'm going to show you how we solve this. Okay. So look down at verse number 10. This is a great point of contention. A lot of people like to throw this verse at you and say, see, you know, if a person's really saved, if a person's genuinely born again, they're going to be sorry for everything that they've ever done. Okay. Well, logically that doesn't even make sense because I've done a lot of sins I don't even remember doing. Okay. And I would be lying this evening if I were to stand up here before you today and say, you know what? Yeah. Every time I sought revenge on somebody, I, you know, I definitely felt sorry for it. Okay. That's not always the case. The Bible says a foolish thought is sin. I don't remember every single foolish thought I've had because I've had tons of them. Okay. Again, we are not saved by works. We are saved by grace through faith. It's a free gift. That's what you're going to see over and over again today. However, people like to arrest this verse from the text. Okay. When you do that, what you do is you're taking something out of context. We don't like to do that. We like to study the Bible in context of verse number 10. This is what somebody could possibly do to you. They'll say, see, here's what you got to do. Verse 10 for godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death. Okay. Now keep your place there in chapter number seven and go over to acts chapter number three. So just go backwards in your new Testament to acts chapter number three. Let's take a look at something here. Then they'll bring you here. Okay. I've had somebody do this to me. You've had this done to me a couple of times and I want to spend some time this evening just ironing this out. So verse number 19 this is Peter obviously preaching here day of Pentecost. He says this, he says, repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And so they'll say, okay, so first of all, this is how it starts. You have to have like this deep sorrow for all of your sins. Okay. Now I bet everybody in here has done something wrong. We've done some sins and we're definitely sorry for him. Okay. There's no doubt about that. But then they'll bring you over to acts chapter number three and they'll say, see, if you're not actively trying to turn from your sins, then you cannot be saved. And of course, what do we call that? We call that probation. Okay. Probation is a period of good behavior under supervision. Okay. That's the religion of the world. Human achievement. Human achievement says you must do and do and do. That's why we always say, look, there's no difference between Satanism and any other ism. There's no difference between any of these denominations that are out here. And again, I'm not trying to be rude. I'm just being honest. Okay. If you're teaching that you have to do something in order to inherit eternal life, you therefore are teaching probation, not salvation. The Bible teaches that you were or rather that Jesus did what we could not do. Okay. So the religion of the Bible, which I like to refer to as divine accomplishment, teaches done versus do. Okay. Again, the world focuses on the do. The Bible focuses on the done. Okay. And just to prove that here, go back to second Corinthians and we'll get started here. Okay. So actually, you know what? I want you to back up to chapter number five, second Corinthians chapter number five and look at verse number 19. So the Bible says this, okay, we're going to look at this verse twice today, but since it fits with what we're talking about, let's look at it right now. Verse 19 says to wit that God was in Christ. Now look at this next phrase, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing. What does impute mean? It means to charge. Okay. So what is Christ? What has he done? Okay. Well, he has died for the sins of the whole world. He's reconciled the world unto himself, not imputing there. Who is the there? T H E I R. Is that just Christians or is that the world? That is the world. Okay. Not imputing their trespasses unto them and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation. So here it is. Okay. Jesus Christ died on the cross. That sacrifice was sufficient to remove the sin debt for the entire world. Past, present and future. It is done. It is over. He has paid for all of the sins. Therefore, the only thing left for a man, a person to do is to believe the gospel and be saved. Be converted. Okay. It is a free gift. I know you guys know this and understand this, but this is very important if you're going to really make sense of this chapter and you're going to be able to, um, refute those that try to arrest verse 10 out of context. Okay. So basically we're going to spend some time solving that today. Now let's go ahead and stay right now. I'm sorry. Go back to chapter seven, second Corinthians. Go to chapter seven, but we're going to go right back to chapter five. Okay. So go back to chapter seven for just a moment. I'm going to make a statement here. I'm going to keep repeating this like I always do. Okay. I'm just going to say this and I want this to just kind of sink in for you guys a little bit. Okay. Listen to this. Being godly without God is like being an atheist with eternal life. Okay. Being godly without God is like being an atheist without eternal or with eternal life. Okay. I'm going to explain why I said that here in a little while. Hey, but let's start the chapter off here. Look at verse number one. So Paul says this, having therefore these promises. Okay. So what are these promises? Well, we're going to look. Okay. So 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. See, that's what the Christian life is about. After salvation, after God has given you that foundation that we've talked about, that new creature, that new man. Now it is time that we should get into the shoulds. You've already done the must. There's only one thing that you must do to be saved. That is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay. After that, we are now spending the rest of our lives trying to build on that foundation and perfect holiness. And how do we perfect holiness? Well, we learn the Bible. Okay. We learn proper judgment. We learn how to assess what's going on around us by the word of God. And therefore, now we're able to prove whether something is sinful, something is not sinful, whether something is wise or unwise. Okay. So you get the drift here. So one more time, look at the verse. Having therefore these promises. Okay. Now I want you to think back to first Corinthians. Okay. Starts off obviously calling them, saying, saying they're Christians, they're in the faith, they're brethren. And then what does he do? He gets right into the rebuke. Okay. He's like, you guys are pitting pastors against each other. You guys are carnal for that reason. Your judgment's way off. And then he starts talking a few chapters later about them tolerating a guy who was in fornication that would make the world blush. Okay. And he's just like, what are you guys doing? Few chapters later, what gets brought up? They're abusing the Lord's supper. Okay. Doing things that are horrible. They were abusing the Lord's supper to the point to where God was actually taking people home, taking them off the earth. Okay. Think about that. And then you fast forward to this statement right here. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved. You know what that tells you? That they never lost their salvation and had to get it back and they never lost any rewards. Okay. But however, if you keep up in this sinful nature and we don't try to perfect holiness, we're going to miss out on opportunities to add rewards to our lives. So that's his point here. Okay. So with that in mind, now go back to chapter number five. Let's just do a very quick refresher on these promises. Okay. So verse 17, we're going to take a look at the first one. So what were these promises? Because you have to understand, okay, these chapter breaks, they're good, but they don't necessarily break the continuity of thought. Okay. So that's something very important for us to understand. So first promise here that he's talking about, chapter five, verse 17. Look at this. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, any man, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Not might become a new creature. Not is becoming a new creature. Is. If you're saved, you are this new creature. Okay. You are a new creation. Look at this. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. That is a promise. Okay. And I'm going to show you why we're getting into this in just a second. Look at verse 18. All things are of God. Okay. Remember we talked about this this morning. Okay. The reason why God chooses the unconventional things to profound the conventional things is so that no flesh, listen, no flesh can glory before God. That is the point. Okay. So he says, and all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus, not by Jesus plus our works. Okay. I want you to understand that. Okay. So by Jesus Christ and hath given, cause it's a gift, hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. This is why we have soul winning. This is why we go out and we knock on people's doors and we ask them if they know they're saved and we try to give them the gospel of salvation because the ministry of reconciliation is given to the body of Christ. That is our duty. That is why we exist. Verse 19 again, to wit that God was in Christ. Okay. Remember Jesus Christ fully man, fully God reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. God is not charging sin into the world. Most of professing Christianity today, what is their drive? What is the goal? Oh, well you got to turn from sins and then you'll know you'll be saved. Okay. You just got to just turn, turn, turn, turn, turn. And no perfecting holiness is a daily battle after salvation. Okay. That's what we learn here. But Jesus is not imputing their sins unto them and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation. These are promises. This is our calling. This is our duty. Okay. Verse 20. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ dead be reconciled to God. And of course, what's Paul's agenda here. He wants the Corinthians to get away from doing all that stupid stuff so that they can be better fit for the master's use. Okay. When we are bogged down with the things of the world, false doctrines and just all of these fleshly type things, it makes it difficult for God to use us. And so that's his point. So you're being reconciled to God. Didn't say you lost your salvation, nothing like that. You lost your rewards. That's not possible. Chapter six verse one. What are we promised? Well, he promises that we are workers together with him. That's what it says. So with that in mind, now go back if you would to second Corinthians chapter number seven. Okay. So he says, having therefore these promises dearly beloved, we just looked at a couple of them, just just just a quick handful of them. Okay. Dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God. So what's the motivation here? Okay. What's the drive? Why should we as God's people want to perfect holiness? Is it so that God doesn't come down and smash us? Is it so that we don't lose our salvation or lose this or lose that? No, it's so that we can move forward. It's, you know, the whole point of this in learning these promises is so that we can wake up and be like, oh, we are ambassadors. God has called us to be ambassadors. We're, we're a new creature inside. Once you're saved, everything becomes new. There's a new man inside of you. So once you realize how awesome that is, how free that is, that frees us up. Oh, okay. We're different. We ought to act like it, right? We ought to have a good testimony so that we aren't hindering the spiritual battle that's going on out there because we all know the Bible teaches that the devil is what? He is the accuser of the brethren in day and night. What is he doing? He's accusing. Oh, you did this. He did this. He did that. You know, when we step outside and say, you know what? I'm going to start squashing some of that stuff down and we take those excuses away from him. It makes it harder for him to make those accusations, thus making it easier for God to use us in spiritual warfare. So hopefully that makes sense, but we've got to get moving on here. Look at verse number two. So now he's going to get in to the relationship between him and this church here, the Corinthians. Look what he says. Verse two, receive us. We have, and then he mentions three things here. Okay. We have wronged no man. We have corrupted no man. We have defrauded no man. Okay. And you guys know that the Corinthians were like, Oh, Paul's letters are weighty, but his appearances, you know, not up to par and all these different things, right? They're just, you know, making fun of Paul saying he doesn't have any power when he speaks his speech is contemptible. Okay. But yet at the same time here, he's saying, look, I want you guys to receive me because I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ. I'm a brother in Christ and I haven't done these three big things. I haven't wronged anybody. I haven't corrupted anyone and nor have we defrauded any man. Paul saying, Hey, remember, we're here to give. We want to give you help. We want to give you love and we want to give you fellowship. That's the idea. Look at verse three. I speak not this to condemn you. Okay. For I have said before that year in our hearts to die and live with you. And of course we looked at that in chapter six last week. So again, he keeps reminding, Hey, though I have to rebuke you guys, though I'm having to set the record straight, he wants them to know that he loves these people here. Verse four. 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. Okay. Now the Corinthians obviously going through a little bit of tribulation here, obviously because they're amongst a heathen culture and then we obviously know the disciples are in a lot of tribulation as well. And what's Paul's attitude in that. He's just like, Hey, we find comfort in that. Okay. You're not going to be able to keep us down. No, we find glory in God and that's our comfort. So look at verse number five. For when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side without and without were a fightings within were fear. So he's saying like when we went to Macedonia, he's like our flesh and our flesh and our old man, we were like afraid. We were fearful. There was a lot of things going on. He's like outside outside of what you see here. There's fighting's going on. We're dealing it. We're, we're, we're managing this stuff, but he's saying, and he's being honest here. He's admitting inside. We were fearful. We were actually scared. We were, you know, we weren't quite sure how this was going to go, but then he gives more glory to God. Verse six. Nevertheless, God that comforted those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus. Okay. Something we all need to just remember because we all go through these hard times, financial hardships, family hardships, friend hardships, work hardships, all sorts of different trials and tribulations. And one thing that we need to remember is that God comforts us. Okay. It's not like he puts us through these things. He's like, Oh, said something wrong and just, I'm going to get you coming for you. Okay. That's not the God that we serve. Okay. He's not doing that to us. The whole point of his chastening is to get us back on track so that we can be again, better fit for the master's use. That's the idea here. That's the point. And Paul's reminding them, Hey, though we went through all this stuff, guess what? God sent unto us a brother Titus who comforted us. Okay. And he's taking console in that look at verse seven. It says, and not by this or by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you when he told us your earnest desire, your morning, your fervent mind toward me so that I rejoiced the more. So even though they're having some issues back and forth, there's some personnel problems going on between Paul and the Corinthians. By and large, when Titus went to visit, he's like, brought this report back to Paul and he's like, Hey, by and large, they, they understand that they messed up with that guy. Hey, they understand the things that they were doing wrong and by and large, they're making the changes. Okay. They're getting things right. They're going on the right track. And of course, what's that going to do to Paul spirits? Well, that's going to lift them. Paul helps start these churches here and got a lot of these people saved. Verse number eight, for though I made you sorry with a letter. Okay. And here's where we're going to start to look at this word. Okay. Look at what it says. I do not repent though I did repent for I perceive that the same epistle has made you sorry though it were, but for a season. Okay. So let me just kind of break this down. So Paul's saying, Hey, you know, I wrote this letter. I brought all these issues up and he's thinking after I sent this, I was like, Ooh, that's, that's going to hurt. And so he's wrestling inside of himself like, man, how's this going to work? Are they going to just quit church? Are they going to leave or are they going to take the rebuke? You know what's going on? And then in the end he comes to the conclusion, you know what, sometimes people just need to have the toe stepped on. Sometimes people just need to hear that blunt force truth. Okay. Pulling no punches. And that's the problem with the society that we live in today. You go and tell somebody that they're doing something wrong. Oh, you offended me. You triggered them and just everything just crumbles from there. Yeah. I'm reporting you. I'm going to dig up some dirt on you and I just got to get vengeance. Okay. I mean, Paul told you that's how it was going to be, right? The attitude as we move towards the last days is that people would become lovers of their own selves. You're seeing that today. It spills over into the body of Christ. That attitude does. And so we're left with a bunch of people that cannot be corrected, cannot be told when they're wrong and so on and so forth. Now, what I want to do is I want to just do a quick refresher on the word repent. And you guys know why. It's because typically anytime that word's thrown around out there and, you know, in the world and churches, they're like, okay, it always means of your sins. That's what people attach mentally. That's what the enemy has done. Anytime you see that word repent, it means of your sins. Okay. That is not true. Go to Jonah chapter number three, Old Testament, Jonah chapter three, believe it's a 32nd book in the Old Testament in between the very short book of Obadiah and Micah. We've got these charts on the wall over here. If they help you out, you might be able to get there a little bit quicker, but Jonah chapter number three. Okay. Or if you just go to the book of Ezekiel, which is like the last big Old Testament prophet, it's the sixth book after that. Okay. So Jonah chapter number three. Now, quick study on the word repent in the Bible. What you're going to find is that God repents more than anyone else in the entire Bible. Okay. Well, obviously we don't have time to break all of those verses down, but I want to show you something here regarding the word repent. Look down at verse number five. So this is obviously after Jonah gets swallowed by the whale and then he himself repents like, okay, maybe I ought to do what God has called me to do. Maybe I just, okay, you want me to preach? I'll preach to these people, even though I don't want them to be saved. Verse number five. Look what it says. So Jonah preaches his message. Look at the results. Verse five. So the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast, put on sackcloth from the greatest of them, even to the least of them. Now we don't have time to break this down, but Jesus mentioned that this generation here would actually rise up in judgment against the people in Capernaum because they saw the miracles of Christ and yet rejected them. Okay. So my opinion here, what I believe is I believe a lot of these people heard the preaching of Jonah and actually got saved. That's what I believe. You may have a different opinion. That's okay. Verse number six. The Bible says this, for word came unto the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne and he laid his robe from him and covered him with sackcloth and sat in ashes. Okay. So Jonah gets there. He preaches a message. We don't get the full impact. We don't get the full detail. He just basically is pictured in the Bible. He shows up there and says a quick phrase in verse four and we're now reading this, but obviously he said everything that God had called him to say. We don't have all the words, but he did tell them, Hey, if you guys don't stop doing what you're doing, God's going to destroy you. They believed him. And now you're starting to see what are you starting to see now? Now you're starting to see a change. Okay. Now the king's like, Whoa, okay. We needed to change course of action. You're looking for seven. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his noble saying, let neither man nor beast heard nor flock taste anything. Let them not feed nor drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God. Yay. Let them turn everyone from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands. So the king now understands what is violence based off of what Jonah had preached. Okay. And he's saying, Hey, I want everybody to turn from that. Even the animals. Yeah. He even calls the animals. We're even going to make the animals put on sackcloth and ashes. That's how intense this guy took the message. But look what he says here in verse number nine, who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from this fierce anger that we perish not know God repents in the Bible more than anyone else, but God doesn't have any sin. So what does repent mean? Hey, well, you have to pay attention to the context in which you're reading the word. Hey, it means to change your mind, or it means to turn. For example, I love to use this one. I was on my way to Albertsons to buy some grape juice. I heard it was a better deal at Fred Meyer. So I repented and went to Fred Meyer. I simply didn't go with my original plan. That's what you're going to see God do here. Now look at verse number 10 and God saw their works. Are we saved by works? No. For by grace are you saved through faith in that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We are not saved by works. We are not saved by maintaining works. Okay. Look at this verse here again. And God saw their works that they turn from their evil way. So what does that tell you? Turning from your evil ways are works. We're not saved by works. You're not saved by turning from those things. Why? Because Christ took that on himself. He paid that for you. And God saw their works that they turn from their evil way. And look at this. And God repented of the evil that he said he would do unto them. And he did it not. See, God doesn't do evil. This is a mistranslation. No, it's not. The word evil in the Bible simply means to hurt. Okay. Do you know that God throws people into hell? Go read Matthew chapter seven. Okay. Last time I checked, that's not a very comforting act. Okay. Hell is described as a very painful place, a place of eternal torment. Okay. Not all evil is wickedness is what I'm trying to say. Okay. God does evil. The Bible says that in Amos, what is it? Chapter... I forgot what chapter. Just go read the whole book. Okay. But it basically says, shall there be evil done in a city and God has not been there. You know, I'm paraphrasing, but that's what it says. God does evil as in hurt. But it has this evil that's being spoken of here is a just evil. It's not like your satanic priest, you know, cutting up babies and doing the horrible, wicked things that they do. Okay. That's not the type of evil that I'm talking about or that the Bible is talking about here. So again, reading the Bible, it will expand your vocabulary. It makes you much smarter. Again, back to this verse here. What do we see? We see God repenting. All that means is he was going to destroy them. They stopped doing the wickedness and he decided, guess what? I'm not going to destroy you now. Okay. That was the deal and God kept his end of the bargain. Now go to Matthew chapter number 21. Matthew chapter number 21. So again, with a lot of these words, repent, baptism, you know, and the list goes on and on and on. Okay. You need to pay attention to context. That will teach you what is trying to be stated or said. Here's another one that I like to use. Matthew 21 verse 32. So this is Jesus speaking here. And he says, verse 32. He says, for John came unto you in the way of righteousness. Okay. What was John's message? Believe on him that cometh after me. Okay. It says, for John came unto you in the way of righteousness. Remember, righteousness is not earned. It's given. It's imputed. It's charged to you when you get saved. Romans chapter four. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness and ye, look at this, believed him not, but the publicans and the harlots believed him and ye when he had seen it. Okay. So when these religious leaders, they saw the publicans, they saw the tax collectors, they saw the harlots, they saw them believing and getting saved. That didn't motivate these people. Okay. In fact, all that did was get them angry. Look what he says. When you had seen it, repented not afterward that ye might believe him. Okay. So what is the context here? He said, the repentance is, Oh, I believe this before. Now I believe on Christ. Okay. And Jesus here saying, you didn't repent, meaning turn from trusting in your own works because that's what the Pharisees and Sadducees were trusting. It's very clear. They were trusting in their works and their long flowy garments and all of their actions to save them. Okay. They weren't trusting in God. So instead of turning from that to the truth, repenting in that sense, okay, they didn't do that. In fact, they just kept with their old beliefs. So that's what he's saying here. Repented not afterward that ye might believe him. So again, you go back to Acts chapter number three in verse 19. What Peter is saying, he's saying, repent, meaning believe the truth and be converted because once a person is born again, they are saved. Okay. You're grafted into the family of God. You're in forever. You cannot lose your salvation. You couldn't do anything to earn it. You can't do anything to lose it. So let's go back to second Corinthians chapter number seven here in the second Corinthians chapter number seven. And let's move on here. Let's look at verse number eight again. So Paul says, for though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent though I did repent. Okay. So obviously we know what that means. He does have a little bit of regret. He was like, ah, you know, he's got this wrestling match. How's this going to be received? How's this going to be taken? Okay. And then he settles it in themselves. For I perceive that the same epistle has made you sorry though it were for a season. Okay. And sometimes that's how it is when somebody tells us the truth that we don't want to hear. Sometimes that hurts our feelings. Okay. But you, you just have to understand that is for a season. It's temporary and it's for the better. Okay. Now look at verse number nine. Now I rejoice not that you were made sorry. He's not like, yeah boy, I hurt your feelings. I got you. Okay. He's trying to correct some action here. So he says, now I rejoice not that you remain sorry, but that you sorrowed to repentance for you were made sorry after look at this, a godly manner that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. Let's talk about this. Remember what I said? Being godly without God is like being an atheist with eternal life. Okay. Being godly without God is like being an atheist with eternal life. Okay. Meaning both of those are impossible. Okay. And I want you to remember that cause it's going to help you understand verse number 10, but one more time, if you would verse nine, this is now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you sorrowed to repentance for ye remain sorry. Who's the ye. Remember in the King James Bible, if it starts with a T so it's thou or thine that is singular. If it starts with a Y so ye are you, that is referring to a group. So who is this group that he's talking to here? Is this just anybody in the world? Is it only the Corinthians? What's going on here? We'll go back to, uh, let's see here. Go back to first Corinthians chapter number one. If you would just real quickly. I know I said we weren't going to turn that much, but I lied. First Corinthians chapter number one, one more time and look at verse number one. So the Bible says, Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and sauce. And these are brother verse two unto the church of God, which is at Corinth to them that are, look at this sanctified. You see that word there sanctified in Christ, Jesus called to be saints. Now here it is with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. So this is not just only to the Corinthians, but this is to every believer in every place in every single time period. Okay? You have to understand that that's what he's talking to. That is the ye there. Go back to second Corinthians chapter number seven. That is the ye there in verse number nine. That is the ye there in this entire chapter. Why is that important? Hey, well you're going to see because being godly without God is like being an atheist with eternal life. Okay? So he's talking to save believers here. Okay? So I'm just gonna come out and say this. Okay? If you're not saved, if you're not a believer, it is impossible possible for you to have godly sorrow. Okay? How are you going to have something you don't have? How can you have godly sorrow if you're not indwelt by God? If you're not indwelt by the Holy Ghost, it doesn't make any sense. Okay? And that's what you need to remember when someone tries to arrest this text, taking it out of context and they try to throw it in your face saying, Oh, well, if you weren't super sorry and you didn't fall down on your hands and knees and just beg and wallow and cry with literal tears, then you're not really saved. Okay? Because guess what? A lot of people get saved when they're like kids, you know, like 10, 15 years old. They understand the gospel because the Bible says the gospel is so simple that even a child can understand it. But you know, we get people saved all the time and they don't like remember every single sin that they've done and you have to cry over every one. But there are preachers out there that will throw that stuff in your face and you need to know how to deal with it. So let's move, let's look at verse 10. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation. Okay? Now can you go out there and give the gospel to somebody and it moves them with a sorrow to where they're like, they're believing it as you're giving it to them and that seed starting to grow and they're like, yeah, you know what? And they, maybe they shed a tear and they're just like, yeah, of course that's possible. We see that from time to time. Okay? But this salvation here that he's talking about is being saved from their own destruction, being saved from them, destroying themselves by doing all of the carnal things that they had been doing since he wrote them the first letter. Okay? They got a lot of it right in second Corinthians, but yet not everything. And he's still having to address some certain issues. So for godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of. Okay? So obviously we shouldn't be like, oh man, I feel real bad for that, but I shouldn't. You know, the world comes along and says, you know, you shouldn't feel bad because you're living for yourself. Okay? Not some Dr. Phil type of guys, you know, or some of these so-called psychologists or these online, you know, gurus, you know, you need to look out for you. Well, the Bible says that we're happier if we put other people's needs above our own. We're better off giving than receiving, but the world goes the opposite of that. Okay? And Paul kind of indirectly mentions that here for godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of again, the Ninevites. Okay. They believe the preaching of Jonah. Okay. And then what happened? Then they decided, you know what? We better make some changes here before God comes and destroys us. Okay. And wipes us out. What happened? That saved them physically. Okay. You see where this is going here? So when we are on a destructive path and the word of God brings something to our attention, or maybe somebody just tells you like, Hey, I want to have a talk with you. You know, this, this, and this is what you're doing. Here's why it's wrong. Hey. And you say, you know what? You're right. I'm going to make that change. Guess what? You have that godly sorrow, which is able to now work into you changing course of action. And you're going to be saved from that situation. Not to be repented of. Okay. Then he says, but the sorrow of the world worketh death. Okay. And that's obvious. Okay. The sorrow of the world. The world's not sorry for the right things. We talk about that all the time. We've got to move on here. Look at verse number 11. It says for behold, this self same thing that she sorrowed after a look at this, a godly sword. Okay. Remember these people are already saved. That's how they were able to have godly sorrow. So again, when somebody throws this at you and they're like, Hey, you know, if a person out here didn't have a super godly sorrow and they didn't, you know, cry, they, they were just faking it. Hey, that's not true. I've had, I look, I've gone soul winning with people in other churches before. And they're like, well, that person didn't shed a tear or cry to see any emotion. They didn't get saved. It's like, well, they believed. When I first got there, they told me they were trusted in their own works to get them to heaven. I showed them from the Bible how that's not true. They changed their mind. They called upon the Lord. Okay. And you know what they say? Oh yeah. But if there's no emotion and there's no tears, I've had Baptist pastors say stuff like that. Okay. It's false. It's not true. Those people they're not saved yet. How in the world are they going to have this godly sorrow? And so that's why I say being godly without God is like being an atheist with eternal life. Both of them are impossible. How do you expect somebody to have this godly sorrow if they don't even have salvation, if they don't even have the indwelling of God himself? Doesn't make any sense. So verse 11, for behold, the self-same thing that she sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it, that godly sorrow that we're talking about it. Look at this rot. What does rot mean? It means to work. So this godly sorrow that they had, it worked something. It works in positive things. It says in you, meaning all of you Corinthians, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge, right? Revenge. Some of them actually took a little bit revenge and said, Oh, Paul's speech is contemptible. His letters are pretty good, but yeah, when he talks, nah, it's no good. No bueno. Yeah. He says in all things you have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. Paul's like, Hey guys, guess what? It's done. It's over with water under the bridge. Okay. That's the language here. Verse 12, wherefore, so now he's coming to a conclusion here. Okay. So wherefore though I wrote unto you, I did not for his cause that had done the wrong nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you and the side of God might appear unto you. So Paul's whole intent for calling that guy out for his fornication and calling out all of these problems wasn't to smash him down. It wasn't to say you lost this. You lost that. No, it was to show before all that God cares for the church. God takes care of his body and he used Paul as that vehicle in which to carry that out. Verse 13, therefore we are comforted in your comfort, yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus because his spirit was refreshed in you all. So again, another mention of Titus there being such a comfort and we've all known people like that, right? You see him, maybe you haven't seen him in a while. It's just, Oh wow, what a comfort man. It's just a great thing to see. That's why I like having church three times a week. Cause you're out in the world working, getting beaten down out there. And then you come and see people that are saying they have the same beliefs as you. And it's like, Oh, what a joy, what a comfort, you know, what a risk, a restoration, what a perfect, you know, fit for the week here. It's a good thing. Verse 14, we're almost done. Okay. It says for if I have boasted anything 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 in a truth. So he's saying like, Hey, look, you know, these good things, you know, he's like, you guys got a lot of things wrong, but the fact that you're now repenting, the fact that you're now changing and you're working to perfect that holiness, he's like, that's something to boast of. That's something to be proud of. That is something that we're definitely going to talk about. Verse 16, 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. So when they saw Titus, they had respect for him. They're like, Oh, wow. You know, they're like, this guy came from Paul. Obviously he's got the truth here. We're going to receive him, right? We're not going to be like, Oh, you're of Paul. Guess what? You can just get out of here because he rebuked us and we don't like that. And we're just going to, you know, we're going to cancel him, right? No, they didn't have cancel culture. They're like, you know what? We're wrong. We'll go, we'll go ahead and own that. We'll go and eat that up and make the necessary changes. And that is what brought so much joy to Paul. And I believe that's one of the contributing factors that kept driving him on to help the Corinthians. So verse 16 here, and we're done right here. He says, I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things. And so, you know, there's this drive from the world that says, you know what? You ought not to always tell people when they're wrong. And I get it. You know, we don't want to criticize other people. You know, we want to pick and choose our battles, but there are some times when we need to be corrected. There are some times when we need to be told that we are wrong. We are not correct. And we need to be bold enough. We need to be mature enough to respect that and make those right changes. And that is what this book will do to you. You read this book, it's going to step on your toes. It's going to cut to the heart. Don't be offended. Don't get triggered. Make those changes. You know, obviously, after proving that those things are right, because that's our job as a church, you hear something like I'm saying, you need to prove whether or not that's true. You prove the fact, you prove it's true. And if it's true, you make those changes. And guess what? You're going to be better off. You're going to be better, a better fit, a better soldier for Christ. And just everything is going to be much better, much comfort, much peace, much joy, those sorts of things. So we'll go ahead and stop it right there. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, for everything that you've done for us and continue to do for us. And just pray you help us to learn from the mistakes of others, Lord, that we may apply those things in our own lives. We just pray, Lord, you bring us back safely next week. Bless the fellowship after the service in Jesus' name. I pray. Amen. All right, we're going to have one more song and then we'll be dismissed.