I invite you to turn with me tonight to 2 Corinthians 7. 2 Corinthians 7, we will read together verses 2-12, focusing in particular on verse 10 of 2 Corinthians 7. And once you have found 2 Corinthians 7 in connection with verse 10, We turn in the back of the Psalter Hymnal to page 45, Lord's Day 33. We return to Lord's Day 33, page 45 in the back of the Psalter Hymnal. We will give expression together to the answers to these four questions. Lord's Day 33, question 88 asks, What is involved in genuine repentance or conversion? Two things. The dying away of the old self and the coming to life of the new. What is the dying away of the old self? It is to be genuinely sorry for sin, to hate it more and more, and to run away from it. What is the coming to life of the new self? It is wholehearted joy in God through Christ and a delight to do every kind of good as God wants us to. What do we do that is good? Only that which arises out of true faith conforms to God's law and is done for His glory and not that which is based on what we think is right or on established human tradition. 2 Corinthians 7, beginning at verse 2. Hear now the word of the Lord. Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one. We have corrupted no one. We have exploited no one. I do not say this to condemn you. I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you. I have great confidence in you. I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged. In all our troubles, my joy knows no bounds. For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn, conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus. And not only by his coming, but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever. Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while. Yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you? What earnestness? What eagerness to clear yourselves? What indignation? What alarm? What longing? What concern? What readiness to see justice done? At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong or of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are. Then he begins verse 13, By all this we are encouraged. Verse 10, again, Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. May God bless the reading of His Word and the preaching and hearing of it tonight. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, as we know, at times parents have to discipline their children. And when they do, it's hard. When they do, it hurts the parents. Now, boys and girls, you might say, Now, wait a minute, that's not how I envision it. That's not how I experience it. It's hard on me. It hurts me. But you need to understand yourself that when your parents have to discipline you for something you've done wrong, it's hard on them. It's not easy. It hurts them too. Yet it also brings great joy to the parents when the child gets the point and is converted, changes. Does a U-turn from doing that which is wrong to doing that which is right. And Paul in this passage expresses this joy with the Corinthian believers. He had written them what is considered to be a strong letter, most likely talking about 1 Corinthians. It was a letter admonishing them, rebuking them. It was a letter of discipline, disciplining the church for her sin. We know that there was the sin of abuse with regard to worship. There was the sin of abuse with regard to the sacraments. And also, there was a failure to discipline those who were living in sin and other sins that could be found in the Corinthian congregation. But by God's grace, through Paul's admonition and rebuke, that produced true godly sorrow, leading to repentance, leading to a change of heart, leading to a change in her actions. And that is the need for all people, isn't it, spiritually speaking? When I spoke with Matt earlier this week and I asked him how the baby was doing, he said, well, we just had a doctor's visit and everything is perfect. The baby is perfect. And then he said, yet, I suppose he is still totally depraved. And that's the sad truth, isn't it, that we must all confess, even as parents, with even our newborn children, that we are all totally depraved in the sight of God. You see, the Christian life which Lord's Day 32 taught us is a life of doing good. It is a life of active obedience. It is a life, as someone has said, of gratitude in action. It is a life of good works. Again, question answer 91 gives us the definition of good works. What do we do that is good? Only that which arises out of true faith, conforms to God's law, and is done for His glory, and not that which is based on what we think is right or on established human tradition. Not simply what man thinks is okay or what man thinks is right, but what God says is right, that which is acceptable and pleasing to God. It's interesting that a believer and an unbeliever might do the very same thing that is considered to be good. But it's only good in the sight of God for one of them, the believer whose motive is right with God. Yet when it comes to that life of good, that Christian life of good, not one of us begins that way, do we? We all need true conversion. The Catechism helps us with a powerful biblical definition of that. Question 88, what is involved in genuine repentance or conversion? Two things, the dying away of the old self and the coming to life of the new. Paul talks about that often, even in chapter 5 of 2 Corinthians. Verse 17, he says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come. And in other of his writing, he constantly says, Put off that which belongs to the old man. Put on that which belongs to the new. Boys and girls. Conversion, as we've said from this pulpit a number of times, we can consider to be a U-turn. Using the traffic illustration. It's a change in direction. You know that if you're traveling north down Broadway here and your mom or dad all of a sudden decides to do a U-turn, they turn in a completely other direction and they go back the other way and you see things that you just saw because you just did a U-turn. It's a change in direction. Now as we talk about conversion, we can talk about initial conversion. When one is converted that very first time, when that one, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is born again and by the influence of that Spirit is brought then to see and recognize their sin and repent of it and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ when that power of the sin nature is broken. But in the believer, there is also what we might call continual conversion. Not starting over again, but there is continual conversion, ongoing conversion, because that old nature is not fully and completely dead until we die. and leave this life. Not until the Holy Spirit, as we said this morning, completes that good work which He has begun in you and me. Until that time, there is a constant struggle between the old nature and the new nature. There is a constant putting to death and a constant coming to life. And we are conscious of that. It is real for you and me as believers through the experiences of sorrow, which we associate with death, and joy, which we associate with life. These are that which give evidence of true conversion in one. True conversion consists, first of all, of godly sorrow for sin. And along with that, in the second place, a godly joy in righteousness. First of all, a godly sorrow for sin. Now, Paul was encouraged by the Corinthians' godly sorrow and he gives a powerful lesson in this text with just very few words. He gives a powerful lesson of the necessity of that godly sorrow and as well the benefit of that godly sorrow. First of all, what does it mean? What's it mean? What is it? Literally, Paul says, sorrow according to God. We might say sorrow in reference to God that has to do with God. And along with that, then it is a sorrow that is worked by God. Paul says in verse 9, Yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us. And the Lord, through Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 57, says, I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, to revive the heart of the contrite. It is a sorrow that is indeed worked by God, as the Holy Spirit, with the Word of God, with the law of God, This opens our spiritual eyes to look into the mirror of God's holy law and to see our sin and misery, to recognize that. And then to recognize sin for what it truly is. It is an offense against God. Again, summarizing the true teaching of Scripture, the Catechism says, Question 89, what is the dying away of the old self? It is to be genuinely sorry for sin, to hate it more and more, and to run away from it. To be genuinely sorry for sin. And when you and I understand what sin truly is, that we see that it is an offense against God. I think the older version of the Catechism is probably a little bit more helpful. It says that it is to grieve with heartfelt sorrow that we have offended or provoked God by our sin. Sin is against God. David in Psalm 51, which you remember is David's psalm of confession after being illumined, as it were, with regard to his sin with Bathsheba. He says, against not Uriah, not Bathsheba, and not Israel. He did sin against all of them. But he says to the Lord, no, against you and you only have I sinned and done that which is evil in your sight. Indeed, we do sin against each other, but our sin is first and foremost against God. It is a transgression of His law, going outside of the boundaries that God has safely set for you and me. Sin is an insult to His holiness, shoving, as it were, our unholiness in His face. Sin is a demonstration of contempt for His grace alone, which saves us. It is a demonstration of a lack of thankfulness. It is rebellion. It is turning away against a good and a loving God. When we understand what sin truly is and who it is truly against, then we also understand godly sorrow. It is anguish of heart. It is a true grief, a true heartbrokenness, a true misery of having offended our holy and our almighty God. and of having lost the favor of God and recognizing what it is we truly deserve. You know, there are times, no doubt, each one of us has experienced times when we have hurt someone we love. Maybe your husband, maybe your wife, or your children, parents, a best friend. We've hurt them. We've sinned against them. And we feel terrible. You feel absolutely lousy about it inside. And in a sense, beloved, no less are we to have that very same grief with regard to our sin, which is committed against our holy God. John Calvin says, Unless the sinner be dissatisfied with himself, detests his manner of life, and be thoroughly grieved from an apprehension of sin, unless all those are in place, Calvin says, he will never turn to the Lord. Godly sorrow for sin. But notice its contrast. Paul distinguishes between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. He simply mentions worldly sorrow. He doesn't tell us what it is. But we can say it's the complete opposite of godly sorrow. Godly sorrow is sorrow according to God. Worldly sorrow, with that, God is not even in the picture. Nor are others. Worldly sorrow grieves, but not because of the effect of my sin on God or others. Worldly sorrow is selfish. It is not sorrow about the sin itself, but only sorrow for the painful consequences that I might have to suffer. Being sorry for the loss of something. Maybe, for example, the loss of freedom. Boys and girls, think of a murderer or a thief who gets sent to prison. They lose their freedom from the outside world. if you've done something wrong and you get that classic punishment called grounding, you lose your freedom, maybe from a variety of things. It's also being sorry for a loss of benefits. We think of Esau. When Esau realized that Jacob received the blessing, Esau wept. Oh, Father, don't you have but one blessing left for me? He wasn't sorry about what he did with his birthright, you see. How he considered that with a lack of seriousness and importance. He was sorry for the loss of benefit from the blessing. Or maybe worldly sorrow, we might say, is being sorry for the shame that I might feel because others found out about my sin. And it's rather embarrassing. Or being sorry for the damage that it has done to my name or my reputation. But you see, worldly sorrow is not true sorrow for the sin committed. It's only being sorry that one got caught. When I was a teenager and got a few speeding tickets, I have to confess that I really wasn't sorry for speeding. I probably thought I had a good reason for it. But I was certainly sorry that I got caught, that I got a ticket. Boys and girls, maybe you've gotten caught because you have hit your brother or your sister and you're going to get punished for it and you're sorry because you got caught. You're not sorry because you hit them, you thought they deserved it. But you're certainly sorry for the punishment that is coming. You see, worldly sorrow, the world of unbelief would be happy to commit the very same sin again if they knew they could do it without getting caught. Because worldly sorrow does not take sin seriously. Instead, worldly sorrow drives one further away from God, even causes one to be angry at God, because it's God's standard, isn't it, that convicts us of our sin. As Paul says, worldly sorrow brings death. And the Greek word that is translated brings there means to work out, to produce death. And what's interesting about that word is there's a particular emphasis there, an emphasis of something inevitable, as if to say worldly sorrow inevitably brings death. It only brings death eternally. Because there is no new life. As we are reminded in Scripture with Esau and Judas Iscariot. But not so, beloved, with godly sorrow. Paul points out its glorious result. It brings repentance that leads to salvation. it brings repentance now Paul is not teaching here that repentance is the ground of our salvation he is not teaching us here that our repentance earns our salvation but he is teaching simply that repentance is a necessary part of the path that the Holy Spirit leads one on in applying that salvation repentance is a necessary part it will be included with that new life in Christ. Because repentance, we know, is a change of heart and a change of mind. It is a complete turnaround of one's life and one's actions. It includes a new way of thinking, thinking God's thoughts after Him. A new way of feeling, feeling joy in the Lord, something that one has never felt before. It includes a new way of willing, a new way of desiring, desiring the things that are pleasing to God. It involves a change from sin to holiness. It includes a new attitude towards sin. Catechism says genuine sorrow, but then it even gets more powerful language, more pointed to hate it, to hate sin more and more, and to run away from it. Does that describe you? I have to ask myself, Do I hate my sin? Do you hate your sin? Isn't there some sin that's kind of fun? Isn't there a certain sin that we find a little bit of pleasure in and we really don't want to stop it and run away from it? But that's what godly sorrow is. To hate it more and more, to run away from it. That was demonstrated by the Corinthians. Notice verse 11. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you. What earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. That godly sorrow toward repentance produced in the Corinthian congregation many good things. And we might summarize by saying it produced a diligence in their Christian walk. It produced a spiritual cleansing by the Holy Spirit. It produced an anger over sin. They became angry at themselves because of their sin. It produced a fear of offending God. They didn't want to offend God. Being conscious of that. It produced a desire to pursue holiness and a zeal for the truth. Dear people of God, because we struggle with sin and its effects each and every day, we are to daily examine ourselves. This is not where we're talking about mutual discipline, where we point the finger at others, but we're to point the finger at ourselves. We are to daily examine ourselves and to daily keep ourselves accountable, to every day ask myself, do I have this godly sorrow? Is it true for me? Do my sins really bother me because they offend God? Or am I more troubled because of the earthly consequences I may have to suffer? Am I more troubled because of any inconvenience getting caught might cause me? Are my tears of sorrow truly from the heart? Or do they simply cover up an inner indifference and try to give a show to those who may be watching? Are they simply to try to lessen the punishment? Boys and girls, maybe at some point you knew that a punishment was coming and you decided to strike first, as it were, and you shed all kinds of tears to try to soften your mom or your dad to try to lessen the punishment. When I repent of a sin, do I then hate that sin of which I am repenting? Do I run away from it? Do I work hard to keep from committing that sin again? Or do I simply figure, well, it's no big deal. I'll just ask forgiveness again. Maybe you're caught in a sin. Maybe it's a sexual sin of some sort. Maybe it's another besetting sin of lying or something. And you know it's wrong, but by it you get what you want. And therefore it's hard to put it away. You're called to repent of it. To understand that sin in the light of God's holiness. To hate it. To run away from it in the strength, only in the strength of the Holy Spirit. You see, beloved, you can only answer these questions for yourself. I can only answer for myself, remembering that only God and you can read your own heart. And God reads it perfectly, make no mistake about it. And at the very same time, we must look to the cross of Jesus each and every day. And every day as we meditate upon our sin, and as we meditate upon the cross of Jesus, we are called to be reminded of the effect of God's terrible wrath against sin. We are called to remember, be conscious, and remember the blood that Jesus shed to pay for your sins and mine. And may God, by His Spirit, then use that to help us to fight against sin, to make committing, especially that particular sin that we struggle with, a little more difficult to commit the next time. And godly sorrow that brings repentance, then, as Paul says, leaves no regret. You know, we may regret many things in this life. When things don't turn out for our good, when they don't turn out for our advantage, the way we wanted to, we might regret it. We might say, why did I do that? And you can come up with a variety of things in your life for which you might have said that. But though there may be certain pain and certain discomfort and tears and embarrassment associated with godly sorrow, though God may cause us to hit bottom, And though it may be painful, yet because of the repentance it brings, which includes restoration with God and an understanding of His great salvation, whatever it was that God used to bring you and I to that point, however painful it may have been, is not regretted by the child of God. But that child is grateful for it. You see, we have that with things in this life, too. No matter how unpleasant something may be, At the time, it proves to be desirable by its usefulness. For example, bodily exercise. If you go to the gym and you work out hard, it can be torturous. But when you lose the weight that you were hoping to lose, you say it was worth it. For young people who are studying or have studied for exams recently, that too can be grueling. It can take away from your sleep and it can cause you much stress. but when you get that good grade that you were hoping for, you say it was worth it. I often think about the cancer and the chemotherapy that I went through, and although my wife and I are indeed grateful how the Lord used the chemo to bring a cure to heal me, yet even more so at the time we talked often about what the Lord was teaching us through that experience, as terrible as it was. How we were grateful for it. We thanked God for it. We never wanted to do it again, But we could thank God for it because of that which he was teaching us at the time. Or labor pains at the point of delivery, yet when the mother is holding that child. How sweet that is. You see, no matter how unpleasant, again, something may be at the time, it proves to be desirable by its usefulness. That's what Paul is saying here about that godly sorrow and whatever may lead to that godly sorrow that brings repentance. How wonderful it is. And for the believer, not only is there an absence of regret with godly sorrow, but true conversion includes, in the second place, godly joy in righteousness. The second side of that same coin. And it takes place at the very same time. There's godly sorrow, and at the very same time, godly joy in righteousness. New life is a life of joy. Again, that U-turn out on the street is not only when you stop going in one direction, but you actively, you actually go in the other direction. And notice the cause of this godly joy. Question 90 asks, What is the coming to life of the new self? It is wholehearted joy in God through Christ and a delight to do every kind of good as God wants us to do. A wholehearted joy in God through Christ. Just as we need to understand that sin is an offense against God, We need to understand that joy comes only from God. If you notice in the Catechism, the very same proof text is listed there as for the dying away, or for the one before, for the dying away of the old self. Especially Psalm 51, but also Isaiah chapter 57. It is the Lord who causes that, not myself. That joy is not because of my repentance. It's not because I have achieved a certain level of spirituality after much personal struggle and sacrifice. It's not because I have earned God's favor toward me in some way. But it is because of God Himself through Jesus Christ who satisfied God's wrath against my sin so that there is hope, there is a living hope for those He brings to repentance and faith, a real hope. By the power and the work of that Holy Spirit as we consider this morning, He gives new birth, He gives new eyes to see the truth of God and the truth of myself and the truth of what Jesus Christ has done. When we recognize the truth of ourself, that brings godly sorrow. But along with that, When we recognize the truth of what Jesus Christ has done, oh, what joy. That godly joy in righteousness, and therefore the content of that godly joy is what we have in Jesus Christ by faith. All the benefits, every single benefit that Jesus Christ has earned by His suffering and death and resurrection and ascension, every single benefit earned by Jesus, as we listed some of them this morning, the forgiveness of all of our sins. Peace with God. Righteousness, yeah. That joy in Christ's righteousness, which is freely given to you and me. And therefore, the guarantee that I will never be lost again, never again will I be under the curse of sin, but instead I am guaranteed that I have everlasting life. the joy that my burden of sin with all of its consequences has been lifted off of and removed from me in Christ Jesus. How can there be any regret? And beloved, even in the midst of our struggle with the old nature, because sometimes it does seem that the old nature is stronger than the new, but even in those times, we can have that godly joy. Because indeed, that struggle with sin is evidence of conversion. It is evidence of the power and the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Again, the evidence that the Corinthians gave, verse 11. Two things in particular. They hated sin, and they had a desire to pursue holiness. That is the result of this godly joy. A delight to do every kind of good as God wants us to. You see, that old nature we know hates God. It hates doing what God wants. It doesn't want to do what God wants. And those for whom the old nature is the only nature, apart from repentance of sins and true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, apart from turning to Him, humbling oneself before the sight of God, they will only experience God's eternal wrath. But yet there is hope, isn't there? If that describes you tonight, there's hope for you in Christ Jesus. And you are called to look to Him alone. And in Him alone, you will have the guarantee of eternal life. And you may know that you are given that new nature. That new nature and those who are enjoyed by the grace of God love what God loves. They love that which is pleasing to Him. They desire to do it. They strive. They actively try to do it. It becomes natural. Think of the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. The goats, if they had known there was something in it for them, sure we would have done it. But the sheep said, when? When did we see you hungry and feed you or naked and clothe you? Their life of good was natural for them by the grace of God. Yet, beloved, we know all too clearly that our righteousness, our righteousness, is not yet perfect. And at times it does seem like we're losing the struggle with sin more than gaining in doing what is pleasing to God. The old one step forward, sometimes two steps back type of deal. Yet our comfort is that all of our sin is removed as far as the east is from the west because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and because the Holy Spirit is alive and because He is working, even right now, in you and me. And therefore, as Nehemiah said, the joy of the Lord is our strength. The joy of the Lord is our motivating influence, the strength that we have to seek to do that which is pleasing to God. And that joy, beloved, is not a worldly joy. It's not temporary that comes and goes with the things of this life. It is eternal. It will never be taken away. Dear people of God, true conversion with godly sorrow for sin and a godly joy in righteousness is the need of all of mankind. There is no salvation without it. And it is that very gift of God that shows us what Jesus Christ has done for us because of our sin and it gives such joy that cannot help but to respond to Him in faith. You see, this is what we pray for for our children, isn't it? That God would impress upon them a true understanding of their sin. That God would bring them to repentance and faith. That they might claim His promise of cleansing from sin, that promise given to them in their baptism. That's our prayer for you, boys and girls and young people. And that's our prayer for all of mankind, isn't it? But we also pray for ourselves that the Holy Spirit might impress upon each one of us more and more a sorrow and a hatred for sin, that more and more every day we would be conscious of it, that we would actively think about it, and that more and more He would equip us to fight against it. At the same time, impress upon us, at the very same time, the joy that we have in Christ Jesus as we recognize that which He has done. And a delight to do more and more that which is good and pleasing in the sight of God, leading to that day when, in glory, when we will finally praise Him as we ought. Dear people, praise God that He takes totally depraved sinners. And he does an amazing work of transformation in them. That he finds joy in bringing us to repentance and faith. That he finds joy in claiming us as his children. That he finds joy in equipping us to do every kind of good as he wants us to do. Praise God for the joy of his salvation, so desperately needed by us, so freely given by him. Amen. Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, we do thank You for Your work in our hearts and lives. Indeed, a work that You make us conscious of, that we can see, that we experience in our own lives, and that we are able to rejoice in with each other. A work that we cannot accomplish by ourselves. A work that takes the power of your Holy Spirit. And again, we thank you for that precious gift of faith to know you. To believe in Jesus Christ. To trust in him alone for salvation, full and free. And Father, we do pray that you would cause us, open our eyes more and more to see our sin. To hate it, to run away from it. And give us a greater joy day by day in all that you have done and continue to do for us for Jesus' sake. Oh Lord, we look forward to that day when our sin will be no more. But instead we will only give to you the eternal glory and praise and worship that is fitting for our holy and almighty God. Father, prepare us for that day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.