Joy Over True Repentance

Barry Metz 08/21/16

Joy over True Repentance

2 Corinthians 7:2–16

If you have your Bibles turn with me to 2 Corinthians 7, verse 2….2 Corinthians 7, verse 2.

Follow with me as I begin reading…. 2 Corinthians 7:2

2Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. 3I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

5For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. 6But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. 8For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

10For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 11For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. 12So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. 13Therefore we are comforted.

And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. 14For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. 15And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. 16I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.

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If you’ve been with us as we’ve journeyed through 2 Corinthians, you know that Paul has been working to win the hearts of the Corinthians back to him. As best as we can tell, false apostles had created a wedge between Paul and the church he had founded. And over the last several chapters Paul has worked to change that, he’s worked to convince the Corinthians that he is theauthentic apostle and that they should remain loyal to him.

If Paul were a salesman—and thank God he’s not—we might say ready to close the sale. {After chapter 7, the book of 2 Corinthians turns a corner }

Look at how he begins in verse 2…. 2Make room in your hearts for us. Paul feels marginalized by the Corinthians. And he wants that to change. He wants to be in their heart—he wants the love between them to flow. He’s basically saying ‘Love us’

{Are there people in your heart? We’re seeking to cultivate a welcoming, caring, knowing and authentic fellowship here at KBC. And I don’t think we’ll ever get there until we have each other in our hearts, until we’ve made room for each other in our hearts. “I need to go to church today because Samantha needs my encouragement….I need to call Bill because the last time I saw him he was really troubled…he’s struggling and he’s in my heart…I’ve got to call him. . I need to write a note to Elijah because he just did a stunning job on the fellowship hall floor… God’s going to use that young man”.. . We have each other in our hearts.

You know there are lots of reasonswhy we don’t make room for each other in our hearts—when you let someone in your heart there’s the possibility you could get hurt….it’s better to keep the distance rather than let someone get close”}

Well in verse 2, Paul moves really quickly to remind the Corinthians that he is trustworthy. We have wronged no one[1], we have corrupted[2] no one, we have taken advantage[3] of no one. It’s as if Paul is saying, “I can be trusted to be in your heart”…Perhaps detractors in the Corinthian congregation were whispering those charges against Paul… ‘He wrongs people….he corrupts people…he takes advantage of people’….don’t let him get close!

Inverse 3 Paul expresses his love for them, “I’m ready to die with you and live with you.” It almost sounds like a wedding vow doesn’t it? Notice the unexpected word order there….

“I’m ready to die with you and live with you.” …

“(In Christ) life comes after death, doesn’t it? When we trust Christ as our Savior we die with Christ only to be raised to live with him, right? Death precedes life…in Christ. So it’s only ‘in Christ’ that Paul and the church have their fellowship.”[4]

“We’re in this together, Corinthians”… “We’re in it for the long haul, I’m committed”… “You’re in my heart”….“I’m ready to die with you and live with you.”

I heard a story about Mary Queen of Scots. Evidently she loved France and things French more than she loved Scotland and things Scottish. And everybody knew it. I think I read that she had spent much of her early childhood in France. Well she said that when she died that if they opened up her heart they would find inscribed on her heart the single word ‘Calais’[5], which is a very special territory of France but more than that it’s ‘an expression of her total devotion to France and the French’[6]

Well Paul could say the same thing… “O Corinthians, when I die, open up my heart and you will find inscribed there the words ‘The Corinthian Church’ ‘You are in my heart’… ‘I love you’

These words of love from Paul for the Corinthian church are surprising. Hadn’t the Corinthian church been one heartache after another forPaul? Hadn’t they completely rejected Paul, even doubting that he was a true apostle? Hadn’t there been tremendous pain between Paul and this erring child of his?

And yet Paul was committed to them like a spiritual mother or father. “No matter what you do. No matter what you say about me. No matter what choices you make. No matter if you turn your back on me forever, I will never give up loving you.” That’s what it means to have someone in your heart…”You can’t do anything to make me not love you.”

Paul’swords in verse 4 are even more surprising…. 4I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

Now what’s going on here for Paul here? Well he’s about to open the window and let the Corinthians see his love for them up close. In the next few verses he’s going to recount the stress and anxiety and heartache he felt after he wrote the very direct painfulsevere letter he sent with Titus[7]that challenged the Corinthians about their sin. He’s going to let them know how worried and fearful he was that they might just walk away. And he’s going to let them know the relief he felt when Titus returned with the good news that the letter, in the end, served its purpose. It accomplished what he intended. So he has, verse 4, great pride in the Corinthians, he is filled with comfort. In all hisaffliction, he is overflowing with joy. In fact it could be worded like this… he’s ecstatic with joy[8]!

Well I mentioned the painful, severe letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians. What am I talking about? Well as far as we know Paul wrote at least four letters to the Corinthians. On your sermon notes you’ll see “APossible Chronology” for Paul’s various interactions with the Corinthian church.

A Possible Chronology

1. 50 AD? -Paul founded the Corinthian church and stayed in Corinth 18 months (Acts 18:1-11)

-Paul wrote a letter (letter 1) to the church (referred to in 1 Cor. 5:9)

2. 53 AD?- Paul wrote 1 Corinthians (letter 2)

3. 54 AD?- Timothy visited Corinth—the church was in disarray

4. 54 AD?- Paul visited Corinth (referred to as the ‘painful visit’ in 2 Cor. 2:11)

5. 54AD?- Paul wrote a letter to the church (often referred to as the ‘severe letter’, see 2 Cor. 2:4, letter 3.) and sent it with Titus

6. 54 AD? - Titus returned and gave Paul a good report (2 Cor. 7:6-15)

7. 55-56 AD?- Paul wrote 2 Corinthians (letter 4)

Looking at the chronology there on your notes, our passage this morning revolves around number 5 and number 6…. Paul wrote a letter, a severe letter, to the Corinthian church and sent it with Titus and number 6, Titus and Paul finally met up again and Titus gave Paul a good report. Titus gave Paul the report that God had used his severe letter for good.

So that’s what we’re talking about when we jump into verse 5.

But there’s another interesting thing that you need to know. As we pick up in verse 5 ,with Paul describing what he went through in Macedonia waiting on news that things were ok with the Corinthians, Paul is actually picking up a line of thought that he began way back in chapter two. Let me put up a slide that illustrates what I’m saying:

Again the slide is designed to illustrate that 2 Corinthians 2:14-7:4 have been a digression of sorts.

Now with the slide on the screen behind me, keep a finger here in 2 Corinthians 7 and then turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 2….verse 12-13…. 2 Corinthians 2:12-13

2 Corinthians 2:12–13 (ESV) ---12When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, 13my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

Now turn back over to 2 Corinthians 7:5-6….

When you pull out 2 Corinthians 2:14-7:4, do you see how seamless it is to go from chapter 2 to chapter 7?

Now the 2 Corinthians 2 passage mentioned Troas and we see the term Macedonia in our passage here in 2 Corinthians 7. Let’s use a map to get our bearings….

So God opened a door to preach the gospel in Troas but Paul’s spirit was never at rest because he couldn’t find Titus and so he went on to Macedonia on his way to Corinth.It was in Macedonia where he finally met up with Titus and got the good news that his letter had accomplished its purpose.

Well let’s look at what Paul says in verses 5-6.What was Paul’s situation as he came into Macedonia?(his)body had no rest, but hewas afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. Kent Hughes calls this Paul’s ‘Macedonian misery’[9]

Let’s mark it down: Spirit-enabled, God-ordained gospel saturated ministry is often very difficult[10]. At times it can be a cloud-darkened land. Working with people in the cause of Christ has tremendous rewards, with great joy, but it can be accompanied by great stress, discouragement and even depression.[11]

C. H. Spurgeon, in 1866 to the shock of his congregation confessed, “I am the subject of depressions of spirit so fearful that I hope none of you ever gets to such extremes of wretchedness as I go to”[12]

“John Henry Jowett, a famous pastor from Westminster Chapel in London, wrote to a friend in 1920, “You seem to imagine I have no ups and downs but just a level and lofty stretch of spiritual attainment with unbroken joy and equanimity. By no means! I am often perfectly wretched and everything appears most murky.”

Writing of Alexander Whyte, perhaps Scotland’s greatest preacher since John Knox, G. F. Barbour said, “Resolute as was Dr. Whyte’s character, he had seasons of deep depression regarding the results of his work in the pulpit or among his people.”

One more even though we don’t need it.Martin Luther was subject to such fits of darkness that he would hide himself away for days, and his family would remove all dangerous implements from the house for fear he would harm himself. In the midst of one of these times, his indomitable wife, Katharina, entered his room dressed in mourning clothes. Startled, Luther asked who had died. She replied “By the way you’re are acting, God has…..!”[13]

…afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. And fighting and fear in the Greek text are plural. Conflict….restlessness….emotional turmoil…..fears within… Why has Titus disappeared from the map? Has something happened to him? What is God doing? What happened when the Corinthians gotmy letter?

What are the first two words of verse 6?….But God….

6But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,

Don’t miss what verse 6 is saying… God did some comforting but he did it through Titus. God did some comforting but Titus was the agent through whom God worked. God was the source of the comfort and Titus was the instrumentby which the comfort was delivered.

“There is a beautiful passage from a now-forgotten old novel in which the care of God flows through a consecrated (woman) . Elisa, a poor woman, had just lost her son and was in the depth of grief. Her godly friend, Anna, joined her, and they knelt in prayer by the bedside. As they prayed, Anna suggested that Elisa ask God to lay his hand on her head. When Elisa made the request, Anna softly laid her hand on Elisa’s head. “He’s done it! Glory to God!” cried Elisa.

Her friend coaxed her to tell about it, and Elisa replied, “There was a wonderful feeling that went down through me, and the hand was just like yours.” “The hand was mine,” replied Anna gently, “but it was God’s hand too.”

So it was with the coming of Titus, for in it God visited Paul.”[14]

You know we ought to see all of life through this lens—God is the source of every perfect gift which comes down from above but he often uses people to deliver that gift.

The words of comfort were your words but they were also the voice of God.

The generosity was your generosity, but it was the provision of God.

The hand was your hand, but it was also the comforting hand of God.

God created us needing Himself and needing others. This is an important truth. You wouldn’t believe how many people feel guilty for feeling lonely. God created us needing himself and needing others.

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Inevitably, Philippians 4:13 is a favorite verse of many Christians: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And we’ve talked about this several times. You can build a theology from that verse—a theology built on self-reliance: “God and I can do anything.” And the unstated, unexpressed corollary is God and I can do anything and Idon’tneedanyoneelse”…. God and me, can’t you see? I don’t need you and you don’t need me. Everybody seems to know Philippians 4:13 but few know Philippians 4:14 Yet it was kind of you to fellowship[15] in my trouble.

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We’ve got to make sure we keep in mind the entire picture: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (that’s the vertical component)….yet it was kind of you to fellowship in my trouble. (that’s the horizontal component) It’s all part of God’s design.

We’ll return to this thought at the end of the sermon.

Well it wasn’t only Titus’ presence that comforted Paul, it was the comfort that Titus brought back—comfort that he got from the Corinthians. Look at verse 7…

7and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.

So Titus, who delivered the ‘severe’ letter to the Corinthians, ended up being comforted by the Corinthians because of the way they received the letter. Titus, probably as surprised as Paul, saw firsthand, how the Corinthianslonged to see Paul, how they mourned their sin, and how they hadzeal for Paul.[16]He saw their enthusiastic concern for Paul.[17]And when Titus shared all of that with Paul, he rejoiced still more.

So the comfort that Paul received came in two packages--the arrival of Titus, him just being present, and the news that Titus carried (1:6b–7).[18]

These verses teach us that comfort or encouragement—I suppose we could widen the discussion to any of the “one anothers”—comfort and encouragement and acceptance for that matter…these spiritual commodities that we give one anotherevery day….they are spiritually ‘contagious.’ The Corinthians comforted Titus and before long Titus infected Paul.[19]