A Tale of Two Sorrows

Good afternoon, everyone. Now, as I look back and across the room and think about those who will eventually see or hear me, there’s not a person in this room that I can say with a great deal of confidence hasn’t experienced sadness. We’ve all experienced sadness. From the very youngest in the room, I’ve heard them at times, to the very oldest, I haven’t heard them. And we all feel sadness now and again. There’s no doubt about that. And sadness, if you want to define it, one source defines it as unhappiness or disappointment in oneself.

Or maybe disappointment or the feeling of unhappiness because you had a setback in a relationship. Maybe something occurred at work on a given day, and it caused you to be sad. Maybe it’s school, those of you who are in school, you got a bad grade or an unexpected quiz popped and you were sad because you didn’t do well and it affected your grades. Or maybe in this world today, my daughter talks a lot about bullying that goes on. Story after story, sad stories, you know, it makes you sad. We can be sad because we’ve had a bad day. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Or feel overwhelmed for a moment about a particular situation. Take, for example, TV commercials to illustrate sadness. How many of you have seen the commercial about the malnourished and maltreated dogs? I’ve got to be honest with you, the first time I saw that, it was a little bit of a tearjerker until they asked for $19.99 every month. I was waiting for the next commercial to come along. But you know God gave us tear ducts not to just keep debris or our eyes cleaned and moist for vision. He gave it to us so that we could cry.

And there’s nothing wrong with crying despite what I may have learned as a young boy growing up in a house of five other brothers. I don’t have a problem with crying, just as long as my wife cries more than me. You ever see that in a movie where you are kind of dissimulating that, you know, you’re not crying, you’re just moving something out of your eye, or you just turn that way. So, I don’t have a problem with sadness or crying, just again, as long as my wife cries more than me during a movie.

People who are never sad, I don’t very often see it, or don’t experience sadness, quite frankly, I think they’re humanoids. They’re actually not real. It’d be strange not to feel some sadness in your life. Everyone in this room, again, has experienced sadness. But most, if not all, of the younger people, haven’t experienced one thing in this room. Many of you young folks probably haven’t experienced sorrow which is quite different. Most young people do not understand what us older folks who have years behind us understand.

I think of stories of brethren that have shared stories about what they’ve gone through before and after their calling. Sorrow, in contrast to sadness, is a far deeper and a more profound emotion caused generally by life-changing events. Not the sadness that you can occasionally run into on a day-to-day basis, but something truly life-changing. And sorrow can endure for a long period of time. It can impact actually people’s health. Studies have shown that. It can impact a person’s perspective, forever change their perspective on life when something sorrowful happens to them.

And I can tell you over the past 56 years, I’ve had my share of events that have caused me sorrow. But brethren, God’s Word changed my understanding about sorrow. It had a tremendous impact on how I see it. Today we’re going to examine sorrow, and we’re going to learn ways to deal with it in our lives. Now, I want the young people, I want you to pay careful attention. Because like I said, you may not have experienced sorrow, the sorrow that we’re going to cover today, but I guarantee you, if time goes on, at some point in your lives

you’re going to experience a type of sorrow or the types of sorrow that I’m going to talk about today.

And those of us who have experienced sorrow, we want you to be prepared for it. Because again, it can have a tremendous and profound impact on your lives. It can change your perspective forever if you don’t manage and navigate through the feelings of sorrow. So let’s turn to second Corinthians chapter seven to begin today. Second Corinthians chapter seven. Now in the latter part of chapter six, the Apostle Paul reveals to the Corinthians that they are the temples of the living God.

And he exhorts them to remain separate from the world in all of its ways. Now you have to keep in the back of your mind that this is a follow-up letter to the first one that the Apostle Paul previously wrote to them, and we’ll talk a little bit about that. But we’re going to find that the Apostle’s instructions were his way of dealing with something that happened to them or was happening to them in this second letter. We’re going to pick it up here in verse two, begin reading as the Apostle Paul is pleading with the brethren in Corinth.

It says, verse two, “...Receive us, we have wronged no man,” remember this is the second letter, “...we’ve corrupted no man, we’ve defrauded no one, we haven’t done anything for you to refuse us. So receive us, I say this not to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts.” What a wonderful or sentimental comment that he’s making here. He says we’re ready to die or live with you. Making a deep connection with him right away.

And he says, “Great is my boldness of speech towards you, great is my glorying, that means boasting of you. I am filled with comfort and exceedingly joyful in all our tribulations.” Now I found that extraordinary that in the midst of the tribulations, and if you read chapter six, it talks about all the things that the Apostle Paul, as an apostle, and those that were with him, that were going through for the cause of the work. For the cause of preaching the gospel to a volatile society, a violent society that was against God’s ways.

And how can he find exceeding joy in the midst of all that tribulation? What would cause him, brethren, to be comforted and experience not just joy, but exceeding joy in the midst of those tribulations? Verse six, “...nevertheless God that comforts those that are cast down comforted us by the coming of Titus and not by his coming only but by the consolation wherewith he referring to Titus too was comforted in you when he told us of your earnest desire... wait a second… you’re mourning, your fervent mind toward me so that I rejoice the more.”

Now did we just read that the Apostle Paul was saying that he’s exceedingly joyful because he found out from Titus, and Titus too was comforted in the fact that they were mourning? Now who in the world and why would someone be rejoicing and being seemingly joyful because somebody’s mourning? In fact, it appears that God, if you read the first part of it, who comforts those who are cast down, He had something to do with this, with their mourning. And quite honestly, on his face, if you read it, that’s why you have to pause and meditate, it makes no sense.

Why would we rejoice when a member of the body of Christ mourns? Why would we ever do that? Why would God be involved in something that caused his own people to mourn? Let’s keep reading. Verse eight, “...For though I made you sorry.” That’s it. Now that word sorry means sorrowful. It’s used forty-two times, this word and its next number in the Strong’s, forty-two times in the entire New Testament, which we’re about to read that second version of it, the Apostle Paul used it eleven times.

Of the forty-two times, eleven times the Apostle Paul used the word sorrow or some form of it which we’re going to define in this chapter, just in this chapter alone. That’s over twenty-five percent of the times that the word sorrow is used in the New Testament, it’s used in chapter seven of second Corinthians.

And nine times it’s used in the next four verses. Eighteen times of the forty-two times that they are found, it’s used in the second letter to the Corinthians.

So sorrow is a predominant theme, I would argue, in the second letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians. And that word is lupeo and it means to distress, to grief. I made you heavy. I distressed you. I grieved you. I made you full of sorrow. That’s what that word means. And the other word that we’re going to look at is lupe, lupe. As I said, it’s similar, grief, grievous, heaviness, sorrow. These words do not mean sad or sadness. You can find that word, the word for sadness elsewhere in the New Testament. It’s not the same.

Let’s continue reading here in verse eight. “For though I made you sorry, though I made you distressed, I grieved you. I put you in heaviness, I made you full of sorrow with the letter… he’s referring back to the first Corinthians… I do not repent.” Now, that word isn’t the word that you see for the gift of repentance or repent and be baptized. This is only used six times, and it means just to change your mind or regret. “Though I did repent, for I perceived that the same epistle has made you sorry, made you heavy and sorrowful, though it were for a season.”

So what Paul was basically saying here, “At first, I thought maybe I was a little too hard on you because of what I heard. Then I thought about it and I said, “No, no. I think I applied the right measure to make you feel sorrowful, and I no longer regret it. And by the way, the way you were feeling, it was short-lived.” Exactly as God would want it. God does not want any of us to sorrow, but sometimes we need to. And if we experience sorrow, God will allow it. But there is a specific kind of sorrow we are coming to, and we’re going to look at those.

Let’s continue in verse nine. Verse nine. “Now I rejoice…” in other words, what makes me rejoice the more, what makes me happy, what makes me exceedingly joyful is not that you were made sorry, but that you sorrowed to repentance.” That’s different what we read in verse eight. This one’s the one that means change of heart. That’s used thirty-four times in the New Testament. “For you were made sorry, you were made sorrowful after a Godly manner, that you might receive damage by us.” in other words.

In other words, I applied enough correction and admonishment in your life that it gave you exactly what you needed, and therefore you’re not going to receive any more damage from us. No more punishment from us. He wanted to write that letter to assure him of that. Verse ten, and here it is, Brethren, “For Godly sorrow works… it means causes… produces repentance, change, unto salvation, not repented of, but the sorrow of the world works or causes death.”

Brethren, and so begins what I would refer to as the tale of two sorrows. There’s not one kind of sorrow, there are two, there’s Godly sorrow and sorrow of the world, or worldly sorrow. And the difference between them are monumental, are critical for us to understand. And I typically don’t do this, but I want to share with you three translations that will help as we go through the message. The New Living Translation says it this way.

Verse ten, it says, “For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret in that kind of sorrow, but worldly sorrow which lacks repentance results in spiritual death.” The Amplified Bible puts it this way. “For sorrow that is in accord with the will of God, produces a repentance without regret, and that leads to salvation. But worldly sorrow, the hopeless sorrow of those who do not believe produces death.”

And then the final translation, Good News translation says it this way. “For the sadness or the sorrow that God uses, brings a change of heart that leads to salvation.” God uses sorrow in our lives. That’s Godly sorrow. But worldly sorrow, brethren, causes nothing other than despair and death, and we need to know the difference as Christians. Youth need to understand the difference and the implications of them. That is why Paul did not regret making them sorrowful in a Godly way. He wanted them to experience Godly sorrow because he wanted them to change in their lives.

Because if they did not change, if they did not apply Godly sorrow unto repentance, and didn’t change, look at the alternative. There is no other alternative. You either experience Godly sorrow for change or you experience worldly sorrow, which leads to death. And that was what was on the line. That’s why it was so important for Paul to make the clarification in the second letter to the Corinthians so that they would understand that difference. And be able to mature and grow and go on as Christians who understand those differences and how they applied in their lives.

Brethren, for every human being, it comes down to one of two sorrows. One, we must avoid completely, worldly sorrow, and the other kind of sorrow is what God uses or allows in our lives to teach us, to test us, and to change us. That’s the power of the second kind of sorrow. And God would not make that distinction if he didn’t think it was important for us to know it. That’s the defense. That’s the justification for why I’m standing here talking about it today with you all. God wants us to know and understand the difference between the two because the results are completely different.

They’re very distinct. Let’s examine world sorrow now. Let’s look at world sorrow for a while here. Jeremiah chapter twenty. Our journey now is going to take us on understanding worldly sorrow and Godly sorrow. It’s Jeremiah twenty. Paul was telling the brethren in Corinth, and he’s telling us, life and death are on the line here. Jeremiah chapter twenty and verse eighteen. Jeremiah poses a question. “Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow that my days should be consumed with shame?” Let me ask you a little bit differently. Why was I born?

Was it to see trouble and sorrow, and at the end of my life die in a state of shame? Well, that question is for us. It isn’t just for Jeremiah. It’s a question for us to ponder. Why were we born? Are we born just to see the trouble and sorrow that surrounds us every day of our life and eventually die and maybe even die in a state of shame? The world is full of sorrow and death. The world is full of death and sorrow. They feed into one another. From the time we were born, think back, even the youngsters now see sorrow constantly around them. We are continually exposed to it, brethren.

That is all we say. I was joking about television, but commercial after commercial after commercial news cycle after news cycle showing death and sorrow, death and sorrow. It gets to be too much. Many verses tie sorrow and grief and heaviness and depression to death.

Many Bible verses talk about it. Not just physical death but emotional death, and certainly, spiritual death. Psalm thirteen. Psalm thirteen. As long as there are humans on this planet and what we’re about to see, there will always be worldly sorrow. Let’s look at a moment in David’s life.

Psalm thirteen verse one, “How long will you forget me, O Lord? Forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.” If King David, a man of God, knew that this kind of constant daily sorrow is deadly, that it leads to death without God’s help. How much more for a world who’s suffering constant sorrow day after day after day after day, young and old that do not know God.

The God that we know. Even King David was susceptible to worldly sorrow. Now, I want to read something from... I found on the World Health Organization website, WHO. And how many are you familiar with WHO, World Health Organization? Well, they have a webpage that’s the Global Health Observatory. That’s where they publish a lot of statistics. And it was shocking what I read. Brethren, roughly two hundred and eighty million people suffer from depression and that’s what they can find. That’s what they can calculate.

Two hundred and eighty million people on the planet at a minimum are suffering from depression today. Merely a million people commit suicide every year. And this is hard for me to fathom. It’s hard for you to fathom. We ask ourselves what could be so bad in life that a person would think to take that kind of drastic action, but it happens. A million people who succumb to worldly sorrow. It goes on to say here as I read, “While the length between suicide and mental disorders, in particular depression and alcohol use disorders, is well established… get this… in high-income countries.”

Now, you would think that if you grew up in a third-world country, where I lived in for eleven years, and you had to get up every day and wonder if you were going to eat three meals a day or even survive that day. You think you’d have a higher suicide rate in those countries than you do in the developed worlds of Europe, US, North America, et cetera. It’s not the case. “Many suicides happen impulsively in moments of crisis with the breakdown in the ability to deal with life stresses. We become weak and can’t withstand life stresses such as financial problems, relationship breakups, or chronic pain and illness.”

It goes on. “In addition, experiencing conflict, disaster, violence, abuse, or loss in a sense of isolation are strongly associated with suicidal behavior. Suicide rates are high amongst vulnerable groups who experience discrimination.” Begins to list them, “Such as refugees, migrants, Indigenous people, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, an intersex person, and prisoners.” Are you starting to sense what’s missing in this article? By far, the strongest risk factor for suicide is previous suicide attempt.

I know of people and I’m very close to who didn’t attempt suicide one time but multiple times. And here’s what the WHO states. I want to get to something to help us out here. That’s just information. It paints a bleak picture in this world. And here’s what the WHO states on the subhead prevention and control, “Suicides are preventable.” Now, there’s news. Of course, they are. So as depression. But what do the so-called world experts say about those solutions?

“There are a number of measures that can be taken at population, sub-population, or on individual levels to prevent suicide and suicide attempts.” That’s almost ridiculous

that I’m adjusting at this, but here’s the top four recommendations that the WHO, the experts, the world experts about preventing suicide, limit access to the means of suicide. Number one, take away pesticides, firearms, and certain medications. They happen to forget rooftops, balconies, bridges, cliffs, highways.

That was their number one measure. for taking away suicide. Number two, interact with the media. Now, there’s a smart approach for responsible reporting of suicide. Foster social-emotional life skills in adolescence. Not bad. What does that mean? Early identify, assess, manage, and follow up with anyone who is affected by suicidal behaviors. And after listing these here, hear what it is. These need to go hand-in-hand with the following foundational pillars. Okay, so foundational pillars that will help with diminishing the number of suicides.

Situation analysis, multi-sectoral collaboration, awareness raising, capacity building, financing. Always someone asking for money for something. Surveillance and monitoring and evaluation. Brethren, think about what we didn’t read in that world-class article. There’s nothing about root causes or really dealing with them. Family problems not mentioned. So, they don’t mention adultery, or broken marriages, or broken homes. Financial problems. Certainly, don’t want to bring up greed and covetousness.

Relationships, premarital sex, unwanted pregnancies, chronic pain, eating habits, diet, and illness, and the list goes on and on and on and on. But the question is how long can some live with these constant conflicts and disasters and violence and abuse of all sort? How long can people withstand loss and isolation, you know, homosexuality? I’ve known homosexuals in my life, and I’ve got to be honest with you, just the ones I know.

I don’t want to paint a broad brush, but I have never met a homosexual that isn’t sorrowful or has an edge to them, that it just takes a moment or something to trigger their emotions and their anger to lash out. Transgenderism, the confusion that that causes, and society helping them do that, bullying in school. In a planet run by the God of this world, it’s no wonder that man’s solution for dealing with sorrow and depression cannot prevent suicide.

But we have an example, Matthew twenty-seven, even in the Bible, what worldly sorrow can do to an individual. Matthew seven. Twenty-seven, excuse me. We have an example. You understand within the first two words of the verse. Matthew twenty-seven, verse three, then Judas where he had betrayed him, Christ. When he saw that Christ was condemned, repented himself. That’s that same small little word that you find in the New Testament. He just had a change of opinion.

He felt some remorse, not the repentance that got us into the chairs that we’re sitting in today. Repented himself and brought the thirty pieces of silver again to the chief priests and elders. And here’s what he said, “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.” It’s good that he’s admitting that he was wrong, but would you not say that he was admitting it to the wrong person or persons? He was talking to the wrong person or persons, and they said, “What is that to us?”

It’s almost an exchange between... you know, I grew up Catholic. He’s thinking he’s going to go to these men and be absolved of his sins. Of course not. They said, “You deal with it. That’s not our problem anymore. We cut our deal.” “And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, departed, and went and hanged himself.” Brethren, Judas is a great example of what worldly sorrow can do. It’s deadly.

And not just to the point of physical death. Worldly sorrow unchecked can cause spiritual death.

Repent here is not from godly sorrow. He recognized that he messed up. And clearly the sorrow he felt was not after a godly manner, as we read in second Corinthians chapter seven, but it became so unbearable that he succumbed to his deadly force. Brethren, there is no man-made remedy that eradicates the sorrow of this world. There is no man-made remedy that will eradicate the sorrow of the world or worldly sorrow. No matter what means mankind may try to employ, life skills, self-motivation, psychiatry, returning thirty pieces of silver, none of that will do it.

Nothing ever completely takes away this kind of sorrow. Why? Proverbs fourteen. In verse twelve, we have this first verse memorized. It’s a memory verse. We go to it often. There is a way or ways which seem right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. And verse thirteen, “Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness.” That means depression. Brethren, we memorized that first part, but look at the second part. “Even in laughter, the heart is sorrowful.” Everything man tries to use in dealing with sorrow and depression will fall short.

People try to appear happy. They put on a smile. They make it look like everything’s okay. They’re smiling, they’re laughing, but many are emotionally and physically sorrowful, dying inside. And brethren, we can’t let that happen in our lives. We’re called to something completely different. It says that the sorrow if we’re subjected to it day in, day in, day in, day out, it becomes heaviness. That’s depression. Like I said, if not dealt with, then it can lead to graver things like we just read in that report. So, can we know the root cause of sorrow?

That’s why we’ll never see sorrow eradicated by manmade means. It’s because the way which seems right unto a man is the way to death. But what? What is the root cause? Let’s go to Psalm thirty-one and verse nine, “Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble. My eye is consumed with grief.” There it is, sorrow. “Yes, my soul and my belly.” Physical impact. “For my life is spent with grief, my years with sighing, my strength fails,” why? Because of iniquity. “My bones consumed.” It’s that simple. Sin and lawlessness cause worldly sorrow.

That’s why man can’t solve it. People suffer from worldly sorrow because they are disappointed in themselves. Take note of what I’m saying. People suffer from worldly sorrow because they are disappointed in themselves. It’s another way you can tell if it’s worldly sorrow versus the other kind that we’re going to cover, godly sorrow. Or people experience chronic sorrow because he or she cannot overcome feelings that they have disappointed others.

Myself, I think about myself growing up. I grew up in a very competitive environment.

Any of you have played professional sports understand. Your parents are watching you, your relatives are watching you, your siblings are watching you, the fans in the stadium are watching you. One side is cheering on that you do great. That same side is not cheering if you’re not doing great. The other side is constantly cheering against you. The coaches are watching you. Everyone is watching you. So, you grow up in this environment, if you play competitive sports, that you want to please everyone.

You want to make the coaches happy, you want to make your parents happy, you want to impress your siblings, you want to impress the fans. And so society has built up around always trying to please and not disappoint others or yourself. So it took me a while and it still takes me a while to break away from that. We can still fall into that. And that is a primary source of sorrow in our lives, brethren. One attribute of Godly sorrow is that the person is distressed, experiencing heaviness because they disappointed or failed God.

I don’t want to fail any of you. I don’t want to fail Mr. Pack. I don’t want to fail fellow ministers, but ultimately, I don’t want to fail God. I don’t want to fail in my own expectations. I set expectations for myself, but ultimately, that’s less important than me worried about failing God. Because when I worry about failing God, then I have a shot at sensing Godly sorrow. And God’s people, we can confuse godly sorrow with worldly sorrow and maybe not even realize it. There’s an example of that too. First Samuel fifteen. Let’s turn to First Samuel fifteen. Another account that we oftentimes go to.

The Word of God is so rich you can go to the same account and learn so many different lessons from the very same account. And this one is no exception. Verse one, First Samuel fifteen, verse one, “Samuel said to Saul… You’ll know exactly where I’m headed right now just like with Judas… the Lord sent me to anoint you to be king over his people over Israel. Now, therefore, harken to the voice of the words of the Lord.” Verse three, “Now go and smite the Amalekites and utterly destroy all that they have.

Spare them, not man and woman, infant and suckling, oxen, sheep, camel, and ass,” all of them.

And we know what happened. Verse seven, “And Saul smote the Amalekites, but… one of the worst words in the Bible, verse eight… he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive and utterly destroyed all the people at the edge of the sword.” Verse nine, “But Saul and the people spared Agog, the best of the sheep, oxen, fatlings, lambs, and all that was good and did not utterly destroy them.” Verse eleven. Here’s what God’s position was. “It repents me.”

God had a change of thought in terms of setting up Saul to be king, “…for he no longer following me and does not obey my commandments. This grieved Samuel.” Now that is sorrow. Who cried to the Lord all night? Talk about sorrow. The prophet, Samuel Brethren was deeply saddened, not because Saul disappointed him. The prophet Samuel cried all night because Saul disappointed God. It was a disappointing scenario, but so was God. God was sorrowed. And it’s not the first time that God has ever felt sorrow.

Brethren, God feels sorrow. And I can assure you that the sorrow that God has felt and feels is not worldly sorrow. Genesis chapter six. Not only did the man of God feel sorry or was distressed at the situation, but God himself, Genesis chapter six. Repenting

or changing a mind in the Gods mind you’re going to see it’s tied closely to sorrow. Genesis six. We’ve read this many a times. Verse five, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and it repented the Lord.”

Same word he used over in First Samuel fifteen with Saul. “That he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” Brethren, man’s wickedness, evil that is in the hearts and minds of mankind, causes God sorrow. It says sin causes God to grieve in his heart. That is godly sorrow. And God still experiences it. He still experiences godly sorrow. God sees every day in the most graphic ways, the very worst of humanity, what human beings can do to one another.

Just ask any police officer or special agent to give you the details, the graphic details of the heinous crimes that are committed on a daily basis. Whether it be torture, or abuse of all sorts, murder, God’s sorrow is at what mankind does to one another. Brethren, it should give us sorrow in the same way. When we read the news, it should provoke godly sorrow. And think about particularly in this final twisted generation before God’s kingdom, how bad it has gotten. And brethren, we see the tiniest fraction of the evil that causes God’s sorrow.

And as Jeremiah is saying, it’s produced every day. Day after day. Twenty-four hours a day. Sorrow of the world caused by evil and lawlessness and sin. And by the way, if we believe that God is long-suffering, would you not agree also that God is long-sorrowing? And God has pretty much had it with sorrow. Back to First Samuel fifteen. Let’s go back there. God has had it. And he has a plan. I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Saul is now on trial. The evidence has been entered into the record.

He denies most of the charges that God laid against him through Samuel, verses nineteen and twenty. Saul then, as any almost convicted criminal would do, shifts the blame on someone else in verse twenty-one. And the situation goes from bad to worse. Samuel now pronounces Saul’s charges, and then he gives Saul God’s judgment. But Saul is going to be given a chance to exercise godly sorrow and plead for God’s mercy. Surely if he has godly sorrow, we’re going to see it play itself out. So, what does he do? Let’s read carefully.

Verse twenty-three, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, you’re guilty, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry, you’re guilty of that too because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.” Past sentence. “And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord.” Wow, that sounds a lot like Judas. So far, so good. Saul is off to a great start, apparently. Verse twenty-five, “Now, therefore, I pray you...” Who? Samuel. He didn’t say, I pray that God.

He says, “…I pray you pardon my sin and turn you, Samuel, again with me that I may worship the Lord.” What is he thinking? There’s something drastically wrong with this picture. He’s confusing godly sorrow with worldly sorrow. Saul admitted to sinning. We see it there, but it appears he was more upset about Samuel being disappointed in him. It doesn’t even look like he was disappointed in himself. At least it doesn’t read that way, but maybe he was disappointed in himself, too. But his chance passed him by. Saul was not distressed. He didn’t feel heavy in his heart because of disappointing God, because of failing God. Brethren, as God’s people, we can also confuse, at times, godly sorrow with worldly sorrow.

And even if we don’t realize it, it doesn’t make it right. You may feel bad but it might be the wrong kind of feeling. I may feel bad about something but it may be the wrong one. And if I’m not aware of it, it doesn’t make it right. I have seen, brethren, grown men and women cry in a conversation or in a counseling session. The tears start pouring because they made a mistake. Maybe they trespass, slip, side state sin, tears. Genuine tears. We’ve seen it. Here are some questions that go through your minister’s mind.

Questions that, frankly speaking, you and I should ask ourselves when we find ourselves in a moment of sadness or sorrow. Ask yourself the following, am I distressed, deeply hurting because I got caught, and I feel embarrassed? Do I feel sorrow because I was admonished or corrected? Am I sorrowful, distressed, or feeling heavy because I failed myself? I hate making mistakes and I feel really bad about me hating making mistakes. It makes me sadder? Is it because I fell short of others’ expectations? Everyone will know what I did.

The answers to these questions, brethren, are vital, considering what is at stake. Remember what we’ve been reading. If the answers to these questions, whether you know it or not, are yes, those people who answer yes and yes and yes after that time and time again, they eventually leave because they’re not worried or more disappointed about failing God and disobeying Him. They’re more worried about their reputation and how other people think about them. We can all run into that, brethren. We have to be very careful.

We must avoid worldly sorrow at all costs. I’ve covered them. Worldly sorrow caused by all the things that I described. Judas, Saul, they are perfect examples. They illustrate perfectly what God does not want any human being to experience, worldly sorrow. We must avoid it at all costs because it works death. It produces death. And its root causes is simply sin and lawlessness. And we must not confuse it with the second kind of sorrow, as Saul did. Godly sorrow. Now let’s move on. This is much greater in scope, and happily so, we should be grateful.

Do you remember the Amplified Bible translation? “For the sorrow that is in accord with the will of God.” This is the kind of sorrow that we should embrace, that we should learn. And the Good News Translation says, “For the sadness used by God,” God uses and allows sorrow. One way God uses godly sorrow is to produce change. We talked about that. Hopefully, it does. Let’s see the power of godly sorrow in a portion of Scripture that you may not have noticed before. Let’s turn to Second Corinthians chapter seven. How many of you recall the seven steps to repentance? There’s an article written on it. Do you recall where those seven steps of repentance are? It’s a trick question because I just gave there where we were heading. I see some smiles in the audience. If you’d have gotten that wrong, I would have said, oh. One verse covers all seven steps, and each step moves us in the right direction. Repentance, change. Do you recall the steps? Do you see what carefulness it wrought in you in verse eleven? You see where it says that?

What carefulness it wrought in you in verse eleven? That’s the first step. Yes, “What clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what revenge, and all things you have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” Brethren, those are the seven steps. “Carefulness, clearing of yourselves, indignation, fear, vehement desire, zeal, and revenge.” They are the powerful steps and useful steps that will take a person down the trail of repentance unto salvation.

For people who want to permanently amend their lives in a particular area, that’s what you use. But did you ever notice the following? That all seven are anchored to the word it. What is it? What carefulness it wrought in you? Well, I skipped the first part of that verse on purpose. Let’s read it. “For behold, this selfsame thing, that you sorrowed after a godly sort.” Godly sorrow. Brethren, without godly sorrow, we cannot take even the first step to repentance and arrive at our ultimate destination, salvation, which is mentioned in verse ten.

That is the power of godly sorrow. It fuels us. It is the fuel to complete the seven steps. If you run out of godly sorrow in any one of those steps, you’ll stop in your tracks. You’ll never make it. Paul wanted the Corinthians to experience godly sorrow because he knew that was the crucial fuel to get them to their destination. Repentance, change, unto salvation. And Paul was hoping that if they did that, it would produce change that would make him, like Samuel, and God glad. Let’s go to chapter two. That was his hope.

Second Corinthians chapter two, verse one. You want to talk about determination. Amongst the Apostles, he wasn’t in last place. Look how he leads out that verse. “But I was determined with myself, there was no stopping me, to not come again to you in heaviness.” In other words, I was determined. I was going to find a way that I was going to have to make you sorry anymore. Lupeo. What’s the word there? “For if I make you sorry, who is he, who is it, that makes me glad? But the same person who is made sorry, sorrowful by me.”

In other words, Paul was on a mission. They needed to experience godly sorrow just like they made him experience it, so that ultimately every one of them, including himself, would be glad, would be happy if it led them to change, a permanent change. And if they did feel godly sorrow and change, brethren, he knew that it would be gladness for them and gladness for himself. And his first letter to the Corinthians achieved that. That was the purpose of the first letter, is to cause them godly sorrow because they made Him sorrowful by what they were doing. Sin, lawlessness, tolerating sin. And when they took godly sorrow and ran with it and repented and changed, it led the apostle Paul making happy. What could make a minister happier than someone who’s fueled by godly sorrow, not worldly sorrow, to change their life? What could make God happier? And what about God? Think of what Christ told a crowd of publicans and sinners on one occasion. He said, “I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Godly sorrow will eventually lead to God being glad.

I’ll have some of that if you will. Order me up a big dish of that, please, when it’s needed. Consider, we’re commanded to grieve not the holy spirit of God. You know what that word grieve is? Lupeo. We can do things that bring sorrow to God, whereby we are sealed under the day of redemption.

Like Paul, how much more does God grieve when we sin and disobey, brethren? So don’t be surprised if in some way, somehow, God sends you Godly sorrow because you know the purpose of it. It’s to ultimately make Him happy and you change in whichever way you want to put it.

Worldly sorrow in contrast... listen carefully. Worldly sorrow in contrast, doesn’t really care much about sin, much less about disappointing God. And that’s what we have to be on the lookout for when we make a mistake, when we take on attitudes that do not please God. If we’re so sorry about it, what kind of sorrow is it is the question. So when godly sorrow as it relates to sin, because I told you, it covers a wide variety of areas. When it has this desired effect, here’s what you can expect. It’s short-lived. Godly sorrow is short-lived. It serves its purpose, but it shouldn’t last long.

Number two, it fuels change. And number three, it produces joy. Those are the benefits of godly sorrow. Short-lived, fuels change and produces joy. But godly sorrow is associated with more than just sin. Let’s turn to Isaiah fifty-three. Isaiah fifty-three. That’s godly sorrow as it relates to sin. It’s meant to provoke change and make God happy. Isaiah fifty-three is a well-known prophecy about Christ. And there’s plenty of other examples we could go to, but I wanted to focus on Christ because God sorrows, what about Christ?

Well, here’s what the prophecy says in Isaiah fifty-three verse one. “Who believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He has no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” Now verse five is very familiar. “But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with by His stripes, we are healed.”

We all know that, right? But what we maybe notice less, maybe what we less focus on is the first part of verse three. He is “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” Brethren, Jesus Christ, God in flesh, suffered sorrow just like we do. It says he was acquainted. That’s yâda. It means He knew and He felt deep sorrow. I’m sure examples are popping in your mind about Him in the accounts in the Gospels. And it wasn’t because of anything He did. He was without sin. So any sorrow He felt, was a godly sort. Was after a Godly fashion. What can we learn from that? Well, brethren, we can experience unavoidable events in life. It has nothing to do with sin, but God still wants us to experience godly sorrow, not worldly sorrow, when these things happen. In what ways did Jesus Christ experience sorrow? Can you think of one? Well, I can. John chapter eleven. Let’s go to John eleven. John eleven, verse one. “Now, a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary, and her sister Martha.”

Verse three. “Therefore, his sisters sent for him, saying, ‘Lord behold, he whom you love,” phileo, brotherly love, “...is sick.” The man whom you love like a brother is sick. Verse five. “Now, Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus.” That’s from the word agape. And in verse fourteen, we read, “Then said Jesus to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.” Brethren, God went out of his way to ensure that the love that Christ had for these three siblings was recorded. And for us, when we read this, this is oftentimes a backstory, but it’s crucial to understanding the subject of sorrow.

Brethren, Christ faced death. Not just His own, but that of people he cared about deeply. Death in our lives is real. We care about people both inside and outside the church. It’s one of the most difficult sorrows of life. After all, it’s called, the last enemy. I wanted to cover this type of godly sorrow because it is no mystery that our family and friends are constantly watching us. That includes watching how we deal with death as well. They try to cope with worldly sorrow. We have godly sorrow to cope with it. Understand the subtle difference.

They cope with godly sorrow. We have godly sorrow to cope with it. And the same way in which family members would be watching us at a funeral, the death of a loved one, would watch us, likely for the family members that were here at Lazarus’ death. They came to comfort Martha and Mary. Four days with them. It appears everyone was inconsolable. By the time Jesus got there, the crying didn’t cease. It was overwhelming how much sorrow and tears were still going on. Martha was crying out to Christ.

Mary was in a seat, it looks like in a chair, sitting somewhere alone, frozen by the fact that she lost her brother. Inconsolable. There was worldly sorrow all around Christ when He walked into that scene. And you can be sure that people were watching Him. What was He going to do next? Tears pouring down the faces of the people with no hope. Verse thirty-three, “When Jesus therefore saw Mary weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her,” it says, “...He groaned in the Spirit and was troubled.” And said, “Where have you laid Him?

They said, “Lord come and see. And at that moment He was overwhelmed and Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how He loved Him.” Loving an individual whom we’ve lost can cause profound sorrow, but it must be godly sorrow. It became overwhelming and remarkably emotional for Christ. The people that were present, they may not have perceived it, but his sorrow differed from theirs because godly sorrow has hope, worldly sorrow does not. We say that again, godly sorrow has hope, worldly sorrow does not. And in the midst of our tears, we can ask ourselves, “I’m sad, but do I have hope?”

And in just a moment after Christ expresses outwardly his godly sorrow, everyone tears of sorrow, worldly sorrow, guess what they turned into? Tears of joy. Because a man with godly hope, who was sorrowing, changed their lives. When they heard him say, “Take away the stone. Lazarus, come forth,” and loosen him and let him go, every tear in the place changed to joy. Godly sorrow will lead to gladness. A lot of us have seen loved ones die. It’s inevitable. First Thessalonians four. But what can we do?

First Thessalonians chapter four. What can we do? What can we learn when facing the sorrow of death to ensure that it is godly sorrow? Paul makes it plain to the Thessalonians. He wouldn’t have written this if they weren’t experiencing sadness or sorrow. He wrote in verse thirteen. “But I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not,” that’s the same word, lupeo... lupeo, “...even as others which have no hope.”

We’re encouraged by the Apostle Paul not to sorrow as others who have no hope. It’s a challenge because sadness or sorrow without hope is worldly sorrow. But he’s not telling us not to sorrow, to the contrary, he says, “Be hopeful in our sorrow.” That is godly sorrow. When we lose someone, I know some of you lost loved ones recently, we’ve lost them, too. A friend, a colleague, family, loved one, it’s hard. It’s natural to feel distressed or grieved or filled with sorrow.

But sorrow can be especially hard when fellow saints finish their course. We were beside them when they gave their all to this way of life, literally gave their all to this way of life. We watched them finish their course. I know some of you have cared to the last minute, some of the brethren that we’ve lost here at headquarters and brethren around the world. We shared with them the strongest bond any group of humans can share, the love of God, as we pursued together eternal life. We hoped and believed with them every day that Christ would return before any one of us died.

And Paul understood like we understand that can produce sorrow. Verse fourteen. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, those who also sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this, we say to you by the word of the Lord.” What gives hope to godly sorrow is the word of the Lord, his promises. When we feel sorrow, godly sorrow will draw us to God’s word, to his promises. That we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them. These are some of the most precious words that we could have in the Bible when it comes to godly sorrow.

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” Shall stand up. Everyone we lost believing, giving their all right beside us to the very end, they will stand up first. “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord, wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

I don’t have to be eloquent in words when I’m trying to console, particularly among ourselves, someone who has lost a person that they were particularly close to. We have the word of God. We will see them again. And in fact, they’ll stand up first before we get to experience anything. It says they will rise first. Then they’ll stand up out of their grave. Believe me, God has them in His mind. No matter the situation or sorrowful event, we are told to deal with sorrow in various ways, and one of the ways is to rely on the Word of God because the hope lies in His promises, nowhere else.

That’s why the world will always fail at trying to overcome sorrow. They don’t have the promises of God, but we do, brethren. We do this in practical ways. We comfort one another with words. We send cards of condolences. When appropriate, we give hugs of condolences. Paul told the Romans not only to rejoice when others rejoice but to mourn when others mourn. Godly sorrow will cause us to have godly sorrow with others. Here’s another way we can comfort someone who is experiencing sorrow.

This is a tough one, Second Corinthians two. Brethren, in the face of death, we have God’s Word to rely on and we can comfort one another with those words. But here’s another one. Second Corinthians two, getting close to wrapping up, and verse five. This is a tough one. There’s another way we can comfort someone who is experiencing sorrow. Verse five, “But if any have caused grief, that’s the same word, distress, heaviness, sorrow, he has not grieved me but in part,” in other words, he grieved me a little bit. I’m sad. I’m sorrowful for that. “...sufficient to such a man in this punishment, which was inflicted of many.”

In other words, a lot of you gave him what he deserved. You put him in his place, the individual sinned. Yes, he made me feel sorrow, just like Samuel felt sorrow because he disappointed God. Verse seven, “So that contrariwise you ought rather to forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.” Brethren, one way we can comfort one another is when we fail each other. When we slip, we forgive one another because if we don’t... And we have to show judgment, how we do that when we do that. But if we don’t, it says we can force that individual to plunge and drown in worldly sorrow. He’ll succumb to it.

We have a responsibility to ensure that we’re not the cause of someone feeling worldly sorrow. So we must forgive, and we must comfort one another. Paul says you all did the right thing. He brought shame to the Church. He was punished enough which is key. Now forgive him and comfort him because if you don’t, he runs the risk, or she runs the risk, of again dying the death of worldly sorrow. God may want to see, test us if we’re able to forgive and comfort one another simply because He wants us to imitate Him. Remember the God of comfort, Paul mentioned? Brethren, if you recall in Luke nineteen, you don’t have to go there, but Christ wept over the city of Jerusalem. Why? Mr. Pack often speaks about being lied to and lied about, accusations. Some of the things that Christ had to endure, which God allowed and brought Him to this moment of godly sorrow when He wept as He was coming into the city on a colt.

He wrongfully suffered and eventually was murdered after being falsely accused of blasphemy, threatening to destroy God’s temple, being demon-possessed, being insane by his own kinsman, by his own people, by his own siblings. A glutton, a drunkard friend of a tax collector, sinners, casting out demons by the devil’s power, not by the Holy Spirit’s power. He was called a legitimate, essentially a bastard. Again, Christ experienced sorrow. He wrongfully suffered.

First Peter chapter two. First Peter, chapter two, as we begin to close. Verse nineteen. First Peter two, nineteen. Christ was a man of sorrows. Verse nineteen, “For this is thankworthy if a man for conscience toward God endure grief,” there it is again. Lupeo. Sorrow. “...suffering wrongfully.” Yes, God allows us to suffer, endure sorrow when we suffer wrongfully, brethren. It just happens. But Peter says in essence, “give thanks.” He doesn’t say, “Don’t sorrow.”

If we endure sorrow because we’re being attacked by our family and accused, not to the extent that Christ was, but that’s thankworthy, he said. Give thanks in the midst. Godly sorrow will produce thanksgiving, giving of thanks to God despite the sorrow that we feel. Continue reading here. Verse twenty-one, “For even here unto you, recall, because Christ also suffered for us,” and I would add He’s sorrowed because of us. We cause Christ and God’s sorrow, and He left us examples, which we’ve gone over some today, that we should follow his steps.

Brethren, let me list them out for you. Repentance, God’s Word, comforting and forgiving one another, and giving thanks, are ways we can be sure that even if we have godly sorrow, it is short-lived, it fuels change and ultimately produces joy. That’s how we can deal with godly sorrow. Paul said sorrowful, but always rejoicing. That’s how he approached sorrow. Sorrowful, but always rejoicing. One last verse. Revelation twenty-one. Revelation twenty-one, because God is finished. He’s had it with sorrow if you will.

He’s suffered long enough, and I would say he’s more than sorrowed enough, partly because of us, a lot because of us. There are plenty of situations that can cause sorrow. Which of the two sorrows will you choose or experience? That’s the question. And will you find the path to joy and salvation, fueled by godly sorrow, when it comes your way? Whether you brought it on yourself or life throws it at you. Because joy in situations, brethren, that otherwise cause sorrow is an indicator of our conversion, of our maturity. How we handle sorrow, godly sorrow, indicates how much we’ve matured.

And consider one of God’s goals, when His kingdom, when Christ comes. Verse one, “And I, Apostle John speaking, saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, verses that we are very familiar with, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God, out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for a husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Verse four, a verse that we’re very familiar with. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow.” And here, brethren, at this moment that we’re reading, the tale of two sorrows ends. The last chapter has been written.

God removes both worldly sorrow and godly sorrow. No more sorrow. And there shall be no more sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. “And He that sat upon the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write for, because these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, It is done. “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.” Brethren, God says that the tale of two sorrows will end. His words are true and faithful.