Mark 14:12-72, 2 Corinthians 7:10
22/06/08
The story of Peter in Mark 14 is tragic. He begins with such confidences and finishes as completely shattered. What do we do when we get to such a low point emotionally and spiritually?
The full sermon can be heard by accessing the website, but here's some basic notes...
2 Corinthians 7:10
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
Worldly Sorrow:
· Sorrow about ourselves – guilt, shame, remorse, hopelessness, consumed by our own sin.
· Sorrow for ourselves – our own victimhood, anger at others, bitterness, consumed by others’ sin.
Both lead to death. We are trapped in a cycle of thinking, feeling and doing that there is no escape from. The best we can do is live with it by hardening our hearts so we don’t feel it as deeply.
Godly Sorrow:
Instead of seeing things from our own point of view or from Satan’s (who is our accuser and the one who trains us to join him in accusing others), we see things from God’s point of view, and feel things the way God feels things.
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret.
1) It produces a change. Change of mind, change of heart, change of behaviour. We stop being trapped by guilt, shame, bad habits, bitterness toward others or whatever else Satan might use to keep us in that low condition.
2) Which leads to salvation. Paul is not just talking about getting into heaven, he’s talking about being saved in this life. Being saved from being controlled by sin. Being saved to a life of purity. Being saved to unimpaired relationship with God and with others. If we all experienced Godly sorrow there would be no broken relationships in the
3) And leaves no regret. Godly sorrow deals with sin and then leaves it behind.
Psalm 103:8-12
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
God did not stew over this injustice of having to deal with our sins. He removed them from us. Hallelujah! In the same way God does not want us to stew over our sins or the sins of others – that would be to undo His marvelous work!
We do not perhaps share God’s ability to separate people from their sins in our minds, but we can do our best and ask Him to help. The Bible gives us practical instruction on how to do this.
Challenge:
If you are feeling at that low point or you know someone who is, let me encourage you to work on changing worldly sorrow into godly sorrow. Worldly sorrow is natural. Godly sorrow comes from God. Worldly sorrow can be identified because it brings only death and division. It produces long term regret and bitterness. It prevents individuals and the church from bringing glory to God. Godly sorrow leads to changed lives which demonstrate God’s blessing and bring Him glory.
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