PART 2: Worldly Sorrow

Worldly sorrow is feeling bad about our sin and its consequences but not repenting of it. It is refusing to see our sin through God’s eyes. It is trying to appear like we are good even though our sins have made a mess of our lives. Worldly sorrow wreaks havoc in our lives and brings death. How does it accomplish such a feat? 

1. It creates false feelings of HARM – from those who speak truth about it.  

For example, if you notice your friend doing something harmful, and you gently speak the truth about that because you love your friend and don’t want to see your friend hurt. But because your friend is not walking in step with the Spirit, but in a spirit of fear, she is not open to hearing your warning and doubts your intentions and thinks you’re saying these things to purposely hurt her. These are feelings based on fear that your intentions are harmful. These are false or misleading feelings. 

2. It causes harm to OTHERS. 

3. It breeds personal emotional and spiritual DAMAGES. 

4. It may cause us to further harm OURSELVES. 

5.  With sexual sin and abortion, worldly sorrow brings death in SEVERAL ways.  

With abortion, there is a physical death but with both there is also death of a soul from a broken heart, death of hope, often death of relationships, and death of a soul eternally if repentance that leads to salvation never occurs.  

THE CHURCH’S OUTCOME OF WORLDLY SORROW 

Our reading material explains how 2 Corinthians 7:10 literally refers to the sin of immorality going unchecked within the CHURCH in 1 Cor 5.  

Let’s read 2 Cor 7:10 in context beginning with verse 8-11 where Paul is referring to his confrontation to the Corinthian church in 1 Cor 5: 

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.  

1. “CLICK” Much of the church is STUCK in worldly sorrow regarding immorality and abortion and doesn’t know how to escape it.  

The church is afflicted with many of the same characteristics found in PART 1 .  

It is easy to think immorality and abortion are out of God’s control or too big for Him, though we say He can do anything. God has given us free will, allowing people to do all sorts of evil. But our worldly sorrow makes us think there’s not truly a way out of it. However, if the church truly believed that God could help us fix this, we would have already been discussing it openly. 

2. “CLICK” Until the church recognizes her collective worldly sorrow regarding these issues, she will remain BROKEN on significant levels. Oh, how we need our Redeemer! 

3. “CLICK” Worldly sorrow brings death. In the church regarding abortion, it brings death of more souls and more babies because there is no TESTIMONY to stop it from happening in the future. 

Let’s read what Jesus spoke in Matthew 23 that sheds light on what he might say to his people on this subject in modern day times. 

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.  

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. 

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.  You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. 

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. 

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. 

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.  Look, your house is left to you desolate.  For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” 

Wow! Let’s get out of this mess we’ve made and talk about how God can redeem it! But first, FACILITATOR: PLEASE PAUSE THE VIDEO AND THEN RESUME IT AFTER YOU GO OVER THE QUIZ REVIEW ON THE READING MATERIAL FOR PART 4. AND SAVE ANY DISCUSSION FOR LATER.