Fruit of Repentance
2 Cor 7:8-10
8 I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while. 9 Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. 10 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There's no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.
~ New Living Translation
The Fruit of Repentance
(2 Cor. 7:8-12)
Intro:
A. In many ways he looked like and sounded like the prophet Elijah. He dressed differently. Every movie I have seen, which we know is always accurate, shows people in the days of Jesus in off-white robs and Jesus in a pure white robe. But this man wore a garment of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. He ate bugs for lunch – locusts to be technical and also some wild honey. He didn’t begin his spiritual calling by getting good training at the feet of someone like Gamaliel in Jerusalem, instead this man “came from the wilderness of Judea.” Maybe he spent time with the Essenes in the mountain, we don’t know. What we know is that when Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all begin to tell their story of Jesus, they begin by telling this man’s story also.
B. His message was simple, “you are a sinful group of people and God’s kingdom is about to be seen here on earth. What you need to do is repent and get ready for the kingdom.” Wait a second. This man is telling Jewish people, who saw themselves in a covenant relationship with God and the chosen people of God that they were not right with God? YES. That is exactly what I am say. He is telling people who saw themselves as saved that they needed to repent.
C. Now, here’s the interesting part to me, people responded to that message. Not everyone, not even the majority, but most everyone knew this man’s message whether they accepted it or not. He pushed baptism on saved people. The people started confessing their sin and wanting to be immersed in this baptism of repentance. This man convicted people to look within and see what still needed to be changed and helped them to change.
D. Now listen to this (READ Matt. 3:7-10). This was said to the most righteous Jews who thought they rarely messed up. Don’t give me your pedigree like it absolves you from sin, it doesn’t. Instead, John said, “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Is repentance only for the unsaved?
I. Being Called Out
A. No one likes to be called out about their actions. When I am challenged about my attitude or actions, I almost immediately go defensive. Then, if that isn’t working in my favor, I go offensive and try to call out the person who is calling me out. No one wants to be told they are wrong; but the truth of the matter is, you are wrong and probably wrong more often than you even realize.
B. The church in Corinth was accepting sinful behavior and coming across as if their tolerance was a righteous behavior. Paul called them out. Remember, this was a city where he spent a year and half getting that work started. It was a church that had some good men like Apollos and Peter worked with the church in Corinth. This was a church that had everything going for it.
C. But Paul took the church in Corinth to task on several issues: sexual immorality, self-centeredness to the point that they didn’t care about the feelings and well-being of other members, they even tried to have spiritual class warfare over who had the best spiritual gifts. Enough was enough and Paul took them to task in a letter. Not because he hated them but because he was saddened by their sinful actions and attitudes. (READ 2 Cor. 7:2-4)
D. When someone points out a wrong attitude or action that I am exhibiting, their relationship with me is part how I respond. Because of the relationship Paul had with the church, he could speak boldly and they accepted it in a way that brought about God’s desire – repentance. (2 Cor. 7:8-9)
E. We Christians need to realize that we have room to grow, and the only way we are going to grow in some areas is when we are called out that we behaving in a harmful way. What I do with that message is then between the Holy Spirit and my spirit. If it is truth, and I am convicted by the Holy Spirit, then I have to decide if I will repent and change or if I will simply wish the whole thing would go away and I just stay the way I am. Paul says those two ways of dealing with the truth bring about two different results.
II. The Fruit of Repentance
A. Here Paul out (READ 2 Cor. 7:10). I need to read this passage with me in mind, not try to make this a spiritual jargon debate. Revival in me will only come when I yield to the Holy Spirit and change the way God want me be. Godly sorrow admits the wrong, feels the pain of their own sinfulness, and then choose to change not wallow in self-pity or rationalization.
B. Repentance is not feeling bad, repentance is about change. If the godly sorrow produces repentance, what it does is make more like God wants me to be. I see what needs to be changed and I seek to make those changes a part of my life. I can’t undo my wrongs, I can’t change my past. I can change my present and future. When I repent of my sinful attitude or action, I continue to walk in the light and the blood of Jesus continues to keep me clean. The fruit of repentance leaves no regret because is founded in salvation.
C. The fruit of a worldly sorrow only produces death. Without change, I die. I don’t live in guilt, but I do let godly sorrow have its good effect in me that brings about real lasting change. I don’t feel good because I felt bad, I feel good because I am no longer living in the bad.
D. When John the Baptist called for fruit of repentance, he was not calling for people to feel bad, but for people to change. They needed to know that God’s eternal kingdom was soon to come in the power of the ministry of Jesus and culminate in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It was going to be seen when the Holy Spirit would come upon all believers and the church of Jesus would be the conduit of the message of repentance.
Conclusion:
A. This is not a sermon about why Christians should feel bad, hopefully, this was a sermon that lead you to a spiritual revival as God has starting working to help you change to be more like Christ and less like you.
B. What will you do with this message from God through Paul, though me? Will you repent?
Because of Jesus,
Jeffrey Dillinger, minister