Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Good morning. It is 10:45, guys, right?
[00:00:09] You now know you're able to make the 10:15 service if you want. Oh, there is none. It's 9:45. I lied. All right. I have to make a confession on the front end. So if you were here last week, I did something that was a stumbling block to apparently anybody watching me preach. My shoelace was untied, I think, almost the entire time. And so I have double knotted my laces. And I want to just let you know, for all of you, that came to me out of deep concern that I was going to trip and fall off. I'm really grateful that did not happen because that would be on camera and you guys would make fun of me for the rest of my life. Amen. Amen. All right, if you have a Bible, open up to the Book of Second Corinthians. We're going to be in chapter seven.
[00:00:55] I want to kind of set up chapter seven. Because the majority of us in life, we're going to have the responsibility to have leadership and authority over somebody else. And so some of the most common areas of leadership would be a boss, a coach, a teacher, a spiritual leader, a parent. And two of the most challenging parts of leadership and authority are, number one, repenting of my own sinful behavior.
[00:01:26] There are some people that have this notion about leadership, that leaders don't need to confess or repent. It makes you look weak or unstable or something of the sorts. And we have an image to keep up. And here's what I know. The great leaders in my life who have made mistakes and sinned and owned them, my respect and my trust for them, it just goes up. The second most challenging part of leadership and authority is addressing sinful behavior in others.
[00:01:59] The reason this is so challenging is because few people are willing to hear about their own sin or failure. And of course, it's not you, it's everyone else right now. Why are we so resistant to hearing somebody tell us about sin in our lives? I mean, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, when you came to faith in Christ, you came to faith in Christ under the premise that you are a sinner and that your sins would be forgiven. But you didn't come to Christ under the premise that all of us sudden, now, when you trust in Jesus, you're gonna be sinless and flawless for the rest of your life. Only Jesus is sinless. We're gonna struggle with sin until the day we are dead. So why is it so hard when we believe that we are sinners to have Someone else tell us to our face or in a text or in an email that maybe we have sinned. Well, here's just a short list of some common reasons people refuse to hear their own sin. Number one, they don't feel safe with the person confronting them. Number two, they're afraid of how an apology might be weaponized. There's too many. I'm gonna fly. You guys ready? You can read. They are immature emotionally. The person confronting them has never apologized themselves. They have only had defensiveness modeled for them. They don't actually believe they are wrong. They tie their self worth to being right. They equate being wrong with being a failure. They have unresolved guilt or shame. They've been hurt by past confrontations. They are controlled by pride. They can't stand the idea of being seen as weak or flawed. They're reacting to the flesh, not the spirit. They lack the spiritual discipline in responding humbly.
[00:03:30] Okay, have any of you ever struggled with any of those?
[00:03:35] Yes.
[00:03:36] And this is just like the tip of the iceberg of what stands between a person hearing about their own sin and responding in a way that moves towards something healthy. Any one of these can rear their ugly head the moment we are confronted on sin and sabotage the entire process.
[00:04:00] But the person who will listen, reflect, apologize, and this is important, and not despise the person confronting them is a remarkably healthy and inspiring person. I want you to look, just look at these words. The person who will listen, reflect, apologize. And you might think, why do you write not despise? Because there are so many instances when someone receives a hard piece of information or feedback about themselves or sin is exposed. And at first they listen, and then they get home and they're like, who do they think they are? And then all of a sudden, the whole thing changes. And then they begin to have a despising heart to that person. But the person who will listen, reflect, apologize, and not despise the person confronting them is a remarkably healthy and inspiring person.
[00:04:53] I wanna dig a little bit deeper into the emotional anatomy of having your sin exposed.
[00:05:02] When someone is caught or exposed in actual sin, it could be big, it could be small.
[00:05:09] If your shield of defensiveness is laid down, out comes three magical I am sorry. Sorry. From the word sorrow and the phrase it doesn't always mean I'm sorry. There are four big ways that we actually, like, communicate with this phrase. Here's the first thing we communicate.
[00:05:33] So you're sensitive and your feelings got hurt. We say, I'm sorry. But what we mean is, okay, all Right. You're a little too sensitive. Sorry. Number two, currently, I am experiencing some level of sadness knowing that you're aware of what I've done. I wish that what I had done, nobody found out about. And I'm sad, you know, about my sin. Number three, hey, could we just act like this never happened? Like, I'm sorry. Those are the magical words. That means you have a rug and you're supposed to put it under the rug. And, like, you're not allowed to pick up that rug anymore because I said the magical words, I'm sorry. And some of us, when we say I'm sorry, that's what we mean. You need to put this away because I said the words. But number four, I'm sorry is sometimes a substitute phrase. Sincere, will you.
[00:06:24] So the Bible has a word for when Christians are truly sorry for their sin. And the word is repentance.
[00:06:34] And so repentance is a very important word in the Scripture because it's not simply just the thing you do in order to become a Christian or to have your sin forgiven, Right? Because if you and God have a relational issue with each other and you've sinned against him like any other person, you need to apologize and make that right. It's not just the thing that you do when you want to make your relationship right with God because you are a sinner navigating a flesh for the rest of your life. Repentance is actually supposed to be a daily part of our life. And so here's what this means. Like, for the believer in Jesus, we don't just repent once and get over it. Repentance is just a part of our life as we realize on a daily basis we've sinned, we struggle with sin. And I need to make sure that I bring those things to God and I take full ownership. All right, 2 Corinthians, chapter 7. Open up your Bibles there. And what I wanna do through this chapter is I wanna spend some time training us on the nature of repentance. I'm not really interested in this message about training you to discern whether or not someone else's apology is sincere. I am most concerned about training each one of us to make sure that we are growing a heart of repentance in ourselves. All right, so the context of 2 Corinthians 7, if you are new with us, there is a lot going on in the book. There are false prophets in the church. There are fake Christians in the church. There are false gospels in the church. The church is divided. There are People competing for leadership, and everyone's feelings are hurt. Okay, so when you open up the book of Second Corinthians, the Apostle Paul is writing a letter to a church that is in disarray and conflict.
[00:08:21] Second Corinthians is actually most likely the fourth letter that Paul has written to the Corinthian church. Two of them, we lost two of them. We have the third letter, which we don't have. It often gets the nickname the severe letter. Because what Paul did in this third letter is he wrote the church a confrontational letter exposing them of their sin. And when the church received the letter, I mean, this is a big deal to get a letter from the Apostle Paul identifying the church's sins. And he's expecting them to repent. And many of them did repent, but there were some who did not. And so, with this context in mind, I want you to look at verse eight. And Paul is reflecting on the severe confronting letter that he wrote and how they received it. Paul says, for even if I made you grieve with my letter, that's the severe letter. I don't regret it. Like, have you ever had a hard conversation with somebody and you're like, I know it's the right thing to do. You know, it's gonna cause pain. You know it's gonna be difficult. But then he says, though, I did regret it. So here's what happened. When Paul sent the letter, he thought to himself, oh, my gosh, did I just make a terrible mistake? Because if they don't respond well, this church, whom I love, our relationship is over. Have you ever, like, sent a text or an email and then immediately had that feeling of, like, oh, no, what did I just do?
[00:09:45] Just me. Okay, good. All right. You know. You know what it is. And he says, I did regret it. For I see that the letter grieved you, though only for a little while. And here's what Paul's reflecting on, something every leader knows.
[00:10:00] No one wants to have these conversations.
[00:10:05] Like, short of you having some sort of, like, weird disorder, nobody wakes up and says, how many people can I confront today? How many of my friendships can I make really, really strained and less fun? This is not the way most people think, but God has ordained it in such a way that good leadership is required to have hard conversations. The boss who doesn't deal with poor employees is negligent, and the parent who doesn't deal with disobedient children is negligent. And the government that doesn't deal with illegal behavior is negligent. And the spiritual leader who doesn't deal with unrepentant willful sin is negligent. And here's what we find. God himself, when he sees sin in us, either by our conscience or the Holy Spirit or the word of God or someone else, is prone to confront us on our own sin, whether it's big or it's small. Now, before we move on, I have to say something. At this point, I am not talking about these moments when someone is upset with you because you hurt their feelings. It's not what I'm talking about.
[00:11:08] Every single one of us, we have that place in our life where we are overly sensitive, right? You may not want other people to know it, but everyone has it. And sometimes you have to have hard conversations with someone you love, like pokes at that place where you're really sensitive, right? And it might hurt, but oftentimes that's not sin. I'm not talking about that. I'm not talking about when you're being confronted on something that was an accident. It's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about those moments where you, either by the Holy Spirit or by somebody else, are being confronted on actual real sin and you know that it's sin. And in that moment where you and I come to this realization, I have sinned before God or someone else. What we do in these moments, these are holy moments, these are hinge point moments. And so we have to be very, very intentional that when we have these experiences of sorrow or sorry over something we've done, that we handle these things to the glory of God. That's specifically what we're talking about. So in verse nine, Paul is reflecting on the Corinthians, true genuine sorrow and repentance. And he says this as it is not because you were grieved, he's not sadistic, but because you were grieved into repenting. He rejoices.
[00:12:29] He says, for you felt a godly grief or a godly sorrow so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance. Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. And Paul's highlighting something here. Not all I'm sorrys are the same. Some sorrow is good or godly grief. Some sorrow is just worldly grief and it's not what we want. Now I'll be honest. I have received multiple insincere apologies in my life and in my day, I have delivered many insincere apologies. Anyone else?
[00:13:20] How Do I know if my apology is the overflow of godly grief a good thing, or worldly grief a bad thing?
[00:13:29] So both godly grief and worldly grief are discerned not by the apologies, but by the outcomes.
[00:13:38] Almost everyone feels sad again when you are caught or your sin is exposed.
[00:13:46] There are exceptions, sociopaths, narcissists, and a few other disorders. But again, it's what you do with the grief that determines whether or not your grief is worldly grief or godly grief. There's gonna come a point in everyone's life, for the most part, where you feel bad about something you've done. But the difference between worldly grief and godly grief is determined in the outcome. So how do I know what are the symptoms of godly grief and repentance? What I want you to do in this is a little exercise. I want you to think about the last time that somebody had something hard to say to you. The last time somebody maybe brought up a sin in your life. Maybe you responded poorly, maybe you responded wonderfully. But I want you to go back to that moment and I want you to use your experience as a way to kind of just measure. Was my response worldly grief or was it godly grief? All right, so five things, five symptoms of godly grief. Number one, godly grief is birthed from confrontation.
[00:14:43] After receiving the severe letter Paul wrote in verse nine, you were grieved into repenting. And again, sometimes it is the Holy Spirit who confronts you. Sometimes it is a friend or a boss or a family member. And I wanna say this again because this is so important. The moment you come to realization that you have sinned, this is a holy hinge point moment. And what you do in the moment of conviction, that moment you experience this, oh, no, I know that I have sinned against God. What you do in the moment of conviction will determine whether or not you truly repent, whether or not this is godly grief or it's worldly grief.
[00:15:27] There are ultimately three responses to Confrontation Number one is resistance. And if you're the one doing the confronting, it's pretty easy to discern because they will turn on you or they will be dismissive or they'll be defensive. And you guys know that. In fact, probably at some point, all of us have been resistant to some sort of hard conversation that we knew was true, but we were not ready to face it, or at least with that person. The second option is worldly sorrow.
[00:15:55] Worldly sorrow is going to appear. Sorry at first, but if you just give it enough Time, they will either turn on you or be dismissive or be defensive. Godly sorrow is different. Godly sorrow doesn't turn on the other person. It's not dismissive of it. It's not defensive. But godly sorrow keeps moving in the direction of repentance, of transformation, of ownership. It's moving in a direction, and it is beginning to own the very thing that they know, that we know was sin. Look at verse 12.
[00:16:28] Paul says, so although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong. Which is kind of a weird thought. Well, then why did you write it? Nor was it for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong.
[00:16:40] But in order that your. This is an interesting word, that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God.
[00:16:49] So the outcome of hard conversations, it's almost always the same.
[00:16:54] It reveals what's inside of you to you, to the person talking to you, and to God. And at this moment, I want to just. I want to take a moment, and I would love to share something just pastorally and personally with you.
[00:17:10] Most of us have a person in our life that tried to talk to us, and we were resistant and pushed them away, and they were right. Here's the problem. In those moments when somebody gets the guts or the courage, and they're always going to do it imperfectly, by the way, right? But when somebody gets the guts or the courage to say, I think I see sin in your life, could we talk about it? And you shut them down by turning on them or being dismissive or being defensive. Here's what you're losing.
[00:17:38] You're losing every single moment in the future where that person is not gonna tell you the truth. You're losing every single moment in the future where you might actually need that person to tell you the truth later about yourself. And they might be one of the only ones left who had the guts and courage to do it. You, in that moment of dismissiveness or defensiveness or turning on them or whatever it is, are forfeiting future conversations that future you is gonna need. And if they won't tell you, then who will? Some people start burning through an entire list. Like there've been multiple people in maybe your life who've tried to tell you hard things, and you've made it clear to every single one of them. I'm dismissive. I'm defensive. I turn on you. Who do you think you are? And here's where you're stuck. You're stuck with. There will Be no one left to tell you the truth when you need the truth.
[00:18:24] And so I think one of the most foolish things that we can do is when somebody, imperfectly, as they do, in fact, aggressively sometimes, as people do, try, maybe with good intentions, to bring to light something in ourselves. One of the most foolish things that we can do is to be dismissive, defensive, or to turn on them. All right, Godly grief, number two. Godly grief is always vertical before it is horizontal.
[00:18:49] It says in verse 10, Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation.
[00:18:56] So sin 101.
[00:18:59] My sin is never first against another person.
[00:19:03] It is always first against my Creator. All right? Some people don't know the word vertical and horizontal. So, and forgive me, vertical means up and down this way, and horizontal means this way. When we talk vertically, we're talking about our relationship with God is the vertical relationship and our relationship with other people. This is the horizontal relationship.
[00:19:24] When we sin, it is always first and foremost vertical, in violation.
[00:19:32] Before you are a Christian, when you sinned, which everybody sins, right? That's just a fact. Your sin first and foremost separated you from God, that your relationship with God was broken. In fact, your sin makes you an enemy of God in need of reconciliation and forgiveness. And so the only way for that relationship with God to be made right again. It's just like other people as well. Like, if I break a relationship with you and we're gonna make it right, what do I need to do? I need to own it. I need to take responsibility for it. I need to apologize. I need to ask your forgiveness. And it is the exact same thing with God. Like, somehow people get into their notion that, yeah, I'm better than the terrible person next to me. So then I'm gonna go to heaven and I'm all good. And that is just not how the scriptures teach that this thing works. The only way to be reconciled back to God is to come to him and apologize and take ownership for what you have done. And then out of the overflow of that, we start to make horizontal relationships, right? But guess what? Once you become a Christian, your sin is still first against a holy God. So even if I sin against someone else, yes, I gotta make that right. But what I have to do is first resolve my broken relationship. Because every time I sin against you, I sin against God. Anytime I sin against my own body, I sin against God first. And I'm so grateful that after you trust in Christ, when you believed in him, his promise is that your sins, they're forgiven once for all and forever. So that after I become a Christian, when I go and apologize to him, it's not like the relationship is in jeopardy. It's not like he's gonna leave me or forsake me. But I do know that if I wanna have a healthy relationship with God, when I sin against him, I need to go make.
[00:21:12] In the book of Psalms, Psalm 51, King David writes a poem. He writes a song. And this poem, it is striking and it is worth you going home later and just spending some time in it. Because David wrote this after he was confronted by Nathan the prophet because he had violated Bathsheba. And he didn't just violate Bathsheba. His sin was horizontal against so many people. It was against Bathsheba. It was against Bathsheba's husband, Uriah. It was against Bathsheba's father. It was against Bathsheba's grandfather, Ahithophel. Like, there's a whole slew of people that when David did this, he harmed personally. And if you were to line them all up and all the people who were harmed by David's sin, like, there'd be a whole bunch of people. And then here's what David writes. And you gotta remember in poetry, there's a bit of hyperbole, but the point is being made here. Here's what he says against you. This is to God, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight? And here's what David understood. Yeah, I've got to make it right for all the people that I harmed and wounded. But David understood that before he harmed or wounded any of them, he harmed and wounded God. And so David's first line of confession is, is to God. And out of the overflow of making that right relationship right, he makes the other relationships right. Godly grief is always vertical before it is horizontal number three.
[00:22:40] Godly grief will result in noticeable trajectory changes. So he says in verse nine, you were grieved into repenting. Repenting is a funny. Repentance is a funny word. Because in American Christian culture, this is a very heavy term. It's a term that probably some of you have been bludgeoned with by other Christians.
[00:23:04] It's interesting because in the first century, when this is written in the Greek language, repent is. It's just a word.
[00:23:10] And the word has really important meaning. And the word means a change of mind or heart that results in a change of behavior. And so this word, over time has gotten heavier and heavier. But just really at its core, what you find is this. That when someone sins against God or someone else, if they're truly repentant, then they change.
[00:23:34] In other words, if you go to somebody and you own something and apologize, that's good, that's a start. But if you don't change, it's worldly grief, not godly grief. Because godly grief doesn't just stop with, I'm sorry, will you forgive me? But actually, godly grief keeps moving towards repentance, towards a change. In fact, the things that I did, I want to stop doing them. And I'm gonna try to do them less and less. Maybe you even need to say, will you be gracious with me as I stumble over myself and try to figure this thing out? But there is a difference, and this is why we look at godly grief and repentance. Repentance will result. Godly grief will result in noticeable trajectory changes. Number four.
[00:24:22] Godly grief is eager and does not regret making things right.
[00:24:29] So in verse nine, he says to those who repented, you suffered no loss.
[00:24:36] What are people afraid to lose in repentance?
[00:24:39] Will I lose my job? Will I lose my reputation? Will I be able to show my face around here again if they know what I really did?
[00:24:48] And he says, you actually suffered no loss. Because here's what's happening. When you have sin that is not repented of, it weighs on your heart and soul. And sometimes making that sin right can be really difficult. But when you get to the other side of it and you have repented and made things right with God, and you have made things right with other people, the freedom that your soul experiences, you'll step back and say, I didn't lose a thing because now my conscience and my soul are free.
[00:25:17] He says in verse 10 that they had no regrets. Their repentance was without regret.
[00:25:23] Why did they have no regrets?
[00:25:26] Because when you repent, you're freeing your soul from the terrible weight of sin. And when you have unrepentant sin on your heart, on your soul, you know it's impacting your relationship with God. You are well aware. You know it's actually impacting your relationship with other people, even if they don't understand it. In verse 11, he says, See what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you?
[00:25:53] One of the things I appreciate about people who are truly repentant is that they are really easy to deal with.
[00:26:00] People who have worldly grief, they're kind of just resistant. They're not interested in the defensive, they're dismissive. But when you find godly grief, that's leading toward repentance. You just find somebody who's easy to work with. Somebody you might even ask, like, okay, how did that make you feel?
[00:26:16] Like, are there other times that I've done this? Somebody who's actually really curious to get underneath a thing.
[00:26:23] The Bible has a really wonderful word, and it's a word that it uses for when you sin against another person and you want to make it right. And the word is restitution. And so restitution very simply means the thing taken is made fully right, plus losses. So the Old Testament, the book of Numbers. I'll put this in the screen for you, but it just has some great training on restitution. Numbers 5, 6, 7, says, When a man or woman. By the way, ladies, you're not off the hook, okay? Commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the Lord. Catch this. And that person realizes his guilt. The moment you sit there and you're like, I've sinned against God. I'm guilty.
[00:27:08] He shall confess his sin that he committed, and he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to whom he did the wrong. It's interesting because there's this description that you realize that you're guilty. You realize, I've sinned, and then you kind of take stock and you confess your sin to the people you need to. But then you're not done. You step back and you go, what have I taken that I need to give back? It might be reputation. It might be an object you stole. It might be something else. And what's interesting about restitution is restitution isn't just interested in giving back one for one. Restitution is giving back the thing you took. We'll call it plus losses. And under the old covenant law, they would add a fifth to it.
[00:27:57] In the New Testament, you have a guy named Zacchaeus. You guys remember him? Luke 19.
[00:28:01] How do we know that Zacchaeus repentance was true? Well, because he paid back with losses, plus losses, all the people that he had stole money from.
[00:28:15] Lastly, number five, godly grief. Some of you are gonna really appreciate that this one's in here. Godly grief doesn't take responsibility for others failures or exaggerated claims. Can I get an amen?
[00:28:28] I love this. He says in 11. But also, what eagerness to clear yourselves. So here's what's happening. Paul writes a letter. The letter is read to the entire church. And there are some pretty terrible people in the Corinthian church, and they need to be called out. There are some big sins, and there are some people who are creating division and gossiping and different things. And. And you have real Christians who are sinning and fake Christians who are sinning. There's a lot of sin in this church.
[00:28:52] And so there were people, though, in the church who were like, listen, I agree with you, Paul. They're acting like dummies. Don't put me in that. And so they. When they see Paul, they're like, listen, I just want you to know, like, I'm not here to confess something I didn't do. Okay? So, like, I'm with you. In fact, I'm not just with you. We have been fighting with you to have these hard conversations behind the scenes, like, we're on the same page. And then he goes on to verse 11. What indignation. Like, for some of them, they're like. You know that level of, like, frustration and indignation you have at their willful sin. Paul, we're with you. He says, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment. He's like, you tell us what the Bible says to do, to deal with this sin. We're all in. We're all in. And so what I appreciate is that there's this group of people in the church who are like, listen, like, we're not sorry because we weren't participating in these shenanigans in the first place. And I think some people need to hear this. You're not responsible to God for apologizing for something you did not do.
[00:29:58] And you're gonna realize that there are some relationships in life that they're never gonna be better until you apologize for something you didn't do. And that is a tough situation to be in. But I just want to tell you that, like, listen, repentance does not punish itself or take punishments or accountability for something it didn't do in the first place.
[00:30:18] We are responsible for owning and making right. I'm going to give you three categories.
[00:30:23] When we hurt someone on accident, we all do this. We accidentally get at that area where they're far too sensitive, and there's a relational conflict. That's life. You have those issues. Other people, everybody's got them. So if you're gonna be in a friendship with somebody, it's gonna be a moment where you say, you really hurt my feelings. It's not sin. But you know what? I'm gonna own that. I'm gonna put it in my bucket. I'm gonna really try to honor you in the future.
[00:30:50] That's One, number two, we're responsible for owning and making right when we sin against someone on accident. You might be thinking, how do I sin against somebody on accident? Well, particularly, like, if you're a younger Christian, right? And there are just things you do and ways you live. But as you grow in your knowledge of the word of God, and maybe a preacher's up there teaching, and he says, oh, by the way, this thing that you've been doing is sin. And you're like, I had no idea. I had no idea it was sin. I need to stop that, and I have to go make right. I've been actually sinning against a couple people in my life. And so, like, yeah, maybe you didn't do it on purpose. And I do think there's value in saying, I didn't know, but now I do know, and I want to just take full ownership because I've been sinning against you, and I didn't even know it was wrong.
[00:31:32] Number three, we're responsible for owning and making right when we sin against someone on purpose.
[00:31:38] We have all done this in our lives. Most of us will do it again in our weaker moments. And when these moments happen and you realize this, this is our personal responsibility to go to that person and to own it and to make it right.
[00:31:52] Worldly grief can appear identical to godly grief on the surface. Both feel deeply. And I want to just give you a brief little rubric to maybe help you discern the difference.
[00:32:04] The primary concern of worldly grief is me, centered.
[00:32:09] What have I done? I'm so bad, terrible, ugly. I'll never be able to recover. What will people think of me? And worldly grief is obsessed with itself and its own outcomes.
[00:32:22] The primary concern of godly grief is, number one, God.
[00:32:26] Number two, my heart and transformation. And then, number three, our reconciliation. And over time, both have a way of exposing themselves in ourselves and others. All right, I wanna close with three. So what's number one?
[00:32:42] There are few more compelling.
[00:32:45] There are few things more compelling than a humble heart able to receive correction.
[00:32:52] If you show me someone who is humble and I just know with confidence, like, hey, can we have a hard conversation? I saw this thing in you. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just wanna. I'd rather address the hunch and be wrong than not address it and be right. Like, is this thing sin? Is there sin in your life? You know those people who will listen to you and if. And if they have made an error, that they're gonna be like, you're right, I gotta take responsibility for this I'm telling you, that is the kind of person I want to be. And I think if you're a believer in Jesus, like, this is the kind of person we all want to be. But it's not easy, is it? Takes a little bit of work. Now, I want to read to you a few different proverbs on this issue. Proverbs has a lot to say about receiving rebuke.
[00:33:39] Proverbs 9, 8. Do not reprove a scoffer or he will hate you.
[00:33:45] Reprove a wise man and he will love you. Proverbs 10:17. Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life. But he who rejects reproof leads others astray.
[00:34:01] Proverbs 15:32. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself. But he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. And then, this is my favorite, Proverbs 12:1. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge. Now, before I read this, you just gotta know. I didn't say it, the Bible said it. Okay, but he who hates reproof is stupid.
[00:34:26] Don't be stupid.
[00:34:28] Don't have reproof that is legitimate. Come to you and hate it and hate the person.
[00:34:34] I would much rather have a humble heart and be able to receive even if it's wrong. A humble heart can patiently and quietly converse about that and come to a place of truth. So number two.
[00:34:48] Build the muscle of humility through daily repentance and restitution. So the apostle Paul writes on repentance, and he knows personally what it means to repent. He knows what it means to repent. As a non Christian, Paul was responsible for killing Christians before he became a Christian. And so he understands what it means to come to God and to own. I have sinned against you, I have sinned against your people. He has taken God at his word, asked him for forgiveness, believed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. And Jesus, faithful to his Word, saved him. But Paul also understands when you read his writing, like he daily wrestles with the flesh and with sin. And so he understands what it means on the daily to have sinful thoughts, impulses, to make mistakes and have to make things right. Here's just a little secret for you. The more you repent, the easier it is to do. And the more you repent in the quiet places, the easier it is when somebody has something big to talk to you about.
[00:35:50] So what? Number 3.
[00:35:53] Reconciliation with God is only inaugurated through confession of sin and changing your mind about Jesus.
[00:36:03] Every single person who has become a true Christian, it has only ever happened in one way.
[00:36:09] And that Way is simple. It's not by being a good person. Nobody can be good enough. It's not by being better than the person next to you. That's never gonna work. It is always through coming to God and owning your sin against a holy God, asking him to forgive you. And I love this that God is so clear. Anybody who confesses their sin and believes that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and was raised from the dead, forgiveness and salvation.
[00:36:39] Guys, that is incredible news.
[00:36:42] You're in a room if you've never trusted in Jesus with a whole bunch of sinners who've done a whole lot of really ugly things. And when we came to Jesus, we didn't come to him and say, look how good I am. Look how awesome I am. Look what I can do for your kingdom. We came to him and we just said, we are sinners, we are sorry. We believe that Jesus died for our sins and was raised from the dead. Save us And God, he made a promise. Anybody who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved. If you're here and you've never done that, great news. You can actually confess your sin to God now, anytime. Ask him to save you. And he is eager, eager to save you. And I want you to catch this. He is willing to forgive you now, even though he already knows all of the ridiculous, dumb things you have done and are going to do until the day you are dead. And he is still in light of knowing that, offering you to cleanse you from your sin by believing in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. That is great news if I've ever heard it. And if you want to trust in Christ, come talk to one of us or come talk to somebody you came with. We would love to help you figure out what does it mean to take a next step as I follow Jesus. Amen. Village church. Amen. Let's pray together. All right. God, I want to just thank you for Paul's bluntness on repentance.
[00:37:57] I want to thank you, God, that when we came to you as sinners for the first time, you kept your word. You didn't push us away. You actually gave us forgiveness. And Lord, after we became Christians, Lord, as we come to you on the daily, your hand of grace and kindness is always extended to us. I'm so thankful that when we became Christians, we were saved once for all and forever. God, I pray that if there's anybody even here who is yet to just personally trust in you, God, would you show them how much you love them and how eager you are to forgive them and to adopt them as sons and daughters. Lord, we want to be men and women who and students and children who are gentle in correction, but also so humble and willing to hear when we need to be corrected. Lord, if there are decisions and next steps that we need to make, to maybe make right some past confrontations or places where we have been dismissive or defensive, would you give us the clarity to those things and also the humility and the courage to take ownership even for that. We want to create a life where people are free to talk to us and to tell us the truth. And so, Lord, would you just grow that spirit of humility in each one of us at Village Church? We love you and we thank you for all this. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.
