Godly Sorrow and the Sorrow of the World
1946
“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Cor. 7, 10). These profound words come to us from the holy apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. We must consider them carefully. What is godly sorrow? And what is the sorrow of the world?
All of the saints lived in godly sorrow.
More than anything it is an excruciating sorrow felt for one’s own sins. At the same time, it is a never-ending sorrow over all that we see in the world around us: over the fact that godless people - people who do not believe in Christ - live as Satan teaches them to, and have no desire to learn about the way of Christ.
Godly sorrow is sorrow over the falsehood, the theft, the murder, the depravity, the lies – terrifying, all-infecting lies amongst which people of all centuries have lived, and amongst which we continue to live.
Godly sorrow is sorrow for the fate of our children, our youth – who know nothing of God, who live without Him.
Now this sorrow, sorrow over our own frequent falls from God’s path, this sorrow over a world on a path so far from Christ - this sorrow ‘worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of’.
It gives birth to constant, invariable repentance, gives birth to a feeling of guilt before God, of our own personal guilt, as well as the guilt of those hapless godless people who surround us. This sadness, this sorrow, these tears over ourselves and over those who are close to us, leads us to repentance.
And we live in this holy and saving feeling of repentance; amongst prayers for ourselves, for our own unworthiness, for those who are close to us and those who are far, for all those hapless ones who do not see Christ. ‘Worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of’. Our spirit is created through the power of prayer – prayer of repentance, of tears; prayer for all people.
‘But the sorrow of the world worketh death’.
What is the sorrow of the world?
It is the sorrow of those who make the pleasures of this world their only goal, who seek only their own well-being, who want nothing to do with the path of salvation, who know nothing of the spiritual life, who do not pray, who believe in nothing, who believe only in the golden calf, riches, which give them blessedness and prosperity in this earthly life.
And this type of person is often overtaken by sorrow.
All of their attempts to create earthly well-being crash down like so many houses made from cards. Or even worse.
In an attempt to chase down this well-being these hapless men can even embark upon the path of crime – and then they are overtaken by complete catastrophe. Their falsehood and crime come into the light; it comes out that for the sake of their own bellies they walked all over the well-being of their loved ones, of the government, and - they are overtaken by terrifying retribution: by prison, by exile, by expulsion from society.
And that’s only a fraction of the calamity. Going to prison and exile is nothing. What’s really terrifying is the eternal death, the eternal destruction that awaits them. Yes, that’s why it is written that the sorrow of the world, the sorrow of the world’s blessings, worketh death. Fear this word, fear following this path of the world’s sorrow, which worketh death. Live in godly sorrow, in tears over your own unworthiness and over the hapless people whom destruction awaits, who are all around you – and you will receive eternal salvation. Amen.
“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Cor. 7, 10). These profound words come to us from the holy apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. We must consider them carefully. What is godly sorrow? And what is the sorrow of the world?
All of the saints lived in godly sorrow.
More than anything it is an excruciating sorrow felt for one’s own sins. At the same time, it is a never-ending sorrow over all that we see in the world around us: over the fact that godless people - people who do not believe in Christ - live as Satan teaches them to, and have no desire to learn about the way of Christ.
Godly sorrow is sorrow over the falsehood, the theft, the murder, the depravity, the lies – terrifying, all-infecting lies amongst which people of all centuries have lived, and amongst which we continue to live.
Godly sorrow is sorrow for the fate of our children, our youth – who know nothing of God, who live without Him.
Now this sorrow, sorrow over our own frequent falls from God’s path, this sorrow over a world on a path so far from Christ - this sorrow ‘worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of’.
It gives birth to constant, invariable repentance, gives birth to a feeling of guilt before God, of our own personal guilt, as well as the guilt of those hapless godless people who surround us. This sadness, this sorrow, these tears over ourselves and over those who are close to us, leads us to repentance.
And we live in this holy and saving feeling of repentance; amongst prayers for ourselves, for our own unworthiness, for those who are close to us and those who are far, for all those hapless ones who do not see Christ. ‘Worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of’. Our spirit is created through the power of prayer – prayer of repentance, of tears; prayer for all people.
‘But the sorrow of the world worketh death’.
What is the sorrow of the world?
It is the sorrow of those who make the pleasures of this world their only goal, who seek only their own well-being, who want nothing to do with the path of salvation, who know nothing of the spiritual life, who do not pray, who believe in nothing, who believe only in the golden calf, riches, which give them blessedness and prosperity in this earthly life.
And this type of person is often overtaken by sorrow.
All of their attempts to create earthly well-being crash down like so many houses made from cards. Or even worse.
In an attempt to chase down this well-being these hapless men can even embark upon the path of crime – and then they are overtaken by complete catastrophe. Their falsehood and crime come into the light; it comes out that for the sake of their own bellies they walked all over the well-being of their loved ones, of the government, and - they are overtaken by terrifying retribution: by prison, by exile, by expulsion from society.
And that’s only a fraction of the calamity. Going to prison and exile is nothing. What’s really terrifying is the eternal death, the eternal destruction that awaits them. Yes, that’s why it is written that the sorrow of the world, the sorrow of the world’s blessings, worketh death. Fear this word, fear following this path of the world’s sorrow, which worketh death. Live in godly sorrow, in tears over your own unworthiness and over the hapless people whom destruction awaits, who are all around you – and you will receive eternal salvation. Amen.
posted by teacher at 4:22 AM
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