Godly Sorrow (6)

What is the end result of worldly sorrow? It ends in death. That is apparent in the examples of people such as Cain, Esau, Ahab, and Judas. They all fled farther and farther from God.

If your sorrow does not bring you closer to God, then it will drive you farther and farther from God. With every sorrow there is an emptiness; well, this sorrow ends up in an eternal emptiness, there to miss God’s favor and communion forever. Then this life is already a gradual and steady slide which ends in eternal death. The Lord still affords us a warning. It is still the day of grace. Do not say that God’s children experience only sorrow. Consider that godly sorrow gives more satisfaction and sweetness than anything the entire world can give you. Those godly sorrowing ones do not wish to trade their sorrow for the joy of the world. In the midst of their tears, they may experience that the service of the Lord is a service of love.

The joy of this world? It is so empty, and it vanishes like a soap bubble so that nothing of it remains. It only leads to eternal death. God’s Word still calls out to us, “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6).

A sorrow leading to conversion

To what does godly sorrow lead? It worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of. What is conversion? We can say it with three words: conversion, aversion, returning. The prodigal son “came to himself” in that far away land and returned to his father with beseeching and weeping. That is the biblical picture of conversion. The Heidelberg Catechism says so strikingly that it is the dying of the old man and the rebirth of the new man.

Why does this sorrow lead to conversion? Because this sorrow leads to a change in mindset (the literal meaning of the Greek word which is used for conversion in 2 Corinthians 7:10) to a total inward break with sin, to turn away from treading the path of sin, and to return to the Lord. When a deep sorrow fills our heart because of sin, then we can no longer love sin. Certainly, in and of themselves, God’s children remain sinners until their last breath, and they can also fall into sin. At the same time, if one does not earnestly resolve to strive against sin, godly sorrow over sin cannot be called a true repentance. True godly sorrow is a repentance not to be repented of, and which we will never regret.

How blessed it is to know this godly sorrow

How blessed are they who know this godly sorrow—blessed! Yet, they cry that they are without God in the world and that they are so miserable in themselves. How, then, can they be called blessed? Christ Himself has called them such in Matthew 5, “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” Christ says they do not just become saved, they are already saved. Why? Because their tears fall into God’s bottle. Those tears are the fruits of the work of Christ and are known in the way to eternal joy. For this sorrow works an unrepentant sorrow unto salvation. Salvation with God Himself is the fulfillment of their emptiness.

Salvation, already in its beginning when God comes over, when the evidence of His love fills the soul, when He fills it with Himself and His friendly countenance, may be beheld in Christ. Here, however, it is only the beginning of that blessedness, the fullness of it is kept for later. To earn that salvation Christ had to suffer and die. Now His kindly face gives happiness and grace to all that are pure hearted.

You who seek God in all of your sorrow of soul, for whom God is your object, take courage! Soon you will sing eternally about the ways of the Lord. When the beginnings of the strife and the sorrow are already so blessed here below, what will the full deliverance be above? If the portals be already of gold, what will the mansions be!

Two ways

Also here it is noted so clearly that there are but two ways. Godly sorrow has its counterpart, namely, the sorrow after the world. It is either the one or the other. It is either the side of death or, on the other side, salvation. Would it then not be worth your effort to seek the Lord? His service is a service of love.

(This installment marks the end of this series.)

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen