Repentance and Revival

by SAP
(Florida)

II Corinthians 7:1-16

Quick thoughts:
V.1 We ought to be clean from sin.
V.2 We ought to be honest. Especially to them that are without.
V.6-7 God can use you to affect others. He can use you to comfort and encourage others.

Story line:

V8 We see that Paul wrote a letter or an Epistle unto them. It was obviously one that brought forth conviction, obviously something that didn’t go along with the way they were living their lives. As long as we live, as long as we have breath, as long as we have flesh and bones there will be things in the Word of God that will conflict with our actions.

*Instead of heeding the Word, instead of heeding the preaching they instead were “sorry,” another words, they were upset or mad, upset toward the man of God, upset toward the Word.
Christian do we get upset when the preacher starts preaching? Do we get upset when he starts preaching about our sin?

Do we harden our hearts, close our ears and start to boil over mad?
The preacher doesn’t do it to make you made. He does it out of love. He wants to see you grow in the Lord. He wants to see you have victory in life and over sin. He wants to see you be more like God, and have a closer walk with him.

V12. Paul tells them he wrote them the letter so that their care and love would appear to them. The preacher loves you. And besides why do we get mad at the preacher he is just doing as God commanded of him. He is just the messenger boy. The fact is when your getting mad is probably because you feel the Holy Spirit convicting your heart about something that is needing to be corrected in our life.

Praise God. Paul said in V.8 they were only sorry for a season. They were only mad for a little while. Then once they got over being mad the Bible says they Sorrowed to Repentance. They went from being mad to realizing man we need help. Man we are in deep. Sorrowed to Repentance.
Repentance a change of heart that leads to a change of thinking that leads to a change of action.

You say what happen. They got right with God.

How do they get right with God? 3 things.

1. They were willing to hear.

• “If a man hath ears to hear let him hear”.
• Story of a man sitting in the tree with his hands over his ears.

2. Had to do some examining.

They had to do some comparing between their actions and what the Word of God had to say.

3. They were willing to change.

They were willing to conform. They were willing to be transformed.

* They acted on the Word of God, they acted according to the Word.

As a result we see something.

We see the effect their Godly sorrow had on them.

1. They had an EARNEST DESIRE

Earnest- means to be serious, determined, eager, zealous, an earnest attempt, sincere,
Is our desire to serve the Lord earnest? True? Honest? Does it have pure motives?
• Do we have a earnest desire?
• Do we have an earnest desire to change?
• Do we have an earnest desire to walk and have a relationship with our Lord?
• How about in our Ministry do we have an earnest desire to fulfill our ministry?

2. They MOURNED

Mourning is a expression of one who has suffered, Bereavement or LOSS.
• Have we mourned over the bondage sin has us in? We sometimes live in it so long we feel there is no way out.
• Have we mourned over the blessings we lose out on as a result of sin?
• Hey lets remember now all is loss. God is more then willing to cleanse us from all filthiness of the flesh.
• Have we mourned recently over the amount of people that are dying and going to hell on a Daily basis?
• Have we mourned lately over the loved ones that have fallen into sin or out of church as a result of sin?
• We need to change our thinking toward sin. It ought to bother us it ought to scare us. We should want to stay away from it. We ought to have a EARNEST DESIRE to stay out of it and to be cleansed from the filthiness of the flesh.

3. They had a FERVENT MIND TOWARD ME

Fervent- zeal in a favorable sense, having or showing a great emotion toward, warmth, passionate
• Their attitude toward the man of God changed. They were upset but then there was a sense of excitement toward the man of God
• We ought to praise God for a Pastor who is willing to stand up and say “Thus saith the Lord”
• Lets love him back.
• When is the last time we prayed for our pastor? He is about to have a baby, when is the last time we prayed for that momma and baby? Do we love him?

Our Repentance and doing what is right brings joy to our Heavenly Father. III John 4
It brings joy to our pastor. It brings joy to all those that invested something in our lives.
And many times can be an encouragement and a blessing to those around you.

With an earnest desire let's serve him.

Are we willing to hear? Are we willing to compare? Are will willing to change?

What do we desire the most in life? What is our attitude toward sin like? What is it like toward the man of God?

7 other things Godly sorrow brings v11.