II Corinthians 7: 5-16
For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest,
He's saying that physically he was exhausted.
but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within.
Some of the conflicts he referred to here were being beaten and whipped and thrown into prison, and an earthquake shaking the prison; he was thrown out of the city of Philippi, and had to sneak out of Thessalonica by night, and then ran from Berea to the sea by ship. And even in Corinth itself he was hauled before Gallio. He didn't go over these here because these Corinthians knew about all these trials.
He also talks about fears within. These could be the possibility that these Corinthian brothers and sisters were holding hard feelings toward him because of the hard matter he had them deal with.
But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
That lost "sorrowful letter" was carried to Corinth by Titus, who returned to Paul in Ephesus, where He was writing this letter.
and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more.
So Titus was able to let Paul know that everything was settled with these believers, and how the thorny matter had been resolved, and they appreciated Paul for his help in handling this matter.
For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it;
Though it hurt him to have to write that letter, he sees that it did good for them.
though I did regret it--for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while--
He did have concerns and care that he would be hurting them by his words, but only until they took action in obeying what he instructed them to do.
Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance;
Paul isn't happy that they were saddened or upset by his letter, but that their consciences were awakened to the moral situation, and they repented, they turned it around.
for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.
God wants us to recognize the sinfulness of sin, the harmfulness it perpetrates on us, and the losses it imposes on us when we dwell in it. They did this, and took care of the situation with the incestuous man. Paul didn't want them to suffer any losses in what he wrote to them, and was glad that they took care of this.
For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to Salvation, but the sorrow of the World produces death.
Godly sorrow is more than just being sorry for it, it's a grieving for hurting the heart of God, who Loves us. This produces a complete turning around of our attitudes to never want to go there again, into that sinful state of mind. A complete release of the sin that had us captive. Salvation.
Contrasted with worldly sorrow, being sorry for the consequences, or for getting caught. With no change of mind as to the lack of wisdom of the original offense. Without that change in thinking processes, we just go back into the same erroneous patterns of living that lead to death.
For behold what earnestness this very thing, godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.
So look at yourselves, at how much you have grown spiritually through this process: to sincerely, deeply, zealously display your vehement desire to right the wrong that had been done, which has shown you how you are cleared of any wrongdoing in yourselves. This is what heartfelt obedience produces.
So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God.
So it wasn't really just for the sake of the man who did this, or for those injured by his behavior; but for you to know that you are steadfast in your love of God and obedience to Paul in teaching you God's ways.
To give you the confidence to know that you can continue to follow God in His ways in your everyday lives, and that you have the strength and fortitude to not turn back to the corrupt ways of the society around you that you came out of.
For this reason we have been comforted.
This is why my mind has been relieved, and I can relax in the peace of God on your behalf, as I knew that you would do what was right.
And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even much more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.
Paul was really glad for Titus, after Paul sent him to deliver that "sorrowful letter," putting him right in the middle if they had not received it favorably.
For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I was not put to shame; but as we spoke all things to you in Truth, so also our boasting before Titus proved to be the truth.
Paul must have assured Titus that these Corinthians would of course understand the spirit in which the letter was written, and appreciate that he would bring it to them. Paul knew he had taught these believers sufficiently to understand why he had to write it, so what he encouraged Titus with did turn out to be true. (Whew!)
His affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling.
Now that they have treated Titus so well, taking what he brought and acting on it in a righteous manner, Titus loves them all the more, too.
I rejoice that in everything I have confidence in you.
And Paul is so glad that he can have all that confidence in them to do right and follow God's ways.
We never can be quite sure what someone else will do, what attitude they may have, when confronted with a hard and unpleasant responsibility. Paul wanted to trust these Corinthians, but he naturally had a few nagging doubts. When Titus returned with the good news of their acceptance of the letter and their resultant actions, I can imagine how relieved he must have been.
He sent Titus, and he boasted about these believers to him, assuring him of their faithfulness to the Lord, to get him to go. But then he had the fears within wondering if they would live up to his boasting.
Praise the Lord, this matter was resolved in a godly manner, according to God's will. God always wants us to do right, to get along, to confront what is wrong and harmful, and to make it right again.
Paul
had enough confidence in the Corinthian church to trust them to not
mistreat the messenger for delivering a troublesome letter. And his
trust was rewarded.
O that we would be able to do this in all the thorny situations we all find ourselves in from time to time. We need a guide, like Paul was to the Corinthians, who loves us enough to call us on what we're doing wrong, and lead us to get it right.
This kind of hard love is not always received well. Families have split, marriages have broken, friendships have been dissolved. Neighbors have put up walls, and relationships all around have suffered, when people refuse to humble themselves to admit what it is they're doing wrong. And sometimes those people are us.
Do my friends and relatives have enough confidence in me to trust me to respond positively to constructive criticism? Or are they afraid I might react all over them, and keep quiet?
O my Father, I thank You for the few I have encountered in my life who have called me on something I was doing wrong. And for Your grace to accept their words as Your direction. I know I still have blind spots, so I pray that You would bring others onto my path to continue to guide me and lead me in Your paths of righteousness.
Father, I pray for all Your children, that we would love one another as You have loved us, noticing how we are harming ourselves, and leading one another back into Your righteous ways. And that we will be humble enough to receive Your gracious words spoken by a brother or sister we can trust.
Lead, guide, and direct us, Father. Use Your Word, Your gentle nudgings, and one another, to show us how to extricate ourselves and one another from the holes we dig for ourselves, and the brambles of the World we find ourselves entangled in.
Help us to walk confidently in the path You have placed our feet upon, striding with our heads up, even strutting in the pride of Your glory. Showing and displaying before the World how much You Love us, and have sent Your own Son to make us into Your princes and princesses.
Send out Your workers, Father, into Your fields, to reap the crop that is already white to harvest. To find every lost sheep and every wandering and caught lamb, to draw them into Your One Fold with One Shepherd.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord God Almighty, to the glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever, Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
