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Today, let's continue our journey. As a church, we bring our people through the Bible on a chapter by chapter, passage by chapter, er ... passage by passage basis, and we come down to chapter 7 of 2nd Corinthians.

I am a parent and I think one of the greatest joys as a parent is when I see my kids obey. And one of the greatest heartaches I have is where my children disobey. There's a word in Hokkien that very aptly describes my feeling when they disobey and that is the word 'kek sim'. I think all of you as parents would understand what that feels like, deeply sorrowful and grieved.

I share this story with permission from my son. Shawn is now 15 years old, and as a teenager they go through their difficult times, because they want independence, because they want to make decis ... decisions on their own, because they want to kind of find their sense of identity. So, we will often have some conflicts between parents and son.

I read someone say this, "If I could kill my son at 12 and resurrect him at 20, I'll be very happy" because the teenage years are very difficult years. So there was a day, at night, where we had a very heated confrontation with Shawn, with regard to his sleeping time. He was questioning and debating and arguing, why should he sleep at this particular time, when his ... when his friends do not need to, and he can decide for himself.

And so that grew and snowballed into everything else, it was a particularly painful conflict. Uh, we had tears, we had a lot of painful words, and Winnie and I, we were deeply grieved. He never said sorry, he never admitted wrong, he was defiant and rebellious, and strong-willed throughout.

Several days later, we were at my sister's place. We were having a meal and we were chatting and we were talking about someone who was very stubborn, very rebellious as it were, refused to admit wrong, even though it was clearly wrong. Shawn was listening on the sidelines, and he decided now to chip in. He said, "She is just like me."

I looked at him and said, "Are you saying that you are also stubborn and rebellious and defiant?" He says, "Yes." We looked at each other and we both know which incident we are talking about, and a smile broke out on both our faces. When we smiled, there was a tremendous sense of relief and comfort and joy in my heart. I know it's something really small, but it was such a joy and comfort to hear that my son backs down and realizes that he was wrong.

In a sense, I think the Apostle Paul must be very 'kek sim', when it comes to the Corinthians, because they have been defiant, they have been rebellious. Apparently in chapter 2, when Paul visited the Corinthians, there was a man in particular, who led a kind of opposition against Paul, to such a degree that it was a such a painful visit for Paul, he had to leave. He cut short his visit, he went back to Ephesus and from Ephesus he wrote a letter which we now know as a tearful, severe or sorrowful letter, not 1st Corinthians or 2nd Corinthians, but the letter in between.

He wrote to them and he followed up with Titus visiting them, to see how they would respond to this letter Paul wrote. He, whilst waiting for Titus to return with the news, must be feeling tremendous 'kek sim' and heartache. So today, in chapter 7, verses 2-16, we read of the outcome of this letter, we read of the outcome of this confrontation with the Corinthians. And I'm happy, I am delighted to report that this is good news, this was a delight to Paul, this was a joy to Paul because in verses 2 to 16, we read the repeated use of joy, rejoice and rejoice.

And not only that from verses 2 to 16, he also talks about comfort and comforts and comforted. So, this was a tremendous relief and joy and comfort to Paul, as he reads about how the Corinthians are grieved into repenting. That they are no more stubborn against Paul, but they are sorry for what they have done, and they have cleared themselves in repentance with regard to sin.

So they grieved, it was a good kind of grieving, a godly kind of grieving that led them to repentance. So today's passage, I would just entitle it, "Good Grief!" a play on the words. And the big idea is really how that joyful reconciliation between Paul and the Corinthians was achieved, as they entered into sincere repentance.

So, this is a long passage, 15 verses in all. There's baptism coming up, so I propose to do this in a very simple way. I'm just going to run through these verses in a very rapid fashion, not dwelling too long into all the details. And after we've done a run through so that you're familiar with the text itself, we'll look at two simple principles and applications. So, let's start!

Verse 2, Paul says, "Make room in your hearts for us."

Paul has always been communicating his love for them. And he is writing that, "Please love us in return, receive us in return."
This is what he had already spoken of in chapter 6 and verse 13. "In return (I speak as to children), I'm your spiritual father, I begot you in the Gospel. So I ask you also to receive me, widen your hearts." [2 Cor 6:13]

"You see, we have wrong no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. We have always conducted our life and ministry with integrity, there has been no reproach, we are blameless. Some of the false teachers may accuse us, and you may be tempted to believe that but we certify before you that we have wronged no one, we have accused no one, we have wronged ... we have done nothing of disrepute."

"I do not say this to condemn you [I'm not trying to make you feel bad. But I] for I said before that you are in our hearts, [we love you, to such a degree that our lives are inescapably intertwined with yours], to die together and to live together." [2 Cor 7:3] "So I assure you what I have written to you is not to make you look bad, but that we love you."

"I'm acting with great boldness towards you ..." [2 Cor 7:4]

The word 'great boldness' means ... it's a singular word in the Greek which means the freedom of speech. "We ... we speak freely towards, huh, because we know that you are for us. "... I have great pride in you." [2 Cor 7:4] The word there is to boast or to glory in you. "I'm filled with comfort, in all our affliction, I'm overflowing with joy." [2 Cor 7:4] "Hearing what Titus had said about you guys, we are comforted, we are overflowing with joy."

"For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn, fighting without and fear within." [2 Cor 7:5]

Now Paul says, "When we came into Macedonia ..." This is for those who are a little bit more interested in the structure of 2nd Corinthians. This verse is a resumption of the travelogue or the details of Paul's travel plans, that was cut short or kind of paused in chapter 2, verse 13. So we kind of rejoin his travelogue, in chapter 7, verse 5. Because chapter 2:14 to chapter 7, verse 4, these five chapters almost is a kind of diversion, a kind of er ... explanation or defense of Paul's apostolic ministry.

So in chapter 7, verse 5, we rejoin his travelogue. He says, "When we came into Macedonia, [we were not having an easy time, we were tired], we were afflicted at every turn. We had concerns outside and concerns within."

"But even though we had so many problems and issues to wrestle with, we were not overwhelmed. We had joy, we had comfort," "Because God who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not just because Titus came, but also by the comfort that Titus himself received from you, as he told us of your, if I may say, repentance. To hear of your longing for Paul, you're mourning over your sin, your zeal in making things right, so that now I rejoiced still more." [2 Cor 7:6-7]

So Paul is saying, "We had many issues — trouble, struggles in Macedonia, but all that is swallowed up with joy, as we hear of your turning back to us." He goes on to say, "For even if I made you grief with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it for I see that, that letter grieved you, though only for a while." [2 Cor 7:8]

You say, "What is this talking about?" Er, in simple terms, Paul is saying, "I'm quite sad that the grievous letter I wrote to you made you sad for a while. But on the other hand, I'm not absolutely sad, because though it made you sad for a while, it made you sad for a better thing, it made you sad into something that is far better."

And what is that far better thing? "As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved. [I'm not sadistic, huh,] but because you were grieved into repenting." [2 Cor 7:9]

"That's the good stuff! I'm glad that painful letter had a good effect." "It led you into repentance, because you felt a godly grief. A grief that pleases God, a grief that is in the will of God, a grief, that God is delighted in, so that you suffered no loss through us." [2 Cor 7:9]

"So that as you repent, you did not lose out on anything." What do you mean by that? "Because godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret." [2 Cor 7:10] Meaning leads to salvation, which is a good thing! This repentant practice and indeed lifestyle is the best evidence of someone who receives salvation at the end of his life.

"Whereas there's a kind of worldly grief that produces nothing, that does not lead to salvation, and that which actually just produces death." [2 Cor 7:10]

We're going to look at that a little bit more later on. "For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you ..." [2 Cor 7:11]

"Look at the way you deal with your sin now, wonderful repentance. The word, "earnestness" is the word 'spoudē' in the Greek, which we are maybe more familiar with the swimming brand - Speedo. It is a word that describes energy, diligence, earnestness, look at the way you do not just slacken, but you earnestly diligently acted to correct yourself, to repent.

"Look at your indignation, your anger towards that sin. Look at the fear, probably the fear of God, look at what longing to make things right." [2 Cor 7:11] Your zeal, zēlos, which is a word that refers to passion or heat or fervor.

"What punishment! (That is the vengeance and punishment that is inflicted towards sin) At every point, you have proved yourself innocent or pure, or clean in this matter." [2 Cor 7:11]

So clearly, the idea here is Paul rejoicing in how they have turned around, grieved over their sin, made things right biblically.

"So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong ...) [2 Cor 7:12] So obviously, there's someone who kind of opposed Paul probably, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, probably himself, "... but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God." [2 Cor 7:12] "I wrote this so that you can properly repent, so that you can properly relate yourself, conduct yourself before God."

"Therefore we are comforted, (comforted by your repentance, your humility in doing so, your diligence in doing so, your fear of God in doing so.) And besides our own comfort, we rejoice still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all." [2 Cor 7:13] "I just am so happy to see Titus also being comforted by you, in your repentance."

"For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame." [2 Cor 7:14] "I'm so glad that when I said to Titus, go look at how are the Corinthians will be, I believe they will turn out well, they will turn out right. I'm glad that my boast made to him is not in vain. It was not put to shame."

"But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true." [2 Cor 7:14]

"And his affection for you is even greater. Now that he sees your humble, repentant heart, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received them with fear and trembling. I rejoice because I have complete confidence in you." [2 Cor 7:15-16]

A kind of throwback to verses 2 to 4 about that boldness of speech and that joy. So this kind of brackets the whole passage up together. And I think this is about good grief, huh, a good kind of sorrowing that leads to repentance. And it is this sincere repentance that gives us a joyful reconciliation in this story.

Just as I remind you of verses 9 to 10, the idea of repentance and in verses 2 to 16 the idea of comfort and joy. So that in a nutshell is a 10 minute rundown of these verses. But let me now pause in two different highlights, that I picked up in this passage.

[1] True Repentance
Number one, we really need to appreciate this text, and learn what true repentance looks like.

I want to say, repentance is a word that or a vocabulary word in the vocabulary that is very much missing in modern churches today, which is absolutely tragic and sad. It is a very important part of the Christian life, and I think it's a very important part for anyone who wants to know Christ and who wants to be a Christian. But what is true repentance?

A story is told of a drunkard, an alcoholic. He was drunk all night and when he woke up, he saw that his wife and his kids have left. He saw this crate of beer that he was drinking from, he knew that was the problem. He brought that crate out of his house, and he took out the bottles one by one to smash it on the walls.

He took the first empty bottle, he smashed it on the wall and says, "It is all your fault, you made me lose my wife." He took the second bottle, he smashed it on the wall, "It is ... it is all your fault, you made me lose my job." He took the third bottle, he smashed it against the wall and says, "It is all your fault, you made me lose my kids." He took up the fourth bottle and realized it was half full. And he said to the bottle, "You stand there, I know you have nothing to do with this."

What is true repentance? It's a missing word in Christian vocabulary, but it is such a vital word. And even if you use the word 'repent' or hear the word 'repent', maybe you do not have a crystal clear understanding of it, I hope to serve you in helping you somewhat there.

To me, repentance is defined, I love definitions because they're short. They're concise, but yet they're supposed to be capturing the essence of the doctrine. I think the definition of repentance is — recognizing and grieving over one's sin, forsaking it and turning to God.

There are several elements you would recognize, there's an element of recognition, there's an element of remorse, there's a ... there's an element of reformation or doing or restitution doing what is right. But maybe an easier way for you to understand repentance is to see in its three dimensional effects or elements.

[A] Intellectual
Number one, there must be an intellectual element.

You cannot repent if you do not recognize or you do not know or you do not want to face up to your sin. Repentance requires a knowledge, a recognition and acceptance at least in your head, that you have done wrong, you have sinned against God.

So the Greek word for the word 'repentance' is the word metanoia, which means a change of mind. Maybe you used to excuse sin, maybe you used to say, "That is not such a bad thing!" Maybe you used to say, "As long as I'm not caught, why can't I do this!" But someone who is repentant is someone who looks at that sin and says, "Oh, that is offensive to God! Oh, that is wrong! Oh, that must not be what I am associated with!"

That is what repentance means, a change of mind with regard to sin. However, this is not something everybody believes today. In fact, this is not what even pastors may preach today. Let me share a clip with you and I'll share more in a while. Take a look.

Video Clip of Joseph Prince:
You know the word repentance, like Joel said, is from the Greek word, "metanoia", which literally means change your mind. And every time like Joe or me preaching the word without using the word 'repentance' sometimes, but people's minds have been changed all the time. From thinking this way negatively to thinking positively.

Now after this portion, there's another guy who's coming up to explain what he has just said. So I will say instead of that guy say that's why it's cut here. Alright, But the point here is this, Joseph Prince was right to say repentance in the Greek is metanoia. He's also right to say that the word 'metanoia' means a change of mind.

But I think this is where it is not accurate. The change of mind is not changing from thinking negatively to thinking positively. If you listen to what he said, then you may assume a repentant person is someone who decides to join the Optimist Club, who decides now to say, "I'm going to look at the sunny side of things." Who decides to say, "I ... I don't want to think negative depressive, anxious self-loathing thoughts. I'm going to think about positive things."

That may be what you walk away with but that is furthest from the truth. Because when the Bible talks about repentance, it is not changing from a negative mindset to a positive mindset. It is changing from a mindset that excuses myself of my sin to someone who agrees with God with regard to my sin, and my sinfulness.

Now, let me give you a little bit more background as to perhaps why Joseph Prince would say what he says. He's author of some books, but let me quote you, by the way, if you do not do not already know, he's the pastor of the biggest church, I think, numerically speaking, er, local church here in Singapore, thirty over thousand, I think.

But he did share why he is not so keen on telling people to recognize sin or even to confess sin. He said, this is available on his website, "The constant unceasing confession of my sins made me extremely sin-conscious. I became so aware of and troubled by every negative thought that I believe there was no more forgiveness for my sins. I even began to believe that I had lost my salvation and was going to hell. The enemy took advantage of my obsession with needing to confess every sin and placed me under constant condemnation."

So apparently, as he was growing up as a Christian, he kind of thought that a Christian must confess every known sin or every sin, because if you don't, then you may not be saved. Now here, I agree with him, in that our salvation is not secured nor maintained, because we confess all our sins. We are not saved because we confess all our sins, we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.

We are saved because Jesus paid for me on the cross. He paid not just for my past sins, He paid for my past, present and future sins. So it's not as if I believe in Jesus Christ, all my past sins are forgiven. From now on, I need to keep confessing, confessing, confessing, confessing until I get to heaven, then I'm saved. No! The Bible doesn't teach that you are secured in your salvation with your confession of sin. So in that sense, I agree with him.

But this is where I think he went extreme or went beyond or went wrong. Because in his book, "Unmerited Grace or Favor", he says, "Whenever we fail today, there is no power in confessing our sins, but there is power in confessing our righteousness in Christ."

In effect, he's saying, "When you sin, you should not confess your sins, it's not useful, it's not helpful. You do not need to confess your sins in order to be saved," he says. "So don't do that, instead, you confess your righteousness in Christ." So when you sin, just say, "I'm righteous in Jesus. Don't feel condemned about self, I'm righteous in Jesus. Don't be sin-conscious, be righteousness-conscious."

In fact, he would say this explicitly, "Instead of being sin-conscious, become righteousness-conscious." And it becomes even more explicit, "Jesus wants you to have no more consciousness of your sins." So, because he suffered, growing up theologically, with that legalistic mindset that it is the regular, extreme confession of sin that secures your salvation, he swings to the other extent to say, "No, no need to confess your sin, in whatever circumstances, just confess your righteousness in Christ."

But you see, that's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says, David himself, he's a Christian, David is a believer, David is a child of God. David says, "I acknowledged my sin to You, I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin."' [Ps 32:5] David did not say, "I don't want to be sin-conscious." David says, "I want to know my sin. I want to acknowledge my sin. I want to agree with you God that I have sinned."

You see, my two sons, they irritate and anger Winnie and I all the time, and sometimes very grievously so. But no matter what they do, I will always love them as my sons. No matter what they do, that relationship will never change, but our intimacy may not be the same.

You know, those days where Shawn was hard-headed, defiant and stubborn, we did not talk much. Now, he's still my son, I love him as my son. But how can I endorse his defiance by hee hee, hah hah hah, it's okay. "No, it's not okay. You are in the wrong, you disobeyed your parents, you were disrespectful. It's not okay. You are my son, our relationship never changes, but our fellowship, our communion, our intimacy is not quite the same."

David experienced the misery of his life, when he knows that there's unconfessed sins. Oh, it is so important to acknowledge our sins before God our Father! He's not blind, you know! He's not blur! He doesn't just say, "Okay lah, okay lah! I know you pretend there's nothing going on, let's all play the pretend game." No, God does not play the pretend game! He wants you to grow, He wants you to be more holy. And the first step is when you acknowledge, "I have, I've wronged You, God, I've sinned against You." And if you're not willing to do that, how can you have intimacy with God?

And that's why Paul wrote what he wrote, he wanted them to clear themselves of sin, he doesn't want them to carry on in their sinful behavior. Deal with your sin.

Suppose a man, suppose you have an infected leg, flesh eating streptococcus, flesh eating bacteria. Wah, really terrible pain, and you will lose your leg, and if you do not do anything with it, the bacteria will spread outwards and it will kill you. You go to the doctor and the doctor says to you, "You better acknowledge that this is a severe problem, and if necessary, we will need to chop off your leg to save your life."

But you said to the doctor, "No, no, I don't want. I don't want, just give me morphine, just inject me with the opiates, so that I feel good. And regardless of how severe the infection is, I just want to feel good, I want to confess my feeling good in the opioids." You can feel good for all you want, but one day the bacteria will soon eat you up, and you'll be no more.

You know, when you tell people don't have to acknowledge your sin, don't have to be sin-conscious, don't have to confess your sin, don't have to repent, just confess your righteousness in Jesus, you're allowing the cancer of sin to eat your life up, and rob you of true intimacy with God. I think this is extreme and it's dangerous.

Repentance is one of the most important teachings of Scripture, because God is holy and we are not. Repentance is recognizing and grieving over one's sin, forsaking it and turning to God. There must be that acknowledgement. There must be that facing up to it.

[B] Emotional
Secondly, repentance has not just an intellectual component, I think there's also an emotional component, there must be a grieving, a sorrowing over sin.

Now again, let me go to Joseph Prince. He says, this is from his other book, Destined to Reign, pg 233-234. "By the way, for all of you who feel that there should be more preaching on repentance, do you know what the word 'repent' means in the first place? The word 'repent' is the Greek word, "metanoia", which according to Thayer's Greek Lexicon [kind of dictionary, as it were,] simply means to change one's mind ..."

I agree, it means to change one's mind, but he goes on to say, "... But because we have been influenced by our denominational background, as well as our own religious upbringing, many of us have the impression that repentance is something that involves mourning and sorrow. However, that is not what the Word of God says. Repentance just means changing your mind."

So he is backing up his claim, repentance is thinking negatively, change to thinking positively. There is no sorrow or mourning that is required of you. That is the key to effortless success, wholeness. That's his packaging, that's his marketing!

But when we look at a text like 2nd Corinthians 7:9, we see that it is grieving that leads us into repentance. In a sense, it's not quite repentance, but it leads up to repentance, and it is part I think of the process of getting right with God. There will be that mourning, there must be that mourning, there must be that godly grief involved.

That's what Jesus said in Matthew, chapter 5, "Blessed are those who mourn." "Oh, don't have to mourn, mourning and sorrowing is a bad thing!" No, it's a good thing! Jesus said it's a good thing. You're not cursed if you're mourning, but of course, mourn for the right thing ah, I don't mourn for the stock price dropped, whatever.

But blessed are those who mourn over what? The context I think is mourn over their spiritual bankruptcy because that's what verse 3 says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Blessed are those who recognize that they are spiritual bankrupts. Blessed are those who recognize that they are paupers spiritually before God. They are sinners, and therefore they mourn for their sin. It's a right thing, it's a good thing, it's a wholesome thing, to mourn over your sins. Don't just stop there, but forsake it and turn to God and there will be comfort, but there is a necessary journey towards it.

[C] Practical
Repentance has an intellectual component, recognizing has an emotional component, grieving and finally, there is a practical component, and that is forsaking it and turning to God.

A teacher asks a Sunday school class, "What is repentance?" A ... a boy raises his hand and says, "Teacher I know, repentance is being sorry for my sin." Teacher said, "Very good, you got the right answer." And then another girl says, "But teacher ... teacher, no, no, no, repentance is being sorry for your sin ... sin enough to quit." And she got it even better, isn't it? Being sorry over your sin enough to quit. There is that forsaking of sin in true repentance.

John the Baptist, when he was preaching repentance said, "Bear fruits in keeping with repentance." [Luke 3:8]

The Jews were saying to themselves, "Why bother to repent? Huh, why do we need to, because our father is Abraham, we are his physical descendants, and God will bless us simply because we are of the line of Abraham." John says, "Nope! You got to repent, and true repentance will manifest fruits."

Some of them then asked, "What do you mean by fruits? What do you mean by forsaking sin?" "Tax collectors came and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more than you're authorized to do." [Luke 3:12-13] Forsake that which you have been doing which is wrong. Stop it! Forsake it if you're truly repentant. "If you acknowledge your sin, you grieve over it, you will stop it."

He says likewise to the soldiers who asked, "What shall we do?" "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusations and be content with your wages." [Luke 3:14]

And likewise, in 2nd Corinthians 7:10, we see that kind of attitude and posturing towards the clearing of sin. Corinthians, chapter 7, likewise, "Producing a repentance." There must be that turning away from sin, and this turning away from sin, leads to salvation.

That's the mark of those who are God's people! There is a lifestyle of acknowledgement, sorrow, and forsaking, over and over and over again in our lives. If you're truly God's child, there will be that pattern and lifestyle and cycle of repentance. That leads to salvation, not that you earn it, but you evidence it. This is salvation without regret, this is what is good.

Whereas there's another, another kind of grief called worldly grief. I think this is a grief, that is about acknowledging and grieving, but without forsaking. It does not lead you to turn to God, because you're just sorry about it, but you don't turn. Maybe the best example would be Judas Iscariot. He was grieved, he was sorry, he betrayed Jesus, but he never turned back to Jesus. He never forsook his ways, and this leads to death. It does not lead one to salvation and to life.

So true repentance will together with it, bring along deeds in keeping with repentance. [Acts 26:20]

So in a nutshell, what am I saying? I hope today you see, repentance is recognizing and grieving over one's sin, forsaking it and turning to God. With the required three dimensions, I think that's what full repentance would look like.

And I pray as a church, we will be a people who regularly repent, and we will be a people who regularly help others repent, because that's the path to intimacy with God. That's the path to holiness and righteous living. There's no other way! You can't just shoot yourself with morphine — righteousness in Jesus. Well, you got to recognize we can be forgiven in Jesus, but there is a necessary pathway towards it, as well.

I know there are some of you, many of you who may not understand what I've been saying so far. You're not a Christian, this is the first time you're in church. But I think maybe if you can say something, "Okay, this guy has been talking about repent, repent, repent, repent." I hope you do and in repentance, we see that this is what is needed for the Kingdom of God.

If you're not a Christian, and you want to explore the Christian faith, one of the most important words for you to explore is the word 'repent'. Because Jesus, when He was on earth, said and preached, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand." [Mark 1:15]

In other words, the time for God's judgment is near. What do you do? Repent! Repent and believe the Gospel! The Gospel is the Good News of Jesus Christ, dying to save us from our sins. But before you believe in Jesus, you got to know that you are a sinner. You got to know that you are not right with God, you've got to know that God will judge you for your sin, and God hates sin. So you need to repent, to acknowledge your sin, grieve over it, and to say, "I'm going to stop this because I want to be right with God."

So if you're here today, this morning, maybe this is not a word you face, or you hear often times, but I hope this is a word that you will at least think about. God is holy, I'm not, He has offered a payment for our sin, He has offered through Jesus Christ forgiveness so that we may be reconciled with God. But we need to first acknowledge our wrong, we need to recognize that we are sinful, we need to be willing to forsake our sin, then we can trust in Jesus Christ, that we may be reconciled with God.

[2] Reconciliation
I said there are two things to cover, much of the time has been given to repentance. But secondly and lastly, I want to talk about reconciliation.

This text is about how that sincere repentance was necessary for a joyful reconciliation. Conflicts are inevitable when they are people, don't you think? And conflicts happen also in the church. We may look very nice here, huh, we may all look very decent, we may all look very cordial, but when we get in community and by the way, God calls us to live in Christian community, to be involved and engaged in people's lives, brothers and sisters lives.

Once we get engaged and involved in lives, then we realize that it's not so easy. There will be conflicts, there will be friction, there'll be unhappiness, there will be offence. And when conflicts happen, you know what it feels like. It feels like a great load is on your life. Any one of you who have been a Christian long enough would know that it's extremely difficult to deal with conflict with brothers and sisters in Christ.

You almost feel like you cannot see him. When he comes for first service, you come second service. If he goes down by the staircase, you will go for this one. You just want to avoid! If he's queuing at that line you just wait, let him queue first then later you go. You just want to avoid because it's such a gao wei, you know Hokkien word gao wei. So uncomfortable, and it feels so heavy, it weighs you down. It grinds at you. It eats you up on the inside. It's not a happy feeling.

And you know what happens after a while? You get so tired, you get so exhausted, you just want to walk out. You just want to leave. You leave the CG, you leave the church, some even leave the faith, don't go to church anymore. Totally disillusioned because they are irritating people around you.

By the way, you're also irritating, because I'm also very irritating. All of us are irritating, otherwise the Bible won't, as I always say, if we are not irritating, the Bible won't have to give these commands such as — bear with one another.

Right? Ephesians. What is bear? Tahan lah, please tahan! Tahan with one another, because very 'bei tahan', I know, a lot of people 'bei tahan' but you still to tahan, because that's what the Gospel is all about! That we have to live our lives of love when people are unlovely. If people are lovely, no need to command you anymore.

And by the way, if you really want to live in a world where everybody is perfect and nice and quiet, you just go to Choa Chu Kang and die there first! No conflict, very peaceful, but as long as people are alive, and as long as you are alive, conflicts are inevitable.

And that is why it is so important for us to understand how Paul deals with conflict. Most people take the option of walking out because it's the easiest thing to do. You don't have to deal with it anymore. Just walk! We say in Chinese 拍拍屁股就走了 [pāi pāi pì gu jiù zǒu le]. Yaya papaya walk out.

Now of course, I'm ... I'm sure you don't walk out with a yaya papaya attitude, but you just walk away, and what happens is that you will leave a trail of mess for others who are staying behind to clean up. I think actually it's not biblical, I think actually it's cowardly. People walk out of friendships, fellowships, marriages, church, because conflicts are difficult to deal with.

The apostle Paul faced severe rejection from the people, from his own spiritual children he has begotten in the Gospel. They say all kinds of I, if I may say very unkind things to him, "Paul, you're ... you're such a small, puny guy, your bodily presence is weak. You don't speak well, your speech is contemptible. Paul, you don't have letters of credentials. Who do you think you are? Paul, you don't do as many miracles like the false teachers do. Paul, you ... you suffer way too much, you're very chi cham [pitiful in Hokkien dialect], I don't think you're a child of God, you're the servant of God. Paul, you're not reliable!"

They point fingers at him. Paul could have easily said, "Okay, you don't want sua [considered it done in Hokkien dialect]. I ... I walk, I go away, many churches to go, to the Thessalonica church, the Colossae church, so many people I can serve, I don't need to serve you."

You know, he could have done that, but he never did that. He visited them, he wrote to them, he sent Titus to them. He ... he wrote things like "Our hearts are enlarged towards you." He wrote 2nd Corinthians like a father, like a spiritual father would to his children, he never gave up on them. He dealt with that conflict in the most loving and patient way possible.

And I think we can take a leaf from Paul. I see people leave church, for all kinds of reasons. But maybe the most common reason is because, "I cannot agree with him. I don't like him. He said this, they did that." And you poof, joining another church. I tell you what, it will not be long before you also find that there is a similar repeat of the kind of people you met in your previous church, and then you move on to the next church.

When the Bible says, "We are strangers and pilgrims on earth," it is not journeying from church to church, okay, please, please get that right. If God has called you to a local church, to a local body of believers, I think church loyalty and recognizing that we have a part in this body is very important, as well.

I say together with Peter, "The end of all things is at hand. Therefore be self-controlled, sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly." [1 Peter 4:7-8]

Instead of quitting, instead of throwing in the towel, instead of saying, "I'll never look at you again. Don't see you. You walk there, I walk here." The Bible says, "Keep loving one another earnestly." The word 'earnest' in the Greek means to stretch out. You know, it's the idea of an athlete like in 100 meter dash, where he's near the finishing line, what does he do? Some of them jump, I've seen those that siow [crazy in Hokkien dialect] one, jump know. They stretch out, they put in every effort. That's the idea! Love one another with every effort stretching all your sinews to do it. Paul did that and I hope to the best we can, we will do that.

"Since love covers a multitude of sins." [1 Peter 4:8] Obviously, there will be many offenses amongst one another, but it takes a lot of love to cover that up, not to have a cover-up job, but not to bring it up and to allow this to ruin a biblical Christian relationship.

Jesus before He would go to the cross, told His disciples, "Love one another because that's the way the world would know you are My disciples." [John 13:34-35]

I pray Gospel Light will be a church marked by love. Love, not just when things are easy, things are rosy, things are nice, like church camp, but when things are difficult, when people are difficult, when harsh words are being exchanged, when unkind things are being said, we would say Lord, "Because of your sake, because of the blood of Jesus Christ, because we're all called to the same family, we are brothers and sisters. Give us that love to love one another and to cover that multitude of sins. Give me grace, not to walk away, but to cast my cares and burdens upon You, and to do that which is right."

The world today is divided up, because that's what we all do. We are selfish, we are sectarian, but you know what Jesus is doing? He's removing boundaries, there's no more Jews or Gentiles, Greek or barbarians, male or female, born or free, but we are one in Christ. I pray we will be a church that would erase the unnecessary boundaries between us.

May we learn from Paul today, just a short passage, but may we learn sincere repentance and be always in this lifestyle of repentance. And may we be a people who will work hard at reconciliation. There'll be ... there'll be differences, divisions, but let's work to heal all of that with the love of Christ.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

Maybe this is a day that you're reminded about your sin. Maybe you're not willing, or maybe you do not find yourself the ability to come clean before God. I say to you, it is unnecessary to hide. And indeed it is impossible to hide. But the promise holds true that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It is not that you will lose your salvation if you do not confess, but you will gain that intimacy with God if you do.

And I pray today that we would be honest and sincere before our God, that if there be something between our Savior and us, because we're stubborn and defiant, rebellious toward Him, we would today soften our hearts, humble ourselves and say, "Lord, I acknowledge my sin, I confess my iniquity. Cleanse me, forgive me as I seek by Your grace to forsake sin, and to turn to You."

Dear church, may this be a day you will rejoice in the love of God. And the goodness of God will lead you to true repentance. To my friends who are here, guests who are here, the way to the Christian life, the way to forgiveness is not that you do good and earn your way to God. No! Because Jesus paid it all, but the right relationship with Jesus requires repentance and faith. Requires an acknowledgement and grieving over our sin and a willingness to say no to sin, so that we may hold on to God because God is holy, and we cannot hold on to God and sin at the same time. And if you want to be saved today, just as Jesus declared in His days, "Repent and believe the Gospel," believe Jesus died and rose again, to save you from your sins.

And to my brothers and sisters, maybe you're worn down today by conflicts, unhappiness and you're tempted to quit, you're tempted to walk out. Ask God today for love, love to cover a multitude of sins. Love to love one another fervently with, don't give up on one another, don't give up on the body of Christ. Reconcile for Jesus' sake!

So Father, we thank You this morning for Your Word. Bless Your church, bless Your people may all walk in joy and repentance and obedience. Heal the fractions and the fractures in this body. Grant Your people grace to be leading repentance cycles in our lives. Thank You, we pray all this in Jesus' Name. Amen.


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