THE SORROW THAT WORKETH LIFE by Rev. Geo. C. Lockridge

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 3, 1881

THE SORROW THAT WORKETH LIFE.

By Rev. Geo. C. Lockridge

SORROW and repentance are two words which are too often assumed to mean one and the same thing. But the fact that a man has been brought to sorrow by some crime is not proof of repentance of that crime. That men are made to sorrow by their sinful lives is not proof of their genuine repentance. Hence we see the necessity for clear definitions.

Paul sets this forth in a definite form in his second letter to the Corinthians. We see in his exposition of the subject that sorrow in itself is not good. It is not an end to be sought, but it must produce a definite result to be beneficial. He had written to them in a way to cause them grief so great that at one time he repented of the act. But upon hearing of the kind of sorrow his letter had caused, and the fruits—genuine repentance, real reformation—which it had brought forth, his sorrow changed to joy. "Now I rejoice," he says, "not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance; for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing." Then follows one of Paul's clear definitions: "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of; but the sorrow of the world worketh death."

The secret lies in this sentence. There are two kinds of sorrow—godly sorrow and worldly sorrow—with these results: the one death, the other life, complete, eternal; the one the loss of all, the other full salvation.

Sorrow is grief of mind. It may, however, have various causes and produce different results. It may result from our own action or from the action of others; from injury done or received. We thus find these sorrows specifically different. Sorrow results, in a final analysis, from sin; but men take radically differing views of sin. Hence there follows the different nature of their sorrow. Robertson says, "There are two views of sin: in one it is looked upon as wrong; in the other, as producing loss—loss, for example, of character. In such cases, if character could be preserved before the world, grief would not come; but the paroxysms of misery fall upon our proud spirit when our guilt is made public. The most distinct instance we have of this is in the life of Saul. In the midst of its apparent grief, the thing still uppermost was, that he had forfeited his kingly character; almost the only longing was, that Samuel should honor him before his people. And hence it comes to pass, that often remorse and anguish only begin with exposure."

With such men it is not hatred and loathing of sin because of what it is, but simply because it has come to the ears of friends or the world.

A Christian man went on a friendly visit into a prison, and found there a bright, intelligent, promising young man, who was committed for a first offense. He was in great grief at his condition. "Oh! if I had only known this, I would have done differently," he said. "I am so sorry." "But why are you sorry? Is it because you have committed the crime, or because your crime has been found out? Be honest with me and before God, and answer truthfully." He answered, "I never thought of it in that way. I am sorry because I am here." The exposure, the loss of good name—these were the occasion of his sorrow; not sorrow for sin, but for the exposure. It was the sorrow of the world.

But godly sorrow is different. Here there is genuine sorrow for sin. Guilt upon the soul, offense against an ever merciful and beneficent God;—these bring the grief. The consequences, such as suffering and loss, following the sin, are of less importance. This sorrow has that in it which results in good to the one exercised thereby; it is fraught with blessings, not simply pain and grief which results only in greater misery, and finally death.

This is godly sorrow, or, as the margin reads, sorrowing "according to God." It brings into the same feelings and views regarding sin that God has. Robertson says, again, "God sees sin not in its consequences, but in itself;—a thing infinitely evil, even if the consequences were happiness to the guilty instead of misery. So sorrow, according to God, is to see sin as God sees it."

The grief of Peter was as bitter as that of Judas. He went out and wept bitterly; how bitterly none can tell but they who have learned to look on sin as God does. But in Peter's grief there was an element of hope, and that sprung precisely from this—that he saw God in it all. Despair of self did not lead to despair of God." He viewed the vehement denial of his greatest friend, whom he had but a few hours before just as vehemently assured he would be faithful unto death, though all others forsook—the impetuous rage, the superfluous cursing and swearing—all this he looked upon as sin, just as Jesus himself saw it to be, as he turned upon him that look which brought Peter to himself again.

Judas' case is more difficult. Still we may say it is the consequences of his crime which he sees, not the crime itself. It is the result which overwhelms him. He turns his view toward himself, not toward God. The end—remorse, despair, death. Thus ends worldly sorrow. Not so the sorrow of Peter and the sorrow of the Corinthians. Theirs brings repentance, and repentance results in salvation. And now one more definition. Sorrow is not repentance, but godly sorrow produces it. Sorrow is turning from sin to God. Sorrow brings hatred of sin, but repentance forsakes it, flees from, renounces it once and for ever. The eloquent preacher whom we have already quoted says on this point, "By repentance is meant, in Scripture, change of life, alteration of habits, renewal of heart. This is

the aim and meaning of all sorrow. The consequences of sin are meant to wean from sin. The penalty annexed to it is, in the first instance, corrective, not penal. Fire burns the child, to teach it one of the truths of this universe—the property of fire to burn. ... The moral lessons contained in the penalties annexed to wrong-doing are just as truly intended, though they are by no means so unerring in enforcing their application." "On the first occasion they are simply corrective; in every succeeding one they assume more and more a penal character, in proportion as the conscience carries with them the sense of ill desert." And just so far as this divine voice, conscience, is heard and heeded, and followed, just so far does sorrow bring forth its appropriate fruits—repentance unto life; but when disregarded, sorrow unto death.

Let us not be deceived. We must not be satisfied when our sins have caused us pain, when they have brought us into sorrow. Have we turned from them? Is our life changed, our heart renewed? Or do we find ourselves, after our sorrow, doing the same things again? Thus we see how necessary it is to be clear in our definitions as teachers, and sure of our ground as students. We cannot afford to be wrong upon the vital truths of the gospel.—Rev. Geo. C. Lockridge.