Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / October 8, 2023 | 2 Corinthians - The Joy of the Gospel in Ministry

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October 8, 2023 | 2 Corinthians - The Joy of the Gospel in Ministry · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Good morning, Topeka Bible Church.
0:02
SPEAKER_00: It's great to see you guys today.
0:04
SPEAKER_00: Awesome to worship with you, whether you're here in the room or watching online or over at the cab.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
0:11
SPEAKER_00: Welcome.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: My name is Scott DeSanders.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: I am the discipleship pastor at Parkway Bible Church down in Austin, Texas.
0:19
SPEAKER_00: I also had the honor and privilege to get to be here at TBC for seven years up until about 2015.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: And it's such a wonderful, beautiful thing to be back on site today.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: This is a place where the Lord has accomplished so many incredible things for so many years, including in my own life.
0:41
SPEAKER_00: My family got to join me for this visit, which has been really fun.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: Here's a picture of them, my family.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: This is my wife Yvonne, my boys Gray and Wes, and we're having a real blast this weekend, introducing them to people, showing them a place that's meant so much to us, and also letting people meet them that have prayed for them for many years and across a distance.
1:03
SPEAKER_00: So today we are continuing this 2 Corinthians series where we're following Paul's correspondence with the church in Corinth, right?
1:13
SPEAKER_00: As you've already heard, this is the second officially recorded letter from Paul to the church.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: There was this earlier one dealing with many practical issues of ministry, and now Paul is writing in 2 Corinthians even more personally, and he's defending himself in multiple ways with objections or questions about his travel plans, his choices, his previous instruction, and even rebuke, and his general reinforcement of his relationship with the Corinthian church, as well as his pastoral heart for them.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: I would say it's interesting, this exact spot, right in the middle of 2 Corinthians, still towards the beginning, but it's like Paul is taking a breath today in chapter 2, in the middle of explaining all of his choices and qualifying his visiting and writing of the Corinthians.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: And today we're gonna see he's branching off.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: It's like he's going off-road into an excursus that ends up lasting for multiple chapters, all the way up into chapter seven.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: And only then is he gonna appear to pull himself right back into his train of thought, almost like an as I was saying, dot, dot, dot.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: But today we're going off-road.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: So through this side trail, Paul is gonna wax philosophically for a bit.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna go further and further into the magnificence and the beauty of ministry of the gospel that you and I have benefited from.
2:38
SPEAKER_00: And you're gonna see today and continuing next week and beyond, more and more Paul is going to start talking more about the joy and privilege that we are all invited into the saving work of the gospel, and that Jesus is calling us to join in the big picture work of ministry, sharing the gospel with others and helping others to follow Jesus.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you guys, when I was a new believer in high school, I remember being taught how to share the gospel for the first time, how to share my faith.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: There was this beach trip where we went out to Florida and we were unleashed to try to approach strangers and strike up conversations about Jesus, trying to help them understand their need for the gospel.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: Y'all, I used to get so anxious.
3:23
SPEAKER_00: I remember watching one of our student leaders, he was a seminary student named Jim, and he was so confident about his faith.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: He so easily initiated conversations that over and over and over again ended up with people praying to receive the gospel.
3:39
SPEAKER_00: And I marveled at this.
3:41
SPEAKER_00: But anytime I tried to follow in that example, I would get paralyzed with fear and anxiety.
3:47
SPEAKER_00: Anyone else ever felt this way?
3:50
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're aware that we as beneficiaries of God's grace, we really owe it to those around us who are living apart from Christ to pay it forward.
4:01
SPEAKER_00: We know that we ought to share the truth of what we've experienced of God's love with others that haven't known that yet.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: And yet, when we see and imagine the opportunity to share our faith arising, it turns into stress and anxiety and fear and so much more.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: And the gospel ends up bringing up negative emotions sometimes in us, and we feel it like an intense pressure upon us.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: Is that what God desires for his children?
4:30
SPEAKER_00: Surely not.
4:32
SPEAKER_00: Is that really how the gospel of Jesus should produce fruit in our heads and our hearts?
4:40
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's read God's word today in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, where he says, But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ's triumphal procession, and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others an aroma of life leading to life.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: Who is adequate for these things?
5:12
SPEAKER_00: For we do not market the word of God for profit like so many.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: So in today's passage, Paul counters our way of thinking about the gospel with this negative pressure, not by shaming us or guilting us, not by rebuking us or lecturing us.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: Paul simply shows us the bigger picture.
5:40
SPEAKER_00: He widens the frame and the view so we can see a more beautiful and broad perspective on the magnitude of his gospel that we get to take part in.
5:49
SPEAKER_00: And so my hope for today for all of us is that we would find courage and confidence together as God reminds us of the wonderful, life-changing truth of his gospel of salvation for us and for the world around us.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: So, as we focus in first on verse 14, again he says, But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ's triumphal procession, and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place.
6:18
SPEAKER_00: So the first thing we see here is this transition phrase, but thanks be to God.
6:22
SPEAKER_00: And I would say this helps Paul to venture a little bit off the pavement in this argument as he goes off-road, as he transitions away from his itinerary in visiting Corinth, and immediately it sets the tone for all the verses to come.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: He locks our eyes and our attention directly unto God, the sovereign creator, the designer of our plans, the guide to our steps, and the author of our salvation.
6:49
SPEAKER_00: He alone is praiseworthy over all things.
6:53
SPEAKER_00: He alone deserves honor and glory.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: What for?
6:57
SPEAKER_00: We haven't said what quite yet.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: We're about to, but this phrase sets the tone and the foundation for what's to come, beginning our passage with a strong declaration of praise and thanksgiving.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: And then Paul becomes a bit of a storyteller.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: He paints a picture for us through some pretty epic imagery of a citywide celebration, a celebration of the gospel, one that everyone is attending together.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: You don't want to miss this kind of party.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: And I think it's important to notice this isn't something static in one place.
7:32
SPEAKER_00: It's not like the Times Square New Year's Eve party in New York City.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: This is a procession.
7:38
SPEAKER_00: It's a party on the move, right?
7:40
SPEAKER_00: Last week I got stuck on the way to work waiting on a really long funeral procession to pass by.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: And I wonder, was that kind of what he's talking about here?
7:48
SPEAKER_00: No.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: Because he said this is triumphant, right?
7:51
SPEAKER_00: Did you catch that?
7:52
SPEAKER_00: The vibe here is celebratory.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: People are cheering.
7:55
SPEAKER_00: The atmosphere is exciting.
7:57
SPEAKER_00: It's probably more along the lines of something like a July 4th parade.
8:01
SPEAKER_00: You guys been to one of those recently, maybe this summer?
8:04
SPEAKER_00: When I was a kid growing up in Dallas, we always went out with our grandma on July 4th.
8:09
SPEAKER_00: She had this old-fashioned surrey.
8:11
SPEAKER_00: You guys know what that is with the fringe on top and everything.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: And I guess maybe because her ride was festive, we would just ride our way right into the parade.
8:21
SPEAKER_00: We wouldn't ask questions or permission.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of how my grandma was.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: Walk around like you own the place and it works out for you.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: But y'all, this parade environment, it's always so festive, so fun, with everyone happy to be there and cheering on the participants, waving and feeling a bit of national pride.
8:41
SPEAKER_00: I bet you that's similar to what Paul is describing here.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: It seems to be the type of picture he's painting when he refers to Christ's triumphal procession.
8:50
SPEAKER_00: And so that leads us to the first of our major points today, which is this Jesus leads the way forward in the certain advancement of the gospel.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: This triumphant procession of Christ, it's all about the advancement of the gospel, the good news about Jesus.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: It celebrates the reality that God is continuing to move forward his greater plan to save his children who are dying because of sin.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: And he is proceeding forward through perfect foreknowledge and through his sovereign hand.
9:24
SPEAKER_00: So this isn't just a chaotic mob of people flooding the streets like after the chiefs one, right?
9:30
SPEAKER_00: So check out this extended description by the author and scholar William Barclay, who connects Paul's imagery with the Roman culture of his day and age of the audience.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: He puts it this way: I love this, y'all.
9:44
SPEAKER_00: He says, in Paul's mind, there's this picture of a Roman triumph and of Christ as a universal conqueror.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: The highest honor which could be given to a victorious Roman general was a triumph.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: Before he could win it, he must satisfy certain conditions.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: He must have been the actual commander in chief in the field.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: The campaign must have been completely finished, the region pacified, and the victorious troops brought home.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: Five thousand of the enemy at least must have fallen in one engagement, and a positive extension of territory must have been gained, not merely a disaster retrieved or an attack repelled.
10:22
SPEAKER_00: And the victory must have been won over a foreign foe, not a civil war.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: So consider those.
10:29
SPEAKER_00: Was Jesus out in the field?
10:30
SPEAKER_00: Of course.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: He suffered personally, firsthand for our sins.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: Is the atoning work of Christ finished?
10:38
SPEAKER_00: Completely?
10:39
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
10:40
SPEAKER_00: Totalist die at the cross, it is finished.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: Did Jesus conquer a sizable enemy?
10:46
SPEAKER_00: Well, how about the entire concept of sin and death?
10:49
SPEAKER_00: Big enough for you?
10:51
SPEAKER_00: Did he extend territory?
10:53
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: He has won back millions and millions of souls.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: And was the victory over a foreign foe?
10:59
SPEAKER_00: Yes, Jesus defeated the dominion of Satan.
11:05
SPEAKER_00: Barclay continues and he says, in an actual triumph, the procession of the victorious general marched through the streets of Rome to the capital in the following order.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: First, there came the state officials in the Senate.
11:17
SPEAKER_00: Then there came the trumpeters.
11:19
SPEAKER_00: Then there were carried the spoils taken from the conquered land.
11:22
SPEAKER_00: For instance, when Titus conquered Jerusalem, the seven-branch candlestick and the golden table of the showbread and the golden trumpets were all carried through the streets of Rome.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: Then there came pictures of the conquered land and models of conquered citadels and ships.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: There followed the white bull for sacrifice which would be made.
11:42
SPEAKER_00: Then there walked the wretched captives, the enemy princes, leaders, and generals in chains, shortly to be flung in prison, and in all probability almost immediately to be executed.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: Then there came the lictors, which were minor judicial officials, bearing their rods, and followed by the musicians with their lyres.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: Then there came the priests swinging their censors with sweet-smelling incense burning in them.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: And then there came the general himself.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: And as the procession moved through the streets, all decorated and garlanded, amid the shouting, cheering crowds, it was a tremendous day, a day which might happen only once in a lifetime.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: That's the picture that's in Paul's mind.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: And isn't that a beautiful picture?
12:29
SPEAKER_00: Thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ's triumphal procession.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: Like a conquering and victorious general, Jesus is the centerpiece of our celebration together, and God is driving that procession forward through the sovereign wisdom of his cosmic plan.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: God's greater plan, it found its pivotal moment at the cross, at the news of the death and resurrection of Jesus, which began in Jerusalem and it moved outward to Judea and Samaria and proceeded to the ends of the earth, and it's still being disseminated and carried across borders and into new territories and people groups, translated into new tongues and communicated across cultural lines, enduring across the centuries and outlasting eras and dynasties extending beyond the lifetimes of millions of faithful men and women participating and carrying it forward.
13:28
SPEAKER_00: And along the entire way, God is bringing more and more people into the knowledge of Jesus.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: More souls are being saved.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: More people are moving from death into life.
13:41
SPEAKER_00: That is worthy of a celebration, right?
13:45
SPEAKER_00: A triumphant procession for the purpose of calling attention to the glory of God and the victory of Jesus over sin and death, and celebrating a new truth, a new status available to God's people through the death of Christ on the cross, we can be redeemed, we can be saved.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: This is why Paul more or less sang a taunting song toward our former enemies back in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, like a victorious fan base chanting at their rivals after a game-winning play.
14:20
SPEAKER_00: He says, Death has been swallowed up in victory.
14:23
SPEAKER_00: Where death is your victory?
14:25
SPEAKER_00: Where death is your sting?
14:27
SPEAKER_00: The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
14:36
SPEAKER_00: Jesus truly has conquered two age-old enemies of mankind.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: Sin, which has had its grip on us since Genesis chapter 3, and death, which has claimed the ultimate end and destination of every man and woman that has ever lived, save some extremely exceptional cases.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: And there is nothing in this world or above or below us that is not under the authority and dominion of Jesus.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: Remember what he told his disciples in the famous upper room discourse when he said, I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: You will have suffering in this world.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: Be courageous.
15:20
SPEAKER_00: I have conquered the world.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of God's glorious gospel, something that makes this triumphal procession so much richer and meaningful is that what accomplished the victory was Christ's willingness to suffer on our behalf.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: It's by his stripes that we are healed, right?
15:48
SPEAKER_00: It's by his obedience that our disobedience is paid for.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: It took him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: That's what accomplished our salvation.
16:01
SPEAKER_00: So there's this divine paradox and the triumph, for the conquering hero had to die in order to achieve the victory.
16:10
SPEAKER_00: He just didn't stay that way very long.
16:14
SPEAKER_00: But I want you guys to consider your place in the midst of this celebratory, triumphant procession.
16:21
SPEAKER_00: Surely some of us are standing on the sidelines, we're cheering things on from the periphery.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: Are you a spectator to the true life that comes from following Jesus?
16:32
SPEAKER_00: Have you been on the outside looking in?
16:34
SPEAKER_00: Considering what this life with God really looks like.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: Well, there's an invitation here to join in the festivities, to merge with the procession and join the global work that God is doing, calling all mankind towards himself.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you're already in the celebration.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've seen yourself as Team Jesus for a long time now.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: You're on his side, you're defending him in battle, loyal and constant and true.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: If so, then let's keep moving forward.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: There is more territory ahead, and Jesus wants to continue the advancement of the gospel with you alongside.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: You want to know where I think I'd be?
17:18
SPEAKER_00: In the procession, that is.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: I see myself in the spoils of war.
17:24
SPEAKER_00: Maybe I'm not a golden piece of furniture, but something a little better than that.
17:28
SPEAKER_00: Maybe I'd be one of the slaves, the foreign prisoners of war taken captive in the fight.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: Because I know Jesus truly has bought me back from the enemy.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: He has purchased my soul from a fast lane toward hell.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: Through the precious blood of Christ, I've been delivered from death, and so now I belong to him.
17:49
SPEAKER_00: Let me join the procession, not in glory for me or myself, but let me go in rags, humbled to be in the presence of my Savior.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: That's enough.
18:01
SPEAKER_00: The bottom line of this section, I would say, is the gospel is moving forward around the world, across the generations, with or without you, but Jesus would surely prefer it to be with you.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: Let's keep reading.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: Verse 15, he says, For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
18:23
SPEAKER_00: To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: Who's adequate for these things?
18:31
SPEAKER_00: Here's that aroma concept again.
18:34
SPEAKER_00: And even as we simply mention the concept of smell, some of you are increasingly aware of what's around you right now in the room.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: Maybe someone in front of you is wearing some pretty strong perfume or cologne.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: Maybe someone on your row had bacon for breakfast and you can still detect it.
18:50
SPEAKER_00: We know, we know the sense of smell is very powerful, especially with its ability to evoke and remind us of things that we've experienced before.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: There's a nostalgia aspect to sense.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: And that's why the fall candle business is so successful.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: My wife has been waiting like a kid on Christmas morning for these months to hit.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: All of a sudden, on every side table and mantle and counter throughout our entire house, we have fall leaves and apple picking and sweater weather, right?
19:21
SPEAKER_00: It all reminds us that this is the season of coziness, whatever that means.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: I maybe I just don't appreciate it enough.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: But here in 2 Corinthians, Paul is saying that we are that fragrance.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: Somehow we serve as a scent to God and to others.
19:39
SPEAKER_00: No doubt the concept flows seamlessly out of the triumphal procession, since there no doubt would have been bowls of incense lining the streets.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: We thought about the censors being uh waved by the priests, this fragrant smoke into the atmosphere of the party.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: And Paul's point is that the reminding aroma that resonates out from our fragrance is one of two equal and opposite ends of a spectrum.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: You could say it this way: you could say the aromas of life and death represent the polarizing impact of the gospel.
20:15
SPEAKER_00: In other words, the fragrant reminder emanating from us simultaneously points to both life and death because of the meaning and impact of the gospel of Jesus.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: There's a ripple effect, almost like a commercial for a plug-in air freshener that shows the good scent emanating from the device and radiating outward throughout the room and nearby spaces, even all the way through the whole house.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: Apparently that's how we are.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: We fill the space around us, which is the world, with these polarizing messages of life and death.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: It's interesting because it says that first we act as an aroma to God.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: Did you see that?
20:59
SPEAKER_00: So he's the first one impacted by our fragrance.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: And there's been a long history of fragrant aromas reaching the Lord to soothe his anger over sin, to calm his righteous justice, to remind him of our repentant hearts.
21:15
SPEAKER_00: Look at, for example, his instructions, Leviticus 1, 2, 3, over and over, it uses the same phrasing in describing the sacrifices of Israel.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: God taught the people how to make these atoning sacrifices for their sin back to God.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: And over and over again it says that when they burned the sacrifice, it made a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: Year after year after year, for centuries, the nation of Israel practiced this sacrificial system, and the pleasing aroma continued to signify to God the sorrow over sin and his temporary overlooking of that sin.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: His wrath would be temporarily satisfied, but it still looked Ahead to the future day when his sovereign plan would come into place and his Messiah would take care of sin once and for all.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: And the ultimate redemption for sin would be provided.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: And so as God looks at us, his redeemed people, who've decided to trust Jesus with our hearts and follow him with our lives, it's a reminder, like a fragrance to his nose that his redeeming love is effective.
22:29
SPEAKER_00: It fills him with pleasure and contentment and joy to see us move from a position of perishing in our sin, facing eternal judgment and death, to a new position of saved and alive.
22:43
SPEAKER_00: Not just right now, but secured with an everlasting eternal life in heaven.
22:51
SPEAKER_00: And yet, you probably caught this, to others, it speaks an aroma of death.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't sound so nice, does it?
22:59
SPEAKER_00: Couple months ago, this summer, we started to smell it in our home.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: The aroma of death.
23:06
SPEAKER_00: Now, you know we've got two young boys.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: So first I thought, okay, what is it?
23:11
SPEAKER_00: Is there dirty clothes like stacked somewhere out of place?
23:15
SPEAKER_00: Smelly shoes.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: No, this was more powerful.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: Something was definitely dead.
23:21
SPEAKER_00: And we determined that some kind of rodent had fallen down between the walls of our older son's bedroom, and it got worse for a while, way before it got better.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: We dealt with the odor for two to three weeks.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: Every time you walked into the house, it hit your nose.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: It was powerful.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: The odor of death.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: I wonder why did God decide to design things to stink so badly as they decompose?
23:47
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a safety measure to keep us away from them so we don't get sick.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: One thing's for sure the aroma of death is strong.
23:53
SPEAKER_00: Anyone love it?
23:54
SPEAKER_00: Uh-uh.
23:55
SPEAKER_00: I don't think so.
23:56
SPEAKER_00: It's quite strong, it's quite noticeable, and it's quite repulsive.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: Now, Paul's words suggest that just as readily as we, the redeemed people, can be a fragrant aroma and reminder to the Lord of the new life that we have in Christ and the effectiveness of his saving work, we also can give off the opposite aroma and be a reminder of death to those who are perishing.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: I would suggest this category represents those who are currently apart from Christ, those who have rejected the gospel or are living still in rebellion against God, those who have not yet received and accepted the good news of Jesus, those who are still currently living for themselves, pursuing self-reliance over submission to Christ, whose destiny is still death, eternal death, separation from God, not just now in this life, but forever in the next.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: To those, our faith serves to remind and reinforce their stance, to help them make up their minds, at least right now, that they truly are choosing to reject the saving grace of Jesus made available for them.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: And I would say this is a hard pill to swallow, that God would be okay with the idea of reinforcing someone's unbelief.
25:16
SPEAKER_00: But again, it's a familiar pattern we've seen before in Scripture.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: Consider Pharaoh with Moses during the ten plagues, where his mind was already set against God, but God further hardened his heart to move the ball forward to carry out his ultimate plan.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: Or, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, he puts it this way: he says, For the Jews ask for signs and the the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews, and foolishness to the Gentiles.
25:49
SPEAKER_00: See, the gospel of Jesus, which is more than just that friendly, smiling face of Jesus holding a lamb in the picture on your grandma's wall.
25:57
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about the suffering Savior who died and resurrected from a tomb.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: That is a message that can be a stumbling block for people.
26:09
SPEAKER_00: God wasn't interested in creating a chewable, easy to swallow solution for our salvation that we don't even have to think about.
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SPEAKER_00: It's just automatic.
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SPEAKER_00: He wasn't out to create a massive following of mind-controlled followers by overruling our free will and free thinking.
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SPEAKER_00: He actually wants us and invites us to wrestle with it, to really consider and to weigh and count the cost of following Jesus and then to still make the easy and simple decision to accept his free gift of salvation.
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SPEAKER_00: And I wonder, have you made that choice for yourself?
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SPEAKER_00: I've got a note here, it is not our responsibility to go through life acting like God's divine agents of the aroma of death to people left and right, all around us.
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SPEAKER_00: That's not our calling.
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SPEAKER_00: What God chooses to do in the hearts of those far from him is his business.
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SPEAKER_00: Especially as keyboard warriors on social media, I don't want you guys to think that belligerent or argumentative communication is how God is inviting you to be salt and light in this world.
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SPEAKER_00: And remember, just because someone has been stumbling over the gospel previous to now, it doesn't mean that they'll always feel the same way.
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SPEAKER_00: Sometimes in God's master plan and his timing, people may walk in spiritual darkness for a long time, years even, before coming to the realization that they want to trust Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: I've seen that even recently with mature adults deciding to follow Christ.
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SPEAKER_00: They smelled the aroma of death for a long time, but now they get the aroma of life.
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SPEAKER_00: Remember, the Lord is advancing his gospel, his salvation work is moving forward.
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SPEAKER_00: And while it's a narrow gate, and many, many, many over the centuries will choose not to enter it, still many more individuals will still be drawn to Jesus, perhaps by the fragrant aroma represented by your faith in Christ.
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SPEAKER_00: So I return to asking you to consider your personal stance.
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SPEAKER_00: How do you view Jesus?
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SPEAKER_00: Who is he to you?
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SPEAKER_00: Do you see him as a mere historical figure, an irrelevant, dusty old teacher, a delusion that's captivated too many people across the years?
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SPEAKER_00: Was he just a man that got executed and placed in a tomb and there he still lies dead?
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SPEAKER_00: If so, then death may be also the aroma that you're picking up.
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SPEAKER_00: And the disturbing news of 2 Corinthians 2 is that you might be exuding that same aroma of death with your long-term destination.
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SPEAKER_00: But on the other hand, when you look at Jesus, do you see him as the light of the world, the bread of life, the resurrection and the life?
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SPEAKER_00: Is he your risen Savior, emerged from the tomb and ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father in heaven?
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SPEAKER_00: If so, then you see Jesus with the aroma of life, and you similarly exude that fragrant scent of life to God and to others.
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SPEAKER_00: And the best news, if you're in the first group on the pathway of death, you're not stuck there.
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SPEAKER_00: God has paved the way for you to jump into the second group, to move from death to life.
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SPEAKER_00: Paul says it this way in Romans chapter 8.
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SPEAKER_00: He says, You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God lives in you.
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SPEAKER_00: If anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.
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SPEAKER_00: Now, if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit gives life because of righteousness.
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SPEAKER_00: And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his spirit who lives in you.
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SPEAKER_00: Remember the captive prisoners, the slaves in the triumphal procession, they smelled that sweet scent of incense as they walked through the city streets.
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SPEAKER_00: And in the Roman version, that was also the smell of death, knowing that they were marching to their own doom.
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SPEAKER_00: But in Christ's triumph, that same fragrant scent is the aroma of life, reminding and reinforcing and signifying to us that God has secured and purchased our souls back from death.
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SPEAKER_00: Through his new life and the resurrection from the dead, he has made the way for us to experience new life in Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul means by life leading to life.
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SPEAKER_00: And you may have noticed the section we've read ends with this curious rhetorical question when it says, who's adequate for these things?
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SPEAKER_00: It's as if Paul is marveling at the magnificence of what God has done for us, what he's still doing for us as he advances forward, the progress of the gospel.
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SPEAKER_00: And he wonders, how in the world is any of us adequate to be able to communicate the wonders of this good news?
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SPEAKER_00: Who of us is fully sufficient on our own to bear this incredible message to the world?
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SPEAKER_00: The truth is, though, God does want us to carry this beautiful message of hope out into the world.
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SPEAKER_00: And our sufficiency, our adequacy to do it, it doesn't come from within any of us.
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SPEAKER_00: It comes from the Father, which Paul continues to describe as we go on after today's passage.
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SPEAKER_00: Moving into chapter three, you'll see more and more of where Paul draws his sufficiency of ministry.
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SPEAKER_00: So we ask this question: who of us is adequate for these things?
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SPEAKER_00: Not out of doubt or insecurity.
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SPEAKER_00: His point is not that we should cower back or back down from God's incredible saving grace.
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SPEAKER_00: Instead, with humility, we can approach the victorious general, the processing hero, and we can join him on mission.
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SPEAKER_00: So let's read our final verse.
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SPEAKER_00: He says, For we do not market the word of God for profit like so many.
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SPEAKER_00: On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.
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SPEAKER_00: Don't forget, we're still talking in the context of the advancement of the gospel.
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SPEAKER_00: The global work that God is doing to carry the good news of Jesus forward.
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SPEAKER_00: And he's given us this fragrant aroma to affirm the life and death that comes from that good news.
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SPEAKER_00: But here, in these final words, he assures us that the work of sharing that news is legitimate.
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SPEAKER_00: It's legit, too legit to quit.
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SPEAKER_00: Remember my trepidation that came from sharing the gospel message, that same message that had changed my life.
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SPEAKER_00: But I was scared to do it, right?
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SPEAKER_00: I was still afraid of what others would think and how would they respond to my efforts to tell them about Jesus?
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SPEAKER_00: What would they think?
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SPEAKER_00: What would they say?
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SPEAKER_00: Which takes us to our last point today.
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SPEAKER_00: We can have sincerity and confidence as we share the integrity of the gospel.
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SPEAKER_00: In other words, you and I can boldly go out and tell others about that life-changing reality of Jesus without anxiety, without stress, not worrying if people are gonna see us in a negative light or perceive us as stupid or weak or fraudulent.
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SPEAKER_00: See, others have definitely mishandled spiritual matters of faith.
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SPEAKER_00: Paul's acknowledging that here, there have been many in the history of the Christian church who have attempted to turn the gospel message into a matter of personal gain.
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SPEAKER_00: Early on in church history, Acts chapter 8, Simon the Sorcerer attempted to commercialize the gifts of the Holy Spirit, taking the focus off of Jesus and placing it on his own ability.
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SPEAKER_00: And even today, many of us are aware of and even disappointed in church leadership or celebrity pastors that are attempting to market spiritual matters for personal gain.
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SPEAKER_00: So we know the problem exists, right?
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SPEAKER_00: And it's counter to God's will and it is against God's plan for his church, the bride of Christ.
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SPEAKER_00: But Paul is speaking these words to build our confidence, to reassure us that it's not how our experience has to be.
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SPEAKER_00: Because we are not salesmen and women.
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SPEAKER_00: We don't have to make excuses for the message.
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SPEAKER_00: Paul knows, and he wants us to feel confident, that the gospel can stand up on its own two feet.
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SPEAKER_00: It holds up to a critical eye, to a skeptical mind.
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SPEAKER_00: The gospel can survive questioning.
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SPEAKER_00: So there's this pressure that we feel, but it shouldn't be on any of us to have a perfect defense or an airtight argument, to have an answer for every possible question or objection.
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SPEAKER_00: What's ours to do is to get out there and to share the good news of Jesus with sincerity.
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SPEAKER_00: If we speak of the life change that's already gone on in our own hearts, then we can do this with the same sincerity as if we're speaking directly to Jesus with joy and ease and gratitude.
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SPEAKER_00: That's the kind of sincerity Paul's talking about here.
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SPEAKER_00: Where I'm at in ministry down in Austin, we take this pretty seriously.
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SPEAKER_00: So one of the most important parts of my role, my job description, is to help increase our gospel temperature from the staff that I work with to our elders to our ministry leaders to all the people of the church.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to turn things up like a crock pot so that our level of passion and concern for others and our willingness to put ourselves out there and live on mission, I want to see that constantly, gradually increasing and rising.
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SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
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SPEAKER_00: So we use a strategy we call bless, to be able to practice joining God on mission, following the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all peoples.
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SPEAKER_00: That's our mission too.
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SPEAKER_00: He's inviting us into the same thing.
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SPEAKER_00: So what bless does is to make it very basic and simple and achievable and to take the pressure off of each and every one of us to have this perfectly crafted presentation.
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SPEAKER_00: Newsflash, the world and the culture around us today, they're not as interested in listening to an airtight presentation of the gospel and a perfect defense.
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SPEAKER_00: They're much more interested in seeing the gospel impacting your life in a genuine and sincere way.
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SPEAKER_00: They want to see more, does Jesus work in your life than who is Jesus and prove him?
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SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
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SPEAKER_00: So people today are looking for sincere Christians who are practicing what they preach and show evidence that Jesus is changing us from the inside out.
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SPEAKER_00: It's pretty appropriate that that's the exact same concept Paul says when he talks about preaching with sincerity.
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SPEAKER_00: So, what we're doing is practicing beginning with prayer.
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SPEAKER_00: We try to institute habits in our lives that become routines to regularly bring names before the Lord that might be far from God right now.
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SPEAKER_00: And we ask God to give us opportunities to show them the love of Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: And then second, we practice listening with care, trying to use good conversational skills to show people that we actually do care deeply about who they are, more than just an agenda that matters to us.
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SPEAKER_00: We try to learn more about people with sincerity, right?
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SPEAKER_00: And then third, we find chances to try to connect together over a coffee or a meal, following the lead of Jesus, who so often connected with people around food.
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SPEAKER_00: And we try to be intentional to get time across the table with people.
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SPEAKER_00: Fourth, we look for chances to serve others, finding ways to meet needs in their lives and not just one direction, but also allowing others the dignity of helping us back, right?
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SPEAKER_00: All of this leads to good conversations together.
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SPEAKER_00: And so the fifth piece, the final S is we look for God to open the door for us to be ready to share our story and God's story.
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SPEAKER_00: Our story, which is our testimonies of life change, how has the good news of Jesus impacted our lives, and then God's story, which is the truth of what Jesus did at the cross, even using illustrations like the bridge or the three circles or something to help visualize what God has done.
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SPEAKER_00: Outside of this final step, this could all be looked at as lifestyle evangelism that's avoiding using words, but with this final step, we're ready to talk to somebody about following Jesus, ready to share with sincerity who's made the deepest impact in our lives.
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SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying that you all have to use the same idea.
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SPEAKER_00: It's working really well for us in our community, and it's giving our people a level of confidence and security, knowing that they can just be themselves, out where they live, where they work, where they play.
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SPEAKER_00: They don't have to be a world-class evangelist or an expert debater or even a perfect Christian without flaws.
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SPEAKER_00: We just need to get moving and get out there and practice.
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SPEAKER_00: But Paul's heart is clear here at the end of 2 Corinthians chapter 2.
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SPEAKER_00: We're not selling snake oils.
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SPEAKER_00: We're not convincing people to follow a hollow faith.
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SPEAKER_00: We can be proud of the product, if you would, that we're offering to a hungry world.
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SPEAKER_00: They need it and they're ready for it.
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SPEAKER_00: So I'd love to piece some things together from what we've talked in our passage today, helping us put some handles on things to make them practical for daily living.
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SPEAKER_00: I'd love to actually go in reverse order, picking up right where we've been at the end of the passage.
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SPEAKER_00: And I put it first this way: there will always be people who commercialize the gospel.
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SPEAKER_00: Don't be one of them.
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SPEAKER_00: The enemy is already making his own strides forward, sometimes even within the community of faith, by seducing and alluring the people of Jesus to twist and sometimes conform the gospel for their own purposes.
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SPEAKER_00: The good news of Christ is not here for you to advance your political agenda.
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SPEAKER_00: The gospel is not intended to help you cross your goal line number of followers on social media.
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SPEAKER_00: Instead, we need to get ourselves out there and just be sincere and share the impact that Jesus has made in your life and trust God to take care of the results.
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SPEAKER_00: Second, present ministry opportunities have eternal results.
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SPEAKER_00: So seize the moment.
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SPEAKER_00: Carpe diem.
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SPEAKER_00: What I mean by this is the doors that God may be opening right now, today.
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SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's that neighbor who just might be up for a little bit more than a polite wave when you pull into the driveway.
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SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's the coworker who just went through a major life transition and might be a little more open to spiritual conversations right now.
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SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's that aging parent who just might be ready for the first time to talk about what's on the other side of this life.
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SPEAKER_00: All of these present opportunities in this moment could have deeply impactful eternal repercussions.
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SPEAKER_00: So let's not let them slip by, y'all.
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SPEAKER_00: Let's not think, oh, I'll do that next week.
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SPEAKER_00: I'll do that when I have more time.
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SPEAKER_00: Instead, seize the moment and join God's gospel advancement around the world.
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SPEAKER_00: And then finally, if we are in Christ, we're on the winning side.
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SPEAKER_00: So we can live in victory.
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SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but I still see a lot of Christians walking around with a doom and gloom mentality.
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SPEAKER_00: Do you see that?
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SPEAKER_00: The idea of, oh, we're losing the battle in US politics, or oh no, we're losing the cultural war because of TikTok, or we're losing our kids.
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SPEAKER_00: And I know there's real anxieties there, but what I see articulated in Scripture, not just here in 2 Corinthians, but echoing all around Scripture from the beginning to the end, is that Jesus has already achieved the victory.
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SPEAKER_00: So it's not disingenuous or fake for us to live with the same mentality.
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SPEAKER_00: Trust God's sovereignty that he's still in control.
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SPEAKER_00: Trust God's character that he's not going to ignore you or forget about you or your loved ones.
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SPEAKER_00: Trust God's word that he is still coming back to redeem the entire world.
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SPEAKER_00: When these ideas feel dissonant with your experience out in the world, let that drive you to prayer instead of complaining.
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SPEAKER_00: Dig back into Scripture and study how God has moved in the past so you can trust more deeply how he's going to continue to move in the future.
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SPEAKER_00: Remember, TBC, he is the triumphant, conquering general and king.
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SPEAKER_00: He is on the move.
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SPEAKER_00: And he's inviting all of us to join him in the big picture of what he's doing, to look up and beyond the little lives that we're living and consider this more macroscopic perspective that was forever altered at the cross and is advancing and continuing all the way until the Messiah returns and ushers in the end of days.
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SPEAKER_00: And right now, all along the way, there's a place for you in that victorious procession.
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SPEAKER_00: Would you pray with me?
43:53
SPEAKER_00: Father, we could never thank you enough for what you've done and accomplished on the cross on our behalf.
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SPEAKER_00: We love you, Lord, and we praise you and we give you glory for your goodness, your grace, and your saving work of the gospel.
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SPEAKER_00: Even as we've read today, Lord, it's so easy for us to get it confused and to forget that we are resonating out this aroma of life that's so vital and important and the world needs it.
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SPEAKER_00: So, Lord, would you empower us this week to practice getting out there and telling people about the impact that you've made in our lives?
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SPEAKER_00: Give us the confidence and security to join you on mission, to join the advancement of the gospel that you're doing with or without us.
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SPEAKER_00: But it would be so much better if we would join you in it and not just sit on the sidelines wringing our hands or living under pressure and fear.
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SPEAKER_00: God, would you empower and move mightily through the people of TBC that we would be able to impact the community around us here, not just in the neighboring blocks, but throughout the city, throughout the state, throughout our nation, and even around and across the world, Lord.
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SPEAKER_00: We love you so much.
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SPEAKER_00: We give you glory and praise and honor for your goodness.
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SPEAKER_00: And we pray these things in Jesus' name.
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SPEAKER_00: Amen.
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SPEAKER_00: Thanks for being here, you guys, and worshiping God today.
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SPEAKER_00: You're dismissed.