WEBVTT 00:00:20.390 --> 00:00:24.609 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 12 is where we 00:00:24.609 --> 00:00:29.190 will start. Paul had started the letter talking 00:00:29.190 --> 00:00:32.490 about some disciplinary issues, but also some 00:00:32.490 --> 00:00:35.439 restoration that was to come from that. Once 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:37.560 the discipline was dealt with, the community 00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:41.979 needed to love the one that had sinned in whatever 00:00:41.979 --> 00:00:44.520 way it was. We don't have a lot of details, but 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:48.979 Paul does emphasize the need for love and grace. 00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:52.439 And so after kind of a harsh letter in 1 Corinthians 00:00:52.439 --> 00:00:55.619 and a little rough start there in 2 Corinthians, 00:00:55.719 --> 00:00:58.579 he's defending himself and trying to get the 00:00:58.579 --> 00:01:01.950 people of Corinth to do better. He's shifting 00:01:01.950 --> 00:01:04.209 gears a little bit here tonight in the verses 00:01:04.209 --> 00:01:06.989 that we're going to look at. So we will pray 00:01:06.989 --> 00:01:10.730 and then we will read through them. God, we come 00:01:10.730 --> 00:01:12.769 to you. We thank you for giving us the freedom 00:01:12.769 --> 00:01:15.290 to come tonight and be in your word. I thank 00:01:15.290 --> 00:01:18.370 you for the small group that's here, dear Lord, 00:01:18.469 --> 00:01:20.269 even though we're few in number. We thank you 00:01:20.269 --> 00:01:23.650 for being good to us and pray that you help us 00:01:23.650 --> 00:01:25.730 to be safe in this storm. I pray that you would 00:01:25.730 --> 00:01:29.129 help us to... See this Word tonight and examine 00:01:29.129 --> 00:01:32.269 our own lives to see if we're being a good example 00:01:32.269 --> 00:01:35.030 to you in the world, if the world likes to see 00:01:35.030 --> 00:01:37.329 us coming, dear Lord, if the world can tell that 00:01:37.329 --> 00:01:39.629 we are yours by our actions and the way that 00:01:39.629 --> 00:01:41.590 we live. And I pray, dear Lord, that we would 00:01:41.590 --> 00:01:44.909 be more like Paul and those who were with him 00:01:44.909 --> 00:01:46.909 that we see in this Scripture tonight. So I pray 00:01:46.909 --> 00:01:49.189 that your Holy Spirit will be with us, and I 00:01:49.189 --> 00:01:53.930 ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. 00:01:56.040 --> 00:02:01.379 2 Corinthians chapter 2. 2 Corinthians chapter 00:02:01.379 --> 00:02:11.199 2. That's in the New Testament. Verse 12. 2 Corinthians 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:17.819 chapter 2 verse 12. Page 995 if you're using 00:02:17.819 --> 00:02:25.319 the pew bottle. Alright, it says this. This is 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:27.900 Paul talking here, of course. When I came to 00:02:27.900 --> 00:02:30.979 Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, the Lord 00:02:30.979 --> 00:02:34.979 opened a door for me. I had no rest in my spirit 00:02:34.979 --> 00:02:38.780 because I did not find my brother Titus. But 00:02:38.780 --> 00:02:42.479 I said goodbye to them and left for Macedonia. 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:45.840 Now, this little section here doesn't really 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:49.199 give us a lot of detail. We know that Paul went 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:52.639 to Troas and... preached. We know that it seems 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:55.259 that they were receptive. God gave him an open 00:02:55.259 --> 00:02:58.340 door there. He gave him an opportunity to preach. 00:02:58.500 --> 00:03:01.039 It doesn't sound as though he was there too long. 00:03:01.139 --> 00:03:04.939 Maybe he was. We just really don't know. We do 00:03:04.939 --> 00:03:07.080 see this interesting fact that he said he had 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:10.500 no rest in his spirit because he did not find 00:03:10.500 --> 00:03:13.830 his brother Titus. Obviously, he was expecting 00:03:13.830 --> 00:03:16.750 to find Titus there, expecting to get word from 00:03:16.750 --> 00:03:20.169 Titus, some communication or interaction with 00:03:20.169 --> 00:03:22.969 Titus. This would be the same Titus we see in 00:03:22.969 --> 00:03:25.849 the book of Titus. And for whatever reason, he 00:03:25.849 --> 00:03:29.270 did not see Titus there, and he wasn't happy 00:03:29.270 --> 00:03:31.930 about that. That was a difficult thing for him. 00:03:32.129 --> 00:03:34.710 So it doesn't appear as though he was there too 00:03:34.710 --> 00:03:37.909 long. Even though it was a good stop for him, 00:03:37.969 --> 00:03:42.979 he eventually left and went on his way. We don't 00:03:42.979 --> 00:03:44.960 have too much information in those two verses. 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:48.479 We can't speculate too much, but those are the 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:51.599 details that he gave us. So we will move on to 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:55.500 the end of the chapter, which is a little more 00:03:55.500 --> 00:03:59.669 applicable to us maybe. Verse 14. But thanks 00:03:59.669 --> 00:04:03.729 be to God who always puts us on display in Christ 00:04:03.729 --> 00:04:07.650 and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge 00:04:07.650 --> 00:04:11.909 of him in every place. For to God we are the 00:04:11.909 --> 00:04:15.110 fragrance of Christ among those who are being 00:04:15.110 --> 00:04:18.910 saved and among those who are perishing. To some 00:04:18.910 --> 00:04:22.649 we are an aroma of death leading to death, but 00:04:22.649 --> 00:04:26.370 to others an aroma of life leading to life. And 00:04:26.370 --> 00:04:30.199 who is competent for this? For we are not like 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:33.259 the many who market God's message for a profit. 00:04:33.579 --> 00:04:38.220 On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ 00:04:38.220 --> 00:04:43.199 as from God and before God. So he starts off 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:46.100 with a word of thanks here in verse 14. He thanks 00:04:46.100 --> 00:04:49.819 be to God, and he says, who always puts us on 00:04:49.819 --> 00:04:52.399 display, or some of your translations may say 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:55.379 something like causes us to triumph, something 00:04:55.379 --> 00:04:58.639 along those lines, that God is always with them, 00:04:58.699 --> 00:05:01.060 that wherever they go, that God is blessing them, 00:05:01.139 --> 00:05:03.860 that God is giving them the words to say, that 00:05:03.860 --> 00:05:06.399 the Holy Spirit is working through them, that 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:10.560 they are doing the work of Jesus Christ. Making 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:13.959 a difference. But he uses an interesting way 00:05:13.959 --> 00:05:16.660 to describe their effectiveness that God has 00:05:16.660 --> 00:05:19.800 given them in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:24.240 He says, he puts us on display or causes us to 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:27.319 triumph in Christ and through us spreads the 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:30.939 aroma of the knowledge of him in every place. 00:05:30.980 --> 00:05:34.319 For we are the fragrance of Christ among those 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:38.040 who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:41.800 So he says we are the fragrance of Christ. Now 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:44.540 that's an interesting way to put it. That is 00:05:44.540 --> 00:05:46.879 to say that they are something that smells good 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:51.160 and is pleasing. And that everyone can tell who 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:55.279 they belong to by their smell, so to speak. Now 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:57.379 I don't know what kind of smell they had. He's 00:05:57.379 --> 00:06:00.120 obviously using symbolic language here. He's 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:02.860 not talking about some perfume that they wore. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:07.100 But we understand what it means to have a pleasant 00:06:07.100 --> 00:06:10.560 aroma. Everybody wants to smell something pleasant. 00:06:10.740 --> 00:06:13.680 Nobody wants to smell anything that's not pleasant. 00:06:13.860 --> 00:06:16.379 And so when Paul showed up onto the scene and 00:06:16.379 --> 00:06:19.040 those who were with him, it was like a pleasant 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:23.360 aroma coming into the room. Now, Monday, Michelle 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:26.699 had us cleaning house all day, and she had this 00:06:26.699 --> 00:06:29.060 concoction. I don't even know what it was on 00:06:29.060 --> 00:06:31.980 the stove. It was like lemons and... probably 00:06:31.980 --> 00:06:34.519 some kind of essential oils, and looked like 00:06:34.519 --> 00:06:38.779 rosemary, and this whole little concoction. But 00:06:38.779 --> 00:06:43.699 it made a pleasing aroma, and we enjoy a pleasing 00:06:43.699 --> 00:06:49.019 aroma. Everybody enjoys a pleasing aroma. I don't 00:06:49.019 --> 00:06:50.579 know if any of you in here have ever heard of 00:06:50.579 --> 00:06:53.980 a durian fruit or not. They grow in Southeast 00:06:53.980 --> 00:06:57.079 Asia. They're native to Southeast Asia. But they're 00:06:57.079 --> 00:06:59.300 quite interesting, supposedly. Now, I've never 00:06:59.300 --> 00:07:01.279 seen one. I've only read about them and watched 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:04.240 videos about them. But the unique thing about 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:06.980 the durian fruit is some people think it smells 00:07:06.980 --> 00:07:10.319 really good. Other people think it smells like 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:13.720 rotten onions and garlic. And so it's the same 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:16.670 fruit. but depending on the person that's smelling 00:07:16.670 --> 00:07:20.490 it it may be very pleasing to them or it may 00:07:20.490 --> 00:07:23.889 make them nauseous it's a strange thing and some 00:07:23.889 --> 00:07:25.889 people cut it open and eat it and say it's good 00:07:25.889 --> 00:07:28.589 other people just can't hardly stand the smell 00:07:28.589 --> 00:07:32.129 of it in fact in some places it's banned you 00:07:32.129 --> 00:07:34.769 can't transport it on a train or you can't transport 00:07:34.769 --> 00:07:37.790 it in closed areas around a lot of people because 00:07:37.790 --> 00:07:41.509 of the smell it's used a lot in a lot of different 00:07:41.509 --> 00:07:45.509 foods in asia But everybody's taste buds or smell 00:07:45.509 --> 00:07:48.430 buds, whatever you call them, are a little different. 00:07:48.550 --> 00:07:51.209 And so to some it's pleasing and to some it's 00:07:51.209 --> 00:07:54.040 not pleasing. And that's exactly what Paul says 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:57.259 here. We come and we're doing the work of God 00:07:57.259 --> 00:07:59.519 and he is with us and we are triumphant and we 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:02.240 are effective in what we are doing. And some 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:06.040 people come and they smell the pleasing aroma 00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:08.420 that we are putting off. They hear the words 00:08:08.420 --> 00:08:10.839 that we are preaching and teaching and it brings 00:08:10.839 --> 00:08:14.680 joy to them. It is pleasing to them. And other 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:18.040 people hear the same words and they hate what 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:20.439 they hear. They don't want to hear the truth. 00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:22.319 They don't want to hear the truth of the gospel. 00:08:22.439 --> 00:08:24.100 They don't want to hear the truth about God. 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:27.579 And so some, it's an aroma of death leading to 00:08:27.579 --> 00:08:30.360 death, Paul says. That is, some people hear the 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:32.879 news, and it just hardens their heart that much 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:35.340 more. They just hate God that much more. They 00:08:35.340 --> 00:08:38.299 just get that much angrier, and it doesn't sound 00:08:38.299 --> 00:08:40.539 like good news to them. For whatever reason, 00:08:40.580 --> 00:08:43.700 they hear the gospel, and they don't accept it. 00:08:44.299 --> 00:08:47.029 But others hear the gospel. and it's an aroma 00:08:47.029 --> 00:08:51.110 of life leading to life. That some, boy, when 00:08:51.110 --> 00:08:53.049 they come into the room, it's refreshing. They 00:08:53.049 --> 00:08:54.730 hear what Paul is having to say, and they say, 00:08:54.789 --> 00:08:56.830 wait a minute, I want to hear more about that. 00:08:57.259 --> 00:08:59.259 And they hear about being a sinner and they hear 00:08:59.259 --> 00:09:01.440 about the words of God and the commands of God. 00:09:01.500 --> 00:09:03.759 And they hear about the love of Jesus Christ 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:05.639 and the grace of Jesus Christ. And they say, 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:08.320 wait a minute, I need that in my life. And they 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:12.340 want more and more and more of what Paul is trying 00:09:12.340 --> 00:09:15.639 to teach them. And so as Paul and those who are 00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:17.919 with him are making their rounds through all 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:21.350 these places. Paul says that we are the fragrance 00:09:21.350 --> 00:09:25.389 of Jesus Christ. That people know who we are, 00:09:25.490 --> 00:09:29.750 but they smell us coming. The question that we 00:09:29.750 --> 00:09:32.509 might want to ask ourselves tonight is, when 00:09:32.509 --> 00:09:35.750 we are around people, do they smell the fragrance 00:09:35.750 --> 00:09:39.169 of Jesus Christ? What do people smell on us when 00:09:39.169 --> 00:09:41.230 we get around them? We all love a good smell. 00:09:41.669 --> 00:09:45.129 We all love a good fragrance. But as Christians, 00:09:45.190 --> 00:09:48.409 are we putting off a good fragrance? Now, one 00:09:48.409 --> 00:09:51.850 of the worst things that could possibly happen, 00:09:51.929 --> 00:09:53.789 and sometimes we may be guilty of this, is you 00:09:53.789 --> 00:09:56.049 don't want to be around somebody that's putting 00:09:56.049 --> 00:09:58.769 off some B .O. That's a bad situation. That's 00:09:58.769 --> 00:10:01.970 a bad kind of sin, a bad fragrance to be putting 00:10:01.970 --> 00:10:05.409 off. We don't want to do that. In a physical 00:10:05.409 --> 00:10:07.710 sense, what do we do? We try to make sure we 00:10:07.710 --> 00:10:10.120 don't do that. You ever walk by somebody and 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:11.419 you're in a crowd and you're thinking, is that 00:10:11.419 --> 00:10:13.000 me? And you check yourself because you're not 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:15.100 sure if it's you or not. You don't want it to 00:10:15.100 --> 00:10:16.559 be you because you don't want to be putting off 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:19.679 that smell. So you make sure that you put on 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:22.059 a little deodorant. You make sure that you put 00:10:22.059 --> 00:10:24.460 on an extra little puff of perfume or cologne 00:10:24.460 --> 00:10:27.279 because you don't want to be one who's putting 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:30.620 off a bad smell. And we should be the same way 00:10:30.620 --> 00:10:32.919 in our spiritual walk and our walk with God and 00:10:32.919 --> 00:10:35.620 the way that we interact with people. When people 00:10:35.620 --> 00:10:38.159 see us coming, do we have a stench about us? 00:10:38.179 --> 00:10:39.980 I'm not talking about our physical stench. I'm 00:10:39.980 --> 00:10:42.960 talking about our attitudes and our actions and 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:45.679 the way that we treat other people. Are people 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:48.259 glad to see us coming or do they keep their distance? 00:10:48.419 --> 00:10:50.700 Because you get somebody that breath stinks or 00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:52.960 got some BO, you're talking to them, you might 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:55.179 kind of get a little extra space there. You don't 00:10:55.179 --> 00:10:57.600 want to be close to them. And it's the same way 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:00.799 for our attitudes and our actions. If we are 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:03.220 just people that are just miserable and negative 00:11:03.220 --> 00:11:07.620 and angry and mean and just hateful all the time, 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:11.220 well, that's not a Christlike attitude. Maybe 00:11:11.220 --> 00:11:13.460 we say we're a Christian. Maybe we are. But if 00:11:13.460 --> 00:11:15.620 we are and we're acting that way, then we need 00:11:15.620 --> 00:11:18.639 to check ourselves because we're not being the 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:21.059 fragrance, the pleasing aroma that God wants 00:11:21.059 --> 00:11:23.860 us to be. Now that's not to say that even if 00:11:23.860 --> 00:11:26.740 we are doing the work of God and living a life 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:30.840 in a way that's properly representing Jesus Christ, 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:32.500 that's not to say that everybody's going to be 00:11:32.500 --> 00:11:35.559 glad to see us coming. Even when we're putting 00:11:35.559 --> 00:11:38.460 off the most pleasing aroma by our actions and 00:11:38.460 --> 00:11:41.440 reflecting who Jesus is through our actions and 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.000 through our love, just like it was with Paul, 00:11:44.179 --> 00:11:46.460 there are going to be some that don't want to 00:11:46.460 --> 00:11:50.389 hear that truth. But we can't control what other 00:11:50.389 --> 00:11:54.370 people do. We can only control what we do. So 00:11:54.370 --> 00:11:57.009 what about us today? How are we smelling spiritually? 00:11:58.110 --> 00:12:00.809 Are we putting off a pleasing aroma for the kingdom 00:12:00.809 --> 00:12:04.750 of God? Are we those that when we encounter people 00:12:04.750 --> 00:12:07.029 that people leave from seeing us saying, man, 00:12:07.169 --> 00:12:08.950 there's something about him or there's something 00:12:08.950 --> 00:12:13.309 about her. There's a pleasantness to them. There's 00:12:13.309 --> 00:12:17.269 a pleasant odor, so to speak. A pleasant... fragrance, 00:12:17.309 --> 00:12:20.330 so to speak, to use Paul's words. And that's 00:12:20.330 --> 00:12:22.769 what we want to strive to do, to be faithful 00:12:22.769 --> 00:12:25.230 followers of Jesus Christ, to try to love like 00:12:25.230 --> 00:12:27.909 he does, to have grace like he does, to have 00:12:27.909 --> 00:12:30.649 compassion and patience like he does, so the 00:12:30.649 --> 00:12:33.929 world will see the beauty and the beautiful fragrance 00:12:33.929 --> 00:12:37.850 that is in Jesus Christ. Let's pray. God, we 00:12:37.850 --> 00:12:39.950 come to you. We thank you for this simple word 00:12:39.950 --> 00:12:42.350 that we understand, dear Lord. We understand 00:12:42.350 --> 00:12:45.399 that... We don't like stinky stuff. We like stuff 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:47.700 that smells good, dear Lord. So we need to strive 00:12:47.700 --> 00:12:51.860 in our life to be one who puts off a pleasant 00:12:51.860 --> 00:12:54.419 fragrance of the love and the grace of Jesus 00:12:54.419 --> 00:12:56.779 Christ in the world that we live in, dear Lord. 00:12:56.860 --> 00:12:59.379 I pray that you would help us even when we encounter 00:12:59.379 --> 00:13:01.620 people, dear Lord, that don't want to hear the 00:13:01.620 --> 00:13:04.259 truth of your word. And even when we preach the 00:13:04.259 --> 00:13:07.000 message of grace and forgiveness and compassion, 00:13:07.259 --> 00:13:10.279 dear Lord, even still. some find that offensive. 00:13:10.460 --> 00:13:12.399 But God, I pray that you just be with us. Give 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:15.159 us the courage that we need and the strength 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:17.500 that we need to do your work. Help us to be better 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:20.200 examples for you. Maybe there are some areas 00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:23.279 in our life where we are really not people that 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:25.679 anybody wants to be around by our actions and 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:27.559 our attitude. And I pray that you would help 00:13:27.559 --> 00:13:29.639 our hearts to change, that you would help us 00:13:29.639 --> 00:13:32.340 to have a heart that is... more like yours, dear 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:35.080 Lord, that we can learn from Paul and those who 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:37.399 were faithful to serve alongside him, dear Lord, 00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:40.340 that we would be so on fire for you that we would 00:13:40.340 --> 00:13:43.820 be a pleasant presence when we enter the room 00:13:43.820 --> 00:13:46.659 and enter into contact with those we encounter. 00:13:46.919 --> 00:13:50.200 And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.