2 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 12 is where we
will start. Paul had started the letter talking
about some disciplinary issues, but also some
restoration that was to come from that. Once
the discipline was dealt with, the community
needed to love the one that had sinned in whatever
way it was. We don't have a lot of details, but
Paul does emphasize the need for love and grace.
And so after kind of a harsh letter in 1 Corinthians
and a little rough start there in 2 Corinthians,
he's defending himself and trying to get the
people of Corinth to do better. He's shifting
gears a little bit here tonight in the verses
that we're going to look at. So we will pray
and then we will read through them. God, we come
to you. We thank you for giving us the freedom
to come tonight and be in your word. I thank
you for the small group that's here, dear Lord,
even though we're few in number. We thank you
for being good to us and pray that you help us
to be safe in this storm. I pray that you would
help us to... See this Word tonight and examine
our own lives to see if we're being a good example
to you in the world, if the world likes to see
us coming, dear Lord, if the world can tell that
we are yours by our actions and the way that
we live. And I pray, dear Lord, that we would
be more like Paul and those who were with him
that we see in this Scripture tonight. So I pray
that your Holy Spirit will be with us, and I
ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. All right.
2 Corinthians chapter 2. 2 Corinthians chapter
2. That's in the New Testament. Verse 12. 2 Corinthians
chapter 2 verse 12. Page 995 if you're using
the pew bottle. Alright, it says this. This is
Paul talking here, of course. When I came to
Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, the Lord
opened a door for me. I had no rest in my spirit
because I did not find my brother Titus. But
I said goodbye to them and left for Macedonia.
Now, this little section here doesn't really
give us a lot of detail. We know that Paul went
to Troas and... preached. We know that it seems
that they were receptive. God gave him an open
door there. He gave him an opportunity to preach.
It doesn't sound as though he was there too long.
Maybe he was. We just really don't know. We do
see this interesting fact that he said he had
no rest in his spirit because he did not find
his brother Titus. Obviously, he was expecting
to find Titus there, expecting to get word from
Titus, some communication or interaction with
Titus. This would be the same Titus we see in
the book of Titus. And for whatever reason, he
did not see Titus there, and he wasn't happy
about that. That was a difficult thing for him.
So it doesn't appear as though he was there too
long. Even though it was a good stop for him,
he eventually left and went on his way. We don't
have too much information in those two verses.
We can't speculate too much, but those are the
details that he gave us. So we will move on to
the end of the chapter, which is a little more
applicable to us maybe. Verse 14. But thanks
be to God who always puts us on display in Christ
and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge
of him in every place. For to God we are the
fragrance of Christ among those who are being
saved and among those who are perishing. To some
we are an aroma of death leading to death, but
to others an aroma of life leading to life. And
who is competent for this? For we are not like
the many who market God's message for a profit.
On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ
as from God and before God. So he starts off
with a word of thanks here in verse 14. He thanks
be to God, and he says, who always puts us on
display, or some of your translations may say
something like causes us to triumph, something
along those lines, that God is always with them,
that wherever they go, that God is blessing them,
that God is giving them the words to say, that
the Holy Spirit is working through them, that
they are doing the work of Jesus Christ. Making
a difference. But he uses an interesting way
to describe their effectiveness that God has
given them in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He says, he puts us on display or causes us to
triumph in Christ and through us spreads the
aroma of the knowledge of him in every place.
For we are the fragrance of Christ among those
who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
So he says we are the fragrance of Christ. Now
that's an interesting way to put it. That is
to say that they are something that smells good
and is pleasing. And that everyone can tell who
they belong to by their smell, so to speak. Now
I don't know what kind of smell they had. He's
obviously using symbolic language here. He's
not talking about some perfume that they wore.
But we understand what it means to have a pleasant
aroma. Everybody wants to smell something pleasant.
Nobody wants to smell anything that's not pleasant.
And so when Paul showed up onto the scene and
those who were with him, it was like a pleasant
aroma coming into the room. Now, Monday, Michelle
had us cleaning house all day, and she had this
concoction. I don't even know what it was on
the stove. It was like lemons and... probably
some kind of essential oils, and looked like
rosemary, and this whole little concoction. But
it made a pleasing aroma, and we enjoy a pleasing
aroma. Everybody enjoys a pleasing aroma. I don't
know if any of you in here have ever heard of
a durian fruit or not. They grow in Southeast
Asia. They're native to Southeast Asia. But they're
quite interesting, supposedly. Now, I've never
seen one. I've only read about them and watched
videos about them. But the unique thing about
the durian fruit is some people think it smells
really good. Other people think it smells like
rotten onions and garlic. And so it's the same
fruit. but depending on the person that's smelling
it it may be very pleasing to them or it may
make them nauseous it's a strange thing and some
people cut it open and eat it and say it's good
other people just can't hardly stand the smell
of it in fact in some places it's banned you
can't transport it on a train or you can't transport
it in closed areas around a lot of people because
of the smell it's used a lot in a lot of different
foods in asia But everybody's taste buds or smell
buds, whatever you call them, are a little different.
And so to some it's pleasing and to some it's
not pleasing. And that's exactly what Paul says
here. We come and we're doing the work of God
and he is with us and we are triumphant and we
are effective in what we are doing. And some
people come and they smell the pleasing aroma
that we are putting off. They hear the words
that we are preaching and teaching and it brings
joy to them. It is pleasing to them. And other
people hear the same words and they hate what
they hear. They don't want to hear the truth.
They don't want to hear the truth of the gospel.
They don't want to hear the truth about God.
And so some, it's an aroma of death leading to
death, Paul says. That is, some people hear the
news, and it just hardens their heart that much
more. They just hate God that much more. They
just get that much angrier, and it doesn't sound
like good news to them. For whatever reason,
they hear the gospel, and they don't accept it.
But others hear the gospel. and it's an aroma
of life leading to life. That some, boy, when
they come into the room, it's refreshing. They
hear what Paul is having to say, and they say,
wait a minute, I want to hear more about that.
And they hear about being a sinner and they hear
about the words of God and the commands of God.
And they hear about the love of Jesus Christ
and the grace of Jesus Christ. And they say,
wait a minute, I need that in my life. And they
want more and more and more of what Paul is trying
to teach them. And so as Paul and those who are
with him are making their rounds through all
these places. Paul says that we are the fragrance
of Jesus Christ. That people know who we are,
but they smell us coming. The question that we
might want to ask ourselves tonight is, when
we are around people, do they smell the fragrance
of Jesus Christ? What do people smell on us when
we get around them? We all love a good smell.
We all love a good fragrance. But as Christians,
are we putting off a good fragrance? Now, one
of the worst things that could possibly happen,
and sometimes we may be guilty of this, is you
don't want to be around somebody that's putting
off some B .O. That's a bad situation. That's
a bad kind of sin, a bad fragrance to be putting
off. We don't want to do that. In a physical
sense, what do we do? We try to make sure we
don't do that. You ever walk by somebody and
you're in a crowd and you're thinking, is that
me? And you check yourself because you're not
sure if it's you or not. You don't want it to
be you because you don't want to be putting off
that smell. So you make sure that you put on
a little deodorant. You make sure that you put
on an extra little puff of perfume or cologne
because you don't want to be one who's putting
off a bad smell. And we should be the same way
in our spiritual walk and our walk with God and
the way that we interact with people. When people
see us coming, do we have a stench about us?
I'm not talking about our physical stench. I'm
talking about our attitudes and our actions and
the way that we treat other people. Are people
glad to see us coming or do they keep their distance?
Because you get somebody that breath stinks or
got some BO, you're talking to them, you might
kind of get a little extra space there. You don't
want to be close to them. And it's the same way
for our attitudes and our actions. If we are
just people that are just miserable and negative
and angry and mean and just hateful all the time,
well, that's not a Christlike attitude. Maybe
we say we're a Christian. Maybe we are. But if
we are and we're acting that way, then we need
to check ourselves because we're not being the
fragrance, the pleasing aroma that God wants
us to be. Now that's not to say that even if
we are doing the work of God and living a life
in a way that's properly representing Jesus Christ,
that's not to say that everybody's going to be
glad to see us coming. Even when we're putting
off the most pleasing aroma by our actions and
reflecting who Jesus is through our actions and
through our love, just like it was with Paul,
there are going to be some that don't want to
hear that truth. But we can't control what other
people do. We can only control what we do. So
what about us today? How are we smelling spiritually?
Are we putting off a pleasing aroma for the kingdom
of God? Are we those that when we encounter people
that people leave from seeing us saying, man,
there's something about him or there's something
about her. There's a pleasantness to them. There's
a pleasant odor, so to speak. A pleasant... fragrance,
so to speak, to use Paul's words. And that's
what we want to strive to do, to be faithful
followers of Jesus Christ, to try to love like
he does, to have grace like he does, to have
compassion and patience like he does, so the
world will see the beauty and the beautiful fragrance
that is in Jesus Christ. Let's pray. God, we
come to you. We thank you for this simple word
that we understand, dear Lord. We understand
that... We don't like stinky stuff. We like stuff
that smells good, dear Lord. So we need to strive
in our life to be one who puts off a pleasant
fragrance of the love and the grace of Jesus
Christ in the world that we live in, dear Lord.
I pray that you would help us even when we encounter
people, dear Lord, that don't want to hear the
truth of your word. And even when we preach the
message of grace and forgiveness and compassion,
dear Lord, even still. some find that offensive.
But God, I pray that you just be with us. Give
us the courage that we need and the strength
that we need to do your work. Help us to be better
examples for you. Maybe there are some areas
in our life where we are really not people that
anybody wants to be around by our actions and
our attitude. And I pray that you would help
our hearts to change, that you would help us
to have a heart that is... more like yours, dear
Lord, that we can learn from Paul and those who
were faithful to serve alongside him, dear Lord,
that we would be so on fire for you that we would
be a pleasant presence when we enter the room
and enter into contact with those we encounter.
And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.