2 Corinthians 2:5-17 (The Fragrance of Forgiveness, Jeff Kliewer)

We're missionaries to inner -city Philadelphia, and when we trained for that, we had to go to Kansas City for about 10 days.

And while we were there, one of the ways they trained us is by giving us a taste test. They had these strips where you were to put it on your tongue.

And some of the people in the missionary training were able to taste a horrible acidic taste on their tongue when they put it in their mouth.

The other half tasted nothing at all. If I'm not mistaken, you didn't taste anything, right, Jen? And I tasted this horrible, disgusting, foul thing.

I needed to rinse my mouth out the second it touched my tongue. About half the group tasted it and perceived this taste.

The other half tasted nothing at all. It's similar to when I sing at the top of my lungs.

To me, it sounds like an angel singing. I think I'm just killing it. And then

I look around and I see the ears bleeding from people around me. Just horrified. So to one person, something sounds one way, and to another, it sounds differently.

Similar things when you read online. Maybe Franklin Graham comes to mind. He posts tweets and Facebook posts, and almost everything he posts,

I'm like, yes and amen. That is spot on. And yet I look and I see in the comments that there are just as many people that are enraged by every last thing he posts.

One person hears it this way, another person hears it that way. Even more so than in politics, because if you look at this country, it's pretty easy to tell it's divided, isn't it?

One person hears things this way, another hears it that way. But even more than the division that exists in politics, is the division that exists because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Some people smell the fragrance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it is delightful.

It is joyful. It is the best thing that you've ever smelled. It is sweet.

And yet other people will hear the same message, preached perhaps by the same preacher in the same way, and their ears will be bleeding.

They will be angry. They will be hearing nothing but condemnation or hate or something quite opposite of what the other group is hearing.

It's really remarkable. Well, our text today will show us why that is. I'd like to read through it today, and then point out from this text, ten takeaways, ten things that will help us be the aroma of Christ, that Cornerstone Church would exude the aroma of Christ, the sweetness of forgiveness that's offered in Him.

So we're going to read 2 Corinthians 2, verses 5 -17.

Now, if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it too severely, to all of you.

For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough. So you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.

Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs.

When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was open for me in the

Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there.

So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.

For we are the aroma of Christ to God, among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

To one, a fragrance from death to death. To the other, a fragrance from life to life.

Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word.

But as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.

So, the gospel, the message of forgiveness is a fragrance, it's an aroma, it's a sweet aroma.

But there are many teachings that come out in Paul's section here, this verses 5 through 17, that teach us how to be that aroma.

First of all, look at verse 5 and 6. It's important to notice the congregation itself has the highest authority in the church.

Local congregations have the highest authority in the church. So look at verse 5. Now, if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it too severely, to all of you who is in the purview here.

It is the congregation to whom Paul is writing. He's speaking to the congregation of believers who are gathering at Corinth.

And he says in verse 6, For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough.

So a little background here. Most commentators, although not all, but most commentators think that Paul is referencing the erring believer from 1

Corinthians chapter 5. The one who had fallen into sexual sin. And the church was winking at this.

They were just not concerned at all by the sexual immorality of this particular member of the church.

And Paul writes a stinging rebuke and says, Listen, I understand. Don't judge outsiders.

But within the church, you are to exercise judgment. And he actually tells them to put the erring brother outside of the church.

Because he wouldn't repent, Paul calls for church discipline. This is the final and harshest thing that can happen in a church.

And it seems hard that Paul would actually prescribe this punishment.

However, because the Corinthians obey what Paul has said, this believer, because he was genuinely a believer who had backslidden, who had fallen into sin, because the

Holy Spirit was in him, he was brought to repentance. He was brought to conviction over his sin.

And he was overwhelmed with sorrow. So in verse 6, we're told,

For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough. What does he mean by enough?

It's sufficient. And he'll tell them in a minute, you need to turn and forgive him.

But before we get to that, notice that it was the majority. Circle that word majority. If you're taking notes, make note of majority.

Play -anon, majority. In the Greek, it means more in quantity or the major part.

So it's likely that in Corinth, the teachers who were opposing

Paul in 1 Corinthians, remember how there were some who were anti -Paul when we studied 1 Corinthians in overview, we saw there were some who opposed

Paul. There were some who were teaching that they were so spiritual that they didn't need to get married.

And they taught a dualism which denied the resurrection, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, between body and spirit.

And what was done in the spirit was important, but the body didn't matter, so they allowed sexual immorality, 1

Corinthians chapter 5. Undoubtedly, these teachers opposed Paul.

And when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, not everybody received what he had to say.

There was a division. So how do you solve a division in the church?

Well, according to verse 6, the final ruling authority in the church is the majority.

The majority. This is strong evidence for what we call congregationalism.

Not a top -down approach to church government, but a bottom -up approach where we trust that the

Holy Spirit lives in every genuine believer in the church. And the

Holy Spirit will lead the congregation to truth. This is why it's so important to have a believing congregation.

That when people are admitted into membership, it's on the knowledge that we have that that person is showing every possible sign, or is showing the true signs, of being regenerated in the first place.

Many churches have unregenerate church membership. And therefore, the majority will decide against the

Word of God. But if you notice when heresy comes into churches and into denominations, very often it starts in the high up places, in the ivory towers of seminaries, of scholars who are brighter than everybody else in the room.

And they impose false doctrine upon the local congregations and destroy it from the top down.

But this is a bottom -up approach, where congregations have the authority to be the final ruling decision -makers.

That's what Paul appeals to. By the way, this is also a good reason to officially join the church.

Some people say that there's never any reason that you should, like, officially become a member of a church, because the

Bible doesn't teach that. Well, I would argue that. I would say the implication of there being a majority in verse 6 is that there's a countable number of people.

If we didn't know that we had 81 official members, how could we take a vote to determine what the majority is?

Make sense? So by implication, I do believe the Scripture teaches that we should become official members of a church.

Can't be dogmatic about that teaching, but I think there's good biblical warrant for it here. So we begin there to say that this, as a congregation of believers, the majority has executed church discipline, but that doesn't end there.

In the case of church discipline, the goal is always restoration.

It's not punishment for punishment's sake. It's not vindictive. Look at verses 7 and 8.

After this person has come to repentance, we're told, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. Reaffirm your love for him.

Brothers and sisters, congregation, the church at Cornerstone here, we are entrusted with good news.

We have been given the gospel, and this gospel that we go out preaching is for the lost to be found, that they would come into a congregation.

But when they come into a congregation, they should find, and we should experience, that the church is a gospel -centered body.

We never outgrow our need for the gospel, because even as Christians, we fall short of his glory, and the church needs to be a soft place to land.

When you come to repentance, when you turn away from your sin, we should be a church that forgives the erring brother.

And if you think that you're too strong to ever need that, be careful that you do not fall.

I was in a prayer meeting a couple years ago with a number of pastors, about six or seven of us in the room, and one of the local pastors had just read my book.

He said, oh, I just read the book that you wrote. And I said, oh, that's awesome. I didn't know you got it. That's really encouraging to me. And he gave me all this encouragement, and I thought, wow, that guy,

I like him. He read my book. A week later, he got locked up for molesting children.

And a year after that, when he was on trial, and he confessed it, through tears, weeping, and sobbing, he said,

I am sorry. And he said, it's better for me if you just tie a millstone around my neck and throw me in the sea.

Overwhelmed by sorrow. But I would say, here's how scandalous the gospel really is, that even for that man, as vile as he is, and what he did was, the gospel is still for him too.

If he'll repent and turn to Christ, he will find Christ to be a forgiving

Savior. Even for what we would say is the lowest of the low.

And rightfully so, he would say that. And he was right to quote that scripture. The gospel is powerful to forgive any sin.

And I would say, the blood of Christ, for the forgiveness of sin, is more powerful than any sin that you've ever committed.

Maybe you're in darkness now. Maybe there's a part of your life that's compartmentalized, and you fall into sin, and you're afraid to confess your sins to a brother, because you're afraid that the church will crush you.

You'll find the exact opposite to be true. When you hide your sin, it destroys you.

When you come into the light, you will find the gospel sets you free. Paul exhorts them, look, you were right to obey my instructions, and discipline the erring brother, and now, forgive.

Comfort him. We need the gospel. We need to continue to live in the gospel. That's verses 7 and 8.

Now, verses 9 through 11, he says, for this is why I wrote, that I might test you, and know whether you are obedient in everything.

So this is interesting. He just begged them, which means he recognizes that this church discipline situation is to be mediated by the majority of the congregation.

He's not going to impose his will upon them, even as an apostle. He's allowing them to run their local congregation as a body.

And yet, he tells them to be obedient. See, he's also an apostle. And what he says, as an apostle, is authoritative and binding.

And in the same way, what we have written from Paul is authoritative over the church.

The scripture alone is our rule of faith. It is our authority.

So he says, I need you to be obedient in everything. I tested you in my letter by pointing out these 10 things that I needed you to do.

In verse 10, he says, anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan.

For we are not ignorant of his designs. Now that introduces another character, the demon, the fallen angel,

Lucifer, who has designs, even as we, as a church, have church building plans, especially for the body, the people.

We want to grow as a church. That's why we did Vacation Bible School last week. We wanted to see people come to faith.

We want to build this church, but we recognize it's Christ alone who does it, using us.

As sure as we have building plans, Satan has church destruction plans. He plans to undo, to unbuild everything that we intend to accomplish.

Here, the issue is legality. At first, the

Corinthians were prone to err to the left, falling off to one side with license.

The danger was, well, you know, just let people exercise their freedom, let grace abound.

Whatever people do, God will forgive it. And they were giving a license to sin.

Paul corrects them to that, but now they have a danger of falling off in the other direction of legality.

You remember Mr. Legality in the Pilgrim's Progress? This idea that your moral behavior is what will justify you before God.

Rather than living in the gospel and recognizing our constant need for forgiveness, Satan's schemes are all around us.

He has schemes at every point. And this is why the obedience in everything is so important. The only place where you and I are safe from the enemy is in the fullness of the

Holy Spirit and in His Word, in God's Word. Because Satan is looking to attack at every point.

Let's consider a couple of those verses. I gave them in your notes. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3.

Paul says, I'm concerned for you that even as the serpent deceived Eve in the garden, your hearts and thoughts would be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

And he goes on to say that some come preaching a different Jesus and a different gospel. One way that Satan comes into churches and destroys the work of God in the building of his church is through false doctrine.

False teachers that come and tickle ears telling a culture exactly what that culture wants to hear.

Rather than remaining true to the doctrine as God has revealed in His Holy Scriptures.

False Jesus. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 4. Preaching a different Jesus, perhaps the

Mormon Jesus that says He's a created being and the brother of Lucifer. Or the

Islamic Jesus who's only a prophet and decidedly not one who died and rose from the dead.

Different Jesuses preached by different religions and within supposed Christian denominations.

Different doctrines that oppose the Scriptures. That's one way that people are led astray.

Secondly, Ephesians chapter 4, verse 27. Turn with me to that one if you will.

How might Satan distract us? The context in verse 26 says

Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. And give no opportunity to the devil.

Unrestrained anger. Allowing the emotion of a moment to carry a person away.

When you allow anger to control you rather than exercising self -control you are giving an opportunity for the devil to come into churches, to the church of which you're a part, and wreak havoc.

Next, James 3, 5 -6. You don't have to turn there, just remember the tongue is a world of evil.

It sets a fire and itself is set on fire by hell. The gossip, the slander, talking behind people's back, saying harmful things about people.

These kind of things come into churches and it's really Satan who set those tongues on fire for the purpose of tearing down what

God is building up. There is a war going on. Next, another example of Satan and his designs.

1 Peter 5, 6 -11. Here I think the context is persecution but you're told, Beware of the devil.

He's like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

Pride came into play in Luke 22, verse 31. You know the context there. Peter telling

Jesus, I'll never betray you. And yet, Satan would lead him astray.

His pride welled up. But, says Jesus, I prayed for you that you will not fall beyond being recovered.

Revelation 2, we see Satan in verses 10 -16. In chapter 3, verses 9 -13, there, the context of persecution again.

Synagogues of Satan. False teachers. And opposition to the church.

Some of them would have to give their lives for the gospel. Here in America, we don't experience that as much.

But Satan is behind. Every time you read that in Voice of the Martyrs, you get that magazine.

Or you see a report of Christians being slaughtered by the hundreds in Nigeria this week. It's Satan's opposition to the church of Jesus Christ.

We are not unaware of his schemes. We are not unaware of his schemes,

Paul tells us. So now, continue on with me. Satan will not be victorious in this.

We are in 2 Corinthians 2, verse 12. Paul says,

When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was open for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother

Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

So real quick, in the back, could you guys pull up the map of Paul's second missionary journey?

Paul's second missionary journey. Paul will come to Corinth, plant the church, stay there for about 18 months, and then on to Ephesus where he quickly passes through and eventually returns to Antioch.

Then on to his third missionary journey. It was in Paul's third missionary journey where he spent three years in Ephesus.

He tells us in the book of 2 Corinthians that because of what was going wrong in Corinth, he desired to cross over from Ephesus to Corinth to make a trip.

But last week we learned that he did not follow what he wanted to do. Instead, he decided to send

Titus with a letter, what he calls a harsh letter.

In chapter 7 he says he really regretted having written it. It was so harsh. He was afraid it would break them rather than mold them.

And so he sends Titus with this letter and Paul himself spends a bit longer in Ephesus.

The plan was for Titus to deliver the letter and head back up through the churches and meet

Paul here in Troas before Paul continues on.

So now if you look in verse 13 it makes sense. My spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother

Titus there in Troas. Why was his spirit troubled?

Because he knew the letter that he wrote to the Corinthians was harsh. He was calling for their absolute obedience to his apostolic authority and he knew it was a very tentative situation.

There were false teachers there who were opposing him. He was afraid that the work of God would be undone.

He was so disturbed that Titus had not made it up this far that he couldn't even preach the gospel where he knew he was called to preach.

Look at this in verse 12. His anxiety. When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ.

Notice what he says. Even though a door was open for me in the Lord my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother

Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. Brothers and sisters has your anxiety ever kept you from preaching the gospel?

Have you ever been so concerned about a situation going on in your life something that makes you nervous and afraid and it paralyzes you from going out and doing the kind of things that God is calling you to do?

You'll usually experience that just in the days ahead of some mission work. If you're called to be part of VBS you can be sure that you'll be attacked the week of Vacation Bible School.

If you're called to be a teacher or to go on a mission trip you'll find that everything goes haywire just before you leave.

When you go on mission for God Satan is opposing that. And here

Paul is so anxious he's unable to do what God is calling him to do. But notice the next part but thanks be to God who in Christ always leads us in triumphal processions.

Circle that word always. That means even in your weaknesses even in my weaknesses as a pastor the ways that I fall short of a pastor guess what, as a pastor he is still going to use me for the advancing of his gospel and kingdom.

Brothers and sisters you are the aroma of Christ. The fragrance of Christ comes forth from you even when you're struggling and you're muddling your way through life.

If the Apostle Paul can look at his life and say you know what, I dropped the ball in Troas there was this open door for the gospel but I was so anxious

I couldn't even stay there I had to cross over and try to find Titus. His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Thanks be to God who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession.

Now that's an interesting analogy that Paul draws there. The triumphal procession was when a warring party came back from the battlefield in victory and rode in, typically into Rome because this was the

Roman Empire celebrating their victory. They would have captives in their train and there would be incense burning along the side of that highway that the

Roman troops would come through. Paul, interestingly puts himself as a captive in the triumphal procession.

And what I love about that is that when the gospel went forward it didn't find me as a willing soldier ready to jump right in with Jesus Christ.

It found me as a hostile enemy. I was an enemy of Christ and His kingdom.

I believed in my own way my own religion and the religion and the pattern of this world.

And when a gospel preacher told me that Jesus is the way the truth and the life no one comes to the

Father except by Him that grated against me and I warred against that message. I was an enemy.

I was dead in my sin. But this gospel because God is so gracious it captured me.

It made me a prisoner. So the image here if you look at verse 14 the

Greek word for triumphal procession it just means a group of captives being led into the capital in celebration.

And what's strange about that analogy is that Paul is glad to be a prisoner.

Think of the book of Philippians where he begins off he says, Paul and Timothy servants of Christ Jesus.

That word servants is doulos. It's slave. Then he goes on to express throughout those four chapters the joy he has to be a slave.

This is a willing servitude. This is a prisoner for Christ who is so glad that he has been captured.

He's in triumphal procession. So in verse 14 even our shortcomings are part of the triumphal procession that he has us on.

Isn't that amazing? We're still being used by God even in our shortcomings.

Even when our spirit is not at rest. Next, the second part of verse 14 and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

First thing I want you to notice is that word knowledge. You've been wondering what is this aroma? What is this fragrance?

Here it's defined as knowledge. Gnosis. It's knowledge of him.

In other words the knowledge is the gospel. It's the content of the gospel.

That Christ is the son of God. That he died. That he rose. And the sweetest part of this knowledge what makes it an aroma that smells so good to us is that part of this message is the forgiveness of sin.

That a sinner like me can be forgiven. That is the sweetness of the gospel.

When Hosea went to Gomer as she practiced prostitution and bought her out of that slave market and made her his wife she knew forgiveness.

Right? When that thief on the cross who had spent his life stealing and killing looked to the dying savior hanging next to him and he said behold you will be with me today in paradise.

That's the aroma of the gospel. The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day.

And there may I though vile as he wash all my sins away.

I'm that dying thief and the fragrance is this message of forgiveness that God will forgive even me.

He'll forgive David for what he did with Bathsheba and for how he killed

Uriah the Hittite. And the prophet comes to him and says the Lord has taken your sin away.

And Isaiah was undone in the presence of God because he said I am a man of unclean lips.

Have you heard me speak? And that angel took the coal from the fire and touched his lip and he said behold this has touched you.

He's clean. The aroma of the gospel the fragrance that we have to offer which is unique and no other religion no other teaching can offer this is the forgiveness of sin.

Now other religions can say okay here's how you can be better. Maybe you can balance out your bad deeds in the past with some good deeds.

Follow this path we'll tell you how to be good. But only the blood of Jesus can say the penalty of your sin is removed and taken off of you.

It is forgiven. The burden on your back is unleashed. And you're free.

Forgiveness of sin is the unique aroma of the Christian gospel.

And we bear that. How do we bear it? By knowledge. We have to speak it.

And be warned of this brothers and sisters. If you live your entire life doing good deeds but never point to the

Messiah you've taught by your actions to be a good person be like me be moral but you've deceived people because the only thing that changed you from the inside out is the forgiveness of sin.

That's why it's so important that we speak. We'll get to that just at the very end in verse 17. We speak in Christ.

We speak. The aroma only comes from us by words. And our life should confirm what we're saying to people.

So we're almost done. Through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.

Now verse 15. This I love. For we are the aroma of Christ to God.

Took me a while to understand what that was saying. We are the aroma of Christ to God.

So the aroma rises to God. He's the one smelling the aroma in verse 15.

Among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. In other words, however people regard you whether they like my preaching or they hate my preaching which would be probably half and half on the internet.

Right? No matter how people receive what I have to say no matter how people receive you in the workplace when you go tell them about Jesus some people will be encouraged wow that's awesome that you're sharing the gospel.

Other people will smile and nod and hate you for it. But guess what? To God it is a pleasing aroma.

It is a pleasing aroma. It's a sacrifice that He loves. He is delighted by your obedience not your success.

Jeremiah preached for 50 years without a convert. But God was pleased with Jeremiah for his fidelity not for the numbers of people that turned.

You go out preaching and God is pleased. That's the point. But it's not the only point.

Verse 16 Now how does this affect other people? To one a fragrance from death to death.

A fragrance from death to death. That doesn't sound like a good thing does it? You don't want people to say that your smell is from death to death.

That would be an insult if we took this in the physical right? Like go take a shower that's not what you want. But with reference to the gospel it means they are dead and therefore your preaching to them stirs up death in them.

It angers them. They hate it. They do not receive it even a little bit.

According to Romans 8 -7 they're not even able to. They're not even able to. Romans 8 -7

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God for it does not submit to God's law.

Indeed it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please

God. And so some people would ask the book of Romans addresses that in chapters 9 -11 well then why does

God still find fault if they cannot? There is a difference between physical inability and moral inability.

If I tell you fly to the moon and I'm going to judge you if you don't that would be wrong of me to do because you can't fly to the moon.

Right? But if you tell Hitler love Jews and he says

I can't love Jewish people I hate them it only exposes what's wrong in him and in the same way

God commands all people everywhere repent and believe the good news. Repent of your sin and believe in the one that God has sent

Jesus the Christ and he says he will judge the world by this man and those who hate

Christ will hate him more when you preach that. Their hearts are far so what's the solution?

The only hope is from life to life if the spirit brings an inward call a miracle listen, for anyone to believe this message you go out preaching it's going to take a miracle the likes of which was seen in the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead.

He was dead in the grave for four days and Jesus said Lazarus come forth. In the same way when you go out preaching it's going to take a miracle

God has to give life and then this gospel that you're bringing them as you preach it he awakens their heart and mind there has to be an inward call.

His work on the inside of them you cannot convince them to believe in Christ and I've tried believe me

I've tried the evidentialist apologetics route every fine sounding argument I've done my best debated

Muslims and Mormons and you know public context and privately over and over again and I find

I can't do it I can't convince one single person to follow Christ and yet sometimes

I'll simply tell a child or some guy at the gym or someone anywhere that Jesus is the

Messiah and their eyes light up I remember this one kid in Dallas came to mow the lawn and I said okay go ahead and mow the lawn

I'll pay you 15 bucks it wasn't even my house but I just paid I was renting there because I wanted a chance for the gospel so afterwards

I brought him some lemonade and I said let's sit down and talk and as soon as I began to tell him about Christ his body physically began to tremble he shook uncontrollably he had no clue what was happening and I told him about the love of God in Christ and he got saved and he kept going to church every week it just transformed it was just the power of God I can't do that I just told him it took the regenerative work of the

Holy Spirit and this is an encouragement brothers and sisters many of us don't evangelize often because we think

I'm not good at it but if you know this that God is the one who saves if God is the one who saves go out preaching and let him do the work in the hearts of the people who hear he'll have those who belong to him some will listen here we are right and we're not the only ones here in Mount Laurel and Marlton and there's plenty of gospel preaching

Bible believing churches he has his own here and he has his own in China where 10 % of the population perhaps now is believing in India and to every corner of this earth he has those who are his so be encouraged to go out and spread that aroma to the other a fragrance from life to life and now you say who is sufficient for these things we'll get into that next week in chapter 4 because he begins to answer that question you're not sufficient when

I think about the weight of what happens on a

Sunday morning that under the preaching of the word some will believe unto eternal life others will continue to disbelieve and will be hardened in rebellion against God it'll be aroma of death to death and some will spend eternity in hell

I can't preach I'm not sufficient for this when you're telling your family member who you love about Jesus you're not sufficient for this the weight is too heavy isn't it?

and think of the pitfalls that we have we talked about some of them pride we could fall off this way with being licensing sin or being too legalistic all the pitfalls and dangers are we sufficient to do this?

no in chapter 4 we'll learn though that we have the Holy Spirit that makes us able to be ministers of a new covenant it's not in us the power is not us we're just jars of clay the all surpassing power comes from God not from us who is sufficient?

in Christ alone finally verse 17 for we are not like so many peddlers of God's word we're not selling anything we're not selling we're not trying to enrich ourselves like I think some of the teachers in first Corinthians remember how they look down on Paul because he wouldn't take money from the church?

they were evidently trying to to get rich by preaching and sadly you see that today there are peddlers of the word that fly 70 million dollar jets from place to place on the backs of of poor people who send money in as they watch on TV but as men of sincerity as commissioned by God in the sight of God we speak in Christ that's the aroma of Christ it's the knowledge of him that we spread everywhere through preaching we speak in Christ we have to tell the good news so I started this sermon by telling you about how in Kansas City they trained us that some people taste things and other people don't it was to make us aware of cultural differences you know some people hear things one way another another way when we got to Philadelphia I remember one day we shared the gospel with a young man and he became a believer he was at a roller skating rink we had a youth event became saved and just weeks later he was tested his brother had already been shot killed by someone on the street and now someone was threatening his sister and he had a crisis of faith do

I go get a gun which he was on the way to do or do I trust God in this situation what did he do?

he came and knocked on our door and he begged for prayer and he wept and we prayed that God would bring peace and the aroma of forgiveness came over he trusted

God and the very next morning at a bus stop the two moms of the warring parties met and they agreed that they would squash this thing the danger was ended and the aroma of the gospel went forward forgiveness the warring parties forgave one another and part of it was due to this young man trusting in Christ that's what the gospel does we had another young guy became a believer and a few years later his unbelieving brother stabbed him to death the aroma of Christ that we're talking about is not a small thing and Satan's designs that we're talking about are life and death when we say the aroma of Christ is death to death to some and life to life to others we are talking about life and death first of all in the physical as in the example that we're using here my experience as a missionary in Kensington but how much more the eternal difference the gospel makes and if that's the case brothers and sisters go share the gospel we speak in Christ the knowledge of Him recognize some will accept and others will reject that to be expected trust

God for His power to raise the dead let's pray oh Lord who is sufficient for these things

I confess that I am not sufficient for these things none of us here are but we know the one who is so this morning

Lord we're asking for an outpouring of your Holy Spirit we pray for the filling of the

Spirit that we would speak the truth in Christ in the sight of God as commissioned by God with sincerity

I pray that we go forth preaching Christ and Him crucified and Lord be merciful save many through the gospel of Jesus Christ and Lord I also want to pray for the erring brother or the erring sister this morning whether it be out of control anger or a tongue that's loose with gossip and harsh words or sexual misbehavior in secret we pray that the fragrance of forgiveness be given to them this morning as they come humbly in repentance let them know

God that the church mediates forgiveness not condemnation

I pray for a spirit of repentance upon all those who might be wandering into sin we thank you for these words in 2nd

Corinthians 2 5 and following that even the erring brother of 1st

Corinthians 5 even him that even he can be forgiven and Lord I do want to pray for that pastor we mentioned this morning 18 years in jail he'll die there we pray that you would forgive him and comfort him for people from his church that know him that they would mercifully go and minister the gospel to him this is life and death

Lord so we pray over this congregation that you would make us ambassadors ministers of reconciliation send us out in triumphal procession in triumphal procession taking captive by the love of God and joyfully so in Jesus name