A Sweet Smelling Aroma

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

The Fragrance of the Knowledge of Christ in Paul's Ministry

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. So understand, Paul in the Corinthian church, there's this ongoing rebellion against him. Even though things had gotten better, many of these men still existed.

So what was the main difference between Paul's message and that of the false teachers who peddled the word of God? These are some of the things that we're going to look at. But before we do, Paul uses this unique phrase that those who believe in Christ and are spreading the message of Christ.

He says that Christians are to be spreading the fragrance of his knowledge. So that's the title of the sermon, the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. Let's begin in verse 12. Furthermore, Paul says, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, a door was opened to me by the Lord.

But I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find Titus, my brother. But taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia. Now, thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us.

Here's that statement through us. He diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place for we are to God, the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing to the one.

We are the aroma of death leading to death and to the other, the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as so many peddling the word of God, but as of sincerity.

But as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ. So I'd like to break this message down into three points. Number one, the fragrance of Christ. Number two, the aroma of death. And then number three, we'll look at this statement, what it means to peddle the word of God.

Truth and Sincerity Versus False Teachers

And we'll try to make some application for today. So let me just start out by saying this. The major difference between Paul and the false teachers. Number one is truth. And then number two, sincerity.

OK, Paul was sincere and he preached the truth. The false teachers were not sincere. And obviously they were preaching falsehood, hence the term false teacher. And what are false teachers motivated by?

It's always the same three things, power, prominence and prosperity, prosperity. So they are in it for themselves. They want to build their kingdom as opposed to Paul, who is building whose kingdom? Yeah, we're in it for Christ.

We want to see Christ's kingdom built up. But that's what the false teachers were doing, motivated by their own self-interest. So point number one, we want to see Christ magnified, which is why we spread, as Paul calls it, the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ.

You probably don't think of it that way, that it's like a fragrance that you're giving off. So look at verse 14 again. Now, thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place.

You know what it's like to inhale a sweet smelling aroma, don't you? You know, maybe you like flowers, a certain kind of perfume or cologne. You know, you smell it or maybe it's a certain type of food.

When it's cooking, you breathe it in and it just makes you feel good, right? It can bring back some memories. It can have a powerful effect. It really can. Well, that's what the gospel does. That's what the word of God can do.

When people hear it, it's just a good feeling. It's a sweet smelling aroma. So when people speak the word of God, when people share the gospel, that is what happens. So in order for this to take place, obviously you need people out there spreading the fragrance.

God speaks through people. Whether it's Jesus himself, the Old Testament prophets, the New Testament apostles, a pastor of a church or a layman with the word of God on his or her tongue, we are spreading this fragrance.

And Paul begins this section by saying something similar to what he said back in 1 Corinthians about God opening a door for him in the ministry. In verse 12, he says, furthermore, when I came to Troas, and this was the city north of Ephesus where Paul had been staying, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, a door was opened to me by the Lord.

Well, that's wonderful. But he says, I had no rest in my spirit. What does it mean that he didn't have rest in his spirit? Well, one of the reasons is because he did not find his brother Titus. So he is very worried about Titus.

And just to spend a moment on this, okay, Paul had his moments. We think of the apostle Paul as this brave, courageous, spirit-filled man, and he was. Okay, but he had his moments. The Lord provided him with this amazing opportunity, but because he couldn't find Titus, he said, I had no rest in my spirit.

We don't typically think of the apostle Paul as a man who had issues struggling with anxiety, do we? Maybe you've never had that thought, but essentially, this is what he's saying. I had no rest in my spirit.

The man who wrote Philippians chapter 4, verse 6, be anxious for nothing, Paul knew what he was talking about. You know, he learned from experience. So when someone is going through a time of anxiety, how did Paul overcome that?

Well, staying busy. Certainly, Paul always stayed busy, but he was able to overcome anxiety through faith and prayer. Faith, prayer, stay busy. Look at verse 14. Now, thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place.

So being effective in ministry and in every Christian should be in ministry or doing ministry to some degree. To be effective, to enjoy that peace that Paul says surpasses all understanding. We need to be in the right frame of mind.

If you're not in the right frame of mind, that's going to affect everything. So we need to be in the right frame of mind. Always thanking God who always leads us in failure. No, always leads us in triumph.

Say the word always.

Always.

Say it with me. God always leads us in triumph. God always leads us in triumph. You say, well, I don't know if I believe that. That's the problem, right? Paul, he preached a message of hope, a message of God's grace, and where a door is opened in the ministry, you know what happens.

As Paul said in 1 Corinthians, a door had opened, an effectual, but there were many adversaries. So whenever a door is opened, Satan is going to stir up trouble. And as I mentioned last week, the false teachers were the ones doing it primarily.

The false teachers always came down on one side or the other. Either they practiced legalism, which is a works-based salvation that you're saved based on what you do. And you can never really measure up.

And you always have to do this and don't do that. And God's always displeased with you. Well, that's legalism. It does not give off a very good aroma, does it? On the other hand, the false teachers, if they were not legalists, they came down on the other side and practiced what we call license.

Basically, where God's grace is so free and so abundant, go out and do whatever you want and God really doesn't care. You know, go ahead and live like the devil. It's covered under grace. And, you know, a lot of people preach that.

You'd be surprised how many people preach that. And what's the attraction? It sounds liberating. Go out and do whatever you want and it'll work out. It sounds liberating, but if the Holy Spirit of God is within a person, living that way is anything but freeing.

Living that way is anything but liberating because you make yourself a slave to sin. So we need to be biblical. The legalists are over here. License is over here. We need to be right here in the middle where the Bible is, where Jesus is, where the gospel is.

And if we do that, it'll spread this sweet-smelling aroma. Look at verse 15. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one, we are the aroma of death leading to death.

And to the other, the aroma of life leading to life. So to those who are being saved, it's a sweet aroma. To those who are perishing and persist in their rejection of God, it's the same message. Same messenger, but it's received completely different.

Why?

You know what?

Because the truth divides. That's the bottom line. The truth divides. You know, we want to speak the truth, and we all agree, hopefully, that we want to speak the truth in love.

Amen?

Don't we seek to preach and speak the truth in love? Well, even when you speak the truth in love from a sincere heart, it may not be received in love by a sincere heart.

Fact.

The only way to make the gospel palatable to unbelievers is to change it. The only way to make the word of God palatable is to put a spin on it, twist it. That's the only way unbelievers will receive the message, and that is what the false teachers were doing in peddling the word of God.

Now look at verse 16, and you tell me if there's anything unclear about this. Paul says, to the one, that is, to the one who is perishing, to the one we are, the aroma of death leading to death. We understand what he's saying, don't we?

Not very pleasant. So when something has a stench to it, a foul odor, what do you want to do? Get away. You want to get away from that thing, whatever it is. And you say, well, since I've become a Christian, all my non-Christian friends don't want to hang around with me.

This is why. This is why.

The Aroma of Death to Those Who Are Perishing

I want to give this illustration. A well-known theologian told this story. He belonged to a golf course and country club, a very fancy country club where the pros would play. So many, many years ago, there was this occasion where at that club, a former PGA champ who was a member there was invited to play golf with the president of the United States at the time, again, many years ago, and Billy Graham.

And then there was another man. They played this foursome of golf for the afternoon. So at the end of the day, the theologian, he had played his round, and he was putting his clubs away, whatever. He saw the PGA champ coming towards him, and he seemed very, very agitated.

So he asked him, what was it like playing golf with the president of the United States and Billy Graham? You know what he said? He said, I don't need Billy Graham shoving his religion down my throat. He's very upset.

So the theologian said, whoa, you know, Billy must have really come on strong. What did he say to you? And the man just shook his head, and he said, actually, Billy didn't even bring up religion. I just had a bad round.

What does that demonstrate? Even being in the presence of Billy Graham, knowing who he was and what he stood for, just being around him. It was like to that man, the stench of death, because deep down in his heart, I think that PGA champ knew he was not right with God.

So being around a Christian made him uncomfortable. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornickChurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.