Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go down to South Carolina. There was a wedding down there that I was involved in. And while I was there, I was able to kind of survey and see how the hurricane situation had impacted that part of our country.
[00:00:16] We haven't been seeing a lot of that on the news. We've been seeing a lot of the impact of the hurricane after that, Milton in Florida in particular. But for some reason, the information that we've been receiving from North Carolina, that's been hit the hardest, as well as all the states up there by. Helene.
[00:00:35] Helene. The hurricane right before that, we've kind of lost track of. So I wanted to give you a personal update because I was impacted personally by what I experienced down there. And so I've been wanting to do that, and it just hasn't allowed my. To have time to do it in a service. So I wanted to tell you what I ran into when I was down there. This was about three weeks ago now. And the wedding that I was at had no power, obviously because of the hurricane that had gone through. And so it was interesting. A lot of candlelight. It kind of added to the atmosphere.
[00:01:12] But I was able to go to church that Sunday and miss the Sunday with you all. But I appreciate Darren stepping in and helping. On that particular Sunday, I was blessed by what I heard because the pastor, when he got up and began his message, he began to share about what was happening. This was about six days after the hurricane hit, and he was able to share what was happening in South Carolina and North Carolina.
[00:01:38] I don't know if you know this or not, but upwards of 200 people have died. They still haven't found. There's many, many people still missing. And so this was a devastating hurricane that impacted the United States.
[00:01:51] I loved what I heard that Sunday because the pastor, when he got up and spoke, he shared about how people were being helped. And I talk about the church. And I've given my life to serve the church. And I know many of you regularly serve the church. And I think once in a while we need to kind of be reminded about how important the church is to our world.
[00:02:13] The government has not done a terribly great job of helping those folks down there right now that have been impacted. But I want to tell you who has come up and helped immediately following this hurricane are the churches. And when he stood up and he started sharing about what his church was doing, it became very apparent to me that God is using these groups of Christians to. To get into their communities and their surrounding Communities and make an impact, and not because they're getting paid for it, because nobody's going to work. I mean, they're waking up in the morning, they're picking up their chainsaws and they're just going to their neighbor's house and their neighbor's house. And I don't know about you, but it takes a long time to cut a tree up. There are thousands of trees down. There are many people still missing. And there's a lot of cleanup left to do. And our brothers and sisters in these areas are getting up and they're meeting people that they don't even know and they're helping them clean up from this terrible hurricane that has happened. And what I loved about it is that as he was talking, it became very apparent that as he was describing it, his little town that we were in had like five or six different churches that were partnering together. And then those people were moving into the communities around them. And there was like five, six churches in the communities around him. And then they were reaching out into the communities around them, and they were reaching out.
[00:03:40] And the church has risen up to meet the challenges of this devastation. And as I was listening to it and listening how these tentacles of basically this little church, working with other little churches and communities around them, reached all the way up into North Carolina and to hear their hearts for one another, it just was very encouraging for me to hear that. So I wanted to tell you, I wanted to give you a little bit of an update on that. It was interesting to watch because there's no air conditioning. And so these houses would have their front doors open. It's hot down there. And people would travel just from community to community looking for a shower to use or a bed to sleep on or maybe some food that people would be willing to share. And it reminded me maybe of like what the first century church looked like, right where it was just hospitality was the name of the game. And so these folks are. They're coming back and things are improving. And that was like three weeks ago. So I'm giving you a late update, but keep praying for our brothers and sisters down there and be proud of being a part of this church that God has blessed this world with, through which we are able to see how we can help one another in a very tangible way. It reminded me of, actually, as I was putting the message together for today, it reminded me a lot about where we're at today. In second Corinthians, Paul the apostle is in a city called Troas. And there's no cell phones. And there's no. I mean, do you remember answering machines? You remember those?
[00:05:14] There's not even answering machines like beep. And then you'd play it and then you'd hit delete and you delete all of the. And you. Oh, and you need the Post IT notes. You need to write down on the Post it notes like so just in case you delete something. And all the kids that are under 20 years old are going answering what? Answering machines.
[00:05:34] Beepers that don't blow up. So, yeah, it's a different world in which Paul is. And Paul is supposed to meet his partner in ministry and his name is Titus, and they're scheduled to meet in Troas.
[00:05:50] Paul is in Troas and he just has an amazing ministry going on there. Actually, Paul had some doors open for ministry. If you read back in Acts 20, it gives you a little bit of update about what's happening actually in Troas as Paul is writing this letter to the Corinthian Church, 2 Corinthians, and Paul has just experienced a revival. There's amazing things going on in Troas, in fact, and you'll like this. Paul preached one time so long that there was a young man sitting in the window sill because it was like standing room only he was sitting in the windowsill. He fell asleep and fell out the window. And when he fell out the window, he died. He died. So Paul goes down and he sees this kid that has died from. I'm laughing about it and you'll see why in a minute. He died, but he raised him back to life. I mean, there are amazing miracles that are happening in Paul's time in trust, and it's resulting in this mini revival going on. But Paul is double minded because all Paul can think about is this church at Corinth. All Paul can think about is when does Titus get here to give me an update? Because Paul has already heard from Chloe who has come to him and said, yeah, Paul, they received your first letter and yeah, they're still messed up. It's tough. You remember Corinth? It's like Las Vegas on steroids. That's Corinth. It's a brand new church. Nobody there has been Christians before and now they're giving their lives to Jesus. But all of that darkness from outside is seeping into the church. They're having a hard time with it. And Paul spent 18 months as a pastor there discipling, building into their lives. And he was hopeful when he left them that they would continue to grow. They didn't. And so Chloe comes to him and says, yeah, it's not going well, Paul. So Paul writes First Corinthians. Well, actually he writes a letter before that. And then he writes 1 Corinthians because he hears a bad report from them. And 1 Corinthians, if you ever want to read a bad letter, you can read First Corinthians. It's full of like, what is wrong with you people? You're all messed up.
[00:07:56] And he writes that First Corinthians letter and then he hopes and he prays it'll take.
[00:08:01] But then Timothy goes to visit. And Timothy goes, yeah, no, they're still not responding. The church is still messed up. So Paul writes another letter. It's called the severe letter. We don't have it, but we call it the severe letter because he writes actually in Second Corinthians, remember that letter that I wrote to you that was kind of severe, like, what are you doing? Like, fix things, work on. Don't believe the people that are coming in, because people were coming in and they were badmouthing Paul and they were saying that he was a robber, he was stealing all their money, and these people were just bad mouthing Paul and every ministry opportunity he has ever had with them.
[00:08:39] So Paul writes a severe letter and they don't respond well to that. Timothy comes back and says, or 1 Corinthians. So he writes a severe letter, but he doesn't know how they're going to respond.
[00:08:50] Now he gave the severe letter to Titus and he said, titus, take this to Corinthians. And so he did. And now he's waiting for him.
[00:08:59] And as we've already discussed, his heart is so burdened with Corinth that he can't even think of doing ministry where he's at, even though he's doing miraculous things like raising kids from the dead.
[00:09:11] Paul is overwhelmed, he's traveling, and he is burdened by his concern for the Corinthians.
[00:09:23] It's interesting that wherever Paul was going in Troas, there was a network of churches that he was involved in. You can kind of see this if you read the last chapter of Romans. He talks about all of these different people. He just thanks these groups and these families of people that he has basically networked with in all these different cities. Thank you for putting me up. Thank you for opening your home to the brethren. Thank you for helping and all of these networks that he has built. And he has a network in Troas. So he's waiting for Titus to finally come and connect with him in Troas. Now, I want to give you a little bit of background as to where this is exactly. So here's a map on the screen and you can kind of see I highlighted in red where we're looking at. So you can see Troas, which is on the upper right hand side of that map. Troas is right on the ocean, and across from that is Macedonia. Right across.
[00:10:19] Paul is in Troas waiting for Titus. Titus is late showing up and Paul is worried.
[00:10:30] Now, that's the key for this whole message. Paul is brokenhearted. Paul has written a letter. He doesn't know how they're gonna respond. And Paul has sent a letter with Titus and he's waiting to hear back. He's in Troes doing ministry, but he is double minded. All he can think of is Corinth.
[00:10:54] Have you ever had trouble keeping on, keeping on?
[00:11:00] Has there ever been a time in your life when you know you've got a project in front of you, got something you have to do, but something's on the back burner, Something's stuck in the brain and you can't move. You're just in a spot where, you know, you got to move forward. People are counting on you, but you are so overwhelmed. Maybe it's a family issue, maybe it's a child issue, maybe it's a parent issue, maybe it's a health issue, maybe it's a financial issue. Whatever it is, I'm always aware of this because I figure every Sunday you all come in here with something on the back burner, some burden, something that wakes you up at night, something that keeps you from sleeping at night, something that is just stuck here.
[00:11:42] This is where Paul is at right now.
[00:11:45] And what he has stuck here is the Corinthian church.
[00:11:50] Righteousness seems to be decreasing and evil seems to be increasing. And Paul was affected in his spirit. This is kind of the principle of Elijah in First Kings, chapter 19. Do you know what happens in First Kings, chapter 18 and 17 and 16? Great stuff.
[00:12:10] In fact, Elijah is like the great prophet of his day. He was like, oh, Elijah's here, right? Everybody stand. It's Elijah. It's like me when I walk into a room. Oh, Craig's here. No, it's not like that at all.
[00:12:21] Elijah is like. He's the great prophet. He did amazing miracles.
[00:12:26] In fact, in one of those chapters before this, there was a famine and he prayed over this little widow of Zarephath. Do you remember this story? This little widow's Food, that it would just multiply and multiply and multiply. And it did. The brook of cherith ran out, and he had no food, he had no water. So he went to this little widow's house, and God did a miracle, and he had food. And then a kid died there. Remember? The widow's kid died, and then Elijah brought him back to life. And then right after that, Elijah takes on the prophets of baal. You remember this? Prophets of baal. They're big. I mean, it was all these people were following these false prophets, and these prophets.
[00:13:11] Elijah said, okay, let's make a bet. I was just in Vegas, so I understand this. So let's make a bet here. Here was the bet.
[00:13:18] Let's build two altars or build one altar. You guys go first. And if your God sends lightning down from heaven and burns up the altar, we'll all worship him. But if God does it, if I'm able to get God to do it, then he is the one true God. Do you remember this story? So they built an altar, and they cut themselves and danced around for a half a day.
[00:13:40] Nothing. No sound, no response. Elijah says, okay, you guys are getting ready to pass out. You just have a seat. And then he pours water over the altar. You remember that? So much water. There was like a ditch that had to be dug around it, put the altar on top. And he said, God, if you're God, do a miracle. And God burns it up. Even the water burned.
[00:14:02] Big deal, right?
[00:14:04] Ahab and Jezebel are king and queen at the time.
[00:14:09] Jezebel says, I have had it with this guy Elijah. He's embarrassed me too much. I am going to kill Elijah if it's the last thing I do, Elijah gets scared and he runs off into a mountain.
[00:14:25] And while he's in the mountain, just to let you know how bad it is, these are the words he said. Then he was afraid.
[00:14:33] He arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah. And he left his servant there. And he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree, and he asked that he might. What church?
[00:14:46] He asked that he might die, saying, it's enough.
[00:14:51] It's enough now. Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my father's.
[00:14:58] You call that depression church?
[00:15:01] He is so overwhelmed with the pressures of his life, with the pressure of what's going on, he runs away and he asks God to kill him himself. This is where God showed up, you remember? Not in the whirlwind not in the fire, but God shows up in a what a still, small voice. And reminds Elijah, you're not alone.
[00:15:23] It's a powerful story. But my question to you, this Elijah thing is what Paul's going through the day. And this is the question that I have for you. Do you ever feel like you're alone?
[00:15:37] Do you ever feel like you're the only one persisting for righteousness?
[00:15:43] Do you ever feel like you're wondering if it's making any difference at all?
[00:15:49] Whatever's going on with your kids, whatever's going on with your family, whatever is going on with your parents, whatever's going on at the job, whatever's going on with your friends, you feel like I'm working for righteousness. I'm working to make a name for Jesus, but it's a lot.
[00:16:06] Paul is on the same trajectory today. The Corinthian Church has been infiltrated by liars.
[00:16:13] And these liars have attempted to tarnish Paul's reputation. They were struggling with sin within the church. They were struggling with the darkness outside of the church.
[00:16:23] Paul attempted to tell them the truth in writing them three letters. So far, their response. Bupkis, nothing.
[00:16:30] The response was underwhelming. And Paul loved these folks. That's a problem, right? The problem is it's stuck here in our heads because we love the people that cause us the greatest burden. Sometimes Paul is vulnerable about his emotional state. He's afflicted, he's anguished, he's tearful. He even says in 2 Corinthians, when he wrote out the letter, this severe letter, he cried over the letter before he sent it with Titus.
[00:17:00] Maybe this letter would do the difference, he thinks. And now he's waiting for Titus, and he's waiting now. This will not. This illustration will not ring true with many of you, but it will if you ever waited for the postal service to get back to you.
[00:17:16] Right now we've got Amazon, where you can get something by 3am in the morning. I don't even know how that's possible, but they can pull it off. Because when I was a kid and you sent your mail, you're lucky if you got it three months later, right? A response.
[00:17:31] Paul is desperate to hear back from Titus. And there was no UPS and there was no Amazon. There was just waiting. Paul waited. We don't know how long he waited, but it was a long time.
[00:17:45] And Titus was a no show. He's anxious. He doesn't know if Titus is carrying money. He doesn't know if he got kidnapped. He doesn't know. He doesn't know what happened to Titus. He doesn't know if Titus, maybe the Corinthian Church kidnapped him. And, you know, they didn't like the letter that Paul sent, and they responded badly, and they're beating Titus up. He has no idea what's going on. He's just waiting to hear back. And this is where we pick up in 2 Corinthians, chapter 3, here's what he. Or chapter. Yeah, 3. Here's what he says in verse 12.
[00:18:15] When I came to Troas to preach the Gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened to me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there.
[00:18:26] So now watch this church.
[00:18:29] I took leave of them and went to Macedonia.
[00:18:33] Remember where Macedonia is?
[00:18:36] He's got to get on a ship. He's got to go across to Macedonia. He gives up ministry in Troas. Even though a door was opened for him to do ministry. This in the back of his head was so pressured that he had to walk away from an open door. He had to walk away from what God was doing in Troas.
[00:18:58] Now, my question to you is this. How does that hit you?
[00:19:04] This is Paul the apostle. Suck it up, buttercup. This is like the apostle of the day.
[00:19:10] How does it hit you that Paul said, there's so much pressure on me, I packed up my bags and I went to Macedonia.
[00:19:20] To me, it simply says this. It doesn't matter who you are.
[00:19:25] When your relationship with those around you is impacted, it affects you.
[00:19:32] Sometimes it's debilitating.
[00:19:35] Sometimes, like Elijah, it may make you wish that you weren't even here anymore.
[00:19:41] Now, I want to give you the end of the story before we go any further. All right? Titus does meet up with Paul in Macedonia. My guess is he goes to Troas unless they had a place in Macedonia first and he had to go through Macedonia to get to Drus. Either way, Titus was able to meet up with Paul in Macedonia. I fast forward now to second Corinthians, chapter seven. Paul gives us an idea of how that went. For even when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest. This is Paul talking about how he felt when he got there. We just talked about that. But we were afflicted at every turn. We were fighting without and fear within stuck in the back of his brain.
[00:20:18] But God, I love that who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he is comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still even more.
[00:20:38] The report Church was good after all the bad reports from Chloe, from Timothy, Titus finally comes after three letters, and he says, paul Corinthian church is doing better.
[00:20:57] They love God. They love what God is doing. They love you. They're not buying into the lies around them. But the way that Paul explains us just kind of impacts me. And this is what I couldn't get away from. The message today.
[00:21:11] I had fighting without, Paul said, and I had fear within. He's being honest, he's being transparent, he's being open. And for us who are reading this story, we are meant to see an amazing apostle of God that was so impacted emotionally and distressed that he stopped doing ministry in one city and he packed up and went to another.
[00:21:36] Even the city, he says, where God had opened a door.
[00:21:42] Verse 14.
[00:21:44] 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. And here's the principle Church.
[00:21:55] Through us spreads the fragrance of him everywhere.
[00:22:00] Say it with me, because I really want you to get this. Here we go. Ready? Through us spreads the fragrance of him everywhere.
[00:22:09] In other words, Paul is saying that all of us, not just Paul, but all of us, the church, together, everyone who calls himself a follower of Jesus Christ is spreading a fragrance of Jesus Christ wherever we go and whatever we do.
[00:22:31] So today's message is called Fragrance Matters. I was going to call it Smell Matters, but you know, that's a little crass. So Fragrance matters.
[00:22:42] In Rome they had this thing called the Glory Procession. They would do this in Rome when they conquered an area. Rome, Rome, the Roman Empire was the empire of the dead. There wasn't any place that didn't belong to Rome very much anymore. Rome was taking over the then known world. And during this Glory Procession, what they would do is they would come back to Rome and they would put a chariot in the front and they would honor the general who had won the war. Behind the general, they would put all kinds of carts and wagons and they would pile them high with all of the loot that they had stolen. I'm sorry, that they had acquired.
[00:23:21] And then they would put behind that all of the people that they had captured. And it was a great procession. And they would burn this fragrance that filled the air. And every time this parade happened, this march of glory, people would come out. And if you belonged to the Roman Empire. You were really happy that now another city had fallen. You were more rich than you were before. The Roman Empire was more powerful than it was before. All of a sudden, you had a lot of reason to rejoice. However, if you're in the procession behind the conquered, all the stuff that they had taken from your and you are being brought back, you were either brought back as a slave or you were going to be killed.
[00:24:04] Same procession, but two different, drastic, drastically different meanings.
[00:24:11] To the crowd that was gathered, you would look at all the riches and you would applaud. You were Roman.
[00:24:19] But to the people that were captured, that same smell was the smell of death.
[00:24:28] Captives would face death or slavery, and the conquerors would be rewarded with land and distinction.
[00:24:34] There was a pleasing aroma that meant success in life to the conquerors, but to the captives, it meant imminent death and defeat.
[00:24:43] One smell, two drastically different meanings.
[00:24:49] Paul uses. Oh, by the way, when I was in Rome, I saw this.
[00:24:55] You know, this is on one of the archways, one of the.
[00:25:02] Crafted right into one of the archways, not far from the Roman Colosseum. Remember seeing this, Beth? And when we saw this, this was one of the glory parades. And remember, I told you they brought the conquered people back and they brought all the loot that they had captured.
[00:25:18] Which glory parade do you think this was? Do you see anything on there that you recognize that might have come from someplace that, you know, Titus coming back from Jerusalem. Yeah, this is a conquering group coming back after they conquered Jerusalem. And look what they stole from the temple. You see that big menorah?
[00:25:40] Yeah. So if you're wondering where the Ark of the Covenant is, I have no idea. But I know where the menorah ended up. It ended up in Rome, this triumph of procession. Paul taps into that in this verse.
[00:25:54] And in verse 14, he says, God leads us in Christ in a triumphal procession.
[00:26:02] And so, Church, I'm here to tell you that this message today, this impact from these verses today are for the brokenhearted.
[00:26:15] They're for people that feel like there's always something in the back of my mind. I feel burdened. I feel pressured. I feel like Elijah on that mountain, and I'm just going, where is God?
[00:26:25] Like Paul, who had an open area for ministry in Troas and saw God do amazing things, but he can't get it out of his mind. He's brokenhearted because this Corinthian church means so much to him and it just occupies his thoughts. And I'm here to tell you, Church, this message is for brokenhearted people.
[00:26:46] This message is for those that have ever thought that evil continues to win and righteousness continues to falter.
[00:26:54] This message is for anyone that's felt uncomfortable participating in God's victorious parade because they are so impacted by the broken world and the loved ones that we have that are being impacted by the. The demonic philosophies of this broken world. This message is to those who are weary and struggling to stand out in the darkness for the light of Jesus Christ, because the darkness seems to be almost overwhelming these little candles.
[00:27:21] This message is for every one of us.
[00:27:25] We are more than conquerors, but we may not feel like it.
[00:27:31] Paul is showing signs of inadequacy, depression, anxiety and debilitating sorrow.
[00:27:39] And he's reminding himself and us that even though we feel broken, even though we feel debilitatingly sorrowed at the time, we are in a triumphal procession that is led by Jesus Christ.
[00:27:55] I love it, too. Can you throw that verse up there one more time? The Word always is in this verse.
[00:28:01] Thanks be to God, who in Christ see it there.
[00:28:05] How often does Jesus lead us in triumphal procession? Church, you may not feel like it.
[00:28:12] You may feel overwhelmed. You may feel like evil is winning. You may feel like demonic philosophies are infiltrating your family and your loved ones. But I want to tell you, church, Christ always leads you in triumphal procession.
[00:28:27] And the reason I can say that is because God does this. The victor drags the spoils behind him. Jesus Christ has already won the victory at the cross. Jesus is dragging the demonic forces behind him. It may seem like they're winning, but it's a facade.
[00:28:45] We follow the victor and we celebrate the spoils.
[00:28:49] And even though the darkness sometimes seems to be overwhelming, even stuck in the back of our brain all the time, so we can't think of any.
[00:28:58] We don't even feel like our prayers go higher than the ceiling. The last thing we want to do is to sing because we can't stop crying.
[00:29:10] And it's in times like this, even Paul, the great apostle Paul packed his bags and left an open door because he was overwhelmed with what was going on in his mind and in his heart.
[00:29:25] And he reminds himself and us that we are more than victors. Through Jesus Christ, he has won the battle already.
[00:29:35] It looks like evil is winning, but evil does not win. When does the darkness overtake the light, Church?
[00:29:42] Physically, it is an impossibility. Light always wins.
[00:29:50] Verse 15.
[00:29:52] For we are. Paul goes on to say, we are the smell of Christ.
[00:29:58] We are the Aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
[00:30:04] To one, we are a fragrance from death to death and to the other a fragrance from life to life. We are the aroma of Christ. The fragrance of death to that death is easily understood in this glory parade. I mean, good grief, these glory parades go on all the time in Rome. If you are the small holdouts not far from a Roman centurion empire base, you have limited time to exist.
[00:30:35] You should surrender now or you will be conquered in the most terrible ways.
[00:30:41] How would you feel if you went to one of those glory parades in Rome? You'd feel fearful. You'd feel like, well, we're the lone holdout here.
[00:30:53] Rome is just an inevitable thing. These parades, day after day, they're taking more territory, they're conquering more territory. And my guess is if you were like the lone holdout, you and your family and your little tribes stuck in corner of the land that you're hoping Rome doesn't discover someday, you're probably scared to death.
[00:31:15] This is what it means when he says we are the fragrance of Christ from some death to death church. Can I ask you, what do you think people do when they know they're on the losing side?
[00:31:28] If they're fighting for the losing side, they're fighting for. For a side that is about to lose. How do you think people behave?
[00:31:38] They fight harder.
[00:31:40] They go down fighting. We even have words for it. They're scared, so they lie more, they fight more, they fight dirtier, whatever it takes.
[00:31:51] Because if they feel like they're losing, they go down swinging.
[00:31:57] Dead people do what dead people do. They promote more death.
[00:32:02] But we are a smell of Christ. For some, from death to death. But for others, we are the smell of Christ. From life to life.
[00:32:12] We are the reminder in this world that Christ is the victor. Evil has already been defeated. Jesus is king. No matter who you declare to be your leader at the time, Jesus is king. And no matter what you see in the world around you, this is the truth.
[00:32:29] For those of us that follow Jesus Christ and our moments of praise like we had this morning or like we're doing right now, our moments where we lift up Jesus name, those are the moments that we remind ourselves. This triumphal procession is going on always and it includes all of us.
[00:32:50] It strikes fear into the hearts of the enemy because the enemy knows his holdouts are falling.
[00:32:58] In South Carolina, when I saw these churches and what these churches are doing, I got to tell you, I had a heart of pride.
[00:33:06] Because these churches are looking at other churches and they don't care what name is on their door. All they care about is they can help their fellow neighbor. And they pick up their chainsaws and they pick up their. Their tools and they go from house to house. And on their free time, they walk through the woods and they look for bodies. They are standing up and they are doing God's work.
[00:33:28] I was so proud of that. They are the fragrance of Jesus in the darkness of this world.
[00:33:37] And then verse 16 ends with this.
[00:33:40] The question, who is sufficient for these things? And the answer, church, is no 1.
[00:33:50] Because I don't know about you, but it always seems I've got burdens on my shoulders.
[00:33:56] It always seems like there's something in the back of my mind.
[00:34:00] It always seems like I'm thinking about something. It wakes me up at night. It keeps me from sleeping before I go to bed. It is the thing. And if you got kids, you got this, like, constantly, right? Who are they talking to? Who are they hanging with? What are they doing now? What kind of bad things are they getting into? It's like there's always something that is in the back of your head, and you're just thinking to yourself, oh, I just need a little reminder that you've got this. And that's the thing. He says, who is sufficient for these things? The answer is no one. So what do we do? We remind ourselves who's leading the parade.
[00:34:35] We remind ourselves who's in the front chariot. That is Jesus Christ up there.
[00:34:41] We don't take center stage. He does. We don't plan the wars. He does. We haven't won the victory. He has. And we are on his side.
[00:34:51] He is not our co pilot. He's the pilot.
[00:34:58] These folks were looking at Paul and they're going, we can't do this, Paul.
[00:35:02] We can't do it without you. And what Paul is saying to them is, you're right, you can't. But let me tell you a little something about me. Neither can I.
[00:35:09] Because when I was in Troas, you're Paul.
[00:35:13] You're great apostle. I couldn't do it either. I packed up my bags and I left because it was too much for me.
[00:35:24] Paul's response is, who's sufficient for these things? And the answer is, listen, you may not feel sufficient. Here's a breakthrough for you. Neither do I.
[00:35:33] I had to abandon the plan because my heart was anxious and I couldn't sleep. I was at war outside, and I was at war ins.
[00:35:42] I was full of fear, and I gotta Be honest with you. I couldn't do it anymore. So I packed up and I prayed to God that Titus would show up. I had to hear a good report.
[00:35:54] And church. Paul the Apostle isn't sufficient for these things. I am not sufficient for these things. And you are not sufficient for these things.
[00:36:04] But Jesus is.
[00:36:06] He's the one we travel behind. Church. The point of evangelism is not to win. The point of evangelism is to invite people into the victorious procession that is led by Jesus Christ.
[00:36:18] We don't point people to the church. We don't point people to Craig. We don't point people to the elders. We point people to Jesus. Everything is about Him. If your church starts to be about your church, you're following a very dangerous path.
[00:36:32] The church is about Jesus Christ. You want to put up a sign in your church? Put that one up. It's the only one.
[00:36:41] I wrote it down this way. The point of evangelism is not to win. The point is to smell.
[00:36:48] To spread the fragrance of Jesus everywhere. Our job is to be a fragrant smell of Jesus everywhere. You may not feel sufficient for these things. Don't worry. The parade goes on. You're just a part of the crowd. Stick in there. Persevere. And remember, it doesn't depend on you. It depends on the guy that's in the lead. Verse 17. For we are not like so many peddlers of God's word, but we are men of sincerity, commissioned by God in the sight of God. We speak in Christ. What he is saying is our faith doesn't come down to wins and losses. It comes down to a sincerity of our heart.
[00:37:26] We don't peddle God's word for personal gain. We promote Christianity. We promote Jesus Christ because we deeply believe he is the only thing that's going to save this world.
[00:37:36] We are men and women of sincerity. Paul is highlighting his humanity.
[00:37:41] He's saying, it's not about me. You think it's about me.
[00:37:46] I even think it's about me. I think if I show up, I can fix things. And he didn't. He chose to send them a letter instead because he thought he was going to fail. He thought it wasn't going to work, so he sent them a letter instead. And they're on his heart and they're on his mind. And even when he's doing ministry where God opened a door and there's miracles going on in troas, he shut the door and he went on to Macedonia and church. Here's the message. It is so freeing. Because if Paul can't do it, and I feel like I can't do it, then I'm probably on the right track.
[00:38:18] Because if I can't do it, and if Paul can't do it, and if Elijah can't do it, at times, neither can you.
[00:38:25] But Jesus is always in the lead, always leads us in triumphal procession, and we simply bear his fragrance every day we follow him.
[00:38:39] So on the screen, we are devout in our walk behind Jesus, not faking a devotion to his kingdom, his kingdom cause, but compelled to live for him out of sincerity of our soul. This is who I am. You may not hit it out of the park every time you swing, but God can use every effort you make, no matter how difficult it seems or how much you think I didn't do a good job. Oh, I should. It's like that George on the Seinfeld when he tried to badmouth the guy that was badmouthing him, right? And he had a good comeback, and he can never think of the good comeback. And this doesn't mean anything. But to John it does, where he's trying to think of a good comeback and he couldn't. And he finally flies home and he goes, oh, that was the comeback I should have. I don't know about you, but when I'm talking about Jesus after, I feel like, oh, that was the dumbest thing. That didn't mean anything. It didn't come across. It didn't do anything.
[00:39:32] It almost always does.
[00:39:35] Because it doesn't come down to my wisdom in my words, but the power of the Holy Spirit at work within the other person.
[00:39:44] So what? Church number one. Your light is always on. Or let's put it this way, your smell is always on.
[00:39:50] Accept it. It doesn't matter who you are with or where you are. You are lit up and people know it. They know who you are. You will be in aroma for Jesus Christ no matter where you are. This is the most important part of my ministry. And it's not spiritual fruit. It's the sincerity of my worship for Jesus Christ.
[00:40:12] The most obvious place that this shows up is in my core relationships. No matter where I am, I know people are smelling Jesus on me.
[00:40:23] I spread the light of Jesus no matter where I'm at. And kids, students, this includes you. It doesn't matter if you're at school. It doesn't matter if you're at home. It doesn't matter if you're at work. It doesn't matter if you're in church. Doesn't matter if you're in your neighborhood, people know they smell Jesus on you.
[00:40:42] Persevere.
[00:40:44] Be sincere in your faith. I took a class at the uw.
[00:40:49] I didn't tell anybody specifically. I didn't tell anybody that I was a pastor. I didn't want it to influence the class. It was a discussion class. So we would have all kinds of discussion every time I got in there and I would lead the discussion. Sometimes, no matter what I did, people always seemed to find out that I was a Christian.
[00:41:09] I didn't tell them I was a pastor. I didn't fake it. But it just bleeds out.
[00:41:17] Because you are the fragrance of Christ wherever you go.
[00:41:21] God has lit a light in you and it will shine.
[00:41:25] Be sincere.
[00:41:27] Number two. Who is sufficient for these things? Church. Who is sufficient for these things?
[00:41:32] No one. The smell of Jesus doesn't come from you. It comes from the crowd. Right? The fragrance is found in our praise of Jesus together. The joy of the Lord is our strength. Right? The Bible says that God inhabits the praise of his people. Don't you love that? When you praise Jesus Christ, you join in the chorus in your generation around the globe that lifts up Jesus name. In this dark world, the Lord inhabits the praise of his people. Psalm 22. Paul is confident that the mission does not rely on him alone. And it doesn't rely on me. Thank God it doesn't rely on you. It relies on us spreading the fragrance of Christ in our generation.
[00:42:17] Number three. Live from the heart. Even when it hurts.
[00:42:23] God deeply cares. Church. About your emotional state. Can I just say that one more time? Because it took me many years to come to terms with the fact that this is true.
[00:42:34] God deeply cares about your emotional state.
[00:42:39] This is difficult to comprehend. Paul was given a door for ministry because. And he. And he walked away from it because there was too much in his heart. And you know what? God was okay with that. That blows me away.
[00:42:54] Sometimes it's okay to walk from an open door. You don't walk away because of fear, but simply because of being human.
[00:43:01] You know why I can say that? Because I know another guy who did that. Exactly the same thing. You know what his name was?
[00:43:08] Jesus.
[00:43:10] You read about when Jesus was impacted emotionally. And every time Jesus looks to get away from the crowd.
[00:43:18] When Jesus found out that John the Baptist had his head lopped off, the first thing he wanted to do was get away by himself.
[00:43:26] And then he ended up feeding 5,000 people because he couldn't get away from the crowd.
[00:43:31] So he snuck away after that and he spent some time actually A whole night on the mountain by himself. And when he was in the garden of Gethsemane and he was about to give his life, what did he do? Church. He left the disciples behind. He took three with him, and then he left them behind so that he could pray by himself.
[00:43:50] God deeply cares about your emotional state.
[00:43:55] I've done this in the past.
[00:43:57] When something is on my heart and in my mind and I've got to get away, and that's okay. And I have to let myself do this, and so do you.
[00:44:06] Because I have to do what Jesus did. And I have to remind myself that we live in an emotional world and we are emotionally charged human beings. And walking away from something is not a sign of weakness, but it can be a sign to gain strength.
[00:44:20] And so I pray and I fasted. There was one particular time in my life that my whole world was falling apart because people in my life were making terrible decisions, and it was impacting so many people. And I can remember I went to the church and I said, I gotta go away. I just gotta leave.
[00:44:37] And my wife said, yeah, you gotta go away. You gotta leave. And so I did.
[00:44:45] Not to bail on my responsibilities, but to recharge and to remind myself that Jesus is still the victor.
[00:44:53] I am not on the losing side.
[00:44:55] He has already won the victory at the cross.
[00:44:58] And darkness, even though it seems to lose its luster or darkness seems to hide his face, I know that he is still in charge.
[00:45:09] This is when we learn the value of fasting and praying. Church.
[00:45:13] You could still do ministry when you're broken, by the way, but it'll look different.
[00:45:19] Because God can use a humbled heart way better than he can use a proud one.
[00:45:25] Fruit will come up on the screen. Fruit will come. God only needs sincerity in order to make your smell a force to be reckoned with. Like Thanksgiving dinner.
[00:45:35] Remember when you walk in, when you walk into your house, like Thanksgiving's coming up and you know people in there, whatever you've been doing all day, avoiding the work, you come into the house, you open the door and you smell the turkey and you smell all of that.
[00:45:49] You can't walk anywhere close to that house and miss the smell.
[00:45:55] Fruit will come. Church. God only needs sincerity in order to make you a smell, a smell force to be reckoned with.
[00:46:03] I'm praying, church, that our smell is a force to be reckoned with in this present world. Because no matter what happens tomorrow or the next day or the next day, Jesus has already won.
[00:46:17] The light is already shining. We live in the Dark.
[00:46:21] Don't believe the lies. God is in charge and he will renew your soul if you spend time with him.
[00:46:30] Father, I'm grateful that you care deeply about us, our emotional state. You even give us, through Paul this morning, permission, maybe even to walk away from ministry for a while.
[00:46:45] It's hard for us because so many of us have prodigals in our lives we pray for on a regular basis, people who mean the world to us. We would give anything if they would stop making the bad decisions, if they would just bow and humble their hearts before you and come to you.
[00:47:08] And until they do, Lord, we are going to pray for them. We're going to live our lives believing that you are the victor. We are going to be a fragrant smell in the way that we praise you. You inhabit our praises and the way that we find joy even when we're broken, because you are our strength.
[00:47:28] And so, Father, may we remember from this day forward that we are part of a parade of a victor that cannot be broken, cannot be defeated, who has won the battle already.
[00:47:43] Thank you for giving us Jesus. Thank you for giving the cross to us.
[00:47:50] And thank you that we march behind the one who is in charge not only of our lives, but of every life we've ever met.
[00:48:01] And may we be people of sincerity who march following your lead as a fragrant smell to those around us of who you are and what you have done to save them as well. May you change our world. For the glory of Jesus, I pray in Jesus name, Amen.
