The Fragrance of Christ

What a great song to sing right before we go to prayer today. This morning, just want to start off by once again recognizing the tensions that are high around the world as we watch another war. I’m not here to give you any answers on what we’re watching – I’m not going to preach about end times today, or whether or not this is part of the prophecies the Bible talks about. I’ll tell you this – Jesus said when you see leaves appearing on a fig tree, you know that it won’t be long before figs show up. When an expectant mother starts having contractions, you know the birth of a child isn’t far away. So where does this specific event fit into the biblical prophecy timeline? I don’t know, but I think we can safely say it is another contraction bringing us closer to the birth. It’s another spring leaf on the tree that tells us the fullness is coming.

So let’s be prayerfully watchful in the days ahead. Remember only God’s word is truth, and even then we don’t always see it perfectly.

Heavenly Father – Colossians 1 says that everything in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by you, they have been created through you, and it was all created for you. Psalm 2 tells us that nations rage, they make their plans, they conspire about how to one up each other, and destroy your handiwork – but you laugh at our ignorance and our puny shortsightedness. You have proclaimed your king, and it is the Son of God seated at your right hand. You’ve given the nations to him. The ends of the earth are his possession. There is no limit to his understanding, no end to his wisdom, there is no sin or imperfection or oversight or missed opportunities in his government; there is no unjust, unfair, or unrighteous action that he has ever or will ever take. He has never sought the wisdom of any other world leader or great thinker, nor has he ever needed to call anyone to his defense. Jesus, we recognize you as our king, our Lord, our brother.

Father, we ask that you would give these world leaders wisdom today as they make critical and timely decisions, which can have life-or-death consequences. And for both Israelis and Iranians, we pray for their repentance and belief in the gospel, that they would come to the knowledge of the truth, and be saved from their sins. We ask that as armies clash, that you would protect the innocent and defend the weak, give strength to the first responders and medical teams, as well as ministries who are doing relief, rescue and recovery. We ask that your kingdom would come, your will would be done, in Iran and in Israel in Los Angelos in India and everywhere in between, as it is in heaven.

Lord lead us not into temptation to fear or become self-centered or point fingers at each other, but deliver us from the evil that’s still lurking in our own hearts, and fill us again with your Spirit to do good to our neighbors. We recognize you, Father as the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of Armies, and we ask that in all of this, you would sanctify your holy name. For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

One last thing – among all the places you can go for news, one I like for things involving Israel is called AllIsraelnews.com. This site is run by Jewish Christians who want to make much of Christ. It’s not perfect, but I think it’s a better option than FoxNews or CNN since these guys understand Israel’s history and future through the lens of covenant, and not just political rhetoric and posturing.

DISMISS KIDCITY

[ 001 ] We’re looking at 2 Corinthians this summer, and pulling out some of the illustrations and word pictures that Paul gives to help us understand our identity as disciples of Jesus. Last week, we saw that we are accountable to each other, and today, the word picture that Paul uses is that we are the fragrance of Christ, or the aroma of Christ.

Generally speaking, if you ask people which one of the 5 senses they would choose to live without if they had to pick one, would be smell. According to Stanford University, in a recent survey, 1 in 4 college students would give up their sense of smell if it meant they could keep their phone. Apparently it’s lost on most of us that something like 80% of our sense of taste involves smell? I don’t know. At any rate, the sense of smell seems to be one that again generally speaking we find non-essential. And when people are asked to give reasons why, it’s primarily because it would mean no longer smelling certain nasty things.

For example, as many of you know, my wife loves gardening and she uses all kinds of natural fertilizers to keep the garden healthy. There is a plastic bottle of creamy tan liquid next to the garden that looks like but very much isn’t iced coffee – it is called fish emulsion. It’s basically everything about a fish that isn’t fit for human consumption. That stuff is nasty.

On the other side of the spectrum, of course, if you lost your sense of smell, it would be a tragic loss in that you lose out of the familiar smells of summer – mowed grass, rain, a warm breeze, flowers, etc.

And then there certain smells that go both directions, [ 002 ] like the smell of manure being spread on the field. To the neighbor, it’s a dreaded day – gotta close the windows and hope the breeze blows the other direction. But to the farmer, it smells like money because as Proverbs tells us, where there is manure there are cattle, and when cattle go to market it means bills getting paid, food on the table, gas in the truck, etc. Same smell, two different reactions.

[ 003 ] Or another familiar smell in this area of the country is in Cedar Rapids, when you smell the cereal factories. But to the people who own those factories, that smell means production – things are happening, boxes rolling off the line, money coming in.

In today’s text, Paul is going to use a very familiar smell and very familiar visual to make an important point about what it looks like to be disciples of Jesus. Here once again is what Natalie read for us, starting in verse 14.

[ 004 ] But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place. [ 004-2 ]15 For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. [ 004-3 ]16 To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life. Who is adequate for these things? [ 004-4 ]17 For we do not market the word of God for profit like so many. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.

As I was planning out the series, [ 005 ] I planned to start at verse 14, because that’s where the idea of being the fragrance of Christ is started. But here again is where you have to let the Bible help you read the Bible. You have to be aware of the words on the page in front of you and not just skip through them all willy nilly. I should have Beth, our resident language arts teacher, come up and explain this for us, but when you see that [ 006 ] three letter word BUT at the beginning of a sentence, you can’t ignore it. The word “BUT” is a coordinating conjunction, meaning it connects two related ideas and highlights a contrast or opposition between them.

That means if the very first word you read is the word “but” or “therefore”, you can’t just start there and get the full picture. That word “but” says “slow down there buddy; gotta back up before you go forward.” So let’s go backward and see what’s on the other side of that conjunction. What you need to know about this verse is that there was a situation in Corinth, which we talked about last week, and Paul had sent Titus to Corinth to find out the situation. Did the Corinthian church take care of this? Did the guy repent? He sent Titus to find out, and then meet him in Troas with the news. So here’s what Paul wrote in verse 12:

[ 007 ]12 When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though the Lord opened a door for me, [ 007-2 ] 13 I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus. Instead, I said good-bye to them and left for Macedonia.

When Paul got to Troas, he found people who were ready to hear him preach, ready to hear the good news, ready to receive it. But Titus wasn’t back from Corinth yet, and that made Paul uneasy. He didn’t have peace about it. There was a knot in his stomach. What is going on in Corinth that Titus isn’t here yet? Paul is distracted, and so instead of preaching the gospel to an open door, he said good-bye and headed for Macedonia hoping to catch Titus there. Seems very unlike Paul to walk away from an open opportunity to spread the good news of the kingdom of God.

So here is Paul in verses 12 and 13 going, man, things just didn’t work out the way I thought they would. The Lord opened the door for me, but Titus wasn’t there yet and I didn’t have peace about that, so I moved on to Macedonia instead. And that’s where we run into the conjunction. Things didn’t go the way I planned in Troas, BUT… ( contrast )

[ 008 ] thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place.

Whether I’m in Troas or Macedonia or St Cloud MN, or Riverside Iowa, or Mozambique, or Iran or Tel Aviv, praise God who can lead us and work through us anywhere. Sometimes I think we put way too much weight on finding our purpose. What is God calling me to do. What is the reason I’m on earth. I just feel like I don’t have purpose. Well, you definitely do have a purpose for being here. You’re here for a reason. But that reason may always be a mystery to us. We may never really know the full scope of it.

In Exodus 9:16, sometimes God allows dictators and evil world leaders to continue for the same reason Pharaoh was allowed to live: “However, I have let you live for this purpose: to show you my power and to make my name known on the whole earth.”

In Psalm 57, David isn’t trying to figure out his purpose – he just says, “I call to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.” David’s son Solomon wrote something similar in Proverbs 16:4 “The Lord has prepared everything for his purpose— even the wicked for the day of disaster.”

Here’s how Paul spoke of his purpose in Acts 20 “But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.” And again in Acts 26, I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.”

2 Timothy 1:9 “He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.”

So here’s my take – Whether you’re a young person trying to figure out what God wants you to do in your life, or you’re nearing a mid-life crisis and not sure what direction the rest of your life should take, or if you’re in the fourth quarter of your life and you’re not sure what God wants you to do with the time you have left, verse 14 tells us “pick something!” Pick a college, go there, walk in the victory of the cross and empty tomb, and be the aroma of Christ there! Pick a job, be amazing at it, walk in the victory of the cross and empty tomb, and be the aroma of Christ; Pick a town and live there, walk in the victory of the cross and empty tomb, and be the aroma of Christ. Paul walked away from Troas going, thanks be to God, Christ’s victory is everywhere, there are open doors for the gospel in every place.

Now, let’s look at the picture Paul is using: You have to understand that Paul is living in occupied territory. He is living in the Roman Empire, which means he’s seeing Roman soldiers everywhere, he is very familiar with their movements, their strategies, etc. So he’s using language and a picture that everyone reading this would understand – specifically the language of triumphal procession.

In those days, if a commander in chief won a complete victory over the enemy on foreign soil, and if he killed at least 5,000 enemy soldiers and gained new territory for the Emperor, then that commander in chief was entitled to a Roman Triumph. The processional would include the commander riding in a golden chariot, surrounded by his officers. The parade would also include a display of the spoils of battle, as well as the captive enemy soldiers. The Roman priests would also be in the parade, carrying burning incense to pay tribute to the victorious army. That odor affected different people in different ways. To the winning soldiers, it meant life and victory; but to the conquered enemy, it meant defeat and death. They were on their way to be killed by the beasts. The victorious general’s sons would walk behind their father’s chariot, sharing in his victory. It was a very special day in Rome when the citizens were treated to a full-scale “Roman Triumph.”

Paul looks at this and connects some dots: Jesus Christ, our great Commander in chief, came to foreign soil (this earth) and completely defeated the enemy (Satan) at the cross and empty tomb. Instead of killing 5,000 persons, by Acts 4:4, He had given life to more than 5,000 persons, the spoils of battle being lost souls who had been in bondage to sin and Satan! Just like the victorious general’s sons would walk behind their father’s chariot, sharing in his victory, that is where us who were formally lost souls are today—following in Christ’s triumph (Wiersbe, 1:636).

• This is just a pet peeve of mine, but there is a song that goes, “I’m gonna see a victory, I’m gonna see a victory, for the battle belongs to the Lord.” To me it just sounds dumb that we are walking behind the Commander in Chief, who defeated the enemy, gave us life, leads us in a triumphal ticker-tape parade, sharing his victory with us, and we’re walking behind him going, I’m gonna see a victory, I’m gonna see a victory… YOU’RE ALREADY IN THE VICTORY PARADE! Jesus said it is finished! Colossians 2:15 says he triumphed over his enemies at the cross – A much better song to sing is O Victory in Jesus, My Savior forever, He sought me and bought me with his redeeming love.

Now granted, I’m being a bit of a song snob here and I realize there are smaller victories like getting over an addiction, reconciling a relationship, and overcoming temptation, so whatever, sing the song, I don’t care. But Paul’s point is this: As you sing, don’t forget that if you are in Christ, you’re already in the victory parade! Every one of those lesser victories happens because THE victory is already won at the cross.

Then Paul changes the metaphor a bit and says that the apostles, verse, 15 …(In God’s eyes) we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

Do you remember the story of the woman who poured perfume all over Jesus’ feet, and then dried it with her hair? Remember that one? John 12:3 “Then Mary took a pound of perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair. And check this out… So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”

Put yourself in that house. She breaks the bottle and I mean, the aroma just fills the house instantly. In a couple of minutes, there isn’t a corner of the house where you don’t smell it. In verse 14, Paul said the aroma that that he and the other apostles are spreading all over the “house” is the knowledge of Christ. That means he and the other apostles have spread the knowledge of Christ to every corner of the “house”/ the world, to both those who believe and are being saved, and to those who reject and are perishing.

And Paul says that’s us. And in verse 16, just like in the priests incense in the victory parade, To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life.

Everywhere the apostles traveled, they symbolically "gave off the smell" of the Savior to fellow Christians and unbelievers alike. Paul has described Christians as "the aroma of Christ" on earth. When we are hidden in Christ by faith, and his Spirit has taken up residence in us, He becomes so much a part of our being that the essence of Him travels with believers into their relationships with everyone they know. This is true whether those who a believer knows "are being saved" from hell—through faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sin—or "perishing"—on the road to eternal destruction in punishment for sin. Those are the only two options—there is no middle ground (John 3:16–18).

In that vein, Paul adds that "the aroma of Christ" smells differently to these two opposed groups. To those on the path to hell, "the aroma of Christ" is the odor of death. Their rejection of Him is the rejection of the opportunity to move from eternal death to eternal life. Evidence of the reality of Christ's influence is, to them, a source of condemnation and conviction.

I’m sure many of you have had this happen to you – it happens to me all the time. I’m playing golf with people I don’t know, and someone asks me what I do – I say I’m a pastor. Three holes into the round, the dude lets an f-bomb fly, looks straight at me and says, excuse my french. It’s happened twice in the last couple of weeks. It’s the number one thing that happens when people find out what I do – they stop swearing. WHY? I have never said, hey guys I’m a Christian pastor – I’d appreciate if you watch your language. But what if that’s exactly what Paul is talking about here: my association with God produces a sense of shame in them to the point of feeling conviction, recognizing they fall short of some internal standard, and they respond by repenting to me! And that’s where I usually have the opportunity to say, hey, you got the wrong guy on the pedestal dude. You don’t need to repent to me. But to some people, my connection to church and association with God is an “aroma that brings death”.

On the other hand, I’ve walked with fellow believers through some really dark valleys in their lives and they’ve walked with me through some dark valleys in mine. And there is nothing like brothers and sisters encouraging each other, praying with each other in the hospital, showing up for each other, showing grace where there could have been resentment, reminding each other that our situations don’t define us, that reminding each other – hey, I know you’re limping along here, but we are in the victory parade, remember? In that way, we are an “aroma that brings life.”

And as Paul thinks that over, he goes, man, what a heavy responsibility and privilege it is to carry this “fragrance of the knowledge of God”?! Who is sufficient for that? Who does that perfectly? Who can bear the weight of your life being the fragrance of the Savior that has eternal implications for the people you run into?! That’s insane! It’s like putting diamonds in a WalMart bag, like are you sure that’s a good idea? And Paul is talking about himself and the other apostles – all the people we look up to! Paul answers his own question in 2 Corinthians 3:5 “It is not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.”

There is nothing in us that makes us fit for the job, Paul says. We are not claiming to have any kind of adequacy of our own. 17 For we do not market the word of God for profit like so many. There were a lot of false teachers in Corinth, and Paul is calling them out. They were hucksters. Peddlers. Meaning, when they sold you a basket of fruit, they would put the good fruit on top, and some overripe or even rotten stuff on the bottom. Or they would sell wine, but water it down to make it stretch further and make more money. There were teachers in Corinth who were claiming the same authority Paul and the apostles had. Teachers who used the word of God to get what they wanted. They became preachers so they could pad their own bank accounts. Still happens today, where charlatans use the pulpit to take money from the poor and pad their own wallets. Others in Corinth were mixing Greek philosophy with the gospel to make it less offensive. They were taking the truth of scripture and making in man-centered… the same stuff that happens today where scripture is twisted to make it focus on man, even though Jesus said it’s all about him.

Paul goes on – On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God. Three ways Paul talks about his ministry as opposed to false teachers:

In Christ – Paul knows he’s in the parade. He’s submitted to the Lordship of Jesus, first and foremost. He is walking in a victory he did not earn. He has nothing in and of himself to boast about. Jesus won the victory over sin and Satan at the cross, rose again, and now Paul is one of the people Jesus had rescued from the clutches of the enemy! He wasn’t even looking to be rescued when he was rescued! So first of all, Paul says, we’re not hucksters trying to spin yarn here. We speak with sincerity in Christ.

Secondly, we speak From God – These apostles understood that they carried a unique authority from God that no one has carried since. The things they wrote, the doctrine they taught, the things they did were understood to be the direct words from God – Holy Spirit inspired, infallible, inerrant scripture that is still sufficient for correction, rebuke, training and teaching to this day. There are no more apostles like that today. There is no one today with the kind of authority that Paul and John and Peter had. That’s why there are no new scriptures being written, and any revelations people claim to have had about what’s happening in the Church or in the world or whatever has to have the support of what’s already written in scripture.

If you disagree with me on any of that, I’d be happy to have a conversation about it, and Paul will defend himself on this point in our text next week.

So Paul says he and the other apostles speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God, and Before God – which sort of shoots us back to last week, where we are accountable. Paul saw everything they did as being under the watchful eye and leadership of God. They would answer to him for their lives, for their ministry, for the spreading of the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ.

Lastly, the thing I noticed about this text is that spreading the fragrance of Christ involves speaking. We obviously don’t speak with the same kind of authority Paul did, where the words we say can be written down as scripture, but God does use ordinary people, verse 14, sincerely speaking about what they are learning, how they are growing in Christ, what he’s done in their lives, to spread the knowledge of Christ in every place. So if we don’t speak to others about Jesus, then the knowledge of Christ is not being spread.

It’s great that we are kind to our neighbors and compassionate to those in need, that we’re generous and hospitable and all of that. But you can be kind and compassionate and not know Jesus – in fact, we probably all know people who don’t love Jesus who are kinder, more generous, more hospitable than some people who do! So kindness itself isn’t spreading the knowledge of Jesus. The knowledge of Christ comes through words. They don’t have to be perfect words, they don’t have to be impressive words, they don’t have to be in a brilliantly formed 3 point argument. They just have to be audible. It’s the responsibility God has given to the Church.

And if you’re thinking oh man, I’d rather just be kind. Can I just give some money? You’re in good company. Paul himself doesn’t feel adequate for the task. But he says it’s not me that is adequate. God doesn’t operate like Iowa Football sending recruiting staff to high schools all over the country to try and land the players with the highest potential and greatest skill. The good news of the kingdom is that you’re not chosen because you’re adequate – you’re chosen because he loves you! And then it is GOD who MAKES US ADEQUATE by giving us the Spirit of Jesus to live in us. Jesus says “apart from me you can do nothing!”

So if you feel like you don’t know all the right words, or you aren’t sure you’re praying correctly, or you feel like every time you go to say something you just trip over your own words and then blank on everything you were going to say – let me spread the aroma of the knowledge of Christ for us this morning:

We’re saved by grace, not by competence.

We’re saved by faith in what Jesus did, not by being impressive in what we do.

We’re in the victory parade, not because he saw potential in us, but because we were DEAD, captives to sin, slave to our sinful desires, fully walking lock step with the prince of the power of the air – and Jesus found us, rescued us, and gave us life in the Spirit!

If you feel inadequate, it’s because you are designed that way so we don’t rely on ourselves, but on Christ who raises the dead.

And If you have failed at this, like I have so many times, you know the devil likes to whisper in your ear that you can’t do this. When he tells you that you’ve failed so many times that the Lord is done with you, don’t even speak back to him. He’s the father of lies. The way you resist those lies is to once again look to the cross and see your sins nailed there. Then see the empty tomb which proved the cross worked. Then see Jesus seated at the right hand of God, interceding for you, praying for you, with nail scars in his hands and feet, and pray Psalm 51 – Lord create in me a clean heart. Renew a right spirit in me.

So when you’re helping at VBS this week, or once again working on a project with that coworker that drives you crazy, or someone starts vomiting their opinions about what’s happening in Israel and that WW3 is on the horizon – we get the privilege of spreading the aroma of the knowledge of Christ. Our vision for every man woman and child in Riverside to have a gospel-centered interaction on a daily basis means that every time we make an effort to do that, Riverside smells a little more like Jesus.

SOURCES

Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 1:636.