The Message
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
TS: This text has some confusing language as we look at it today. But recall, it wasn’t written in our context, but within the culture of Rome.
The talk of sweet aroma of life and aroma of death may confuse us, but the Corinthians minds would go straight to the Roman procession.
After a victorious battle, the Roman general would enter Rome with censers burning sweet and strong incense marking the victory. IT was a celebration of life and victory. As the parade approached the Emperor, the sweet smell of life and victory would proceed the Victor.
Without that smell, it signalled death and defeat.
Paul applies this analogy to the gospel
When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened 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.
The Fragrance of the Gospel
The Fragrance of the Gospel
Paul uses the illustration of aromas to teach the contrast in reactions to the gospel.
aroma- our sense of smell relies on our nose recognizing tiny particles in the air called odorants. these particles are tiny molecules which have escaped the original substance. Our reaction is personal…
Some of us like certain smells, others dislike the same.
We perceive and react
Paul says the gospel is like that. To some, it is a sweet aroma, the aroma of life while to others, death.
Smell of Life
Smell of Life
TO the saved, the gospel is a smell of life.
It is pleasant
It is pleasing
It is a celebration
The gospel is a message of hope for the believer.
We know we are sinners and deserve eternal punishment in Hell
We realize our inadequacy to bring the gap between us and God.
We warmly embrace God’s love through faith.
Knowing we can’t save ourselves, we place our full trust in Jesus to accomplish it.
And accomplish it He does!
WE pass from death to life!
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
We are born again!
We triumph!
To us the Gospel is a pleasing aroma of life.
The lost who believe hear and focus on the good news!
We don’t have to remain enslaved to sin
We can be reconciled to God
We can be forgiven and brought into God’s family
Smell of Death
Smell of Death
However, to those who reject the gospel, it is a foul odor of death.
They hear the negative aspects and it becomes an offense
God has a standard
You have violated it and are a sinner
God will punish that in eternal judgment
The stiff necked don’t want to accept that there is a God who has that authority
Like a prisoner showing contempt for the judge and court, the guilty sinner who doesn’t repent rejects the gospel and wants no reminder of it.
The gospel offends.
They want what they want and recognize nobody else with authority to declare what is right and wrong.
They don’t want to turn from sin, so they revel it and reject the gospel and any who preach it.
How do you react when you get a whiff of a putrid smell?
It repulses you..
It sickens you
Those who refuse to repent and have faith have that reaction to the gospel. They miss the good news that Jesus paid the price for their sins
That is why they often react violently.
It isn’t enough to walk away unchanged
They want to tear down and forbid the mention of the gospel
Look at how much energy and even anger an atheist has in attacking those of faith.
This has led to persecution of people of faith throughout the centuries.
Today, people still respond the gospel in one of the two ways
Some receive the gospel, repent and put their faith in God
They receive life
They become children of God
Others reject the gospel and remain in their sin
They remain spiritually dead
Often the lash out in reaction
The faithfulness of the Messenger
The faithfulness of the Messenger
Paul wasn’t a peddler
Paul wasn’t a peddler
He didn’t just share the gospel or personal gain
Apparently, the majority of the false teachers had not only been preaching false gospel, they also did it for profit!
They sold the gospel and had turned it into a commodity.
Sadly, we can see the same thing happening today
If gathering a crowd and fleecing them for money is the goal, the truth of the gospel and whole word is compromised.
Commissioned by God
Commissioned by God
He preached sincerely because He sincerely believed.
He delighted in sharing the gospel and found it a privilege
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Sharing the gospel is our mission
We share it to glorify God
We share it to obey God
We share it to rescue the perishing
Conclusion
Conclusion
The gospel is our mission
It is life to some and death to others. That is between them and the Lord.
Let me close with Romans 10 again
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”