A Fragrance of Christ (Part 1)

Loneliness can plague all of us at times. One could be surrounded by people who love and care for them, yet still feel alone in their thoughts and in the internal struggles and challenges that they face. Even when there are no medical issues and no chemical imbalances triggering depression and the like, inner turmoil and anguish and worry can silently grip our minds causing us to be ripe for Satan’s lies and deception.

The final verse that we studied last week gave us a glimpse of one of the many avenues that can be opened to the schemes of Satan and his demons. One of those schemes is to encourage us to feel as if we are alone in our challenges, that nobody cares, that everyone in the church are phonies.

The primary reason that the New Testament is chock full of “one another” verses is for this very reason – we have been created by God for close fellowship, for being intricately involved in each other’s lives, for having accountability, for sharing those things that weigh on our minds.

This is not an easy thing because we have all been burned and betrayed by people that we thought we could trust, we have been ignored at times, we have all felt misunderstood, and we have all felt unappreciated. And once burned, we are reluctant to ever allow ourselves to be vulnerable again. So, we grow accustomed to certain measures of loneliness, and we get used to keeping our struggles to ourselves.

The Apostle Paul was no stranger to discouragement and loneliness. While the call to the ministry is an invitation to unparalleled blessing and unequaled privileges, it is also an invitation to discouragement, difficulty, sorrow, pain, and despair. Every pastor, every missionary, and every evangelist, regardless of how richly blessed their ministry may be, knows the dark times of being disheartened and downcast.

Yet, God has His people everywhere. The fellowship of believers can be found even in the spiritually darkest spots on earth. We simply need to have our spiritual senses heightened as we continue to follow and trust our Lord.

Turn with me in your Bible to the Book of 2nd Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 2:12-17

Let’s pray.

Back in verse 4, which has been a few months since we studied because of Christmas and the two Sundays devoted to Prayer Week, we saw how Paul was a bit anxious while awaiting how the Corinthian church responded to his “severe” letter. Now, in verses 12-13, Paul bares his soul by emphasizing how unsettled he was during this wait, but he also shares how he did not allow this apprehension in his spirit to deter him from his call to the ministry.

2 Corinthians 2:12-13

The implication is that Paul and Titus had arranged to meet in Troas by a certain date. Paul wrote the severe letter and gave it to Titus to deliver to the church. Titus apparently stayed in Corinth long enough to see how the church responded to this letter or admonishment and rebuke.

Can you imagine living in a time when it would typically be weeks and months to receive a reply to your communications? We are disturbed when our friends and family do not immediately respond to our text messages, imagine waiting a few months for a reply. Paul’s impatience in waiting for a reply is a common challenge that we all face – how can we completely leave things in God’s fully capable hands? Or is there a difference between worry and a compassion that keeps such issues on your mind and heart until things are settled or resolved?

I believe that is the proper balance we need to have. Being concerned because of your compassion and desire for those you love to fully rely on God in all things, does not have to develop into sinful worry. We can pray and desire for a godly conclusion without doubting God, and I believe this is where Paul is in his spirit. Yes, he anxious to hopefully hear about a proper response in Corinth, but he is not paralyzed by worry and fear.

Paul’s example is to not allow discouragement and inner turmoil to stop you from engaging in your call to ministry. We too often fall into this trap of Satan by allowing our participation in ministry to come to a grinding halt when we have personal challenges to sort out, or when we are afflicted by worry and fear.

Paul is concerned for the Corinthian church, but he is also very aware of the ministry doors that God continues to open for him. And this is a tremendous door of opportunity in Troas. It is very apparent from the details that we have in the Book of Acts, that Paul is given the open door, or the opportunity to start a new church in Troas while waiting for Titus to meet him there. It’s almost like Paul saying to himself, “Well, I’m stuck in Troas for a while, might as well start a church.”

That was obviously not Paul’s attitude, but it does reveal Paul’s heart for ministry to us. When this issue blew up in Corinth, Paul was ministering to the church in Ephesus that he had established years earlier. Opposition and persecution were growing in Ephesus to the point of a city-wide riot taking place, forcing Paul to leave earlier than he had planned, and thus he is in Troas earlier than he was to meet Titus.

God was not taken by surprise; it was His plan all along to have this open door for Paul to establish a church – and Paul was ready. Paul was not distracted by a riot, by opposition, by persecution, or by worry about the church in Corinth. So, on his way to Macedonia and while making a scheduled stop in Troas to meet Titus, God reveals to Paul that He wants a church here. So, Paul continues with his calling regardless of any personal challenges and seeming interruptions.

And here is where we not only need to develop resolve in the ministry, but also where we must have discernment and decisiveness. Do you know that you know that you know what God has called you to? And if you know that, why are you so easily distracted or why is it so easy for you to doubt? And why do we bail out so quickly when we are not getting the results and/or the participation that we expect?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a desire for results, but if results are all that you are looking for then you have likely missed the key to ministry or you misunderstood your call to that ministry.

Hold your place in your Bible and turn with me to the Prophecy of Isaiah. We will be reading from chapter 6 – a familiar passage, at least at the opening, but you likely have forgotten what comes after God calling Isaiah to the ministry.

Isaiah 6:1-13

God, all three Persons of the Trinity in this awesome scene in the throne room, asks the familiar question – “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Isaiah answers this call with the beautiful words, “Here am I, Send me!” I think we too often forget what comes next. God tells Isaiah to “Go, and tell this people”, but then makes it abundantly clear to Isaiah that his ministry will not accomplish anything with this stubborn and stiff-necked people.

Isaiah asks an appropriate question for a calling that is not going to accomplish anything – “Lord, how long?” How long must I persist in a ministry that will not be fruitful and will not provide any positive results? And Yahweh tells Isaiah to keep on keeping on until everything utterly falls apart. Keep at your ministry until everything is destroyed and only a stump remains.

How passionately would engage in such a ministry? Yes, obviously it was a direct call from God, but God also reveals to you that your ministry will be an utter disaster. Would you wake up each morning chomping at the bit and can’t wait to go through tat door to get after your ministry when it is doomed for failure? Or would you begrudgingly go about your business while hating every minute of it?

So, results are not always the only measure of a successful ministry. Isaiah’s ministry was a massive success. His ministry spanned the rule of four kings. He was God’s mouthpiece and influenced millions even before his ministry was canonized in Scripture. The results of his ministry were not what he would have preferred from a human perspective, but ministry is all about God’s perspective not ours. Quite honestly, when it comes to ministry, we all have an audience of One.

So, Isaiah and Paul engage in and continue in what God has called them to – both looking for and praying for results, but both also leaving any aspect of results up to God. Both Isaiah and Paul also kept at their calling until God changed their calling.

I have often had people come to me for counsel because they were unsettled and unsure about what God wanted them to do with their life and/or ministry. My counsel to them always begins with a question. “Have you had a clear and undeniable leading of the Holy Spirit to change anything?” When the answer is inevitably, “No”, or they wouldn’t be seeking counsel, I then ask – “What was the last thing you that you sensed God calling you to?” When they answer that question, I simply put both of their answers together. If God has not plainly and clearly led you to something different, and you do know that you were called to something previously, keep at that ministry until God clearly and truly changes things in your heart. Don’t just get bored with what you are doing and don’t be focused on the results that you desire. It’s not about you, it’s about God and what He has called you to.

Paul could not sit still. Paul was compelled to preach Christ to anyone who would listen. Paul obviously desired fruit, desired positive results, but he could not stop preaching Christ even when there was opposition, even when there was persecution, even when city-wide riots broke out because of him preaching Christ, and even when a church that he had established and poured himself into had turned on him and was on the brink of splitting or falling apart. Even with all of these issues bombarding him from every side, Paul kept preaching Christ – he kept at the ministry he was called to and nothing was going to stop him from his appointed task.

Beloved, that example crushes me and at the same time inspires me. I am not immune to my share of pity parties when things are not working for me, or for the church, or for you. I struggle more often than I should with keeping my focus on the prize instead of allowing my gaze to be distracted by the mess.

God has compelled me to fix my eyes on Jesus this year in greater measure than I have previously. For those of you who watch, my daily video devotions are through the Gospel of John, and I have a renewed focus in my daily Bible reading in all four Gospel accounts. I use what I call the Ridiculous Bible reading system, so I read passages from ten different Books of the bible every day, but that includes a chapter each day in one of the Gospels and there is a greater intensity in my focus when reading those accounts.

I can tell you that even though it has only been three weeks, fixing my eyes on Jesus has relieved any pressure I previously felt over the frustrations of 2020, of dealing with the various beliefs and fears about this virus, of handling my own disappointments and my own daily concerns for members of this church that I haven’t seen for almost a year, of wondering how the political atmosphere and inevitable laws could impact the church, of concern for our nation. The more that I fix my eyes on Jesus, the easier it is to leave these other issues in His hands. The weight and the burden grow lighter every day.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face

And the things of this life will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace

2 Corinthians 2:14

In our experience and culture, we probably are not as affected as we should be by the wording and imagery of a triumphal procession in Christ. Commentator, William Barclay probably captures what may have been in Paul’s mind when he used those words.

In [Paul’s] mind is the picture of a Roman Triumph and of Christ as a universal conqueror. The highest honor which could be given to a victorious Roman general was a Triumph. To attain it he must satisfy certain conditions. He must have been the actual commander-in-chief in the field. The campaign must have been completely finished, the region pacified, and the victorious troops brought home. Five thousand of the enemy at least must have fallen in one engagement. A positive extension of territory must have been gained, and not merely a disaster retrieved, or an attack repelled. And the victory must have been won over a foreign foe and not in a civil war.

In a Triumph the procession of the victorious general marched through the streets of Rome to the Capitol in the following order. First came the state officials and the senate. Then came the trumpeters. Then were carried the spoils taken from the conquered land. For instance, when Titus conquered Jerusalem, the seven-branched candlestick, the golden table of the shew-bread and the golden trumpets were carried through the streets of Rome. Then came pictures of the conquered land and models of conquered citadels and ships. There followed the white bull for the sacrifice which would be made. Then there walked the captive princes, leaders, and generals in chains, shortly to be flung into prison and in all probability almost immediately to be executed. Then came the lictors bearing their rods, followed by the musicians with their lyres; then the priests swinging their censers with the sweet-smelling incense burning in them. After that came the general himself. He stood in a chariot drawn by four horses. He was clad in a purple tunic embroidered with golden palm leaves, and over it a purple toga marked out with golden stars. In his hand he held an ivory scepter with the Roman eagle at its top, and over his head a slave held the crown of Jupiter. After him rode his family; and finally came the army wearing all their decorations and shouting “Io triumphe!” their cry of triumph. As the procession moved through the streets, all decorated and garlanded, amid the cheering crowds, it made a tremendous day which might happen only once in a lifetime.

That is the picture that is in Paul’s mind. He sees Christ marching in triumph throughout the world, and himself in that conquering train. It is a triumph which, Paul is certain, nothing can stop.

Paul is overwhelmed with joy in Jesus Christ. He does not mention results or the diminishing of his concerns, he only glorifies Christ and His eventual and inevitable triumphal procession, and the undeserved privilege to be part of that triumphal procession in Christ. And Paul knows beyond any doubt that God always leads him.

Paul then mentions one of the glorious benefits of following Christ and persistently continuing in the ministry that He has given: We are never alone. Wherever God leads you, He will always have other believers already there. The fragrance of Jesus Christ will be apparent. If you are paying attention and if your spiritual sense of smell is heightened if you will, you will recognize your brothers and sisters in Christ that you have never met before.

And beloved, there is a strength and a confidence in knowing that you are not alone. We should know that we are not alone by the simple truth that God is always with us, but our Lord goes beyond that by revealing our brothers and sisters to our spiritual senses, every place we go.

This revelation should inspire us to keep at it. God calls us all to some common ministries, but He also gives us specific ministries when we are faithful in the common ones – and you know them already. Love God, love others, be His witnesses, and make disciples. Following those common mandates of following Christ will open doors of ministry for you.

There is more to say about this fragrance or aroma of Christ, and we will unpack what that means in much more detail next week.

Let’s pray.