2 Corinthians; The 3rd Study Ch. 2:1-13 - 10-21-20

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good evening cco how are you tonight everybody well all the people who aren't at home watching the dodgers right now all right hey let's stand together for those of you that are here with us good evening to those who are watching with us online let's pray and one of the things we're going to do is we're going to pray for revival because we're doing that on the sevens and then we're going to worship the lord tonight so god we come before you tonight not thinking that we are capable of drumming up revival not thinking that it is something birthed from us lord it can only come from you so god we cry out to you tonight we ask would you pour out your spirit would you pour out your spirit on our land on our churches on our pastors on our leaders on believers around our country around our world would you awaken us spirit of god to your truth would you awaken us to your word would you awaken us to the leading of your spirit and god i pray that you would begin to move on the hearts and the lives of the lost lord wherever they are that you would cause the conviction of the holy spirit to fall on them that they would seek out believers that they would seek out churches coming looking to be saved looking to turn from their sin and turn to the savior lord birth revival and salvation of the lost god we pray for our elections coming up in a couple weeks we pray lord that your will would be done at the polls that no scheme of man that no plan of humanity would prevail but lord that you would put the leaders in place that you'd desire to be there lord knowing whether they're good or bad whether they're godly or ungodly lord you are capable of using them for your purposes so we pray that you would do that and lord as we worship you tonight we pray that you'd be blessed you'd be pleased that you would pour out your spirit on us we pray in jesus name amen when all i see is the mountain you see a mountain and as i walk through the shafts your love surrounds me so when i fight i fight on my knees with my hands lifted high oh god the battle belongs to you every fear i lay at your feet i'll sing to the night oh god the battle belongs to if you are for me you can be against me for jesus [Music] an almighty fortress you go before us nothing can stand against the power of our god you shine in the shadows you win battle nothing can stand against the power of our god and almighty fortress you go before can us against the power of our god you shine in the shadows you win every battle nothing can stand against the power [Music] you shine [Music] so when [Music] your hey i'll sing through the night oh god the battle belongs to you oh god the battle belongs to [Music] through through everybody heartbreak through every circumstance i believe that you are my fortress you are my portion you are my hiding place i believe you are the way the truth i believe you are the way the truth [Music] [Music] i [Music] you are the one i love i believe you are the way the truth i believe you are the way the truth i believe [Music] it's a new horizon and i'm set on you you'll meet me here today with mercies that are new all my fears and doubts they can all come to because they can't stay long when i'm here with you it's a new horizon i'm set on you you meet me here today with mercies all my fears and doubts they can all come true because they can't stay long i believe you are the way the truth i believe you are the way [Music] the truth the life i believe you are [Music] worshiping god [Music] you give life you are love you bring light to [Music] you give hope you restore every heart [Music] so we pour out our praise pour out our praises [Music] me bring light to the darkness that is your breath in our lungs [Music] in our lungs out our praises [Music] to you only [Music] our hearts will cry and these bones will [Music] sink your peace our hearts will dry [Music] these [Music] our hearts will dry these [Music] so we pour out our praises [Music] pour out on praise [Music] you lord [Music] jesus [Music] above all thou art exalted far above all gods [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Laughter] thee [Music] [Music] all the earth [Music] [Music] all the earth [Applause] and i am [Music] i ain't so [Music] me [Music] all oh can we do this can we lift up that chorus one more time and i just want to invite you as we do to do it with intention that as we sing those words i exalt thee oh god to exalt means to lift up to lift on high can we just be intentional about the fact that we are choosing tonight to exalt god above every circumstance we're walking through or facing that we're going to exalt god above every uh wind of opposition in our culture right now and today against our beliefs as believers can we just intentionally exalt god above every fear worry or anxiety that we have and believe that his spirit is going to fill us and renew our strength tonight let's do [Music] that [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Laughter] [Music] i [Music] i [Music] oh god we just confess and declare tonight that you indeed are high above all the earth you are high above every principality and power you are high above every earthly throne you are high above every throne of the spiritual kingdoms that would try to exalt themselves against you you are high above the lofty prideful boastful hearts of men and women that would shake their fist at you god you are high above every struggle and trial that we deal with god you are high above every doubt or concern or worry or pain that we carry in our heart god you are high above god would you help us by your spirit to lift our eyes up off of our circumstance to lift our eyes up off of our struggle and our difficulty and fix our eyes on jesus the author the finisher of our faith we look to you tonight jesus we need you lord god would you forgive us for the times that we think we can live a christian life without christ god would you forgive us for the times that we think we can accomplish in the flesh what can only be accomplished by your spirit make us people filled with your spirit who live by your word i pray as we open your word tonight lord that you would speak to us that you would illuminate the scriptures by your spirit that you would lead and carry lance along as he teaches that he would speak at the direction in the leading of your spirit tonight lord we pray in jesus name amen amen well if you're here with us in person would you wave and say hello to a few people and if you're with us online say hi to some folks good evening turn in your bibles to second corinthians chapter two second corinthians two rob just prayed but let's ask the lord's blessing on our study tonight father we ask that we may come alive to your word your word is already alive no man can make it come alive but we can certainly come alive to your living word so spirit use your sword now to pierce and to divide between the thoughts and intents of our hearts and our minds instruct us teach us in the way everlasting we pray jesus name amen so uh as you all know we're doing a deep dive into ii corinthians we're going to be able to go a little bit faster and get through all of chapter 2 tonight because verses 1 through 11 are what we would call a set piece it all deals with the same thing and it's best understood really that we take it in larger chunks rather than getting bogged down in the weeds of taking a look at individual words because second corinthians is such a personal letter drawing on the many interactions that paul had had with the church at corinth it can be a difficult a bit difficult sorting out the timeline of paul's relationship with the corinthians and the letters that he wrote to them so i want to do a real brief review tonight on the scenario of paul's visits and the letters that he sent to them so in first corinthians chapter five verse nine first corinthians uh paul refers to a previous letter that he wrote so in what we call first corinthians he refers to a previous letter he says i wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people so that letter that he refers to there in first corinthians 5 9 is the real first corinthians which makes our first corinthians what second corinthians that's right are you confused yet stay with me it gets worse it's going to get a lot worse now most likely the text of that brief letter is found in second corinthians chapter 6 verse 14 through verse 1 of chapter 7 and you'll see why we believe that that first letter is actually inserted in second corinthians because if you read chapter 6 verse 13 and go immediately to chapter 7 verse 2 those two connect and you see these verses are like they're a real interruption to what paul was writing previously and then he picks up afterwards so don't get worried about i'm just saying we're going to actually read the real first corinthians it's inserted here in second corinthians and then after paul sent that letter some members of the corinthian church arrived in ephesus where paul was and they brought a letter from the corinthians asking some questions they also had a report on what was going on in the corinthian church they include paul in so he writes to that but he also then answers the questions that they put in the letter uh paul replies uh with what we call first corinthians to that letter that they sent to him and he sent it by way of his young protege timothy so uh that's first corinthians in our bible but it really it would be second corinthians in the numbers system but after paul wrote that letter things in corinth got worse way worse and so he paid them a visit that ended up being a disaster now hold on hold on paul comes to their church to set them straight they're dealing with some real problems and when he comes they reject his direction the apostle paul so would you all agree with me corinth is a pretty messed up church it's a it's a pretty disastrous church they that was a disastrous and so he returned to ephesus literally heartbroken and he's going to speak a little bit about that in chapter 2. then he sent another letter so that would be what corinthians 3rd corinthians right he sends another letter and he admits it's a harsh letter it's a it's a very strongly worded letter in fact scholars refer to it as the severe letter and that would be the real third corinthians by the way we find that letter in chapters 10 11 12 and 13 four chapters at the end of second corinthians so we're going to read that letter that harsh letter uh it's the last chapters of second corinthians and so then on pins and needles because he remember he's had this disastrous visit then he set writes follows it up with this really severe harsh letter really telling hey listen you guys have gotten way out of whack and and so now he's on pins and needles because now it's like how are they going to respond to this letter this severe letter that i've written how are they going to respond it so he sends titus on ahead to see what their reaction was and he's made an agreement to meet with titus at a certain time and place and titus is late so paul starts to make his way to corinth he goes to troas he spends a little bit in time in troas where there was a church he ministers there he can wait no longer he sets sail he crosses the aegean sea he lands in macedonia and he ends up meeting titus who's making his way back they meet in philippi and titus tells paul paul you can just imagine paul's like how's it going in corinth titus goes paul it's all settled down your letter had its proper effect they're on the mend things have been turned around and we're going to see some of that in our study tonight and so that's when then he gets this good word this good news and he sends another letter this letter which is what corinthians fourth corinthians because it would be the fourth letter that he actually penned to to them so are you confused yeah okay so i'm going to write all of this up in a blog and i'll post it tomorrow it'll be on the church website okay so if you're if you're interested i'll put the scenario there the evidence that we have for that and it's just it'll be a nice little reference you might want to print out and stick in your bible in the front of uh first corinthians and it'll kind of help sort things out now most of the problems in corinth had been caused by a troublemaker who denied paul's calling as an apostle he managed to gather around him a little group a little gaggle of supporters and by the time that he wrote i'm going to just use the regular normal numbering system now okay by the time he wrote second corinthians the issue was well on its way to being resolved that it had been an issue to begin with made it abundantly clear that the corinthians needed some further instruction and so paul writes this letter to address that very issue to do so he has to go back over some of the problems that they had just experienced they had struggled with and one of them that we considered in chapter one was the dig by his critics that paul was untrustworthy you might remember a couple of wednesdays ago we were looking at that paul had made plans to visit them but he said i will visit you lord permitting and then the lord turned out hadn't permitted paul it was his intention to he wanted to go but as he prayed about it and his opportunities came he realized you know the lord's not releasing me to go visit the corinthians well his critics there in corinth were saying look paul said he was going to visit he hasn't visited so he didn't keep his word and that means he's not being led by the spirit if he's not being led by the spirit he's not an apostle and so if he's not an apostle we don't have to listen to him and that became then the real crux of the issue and the the problem there and so paul clarifies he he spends a bit of time telling the corinthians listen here's why i didn't come it's not because i'm not trustworthy it's because the lord didn't permit me guys remember i said i will come lord permitting lord willing i hope you do that do you make promises and then say you know if the lord wills we need to do that we need to make sure that hey listen uh here's what i would like to do but god may have other plans does god have control and authority over your schedule yeah of course he does and so go ahead make your plans tell people but then always give that caveat well but lord permitting if the if the lord lord wills it okay so verse 1 chapter 2. now he tells them why they haven't seen him since his previous visit he says but i determined this within myself that i would not come again to you in sorrow remember that his earlier trip to corinth had been a disaster he went to deal with a problem that was only made worse by his visit so he determined that any further trips would only be be made when things were cleared up and he had only just now learned from titus that things were indeed better he says in verse 2 for if i make you sorrowful then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me and i wrote this very thing to you last when i came i should have sorrow over those from whom i ought to have joy having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all so you can tell that paul's from the south there he uses a lot of y'alls the only thing that would set things right was the corinthians repentance failing that there'd be nothing but more rebuke and the sorrow that rebuke brings and so paul says hey listen we really ought to be encouraging each other but that's hard to do if i have to come and rebuke you so i had to wait till you guys responded to my earlier correction which he now has heard they have responded to now verse 4 for out of much affliction and anguish of heart i wrote to you with many tears not that you should be greed but that you might know the love which i have so abundantly for you he's referring there to that severe letter that he had sent after the disastrous visit paul wanted them to know that while it was harsh in its content paul had written it in love in anguish in tears not out of spite for how badly they had treated him when he was there he's saying listen guys there's no hard feelings on my part and what i wrote you need to know it was motivated by love because i i care for you and you guys were messed up and you needed to be corrected and praise god you responded to the letter as you should verse 5. but if anyone has caused grief he's not grieved me but all of you to some extent and not to be too severe now here's where it becomes clear that it was an individual that had been the focus of their unrest at corinth this guy set out to discredit paul but but really he ended up just unsettling the church there it was no fun for paul to have to defend his apostleship but question was paul ever in any doubt of his apostleship no see this guy's attacking paul's apostleship and paul's like hey listen i never doubted my apostleship all the trouble was for you guys the only trouble i have is because you were troubled you were grieved and so that's what grieved me not because my apostleship was attacked because paul understood that if they didn't trust him as an apostle and a teaching who was it going to hurt it's going to hurt them because they wouldn't be listening to his authoritative word they wouldn't be responding to the gospel hearing how to grow in christ grow in grace grow in truth and so he says listen this guy caused grief but not really for me it was for you and my grief came because you were grieved and then he says that he doesn't want to be too severe he's he's just giving a disclaimer on the extent of the trouble he didn't want the corinthians to think that every one of them that all of them had sided with this guy it was just a faction within the church but had caused trouble for the entire church and that's why he says there but all of you to some extent everybody was creeped even the group that didn't side with him they were uh uh un settled by this unrest in their church and and this happens in churches all the time there's a a faction that's at odds with each other and it ends up rippling through the rest of the body people that aren't even involved get caught up in the turmoil that's going on in their church some of them were more grieved than others because while the unrested corinth affected all of them it impacted some more than others so this is a diplomatic way of letting the corinthians know that paul wanted them all to get past this thing as soon as possible and reading this each of the corinthians could then decide for themselves to what degree they had participated in the schism and what measure of grief was appropriate for them now verse six this punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man you see it's obvious he's dealing with a the core of this the guy that started this thing so that on the contrary you ought rather to forgive and comfort him lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with too much sorrow now listen folks this is huge instead of forever blackballing this guy consigning him to the nether regions of some kind of eternal wasteland paul advocates for forgiveness and restoration that the corinthians forgive this guy and restore him to fellowship isn't not this remarkable that paul who had been if you will the victim of this guy's attack he hears from titus okay listen your letter it worked the corinthians have turned things around the church leaders have exercised discipline on this guy and guess what he repented now here's the problem the church leader said then they didn't really know what to do with his repentance oh he messed up oh you know he's about what do we do with him now and some people were shunning him oh can you imagine if you came to church and like you said hi to people and they just turned around and turned their back on you how how long would you be going to that church not long right oh what what if it's the only church in town you see there's not some other church you can go to it's the only body of christ in the whole town if you want to walk with the lord and grow in grace and truth you've got to be a part of that church and now everybody's shunning you because you're the troublemaker you're the one that's caused all of this grief and sorrow that's torn our church and so they didn't really know what to do and here's paul hey guys listen forgive him restore him now verse 6 makes it even clearer that the unrest was caused by a troublemaker they were those that supported him were a minority in the church because paul says the majority were on the other side of this issue the the problem was this though that majority hadn't confronted this guy and his supporters earlier when the challenge to paul's apostleship first rose and then when camps formed some supporting paul and others rejecting him the leaders hadn't exercised proper church discipline it took that harsh letter from paul to set them straight and get them moving and then as i said they stood in danger of taking the discipline too far i want you to note that verse 6 makes it clear that the exercise of church discipline aims at forgiveness and restoration let me hear an amen plea please hear that settle that in your heart the the goal of church discipline is the repentance and restoration of the person who needs to be disciplined when someone is put out of fellowship it's not because we're angry at them we don't disfellowship someone out of spite it's not punishment now verse 6 refers to what the corinthians did as punishment look at what it says there verse 6 it says it says this punishment which was inflicted by the majority listen that's a horrible translation in english epitemia is a rare word and it's better rendered as censure it's an official act of criticism and and what paul is saying is this this act of discipline of censure that you've done officially on this guy it it's it's it has a goal it has a objective it is their repentance so that they can be restored to fellowship church discipline is done with tears and only after repeated rejection of our attempts to affect repentance removing some of them from fellowship doesn't mean washing our hands of being forever done with them it doesn't mean ending the relationship it's part of a process not the end of it and again the goal of church discipline is to see someone repent so that they can be restored to fellowship let me hear an amen too many churches today will use church discipline as a way to kind of remove somebody from fellowship they just wash their hands i don't want anything to do with them from then on out in writing to the corinthians paul deals with an issue of of gross immorality uh it's a case of incest and the church uh having a very distorted idea of morality and and god's grace allowed this guy to carry on an assist incestuous relationship while being in fellowship and being embraced and welcomed in fellowship and paul had to write to them and say what are you doing this guy's sin is the kind of sin even the world looks at and goes gross and you're you're proud of how accommodating you are to this he says listen rebuke this guy and if he won't repent put him out of the church and here's what he says deliver such a one two does anybody remember deliver such a one to satan the idea of church discipline is this when we are in fellowship when we confess christ when we are walking in obedience to the things of god and we are in fellowship with the lord we are in fellowship with one another and jesus said where two or three are gathered in my name what come on you know what take down your mask go ahead take for those of you that want to and are comfortable take down your mac oh i love seeing faces thank you thank you thank you if you're uncomfortable with that you leave your mask on okay jesus said where two or three are gathered in my name what oh wow i could hear that i could actually hear that for the first time oh so much better when we gather in his name he's here because even when we are not here physically worshiping together as important as that is we are part of a viable body of christ in our community and even though we might not be physically present we're still spiritually connected and we enjoy a layer of spiritual protection those in the world do not have when paul says if this guy won't repent you put him out you deliver such a one to satan he's literally calling on the leadership of the church to formally pull back their spiritual covering so that that man is no longer protected in the same way that those that are walking in fellowship are are you guys following me so far why does paul say that deliver such a one to satan for the destruction of his body that his soul may be saved because now now that he's in a place that of danger and the enemy has has the ability to be go go after him and attack him hopefully that will wake him up and he'll realize what have i done i've left that place of safety and communion with god and he will come to his senses and he will repent and he will do what come back and then here's what happened though with this guy this guy repented that paul is speaking about deliver such a one to satan for the destruction of his body and saving of a soul the guy did repent and he comes back to the church i repented i went back in they go nope and paul had to write another letter to them and say hey receive that guy back what are you doing please hear me because it's going to happen and probably increasingly as we move towards the end times that we may have to disfellowship some people here at calvary chapel please understand this it's never out of anger it's never out of spite it's never we wash our hands of you we want nothing to do with you it's always that they would come to their senses and repent and we long for the day with tears when they repent and where they can come back so that we can throw our arms around them and say we forgive you and you are restored to fellowship and we're going to forget this terrible chapter in your life put your mask back up if you want you can leave it down it's up to you so verse 8 therefore i urge you to reaffirm your love to him you see it seems in this case of discipline the troublemaker trouble troublemaker repented before they disfellowshipped him before he he got to that point but the church was uncertain how to proceed with him and paul says restore him make sure that he knows he's love and that all is forgiven verse 9 for to this end i also wrote that i might put you to the test whether you all are obedient in all things so the prior letter that set things in motion to overcome the trouble at corinth well it had some difficult instructions that's why it's called the severe letter the harsh letter but they had taken those instructions to heart and did did what needed to be done paul's wisdom was proven from the fact that when they did what he said things worked out as they ought and of course all of that only served to prove that paul really was an apostle the very thing the troublemaker had raised to stink about in verse 10 now whom you forg now whom you forgive anything i also forgive so lest the corinthians worry that they would do something paul wouldn't endorse he says hey listen i authorize you guys to speak on my behalf in ending this ordeal he goes on for if indeed i have forgiven anything i have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of christ lest satan should take advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices so question who ultimately was behind this attack on paul's apostleship was the devil this troublemaker this guy whatever his name was he was just the agent through which the enemy was at work paul wants them to use all of this this whole thing that has happened it's gone on for a while but here's paul he said hey listen we've been through a really bad season let's not waste the lesson it teaches us let's use all of this the trouble that was caused how we got through it how we're going to resolve it and get back to normal let's use that as a template in dealing with other relational problems from the original sin of this guy all the way to the end where he's restored relationships are often difficult i'm surprised i didn't get any amen to that relationships are often difficult things can get messy stuff comes up it gets all blown out of proportion because the devil is a troublemaker consider this we were created for fellowship with god you want to know why you exist for fellowship with god that's what you exist for not a fellowship of mere acquaintance not even warm affection good as that is no friends the fellowship we were created for is deep intimate and rich it isn't just warm it's hot it's an all-encompassing love it's a passion so intense words fall short to describe it it's a relationship so real it supplies our purpose our meaning our significance all that we crave for all that we sense we exist for is ultimately found in fellowship with god so what do you think the devil who hates and opposes god is going to go after if we were created for fellowship with god what's he going to go after what does he want to mess up fellowship relationship love not just between us and god but between one another too because god uses relationships as a way to draw us to himself proof first john 4 those who say that they love god but hate their fellow man are liars if we love god we will love what we will love others what's the greatest command love god and your neighbor it's in those relationships that god brings us into the image of christ think about the fruit of the spirit in galatians five love joy peace longsuffering kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control those virtues require interaction and relationship with others every one of them don't they do you want the fruit of the spirit that means god's going to call you into difficult relationships if you say lord i want more love get ready because does god want you to have more love does he want you to pray for more love does he want to give you more love how are you going to know you got it he's going to put you at a red light where the guy in front of you is parked four cars back he won't pull up and you're going to miss you're going to miss turning on that light because he's going to make the green and then it's going to turn yellow and you're going to have to stop and you're going to have a challenge to say that guy is an idiot or lord bless that guy today lord give me more joy lord give me more peace lord help me to suffer long you've never prayed that prayer lord make me more kind lord make me more good lord give me the fruit of faithfulness and gentleness and self-control and the lord says oh i love it when you pray that prayer here's more self-control now i want you to know that i've answered your prayer because i i want you to know how much i love you and how much i love to answer your prayers jerks galore [Laughter] lord why do you hate me jesus said to his followers by this we'll all know that you are my disciples by the t-shirts you wear by the bumper sticker on your car by how you vote no you say it with me by this we'll all know that you are my disciples by the love that you have for one another the greatest outreach the most effective evangelism isn't stadium filling crusades and concerts it's not a 40 000 watt radio station it's not bumper stickers it's not clever tracks it's not door-to-door campaigns the most effective evangelistic crusade and methodology is fervent practical warm love and affection for one another and satan knows that so his main line of attack is to divide us to set us at odds with one another he's the author behind gossip and envy he's the prompt to most criticism one of his goals in tempting us to sin isn't just to get us to fall he knows what our failure does to our motivation for fellowship with other believers when you are in a season of rebellion when you're caught in a period of time where you're struggling with a sin are you real excited to go to church no in fact you come up with all kinds of reasons why not to why because when you are pursuing sin you're not pursuing the lord and you don't want to be around his people paul says that we're not to be ignorant of satan's devices his tactics divide and conquer has ever been his agenda let's stop being willing accomplices as the corinthians were urged to be a community of love and forgiveness let's follow suit we're not a collection of perfect people we're the broken that god is mending well paul is now going to turn to his itinerary explaining why he hadn't come to them yet verse 12 he says furthermore when i came to troas to preach christ's gospel and a door was opened to me by the lord i had no rest in my spirit because i did not find titus my brother but taking my leave of them i departed for macedonia before going to corinth which last he heard was still in an uproar he wanted to hear from titus who had taken his last letter what the result of that letter was and again they were supposed to meet in the city of trust titus was delayed so paul used the time to minister there but the entire time he was concerned about how things are going in in corinth and he began to wonder as titus is delayed because it's still a mess there and so he thinks okay well i can't wait any longer sails across the aegean to macedonia and eventually they met up in philippi now jordan covered verses 14 through 17 sunday in a marvelous message but we're going to take a look at it again tonight because it is such a rich passage and sundays we've got about 30 minutes and you just jordan couldn't get to all the materials so um we're gonna we're gonna go back over it tonight and hopefully fill in some of that which jordan wasn't uh able to get to verse 14 he says now thanks be to god who always leads us in triumph in christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place paul uses paul's use of one word here is the key to our understanding what what he means when he uses that word triumph he's referring to the parade that roamed through its victorious generals and i'll just quickly go back over what what jordan shared on sunday when you think of a roman triumph think of a ticker tape parade you may have seen pictures of when our gis returned from europe after world war ii this ve victory in europe and and new york threw them a victory parade and the sidewalks were packed with people they're applauding that troops are coming home and they took the ticker tapes from uh the businesses that were you know reading out the stock prices and they cut them up and they threw them out the windows from all these skyscrapers as confetti that's why it's called the ticker tape parade the whole city turned out it was a huge celebration it was a time of ecstatic euphoria because the long ordeal of war was over and we had won well romans honored their greatest generals with the supreme prize no higher honor could be given to a roman than a triumph a victory parade and the requirements to have a triumph were were steep they were high the general had to be the actual commander of troops in the field they couldn't be some kind of you know office general they had to actually be on the front lines and commanding from the front position the campaign had to be finished the troops had to be brought home at least 5 000 of the enemy had to have fallen and the empire's territory had to have been enlarged if all of that was accomplished the senate of rome would then vote to give a general a triumph the day was declared a holiday and all of rome came out to line the processional route now every triumph followed the same order first came the roman senate that trumpeters then then would come and to announce the beginning of the parade next check this out wagons filled with loot and the spoils of war literally buckets of silver and gold and treasures and art they would actually paint pictures of the battle and they would carry him along so that people could like get pictures of what the battles were like yeah believe it or not the romans actually had artists that were embedded with their troops and they would draw sketches really quick of the battle while it was going on to be used later in these in these triumphs so along came this the spoils and the loot which some soldiers would dig their hands in and they would throw them to the crowds now you know why everybody's lying in the streets for the parade because they would be enriched actually by some of the loot from this slaves were brought along as well because slaves were one of the greatest forms the wealthiest forms of loot and spoils that were were taken after the loot and the slaves came the captive nobles and their leaders bound in chains doomed to be victims and that afternoon's games and then came the high point the victorious general dressed in a special toga embroidered with gold stars carried in a majestic gold chariot drawn by four white horses behind him was his army dressed in their finest carrying their own trophies of war waving to the admiring crowds and marching alongside this entire procession where the priests of rome now check this out because it's going to come into play a little bit later so can you picture this you've seen romans in their armor so now picture of the troops along the whole way are the priests of rome and as they're walking along they're swinging incense sensors the smoke of which is coming out so everyone is looking at this spectacle and smelling sweet incense that's the image that paul's words convey jesus is our victorious general who has met all the criteria for a triumph his victory is complete amen it is finished and he rose from the dead he's extended the boundaries of the kingdom of god he's returned safely home and will make sure that we arrive there safe as well the difference between a roman triumph and christ's is that rome's only lasted for a couple hours jesus goes on and on look at what he says here now thanks be to god who always leads us in triumph in christ christ triumph never ends it's a continual procession of victory from day to day and place to place and note where we are we're not on the sidelines cheering we're in the parade being led by our victorious glorious general the only one following the general and a triumph were his faithful troops the captives were in front of him so in one sense we we are the spoils of war we were captives but christ has liberated us from sin and death and once we're born again we are enlisted in his army when we join his royal vanguard carrying high the banner of his name clothed in the armor of god though the decisive battle in the long war between god and satan was fought and won on a hill called calvary 2000 years ago the enemy has yet to concede so we fight on pressing the borders of christ's kingdom deeper into enemy territory in every battle and each new campaign we are more than conquerors through christ who loves us he always leads us in triumph now paul draws another image from the roman triumph and the smoke that rose from the priest sensors as they walked along the processional look at what it says here now thanks be to god who always leads us in triumph in christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place incense smoke was a religious symbol and that's why the priests carried censors the smoke represented the prayers and the praise that was going up to the gods for the victory that rome had just enjoyed but the smoke was also a powerful way to bring the spectators into the parade think about this now this is really cool i love this kind of stuff that incense was a way for the spectators standing along the side to enter into the victory enter into the triumph because you see the spectators are not just seeing it and hearing it they're what they're smelling it they're smelling it now they're participating in it as more of their senses are are involved in it they emotionally connect with the victory because of the smell you see when the scent of the incense reached their nostrils the day was cemented in their memory now please allow me a short excursis i think you'll find this fascinating if not see me afterwards i'll refund your money it's soon going to be that time of year when we look forward to certain smells right thanksgiving and christmas they're not the same without the smell of turkey ham cinnamon come on name me some more pumpkin pumpkin spice apple cider right apple pie cranberries right yeah oh how could i forgot i forgot tamales what's up isn't it interesting how as more and more people buy artificial christmas trees i love this they'll buy an artificial christmas tree and then they pack it up and they bring it out every year they still go and they go to the place that sells christmas trees to buy the branches people lop off so they can bring them home so they have the smell of evergreen in their house you bought an artificial tree i know but i love that i love that pine smell i gotta get that or you can even get spray like glade evergreen smell and it smells nothing like evergreen those candles are pretty good though the candles can smell pretty much why why is that such an important part why do we want those those smells we look forward to the smells of holiday because of the rich memories that they recall you see friends our smell centers are part of our limbic system hardwired to both memory and emotion did you know that your sense of smell is hardwired to both memories and emotions for most people holiday smells are tied to warm childhood memories and and when we smell them as adults it elevates our mood and makes us happy realizing the powerful force of emotion some industries use scent as a marketing tool years ago real estate agents realized that if they would bake an apple pie in a house that they were showing sales would go through they could sell it right away because people would walk in the door they would smell that apple pie it would connect them to the childhood feelings of home and they would say oh i want this place but then they realized we can't it's this is getting expensive baking all these pies so real estate agents were able to buy apple pie scent and just spray it around as people would come to to visit homes the incense that was used in the roman triumph was a way to connect the spectators emotionally with the celebration of rome's glory you see here's what paul is saying though jesus defeated sin and death 2000 years ago the reality and potency of that victory lives on and it's demonstrated in us today we continue to walk in the train of his triumph as people watch us as they witness the change that he's making in us as he says here in every place at home and at school and at work and and at the store as they see the change that the gospel has made in us that the power of god is making in us it proves his victory 2000 years ago christ is still conquering sin and death he says here verse 15 notice what he says for we are to god the fragrance of christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing to the one where you're the aroma of death leading to death and to the other the aroma of life leading to life there's two different words for smell used here in verse 15 fragrance means a sweet scent it's a pleasant smell like you know flowers or fruit it describes premium perfume but in verse 16 the word aroma it's a generic word for smell it can be either good or bad as we follow christ we're like a sweet perfume throughout history perfume has been made by pressing flower petals for us the fragrance of christ comes when we are pressed it's as we die to self that christ lives through us and brings delight as we do that other believers rejoice in the evidence of the presence of christ that they see in us our lives are to them a sweet aroma the fragrance of grace but to the lost it's an odor it's it's a stench you ever noticed how two people can have different reactions to the same smell i love incense my wife hates it there are thousands of perfumes and clones because people have different affinities for different scents john and jane weren't married long before they discovered they had a very different reaction to the smell of bleach john hated it jane liked it and their different reactions prompted a discussion that proved very enlightening you see jane's first memory of chlorine was in the summer at the community pool where she was just when she was just a kid some of her fondest childhood memories were of those long hot days playing with friends for hours in the pool then on the way home they would stop a dairy queen for an ice cream cone so whenever she smells chlorine bleach she gets this warm feeling of belonging and hungry for ice cream john's first exposure to bleach was quite different when he was only six his mother was bedridden with a serious illness they had to contract a housekeeper that came in a couple times a week and she would clean and she would often clean by using bleach it was just what she did and so the smell of her cleaning and being there to cover for his mom would last for hours even after she was gone and despite all the help that she received after a year and a half his mother died and so the smell of bleach is forever etched in john's memory as a part of the worst time of his life while jane is emotionally lifted by the smell of chlorine the smell of bleach whenever john smells it he gets depressed listen friends as we follow jesus people are going to react to us in one of two ways to those who share new life in christ we will be the cause of joy and encouragement to the lost we're going to be a bummer why why is the man or the woman who faithfully followed jesus a stench to the lost because the lies the excuses and the rationalizations that they cling to are being challenged as we walk in grace their excuses are laid bare their rationalizations are stripped away they're confronted with the reality that when this life is over and they stand in judgment before a holy god whom they have rejected all their lives they will have no answer as our culture becomes increasingly secular those who follow jesus are going to become more and more odious to our lost world that was the situation of the church in paul's day the church that he's writing to here in corinth the roman empire was steeped in paganism the church existed in the midst of tremendous hostility what christians considered virtuous the world despised what the world valued christians found repulsive but it was the power of christ the reality of god's grace and truth transforming lives that prevailed and what was true then is true today the world cannot refute the power of christ to change a life as paul ponders what he'd just written about the effect of our lives on others he asked this question at the end of verse 6. and who is sufficient for these things you know who can really live the life that we're called to and then he says in verse 17 for we are not as so many peddling the word of god but as of sincerity but as from god we speak in the sight of god in christ religious hucksters are not new they were a problem in paul's day though the church wasn't even 100 years old there were guys that were trying to use the gospel as a means to self-promotion and contrast was paul whose faithful ministry of the word cost him dearly he'd been repeatedly beaten shipwrecked stoned and left for dead instead of relying on donations he worked making tents to support himself and his team if we claim to follow christ then we ought to look like him we ought to sound like him we ought to smell like jesus if he's truly leading us in victory over sin and death then holiness and life ought to be in evidence and the longer we follow him the more like him we ought to look sound and smell like him a a group of missionaries were in training in a language school they were preparing to go to china on the very first day of class the teacher began by just walking up and down the rows just he had given the students a little exercise to begin to get to know them she didn't say anything she just walked up and down the rows while they were working on it just looking not saying a word and she left the room for a little while they continued working on it and then she came back a little bit later and she did the same thing she walked up and down the rows and she says okay time time for that exercise to end and then she said um what did you notice about me when i came in after i was gone and they no one knew could figure it out they're like i don't know one lady raised her hand and she said um you put on perfume and she said that's it she said to these missionaries in training to go to china it's going to be a long time before you're going to know chinese well enough to be able to communicate clearly to the chinese people but long before you can speak their language you can share the fragrance of christ you might not have much time we might not have much time with the people that we encounter just in passing at the store our neighbors but a word the right word at the right moment can change a life we need to be sensitive to the moment in which we live time is running out and see every opportunity that we have to impact a life as an opportunity to impact a life so i want to end with this tonight what scent are you leaving as you walk through life what do people smell what's the aroma are people smelling jesus when you pass or something less appealing you stink but jesus is awesome i stink oh but jesus what a fragrance lord we pray that your fragrance would cover us it's true where we hang out ends up imparting its scent to us if we spend most of our time in this world the decay and death of this world is going to influence us oh lord may we spend time with you and may your fragrance cover us for lord you are worthy of all praise and adoration you are worthy of the turning of sinners to their savior you are worthy lord that more people would come to know you and to love you and to serve you so use us lord i pray this in your name amen [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Calvary Chapel Oxnard

Views: 134

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: 3UjYEmU6KFg

Length: 88min 5sec (5285 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 22 2020