But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ adn through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God. 2 Corinthians 2:14-17
As usual, I caught part of the gist of this paragraph, but missed a ton of it! Until MacArthur provided insight once again in his sermon Restoring the Disheartened Pastor's Joy.
As usual, I caught part of the gist of this paragraph, but missed a ton of it! Until MacArthur provided insight once again in his sermon Restoring the Disheartened Pastor's Joy.
In our Corinthian passage we find that Paul was discouraged. He was discouraged because he was focusing on the problems, the circumstances, the difficulties of the church in Corinth.
But then his discouragement turned to joy, not because his circumstances changed, but because his perspective changed.
Instead of looking at the problems, he began to look at the privileges.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us...
God always leads us. We have the privilege of being led by the greatest Commander in Chief, and being in the ranks of others who have served under His sovereign leadership. Our joy will be restored as we give thanks for this privilege.
leads us in triumphal procession in Christ....
Our joy can also be restored when we remember that not only are we under leadership, we are guaranteed the victory in the end! That doesn't mean we will win every battle, but we will win the war. It is guaranteed.
He's not only always leading us, but He's always leading us triumphantly. We're always marching in the great parade. We can never lose. We follow the conquering Hero in the victory parade through life, not as captives, not as prisoners headed to judgment, but as co-conquerors in the great triumph over sin and death and hell.
...and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him....
We also have the privilege of being the instruments God uses to spread the Good News, the privilege of influence - for the winning team!
Not because we are worthy, or we deserve the honour. And so we should not belittle it, just because we don't see the results or successes the way we want to. We can't quit when the going gets tough. You don't measure by results, you measure by privilege.
For we are to God the aroma of Christ...
From my Life Application Bible.....
In a Roman triumphal procession, the Roman general would display his treasures and captives amidst a cloud of incense burned for the gods. To the victors, the aroma was sweet
This aroma is not just sweet to the victorious troops, but to the emperor Himself. God is pleased with the fragrance of the gospel message - not because of the results or numbers - but because the message is true and it is faithfully proclaimed.
among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.
The aroma of the gospel being preached faithfully is smelled by the saved and perishing alike. Those that are saved recognize it as the aroma of life, as the smell of mercy, grace and victory. However, to those who have rejected the gospel it is the smell of death, even if they are unaware of it, for their choice has sealed their judgment (like the captives in the Roman parade).
And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.
Who has the human ability to influence the world for eternity, to be triumphant? No one. Nobody. No one is equal to the task.
when men operate in their own inadequacy they become corrupters of the Word of God. He says we're not like ... the majority, we're not coming in our own human wisdom as he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. We're not coming with cleverness of speech and human brilliance. We're not coming with some deceptive talk like the false apostles who are there. That's the best they can do is just peddle a watered-down degraded adulterated product, mixing a little bit of divine truth with Judaistic tradition and paganism to get people to pad their pockets. Dishonest men seeking personal profit at the expense of divine things and the souls of men, fraudulent, adulterators of God's Word.
We can only preach the truth faithfully as in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God. In Christ's power, not ours.
Sent by Him under His power.
What joy when we focus on our privileges. To serve under the sovereign leadership, guaranteed to be victorious, allowed to have an influence, able to share in the spread of the Gospel, to be pleasing to Him, solely because of His great mercy and grace and through His power.
Tomorrow's passage: 2 Chronicles 10-12, 2 Corinthians 3
1 comment:
Thanks, Tammy. There was more to that passage than I got from reading it on my own!
Post a Comment