Sermon – “The Fragrance of Christ”

3 And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, 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. 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you. 5 But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent—not to be too severe. 6 This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, 7 so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. 9 For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. 10 Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one[a] for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. 12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord, 13 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. 14 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. 15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, as so many,[b] peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.

6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

2 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[c] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.[d]

13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

But also this week we laid to rest a wonderful tremendous woman my grandmother one hundred three years old and you know I tried to stand up and share a little bit but I just got to blubber and I just didn’t do too well so you know what I’m going to share a little bit today my message out titled The fragrance of Christ and my grandmother was the fragrance of Christ because she influenced so many lives through her lifetime see to live did see live the Christian life if you she walked the walk she didn’t just talk the talk she walked the walk her prayers and here are her influence impacted my life in all of the lives of those that knew her you know I’ve said that many in the family or who we are because of her because of the life she lived because of the wisdom she shared because she let that light shine we know a wonderful woman you know and if we can all walk the walk to sit she could say as Paul says imitate me as I imitate Christ. I tried to share that this past week that induce a good. But what a wonderful woman but we can rejoice and be glad we rejoice in the life that she lived and we can imitate that life you know preach the message the number of years ago called Legacy are we leaving a legacy are we leaving a legacy for children or grandchildren in our neighbors my grandmother left a legacy and we need to also you know let’s just begin with prayer this morning while the God we thank you so much for your presence in our lives father you have not left us of orphans but God you are with us every day every moment of every day to your Holy Spirit and we thank you so much for that is we talk downstairs father you desire to have an intimate relationship with each and every one of us God you are calling out you want to you want us to come to you to talk to you to pray to you to listen to you follow. God help us to listen to you today Father I pray that your spirit would speak to our hearts and our minds help us to receive what you have for us and God may we use it for your glory in your honor in Jesus’ name amen. The fragrance of Christ’s Second Corinthians Chapter two verses three thru seventeen hear the word of the Lord. This is possibly the Apostle Paul had written the letter to the Corinthian church and I wrote this very thing to you lest 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 to Joy of you all for out of much of flexion and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears not that you should be grieved but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you so he’s writing this letter because he has so much love for them for them but if anyone has caused grief he has not grieved me but all of you to some extent not to be too severe this punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man so that on the contrary you ought rather to forgive and comfort him less perhaps such one be swallowed up with too much sorrow therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him for to this and I also wrote that I might put you to the test whether your obedient in all things now whom you forgive anything I also forgive for if indeed I have forgiven anything I have forgiven that one for your sake in the presence of Christ let’s say you should take advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices Furthermore when I came to try as to preach Christ gospel and a door was open to me by the Lord I had no rest of my spirit because I did not find Titus my brother but. Thank you my leave of them I departed from Macedonia. Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and we read it again thanks be to God who always it doesn’t say sometimes always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us defuses the fragrance fragrance of his knowledge in every place for we are to God The fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing to the one we are the aroma of death leading to death and to the other the aroma of life leading to life and who is sufficient for these things for we are not so many peddling the Word of God but as of sincerity but as from God we speak in the sight of God in Christ they got his blessings to the here and in the reading of His Holy Word you know sometimes you read a passage and actually they read out last week in Sabbath school when I was with the kids but sometimes you read a passage in or something it just draws you to it it just jumps out at you whichever way you want to look at it and for me it was that part that we are to God The fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are being perish that are perishing that just kind of just drew me to this passage but you know there are so much more in this passage. This is a letter of discipline for the church a current and you know I struggle this week how my going to bring all this together but I hope to I hope I can show you how to bring it all together and you know how many of you growing up or did you ever hear whenever your parents about the give you some discipline this is going to hurt me worse than it hurts you. Anybody ever hear that. And you know. As a kid you might want to say. Well I want to spare you the pain so just don’t do it you know what a smart alec response is law to make the punishment a little bit more severe right you know I don’t know about you but if you got trouble in school when you got home you just got it again in for many of us you know we got to go to school whenever they was allowed to discipline. You know today they’re not allowed to discipline in school and other than send them to the office but you know the discipline I’m talking about you got a swift paddle and if you misbehaved that was allowed back when some of us older folks went to school and you know you probably can remember if you’re one of those older folks like me and whoever that if you remember being disciplined in school you remember varying levels of discipline correct I mean you might have one teacher that he’s kind of lack here she’s kind of lack she can pretty well get away with anything in their class but you know if you really stop and think about it you probably didn’t learn much in that class. I had classes like that if I was allowed to get away with anything that’s what I did I got away with anything but if I had a teacher that I knew was a disciplinary and they kept order in their class a teacher that knew that they were there for the betterment of that child to give them a good education then I learned. I had one particular teacher in the fifth grade on a new I was scared of or. I had mores in that year than I’ve ever had and in all other years. But I read now respected or I feared her then but now I respect her because she kept order in her class this a plan you know I never see the Palin one in that class just a fear over diskette me from getting in trouble. But you know Paul’s disciplining the Church of current. You know back to the dismay. I think I think we’re seeing the results of the lack of discipline in our society today. Amen to that I wrote I’m not going to go down that. Money Trail but we are seeing it today I think if we were still displaying our children as we should. Be a much better different place than what we’re seeing today we would be talking about some of the things we have to talk about. But Paul’s doing what is best for the church because Paul loves that church Paul is the one it started that church and Corinthian love them like his own children they were his children in a sense his Christian children sons and daughters So he’s doing what he knows is best for them Paul said I wrote this letter with much of Flix in an anguish he was very distressed by the situation that occurred in Corinthians Now remember this is a young church. He one of the church to grow to be healthy to be strong to walk in the ways of the Lord you know the passage in Chapter two doesn’t specifically name who cause this grief within the church but as I searched it out most commentators agree that is relating to something at an event that happened back in first Corinthians Chapter five there was a man within the Corinthian church that had an incestuous is to assess who was. Incestuous. Affair. With these fathers wife. The church did the right thing. To begin with they put him out of the church they put him out. They extricating put it another way from the church and you know so again with this and then the fragrance I’m trying to know how can I wrap all this together remember they are a young church. New Believers new leaders. Yes they’re vulnerable to top to false teachings and not having the correct complete understanding of all things. They did what was right but there’s a few things that yet they did not fully understand they were incomplete in their knowledge of Christ if you will. You know there’s another passages in the in the book of Acts where there’s a man name Apollo’s Apollos was a fervent believer in God. And he knew John the Baptist was he was teaching repentance he was teaching repentance and turn to God and this was after Christ after Christ’s death and resurrection. His understanding was incomplete acquittal and pursue a heard him preach and they knew that he loved God but he was incomplete because he had not yet heard of Christ he did not know that Christ had lived and walked and suffered and died and rose again so they took him home. And shared the knowledge of Christ so that his knowledge could be complete the church in Corinth was still a little bit incomplete in their understanding they did right by Disney playing this open sin by putting him out of the church they knew that putting him out would cause a little bit of pain it might cause him pain like when you discipline those kids it might cause a little bit of pain but it’s not going to harm them for the rest of their lives it’s going to correct them they knew by putting this man out of the church he would understand the severity of a sin. You know the the punishment has to match the sin if the church would have just swept this under the rug and did nothing what would it do under that rug it would lay there in fester in grow and it would eventually destroy the whole church so yes you do have to do. Supply. But you also have to do it in the right way. We have to be motivated and guided by one thing and one thing only when we discipline What is it love when we discipline our kids we do it out of love if we discipline in a church it too must be out of love love must be what motivates us. Because we discipline we think we discipline with the heart thinking that it will cause that person to repent and be restored. That is where the Corinthian church was lacking they had discipline. And it cheap the correct results the man had repented of their sins but the church failed to forgive him. The church failed to forgive that man and allow him to come back into the church. They were cold hearted if you will you are a sinful Europe awful man get away from us get out of here and but the man repented and they wouldn’t allow him back. Paul says in verse eight Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. When you love your child if you discipline your child you’re still going to let him know you love them right you know I love you. Daughter I love you this is why I’m doing this for you. I’m trying to do what is best for you that you’ll grow and be faithful Proverbs twenty seven six says faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful faithful are the wounds of a friend because you can’t Paul knew what the end would be the end would be that should be restoration and in the end we look at the end for our children rather it’s our children or our students in school Willow. At the end we wants what’s best for them. I know every teacher in here wanted what’s best for every child in that class they wanted them to get through school successfully get a good education graduate that they could get a good job. They wanted to correct that bad behavior so they didn’t wind up in jail instead of finding a good job and raising a family correct. Teachers please nod your head yes. And I think the main reason that the church in Corinth was lacking is that they were a young church they didn’t fully understand God’s grace they were incomplete in their understanding of the knowledge of God. You know this is just a crazy. It will stray Sion but you know the Lord gave it to me so I’m going to share Could you imagine going to the doctor. In your hearts diseased your hearts band you go to this doctor you know he checks and said you know you need a heart transplant you need you know your heart’s bad it’s got to come out there that thing don’t come out or you’re going to die so you go to the doctor you and your wife and doctor says down Sadam I can do it I can remove that old diseased heart so he sets up the surgery and you know a few weeks later you go and everything’s going well he takes you back in the operating room and wipes out their weight and the doctor comes out you know why and that was quick that didn’t take very long well how’s he doing always do good I got that horrid out there yeah but. How about the new words don’t good oh well I didn’t put the new or a new art and he said you know he says I kind of got bored with college and I learned how to take the hearts out but I didn’t learn how to put them back in. What do you mean well you know I just didn’t complete my education I know that that’s absolutely an absurd illustration but think about. That a doctor is not complete He’s not a doctor until he completes his knowledge if he’s going to remove that old disease sin heart he’s got to know how to put the new one back in. We can’t remove the sin from the church without having the knowledge of grace to receive him back in once a repair it I hope that made a little bit of sense to you. I hope I don’t lose my voice before I’m done amen but I was like Lord that’s a crazy illustration but that’s where it is we got to have complete knowledge the church must be complete in their knowledge our understanding of God or understanding of His grace we were talking about that now answers his justice yes to understand God we must understand that he is just we also must understand that he is greats the two you’ve got to have the two. As I said I really struggled how to tie all this together discipline fragrance How does that all fit verse fourteen kind of fits it all together verse fourteen said now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ leads us in triumph is Christ and through us the fuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place so you see there is the knowledge part he diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge that’s how we become complete. His knowledge is shared that he diffuses it it’s all right there in that verse. So therefore we believe if we become mature in our understanding if we become complete if you will that that is a sweet fragrance unto God. Is it not. And here is five verses twelve to fourteen. And again apostle Paul says for for though by this time. You ought to be teachers. I think we got some more discipline come in here you ought to be teachers you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God and you have come to need milk and not solid food for everyone Hooper takes only of milk is unskilled and the word of righteousness for he is a baby but solid food belongs to those who are a fool age that is those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. And if you didn’t pick up on net they have become again they have come to need milk they had already got beyond that they were beginning to partake of some solid food and they went back to someone needs to teach them again the first principles of the oracles of God They went backwards instead of forwards by friends and if you didn’t catch those by reason of use now if you go home today and if you lay down in that bed of yours and I’m going to lay here for a month. What is going to happen to your body if you lay in bed for a month and do not move what is going to happen to your physical body. Your are going to have the strength to get out of that bed in a month someone’s going to have to lift you out of there why because you have an exercise this body you haven’t used it it says by reason of use have their senses exercise so how do we grow in the knowledge and the understanding of God. By using it by exercise. In it but I reading the words by exercising it by sharing it by being that for exist by live in it by walking it by walking not walking out our faith if you will. That’s how we grow in the knowledge and grow to where we have solid food or partaking in a solid food trial. Said he always leads us in triumph and you know in the in that day in the Roman world to which Paul was alluding here. If a general went out and had a very significant decisive victory. They had a great pride grand parade. On those occasions the general was General was usually clad in a rich purple robe that was in are woven with figures of gold. His boots even the set pearls he wore a crown on his head at first an early days that crown would be made of Laurel but later it became a crown of gold. And he was ushered through in a magnificent chariot led by two white horses the general would have on display all the spoils. That he had taken from those provinces that he had defeated he’d have all the spoils there before them but not only that he would have all the captives that he brought back and they’d be leading them through the town to say and see what we see those that we captured and throughout all this glorious parade they’d be offering up fragrances burning incense to their gods. So that everybody as they’re gone through this parade would be smelling the incense burning. They’d smell the fragrance the fragrance for those that had won the victory was a smell of sweet success but the fragments to those it was. Captive it was a fragrance of death. That fragrance made them think of death but made the others think of triumph because they have won. Because those that were captive knew that they would eventually be put to death verse fourteen said nothing be to God who always leads us and try and think Christ and through us defuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place. I. Looked up the definition of the fuses and actually is going to go right back to latest one thing that might share last week defuses. And you during. The. Cold so going to hold out a little longer the fuses means to pour out or to send out so as to spread in all directions its spread abroad to circulate and to. Permeate. Look it up in the I looked it up in a big thick dictionary and that is all the words that they find expect the fuses Cairn has a D fuse or the sets on the on our headboard and she puts fragrant oils in that thing and it just. In sometimes like it. But anyway it defuses in all directions. So in Christ through us how does God diffuse his fragrance How does God the fuse his knowledge through us we are His diffusers if you will. So that leads us right back to what Mike shared last week in Matthew twenty eight seven. Teen through nineteen and Jesus came and spoke to them saying All authority has been given to me and heaven and on earth go. Therefore. And make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit take seeing them not only the fusing the knowledge to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age Amen go there for go and be diffusers go in poor out go and spread abroad go and circulate. The Gospel go and permeate go and allow your countenance go on allow your love to be spread as Mike said last week oh the world might just be next door it may be around the other side of the globe it might be just next door but go. Diffused the knowledge of Christ be the fragrance of Christ that’s what we’re called to do. When the church diffuses the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ it is a sweet aroma to some just like those captives being let in the parade it’s a sweet aroma to those a believe in Jesus Christ because it reminds him of life it reminds him of hope it reminds him of the Good News of the Gospel it reminds them of eternal life. It reminds them of what we’ve been set free from. But to others that fragrance is repulsive because for those who do not believe it reminds them of death it reminds them that. They don’t have eternal life it reminds them of their sin. That they’re still walking in because they don’t like to hear that Jesus Christ is the only way. They reject that so your fragrance is repulsive to those that don’t believe. But we need just need to remember. That we had a victory all who believe in Jesus Christ have the victory. Colossians to thirteen through fifteen says and you being dead in your trust passes and the uncircumcision of your flesh he has made a live together with him having forgiven you all trust passes Amen having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that is against us which was contrary to us and he has taken it out of the way having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed prince of pallet these and powers having made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them amen Jesus Christ has made a public spectacle of the enemy. He nailed to the cross Satan thought he had won. Satan thought that he had the victory. But Christ rose out about that grave. And showed who has victory. In John eleven David won’t have this one put up there twenty five and twenty six Jesus said. I am the resurrection and the life he who believes in me though he may die he shall live and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die do you believe this. That was not my do you believe this that was Jesus is believe this I didn’t put that in there do you believe this if you believe in him. You shall never die this body might die and go to the grave but you will have life eternal but friends it’s a guarantee it is a guarantee. That we can have victory in Jesus Christ. And that’s the message that the church must have that is the fragrance of Christ that is the knowledge that is the understanding that we must have we do not walk around as defeated. Believers we walk around as victorious believers not arrogant but humble loving compassionate caring for one another supporting one another encouraging one another as Karen said. Be the fragrance of Christ. Every day when you wake up say Lord help me be that sweet aroma. To those on me today that they might see Mel the sweetness of life that you give a man.