2 Corinthians - Lesson 2B

• This morning, we pick back up with our study of 2 Corinthians. Last week we spent most of the lesson discussing the schemes and devices of the enemy. We also talked about how the Bible described our enemy (our adversary) as a Subtle and Crafty being, one that walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

• He is subtle and crafty, yet powerful and evasive. There are not many enemies that can be described in this manner. We also discovered that the most powerful schemes of our adversary, (the ones most likely to cause the believer to fail) were the ones we don’t even think about.

  • The non-obvious ones such as:

    • Unforgiveness - More specifically, justified unforgiveness.

    • Deceit and Deception - Satan is the great counterfeiter.

    • Our Logic - Rationale and Pragmatism. Our “worldly wisdom”.

    • Deviation - Slight deviation from the truth of God that we run with.

    • Ignorance - Paul himself said, “I would not have you ignorant brethren.”

    • Confusion - Maybe the most powerful scheme the enemy has.

    • And finally – Pride. But not just pride in the traditional sense, as in arrogance. This type of pride is hidden, and it masquerades itself inside our individual strengths. In other words, each of us possesses individual strengths, but inside our strengths lies our greatest weakness.

      • And if we aren’t careful, and I mean very careful, that weakness will rear its head in the form of hidden pride.

• Last week we used Peter as a great Biblical example of that concept. Peter was bold, but that boldness caused him to jump when he should have been still. And the example we used was when he was with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. You may remember the story.

  • When the Roman Soldiers approached Jesus, Peter jumped up, grabbed a sword, and cut one of the Roman Soldiers ears off. And what did Jesus say to him?

  • We read it in Matthew 26:52-54:

Matt. 26:52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword.
Matt. 26:53 Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
Matt. 26:54 How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”

• In Matthew’s gospel, we see Peter operating in his strength - his boldness, but we also see how his boldness became his weakness. A weakness that reared its head and was getting in the way of God’s will. And the same can hold true for you and me if we aren’t careful.

  • I’ll give you another modern-day example, and it starts by asking a question. Are you organized, are you systematic, are you administratively driven? Do you see things from a black and white standpoint? What a great strength that is. It’s so powerful, yet as powerful as it is, it can become an even greater weakness, especially if that strength becomes a reason to mistreat people, bad-mouth people, or run over people.

    • That strength becomes a weakness if it leads you to say, ‘What are you, incompetent? Just get out of the way and let me handle it for you. You’re obviously not smart enough or organized enough to do this or that.’ That’s just one small example of what I am talking about.

• We must always remember, inside our strength lies our greatest weakness, and that weakness usually rears its head in the form of “Hidden Pride” - “Justified Pride”. Pride that makes sense from a worldly perspective. Pride that gets reinforced by those around you, when some in your camp says, ‘I don’t blame you. I would have said this or that and would have done the exact same thing. That person needs to learn a lesson, or they made their bed, now they need to lie in it’.

  • Those are not the words of a humble person. They are the words of a prideful individual, they are words that excite the flesh, and anything that excites our flesh is not of God, (even if it’s justified).

  • We must always keep ourselves in check, especially within our strengths. The only way to do that is to ask ourselves a fundamental question. When we say things, or act out from our position of strength, are we doing it from a place of pride or love?

    • Love is the key! If love isn’t present, then pride is. And just to be sure we understand what love looks like, let’s listen to how Paul himself described it in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:

1 Cor. 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.
1 Cor. 13:5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, 
1 Cor. 13:6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
1 Cor. 13:7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

• What an amazing description of Love, and if your strengths work in opposition to these descriptors, you can know you are working from a place of pride, rather than that of love, and if that’s the case, it is not of God! Moving on, and back to teaching.

• Let’s pick back up with 2 Corinthians 2:12-17:

2 Cor. 2:12 Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord, 
2 Cor. 2:13 I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brother; but saying goodbye to them, I went on to Macedonia.
2 Cor. 2:14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us reveals the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place. 
2 Cor. 2:15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: 
2 Cor. 2:16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?
2 Cor. 2:17 For we are not like the many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.

• Paul begins in verse 12 by explaining about when he came to Troas (which today is the place we call Turkey). When he came to Troas preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a door was opened for him. What he means is, people were answering the call unto salvation.

  • Which is one of the reasons he hadn’t come to see them yet. He wanted to come, but God had different plans. Next, he says in verse 13 that he had no rest for his spirit. We would say he was anxious, worried, and concerned. Something was bothering him. But what was bothering him? He tells us in the same sentence when he says, “Not finding Titus my brother”.

• Paul was expecting to meet up with Titus, but why did that make him anxious or worried? Because remember, Paul had previously visited Corinth, and that visit was called the “painful visit”. Painful because of what he saw.

  • After that visit, Paul wrote a letter to the church, called the “severe letter”. It was a very harsh letter, and he wrote it to correct this church’s behavior. He sent that letter with Titus back to the Corinthian church, and he was anxiously waiting to see how the church responded to it.

  • If the letter wasn’t received well, Paul knew his relationship with that church may be severed forever. So, he hoped he would meet up with Titus in Troas, and find out how the church reacted to what he wrote, but when he arrived, Titus wasn’t there, which is what caused him to say that, “he had no rest for his spirit not finding my brother Titus”, but immediately after that, it says, “he said goodbye to them, and went on to Macedonia”

• So, God used Paul in Troas for the spread of the Gospel, and then once he bid them farewell, he headed off to Macedonia where he did meet up with Titus, and because we have the benefit of other passages of scripture, we know that while in Macedonia he met up with Titus and received wonderful news. News that the church had indeed read his letter and reacted to it in a positive way.

  • Which prompted Paul to change his worry and concern into relief and joy, and that’s why Paul says, “but thanks be to God”. In one breathe, he says, “I had no rest for my spirit”, and then in the very next breathe he says but thanks be to God.

  • Basically, we could say Paul was going from a low, low, to a high, high within two verses. Obviously, he’s on an emotional rollercoaster of sorts. From there he moves in to verse 14, and from verse 14 through Chapter 7:4, we now enter what is the longest coherent (unified and reasoned) section of 2 Corinthians. It is arguably the centerpiece of the entire letter.

    • Chapter 2:14 through Chapter 7:4 is what we call a lengthy digression on Paul’s part, caused by the contrast between the agitation of mind, which he just described, and his present sense of relief and rejoicing.

    • In other words, one thought leads on to another in an outpouring of “spiritual wealth”, which is unsurpassed in any other of his epistles. So, let’s move into verse 14, where he says,

2 Cor. 2:14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us reveals the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place. 

• I really love how Paul phrases this verse. He says, ‘but thanks be to God, who always (not sometimes) but always leads us in triumph in Christ’. Now, one verse that may pop into your mind when reading verse 14 is Romans 8:28, where it says:

Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

• Notice it says all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. This may leave us asking ourselves a question, which is, does Romans 8:28 only apply to believers? In other words, do good things only work together for good for those whom He called? Only for the believers?

  • Because I have seen some pretty great things happen for people who have no interest in God. Even those who are atheist and go out of their way to denounce God. And this is certainly true from the world standpoint, but the key to understanding Romans 8:28 lies in the definition of what good is in the eyes of God.

• What does it mean when it says, “And we know God causes all things to work together for good, for those who love God, and for those who are called according to his purpose?” What are these good things in the eyes of God?

  • They are the things that further His will and bring Him glory. They are not earthly things, but Heavenly. They are not temporal, but permanent in Glory. Which means, when something bad (as we consider it bad) happens, you can find solace and peace knowing there will be good coming from it.

    • You may not be able to see it. You may never see it on this side of Heaven, but you can find peace knowing God is doing something with that tragedy.

• A few weeks back I was talking to my sister about the death of my niece, and my sister told me that sometime after the death of her 18-year-old daughter, that God spoke to her in her spirit and told her, “I trusted you with this tragedy”. What a powerful word. Coming from a broken heart. So powerful, honestly it makes me want to cry when I think about it.

  • God spoke to my sister through the spirit that lives inside her, and told her, “I trusted you with this tragedy”. In other words, because of your Spiritual Resolve and your Spiritual Strength, I have chosen you to endure this tragedy. What a concept.

  • You see, because we live in a fallen world, we know tragedy is a part of life. But we also know that God uses tragedy to bring Glory. So, the only question is, can He trust you with tragedy? Are you Spiritually Mature enough for him to use you as his instrument?

• Now, you may be sitting here this morning thinking to yourself, if Spiritual Maturity means I get to endure tragedy, then “no thanks”, let someone else do it. That makes sense from a purely worldly standpoint, but not from God’s standpoint.

  • As I said, tragedy is a part of life, and it’s not “if” tragedy is going to happen, but “when” tragedy is going to happen. Which means it doesn’t matter if you are Spiritually Mature or not, tragedy is going to happen to you.

    • The only difference is, will He use you for His Glory through that experience. Because if he does, you will experience what is just a little glimpse of Heaven here on earth! And you will experience that by experiencing His peace, “Which is a peace that surpasses all understanding”.

    • That’s the peace my sister has today, and it comes from her knowing that her daughter’s death wasn’t for naught, that God has used and continues to use it in a mighty way.

• The only question is do you want to sit on the sideline when tragedy strikes, saying to yourself, “Woe is me, why did this or that happen, and I’m so depressed, and I don’t want to get out of bed or leave the house”, or, do you garner the strength of God by knowing and understanding that God is doing something for His Glory through whatever tragedy you may be experiencing.

  • If the answer is B, and I hope it is, then you must become Spiritually Mature. And when you do, Romans 8:28 will mean something to you, because only the mature man or woman can read that verse and even begin to process or understand what it means when it says:

Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good (that means even my nieces death) to those who love God, (which BTW 100%, describes my sister) to those who are called (once again, that describes my sister, because God called her) according to His purpose.

• And what was His purpose? To draw men to himself for His Glory. And sure enough, God has used my sister, as well as others who were connected to my niece, to help others and to point many people back towards the Cross even today. All “For His Good, For His Purposes and For His Glory”. Moving on, and back to teaching. Paul says one more time in verse 14:

2 Cor. 2:14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us reveals the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place. 

• Real quick I want to touch on something here, something that more than likely was going through Paul’s mind at this point, and that was the direct connection between our Conquering Christ and what was a Roman Victory or Triumph.

  • Remember, Paul was a Roman by birth, but he was also Jewish as well as a Christian, and he was also well educated. When Paul talks about the triumph in Christ, and then ties it together with a fragrance to God, what he’s doing is contrasting the irresistible advance of the gospel, as well as temporary setbacks of his life, to that of a Roman General who had experienced a Roman Triumph or Victory.

• I want you to listen to William Barclay's description of what a Roman triumph looks like, and then compare it to what Paul was saying. Barclay said this, as it related to Paul’s writings here in verse 14:

  • In Paul's mind there is the picture of a Roman Triumph and that of Christ as a universal conqueror. The highest honor which could be given to a Victorious Roman General was that of a Triumph. But before he could declare it, he must first satisfy certain conditions.

    • First - He must have been the actual commander-in-chief in the field.

    • Second - The campaign must be finished. The region must have been completely pacified, and the victorious troops brought home.

    • Thirdly - At least five thousand enemy combatants must have fallen in one engagement.

    • Fourth - There must have been a positive extension of the Roman territory gained, and not merely a disaster retrieved, or an attack repelled. And,

    • Fifth - the victory must have been won over a foreign foe and not in a civil war.

  • If those conditions were met, then and only then could there be an actual Triumph declared, at which point the Victorious General could march by procession through the streets of Rome to the Capitol. That procession would proceed as follows:

    • First came the state officials and the senate. Then the trumpeters. Then there were carried the spoils taken from the conquered land. Just like when Titus conquered Jerusalem, and the seven-branched candlestick, the golden table of the showbread and the golden trumpets were taken from the temple and carried through the streets of Rome.

    • Next, there came pictures of the conquered land and models of conquered citadels and ships, followed by the “white bull” for sacrifice, which they made. Then there walked the wretched captives, the enemy princes, leaders, and generals in chains. Those who would be flung into prison and in all probability almost immediately executed.

    • Then came the lictors [minor judicial officials] bearing their rods, followed by the musicians with their lyres. Then came the priests swinging their censers with the sweet-smelling incense burning in them.

    • And then there 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 the top of it, and over his head a slave held the crown of Jupiter. After him there rode his family, and finally came the army wearing all its decorations and shouting their cry of triumph.

  • As the procession moved through the streets, all decorated and garlanded, amid the shouting, cheering crowds, it was a tremendous day, a day which might happen only once in a lifetime. That was the picture that was in Paul's mind when he wrote verse 14.

    • He sees the conquering Christ marching in triumph throughout the world, and himself in that conquering train. And it is a triumph that Paul is certain nothing can stop. Also, in that procession there were the priests swinging the incense-filled censers.

    • To the general and to the victors the perfume from the censers would be the perfume of joy and triumph and life. But to the wretched captives who walked so short a distance ahead it was the perfume of death, for it stood for the past defeat and their coming execution.

    • So, Paul thinks of himself and his fellow apostles as preaching the gospel of the triumphant Christ, and to those who will accept it, it is the perfume of life, as it was to the victors. But to those who refuse it, it is the perfume of death as it was to the vanquished.

  • Of one thing Paul was certain, not all the world could defeat Christ. He lived not in pessimistic fear, but in the glorious optimism which knew the unconquerable majesty of Christ.

    • During a triumph, sweet spices were thrown about or burnt in the streets. The fact of the triumph, or approach of the triumphal procession, was made known by these odors far and wide, so God diffuses by our means.

    • We are the materials of His triumph, the sweet odor of the knowledge of Christ. The metaphor is at the same time triumphant and anti-triumphant.

    • It’s as if God leads His servants as prisoners of war in a victory parade, as God Himself spreads the knowledge of Christ everywhere through them. Whereas, in such victory processions the prisoners would be dejected and embittered, from this captive's lips comes only thanksgiving to God, his captor.

  • Here Paul reinstates the “power-in-weakness” theme (cf. 1:3-11) that pervades the letter. Barclays words give this verse a different meaning, don’t they?

  • Moving on, verses 15&16:

2 Cor. 2:15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: 
2 Cor. 2:16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 

• Quoting Barclay once more, in these verses Paul is comparing the Apostles to the fragrance of the incense. Those who preach the gospel how they are pleasing to God ("a fragrance of Christ to God") regardless of the response of those who hear it.

  • "From death to death" he says, (v. 16) probably means from the death of Christ that the apostles preached in the gospel, to the eternal death of those who reject it.

  • "From life to life" (v. 16) probably means from the resurrection of Christ that they preached in the gospel, to the eternal life of those who believe. The role of the heralder of Christ is a high calling, and no one is sufficient in himself, or herself, for this task.

  • We all need the Grace of God to accomplish this! Barclay says it this way, "Christ undertook a battle not rightly his; and we share in a triumph not rightly ours." The day of Christ’s triumph is what Paul was envisioning. Specifically, His return to the earth at His Second Coming.

• Once again, what a powerful description of these verses. Moving on, in verse 17 we end Chapter 2, with Paul saying:

2 Cor. 2:17 For we are not like the many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.

• Peddling the Word of God. This was a cut at the false teachers who had found their way into the Corinthian Church. At this time, combatting false teaching was one of Paul’s biggest tasks, because it riddled most, if not all, of the churches Paul helped established.

  • These false teachers used the Word of God to push their agenda and take control, which ultimately led to them making money. And the weaker Christians listened to their teaching, because in their minds, it all seemed to make sense and since it seemed logical, then it must be correct.

• Today, I would say more than ever, God’s Word is being peddled at an ever-increasing rate. And by the way, this is exactly what Timothy said would happen in the “End Times”.

• Listen to what he said in 2 Timothy 4:3-4:

2 Tim. 4:3 For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, 
2 Tim. 4:4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

• It was bad in Paul’s day, but it’s even worse in ours, because most of the false teachers in Paul’s day were teaching a blend of Judaism and Christianity. And you can kind of see why that was the case.

  • Before Christianity, Judaism was God’s Rule of law. It was God’s requirement and path unto Salvation. So, it is easy to see how that when Christ came and abolished that law, the people struggled to make the transition.

  • But today, in our day, one of the primary teachings that endangers Christianity is that of the Prosperity Movement, and just like the false teachers in Paul’s day, this movement, at its root, has as its primary motivation an agenda of control that revolves around a prosperity of not only the Leaders in the church, but a false prosperity preached to the people that there is prosperity available for everyone, even though the prosperity seems to only end up with a select few at the top.

• But how did this happen? How did it take root? It happened through one of four of the most effective schemes or devices of the enemy. First was that of ignorance, specifically the believer’s ignorance as it relates to the scriptures.

  • Which is then paired with deviation, just a slight deviation of God’s Word, slightly taken out of context, then enters our Logic, our Reason, our Rationale, and our Pragmatism. And let’s not forget our feelings that are primarily derived from the world’s wisdom.

  • And of course, all this has led to confusion, which as I said, is a powerful scheme or device of the enemy. Because, you see, if the Christian begins to question what they are seeing, then confusion sets in. Once that takes hold, it will usually end up with the believer becoming completely averse to anything church related.

  • The result will be them quitting church altogether, which is the goal of the enemy in the first place. This process is simple to understand. It starts with a simple statement like, God loves us, therefore, He wants us to prosper.

• Fairly simple and certainly non-confrontational, right? And both are true, but His prosperity has nothing to do with this life. Hence, a slight deviation from the truth. This movement has become so powerful that it has metastasized - spread in many different directions.

  • From the milder, less noticeable versions, which show up in the mainstream churches, to the more extreme and more noticeable versions inside the larger charismatic denominations, with the TV evangelists living lavish lifestyles.

  • The more extreme cases are obviously easier to spot. Having said that, the less noticeable milder versions of prosperity are just as concerning. In these churches prosperity is an undercurrent of sorts, it’s assumed, but not really vocalized, but it’s still being taught. Which leaves the believer confused.

  • This is as big of a problem as the more extreme in-your-face versions, because if we believe that God is concerned about our earthly prosperity in any shape, form, or fashion, even in some minor undertone format, it is, as I said, a problem.

    • Because when things don’t work out, when prosperity doesn’t befall an individual believer, or heaven forbid, the opposite happens, and that individual ends up questioning everything they believe. And many times, that believer not only quits church, but they go on a campaign to debunk Christianity altogether.

• So, let me be clear. God’s word being peddled is not reserved for just the extreme denominations. It holds true for mainstream conservative denominations as well (such as the Southern Baptist, of which I was saved and surrendered in the ministry to preach under). And whom I love.

  • Right now, there are many former conservative Christian people who have started online social media groups, that have as their focus and purpose a move to debunk Christianity. They have established podcasts and online video followings, which have as their header:   

    • Why I left the church

    • Why Christianity is a scam

    • How I was freed from the bonds of Christianity

• I watched a video where one woman talked about how she was part of the praise and worship team. How she was depressed because she really didn’t believe what she was singing. How that, if God was an awesome God, and He was supposed to take care of her, then why was she so depressed. And why was life not happening in the way the songs said it would happen. So she left.

  • The sad part is, she has a ton of people following her. She talks about what she calls “the church behind the scenes”. How fake everyone is. All of this finds its roots in Ignorance and Confusion. She doesn’t understand who God is or how He operates.

  • Go through the scriptures, and find someone who is living their “best life now”. Go find someone we would deem is “living a prosperous life”. For them it was nothing but hard times, except the “blessed hope”. And the same is true for us.

• So how do we prevent going down this path of confusion which leads to disappointment. We need to, everyday, pray and study for ourselves (as the Bereans), so that we can grow up and mature.

• Because if not, you too can easily fall prey to this scheme and device of the enemy. And so, for that reason, we must never allow someone to peddle God’s word. That was Paul’s message then, and it remains true today.