GRM 236
11/22/1987
We are a Fragrance
Gil Rugh

In Chapter 2, verses 14 to 17 and we have looked at this passage times since. Passage that really has been, perhaps what I would call the foundational passage for my ministry. When I came to Indian Hills I had anchored myself in this portion of the word, determined that by God’s grace my ministry and the ministry of this local church would be built around what Paul talks about in Second Corinthians, Chapter 2, verses 14 to 17. And it’s a fitting chapter for us to look at again today because this portion is a portion of thanksgiving and it’s a portion of victory. And I think it’s an exciting section of the word because Paul pens it in the midst of extremely trying circumstances. The Corinthian church was a church that was a testimony to the grace of God.

Through the ministry of the word of God, the ministry of the Apostle Paul, a great ministry had been raised up at Corinth but as you are well aware, that ministry was plagued by problems. We usually think of the Corinthian church as the carnal church and Paul called them such in his first letter. Now as he writes to them his second letter, he has been going through some trying and difficult times. If you go back to Chapter 1, he talked in verses 3 and 4; blessed be the god and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction. And down at verse 5; for just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also is the comfort of Christ, abundantly provided.

And he proceeds to talk about his afflictions. Paul writes out of difficult circumstances. He has been enduring the pressures and the battles involved in serving Jesus Christ and we need to keep in mind the great victories, great ministries are accomplished in the context of great challenges and great conflicts. Paul talks in verse 8; for we do not want you to be unaware brethren of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life. Paul doesn’t go into the details here but the pressures, the conflicts and battles that faced him in his ministry in Asia were so great that he thought that he might lose his life in those conflicts.

Now he has to go on and talk to the Corinthians and defend himself with them because many in the Corinthian church were attacking the Apostle Paul. He ministered with wrong motives, he wasn’t true to his word and his very position as an Apostle was under attack. This goes on down through the First Chapter. He challenges those who attacked him for being inconsistent or vacillating. Down in verse 17; therefore I was not vacillating, when I intended to do this. Paul had told them; he was going to stop on a visit but the Lord arranged things that did not work out for Paul, that became an occasion for those at Corinth, who opposed his ministry, to say; see you can’t trust the Apostle Paul; he is not true to his word. He vacillates, he says; he will do this and he ends up doing that. He is unreliable, that’s the kind of situation that he is enduring. He had to write to Corinthians very difficult letter rebuking them.

Now it’s always difficult to rebuke someone but Paul had to rebuke the Corinthians by letter and so he wasn’t there to get the immediate response and he didn’t know whether that would be the breaking point where the Corinthian church would turn from him and reject him and his ministry. So what he did was send Titus, his trusted co-laborer to Corinth and he is waiting for Titus to bring back the report of how the Corinthians have responded to the rebuke that the Apostle Paul gave them. And this really weighs on Paul. You know, we sometimes get the idea that the Apostle Paul even though he had the external conflicts and battles, inside it was all tranquility but you read down in verse 12. Now when I came to Troas, chapter 2, verse 12 of Second Corinthians. Now when I came to Troas for the Gospel of Christ, when a door was open for me in the Lord, when I came to Troas, God opened the door for me for ministry and proclaiming Christ. But you know what, Paul was so much in turmoil on the inside that he could not continue that ministry there inspite of the opportunities.

He says in verse 13; I had not rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brethren but taking my leave of them I went on in to Macedonia. He is so concerned, so much burdened for the Corinthians in their situation and since he hasn’t heard from Titus, he proceeds on in to Greece, gives up the ministry that was going on in Troas and there the letter breaks off. Paul changes gears here and it will back further in the letter, Chapter 7, verse 5 where he picks up the thought of Titus and Macedonia again and what begins in Chapter 2, verse 14 and runs on over to Chapter 7 is a digression, we could call it that, on the ministry that God has given us, the power and enablement for that ministry and the victory that we always have in it. And what reminded Paul of this, reflecting all the pressures, all the difficulties, all the conflicts but you know what. In it all God had given the victory.

So you leave verse 13; I had to give up a ministry where there was an open door in Troas, I had not rest in my spirit and I went on into Macedonia. Verse 14; but thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ. That confident expression of victory that we have in our service for Jesus Christ and that becomes the theme of this section. We have the victory in Jesus Christ and his attention is turned, “thanks be to God.” He is the one who is the object of our thanks, because he is the one who has provided for us in every situation. We ought to note here, the fact that God provides, that God enables, that God meets every need does not change the fact that Paul had no rest in his spirit during part of his ministry.

Does not change the fact that there were many at Corinth who did not appreciate him. Does not change the fact that he had despaired even of his life during his ministry in Asia but you know what. Thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ. Paul is caused to pause and thank God, that in the midst of everything he always has victory in Christ, he has always led in victory in Christ. The word always is important; you ought to underline it there. We will coming back to it as we move through this section. Thanks be to God who always leads us in his triumph. King James version has; causes us to triumph in Christ, the idea of ‘leads us in triumph’ is probably better here. Idea seems to be of the victorious conqueror, in a Roman setting, who returns in victory and his victorious army. Those associated are with him, and also being led in defeat are the enemies that have been conquered and so this word translated “leads us in triumph” is used in Colossians Chapter 2, verse 15, of the fact that Christ has conquered and led in triumph the defeated host of Satan as a result of his victory on the cross.

But here the emphasis is on those of us who have shared with Christ, in that victory that he has accomplished. He always leads us in triumph in Christ. It’s by virtue of our relationship to Jesus Christ, of our being in him, we have come to believe in him as savior, the one who loved us and died for us. Since Jesus Christ is marching in victory we are always joined with him in that victory and triumph. So the fact that there are seeming setbacks, seeming defeats does not change the reality that we are marching as victors in triumph because we are in Christ. Has he won the battle? Has he been the victor over sin and over death? We say; of course, but often we don’t live the reality of that out because we seem like we are defeated. We get the idea that we are losing. Paul says; it can’t happens, thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ.

Look back in First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. First Corinthians, Chapter 15, here Paul talks about our ultimate victory over physical death, over sin. He says in verse 56; the sting of death is sin, the power of sin is the law but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ. You know, we have been given the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. So you cannot measure the success of our ministries, of our service as servants of Jesus Christ by what you see externally. We praise God for what he has done. We praise God for the privilege of seeing visible evidences of his work. But you know, that is not the mark of victory.

The mark of victory is our identification with Christ and following through in serving him. Who would have dreamed that the impact of the Apostle Paul’s ministry would be as such that 2000 years later we would be proclaiming the truth that God gave through him around the world. Impossible to know how great the victory that Paul was writing about really in effect was. So we are to be always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our toil is not in vain because he always leads us in triumph in Christ. Back up to First Corinthians, Chapter 3. This relationship established clearly here by Paul who makes the point that it’s not our physical identification with other people, even other great servants of God like Paul or Apollos or Cephas, down in verse 22. Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all things belong to you and you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.

You see that relationship there, being in Christ means I belong to him and since he belongs to his Father, I belong to his Father. So all things belong to me in Christ, I’m a co-heir. That’s a settled fact, I’m here as a victor, that is not conditional. That’s true in every aspect of the ministry, that was true for this ministry 25 years ago. Those who got raised up to found this ministry did not know what God would choose to do, with their efforts and willingness to be used of him but their success centered in the fact; they were willing to be used of him. Now what God chooses to do with our efforts is in his hands. Victory for us, success for us will not be measured by what we see and that’s what the Apostle Paul is stressing here. Come back to Second Corinthians, Chapter 2, verse 14. Wants to expand on this, this is a crucial area, because part of our being frail, sinful human beings is; we want to measure our success, if you will, our victoriousness as servants of Christ by things that can be measured in a tangible way.

That’s the way the world does it, isn’t it? You can tell if you are a success in your job by what you make, by how much authority you have. You can tell if you are a success as the preacher by how large your church is supposedly. And these visible things influence the way we think, so we are easily discouraged when we cannot see tangible results. I begin to say; why am I giving so much time and energy to serving Christ in this way, I don’t see anything happening. I give the time and energy to serve him because this life belongs to him Now what he chooses to do with those energies, or the talents he has given me, or the ministry of the Holy Spirit through my life, is a matter between himself alone and really that becomes a matter of trusting. So what Paul is saying here, I take it, tells us why he was driven on.

Why did Paul not give up when his ministry got so narrowed down that all he had was a Roman soldier chained to him. You talk about a waste of talents, a waste of energy, a waste of ministry reduced to writing letters from a prison cell, to people who didn’t even always appreciate your ministry. What good will this accomplish in time in eternity? But the fact is; he is faithful there, he couldn’t measure it. There weren’t thousands of people sitting at his feet on those occasions. But multiplied millions of people have since been impacted by that ministry. Paul could never realize that. Even I need to be reminded of that. That will enable God to use us in ways that we would never dream. When he talks about this triumph, who always leads in triumph in Christ, he now goes on to elaborate. Bring it down to a tangible level. What is involved in being part of this triumphal procession that Christ is leading and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of him in every place?

He always leads us in triumph and you can translate that “and even.” And you would read it; even making manifest, word manifest there is a participle. We usually translate our participles in English with 'ing' on the end. Present participle, even making manifest through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of him in every place. You know what God is saying, what our part in this triumphal procession is, to give off a fragrant aroma. Now this expression would be used in the Old Testament of the aroma that comes off for the sacrifices. Back in Genesis, Chapter 8, verse 21 with the sacrifices that are offered, “They arise as a pleasing fragrance to God.” The Roman triumphal processions, the incense was burnt, the perfume is present, gave off the aroma that spread throughout the crowd as this procession moved along making known to everyone the presence of this conquering victor.

Now here what God does with us; is use us to give off a pleasing fragrance to him, an aroma that would be like the sacrifices that is pleasing and satisfying to God but the aroma that we are giving off, the fragrance that we are giving off is the knowledge of him, that’s the point here. Manifest through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of him or which is the knowledge of him, that is the aroma we are giving off. We are making Christ known wherever we go, that’s what was Paul was doing. That’s at the heart of his sharing in the triumphant victory that Christ has accomplished. Paul now is an instrument to give off the knowledge of Christ in every place. That’s amazing, that God has chosen to use men, mankind, men, women and young people to make Jesus Christ known.

Quite frankly, as I reflect upon it, if I were going to come up with a plan to reach the world, I would have chosen more reliable instruments. The message is far too important, it seems to entrust to human beings who are so faithless, so often. I might have selected angels like Gabriel, he never garbled the message. When he came to speak for God, whether the Book of Daniel or in the New Testament, in the gospels announcing the birth of Christ, you could always be sure he got it right. He did always go and say it when he should. You know what God has done, he has chosen to use human beings to be the vehicle through whom the message concerning his Son is proclaimed. Over in Chapter 4 of Second Corinthians, verse 7. Paul will tell us God has done this for a specific purpose. We have this treasure in earthen vessels in order that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves.

Reminder here, God is making Christ known and he is doing it through you and me. Why would he use you and me? Well, he has chosen these frail earthly vessels, you know why? When anything happens, you have to give God the glory. If angels did it, you might credit it to the power of angels. But you know what, I know how weak and unreliable you are. You know how weak and unfaithful I’m. What else could we credit what God has done except to his great grace. Reminder, God has purposely chosen us as weak instruments so that when something happens we will have to realize it was the power of God at work through that vessel, that brought about those results. He manifest through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of him in every place.

You know there is something about an aroma, a fragrance, it permeates a place. If we would have someone cooking back in the family center, pretty soon, what. That aroma would filter in here and all of a sudden everybody’s attention would be gone. Some of you who are sitting in rows where you are smelling now some pleasing fragrance of perfume. I hope it’s pleasing. That permeates an area. You know what Paul says; in every place we go, we are making Christ known. That’s one of the characteristic of the Apostle Paul’s life and ministry. He is in Asia, he is in Macedonia, wherever he is, what’s he doing. He is giving off the knowledge of Christ and that’s a fragrance that permeates the area. But God says that’s what we are to be as those marching in triumphal procession with Christ. We are to be giving off the knowledge of this one who leads us in triumph.

We are to be making him known wherever we go. Now wherever the Apostle went, there was a trail left and there was often battles and conflicts going on, there was often a nucleus of believers sometime small, sometimes larger. He would sometimes leave with a city in turmoil. He had to sometimes leave in the middle of the night. But you know what, wherever he went, when he went through, the fragrance linger there. The knowledge of Christ had been spread in that place. That’s what I’m reminded of, what is this ministry to be all about? What is my life to be all about? Giving off the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Whatever happens in this city, people ought to know of Jesus Christ because we are here. As we go out through the city, through the week, we ought to be permeating the city with the knowledge of Christ. It’s just like a fragrance. You know when you put on that perfume and you go out, you can’t say; O here I won’t let it permeate this room.

You don’t turn it off, it’s there by virtue of your being there. That’s what we are talking about here, by virtue of my being some place, the fragrance of Christ ought to be given off there. Verse 15; for we are a fragrance of Christ to God. Now I want you to note the first orientation here and what is the crucial issue. We give off the knowledge of Christ, that is a fragrance that permeates wherever we go but you know something, the prime object of this fragrance is not even other human beings although they are going to experience it. Paul is going to talk about that in a moment but the prime concern is this is a fragrance given off to God. Now that’s where I get confused in my ministry because I get more concerned with how the fragrance is affecting those around me. That’s really not the issue.

That really is not even a factor here as Paul develops it. You know what the factor is. Is God pleased with the fragrance that is given off? You know if I sit down next to your wife and I smell her perfume and I say; O that’s terrible, I wouldn’t do that of course. It really doesn’t matter. If you sit next down to Marlene and say; O I don’t like that perfume, she probably say; I don’t either but Gill does. But -- because that’s who it’s put on for. You know what happens, now men wear perfume as well as women. I put on some of this perfume, cologne we call it for men, so we don’t sound so feminine. And Marlene says; O I can’t stand that, what do I do. Throw it away, she probably already did. Well it’s directed toward the person it has to be pleased and whether someone else is or not really doesn’t matter. If your husband or wife loves it, it accomplishes its purpose.

Now when God is pleased and satisfied with the fragrant aroma of Christ that I’m giving off, does it really matter what you think? When God is pleased with the aroma of Christ that you are giving off, does it really matter how I evaluate it? Not one little bit. I mean, we forget who is God, who really counts. God who is Lord and sovereign of all says; I’m well pleased. And we are concerned, I wonder what so and so thinks, I wonder how they react. Paul says here; we are a fragrance of Christ to God. Now little bit of the development here. We are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. There’s two groups here involved on the human level who are impacted by the fragrance that we give off. We are giving off a fragrance to God but it impacts those around us.

That’s why we are not talking about a monastic life. We are not talking about the private life we have in our prayer closet. That has a place but we are talking about the knowledge of Christ that we give off everywhere we go in making Christ known. That ascends to God as a pleasing fragrance and that fragrance is given off and it touches on the human level, those who are in the process of being saved, present participle, and those who are in the process of perishing, present participle, all humanity divides into two groups, it’s just that simple. No middle ground, there are those who are in the process of being saved, there are those who are in the process of perishing. If God would open our hearts, the hearts of everyone sitting here today, we would see that there is a division. There would be some who are in the process of being saved, there are some who are in the process of perishing.

Talk about being in the process of being saved. Salvation begins when a person comes to understand and believe that they are personally sinners before God, that the Son of God Jesus Christ died on a cross to pay the penalty for their sin. He was raised from the dead because that penalty had been paid. At that point we are born into God’s family and the process of salvation continues from that point on. Now that doesn’t mean that I’m not fully saved. But salvation goes on as God continues to mould now and shape me as his child, culminating that time when my physical body is transformed into a glorified condition suitable for his presence in heaven. 

So being saved refers to everything from that moment of trusting Christ to that time when I’m glorified in his presence. Now those who are perishing are those who have not come to that point, where they have recognized their sinfulness, their hopeless condition and have trusted Jesus Christ alone as savior. That means there are many religious people who are in the process of perishing. There are many people who have been baptized who are in the process of perishing, many people who attend churches where the Bible is taught who are in the process of perishing, why. You are saved through faith in the death and resurrection of the Son of God as the payment for your sin personally. That’s what marks the distinction between those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

Look back in First Corinthians, again some of these ideas or concepts Paul established in his first letter and now he picks up and carries over in his second letter. First Corinthians, Chapter 1, verse 18. Paul has said in verse 17; Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech that the cross of Christ should be made void, for the word of the cross is to those who are perishing, foolishness, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God. You see humanity divided into those two groups again. You talk to a very religious person, a very moral person and say; you are lost and on your way to hell and your only hope is to believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God paid the penalty for your sin on the cross. You say that’s foolishness, it’s the word, we get the word moron in English from. That’s moronic, it’s stupid.

I believe God is a good God and he understands and he will save us if we do our best and I’m every bit as good as you are and that’s your problem. You are every bit as good as I’m and I’m on my way to hell apart from Christ. That’s the point. To those who are being saved they recognize that in the cross of Christ centers the power of God. I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, why. It is the power of God unto salvation. That’s the message, that’s the fragrance that we are to be giving off everywhere that we go. Come back to Second Corinthians, look in Chapter 4 and verse 3. Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving. Satan does not want people to see and understand the significance of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. So that they continue trying by their good efforts to get the glory.

As you back up again to Second Corinthians, Chapter 2, you will note; we are a fragrance of Christ to God. That fragrance that is called a sweet aroma in verse 14; both among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. You know what is significant about this? What pleases God is the fact that I’m making his son Jesus Christ known. The basic issue is not even whether people believe this message and are saved. God is pleased with the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ that is being given off even when people are saying; no. My success in ministry, if I can use that word success, my victory in ministry is associated with the fact that I belong to Christ and I’m involved in being an instrument of the spirit of God in making Jesus Christ known. That does not particularly have to do with whether I preach to five people, five hundred or five thousand. It does have to do with the message that I give off. The message of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Verse 16; Paul develops this issue of being saved and perishing. It is at the heart of every issue. It’s the one that we forget as believers in Jesus Christ. We forget that we meet people every day who are in the process of perishing.

They are without hope in life and eternity unless they hear and believe the message that we know concerning Jesus Christ. Verse 16; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. Very simply we give off the knowledge of Christ, we make him known. For some it is a fragrance that gives life as they believe the message concerning Christ, to others it further settles them in their lost condition. No one ever is exposed to the knowledge of Christ without impact. I have never in all the years I have been a believer shared the truth of Jesus Christ where it did not impact lives. Now it did not always have the kind of impact that I wanted, it did not always have the visible results that I would have longed for, desiring men, women and young people to come to believe the savior that I know but it always had its intended impact.

For some it was an aroma of death to death, you know it came and it simply killed. It simply established them in their lost condition, was a fragrance that went by, that they rejected and as they rejected it, they were more firmly hardened. We always look at analogies like; the sun that melts the butter hardens the clay. Those kinds of pictures. Two people exposed to the same truth concerning the Son of God and one is in the process of being saved as they have believed and that message continues to work God’s purposes in their life in preparing them for glory. A person sitting next to them, again says; no, and they are further hardened and made more resistant to the message of life. For some it’s an aroma of life to life, for some it’s an aroma of death to death. Now all of us desire that it would be an aroma of life to life.

We are told that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to a knowledge of the truth. That he is long suffering, why hasn’t Christ come, why hasn’t he intervened in the sinful tragedy of this world to bring judgment? Second Peter 3:9 tells us because God is long suffering. Not willing that any should perish but all should come to a knowledge of the truth. If Christ did come in judgment five years ago, some of you would be lost because you have believed in Jesus Christ in the last five years. That’s the grace of God in patiently giving men and women the opportunity to be exposed to the truth of the gospel. Now we sometimes forget why God is so patient. The world assumes; O they have been preaching that message of the coming of Christ so many years and he hasn’t come, just let him alone. They feel better when they do it.

Peter talks about that, they think; Christ is never coming because he hasn’t come yet. But you know, the tragedy sometimes, we as Christians begin to live like that. I go through the week and I don’t even give thought that I’m in a situation where I’m to be giving off the knowledge of Christ, so that men and women can be exposed to that truth, so that God may be pleased with my life, so that he might use the message of Christ to draw men and women to himself. That Christ is coming, any wonder the world doesn’t believe it, we don’t live it. Some of us as believers would be shocked out of our socks, and that will literally happen I guess if Christ would come today. I just wasn’t expecting it, I knew he was coming but really today. I was reading a story about George Whitefield this past week. Someone asked George Whitefield whose life was filled with preaching, dozens of times a week he preach. He said; what would you do with your life if you knew Jesus Christ was coming in three weeks. George Whitefield got out his appointment book, from through the pages of the three weeks and said; this is what I would do, if Jesus Christ were coming in three weeks.

That ought to be the way with me. Jesus Christ is coming at nine o clock this evening, what would I do with my life? That ought to be what I’m doing with my life. That ought to be the way that I live my life today because don’t I expect he may be coming today, tonight, tomorrow, I’m not sure when. O whenever he comes I will be saying; I have been expecting you, giving off the knowledge of Christ. You know, this raises an important question. Paul asked at the end of verse 16. I must confess when I preached this message in 1969, it was a 30 minute message but I was young, the Lord didn’t give me as much to say in those days. I know some of you think I’m old and senile, that’s more the explanation. What’s the question at the end of verse 16; who is adequate for these things? You stop and think about it, you are the vehicle through whom God has chosen to make his Son known in this world and your giving off that knowledge is what is pleasing to God and what impacts people for eternity.

Some of the people that you exposed to that fragrance you give off will believe and experience the glory of eternity in God’s presence and some people that you share the message of Christ with will be further hardened in their lost condition, rendered more unreachable if you will. Have you stop and think about the eternal consequences of that ministry, you soon begin to ask yourself who is adequate for these things? And we sometime use that as an excuse for not witnessing. I’m just not capable, I’m just not competent but you note that’s not an excuse here. That’s not one of the options. My life is to be about pleasing God and he is pleased when I give off the knowledge of Christ. That’s what my life has to be about as one who is marching in victory with Christ but who is adequate to have eternity hinging and hanging upon the message that is being proclaimed through this week, frail, inadequate vessel of clay.

Who is adequate for these things? You know, you would expect the message, the response to that question to be; nobody, nobody. But you know, Paul doesn’t answer right here, he goes on to explain why we are adequate, what makes us adequate as victorious servants of Jesus Christ. Then he will jump down in Chapter 3 and explain the fact, verse 5, “not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, our adequacy is from God who has made us adequate.” So it’s blasphemy for a person to say; I’m not adequate to share the gospel, I’m not capable of making Christ known. That’s not humility, that’s to deny what God says; he has done. He has made us adequate. None of us are adequate as sinful human beings but by the marvelous grace of God he has rendered us adequate. What is involved in being adequate? Verse 17; for we are not like the many, so you can see, it assumes; who is adequate for these things, we are. You will qualify that or explain it when you get to Chapter 3, we are for we are not like the many. We are different than the many, the hoi polloi. And here you get the idea, it’s not new that most of the people running around are confused about salvation, don’t understand the message of Christ, are not proclaiming the truth of the word of God.

The reason we are adequate to deal with eternal destinies is because we are not like the many, peddling the word of God. What a tragedy. Peddling the word of God; means to act as a huckster. Refer to someone who does anything to make something saleable. Those who would adulterate their products so they could make a sale. They would corrupt it and that’s what people do with the word. So you note here, Paul is not drawing the distinction between those who have nothing to do with the word of God and believe it but he is drawing a distinction between those who are adequate in their handling of the word of God and those who are not adequate in their handling of the word of God, those who are hucksters, peddling the word of God. Somebody this past weekend gave me a letter, I should have brought it. No I shouldn’t have, I probably preaching on that for the rest of the time. 

One of these hucksters received a special anointing from God and now if you send him, he will cut you a piece of his shirt and send you a piece of the shirt he was wearing when he was anointed. I take it, he got anointed a number of times because he is hoping millions of people write and there will be small pieces .What tragedy, hucksters of the word of God, peddling the word of God, corrupting it. God will make you wealthy and healthy if you believe this message. And we get confused, you say; you know, he talks about Jesus Christ, he talks about the Bible, he talks about salvation but you see what he has done. He is a huckster, he has mixed that all in to corrupt the message, why. So people would buy it. I want to hear; God wants me wealthy, I want to hear; God wants me healthy, I want to hear and so we just mix that in. Peddling the word of God, you are not adequate to deal.

You are not adequate to make Jesus Christ known in a way that’s pleasing to God if you corrupt the word of God. But as from sincerity, our motive here is transparency, sincerity, surety. In other words there are not ulterior motives. When you are telling someone about Jesus Christ there ought to be no ulterior motives. It ought not to be; I hope they come to believe in Christ because they have a lot of money. I hope they come to Christ because they are influential people. I hope they come to Christ because, because I hope they come to Christ because they need the marvelous salvation that is found no place else.

There ought to be no ulterior motives. Transparency in our presentation of the word of God, as from God. He is our source, we never lose sight of that. It’s from God that we speak, that’s why our message must be the word of God because it’s from him that we speak. From God we speak in Christ. And we are back to; we are led in triumph in Christ. Then we want to; adequate to give off the knowledge of Christ is one who is in Christ. That’s the focal point, begins with my relationship to Christ. Now I’m in him, that is the qualification. That means everyone here who has come to believe in Jesus Christ now is to be an instrument submissive to the spirit of God who is giving off the fragrance of Christ making Christ known wherever they go. I don’t have to sit back and decide; well, I wonder if that’s the ministry God wants me to have. Have you come to believe in Christ? That’s the ministry he wants you to have. You want to have a life that’s pleasing to God; you must be giving off the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ in every place, that ascends to God. You say; well, I tell people about God and they don’t believe it.

Well, I will back up and say; am I telling them the truth of the word of God, about the Son of God. Then God is pleased, I cannot change their life, I wish with a passion that everyone will come to believe in Christ. We don’t present the word of God in an indifferent way, as though it doesn’t matter. It does, God is not willing that any should perish. His passion is that men and women and young people come to believe in his Son, that ought to our passion as well but I better not measure my success by the response because I can’t change your heart. Only you as you allow the spirit of God to work in your heart can the word of God make an impact but I can share the truth with you and share it accurately, in the sight of God. That phrase has been a conditioning factor for me as I present the word of God.

Help me to decide when I’m ready with a message to come on Sunday. I always think of God himself in the person of the Son of God coming and sitting on the front row. When I’m done on Saturday and pulling the final preparation together I think now; if they would say, ‘guess who is here today in bodily form. The Son of God himself representing his father, he will be sitting right on the front row. Would I be embarrassed with my message? But I say; I better go back and work on this a little bit more. You know, this is good enough for the people at Indian Hills but they probably could take some work. If that’s the way I think I better get back to work, you know why. We all speak in the sight of God. So wherever I’m making Christ known, I better be careful. If I’m down on skid row I don’t say; this is good enough for them, doesn’t have to be so accurate for them. I’m not doing it for them ultimately. I’m doing it to be pleasing to the one in whose sight I minister.

And if he is not pleased what has been accomplished? That helps put ministry in perspective. You say; I labor back here with these little kids, I don’t know whether anything is happening or not. And really they are little kids. I mean, you know, I don’t have to prepare for them like I do for adults, you do, why. You are ministering in the sight of God just like I’m here. Now you have to gear it for their level, you want them to understand it but you better be true to the word of God. You better be honest and accurate with the word of God. And you don’t know your impact. Tom and I were talking this past week, talking about the great group of young people we have. Really appreciate our young people. You know, he is talking about those who have been part of Indian Hills, he says; it will be interesting to go back and track and where many of these have been -- who have been here since little kids.

See the impact in various ways and various ministries that bring us to this point. Now we don’t know what God is doing in our lives. You know, many people who put up with the frustration of ministering in my life when I was a kid. Didn’t know that the impact of their ministry would touch many other people. They will when they get to glory. As one plants another waters, one sows, one reaps. It’s all God’s work. We need to be reminded of that. What’s the measure of the success of Indian Hills? O it’s growing America. Praise God for the blessings that we have seen. But you know the criteria of whether we are pleasing to God or not is; are we faithful to the word of God.

Is a ministry that centers in Jesus Christ and in the revelation of him which is the word of God. That will be the measure of this ministry whether it grows on to be multiplied thousands or whether God in his plan reduces it again to a ministry of 50. The measure of success will be faithfulness to Jesus Christ and his word. That takes the pressure off of me. That takes the pressure off of you. What we have to do is clear. We have to be faithful to Jesus Christ. But you know what, we always do that in the context of victory. Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ. 

Let’s pray together. Thank you Father for your great grace. Our being here today is a testimony of that grace. Lord, what you have done in this ministry over 25 years is a reminder that we have this treasure in earthen vessels that all the glory might belong to you. Lord, we will give you that glory today. Lord, we pray that even the privilege of seeing you work in so many ways and so many lives, might be an added encouragement to us. We have all people, Father, without excuse. Keep us faithful to yourself; keep us faithful to your word. Lord, may we be faithful in making Jesus Christ known until he comes and may that be the testimony of this body. We pray in Christ’s name, Amen.