>> Jen: Good morning, faithful listeners. Grab your cup of coffee or your cup of tea, because today we're going to be discussing Second Corinthians, chapter two, finishing up this chapter and talking about what is lovingly called the Great Digression. Forgive if you hear my dog acting up in the background. He has had a very, very bad week, poor thing, because my, um, father in law left his big, giant golden retriever here while he goes on his honeymoon. And so we're
watching my father in law's dog. And Bandit hates my father in law's dog, absolutely hates him, because Bandit's a little dog. He is a Jack Russell terrier, but he has a big dog personality. And I think he's honestly, truly jealous that the golden retriever is so much bigger than him. And so he is. He has had a very bad week and he has been acting out far more than he usually does. He's peed on my floor
like four times this week. He has just been acting far more hyperactive than he usually does because even though he's a Jack Russell terrier, he's also 13 years old. And so he's, he's acting like a puppy again, but his body can't keep up with him. So then at the end of the night, he's like, dead tired and can barely, like, stand up from exhaustion. So tell me about your dogs. I'd love to hear about, um, your animals and your pets. So you can contact me at the email listed below.
Let's go ahead and read 2 Corinthians, chapter 2, verses 12 through 17. Today we are going to be finishing up this chapter. Grab your cup of coffee or your cup of tea, and let's enjoy reading God's Word together. Now, when I came to Traus for the good news of Christ, and when a door was opened to me in the LORD, I had no relief for my spirit because I didn't find Titus, my brother, but taking my leave of them, I went out into
Macedonia. Now, thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and reveals through us the sweet aroma of His knowledge in every place. For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God in those who are saved and in those who perish. To the one, a stench from death to death, to the other a sweet aroma from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as so many peddling the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God. In the sight of God we speak Christ.
This chapter begins what is lovingly called the great Digression. Because Paul starts talking about how he's going into Macedonia and all the things he's going to do there, which is where we started today in verse 12. But then for the next four chapters, he's going to defend his ministry and doesn't talk about Macedonia at all until he gets into Second
Corinthians, chapter 7. So verse 12 says, When I came to Trauss for the good news of Christ, and when a door was opened to me in the LORD, I had no relief for my spirit because I didn't find Titus, my brother. So we know that at this point in time, Paul was really struggling because he was hearing about some nasty things that were going on in the Corinthian church. A, uh, riot in Ephesus had just taken place, because this was probably going on around the same time as Acts, chapter
19. And if you read the end of Acts 19, there was a really bad riot that broke out because of a guy named Demetrius who was very angry about the gospel that Paul was preaching, because Demetrius was a idol builder, he was a silversmith who would make these little idols for people. And so his, his business was starting to fail a little bit because people were starting to turn to the gospel
in Ephesus. And so this Demetrius guy caused a whole bunch of trouble and almost got Paul killed, almost got a bunch of Paul's followers killed, almost beat one guy to death. And Paul probably had to leave very shortly after this riot in Ephesus took place. So Paul has a lot on his mind right now, and he's kind of struggling. So he gets into the area of Trauss, and he isn't exactly happy. When he gets to
Trauss. He says, I had no relief from my spirit because he didn't find Titus, his brother or his friend. Meaning that Titus was supposed to meet up with him in Traus after Titus delivered that hard letter to the Corinthians, they were supposed to meet up. And Paul, when he gets to Trauss, can't find Titus anywhere. And back in these days, before there were cell phones and before, uh, news traveled quickly, Paul had no clue what had happened to Titus. For all Paul
knew, Titus could be dead. They could have taken him and beaten him or killed him or thrown him into prison, and Paul wouldn't have known. So he leaves from Trauss, even though he likely did spend a little bit of time there and preached the Gospel there. But he left Trauss and went into Macedonia. Uh, is what it says so now in verse 14 through 17. Like I said, this Is the start of
the great digression. Now, likely, one of the reasons why Paul ended up digressing so much was because he was reflecting on what happened once he actually got to Macedonia. And good things actually happened to him once he got to Macedonia. In fact, if you turn to second Corinthians, chapter seven, and read verses five through seven, it says, when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. We were harassed at every turn. Conflicts on the outside, fears within.
But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, and your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever. So once Paul actually got to Macedonia, he found Titus. Titus was delayed for some reason, but Titus found Paul, and Paul was overjoyed to see his friend again. And he also
delivered some really great news to Paul as well. That the Corinthians had not abandoned the Gospel message. That the Corinthians had not rejected Paul or the message of Paul, but actually that they were sorrowful with when they received the letter from Paul. And they actually turned from the sins that Paul called out in that letter. In fact, the Corinthians had a deep sorrow is what it says. And this made Paul
so joyful, he was encouraged. After all of the terrible things that he had just gone through in his ministry, he was finally encouraged. So that's probably why this great digression takes place in 2 Corinthians, chapter 2 through 7. Because, uh, Paul was beginning to reflect on just the comfort God brought him on the good things that happened once he got to Macedonia. And also in all the ways that Paul could see God working
in the people's lives. So he says, thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and reveals through us the sweet aroma of his knowledge in every place. So if that doesn't sound like reflection, I don't know what does. That's kind of like Paul's testimony. I was going through something super rough, super awful. But then God gave me triumph in Christ, and He gave me knowledge as well. In fact, God's knowledge is in every single place. It's not just in the Bible, though. That is God's
words to us. But God can give us wisdom in every other aspect of our lives. In fact, I've recently been into, um, some of Jordan Rubin's books. If you're not sure who that is. He's a doctor that credits all of his success in healing to God. And he's written a ton of books. I think he also partners with Josh, um, Axe, if you're familiar with who Josh Axe is. But he's written a lot of books, and he's written these, like, series of books called the Great Physicians Rx.
And they're guides to a bunch of different health things you might be going through, whether it's diabetes or heart problems or cancer or gut health or something like that. He's written a lot of books on that. But it was so interesting to read his testimony and see how sick he was. When he was in his early 20s, he was so sick that he weighed about 110 pounds. And he showed a picture of himself, and I was like, oh, my
gosh. And he went through years, years of suffering through this sickness that he had. But then he started reading the Bible and doing things that the Bible recommended for health. Because even though the Bible doesn't specifically say, oh, you need to eat this, this, and this for a healthy diet, and you need to take this supplement or take this medicine or whatever for a healthy life, it doesn't specifically say that anywhere. But
there's wisdom in the Bible about health. So he started implementing this wisdom that he found in the Bible, and he got much healthier, and now he helps other people get healthy as well. Another book I recommend is Person of Interest by J. Warner Wallace, because that book really opened my eyes to how many amazing historical figures there were that did great things in Jesus name and how all of these founders and fathers of things were all
Christians. It was really amazing how J. Warner Wallace just did a comprehensive guide of, like, all of these people who accomplished amazing feats, who all had faith in God, which just shows that God gives wisdom to people in every aspect of life that you can possibly think of. Verse 15. For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God in those who are saved and in those who perish. Now, Paul here is obviously talking about the Levitical law where the priests would go in and light incense before
God. And God called it a sweet aroma. And then also, um, some of the sacrifices as well were called sweet aromas. I always make the joke, God loves the smell of a nice steak grilling on the grill. But it's a sweet aroma to God when we give something to him. And so now we, you and I, are that sweet aroma, uh, to God because we believe in Christ. So no longer do we do animal sacrifices. That's no longer the sweet aroma. But we ourselves are that sweet aroma.
Because God purchased Us, he bought us and he loves us so much. So anybody who believes in Jesus Christ is that sweet aroma to God and we are also an aroma to the world is what it says to the one a stench from death to death, and to the other a, uh, sweet aroma from life to life. So it depends on who we encounter. We are either going to be a stench to them or a sweet
aroma to them. And I'm sure you've encountered this in your own life where you start talking about God to somebody and they just like recoil. They don't want to hear it, they don't want to talk about it. They just find the whole concept so uncomfortable. So the gospel message is kind of like a stench to them. It makes them recoil just as you would recoil if you smelled something that is unpleasant to you.
Now that doesn't mean that God can't work on their hearts and that eventually they will find the gospel like a sweet aroma, a sweet smelling perfume. But for a lot of people the gospel message is a stench to them. But to other people, like I said, it's a sweet aroma from life to life. It's like a life giving perfume to them. To do an analogy of this, sometimes when I feel sick, the only thing that makes me feel better is just having a little bit of peppermint essential
oil or peppermint tea. Because the smell and the flavor just really calms me down. It's like the only thing that brings relief is that nice pepperminty smell. And that is how the gospel is for some people. It's the only thing that brings them relief. It's the one thing that gives them peace and they want more of it. It's like life giving to them. Then in verse 17, to conclude, we are not as so many peddling the word of
God. That verse kind of cracks me up because apparently in Paul's day there were people that went around and this still happens nowadays. I don't think people have changed really all that much. But there used to be people in Paul's day who would go around claiming to have a word from God or claiming to have some gospel from God. And they would basically pedal God's word. But it wouldn't really be God's word. It would just be, you know, whatever teaching they had or whatever
they made up. And yes, this, like I said, this still does happen nowadays, but it was only for financial gain that these people taught this stuff. That was the only reason they cared for what they could get out of it, how they could manipulate the people they were Peddling God's Word. Paul says, me and the other apostles, we are not like these, these teachers that go around peddling God's Word. We are not in it for the money. Instead, we are in it because we believe it. We are sincere is what
Paul says. But as of God, in the sight of God, we speak Christ. And so there it is. That's the reason why Paul and the other apostles were sincere about God's Word, because they knew that they were in God's presence when they were speaking God's words. This is something that I think modern Christians, myself included, don't think about very often. When we pray or when we're worshiping, we forget that we're in the presence of God and that God
deserves reverence. So anybody listening to this, if you're a teacher or if you're evangelizing to a friend or a worship leader or something along those lines, you have to remember that God sees you, you are in the sight of God, and so you have to be sincere. In fact, I just read something very interesting in a book called the Heart of the Artist, and this is a book that I'm actually going through, um, with the teenagers at my church, the ones that are on the youth worship team with
me. And here's an excerpt from the book that we just read today. I quote, the most important ingredient for effective communication is sincerity. If you can communicate what you believe with sincerity, people will sit up and take notice. Sincerity was a trademark of Paul's ministry and gave his ministry power and integrity more than anything else. The world is wondering whether we Christians really believe what we sing about. They're wondering how sincere we are, how real
Jesus is to us. And you can't act sincere. It's not something you can fake or manufacture. Either you are or you aren't, but you can cultivate a, uh, sincere heart. And that's where spiritual preparation comes in. Scripture can renew our passion for the things of God and strengthen our convictions. And I loved that. And it's really funny how well that tied in to what I'm talking about today on the podcast. But it's very true. You can't act sincere or fake sincerity. You either
are sincere or you are not. And that is exactly what Paul is talking about here in verse 17. For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but with sincerity as of God. In the sight of God, we speak Christ. So we must have sincerity in everything we do when it comes to the gospel message. Faithful listeners, as always, if you ever have a prayer request that you would like me to pray for, please
contact me. You'll find my contact information listed in the description of the episode, but you also don't have to contact me just if you have a prayer request request. I love hearing from you guys. I love when you reach out and, uh, you can reach out just to introduce yourself, to tell me how you found the podcast, to tell me what kind of coffee or tea you like to drink, or to just tell me how the weather is where you live. I like hearing about all of those things.
Now, my sister and I just finished another discussions episode where we're going to be talking about problems and conflicts in the church and how to resolve them. And I can promise you that my sister is very well
versed in this particular area. If you know my sister's story, she has had a very crazy church history and church background, more so than I have, and she will be sharing some of the things that she has gone through and how conflicts arise and how we can kind of squash them before they get to be too much. So I'm going to be offering the first 20 minutes of that discussions episode for free on YouTube for those of you who are not members. But the rest of it, which is an hour longer, will be
for members only. So if you're interested in becoming a member, click the link down below that says Ko Fi and you can sign up for the tea tier or the Ko Fi tier and gain access to either the discussions episode. Or if you sign up for the coffee tier, you can gain access to the Friday podcast episodes as well. Faithful listeners, I will see you all on Monday for an episode from First Kings. We're going to be out of First Kings very soon and moving into Second Kings, but
I will not be switching the seasons. It will just be the same season. Faithful listeners, have a fantastic and wonderful, wonderful rest of your day and a wonderful weekend. Happy listening and God bless.