be Christ in that place to live that out. My third is a prayer request. I was talking with a good friend of mine who I served at camp with. For years, they served as missionaries in Mongolia for a number of years, and now I've returned home to Canada.
They found out yesterday that they came home to Canada with nothing but a small suitcase each. All their belongings, everything, was being put in a shipping container, was going to be shipped from Bangkok to Canada. They found out on Friday they were told, there is no shipping container, and unless they immediately pay $10,000 American, they don't know what will happen to all their belongings. So they are trusting the Lord, but they're asking for prayer.
That's Matt and Teresa Mayich. So if you can remember them, they're seeing what the Lord has for them in ministry in Canada, but also that the Lord can work out the details of this. Because men see opportunities to make money, but God can change people's hearts. So if you have a Bible with you or the electronic means to look it up, and I'm going to make a comment about that, this is my morning for making comments.
I was speaking with a group of teachers last Monday, or at the Christian school, we started our teacher planning by taking a whole day, and we just spend it with the Lord. So we spent time reading the word, we spent time praying together, we spent time in worship through singing, and we gathered around the Lord's table to set the tone for the teachers for the school. And one of the things we were talking about is, of course, the convenience of electronic devices to look up things in Scripture, which are amazing. One downside, one person mentioned, said, you know, I used to read my Bible on the bus.
I don't do that now because now I pull up my phone, and I can read it. She said, but one thing I realized, one day, I was sitting there reading my Bible on the bus on my phone, and I had this thought, and said, I used to read my physical Bible on the bus, and it was not at all unusual, happened multiple times a week, that somebody would look up and go, what's that, you're reading? And it would open up a conversation. Said, no one has ever asked me.
What are you looking at at your phone? Because everybody's looking at their phone, and that's private stuff. Nobody ever says, what are you looking at at at your phone? So enjoy the technology, but also see if the Lord sometimes says to you, you know, there are times to actually pull out a physical book, because God may use that as an entry point.
We are in 2 Corinthians this morning. 2 Corinthians, and we're gonna start in chapter two, starting at verse 14. I can tell you that the sermon I was gonna preach on Friday is not the sermon I'm preaching this morning. Friday's sermon was wonderfully topical.
This morning's sermon is different, because the Lord's been laying on my heart recently, both in my own time with him, and also in my preaching to spend more time simply reading a piece of scripture, and seeing what is the richness that is there. So we are in 2 Corinthians, chapter two, starting at verse 14. But let's pray. Father, I thank you.
I thank you that you are everything we've sung about this morning, and infinitely more than that. I thank you that you are righteous, and holy, and just, and merciful, and loving, and compassionate, that you are not like us as human beings, though we reflect aspects of your character. Lord, I thank you that you hold all things together by the word of your power. Lord, I thank you that you are not the author of Confusion, that when we see confusion around us, we know that it doesn't come from you.
We thank you that you are truth. And light, and life. We thank you that you would not simply dismiss our sin, but you provided a way for it to be paid for. We thank you for the gift of your one and only son, for his perfect sacrifice which he gave willingly, so that we might be redeemed.
Lord, we praise you this morning, for your church, filled with every believer in Christ. We praise you that it wraps the globe, that it has stood for 2,000 years, and that the gates of hell still can't stand against it. Lord, we praise you for the word that has come from Afghanistan this week, and in one of the regions, the church has already grown sevenfold, in the face of man's worst persecution, because the gospel stands. Lord, we praise you for your Holy Spirit that indwells every believer in Christ.
Our advocate, the one who leads us into all truth. Lord, we thank you for your word this morning, and for the privilege of being able to read it together, to look into it. So Lord, we ask as always that you would give us eyes, the sea, and ears to hear, minds to understand the most of all hearts to be changed. For your glory in Jesus Christ, amen.
So at the beginning of Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, he talks about a number of issues, and it's interesting, because as I was reading it through at the end of this week, I was struck by his instructions, he's giving to the Corinthian church, and he's talking about an issue that needs to be dealt with, he's talking about how they should walk it through, and then he says in verse 12, now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, I still had no peace of mind, because I did not yet find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia, and this may seem strange to you, but verse 12 and 13 caught me, because I thought, here's a guy, he's got a whole lot going on. He's giving instructions to a church, he's teaching them about corrections, he's teaching them about how to embrace a brother, then he's talking about the next door, the Lord's open for him, and he's gonna walk through, but he's got anxiety, he's concerned about what's gonna happen and how it's gonna walk through, but he's still gonna try to walk through, and then I came to verse 14. But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ, and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
So I want us to start here this morning in verse 14. I don't know where you're at, I don't know what things you're facing, I don't know what your world looks like, but I want us to start here. If you know Christ, if you have experienced his salvation through his finished work on the cross, if you know him, I want you to take a good look at what starts in verse 14. With all the things Paul is dealing with, working through, considering his anxiety about, he comes back to this, but thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ, and through us spreads everywhere, the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
So the first thing that we noticed there is that beautiful picture which Paul uses, about being led in this triumphant procession. Now we have small versions of that. You know, there's a victory parade when someone wins the Stanley Cup or something like that, but in the Roman world, this was a huge spectacle. As the Roman world was expanding, as the empire was growing, as leaders went out in conquered lands and subjugated people, they would take representatives of the treasures of those people, they take representatives of the cultures of those people, and they'd bring them back in parade.
And the parade would travel through the empire, eventually reaching Rome. And as it traveled, all the people of Rome would look and see how magnificent their leaders were. And so this picture is very familiar to the people that Paul is writing to. And he says, but thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ.
So we are the conquered, the possession of God, traveling in this great procession of his victory over sin and death. And everywhere this procession of us travels through us spreads everywhere, the fragrance of the knowledge of him. What Paul is doing here, as he's led by the Spirit, is he's going from, here's all the stuff that's going on. Here's the things I have to deal with.
Here's the instructions I have to give you. Here's the plan I have. Here's what's concerning me. Here I'm moving forward.
Let's stop for a second. And let's raise our gaze. Because if we are in Christ everywhere, we are going. We are part of a spiritual triumph procession.
Because everywhere we go, we are the evidence of the victory of Christ if we are a believer. And he says everywhere we go, we release the fragrance of the knowledge of him. Sometimes we're looking at life and we're feeling the things happening around us. And we forget that though God calls us to specific roles in ministries and opportunities, just living life as an obedient follower of Christ is sharing the fragrance of the knowledge of God.
The person who sits on the bus, who is not overwhelmed with the anxiety of being on public transit, is showing the fragrance of the knowledge of God. The person who sits at work in the midst of maybe a difficult situation at work and acts with humility and demonstrates love is showing the fragrance of the knowledge of God. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death, to the other the fragrance of life.
And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity. Like men sent from God.
Because of what we have. We are a testimony and we can be a testimony to those who wish to deny God, wish to turn from him and which we are a testimony that condemns. And for those who are being saved, we are a testimony of hope. Are we beginning to command ourselves again?
Or do we need like some people letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ. So here Paul speaking to the church makes this beautiful picture.
He said, you are a recommendation letter that the gospel we preach is real. When we come, we don't have to say, here's our credentials, because our credentials is shown in the lives transformed by the message that we preach. Is the assembly that meets at Northrop Bible Chapel a representation of Christ? That is evident more in the lives of those who fellowship here than simply in a doctrinal statement someone sees on a website.
Because you can have the words, but each of you, if you know Christ and are walking independence on him, you are the recommendation. So when someone comes in the door, they see Christ in the conversations. They see Christ in the welcome. They see Christ even in the difficult things.
They see Christ. You show that you are a letter from Christ. The result of our ministry, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.
Not that we are competent in ourselves, to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. I think we should put that on a cross stitch. We should all have it in our living rooms. Where does our competence, to preach the gospel?
Where does our competence come from? Our competence comes from God, not from ourselves, not from our own ability, not from the things that we think we have mastered, but it comes from him. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant. Not the letter, but the spirit.
For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, which was the law, came with glory. So that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the spirit be even more glorious. If the ministry that condemns man is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness?
For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts? We have this beautiful picture, which relates back to the Old Testament. We see the glory of God in His holiness, the glory of God put forth in His law, but how much more so is there glory at work in us to do the transforming work of the gospel.
Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. So you've noticed that if you're just looking to the passage, we've been told about where our confidence comes from, where our competence comes from, where our boldness comes from. It all comes through Christ. We are not like Moses.
We put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away, but their minds were made dull. For to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is red. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is red, a veil covers their hearts.
But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the spirit. What a hope.
What a hope we have to know that He has told us in His word, that where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Freedom from sin and death. Freedom from the temptations of sin that would try to ensnare us because God is greater. And that we with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the spirit.
In case you were I as the hearers go, well that sounds really good, but I don't think I'm looking very glorious. And I don't think I'd look at much like Christ. He reminds us who is doing the work, which comes from the Lord who is the spirit. Therefore, since through God's mercy, we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
Rather, we have renounced the secret in shameful ways. We do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God on the contrary. By setting forth the truth plainly, we recommend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. This is our passion.
Because we've experienced the mercy of God, we don't lose heart. And this is one of the amazing, incredible, mind-bending things that we see now coming out of places like Afghanistan, where everything in us humanly says, oh my goodness, we need to get every one of those believers out of there. And yet, brothers and sisters, they're living the gospel. And people are coming to faith in Christ.
Coming to faith in Christ in a context where death is very certain. And yet, the gospel is being preached. And yet, the saints are gathering together. And yet, they're being baptized.
And people are coming to faith in Christ. Why? Because what is said here is true. Because they've experienced God's mercy, they don't lose heart.
Because there is nothing the world can do to take this away from us. So they're setting forth the truth plainly. We commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of God, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord. And ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake, for God who said, let light shine out of darkness made his light to shine in our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. And I love this picture here as we talk about our focus.
Based on all that we have, we have this great picture that we're supposed to let the light of Christ shine from us. We sing that song, this little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine, this little light of mine. And I love that song, except we're somewhat diminutive.
Have you ever noticed that's how it's this little light? And you always get the little kid, they put their little finger up, and this little light of mine, don't let Satan it out. Except when I read this passage, of course, we're not the source of the light. Christ is the source of the light.
And what is the comparative that is given there? It's the same one who said, let light shine from the darkness. It goes back to Genesis chapter one. Now, how diminutive was that light that lit up creation?
The power of God at work in his people. Do we actually believe that God is at work doing his purpose in and through us, that his light shines from us? It's not my little light, it's his light, shining abroad from our hearts. And it exposes sin and brings conviction of sin, which displays righteousness.
For God who said, let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So we have a passion and we have a focus, and what's our power? But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that this all surpassing power is from God, and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed.
Perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not abandoned. Struck down, but not destroyed. We think of that.
When all surpassing power is from God, then it doesn't matter how weak and feeble, how young, how old I may be. It doesn't matter whether I'm able to speak or not able to speak, whether I'm timid, or whether I'm bold, because the power comes from him. I've often shared the story of this wonderful lady. I know her name is Marilyn and Marilyn is an incredible introvert in Marilyn, who also has oftentimes wrestled with her own self-esteem.
And we were talking in a Bible study about stepping out and allowing God to use us as a testimony for Christ, and Marilyn said, I could never do that. And so we prayed about that. The next week we got together for prayer meeting, and Marilyn was just ecstatic. He said, I have to tell you something, I have to tell you something.
And I said, so what? What happened? She goes, well, this week I went to chapters, because I had the Bible book. And I was standing in the line of chapters, and up ahead of me, there was this young lady with a baby, and the baby was upset, and the young lady was upset, and the young lady was getting more upset, because the baby was getting more upset.
The other thing you have to know about Marilyn is that Marilyn is the quintessential mother. Marilyn was a foster mom, also raised her own kids. One day she was brought a little baby in the middle of the night to give him emergency foster care, too. Brought the little one in, the little one was filthy, just a mess, and then she's unzipping the dirty little snow suit, the little child's diaper shirt head.
I'm somebody special written on it, smudged with feces and everything. And Marilyn said, yes you are, and baby you're never leaving this house. She eventually adopted him. But that was Marilyn's heart.
And so for all her incredible shyness and everything, her mom instinct connected with this young lady, and she stepped out of the line, and she walked up to this young lady and said, love, do you need a hand? And the young lady who turned out to be about 17 just lost it. And so Marilyn said, took crying baby in one arm, and mom in the other arm, and they went over to the side, and they sat down and they talked a bit. And Marilyn ended up spending the whole day with this young lady, helped her connect with services, helped her come up with different things because she knew how some of the resources and the system for community services worked.
And Marilyn incredibly shy Marilyn. At one point the mom said, why do you care? And Marilyn told her about who Jesus was, because of all that Jesus had done in her. And what Jesus had made her, this is why Marilyn is who she is.
And Marilyn helped the first step in eventually leading this woman to Christ. So I have come to the realization through multitudinous of those stories, the multitudinous of those situations, that when we recognize that the also passing power comes from God, then God is able to give the power to make it work, to give us that opportunity to be a testimony. Will it be hard? Yes, it will.
And this is something that in our North American thinking is probably our biggest struggle. This is where our adversary gets us most, because our adversary has convinced us that here in the land of comfort and plenty, we will not suffer. So as soon as something gets hard, we go, something is terribly wrong here. Somebody at work persecuted me, because they said I was religious, and I don't know what to do with that.
Well, were you religious or were you living out Christ? Because if you're religious, smart enough, if you're living out Christ, praise be to God, somebody noticed it. Because he tells us here, we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned. That has been the call from many of the leaders of the church in Afghanistan, in their latest reports, God has not abandoned us.
Struck down, but not destroyed. When you think of how many times in human history, some despot, some leader, some group has pronounced that they were going to wipe out the church, that they were gonna remove the word of God, that they were gonna silence the gospel, still here, still here, still growing, still a triumphal procession, still releasing the fragrance of the knowledge of God. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For if we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.
So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. It is written, I believe, therefore I have spoken. With that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak. Because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we're being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. That needs to be our vision. We, if we are in Christ, part of a triumphal procession of believers marching around the world everywhere we go, the fragrance of Christ, convicting and drawing people to Christ.
Persecution coming, but that's okay because God will not abandon us, He will not allow us to be destroyed. The worst thing our enemy can do to us is to threaten to take our lives, but our lives are safe in Christ. One missionary wrote that one of the things that they discovered in Vietnam during one of the great persecutions in Vietnam was they began to preach the truth that a person in Christ cannot be taken from Christ. The death cannot separate us as we're taught in Romans.
And he said, all of a sudden the boldness of the church increased because the greatest threat that their enemies had was death. And as soon as believers went absent from the body present with the Lord, we got no threat left. And he said, the authorities would be so frustrated because the believers seem so calm. It's like, we can do this to you, we can do that to you.
And he said, well, actually you can't really do anything to us of an eternal value. Yes, you can hurt us in this present moment, but God won't abandon us. He'll carry us through it. And we're coming out the other side.
And all of a sudden everything changes because this world, this model that we're in that's trying to press us into its mold tries to tell us it's only us and it's how we can fit in to the system around us instead of going, no, it's God. Who through Christ has transformed us and given us power and purpose through Him to be part of one of the most and the most beautiful things that could ever be imagined the salvation of souls, the encouragement of the saints to be a part of that. I sometimes in my literary imagination wish we could see people as God can see them, that if I could look out into the room and see those who were redeemed by the power of Christ, see you clothed in righteousness. And then as we traveled about in our day going, there's a believer, there's a believer, there's a believer.
But also there are those who are yet outside of Christ. So it doesn't matter what socioeconomic group this person looks like to belong to, what their fashion sense is, what ethnic background all we see is these people are still in darkness. These people are in Christ. The ones in Christ you see that all the power is from God and it's available to us so that we can show the fragrance of Christ.
So fix our eyes on not what is seen, but what is unseen for what is seen as temporary, what is unseen is eternal. We have a purpose, we have a reason not to lose heart. We have a passion, we have a focus, it's all there. Everything is there for us in Christ.
If you don't have Christ, then none of what I've talked about right now is yours. The hope, the power, the strength, the security, all of that is found in Christ and in Christ alone. But it's available to you because Christ offers it to you. To recognize your need and your sin, to recognize your need for a savior, and then to come to Christ and accept what he has accomplished for you and to experience this transformation.
To be transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory for his glory. Let's pray. Father, thank you that you moved Paul to stop and the flow of his letter and to reflect on all that he had, all that we have if we are in Christ. Where all our power comes from, where our confidence comes from, where our competencies come from, what we look like in the spiritual realm because of Christ.
What we are called to do, what we will face, but with a promise that you face it with us and will bring us through it. Lord, I thank you for this body of believers. I pray that this week, as they reflect back on this passage, as you take them through it, that you will be their encouragement, you will be their strength, that you will give boldness and new measure. Lord, as we think of this, we think beyond ourselves, to our brothers and sisters in all places, whether it's in the seductive comfort of Canada, whether it's in places where the persecution is overt and harsh, but you are the same God and you are faithful.
So Lord, I pray that you would glorify yourself in and through us in the days ahead. And Lord, I do pray that there's anyone here who does not know Christ, that this is new to them. Lord, that today they would ask the questions and get the answers, that today would be their day of salvation. You don't promise us many days to consider this.
If you're speaking, this is the time. So Lord, do your work for your glory in Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you.