Introducing…Me

Would God’s people please turn
to 2 Corinthians. And I know that even at the announcement
of that break from James, you’re probably surprised. From time
to time, I will, at an annual meeting, take occasion to address
something specific, particular, and such is the case this morning.
We’ll get there in just a moment. It’s interesting that we just
had a reading from the book of Revelation. If I were to say
the word, that’s what most people would think of is that great
letter to the seven churches. What is revelation? In a more general sense. And
if you think of revelation, A biblical definition of it would sound
more like this. Revelation itself is the communication
by God things about himself which we could not otherwise come to
know. It’s not as as though through
a series of scientific studies and discoveries that we could
come to know of and learn of God. God must reveal himself
or he remains forever hidden. Revelation. And you probably
know full well that there are two kinds of revelation. There is general revelation and
there is special revelation, general revelation refers to
the things that he has created, the sun, the moon, the stars,
the processes of weather and weather patterns, all of those
things, including the birth of a child. All of those beautiful
images are testimonies of God. This is an echo, of course, of
Psalm 19. The heavens are telling of the
glory of God. Their expanse is declaring the
work of his hands. Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge. There is a general revelation
of God that testifies of him 24-7. It never stops testifying of
him. And because of that, Paul says
every person who’s ever been born on the face of the earth
knows there’s a God because God has revealed himself to them.
Romans 1, the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
suppress the truth. It’s not just that they disbelieve
it, they hold it down and suppress it because that which is known
about God is evident within them. They know that there’s a God.
This is why we talk about when you’re talking with your friend
about spiritual things, you don’t need to prove that God exists. It’s a presupposition. You can
stand on that principle. That which is known about God
is evident within them because God made it evident to them.
How? Since the creation of the world,
his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature
have been clearly seen being understood through what has been
made so that they are without excuse. There is general revelation,
but there is also special revelation. We just spent time on, I believe
it was Christmas Eve in Hebrews chapter one, one of my favorite
structural passages in all of scripture, because it starts
so profoundly and the sentence isn’t even completed until the
second verse, God has spoken. And it talks about all those
ways in that interim in verse one, it talks about all those
ways that God has spoken. God, after he spoke long ago
to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many
ways in these last days has spoken. And he’s spoken to us in his
son, it’s special revelation. Such as the word of God, the
scriptures are God’s special revelation. Jesus Christ is God’s
special revelation. But that’s not where revelation
ends. In fact, revelation continues
to pour forth. Revelation continues to manifest
itself in our world. Jesus Christ continues to make
himself known. I wanna take you to a passage of
scripture, actually almost three chapters of scripture. which,
if not for that clock, I would be tempted to read all three
in their entirety. But, given our time constraint,
I want to take you to chapter two, verse 12, and I want to
ask you, if you would, just to bear with me, we’ll jump around
just a bit as we course through this section of scripture, almost
three chapters, but I want you to listen as you As you go through
it, I want you to listen for a common theme. There’s a word
that’s repeated, depending on which translation you’re in,
almost six times. In the Greek, it’s six occasions
where this word is used. And so I’ll test your listening
skills or your Bible reading if you want to read along. I
want to begin in chapter two. Verse 12, chapter 2, verse 12,
where Paul writes to his friends in Corinth. Now, when I came
to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was open for
me in the Lord, I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus,
my brother, but taking my leave of them, I went on to Macedonia. But thanks be to God who always
leads us in triumph in Christ and manifest through us the sweet
aroma of the knowledge of him in every place. For we are a
fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and
among those who are perishing. 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? For we are not like many peddling
the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we
speak in Christ in the sight of God. To chapter three, beginning in verse
one. Are we beginning to commend ourselves
again, or do we need as some letters of commendation to you
or from you? You are our letter written in
our hearts, known and read by all men, being manifested that
you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink,
but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone,
but on tablets of human hearts. And if you would, to chapter
four, beginning in verse one, Therefore, since we have this
ministry as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart,
but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not
walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation
of truth, commending 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, in whose case the
God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving
so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory
of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves,
but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves as your bond servants
for Jesus sake. For God, who said, light shall
shine out of darkness, is the one who has shown in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Christ. The final section I would point
you to is just beyond that in verse seven. But we have this
treasure in earthen vessels so that the surpassing greatness
of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. We are afflicted
in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not despairing,
persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed,
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus so that
the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body. For we who live
are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake,
so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal
flesh. It’s one of the great blessings
of being a Christian to know, to realize, to experience, to
have absolute assurance, objective, tangible evidence that God is
at work in our lives. This fact should not surprise
us. It is one of the many promises
given through the gospel that we will grow, not by self-improvement,
but through the spiritual work in our lives of Almighty God
himself. One of the many encouraging features
of Paul’s ministry. was his constant recitation of
what God was doing in and through the lives of his fellow believers. He wasn’t just focused on what
God was doing in his life. He was looking at other people’s
lives and noting what God was doing in their lives. In order
to do that, he had to observe them. He had to take note of
them. He had to pray for them. He had
to watch for God’s grace at work and thank him for it. Pray some
more. And when he saw God at work in
the process of reforming and changing people’s lives, he pointed
it out. He acknowledged it. He proclaimed
it because God himself was at work. No wonder Paul could say to the
Philippians, it is God who is at work in you. Both to will
and to work for his good pleasure, Paul knew it experientially.
He had watched God change lives. Here in the middle of 2 Corinthians
2, beginning in verse 12, Paul comes to the heart of this epistle
to the Corinthian people. And he opens with a discussion,
not merely of his ministry, but the Christian ministry. And I
don’t mean anything formal. What I mean is what God is doing
through Christ in the lives of his people. Paul’s whole purpose
was the gospel, the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.
And in this passage, he speaks of an open door, An opportunity
given by God’s sovereign providence. The particular context here,
as you might even note, is that Paul is watching and waiting
for Titus because Titus was going to bring news to him of this
church, the Corinthian church, an update, if you will. Paul
was concerned about them so much so that he was distracted from
his present season of ministry, even as successful as it was.
He was stressed. He was sleepless. He was anxious. He was miserable. What shepherd doesn’t know those
sentiments? And yet, even in the midst of that, God’s work
was flourishing. And so he proclaims these truths
to the Corinthians. And he calls attention to the
glorious reality of God at work. God is revealing himself to the
world. He’s revealing himself to the
world through general revelation. He has revealed himself to the
world through his written word. He’s revealed himself to the
world through his son, which he sent. And may I point out
that he has revealed himself, he is revealing himself to the
world through his people. He’s revealing himself to your
friends, to your family, to people that you’ve never even met as
they observe your life. He’s revealing himself. I want to look this morning at
these four ways. If you noted it in scripture,
you’re a good student of the word. This word manifest is used
six times, translated it as such at least four of them, depending
on what translation you’re using. But what Paul points to is four
ways that God is manifesting himself through the lives of
his people. First, number one, God manifests the
fragrance of Christ through us. This is such an amazing thought. Look at verse 14 of chapter two.
Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifest
through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of him in every
place. As I said, the word manifest
is used six times. This is the first of it. It just
means to reveal, to show. To reveal to someone’s sight in
a visible manner, to manifest a thing or a truth, to uncover,
to reveal. To be manifested. ultimately
is to reveal one’s true character. And there are many things about
us that we don’t want fully manifested. But if God is manifesting himself
through us, so be it. And well be it. God is always at work in and
through us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. It isn’t because
of us. Don’t try to sell yourself. Don’t try to present yourself
to the world. That is a miserable failure.
But yield yourself to the manifestation of God in and through you, the
manifold grace of God. And the world sees Christ. God is at work in our lives,
and the image here is It’s just so fantastic. It’s a fragrant
aroma, perfume. It’s as if, men included, we’re
wearing a very pleasant fragrance that the world cannot ignore.
Because it’s the fragrance of Christ himself. And our knowledge of Christ And
our lives, by God’s grace, begin to diffuse this fragrant aroma
to all who we meet. It can’t be hidden or covered.
If you are in Christ, you have an air of Christ about you. You
should. The image, of course, is taken
from the Old Testament sacrifices, Exodus, Leviticus and so on. Exodus 29 speaks of it. You shall
offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering
to the Lord. It is a soothing aroma. An offering
by fire to the Lord. It’s a fragrance. It’s a pleasant
scent. Not like our campfires. It’s
a fragrance of the knowledge of Christ, it’s a fragrance of
Christ himself, it’s a fragrance of what Christ has done for you
in calling you to repentance. An acceptance of his payment
of your sin. And the growth of grace worked
into your life, this fragrance of Christ brings with it a couple
of important things to acknowledge. Number one, this fragrance, as
I said, cannot be ignored. It cannot be brushed aside. It cannot be hidden. We’ve all
walked into the grocery store, right, where some gal has overdone
it. That’s the image. This fragrance
is overwhelming. It cannot be ignored. Because
it’s the work of God in the life of the believer. But it’s a pleasant
fragrance. There are some perfumes that
I would be fine if I never smelled again. But the fragrance of Christ
is pleasing. The fragrance of Christ is the
most desired fragrance of all. The language that Paul uses is
absolutely remarkable here. He says that in preaching the
gospel, God spreads this aroma, this fragrance of Christ, even
in the face of earthly difficulties, even in the face of defeat, struggle,
and frustration, and heartaches, and challenges. The gospel goes forth from our
lives Other people smell the fragrance of Christ as they observe
how we handle those challenges and difficulties. It’s a powerful
and penetrating aroma. It’s a beautiful thing. The gospel is pervasive. It’s disseminated by believers
who go about preaching Christ even in the midst of their earthly
difficulties. The fragrant aroma of the gospel
is wafting through the entire region. Paul had found the gospel to
be the power of God to salvation. The ministry of the gospel there,
wherever he went, was having its intended effect. It was inherently
successful. But the most surprising of all
to Paul was that God was using even him. God was giving victory,
God was giving triumph. And it was palpable, they could
sense it because there was this fragrant aroma of Christ. People
saw their lives. People saw the lives of the Corinthians
and they knew that they had been touched by something extraordinary. It was
the manifold grace of God. God uses us, but it isn’t about
us. It’s about Christ. God is manifesting himself through
you to people. And they can sense and smell
the fragrant aroma of Christ. But there’s a second image here
that I want to grasp. This one occurs in chapter three,
verse three. Chapter three, verse three, if
you would, we’re not only does God manifest through you the
fragrance of Christ, but God manifests the message of Christ
through us. Look at verse three or chapter
three. Start in verse 2, where Paul says, you are our letter,
written in our hearts, known and read by all men, being manifested
that you are a letter of Christ. We love scripture. We love so much the epistles
of Paul, don’t we? But he says here that some of
God’s greatest epistles are still being written. As a child of God, as a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are an epistle. It’s the same
exact word. You are a letter. I know that
may sound unfamiliar and outlandish to you. I didn’t say it, Paul
did. You are a letter, a testimony
that others can read. Now, for some of us, that should
be frightening, right? We should run a spell checker
on our life, a testimony checker in our lives before we press
print, right? But this epistle, the epistle
of the Christian’s life is not written with ink. or toner, and
it’s certainly not written with pencil. It’s written by none
other than the Holy Spirit himself. And what Paul points to here
creatively through the use of this image is that our conversion,
our salvation, and our sanctification are supernatural works of God. God is doing this. God is writing
these epistles. Because of this, please note.
As it says, God is not writing on paper or even stone tablets. He’s writing on human hearts.
He’s changing lives. And these letters, these so many
letters are open and available for all to read. There are no
private emails. There are no private communications.
We are as many by God’s grace, so many letters written by the
Holy Spirit himself, imparted by Christ and letters that speak
of Christ. Don’t miss this. This letter
that the Holy Spirit is writing, this letter which the Holy Spirit
is writing on your heart is a letter of Christ. It’s not a letter about you. It’s not a letter about your
life story. It’s not a letter about your
opinions. It’s not a letter about your
background or your talents or your knowledge. It’s a letter About the Lord
Jesus Christ, who he is and what he’s done, you are a letter,
every believers. A letter. An epistle about the Lord Jesus
Christ. But there’s a third image. God is manifesting himself through
his people in this world, not only as a fragrance of Christ,
not only as a message of Christ, but thirdly, the truth of Christ. The truth of Christ, flip, if
you would, to chapter four. And just at the first two verses
there, chapter four, where Paul writes there, therefore,
he’s drawing a conclusion, therefore, built on everything that he said
up to this point, therefore, since we have this ministry,
since we are called to this and have received mercy, not one
of us deserves this. Not one of us deserves to be
used of God. Not one of us deserves to emanate
the very fragrance of Christ. Not one of us deserves to be
the message of Christ. Since we have this ministry,
as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. God has called
you to this. We do not lose heart, but we
have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking
in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation
of truth. Commending ourselves to every
man’s conscience in the sight of God. Well, this truth that
he speaks of there near the end of verse two is in direct contrast
to those earlier statements of walking in craftiness, adulterating
the word of God. The bottom line here, Paul says,
we do not testify anything but the truth. The truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth, we do not misrepresent Christ
or scripture or the gospel. We don’t have to trick people
into believing in the gospel. Indeed, we cannot. We live the truth and preach
the truth because through us, God is manifesting truth. It’s the truth of changed lives. It’s the truth of a hatred of
sin and a truth of repentance and faith and sanctification. And the interesting thing is
this whole idea of this word manifest revealed. It speaks
of something that was hidden, that no longer is hidden, but
now is revealed, manifested, made fully known. It was a mystery. But now it’s revealed, made manifest. Paul speaks of it in his letter
to the Colossians, doesn’t he? God willed to make known what
is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ dwelling in
the hearts and the lives of those who believe, that was a mystery. The Jews did not understand that. But now it is known. Now it has been made known. Now
it is fully manifest. It has been revealed. No wonder
in this same context here in 2 Corinthians, Paul goes on to
say that we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord. We
focus on the truth. How could anybody ever stoop
to a message, anything other than this? Christ in you, the
hope of glory. That’s our message. People may tend to slight of
hand or manipulation or even downright deceit, but Christ
is committed to the manifestation of truth through the lives of
those who place their faith in him. God manifests the fragrance of
of Christ through us, God manifest the message of Christ through
us, God manifest the truth of Christ through us. There’s a fourth image. Would
you look down at verse seven? God manifest the life of Christ
through us. Paul writes, but we have this
treasure in earthen vessels so that the surpassing greatness
of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. We are afflicted
in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not despairing,
persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed.
Paul had experienced all of those and really what believer hasn’t
in some degree, affliction, Despair, persecution, having been forsaken,
struck down. The Christian experiences all
of those things. But in verse 10, he says, always
caring about in the body the dying of Jesus. He builds from bad to worse.
He goes from a little inconvenience to some difficulties, to some
great difficulty, to some really harsh treatment, and ultimately
death. Always caring about in the body
the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be manifested
in our body. This is profound. What Paul is
saying here is that glory, eternal glory, is no doubt in view for
Paul. Paul can’t wait to go to heaven,
but he’s willing to wait. He’s on God’s timetable. Paul
is looking for and longing for glory, heavenly glory. And so should every Christian.
But until then, for now, we live here. In a fallen. Evil world. We live in a world that hates
our savior. And hates us by mere association. And so in verse
seven, as Paul opens here with this particular illustration,
he starts with a contrast between. The anticipated glory for which
he longed. and the life of pain and difficulty
in the here and now. Humility, trials, great difficulty,
even persecution, even death. And all of this is experienced
in what he, the picture he paints is vessels of feeble flesh. Paul’s whole point is that there
must be suffering. There must be suffering and even
death before there ever is an experience of life and resurrection. Before we can experience the
one, we must, with Christ, experience the other. Suffering and death
must come before resurrection and life. But it’s coming. We may be in suffering and trial
and difficulty and persecution, and we are dying. That life and
glory is coming, Paul told the Romans, if we have died with
Christ, we who believe shall live with him, knowing that Christ,
having been raised from the dead, is never to die again. Death
is no longer master over him. What a glorious truth. The life
of Christ resurrected glory will be manifested. We will know it. And it is occurring already in
the here and now in God’s sustenance, by his grace, Christ’s life in
you is being made manifest, it is being revealed, and it is
a true testimony of Christ, that Christ himself is resurrected,
that Christ himself is alive, and that he is well capable of
sustaining his children. People, God manifests through
us. the fragrance of Christ. He manifests through us the message
of Christ. He manifests through us the truth
of Christ. And he manifests through us the
life of Christ. We should pray. But I’m not done. Because I want to take you to
my sermon title. Because the sermon title was
intended intentionally to be provocative. Introducing me. Even though we should be manifesting
a fragrant aroma of Christ. and the message of Christ and
the truth of Christ and the life of Christ. Yet the tendency is
so often it’s all about me. It’s all about me. Instead of it being the fragrant
aroma of Christ. And the message and the truth
and the life Instead, I often observe in my own life and the
lives of those that I know in our church, I often observe a
spirit, small s, an attitude of self-promotion. Self-promotion is the effort
or the attempt to present our self to others, to put ourself
on display in whatever form that may take place, whether we’re
promoting our opinions or our life history or our personal
preferences. But shouldn’t anything, shouldn’t
everything, even good things, be secondary to the fragrance
of Christ? Shouldn’t everything take a back
seat to the message of the gospel of Christ? Shouldn’t everything
be subservient to the truth of Christ? Shouldn’t everything
give way to the life of Christ? That’s Paul’s contrast to the
spirit of self-promotion. And we do this, sadly, in many
ways. Self-promotion takes many forms, where we are seen as individualistic. We’re loners. I remember when
I was a kid, I wanted to be a cowboy. Doesn’t every kid want to be
a cowboy? Off on the range, riding a horse by yourself. And if we’re like this, everybody
around us knows that we’re like this. We’re individualistic.
We are our own man. We have our own opinions. We
rarely can be taught anything. We focus on our own priorities.
We’re not worried about those of others. We’re not worried
about those of the church. We’re not worried about those
even of God himself. We have our priorities. We will
set them. We will establish them. We will
maintain our own priorities and our preferences. We want what we want and our
interests. We can justify almost any habit
or hobby. or expenditure of our time and
money, and then our isms. No one else in Christianity has
ever held this particular position, but I’m willing to die on this
hill. Our perspectives, our opinions,
our feelings, our quirks, Sometimes we’re proud of the
fact that we’re so quirky. We’re so unique. And then we
have our own agenda. We set our own timetable. We
have our own plan. We tie this all up in a neat
little bow called personality. I am who I am. And you’re just
going to have to love me. Our stories, our anecdotes, our
degree of knowledge. And here’s how. It plays out. In our lives. We profess Christ,
we love the Lord, we say that we love the Lord and we are faithful
in fellowship with our gifts and our callings. And yet what
emanates from us is not a fragrant aroma of Christ, but the strong
odor of our own opinions, our own interests, our own priorities. And this letter of Christ. About
which we spoke so glowingly a moment ago. This letter of Christ, which
the world has the ability to take and read and ponder. Oftentimes. has far too many
clauses or sentences or even entire pages and paragraphs about
ourselves, about our personality, about our quirks, about our stories
and anecdotes. And we managed to work in a few
lines of self-promotion. What should be a life of unequivocal
testimony of truth is often weighed down, isn’t it? With exhibitions
of our own finite knowledge. Knowledge of our theological
preferences, our unique doctrinal perspectives, or worse, our feelings
or our wobbly and half-baked opinions. And then, where we should be
manifesting the life of Jesus, the resurrected, all-powerful,
all-glorious, soon-to-return, risen Lord, is too often blended
together with our own personal agendas, our self-promoting individualism,
which really could be summed up with one little four-letter
word, self. It’s not wrong, people, to have
a personality. We are all different, unique
by God’s giftings and God’s design and our own life experiences.
That is as it should be. It’s a unique flavoring of our
personality. That’s unavoidable. And in a large church, no one
is going to recognize If you are flavored with a hint of rose
or lavender, or if you’re flavored with a little more Tabasco or
even garlic, no one’s going to know. But in a small church,
not only can your unique personality not be hidden, it’s on full display and it’s
magnified. and it can very easily become
all about you. John the Baptist had some wise
counsel. John 3.30. He must increase. I must decrease. Christ must
increase. I must decrease. It must be more
and more every day about their fragrant aroma of Christ and
less and less about me. It must be every day more about
the message of Christ and less about me and my opinions. It
must be about the truth of Christ and not about my theories or
my isms. It must be about the life of
Christ himself. And not about me. Now let’s pray. Our merciful God. We humble ourselves
at your glorious feet. And Lord, we thank you and praise
you. That you are doing such a mighty
work in the lives of these saints. We thank you for how you are
using us in this community. And Lord, we do desire to decrease
as you are increased. We desire that Christ would be
proclaimed not only by our lips, but through our lives as we live
out what you are manifesting through us. The fragrant aroma
of Christ. The very message of the gospel
of Christ. The truth. Of our repentance and faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ and the very life of our Savior. Lord, grant us that grace. And
Lord, we know and we acknowledge and we want every heart and mind
in this room to acknowledge that without the Lord Jesus Christ
at work in their hearts, there can be no reform, there can be
no fragrant aroma, there can be no life. So they need to turn and repent
of their sin and place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
and allow him to begin that work in their lives. Nothing else
will suffice. no degree of reform, no degree
of human faithfulness. Lord, we pray that you would
be glorified in and through us as you manifest these things
through our lives. We thank you and praise you in
Jesus’ name. Amen.