Encounter the Truth

Jonathan Griffiths: For those who reject Christ, the proclamation of the gospel is a confirmation of that which they may sense in their hearts to be true. That is that they will die in their sins. But at the same time, for those whose hearts are warmed to the gospel and who have the grace to respond, the proclamation of the gospel is a fragrance from life to life.

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths. I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you've joined us. And Jonathan, as I think about what you just shared right there, I'm reminded of the fact that for the unbeliever, for the person who is far from Christ, the gospel is going to sound like foolishness to them.

But for the believer who understands the goodness of the gospel and the love of Christ, when we hear that, there is something that just resonates deep within us. And it sounds like we're being told we should expect that. That's normal.

Jonathan Griffiths: One of the things we have to come to terms with as we're involved in serving the Lord and sharing His Word and proclaiming the gospel as the Lord gives us different opportunities to do so, is the fact that there will be a mixed response to that. There will be some who just become more confirmed in their rejection of Christ, tragically. And there will be others who become more thrilled by the gospel and are drawn even closer to Him.

What I really want to say to those who are listening, to you who are listening, is consider your own response as you listen to the message today from 2 Corinthians chapter 2. Consider what's being said about the Lord Jesus Christ and His love for you and His offer of forgiveness. And I'd love you to be really examining your own heart and taking seriously the invitation to respond to Him.

Because what He offers you in the gospel is more wonderful than anything else in all the world. The door is open for you today to respond to Him personally, and please don't allow your heart to be hard toward Him. Take seriously His invitation of kindness and of grace. It's an invitation for you.

Steve Hiller: Well, let's listen to that invitation together. We're in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 as we continue a message called Being the Aroma of Christ. Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: Next, through ministry marked by pain and pressure, the Lord is leading His servants in triumph. He leads His servants in triumph. Not only did Paul face the pain of interpersonal tension and opposition, he also constantly navigated practical disruption and difficulty in carrying out his mission as he traveled around the Mediterranean rim.

Sometimes that difficulty was due to shipwreck, sometimes to riots, sometimes to political opposition, but it was rarely easy for him. There was always pressure, and we see that once again here in verse 12 of our passage. "When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia."

Paul came to Troas in his journey to preach the gospel of Christ, and there was a great wide open door for him to do that. So in a sense, it would have seemed very reasonable for him to stay there and pursue ministry in Troas for a time. But something was wrong. Verse 13, his spirit was not at rest. He had hoped to reconvene with Titus there, but Titus had not yet arrived.

Now, Paul had sent Titus to Corinth with this painful letter, and he was waiting for Titus to return to bring word of how the Corinthians had responded to it. He was preoccupied, heavy of heart with the situation. There was an open door for ministry in Troas, but he couldn't do it. His heart was too heavy, too disturbed. He needed that update from Corinth, so Paul set aside what he was going to do there and he moved on.

Now, Paul could have said at this point, this is just a disaster. I had a great opportunity for ministry. I had a willing audience to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, but Titus wasn't there. I needed the update. My heart was heavy. I couldn't carry on. All my plans are now in tatters, and I'm a bit of a wreck.

But that's clearly not how Paul played it. That's not what he concluded. Because in verse 14, he's going to go on and say that God has an amazing capacity to do wonderful things in and through His gospel servants wherever they are and whatever the circumstances may be. It's just a brief mention of a change of travel plans, but it is actually quite significant.

Paul is just very conscious that wherever the Lord places him, he has the capacity to be used of God to bring the good news of the gospel, to proclaim Christ, to speak His Word. I mention that and I highlight that because I suspect there will be those among us here who feel like there has been a change of plans that you did not anticipate.

Maybe a grief or a sadness or a disappointment that has disrupted what you thought it was you were going to do for the Lord. He has taken you out of one context and He's placed you in another. Perhaps the Lord has removed you from one ministry and opened the door to another ministry, and it just feels like one mistake after another, one misstep after another, one loss upon loss, disappointment upon disappointment.

Now, Paul certainly knew that experience and that feeling. This wasn't the only disruption that he faced in his travel plans. And the story of the church of Jesus Christ down through the ages provides plenty of other examples of the Lord redirecting His servants, sometimes in painful ways.

In two very significant cases in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the British East India Company was centrally responsible for redirecting the plans of two very key missionaries in that great land of India. The British East India Company, as some will know, was the immensely powerful British company that actually controlled much of India until the late 19th century.

It was at the time the largest company in the world. It had its own army, which was about twice the size of the British Army at the peak of its power. We as a family had a little personal taste of its historical heft because when we were first married, Gemma and I lived on the grounds of the former officers' training college of the British East India Company just outside London.

It's now a leading boarding school. Gemma taught there for a time. But the grandeur of the place is overwhelming. It is difficult to describe. Massive, lavish buildings designed to impress and to impose. The chapel on the grounds was breathtaking with the soaring rotunda. The courtyards were immense. I remember having dinner one evening at the massive mahogany dining table that stretched on and on, where the senior officers used to dine in splendor. This was power and wealth of a kind that's hard even to fathom.

In any case, the British East India Company became hostile to missionaries, at least certain groups of missionaries. And two key missionaries were forced to change their plans due to the whims of the company. William Carey and his family landed in Calcutta in the year 1793, and they had to move to the Danish colony of Serampore.

That wasn't the plan. That wasn't what they expected or intended. But it turned out that God had a massive work for Carey to do in Serampore. Despite this disruption, despite the mental health challenges of his wife and then her untimely death, despite a major fire that disrupted their printing work, Carey became known as the father of modern missions.

He translated and printed the Bible in numerous key languages for the region, including Bengali, Punjabi, Hindi, and Sanskrit, opening a theological university, initiating major social reforms, and so much more. Redirected, disrupted, but actually led in triumph, as we'll see in a moment.

Alongside their story is that of Adoniram Judson, an American Baptist missionary whose name you may or may not know, similarly redirected away from Calcutta because of the hostility of the British East India Company, ending up in Buddhist Burma, a place which he was told was utterly impermeable to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The language was incredibly tough. It took him years to learn. The isolation from other Westerners was profound. Conversions were painfully slow. Official opposition was marked. It led to a time of imprisonment. He lost his first wife and then his second wife. Numerous of their children did not survive childhood.

But by the time of his death, he had translated the Bible into Burmese, and Burma had over 100 churches and over 8,000 believers. Myanmar, as it is today, still benefits profoundly from that legacy of faith with a rich Christian heritage, large numbers of believers, apparently more Baptists than any country in the world other than the United States and India.

Notice verse 14 with me again, if you would. "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession." The image here in the text is that of a Roman military victory parade where, after a battle, the defeated prisoners who are taken hostage are led before the triumphant general while all the soldiers will follow behind.

The procession would travel through a town or a city to demonstrate the glory of the victory to the onlookers. Now, within that image, if you can hold it in your mind, Paul and his ministry colleagues are the prisoners being led by the conquering hero walking before him in the procession before all the onlookers. They have been captured by the Master.

But here's the thing: they are glad to be His victory prize. They are His happy servants who now walk before Him. And in His glorious victory parade, they are heralding the triumph of Jesus Christ. Now, do you see the tension within that image? These are prisoners who now submit to the conquering ruler.

In a sense, their position is one of humility. It could even be of humiliation, certainly one of shame. And that matches Paul's experience to the eyes of the onlookers, not least the experience he speaks of here in 2 Corinthians. He has told us about his affliction of various kinds. He will say more about it as the letter goes on and as our study continues.

He will tell us in chapter 4 that he is afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, struck down, and so much more. So yes, his situation and his position is a humble one. But because he now belongs to the conquering hero, the Lord Jesus Christ, he and his ministry colleagues are participants in a triumphal parade.

The implications of this are very wonderful. Even in the midst of difficulty and discouragement, disruptions and changes of plans in the service of Jesus Christ and in the ministry of the gospel, even as the world might look on us with pity or with scorn, we are actually part of a glorious victory parade.

As we share and speak and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and as we witness to the Savior, we are demonstrating and declaring the victory of Jesus Christ over sin and hell and death. Serving Jesus and proclaiming His Word may look very unimpressive to the watching world. It may be a humble thing. It may sometimes seem a shameful thing to those around us, but we are part of the victory parade of the King.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths and a message called Being the Aroma of Christ. Now we're going to pause here, but we'll get back to this message in just a moment. As you probably know, Encounter the Truth is a listener-supported ministry. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you a book that Jonathan has picked out.

It's called Weakness is the Way, written by Bible teacher, author, and theologian J.I. Packer. Now, this book will help you find a path from discouragement to freedom in the light of an all-sufficient God. And it's our thank you for your financial support this month. Give online at encounterthetruth.org or when you call 1-833-99-TRUTH. That's 1-833-998-7884 or encounterthetruth.org. Back to the message. Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: As we share and speak and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and as we witness to the Savior, we are demonstrating and declaring the victory of Jesus Christ over sin and hell and death. Serving Jesus and proclaiming His Word may look very unimpressive to the watching world. It may be a humble thing. It may sometimes seem a shameful thing to those around us, but we are part of the victory parade of the King.

And as we walk in that parade, we release the aroma of Jesus Christ. We've thought about this a little already. Verse 14 again: "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere." Within the victory parades of the Roman world, historians report that incense or perfume would often be used as part of the drama, presumably to heighten the atmosphere of exuberance and celebration, to point to the glory of the victor and so on.

Well, the Apostle Paul and his ministry associates are not only the captive slaves being led before the victor, they are also the pleasant aroma that is being given off from the victory parade. They are the incense that reaches the senses of the passersby and alerts them to the fact that something very wonderful is happening.

Old Spice has its aroma, as does the scent diffuser in our living room, as does the summer rose or the freshly cut Christmas tree or the sprig of rosemary. But what is the aroma, the fragrance of the Apostle Paul as a minister of the gospel? Well, verse 14, it is the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ.

Through his preaching and his teaching, through his manner of life, through his gracious extension of forgiveness to those who have wronged him, through his willing acceptance of the change of plans that the providence of God has led him to, through ministering in situations of ease and of difficulty, in suffering and of hardship, the Apostle Paul points to the truth of the gospel and the hope he has in Christ.

Verse 15: "For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life." Through his life and his ministry, his preaching and his teaching, the aroma of Christ is rising.

It is rising to the very throne room of God, but it is also emanating out to people around him. And Paul is very conscious of the fact that some of those who will receive that knowledge will receive it as salvation, but others will reject it. But nonetheless, the fragrance of his ministry will reach the nostrils of both groups.

His ministry will reach and impact both those who are being saved and those who are perishing and will perish. And he knows that not all those who are perishing and hear the message will be converted to Christ. And so to one group, he is a fragrance, a reminder, an indication that they are dying and they will die.

And of course, the gospel makes that clear to those who ultimately reject Christ. The message of the Word of God is that the wages of sin is death and that because of our wrongdoing, we do indeed deserve to die and will die for our wrongdoing and as a consequence of the judgment of God.

The gospel tells us that the only hope for a sinful humanity in the face of the prospect of death is to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ who died in our place to pay the price of our sin, to offer us the free gift of forgiveness and life eternal. But for those who reject Christ, who will not receive the gospel, the proclamation of the gospel is a confirmation of that which they may sense in their hearts to be true. That is that they will die in their sins.

But at the same time, for those whose hearts are warmed to the gospel and who have the grace to respond, the proclamation of the gospel is a fragrance from life to life. It's wonderful to go into a place or to step into a garden and get a sort of waft of a scent that's familiar to you and perhaps holds a special meaning for you.

Perhaps it's a perfume that a loved one used to wear who's now passed away or who is now living at a distance, and you catch something of the scent of it and the memories of that person come flooding back, or the affection for them is warmed in your heart once more. Or perhaps you catch the scent of a flower that once grew in the garden of the home where you grew up, and you smell it and you're reminded of home and of childhood and of happy days.

When the aroma of the ministry of the gospel reaches those who love the Lord and love His Word, the aroma is to them a joy and a delight. It is a reminder of life and an affirmation of life. And I know this a little bit from my own ministry. It's the people who know the Lord and who love the Lord who most delight in hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I've said this before, but often the simplest gospel message brings the most joy to the heart of the one who knows the Savior. I've had this here in the church, folks within our church, when I've given what I've felt to be a very simple explanation and reminder of the gospel, folk will come to me and say how much that meant to them.

And these are believers who have walked with the Lord 50, 60, 70 years, know Him well, but they delight in sensing again the fragrance of life to life. And Paul sees that. Paul knows that, obviously, it's a joy to him. Paul asks a probing question at the end of verse 16. He asks, "Who is sufficient for these things?"

And that's a very good question. Participating in such a wonderful activity, living out such a glorious calling, it is beyond the capacity and the strength and the ability of any normal human being. It's beyond the capacity of any normal person, not least because it involves serving through suffering and ministering through affliction.

Who's up to the job? And the answer is, in human terms, no one. Paul cannot rely upon any special gifting, ability, or any other merit that he brings to this. But he does see that ministry that is authentic is ministry that is powerful. Notice this with me, verse 17. "For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ."

Paul isn't going to try and place some shiny packaging upon his ministry and make it look impressive to the eyes of the world. He's not going to take the guise of the traveling salesman and try and generate as much income as he can out of speaking. This was a common enough thing, by the way, for traveling speakers in the Mediterranean world at this time to travel and set themselves up in public forums and to charge fees for people to listen to their orations.

This phenomenon is actually in the background to quite a lot of what is said in 1 and 2 Corinthians. But Paul wasn't trying to compete with the popular orators or religious teachers of the day. And he wasn't trying to wring money out of people to listen to him. He's not a peddler of teaching. He's not a peddler of the Word of God.

His presentation is not impressive in that sense. His ministry is marked by suffering and it is punctuated by pain. But here is what he can offer, insufficient though he may feel: he is a man of sincerity who has been commissioned by God, who self-consciously serves in the sight of God, and who speaks Christ's words as a man in Christ, as a person united to Christ, as one through whom the Lord Jesus Christ Himself speaks.

Yes, servants of Jesus Christ, ministers of the gospel, may be afflicted by pain and mistreatment and pressure, the pressure of changed plans and practical inconveniences and all the rest. But here's the thing: if we serve the Lord Jesus and minister His gospel and witness to Him, we are participants in a grand victory parade.

Yes, Carey and Judson may have had their dreams and plans disrupted by the powerful British East India Company. They certainly faced grief and loss and so much more. They may have been led somewhere they didn't intend to go. They may have suffered on the journey. They may have looked humiliated in the eyes of the world, but make no mistake: they were being led in triumph by Jesus Christ.

They were part of the great victory march. And as they walked before the Savior, they were proclaiming His triumph in the gospel and they were releasing the aroma of His grace. And friends, as we speak His Word in sincerity, as we proclaim His gospel, as we model His grace, even if our service of the Savior may be marked at times by pain or affliction or disruption or difficulty, perhaps actually especially if it is marked by those things, we are marching in victory. And through us, the Lord Jesus is spreading the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. And so we continue the onward march and we trust Him with the results.

Steve Hiller: Wrapping up our message Being the Aroma of Christ, Jonathan Griffiths here on Encounter the Truth. And if you ever want to go back and listen to a message again, you can do that at our website, encounterthetruth.org. Well, we're able to bring you Jonathan's teaching each day whether you listen on the radio, through the podcast, the app, or however you've connected because of your financial generosity. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you a book called Weakness is the Way, written by J.I. Packer. And Jonathan, for those who read this book, what do you hope they take away from it?

Jonathan Griffiths: I'm particularly hoping that folk who are listeners to the program who are walking through seasons of weakness will be encouraged by this book and will be helped to live faithfully as they walk with the Lord through weakness. You know, we all go through seasons of weakness, whether it be physical or emotional or relational or in some other way, seasons perhaps where there's financial difficulty or job difficulty or family difficulty.

And we really don't know what to do, and I think we can be really surprised by those seasons because we can imagine that things will all be smooth and rosy in the Christian life and then we discover actually that difficulty comes our way. But what J.I. Packer does in this book is he opens up the theme of weakness from a biblical perspective, actually from 2 Corinthians primarily. And he shows us that God works powerfully through our weakness to display His strength.

And that's a lesson that you and I need to take hold of whether we're going through the valley at the present time or whether we're being prepared for a season of trial that's just around the corner. And I'm very eager to get this book into the hands of all our listeners because I think it's so helpful and so important, and I hope that you'll be able to benefit from it personally.

Steve Hiller: Well, we'd love to send you a copy as our way of saying thank you for financially supporting Encounter the Truth this month. And you can give your gift online at encounterthetruth.org or when you call 1-833-99-TRUTH. Again, the website is encounterthetruth.org and our phone number is 1-833-998-7884. You can also write to us at Encounter the Truth, PO Box 5513, Ottawa, Ontario, K2C 3M1. Or in the US at Encounter the Truth, 215 North Arlington Heights Road, Suite 102, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60004. For Jonathan Griffiths and our producer Mark Brudda, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time.