Sunday Sermons
Triumph in Christ
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ”
(2 Corinthians 2:14)
The backdrop of this verse is after Paul had written a stern letter to the Corinthians, he was concerned about how they would respond. He had sent Titus ahead of him to glean this information, and the situation became even more nerve racking when Titus did not show up in Troas (2:12-13). Finally, in Macedonia Paul meets up with Titus and hears the favorable news from Corinth. He will give us the details later of that meeting (7:1ff), but right now this good news brought such relief to the heart of Paul that he breaks forth in gratitude towards God.
“Who always”
“Even in times of anxiety and distress” (Gr. Ex. N.T. p. 50). Though Paul had been anxious, it was not a state of spiritual defeat. “Paul breaks off from his account in order to praise God for His unfailing goodness which remains constant through all the changing circumstances and tensions of human experience” (Hughes pp. 76-77). Always suggests that the faithful Christian will continually experience "victories" while dealing with those who reject God and fall away, there we be a steady stream of victories--marriages that succeed, new converts, obedient children, new preachers, deacons, teachers, elders and congregations established in new areas. The term always should cause us to ask are we overlooking daily and weekly victories? How often we fail to appreciate the triumphs that we get to share in Christ? Baptisms, restorations, and member’s children that grow up and obey the gospel--all are triumphs that God has allowed us to experience. In addition, we tend to focus on the person who falls away and immediately forget about all the people who continue to remain faithful.
“Triumph”
“The whole paragraph is phrased in figures borrowed from the scene of triumph in which a victorious general swept through the streets of imperial Rome. In pomp and glory, crowned with laurel, mounted on his chariot, preceded by the senate, magistrates, musicians, the spoils...the proud conqueror ascended the Capitoline Hill, leading his exultant hosts. God is the Victor. He is making the victorious progress (possible). Paul is like one who is given a part in this triumphal pageant. Paul's joyful experience in being delivered from his anxiety for the Corinthians is only an example of a ministry which is ever glorious in its triumph” (Erdman p. 41). This is much like the language of 1 Corinthians 3:6, wherein Paul gets to water and share in the increase given by God.
“In Christ”
“Through our union with Christ, leads us in one continual triumph” (TCNT). Yet this is a triumph and victory only for those who remain faithful to Christ. Yes, often the faithful Christian is confronted with religious groups and people who are not following the Bible, yet who are tooting their own horn concerning their earthly successes. We should note that Jesus encountered the same thing, the Pharisees were not right with God, but they were popular and successful (Matthew 6:2). Long ago God reminded the faithful that unless God Himself is the founder of the house, protects it, or God approves of it, all human effort in this area will be in vain (Psalm 127:1). “The two human activities of verse 1 are samples of a great area of life: its enterprises and its conflicts, the work of creating and of conserving, for each of them this verse sees only two possibilities: either it will be the Lord’s doing or it will be pointless; there is no third option” (Kidner p. 441). The verse is not teaching that God will prevent things from being constructed which are against His will, because God has allowed men to create all sorts of temples to the gods and thoughts of their own imagination. God has also allowed man to create entire religious systems which are opposed to Him and His truth. The point is that work done independently of God, will in the long run prove to be futile. This is Jesus’ point in Matthew 7:24-27 about the man who builds his life upon the sand. If we leave God out of the picture, then man’s greatest efforts and most diligent toil and sacrifices are completely meaningless. Building is useless, unless God approves of what we are constructing. Precautions are useless---unless the Lord is on our side. The Psalm further reads, “It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors” (127:2). Redoubling our efforts, working like an animal or a madman does not change anything. God will not reward diligent or supreme sacrifices which are made apart from His will(Matthew 7:21-23; 1 Corinthians 13:1-4). “Verse 2 underlines the fact that to work still harder is not answer to it: it can be a fresh enslavement” (Kidner p. 441). Thus, the thrust, anything done apart from God’s will is useless.
Practical Application
Triumph in Christ does not mean that everything goes smoothly all the time or that everyone responds favorably to our attempts to spread the gospel. The same Paul who rejoices over the response by the Corinthians, will still be worried about many of them (2 Corinthians 12:20-21). In addition, Paul was forced to give up a wonderful opportunity to preach in Troas so that he could resolve this situation (2:12-13). In reading this context some of us might tend to focus in on the Corinthians being a problem, the wonderful opportunity missed and thus completely overlook the victory that Paul was experiencing at this moment! As noted above, do we tend to overlook great victories?
“Manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place”
“And makes our knowledge of Him spread throughout the world like a lovely perfume” (Phi). Paul likens the gospel message to a wonderful scent, that God has allowed him to spread. Paul says, “the word of God smells good, it is attractive, I love it”. David had the same type of attitude (Psalm 19:7-10; 119:97-105). “The idea of the Roman triumph is still preserved in this figure. On these occasions the temples were all thrown open, garlands of flowers decorated every shrine and image, and incense smoked on every altar, so that the victor was greeted with a cloud of perfume” (Vincent p. 299). “The knowledge of God is here the aroma which Paul had scattered like an incense bearer” (Robertson p. 218).
“For we are a fragrance of Christ to God”
“We”, that is “we” who share the gospel with others. “In spreading the fragrance of Christ the preacher himself becomes fragrant” (Robertson p. 218). What a concept, that God regards faithful Christians as a sweet aroma (Eph. 5:2; Phil. 4:18). When I preach the gospel and live according to it, I have become a heavenly fragrance to a lost and dying world. “Among those who are being saved”: There are, however, two classes of men among whom this perfume circulates, those on the way to salvation and those on the way to perdition” (Erdman p. 41). “To the one an aroma from death to death”: “Ordinarily when the victor reached the capitol it was the signal for the slaying of many of the captives” (McGarvey p. 180). “As in a triumphal procession there were the conqueror and his troops, and the conquered captives, all breathing the perfume of the same incense. To the victors the fragrance was a symbol of present gladness and of future safety; to the captives it was a token of defeat and condemnation and a premonition of approaching death. Such are the different effects of the gospel...the rejected blessing only deepens the condemnation and makes more sure the doom” (Erdman pp. 41-42). For those who hear the gospel and reject it, such a rejection only results in further condemnation (Romans 2:4-5; Mark 16:16), and hence every time they hear the truth, condemnation, dread and eternal separation is what they sense. Yet good hearts who are looking for the truth, when they hear the same message, smell salvation, deliverance and eternal life. “Who is adequate for these things”: “Who is equal to such a task” (TCNT). “Who could think himself adequate for a responsibility like this” (Phi). “The mind is to dwell on these things, so mighty, saving many from death for life, sending many to death by death, making this tremendous division among men. The question calls on the Corinthians most closely to examine all who come to them as preachers and to weigh them as to their sufficiency. Paul demands that he and his helpers be thus weighed” (Lenski p. 902). What an awesome responsibility Christians are given, entrusted into our care is a message that can save the believer (Romans 1:16), and will condemn the unbeliever. To people who are laboring under the weight of sin and desire relief, we bring life but to those who want to escape their accountability to God, we bring death. “For we are not like the many, peddling the word of God”: The word peddling is from a Greek word that means a “huckster”, “like a hawker, who adulterates his goods and gives bad measure for the sake of his own personal gain. Anyone can preach a whittled-down gospel” (Tasker p. 58). “He certainly chose a telling word when he describes the many as a huckster. He peddles cheap wares, he haggles about the price, he is known to cheat because he does not expect to return, and he is out for his own personal gain” (Lenski p. 903). Notice the word “many”, “so many Christians are still impressed by numbers. ‘All these other preachers say so, teach so, do so, etc!’ That convinces the superficial, they look no farther. The true preachers are so often rejected simply because they are few in number” (Lenski p. 903). Yet, in such a context where so many false teachers exist, Paul still says that God always leads him in triumph.
Practical Application
God commissioned Ezekiel to preach to the rebellious house of Israel, even when many of them would not listen to the message (Ezekiel 3:7). Many would consider this a mission destined to fail, but I would have all of us note that God considered Ezekiel’s mission a success if he did the following:
· Preach the truth whether people listened or not (2:5,7; 3:11).
· Eventually, even rebellious people will know that a faithful servant of God has been among them (2:5).
· Be more determined with the truth then they are with error (3:8-9).
· Do not be intimidated by their threats, accusations or attacks (2:6).
· Understand that the message you deliver is the only warning that a sinner will receive from God (3:17 “warn them from Me”).
· Saying nothing when people are in sin makes us just as guilty as they are (2:8; 3:18). Like Ezekiel, are we prepared to spread the word even if nobody responds, and do we realize that our faithful presentation is a tremendous triumph in Christ?
