Who is sufficient for these things

Second, observe closely the logical relation between v. Paul is clearly contrasting himself with his opponents who took pride in their personal power and triumphant style of ministry. Unlike them, Paul will say, my ministry originates with God and I am made adequate for it by God 2 Cor.

If Paul were denying his sufficiency for ministry in v. How can Paul imply here and assert later that he is adequate or sufficient to carry out this ministry and his opponents are not? The related noun form kapelos was virtually synonymous with the idea of a merchant who regularly cheated his customers by misrepresenting his product.

Thus the idea is of someone who dilutes the full strength of the gospel, perhaps eliminating or at least minimizing its offensive elements, or altering certain theological points, so that the finished "product" will be more appealing to the audience.

Their aim was obviously to gain as large a following as possible not to mention the money that comes with it! So, on the one hand, we must resist all expressions of triumphalism while, on the other hand, we humbly acknowledge and give thanks for the fact that God has graciously equipped us as sufficient to disperse the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Christ to a lost and dying world.

The streets would be filled with people shouting acclamations. Now that is what Paul says was going on at the same time that he was feeling depressed, lonely, frustrated and discouraged in Macedonia. Is that not amazing, that he would put those two things in juxtaposition? He further describes it as marked by a spreading forth of the fragrance of Christ; the beautiful character of Jesus was becoming evident through this pressure on him.

Verses 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. Who is sufficient for these things?

In the Roman Triumph, to the prisoners in chains following the conquering general's chariot, the fragrance of the incense was an odor of death, but to those who were part of the army, and to the citizens of Rome who had been spared the threat to the city, that fragrance was a fragrance unto life.

Paul applies that to himself. He says that, as he goes about preaching this good news of Jesus Christ, the fact that Jesus is alive and can free men and deliver them from their inner torments and pressures, that this was everywhere a fragrance to God of the life of his Son. Wherever Paul went, God could smell the sweetness and beauty of Jesus in what Paul was doing.

But, more than that, it was a fragrance of Christ to men. Ron Ritchie was telling me just this last week of a funeral service he conducted a week or so ago of a man who had received the Lord not long before his accidental death. There was one small group there which was very upset by what Ron was saying about the freedom and the new life in Christ.

They stood there, sullen and angry; and they wrote him letters about it afterwards. To them that service was a fragrance of death unto death; they did not like it.

But others were rejoicing in the hope and the freedom that Christ had given this man, despite a very hurting life. To them that message was a fragrance of life unto life. At that point we are always dealing with blank, stark reality.

This is what Paul is talking about. Wherever he went, he said, people were either helped on to freedom and life in Christ, or they were angered, their opposition hardened, and they were driven further unto death. But nobody took him for granted. He made an impact wherever he went. Paul describes his own ministry in those terms. What does this all mean? Well, I think it means that the world was unimpressed by the Apostle Paul.

As this bandy-legged, bald-headed, hook-nosed little Jew traveled around the Roman Empire, preaching this great message, he was never received by the Chamber of Commerce; no reporters followed him around, giving verbatim reports of all that he was saying. Even in his own eyes he was not doing anything tremendous.

He himself was feeling, as he says, frustrated and restless; a great sense of failure gripped him. But what he says was actually happening, despite this, was that he knew that because his ministry did not rest upon his feeble efforts to do something for God, but on his expectation that God was going to do something through him, that he was at the very moment of his frustration being led in triumph by Jesus Christ.

A great, widespread testimony of the fragrance of Jesus Christ was going out. People were being set free, and his ministry was a success. And so he cries from this eternal gratitude of his heart, "Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph.

I want you to know that if I did not believe in that great principle I would resign from the pastorate tomorrow morning. I have just had the privilege, along with Ron Ritchie and John Fischer, of spending a week on the campus of Seattle Pacific University.

We had meetings in the evening and in the morning; and it was my responsibility to have the chapel hours in the morning. For four days I had the privilege of teaching the Word of God to 2, college students who sat there very, very quiet and responsive, listening to everything I was saying. It was a tremendous opportunity, but I want you to know that every morning I spoke from a very heavy heart. I could bear witness, as Paul does in Romans 9, that "my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart," Romans RSV.

The reason was because my second daughter, who has for eight years now been struggling with her faith, is wandering farther and farther away. Despite our daily prayers, rather than drawing closer, she seems to be going further into hurtful things so that her family is being terribly hurt.

You cannot face something like that without being aware, as a parent, that you may have contributed a great deal to the reasons for it. The enemy is quick to assault you, to accuse you. So I was ministering all last week with a very heavy heart, out of deep, personal anguish.

The only thing that enabled me to keep going was that I have confidence in what Paul is saying here that, despite the personal frustration and darkness that I was going through, I was also being led in triumph by Jesus Christ; and out of my personal weakness would come a great manifestation of the strength of our Lord and the spreading of the fragrance of Christ.

This is what is properly called the "victorious Christian life. There are strange ideas of what the "victorious life" consists of: Some people see it as a kind of a Disneyland. Many of you have had the experience of going through the Pirates of the Caribbean in Disneyland when you get aboard a boat and go through a tunnel. What Paul is saying here is that he has been conquered by God in Christ and is now being led in triumphal procession as a slave of Christ , one of his favorite descriptions of himself as an apostle.

This is what explains his many references to his suffering as an apostle , given over to or sentenced to death Hafemann But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

In we are 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. In We ambassadors of Christ are treated 9 … as dying, [yet] behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed. Back in 1Co. Paul is telling the Corinthians that his suffering as an apostle , evidenced here by his anxiety for them , is the means through which God is revealing himself Hafemann , either delivering him yet again from whatever his present suffering is or by giving him hope in the midst of it cf.

But it is surely a witness to both This is bold! So, Paul asks: 16 …Who is sufficient for these things? How is it possible that his ministry carries such weight, revealing the eternal destiny of all his hearers?

Who [can bear such a weighty role]? Again, the answer is not obvious. It is not: No one , as we would expect. So, the only thing that accounts for my actions, Paul is saying, is that God has commissioned me, and He alone keeps me going even through all I must endure! So, thanks be to God 14 for His comfort in this suffering!

It is confirmation of His [commissioning] in my life. And how you receive my teaching is confirmation of His calling, or judgment, in yours. It is the experience of all who embrace Christ by faith. Paul was uniquely called to bring the gospel to Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel thorough suffering Act.

He gave you the Spirit who will bring forth fruit in due season. Yes, you are insufficient to change that man or woman. Yes, the Spirit is fully sufficient and able to raise the dead in sin to life in Christ! He is the source of our strength to persevere! Do you believe that the Scriptures are sufficient and meet the needs of your people?

I am talking about the commitment to the beauty and flow of redemptive promise and accomplishment found from Genesis to Revelation. What will you give yourself to as the pastor serving your flock? The Scriptures point to the Shepherd and were written by the Spirit. What will you bring to your people week in and week out? You might confess that you believe in the inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility of the Bible.

However, if you are not committed to sequential exposition that is rooted in the centrality of Christ, your view of the Bible might not be more than lip service. Give your people the Word.

I say none of these things as one that perfectly relies upon the sufficiency of the Shepherd, the Spirit, and the Scriptures. I confess that there have been moments lately where I felt real fear in seeking to process how I would navigate through the waters of trials and tests in the life of our church. I can tell you that it does. A lady in our church recently diagnosed with stage four lung cancer thanked me and my fellow elder this past Sunday.

What was she thanking us for? She thanked us for preparing her for this trial due to our commitment to the ordinary means of grace. By biblical exposition, seeing the gospel as connected to every part of life, and rejoicing in the Spirit connecting us as a church family, she felt an inner peace and joy in the face of this trial.