15. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ<\/em> ] The form of the expression is here altered in two ways: (1) the Apostle himself now becomes the ‘sweet savour,’ while (2) the idea of sacrifice is first brought in. The Apostle now uses the phrase used in the LXX. for a sacrificial odour (see note on last verse). The ministers of Christ are a sweet savour of Him, the great Atoning Sacrifice, not only because they make Him known, but because they are imbued and interpenetrated with the spirit of His Sacrifice, ‘always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.’ And this not only in themselves but in those to whom they minister the Spirit of the Lord (cf. ch. 2Co 3:3<\/span>) as soon as they in their turn begin to display the same spirit, or even in a certain sense (see next note) when they do not. See Eph 5:2<\/span>; Php 4:18<\/span>.<\/p>\n in them that are saved, and in them that perish<\/em> ] The tense in the original speaks of no completed<\/em> work, but is strictly present: those who are in process<\/em> of being saved or of perishing. Cf. Luk 13:23<\/span>; Act 2:47 ; 1Co 1:18<\/span>; ch. 2Co 4:3<\/span>. The imagery of the triumphal procession is still before the Apostle. Some<\/em> of those who took part in it were destined to rewards and honours, others were doomed to perpetual imprisonment or death. Christ and His servants are a savour of life unto them who are in the way of salvation, because through conformity to the spirit of Christ’s sacrifice arises conformity to His life, a savour of death unto those who are not in the way of salvation, because a deliverance refused does but make destruction inevitable. Cf. Mat 21:44<\/span>; Luk 2:34<\/span>; Joh 3:18-20<\/span>; Joh 9:39<\/span>; Joh 12:48<\/span>; Joh 15:22<\/span>.<\/p>\n For we are unto God – <\/B>We who are his ministers, and who thus triumph. It is implied here that Paul felt that ministers were laboring for God, and felt assured that their labors would be acceptable to him. The object of Paul in the statement, in this and in the following verses, is undoubtedly to meet the charges of his detractors and enemies. He says, therefore, that whatever was the result of his labors in regard to the future salvation of people; yet, that his well-meant endeavors, and labors, and self-denials in preaching the gospel, were acceptable to God. The measure of Gods approbation in the case was not his success, but his fidelity, his zeal, his self-denial, whatever might be the reception of the gospel among those who heard it.<\/P> A sweet savor – <\/B>Like the smell of pleasant incense, or of grateful aromatics, such as were burned in the triumphal processions of returning conquerors. The meaning is, that their labors were acceptable to God; he was pleased with them, and would bestow on them the smiles and proofs of his approbation. The word rendered here as sweet savor (<\/SPAN><\/span> euodia) occurs only in this place, and in Eph 5:2<\/span>; Phi 4:18<\/span>; and is applied to persons or things well-pleasing to God. It properly means good odor, or fragrance, and in the Septuagint it is frequently applied to the incense that was burnt in the public worship of God and to sacrifices in general; Gen 8:21<\/span>; Exo 29:18<\/span>, Exo 29:25<\/span>, Exo 29:41<\/span>; Lev 1:9<\/span>, Lev 1:13<\/span>, Lev 1:17<\/span>; Lev 2:2<\/span>, Lev 2:9<\/span>,Lev 2:12<\/span>; Lev 3:5<\/span>, Lev 3:16<\/span>; Lev 4:31<\/span>, etc. Here it means that the services of Paul and the other ministers of religion were as grateful to God as sweet incense, or acceptable sacrifices.<\/P> Of Christ – <\/B>That is, we are Christs sweet savor to God: we are that which he has appointed, and which he has devoted and consecrated to God; we are the offering, so to speak, which he is continually making to God.<\/P> In them that are saved – <\/B>In regard to them who believe the gospel through our ministry and who are saved. Our labor in carrying the gospel to them, and in bringing them to the knowledge of the truth, is acceptable to God. Their salvation is an object of his highest desire, and he is gratified with our fidelity, and with our success. This reason why their work was acceptable to God is more fully stated in the following verse, where it is said that in reference to them they were the savor of life unto life. The word saved here refers to all who become Christians, and who enter heaven; and as the salvation of people is an object of such desire to God, it cannot but be that all who bear the gospel to people are engaged in an acceptable service, and that all their efforts will be pleasing to him, and approved in his sight In regard to this part of Pauls statement, there can be no difficulty.<\/P> And in them that perish – <\/B>In reference to them who reject the gospel, and who are finally lost. It is implied here:<\/P> (1) That some would reject the gospel and perish, with whatever fidelity and self-denial the ministers of religion might labor.<\/P> (2) That though this would be the result, yet the labors of the ministers of religion would be acceptable to God. This is a fearful and awful declaration, and has been thought by many to be attended with difficulty. A few remarks may present the true sense of the passage, and remove the difficulty from it:<\/P> <\/p>\n Their desire was to bring all to heaven – and this was acceptable to God. Whatever might be the result, whether successful or not, yet God would be pleased with self-denial, and toil, and prayer that was honestly and zealously put forth to save others from death. They would be approved by God in proportion to the amount of labor, zeal, and fidelity which they evinced.<\/P> (3) It would be by no fault of faithful ministers that people would perish. Their efforts would be to save them, and those efforts would be pleasing to God.<\/P> (4) It would be by no fault of the gospel that people would perish. The regular and proper tendency of the gospel is to save, not to destroy men; as the tendency of medicine is to heal them, of food to support the body, of air to give vitality, of light to give pleasure to the eye, etc. It is provided for all, and is adapted to all. There is a sufficiency in the gospel. for all people, and in its nature it is as really suited to save one as another. Whatever may be the manner in which it is received, it is always in itself the same pure and glorious system; full of benevolence and mercy. The bitterest enemy of the gospel cannot point to one of its provisions that is adapted or designed to make people miserable, and to destroy them. All its provisions are adapted to salvation; all its arrangements are those of benevolence; all the powers and influences which it originates, are those which are suited to save, not to destroy people. The gospel is what it is in itself – a pure, holy, and benevolent system, and is answerable only for effects which a pure, holy, and benevolent system is suited to produce. To use the beautiful language of Theodoret, as quoted by Bloomfield: We indeed bear the sweet odor of Christs gospel to all; but all who participate in it do not experience its salutiferous effects. Thus, to diseased eyes even the light of heaven is noxious; yet the sun does not bring the injury. And to those in a fever, honey is bitter; yet it is sweet nevertheless. Vultures too, it is said, fly away from sweet odors of myrrh; yet myrrh is myrrh though the vultures avoid it, Thus, if some be saved, though others perish, the gospel retains its own virtue, and we the preachers of it remain just as we are; and the gospel retains its odorous and salutiferous properties, though some may disbelieve and abuse it, and perish. Yet:<\/P> (5) It is implied that the gospel would be the occasion of heavier condemnation to some, and that they would sink into deeper ruin in consequence of its being preached to them. This is implied in the expression in 2Co 2:16<\/span>, to the one we are a savor of death unto death. In the explanation of this, we may observe:<\/P> (a) That those who perish would have perished at any rate. All were under condemnation whether the gospel had come to them or not. None will perish in consequence of the gospels having been sent to them who would not have perished had it been unknown. People do not perish because the gospel is sent to them, but for their own sins.<\/P> (b) It is in fact by their own fault that people reject the gospel, and that they are lost. They are voluntary in this; and, whatever is their final destiny, they are not under compulsion. The gospel compels no one against his will either to go to heaven, or to hell.<\/P> (c) People under the gospel sin against greater light than they do without it. They have more to answer for. It increases their responsibility. If, therefore, they reject it, and go down to eternal death, they go from higher privileges; and they go, of course, to meet a more aggravated condemnation. For condemnation will always be in exact proportion to guilt; and guilt is in proportion to abused light and privileges.<\/P> (d) The preaching of the gospel, and the offers of life, are often the occasion of the deeper guilt of the sinner. Often he becomes enraged. He gives vent to the deep malignity of his soul. He opposes the gospel with malice and infuriated anger, His eye kindles with indignation, and his lip curls with pride and scorn. He is profane and blasphemous; and the offering of the gospel to him is the occasion of exciting deep and malignant passions against God, against the Saviour, against the ministers of religion. Against the gospel, people often manifest the same malignity and scorn which they did against the Saviour himself. Yet this is not the fault of the gospel, nor of the ministers of religion. It is the fault of sinners themselves; and while there can be no doubt that such a rejection of the gospel will produce their deeper condemnation, and that it is a savor of death unto death unto them; still the gospel is good and benevolent, and still God will be pleased with those who faithfully offer its provisions, and who urge it on the attention of people.<\/P><\/p>\n 2Co 2:15-16<\/span><\/p>\n For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved and in them that perish.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Dissimilar effects of the same thing<\/strong><\/p>\n Consider the totally different effects which the same thing has on different people. An act, simple in itself, will rouse the joys of one and the rage of another. A substance which is food to one man is poison to another. The same medicine which effects a cure in one case will in a similar case in another man aggravate the malady and enhance his sufferings. Look again at the effects of the tempest on creation. & large number of the existences on the globe are terrified. But the seals love above all the tempest, the roaring of the waves, the whistling of the wind, the mighty voice of the thunder, and the vivid flashings of the lightning. They delight to see, rolling along in a sombre sky, the great black clouds which predict torrents of rain. Then it is that they leave the sea in crowds and come and play about on the shore, in the midst of the fury of the elements. They are at home in the tempests. It is in these crises of nature that they give full play to all their faculties, and to all the activity of which they are capable. When the weather is fine and the rest of creation is full of enjoyment they fall asleep, and resign themselves lazily to the dolce far niente<\/em>.<\/em> (Scientific<\/em> Illustrations<\/em> and<\/em> Symbols.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The fragrance of Christian life<\/strong><\/p>\n The life of every Christian should be like the fragrant breeze which, in tropical waters, tells the mariner, while still far out at sea, that the land from which it comes is a land of pleasant forests and gardens, where the spices flow forth. It should testify, truthfully and clearly, of the sweetness and grace of heaven. (R. Johnstone, LL. B.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Gospel a savour to God in them that perish<\/strong><\/p>\n Round about the very perdition of the impenitent there is a circle and influences and associations that are acceptable to God. If you have lost a child by death, you know what a satisfaction it is to you to remember that all the medical skill that <\/strong>money could command was brought to bear, all that kind and unceasing ministrations of tenderness could do to save the precious life was done. Friends were hour by hour coming to the door ready to help, to sympathise, to pray; by and by thoughts of these things became a great solace to you, and you could bow yourself to the inevitable. Your life might have been shadowed to the very end, if there had been carelessness, neglect, indifference at any single point; if friends had been slow to help, advise, condole; if expedients for the salvation of the child could have been afterwards devised that you never thought of at the time. And so with God, as He looks upon the second death of those created in His own image. There is no sting of regretful reflection. The possible was done to its very last detail. All is quiet contentment and satisfaction. God did more than He had ever done for His universe before. The Son thought no sacrifice too great. The servants and disciples of the Son forgot all thoughts of self in their endeavours to save men. The perdition of the impenitent man is a terrible fact, but round about that fact there ever gather unselfish ministries and services upon which God looks with contentment, and which maintain the unbroken tenor of His blessedness. (T. G. Selby.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n God glorified in the preaching of the gospel<\/strong><\/p>\n If you consult the Acts of the Apostles, you will perceive that St. Pauls course, as a preacher of Christianity, was very diversified; that in some places he rapidly formed a flourishing Church, while in others he encountered fierce persecution, or could make little or no impression on the <\/strong>reigning idolatry. It is very remarkable that, although defeat was thus mingled with success, the apostle could nevertheless break into the exclamation, Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place. You would think from his tone that he had only to enter a city and its idols trembled and falsehood gave place to truth. There is no great difficulty in understanding what St. Paul means when he describes himself and his fellow-labourers as being unto God a sweet savour of Christ. He alludes to a notion common among the heathen, that God was pleased with the smoke which ascended from the sacrifice burnt on His altars. Indeed, the Scriptures frequently speak of Jehovah in language borrowed from this prevalent opinion. Thus when the waters of the Deluge had subsided, and Noah standing on a baptized earth, had offered burnt-offerings of every clean beast and fowl, we read–And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for mans sake. When, therefore, St. Paul speaks of a sweet savour of Christ, we should understand him as referring to the acceptableness of the sacrifice of Christ, and to its prevalence with God as a propitiatory offering. And when he speaks of preaching as being unto God a sweet savour of Christ, he means that by setting forth the sacrifice and causing it to be known, he was instrumental in bringing to God more and more of that glory which arises from the sin-offering which He provided for the world. He knew that he preached the gospel to many who would perish, as well as to many who would be saved; but, nevertheless, he would not admit that in any case he preached in vain. He contended, on the contrary, that wherever the sacrifice of Christ was made known, there ascended fragrant incense unto God; that God obtained honour from the display of His attributes, whether men received or whether they rejected the Redeemer. Now, we may observe to you, of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, that it is a revelation of all which is most illustrious in Godhead, and of all that as sinful creatures we are most concerned in ascertaining. It is a revelation of those attributes and properties of God which natural theology could but dimly conjecture, or which it could not at all satisfactorily combine. He would not allow that it could at all depend upon the reception with which the gospel may meet, whether or not God could be glorified by its publication. Why should it? Suppose it were the pleasure of the Almighty to give some new and striking exhibition of His existence and majesty to a people that had been indifferent to those previously and uniformly furnished; suppose that the vault of heaven were to be spangled with fresh characters of the handwriting of the everlasting God, far outshining in their brilliancy and beauty the already magnificent tracery of a thousand constellations, would not God have splendidly shown forth His being and His power? Would He not have given such a demonstration of His greatness as must triumphantly contribute to His own glory, even if the people for whose sake the overhead canopy had been thus gorgeously decked were to close their eyes against it. We read, that when God rested from the work of creation, He saw everything that He had made, and He beheld that it was very good; and He surveyed His own work with unspeakable pleasure. He saw, He knew it to be good; and if no anthem of lofty gratulation had ascended to His throne from intelligent creatures, He would have reposed in majestic contentment in His vast performances, and have felt Himself so praised in His deeds, that neither angel nor man could break the mighty chorus. And why should we not hold the same in regard of the gospel? We may acknowledge or despise a manifestation of God; but this is the utmost we have in our power; we cannot obscure that manifestation; we cannot despoil it of one of its beams. But St. Paul wished to put his meaning somewhat more explicitly, and therefore he went on to speak of two separate classes, or to show with greater precision how his position held good in regard equally of the saved and the lost. To the one, saith he, we are a savour of death unto death, to the other a savour of life unto life. We do not think it necessary to speak at any length of the preacher as a savour of life unto life, to those who flee at his warning from thee wrath which is to come. But what are we to say to the preacher being a savour of death unto death to those who perish in their sins? It is implied in such saying, that the gospel did but in some way or another prove injurious–a savour of death unto those by whom it is heard and rejected; and, nevertheless, that this proclamation, even when thus injurious, brought glory to Christ, or contributed to the display of His perfections. Now, are these things so? Is the gospel indeed ever injurious to the hearer? and if injurious, can those who proclaim it be indeed unto God a sweet savour of Christ? Yes, the gospel may prove injurious to the hearer; but it cannot prove otherwise than glorious to its Author. You are not to think that the gospel can be a neutral thing, operating neither for evil nor for good. It is easy to come to regard that as an ordinary or unimportant thing, which is of such frequent occurrence, and to attach no solemn, no responsible character to these our weekly assemblings. But we have every warrant for asserting that the gospel which he is permitted to hear either improves a man or makes him worse, so that none of you can go away from Gods house precisely what you were when you entered it. You have had a fresh call from God, and if you have again refused, you have made yourselves less accessible than ever to the message. There is a self-propagating power in all kinds of evil; and every resistance to Gods Spirit, operating through the instrumentality of the Word, makes resistance easier. This is not the only case in which the gospel is a savour of death unto death. It is so whenever men abuse Scripture doctrines, whenever they pervert them, whenever they wrest them to the giving encouragement to unrighteousness, or use them as an argument for procrastination. It was this view of the office of the preacher which extorted from the apostle those words, Who is sufficient for these things? We are sure that it ought to be perfectly overcoming to a man, to see himself with an office, in performing which he thus makes himself a witness against multitudes. (H. Melvill,<\/em> B. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The two effects of the gospel<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The gospel is to some men a savour of death unto death.<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> Many men are hardened in their sins by hearing it. Those who can dive deepest into sin, and have the most quiet consciences, are some who are to be found in Gods own house. There are many who make even Gods truth a stalking-horse for the devil, and abuse Gods grace to palliate their sin. There is nothing more liable to lead men astray than a perverted gospel. A truth perverted is generally worse than a doctrine which all know to be false.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> It will increase some mens damnation at <\/strong>the last great day.<\/p>\n (a) <\/strong>Because men sin against greater light; and the light we have is an excellent measure of our guilt. What a Hottentot might do without a crime would be the greatest sin to me, because I am taught better. If he who is blind falls into the ditch we can pity him, but if a man with the light on his eyeballs dashes himself from the precipice and loses his own soul, is not pity out of the question?<\/p>\n (b) <\/strong>It must increase your condemnation if you oppose the gospel. If God devises a scheme of mercy and man rises up against it, how great must be his sin!<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> It makes some men in this world more miserable than they would be. How happily could the libertine drive on his mad career, if he were not told, The wages of sin is death, and after death the judgment!<\/p>\n The gospel is to others a savour of life unto life.<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> Here it confers spiritual life on the dead in trespasses and sins.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> In heaven it issues in eternal life.<\/p>\n The opposite effects of the ministry of the gospel<\/strong><\/p>\n In the language of the text we have a description of the very opposite effects of the ministry of the gospel, and of the consequences to which they lead. The same cloud which was dark to the Egyptians was bright to the Israelites.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>As ministers, we are ordained to be unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in duly administering His sacraments, faithfully preaching His gospel, and in exemplifying it in our conduct.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>It is then, instrumentally, by our life and doctrine, that we must diffuse in our respective spheres of duty the savour of the knowledge of Christ. In doctrine we must show incorruptness, gravity, sincerity.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>It is by our manner of life also that we must spread the savour of His name and truth among these who are within the sphere of our influence. (W. Chambers, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The gospel ministry<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Its vivifying influence. It produces new spiritual life in the souls of men.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Its deadly influence. There are principles which render it certain that the men who reject it will be injured by it. One is founded in eternal justice, and the other two in the moral constitution of man.<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> The greater the mercy abused the greater the condemnation. The Bible is full of this truth. Unto whomsoever much is given, etc. If I had not come and spoken unto them, etc. Woe unto thee, Chorazin, etc. And thou Capernaum, etc. He that despised Moses law, etc.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> Mans susceptibility of virtuous impressions decreases in proportion to his resistance of them.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> Mans moral suffering will always be increased in proportion to the consciousness he has that he once had the means of being happy. From these principles the gospel must prove the savour of death unto death to those who reject it. The hearing of the gospel puts a man on a new level in the universe. To have heard its accents is the most momentous fact in the history of man. Do you say you will hear it no more? But you have heard it. This is a fact which you will ever remember and feel. If the gospel does not save you, better you had never been born.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>If the gospel ministry is in itself grateful to God, it must be in itself an institution for good, and for good exclusively. Never could an institution in itself calculated to deaden and destroy the soul of men be grateful to the heart of infinite love.<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> While the true gospel ministry saves by design, it destroys in spite of its design. That it is designed to save, who can doubt? God so loved the world, etc. Men can, men do, pervert Divine things. Did God give steel to be brought into weapons for the destruction of human life? Did He give corn to be transmuted into a substance to drown the reason and to brutalise the man? No! But man, by his perverting power, turns Gods blessings to an improper and pernicious use. So it is with the gospel. He wrests it to his own destruction.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> The true gospel ministry saves by its inherent tendency; it injures in spite of that tendency. Is there anything in the doctrines, precepts, provisions, promises, and warnings, of the gospel adapted to destroy souls? Was the ocean made to injure man, because it has terrified many a mariner and engulfed many a barque? Was the sun created to injure man, because by leading to the discovery of the robber and the assassin, it has proved their ruin? Was food created to injure health, because by intemperance and gluttony, it has brought on disease and death?<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> That the gospel ministry saves by Divine agency; it destroys in spite of that agency. Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>If the gospel ministry is in itself grateful to God, it must be an institution from which a much larger amount of good than of evil will result. If greater evil resulted from it than good, I cannot believe that it would be grateful to infinite love. Remember–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> That the rejection of the gospel does not make the hell of the rejector; it only modifies and aggravates it. As a sinner he would have found a hell, had the sound of the gospel never greeted his ears.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> The restorative influence which the gospel ministry haft already exerted upon the race, It has swept from the world innumerable evils; it has planted institutions amongst us to mitigate human woe, abolish human oppression, heal human diseases, remove human ignorance, and correct human errors; and it has conducted millions to heaven.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> That what the gospel has done is but a very small instalment of the good it is destined to achieve. It is to bless a nation in a day. There are millennial ages awaiting it, and in the coming centuries it will be found that the evil which the gospel ministry has occasioned is no more to be compared with the good which it will cause than the pain which the light of the sun gives to the few tender eyes, with the streams of blessedness it pours into every part of nature. (D. Thomas, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Savour of death or of life<\/strong><\/p>\n In thought stand near those three crosses on Calvary, and see how near to each other are blessing and cursing. As you gaze on that sacred, awful scene, how plainly are revealed to you life and death. Now, wherever the gospel message is made known the effect will be the same as on Calvary–to some it will be the savour of life unto life, and to others the savour of death unto death.<\/p>\n Who is sufficient for these things?–<\/strong><\/p>\n Who is sufficient for these things?<\/strong><\/p>\n (Inaugural Sermon)–<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>St. Paul asked this question with a miraculous conversion in memory, with all the signs of a chiefest apostle in possession, with a crown of righteousness laid up for him in prospect.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>That which weighed upon St. Paul was–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> The recollection of the issues for immortal souls, of having the revelation of grace offered to them (verses 15, 16).<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> The difficulty of fidelity (verse 17). It would be easy, he says, to discharge this great office, if we might make traffic of the Word of God; if we might throw in here a grain of flattery, and there a scruple of indulgence; adapt it to the taste of the audience, or take counsel concerning it of the genius of the age. But to preach the gospel in its fourfold completeness–as of sincerity, as of God, in the sight of God, in Christ–this demands of the messenger that loftiest grace of an incorruptible fidelity.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>It is easy to say, easier to think, that the first days of the gospel were more anxious than our own. We can understand how important, difficult, and perilous it was for the new faith to gain a hearing. And so men sympathise with the apostles as engaged in an enterprise disproportioned to their strength; but they have nothing but pity or ridicule for the ministers of to-day, especially if a minister should bewail his insufficiency, or recognise the need of Divine help to qualify him for his work. Thoughts such as these throw a very real stumbling-block in the way of the gospel. The minister himself has to dread their infection. Against these things, he has to ask himself, who is sufficient?<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>The difficulties which faced St. Paul were open and tangible. On the one side there was Jewish bigotry, and on the other side Greek speculation; here the charge of apostasy from ancestral sanctities, there of insubordination to existing authorities; here some definite risk of persecution, there some insidious corruption of gospel simplicity by Judaizing admixture or Alexandrian refinement.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>But St. Paul was spared some experiences, belonging to an age not his. When he wrote 2Ti 3:1<\/span>, etc., he scarcely sounded the depths of our sea of trouble, and nowhere quite prepares us for those developments which are the phenomena of this latter part of our century, and which draw forth from our hearts half the cry of the text, viz.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> The restless reckless impatience of the old, even when the old is Gods truth; the insolent disdain of Christs ordinance of preaching, except in so far as the preacher will fling away his Bible, and prophesy out of his own spirit; the light bandying of sacred subjects at every social table; the choosing and rejecting amongst the plain sayings of Scripture, as though each particular revelation were an open question.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> The schism of thought, where not of feeling, between the teachers of the Church and those who ought to be among the taught.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> The opposite experience, the surrender of all that is distinctive in the ministerial office, or the abandonment of all that is at first sight difficult in the Divine revelation. Not thus will the breach between clergy and laity be effectually healed–as though the Churchs commission were a thing to be ashamed of, or as though the one object were to show men that the Bible contained nothing which they might not have known without it.<\/p>\n (4)<\/strong> The timidity of the believing in the face of free thought and scientific discovery. I count it a great evil when true believers betray an uneasiness in the presence of true seekers. Truth and the truth can never really be at variance. Let not the evangelical doctrine ever fear lest the God of creation should betray it, or leave it naked to its enemies. Least of all let faith think that by hiding its head in the sand it can elude pursuit, or that by a clamorous outcry, The gospel in danger, it can breathe either confidence into its troops or panic into its foes. Let us be brave, with a courage at once of man and of God. Conclusion: Men have said to me, in the prospect of this ministry–<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>You must be careful what you advance. Say nothing which is not sound in logic, whatever it be in rhetoric. Assume nothing–prove your points. Is the gospel itself to be, as between me and you, an open question? Am I bound, every time I mention the Incarnation, the Resurrection, the Divinity of Christ, to prove each to you by some novel argument? Honestly do I say this to you, If that was what you wanted, I am not the man. If you believe not the gospel, I cannot hope to prove it to you. I am here, a steward of Gods mysteries, to bring out to you from His storehouse something profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for discipline in righteousness.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>You will have a critical audience. Everything will be discussed. A fair field and no favour will be the motto of your congregation. The caution falls chillingly upon the ear. I believe not one word of it. Not to judge the preacher, but to hear the Word; not to say The sermon was long, but to say, On this day God has provided me with a sweet solace of heavenly hope and spiritual communion; and now I depart, warmed, cheered, edified for another weeks labour, and for the everlasting rest beyond–this shall be the attitude of your ear and heart as you listen to the voice of your minister. (Dean Vaughan.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Difficulties of the pastoral office<\/strong><\/p>\n Verse 15. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ<\/B><\/I>] The apostle still alludes to the case of a triumph<\/I>; the conqueror always represented the person of Jupiter<\/I>; as even the heathens supposed that God alone could give the victory: and as the punishment of death was inflicted on some<\/I> of the captives<\/I>, who had often rebelled and broken leagues and covenants; so others were spared, made tributaries<\/I>, and often became allies<\/I>. Alluding to this, the apostle says: We are a sweet savour to God<\/I>-we have fulfilled his will in faithfully proclaiming the Gospel, and fighting against sin. And as he has determined that those who believe<\/I> shall be saved<\/I>, and those who believe not<\/I> shall perish,<\/I> we are equally acceptable to him though we unsuccessfully preach the Gospel to some who obstinately reject it, and so perish<\/I>, as we are in preaching to others who believe, and are saved<\/I>.<\/P><\/p>\n For the God whom we serve doth not judge of us, nor will reward us, according to our success, but according to our faithfulness and diligence in his work. We give unto all a good savour by our doctrine; and our labours are a sweet savour in the nostrils of God, whatever effects they have upon souls. God accepteth of our labours as to good men, to whom we are instruments of eternal life and salvation; and though others despise the gospel, and refuse the sweet sound of it, yet as to them also we are a sweet savour in the nostrils of God: Though Israel be not saved, (saith the prophet, Isa 49:5<\/span>), yet I shall be glorified. It is not for any neglect in us, as to our duty, if any perish, but from their own wilfulness and perverseness. <\/P> <\/p>\n 15.<\/B> The order is in Greek,<\/I>“For (it is) of Christ (that) we are a sweet savor unto God”;thus, the “for” justifies his previous words (2Co2:14<\/span>), “the savor of HIS(Christ’s) knowledge.” We not only scatter the savor; but “weare<\/I> the sweet savor” itself (So1:3<\/span>; compare Joh 1:14<\/span>;Joh 1:16<\/span>; Eph 5:2<\/span>;1Jn 2:27<\/span>). <\/P> in them that aresaved<\/B>rather, “that are being<\/I> saved . . . that areperishing” (see on 1Co 1:18<\/span>).As the light, though it blinds in darkness the weak, is for all thatstill light; and honey, though it taste bitter to the sick, is initself still sweet; so the Gospel is still of a sweet savor, thoughmany perish through unbelief [CHRYSOSTOM,Homilies,<\/I> 5.467], (2Co 4:3<\/span>;2Co 4:4<\/span>; 2Co 4:6<\/span>).As some of the conquered foes led in triumph were put to death whenthe procession reached the capitol, and to them the smell of theincense was the “savor of death unto death,” while to thosesaved alive, it was the “savor of life,” so the Gospel wasto the different classes respectively. <\/P> and in them<\/B>in the caseof them. “Those being saved” (2Co3:1-4:2<\/span>): “Those that are perishing” (2Co4:3-5<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n For we are unto God a sweet savour<\/strong>,…. Here a reason is given, why the savour of the knowledge of God in Christ is made manifest by the ministers of the Gospel, because they themselves are a sweet savour; not that they are so in themselves, for they have the same corrupt hearts and natures, and complain of them as other men; but as having the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God, comparable to fragrant and sweet smelling ointments, So 1:3<\/span>, by which they are enabled to preach the savoury doctrines of the Gospel, and to adorn and recommend them by their exemplary lives and conversations: the allusion is to Aaron and the priests under the law, who were anointed with the anointing oil, which was poured upon their heads, ran down upon their beards, and descended to the skirts of their garments, so that they were all over a perfume, a sweet smell and savour; and so are the ministers of the word, being anointed with that, which the other was typical of. They are said to be a sweet savour<\/p>\n of Christ<\/strong>, because they have their gifts, grace, and Gospel from him, and he is the subject of their ministry; so that this sweet savour of theirs, is not properly theirs, but his, whose person, blood, righteousness, sacrifice, grace, and the fulness of it, as held forth in the Gospel ministry, are sweet and savoury to believers. Moreover, it is “unto God” they are such a savour, not unto men, mere carnal men, for with them they are the filth of the world, and the offscouring of all things; but they are grateful and well pleasing to the Lord, as their ministrations make for, and show forth his honour and glory: and this they are<\/p>\n in them that are saved<\/strong>, who are chosen by God unto salvation, for whom Christ has wrought it out, to whom it is applied by the Spirit of God, who are heirs of it, and are kept unto it, and for it, by the power of God, and shall certainly enjoy it: yea, they are a sweet savour<\/p>\n in them that perish<\/strong>, all mankind are, through sin, in a perishing condition: some of them shall never perish; but are, and shall be saved with an everlasting salvation: others will perish in their sins, to which they are abandoned; and what sense the ministers of the Gospel are a savour in these is shown in the following verse.<\/p>\n A sweet savour of Christ <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Old word from <\/SPAN><\/span>, well, and <\/SPAN><\/span>, to smell. In N.T. only here and Phil 4:18<\/span>; Eph 5:2<\/span>. In spreading the fragrance of Christ the preacher himself becomes fragrant (Plummer).<\/P> In them that are perishing <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Even in these if the preacher does his duty. <\/P> <\/p>\n A sweet savor of Christ [ ] <\/SPAN><\/span>. Compare Eph 5:2<\/span>; Phi 4:18<\/span>. As so often in Paul ‘s writings, the figure shifts; the apostolic teachers themselves being represented as an odor, their Christian personality redolent of Christ. It is not merely a sweet odor produced by Christ, but Christ Himself is the savor which exhales in their character and work.<\/P> <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 1) “For we are unto God,”<\/strong> (hoti esmen to theo) “For we are to or toward God;” an instrument of God in bringing the message of salvation, redemption, recovery of the souls and lives of lost men to Christ, as missionaries and laymen.<\/p>\n 2) “A sweet savour of Christ,”<\/strong> (Christou euodia) “a sweet smell (fragrance or pleasantness) of Christ;” as a pleasant, approved, or satisfying offering of self to Him, as a pleasant sweet offering with fragrant spices, Rom 12:1-2<\/span>; 1Co 6:19-20<\/span>.<\/p>\n 3) “In them that are saved,”<\/strong> (en tois sozomenois) “In those being saved,” “being now in a saved or delivered state or condition.” – The verb (saved) is here used in the passive state or condition, meaning existing in those who are saved, Eph 2:8<\/span>.<\/p>\n 4) “And in them that perish.”<\/strong> (kai entois apolumenois) “and in those being now in a perishing (lost) state or condition;” though God gave His Son that the perishing” might not perish, Joh 3:16<\/span>.<\/p>\n INFLUENCE OF THE GOSPEL<\/strong><\/p>\nFuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
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Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>The gospel produces different effects. There is scarcely ever a good thing in the <\/strong>world of which some little evil is not the consequence. Let the sun pour down floods of light on the tropics, and the choicest fruits shall ripen, and the fairest flowers shall bloom, but who does not know that there the most venomous reptiles are also brought forth? So the gospel, although it is Gods best gift.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The minister is not responsible for his success. He is responsible for what he preaches; he is accountable for his life and actions, but he is not responsible for other people. We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, as well in them that perish as in the saved. An ambassador is not responsible for the failure of his embassy of peace, nor a fisherman for the quantity of fish he catches, nor a sower for the harvest, but only for the faithful discharge of their respective duties. So the gospel minister is only responsible for the faithful delivery of his message, for the due lowering of the gospel net, for the industrious sowing of the gospel seed. (C. H. Spurgeon.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>Its manward aspect. Consider–<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Its godward aspect. In both cases, if we are true to it, we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ. The true ministry is pleasing to God, whatever may be its results on humanity. If this be so, two inferences seem irresistible.<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>Let us look at the two sides of the gospel message. The word gospel we associate with all that is lovely, tender, merciful. Now, all this is quite true; but it is not the whole message. Honestly read your Bibles, and you will find that it makes known to you salvation and damnation–heaven and hell. The gospel message is, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Now, consider the double working of the gospel message. The gift of God must be either accepted or rejected; there is no alternative. Thus was it in the days of the apostles; their preaching was either a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death. But there are some who would raise objections to the gospel because it is thus the savour of death as well as of life. Better, say they, not to preach the gospel at all. To them we reply, Because some abuse Gods greatest gift, would it be better that the gift had never been offered? Because fire sometimes destroys, would it be better that a fire never were kindled? (James Aitken.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>I shall briefly survey some of the many and important duties of the pastoral office. Christ crucified, and salvation through Him; the law, as a schoolmaster, to bring men to Christ; and exhorting the disciples of Jesus to adorn His doctrine ought to be our chief themes. A comprehensive knowledge of Christian faith and practice. Great skill is requisite to explain the sublime mysteries of our holy faith, to unfold their mutual connections and dependencies, and so to demonstrate their certainty, that the sincere lover of truth may be convinced, and even the captious silenced. Our task, however, would be comparatively easy were men lovers of truth and holiness. Add to all this that the genius, spiritual condition, and outward circumstances of our hearers are various; and a manner of address proper for some would be improper for others. But our services are not confined to the pulpit, or to closet preparation for it. It is one important branch of our work, to instruct and catechise the young and ignorant in the first principles of religion. Parochial visitation, if managed in a way easy to plan, I will not say easy to execute, would be equally useful. Reconciling differences is a work highly suitable to the character of ambassadors of the Prince of Peace. In private reproof, what zeal for God, and what tender compassion for perishing souls are needful to overcome that aversion every good-natured man must feel, to tell another he has done amiss. There is another duty incumbent on ministers as such, more difficult than any I have yet mentioned, and that is, to show themselves patterns of good works (Tit 2:7<\/span>).<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>I shall now complete the argument by considering the temptations and opposition which may probably arise to divert us from the right discharge of the duties of our office. Ministers, though bound to exemplary holiness, are men of like passions and infirmities with others, and equally exposed to be seduced by Satan, the world, and the flesh. But our chief danger arises from indwelling corruption. Our office obliges us to preach and pray on many occasions when our frames are dull and languid. Discouragement may have a fatal influence. Once more. As we grow older aversion to fatigue and love of ease grow upon us. Judge from the whole of what has been said, if the work of the ministry is so easy, as many, through ignorance or inadvertency, are apt to imagine. (R. Erskine, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n