The preaching of the Cross 04-24-2003

The speaker greets everyone and discusses the weather. They mention seeing specific individuals and ask about their weekend. They mention a sermon on "First Corinthians 2-9" and discuss the importance of applying God's word in life. They talk about the temperature and their ethnicity. They then talk about the need to pray, study the Bible, and associate with like-minded people. They discuss the idea of iron sharpening iron and the importance of being in a position to receive God's revelations. They mention that non-believers view the preaching of the cross as foolishness. They emphasize the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit and the inability of the natural man to understand the things of God. Good morning everybody. Good morning, good morning, good morning. This beautiful day. This beautiful day. Good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning. Good morning, good morning. It's good to see you all this morning. Miss Kim, good to see you this morning. Hope you are doing good. I hope you had a great weekend, a great Sunday at church. Praise God. Good morning. Miss Diane, good morning. Good to see you this morning. Good morning. Just a second, I'm figuring something out here. Hang on. All right. All right. Good morning. I did. Thank you. Good. Good. It was a good Sunday for us too. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. All right. Let's see here. All right. Let me circle this because I want to make sure I do not lose it. Hang on. Boom. All right. Joshua, good to see you, man. Hope everything's good. Good to see you, Ray. Good to see you. Let's turn our Bibles. First Corinthians. First Corinthians, if you don't mind. If you don't mind, everybody. First Corinthians 2-9. First Corinthians 2-9. God bless. God bless. Good morning from Dallas, Texas. From Dallas, Texas. Home of the Dallas Cowboys. I love it. I love it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. God bless. Good morning. Service was great. I love it. Service was great. First Corinthians 2-9. Let's go. Yeah, we got it. Let's go there. Good morning from Maryland. Good morning from TYE. Are you going to post pictures of your son's wedding? I'm waiting for his permission. Absolutely. I'm waiting just for him to give me that green light. Yeah, I'm just waiting on him. I was going to say it. I don't think they would mind if I did that, but I definitely will. It was just such a beautiful wedding. I tell you, folks, I was so moved. My heart was so full of joy. You know, when we are obedient unto the Lord and when we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Good morning. Good morning, Solomon. I was just so moved. So the moment he gives it, they just got back from their honeymoon yesterday. So I didn't bother him yesterday with a thousand questions, but I've got, you know, they went to on a cruise to Mexico. So I've got just, you know, a lot of questions, dad questions. How'd you like it out? You know, was it fun, blah, blah, blah. But then I will definitely, uh, um, grand writing brother, um, grand rising, grand rising my son. What is grand rising my son? What does that mean? But yes. So as soon as they give me the green, I will. It's 43 here was 72 day. Really? 43, 73. Are we bragging? Because it's going to be a hundred degrees by Sunday here. It's going to be hot already. Great mustache. Uh, uh, what did that say? Great mustache. Uh, brilliant. Oh, amen. Thank you so much. Thank you. Grand rising. You have a great voice. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Oh no. Haha. 39 here. Really guys. Quit telling me it's so nice and cool everywhere you're at. I'm going to burn up here. No, I'm kidding. St. George. I love St. George, Utah. Um, so it is in the morning. Wait, let me look at the temperature. So right now it's, it's of course, six, uh, 35 AM and it is about 61 degrees. So it's nice in the morning. And, uh, but we're going to probably hit 90 today. A hundred. Good morning, Jim. We'll be a hundred by this weekend. So man, it's going to be, it's going to be warm. What nationality are you? My mom's people are from Mexico. My father's people are from Africa. And so I'm half Mexican, half black. That's, that's my ethnicity. So there you go. But all right, let's get started. First Corinthians two, nine, two, nine. And Jim, there's no title. Um, we're going to keep going back to that for the preaching of the cross is foolishness, uh, to them that perish, or I said it backwards for the preaching of the cross to them that perish is foolishness. So let's just call it preaching of the cross, the preaching of the cross, but we're going to read first Corinthians two, nine first, but as it is written, I has not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the thing which God has prepared for them that love him. Let's pray. Father God, thank you. We praise you. Thank you for waking us up this morning. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for the blessings that you bestowed on us, dear Lord. We praise your Holy name and our Lord. I pray that as we read your word today, that we would focus on what you were telling us that we allow it to renew our mind and father God, I pray most importantly, we apply your word in our lives. Lord, we ask this in the precious, powerful name of Jesus. Amen. Application of God's word. It is so important. What did the Bible say? Don't be a hearer only, but what be a doer of the word. A lot of times you and I, and I'm guilty of it. A lot of times we will listen to a sermon, go to church, listen to a sermon, maybe listen to a podcast or listen on, thank you, listen online, but we just hear it. It just goes in one ear and out the other. And it's almost if we are going through the motions, but what we need to do is not only listen to it, but we should apply God's word, God's precepts, God's principles in our life application. It's very important. And myself, I tell you what, I, I, I, I apply God's word 100% of my life. Now though, I really analyze God's word. When I go through something, when I deal with something, everything we've been reading recently is based on my experiences at working at ACE. Now, let me tell you why I have a group of people, some of them older than me, and some of them younger than me at ACE, but each one of them, as I listened to them, as I, as I examined them, I'm fascinated with their, what they say, how they say it, what they do, their work ethic, so on, et cetera. But I've come to the conclusion that they all need Jesus, just like the rest of us. And I look at God's word and I'm like, if they only knew God's word in that circumstance, they wouldn't have the attitude that they would have. If they only knew God's word in that situation, they wouldn't be going through the circumstances they are dealing with. God's word and applying God's word is important. Now though, let me, let me give this one last thing before we get to our scripture. You would think that, well, you know, that's ACE and, you know, you just got some regular folks and, you know, they, uh, they're just regular folks, nothing big, no big deal. You would think that same principle, uh, or I should say, you would think, uh, things would different the more money they make. So in corporate America, the average cop guy or gal that I worked with in corporate America was making about 200 to 250,000 a year. Now you would think with that much money, they didn't have that many problems, but guess what? They complained just as much. They, they, they, they, uh, uh, complain about this or that, or they complained about who was doing more or doing that, but they needed God's word too. So what am I trying to say? We need God's word. We need to apply God's word. We not, we need not to be just listeners, but doers of the word. So when you read it, make sure whatever you hear today, when it comes to God's word, not my opinion, but when you hear God's word, allow it, or I should say, allow yourself to apply it in your life. And I bet you, you will uh, love the outcome. All right, let's get back to first Corinthians two nine, but as it is written, I has not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of men. And I'm going to add women because when we say man, it means humanity, not just men, humanity, but heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. Folks, that's the problem with a lot of people these days. I don't know how people navigate in life without Jesus. I don't know how people can go from day to day without a relationship with the Lord. I don't get it. You know, I mean, where does your hope come from? Where, where, where, where does your knowing tomorrow is going to be a better day come from? I mean, we as Christians, we say in the scripture that joy cometh in the morning. How do you navigate without Jesus Christ? But this scripture right here says, but it is written, the eye has not seen the ear, not heard, neither have entered into the hearts of people or man, the things which God has prepared for them that love them. We that love the Lord, we that embrace his word, we that put all our faith in Jesus Christ, we don't know what God has in store for us. We don't even comprehend the magnitude of what God has for us. But when we place ourselves in a position to receive God's revelation, folks, it's magnificent. When we put ourselves in a position and say, Lord, I want you to use me, it is powerful. When we start applying God's word, you know how many times I get people saying, you know, Pastor Paul, I'm, I'm drawing farther and farther away from the Lord. And you know what I would like to ask them? Are you spending time in prayer? Think about it. Are you spending time in prayer? And if they were, would be truly honest with me, they would say, you know, quite frankly, I'm not. Folks, it's important to be in your prayer. It is important to communicate with God. And it's not like God needs your prayer, but you need God to hear your prayer. It's not like God is just sitting around saying, I hope they pray to me. No, no, no. That's not the situation. That's not, that's not the situation at all. We need that prayer closet. We need that war room. We need to call up on God and we need to communicate what we're dealing with. Some might say, well, he already knows. Why do I need to do that? It's not for him. It's for us. And when you go into your prayer closet, when you go into your war room, you are speaking and articulating to God. So that person right there, I say, well, you feel distance from God. Are you praying? Another thing, once again, on this verse, as it is written, I have not seen or heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them, that loves him. See, when you love him, you'll pray. But what about your Bible study time? What about spending time in God's word? Are you, are you taking and carving out a portion of your day and say, you know what? I'm going to study God's word. Or do you just, or do you just listen to a podcast and that's fine? Or do you just listen to a sermon? And that's fine too. But when do you take time to really get into that, through that Bible and get your, get your highlighter and, and make some notes? I mean, when do you really start getting into your, your, your room and getting some quiet time to study God's word? When people say, I feel so distant from God. I say, have you studied God's word? Are you medicating on God's word? Because if you would, and if you do, that means that you love him. That means that you want to get to know him, that you want to understand who he is, the deepness and the depth of God. Folks, this is important. This is important. Now watch this third thing. Once again, people who say, you know what? I feel so distant from God. Here's my third thing. Are you associating with people that are like-minded? Ooh, are you associating with people that are like-minded? Now, what does the scripture say? I say, I think it says in the book of Proverbs, it says, iron sharpens iron. I want you to hear this. Iron sharpens iron. The first thing that I picture in the anointed imagination, you know what? Let me, I'm going to open up the window real quick. It's a little, it's getting a little warm. Okay. Iron sharpens iron. I picture real quick in my imagination, a blacksmith. So you've seen the old cowboy movies. You've seen it. You know, you got the individual who's in a barn or in a shed and they are basically working on metal. You know, they got the fire in the background and they're, you know, they're stoking it by, you know, pushing the bellows and the pumps and the fire's got the oxygen. It's getting hotter. And then you've got him, he's got, you know, a special device and he strikes the metal. Bam, bam. Now watch this. Here's interesting. This is the interesting fact. Based on this, are you associating with people that are like-minded to help develop your growth? Because just like the blacksmith, it takes what? When he is shaping that metal, iron sharpens iron, it takes what? Energy, force, friction, heat, and sparks. Sparks will be created. So energy, force, and heat creates the sparks. Iron sharpens iron. You need to associate yourself with somebody that's going to create some energy, a force. You need to associate with somebody that's going to create some friction, some friction. And then out of all of that, what I mean is they're challenging you in your walk with the Lord. Do you get where I'm going? They are challenging you. That's iron sharpens iron. They are challenging you and shaping you based on biblical principles. Now a lot of times we like to candy coat things and we like to keep it very user-friendly. But when iron sharpens iron, there has to be force. There has to be friction. There has to be sparks. See folks, we got to allow people in our lives and we have to associate with people, godly people, so that we can stay sharp. We have to associate with godly people so that we can be on our A-game, so that we can maintain that closeness with God. This is with a lot of people. Now let's read this verse again and let's take those examples, your prayer closet, studying of your word, and associating with godly people. Let's take that and read this verse again and then flip to the next verse. Watch this. But as it is written, I have not seen or heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him. When you love God, God reveals himself to you. Well, Pastor Paul, you know this. No, it's not that I know more, it's that I've put myself in a position to receive more. Uh-oh, I just gave you guys something. It's not that I know more, but I have placed myself in a position to receive more. I study more, not because I'm Pastor Paul, but because I'm a child of God. I pray more, not because I'm Pastor Paul, but because I want to speak to God. It's not that I, I, I, I, I, I, somehow, some way he shows favor upon me, but I make myself available for his revelation. Because watch, it says that God reveals those things that love him. And when I put myself in a position to display my love to the Lord, what happens? What happens? He reveals things to me. But look at the next verse in chapter, verse 10. Look at the next verse. But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit. God has revealed these things to us. Even though that verse before, on verse 9, but as it is written, I have not seen or ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him. When you love God, when you put yourself in a position to study his word, to pray and be like, be around like-minded people, he reveals himself more to you. Now though, wait a minute, wait a minute. Let's stop right there. Let me get a sip of my coffee. Hang on. Hang on. This does not apply to everybody. Watch this. Once again, 1 Corinthians 1.18. Let's read that again. For the preaching of the cross, for the preaching of the cross to them that perish, remember those that perish, it means ultimate destruction, nonbelievers, it's foolishness. It's foolishness. The preaching of the cross, the word of God, the precepts, line up on line, a little here, a little there, all of that to a nonbeliever is nothing but foolishness. They do not understand what you are saying. But you and I, Brother Nate, good morning, good to see you, but you and I who love the Lord, who are in our word, who are praying, who are around like-minded people, God reveals himself to you. He says it right there in 2.10. He says, but God has revealed them unto us by what? His Spirit. By the Spirit. And let's not get all hocus-pocus regarding the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells within each Christian believer. The Holy Spirit dwells with every individual who has repented and received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in the subject. You don't have to do anything for it. You don't have to speak in tongues for it. You don't have to give X amount of dollars. You have to just, Lord, I repent and I put my faith in you. I trust in you. I am a sinner. Please save me. And you are, and I am filled with the Spirit. And once we are filled with the Spirit, it is at that point that God starts revealing himself to us. Watch this. Watch it. And we're not talking about the wisdom of the world. We're talking about the wisdom that comes from God. Watch this. Verse 19. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 1.19. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and I will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Then he says in verse 20, not the wisdom of man. We're talking about the wisdom of God. But watch what he says in verse 20. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Has not God made the foolish the wisdom of this world? God takes the simple. He takes the Peter kind of folks. How many of you like Peter? He takes the John kind of folks. And he takes the Stephen kind of folks to confound the religious elite, the wisdom of the world. But you have to put yourself in a position to receive God's revelations. Now watch this in verse 11. We're going to jump back to 2.11. But watch this when it comes to the Holy Spirit. We're in 1 Corinthians 2.11. But watch what it says in verse 11. Are you ready? 1 For what man knoweth the things of man, save, or I should say, accept the spirit of man? Watch this. 2 Save the spirit of man which is in him, even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. When you are filled with the Spirit, God will reveal the depths of himself. When you are filled with the Spirit, God will allow you to see the in-depth of who God is. But until you are filled, or I should say, if you are not filled with the Spirit, according to the other part of the Scripture, this is foolishness to you. It means nothing to you. This is why we as Christians, we are not moved. That we know our foundation is Jesus Christ. We as Christians are not, or I should say, we should not be concerned with the things that are going on in the world. We are knowledgeable. We are aware, but we're not in fear. Uh-oh. We're knowledgeable. We're aware, but we will not operate in the spirit of fear. Why? Because our trust is in God. God has revealed his authority, his power, and this is why we are quick to say, when you quote a Scripture, we are quick to say, Amen. Because we agree. Because God has given us this illumination, this revelation, and it comforts us to knowing that he has all authority and that he is on the cross. But remember, I keep saying this, the natural man doesn't get this. Even some of you right now, if you haven't accepted Jesus Christ, all of this doesn't mean too much to you. But look what 1 Corinthians 2.14 says, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him and her, neither can they know them, because they are spiritually discerned. In other words, and I said it the other day, because you are not filled with the Spirit, you do not understand the things of the Lord. It's that simple. And I said it last week. But you say, well, Pastor Paul, what about the people that have read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation? If they do not have the Holy Spirit, if they have not repented and received Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they just read the book. They just read the book. It was just like them reading a novel. It was just like them reading any book. They just read it. They did not receive the things. Because if they, watch this, watch this, watch this. I had a young man in front of the house one day. I tell this story all the time. He was a young man. He was a little morning boy. And we were talking about the things of the Word. And he said, well, I've read the Bible from from beginning to end. I said, you didn't do it with the Spirit. He goes, well, what do you mean? I go, if you would have did it with the Holy Spirit, you would have been convicted. And if you did it with the Holy Spirit, that conviction would have had you turn from the false religion you're in and turn on to God and the truth. He looked at me. He said, well, I have the truth. I said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You have religion. You have cultural religion, but you don't have the truth. And to worship God, you must worship Him in spirit and truth. So if you really read the Word, and if you would have been filled with the Spirit, then you would not be talking to me right now about the Book of Mormon or LDS. You would have walked from that and turned to God. He looked at me and he never came back. And I didn't mean for him not to come back, but I could see that I was, if you will, infringing on his cultural religion. But he did not have the Spirit. And because he did not have the Spirit, he did not understand the Word of God. He just read the words. And that's what a lot of... Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Hold on. Do you know a lot of people in church are just reading the words? Do you know there are some people that are sitting in church that are just reading the words and they are not filled with the Spirit because they have not truly repented? They have not truly turned to the Lord? Watch what it says in 14. But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolish unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Him or her cannot discern it because they do not have the Spirit to discern it. They do not have the Spirit to reveal to them the Word of God. It's that simple. It is that simple. But folks, we want more of the Lord. Look what verse 15 says. 215 says... I'm sorry, 216. For who has known the mind of the Lord, the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. This is not because of our intellectual capacity, but this is because the Holy Spirit is revealing God to us. Folks, I have met... there's a lady back in Fresno, California. Her name was... I only knew her by... oh, her name was Leslie Green, but we called her Sister Green. And Sister Green was a student of God's Word. And I tell you what, Sister Green might have had a... just a high school education. Just a high school education. She probably got to 12th grade. And like some people, you know, had to just go out to the workforce and start working. And when I met her, she probably was in her late 50s. And that was probably, by golly, at least 20 years ago. But I tell you what, folks, she was a godly woman. Man, she would study that Word. She'd look at it in Hebrew for the Old Testament. She would look at the Greek for the New Testament. She would look line upon line, precept upon precept. She would memorize that Word. And you want to know what made her so brilliant? That God revealed to her. Because she desired to know more of God. She loved the Lord. And the Lord would reveal His Word to her. She could break down that Word like nobody's business. Once again, we were looking at that verse. But it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the hearts of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. And because she loved the Lord, the Lord did what in verse 10? But God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yeah, the deep things of God. See, God would reveal the deep things of Himself to her. Now, she never came with a personal interpretation. Because you understand that the Bible is not of a personal interpretation. If you read something, I read something. Now, the Bible might, in some areas, affect you different from me, but it's not of a personal interpretation. So when she came with something, my, my, my, my, it was deep. But here is the reasoning. She loved the Lord. And because she loved the Lord, God would reveal His Word to her. Check this out. I want to show you something real quick. Now, I don't know if we really, really looked at this as deep as we needed to. But hang on. I want you, for a hot moment, please, let me take you to 2 Corinthians chapter 2, starting with verse 15. Let's stop right there. I want to comment on this statement right here. Carlton 461. You said they call it brainwashing. Well, I wouldn't disagree with you. We call it the renewing of the mind. See, the problem with most people is you've got some stinking thinking. Problem with most people, you've got it. You need to check up from the neck up. See, I have the Word. I understand my future destination. I understand my origin. I understand why there's the problems within the world. My friend, where do you get your information from? What is your benchmark or your standard for morality? I'm just saying, I'm not judging, because I used to be like you, a spectator, or to some degree, a non-believer. I grew up in a Christian home. Good morning, Lamb. Good to see you. I grew up in a Christian home, but I had to find my faith. In that process, I looked at a lot of different things. However, I came back to Jesus. I came back to the Word, and I came to understand that the Word of God is morality. It is the standard. Brainwashing, I wouldn't disagree with you, but it's a renewing of the mind. So, once again, you might want to get a checkup from the neck up. Back to the Word. 2 Corinthians 2, verse 15. Now, I want you to hear this. When you love the Lord, I'm really going to give you something special here that really blessed me. When you love the Lord, and we saw that scripture, the Lord will reveal Himself to you. See, once again, like this individual, he says right there, and the person didn't say it, but he's implying this. Those that perish consider this foolishness. Those who perish, ultimately, they're going to be destroyed. Ultimately, they're going to be separated from God. Ultimately, this is foolishness to them. But it said, for those that are saved, or being saved, us, this is the power of God. We understand that if it wasn't for Jesus, we wouldn't be here today. We understand if it wasn't for the power of Jesus, that we wouldn't have a hope, and a joy, and a love, and a passion. We understand that, but that's God revealing. But then we looked at other scripture where it says, you know, eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, nor have entered in the hearts of men and women the things that God has in store for them. But all this is based on what? Loving the Lord. Now, when you love the Lord, and when the Lord starts revealing some things to you, there's an aroma. Do I got, hang on, hang on. You know what? I got to go get something for a prop. Please, give me, don't, no one go, because this is going to get good, 2.33, I got to go get something for a prop. Just wait right there for me. Give me, give me one minute. All right, here we go, here we go. So, they got my little prop here. I'll break it out in a minute. Let me get a sip. So, here we go. When you put yourself in a position, and I said earlier, that you are studying the Word of God, you're praying, and you're being around like-minded people, you find yourself in a position where you're giving off an aroma. Yes, an aroma. You find yourself in a position where God is revealing things to you. You know people in your lives. Man, they're super saints. Man, they got that Word. They're in a whole different zone, and you know them. It's not that their IQ points are higher. It's not because they are smarter. It's not because they have more intellect. It's because they are putting themselves in a position to receive God's revelation. That's all it is. I have seen, I have seen brilliant scholars know every answer in the Word of God, but they did not have the anointing or the power of the Holy Spirit. And I've seen people who barely got out of high school have this incredible understanding of God's Word. And either or, they would give off this aroma. But I want to explain what I mean by the Bible. So let's take our Bibles real quick to 2 Corinthians 2 15. And I'm going to read it from the NLT, because I need you to hear this. Here's my question for you. What kind of aroma are you putting off? So let me use my prop. This is one of the colognes I wear. It's just old school Jovan Musk. And after I get done in my morning routine and shower and all that stuff, I put a little cologne on and I put off this aroma. And I do that. My dad did it. My son did it. I do it. And my wife wears her perfume. And we put off that aroma, that good smelling aroma. But here it is. What aroma are you putting off as a Christian? What aroma are you putting off as a Christian? Let's stop right there. I just saw something. Queens made JC race does not matter. Amen. Amen. Amen. The aroma. First Corinthians 2 15. Our lives are a Christ like fragrance. I'm in the NLT rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. Now let's go back. We talked about growing closer to the Lord by what prayer, studying of the word, and associating with like minded people. We looked at once we put ourselves in a position that we display our love for Christ. We looked at the scripture. And we know that when we love Christ, when we love God, when we commit ourselves to our walk with the Lord, God reveals himself more to us. Let's read that scripture to back it up. But as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered in the hearts of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him. But when we decide, we love you, Lord, we are committed, watch what happens. Verse 10. But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yeah, the deep things of God. Oh, for what a man knoweth the things of man, except the Spirit of man, which is in him. Meaning, what does man know? He knows what he knows of the world, the Spirit. But the Spirit of God reveals the deep things of God. Why? Because they love him. But when you put yourself in a position that you're saying, Lord, I love you. I want to study your word. I'm going to pray. I'm going to commit myself to being your disciple and read your word and meditate on it day and night. This is what happens. Our lives are in Christlike fragrance, rising up to God. Now, here's my question. What fragrance or aroma are you putting off? Now, some of us put a little cologne on to cover up. Some of us have air fresheners in our house to cover up. Some of us put off an aroma that is not Christlike. Some of us put off an aroma that doesn't even exemplify our walk with the Lord. Some of us have an aroma that is completely opposite of what Christ intended. Let's read the scripture again. Our lives are a Christlike fragrance, meaning the fragrance is obvious when we are living for the Lord. Our fragrance is obvious when we love God. Our fragrance is obvious when we meditate on God's word day and night. Our fragrance is obvious when we are committed to our walk as disciples. Our fragrance is obvious when we apply the precepts and the doctrines of the word of God in our lives. It is obvious. But keep reading. Our lives are a Christlike fragrance, rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. That's all right, Ms. Joyce. That's all right. So our fragrance as Christians is perceived two different ways. Our fragrance, the fragrance that we are putting off. But I ask you once again for the non-believer, what is your fragrance? What are you putting off? Then I ask you as a believer, what is your, I'm so sorry, we are in 2 Corinthians 2.15. What fragrance are you putting off? So watch this. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, now we looked at that word last week, perishing, meaning a non-believer, meaning one that shall be destroyed in the depths of hell, those that do not have Jesus. This is how they perceive your fragrance. Here we go. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. Wow. Did you just read that? Those folks that you encounter on a day-to-day basis, may they be family, friend, or foe, those folks that you encounter as a Christian on the daily, they perceive your fragrance, and I read it again, watch this, a dreadful smell of death and doom. Now wait a minute. Pastor Paul, are you serious? I'm serving God, I'm honoring God, I'm living for God, I'm meditating on the word day and night, and those people who are non-believers in my very presence, they smell death? They smell doom? I'll tell you why. Because they know that you are a child of God, and your presence causes conviction. Did you, okay, let me prove it. How many of you that are followers of Christ, how many of you children of God, when you were around, people got all uptight? Maybe you went to the family function, and all of a sudden, my eyes were closed, all uptight. Maybe you went to the family function, and all of a sudden, oh, here comes Josh, the holy roller. Why? Your very presence reminded them of their very end. Look at how many of you saying yes. Look at, look at, look at, look at, because why? You've experienced that. The moment that you come in to the play, the moment you come into the situation, the moment you come into the function, they get all worked up. They get upset. They want to argue. They want to debate. There's some conflict. There's immediately, but read what the scripture says. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance, rising up to God. So, you got to remember, our lives is like a sacrifice. Remember the Old Testament? They would take the burnt offerings, and that aroma would go up to the heavens unto God. It was a burnt sacrifice. It was saying, God, we honor you. We lift you up. Our lives, when we serve Jesus Christ, is like a sweet-smelling fragrance that rises up unto the Lord. When you're obedient, when you love the Lord, when you're in your word, when you are Christ-like, when your mind is just being led by the Spirit, your body's being led by the Spirit. Watch what it says. Our lives are like a Christ-like fragrance, rising up to God when you serve Him. Let me break that down just a little bit more, okay? Let me get a sip. All of you have a knowledge that you know what I'm talking about, because when you go to the church, I mean to the church, please forgive me, hopefully not at the church, but when you go to that function, you've always got those people that, oh, here comes Miss Kim. She's going to talk about Jesus. Oh, here comes this, and they get all worked up. Now, watch this. So, as you all know, I work at Ace, and I made my mind up. I've told you all before, I made my mind up that I wasn't going to focus on how much money I didn't make, because corporate America made a great living. I'm not going to focus on how overqualified I am, maybe by just marketing experience or education. I wasn't going to focus on all the negativity that Satan wanted to throw at me, but what was I going to focus on? I was going to focus on being Christ-like among my fellow employees. Did you hear what I said? I was going to focus on being Christ-like among my fellow employees. I wasn't going to be concerned with money. I wasn't going to be concerned how much I knew or did not know. I wasn't going to be concerned of who I used to be and what I'm doing now, but I wanted to focus on what being Christ-like in front of my colleagues and co-workers. I wanted, I was concerned about the fragrance. This verse, our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God, but this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. I wanted my fragrance to be Christ-like. Now though, here we go. Because I applied that thought with regards to my job, this happens all the time. Hey, can I ask you a question? I said, yeah. Why are you so happy? Why are you so positive? Why are you so motivated? Why do you always have a smile on your face? Why do you, this is every day folks. This is not just once in a while. It's every day. Matter of fact, on Saturday, there were a group of young people that worked there. There was probably about four of them, and each one of them said, man, and they don't know who I am. At least I don't think they know who I am, but they were sitting in a group and I just happened to walk in. They're like, we were just talking about you. I'm like, okay, and what should I know? And they're like, you are always, I like, I choose joy. You are always positive. You're always in a good mood. You're always have a kind word and you don't, this, that, so on, et cetera. It's because it's my fragrance. It's not me. It's Jesus within me, the Holy Spirit. It's my fragrance. And I'm putting that fragrance off because I serve God. It's my sacrifice. I'm on assignment. I'm in this world and I'm, and I'm, and I know that these young people are in general, these people are watching my walk and I know they are without hope. So the fragrance that they, they symbolically speaking, the fragrance they are smelling is Christ within me. The fragrance that they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, thank you. The fragrance that they're in taking within their senses is nothing but the Lord. What fragrance are you giving off? Love smells good. Amen. Captivating. I like that. Love smells good. Love smells good. And God is love. Ooh, come on. God is love. So when they ask me that, I give glory to God. Folks, that's what I'm talking about. What type of fragrance are you giving off? Now, don't get me wrong. Don't get me wrong. Some of us as Christians can put off that bad attitude fragrance. Some of us Christians can put off that angry fragrance. Some of us Christians can put off that fragrance that is, is opposite of the word. And then you've got to ask yourself, well, if I keep putting off this fragrance, if this keeps, if this is the, the, the fragrance that I keep putting off, am I a child of God? Am I a child of God? You got to ask yourself that. That's not for me to judge. That's for you. But let's get back to what I'm saying. So at the job, this fragrance, not anything I could do, because trust me, I, my, I, I have to, I've got to put on something to smell good. It's not me, but it's that fragrance within that's love, that's joy, that's happiness, that I've made a decision that I'm going to serve God and honor God because people are getting the aroma of Christ. Now though, let's read this verse again. Are you ready? But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. Watch this. We're in second Corinthians 2 16 to those who are perishing. We are a dreadful smell of death and doom, but to those who are being saved, we are a life giving perfume and who is adequate for such a task as this. Let's stop right there and explain. There are some people at ACE. It happened. I won't mention his name, but I walked out one day and he says, can I ask you a question? What, what is that? What drugs are you on? I go, what do you mean? What drugs am I on? He goes, I don't, I, you, you always are so happy. You're always so kind. You're always a positive. I said, yes. He says, and he said it and you know how that people jokingly, he goes, I can't stand you. And he said it like the jokingly way, but he meant it. He meant it. Wait a minute. He said, and once again, this verse, see, he perceived my fragrance. It made him sick. He perceived my fragrance as, as, as, as a, uh, what did it say? A dreadful smell or death and doom. See the fragrance of Christ caused him to rethink his eternal destination. The fragrance of Christ caused him to look at me in a different way. The fragrance of Christ caused him like, and when he sees me and he's polite to me, he's not rude, but you can see that he does not like to be around me. And I don't get my feelings hurt. I'm kind to him. I'm respectful to him, but I can see that my fragrance causes him to get uptight. There's another gentleman. His name is, uh, well, I shouldn't mention names. Please forgive me. Let me not mention names, but there's another gentleman and he's the same way. He is so negative. He's so, he's so eeyore. And even when I get around him, he's polite to me, but you can tell that he can't be around me too long because the fragrance, once again, to those who are perishing, we are dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are life giving perfume and who is adequate for such tasks as this. But those who do not dismiss God completely for those who are searching for truth, for those who want more in their life and want deeper meaning, they are drawn to that fragrance of Jesus. They are drawn. That's the, I'm reading out of the King James and the NLT, the King James and the NLT. They are drawn to that fragrance of Christ. My question to you again, what fragrance are you giving off? Because once again, our lives and let's, you know what? Our lives are Christ-like fragrance rising up to God, but this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To the one or to those who are perishing, we are dreadful smell of death and doom, but to those who are being saved, we are life giving perfume. What fragrance are you? What fragrance are you giving off? Think about it. All right, folks, we're going to, we're going to, we're going to stop right there. Praise God. I like that one verse again, but it is written, I have not seen or ear heard, neither have entered into the hearts of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love them. If you love God, put yourself in a position, the next verse, verse 10, but God has revealed them to us by his spirit for the spirit searches all things. Yes, the deep things of God. Put yourself in a position to receive the deep revelations of God. Forsake the TV, forsake the, the, the, the, the, the Tik Tok or, or, or Instagram or whatever it is that you listen to or look at, get, put that to the side for a minute and get into your word. And when I, and I'm, I know you have a personal preference, but you know what? Sometimes looking at the Bible on this just doesn't seem to do the job, but there's something so important or so beautiful about studying this and seeing the word on paper. That's one man's opinion. I don't think either, or it's going to send you to hell. However, there's something about reading the word of God in a book form is a beautiful thing. So praise God, praise God. What is going on here? You know what? I'm going to do this. I've only got a minute. Oh, I was about to accept you. I was going to have a minute, but I, I, uh, you disappeared. All right. Let me answer a couple of questions. Like, okay, let's accept it. I'm only going to take a minute. Hey, young man. How are you doing? Is it good? What are we saying here? I don't know what you're saying, friend. Well, I, I differently. Absolutely. Well, God bless you. Have a great day. Bye. Take care. Okay, guys, how do I get out of this? What do I do? Oh, my God. All right, everybody. God bless you. Have a beautiful day. Good. God bless you. Bye.