This church at Corinth was to the Apostle Paul a very
special, special church. He loved all the churches. He
prayed for all the pastors in all the churches, but this church
at Corinth was very special to the Apostle Paul. You see, he
had a a revelation from the Lord concerning this church over in
the book of Acts, chapter 18. You'll be interested in this
scripture. He was about to leave Carlin because of the persecution and harassment. And Acts, chapter
18, verse 8, Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed
on the Lord with all his house, and many of the Corinthians,
hearing, believed and were baptized. But still Paul was about to leave
there. So verse 9, Then spake the Lord
to Paul in the night by vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and
hold not thy peace. For I'm with thee, and no man
shall set on thee to hurt thee. For I have much people in this
city. I've got some sheep in this city.
That was a wicked city, Holland. Such a wicked city, such a great,
flourishing, materialistic, Pagans take it that God said follow
you stay there and preach because I've got some people there And verse 11 says he continued
there a year and six months 18 months Teaching the Word of God
among them Now here in our text he's writing
the second epistle to this church he'd written one epistle And
here he's writing the second epistle. And he's talking to
them here. I want you to look at verse 12,
chapter 2. And he says, furthermore, when
I came to Troas, he came down to Troas, and most of the people
that I read, he'd been to Troas before. He preached there before.
In fact, You turn to Acts 20 a moment, I'll show you about
a trip that you, with which you're familiar. When he came to Troas,
this is where the young man was sitting in the window. Eutychus
was his name. Paul preached almost all night,
like we were here last night at midnight preaching. Well,
Paul was preaching there in Troas at midnight. This young man fell
out of the window, you remember? Well, this is the account of
it, Acts 20. beginning with verse 5, these going before tarried
for us at Troas, and we sailed away from Philippi after the
days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five
days, where we are both seven days." And upon the first day
of the week when the apostles or the disciples came together
to break bread, Paul preached to them, ready to depart on the
morrow, and continued his speech until midnight. And there were
many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered together,
and there sat in the window a certain young man named Eutychus, being
falling into a deep sleep, you know. When folks doze off listening
to me preach, I shouldn't be too much offended, should I?
This young man was listening to Paul. So young people don't... I don't feel too hard at you
if you fell and go to sleep listening to Paul. And listen, and he fell,
being fallen into a deep sleep, and his Paul was long preaching.
He sunk down with sleep and fell from the third law, was taken
up dead. I wouldn't recommend that you have something like that happen,
because I can't do what Paul then did. Paul went down and
fell on him, embracing him, trouble not yourselves, his life is in
him. when he therefore was come up again had broken bread and
eaten and talked a long while even till break of day so Paul
departed but anyway that's Troas and Paul most people agree that
this trip here in verse 12 Paul came to to meet Titus here at
Troas Titus was coming to give him or bring him a report from
Corinth and what I'm saying is Paul loved this church he loved
these people and he came down to Troas and Titus was supposed
to meet him there and bring him a report from Corinth how things
were going maybe to let him know how the people responded to that
first epistle which was pretty he dealt with a lot of their
problems he dealt harshly with some of their problems And Paul
was very concerned about this church and concerned about these
people. He wanted to meet with Titus
and talk to him about this situation of Corinth. But it says here
in verse 12, when I came to Troas, here, even though I came to meet
Titus, I came to preach Christ's gospel. I came to preach Christ's
gospel. Whatever brings us together.
Whether it be a meeting of friends, whether it be a conference of
pastors, whether it be a conference of believers, whether it be a
friendly get-together, I came there to preach Christ's gospel. Doesn't that have a good ring?
I came to preach Christ's gospel. That's my main purpose. Everywhere
Paul went, he preached Christ's gospel. In season, out of season. There's no season to preach the
gospel. No particular season. Every season
is the time to preach the gospel. Talk about our Lord. We preach
not ourselves, but we preach Christ Jesus, our Lord. We preach
Christ's gospel. There's no other gospel to preach,
is there? There's nothing else to preach.
Somebody said just the other night, After I preached on Wednesday
night, I said, well, there's one thing about it, every time
you preach, you preach Christ. There's nothing else to preach
worthwhile. That's what Paul said, I'm determined to know
nothing among you say Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There's none
other name unto heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid, Christ Jesus the Lord. His gospel is
God's gospel. So Paul said, I came to Troy,
I came there to meet Titus. But I came there to preach the
gospel. That's my first business. That's my first calling. See,
God didn't call me to baptize. or to organize, or even to socialize. He called me to preach the gospel.
I do these things because they're part of the ministry. But I came
to preach Christ's gospel, which is God's gospel. It's the gospel
of peace. It's the gospel of the Prince
of Peace. It's the gospel of pardon, pre-pardon. It's the
gospel of righteousness. Therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith in that gospel, in Christ's
gospel. And I'll tell you this, I don't
look upon it as a duty. While it is a duty, it is a duty. Woe unto me if I don't preach
Christ. But it's a desire. It's not just a duty, it's a
desire. God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of my
Lord Jesus Christ. So when I came to Troas, I came to preach Christ's gospel.
Now watch this next line. And a door was opened unto me
of the Lord. Do you understand that, what
he's saying there? Do you understand that language? I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel and
a door was opened unto me of the Lord. Now I know that we
go and preach the gospel. Our Lord said you go preach the
gospel to every creature, to the whole world. I preach the
gospel on television. Every Sunday morning, we preach
the gospel here from the pulpit. We preach the gospel wherever
we go. Our missionaries preach the gospel to foreign countries.
We preach the gospel. No one's to be bypassed. No one's
to be ignored. Every person will preach the
gospel to every creature. Whether a door is opened or not,
we're going to preach the gospel. Noah preached the gospel for
a hundred and twenty years and no door was open. Not one. Not one effectual door. Do you
know of any convert as a result of his preaching? Not one. But
he still preached. He was a preacher of righteousness.
Preacher of Christ. The spirit by which Noah ministered
is the same spirit by which our Lord was raised from the dead.
And it's the same spirit by which we're preaching. What Paul is talking about here
is this. Salvations of the Lord. The Son
quickeneth whom he will. No man can come to Christ except
the Father draw him. Paul said, when it pleased God,
the apostle Paul read the scripture throughout his life, but he never
understood it. And then one day, God opened
the door. God opened his ears, God opened
his eyes, and sent him a preacher, and he heard. And this is what
Paul is talking about here. An open door. I came to Troas,
to this city, to preach Christ's gospel. And by His grace, He
opened the door. He opened the door. You know,
the apostles talked about that. Turn to Acts 14. Acts 14, verse
27. Listen to this. Acts 14, verse
27. Now listen carefully. See what the preacher is talking
about. See what Paul is talking about. I came to Troas. to preach Christ's gospel and
a door was opened unto us of the Lord now look at Acts 14
27 and when they would come and had gathered the church together
they rehearsed all that God had done with them and how he had
opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles I can preach I can preach this gospel with
clarity with plainness of speech as is written, but I cannot apply
it. I cannot convict men of sin and
women of sin. I cannot open the understanding,
open the heart. I cannot open the door of faith.
I cannot give faith. Look at 1 Corinthians 16, just
back a page or two from where we're reading in 2 Corinthians
2. In 1 Corinthians 16, verse 7, listen. 1 Corinthians 16,
7. For I will not see you now by
the way, but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord
permit. But I will tarry at Ephesus unto Pentecost, for a great door
and effectual What is effectual door? Well, effectual means it
accomplishes something. It accomplishes its purpose.
It's effectual. We do a certain thing, say a
doctor operates, and it's not effectual, the patient dies.
But a doctor operates, it is effectual, it means the patient
lives. And he said a great door, an effectual door, is opened
unto me Even though there are many adversaries. Now look at
Colossians chapter 4. Colossians chapter 4. This is
so vital right here. Colossians chapter 4 verse 3. With all praying, pray also for
us that God would open unto us a door of utterance. Paul, you preach all over the
world, I know, but pray that God will open a door of utterance,
a factual door. Listen, to speak the mysteries
of Christ, for which I'm also in bonds. A door is open. Did you ever try to communicate
with somebody through a door? Let's just say it's a bank vault
door. Sealed. The person on the inside. That door's been shut. And you're
trying to tell him how to get out. You're out here. And he's
in there. And he doesn't hear a word you say. And you don't
hear a word he says. And this is going through your
mind. You talk till you're blue in the face. And this is going
through your mind. Oh, if only that door was open. If only it was open. And this
is what Paul is saying, I came down there to preach this Christ
gospel, gospel of peace, and men are at war in their hearts
with God, gospel of pardon, and they're great sinners, they need
cleansing, gospel of forgiveness of sin, redemption, righteousness,
gospel of Christ. I came down to preach it. Most people don't believe it,
because there's a door closed between the preacher and the
hearer. And he doesn't hear. Oh, he hears
words, but he doesn't understand them. He doesn't see God. Paul said, I was preaching, and
he opened the door. He opened the door, and folks
began to hear. We began to communicate. That's
what we're talking about here. An open, effectual door. It's
of the Lord. It's of the Lord. He has to open
it. He has to reveal the gospel.
He has to give us understanding. A door was opened. Illustration
of that was the thief on the cross. Everybody there at the
crucifixion of Christ heard and saw the same thing he did. But
the door was open. He heard. Same thing is true
of Cornelius. Lydia! What does the scripture
say? Paul went down by the riverside,
and those women had met there for prayer, and he preached to
them, and God opened her door. Her heart. Like opening the door. Oh, I see it. I see it. I see it. The seeing eyes of the Lord,
the hearing ears of the Lord. That's exactly what he's talking
about. But you know something in verse
13, Paul said, I had no rest in my spirit. I had no rest in
my spirit. What's wrong with him? Because
I found not Titus my brother. Paul was a great man. A great
man, but still a man. still a man, subject to the same
anxiety, same concern that he warns us about. And I'll tell
you this, I find encouragement in the humanity, in the humanity
of these disciples and the inconsistency I see in these apostles. I don't rejoice in their weaknesses,
But I'm glad the Lord didn't hide their weaknesses and cover
their infirmities or I'd give up. You would too. I'd be in
total despair all the time. Paul said, I've learned in whatsoever
state I am therewith to be content. He wasn't content here. He's
upset. Here he was in Troas, preaching
the gospel, and God opened the door. Folks heard him, believed
his message, responded to his message, God saved some sinners,
and he's still troubled and despaired and despaired, and no rest. Why? Because Titus was not there with
the message and the report that he expected, that he wanted,
that he looked for. You see what I'm saying? He's
saying it himself. I found no rest in my spirit.
Paul said, be content with what things soever you have. He wasn't
content. And here he is, filled with anxiety,
unrest, because Titus is not there with the report from Corinth,
and he's still concerned about that church. So he left. He left
Troas. That's what he says here. Verse 13, I had no rest in my
spirit, because I found not Titus my brother. But taking my leave
of them, I went from thence unto Macedonia. And there he met,
there he met Titus. Turn to 2 Corinthians 7 and you'll
find that meeting. And I bring that out really,
I bring that out to encourage all of us, as even the Apostle
Paul, It was a man of anxiety and concern and Weaknesses and those things that
to continue invade invade our thoughts and our our hearts and
and we don't despair when those when those Troublesome times
arrive we don't despair. We don't say well, I'm lost.
I don't know God. Yes, I do know God the Apostle
Peter sat by that fire and denied his Lord he was afraid he was
afraid he was afraid they were going to kill him he was afraid
for his life he went out and wept bitterly does that mean
he's not saved? does that mean he doesn't know
God? when the Lord rose from the grave
he said to the women you go tell my apostles I've risen and you
be sure and tell Peter and Peter Give him a special message. I
love him. He loves me. And those conflicts
doesn't hinder that relationship one bit. And that's what I'm
saying. Over here in 2 Corinthians 7,
Paul met with Titus. 2 Corinthians 7, verse 5. It says here in verse 5, 2 Corinthians 7,
verse 5, For when we were come to Macedonia,
our flesh had no rest, we were troubled on every side, without
were fighting, within were fears. Nevertheless, God that comforted
those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus. And
not only by his coming, that wasn't, you see, that wasn't
what Paul was greatly troubled all together. But by the consolation
wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest
desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me, so that I rejoice
the more." He brought me good news. See that? You see what
I'm pointing at? Paul says in verse 13, "...therefore
we were comforted in your comfort, yea, and exceeding the more joyed
We for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you
all." Titus met Paul at Macedonia and brought him good news. And
he said, I'm comforted. I'm comforted. Oh, the Word of
God is so applicable to us, our situations, to our needs. Let's go on. Go back to 2 Corinthians
2. Paul's happy again. He's refreshed. He's refreshed because he's got
a good report of the people of God whom he loves. He's refreshed. Verse 14, let's look at this.
Now, thanks be unto God which always causes us to triumph in
Christ. What's he talking about there?
First of all, we do triumph in Christ over our sins, over death, over condemnation.
That's right. Look at 1 Corinthians 15. Now
the scripture is bifocal. There's the first application,
there's a second application, and a whole lot of other applications.
But this one I'm talking about, He thanks me unto God, which
causes us to triumph over our despair, over our discontent,
over our weariness, over our flesh, over our sins, over death,
Over the grave, over condemnation. We triumph where? In Christ.
Thanks be unto God who causes us always to triumph in Christ. Because of His victory. Look
at 1 Corinthians 15 verse 55. O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. Thanks be unto God. who giveth
us the ultimate victory. Thanks be unto God who giveth
us the victory over all these things. They're there. Sin is there, but we have the
victory in Christ. These conflicts and trials are
there. We started a new year. We look
back over the last year. It was full of blessing, but
it's full of troubles. Lot of trouble. We were down, weren't
we? We were up, but we were down.
But thanks be unto God who causes us to triumph over all these
things in Christ. And we're getting old, old age. Some of you couldn't be here
last night because of age. Just age brought problems you
can't cope with. But we have the victory over
old age. We're going to be young again someday. And death, death,
who's going to die this year? I get to thinking along that
vein. I get, like Paul, I get no rest in my soul. I get depressed. But I've got to get my mind and
heart off of that and on to Christ. I have victory in Christ. It'll
be all right, won't it, Dan? It'll be all right. And the grave
is a lot of lots out yonder going to be filled. So thanks be unto God. Our victory
is not in the power of positive thinking. Our victory is not in when you feel low, holler a little
louder. That's not the victory. Pretend it's not there. No, it
is there. Our victory is in Christ. That's
right. His feet walked into the grave,
but this prince coming out, he came out, he didn't stay. That's
where our victory is, in Christ. Over all these things. We'll
be alright. Thanks be unto God who giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be ye steadfast. Unmovable. Always abounding in the work
of the Lord. Don't give up. Don't you quit
what God's called you to do, what God's called you to say,
what God's called you to be. Don't you quit for any reason
in this world. For as much as you know, your
labor is not in vain. Don't you quit. I'm not going to hold my flag
down. Are you? Francis Scott Key, when he was
writing the... I'm sailing in waters I'm not
too familiar with, Ronnie, so just shake your head yes. So
when he was writing Star Spangled Banner, he said something about
looking up, and it was still there. The battle was going against
us, and the bombs were bursting in air, and the men were dying,
and the cause looked hopeless. But she's still there. And may
God grant whatever, whatever, in this pulpit, from your home,
from you personally, whatever the trial, whatever the conflict,
whatever the disappointment, may we look and see Christ our
banner, Christ my banner. Always waiting. Don't quit. Because we got the victory. It's
not over. I don't care how dark the night
is and how bad the battle's going. My Lord is going to be victorious. Now that's what he's saying here
in verse 14 of my text. Thanks be unto God, who always,
always, always, It's pretty dark, always. It's pretty dim, always. It's pretty doubtful, always.
It causes us to triumph in Christ. But I believe here that the main
application is to this business of preaching the gospel. He's talking about the preaching
the gospel, talking about not just me, And not just the missionary,
not just the pastors who are here, but every one of us are
in the ministry. We're preaching the gospel. I
can't preach the gospel without you, our elders. I can't preach
the gospel without you. And these missionaries can't
go without you. I know God's on the throne, God
will send them, but God uses me. And we're all in this ministry,
and this us is us. Thanks be unto God who giveth
us us the victory. He's speaking of the ministry
of the Word. There is a success to this business
of preaching. There is an achievement that
He promises we're going to have the victory. But you say, most
people won't hear it. Some will. That's right. Most people don't believe it.
Some do. Most people won't have it, some
will. And either way we're victorious.
When they do and when they don't. Our victory in preaching the
gospel does not depend at all upon men's response. God has
a purpose and it will be accomplished. That's what he said. We're always
victorious in Christ. We may be poor, weak, earthen
vessels. We have no power over Satan,
no power over sin, no power over darkness, no power over hell,
no power over men's hearts, but he does. Thanks be unto God,
who always causes us to triumph in Christ. That's what he said. Thanks be to God, who always,
without fail, invariably, every time, so salvation is not of
us, it's of God, who always causes us to triumph, to be victorious,
to be successful. Turn to Isaiah 55. Here's what I'm talking about.
Isaiah 55, and I'll put it in plain, everyday words here. Isaiah
55. Isaiah 55, verse 11. Now listen
to this. Read verse 10. The rain cometh
down from heaven, the snow from heaven. It doesn't return thither,
but it watereth the earth, it bringeth forth, and bud may give
seed to the sower and bread to thee. That rains effectually.
It does its job. Now the thorns grow too, and
the briars grow, and the weeds grow under the same rain. But the good things come forth.
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It won't
return unto me void. It shall accomplish that which
I please. It'll prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it." And
that's what he's saying. He's saying God Always causes
us to triumph in Christ and he maketh listen he maketh manifest
the savor of his knowledge The Savior the savor that's the fragrance. That's the sweet smell. That's
the odor God makes manifest he reveals something when the preacher
opens the word it's the fragrance of Christ The beauty of Christ,
the glory of Christ, the substitutionary work of Christ, the personal
work of Christ comes forward. It's a sweet fragrance, it's
a sweet smell, it's a sweet odor. It's the knowledge of Christ.
It's His knowledge of us. It's His knowledge of His Father.
It's our knowledge of Him. By His knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, and when that alabaster box of sweet,
precious Fragrance and odor is opened by the preacher. It goes
out over the congregation. And they smell. And they rejoice. It's a sweet smell. And God makes that known. He
makes manifest. He opens the box. He opens the
Word. It's a knowledge of Him wherever
we preach. But everybody doesn't receive it. It's not sweet to
some. Listen to verse 15. under God, a sweet savor of Christ
in them that are saved and in them that are perished. To the one we're the savor of
death unto death is not a sweet smell. Thank God it is to us. To us it's the savor of life
unto life. And who's sufficient for these
things? Who's sufficient? Who's qualified? Who's fit? Who's
able to carry such a burden, such a responsibility? No man
is of himself. Well, I've got to quit. Let's
see where our sufficiency is. Verse 17, we're not going to
corrupt the Word of God. We're not going to deal deceitfully.
We're going to preach of sincerity as of God in the sight of men.
We're going to speak of Christ. Verse 1 of chapter 3 says, do
we begin again to commend ourselves? Are we bragging on ourselves?
No, we're not sufficient for these things. Do we need others
to brag on us? Do we need epistles of commendation
to you or from you? No, you're our epistle, the results
of the message. That's our recommendation. Men
have heard, lives have been changed, they've been brought to Christ,
That's our evidence. It's known and read of all men.
For as much as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of
Christ, ministered by us, God sent us to you. And it's not
written in ink, it's not names on paper. Names in the Lamb's
Book of Life. With the Spirit of the Living
God. It's not in tables of stone, rules and regulations and standards
laid down. It's in the fleshly tables of
the heart. such trust have we through Christ to God would now
here listen to this we are not sufficient of ourselves to think
anything of ourselves but our sufficiency is there's our sufficiency
when we come to preach this gospel oh what an awesome awesome responsibility
the door is shut what are we going to do I can't open it I
can't open the heart, I can't reach the soul, I can't reach
the heart of me. What are we going to do? Insufficient. This gospel is the fire of God
and the salvation. We pray that God will open a
door, open a heart, make it effectual. Lord, make it effectual. We're
going to preach it. To every creature. And it'll
accomplish his purpose. It'll accomplish his purpose.
But I want his purpose toward us to be that of mercy and grace,
not condemnation. Don't you? Open the door. Pray for one another. Pray God
will make the gospel effectual to the heart. All right, I hope
that's a blessing to you. Let's turn in our hymn books
to number 509. 509, the Sands of Time.