Intro: Question: What
is your favorite Fragrance ?
A)Lady – Certain
perfume – love to wear makes you feel Beautiful
Favorite Flower: A Rose / Smell
of a Clean house - / Hubbies Cologne
1)
FAVORITE DESSERT –HOT BERRY COBBLIER
B) Guy: Smell of Steaks
that have been marinated in Teriaki sauce grilling on the Barbecue /
Fresh baked Chocolate chip cookies/ Brownie
1)
Your wives Favorite Perfume – She wearing when she comes to bed –
signaling she is in the Mood { I Like that Fragrance
C) True we all have our Favorite Fragrances : But we also have those Fragrances that we don’t care for at all
1)
Garlic Breath / Messy diapers / Fresh Vomit / Rotten eggs …..
D) We all have those fragrances that we really enjoy
– and then there are the ones that we don’t enjoy at all!!!!
But
have you ever thought about this: You are a Fragrance: True Physically – You have a specific Body
Odor
A)Blind peoples sense of smell is so sharp – that
they can distinguish people by their Body Odor if around them enough
B) You can walk in the room & they smell you – Oh
Rob is here today
1)
True Physically we all have an odor
that emanates from your life
C) But Spiritually you have a Smell as well / a
spiritual Fragrance that is going to emanate from your
life
1)
How
you smell Spiritually will depend upon your closeness to Christ
RD V. 14-17
Now despite all of Paul’s Struggles & afflictions he faced in ministry he saw in the mist of it all the Faithfulness of God
A)And in this section of scripture he gives this
word of Praise to the Lord who’s faithfulness was manifested – so clearly in
his life
B) Notice how he describes it in v. 14-16 thanks be
to God who ALWAYS leads us in triumph
in Christ,
1) ALWAYS : Not sometimes / not occasionally / not when he feels
like it
C) And Paul says in the mist of it all God is manifesting the Fragrance of Christ in our lives & thru our lives
See
It was a custom in the Roman Empire, when a conquering general returned from a
campaign over one of the enemies of Rome,
if he had fought a hard campaign and had thoroughly overcome the enemy, subduing the threat to Rome,/ the Roman Senate would meet and grant him a Triumph. A VICTORY PARADE
This would be equivalent to SUPER BOWL parade," A City gives to honor a triumphant TEAM / The streets would be filled with people shouting PRAISES
The
conquering ROMAN general would ride through the streets of Rome in his chariot,
Behind him would be the generals of his army, the captains and the commanders of his forces.
Then, there were
servants who carried censers filled with perfumes, burning incense, and other
fine materials that sent a sweet smelling aroma into the
air and onto the ground and into the crowds.
The Streets would be lined w/ flowers so that when
the army stepped on them – their scent would fill the air. So The
wonderful smell was everywhere.
This would have been quite a change from the animal smell
or the other ODORS that were common because of so many people living in such
crowded spaces.
Now To those conquering soldiers who had been in the field so long – that sweet aroma in the air would be the fragrance of life & Victory signaling a great triumphant feast was about to begin!!!
But, After the soldiers & the servants, came the
conquered. The fragrance meant something entirely different to them.
They would march
in chains, humiliated and defeated. These people were the leaders, conquered
generals, and other soldiers who had been captured.
They would BE
LED through the city until they reached
the capitol building. Some captives would be killed. Now to these prisoners in chains following the conquering
general's chariot, the fragrance of the incense was an odor of death- it
signaled that they were doomed!!!!!
But to those who were part of the Conquering army, and to the citizens of Rome who had been spared the threat to the city, that fragrance was a fragrance unto life.
Now
Paul had this scene in mind as he mind has he talked about the fragrance of
Christ being manifested in his life & ministry
A)Not just the sharing of the gospel but the sharing of his life Wherever Paul went, one could smell the sweetness & beauty of Jesus in what Paul was doing.
B) The beautiful character of Jesus was becoming evident through this pressure that was on him.
1) When Paul was Pressed the fragrance of Christ was being dispatched from his life /like the scent of those flowers being stepped on
C)
The same holds true for us - We all have the potential to be the fragrance of
Christ to those we come in contact w/
1)
To those who were believers – Aroma
of Life / Unbelievers the aroma of Death
Now
why this distinction & Contrast:
Why would we be the aroma of death to the Unbeliever
A)I think the simple answer is CONVICTION – in the gospel of John – Jesus says a similar thing – using illustration of light & darkness
John 3:18-21
18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who
does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the
light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light
and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who
does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that
they have been done in God."
B) Notice what Jesus says here: the light has come into the world & men loved darkness rather than light – because deeds were evil –
1) the light exposes their evil deeds
C) When a Christian who is in love w/ Jesus & is living for Holiness comes around those who are living in darkness / Practicing sin & rebellion
1) It is an uncomfortable thing for them– because that Christians love for God & righteous conduct – exposes their evil deeds & sin all the more
D)
So to the Unbeliever living in Sin the Fragrance of Christ in your life is the
aroma of death to them –
1) They are living in the Cow Pasture /smelling the manure pile / they have become content w/ the smell there – they don’t notice it anymore:
E)
But Know this the Fragrance of the Cow pasture doesn’t mix well w/ Sweet
perfume
1) The only way the person who is in the Cow pasture is going to appreciate the smell of sweet perfume is You have to take them out of the Cow Pasture
When
I was in Jr. high / Playing Basketball – game one day : sweated Profusely –
Stunk of B.O.
A)After the game I had to be some where so I was in a
hurry & I decided I wasn’t going to Shower / I’ll just put on some cologne
B) Street Clothes / Old Spice neck & Body – a
little extra{ Didn’t work
1)
It made it worse { Aroma of Death was present in me
C) Listen when someone needs a Shower all the perfume or Cologne in the world is only going to make matters worse
D) But when someone has showered & is Clean – a little perfume or cologne can go a long way { Enhance their Attractiveness
So
too when someone who has been washed in the Blood of Jesus Christ cleansed from
their sin / living in the light of the Lord/ bearing the FRAGRANCE OF CHRIST
A)Comes around others who have been washed & cleansed – It is the Fragrance or Life –
B) Reminder of What Christ has done / & Can do in the life of a Sinner saved by Grace { Reminder of How great HE IS!!!
C) QUESTION:
HOW DO WE OBTAIN THE FRAGRANCE OF CHRIST
1) Suggest to you 3 ways { Turn to John 12
1st
is Thru WORSHIP Jn 12 – Mary
A)Jesus is w/ his disciples in Bethany home of Mary…. Laz /
Sitting around the table after supper – Mary does something there that is
incredible : Jn12:3
Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard,
anointed the feet of Jesus, & wiped
His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
B) Very Costly act of Worship: Broke a Vase / Very humble wiped feet w/ her hair: The Fragrance that was on Jesus was on Mary
C)
Every where that Mary went she smelled like the Lord / She took w/ her the
Fragrance of Christ
1) True heart felt worship does that –
To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness
of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the
beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the
purpose of God.
William Temple
(1881-1944)
Worship helps us find who we are and why God has placed us
here on the earth. When we bow in God's presence with worship, only then are we
made complete. -- Judson Cornwall
Paul
was a Worshipper: It is hard to read Paul’s letters & not see that he was a
man who was Awestruck w/ the Lord
A)He constantly is describing the Lord w/ terms like
Exceedingly great / Unsearchable / Incomprehensible / Abounding
B) Paul was Stricken by grace / heart was captured by
love / He was enthralled w/ the Lord
C) Friday Morning: Beach prayer – Pelicans eyeing their target diving in head first w/
reckless abandonment
1)
Paul’s Eye was on the target – getting close to Jesus –
Pursued that w/ Reckless abandonment { What is your Target?
So
the first thing that is going to cause our lives to bear forth the Fragrance of
Christ is the degree that we are drawing near in worship
A)2ndly We bear the Fragrance of Christ as
we dig into the Lord’s Word
B) Jesus said you are
clean because of the word I have spoken to you
1)
The life of the Lord is – transfused to us thru his word
C) Every smell a baby’s head after a bath – Baby
Shampoo - comes
out smelling fresh & clean smelling like that Shampoo
1)
When
we bathe in the Word of God – We come forth from that time smelling like the
Lord
D) Not just reading: But Meditating / pondering /
chewing on: Lost art today
1)
But
it is that type of thing that causes us to smell like Jesus
E) Disciples had been w/ Jesus !!!!! { Where have
you been
1)
Leno
/ Letterman / Rush / Oprah / Dr. Phil
3rd Eph 5:2
Walking in Obedience
Eph 5:1-3
5:1 Therefore be imitators of God as
dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given
Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
A)Jesus lived a life of obedience to His heavenly
Father – His life was an offering that was like a sweet smelling aroma to God
B) The Fragrance of Christ life being marked by
obedience was a sweet Fragrance to the Lord
C) Paul exhorts us to be imitators of Christ as dear
Children { Hearts of love wanting to please the Lord – so that our own lives
have same aroma
1) If sin is in our life it gives off an odor that
is disgusting to God and we cannot come into His presence
A)Which allowed his life to send forth the Fragrance
of Christ even in his time of suffering / Pressed that is what came out
B) What fragrance comes forth when you are Pressed ?
A)John Mystical & Mysterious { Sweet &
Gentle
B) Peter – Bold & outspoken / Forthright Musk –
distinct Strong scent – But they could Tell they had been w/ Christ {
Not just John -
C) Courson{ Mystic : Raul { Tell it like it is