F Is For Fragrant Series

Introduction

1. There is a saying that goes, “Old Fishermen never die, they just smell that way”...

we are really tuned in to our sense of smell...

coming up on Thanksgiving, you might be noticing some of the wonderful smells emanating from the kitchen...

the smell of homemade bread baking in the oven...

The smell of chocolate chip cookies...

the smell of bacon frying...

even the smell of coffee brewing...

these are very pleasing smells to many people...

people who have studied these things tell us that our sense of taste is largely driven by our sense of smell...

and when we catch a cold and have a stuffed up nose...

often food doesn’t taste the same to us.

In fact, there is a “Sense of Smell Institute”1 that claims 80% of the taste of the food...is derived from our sense of smell.

Did you know that . . .

The average human being is able to recognize approximately 10,000 different odors?

Dogs can recognize about 200,000 different odors.

I’ve heard that little boys can make about 300,000 different odors.

Did you know that . . .

A woman’s sense of smell is better than a man’s?

I guess that explains why my wife changed most of the diapers when our children were young.

Did you know that . . .

Everyone has his or her own unique odor-identity or “smell fingerprint.

No two people have the exact same odor-identity or “smell fingerprint” which is determined by many factors including: our genes, skin type, diet, medicine, our mood and even the weather.

And while there are some smells that we really like...

there are also some smells that can really turn us off...

the smell of someone’s stinky feet...

on occasion, I have to tell one of my kids to go wash his feet and put on shoes and socks because his feet stink!!

Sometimes, driving down the road, we will get a whiff of a dead animal rotting on the roadside...

and it is not a very pleasant small...

skunks have a defensive weapon that you all are familiar with...

they use this terrible odor to scare away predators...

2. As we continue our study of “The ABCs and XYZs of the Bible”...

we come to the letter “F”...F is for Fragrant or fragrance...

According to the dictionary...fragrant is an adjective that means having a sweet or pleasing smell...

fragrance is a noun that refers to a sweet or delicate odor...

and it also refers to certain items that are mixed together to create a perfume...

“oh, what is that fragrance you are wearing?”...

One of the big industries in our world is the perfume and cologne industry.

The creators of different perfumes and colognes have learned that they can generate a tremendous amount of money!

If you have gone out to buy a nice smelling, new bottle of perfume…you’ve found out that they’re not cheap!

There are 8000 fragrances or perfumes available on the market.

They have about 3000 different ingredients ranging from fruits, flowers, woods and animal musk, that they can mix in different combinations...

The most expensive ingredient is musk, which is the secretion produced by a male elk in some remote part of the world.

Musk is sold at the staggering price of $75,000 a kilo!

In some magazines these days . . .

you will come across a special advertisement about a certain fragrance . . . a new cologne or perfume . . .

and with the page folded back and when you peel back the flap . . .

you break a special seal that releases a sample smell of that particular fragrance that they want you to buy.

3. We find the words fragrant and fragrance in Scripture appearing over 40 times...

it is found in both the Old and New Testaments...

and in our study of the words “fragrant and fragrance”...

we will find that we as Christians have our own special fragrance...

and I’m not talking about that perfume that the person sitting next to you is wearing!

Read Text: Ephesians 5:1-2, Phil. 4:18, 2 Corinthians 2:14-16

1. A Fragrant Offering: Burnt Offerings Genesis 8:20-22

A. Here in Genesis, we see that a burnt offering provides a pleasing aroma for God...

Now, at first look...you wouldn’t think about a burnt offering smelling good...

when we burn things in the kitchen...

we aren’t always so pleased with ourselves...

But here in this story of Noah...

God had seen that all the people of the world had become sinful...

The only exception being Noah and his family...

And God became so disgusted that He regretted creating us...

But, instead of just totally wiping us off the face of the planet...

God worked out a way to punish the sinners...

and to save the righteous...