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...
And God gave them every opportunity...
Noah preached for many years about the coming judgment...
and no one responded except for his family...
And you know the story...
Noah built the ark and the earth was inundated with water from above and water from below...
and Noah and his family, along with thousands of animals sailed safely above the deluge...
B. When God had cleansed the earth of its sinfulness...
and the waters receded...
and Noah and his family and all those animals left the ark...
speaking of smell...
I’m sure that after being shut up in that ark with all those animals sure started to stink after awhile...
The first thing that Noah does is to build an altar to the Lord... and sacrifice burnt offerings on it...
Scripture tells us that the Lord smelled the burnt offering...
and it was pleasing to Him...
and in fact, our Scripture seems to be saying that it was after Noah sacrificed the burnt offerings...
that the Lord noticed the pleasing aroma...
and based on that, He decided that He would never destroy all living creatures as He did during the flood.
2. A Fragrant Offering: Jesus’ death on the cross Ephesians 5:1-2
A. In Genesis, we see a burnt offering that provides a pleasing aroma to God...
and throughout the Old Testament, you will find different offerings and anointing oils that provide a pleasing aroma to God...
But here in the New Testament...
we see a different kind of “burnt offering”...
burnt offerings in the Old Testament were offered for the sins of the people...
And if it wasn’t for the sacrifice of Jesus...
I suppose we would still be sacrificing animals and doing burnt offerings for the sins of the people...
But Ephesians tells us that Jesus loved us...
and in fact, He loved us so much that He gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering...
a sacrifice to God...
B. Jesus is the sin offering...
Scripture refers to Jesus as “the Lamb of God”...
and like a lamb was sometimes offered on an altar for the sins of the people...
So Christ, God’s Lamb, was offered up as a sacrifice on a different type of altar...
on the cross....
The stench of sin was finally covered over by the pleasing aroma of a sacrifice of love.
3. A fragrant Offering: Gifts to others Phil. 4:18
A. Here in Philippians, Paul is praising God for the gifts that he has received from the Christians from Philippi...
In verse15, Paul tells them than not one church helped him in his missionary work...
Except for the Philippi Church of the Nazarene...
No...I realize that the Church of the Nazarene hadn’t been born yet...
But, if we had, I’m sure we would have been strong supporters Paul’s missionary work...
I’m proud to be a part of a denomination that gives and supports and send missionaries around the world to continue the work of evangelizing the entire world.
B. The interesting thing here is...
The fragrant offering isn’t a dove or a bull that has been sacrificed upon the altar for the sins of the people...
and it isn’t referring to the death of Jesus on the cross for the sins of the world...
Here in Philippians, Paul calls the money that he has received:
“a fragrant offering”
“an acceptable sacrifice”...
pleasing to God”
I’m sure that the gift was pleasing to Paul...
and he writes this letter to them in order to thank them for their gift...
But Paul indicated that their gift was pleasing to GOD...
When we bring our offerings and put them into the offering plate...
we aren’t bringing them and giving them to the pastor...
although you do pay me to be your pastor...
and we aren’t bringing them and giving them to our Nazarene missionaries ...
although you do pay missionaries to spread the Gospel in places that it would be difficult for your or I to go to...
but instead, you are bringing your offerings to God...
The next time you put your tithe check into the offering plate...
I want you to picture it as a fragrant offering...
an acceptable sacrifice...
a pleasing aroma that is lifted up to God.
Conclusion
1. 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
Paul calls the knowledge of God a beautiful fragrance...
and that knowledge of God is released through his ministry like a wonderful perfume...
Christians are to be a beautiful fragrance...
a pleasing aroma...
we become the sweet fragrance of Christ wherever we go...
As the Gospel of Christ permeates our hearts and our lives...
we become a sweet perfume in our world...
2. Dr. Charles Weigle wrote the song “No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus”...
He was visiting Pasadena, California...
and he took the opportunity to go for an early morning walk...
and as he walked, he happened upon some of the famous rose gardens of Pasadena and he enjoyed the wonderful fragrance of the flowers...
later that afternoon, he went to a hotel where he was supposed to speak at a conference...
and the man sitting next to him turned and said,
“Dr. Weigle, I know where you have been, you took a walk through one of our lovely rose gardens, because I can smell the pleasing aroma on your clothes.”
Dr. Weigle later wrote, “My prayer is that I may walk so close to the Lord so that the fragrance of His grace will pervade by being. I want them to know by my words and actions and songs that I have been with Jesus”
Did you know that Queen Esther spent a year bathing in perfumes and oils just to spend 5 minutes with the King?...
We need to spend time each day with the Lord...
so that the fragrance of Jesus follows us everywhere we go.
3. Not everyone will recognize the beautiful aroma...
Paul tells us that there are those who will find the aroma of Christ very displeasing...
to those who have chose to walk away from Christ...
we become the smell of death...
but to those who are being saved...we are the fragrance of life!!
4. Well, we all need to learn our ABCs...
and one that we as Christians should certainly apply to our lives is the letter F...for fragrance...
Burnt offerings for the sins of the people became a pleasing aroma to God...
and when Jesus was sacrificed for the sins of the world...
He was a pleasing fragrance that covers the stench of death...
As we know Christ better...we become the pleasing aroma of Christ.
As we serve and give and minister in His Name...
we impact other people to come to know Christ...
and it is like a pleasing aroma to God.
We be, like Paul, be able to say, “through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ”
