CHRISTIAN SCENTS…. 7/13/2008 (Intercession City Community Wesleyan)
2 COR. 2:14-16
2 Corinthians is Paul’s defense of his actions and apostleship. It seems that since his first letter to the Corinthians, what has happened, is that false teachers had come into town and were discrediting Paul and his message. They claimed that he was not a true apostle, and the gospel he was preaching was not true, and that he was not even qualified to preach this gospel. So, Paul has sent Titus to Corinth to take care of these issues. And he does. This letter is Paul’s letter to the Corinthians expressing his gratitude for their change of heart, and to appeal the few who are still not convinced that Paul is not qualified to be an apostle and preach the gospel. This is a deeply personal book. Paul opens up his heart and pours it all out to the Corinthians. Through this book we can see the true heart of an apostle. We can see the heart, attitude, and mind set, that we as Christians must demonstrate. The same things that qualify Paul as a Christ follower, a person to spread the gospel and share God’s Word are the same things that qualify us. We come in at the beginning of his defense…
v. 14….
This passage is full of imagery and word-pictures.
Here Paul alludes to the Roman custom of celebrating a triumph in battle.
When a Roman general returned victorious from battle, after gaining new lands, obtaining contraband, and capturing its citizens, he would be met with a great procession. The general would ride in a gold chariot. He would be followed by his soldiers, the senate magistrates, musicians, priests, and captives. The priests carried censers filled with burning incense, that let off fragrances in honor of the god, Jupiter. Some commentators suggest that people would throw flowers onto the road, and as the procession trampled over them their scent would be released into the air. This scent, this fragrance, could be smelled throughout the town, the procession was coming! Everyone knew what this scent meant. To the Roman soldiers this scent meant life, victory, celebration. To the captives it meant death and destruction.
As Christians we have a part, both, as a victor, and as a captive.
It is our victory to be taken captive, to be captured, by Christ. Paul says it is our privilege to be led in the victory “procession” of Christ. It is our joy to fight for the cause of Christ, because we get the privilege of following in his train, or procession. It is no matter what difficulties or trials may come our way, we are led by a conquerer. Our main interest should be, that our lives are taken captive by Christ, and we remain captivated by Him.
He has total control of our lives. We no longer have to be anxious, or worry, we have been captured by a conquerer. Our plans, goals, ambitions, lives are now controlled by a Victorious Christ.
One commentator stated this verse literally reads to, “Take captive so as to preserve alive.” If it was not for Christ pursuing, and capturing us we would be dead in our sins, we would be bound for eternal damnation. But, if Christ has captured us, He has captured us to live. We can have life!
Oswald Chambers says this, “It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. The Victor ought to have got us so completely that it is His victory all the time, and we are more than conquerors through Him.”
We should count it all joy to be conquered by Christ!
v. 15…..
These verses demonstrate more imagery and word-pictures. Here we see the image of a sweet smelling perfume or fragrance.
As I studied this scripture, I studied a little about perfumes. I found a few interesting facts about perfume that I think will make Paul’s word-picture clear to us.
-During the Renaissance period, perfumes were used by royalty and the wealthy to mask body odors resulting from the sanitary practices of the day (no baths).
-Perfumes are created by mixing different scent (scent categories) together. The categories are a mixture of Floral, Oriental, Woody, and Fresh (and their sub categories, soft, mossy, citrus, etc.).. Due to the fact that the undiluted oils are toxic and unstable, they are diluted with a solvent. The concentration of the solvent produces a different level of fragrance (perfume extract, Eau de Parfum, Eau de Toilette, Eau de Cologne). “As the percentage of aromatic compounds increases, so does the intensity and longevity of the scent created.”
-A lot of fragrances today are synthetic, as opposed to natural/organic. However, the synthetic scents are extracted from the raw material and purified. There are several methods used to accomplish this.
-Maceration: raw materials are submerged in a solvent that can dissolve the desired aromatic compounds.
-Distillation: raw material is heated and the fragrant compounds are re-collected through condensation of the distilled vapor.
-Expression: raw material is squeezed or compressed and the oils are collected.
-Enfleurage: aromatic materials are absorbed in wax and then extracted with ethyl alcohol.
-A perfume’s fragrant oils are then blended with ethyl alcohol and water, aged in tanks for a minimum of 14 days and filtered through processing equipment to remove andy sediment and particles before the solution can be filled into perfume bottles.
-Proper preservation of perfumes involve keeping them away from sources of heat and storing them where they will not be exposed to light. An opened bottle will keep its aroma intact for up to a year, as long as it is full or nearly so, but as the level goes down, the presence of oxygen in the air that is contained in the bottle will alter the perfume’s smell character, eventually distorting them.
By understanding a little about the processes of perfume we can more clearly see why Paul would use this analogy. Perfumes have to go through this great process before we can purchase the finished product. Different items that create the scent have to be collected, then the scent has to be extracted, then the mixture endures an aging and filtering process, then the finished product. Now that we have the finished product, it still has to be properly preserved or it will lose its scent.
Let’s apply these principles to the Christian life.
Before our lives are conquered by Christ we are living in sin, on a path to eternal death. We are covered by the scent of death, the stink of sin. A lot of people never get out of the stink, because the people their around, they activities they conduct are all covered in the same stink. So nobody complains or notices anything wrong.
[ILL. Like camping, you don’t get a good shower for a weekend, but nobody cares because nobody gets a shower, everyone’s dirty and stinks.]
Then something happens. We get tired of living in our stink or someone comes along whose life is filled with a beautiful fragrance. We decide that is what we want. So, we give our lives to Christ, we let him conquer us, and begin to follow in His victory procession (v. 14). Our scent is starting to sweeten.
Just as perfume must go through a process to have the scents extracted from them, processes of heat, pressure, various stresses, submersion, absorption; so it is in the Christian life. It’s not always easy to gain this fragrance. We are constantly going through trial in our life, things that come up, setbacks (we feel), tragedies. As we overcome these things in our life, our scent gets stronger. We continually grow in our relationship, and knowledge of Christ. As perfume must go through an aging and filtering process, so must our Christian walk. The more time we spend submerged in God’s word, the closer to Him we become. As a young Christian we are probably going to do things that may not bring honor to Christ. But as time goes on and we continue to grow in Christ, we realize the things that bring God honor in our life, and we strive to be holy as Christ is holy. It’s the aging and filtering process. Our scent becomes sweeter.
As perfume must be properly preserved, in the right environmental conditions, in order to maintain its scent; so Christians must preserve their scent. We must maintain our faith. Just as perfume scent affected by its environment, our scent as Christians is affected by our environment. It’s affected by the people we hang out with, the things we watch, the things we read, the things we hear. Everyday we work in the stink of the sin of our culture and society. As Christian we are called to be in the world. So, a lot of times we can’t help to be around some of these adverse environmental conditions. That is why it is important for us as Christians to be the church, to come together on a regular basis. Because we are affected by our environment. The more time we can spend in an aromatic environment, people who share our same good scent, the easier it will be for us to maintain that scent.
O.T.
I believe we can really grasp this concept of being a fragrance if we look at the Old Testament principles of sacrifice, burnt incense and fragrance.
As the Israelites were on their journey from Egypt to The Promised Land, God desired their worship, so he commanded Moses to build a tabernacle where the people could come and offer sacrifices fro atonement, and worship God. The tabernacle had to be constructed according to specifications given to Moses from God. The tabernacle had several different items inside, one of those items was the Altar of Incense. Everything to do with the Tabernacle and the altars, could be a several week long series, it’s all very interesting. However, I just want to focus, for our purposes this morning, on the Altar of Incense. I think that it will help us to realize the importance and desired impact of Paul’s message to the Corinthians.
Exodus 30: 1-10 (description of the Altar of Incense)…
“The altar is especially holy to the Lord.” (v. 10). The incense burned on this altar wasn’t just any scent or fragrance. It wasn’t just anything you can burn that will produce a scent.
Exodus 30: 34-38
This was a special mixture, a mixture concocted from ingredients commanded by God. The various spices, and extracts, and plants were mixed in a specific way. You see God required this fragrance to be set apart for worship to Him. This fragrance was consecrated for a special purpose.
[ILL. Construction of the Tabernacle- Outer Court, Inner Court, Holy of Holies (separated by veil)]
It is interesting to note that in the process of creating this fragrance they would mix a type of salt with it that would create a visible cloud (smoke). This fragrant cloud would rise and penetrate the veil, which separated the divine Presence from the ministering priesthood. This would be indicative of human devotion ascending to God’s dwelling place.
In Leviticus (and throughout) God calls the burnt offering an “aroma pleasing to the Lord.” This was such an aroma to God, because the whole burnt offering was an atonement offering, it represented entire consecration to the Lord.
As Christians we are called to be holy. And this is our fragrance. We are consecrated to Christ. We are set apart for a special purpose. We dedicate our lives to be used for only one thing, the Kingdom of Christ.
We see this fragrant cloud rising and penetrating the veil in the Tabernacle. We see the cloud representing devotion ascending to the place where God dwells. This is what God requires of a fragrant Christian. Total devotion and sacrifice. Devotion and sacrifice that reaches to where He dwells. Sacrificing our own plans, ambitions, and desires; for a life of total devotion to Christ. Devoting our live to His plans, His will, His purposes.
We can also see the image of the priest working all day. He’s working in the outer court, offering sacrifices for the people. The people come and lay an animal (representative of their sins) on the altar, the priest kills the animal and lets the blood flow over the altar, then he burns it. What a stench filled place. The constant stink of dead animals, blood, sweat, and burning. However, at the beginning and end of each day the priest would step, out of that death stench outer court, and into the inner court where he would burn sweet smelling fragrant incense.
As fallen and sinful humans, we are covered with the stink of sin and death, however, as we sacrifice our lives to Christ, we step into the inner court of life and sweet fragrance. We step from death into life.
Giorgio Armani, “Subtle and sensual, a fragrance should be an aura that surrounds us.”
Does the fragrance and aura of Christ surround us?
“For to God we are the fragrance of Christ….”
v. 16…
There are people in the world who want nothing to do with the fragrance of Christ. To them our sweet fragrance is death, they want to stay away from it. They harden their hearts. Paul was saying that, after all he had preached, and all the effort and work he put in, to evangelize the Corinthians, some want nothing to do with it. To them Paul’s message was death. In our daily walk with Christ we are going to come into contact with these kind of people. No matter how much we talk to them about Christ, or how much we do for them or live out the Christ life in front of them, they are dead. They have hardened their hearts.
But to the people who hear our message, the Corinthians who took Paul’s message to heart, the scent is an aroma of life. Paul’s question at the end of the verse is “Who is competent for this?” It’s not by Paul’s preaching, or our talking about Christ to these people, or our working, and showing the love of Christ through a servants heart that these people will come into the sweet fragrance of Christ. But, it is by the Holy Spirit working in hearts and lives that will make the difference.
v. 17…
These are the false teachers that Paul is referring to, and writing in response to. These teachers were preaching Christ, for profit. In this time, public speaking or rhetoric, was a big form of entertainment. So, these teachers would teach Christ to make money and in order to make money they preached only what the people wanted to hear. It was a watered down gospel. The word Paul uses to describe these people is the word “huckster”. These were merchants who cheated their customers. They would mix wine with water, and sell it as pure wine, or they would mix good commodities with bad, good fruit on top, and bad fruit on the bottom, and sell it all as good, top quality.
Paul says, we never made any profit from you. We only preached the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
As Christians it is our duty and responsibility to share and spread the gospel of Christ. And as we talk to people (our friends), we need to be careful to present a sincere picture of Christ, and not a watered down gospel that we think our friends would like to hear. Everybody thinks that as long as they stick to what they believe then they will go to Heaven. But, that’s not true. It’s our duty to tell our unsaved friends that they are wrong. That there is only one way to Heaven.
CONCLUSION
Here we see the beginning of an apostle, Paul, open up and pour out his heart to a people that he loved and ministered to. We see the beginning of Paul’s defense of his apostleship, and qualifications to speak the Truth. We see, through Paul, a picture of what our heart, as Christ followers, should be.
We are to consider it a great honor that Christ has captured our heart. That we are captives of a great Victor. Our capturer is a victorious leader. By continuing as His captive we will be Victorious in our lives as Christians.
We are to be a holy, and consecrated, sweet fragrance to a world drowning in a stench of death.
It is our responsibility to spread this fragrance. However, we can not spread this fragrance alone, it is only through Christ, and the Holy Spirit, that the spreading of Christ’s fragrance is effective.
