WHAT’S THAT SMELL?
2 Peter 2:20-22 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”
Introduction
THE ROLE OF GOD IN MY SALVATION
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are the Architect of the Plan of Salvation. John 3:16 is the “condensed version” of the plan.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
THE ROLE OF ME IN MY SALVATION
I want you to listen to this very carefully: My role, in my salvation, was not in knowing Jesus’ part in my being saved for eternity, even though that is key…my role in my salvation was knowing who I am.
Let me explain.
• God knew and understood what he created when he made man to have dominion in all that He created.
• God knew that in forging a great people, while in slavery under Pharoah, they would reject Him.
• God knew that they needed a savior.
• God knew that his chosen people would praise him when the death angel passed over their house on that night that gave them salvation from the Egyptians, would curse him at the water’s edge.
• God knew that they would give Him praise when he made a way of salvation through the dry ground of the Red Sea, that they would curse Him for bringing them to a barren land with no available water.
• God knew that the people would praise him for salvation through refreshing waters that they would curse Him for no food.
• God knew that the people would praise Him for full bellies but curse Him when Moses was on the mountain for forty days.
• God judged the unbelievers.
Now back to “knowing who I am.”
Knowing who I am in God’s plan of salvation is more than a “head or heart” knowledge that Jesus:
• Was born of a virgin
• Led a perfect, no sin life
• Died on a cross with my sins placed upon His “sin free” human body.
• Was placed in a borrowed tomb
• Rose on the third day
• Is coming back for me on day
I must know who I am, just as David come to this same conclusion: “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”
Turn in your bibles to the book of Psalms
Psalm 8:1-4 “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
God knew that man would fall to sin for God inspired King Solomon of the Old Testament and the apostle Paul of the New Testament to write:
King Solomon
Proverbs 26:11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.
And
Proverbs 14:14 The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.
The apostle Paul:
Romans 3:10-12 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
And later in that same chapter:
Romans 3:23-25 “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it - the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”
I Am Not Righteousness
This is the understanding of what it takes for a man, woman, boy, or girl to be saved. And that is the point that I needed to understand. I must know who I am. I am a vile, sin-filled, wretched man that is in desperate need of Salvation.
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
As a Christian, I Return To My Own Vomit!
That is not the most pleasant of mental pictures this morning. But I get the point. As disgusting as it is to see a dog lap up what they just vomited, is much the same action that believers take when they return to the “old ways” that are in opposition to what the LORD would have for us.
One of the saddest things in the world is to see a person who has known the love, grace, and power of God, return to living the life they had before receiving Christ. We typically call these people, “Backsliders”.
From the point of our salvation, our relationship with Christ should strengthen, expand and embrace the desire to be more like our Savior day by day. Many times in the scriptures, we are told that our relationship to Christ is like the relationship between the bride and groom (2 Corinthians 11:2). The Christian life is a journey, and from time to time we find our journey takes us back to the point where it all began…the pig pin of our life. From a close relationship with Christ to the hog pen of our previous life is never instantaneous.
We make deliberate decisions to move away from God. There are warning signs everywhere, but the sliding away from the life that God has in mind for us requires ignoring of all the warnings along the way.
1. There is a desensitizing to the desires and voice of the Holy Spirit.
2. Backsliding is a prolonged, and purposeful disobedience on our part.
Smells I have known.
I had an uncle that lived in Brighton, Colorado. If you are not from or familiar with northern Colorado, you wouldn’t know about the city. Brighton is known for its feedlots. People from Colorado, and Wyoming send their cattle here to be fed and then sold. Whenever we would visit them, I could never get over the overwhelming smell of the feed lots and yet none of my cousins seemed to know what I was talking about when I asked them about the smell.
Another smell, that I like by the way, is the smell of fresh baked bread and donuts. Oh how that smell can welcome you in the morning and cause your taste buds to begin flowing. For a very short time I dated a girl by the name of Susie. Her dad owned a donut shop in town. We didn’t last long because every time I was around her, all I could smell were the donuts.
I was in the fourth grade when our science class took a field trip to the Water Treatment Facility in Thornton, CO. The first part of the day involved us taking a tour of the facility that distributed drinking water to the homes and businesses. People wore white lab coats and looked like scientists. Everything was “spick and span” clean. There were lots of lights, buttons and gauges – it was very impressive (especially when you are 10). After this part of the trip we ate a brown bag lunch in the park.
Oh but the afternoon was quite different from our morning tour. The second half of our trip was a tour of the sewer waste. The smell of that filled our little nostrils was more than I wanted to take in. We were met by a man in coveralls with large knee high rubber boots. He was wearing a yellow hard hat and had safety goggles over his eyes. There were three very large ponds filled with this dark brownish mixture and I found out that this was the origin of the stench. We were led to the railing that overlooked the ponds and saw thousands of gallons of human waste being processed. Never before and never since has my nose experienced what it did that day.
The common theme in these examples is that those working around the environment, got used to the smell. The smell of the feedlot, donut shop and treatment plant never went away. But those involved just went about their lives like the smell didn’t matter or affect them.
The “getting accustomed” to something is the natural first steps when a believer backslides. Backsliding away from Christ is like taking a job processing human waste. The first day at the job everything is repulsive, but because you frequent the location you become accustomed to the environment, until one day it doesn’t bother you anymore. Scary!
Romans 6:8-12 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
This morning, hear the preaching of Peter.
2 Peter 2:20-22 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
Can you see Peter this morning? As you sit in this Family Life Center, can you envision Peter writing these words…these events that took place in his life?
It was Peter that proclaimed, “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” John 16:15-16
It was Peter that cried out to Jesus: “And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.” Mt 14:28-29
It was Peter who spat out: “Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.”
Peter understood the defilements that the world holds. The ways of the world are an “entanglement” to living the Christin walk.
The apostle Paul wrote on the subject of a believer falling away.
Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF RETURNING TO THE VOMIT?
• Are there goals, priorities or relationships in your life more important than Jesus?
• Are there sins that just don’t bother you like they used to?
• Are there lines that are easier to cross now?
• Is it easier to justify certain things to yourself than it used to be?
• Is your worship, prayer and praise to God becoming less radical, less frequent and less necessary?
• Is it easier to remember lines from your favorite films than your favorite scriptures?
• Would it surprise someone to find out you are a Christian?
If you answered yes to any of these signs, chances are you are getting used to the smell of the world again.
Do you have friends or family members who smoke cigarettes or cigars? As clean as some smokers are, it is very difficult to get the smell completely washed away. After all, it is in their body. Non-smokers, normally find it very easy to pick up the scent of nicotine on someone else.
Sin is our enemy. Sin is the reason Jesus died on the cross.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
This message is not directed to those who have never had a relationship with Christ, but to those who have and do.
You may be the prodigal son – God the Father loves you regardless of the sin in your life or the righteous deeds you perform. He loves us unconditionally. Our lives, however, bear the repercussions of the sins we commit.
Forgiveness of sin by God does not negate the law of sowing and reaping in our lives.
• Adultery can be forgiven – but you will still have to deal with your marriage
• Theft can be forgiven – but you may still have to deal with the justice system
• Lying can be forgiven – but you will still have to deal with those to whom you have lied
• Every sin can be forgiven – there are always consequences to deal with
Proverbs 6:16-19 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.
Wake Up!
God’s mercy is new every morning. His faithfulness is great. Regardless of how far you have gone or how long you have been gone you still have a seat at the Father’s table. Can I get an Amen!
What does coming back to Christ involve?
• It involves repentance and humility.
• It involves faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and acceptance of His forgiveness.
• It involves a cleansing by the Holy Spirit and the renewing of your mind with the Word of God.
• It involves an ongoing relationship with God.
Conclusion
I have a message for you today. It has taken me a lifetime in service to my Lord and Savior to come to this resolution.
THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IS NOT THE SALVATION OF THE BELIEVER. THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IS TRUE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD!
This message is only to incite one thing: A closer walk with Jesus. Does this sound familiar?
You start off your day with reading your bible. You spend time with God, and therefore your day is off to on a positive, spiritual note...
And then life hits you square in the face. At the end of the day, you realize that the day took charge of you plans and you realize that all the plans you made to walk with Jesus has been erased. You sware that tomorrow will be different, but its not. Life takes charge of your day, and the Lord is second, third, or worse on your new priority list.
We end up the day realizing that we are not closer in our walk with the Savior. We have actually taken steps away from Him.
As believers, we have this longing to walk, talk, and have a closer relationship with God... but our busyness and distractions of our everyday life just gets in the way.
We ach to have a meaningful prayer life and closer walk with the Savior. How do we make Jesus a top priority in our already “priority filled” lives?
The front door of the God’s house in the New Testament is very similar to His front door in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament the first stop in God’s house was the altar, where sacrifice was made for sin. In the New Testament our first stop is always the cross, where Jesus Christ paid the price for the penalty of our sins.
Sinners need a Savior, and His name is Jesus. Backsliders have a Savior and need to come home.
If you are coming back to Christ from a place that doesn’t smell like heaven – come back to the cross.
Maybe, this morning, what we all need is a heavy dose of “Knowing the Goodness of God.
