What Do You Smell Like?

What Do You Smell Like 10/27/02

2 Corinthians 2:14-17

There are good smells like fresh bread out of the oven or the smell of a little baby or a new car. Those are good smells. Then you have bad smells like sulfur or spoiled milk or other things that I’m not privileged to speak about. Walk in our nursery sometimes and you will know what I mean.

Here in our text it talks about fragrance. It speaks of good fragrance and bad fragrance. We are crated in Gods own image and God has a nose.

Genesis 8:20, “Then Noah built an altar unto the LORD; and took of every

clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma; Then the LORD said in His heart, I will never again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done”.

He liked what he smelled from the burnt offerings from Noah.

So today we are going to talk about the things that God would say smells good and the things that God would say smells bad. And then I want you to ask yourself, “What do you smell like?”

Sometimes I think that God looks at the church and says that stinks.

Revelation 3:15-16, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot: I could wish you were cold or hot. So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”

Have you ever gone to get a drink of water only to have it to be warm? What is the response? You spit it out? That is what the Bible is talking about. Jesus has no use for a lukewarm church. A lukewarm church does feel it has the need for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The lukewarm church is not really doing anything that wrong, it’s what they’re not doing. It’s their lack of commitment to our Lord and Savior that is the problem.

There was a time that my son Seth was taking a shower. Hope told him to be sure to wash his hair. Well Seth didn’t, so he douses his self with Hopes cologne, Eternity at $ 50 a bottle, to cover his lack of obedience. Hope didn’t think she was ever going to get the smell off of him. That is what a lot of Christians do. They stink of disobedience and they try to cover that smell with scent of good works to cover their stench. It didn’t work for Seth and it won’t work for you either.

One of the things that smells bad to God is lack of commitment. Lack of commitment stinks.

Ask yourself, do you see lack of commitment in this church. Do you see lukewarm Christians? Are you one of them? If so, then you need to do as it says in Revelation 3:19, be zealous and repent. Get off your can and get on fire for God.

When you make a commitment to God and you don’t fulfill that commitment to the very best of your ability then that stinks. If you commit to work, doing some duty in the church then you need to do it the best of your ability. Consider it as if you were performing your duties at your work or home. You need to show up on time, show up prepared, and be committed to the job God has given you to do. How many of us would still have our jobs if we preformed them the way we perform our Spiritual jobs?

When you don’t do your job properly it causes others to pick up the slack, causing them not to do their jobs properly.

People always assume that if they are slack or get burnt out that they can neglect their duties and someone else will pick up the slack.

Have you heard about the church that needed someone to do something? Everyone thought that someone would do it, someone thought every body else would do it, but in the end it was nobody that ended up doing it. That stinks!

Lack of commitment in your prayer life and your Bible reading stinks. Compare it to the relationship in a good marriage. How would your marriage be if you only spent a few minutes a week, communicating with your spouse? We need to daily seek His face.

James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”.

Jesus longs for a relationship with you, but in order to do that you have to commit to picking up the cross daily.

Lack of commitment in your church attendance stinks.