1) The Scent of a Christian to God
Jeremiah 48:11 - “Moab has been at ease since his youth; he has also been undisturbed, like wine on its dregs, and he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile. Therefore he retains his flavor, and his aroma has not been changed.”
Wine-making process:
1) Set the grape juice in a vessel
2) Lees settle on the bottom
3) Carefully pour of the top into another vessel
4) If left to settle on lees, batch ruined, scent is unpleasant.
From wine-making website:
It is perfectly okay to leave the wine on the lees for 3 months. Beyond that and the wine enters a danger zone caused by dead yeast cells breaking down - rotting. While this can cause off-flavors and odors if allowed to go on for too long, the bigger danger is the formation of hydrogen sulfide gas, which smells like rotten eggs and can be the death of the wine. But if the lees are stirred every week or so, neither the off-flavors nor hydrogen sulfide gas form.
Application for Today:
Yeast in the Old Testament is refered to as “leaven” which was used as a type of sin. Let God stir the wine of your life and it will prevent the gas forming which smells like rotten eggs. Hell is described as a place of fire and brimstone. Brimstone is sulfur which smells like rotting eggs. If sin is left undisturbed in your life you will develop the scent of Hell and death to God! Let God stir you, for He is the Master Wine-maker and knows the correct time to let the lees settle, how long before putting the wine in new skins (type: entering a new season/time spiritually) and when the wine is in the danger zone. Don’t become a stench to God!
2) The Scent of a Christian to the World
2 Corinthians 2:14 -17 - “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.
Application for Today:
The word “triumph” to the audience of the church in Corinth meant something pretty different than to a modern day American. Roman Triumphs were civil ceremonies and religious rites of the ancient community, held to honor the military commander of a notably successful foreign war and to display the glories of Roman victory.
Jesus is being honored with a triumph through the town, and we, as his troops get to join in! An interesting fact about the victor who was being led through the town on a chariot, he had a servant in the chariot with him who had a very important job - the whole length of the “parade” he had to whisper in his ear “You are just a man” to remind him not to get too puffed up with all the attention. In the same way, the church serves as a group of people who can also remind us to not get caught up in pride. The smell of a triumph was sweet - rose pedals were thrown in front of the parade from the onlookers (by the way, they shut down all businesses and government offices for the special day!) which all the people and horses in the procession would step on - what a sweet smell! Incense was also carried in the procession as this was a religious rite to eventually honor on the Roman gods. The incense and rose scent rose up to make the Triumph complete. The scent of Christians should permeate the city you’re in. Watch how you act and make sure you’re filled with the Fruit of the Spirit found in Galations. We are the fragrance of Christ both to God and to the city (Christians and non-Christians). To Christians we are the scent of life, and to non-Christians we are the scent of death. In the Roman Triumph the victor would have his spoils of war with him - including prisoners of war who would be hanged at the end of the parade. To the prisoners on the way to their death in moments, the smell of roses and incense was the smell of death. We are a constant reminder as Christians to the unsaved that at the end of the age they will enter Hell (death and eternal separation from God). Some non-Christians will be attracted to the scent while others find it unpleasant. In those cases you need to work extra hard - don’t get discouraged or offended - it’s your scent as a Christian.
God put in humans the the Five Senses. Of all of them, the most powerful (as told to us by science) is scent as our brain remembers it the most.
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