It’s time once again for Biblically Speaking, a podcast taking material from God’s Word and making it relevant to those living in the world today. I am your speaker, Jeremy Butt and I look forward to making the journey with you from biblical learning to practical living.
As an introduction to today’s lesson, I ask the following question. Have you ever been to a steakhouse where before you enter the restaurant the fragrant aroma of the steaks cooking on the grill tantalizes your sense of smell? That pleasurable smell makes you want to go inside to see what the steakhouse has to offer. If the smell coming from the grill was not pleasant, you might not accept the offer to eat at that establishment. Years ago, my family ate at the Big Texan in Amarillo, TX. Prior to entering the restaurant patrons are smacked in the face with the aroma of a nearby stockyard. Needless to say, that’s not the best aroma to smell prior to entering a restaurant. A Soothing aroma creates an environment of acceptance from the one who receives it. Did you know that God wants our sacrifices to Him to be a soothing aroma? The title of today’s podcast is A Soothing Aroma. Please open your Bibles to Gen. 8:20-22.
When Noah stepped off the ark to make the first sacrifice to God after the flood, the Lord smelled the soothing aroma. He was pleased with the offering that Noah had made. After the establishment of the Law of Moses burnt offerings were made which were a soothing aroma to the Lord as well (Ex. 29:18, 25). We live in a time when the burnt offerings are no longer made, because the last sacrifice requiring the lifeblood of an unblemished offering was the Son of God upon the cross of calvary (Heb. 10:10). If that was the last sacrifice requiring death, what type of sacrifices can we offer today?
Paul says our bodies are to be presented to the Lord every day as a “living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Rom. 12:1). Everything we do no matter what day it happens to be should be an offering to God. It seems that if we would have this in mind we may avoid some of the daily activities in which we are involved. Everything in life is not worship, per se (such as brushing our teeth or changing our clothes), but we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice in service to Him every day. Christ purchased the church with His own blood (Acts 20:28), and since we were bought with a price, we are to glorify God with our bodies (1 Cor. 6:20).
Some people think that once they leave the church house on Sunday morning that they don’t have to be religious again until next Sunday morning. That concept is foreign to Scripture. Just because we have gathered to worship God on Sunday doesn’t give us the license to diminish our vocabulary by using bad four letter words, nor does it mean that we can treat people however we see fit. Those of us who are members of the body of Christ are representatives of Him wherever and whenever we go. The life that we live on Monday through Saturday should reflect our attitude toward God that we display on Sunday.
Unfortunately, hypocrites in the church is a big reason some avoid being a part of the body of Christ. Here’s a quote given to me by my good brother, Jonathan Jones: “if you let a hypocrite stand between you and God, the hypocrite is closer to God than you are.” Hypocrisy shows its ugly face even in the lives of God’s people at times. “The church is made up of people, and people will let you down.” This was some advice my uncle, Stan Butt gave me before I took the job here at West 7th, and it’s oh so true. Because of this, the church needs to be continually taught what it means to offer our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God.
A while back I preached a sermon titled “Are You a Smelly Skunk or a Fragrant Flower?” The lesson was designed to decipher whether our daily sacrifice was a soothing aroma to God or whether it was unpleasant to Him. Let’s all make sure we are offering the kinds of sacrifices to God that are well-pleasing to Him. Jesus said in Jn. 8:29 “I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” Let us live our lives in such a way that we’ll be able to hear from the Lord that He has been well-pleased with us at the time of Judgment (Mt. 25:21).
Based on how you are living your life right now, can you say beyond the shadow of a doubt that your daily sacrifice is a soothing aroma to God? John tells us in 1 Jn. 5:13 “these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” Based on the fact that we can know that we’re saved, we ought to be able to recognize whether or not the aroma from our sacrifice is soothing or putrid. What kind of sacrifice are you offering on a daily basis? Peter says “as you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:4-5).
Thank you for listening to today’s edition of Biblically Speaking. Again, if you have any comments or questions please email them to me at jeremytbutt@gmail.com. I look forward to being with you again next week, and until then have a marvelous day!
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