Can't you smell that smell? PT 2

Stank #1 There is the stink of anger- all of us have been exposed to this raunchy, eye-watering blast of evil that touches so many. If your life is characterized by a life of anger, you need to examine whether there is any spiritual life in you at all.

Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. If you are led by the Spirit of God, Ie. Born again, you will produce spiritual fruit. Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control.

The product of rotting flesh: Galatians 5:19-20 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies.

Have you ever known anyone who reeked of B.O.? How in the world can they not smell themselves and why aren’t they doing anything about it? I assume that people quickly become used to their own stink and the smell gets somehow burned out of their nostrils and they are clueless. I believe many are the same way with sin. They profess to be a fine upstanding Christian all the while exposing the stench of anger to everyone and anyone who does something they do not like. Anger has a distinct stink amongst those who are perishing.

Can't you smell that smell? PT 1

Joh 11:39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

We had a dead mouse in our garage today. Nothing smells quite like a dead mouse. I don’t know what it is about mice, perhaps their diet, but when a tiny little mouse dies, in a very short time, their stink becomes unbearable.

Different creatures give off a different stench when they die. When a skunk has been hit by a car and lies dead in a ditch, we do not even need to see the skunk to know there is one nearby, even when all of our windows are rolled up in the car.

The worst smell that has ever assaulted my nostrils has been the smell of rotting human flesh. It was close to a dead cat combined with rancid urine under extreme heat, but even that does not quite compare. The human body takes first place in the worst smelling dead contest, hands down.

In Bible times, dead bodies were bathed and wrapped in expensive spices, because they stunk so bad. Jesus was anointed in 100 pounds of ointment. Martha says to Jesus, “Please don’t roll the stone away from my brother, it will stink so bad, we will all get the dry heaves.” The human body stinks.

The New Testament makes it clear that all humans are spiritually dead. Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.

Ephesians 2:5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)

Rom 6:13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

So all people are in need of the new birth, of being raised in the power of Christ’s resurrection. So if most people are spiritually dead, (Mat 7:13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.”) What is the characteristic stink that they emit? I would submit that there are some who give off the bloated deer, others that rancid raccoon, still others, skunks, moose, birds, mice, etc. There is a plethora of different “stink” given off by the spiritually dead. 2Co 2:16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.

In the next series of posts I will use this illustration of stink to show how people emit a stink that indicates they are still dead or at the very least, that they are being led by the flesh and not by the Spirit.