2 Corinthians 2:15-16 - For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. [16] To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?

Here’s an Odd Question

How do you smell today? That’s a strange thing to ask someone. There are times when I smell rather pleasant, if I say so myself, like when I’m out on a date with my wife. There are other times when I’m quite sure I have smelled pretty awful to anyone within a country-mile of me, like after working in the yard all day or after a long walk on a hot and humid Florida morning.

But there is another smell that every true follower of Jesus Christ has. It is the aroma of Christ himself. Indeed, we are dressed in his garments and they give off his glorious fragrance. But sadly, this aroma doesn't smell the same to everyone.

The Fragrances of Life and Death

To those who “have put on” Christ, as well as those who are making their way to him to be fitted with his robe of righteousness, we are the “fragrance of life.” Only in Christ is there life – real life – for he is the author and sustainer of life and it is he who makes all things new. Those who have eyes to see, ears to hear, and noses to smell, know the difference between life and death, and they want life.

However, in the nostrils of others there is a rotten, filthy stench about us. To those who are perishing in their own pride, wisdom, and efforts, we smell like death, for our very odor bears testimony to the One whom they have rejected, the One from whom they have fled.

The fragrance of Christ smells repugnant to them. They have grown accustomed to the foul smell of death that comes from the fallen and sinful patterns of this world and have found that fragrance normal, even pleasant. Paradoxically, life smells like death to them, and vice versa.

Love for Our Neighbors

We could sit in judgment of them, looking down our noses at them. Or, we could have compassion on them for their self-inflicted predicament. We should, of course, remember how terrible Christ once smelled to us, even if we didn’t know it and never would have said so.

I think the beauty of our own scent ought to bring forth humility, gratitude, and service on our part, for our scent is not our own, but Christ’s. Once we remember this we will know there is no time for judgmental hearts or mere pity. Instead, love for our neighbors should move us to awaken those who are running from (or simply
oblivious to) the sweet smell of real life – life in Christ and his beautiful fragrance.

Walking Points

• Do you remember what you were like when you embraced the world’s “scent” and despised the fragrance of Christ and his followers?
• Humanly speaking, what first drew you to Christ?
• Who do you know today that rejects Christ? What reason do they give for doing so? What do you think their real reason may be?
• What are three things you can start doing to reach out to them, so they too can enjoy the real life found only in Christ?

Prayer

Merciful Redeemer, you sought me, found me, and moved me from death to life. You have clothed me in the righteousness of Christ so that I am adorned in his clothing and have new life in him. My fragrance is his. I can only boast in him. I once was lost but now am found. I once was only able to discern in him the scent of death. Now I know it was (and is) the aroma of real, abundant, and everlasting life. I pray, holy Father, that you would give me the same compassion for those who do not know you, as you have for them. The same compassion you have for me! Help me resist the temptation to judge them for their outright rejection of you, their rebellion against you, and even their willful ignorance. Let my life always be consistent with the aroma of life that comes from you. And enable me to speak words of life that help them desire to be clothed in your righteousness as well. In Christ I pray. Amen.
 
This Week’s Prayer Guide

[You can use this prayer guide in your own personal prayer time. However, I encourage you to use it with a group of Christian men. Each week you should spend time praising God for who he is, confessing your sin to him (be specific) as well as expressing gratitude to him for his gracious forgiveness. Also, don’t forget to thank God for the many ways he has poured out his goodness in your life. Then, focus on the following areas of supplication, which will change from week to week.]
 
Petitions – prayers for yourself

·         Lord, help me to faithfully participate in the life of my congregation and for the sake of my community…
Ø  By my prayers
Ø  By my presence
Ø  By my gifts
Ø  By my service
Ø  By my witness
·         Today’s events and interactions with others, planned and unplanned
·         Other needs

Intercession – prayers for others
​
·         My family
·         For those who serve in government, at the national, state, and local levels
·         For those who serve in law-enforcement
·         For those who serve in fire and rescue
·         For those who serve in our nation’s military
·         Other needs

Luke 14:26-27 – “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters–yes, even his own life–he cannot be my disciple. [27] And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:33 – In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

You Better Think About It First

It wasn’t the approach most wanted to take back then nor is it so today. Jesus wasn’t very seeker-friendly, at least here. His message wasn’t a bait-and-switch tactic to get folks in the door. Instead, it was truth in advertising. The issue? That following Jesus requires everything, including one’s very life, so you better count the cost before signing on the dotted line.

In Matthew 7:13-14, after three challenging chapters, our Lord taught his disciples, and would-be disciples, that the gate by which they must enter, if they would follow him, is a narrow one only a few find. Furthermore, that gate opens onto a hard road. Nothing Pollyanna about this discipleship program. This way was not for those who were looking for something easy and non-committal.

However, there is a road to accommodate those who have such desires. It’s the only other option available and many find and travel it. But its destination is the City of Destruction. The narrow gate, however, which leads to the hard road is the only way that leads to life.

Standards of the Way

Disciples of this way must live a radically countercultural lifestyle. They are poor in spirit, mourn over sin (their own and the world’s), are meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, show mercy, are pure in heart, make peace and willingly accept persecution as the price for such convictions.

They are the salt of the earth and light of the world. They obey the commands of the Lord of the Narrow Way. In fact, their righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law.

Not only must they refrain from actually murdering anyone, but they must not be unrighteously angry with others. These followers of the King must not commit adultery and, moreover, must not even look at another person lustfully, which would be to commit adultery in their hearts. Faithfulness in marriage is expected and required. Truth-telling in all situations is the norm of this Kingdom. Humble submission characterizes those who would enter this gate and walk this road.

Love for both one’s neighbor and one’s enemy is a sign that one follows this way.

Followers of the Hard and Narrow Way give to those in need, do not pray to impress people, and fast in secret. They invest in eternity by storing up treasures in heaven and not on earth. Their trust in God enables them to avoid worrying about their circumstances in this life. Instead, they seek first the Kingdom of God and the righteousness that attends it, and they count on God to provide what is needed for living in this world.

Spiritual self-examination is another mark of these followers. And while they are called to discern between good and bad fruit, right and wrong, that which pleases God and that which doesn’t, they first investigate their own souls and remove that which hinders their pursuit of Christlikeness. Then and only then may they humbly approach a brother or sister to serve them in fighting sin in their life.

There are false prophets on the prowl who, like ferocious wolves in disguise, would lead many down the broad and easy road to the City of Destruction. The fruit they bear is bad which is in marked contrast to the fruit the Lord of the Way requires.

Carrying Our Cross Along the Way

So that leads us back to our text. The gate is narrow and the way is hard, but it leads to life. Furthermore, the cost is great and must be considered before entering through the gate and upon the road. Hatred of the world – even of one’s own family (in comparison to one’s love, allegiance, and submission to Christ) is absolutely required. We must pick up our cross and follow Christ wherever he may go. Becoming a disciple, and living as one, can be fulfilled along no other path. Everything must be given up to be Christ’s disciple. Complete surrender to his lordship is expected. This is normal Christianity, not super spirituality.

It’s not an accident that Jesus closes this thought with these words: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Supernatural ears are a must to truly heed what our Lord is saying. Joyfully obedient self-denial is the norm of the Kingdom of the Hard Road and Narrow Way. There is no room for one’s desire for autonomous freedom (which is really slavery in disguise). The extra baggage, sinful and unbridled love for self and the world, must be discarded at the beginning of the journey, for it will not fit through the narrow gate.

Jesus Is the Gate. Jesus Is the Way.

If all of this seems impossible to you, then you’ve understood perfectly. Left to ourselves, in our fallen, sinful natures with the corrupt mindset and behavior that goes along with it, we cannot enter through such a gate, nor will we even want to. But the good news is that Jesus is the gate through which we enter and the way upon which we walk. To begin that journey we must first kneel before Jesus as our Lord, trust in him alone as our Savior, turn our backs to the wide and easy road we once traveled, and walk along his path in complete dependence upon his Spirit and grace. Then and only then will we be able to experience the abundant and eternal life he promised those who follow him.

Walking Points

·         Read through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). What’s your initial reaction to learning about the norms and expectations of the Kingdom found in Jesus’ words?
·         In your own strength, do you think you could realistically expect to fulfill that standard?
·         What “standards” have you heard from others regarding how we should live in this world?
·         What is Christianity’s answer to our sinful condition, to our inability to meet the standard required by God?
·         If you have never sought God’s forgiveness and placed your trust in the work of Christ alone, then humbly pray to the Lord and ask him to help you do just that. Talk to a trusted Christian friend and ask him or her to help you, if necessary.

Prayer

God of the narrow way and hard path, I give you praise and thanks that your Son has traveled that same road already. I look at the standards of your Kingdom that he lived and taught and I am undone. Like Isaiah before your throne, I disintegrate into nothing at the thought of trying to live that life in my own strength. But I instantly rejoice when I am reminded that the righteousness your righteousness requires was faithfully obtained by my precious Savior. Instead of turning a blind eye to my sin and lowering your standard, Christ walked the hard and narrow way in my place. His path directed him to a Cross. Mine leads to death as well – death to myself, my agenda, and the sin to which I cling so tightly. Thank you, Father, for your grace and mercy that saved a wretch like me. In Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

This Week’s Prayer Guide

[You can use this prayer guide in your own personal prayer time. However, I encourage you to use it with a group of Christian men. Each week you should spend time praising God for who he is, confessing your sin to him (be specific) as well as expressing gratitude to him for his gracious forgiveness. Also, don’t forget to thank God for the many ways he has poured out his goodness in your life. Then, focus on the following areas of supplication, which will change from week to week.]

Petitions – prayers for yourself

·         Lord, help me to faithfully participate in the life of my congregation and for the sake of my community…
Ø  By my prayers
Ø  By my presence
Ø  By my gifts
Ø  By my service
Ø  By my witness
·         Today’s events and interactions with others, planned and unplanned
·         Other needs

Intercession – prayers for others
​
·         My family
·         For those who serve in government, at the national, state, and local levels
·         For those who serve in law-enforcement
·         For those who serve in fire and rescue
·         For those who serve in our nation’s military
·         Other needs

Genesis 7:1 - The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.

All in the Family

God works through families. He blesses through families. In the Old Testament we learn he even curses through families. This is the covenantal nature of God’s work throughout Scripture.

Noah found favor with God (Gen. 6:8). Noah was found by God to be a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and walking with God (Gen. 6:9). Because God saw Noah in such a condition, Noah’s whole family was blessed – his wife, sons, and daughters-in-law.

We find God’s covenantal faithfulness in the New Testament as well.  The Syrophoenician woman’s daughter was possessed by an evil spirit (Mk. 7:25). So the mother went to Jesus and begged him to deliver her daughter from it. After testing her, Jesus rewarded the mother for her persistence and faith by healing the daughter from the spirit (Mk. 7:29). The child was blessed because of the mother’s faith. This is often how God works.

Psalm 128:1-4 reminds us of this.
     Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
         who walk in his ways.
     [2] You will eat the fruit of your labor;
         blessings and prosperity will be yours.
     [3] Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
         within your house;
     your sons will be like olive shoots
         around your table.
     [4] Thus is the man blessed
         who fears the Lord.

Noah was blessed in such a way. So was Abraham. So was the Syrophoenician woman, Lydia, and the Philippian jailer.

Dying That Others May Live

If this is how God works, does it not then behoove us to pursue righteousness and blamelessness for all we are worth? Should we not desire to walk with the Lord daily? Wouldn’t fearing the Lord be wise? The personal blessings that would flow from such a sacrificial life seem reason enough. But the covenantal blessings on your children and your children’s children make this both obvious and compelling. Even in the land of rugged individualism, we can grasp this.

In light of this, let us resolve to give our lives for our spouses, our children, and to all to whom we can minister. Our lives for theirs. It is only in this kind of death we will find life – for ourselves and for our families.

Walking Points

What are three ways your faithfulness impacts the life of your family? Your unfaithfulness? There’s an old saying that one’s faith is more often “caught” than “taught.” Pray about how you can start living more faithfully before your family. Call a family meeting and share your ideas with them. Sharing and brainstorming together can be a wonderful time for your family to grow closer to one another.
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Grace and Truth,
Dale