2 Corinthians 6:17-18, “Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way: “I’ll live in them, move into them; I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people. So leave the corruption and compromise; leave it for good,” says God. “Don’t link up with those who will pollute you. I want you all for myself. I’ll be a Father to you; you’ll be sons and daughters to me.” The Word of the Master, God.” (MSG)
Years ago some friends who lived near a heavy industrial area where the mills filled the air with a shall we say very distinctive aroma; well, actually, smell would be a better word for it. It was sort of a sulfur-like, rotten eggs type of odor. When you first went there, you would sniff and you’d go, “What is that?” And the people who lived there would say, “What’s what?” See, they’d lived around the stink so long, it didn’t even register any more. Well, in my humble opinion, there are simply some smells you should never get used to!
Which brings us to Ezekiel 9:2-4. It’s where the prophet is receiving his instructions from the Lord in the form of a vision, and here’s what it says: “Six men appeared at his call, coming from the upper north gate, each one with his sword. One of them wore linen clothing and carried a writer’s case strapped to his side. They all went into the Temple and stood beside the bronze altar. And the glory of the God of Israel rose from between the Guardian Angels where it had rested and stood above the entrance to the Temple. And the Lord called to the man with the writer’s case and said to him, “Walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who weep and sigh because of all the sins they see around them.”
God is saying here, “I’m looking for some people who don’t gloss over the sin around them; people who literally grieve over sin.” Well, they were hard to find then; and truth is, they’re hard to find now. Those kind of people were special then, and they’re special now. People who don’t get so used to being in the middle of sin that they don’t notice the ‘smell’ any more. Do you understand that it was so strange, odd, and unusual to find people who actually grieved over sin that God sent a vision to the prophet about sending out people to scout out the land and “mark” those who were indeed bothered by sin? Let’s look at verse 4 in a few translations to see the type of people God was looking for:
“The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, throughout all of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who SIGH [IN DISTRESS] AND GRIEVE OVER ALL THE REPULSIVE ACTS WHICH ARE BEING COMMITTED IN IT” (AMP);
“Walk through the city of Jerusalem and mark the forehead of anyone who is TRULY UPSET AND SAD ABOUT THE DISGUSTING THINGS THAT ARE BEING DONE THERE.” (CEV);
“Go through the whole city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the forehead of everyone who is DISTRESSED AND TROUBLED BECAUSE OF ALL THE DISGUSTING THINGS BEING DONE IN THE CITY.” (GNT);
“Go through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the forehead of everyone who is IN ANGUISH OVER THE OUTRAGEOUS OBSCENITIES BEING DONE IN THE CITY.” (MSG);
“He said to the man, “Go through Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the people who GROAN AND CRY ABOUT ALL THE HATEFUL THINGS BEING DONE AMONG THEM.” (NCV);
“The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who CRY INSIDE THEMSELVES OVER ALL THE HATED SINS WHICH ARE BEING DONE AMONG THEM.” (NLV)
God was looking for those who were lamenting, crying, groaning, in anguish, troubled, disgusted, repulsed, upset…ABOUT THE SINS OF THE CITY! I wonder if He looked for people like that today, in His church in particular, would He find anyone to mark?
Does the church lament, cry, groan, feel in anguish, troubled, disgusted, repulsed and upset about the sins of the city? Or have we sat amongst it so long that the scent of sin doesn’t even smell to us any longer? Does adultery still stink to us? Does lying still smell funky to us? Does backbiting still offend our nostrils? Does discord still smell foul in the sanctuary? Or have we learned to use religious behavior to act as Febreeze and attempt to mask the smell? Do we spray church lingo over stuff that only needs one word “sin” to describe its scent? Are we bothered, are we disturbed, are we convicted, or have we become so tolerant that we’re no longer even moved by the odor?
I spoke with a friend of mine who so happens to be a sanitation worker. And I asked him, “how in the world do you do a job that smells like this every-day?” He gave me a two-fold response. For one he said, “for the amount of money they pay me, the scent ain’t all that bad”. And then he added something that brought about today’s word, he said “once you’ve been around the stench so much, and so often, and for so long, you literally learn to block out the smell”. Now, I can’t lie to you, I’m still perplexed, because anytime I’ve passed a sanitation truck, I for the life of me can never just block out the scent! However, I’m only around such a stench every now and then, but sanitation workers are around it all the time. Which made me think of something my mother’s doctor said a few years ago. He said, “we have to change her medication because she’s been on it for so long that her body has built up an immune to it, and therefore it no longer works because its’ been in and apart of her make-up for so long now, that her body treats the medication as if it were just one of her vital organs functioning as it should as a part of the rest of her body.” I’m afraid that the church has become just like that! We’ve built up an immune to sin that it no longer looks or smells wrong because we’ve been in it for so long that it doesn’t bother us in the least. Its’ become a part of our make-up. It functions in us as though it were one of the vital organs in the Body of Christ. But this should not be so!
Chances are that you come in daily contact with a lot of sinful garbage; lying that’s considered just to be smart business, an acceptance of adultery (or do we call it “an affair, weakness, or indiscretion”? you know we like to use a prettier sounding term so it doesn’t seem so bad), or just a flippant attitude toward sexual purity. Like the two guys sitting next to me at the pizza place last year. One very casually said to the other one, and pardon my bluntness, but this is the way he stated it, “So, did you get laid yet?” See, that’s casual about something God calls sacred. It’s a flippant “who cares” approach to a sacred act of love, created by God for a lifetime bond. When did we, the church, become so accepting and tolerant of ALL things? What happened to the churches distinction?
Leviticus 10:8-11, “God instructed Aaron: “When you enter the Tent of Meeting, don’t drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons, lest you die. This is a fixed rule down through the generations. Distinguish between the holy and the common, between the ritually clean and unclean. Teach the People of Israel all the decrees that God has spoken to them through Moses.” (MSG);
Leviticus 20:24-26, “I’ve told you, remember, that you will possess their land that I’m giving to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am God, your God, who has distinguished you from the nations. So live like it: Distinguish between ritually clean and unclean animals and birds. Don’t pollute yourselves with any animal or bird or crawling thing which I have marked out as unclean for you. Live holy lives before me because I, God, am holy. I have distinguished you from the nations to be my very own.” (MSG)
From the priests to the people, God has always Distinguished His own! The word “distinguish” is defined as “to recognize, show, or treat as different; to have an identifying characteristic; to be dignified in appearance; to successfully command great respect.” Its Latin Origin “distinguere”, from “stinguere” literally means “to put out.” In other words, to stand out from anything else! Look at it like this: If you visit any jewelry store, you’ll see that the costume jewelry does not mix with the real jewelry! How it’s made, how it’s crafted, how it’s priced and valued, and even where it’s placed at in the store lets you know the difference between the two. And likewise, should be said of the church! The world should be able to see that we don’t mix, don’t match and distinction is why! However, as sad as it may be, you can’t seem to tell the difference anymore between the holy and unholy, the clean and unclean, the fragrant and the funky, because we’ve dwelt together so long in the same space that they all appear one in the same!
I remember buying a bag of mixed bagels. I had everything from plain, to poppy seed, to cinnamon raisin, to onion. But when I opened the bag, all I could smell on all of them was the onion. Because its scent was the most prominent and dominant among them all. Even the ones it didn’t physically touch, still carried its scent because of its closeness in proximity. Makes me wonder if that’s what’s happening with the church? Have we spent so much time marrying, dating, having children, going to church….WITH THE WORLD….that you can no longer tell the 2 worlds apart? Have we gotten so close and comfortable with the world, that you can no longer see the Kingdom in the Church?
What happened to obeying Scriptures like:
Romans 12:1-2, “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” (MSG)
With all that said, I must then ask, how did we go from Distinguished and Distinct to Compromise and Conformity?
When did we lose our Sense of the Scent of Sin?
2 Corinthians 2:15-16, “In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse.” (MSG)
How did we go from the Exquisite Fragrance of Christ, the Sweet Smelling Scent of God, an Aroma of Life, to smelling like the scent of sin, the stench of a rotting corpse?
We as the church need to regain our Distinction!
The word “distinct” is defined as “to be recognizably different or individual; to be able to be perceived clearly by the senses; a marked difference or contrast; outstanding excellence; special honor or recognition; expressly different from others of its kind” Its Latin Origin “distinctus”, from “distinguere” literally means “distinguish”. Church, we need to be recognizably different from the world! We need a Peter experience!
The Bible says, “And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; FOR THY SPEECH BEWRAYETH THEE.” (Matthew 26:73) Listen to this verse in varying translations:
“…FOR EVEN YOUR [GALILEAN] ACCENT GIVES YOU AWAY.” (AMP);
“…FOR WE CAN TELL BY YOUR GALILEAN ACCENT.” (TLB);
“…WE CAN TELL IT BECAUSE YOU TALK LIKE SOMEONE FROM GALILEE” (CEV);
“…CERTAINLY YOU TOO ARE ONE OF THEM, FOR YOUR ACCENT BETRAYS YOU.” (ESV);
“…IT’S OBVIOUS YOU’RE ALSO ONE OF THEM. YOUR ACCENT GIVES YOU AWAY!” (GWT);
“…OF COURSE YOU ARE ONE OF THEM,” THEY SAID. “AFTER ALL, THE WAY YOU SPEAK GIVES YOU AWAY!” (GNT);
“…IT’S CLEAR FROM THE WAY YOU TALK.” (ERV);
“…THE WAY YOU TALK GIVES YOU AWAY.” (CEB);
“…YOU’VE GOT TO BE ONE OF THEM. YOUR ACCENT GIVES YOU AWAY.” (MSG);
“…FOR SURE, YOU ARE ONE OF THEM. YOU TALK LIKE THEY DO.” (NLV);
“…SURELY YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE WHO FOLLOWED JESUS. THE WAY YOU TALK SHOWS IT.” (NCV);
Peter couldn’t blend in because his distinction wouldn’t let him! Those who were not “with” him knew that something about him being here is simply out of place. They even went so far as to say “We can tell; certainly; it’s obvious; of course; it’s clear; you’ve got to be; and surely you are.” They had absolutely no doubt and no question about the fact that Peter was with Jesus. Therefore, him being there with them, was out place! They said “…surely you are one of those who followed Jesus. The way you talk shows it.” Peter’s distinctive speech betrayed him! He couldn’t blend, couldn’t hide, couldn’t join in, couldn’t go unnoticed, and all because who he really was couldn’t be camouflaged! Would people be able to see the evidence of your relationship to Jesus in your speech and conduct, in spite of where you are or who you’re around?
People of God, you can’t cover up distinction, its visible evidence! So much so, that even the senses can tell something is different!
See, the problem is, we’re around sin so much sometimes it doesn’t break our heart any more, but it breaks God’s heart all the time, and He’s looking for people whose heart it can still break. We hear people treat God’s name, Jesus’ name, like dirt. Jesus, the name at which every knee will bow. There are attitudes that amount to nothing less than idol worship, and we’re no longer bothered by it: living for money, living for a guy or a girl, living for music, careers, and entitlements, living for the next party, living for a ring, robe, positions and chairs. It’s time we prayed, “God, give me back my sense of spiritual smell.“
Isaiah 65:1-7, “I’ve made myself available to those who haven’t bothered to ask. I’m here, ready to be found by those who haven’t bothered to look. I kept saying ‘I’m here, I’m right here’ to a nation that ignored me. I reached out day after day to a people who turned their backs on me, People who make wrong turns, who insist on doing things their own way. They get on my nerves, are rude to my face day after day, Make up their own kitchen religion, a potluck religious stew. They spend the night in tombs to get messages from the dead, Eat forbidden foods and drink a witch’s brew of potions and charms. They say, ‘Keep your distance. Don’t touch me. I’m holier than thou.’ These people gag me. I CAN’T STAND THEIR STENCH. Look at this! Their sins are all written out— I have the list before me. I’m not putting up with this any longer. I’ll pay them the wages. They have coming for their sins. And for the sins of their parents lumped in, a bonus.” God says so. “Because they’ve practiced their blasphemous worship, mocking me at their hillside shrines, I’ll let loose the consequences and pay them in full for their actions.” (MSG)
If this is how God feels about the stench of sin, why does the odor not bother the Body of Christ any longer?!
People of God, today is a good day to pray and ask God to deliver us, and give us back our distinction. Because the truth is, we can’t be the same as the world and make a difference. They should feel free to come into our church services, but they should feel something that makes them know that they can’t stay the same way they came. We can’t blend, compromise, conform, tolerate, and certainly not water down the Gospel. We have to stand up and stand out so that we might be able to bring them in. Today, determine to be the Fragrance of God, that abhors the Scent of Sin!
“The devil must be daily resisted. The world must be daily overcome. There is a warfare to be waged, and a battle to be fought.” (J.C. Ryle)
Much Love, Dr. Shermaine #EnjoyTheRead #BeInspired #BeEncouraged #BeEmpowered #BeChallenged #ShareTheWord
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