Spiritual Fragrance

While the King sitteth at His table my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. (Song of Sol. 1:12)

1 October 2017

Dear Phyllis,

In the Book of Leviticus, when we are told about the offerings on the altar, it every case the expression is made, “It is an offering made by fire, a SWEET SAVOUR unto the Lord” (Lev. 1:9, 13, 17: 2:2, 9, 12; 3:5, 16. The whole purpose of the sacrifice was to offer to the Lord a sweet savour. It smells good. In 2 Cor. 2:15 Paul tells us that “we are unto God a SWEET SAVOUR of Christ”. And in verse 16 he tells us what we smell like to others.

Spiritual fragrance is not a major theme among westerners but Orientals are considerably more sensitive. To describe the characteristics of a person, the Japanese frequently use the expression “he smells like”. The sense of smell is the most sensitive of the five senses. In deer hunting, hunters approach the animal from down wind because deer can smell them coming a long ways off. Like it or not – the impression we make on people around us is the one thing that cannot be avoided. And if a lady has on perfume everyone near her knows it. And spiritually, we are always impressing people around us. Our impression on others is the first stage of evangelism.

The verse in Song of Sol. 1:12 is the sister OT verse to the NT event of Mary's anointing of Jesus (Mk. 14:1-9). It is highly significant that of all the events that happened in the life of Christ this is the only one that was singled out by Jesus to go hand in hand with the Gospel (Mk. 14:9). What we have in the Song of Solomon are the three principles that govern the law of spiritually fragrance and therefore they are of extreme importance. They are (1) the King, (2) He is seated, and (3) at His table. These are exactly the same three things that we see of Jesus at Mary's anointing in Mark 14.

We know that the four gospels are written showing Jesus from four perspectives – KING (Math.), SERVANT (Mark), MAN (Luke), and GOD (John). It is significant that when the Father presents His Son to us the first view that have of Him is as king. Unfortunately, in our presentation of the Gospel we have so emphasized what He has done for us (servant) and His nearness to us (man) that we have lost sight of His majesty (king). It is true that Jesus is a wonderful savior, and a precious friend, but He is also KING. We need a greater emphasis on His kingship and show Him more reverence and respect. Thailand is the most king oriented nation in the world. Every baht bill (money) has a picture of the king on it, every home has a picture of the king hanging on the wall, every store has a picture prominently displayed, and every village has a large banner with the kings picture beside the road. The Thais would never dream of showing disrespect or familiarity with the king of Thailand. He is treated with the highest honor and respect. It is unthinkable that anyone would show the king the blatant disrespect that is commonly displayed towards Jesus in churches and in our personal relationship with Him. Referring to Israel's offerings to the Lord, Malachi expressed it best when he challenged, “Offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee?” (Mal. 1:8). See if he likes it. When I was young we wouldn't dare dress for school or talk to a teacher the way that is accepted as normal in our relationship with Jesus today, and in nearly all churches. Small wonder that there is such a foul odor in religion today. The disrespect that we show towards God is shocking.

The second law of spiritual fragrance is that we see the king SEATED. There is much that could be said about this, but suffice to say seated is the posture of completed work. In Heb. 10:11, 12 we see the priests in the OT standing offering over and over sacrifices that can never take away sin. But when Jesus offered one sacrifice He sat down. That did it. The job was done and He could sit down. When I am preaching I say, “At the moment I am standing talking to you, but when I am finished with this message I will sit down. When we see Jesus seated, basically that means my heart is right with God. When a person's heart is right with God there is a relaxed atmosphere about him. When things are out of place there is tension. You can sense it. The main question is, “Is your heart right with God?”. If so, Jesus' posture in your heart is that of seated.

The third law of spiritual fragrance is that the King is seated at His TABLE. Table means fellowship. If I invite someone over for a meal it is to have fellowship with them. I am not worried about their nutrition. We call communion “having His Table”. The importance of daily devotion and daily communion with Christ cannot be over emphasized. It is one of the basic hall marks of men of God. There is an atmosphere about people who walk closely with the Lord that is obvious. They don't need to advertise it. It is just plain to anyone. More than anything else this will determine the spiritual fragrance of our life and the impression we make on others.

There is so much that could be said about spiritual fragrance that it would fill many books. I can only mention the topic here. But there are two more things that must be said. One is, that when Mary anointed Jesus she poured the spikenard on Jesus. In John's account of this event, he tells us that “the house was filled with the odour” (Jn. 12:3). Everybody in the house got blessed. But all that was a side effect. This is very important. Why do we tell people the Gospel? To keep them from going to hell? We spread the Gospel not as a humanitarian effort but for Jesus sake. There is a big difference here. All that we do should be as an outpouring of our devotion to the Lord. Why do we have devotions every morning? Is it because we are supposed to? Is it to make us better people or perhaps have a better day? Is it to tell Him what we want and get things? If we spread the Gospel for listeners sake or have devotions for our own sake, sooner or later we will hit burnout. But if what we do is for Jesus' sake there is spiritual merit in that. The fragrance is considerably different. That others get blessed should be the side effect of our devotion to the Lord.

And one more vital point is the question Judas raised - “Why this waste?”. Watchman Nee told the story of a time when he was at a very low ebb. He met a professor he had in college many yeas before. The professor was delighted to see his old student and invited him to a tea room. It had been many years and his teacher wanted to hear all about the success of his gifted student. As Watchman Nee tried to explain that he had devoted his life to evangelism, the teacher looked at him with eyes of sadness and pitifully remarked, “What a waste! You were so gifted and we had such high expectation of you. What a waste”. Watchman Nee said that remark cut him to the core. He nearly burst into tears. And then the spirit of glory flooded his soul. Oh what a wise decision! He had wasted his life for Jesus. Is there anything we pour out for Jesus that is a waste on Him? If we do it on a cat, that might be a waste. But is there anything too precious to spend for Jesus? When Jim Elliot and the four other missionaries were killed by the Akah Indians in Ecuador in 1954 the cry went up, “What a waste!”. But from that offering there has been a sweet savor to the Lord that has influenced missions for decades.

Oh, Lord, may our lives be a sweet savor unto You.                                  bill