ODOUR

^[p. 303] ODOUR

2 Corinthians 2: 14 - 16; Revelation 5: 8; Revelation 8: 3

It seems appropriate that we might have a word, dear brethren, at the end of our meeting, perhaps referring to what we have had, and bearing on what is sorrowfully before us after this meeting, namely, the idea of odour, which appears in these scriptures. The thought of it appears early in the Scriptures, for it would seem that the bdellium mentioned as early as Genesis 2 alludes to a certain fragrant article or product such as a resin coming out in relation to gold and precious stones. We were speaking of gold and precious stones in referring to the refinement of adornment and bdellium would suggest odour which is in keeping with such refinement. So that in the tabernacle, we have these things: gold, as we have said, alluding to what is wrought out by God in us, and we have also the precious stones, particularly in the breastplate worn by the high priest and enclosing, by skill divinely given, the names of the saints. How precious they are in the divine sight! And then the whole scene of the tabernacle, fragrant with odour, divinely compounded, particularly as the priest dressed the lamps, that is, as discipline came in, or correction or removal of defilement, accumulated snuff; the scent was to be fragrant with the incense as the process went on.

And it occurred to me, dear brethren, that it is a matter to have before us, and in view of that, what a city this is, of obnoxious odours beyond description morally. We have to encounter these; they call forth what is in ourselves of a like kind, and work out, too, in feelings that are merely of the flesh, unwholesomely odorous. So that as answering in a little way to the tabernacle, there is the necessity for these typical things. What they mean is urgent; that is, that these ^[p. 304] obnoxious odours should be overpowered with thoughts of Christ brought in; as the fire from the altar of God is applied the incense comes up and fills the scene; the high priest enters the holiest in a cloud, even the high priest, so that in having to say to the things of God, having to say to God in His ministry, in the sanctuary, these odours, these fragrant precious traits of Christ worked out in us, alongside the gold, are essential, or the divine nostrils are offended, so to speak. There is what God sees, what He hears, and what He smells, and these fragrant spices, so much touched on in Exodus, carried on from Genesis, are seen as essential to the service of God in His sanctuary; indeed, this is not a thought to be put away from us, for we are said to be God’s house: “Whose house are we”, a great fact, answering to the tabernacle; the true tabernacle, indeed, which the Lord has pitched, so that all the scent is to be fragrant.

I selected these three scriptures to show how it worked out in a typical way. The first one alludes to service manward. The apostle is saying, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ, and makes manifest the odour of his knowledge through us in every place”, a savour of His knowledge! What the knowledge of God is as over against what is current, for example, knowledge that is taught in the universities and schools! Most of it is a knowledge falsely so-called, as Scripture says; much of it, in fact all of it, is tinged with falsity, and what an odour that is, I might say, to the spiritual nostrils! Whereas the apostle as coming into a town would bring fragrance of divine knowledge through the gospel. That is one thing, the service manward, and then, “For we are a sweet odour of Christ to God, in the saved and in those that perish; to the one an odour from death unto death, but to the others an odour from life unto life”. That was what marked him in all his service, the fragrance that was there for any that had nostrils ^[p. 305] for it, and also for God. So that whether there were results or otherwise, the fragrance was there.

And then, applying to a weekly meeting that is now observed, namely, the meeting for prayer: we have in Revelation 5 that the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders “fell before the Lamb, having each a harp and golden bowls full of incenses, which are the prayers of the saints”. It is a verse that covers peculiarly our meeting for prayer. It is not the prayers being prayed here, but kept in vials, golden bowls, from every possible taint or corruption like the box of spikenard. Spiritual prayers last; they do not evaporate, nor do they become affected by exposure, as one might say. Here they are kept in golden bowls, a most remarkable thing, as if these servants of God, the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures, are so intelligent in the mind of God as to this great service of prayer, that the Spirit of God would convey to us that these prayers last; they are before God. Is it too much to say that the prayers of Abraham have not ceased to exist? I think not. I think they last; they are before God. All that speaks of Christ in all His fragrance to God in this way, right from the outset down, are preserved; everything is preserved. Things do not evaporate spiritually, as physical things do, but here they are kept, and so we are reminded of the need of the absence of mixed motives or words in our expressions to God, that they are such as can, as it were, be preserved. They last. If they are not answered today, they may be answered one hundred years hence. Think of John 17 being answered now. It lasts. The Lord prayed for us, not only for those that heard Him and believed on Him at that time but for all that believed on Him through them. The prayers are essential, kept in gold vials, full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints. What treasure-keepers these twenty-four elders and the four living creatures are! The twenty-four elders are the men of intelligence. They would remember Abraham’s prayer. It is a marvellous thought, dear brethren, what prayers really are ! You see with a man like Zacharias in Luke, that he had prayed a long time before, may be, but now the angel comes and tells him his prayer is to be answered, and he did not believe him, but there his prayers were, kept before God, and they are all kept, and not one of them is lost in the dispensation of God. He takes account of the prayers of the men of God, the priests of God; they are all preserved. The more you think of it, the more you see the force of it, the value of it; hence the temple that David had the pattern of by the Spirit, had not only a treasury, but treasuries, and certain Levites, one of them a descendant of Moses particularly, looking after dedicated things, which went back to Saul the son of Kish, and even included some of Abner and Joab. We are not told how many treasuries of God there are; these men kept these treasuries, these prayers, full of odours, the prayers of the saints. So that there is hope for us, beloved brethren, in spite of the stirring up of feelings, through the odours that proceed in the prayers to God, whether in assembly or individually.

And then finally, the Lord Jesus Himself is seen as an Angel in chapter 8, “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, that he might give efficacy to the prayers of all saints at the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense went up with the prayers of the saints, out of the hand of the angel before God”. So that you see how Christ comes in, as He does, and we experience it in our meetings for prayer, how He comes in and adds to what there is. The prayers are the incense, and it is fragrant, and heaven is enriched by the prayers of saints, all made possible through our High Priest, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ before the throne. So that ^[p. 307] the prayers go in to the throne. We see how things work into each other in the final way, so that the throne is moved by the prayers of the saints, all made infinitely efficacious by the incense, and by the golden censer in the hand of Christ.