Brown's Daily Word 8-3-09

This morning I was listening to the Choir and the congregation from St. Paul's Cathedral, London, as they sang one of the powerful and beloved hymns of the church,
"Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;to his feet thy tribute bring;ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,evermore his praises sing:Alleluia, alleluia!Praise the everlasting King.Praise him for his grace and favorto our fathers in distress;praise him still the same for ever,slow to chide and swift to bless:Alleluia, alleluia!Glorious in his faithfulness.Father-like, he tends and spares us;well our feeble frame he knows;in his hand he gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes.Alleluia, alleluia!Widely yet his mercy flows.Angels, help us to adore him;ye behold him face to face;sun and moon, bow down before him,dwellers all in time and space.Alleluia, alleluia!Praise with us the God of grace. "
I quoted from 2 Corinthians 2: 14 during my morning message yesterday. “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ . . .” In Paul’s day and time, “When a Roman general won an important military victory, the Senate or Emperor honored him upon his return home with a ‘triumph.’ This was something like a . . . parade . . . The victorious general and his soldiers usually came first. Behind him came the incense-bearers. They carried censers of burning incense, which represented thanksgiving to the gods for victory. The scent of this burning incense wafted all along the street behind the incense-bearers. Next came the captives, usually consisting of two distinct groups: 1.) Those who had voluntarily surrendered and complied with Rome. They were to be set free after the triumph. 2.) Those who resisted and were forcibly subdued came last and in chains. They were to be executed after the triumph. You can imagine how differently these two groups of captives reacted to the incense. To the former group, it represented rescue and freedom. To the latter group, it represented defeat and imminent execution” (Gary DeLashmutt ).
Our God is always leading us at the front of the parade of triumph and victory, and as we follow him praising his name and shouting to the world of his glory, an aroma is being lifted up. To one group, “those who are being saved”, it is a reminder of release and freedom from sin and death. To another group, “those who are perishing” or the lost, it is a reminder that they are still held in bondage awaiting judgment, condemnation, and death. I want to emphasize that we are only the “aroma of death” to those who refuse “the fragrance of his knowledge” that leads to eternal life. If we are setting a good example in our lives of the love of Christ, and sharing a message of forgiveness and grace, then we are always diffused in the world as a beautiful, sweet smelling “fragrance.” Let’s keep in mind that “we are the aroma of . . . life leading to life” (v. 16). We are ministers of life, and as ministers of life we become life-givers, as Christ works through us to diffuse life to the world. We must emit the refreshing fragrance of life in Jesus Christ our Lord, at all times.

In Christ,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d9RJMOP9Tw