Revelation: Christ and the Churches

A Stench in God's Nostrils

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2012-05-13

Synopsis: John Weaver explores the biblical concept of sin as a stench in God's nostrils, using Jonah 1:2 as a starting point. He illustrates how sin is offensive to God, likening it to physical stenches and dead carcasses, and explains that only through Jesus Christ can believers become a sweet savor to God. The sermon calls for recognition of sin's vileness and reliance on Christ's atoning work.

[John Weaver] Jonah chapter 1, the title of the message is, A Stench in God's Nostrils. A Stench in God's Nostrils. Notice Jonah chapter 1, verse 1 and 2. Jonah chapter 1, Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. All of us have experienced stinches. Practically anyone who drives has either hit a skunk or straddled one in the road or simply drove by one that was already in the road and the dead skunk stench attached itself to the car. It's very difficult to get off the car. If you think that is difficult to do, then you let your dog have a run in with a skunk. And you will find that multiple washings using every known means under the sun usually will not get rid of the stench. It just simply has to wear itself out.

[John Weaver] And Alice can tell you that from experience. And one of the funniest things that Alice and I saw, and I probably mentioned it before, it's still funny to me. We were passing through a little town and here's this fine old stately home and out in the yard at the edge of the road was this little toy poodle that had on a diamond collar with bows in her ears and had pink toenails and there she was rolling in a dead skunk beside the road.

[John Weaver] And I thought to myself, mama will be really surprised when her baby comes back inside. But each of us understands exactly what we're talking about when we talk about a stench. We've had the stench of dead animals. I constantly find dead possums, raccoons, squirrels, and sometimes skunks in my yard. And if you do not move them out quickly, After a few days in the sun, they're really, genuinely ripe beyond belief. And they stink.

[John Weaver] I suppose one of the most eye-opening experiences I had many years ago, I was preaching in Ohio. It was summertime. Hot. The church did not have air conditioner. An air conditioner at all. And they did put me a glass of water under the pulpit. Well, I hated to drink the water in front of everyone because it was so hot and I knew that would just simply make them thirsty. But I had been preaching, I guess, 45 minutes or an hour and I was about to perish. And so I reached up under that pulpit and I got that water.

[John Weaver] Very quickly, I turned my head and took a big gulp of it. And just as I gulp, that smell hit me. It was sulfur water. And I mean, I snatched that thing down. I held up water in my mouth. I really wanted to spit it out.

[John Weaver] Finally, I got enough nerve to swallow it. And I said, thank God that's over with. And then everybody laughed because they were accustomed to it. It was nothing to them, but it stuck to high heaven. And ever, ever since that night, they'd keep slipping a bottle of silver water or a glass of it. But I was wise. I was not going to drink that stinking stuff anymore. We understand stinks.

[John Weaver] The Bible says in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 10 in verse 1, dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor. Notice if you would. Dead flies in the ointment cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor. Have you ever thought, as you read through the Bible, how the word stink is used? It hit me as I was looking at the book of Jonah.

[John Weaver] You say, there's nothing in there about a snake. Yes, there is. But I want you to turn in your Bibles, whole Jonah chapter 1, but turn to Genesis chapter 34 if you would. Let me show you how the word stink is used several times. Genesis chapter 34. You remember how Levi and Simeon have gone into the city and they have killed every male in that city because of what happened to Dinah, their sister. And in Genesis chapter 34, beginning there with verse, oh, let's read verse 27. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and spoiled the city because they had defiled their sister. They took their sheep and their oxen and their asses and that which was in the city and that which was in the field and all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives took they captive. and spoiled even all that was in the house. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, you trouble me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house."

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to note what Simeon and Levi had done. They had successfully killed all the men of Shechem. They had won the battle. But they had not won the war and Jacob rightly said, you haven't understood exactly what you've done. There's far more of the Canaanites and the parasites than those that you killed. And they will encompass me about because you have made me distinct. That is, you have made an odious. And an intolerable situation.

[John Weaver] For me and my family. He said, you've made me distinct. And the only reason that Jacob and his family survived was because God sovereignly protected him. If you look in Genesis 35, and look at verse 5, and the Bible said, And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. It was just the terror of God that God preserved them after the boys had made Jacob and his family to stink in the eyes of all the Canaanites and Perizzites. If you will turn in your Bibles to the book of 2 Samuel chapter 10, here's another illustration of how the word stink is used. Notice, if you would, 2 Samuel chapter 10, beginning there with verse 1. 2 Samuel 10, verse 1, And it came to pass after this that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. Then said David, I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me.

[John Weaver] And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father, and David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? Hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee to search the city, and to spy it out, and overthrow it? Wherefore, Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one-half their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. When they told him unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed.

[John Weaver] And the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return. And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand footmen, and of King Meaca thousand men of Ishtab twelve thousand men and when David heard of it he sent Joab and all the hosts of the mighty men and the children of Ammon came out and put the battle in a ray at the entering at the gate of the Syrians of Zobah and Rehob and Ishtab and Meaca were by themselves in the field when Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him and formed behind he chose out all the choice men of Israel and put them in a ray against the Syrians well you know the story here and of course the Syrians And the children of Ammon were defeated. But note, if you would, in verse six, and when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, how did they create this stink?

[John Weaver] And the stink was simply David had sent his diplomats to comfort a nun. He got bad counsel from his men, so he shaved off half their beards or garments of their buttocks and sent them away. So he dishonored David's ambassadors is what he did. And consequently, there was a war, but I want you to note it was referred to as a stink.

[John Weaver] Now, I understand that not everyone has the same sense of smell. It is heightened in some individuals and others seemingly cannot smell at all. But those who do have the ability to smell and those who have a highly sensitive nose can usually detect a noisome odor very quickly. But there are several questions that you must think about even if you have a heightened sense of smell. Think about this. Do we have the same sense of smell that God does?

[John Weaver] And do we have any idea of that which is a stench in God's nostrils? I could ask it like this. Are we sensitive to spiritual odors or I could say spiritual stinks? I never will forget. I was talking to a preacher one time. And he got to talking about buzzard Baptists. I said. What is a buzzard Baptist? He said, oh, you know, those are the people that belong to the church. But they never come, they never attend, until there's a stink. And they always hover then and come out around the stink. He said, I call them buzzard Baptists.

[John Weaver] Well, you stop and think about that. That's right in an awful lot of areas. But my question is this, are we sensitive to that which stinks before God? I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 23. I want you to see the illustration that our Lord Himself used in reference to the scribes and the Pharisees. Look in Matthew 23 and verse 27. Matthew 23, verse 27. Our Lord said it like this, Matthew 23, verse 27. He said, Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites.

[John Weaver] For you are likened to whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness." So what did our Lord say? He said, your so-called religiosity, your so-called spirituality stinks. It's nothing but dead men's bones and uncleanness. It's totally, completely noisome. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel chapter 24, because I want to show you another illustration that shows us the stink of sin. Notice, if you would, in Ezekiel chapter 24.

[John Weaver] And let's begin reading there with verse one. Ezekiel 24 and verse one.

[John Weaver] Now, the message today may be unpleasant in one sense of the word, but it's absolutely necessary that we understand what sin is to God. Notice, if you would, Ezekiel chapter 24, verse one. Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of the same day the king of Babylon has set himself against Jerusalem the same day. and utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Set on a pot, set it on, and pour water into it. Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, fill it with the choice bones. Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them see the bones of it therein. Wherefore, thus saith the Lord God, Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it.

[John Weaver] Bring it out piece by piece, let no lot fall upon it, for her blood is in the midst of her, and set it upon the top of a rock, She poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust, that it might cause fury to come up, to take vengeance. I have set her blood upon the top of the rock, that it should not be covered. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Woe to the bloody city!

[John Weaver] I will even make the pile for fire great, heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned." then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, and the scum of it may be consumed." She hath weared herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her. Her scum shall be in the midst of the fire, and thy filthiness is lewdness, because I have purged thee. Thou wast not purged. Thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.

[John Weaver] I, the Lord, have spoken it. It shall come to pass. I will do it. I will not go back. Neither will I spare, neither will I repent. According to thy ways and according to thy doings shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God." Now, I want you to note what God said and what God did. He said, you take this pot, you put water in it, and you put all these choice pieces in it and let it boil. Cook it. Let it boil down. Take the pieces out except the bones or whatever is scum is there. Then you set the pot back on the fire just with the scum in it.

[John Weaver] And you let it heat and you let it stick to the sides of the pan. Have you ever had something burned in a boiler in your house? Or something burned in the oven? Oh yeah. It stinks. It creates a huge stink. I want you to note what God said. He referred to the sins here as scum, as great scum, and as filthiness. Filthiness stinks. Scum stinks. Here in the South often talk about pond scum. The scum that just comes upon stagnant water. You can smell it. It stinks. And God here refers to this just simply as scum and great scum and of course filthiness.

[John Weaver] Do you understand that spiritual garbage is still garbage? Spiritual stink is still stink. It has a distinctive smell. It smells like disobedience, wickedness, and rebellion. And the Word of God tells us, when that smell, when that stink comes before a holy, righteous God, it nauseates Him. It has the scent and the smell of death. For the wages of sin is death. That's why God said in verse 14 of Ezekiel chapter 24, He's spoken it. He's not going back. He's not going to repent. He's going to destroy these individuals because of their sins. And He likens their sins to this big stink. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah chapter 16. Jeremiah 16. And notice if you would please verse 18. Jeremiah 16 and verse 18. God uses this illustration many times in the Scripture. Jeremiah 16 and verse 18. Look what he says, Jeremiah 16 verse 18, and first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double. Why?

[John Weaver] Because they have defiled my land, they have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things." Notice if you would, God says they have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things. Now these detestable and abominable things that they had filled his inheritance with, happened to be their idols. Their wicked, reprobate, hateful idols, which of course was pollution and corruption. And God said they filled my land with this. The idols were called carcasses because they were lifeless. They were useless, they were worthless, they were stinking, they were loathsome, they were abominable and vile.

[John Weaver] I want you to hold Jeremiah 16, but look in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 115. And let me show you what God says about idols. Look in Psalm 115. Notice, if you would, beginning there with verse four, Psalm 115 in verse four. Look what God says. Psalm 115, verse 4. He says, Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. Now He says, verse 5, Psalm 115, verse 5, They have mouths, but they speak not.

[John Weaver] Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell not. They have hands, but they handle not. Have they, but they walk not, neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them, so is everyone that trusteth in them."

[John Weaver] Now, I told you that idols were dead carcasses and they stunk. One of my favorite Hebrew words is the word gilulam. It is a word that is used for idols. It is translated as dung balls. That's what God calls these idols, dung balls. That's why he said their carcasses have defiled my inheritance. And they are filthy and they are abominable. They are detestable. Not only were the idols detestable, not only were they filthy and vile, but even the ceremonies and rituals in worshipping these idols were filthy and vile as well.

[John Weaver] I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Amos, chapter 5, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Look, if you would, at Amos chapter 5. And I want to show you what God says, even in relationship to his own ceremonies that he ordained when the people's hearts were contrary to him. Notice if you would, in Amos chapter 5, he makes this statement. Amos chapter 5. Verse 21, God says, I hate, I despise your feast days.

[John Weaver] I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them, neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts."

[John Weaver] Now, if God will not accept or receive those sacrifices and those ceremonies which He has ordained when they are done merely ritualistic and with an empty heart, what makes you think that God is going to accept? some ceremony or some sacrifice to a dumb idol that he refers to as a dung ball. Moreover, you've got to understand that when they sacrificed to these idols, they sacrificed animals. Sometimes they sacrificed humans.

[John Weaver] If you'll look in Jeremiah chapter 7, Jeremiah 7 and verse 31, Jeremiah 7 Verse 31. Watch carefully. Jeremiah 7, verse 31. Look what God says. To show you how offensive this was to God. Jeremiah 7, verse 31. And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Enam, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. Their idolatries were more odious and loathsome than any stinking carcass, because their idolatries were a stench in God's nostrils and an insult to God as well.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 2. And before I read that verse or the verses there, I want to remind you of something. 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 and we're going to begin reading momentarily at verse 14. 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14 now. Do you remember? In the Old Testament. Whenever there was a sacrifice made to God. According to God's ordination. The Bible always said it was a sweet smell or a sweet savor unto God. Isn't that interesting? All of God's offerings were known as a sweet savor or a sweet smell offering. Do you know why all of those offerings in the Old Testament were known as sweet smell or sweet savor offerings?

[John Weaver] The answer is Because they pictured the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away our sin. So if you look in 2 Corinthians 2 at verse 14, the Apostle Paul says, Now thanks be unto God who always causes us to triumph in Christ and make manifest the savor or the smell of His knowledge by us in every place. Now watch. For we are unto God a sweet savor, or a sweet smell of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish." Note what he said, that in Christ we are a sweet savor. We are a sweet smell. However, unauthorized, undiblical, and ungodly sacrifices were a stench unto God.

[John Weaver] They were totally offensive to Him and completely unacceptable. It's only in Christ that we are a sweet smell and a sweet savor unto God.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to share with you. The body or mass of sin that resides in our carcass or our carcasses Is justice is pleasing to the Lord and just as much a stench in his nostrils? I'm going to explain that. All of us. Have been around people. Who stink? Sometimes. They stink because they haven't had a bath. Sometimes they stink because they are Working hard, it's hot, sweat is dried on them. Sometimes people stink because of chemical and hormonal problems in their bodies. But we understand what it is to smell a stink. We understand that. Have you ever considered that your sin Your disobedience, your rebellion is a stench in God's nostrils. Ever thought about that?

[John Weaver] You know what David said in Psalm 38 in verse 5? Now listen to what he said. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. His foolishness was his sin. Foolishness is another word for sin in the Bible. Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. What's foolish? It's sin. David said, my wounds stink and are corrupt because of my sin. Now, I want to show you from the Bible. How our sin stinks before God, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Romans, chapter seven. Romans chapter 7.

[John Weaver] The Apostle Paul uses an illustration here. That is very vivid, that is very, very clear. In Romans chapter 7, right now, I just want you to look at verse 24. Then I'm going to give you two commentators quotes. Watch, if you would, Romans 7, verse 24. The Apostle Paul cries, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Here's what Albert Barnes said on this verse. The body of this death denotes the corrupt and evil propensities of the soul. It is thus used to denote the law of sin and the members as being that which the apostle was struggling and from which he desired to be delivered. The body of death denotes the corrupt and evil propensities of the soul. John Gill said this, the body of sin speaks of the load of sin and burden of corruption under which he, the apostle, groaned, and still bespeaks him a regenerate man.

[John Weaver] For not of outward calamities, but of indwelling sin, is he all along speaking in the context. Wherefore, it is better by the body of this death to understand what he in Romans 6 calls the body of sin. That is, that mass of corruption that lodged in him, which is called a body because of its fleshly, carnal nature, because of its manner of operation, it exerts itself by the members of the body, and because it consists of various parts and members, as a body does, and a body of death because it makes men liable to death. It was that which the Apostle says slew him, and which itself is to a regenerate man as a dead carcass, stinking and loathsome. So what John Gill is saying, when the Apostle Paul cried, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? He was speaking of the remaining corruption that is in him.

[John Weaver] For instance, have you ever been praying? And your mind just wanders. And the next thing you know, you're entertaining thoughts that are vile or they just pop in your mind. How can that happen? I'm praying. Or have you ever been trying to read the scripture and all of a sudden you start thinking about vacation or something you've got to do and your mind just wanders? And have you ever?

[John Weaver] Want to live and do what is right. And then all of a sudden, all of a sudden, here comes this horrible thought in your mind. Where in the world did that come from? Well, that's the remaining corruption that is in you. That is the sin. When Paul said, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The body of this death is a Hebraism, which should be understood to mean from this dead body, this carcass of sin, Which I am inseparably fastened to, and it is annoysome and stinks in every area. I don't like it. I don't want it.

[John Weaver] But I'm attached to it. Now let me tell you the illustration. When Paul said, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Tyrants sometimes use this as a means of putting individuals to death. Other times, when a man murdered and the murderer was caught timely, this was the order of his death. They would take the man that he murdered. And tie the murdered man to the living man face to face, arm to arm, hand to hand, stomach to stomach, leg to leg, foot to foot. And the living man would be bound to the dead body. Until the putrefaction of the dead body killed the living man. Tyrants sometimes would condemn people to death, even though they had not murdered anyone, and they would tie a dead body to them and let them slowly putrefy with the dead body. That is the illustration the Apostle is using when he says, Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Paul is saying it seems as if I've got a dead body attached to me.

[John Weaver] This thinking corrupt. Depraved mass that is still in me. We will not be glorified and we will not be perfect until eternity. Until then, we are still seeking to fight with and overcome this mass of corruption.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to listen. Our sin, our disobedience, our lack of holiness should make us groan under the weight of this. In other words, when we begin to realize we are indeed a stench in the nostrils of God. It should make us cry like the Apostle Paul, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Now I want you to understand when Paul made that cry, he was not just simply searching for just a deliverer. Nor was he ignorant of the true deliverer.

[John Weaver] For if you will watch, go back to Romans 7, verse 24. He said this, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Verse 25, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He knew that true deliverance was through Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. Have you stopped to think? That it is the blood of Jesus Christ. That is covered our sins. It is Christ.

[John Weaver] Who makes our vile stench? Sweet. And acceptable to God is father. Let me give you an illustration. Look in Exodus chapter 15. Exodus chapter 15. And I want us to begin reading there with verse 23, Exodus 15. Notice, if you would please, verse 23. The children of Israel are traveling through the desert. Exodus 15, verse 23, and when they came to Marah, They could not drink of the waters of Mara because they were bitter. Therefore, the name of his call Mara and the people murmured against Moses saying, what shall we drink? And he cried to the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast it in the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute and ordinance, and there he proved them notice that he would the Lord showed him a tree. And he cast it in the waters and the waters were made sweet. The tree. That makes us sweet and acceptable to God is the cross of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] And if you will turn in your Bibles to first Corinthians 15, I want to show you this. You've got to understand that we are still as long as we're in this mortal body, We are still corruption. First Corinthians, Chapter 15, and notice, if you would please, beginning there with verse 50. First Corinthians 15. And verse 50, look what the Apostle Paul says, he's talking now about about the bodily resurrection from the dead, and he says this.

[John Weaver] Now this, I say, brethren, that flesh and blood, that's what you and I are at this point. flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption, that's us, inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. We shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the last trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

[John Weaver] Now watch, for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then, shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" Sin is an abomination to God. It's a stench in God's nostrils and it cries out to God.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to go back in your Bibles to the book of Jonah. Chapter 1, and let's look at verses 1 and 2 again. With everything that I've just told you, I want us to look at these verses in the light of those truths. Look in Jonah 1, verse 1, Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come up before me." I want you to note that statement, for their wickedness is come up before me. Literally, their wickedness has come up before my face. That's what God says. Sin is a bold and open affront to God. It is against Him in His sight and in His face. None of us want anyone in our face, especially an individual who stinks. Sin not only stinks, it gets in the face of God. I want you to listen.

[John Weaver] many years ago, wrote a wonderful book entitled The Plague of Plagues. I want to give you just one paragraph of what Venning wrote. He says, The sinfulness of sin not only appears from, but consists in that it is contrary to God. Indeed, it's contrariety and enmity itself. Carnal men are sinners. are called by the name of enemies to God, Romans 5.8. But the carnal mind or sin is called enmity itself, Romans 8.7. Accordingly, and its acts were expressed by names of enmity and acts of hostility, such as walking contrary to God, Leviticus 26.21, rebelling against God, Isaiah 1.2, rising up against Him as an enemy, Micah 2.8, striving and contending with Him, Isaiah 45.9, and despising God, Numbers 11.20. It makes men haters of God, Romans 1.30, resistors of God, Acts 7.51, fighters against God, Acts 5.39, and even blasphemers of God, and in short, Very atheists who say there is no God, Psalm 14.1. Now listen, it goes about to un-God God and is by some of the ancients called decidium, that is, God murder or God killing.

[John Weaver] When you stop and think about sin, sin is not only contrary to God, it is that. But sin would not only dethrone God if it could, it would murder God. Sin does not fear God. Do you not remember there in Romans 3, the Apostle Paul enlisting all of those sins? He says, there is no fear of God before their eyes. So sin, like the Ninevites, rises up before God. The Ninevites sin willingly, openly, and in absolute defiance to the Supreme Judge of all the earth. That's exactly what sin does. Now, God says in Jonah 1 and verse 2, that their sin or their wickedness has come up before Me. How in the world does wickedness come up before God? Well, seemingly here, their wickedness is personified. It's like if I rose up in your face, you would say, well, he came up before me. I'm in your face. God is saying here, their wickedness has come up in my face. Its person, its stench, its cry for judgment has come before the sovereign, the supreme judge.

[John Weaver] Its vileness, its arrogance, its rebellion and its hatefulness cries aloud for divine vengeance. When God says in Jonah 1 in verse 2, their wickedness has come up before me. What he's saying is their wickedness now has filled the cup to the brim and the inhabitants are now ripe for destruction. Wickedness was committed openly and boldly with much impudence, not only in the sight of God, but against God. And what God is saying is they're not going to be allowed any longer to flaunt themselves. Sin is a dare to God.

[John Weaver] It's a challenge to God's justice. It's a challenge to God's honor and God's righteousness. Sin does not believe God, it does not fear God. And sin just basically says, I dare you to do what you're saying that you're going to do. In Romans and not in Romans, but in Revelation 18 in verse five and speaking of Babylon, the great, here's what God says for her sins have reached them to heaven and God hath remembered her iniquities or sins have reached them to heaven.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look back in Jonah one in verse two. God says for their wickedness is come up before me. Here's what Matthew Henry said on that verse. Listen carefully. Their wickedness has come up. That is, it has come to a high degree to its highest pitch. The measure of it is full to the brim. Their wickedness has come up and then it is time for vengeance to come down. It has come up before me to my face, so the word is. It is a bold and open affront to God.

[John Weaver] It is sinning against Him in His sight. Therefore, Jonah must cry against it. He must witness against their great wickedness and must warn them of the destruction that was coming upon them for it." God is coming forth against it, and He sends Jonah before to proclaim war, to sound the alarm. Cry aloud and spare not.

[John Weaver] Do you realize that sin? Not only has this distinctive stench. It has a distinctive cry. Do you remember when Cain murdered Abel? And God came to Cain and said, where's your brother Abel? He says, I know not. Am I my brother's keeper? And God said in Genesis 4 verse 10, Thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. The blood was crying for justice and vengeance. Do you remember the passage in Genesis 18 where God came to Abraham and he said this? And the Lord said it because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great. And because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they've done altogether court in private of that which has come unto me. If not, I will know it." Notice he said, their sin is very grievous and their cry has come up to me.

[John Weaver] I want you to turn to James chapter 5. I want you to see this in James 5. Look in James 5 and verse We'll begin reading with verse 1, James 5 verse 1. Watch carefully. James 5 verse 1. God says, James 5 verse 1. Hebrews, James, 1 Peter. Here we go. James 5, verse 1. Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl, for your miseries that shall come upon you, your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten, your gold and silvers cankered, and the rest of them shall be witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.

[John Weaver] You have heaped treasure together for the last days. Now look what God says. Behold, the hire of your laborers, who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by a frog, crieth, and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath." You've lived in pleasure on the earth. You've been wanted. You've nursed your heart. It's a day of slaughter. You've condemned and killed the just, and He does not resist you. And God says, your time is coming. The cries of your laborers have entered into My ears.

[John Weaver] Sin has its own stench. Sin has its own voice. While the stench of sin is attestable to God, God hears its voice because it's crying for judgment, justice, and vengeance.

[John Weaver] Now, let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this. Have you ever considered why God hates sin? You know, I told you earlier that sin is contrary to God. I told you that sin, if it could, would dethrone God. I told you that sin would murder God. It would kill God. In one sense of the word, it did. You say, how can you say that? Well, it did kill the Son of God.

[John Weaver] who gave Himself to redeem us. You say, but Pastor, He voluntarily laid down His life. I know that. But why did He voluntarily lay down His life? Why was it necessary for Him to die? Because of our sin. And we can say that sin, our sin, caused the Son of God to die in the sense that He laid down His life as our substitute and as our sacrifice. I hope you're beginning to see so that you might understand what God said in Jeremiah 44 and verse 4. In speaking of sin, God said this, Oh, do not that abominable thing which I hate." Why does God hate sin? It's contrary to Him. It will dethrone Him. It was for that cause His Son came and died. And we should learn to hate sin as God hates sin. We should learn for it to be a stench in our nostrils as it is in his.

[John Weaver] The second application of this. Don't laugh. We need to consider the stinks in our lives. You say, what in the world are you talking about, Pastor? Well, usually when something goes wrong, Or something doesn't work out the way we want it to, we say, and that stinks. Or we say, I smell a rat. Well, rats stink. Have you ever stopped to think that part and parcel of God's curse upon our disobedience. God's curse upon our sins. Is a stink.

[John Weaver] Let me show you look in Isaiah chapter 3. Isaiah chapter 3. And notice if you would please. Verse 24 Isaiah chapter 3. And verse 24. And of course, God is talking about the curses, in fact. Look in verse 17. Isaiah 3, verse 17. He says, therefore, the Lord will smite thee with a scab, the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts. And that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments.

[John Weaver] And he lists all these things. But look down in verse 24. Here's the culmination. And it shall come to pass that instead of a sweet smell, there shall be a stink. And instead of a girdle of rent, instead of a well-set hair of baldness, instead of a stomach or a girding of sackcloth, and burning instead of beauty, thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. Note if you would in verse 24, and it shall come to pass, and instead of a sweet smell, there shall be a stink.

[John Weaver] In other words, everything is going to go wrong. Instead of a girdle, there's going to be a rending. Instead of well-set hair, there's going to be baldness. Why is the stink of God coming upon us? Because of our sins, our disobedience, and our rebellion. Are you listening? Nothing is right when we're wrong with the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to end this with something that you need to really, genuinely think about. 1 John 1.9 says this, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When you get to verse 7, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Are you listening? The sacrifice of Christ was the sweet smell to God the Father. Because it was perfection. It was holiness. It was justice. It was righteousness. If we want to get rid of the stink in our lives, it has to be through the propitiation, the atonement, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He not only washes us and cleanses us with His own blood, He then places upon us His robe of righteousness. So when God sees us in Christ, it's not your stench in my nostrils. That's what we are outside of Christ. In Christ, God says, that's a sweet smell for I smell my son. And that's acceptable to me. Only in Jesus Christ are we a sweet smell unto God the Father.

[John Weaver] Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We ask You to help us to understand the absolute necessity, Lord, of holiness in our lives and the absolute necessity of being found in Jesus Christ. O God, give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear, and may we live for Thee. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray. Amen.

[John Weaver] This program was produced by Dominion Ministry. For more information about Pastor Weaver's sermons, You may contact Dominion Ministry by mail at 7400 Abercorn, that's A-B-E-R-C-O-R-N Street, Suite 705, P-M-B 175, Savannah, Georgia, 31406. Or give us a call at 912-925-0995.

[John Weaver] You can also visit our website at www.dominionministry.com

A Stench in God's Nostrils

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	7141204163
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Revelation: Christ and the Churches
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-05-13
Dictation Name
Book	Book 139: Revelation: Christ and the Churches — Chapter 9
Source Timed Segments	70

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The Reality of Stenches

Weaver opens with humorous and vivid illustrations of physical stenches (skunks, dead animals, sulfur water) to establish a common understanding of what a stench is.

Jonah chapter 1, the title of the message is, "A Stench in God's Nostrils." A Stench in God's Nostrils. Notice Jonah chapter 1, verse 1 and 2. Jonah chapter 1,

Scripture Reading — Jonah 1:1-2

"Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me."

All of us have experienced stenches. Practically anyone who drives has either hit a skunk or straddled one in the road or simply drove by one that was already in the road and the dead skunk stench attached itself to the car. It's very difficult to get off the car. If you think that is difficult to do, then you let your dog have a run in with a skunk. And you will find that multiple washings using every known means under the sun usually will not get rid of the stench. It just simply has to wear itself out.

And Alice can tell you that from experience. And one of the funniest things that Alice and I saw, and I probably mentioned it before, it's still funny to me. We were passing through a little town and here's this fine old stately home and out in the yard at the edge of the road was this little toy poodle that had on a diamond collar with bows in her ears and had pink toenails and there she was rolling in a dead skunk beside the road. And I thought to myself, mama will be really surprised when her baby comes back inside. But each of us understands exactly what we're talking about when we talk about a stench. We've had the stench of dead animals. I constantly find dead possums, raccoons, squirrels, and sometimes skunks in my yard. And if you do not move them out quickly, after a few days in the sun, they're really, genuinely ripe beyond belief. And they stink.

I suppose one of the most eye-opening experiences I had many years ago, I was preaching in Ohio. It was summertime. Hot. The church did not have air conditioning at all. And they did put me a glass of water under the pulpit. Well, I hated to drink the water in front of everyone because it was so hot and I knew that would just simply make them thirsty. But I had been preaching, I guess, 45 minutes or an hour and I was about to perish. And so I reached up under that pulpit and I got that water.

Very quickly, I turned my head and took a big gulp of it. And just as I gulped, that smell hit me. It was sulfur water. And I mean, I snatched that thing down. I held that water in my mouth. I really wanted to spit it out. Finally, I got enough nerve to swallow it. And I said, thank God that's over with. And then everybody laughed because they were accustomed to it. It was nothing to them, but it stunk to high heaven. And ever, ever since that night, they'd keep slipping a bottle of sulfur water or a glass of it. But I was wise. I was not going to drink that stinking stuff anymore. We understand stinks.

Biblical Usage of 'Stink'

He examines Old Testament passages where 'stink' describes odious situations, such as Jacob's fear after Simeon and Levi's actions (Genesis 34) and the Ammonites' offense against David (2 Samuel 10).

The Bible says in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 10 in verse 1, "Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor." Notice if you would. Dead flies in the ointment cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor. Have you ever thought, as you read through the Bible, how the word stink is used? It hit me as I was looking at the book of Jonah. You say, there's nothing in there about a stink. Yes, there is. But I want you to turn in your Bibles, hold Jonah chapter 1, but turn to Genesis chapter 34 if you would. Let me show you how the word stink is used several times. Genesis chapter 34. You remember how Levi and Simeon have gone into the city and they have killed every male in that city because of what happened to Dinah, their sister. And in Genesis chapter 34, beginning there with verse, oh, let's read verse 27.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 34:27-30

"The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and spoiled the city because they had defiled their sister. They took their sheep and their oxen and their asses and that which was in the city and that which was in the field and all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives took they captive. And spoiled even all that was in the house. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, 'You trouble me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.'"

Now, I want you to note what Simeon and Levi had done. They had successfully killed all the men of Shechem. They had won the battle. But they had not won the war and Jacob rightly said, you haven't understood exactly what you've done. There's far more of the Canaanites and the Perizzites than those that you killed. And they will encompass me about because you have made me to stink. That is, you have made an odious and an intolerable situation.

For me and my family. He said, you've made me to stink. And the only reason that Jacob and his family survived was because God sovereignly protected him. If you look in Genesis 35, and look at verse 5, and the Bible said,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 35:5

"And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob."

It was just the terror of God that God preserved them after the boys had made Jacob and his family to stink in the eyes of all the Canaanites and Perizzites. If you will turn in your Bibles to the book of 2 Samuel chapter 10, here's another illustration of how the word stink is used. Notice, if you would, 2 Samuel chapter 10, beginning there with verse 1. 2 Samuel 10, verse 1, "And it came to pass after this that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. Then said David, I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me."

And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father, and David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, "Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? Hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee to search the city, and to spy it out, and overthrow it?" Wherefore, Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one-half their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, "Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return." And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand footmen, and of King Maacah a thousand men, and of Ish-tob twelve thousand men. And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the hosts of the mighty men. And the children of Ammon came out and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate: and the Syrians of Zobah, and of Rehob, and Ish-tob, and Maacah, were by themselves in the field. When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose out all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians. Well, you know the story here, and of course the Syrians and the children of Ammon were defeated. But note, if you would, in verse six, "and when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David," how did they create this stink?

And the stink was simply David had sent his diplomats to comfort Hanun. He got bad counsel from his men, so he shaved off half their beards and cut their garments to their buttocks and sent them away. So he dishonored David's ambassadors is what he did. And consequently, there was a war, but I want you to note it was referred to as a stink.

Now, I understand that not everyone has the same sense of smell. It is heightened in some individuals and others seemingly cannot smell at all. But those who do have the ability to smell and those who have a highly sensitive nose can usually detect a noisome odor very quickly. But there are several questions that you must think about even if you have a heightened sense of smell. Think about this. Do we have the same sense of smell that God does?

Spiritual Sensitivity to Sin's Stench

Weaver questions whether believers are sensitive to spiritual stenches, referencing Jesus' condemnation of the Pharisees as whitewashed tombs full of dead men's bones (Matthew 23:27).

And do we have any idea of that which is a stench in God's nostrils? I could ask it like this. Are we sensitive to spiritual odors or I could say spiritual stinks? I never will forget. I was talking to a preacher one time. And he got to talking about buzzard Baptists. I said, "What is a buzzard Baptist?" He said, "Oh, you know, those are the people that belong to the church. But they never come, they never attend, until there's a stink. And they always hover then and come out around the stink." He said, "I call them buzzard Baptists."

Well, you stop and think about that. That's right in an awful lot of areas. But my question is this, are we sensitive to that which stinks before God? I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 23. I want you to see the illustration that our Lord Himself used in reference to the scribes and the Pharisees. Look in Matthew 23 and verse 27. Matthew 23, verse 27. Our Lord said it like this, Matthew 23, verse 27. He said, "Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites.

For you are likened to whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness." So what did our Lord say? He said, your so-called religiosity, your so-called spirituality stinks. It's nothing but dead men's bones and uncleanness. It's totally, completely noisome. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel chapter 24, because I want to show you another illustration that shows us the stink of sin. Notice, if you would, in Ezekiel chapter 24. And let's begin reading there with verse one. Ezekiel 24 and verse one.

Sin as Scum and Filthiness in Ezekiel

He expounds Ezekiel 24, where God likens Jerusalem's sins to scum in a boiling pot, emphasizing that sin is filthy and stinking before God.

Now, the message today may be unpleasant in one sense of the word, but it's absolutely necessary that we understand what sin is to God. Notice, if you would, Ezekiel chapter 24, verse one. "Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of the same day the king of Babylon has set himself against Jerusalem the same day. And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Set on a pot, set it on, and pour water into it. Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, fill it with the choice bones. Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them see the bones of it therein. Wherefore, thus saith the Lord God, Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it.

Bring it out piece by piece, let no lot fall upon it, for her blood is in the midst of her, and set it upon the top of a rock, She poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust, that it might cause fury to come up, to take vengeance. I have set her blood upon the top of the rock, that it should not be covered. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great, heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned. Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, and the scum of it may be consumed. She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her. Her scum shall be in the midst of the fire, and thy filthiness is lewdness, because I have purged thee. Thou wast not purged. Thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.

I, the Lord, have spoken it. It shall come to pass. I will do it. I will not go back. Neither will I spare, neither will I repent. According to thy ways and according to thy doings shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God." Now, I want you to note what God said and what God did. He said, you take this pot, you put water in it, and you put all these choice pieces in it and let it boil. Cook it. Let it boil down. Take the pieces out except the bones or whatever scum is there. Then you set the pot back on the fire just with the scum in it.

And you let it heat and you let it stick to the sides of the pan. Have you ever had something burned in a boiler in your house? Or something burned in the oven? Oh yeah. It stinks. It creates a huge stink. I want you to note what God said. He referred to the sins here as scum, as great scum, and as filthiness. Filthiness stinks. Scum stinks. Here in the South often talk about pond scum. The scum that just comes upon stagnant water. You can smell it. It stinks. And God here refers to this just simply as scum and great scum and of course filthiness.

Idolatry as Stinking Carcasses

Weaver connects Jeremiah 16:18 and Psalm 115 to show that idols are dead, stinking carcasses (dung balls) that defile God's land, and even God-ordained rituals become a stench when done with empty hearts (Amos 5:21).

Because they have defiled my land, they have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 16:18

" Notice if you would, God says they have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things. Now these detestable and abominable things that they had filled his inheritance with, happened to be their idols. Their wicked, reprobate, hateful idols, which of course was pollution and corruption. And God said they filled my land with this. The idols were called carcasses because they were lifeless. They were useless, they were worthless, they were stinking, they were loathsome, they were abominable and vile. I want you to hold Jeremiah 16, but look in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 115. And let me show you what God says about idols. Look in Psalm 115. Notice, if you would, beginning there with verse four, Psalm 115 in verse four. Look what God says. Psalm 115, verse 4. He says, "

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands." Now He says, verse 5, Psalm 115, verse 5, "They have mouths, but they speak not.

Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet have they, but they walk not, neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them, so is everyone that trusteth in them."

Now, I told you that idols were dead carcasses and they stunk. One of my favorite Hebrew words is the word gillulim. It is a word that is used for idols. It is translated as dung balls. That's what God calls these idols, dung balls. That's why he said their carcasses have defiled my inheritance. And they are filthy and they are abominable. They are detestable. Not only were the idols detestable, not only were they filthy and vile, but even the ceremonies and rituals in worshipping these idols were filthy and vile as well.

I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Amos, chapter 5, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Look, if you would, at Amos chapter 5. And I want to show you what God says, even in relationship to his own ceremonies that he ordained when the people's hearts were contrary to him. Notice if you would, in Amos chapter 5, he makes this statement. Amos chapter 5. Verse 21, God says, "I hate, I despise your feast days. I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them, neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts."

Now, if God will not accept or receive those sacrifices and those ceremonies which He has ordained when they are done merely ritualistic and with an empty heart, what makes you think that God is going to accept some ceremony or some sacrifice to a dumb idol that he refers to as a dung ball. Moreover, you've got to understand that when they sacrificed to these idols, they sacrificed animals. Sometimes they sacrificed humans. If you'll look in Jeremiah chapter 7, Jeremiah 7 and verse 31, Jeremiah 7 Verse 31. Watch carefully. Jeremiah 7, verse 31. Look what God says. To show you how offensive this was to God. Jeremiah 7, verse 31.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 7:31

"And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart."

Their idolatries were more odious and loathsome than any stinking carcass, because their idolatries were a stench in God's nostrils and an insult to God as well.

The Believer's Remaining Corruption as a Stench

Using Romans 7:24 and the illustration of a living man bound to a corpse, Weaver explains that indwelling sin is a stinking, loathsome mass from which believers long to be delivered.

Now, I want you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to share with you. The body or mass of sin that resides in our carcass or our carcasses is just as displeasing to the Lord and just as much a stench in his nostrils. I'm going to explain that. All of us have been around people who stink. Sometimes they stink because they haven't had a bath. Sometimes they stink because they are working hard, it's hot, sweat is dried on them. Sometimes people stink because of chemical and hormonal problems in their bodies. But we understand what it is to smell a stink. We understand that. Have you ever considered that your sin, your disobedience, your rebellion is a stench in God's nostrils? Ever thought about that?

You know what David said in Psalm 38 in verse 5? Now listen to what he said.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 38:5

"My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness."

My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. His foolishness was his sin. Foolishness is another word for sin in the Bible. "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." What's foolish? It's sin. David said, my wounds stink and are corrupt because of my sin. Now, I want to show you from the Bible how our sin stinks before God, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Romans, chapter seven. Romans chapter 7.

The Apostle Paul uses an illustration here that is very vivid, that is very, very clear. In Romans chapter 7, right now, I just want you to look at verse 24. Then I'm going to give you two commentators quotes. Watch, if you would, Romans 7, verse 24. The Apostle Paul cries,

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:24-25

"O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Here's what Albert Barnes said on this verse.

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:24-25

"The body of this death denotes the corrupt and evil propensities of the soul. It is thus used to denote the law of sin in the members as being that which the apostle was struggling and from which he desired to be delivered. The body of death denotes the corrupt and evil propensities of the soul."

John Gill said this, "the body of sin speaks of the load of sin and burden of corruption under which he, the apostle, groaned, and still bespeaks him a regenerate man.

For not of outward calamities, but of indwelling sin, is he all along speaking in the context. Wherefore, it is better by the body of this death to understand what he in Romans 6 calls the body of sin. That is, that mass of corruption that lodged in him, which is called a body because of its fleshly, carnal nature, because of its manner of operation, it exerts itself by the members of the body, and because it consists of various parts and members, as a body does, and a body of death because it makes men liable to death. It was that which the Apostle says slew him, and which itself is to a regenerate man as a dead carcass, stinking and loathsome." So what John Gill is saying, when the Apostle Paul cried, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" He was speaking of the remaining corruption that is in him.

For instance, have you ever been praying? And your mind just wanders. And the next thing you know, you're entertaining thoughts that are vile or they just pop in your mind. How can that happen? I'm praying. Or have you ever been trying to read the scripture and all of a sudden you start thinking about vacation or something you've got to do and your mind just wanders? And have you ever?

Want to live and do what is right. And then all of a sudden, all of a sudden, here comes this horrible thought in your mind. Where in the world did that come from? Well, that's the remaining corruption that is in you. That is the sin. When Paul said, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" The body of this death is a Hebraism, which should be understood to mean from this dead body, this carcass of sin, which I am inseparably fastened to, and it is noisome and stinks in every area. I don't like it. I don't want it.

But I'm attached to it. Now let me tell you the illustration. When Paul said, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Tyrants sometimes used this as a means of putting individuals to death. Other times, when a man murdered and the murderer was caught timely, this was the order of his death. They would take the man that he murdered. And tie the murdered man to the living man face to face, arm to arm, hand to hand, stomach to stomach, leg to leg, foot to foot. And the living man would be bound to the dead body. Until the putrefaction of the dead body killed the living man. Tyrants sometimes would condemn people to death, even though they had not murdered anyone, and they would tie a dead body to them and let them slowly putrefy with the dead body. That is the illustration the Apostle is using when he says, "Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Paul is saying it seems as if I've got a dead body attached to me.

This stinking corrupt, depraved mass that is still in me. We will not be glorified and we will not be perfect until eternity. Until then, we are still seeking to fight with and overcome this mass of corruption.

Christ Makes Us a Sweet Savor

He shows that only through Jesus Christ and His cross are believers made a sweet smell to God, referencing 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 and Exodus 15:23-25 (the tree that sweetened bitter waters).

Now, I want you to listen. Our sin, our disobedience, our lack of holiness should make us groan under the weight of this. In other words, when we begin to realize we are indeed a stench in the nostrils of God. It should make us cry like the Apostle Paul,

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:24-25

"O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

Now I want you to understand when Paul made that cry, he was not just simply searching for just a deliverer. Nor was he ignorant of the true deliverer. For if you will watch, go back to Romans 7, verse 24. He said this,

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:24-25

"O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

Verse 25,

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:24-25

"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

He knew that true deliverance was through Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. Have you stopped to think? That it is the blood of Jesus Christ. That has covered our sins. It is Christ.

Who makes our vile stench sweet and acceptable to God the Father. Let me give you an illustration. Look in Exodus chapter 15. Exodus chapter 15. And I want us to begin reading there with verse 23, Exodus 15. Notice, if you would please, verse 23. The children of Israel are traveling through the desert. Exodus 15, verse 23,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 15:23-25

"and when they came to Marah, They could not drink of the waters of Marah because they were bitter. Therefore, the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses saying, 'What shall we drink?' And he cried to the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast it in the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute and ordinance, and there he proved them."

Notice that he would, the Lord showed him a tree. And he cast it in the waters and the waters were made sweet. The tree that makes us sweet and acceptable to God is the cross of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And if you will turn in your Bibles to first Corinthians 15, I want to show you this. You've got to understand that we are still as long as we're in this mortal body, we are still corruption. First Corinthians, Chapter 15, and notice, if you would please, beginning there with verse 50. First Corinthians 15. And verse 50, look what the Apostle Paul says, he's talking now about about the bodily resurrection from the dead, and he says this.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 15:50-55

"Now this, I say, brethren, that flesh and blood, that's what you and I are at this point. flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption, that's us, inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. We shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the last trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

Now watch, "for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then, shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" Sin is an abomination to God. It's a stench in God's nostrils and it cries out to God.

Jonah 1:2: Wickedness Comes Up Before God

Returning to Jonah, Weaver explains that Nineveh's wickedness is personified as rising up in God's face, a bold affront that cries for judgment, filling the cup of wrath.

Now, I want you to go back in your Bibles to the book of Jonah. Chapter 1, and let's look at verses 1 and 2 again. With everything that I've just told you, I want us to look at these verses in the light of those truths. Look in Jonah 1, verse 1, "Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come up before me." I want you to note that statement, "for their wickedness is come up before me." Literally, their wickedness has come up before my face. That's what God says. Sin is a bold and open affront to God. It is against Him in His sight and in His face. None of us want anyone in our face, especially an individual who stinks. Sin not only stinks, it gets in the face of God. I want you to listen.

Many years ago, wrote a wonderful book entitled The Plague of Plagues. I want to give you just one paragraph of what Venning wrote. He says, "The sinfulness of sin not only appears from, but consists in that it is contrary to God. Indeed, it's contrariety and enmity itself. Carnal men are sinners. are called by the name of enemies to God, Romans 5:8. But the carnal mind or sin is called enmity itself, Romans 8:7. Accordingly, and its acts were expressed by names of enmity and acts of hostility, such as walking contrary to God, Leviticus 26:21, rebelling against God, Isaiah 1:2, rising up against Him as an enemy, Micah 2:8, striving and contending with Him, Isaiah 45:9, and despising God, Numbers 11:20. It makes men haters of God, Romans 1:30, resistors of God, Acts 7:51, fighters against God, Acts 5:39, and even blasphemers of God, and in short, very atheists who say there is no God, Psalm 14:1. Now listen, it goes about to un-God God and is by some of the ancients called deicidium, that is, God murder or God killing."

When you stop and think about sin, sin is not only contrary to God, it is that. But sin would not only dethrone God if it could, it would murder God. Sin does not fear God. Do you not remember there in Romans 3, the Apostle Paul enlisting all of those sins? He says, "there is no fear of God before their eyes." So sin, like the Ninevites, rises up before God. The Ninevites sin willingly, openly, and in absolute defiance to the Supreme Judge of all the earth. That's exactly what sin does. Now, God says in Jonah 1 and verse 2, that their sin or their wickedness has come up before Me. How in the world does wickedness come up before God? Well, seemingly here, their wickedness is personified. It's like if I rose up in your face, you would say, well, he came up before me. I'm in your face. God is saying here, their wickedness has come up in my face. Its person, its stench, its cry for judgment has come before the sovereign, the supreme judge.

Its vileness, its arrogance, its rebellion and its hatefulness cries aloud for divine vengeance. When God says in Jonah 1 in verse 2, "their wickedness has come up before me." What he's saying is their wickedness now has filled the cup to the brim and the inhabitants are now ripe for destruction. Wickedness was committed openly and boldly with much impudence, not only in the sight of God, but against God. And what God is saying is they're not going to be allowed any longer to flaunt themselves. Sin is a dare to God. It's a challenge to God's justice. It's a challenge to God's honor and God's righteousness. Sin does not believe God, it does not fear God. And sin just basically says, I dare you to do what you're saying that you're going to do. In Romans and not in Romans, but in Revelation 18 in verse five and speaking of Babylon, the great, here's what God says "for her sins have reached unto heaven and God hath remembered her iniquities" or sins have reached unto heaven.

Now, I want you to look back in Jonah one in verse two. God says "for their wickedness is come up before me." Here's what Matthew Henry said on that verse. Listen carefully. "Their wickedness has come up. That is, it has come to a high degree to its highest pitch. The measure of it is full to the brim. Their wickedness has come up and then it is time for vengeance to come down. It has come up before me to my face, so the word is. It is a bold and open affront to God.

It is sinning against Him in His sight. Therefore, Jonah must cry against it. He must witness against their great wickedness and must warn them of the destruction that was coming upon them for it." God is coming forth against it, and He sends Jonah before to proclaim war, to sound the alarm. Cry aloud and spare not.

Sin's Cry for Vengeance

He illustrates that sin has a voice that cries for justice, citing Abel's blood (Genesis 4:10), Sodom's cry (Genesis 18), and the defrauded laborers' cries (James 5:4).

Do you realize that sin? Not only has this distinctive stench. It has a distinctive cry. Do you remember when Cain murdered Abel? And God came to Cain and said, "Where's your brother Abel?" He says, "I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?" And God said in Genesis 4 verse 10, "Thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground." The blood was crying for justice and vengeance. Do you remember the passage in Genesis 18 where God came to Abraham and he said this? "And the Lord said it because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great. And because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they've done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me. If not, I will know it." Notice he said, their sin is very grievous and their cry has come up to me.

I want you to turn to James chapter 5. I want you to see this in James 5. Look in James 5 and verse We'll begin reading with verse 1, James 5 verse 1. Watch carefully. James 5 verse 1. God says, James 5 verse 1. Hebrews, James, 1 Peter. Here we go. James 5, verse 1. "Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl, for your miseries that shall come upon you, your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten, your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.

You have heaped treasure together for the last days. Now look what God says. "Behold, the hire of your laborers, who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth, and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." You've lived in pleasure on the earth. You've been wanton. You've nourished your heart. It's a day of slaughter. You've condemned and killed the just, and He does not resist you. And God says, your time is coming. The cries of your laborers have entered into My ears.

Sin has its own stench. Sin has its own voice. While the stench of sin is detestable to God, God hears its voice because it's crying for judgment, justice, and vengeance.

Applications: Hating Sin and Finding Cleansing in Christ

Weaver applies the message by urging believers to hate sin as God does, recognize the stinks in their lives as part of God's curse (Isaiah 3:24), and seek cleansing through confession and Christ's blood (1 John 1:7, 9).

Now, let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this. Have you ever considered why God hates sin? You know, I told you earlier that sin is contrary to God. I told you that sin, if it could, would dethrone God. I told you that sin would murder God. It would kill God. In one sense of the word, it did. You say, how can you say that? Well, it did kill the Son of God.

who gave Himself to redeem us. You say, but Pastor, He voluntarily laid down His life. I know that. But why did He voluntarily lay down His life? Why was it necessary for Him to die? Because of our sin. And we can say that sin, our sin, caused the Son of God to die in the sense that He laid down His life as our substitute and as our sacrifice. I hope you're beginning to see so that you might understand what God said in Jeremiah 44 and verse 4. In speaking of sin, God said this, "Oh, do not that abominable thing which I hate." Why does God hate sin? It's contrary to Him. It will dethrone Him. It was for that cause His Son came and died. And we should learn to hate sin as God hates sin. We should learn for it to be a stench in our nostrils as it is in his.

The second application of this. Don't laugh. We need to consider the stinks in our lives. You say, what in the world are you talking about, Pastor? Well, usually when something goes wrong, or something doesn't work out the way we want it to, we say, "and that stinks." Or we say, "I smell a rat." Well, rats stink. Have you ever stopped to think that part and parcel of God's curse upon our disobedience. God's curse upon our sins. Is a stink.

Let me show you look in Isaiah chapter 3. Isaiah chapter 3. And notice if you would please. Verse 24 Isaiah chapter 3. And verse 24. And of course, God is talking about the curses, in fact. Look in verse 17. Isaiah 3, verse 17. He says, "therefore, the Lord will smite thee with a scab, the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts. And that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments."

And he lists all these things. But look down in verse 24. Here's the culmination. "And it shall come to pass that instead of a sweet smell, there shall be a stink. And instead of a girdle a rent, instead of well-set hair baldness, instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth, and burning instead of beauty. Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war." Note if you would in verse 24, "and it shall come to pass, and instead of a sweet smell, there shall be a stink." In other words, everything is going to go wrong. Instead of a girdle, there's going to be a rending. Instead of well-set hair, there's going to be baldness. Why is the stink of God coming upon us? Because of our sins, our disobedience, and our rebellion. Are you listening? Nothing is right when we're wrong with the Lord.

Now, I want to end this with something that you need to really, genuinely think about. 1 John 1:9 says this, "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." When you get to verse 7, "and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin." Are you listening? The sacrifice of Christ was the sweet smell to God the Father. Because it was perfection. It was holiness. It was justice. It was righteousness. If we want to get rid of the stink in our lives, it has to be through the propitiation, the atonement, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He not only washes us and cleanses us with His own blood, He then places upon us His robe of righteousness. So when God sees us in Christ, it's not your stench in my nostrils. That's what we are outside of Christ. In Christ, God says, that's a sweet smell for I smell my son. And that's acceptable to me. Only in Jesus Christ are we a sweet smell unto God the Father.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Sin as a Stench to God

Summary: Sin is portrayed as a foul, nauseating odor in God's nostrils, comparable to physical stenches like dead animals or sulfur water.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Have you ever considered that your sin, your disobedience, your rebellion is a stench in God's nostrils?' and uses multiple biblical examples.

The Offensiveness of Idolatry

Summary: Idols are described as dead carcasses and dung balls that defile God's inheritance and are detestable to Him.

Evidence: Weaver references Jeremiah 16:18 and Psalm 115, noting that idols are 'carcasses of their detestable and abominable things' and the Hebrew word gillulim means 'dung balls.'

Indwelling Sin as a Dead Body

Summary: The remaining corruption in believers is likened to a stinking corpse bound to a living person, causing groaning for deliverance.

Evidence: Weaver explains Romans 7:24 with the illustration of a murderer tied to his victim, and quotes John Gill: 'a dead carcass, stinking and loathsome.'

Christ as the Sweet Savor

Summary: Only through Jesus Christ's sacrifice are believers transformed from a stench into a sweet smell acceptable to God.

Evidence: Weaver cites 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 and Exodus 15:23-25, saying, 'The tree that makes us sweet and acceptable to God is the cross of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.'

Sin's Boldness and Cry for Judgment

Summary: Sin is an open affront to God, rising up in His face and crying out for divine vengeance.

Evidence: Weaver expounds Jonah 1:2: 'their wickedness has come up before my face,' and cites Genesis 4:10 and James 5:4 to show sin's cry.

The Necessity of Hating Sin

Summary: Believers should learn to hate sin as God does, recognizing its destructive nature and its role in Christ's death.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We should learn to hate sin as God hates sin. We should learn for it to be a stench in our nostrils as it is in his.'

Key Arguments

Sin is inherently offensive to God, like a physical stench.

Summary: Weaver argues that just as humans are repulsed by foul odors, God is nauseated by sin, which is described as a stench in Scripture.

Evidence: He uses personal anecdotes (skunks, sulfur water) and biblical texts (Ezekiel 24, Jeremiah 16) to establish the metaphor.

Idolatry and empty religion are particularly stinking sins.

Summary: Idols are lifeless, worthless, and defiling; even God-ordained worship becomes a stench when performed with hypocrisy.

Evidence: Weaver cites Psalm 115, Amos 5:21, and Jeremiah 7:31, calling idols 'dung balls' and noting God's rejection of insincere sacrifices.

Believers still carry a 'body of death'—indwelling sin that stinks.

Summary: Using Romans 7:24, Weaver contends that the remaining corruption in Christians is like a decaying corpse attached to them, causing ongoing struggle.

Evidence: He quotes John Gill's commentary: 'a dead carcass, stinking and loathsome,' and explains the ancient punishment of binding a living person to a dead body.

Only Christ's atonement transforms the stench of sin into a sweet savor.

Summary: The cross is the 'tree' that sweetens the bitter waters of sin, making believers acceptable to God.

Evidence: Weaver connects Exodus 15:25 to 2 Corinthians 2:14-15, stating, 'In Christ, God says, that's a sweet smell for I smell my son.'

Sin is a bold, personal affront to God that demands judgment.

Summary: Sin rises up in God's face, defying Him and crying out for vengeance, as seen in Nineveh and other biblical examples.

Evidence: Weaver expounds Jonah 1:2 and references Genesis 4:10, Genesis 18, and James 5:4 to show sin's cry for justice.

Believers must hate sin and seek cleansing through confession and Christ's blood.

Summary: Recognizing sin's stench should lead to repentance and reliance on Christ's cleansing power.

Evidence: Weaver cites 1 John 1:7, 9 and Isaiah 3:24, urging believers to 'get rid of the stink in our lives' through Christ's sacrifice.

Scripture References

Jonah 1:1-2

Context: Introduction of the sermon's key text: God commands Jonah to go to Nineveh because their wickedness has come up before Him.

Ecclesiastes 10:1

Context: Illustration of dead flies causing a stinking savor, used to introduce the concept of spiritual stench.

Genesis 34:27-30

Context: Jacob says Simeon and Levi have made him 'to stink' among the Canaanites after their violent act.

Genesis 35:5

Context: God's terror preserved Jacob's family after they were made to stink.

2 Samuel 10:1-6

Context: The Ammonites realized they 'stank before David' after dishonoring his ambassadors, leading to war.

Matthew 23:27

Context: Jesus likens the Pharisees to whitewashed tombs full of dead men's bones, illustrating spiritual stench.

Ezekiel 24:1-14

Context: God uses the metaphor of a boiling pot with scum to depict Jerusalem's filthy sins.

Jeremiah 16:18

Context: God will recompense sin because they filled His land with carcasses of detestable things (idols).

Psalm 115:4-8

Context: Idols are described as having mouths but not speaking, etc., emphasizing their lifelessness.

Amos 5:21

Context: God hates and despises their feast days and will not smell their solemn assemblies when hearts are wrong.

Jeremiah 7:31

Context: They built high places to burn their children, which God did not command, showing the offensiveness of idolatry.

2 Corinthians 2:14-15

Context: Believers are a sweet savor of Christ unto God, both in those saved and perishing.

Psalm 38:5

Context: David says, 'My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness,' equating foolishness with sin.

Romans 7:24-25

Context: Paul cries out for deliverance from the body of this death, then thanks God through Jesus Christ.

Exodus 15:23-25

Context: The bitter waters of Marah were made sweet by a tree, typifying Christ's cross making sinners acceptable.

1 Corinthians 15:50-55

Context: Flesh and blood cannot inherit God's kingdom; corruption must put on incorruption through resurrection.

Revelation 18:5

Context: Babylon's sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

Genesis 4:10

Context: Abel's blood cried unto God from the ground, illustrating sin's cry for vengeance.

James 5:1-4

Context: The cries of defrauded laborers have entered the ears of the Lord, showing sin's voice.

Isaiah 3:24

Context: Instead of a sweet smell there shall be a stink, as part of God's curse on disobedience.

Historical References

Albert Barnes (commentator)

Context: Weaver quotes Barnes on Romans 7:24, defining 'the body of this death' as corrupt propensities of the soul.

John Gill (commentator)

Context: Weaver quotes Gill's commentary on Romans 7:24, describing indwelling sin as a dead carcass, stinking and loathsome.

Ralph Venning (author of 'The Plague of Plagues')

Context: Weaver quotes Venning on the sinfulness of sin, calling it 'God murder or God killing' (deicidium).

Matthew Henry (commentator)

Context: Weaver quotes Henry on Jonah 1:2, explaining that wickedness coming up before God means it has reached its highest pitch.

Ancient punishment of binding a living person to a dead body

Context: Weaver describes the historical practice used by tyrants and for murderers to illustrate Romans 7:24.

Important Quotes

Have you ever considered that your sin, your disobedience, your rebellion is a stench in God's nostrils?

Significance: Central rhetorical question that encapsulates the sermon's main point, challenging listeners to view sin from God's perspective.

My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.

Significance: David's confession in Psalm 38:5, used to show that sin causes a spiritual stench and corruption.

O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Significance: Paul's cry in Romans 7:24, illustrating the believer's anguish over indwelling sin, which Weaver likens to a stinking corpse.

The tree that makes us sweet and acceptable to God is the cross of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Significance: Key gospel application: only Christ's cross transforms the stench of sin into a sweet savor.

Their wickedness has come up before my face.

Significance: Weaver's literal rendering of Jonah 1:2, emphasizing sin's bold, personal affront to God.

Sin not only stinks, it gets in the face of God.

Significance: Succinct summary of sin's dual offensiveness: its foulness and its defiance.

We should learn to hate sin as God hates sin. We should learn for it to be a stench in our nostrils as it is in his.

Significance: Practical application calling believers to adopt God's attitude toward sin.

In Christ, God says, that's a sweet smell for I smell my son. And that's acceptable to me.

Significance: Closing gospel assurance that believers are accepted by God only through Christ's imputed righteousness.

Discussion Questions

How does the metaphor of sin as a 'stench' change your perception of its seriousness?

Context: Weaver uses vivid physical analogies to help listeners grasp how offensive sin is to God.

In what ways might our religious activities become a stench to God, like those in Amos 5:21?

Context: Weaver warns that even God-ordained worship can be rejected if done with empty hearts.

How does the illustration of being bound to a dead body (Romans 7:24) help you understand the struggle with indwelling sin?

Context: Weaver explains the ancient punishment to depict the believer's ongoing battle with remaining corruption.

Why is it essential to see Christ's cross as the only remedy for the stench of sin?

Context: Weaver connects Exodus 15 and 2 Corinthians 2 to show that only Christ makes us a sweet savor.

What does it mean that sin 'rises up in God's face,' and how should that affect our view of personal sin?

Context: Weaver expounds Jonah 1:2, emphasizing sin's bold defiance against God.

How can we cultivate a hatred for sin that mirrors God's hatred?

Context: Weaver urges believers to learn to hate sin because it is contrary to God and caused Christ's death.

What 'stinks' in your life might be evidence of God's curse on disobedience (Isaiah 3:24), and how should you respond?

Context: Weaver suggests that difficulties and disappointments can be part of God's judgment on sin, calling for repentance.

How does the promise of 1 John 1:9 give hope for cleansing from sin's stench?

Context: Weaver concludes with the assurance that confession and Christ's blood cleanse believers from all unrighteousness.

Applications

Recognize sin as a stench to God

Summary: Believers should view their sin not merely as mistakes but as foul, nauseating offenses to a holy God.

Evidence: Weaver repeatedly asks, 'Have you ever considered that your sin... is a stench in God's nostrils?' and uses biblical imagery to drive this home.

Hate sin as God hates it

Summary: Because sin is contrary to God and caused Christ's death, Christians must learn to hate it intensely.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'We should learn to hate sin as God hates sin,' and explains sin's murderous intent toward God.

Examine your life for spiritual stinks

Summary: Consider the difficulties and failures in life as possible consequences of sin, prompting self-examination and repentance.

Evidence: Weaver points to Isaiah 3:24, where a stink replaces a sweet smell as part of God's curse, and asks listeners to consider the stinks in their lives.

Groan under the weight of indwelling sin

Summary: Like Paul, believers should feel the burden of remaining corruption and cry out for deliverance.

Evidence: Weaver expounds Romans 7:24, urging that the realization of sin's stench should make us cry, 'O wretched man that I am!'

Trust solely in Christ's atoning work

Summary: Only through Jesus' sacrifice and imputed righteousness can sinners become a sweet savor to God.

Evidence: Weaver emphasizes, 'If we want to get rid of the stink in our lives, it has to be through the propitiation... of Jesus Christ,' and cites 1 John 1:7, 9.

Confess sins for cleansing

Summary: Believers should regularly confess their sins, trusting God's faithfulness to forgive and cleanse them.

Evidence: Weaver quotes 1 John 1:9 and explains that confession is the means to remove the stench of sin through Christ's blood.

Reject empty religiosity

Summary: Avoid ritualistic worship that lacks genuine heart devotion, as it becomes a stench to God.

Evidence: Weaver cites Amos 5:21, where God rejects insincere sacrifices, and warns against ceremonies done with an empty heart.

Live in holiness and reverence

Summary: Serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, recognizing the seriousness of sin.

Evidence: Weaver prays for grace to 'serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear' in his closing prayer.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T13:05:36Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-05T23:43:49Z

Clean Transcript

A Stench in God's Nostrils

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Jonah chapter 1, the title of the message is, "A Stench in God's Nostrils." A Stench in God's Nostrils. Notice Jonah chapter 1, verse 1 and 2. Jonah chapter 1, "Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me." All of us have experienced stenches. Practically anyone who drives has either hit a skunk or straddled one in the road or simply drove by one that was already in the road and the dead skunk stench attached itself to the car. It's very difficult to get off the car. If you think that is difficult to do, then you let your dog have a run in with a skunk. And you will find that multiple washings using every known means under the sun usually will not get rid of the stench. It just simply has to wear itself out.
#1 | 0:01 to 1:16 | cleaned
And Alice can tell you that from experience. And one of the funniest things that Alice and I saw, and I probably mentioned it before, it's still funny to me. We were passing through a little town and here's this fine old stately home and out in the yard at the edge of the road was this little toy poodle that had on a diamond collar with bows in her ears and had pink toenails and there she was rolling in a dead skunk beside the road.
#2 | 1:17 to 1:49 | cleaned
And I thought to myself, mama will be really surprised when her baby comes back inside. But each of us understands exactly what we're talking about when we talk about a stench. We've had the stench of dead animals. I constantly find dead possums, raccoons, squirrels, and sometimes skunks in my yard. And if you do not move them out quickly, after a few days in the sun, they're really, genuinely ripe beyond belief. And they stink.
#3 | 1:51 to 2:26 | cleaned
I suppose one of the most eye-opening experiences I had many years ago, I was preaching in Ohio. It was summertime. Hot. The church did not have air conditioning at all. And they did put me a glass of water under the pulpit. Well, I hated to drink the water in front of everyone because it was so hot and I knew that would just simply make them thirsty. But I had been preaching, I guess, 45 minutes or an hour and I was about to perish. And so I reached up under that pulpit and I got that water.
#4 | 2:27 to 3:06 | cleaned
Very quickly, I turned my head and took a big gulp of it. And just as I gulped, that smell hit me. It was sulfur water. And I mean, I snatched that thing down. I held that water in my mouth. I really wanted to spit it out.
#5 | 3:06 to 3:25 | cleaned
Finally, I got enough nerve to swallow it. And I said, thank God that's over with. And then everybody laughed because they were accustomed to it. It was nothing to them, but it stunk to high heaven. And ever, ever since that night, they'd keep slipping a bottle of sulfur water or a glass of it. But I was wise. I was not going to drink that stinking stuff anymore. We understand stinks.
#6 | 3:26 to 3:54 | cleaned
The Bible says in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 10 in verse 1, "Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor." Notice if you would. Dead flies in the ointment cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor. Have you ever thought, as you read through the Bible, how the word stink is used? It hit me as I was looking at the book of Jonah.
#7 | 3:54 to 4:26 | cleaned
You say, there's nothing in there about a stink. Yes, there is. But I want you to turn in your Bibles, hold Jonah chapter 1, but turn to Genesis chapter 34 if you would. Let me show you how the word stink is used several times. Genesis chapter 34. You remember how Levi and Simeon have gone into the city and they have killed every male in that city because of what happened to Dinah, their sister. And in Genesis chapter 34, beginning there with verse, oh, let's read verse 27. "The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and spoiled the city because they had defiled their sister. They took their sheep and their oxen and their asses and that which was in the city and that which was in the field and all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives took they captive. And spoiled even all that was in the house. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, 'You trouble me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.'"
#8 | 4:26 to 5:43 | cleaned
Now, I want you to note what Simeon and Levi had done. They had successfully killed all the men of Shechem. They had won the battle. But they had not won the war and Jacob rightly said, you haven't understood exactly what you've done. There's far more of the Canaanites and the Perizzites than those that you killed. And they will encompass me about because you have made me to stink. That is, you have made an odious and an intolerable situation.
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For me and my family. He said, you've made me to stink. And the only reason that Jacob and his family survived was because God sovereignly protected him. If you look in Genesis 35, and look at verse 5, and the Bible said, "And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob." It was just the terror of God that God preserved them after the boys had made Jacob and his family to stink in the eyes of all the Canaanites and Perizzites. If you will turn in your Bibles to the book of 2 Samuel chapter 10, here's another illustration of how the word stink is used. Notice, if you would, 2 Samuel chapter 10, beginning there with verse 1. 2 Samuel 10, verse 1, "And it came to pass after this that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. Then said David, I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me."
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And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father, and David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, "Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? Hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee to search the city, and to spy it out, and overthrow it?" Wherefore, Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one-half their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed.
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And the king said, "Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return." And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand footmen, and of King Maacah a thousand men, and of Ish-tob twelve thousand men. And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the hosts of the mighty men. And the children of Ammon came out and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate: and the Syrians of Zobah, and of Rehob, and Ish-tob, and Maacah, were by themselves in the field. When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose out all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians. Well, you know the story here, and of course the Syrians and the children of Ammon were defeated. But note, if you would, in verse six, "and when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David," how did they create this stink?
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And the stink was simply David had sent his diplomats to comfort Hanun. He got bad counsel from his men, so he shaved off half their beards and cut their garments to their buttocks and sent them away. So he dishonored David's ambassadors is what he did. And consequently, there was a war, but I want you to note it was referred to as a stink.
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Now, I understand that not everyone has the same sense of smell. It is heightened in some individuals and others seemingly cannot smell at all. But those who do have the ability to smell and those who have a highly sensitive nose can usually detect a noisome odor very quickly. But there are several questions that you must think about even if you have a heightened sense of smell. Think about this. Do we have the same sense of smell that God does?
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And do we have any idea of that which is a stench in God's nostrils? I could ask it like this. Are we sensitive to spiritual odors or I could say spiritual stinks? I never will forget. I was talking to a preacher one time. And he got to talking about buzzard Baptists. I said, "What is a buzzard Baptist?" He said, "Oh, you know, those are the people that belong to the church. But they never come, they never attend, until there's a stink. And they always hover then and come out around the stink." He said, "I call them buzzard Baptists."
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Well, you stop and think about that. That's right in an awful lot of areas. But my question is this, are we sensitive to that which stinks before God? I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 23. I want you to see the illustration that our Lord Himself used in reference to the scribes and the Pharisees. Look in Matthew 23 and verse 27. Matthew 23, verse 27. Our Lord said it like this, Matthew 23, verse 27. He said, "Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites.
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For you are likened to whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness." So what did our Lord say? He said, your so-called religiosity, your so-called spirituality stinks. It's nothing but dead men's bones and uncleanness. It's totally, completely noisome. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel chapter 24, because I want to show you another illustration that shows us the stink of sin. Notice, if you would, in Ezekiel chapter 24.
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And let's begin reading there with verse one. Ezekiel 24 and verse one.
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Now, the message today may be unpleasant in one sense of the word, but it's absolutely necessary that we understand what sin is to God. Notice, if you would, Ezekiel chapter 24, verse one. "Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of the same day the king of Babylon has set himself against Jerusalem the same day. And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Set on a pot, set it on, and pour water into it. Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, fill it with the choice bones. Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them see the bones of it therein. Wherefore, thus saith the Lord God, Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it.
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Bring it out piece by piece, let no lot fall upon it, for her blood is in the midst of her, and set it upon the top of a rock, She poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust, that it might cause fury to come up, to take vengeance. I have set her blood upon the top of the rock, that it should not be covered. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Woe to the bloody city!
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I will even make the pile for fire great, heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned. Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, and the scum of it may be consumed. She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her. Her scum shall be in the midst of the fire, and thy filthiness is lewdness, because I have purged thee. Thou wast not purged. Thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.
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I, the Lord, have spoken it. It shall come to pass. I will do it. I will not go back. Neither will I spare, neither will I repent. According to thy ways and according to thy doings shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God." Now, I want you to note what God said and what God did. He said, you take this pot, you put water in it, and you put all these choice pieces in it and let it boil. Cook it. Let it boil down. Take the pieces out except the bones or whatever scum is there. Then you set the pot back on the fire just with the scum in it.
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And you let it heat and you let it stick to the sides of the pan. Have you ever had something burned in a boiler in your house? Or something burned in the oven? Oh yeah. It stinks. It creates a huge stink. I want you to note what God said. He referred to the sins here as scum, as great scum, and as filthiness. Filthiness stinks. Scum stinks. Here in the South often talk about pond scum. The scum that just comes upon stagnant water. You can smell it. It stinks. And God here refers to this just simply as scum and great scum and of course filthiness.
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Do you understand that spiritual garbage is still garbage? Spiritual stink is still stink. It has a distinctive smell. It smells like disobedience, wickedness, and rebellion. And the Word of God tells us, when that smell, when that stink comes before a holy, righteous God, it nauseates Him. It has the scent and the smell of death. For the wages of sin is death. That's why God said in verse 14 of Ezekiel chapter 24, He's spoken it. He's not going back. He's not going to repent. He's going to destroy these individuals because of their sins. And He likens their sins to this big stink. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah chapter 16. Jeremiah 16. And notice if you would please verse 18. Jeremiah 16 and verse 18. God uses this illustration many times in the Scripture. Jeremiah 16 and verse 18. Look what he says, Jeremiah 16 verse 18, "And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double." Why?
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Because they have defiled my land, they have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things." Notice if you would, God says they have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things. Now these detestable and abominable things that they had filled his inheritance with, happened to be their idols. Their wicked, reprobate, hateful idols, which of course was pollution and corruption. And God said they filled my land with this. The idols were called carcasses because they were lifeless. They were useless, they were worthless, they were stinking, they were loathsome, they were abominable and vile.
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I want you to hold Jeremiah 16, but look in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 115. And let me show you what God says about idols. Look in Psalm 115. Notice, if you would, beginning there with verse four, Psalm 115 in verse four. Look what God says. Psalm 115, verse 4. He says, "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands." Now He says, verse 5, Psalm 115, verse 5, "They have mouths, but they speak not.
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Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet have they, but they walk not, neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them, so is everyone that trusteth in them."
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Now, I told you that idols were dead carcasses and they stunk. One of my favorite Hebrew words is the word gillulim. It is a word that is used for idols. It is translated as dung balls. That's what God calls these idols, dung balls. That's why he said their carcasses have defiled my inheritance. And they are filthy and they are abominable. They are detestable. Not only were the idols detestable, not only were they filthy and vile, but even the ceremonies and rituals in worshipping these idols were filthy and vile as well.
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I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Amos, chapter 5, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Look, if you would, at Amos chapter 5. And I want to show you what God says, even in relationship to his own ceremonies that he ordained when the people's hearts were contrary to him. Notice if you would, in Amos chapter 5, he makes this statement. Amos chapter 5. Verse 21, God says, "I hate, I despise your feast days.
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I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them, neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts."
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Now, if God will not accept or receive those sacrifices and those ceremonies which He has ordained when they are done merely ritualistic and with an empty heart, what makes you think that God is going to accept some ceremony or some sacrifice to a dumb idol that he refers to as a dung ball. Moreover, you've got to understand that when they sacrificed to these idols, they sacrificed animals. Sometimes they sacrificed humans.
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If you'll look in Jeremiah chapter 7, Jeremiah 7 and verse 31, Jeremiah 7 Verse 31. Watch carefully. Jeremiah 7, verse 31. Look what God says. To show you how offensive this was to God. Jeremiah 7, verse 31. "And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart." Their idolatries were more odious and loathsome than any stinking carcass, because their idolatries were a stench in God's nostrils and an insult to God as well.
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Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 2. And before I read that verse or the verses there, I want to remind you of something. 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 and we're going to begin reading momentarily at verse 14. 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14 now. Do you remember? In the Old Testament. Whenever there was a sacrifice made to God. According to God's ordination. The Bible always said it was a sweet smell or a sweet savor unto God. Isn't that interesting? All of God's offerings were known as a sweet savor or a sweet smell offering. Do you know why all of those offerings in the Old Testament were known as sweet smell or sweet savor offerings?
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The answer is because they pictured the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away our sin. So if you look in 2 Corinthians 2 at verse 14, the Apostle Paul says, "Now thanks be unto God who always causes us to triumph in Christ and make manifest the savor or the smell of His knowledge by us in every place. Now watch. For we are unto God a sweet savor, or a sweet smell of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish." Note what he said, that in Christ we are a sweet savor. We are a sweet smell. However, unauthorized, unbiblical, and ungodly sacrifices were a stench unto God.
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They were totally offensive to Him and completely unacceptable. It's only in Christ that we are a sweet smell and a sweet savor unto God.
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Now, I want you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to share with you. The body or mass of sin that resides in our carcass or our carcasses is just as displeasing to the Lord and just as much a stench in his nostrils. I'm going to explain that. All of us have been around people who stink. Sometimes they stink because they haven't had a bath. Sometimes they stink because they are working hard, it's hot, sweat is dried on them. Sometimes people stink because of chemical and hormonal problems in their bodies. But we understand what it is to smell a stink. We understand that. Have you ever considered that your sin, your disobedience, your rebellion is a stench in God's nostrils? Ever thought about that?
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You know what David said in Psalm 38 in verse 5? Now listen to what he said. "My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness." My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. His foolishness was his sin. Foolishness is another word for sin in the Bible. "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." What's foolish? It's sin. David said, my wounds stink and are corrupt because of my sin. Now, I want to show you from the Bible how our sin stinks before God, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Romans, chapter seven. Romans chapter 7.
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The Apostle Paul uses an illustration here that is very vivid, that is very, very clear. In Romans chapter 7, right now, I just want you to look at verse 24. Then I'm going to give you two commentators quotes. Watch, if you would, Romans 7, verse 24. The Apostle Paul cries, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Here's what Albert Barnes said on this verse. "The body of this death denotes the corrupt and evil propensities of the soul. It is thus used to denote the law of sin in the members as being that which the apostle was struggling and from which he desired to be delivered. The body of death denotes the corrupt and evil propensities of the soul." John Gill said this, "the body of sin speaks of the load of sin and burden of corruption under which he, the apostle, groaned, and still bespeaks him a regenerate man.
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For not of outward calamities, but of indwelling sin, is he all along speaking in the context. Wherefore, it is better by the body of this death to understand what he in Romans 6 calls the body of sin. That is, that mass of corruption that lodged in him, which is called a body because of its fleshly, carnal nature, because of its manner of operation, it exerts itself by the members of the body, and because it consists of various parts and members, as a body does, and a body of death because it makes men liable to death. It was that which the Apostle says slew him, and which itself is to a regenerate man as a dead carcass, stinking and loathsome." So what John Gill is saying, when the Apostle Paul cried, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" He was speaking of the remaining corruption that is in him.
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For instance, have you ever been praying? And your mind just wanders. And the next thing you know, you're entertaining thoughts that are vile or they just pop in your mind. How can that happen? I'm praying. Or have you ever been trying to read the scripture and all of a sudden you start thinking about vacation or something you've got to do and your mind just wanders? And have you ever?
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Want to live and do what is right. And then all of a sudden, all of a sudden, here comes this horrible thought in your mind. Where in the world did that come from? Well, that's the remaining corruption that is in you. That is the sin. When Paul said, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" The body of this death is a Hebraism, which should be understood to mean from this dead body, this carcass of sin, which I am inseparably fastened to, and it is noisome and stinks in every area. I don't like it. I don't want it.
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But I'm attached to it. Now let me tell you the illustration. When Paul said, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Tyrants sometimes used this as a means of putting individuals to death. Other times, when a man murdered and the murderer was caught timely, this was the order of his death. They would take the man that he murdered. And tie the murdered man to the living man face to face, arm to arm, hand to hand, stomach to stomach, leg to leg, foot to foot. And the living man would be bound to the dead body. Until the putrefaction of the dead body killed the living man. Tyrants sometimes would condemn people to death, even though they had not murdered anyone, and they would tie a dead body to them and let them slowly putrefy with the dead body. That is the illustration the Apostle is using when he says, "Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Paul is saying it seems as if I've got a dead body attached to me.
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This stinking corrupt, depraved mass that is still in me. We will not be glorified and we will not be perfect until eternity. Until then, we are still seeking to fight with and overcome this mass of corruption.
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Now, I want you to listen. Our sin, our disobedience, our lack of holiness should make us groan under the weight of this. In other words, when we begin to realize we are indeed a stench in the nostrils of God. It should make us cry like the Apostle Paul, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Now I want you to understand when Paul made that cry, he was not just simply searching for just a deliverer. Nor was he ignorant of the true deliverer.
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For if you will watch, go back to Romans 7, verse 24. He said this, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Verse 25, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." He knew that true deliverance was through Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. Have you stopped to think? That it is the blood of Jesus Christ. That has covered our sins. It is Christ.
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Who makes our vile stench sweet and acceptable to God the Father. Let me give you an illustration. Look in Exodus chapter 15. Exodus chapter 15. And I want us to begin reading there with verse 23, Exodus 15. Notice, if you would please, verse 23. The children of Israel are traveling through the desert. Exodus 15, verse 23, "and when they came to Marah, They could not drink of the waters of Marah because they were bitter. Therefore, the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses saying, 'What shall we drink?' And he cried to the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast it in the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute and ordinance, and there he proved them." Notice that he would, the Lord showed him a tree. And he cast it in the waters and the waters were made sweet. The tree that makes us sweet and acceptable to God is the cross of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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And if you will turn in your Bibles to first Corinthians 15, I want to show you this. You've got to understand that we are still as long as we're in this mortal body, we are still corruption. First Corinthians, Chapter 15, and notice, if you would please, beginning there with verse 50. First Corinthians 15. And verse 50, look what the Apostle Paul says, he's talking now about about the bodily resurrection from the dead, and he says this.
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"Now this, I say, brethren, that flesh and blood, that's what you and I are at this point. flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption, that's us, inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. We shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the last trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
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Now watch, "for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then, shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" Sin is an abomination to God. It's a stench in God's nostrils and it cries out to God.
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Now, I want you to go back in your Bibles to the book of Jonah. Chapter 1, and let's look at verses 1 and 2 again. With everything that I've just told you, I want us to look at these verses in the light of those truths. Look in Jonah 1, verse 1, "Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come up before me." I want you to note that statement, "for their wickedness is come up before me." Literally, their wickedness has come up before my face. That's what God says. Sin is a bold and open affront to God. It is against Him in His sight and in His face. None of us want anyone in our face, especially an individual who stinks. Sin not only stinks, it gets in the face of God. I want you to listen.
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Many years ago, wrote a wonderful book entitled The Plague of Plagues. I want to give you just one paragraph of what Venning wrote. He says, "The sinfulness of sin not only appears from, but consists in that it is contrary to God. Indeed, it's contrariety and enmity itself. Carnal men are sinners. are called by the name of enemies to God, Romans 5:8. But the carnal mind or sin is called enmity itself, Romans 8:7. Accordingly, and its acts were expressed by names of enmity and acts of hostility, such as walking contrary to God, Leviticus 26:21, rebelling against God, Isaiah 1:2, rising up against Him as an enemy, Micah 2:8, striving and contending with Him, Isaiah 45:9, and despising God, Numbers 11:20. It makes men haters of God, Romans 1:30, resistors of God, Acts 7:51, fighters against God, Acts 5:39, and even blasphemers of God, and in short, very atheists who say there is no God, Psalm 14:1. Now listen, it goes about to un-God God and is by some of the ancients called deicidium, that is, God murder or God killing."
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When you stop and think about sin, sin is not only contrary to God, it is that. But sin would not only dethrone God if it could, it would murder God. Sin does not fear God. Do you not remember there in Romans 3, the Apostle Paul enlisting all of those sins? He says, "there is no fear of God before their eyes." So sin, like the Ninevites, rises up before God. The Ninevites sin willingly, openly, and in absolute defiance to the Supreme Judge of all the earth. That's exactly what sin does. Now, God says in Jonah 1 and verse 2, that their sin or their wickedness has come up before Me. How in the world does wickedness come up before God? Well, seemingly here, their wickedness is personified. It's like if I rose up in your face, you would say, well, he came up before me. I'm in your face. God is saying here, their wickedness has come up in my face. Its person, its stench, its cry for judgment has come before the sovereign, the supreme judge.
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Its vileness, its arrogance, its rebellion and its hatefulness cries aloud for divine vengeance. When God says in Jonah 1 in verse 2, "their wickedness has come up before me." What he's saying is their wickedness now has filled the cup to the brim and the inhabitants are now ripe for destruction. Wickedness was committed openly and boldly with much impudence, not only in the sight of God, but against God. And what God is saying is they're not going to be allowed any longer to flaunt themselves. Sin is a dare to God.
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It's a challenge to God's justice. It's a challenge to God's honor and God's righteousness. Sin does not believe God, it does not fear God. And sin just basically says, I dare you to do what you're saying that you're going to do. In Romans and not in Romans, but in Revelation 18 in verse five and speaking of Babylon, the great, here's what God says "for her sins have reached unto heaven and God hath remembered her iniquities" or sins have reached unto heaven.
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Now, I want you to look back in Jonah one in verse two. God says "for their wickedness is come up before me." Here's what Matthew Henry said on that verse. Listen carefully. "Their wickedness has come up. That is, it has come to a high degree to its highest pitch. The measure of it is full to the brim. Their wickedness has come up and then it is time for vengeance to come down. It has come up before me to my face, so the word is. It is a bold and open affront to God.
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It is sinning against Him in His sight. Therefore, Jonah must cry against it. He must witness against their great wickedness and must warn them of the destruction that was coming upon them for it." God is coming forth against it, and He sends Jonah before to proclaim war, to sound the alarm. Cry aloud and spare not.
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Do you realize that sin? Not only has this distinctive stench. It has a distinctive cry. Do you remember when Cain murdered Abel? And God came to Cain and said, "Where's your brother Abel?" He says, "I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?" And God said in Genesis 4 verse 10, "Thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground." The blood was crying for justice and vengeance. Do you remember the passage in Genesis 18 where God came to Abraham and he said this? "And the Lord said it because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great. And because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they've done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me. If not, I will know it." Notice he said, their sin is very grievous and their cry has come up to me.
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I want you to turn to James chapter 5. I want you to see this in James 5. Look in James 5 and verse We'll begin reading with verse 1, James 5 verse 1. Watch carefully. James 5 verse 1. God says, James 5 verse 1. Hebrews, James, 1 Peter. Here we go. James 5, verse 1. "Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl, for your miseries that shall come upon you, your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten, your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.
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You have heaped treasure together for the last days. Now look what God says. "Behold, the hire of your laborers, who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth, and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." You've lived in pleasure on the earth. You've been wanton. You've nourished your heart. It's a day of slaughter. You've condemned and killed the just, and He does not resist you. And God says, your time is coming. The cries of your laborers have entered into My ears.
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Sin has its own stench. Sin has its own voice. While the stench of sin is detestable to God, God hears its voice because it's crying for judgment, justice, and vengeance.
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Now, let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this. Have you ever considered why God hates sin? You know, I told you earlier that sin is contrary to God. I told you that sin, if it could, would dethrone God. I told you that sin would murder God. It would kill God. In one sense of the word, it did. You say, how can you say that? Well, it did kill the Son of God.
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who gave Himself to redeem us. You say, but Pastor, He voluntarily laid down His life. I know that. But why did He voluntarily lay down His life? Why was it necessary for Him to die? Because of our sin. And we can say that sin, our sin, caused the Son of God to die in the sense that He laid down His life as our substitute and as our sacrifice. I hope you're beginning to see so that you might understand what God said in Jeremiah 44 and verse 4. In speaking of sin, God said this, "Oh, do not that abominable thing which I hate." Why does God hate sin? It's contrary to Him. It will dethrone Him. It was for that cause His Son came and died. And we should learn to hate sin as God hates sin. We should learn for it to be a stench in our nostrils as it is in his.
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The second application of this. Don't laugh. We need to consider the stinks in our lives. You say, what in the world are you talking about, Pastor? Well, usually when something goes wrong, or something doesn't work out the way we want it to, we say, "and that stinks." Or we say, "I smell a rat." Well, rats stink. Have you ever stopped to think that part and parcel of God's curse upon our disobedience. God's curse upon our sins. Is a stink.
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Let me show you look in Isaiah chapter 3. Isaiah chapter 3. And notice if you would please. Verse 24 Isaiah chapter 3. And verse 24. And of course, God is talking about the curses, in fact. Look in verse 17. Isaiah 3, verse 17. He says, "therefore, the Lord will smite thee with a scab, the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts. And that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments."
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And he lists all these things. But look down in verse 24. Here's the culmination. "And it shall come to pass that instead of a sweet smell, there shall be a stink. And instead of a girdle a rent, instead of well-set hair baldness, instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth, and burning instead of beauty. Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war." Note if you would in verse 24, "and it shall come to pass, and instead of a sweet smell, there shall be a stink."
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In other words, everything is going to go wrong. Instead of a girdle, there's going to be a rending. Instead of well-set hair, there's going to be baldness. Why is the stink of God coming upon us? Because of our sins, our disobedience, and our rebellion. Are you listening? Nothing is right when we're wrong with the Lord.
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Now, I want to end this with something that you need to really, genuinely think about. 1 John 1:9 says this, "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." When you get to verse 7, "and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin." Are you listening? The sacrifice of Christ was the sweet smell to God the Father. Because it was perfection. It was holiness. It was justice. It was righteousness. If we want to get rid of the stink in our lives, it has to be through the propitiation, the atonement, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He not only washes us and cleanses us with His own blood, He then places upon us His robe of righteousness. So when God sees us in Christ, it's not your stench in my nostrils. That's what we are outside of Christ. In Christ, God says, that's a sweet smell for I smell my son. And that's acceptable to me. Only in Jesus Christ are we a sweet smell unto God the Father.
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Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We ask You to help us to understand the absolute necessity, Lord, of holiness in our lives and the absolute necessity of being found in Jesus Christ. O God, give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear, and may we live for Thee. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray. Amen.
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This program was produced by Dominion Ministry. For more information about Pastor Weaver's sermons, you may contact Dominion Ministry by mail at 7400 Abercorn, that's A-B-E-R-C-O-R-N Street, Suite 705, P-M-B 175, Savannah, Georgia, 31406. Or give us a call at 912-925-0995.
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You can also visit our website at www.dominionministry.com
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T13:05:36Z

A Stench in God's Nostrils

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver explores the biblical concept of sin as a stench in God's nostrils, using Jonah 1:2 as a starting point. He illustrates how sin is offensive to God, likening it to physical stenches and dead carcasses, and explains that only through Jesus Christ can believers become a sweet savor to God. The sermon calls for recognition of sin's vileness and reliance on Christ's atoning work.

Introduction: The Reality of Stenches

Weaver opens with humorous and vivid illustrations of physical stenches (skunks, dead animals, sulfur water) to establish a common understanding of what a stench is.

Jonah chapter 1, the title of the message is, "A Stench in God's Nostrils." A Stench in God's Nostrils. Notice Jonah chapter 1, verse 1 and 2. Jonah chapter 1,

Scripture Reading — Jonah 1:1-2

"Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me."

Biblical Usage of 'Stink'

He examines Old Testament passages where 'stink' describes odious situations, such as Jacob's fear after Simeon and Levi's actions (Genesis 34) and the Ammonites' offense against David (2 Samuel 10).

Scripture Reading — Genesis 34:27-30

"The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and spoiled the city because they had defiled their sister. They took their sheep and their oxen and their asses and that which was in the city and that which was in the field and all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives took they captive. And spoiled even all that was in the house. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, 'You trouble me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.'"

Scripture Reading — Genesis 35:5

"And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob."

Spiritual Sensitivity to Sin's Stench

Weaver questions whether believers are sensitive to spiritual stenches, referencing Jesus' condemnation of the Pharisees as whitewashed tombs full of dead men's bones (Matthew 23:27).

Sin as Scum and Filthiness in Ezekiel

He expounds Ezekiel 24, where God likens Jerusalem's sins to scum in a boiling pot, emphasizing that sin is filthy and stinking before God.

Idolatry as Stinking Carcasses

Because they have defiled my land, they have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 16:18

" Notice if you would, God says they have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things. Now these detestable and abominable things that they had filled his inheritance with, happened to be their idols. Their wicked, reprobate, hateful idols, which of course was pollution and corruption. And God said they filled my land with this. The idols were called carcasses because they were lifeless. They were useless, they were worthless, they were stinking, they were loathsome, they were abominable and vile. I want you to hold Jeremiah 16, but look in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 115. And let me show you what God says about idols. Look in Psalm 115. Notice, if you would, beginning there with verse four, Psalm 115 in verse four. Look what God says. Psalm 115, verse 4. He says, "

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands." Now He says, verse 5, Psalm 115, verse 5, "They have mouths, but they speak not.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 7:31

"And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart."

Their idolatries were more odious and loathsome than any stinking carcass, because their idolatries were a stench in God's nostrils and an insult to God as well.

The Believer's Remaining Corruption as a Stench

Using Romans 7:24 and the illustration of a living man bound to a corpse, Weaver explains that indwelling sin is a stinking, loathsome mass from which believers long to be delivered.

You know what David said in Psalm 38 in verse 5? Now listen to what he said.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 38:5

"My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness."

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:24-25

"O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Here's what Albert Barnes said on this verse.

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:24-25

"The body of this death denotes the corrupt and evil propensities of the soul. It is thus used to denote the law of sin in the members as being that which the apostle was struggling and from which he desired to be delivered. The body of death denotes the corrupt and evil propensities of the soul."

John Gill said this, "the body of sin speaks of the load of sin and burden of corruption under which he, the apostle, groaned, and still bespeaks him a regenerate man.

Christ Makes Us a Sweet Savor

He shows that only through Jesus Christ and His cross are believers made a sweet smell to God, referencing 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 and Exodus 15:23-25 (the tree that sweetened bitter waters).

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:24-25

"O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:24-25

"O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

Verse 25,

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:24-25

"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

He knew that true deliverance was through Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. Have you stopped to think? That it is the blood of Jesus Christ. That has covered our sins. It is Christ.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 15:23-25

"and when they came to Marah, They could not drink of the waters of Marah because they were bitter. Therefore, the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses saying, 'What shall we drink?' And he cried to the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast it in the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute and ordinance, and there he proved them."

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 15:50-55

"Now this, I say, brethren, that flesh and blood, that's what you and I are at this point. flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption, that's us, inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. We shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the last trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

Jonah 1:2: Wickedness Comes Up Before God

Returning to Jonah, Weaver explains that Nineveh's wickedness is personified as rising up in God's face, a bold affront that cries for judgment, filling the cup of wrath.

Sin's Cry for Vengeance

He illustrates that sin has a voice that cries for justice, citing Abel's blood (Genesis 4:10), Sodom's cry (Genesis 18), and the defrauded laborers' cries (James 5:4).

Sin has its own stench. Sin has its own voice. While the stench of sin is detestable to God, God hears its voice because it's crying for judgment, justice, and vengeance.

Applications: Hating Sin and Finding Cleansing in Christ

A Stench in God's Nostrils

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	7141204163
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Revelation: Christ and the Churches
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-05-13
Dictation Name
Book	Book 139: Revelation: Christ and the Churches — Chapter 9
Source Timed Segments	70

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Reality of Stenches: Weaver opens with humorous and vivid illustrations of physical stenches (skunks, dead animals, sulfur water) to establish a common understanding of what a stench is.
Biblical Usage of 'Stink': He examines Old Testament passages where 'stink' describes odious situations, such as Jacob's fear after Simeon and Levi's actions (Genesis 34) and the Ammonites' offense against David (2 Samuel 10).
Spiritual Sensitivity to Sin's Stench: Weaver questions whether believers are sensitive to spiritual stenches, referencing Jesus' condemnation of the Pharisees as whitewashed tombs full of dead men's bones (Matthew 23:27).
Sin as Scum and Filthiness in Ezekiel: He expounds Ezekiel 24, where God likens Jerusalem's sins to scum in a boiling pot, emphasizing that sin is filthy and stinking before God.
Idolatry as Stinking Carcasses: Weaver connects Jeremiah 16:18 and Psalm 115 to show that idols are dead, stinking carcasses (dung balls) that defile God's land, and even God-ordained rituals become a stench when done with empty hearts (Amos 5:21).
The Believer's Remaining Corruption as a Stench: Using Romans 7:24 and the illustration of a living man bound to a corpse, Weaver explains that indwelling sin is a stinking, loathsome mass from which believers long to be delivered.
Christ Makes Us a Sweet Savor: He shows that only through Jesus Christ and His cross are believers made a sweet smell to God, referencing 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 and Exodus 15:23-25 (the tree that sweetened bitter waters).
Jonah 1:2: Wickedness Comes Up Before God: Returning to Jonah, Weaver explains that Nineveh's wickedness is personified as rising up in God's face, a bold affront that cries for judgment, filling the cup of wrath.
Sin's Cry for Vengeance: He illustrates that sin has a voice that cries for justice, citing Abel's blood (Genesis 4:10), Sodom's cry (Genesis 18), and the defrauded laborers' cries (James 5:4).
Applications: Hating Sin and Finding Cleansing in Christ: Weaver applies the message by urging believers to hate sin as God does, recognize the stinks in their lives as part of God's curse (Isaiah 3:24), and seek cleansing through confession and Christ's blood (1 John 1:7, 9).

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Sin is inherently offensive to God, like a physical stench.

Weaver argues that just as humans are repulsed by foul odors, God is nauseated by sin, which is described as a stench in Scripture.

He uses personal anecdotes (skunks, sulfur water) and biblical texts (Ezekiel 24, Jeremiah 16) to establish the metaphor.

Idolatry and empty religion are particularly stinking sins.

Idols are lifeless, worthless, and defiling; even God-ordained worship becomes a stench when performed with hypocrisy.

Weaver cites Psalm 115, Amos 5:21, and Jeremiah 7:31, calling idols 'dung balls' and noting God's rejection of insincere sacrifices.

Believers still carry a 'body of death'—indwelling sin that stinks.

Using Romans 7:24, Weaver contends that the remaining corruption in Christians is like a decaying corpse attached to them, causing ongoing struggle.

He quotes John Gill's commentary: 'a dead carcass, stinking and loathsome,' and explains the ancient punishment of binding a living person to a dead body.

Only Christ's atonement transforms the stench of sin into a sweet savor.

The cross is the 'tree' that sweetens the bitter waters of sin, making believers acceptable to God.

Weaver connects Exodus 15:25 to 2 Corinthians 2:14-15, stating, 'In Christ, God says, that's a sweet smell for I smell my son.'

Sin is a bold, personal affront to God that demands judgment.

Sin rises up in God's face, defying Him and crying out for vengeance, as seen in Nineveh and other biblical examples.

Weaver expounds Jonah 1:2 and references Genesis 4:10, Genesis 18, and James 5:4 to show sin's cry for justice.

Believers must hate sin and seek cleansing through confession and Christ's blood.

Recognizing sin's stench should lead to repentance and reliance on Christ's cleansing power.

Weaver cites 1 John 1:7, 9 and Isaiah 3:24, urging believers to 'get rid of the stink in our lives' through Christ's sacrifice.

Scripture References

Jonah 1:1-2: Introduction of the sermon's key text: God commands Jonah to go to Nineveh because their wickedness has come up before Him.
Ecclesiastes 10:1: Illustration of dead flies causing a stinking savor, used to introduce the concept of spiritual stench.
Genesis 34:27-30: Jacob says Simeon and Levi have made him 'to stink' among the Canaanites after their violent act.
Genesis 35:5: God's terror preserved Jacob's family after they were made to stink.
2 Samuel 10:1-6: The Ammonites realized they 'stank before David' after dishonoring his ambassadors, leading to war.
Matthew 23:27: Jesus likens the Pharisees to whitewashed tombs full of dead men's bones, illustrating spiritual stench.
Ezekiel 24:1-14: God uses the metaphor of a boiling pot with scum to depict Jerusalem's filthy sins.
Jeremiah 16:18: God will recompense sin because they filled His land with carcasses of detestable things (idols).
Psalm 115:4-8: Idols are described as having mouths but not speaking, etc., emphasizing their lifelessness.
Amos 5:21: God hates and despises their feast days and will not smell their solemn assemblies when hearts are wrong.
Jeremiah 7:31: They built high places to burn their children, which God did not command, showing the offensiveness of idolatry.
2 Corinthians 2:14-15: Believers are a sweet savor of Christ unto God, both in those saved and perishing.
Psalm 38:5: David says, 'My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness,' equating foolishness with sin.
Romans 7:24-25: Paul cries out for deliverance from the body of this death, then thanks God through Jesus Christ.
Exodus 15:23-25: The bitter waters of Marah were made sweet by a tree, typifying Christ's cross making sinners acceptable.
1 Corinthians 15:50-55: Flesh and blood cannot inherit God's kingdom; corruption must put on incorruption through resurrection.
Revelation 18:5: Babylon's sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
Genesis 4:10: Abel's blood cried unto God from the ground, illustrating sin's cry for vengeance.
James 5:1-4: The cries of defrauded laborers have entered the ears of the Lord, showing sin's voice.
Isaiah 3:24: Instead of a sweet smell there shall be a stink, as part of God's curse on disobedience.

Historical References

Albert Barnes (commentator): Weaver quotes Barnes on Romans 7:24, defining 'the body of this death' as corrupt propensities of the soul.
John Gill (commentator): Weaver quotes Gill's commentary on Romans 7:24, describing indwelling sin as a dead carcass, stinking and loathsome.
Ralph Venning (author of 'The Plague of Plagues'): Weaver quotes Venning on the sinfulness of sin, calling it 'God murder or God killing' (deicidium).
Matthew Henry (commentator): Weaver quotes Henry on Jonah 1:2, explaining that wickedness coming up before God means it has reached its highest pitch.
Ancient punishment of binding a living person to a dead body: Weaver describes the historical practice used by tyrants and for murderers to illustrate Romans 7:24.

Important Quotes

Have you ever considered that your sin, your disobedience, your rebellion is a stench in God's nostrils?

Central rhetorical question that encapsulates the sermon's main point, challenging listeners to view sin from God's perspective.

My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.

David's confession in Psalm 38:5, used to show that sin causes a spiritual stench and corruption.

O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Paul's cry in Romans 7:24, illustrating the believer's anguish over indwelling sin, which Weaver likens to a stinking corpse.

The tree that makes us sweet and acceptable to God is the cross of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Key gospel application: only Christ's cross transforms the stench of sin into a sweet savor.

Their wickedness has come up before my face.

Weaver's literal rendering of Jonah 1:2, emphasizing sin's bold, personal affront to God.

Sin not only stinks, it gets in the face of God.

Succinct summary of sin's dual offensiveness: its foulness and its defiance.

We should learn to hate sin as God hates sin. We should learn for it to be a stench in our nostrils as it is in his.

Practical application calling believers to adopt God's attitude toward sin.

In Christ, God says, that's a sweet smell for I smell my son. And that's acceptable to me.

Closing gospel assurance that believers are accepted by God only through Christ's imputed righteousness.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does the metaphor of sin as a 'stench' change your perception of its seriousness?

[Context]

Weaver uses vivid physical analogies to help listeners grasp how offensive sin is to God.

[Question]

In what ways might our religious activities become a stench to God, like those in Amos 5:21?

[Context]

Weaver warns that even God-ordained worship can be rejected if done with empty hearts.

[Question]

How does the illustration of being bound to a dead body (Romans 7:24) help you understand the struggle with indwelling sin?

[Context]

Weaver explains the ancient punishment to depict the believer's ongoing battle with remaining corruption.

[Question]

Why is it essential to see Christ's cross as the only remedy for the stench of sin?

[Context]

Weaver connects Exodus 15 and 2 Corinthians 2 to show that only Christ makes us a sweet savor.

[Question]

What does it mean that sin 'rises up in God's face,' and how should that affect our view of personal sin?

[Context]

Weaver expounds Jonah 1:2, emphasizing sin's bold defiance against God.

[Question]

How can we cultivate a hatred for sin that mirrors God's hatred?

[Context]

Weaver urges believers to learn to hate sin because it is contrary to God and caused Christ's death.

[Question]

What 'stinks' in your life might be evidence of God's curse on disobedience (Isaiah 3:24), and how should you respond?

[Context]

Weaver suggests that difficulties and disappointments can be part of God's judgment on sin, calling for repentance.

[Question]

How does the promise of 1 John 1:9 give hope for cleansing from sin's stench?

[Context]

Weaver concludes with the assurance that confession and Christ's blood cleanse believers from all unrighteousness.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-05T23:43:49Z