By Patte Smith


I would have despaired (fainted),
unless I had believed
that I shall see
the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
~ Psalm 27:13

We are preparing to go to the killing place again this morning. As I prayed I was heavy-hearted.
I find it tempting to give in to a state of grief over the poor little babies.
I thought of the wise words of my dear missionary friend John Barros 
(who serves as a full time missionary to the perishing outside a notorious abortuary). John told me: "Go with expectation!"
Then, the Lord Jesus reminded me of His sweet fragrance,
which He gives us to bring forth & manifest,
when we speak with His voice, through His Word.
Whenever we are tempted to despair,
may the Holy Spirit remind us
that when we are led by the Savior,
in spite of what we SEE (or do NOT see)
we are never truly in a state of defeat,
but of victory!

Thanks be to God,
who in Christ
always leads us in triumphal procession
(which always causeth us to triumph in Christ),
and through us
spreads the fragrance
of the knowledge of Him
everywhere.
For we are the aroma of Christ to God
among those who are being saved
and among those who are perishing,
to one a fragrance from death to death,
to the other a fragrance from life to life.
Who is sufficient for these things?
For we are not,
like so many, peddlers of God’s Word,
but as men of sincerity,
as commissioned by God,
in the sight of God
we speak in Christ.

~ II Corinthinians 2:15-17
To whom are we the noxious aroma (smell/odor) of death unto death? 
Beloved, to those who are offended by the Word of God, who willfully reject His divine command; 

"You shall not murder", we are the stench of death. Why? After all we preach the terrible truth!"The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23) "There is a way which seems right to a man, but the end is the way of death."  (Pr 14:12;16:25) If they persist in their evil plan to slaughter their baby, our presence in Christ & upon the hearing of His Word, becomes the means of their increased guilt and condemnation.  We even warn them that unless they show mercy on their babies & repent of their plot to shed innocent blood, they will perish; "But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed." (Romans 2:5) The mothers & fathers & accomplices to the murder of babies draw death & heap condemnation on themselves by refusing the gracious offers of life & eternity in the Law & gospel of Jesus. 

To whom are we the sweet fragrance of life unto life? 
To those who embrace it as perfume, obey the command to repent & believe & are saved!
For the ones who respond in humble obedience to the demand of the living Word of God & His holy commandment, the message we bring is a delightful message of LIFE. It leads to fear of the Lord! 

The Law of the wise is a fountain of life,
turning a person from the snares of death...
The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, 
that one may turn away from the snares of death.
~ Proverbs 14:27

The fear of the LORD leads to life; 
then one rests content...
~ Proverbs 19:23

May we be faithful to Jesus, to the lost mothers & their abortion-imperiled infants in their affliction. May we never cave into the pressure to conceal (obscure, suppress) the life-affirming, life-giving, soul-saving message of the righteous demands & threatenings of Law & gospel.

Blessings are on the head of the righteous, 
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence...
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, 
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
~ Proverbs 10:6 & 11

With the divine assistance of the Holy Spirit, who makes us conscious of our unfitness & the deep sense of responsibility we have to love our neighbors, we devote ourselves to this gospel labor. We go in the triumphal, equipping power of Jesus Christ. We trust the Savior to sustain & carry us, anoint & empower us & to grant us His peace as we sow the gospel seeds of life & eternity in the field of blood & souls.