Mathew 5:13-16

Untitled Document












		$Matthew 28:1-20$

To log onto UNITYINCHRIST.COM'S BLOG, Click Here

Matthew 5:13-16

“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. [road-salt anyone?] Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Nobody wants to be different

“Let’s open our Bibles to Matthew chapter 5. So Matthew chapter 5. You know, as I was looking at this text here that we left off on last week, you know, this thought of being different is what stood out to me. Just thinking about that and the verses that we studied last week, and I think in the general sense its true as people we don’t like to be seen as different. To a degree, I don’t mind being different, there’s some areas of my life that I like to be different, I think it’s true of all of us when it comes to things like hairstyles or the clothes that we wear or the music we listen to. I can remember in college that you were cool if you listened to certain styles of music. And you were different if you listened to certain styles of music. And we like to be different in that sense. You know, maybe it’s the accent, where we’re from, something like that, something that gives me the sense of being special and unique. I like being different if it makes me noticeable in a positive way. When I come to church on Sunday, I mean most of us are this way, I don’t know about you, but I like to be the only one wearing this shirt, even though at first service I got a stain on it, but I still like to be the only one wearing this shirt, and I hope nobody else is wearing this same shirt. I like being a little bit different than you in certain ways. But it’s in the same sort of way that I like to be different, certain areas that I like to do that. But for most of us, we generally don’t like to be seen as different. You know, if I was to say, ‘That guy, that gal, they’re really different.’ If I was to say it in that way, you know, that would be a statement I wouldn’t like associated with me, I wouldn’t want people to be saying that about me, ‘They’re really different.’ It just conjures up images in my head, and I’d just as soon not be associated with that. Now, looking at the Scriptures and considering the New Testament, what we studied last week, what we’re going to study this week, and what you see throughout the Bible, I’ve noted there about the Christian life, right out it’s as though it comes and says the Christian life is being different, as opposed to the world. In fact, it’s being very different. When you look through the Scriptures and you see the comparison of the Christian with the person in the world, the comparisons are almost opposites at times, in the sense for left, right, up, down, they’re so different. And not just in the sense of opposites, it even goes further. When it speaks to how I am different as a Christian, as a child of God, as opposed to the world, it’s like the difference between light and darkness, dirty and clean, cold and hot. Meaning not only am I opposite in one sense, but when you have light, and it comes into an area where there’s darkness, not only are they distinctly different, light and darkness, but the light has an influence upon the darkness. The light has an impact on the darkness. You know when it comes to cold and hot, you know, in our house we have a well, so the cold comes through really cold. And if you fill that tub with cold water, and you then just turn on the hot, immediately when that hot comes into that tub, it is having an effect upon that cold water. It’s not that it’s distinctively different, there is this effect and influence from that difference. There is a seeking to change. When I take dirty water, and let’s say I take a little bit and put it in a jug, and then I start adding pure water, immediately that clean water has an effect on that dirty water, it starts to dilute it. And if I continue to add more and more and more pure water, eventually the dirty water is closer in state to the pure water than it was to the dirty water, if I continue to do that. If I do it enough, essentially it will be considered pure if I dilute it and dilute it and dilute it and dilute it. The point is, in the Scripture, the Christian life is powerfully different, it’s radically, it’s powerfully different. Last week in Matthew 5, verses 10 to 12 we noted this powerful difference. When Jesus spoke of the life of the Spirit of the blessed life, he then went on and connected it with the life of persecution. That the person whose living the Christian life is somebody who by their very nature is going to encounter resistance, hostility, and opposition from the world. That it brings such power with it, such charge, such effect that it impacts the society, there’s a recoil, a response, a reaction from the society. That’s why Paul, and we read this verse last week, he said to Timothy in 2^nd Timothy chapter 3, verse 12, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution”, meaning Paul’s saying the Christian life, the godly life is a life that will be persecuted by the world as it is just different. But it’s different in the sense that it has an effect, and then the world has a response. Therefore, and we mentioned this last week, because we’re going to connect with last week a little bit as we step into these next verses, if I am a believer and I am not experiencing opposition from the world, as we mentioned last week, as we studied, there’s then something wrong, meaning there’s something wrong with me. For to live a godly life is to then have opposition, and if I’m not having opposition, then I must not be living a very godly life. I must not be living the powerful blessed life that Jesus refers to there in the Beatitudes. Now, verses 10 to 12, you know persecution, suffering we talked a lot about it last week, not very easy. Although it goes with the program, part of the true Christian experience, living that life of Christ. But you know, you may read that and then get tempted to think, ‘Well, I don’t need to be so radical, I don’t need to be radical. You know, I can kind of mellow it out a little bit, you know, there’s still room for me to be a Christian, and you know, to kind of just flow with the world too, flow with the guys at work, flow with the kids in the neighborhood, and not stick out too, too much, there’s still room for that.’ Well if we’re tempted to think that, then we just continue where we left off, with the words that Jesus follows this with. In fact, based on what he says in verses 13 to 16 here, I think clearly it makes you rethink that position. He says very strong things here. That if there’s this fear in me of not being accepted by society, or if there’s this emotional struggle of ‘Well I don’t know if I want to be different’, and then I seek to be less different, to stand out less, to be less set apart [conspicuous], well if I’m tempted to feel that way because I don’t want to be persecuted, and to maybe do that, then as Jesus shows here very clearly, it is not acceptable to a Christian. Not only is it not acceptable, it’s a grave mistake. And not only is it a great mistake, there are dire consequences. So, let’s say a word of prayer, and we’ll dig into these verses, verses 13 to 16 here. ‘Lord, as we get started, I just simply ask that you Holy Spirit would be upon all of us. And that you would speak to all our hearts. Of course, we look at your Word, it’s so powerful, the truths that are there, and have such a tremendous impact in the way we live and the way we think. And yet so often, Lord, we naturally think differently and reason differently, and yet you continue to come back with your Word, and for our own good. And so I would ask that you, Holy Spirit, we believe you are the giver of life, and that you’d be upon all of us, and even upon myself now as we go through your Word, in Jesus name, amen.’

What does it mean when Jesus says “Your are the salt of the earth”?

Verses 13-16, “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt looses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” So now Jesus in verse 13 explains that we the Church, born-again believers, are the salt of the earth. And the translation literally is in the emphatic tense, meaning ‘You alone are the salt of the earth.’---as the Church, as Christians, you and I, we alone are the salt of the earth. There is no other place in the world where you can find the salt he is referring to, there is no other source. We are the salt of the earth, that’s the tense in the Greek there. So then, what does Jesus mean by “the salt of the earth”? What is he referring to here? Of course, in the time of Christ, salt played a big part of the society, as it does even today. In Israel, near Jerusalem there is a big area of salt there with the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea, we’re told, has a salt density concentration seven times as much as the oceans, it’s one of the saltiest bodies of water in the entire world. And so, as we’ve done on trips, as you go there, you go out into that water, you can go out into water that’s a couple hundred feet deep, and not know how to swim, and not have floatation. It is so salty that it’s just so buoyant that you just kind of sit there and float in the Dead Sea. And so as Jesus uses this illustration to those there that are around him, there 2,000 years ago, they have an appreciation for salt in their culture. He’s using an illustration to show them a principle so that they can then grab onto some truth. In fact, in their society, in ancient times, salt was even used in certain instances as a very valuable trade commodity, even in places like Ethiopia, ancient Ethiopia and Tibet, it was used as money, the salt cakes. And in the time of Christ here, the Roman Empire, they would give as part of the salary to a soldier, they would give them an allotment of salt, a daily allowance of salt. And it was known in Latin as the Salarium, which is were we get our word salaries. So when we say salary, we’re actually going back to salt that was being given as part of an income to a Roman soldier. So it was very valuable, they had an appreciation for it. But why was it valuable? It was valuable to them, because it was very powerful, powerful ways it could be used. Back in the time of Christ there was no refrigeration. You couldn’t put something like, you know we have all sorts of processes, even beyond refrigeration, you can store foods for a long time in our culture. But back in the time of Christ, without salt, it was tough to have something stick around for awhile. If you had meat, for instance, and you know this, if you had some great meat you got from at a lamb in your flock and you’ve prepared it, I mean, if you don’t add salt to it, it’s not going to stay around for very long, because immediately there are these [biologic] forces that then come that seek to corrupt it, defile it and to spoil it. So, salt had great value in that it was essentially their form of refrigeration [i.e. it took the place of refrigeration]. Now when Jesus says “You are the salt of the earth”, he’s especially, most commentators would believe, and I believe this, he’s especially coming with that in mind. When he says to you as a Christian, and he says to us as the Church [the body of Christ], he’s referring to us as being salt in the sense, in society we are this element, we are this entity, as born-again, Spirit-filled believers that are retarding the decay, the moral and spiritual decay in society. That the society is corrupt, and what prevents it from becoming quickly debased and overly corrupt is the fact that there is this “salt” that’s there that’s hindering that, that’s resisting that. That is the Church, and that is what he’s saying. “You are the salt of the earth.” If you remove the Church [body of Christ], the world very quickly becomes utterly debased. You think of the time in book of Genesis with Noah, right? We’re told in the story of Noah that there were just a handful of God’s people. One guy, one righteous man, and his family. And what was the condition of the world at that time? You didn’t have a lot of “salt” in that time. And it was such a state, such a depraved debased state that God judged it. He had no other choice in his righteousness but to destroy the world. So, God’s people, you know, back to verse 6, we read in the Beatitudes “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”, these people, people of God who have this hunger and thirst for it, and that in me has me think a certain way and respond a certain way and live a certain way and desire certain things in my home and my community, and so that is like a salt. Because I hunger for that, I desire that, I stand for that, I by nature as a Christian now have this way, just about me, that I’m actually hindering the decay in society.

A salt-less church, denomination verses a salty church, denomination

So therefore, if you have a church that is salt-less, or has become salt-less in an area, in a region, you have a dire situation. If you have a salt-less church, it spells disaster. You know, I continue to hear about this, and I noted it in an illustration not too long ago, and read it again in the paper, but this seems to be something that is happening right now, but I’ve noticed again where networks for certain reasons have decided not to air certain programs, it’s happened multiple times recently, commercials. And reading in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Telegram, whatever, as you read about why, the reason why they’re not doing it, is there is this fear of reprimand from the FCC. But even in those very articles, as they talk about that, they then go on to say, ‘The reason we’re struggling with these things is because of this conservative movement in our country. That we understand, you know, hey we used to do this, and personally don’t have a problem with airing that at six o’clock, even though it’s got a lot of sexual immorality, or it’s got incredibly intensive violence or it’s using horrible language, we did it before, but right now there’s this stuff going on in our country, we’re not going to do it, in fear of the backlash.’ That’s what they’re saying in the articles. Now, that’s a picture of what is hear. That they’re saying there’s this salt out there, and this is kind of corrupting and decaying, and we’re used to it, but can’t do it right now. I find that interesting. That’s essentially what is here when it says “You are the salt of the earth.” When the Church is in the state it’s supposed to be in, there’s this naturally hindering process effecting the moral decline of our culture, it’s standing against that. If there isn’t a lot of that going on, then it makes a statement about the influence of the Church in America. If there is a lot of freedom for immorality and it just continues to grow readily and freely, in the media and our newspapers and our schools and whatever, that just says there’s a weak Church. That’s what’s in this statement here. Now we can go even a little further. ‘You are the salt of the earth’, not only Church, but individually, then also as a family, or as parents. Dads and Moms, how are you? Look at your homes, are they free from corruption? Are they free from corruption? Are you a salty parent, salty Christian? [I used to be a submarine sailor, an ‘old salt’, but that’s definitely not what he’s referring to here, more like the opposite.] Do your children understand right from wrong, holy from unholy, clean from unclean? Are they able to discern that? Are you like the priests that God spoke of in the future, he’s going to raise up in the nation of Israel, this is what he wanted for his priests. And I think of a dad often when we sometimes will correlate a dad to being the priest of his home. Ezekiel chapter 44, verse 23, “And they shall teach my people the difference between holy and unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.” So, do your kids have that discernment? I mean, is there salt in your life, salt in your home?---hunger and thirst for righteousness, so that they’re going, ‘Not going to get away with that in this house, better not put that on, there’s ramifications, boy, you’d better not do that, better not bring that video game in here, you would be one sorry child…’ I mean, your own children when they’re alone, in front of the TV, I mean, do you have that sense that ‘I know that they’re not gonna watch that, they’re going to turn it off’? I mean, that’s our life, it’s permeated, there’s salt there, there’s a resistance to decay, and there’s a desire for the holy and the clean, and there’s hindrance against the unholy and the unclean. Are you somebody then that hungers and thirsts for righteousness? It can be seen in your own home? Now, as Christians, as we started out here, we may, I mean, we’re people, we may struggle with ‘I don’t like being different, that makes me uncomfortable, I don’t like being thought of that way, or being looked at negatively’, and so there’s that temptation. And you see it a lot, especially in the Church in America, ‘I don’t want to be radical, I’m going to just tone it down, you know, gonna just kind of blend in a little bit more, I’ve got my Jesus in my heart, and I believe in the Lord, but I just, you know, don’t want to be radical and be seen as different.’ Well, right off then, Jesus makes a statement that follows, he says, ‘Understand, you’re the salt of the earth’, there’s consequences to that, there’s dreadful consequences. So what he’s saying is, ‘ok, blessed are the persecuted’, and I might go, that’s for those prophet people and not for me, and he comes with the next verse, ‘You’re the salt of the earth.’ Do you understand what that means? Do you understand all that’s involved in that? Do you know what it means to be salt-less, as opposed to being salty? And if you’re salt-less, then there will be awful ramifications in the home and in the community and the church. Then Jesus goes a little bit further, he says “If the salt looses it flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” There’s a strong statement right there. And if it’s not salty anymore, what’s it good for? He says, it’s essentially useless. Right? He says it’s good for nothing, it’s going to just be trampled by men. [i.e. road-salt, sell it to the highway department, it’s not good for the table anymore.] So there’s a statement here, that if a Christian is not salty, they’re going to get run over, run over by the world [just like road-salt, right?]. If the Church is not salty, if a church has become, has lost it’s flavor, it’s going to get trampled by the world. And don’t we see that taking place in all sorts of ways? You know, in the time of Christ, they would take salt, and if you had just pure salt, it generally in that state will not degrade. But in most instances, especially back in the culture at the time the salt that they had wasn’t pure, it was always mixed with other elements and other things. And so their salt that they commonly had would degenerate. And there’s even physical evidence of that today in certain areas, it would lose that power, it would lose that saltiness. So what they would do is after it was used, and if it had become in their eyes useless, they would then take it and they would spread it on the roads. And on the roads it would have a little bit left so that it would kill the vegetation, but it wasn’t of any use to them. [what’d I tell you, road salt!] Now this was something that was basically pay, a high commodity. And now it’s something [after it has lost its saltiness] that’s just being tossed on the ground. And Jesus is giving a picture, giving a picture. And there’s no doubt when a Christian, when a church loses its effectiveness and its influence of righteousness and goodness in the society, and there’s not that sense of hindering the putrification, then that church, the Christians within it, gets overrun by the world. [Comment: The whole body of Christ will never ever stop being salty, but parts of it, denominational groups that are much older, tend to lose their saltiness, and as Charles Stanley brought out once, a church or denomination that goes through this life-cycle will end up with more members in it who are born-into the church than are born-again. These churches and denominations tend to become what is termed as “liberal”, where practicing sinners are given free entrance into their membership, being baptized right into the church and denomination. But by now the majority of their members are not real Christians. The Separatists in the 1500s and 1600s felt so strongly about this, that they felt they must separate out from the Church of England, which made a habit of embracing and baptizing all, including practicing sinners. We see the same thing happening in the liberal churches in America today. Jesus has a warning for those churches, denominations, in Revelation 3:1-6, “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write: These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Calvary Chapels (i.e. Chuck Smith) feel the denominations that sprang up from the 1600s through the 1800s, Congregationalists, Methodists, etc., comprise what would be called the Sardis era of the Church, if Revelation 2-3 is taken as being an outline of the various era’s of the Christian Church from Jerusalem up until now in the end times. Check out the church history section of this site to read about how these various revivals that turned into denominations got started, and how spiritually healthy and strong they were when they first started. (see http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/saga.htm and http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/wesley.htm .)] That’s the point there. You know, rather than being like the hot water coming into the tub it’s now more like luke-warm water [Read Revelation 3:14-22 to read what Jesus has to say about the church that is luke-warm, either the church or church era, or individual, it makes no difference, it all applies.] You know, we see that principle in other places in the Scripture too, and it’s just so true, you know, if I look around, if I see immorality abounding in the community and in this society, I can’t blame the judges, I can’t blame the media (of course they have responsibility and there’s issues there), I can’t blame the schools. What Jesus is saying here, if there is corruption that is growing, and the deal is, where you look is the church, right here where we’re meeting, you look at other churches in our community and around here, you look at the Church [as a whole]. If corruption is growing in my home, then I can’t blame it on my kids, that I just have these bad kids, that they’re just bent on evil, I have to sit back and think about my own life and example as a parent. You know, where’s the salt? [Or like that elderly lady said in that ad for one of the fast-food hamburger outfits, “Where’s the Beef?!”] Because salt has that hindering effect, you are the salt of the earth. And as he says there, he then says it’s so pitiful to be in that state. In fact, turn to Luke chapter 14, Jesus, you known many times Jesus would say the same principles over and over. In Luke 14, verses 34 to 35 Jesus says “Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor fit for the dunghill.” Now, how much value does something have if it’s not fit for the dunghill? It’s a statement of having no use, no value. “But men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Of course, speaking again to the Church. If I’m not salty, you know, if I’ve got to struggle, and I don’t want to be different, so I’m just kind of blending in, and I’m not very salty, then Jesus says that’s a pitiful state, that is not even fit for being tossed on the dunghill. Now there’s a motivation for you, there’s something for you to consider. Jesus says in Revelation chapter 3 a similar thought, different picture, to the Church in Laodocia, verse 16, “So then because you are luke-warm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth.” ‘I mean, luke-warm you have no use to me.’ You know, in that area of Laodocia they had the cold water coming in and the warm water coming in, and there’s certain value and benefit to cold and value and benefit to warm, but luke-warm has no influence, and he says here ‘You are an offense to me’, is what he says, ‘I just want to spit you out of my mouth.’ So, how about yourself? Have you thought, ‘Well, mediocre, just blend in. I mean, Jesus is real to me, but I just don’t want to, persecution’s not for me, that’s for those prophet guys, and I don’t need to be that radical.’ Have you thought that? Don’t want to be so different? Then the question, have you understood the consequences, have you thought it through? Do you know what it means in the Big Picture?---in your life, in your family, in the community? When Jesus says in verse 13 “it’s lost its flavor”, the word there translated “flavor” or “savour” in the King James is the verb in Greek “moraino”, and that word comes from a Greek word which means “dull, sluggish, stupid or foolish”. [Strongs #3471, moraino (pronounced “mo-rah’ee-no):- to act as a simpleton…become [a] fool, make foolish, lose savour.] And so you can actually take this as, because of the Greek, that they become foolish, they’ve lost their saltiness, they’re in a foolish state. They’ve played the part of the fool. And I don’t know about you, I don’t like to be referred to in that manner. But are you salty? You know, if you’re not salty, Jesus says you’re gonna be run over. And you know you watch that happen in the lives of Christians. You watch that happen in a Christian’s family, you watch it in the country and the various churches, you know, God’s people just getting run over by the world. I have at a number of times, even recently, met Christians, had Christians cross my path, and then maybe years later met them again, and then wondered ‘What in the world happened?’ You know, I have pictures of them, and I have in instances, I have photographs of them, just ministering and loving God…I have memories in my mind and my heart, and how did they get to where they are today? That now, you know, and you may be there, you’re sitting there going, ‘I don’t even know if I believe this stuff.’ You know, that happens, you’ll sit down with people and now they’re like ‘Ah, I just don’t know if I believe it anymore. The Bible, not all of it, I mean, come on, we know that some of it isn’t historically accurate, and we know that Jesus, I mean, Paul he made Jesus out to be something that he never was, and the gospel the way that Paul interpreted it, is never the way it was intended, Jesus never meant it that way.’ And so they’re reasoning, and how did they get there? [That is the reasoning of the dead and dying denominations, what you hear them teaching and their members saying, that is the stuff, the doctrines of the “liberal” churches. Hang around with fools, become a fool, plain and simple, as Solomon said. How do you avoid this? A simple solution is offered in the introduction to Saga of the Pilgrims, at http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/saga.htm.] They lost the saltiness, and it was probably a slow deal, they had less hunger for the things that keep you salty, Jesus said have salt within yourselves, make sure that you do, and so they spend less time in the Word, less in church, less in prayer, and the slow process of dying spiritually, starving to death, and now all they’re doing is listening to the TV, and the news announcer comes on and says, ‘You know, the Bible, it is so historically inaccurate.’ And if coarse, he’s the expert, you know, he’s Peter so and so…’And I’m not going to test it, and so I’m just listening to that, I pick up the book the DiVinci Code, and I’m reading this book, and this guy says that Constantine is the one the idea that Jesus was God came from, and then he lays out this powerful story, so powerful, I mean, look at the evidence.’ And this poor person has got to the point, ‘Dr. Whoever said this, so I’m just going to believe whatever he says.’ And there’s no questioning anymore. And so this person is sitting down in the church going, ‘Is this even real?’ That’s what he means when he says “how shall he be seasoned”, there’s a dreadful state you can get to. [And the Bible is extremely historically accurate, but all the so-called TV experts have never studied deeply into Middle Eastern ancient history or Egyptology, like reading all the way through Sir Alan Gardiner’s Egypt of the Pharaohs, to see where the various Pharaohs interacted with the kings of Israel and Judah, or those of the Assyrian Empire or the Babylonian Empire to see the extreme accuracy of the Bible when compared to ancient history. See http://www.unityinchrist.com/Daniel/daniel1.htm, just read that one through if you have any doubts about the Bible’s accuracy in the area of history or prophecy. My first thought is what Solomon said in Proverbs, which was basically, ‘Hang around a wise man and become wise, hang around a fool and become a fool.’ You basically become like those you hang around, and if we’re born-again believers, but choose to dwell within a church and/or denomination that is dead or dying, you will spiritually starve to death, and end up in the place this pastor is talking about.] Of course the way you get back to where you need to get is the revival right here, go back to verse 3, get on your knees and seek the face of God. But are you being run over by the world, trampled upon and being beat up---because there’s no salt in yourselves? No seeking the face of God? That’s a dangerous place. Don’t throw away your mind. I mean, I’ve mentioned it many times, when I was an engineer I used to challenge the other engineers I worked with, I shared the Gospel with. You can ask any question, we can test this stuff. You know, DiVinci Code, Constantine was the one who came up with Jesus was God? What about the disciples? What about John, he certainly had a thought that Jesus was God [cf. John 1:1-14]. You know, in 300AD this stuff came up??? What about Irenaeus, you know? There’s multiple church fathers in the 2^nd century, this is 2,000 years later and we’ve got little parchments. I was reading, some pastors this week were battling about that book, and one guy actually came out and said ‘What did the guy do, research off the back of a candy-bar wrapper? [laughter] I mean, there’s this historical stuff out there. Obviously the guy wanted to make a buck is what he wanted to do. And he realized, ‘If I write something about Christianity, and if I get in there and make it sound controversial, logical, I can get my name posted and make a ton of money. Because, you know, that dude was just out to lunch when he presented his historical evidence, it just isn’t there. If you’re sitting there and that’s all you’re reading, you’re just being trampled on, and the world is going like this to you. But then what about in your home, as parents? What chance do your kids have, are you salty parents? Or are your kids just being run over?---just boom, boom, this latest thought and that teaching scientifically---and they’re not getting the salt from Mom and Dad, to say ‘Wait a minute?’ Science is good, but evolution is just a joke. [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/dinosaurs/dinosaurs.htm.] And so they’re listening to all this stuff, and now we talk about Noah, and they just heard we talked about Noah, and they go ‘Noah, what a fairy tale. Come on, no guy ever did that. Fairy tale, silliness.’ But you know what? If you’re honest, and you’ll study history, I tell you what, it’s amazing, the evidence for the Flood. I’ve sat down and watched secular programs, and now and then a scientist will be honest, and he’ll go ‘You know it seems there about 45 hundred years ago a worldwide flood happened on this planet.’ I’ve watched that on Channel 2. Look at the Sphinx, it was underwater, pretty clearly. [The Sphinx was built during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, which more than likely was before the Flood. According to Sir Alan Gardiner, the Old Kingdom of Egypt went back more than 4000 years ago.] Now why was the Sphinx in Egypt underwater, completely submerged? On and on and on, you can go to the Grand Canyon, that thing was formed instantly if you’re really honest about science, not instantly, but there was a catastrophic thing that formed it…[tape switchover, some text lost]…Man, I hope we haven’t lost our flavour, I hope Jesus isn’t saying ‘Here’s a pile for the dunghill, ah, I can’t even use it for that, can’t even use it for that.’ So, temptation not to be different? I don’t want to be so radical? You’ve got to listen to what Jesus is saying here.

Other uses for salt, salt creates thirst

Now there are other uses for salt, of course. Not only is it used to preserve, it’s also used to season. Right? It makes things taste better. You get a really bland meal, and you throw a little salt on it, and it’s much more pleasant. And furthermore, salt promotes thirst, so when he says salt, I think you could say too, as the church, as Christians, we are the salt of the earth, my life should be promoting in the world, there should be people around me, they should be saying, ‘Because of that man, and being around him, because of those people and being around them, I’m thinking about God now, I’m really wondering, I might go back to church, I might give it a try. I want to sit down and talk to you at lunch, I’ve got some questions for you.’ That’s what’s there in that word. There’s a story, at a meeting some young people were discussing the text “Ye are the salt of the earth.” One suggestion after another was made about ‘What is the meaning of salt’ in the verse. Salt imparts desirable flavor, one said. Salt preserves from decay, another suggested. Then a Chinese Christian girl spoke out of an experience none of the others had. Salt creates thirst. And suddenly there was a hush in the room. Everyone was thinking, ‘Have I ever made someone thirsty for the Lord Jesus Christ?’.’ So the question to you, do you make, do you make people thirsty? Do you have that experience? People coming up to you, at work, neighbors asking, maybe a family member going ‘You know, I’m just struggling a little bit, I’d like to talk to you about…’ Are you making people thirsty? Are you salty?

“You are the light of the world”

Verse 14, speaking of the differences, I mean, we are so radically different. Jesus gives us another illustration. He says, verse 14, “You are the light of the world.” Now what does he mean when he says “You are the light of the world”? Clearly, it’s distinctively different, when you consider a dark world as the background. But what is light, and what does light do? Of course, physically we know pretty well what light does. Physical light dispels darkness. And it’s very powerful. I have a cell-phone, and sometimes I like to use it as my alarm to get up. And the reason why is, it has a really soft little tone to it, and it’s pleasant for me, and it can wake me up, as opposed to the loud type of alarm I have. I like the little pleasant thing, it wakes me up easy and so I like to use it. But also, if I want to get up and not wake up my wife, I usually hear that thing real quick and I turn it off. But what it does too, if I don’t want to wake up, it illuminates the face of it, but it’s amazing in a dark room what that little illumination will do on my phone. I suddenly can see the furniture, and I can find the door, and I don’t even have to turn the light on, it’s really handy. You ought to try it, just let your cell-phone wake you up. But light, that little, what is that in the face of my phone, it’s like a tenth of a watt, I mean it’s so little power, but what it will do in the dark. So light isn’t just distinctly different only, but its also there’s power to it, it has an effect upon the darkness, it penetrates the darkness. It starts to push back the darkness, it starts to change the darkness. But furthermore, light reveals things that are hidden. I turn my little cell-phone on and I can see the furniture, so I won’t trip over it or whatever. You know, if there’s, in the middle of the night there’s an unusual noise in my house, I will immediately turn on the light, not only to see so I can get around, but also to expose, what if somebody did come into my house, turn all the lights on, let’s see. It exposes, it reveals if there’s something hiding. And so when Jesus says “You are the light of the world”, he’s saying that you actually as a born-again believer have, should have in your natural state the same effect upon the world around you. Just like turning on that light in the room, you are here displacing darkness, powerfully influencing the darkness, but also you are revealing things that are hidden. When I think of that, I think of Ephesians chapter 5, verse 13, when Paul says, “But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.” So whatever exposes is light. And it’s amazing, you know, as I’m walking with the Lord, I don’t necessarily have to say anything, that I’m living this blessed life, the Spirit is flowing, I don’t need to say anything, but it’s amazing. In a company run by a businessman, he’s got some folks working for him, little firm, nobody’s a Christian, business is growing, so they hire another guy, they hire you, they hire this Christian. So now you got this little staff of non-believers, and now you’ve got a Christian on the staff. And just being there, you’re just there, you haven’t said anything, you’re just being what you are, you’re a Christian and there’s light in you. And now suddenly, one of the guys has a conversation with you, and he walks away going, ‘Gosh, I didn’t know I had pride in my heart. I didn’t even know that. And I had this funny feeling, but we had this disagreement, and I’m ready for the ‘We’re gonna work this out and debate this and see who does better, and man, that guy was very humble’, and it effected the guy’s thinking. ‘Ooh, that made me feel weird.’ And then one of the guys at work is going through a terrible situation at home, and you’re with the other guys and they’re talking about the guy and his struggles in a very nonchalant way, and yet you’re there, and you just pipe in and you come with words of compassion. And suddenly one of the guys is thinking ‘Oooh, I’m not like that, I didn’t know I had that in my heart, boy I wish I could be that way.’ And so you’re just there, exposing what is hidden, in the heart. If the Church is not effective and salty, how does the world know what’s really hidden in the heart, how does the world know that that’s not compassionate, that’s prideful, that’s lustful or whatever it might be. He says to you and I as a Christian, “we are the light of the world.” Now when you speak of light, you also speak of it in the spiritual context as that of enlightenment. Throughout the ages, there’s been different ages of enlightenment, there’s been these new theories, philosophies and mystic whatever’s that come and brought enlightenment. [Some of these are genuinely scientific, that enlighten our understanding of physics, the universe etc., lighting up our understanding of the physical creation around us.] And you think of light in that sense. Well God is saying to the Church, “You”, and it’s again in the same sense, “you alone are the light.” That light in the sense of where people can come and be enlightened, spiritually the eyes can be opened, spiritually the mind is then opened up, ‘I see what it means, heaven, and God, and my nature, and I’m enlightened’ that sense of light. You alone, Church, are the light of the world. You know, throughout the ages all sorts of people proposing ‘We got the light here, we’ll give you the light’, even all around us all the time. I was watching channel 2 this week, and somebody last week had mentioned about this guy Wayne Dwyer, and the power of intention. Never heard about it before. And so, between the services last week we were talking about this debate, and don’t you know, I rarely watch TV, but turn on the TV at one point this week, channel 2, and here’s this guy Wayne Dwyer, and he’s doing his little seminar on the power of intention. And so I’m listening to him. The whole presentation, the eyes of the audience, the cameras go there, and these people are like, ‘This is it, man.’ And you’re just watching him…He goes on to explain, he’s got his little ball there on the stage, that there is in this universe this focal point…this is the basic idea, ‘but there’s this creative source, this creative energy source in the universe. And essentially the power of intention is this ability, if you tap into this, you have the ability to create.’ And he goes on to explain basically that you can create your life. He went on with illustrations about his daughter, but you can, ‘You want this type of life? Tap into the source, you now have the creative power, and you set up the right parameters around you and you can create whatever life you want.’ And so people are like, ‘Oh yeah, I got to think that way, I’ve just got to do this…power of intention is what I need, and I’ll have the life.’ But I’m thinking, that’s darkness, that guy’s lying, he’s a deceiver, he’s probably just making a ton of money. But those people are going to take that road, and so many people have taken a road like that, and found out in the end, what an empty life. Because I have learned as a Christian that the greatest life, the only life is knowing God. It’s not me trying to create my own little world, and not only that, I have found that because of who God is, I’m just a little old finite man, but God is an infinite God, he has a plan for my life, he has a purpose, and if I’ll just allow him to work in my life and take me wherever he wants to take me, I mean, there’s no greater life. He’s got it figured out. No doubt, there are things that I could plan, there are ways that I could invest my energies and resources, I could go ‘Oh yeah, that’s the life, set up the parameters, next twenty years I’m setting this thing up, and even if I get there, I’m going to go ‘This is not what I thought, this is not what it’s cracked up to be.’ But God is life, and the source of life. It’s in him, I draw near to him and seek his face, and whatever then comes physically in my life is just fine, because God is life, and that’s what I want. So, you are the light of the world, and you have the message, you have the experience, you have this life light in you that God says you’re now to diffuse to the world. Now, as we look at the Scriptures, of course I understand that it’s not that I just made myself the light of the world, it’s not that I come to church on Sunday [or Saturday], so now I’m the light of the world. The reason why I am the light of the world is because Jesus himself is the light, and if Jesus is in me, then I am the light of the world. Jesus himself said many times, John chapter 8, verse 12, “I am the light of the world, he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” ‘I am the light, you follow me you will have the light.’ So he says to his people who are following him, to his disciples, he says ‘Now you are the light’, meaning ‘I am now working through you, and you have that role in the world. I am the light, I have come to give light, and now I’m in you and working through you, and so therefore’…In fact the disciples, in Acts chapter 13, verse 47, speaking of their life said, “For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’” ‘I have set you that you will be light to the Gentiles.’ So the Church [the greater body of Christ], the disciples, we are the light, meaning I have the light, with Christ in my heart now, I act as that light. And we are the only source of light in this dark world. [And by the word “we” he means everyone who is part of the born-again body of Christ, whether Gentile Christian or Messianic Jewish believer in Yeshua haMeshiach.] Now again, to be the light then is to be distinctly different. It is to be radically different. And I might be uncomfortable and say ‘I don’t want to be that way’, but if I’m truly living and walking with God, and I by what I am, am the light. I am so radically different. You are so radically different. The next thing Jesus says in verse 14, he says, “A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” And it’s very possible when he’s saying this, many believe when he’s teaching this sermon on the shores of the Galilee on the side of the mount, that just down the road was a community called Sefed, or in ancient times Bethua that was a city that sat on a little hill. And it was very visible. And so it is very possible, when he says “A city that is set on a hill”, I mean, he potentially points it out, everybody’s looking, ‘See that city? That city up on the hill, can it hide itself? It’s right there on the hill, I mean, everybody, especially at night, the lights, everybody sees that community.’ [Comment: When Jesus returns, sets down on the Mount of Olives, the Mount of Olives will split in two, and a huge north-south plain will be cleared on top of the mountain range Jerusalem sits on. The Millennial city of Jerusalem Jesus and the resurrected immortal saints will rule the whole world from will be lighted up at night by the glorious presence of Christ and these resurrected immortal saints, so that Jerusalem will be seen for many miles around, even way out at sea, a true city upon a hill shedding the light of all the saints and the Lord for all the world to see. Don’t’ believe me, look at this Scriptural study on this subject, it will amaze you: http://www.unityinchrist.com/kingdomofgod/mkg4page1.htm] And so the point being, in the very natural state of being what you are, you can’t hide yourself, you can’t blend in, you can’t just blend in with the surroundings, you’re a city on a hill, you stand out in this great contrast. You are different, you are the light of the world, and if you are a Christian, and you’re not seen as different by the world around you, then there’s something very wrong, you’re in a dangerous place as he’s saying in these verses. You’re also in a foolish state as he goes on in verse 15, “Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket or a bowl, but on a lampstand.” You turn on the lamp, you light the lamp, you put it right on the table so it gives light out to the house. You know, nobody, you don’t go into your kitchen and turn on your light and then put a basket over the light so it’s just dark in the kitchen, you turn it on so it gives out light. When I put a light on in my office, you know the light on my desk, I orientate it so that it illuminates it and I can see well. That’s what I do with lights, you don’t turn them on to then cover them, that’s foolish. And so, Jesus is saying, if you’re reasoning this way, if you’re thinking ‘Well, I don’t have to be that radical, and I can kind of hide it a little bit and keep it to myself’, in a sense he’s painting a picture, ‘Isn’t that foolish, isn’t that really foolish to think that you can just keep it to yourself and kind of hide it and mask it and just pass through this world as a nice guy or a nice person and nobody really knew and experienced the salt in your life and the light from your life?’ That’s just weird he says. That’s just a strange deal. No, instead, you put a light on a lampstand and it gives all it’s light to the house. And therefore, going back to the home, you put a light on a lampstand and it gives light to the house. And when I walk in as a Christian father and my wife walks in as a Christian mother, and you walk into your home as a Christian parent, it should be like that, it should be as these lamps on the lampstand. Kids see it. Kids understand it. That light is just going through the house, light in the house, foolish to be anything different, and it’s not even natural.

“Let your light so shine before men”

Well finally in verse 16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” That’s the deal, yeah blessed are the persecuted, those that are persecuted, and we understand, yeah that’s scary and I kind of recoil from that, I don’t know if I want to be that radical, and here’s all the reasons. But he says, ‘and let your light shine’, be bold, be full of the Spirit, let the light of Christ boldly shine through your life. Yeah, people get offended, yeah there will be rough times, yeah there will be in-laws upset, yeah there will be kids upset at school, yeah there will be people that will just not like you. But that’s who you are and that’s why you’re here. And it’s so needed. And it’s so sad that you won’t be that way if you’re not willing, because you’re here as the salt, and you’re here as the light, and if you’re not in that state, you’re totally useless, you’re totally useless. “Let your light so totally shine before men”, you know a lot of us as Christians, we have those experiences, I’ve had that more often in my life than before, but I’ll walk up to people who know I’m a pastor, and ‘Why did they turn the other way, why did I have to pull back my hand?’ And I have that experience, and I’m like, ‘Well, ok, so be it, I’ll pray for them.’ But that’s just a Christian, and that’s where we are in this world. “Let your light so shine before men”, then he says not so that you look cool, “but that they may see your good works”, this wonderful life of Christ in you, you were created for good works, God has set you apart, he has set apart his people that we would be a people zealous for good works, “that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.” So, the reason to be light and salty is just for the glory of God, I mean, God is being glorified. I tell you something, that’s not something we’re going to regret when we get to be with him in his kingdom of heaven. That’s the point, it’s not that I’m supposed to be all religious, and people say ‘That guy is a religious guy,’ and ‘Boy, isn’t he holy’, and man, praising King James and whatever, just so spiritual. No, in fact, in the New Testament, and in the Gospels we’ll see this, when Jesus did miracles, almost every time, when he did the miracle, when people would walk away it says they would glorify God, they were just so blown away by God and what they saw. And so the life of Christ in me is going to glorify him. And so therefore, my effect as I am walking with him and overflowing in the Spirit and I’m salty and the light is shining, people around me are going ‘Ah, God, yes Jesus, yeah that’s what is needed, God is good’, it’s that and not ‘He’s a real spiritual guy.’ That’s not it at all. Psalm 115, many of us obviously know it, “Not unto us, not unto us O LORD, but to your name, to your name give glory, because of your mercy and because of your truth.” Not unto us, but your name. Jesus said in John chapter 15 verse 8, “By this my Father is glorified”, how is God glorified? “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples.” Being fruitful. And of course in the same parable there, the story when Jesus shares about the vine and the branches and being fruitful, he says if you’re not fruitful, again, you’re in a desperate situation as he talks about the branches in that passage. Well, being different, maybe this morning, maybe today, God’s just trying to get your attention. So many Christians, are you letting God work through you, and are you drawing near to the Lord, and are you experiencing the blessed life regardless of what the cost is, and regardless of the opposition and persecution. Is that the life you’re living? If you’re not, if you’re in fear of being different, if you’re wrestling with standing out, and you’re compromising, understand what Jesus has just said, understand, if you are not salty, you’re being run over by the world. You are being trampled upon, it’s effecting the way you’re thinking this morning, it’s effecting the things that you desire, and you’re missing out on life, man. No, be salty, have salt within yourselves, you are the salt of the earth and you are the light of the world. Let’s close in prayer…[transcript of an expository sermon given on Matthew 5:13-16 somewhere in New England.]