Salt and Light of the earth

Text: Matthew 5:13-16

Matthew 5:13–16 KJV 1900

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. 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.

Propasition: As Christians are we preserving the the Word of God, and being a light to the world?

Introduction: In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He tells His followers that we are to be the salt, and light of the earth. Letting our light shine so others may see Him in us. Are people today seeing Jesus in us? Are we active in the communinity be the salt to slow the decay of sin, is our testamony worth our salt?

We are the Salt of the world

Matthew 5:13 “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.”

Salt has many uses throughout history, it is used today in chemical labs, cooking, pathway de-icing, currency, and in the health field. In the time Jesus was preaching this sermon, salt was used to perserve fish and meat by huntsmen and fishermen. They were used to pay Roman soldiers a daily wage. Many have heard of the saying “worth his salt” as salt was valued as much and more in certain places than gold was. Today you can find it on every kitchen table used for cooking to increase the flavor, or if you eat at the chow hall to make the flavor something you can keep down. you’ll find salt in the medicine cabinet and your wifes beauty bag, in many skin care products use salt to remove dead skin.

Salt Irratates

For many of us that have gottten wounds and made the wise idea to place our cut in salty water, or cut our face and our tears begin to sting the area from the salt knows that it burns. Although salt in our wounds burns and we do not enjoy it salt does benefit us. Salt draws moisture out helping the wound heal faster, drawls toxins from the skin to promote healing, also will disenfect the wound by preventing the spread of bacteria. Although we may not enjoy salt in our cuts, it beneifits us. Just how convictions from the Holy Ghost causes discomfort and irrates us, the end result is healing and preventing the spread of sin in our life.

From when we were saved, and shared with other people out testamony of salvation, how many people stopped talking to us? How many people stopped wanting to spend time with us because we are “boring”. For those who were here for the Facing Goliath Sunday School lesson, there was an illistration that spoke of a young man returning from war. Recently being saved he was asked to tell the first five people that greet him of his testamony. Stepping off the train the first person he meets is a lady he use to spend time with. Telling her of his faith in Christ she replied with thats nice, and walked away. Continuing down the station he was met by friends he use to hang out with before the war. Offering to take him to a local brewery, he declined and shared with them his testamony, they also made the same compliment and walked away.

Salt Preserves

Salt is used by many of our hunters, fishers, and canners to help extend the shelf life of meat, fish, fruits, eggs, pickles, and many others. This was also used daily until 1927 when refrigeration was common in houses. transporting their catch to the market fishermen would cover their fish with salt so they would survive the travel without refrigeration.

Fish begin to spoil after 12 hours of being caught if nothing is done to it, if in a refridgerator they can last 3 days at 40 degrees, salt allows the same fish to last for several months.

Salt preserves food by removing water from the object, with the water removed, mircobial and bacteria cannot grow. So shall we that are saved sin cannot grow on us.

Where would the the world be without...

Churches?

Salt cannot be used in one grain, but be comined with other salt grains of salt, working together can cure meats, and preserve food. So if we as Christians do not come together, our effect on the world is weakened greatly.

Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

1 John 1:7–8 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Christians?

Without Chrisitans there is no salt for the world, leaving the world to spiral into chaos unchallenged and without resistance. Without salt in our oceans, science claims that we would have an increase in earthquakes and volcanos due to the lack of pressure on the ocean floor. Freshwater being lease dense, the polar ice caps would sink only 10 centimeters (4 inches) causing the largest tidal waves in record. Without salt, marine alge that produces more than half of the oxygen we breath would die, causing issues for land animals.

Without Christians there is no church, no firey preaching of the Gospel

1 Corinthians 1:10 “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

The Bible?

If God never gave us His Word we...

Cannot know God

We cannot know that we can be saved John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Cannot grow 2 Peter 3:18 “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

Cannot be furnished 2 Timothy 3:16–17“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

Faithful Men preaching the Gospel.

2 Timothy 4:2–4 “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Jeremiah 20:9 “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, Nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, And I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”

1 Corinthians 9:16 “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!”

Acts 18:5 “And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.”

Philippians 2:15 “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;”

Salt has to be in contact with the the item for the agents to work. So do we have to be in contact with the world to be that perserving agent.

Brighten the Corner where you are

Matthew 5:14–15 “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.”

Jesus calls us the light of this world, that we are to shine like Him, we find this in: John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Light has had many uses throughout the years, from relaying messages by flashing on naval vessles, to light beacons that signifies a certain message, lighthouses uses light to safely guide ships away from the dangerous coast. We have lights in our vehicles to allow us to drive in incliment weather and see at night. The imagery here of light and a city is to illistrate the life of a Christian. The light of a candlestick shows our influence on what goes on indoor, our individual testamony, as a light is only bright enough to illuminate a small area. The city set on a hill illuminated by many candlesticks glowly from Christian homes, showing a corporate testamony of all of us together shining brighter together than alone.

In Exodus God lead the Hebrews through the wilderness by fire: Exodus 13:21–22 “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.”

Are we letting our light shine? Or are we hiding the light of Jesus to the world. Can people see us and wonder what makes us tick?

Not Under a Bushel, But on a Candlestick

Matthew 5:15 “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.”

Our testamonies can be what someone needs, thousands of chruch tracts are made because of someones testamony of salvation, how someones testamony shared with them lead them to Jesus. Our lack of testamony can also be what stops someone from coming to Christ, When we make our public declaration of faith, and trust in Jesus, we have put ourselves on a hill. We have silhouetted ourselves to the world. Walking on a ridge line where everyone can see what is going on. When we turn our lights on in the house when the sun goes down, seeing outside is very hard but the world sitting outside in the dark can see everything that is going on in the lightened room.

How many people have we come across, at the shopping mall, market, or at work, talk about the church they go to, but their testamony they may have is wrecked by their “vain babble” 2 Timothy 2:16 “But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.” How they act outside of the assembly of Gods people is a polar opposite of if you visited them at church. Two people I work with have two very different testamony, and two different effects their testamony have on the people we work with. One of them shares their testamony, talked with me about church, trials they have come across, their faith in God, and sermons they heard over the weekend at the church to talk with me about. In her presence our co-workers either lower their voices or don’t say anything innapropiate at work. The other is a gentlemen that looks around for her presence before saying something. His walk is in step with the world, if he didn’t tell me that he attended a neighboring church, I would have never guessed that he attended church. Both of these people attend churches of like faith and believe as outselves, both attend church weekly. The difference here is the lady has her light shining on a candlestick, and the gentlemen has is hidden under a bushel.

Let your Light so Shine

If we walk, talk, and act like the world then why would the world want to spend their time off from work attending church, if they see that Christians are no different than the rest of the world, why would they want to sit down in a pew for hours listening to preachers preach on something they believe we do not even follow. Is our actions non-verbally attracting others to Christ, or is it pushing them away? This isnt the attraction of our music, or lack of sermons being preached as we are seeing today in many churches that shorten their sermons, lengening their “worship music” time, playing more of a punk rock type of music to attract the younger generation. Richard Cambell said this about modern church today:

You are welcome to our church, it’s a Hug at the door, sermon from the Bible, boring old hymns that end with A-Men, repeating the same old songs week after week, and never letting anyone sing something that was written in the 20th or even the 19th century… Our church is full of LOVE, for each other, the Old Hymns, and yes, even GOD… But it’s dying off, one 80+ year old at a time, while they are doing nothing to attract new members, new blood, new youth, who are needed to fill the seats, the offering plate, and the positions that keep a church alive… I’d welcome the chance to bring in a band, a guitar, a set of drums, ANYTHING that might bring one new person in the door.

We see it today, someone comes onto social media just moved into town looking for a church to attend. How many people suggesting their church says anything about the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? The promote their great children care programs, the nursury or childs church that entertains kids for a majority of the service(s). Their church softball team or other group activity, some even talk about the different “clicks” they have in their church that youll find the right group to be with. But notice how few people bring up the preaching of the Gospel, how many are sharing that their preacher is up proclaiming who Jesus is, gets emotional talking about the price He has paid.

Recently I was told about a relative that was attending a church in their area. They came across the challenge of their church attendance was shrinking, and their average age of the attendance was getting up in age. A new pastor made the decision to try out some more modern Christian Music, the result was more young adults at a neighboring college started attending on troves, now having over 1,000 attendees weekly because of the change in music. They were not attracted by the preaching of the Bible, the conviction of sin, but the solid beat of drums, the smoke and light display, and that you can go to a weekly concert for the low price of whatever you toss into the offering plate if you choose to give.

Returning to the quote the author of this blog post, they continued with “Because we want to reach people in our community. If Christians don’t look and sound like normal people, how can we find an opportunity to tell them about Jesus?” If we look and act like the world, then why is the following of 1 Peter 2:11 “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;” That we are not to be like this world.

Conclusion

Although salt and light are two very different object, they do have one thing in common; the influence silently. Do people know we are Christians because we have to convince them in our conversation, or can they see it by the way we talk and act every day?