Matthew 5 Verses 13-16 Isolation or Impact April 14, 2024

Matthew 5 Verses 13-16 Isolation or Impact April 14, 2024

Lesson 2 Kingdom Power / Sermon on the Mount

Class Presentation Notes AAAAAA

Background Scriptures:

· Mark 9:50 (NKJV) 50 Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."

· Luke 14:34-35 (NKJV) 34 "Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? 35 It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

· John 1:4-5 (NKJV) 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

· John 1:8-12 (NKJV) 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

Main Idea:

· Jeus produces a spirit within His followers that is as distinctive as salt is to a diet and light is to darkness.

Study Aim:

· We are called to risk standing out as agents of righteousness even when we know our actions will bring opposition.

The Biblical Truth:

· Believers impact society for Christ when they help preserve it by their influence, project the light of Christ on it by their good works and seek to promote godly righteousness within it.

The Life Impact:

· To help you follow Jesus and live according to His teachings by identifying ways you can impact society for Christ and then committing to do so.

Create Interest:

· Why were the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:13-16 so bold? In what sense are Christians the salt of the earth? In what sense are we to be the light of the world? What can hinder us in obeying these commands? Why should lost people see your good works? Our lesson will shed “light” on these questions.

· Imagine the scene. Jesus was surrounded by His disciples with the crowd looking over their shoulders. Jesus had shocked the disciples with the Beatitudes. Then He delivered another shock. He looked at this small group of followers and said that they were the hope of the world. The words He used were the salt of the earth and the light of the world.[1]

Lesson in Historical Context:

· Jesus was starting a revolution, but it was a different sort of revolution from all the other ones that were bubbling up in his days. And he had to do two things at the same time.

o First, He had to show the Jews of his day that this movement really was the fulfilment of all that Israel had believed and longed for.

o Second, He had to show that he and his followers really were living by (and also dying by) the new way He was announcing.

· The tension between these two sometimes seemed fierce, and to this day many people misunderstand it.

o Some think of Jesus as just a great Jewish teacher without much of a revolution.

o Others see him as so revolutionary that he left Judaism behind altogether and established something quite new.

· This passage shows how Jesus himself held the two together. He was indeed offering something utterly revolutionary, to which He would remain faithful; but it was, in fact, the reality towards which Israel’s whole life and tradition had pointed.

· This passage, following the striking introduction to the Sermon on the Mount in verses 3–12, introduces the main theme that will occupy Jesus in what follows. He has come to fulfil the lawand the prophets.

o Most of the rest of the Sermon explains exactly what that means, right through to 7:11; then 7:12, echoing 5:17, sums it all up.

o Do to others, he says, what you would like them to do to you, because this is what the law and the prophets are really all about. The Sermon then concludes with sharp warnings about the urgent need to pay attention to what Jesus is saying (7:13–27).[2]

Consider the following as you study our lesson: Discuss why you think is does or does not apply to our study

· Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (NKJV) 12 "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORDyour God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?

· Ephesians 4:32 (NKJV) 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.

o The Creator, Yahweh, our God knows how we function best, and he is an expert on the care of our souls. Obedience not only glorifies Him, but it also blesses our lives. He gives us rules; He is so good!

§ James Hatch, professor at Columbia International University, began a presentation singing “God is so good”…and then shifted to “He gives us rules”…We know when we obey the them, we are healthier, happier, and holier. Discuss this!

§ Dr. David Jeremiah from his study Bible.

· Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths

Bible Study:

Matthew 5:13 (NKJV) 13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

· Jesus has just finished a list of attitudes we are to have in our lives. It is a list of what we are to be. Upon completing the list, He then says, “You are the salt of the earth.” The word “are” indicates He is concerned about what we are, our being. When what we ARE is right, then what we DO will be right.

o When we as Christians, implement the Beatitudes in our lives, we are the salt of the earth.

o When we are possessed of these characteristics, we will be a positive influence and we will make a difference in the world around us.

· In this verse, by using salt as an object lesson, Jesus tries to get across to us that we are good for something and are valuable to this world.

o He also warns us that we can end up being good for nothing. There is a lot of spiritual juice in this sponge. Let’s squeeze it and get all the goodies we can get out of it.[3]

· The verb translated “loses its flavor” more literally means “becomes foolish.” We use “taste” to speak of an aesthetic rather than an intellectual quality, but “tasteless” perhaps goes some way towards catching what may have been a more obvious double-entendre in Hebrew and Aramaic, where the verb tāpēlcan mean both to be tasteless and to be foolish. The trampling of the tasteless “salt” does not have to imply that it then finds a useful role as surfacing for a path; it is simply thrown out into the street as refuse.[4]

· In the ancient world salt was highly valued. The Greeks called salt divine (theion). In a phrase, which in Latin is a kind of jingle, the Romans said, “There is nothing more useful than sun and salt.” (Nil utilius sole et sale.) In the time of Jesus salt was connected in people’s minds with threespecial qualities.

o Salt was connected with purity. The Romans said that salt was the purest of all things, because it came from the purest of all things, the sun and the sea. So then, if the Christian is to be the salt of the earth, he/she must be an example of purity.

o One of the characteristics of the world in which we live is the lowering of standards.

§ Standards of honesty, standards of diligence in work, standards of conscientiousness, moral standards, all tend to be lowered.

📷 The Christian must be the person who holds aloft the standard of absolute purity in speech, in conduct, and even in thought.

§ No Christian can depart from the standards of strict honesty.

§ No Christian can think lightly of the lowering of moral standards in a world where the streets of every great city provide their deliberate enticements to sin.

§ No Christian can allow himself the tarnished and suggestive jests which are so often part of social conversation.

📷 The Christian cannot withdraw from the world, but he must, as James said, keep himself “unstained from the world” (James 1:27).

o In the ancient world salt was the most common of all preservatives. It was used to keep things from going bad, and to hold putrefaction at bay. So then salt preserves from corruption.

§ If the Christian is to be the salt of the earth, he must have a certain antiseptic influence on life.

o But the greatest and the most obvious quality of salt is that salt lends flavor to things. Food without salt is a sadly insipid and even a sickening thing.

§ Christianity is to life what salt is to food.

§ Christianity lends flavor to life.[5]

Let’s look a little deeper in our quest to understand this salt metaphor:

· Much salt in Palestine, such as that found on the shores of the Dead Sea, is contaminated with gypsum and other minerals that make it taste flat and even repulsive. When a batch of such contaminated salt would find its way into a household and be discovered, it was thrown out. People would be careful not to throw it on a garden or field, because it would kill whatever was planted.

o Instead, it would be thrown onto a path or road, where it would gradually be ground into the dirt and disappear.

· There is a sense in which salt cannot really become unsalty. But contamination can cause it to lose its value as salt. Its saltiness can no longer function.

· Jesus is not speaking of losing salvation. God does not allow any of His own to be taken from Him. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand,”

o Jesus assures us (John 10:27). Christians cannot lose their salvation, just as salt cannot lose its inherent saltiness.

o But Christians can lose their value and effectiveness in the kingdom when sin and worldliness contaminate their lives, just as salt can become tastelesswhen contaminated by other minerals. It is a common New Testament truth that although true believers are identified as righteous, godly, and salty, there are times when they fail to be what they are (cf. Rom. 7:15–25), which Peter says leads to loss of assurance (2 Pet. 1:9–10), not loss of salvation.

Consider the following

· With great responsibility there is often great danger. We cannot be an influence for purity in the world if we have compromised our own purity.

· We cannot sting the world’s conscience if we continually go against our own.

· We cannot stimulate thirst for righteousness if we have lost our own.

· We cannot be used of God to retard the corruption of sin in the world if our own lives become corrupted by sin. To lose our saltiness is not to lose our salvation, but it is to lose our effectiveness and to become disqualified for service (see 1 Cor. 9:27).

· Pure salt does not lose its saltiness, which makes it valuable and effective.

o Christians who are pure in heart do not become tasteless, ineffective, and useless in the kingdom of God.[6]

A thought to soak on

· If we are salt, how are we to maximize our effectiveness? We must be spread out upon the decaying world. Salt can sit for years in the saltshaker, but it will never do any good until it is poured forth.

· In Jesus’ time its effect was maximized when it was poured upon and rubbed into the meat.

o We must allow God to rub us into the world, without our becoming like the world.

o We may fear that we will disappear and disappear we may. But that is the point: Salt dispenses its power as it dissolves into the world’s flesh. That is when its effect is greatest.

o As pungent people, empowered by the presence of Christ’s Spirit within us, we are to penetrate society.

§ We are to become involved in life—in the community, in our schools, in politics, in our neighborhoods, in the world at large.

§ Does this text affirm us or mock us? Are we salt?[7]

Matthew 5:14-16 (NKJV) 14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 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. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

· “God is light” (1 Jn. 1:5). Jesus Christ said, “I am the light of the world” (Jn. 8:12; 9:5). Here Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.” What an enormous compliment! God is light, Christ is light, and the believer is said to be the light of the world. The believer is what God and Christ are: light. No greater compliment could be paid the believer. But note: to be identified with God is an enormous responsibility as well as a compliment.

o Whatever light is and does, the believer is to be and do.[8]

· We are also to function as light:

o While salt deals with the moral, light deals with the spiritual.

o Salt relates to our character, but light relates to our conduct.

o Salt deals with what a person is; light deals with what a person does. We know what light does—it removes darkness. But we do not know what light is. Light is a miracle.

· The word translated “world” here is kosmos, which relates to the whole created order of things. The root of kosmos means “to carve, plane, polish” and implies both order and beauty.

o In our function as light, we are to make people aware of their relation to the created order and aware of the harmony and beauty of the created universe as subject to the throne of God.

o We are to remind people of the existence and authority of God by living in the will of God and by being like Jesus.

§ Just as “a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden,” our testimony for God must be consistent, continuous, and conspicuous.

· The Lord used two illustrations to explain our function as light: a lamp and a city.

o The city illustrates our impact on the great outdoors; the lamp illustrates our influence on what goes on indoors.

o The lamp indicates individual testimony.

§ The city, lit up at night by all the individual candles shining in Christian homes, indicates corporate testimony, the aggregate of all the little individual candles.

· Above all, regardless of the scope of its influence, a lamp is intended to shine. No one puts a lamp under a bushel basket. If the lamp is to do any good, it must be put in a place where it can be seen.

· Luke 8:16uses the companion illustration of putting a lamp under a bed. The bushel and the bed make a perfect pair.

o Putting a light under a bushel (the basket used by merchants and farmers for their wares) suggests the world of labor.

§ We can get too busy to shine for Jesus….hmmmmmmmmm.

o Putting a light under a bed suggests the world of leisure.

§ We can be too lazy to shine for Jesus.

Note for Interest:

· The illustrations of salt and light have one thing in common. Both salt and light exert their influence silently. We are not heard for our “much speaking”

o (Matthew 6:7 (NKJV) 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

· The Lord concluded this section of His sermon by saying, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (5:16). No one ever exemplified this verse better than the Lord Jesus Himself.[9]

Some special thoughts to soak on as we wrap up our study of being “salt” and “light”.

· Vs. 14: Light of the world means that we are not only light-receivers, but also light-givers. We must have a greater concern than only ourselves, and we cannot live only to ourselves; we must have someone to shine to and do so lovingly.

· Jesus never challenged us to becomesalt or light. He simply said that we are—and we are either fulfilling or failing that given responsibility.

· A key thought in both the pictures of salt and light is distinction.

o Salt is needed because the world is rotting and decaying, and if our Christianity is also rotting and decaying, it won’t be any good.

o Light is needed because the world is in darkness, and if our Christianity imitates the darkness, we have nothing to show the world.

o To be effective we must seek anddisplay the Christian distinctive.

§ We can never affect the world for Jesus by becoming like the world.

· A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden: Such a city is prominent and can’t be hidden. If you see such a city from a distance, it is hard to take your eyes off of it. In the same way, Jesus wanted the people of His kingdom to live visible lives that attracted attention to the beauty of God’s work in the life.

o “It is as much as if our Savior should have said, You had need be holy, for your conversation cannot be hidden, any more than a city can that is built upon a hill, which is obvious to every eye. All men’s eyes will be upon you.” (Poole)

· Vs. 15: Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand: The idea of a lampstand gives the sense that we are to be intentional about letting this light shine. Even as lamps are placed higher so their light can be more effective, we should look for ways to let our light shine in greater and broader ways.

· Vs. 16: Let your light so shine before men: The purpose of light is to illuminate and expose what is there. Therefore, light must be exposed before it is of any use—if it is hidden under a basket, it is no longer useful.

o “Christ knew that there would be strong temptation for the men that had it in them to be lights to hide their light. It would draw the world’s attention to them, and so expose them to the ill will of such as hate the light.” (Bruce)

o “Christ never contemplated the production of secret Christians, —Christians whose virtues would never be displayed,—pilgrims who would travel to heaven by night, and never be seen by their fellow-pilgrims or anyone else.” (Spurgeon)

o The figures of salt and light also remind us that the life marked by the Beatitudes is not to be lived in isolation. We often assume that those inner qualities can only be developed or displayed in isolation from the world, but Jesus wants us to live them out before the world.

· That they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven: The purpose in letting our light so shine by doing good works is so that others will glorify God, not ourselves.

o “The object of our shining is not that men may see how good we are, nor even see us at all, but that they may see gracein us and God in us, and cry, ‘What a Father these people must have.’ Is not this the first time in the New Testament that God is called our Father? Is it not singular that the first time it peeps out should be when men are seeing the good works of his children?” (Spurgeon).”[10]

Glorify your Father.

· A Christian’s character as described in the beatitudes and a Christian’s influence as defined in the salt and light metaphors are organically related to one another. Our influence depends on our character.But the beatitudes set an extremely high and exacting standard. It may be helpful, therefore, as a conclusion to this chapter, to look back over both paragraphs and note the incentives to righteousness which Jesus gives.

o First, this is the way we ourselves will be blessed. The beatitudes identify those whom God declares to be ‘blessed’, those who please him and who themselves find fulfilment.

§ True blessedness is found in goodness, and nowhere else.

o Secondly, this is the way the world will best be served. Jesus offers his followers the immense privileges of being the world’s salt and light if only they will live by the beatitudes.

o Thirdly, this is the way God will be glorified. Here towards the beginning of his ministry Jesus tells his disciples that if they let their light shine so that their good works are seen, their Father in heaven will be glorified. At the end of his ministry, in the upper room, he will express the same truth in similar words: ‘By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.’

· This, then, is the great desirability of the good and Christlike life, and so of the Christian counter-culture. It brings blessing to us, salvation to others, and ultimately glory to God.[11]

· Jesus sets before us a choice between the way of the world and his own way. And it’s only if we are prepared to go the way of Jesus, without compromising his values or standards, that our salt will return its saltiness, our light will shine clear and bright. We will become effective as witnesses and servants of Jesus Christ. Non-Christian people will see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven.[12]

· Let us pray that we allow the Holy Spirit to develop us into the Light and Salt God desires us to be to His Glory! Shalom!

[1]Robert J. Dean, Family Bible Study, Summer 2006, Herschel Hobbs Commentary (LifeWay Christian Resources, n.d.), 123. [2]Tom Wright, Matthew for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 1-15 (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 39–40. [3]Rod Mattoon, Treasures from the Sermon on the Mount, vol. 1, Treasures from Scriptures Series (Springfield, IL: Rod Mattoon, 2006), 149–150. [4]R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co., 2007), 175. [5]William Barclay, ed., The Gospel of Matthew, vol. 1, The Daily Study Bible Series (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster John Knox Press, 1976), 119–122. [6]John F. MacArthur Jr., Matthew, vol. 1, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1985), 245–246. [7]R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 80–81. [8]Leadership Ministries Worldwide, The Gospel according to Matthew: Chapters 1:1–16:12, vol. 1, The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2004), 71. [9]John Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of Matthew: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch, 2014), Mt 5:14–16. [10]David Guzik, Matthew, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), Mt 5:14–16. [11]John R. W. Stott and John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7): Christian Counter-Culture, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 68. [12]Christianity Today, Today’s Best Sermons: 52 Sermons on Contemporary Living, vol. 1, Today’s Best Sermons (Christianity Today, 1998).