Living a life for Jesus @ FBC Franklin

Matthew 5:11-16.

Introduction

Introduce video

We saw the Lord work in some really amazing ways while we were at camp this last week. We saw students come to know the Lord, we saw other students make a decision to seek the Lord closer, and seek after accountability that we are now back in Franklin.

My hope and prayer for our students that went to camp with us, is that the Lord uses it as a catalyst for them to deepen their roots in the Lord, and to give them a mission minded attitude and heart for their school this upcoming school year. And my hope for them as well as for our congregation as a whole is the title of our sermon this morning. Living a life for Jesus.

As we begin this morning, i want to pose a question to us all. What does it mean, or what does it practically look like to live a life for Jesus? I encourage you all to jot it down, and take a minute to answer that for yourself.

Some of the ways we might answer might be this

Doing all the things for Jesus

If I tithe my 10% for Jesus I am living for him.

I was baptized for Jesus.

I am checking off my bible reading plan each day

I am “equally yoked” with my relationships. I have no friends that are unbelievers

I am so good at living a life for Jesus, I call others out for their sin.

Our students this past week at camp were challenged to ask themselves where they were with the Lord. Were they

Unconvinced of Jesus. They were just brought there to hang out and have a good time.

Are they undecided. They probably had made a decision at some point in their life, but how would their inward heart and action line up with Jesus?

Or were they unashamed for Jesus?

We then walked through Luke 15 the parable of the lost son, but in reality it is better to be described as the parable of the two sons. You have the younger son who went far away from the father. He then recognizes he is lost and helpless without the Father and he returns back home. The lost son is now found. But, the focus then changes to the older son who we see in Luke 15:25-32. He was so caught up in doing all the things for the Father, he misses the party that is happening. He is doing all the things for his Father, but he doesn’t really know and have a relationship with him.

I wanted to start this message out this way for a few reasons, one for you all, the congregation of FBC Franklin to know how our students were challenged at camp. And how we will continue to challenge them in their walk with the Lord anytime we are gathered here on a Sunday morning, Wednesday night, or during any small group.

Also, as we go through Matthew 5:11-16 I pray that you do not just tune me out and start thinking of the coffee or donut you are going to have during Sunday school. Or if you think further ahead than others what you will be having for lunch from one of Franklin’s many Mexican restaurant’s

Rather challenge yourself this morning. We will be seeing 3 idnetifiers of living a life for Jesus. They are not all of the areas, but it is the beginning stages of it. But our heart behind them can not be to check off a list, rather it is from an outpouring of love and having a personal saving relationship with the Father of the universe.

Read text- Have all stand for the reading of the Bible if able.

Matthew 5:11–16 ““Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Pray

Context

Here in Matthew 5-7 we see Jesus giving his first public sermon, and the one that has been the most documented and sought after for it’s power and thoroughness. How counter cultural it was in the 1st century, and for us how counter cultural it is still to this day.

The first 16 verses of Matthew 5 Jesus is giving his introduction to the sermon, and we will keying in on these last 6 verse 11-16.

In the first 10 verses we see Matthew setting the scene, then Jesus gives us the beatitudes. An observation a friend of mine had, who had been in church his whole life, it hit him recently that the beatitudes are meant to be followed in all aspects. We do not key in on one beatitude, rather the beatitudes should define the life the of a believer, each one of them.

Living a life for Jesus will bring persecution. V.11-12. Matthew 5:11–12 ““Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Exposition

Verses 11-12 are in a sense summarize the outcome of the beatitudes when they are followed. And they draw particular attention to verse 10. Jesus goes from the third person language “those” he then transitions the second person “You” We see that those who are reviled, persecuted, and when you have all kinds of evil against you, you are to rejoice and be glad.

The stipulation is that we are being persecuted for the Lord’s name sake. Not because we have a bad sports take, such as this is going to be Kentucky’s year to win it all. Rather, what we face is do to our standing up and sharing the truth of Jesus with those around us.

We not only take the persecution, but Jesus calls us to rejoice and be glad. Why should we? Jesus tells us, our reward (or wages) is for things that are beyond this physical life around us.

James 1:2–3 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

Jesus encourages the 1st century believers that it is okay for them to persecuted, as the prophets were persecuted.

Jeremiah was persecuted. Jeremiah 37:14–15 “And Jeremiah said, “It is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.”

What prophets do we have? Let’s look back at some of those who walked with Jesus, some of the Apostles

10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Death of the Apostles)

Peter was crucified upside down.

James, was beheaded at Jerusalem

Matthew suffered Martyrdom by being slain by a sword in a city of Ethiopia

John was put in a caldron of boiling oil, escaped miraculously, then was sent to Patmos where he would receive Revelation and latter die.

Paul was beaten, tortured, persecuted, imprisoned, and eventually beheaded by emperor Nero.

Jesus is telling us, if these men faced persecution for His name sake, we also will be persecuted if we live for Him Jesus also says in

John 15:18–20 ““If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.”

Application

When we think of persecution we usually associate that with persecution missionaries overseas are facing. How church needs to be underground, and the severity of the consequences for those who are found teaching Jesus in these countries.

What about now, here in America, and in Franklin. You may not face a literal crucifix and be hung, but if we are actively standing up for Jesus we will face opposition.

Living a life for Jesus preserves what is good V.13 Matthew 5:13 ““You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”

Exposition

In the 1st century, salt had two main purposes. First it was mainly used a preservative for meats and other perishable items. They did not what some American homes have today. Growing up i loved going to the friends house who they had a fridge and freezer in the kitchen. But that wasn’t enough they had the other fridge in the garage where all the bottled and can drinks were. They also had the deep freeze. We are spoiled

The 1st century people did not have that, so they mainly used salt to preserve those perishable’s from going bad so soon.

For us a followers of Jesus we are called by Jesus to go into the world and preserve what is good.

Craig Blomberg in the New American Commentary says “Jesus thus calls his disciples to arrest corruption and prevent moral decay in their world.”

The second main purpose was for taste. We all know salt taste good. In my time with Crossings serving the masses that attend and cooking for them. When we would cook, we would add an absurd amount of salt to the food.

Salt was used to preserve what is good.

Now if salt has lost it’s taste, is more like the salt being defiled. It is overrun with the impurities of the item it is trying to preserve. It gets hard, gross, and is useless.

Illustration

In terms of something that has lost it’s effectiveness, we can think of professional athletes as they age, get older and retire. One of the greatest athletes of all time came to a point in his life where he had to retire. Jordan retired, came back to the Bulls, retired, and then came back again for the Wizards.

When he came back he was not the same player. He was not the same player he once was. Imagine if Jordan were to come back to play next year in the NBA, he would not be very effective would he? Absolutely not

For us today as followers of Jesus, our effectiveness to preserve what is good is not based on our age, or experience. Rather the language is more for how we act in and around the lost culture.

When we are in our sphere of influence, we are called to be Christ-like, and not allow the impurity of the world drown us out. We are called to combat the impurity of the world, and to not conform to the world

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

If we are to be conformed, and we lose our effectiveness, we have missed or have made it more difficult for us to share the hope of Jesus. That does not mean we lose our salvation, but it means that when we are obedient to the Lord to be a preservative to the world, we have to work that much harder

For us today, we are called to be Christ-like. The worst thing we can do is profess we are Christians, and live like the world. D.A. Carson

How do we lose saltiness

In our sphere of influence we buy into the juicy gossip and slander of those around us. We are always “spilling the tea” and gossiping

We are making crude jokes. We are making jokes at the expense of someone else.

Application

We stand up for what is good in the world.

In a culture where homosexuality is given a stamp of approval. Where race is pinned against one another. In the election year where political parties are pinned against one another. And if you are one side, then you are to hate one another.

We are called to live by the fruits of the Spirit, in our sphere, how well do we do this?

Love- We can say we are loving, but what happens when someone votes for the “wrong” candidate

Patient- We say we are patient, but what happens when the restaurant you go to after church is busy and they take too long to get your food, and slow us down from getting our afternoon nap in

Kindness- We say we are kind, but what happens when a spouse or a child or a friend inconvenience you or the accidentally push a button on one of our bad days.

I am not saying we are called to be perfect, we can not do that until we are with the Father. But when we examine our life, examine our hearts, are we seeking to preserve the goodness around us by our actions, by our beliefs, and by our words?

Living a life for Jesus will bring persecution, it means preserving what is good in the world, it also means being a light in a dark place

Living a life for Jesus is being a light. V.14-16 Matthew 5:14–16 ““You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Exposition

As we look into verse 14, we see the analogy of being the light of the world. We see in John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””

John 9:5 “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.””

So if Jesus is the Light, why is referring to us as the Light of the world?

The answer is that through his work on the cross, we have been granted the Holy Spirit that allows us to be a light, in the dark and broken world.

When we think of the city on a hill illustration, it is important to remember the context of the 1st century. They did not have access to lightswitch, or massive LED anything. They had lamps, lanterns that illumintated where they were, and where they were to go.

When we look at verse 14 the city on a hill can not be hidden.

Jews in the 1st century going to Jerusalem for Passover. They had to walk. and sometimes the journey would take days to get there. Imagine the whole family taking the journey. You all know how bad trips are, are we there yet? And we live in the technological a connected world. An unlimited amount of entertainment at there fingertips, and it is the worst. Imagine having to walk with your family at least once a year.

I googled the trip to walk from Capernaum, which Jesus spent a good portion of his ministry to Jerusalem. It is 37 hour walk today. With stops, sleep, so forth that is over a 2 day journey.

But imagine the joy they felt when it may have been dark and the closer they got the sky illuminated from the the lights of the city. This journey is getting close to an end, to the point they may pass over a ridge and they see the lit up city in its entirety. They finally make it. The relief the joy. The light was hope to them that their journey was complete.

When people look at you, and they around you (including myself) is there a sense of relief. Is there a sense of this man or woman, or student is different?

Look back at the text.

Verse 15- we cant hide the light we have. If we do it is absurd. Our role is to illuminate the truth to those around us.

Verse 16 ties it together. As salt preserves what is good, and light gives sight in a dark place, we are to let the light of Jesus shine through us.

Application

As we go and do good works, we remember that Jesus came to serve, and not to be served. Matthew 20:28 “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””

The best way for us to serve people is through loving them and sharing the hope of Jesus with them.

What is the hope?

Clear gospel presentation

God’s Design

Sin

Brokenness

Gospel

Repent and Believe

Recover and Pursue

Close and response time

If not a believer, i pray that you do not hesitate if the Lord is working on you. I would love to chat with you.

Which are you?

Unconvinced?

Undecided?

Unashamed?

Are you a rebel or are you righteous?

You have done the song and dance for years maybe even for generations. You’ve done all the things for the Father, but you really do not know him. My prayer is that the Lord shows you your real heart. and that you repent of your sin and seek to have a relationship with Jesus this morning.

For the believer, does your life line up with the promises Jesus shows in Matthew 5:11-16? Are you being persecuted for the Lord’s sake? Are you preserving what is good in the world? Are you being a light in a dark place, and the lost can see you as a beacon of hope in a the dark and dying world?