The Sermon on the Mount (9)
Notes
Transcript
Today we move on from the Beatitudes, we will be covering verses 13-16 this morning. We are going to be talking about salt and light, and how these two things are an integral function of the church and our personal lives a followers of Christ. These two things have to deal with how we function, as we live the kingdom life in a lost and broken world.
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.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 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.
16 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.
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.
What is salt used for, well today it is mainly used for a seasoning to add flavor to our food, but in Jesus day it’s main use was as a preservative for food. The common practice of the time was to use salt or salt solution to preserve meat, it would keep the meat from growing bacteria and decomposing. It would preserve the meat from corruption. Now Jesus says “you are the salt of the earth”, His underlying implication with that statement is that the world tends toward decomposing and it is rotting away. When the world is left to itself it begins to decay because the germs and disease of evil are very present and active. We live in a world that constantly tends towards decay. What did God tell Adam would happen if he ate from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil “you shall surely die” Adam and Eve set into motion the decay of mankind, and without Christ they are decaying. What Jesus was telling His followers was in effect that humanity was a dead body falling apart and that Jesus’ followers were the salt that must be rubbed in to stop the decomposition. The reality is that the earth needs the influence of Christ’s church in this age. If we are not out spreading our preservatives than what are we doing.
Salt has another use, it is a seasoning or a spice and true Christianity is what brings spice and zest to life.
Another result from saltiness is thirst, Jesus made people thirst for God. The life of the salty believer brings preservation to the decaying world, a living reproof to sin, an enticement to Christ, one who brings thirst for Christ and the kingdom life. We are to penetrate society, working ourselves into the decaying world spreading the life saving news of Christ. Salt can sit in the shaker for years but it will never do any good unless it is poured out.
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.
Lets look at the next part of the verse. But what happens if salt looses its taste or its saltiness. Now scientifically this is impossible salt never looses its saltiness or its taste, which Jesus would have known. Well then what does He mean, salt never looses its taste, but it can be diluted so much that it no longer tastes like salt, and it is no longer good for a preservative. The question is are we a diluted Christian watered down by the world. Think of imports and exports, if we are importing more than we are exporting we will become like the world, we loose our taste. (salt and water bottle). Jesus points out that if salt has indeed lost its taste their is no natural hope for it. No natural hope but what do we have, a hope that is not natural. God can restore the taste of salt that has been diluted. But if left to its own it is only good to be trampled into the ground . God and God alone can restore. The true Christian is pungent and salty. Jesus says “you are the salt” He says I believe in you, I have called you. And He wants us to remember that though we are not much a little salt goes a long way.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
“you are the light of the world”. Phrased the same way as verse 13 “you are” Jesus is telling them another function as one of His followers, as the church. We know that Jesus is the light of the world, but what that suggests is that the world is darkness. It does not like the light because it illuminates their evil deeds.
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
The light shines into what the dark is hiding. Jesus is the light and as His followers we to are light, not in the exact way Jesus is. Dr. Donald Barnhouse an American theologian put it this way “When Christ was in the world He was like the shining sun that is here in the day and gone at night. When the sun sets the moon comes up. The moon, the church, shines, but not with its own light. It shines with reflected light”. That is what we are supposed to do, reflect the light of the Son into this dark world. Our light does not originate from us, it comes from God, through our relationship with Christ. (mirror and light).
8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live like children of light
Just like the sun the light that we shine from Christ has a life changing effect. Do you all remember the glow in the dark stickers, they had to first be exposed to light in order for them to glow, well the same is true for us to shine. Spending time in the Word, and in prayer, exposing ourselves to the true light. A city set on a hill can be seen from a long way off and it lights things around it as well.
15 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.
A lamp on a stand is placed strategically in the room to illuminate the room the best. It lights up the dark and exposes what is in the dark. (dark room -not familiar). Light also promotes life, just as the sun promotes plant growth, Jesus and His followers promote spiritual growth.
Light is persistent, it can penetrate the smallest crack. It is also awakening, the light awakens us. Remember the light is placed on a stand so it can do the most good. God places the light where it needs to be, it is our job to shine where we are placed. Our presence is meant to reveal life, sin and goodness as they are — to provide light that draws others to it, like a summer lamp.
16 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.
Verse 16 is a command not a suggestion. Jesus says “if you are light then shine”. We shine so people see our “good works” the word Jesus used here is “kalos” which carries the idea of attractiveness or beauty, rather then the common “agathos” which means good quality. Our lights are to shine through beautiful attractive works. And why so that we can glorify God “Soli Deo Gloria” — all glory to God.
1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Out light is reflected from God and is intended to glorify Him by us shining back to Him. Everything we do should honor and glorify God.
The Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount
