Matthew 5:13 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 salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under the foot of men" ()

1.

SALTY CHRISTIANS

Salt has always been a thing of great value. In our time, with salt being abundant and of low cost in the stores, we sometimes forget its great value. However, the old timers valued salt greatly. Homer called it "Divine." Plato called it a "substance dear to the gods." In our text Christ compares His followers to salt.

FIRST—THE WORK OF SALT

"Ye are the salt of the earth." In view of the great value of salt Christ here shows the great value of Christians to the world in the work of salt.

• Salt purifies

Salt is a great purifying agent. Scientist tell us that if the ocean were not salty it would be so corrupt it would destroy all the life on the land as well as the sea. If God's people are righteous they will purify the conduct wherever they are. As an example people will clean up their language like they do when the preacher shows up on the scene.

• Salt preserves

Until refrigeration, salt was the chief ingredient for preserving foods. Likewise, godly people are the preservative of society. If only ten righteous people had been in wicked Sodom, it would have been preserved from devastation. The best protection for any nation is godly people. Yet nations persecute the godly.

• Salt pleases

Salt makes many foods more pleasing to the palate. Godly people should improve the desirability of any group they are in. They should be cheerful, not cantankerous, courteous, not cruel.

SECOND—WARNING FOR SALT

Most of this text is a warning to Christians about losing their saltiness (testimony, godliness, character). The church has little influence in the world today because it has lost it spiritual savor.

• The peril in the warning.

"Lost his savor." The peril concerns the losing of its saltiness. Salt loses its saltiness quickly especially when it comes into contact with the earth. So the believer loses his saltiness when he becomes worldly. Worldly Christians may gain some popularity by their worldliness, but they will lose their power.

• The price in the warning.

"Good for nothing." When salt has lost its saltiness, its value is gone. Likewise when God's people sin, they lose their spiritual saltiness, and disqualify themselves from many places of service and are of no worth to the church. They are of no value to either God or man.

• The punishment in the warning.

"Trodden under foot of men." When salt has lost its saltiness it was often put on roads and walking paths and people walked on it. In a figure, this speaks of the great humility and scorn that is experienced by the Christian that through sin has lost his spiritual savor.