Salt and Light to the World
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Introduction
Introduction
When you look at the Word of God we see that God loves us, He love us, He loves all the people of this world that He has created. We see it from his dealings with Adam and Eve and we know it historically as He worked with His children of every generation and time.
Now, as God called His children, the children of Israel to walk and follow Him, He announced through his prophets that one was coming, a Savior and Deliver who would save the world from its sin.
God loves the world, In the Old Testament we see He was sending one who
And the world waited.... and at the right time, Jesus came… the Savior, the one who would save us from our sin… and we know that Jesus lived, was crucified and died and rose again on the third day.
He died as a ransom, a sacrifice for sin, He took our place and forever redeemed us from sin, from death and from hell. And as we followed Him, we began to walk and follow Him as Lord and Savior.
As a follower of Jesus, we have a responsibility as any son or daughter has to their parent, in our case, to God our eternal parent. One is to be a witness..
Two ways in particular my friends...
First, as His children we are called to be a light, a light to a world in darkness..
Look around us my friends, we do indeed live in a world of darkness. In our nation today we have justified the legal murder of children even at the time of birth… We would like to euthanize those who people call a burden on society.
The world all around us is dark.
And secondly, we are called to be salt .
Salt is a wonderful thing my friends, because the properties of salt has a great effect on what it is applied, it flavors, preserves and yes, purifies… Salt can change and make some well, whole… Oh Jesus makes us well...
So we are called to be salt and light....
This morning I want us to look at the gospel of Matthew, to the sermon on the mount where we are called to be salt and light...
So lets explore this topic, and we will examine the call for us to be lights
Let me take you to
Lets find , verses 13-16
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.
6 “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
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I love this passage, and the reason being it reminds us that we can have a wonderful effect upon and in this world, but we have to be willing to be a witness of the good things we have seen as we have walked with Jesus.
So lets begin this morning and see what is our responsibility...
A Call .....
First off today my friends, there is ...
1. A Call .....
1. A Call .....
The call for the child of God is to be different.... and the society of the world we live in is not our friends. It wasn’t in the time Jesus walked and it is not today either.
A Call .....
If you look back you can see very easily my friends that this world and its inhabitants have fallen away from God. Since sin entered the world, people have been bent toward evil when left to their own devices.
And so the call for us is to be agents of change...
Jesus calls for people to be salt and light in this world…
Now consider this....
As you look back at the beginning of this 5th chapter Jesus began by sharing the “beattitudes” with those He was teaching. These “new” attitudes that He shares represents a radically different outlook we are to have than the rest of the world.
The world endorses sin, sin and more sin…today and sadly the world is at war with God and the people of God.
So the child of God is to be agents of change under the direction of God’s Holy Spirit.. bring light to the darkness, bringing salt to help affect change in this world.
That is our call...
Remember, Jesus told his disciples and yes us by extension to be his witness in this lost world.
Remember Acts 1:8....
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
With the coming of the Holy Spirit, we are empowered and directed to be His witness indeed.
And while we do not live in Jerusalem we can begin here, East Stone/Big Stone Gap, this is our Jerusalem… Judea, which is our surrounding communities, Samaria .. the areas surrounding that… yes all the way down into Florida this coming week and then to the other most parts of the world. And we have been Moldvoa and other places,
And there are so many other places, but the idea is for us to be ready to step up because we have been called!
You have been called… not just me, Bobby, Jarret, all of us!
Are you ready to head out...
Do you sense God calling you to go and tell, to go and serve......
Will you answer His call… Will you be like Isaiah… Here I am Lord, Send me!
Now lets move and consider this second thought.....
2. Two Tasks....
2. Two Tasks....
Consider this my friends, as a child of God we have work to do!
We have the responsibility to live in front of our Savior in a way that is not only pleasing to Him, but also makes a lasting difference in this world.
So lets break this down...
As His Child we are called to be a disciple. A disciple is a student, one who learns to walk and imitate the Master. Walking as He walked. So we are found to be pleasing in His sight as we live for Him, as we walk as He has commanded us to walk, essential living and being, acting like Jesus in accordance with the word of God.
But then we can fine tune what all this means.... now I am not going to explore every scenario of our responsibility…not today.
But from what we examine in this text.. Jesus says we are called to be two things in this world… salt and light.
Lets go back to the text...
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.
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There it is, verses 13 and 14 … Jesus says “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world.”
So consider those two Salt and Light..
1. Salt is a wonderful mineral, one that we can identity with today. We use it… there is table salt, kosher salt, sea salt, pink Himalayan salt and it does on and on… Now in today’s word salt is really pure.
Now what I mean by pure is that we have developed the technology to separate salt from other mineral items that is mined with it… Thus we have salt that is pure, it will last, it will remain in a since … salty
But this wasn’t the case in the days of Jesus.
Salt had a high rate of impurities that could change the way it tasted, it could over time decrease its ability to work and influence other foods or other items it was used for…
So lets build off of this information..
Jesus says you - me the children of God, disciples are the salt of the earth. That phrase means there is a fundamental goodness about us.. yet I would contend that the only true goodness in each of us is Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
His presence in our lives is what has made us good, better, redeemed my friends, so His presence in us is what makes us useful in this world, it speaks to us being salt.
Now when we look historically we know that salt was used in three ways...
A. Seasoning B. Purifying agent C. Antiseptic
A. Seasoning… It was used to flavor and enhance the taste of food. , verses 6 -7 speaks to the blessing that food is better with seasoning, with salt. Also, says thagt animals should have fodder that has been seasoned, which means that salt is added to add the animal for health and its delight. we like salt. But we know that to much physical salt can be harmful, but not spiritual.
B. Purifying agent
A. Seasoning… It was used to flavor and enhance the taste of food. , verses 6 -7 speaks to the blessing that food is better with seasoning, with salt. Also, says thagt animals should have fodder that has been seasoned, which means that salt is added to add the animal for health and its delight. we like salt. But we know that to much physical salt can be harmful, but not spiritual.
C. Antiseptic
As the salt of the earth we are to season this world, out presence should be an effect that makes the world better. Our presence reveals the love of Jesus, the compassion of Jesus and of course the message of the Savior as well.
We exist to help make the world better, to improve others lives because of our commitment to God and each other.
Let me ask you a question… what are you doing that improves the world’s taste of the gospel, of His presence, of the things of God in this world. Are you improving...
B. Purifying Agent.... We know one of the best uses of salt is a good ole country ham.. ok, not the ham, but it is the fact that historically food can be salted and preserved, kept from the process of decay or rot… it makes the item stable for later consumption. Also, We know that in , Elisha used salt as the agent in the miracle of purify a polluted spring.
We know that in , Elisha used salt as the agent in the miracle of purify a polluted spring.
As the salt of the earth we are to share the message of the gospel so that all might hear the message “For God so loved the World.”
Let me ask you a question… how are you being that purifying agent… Are you successfully bearing the message of Jesus to others… The message we share is not one of osmosis… No! It is one of sharing that life might be made better....
And then lastly,
C. Antiseptic - Salt was used to aid in the healing processes of life. Babies often were rubbed with salt, especially around the cord, it aided in the healing process and keeping infection away in the world .
Often today even people gargle with salt water to aid the throat or gums....
As the salt of the earth we are to have a presence in the world that helps fight the corruption, the infection of sin.. But that is only possible if we are living, have a presence in this world.
Origin, one of the early church fathers said it is the living disciples of Jesus, the church who stand in the way of sin, who stand in the way of the stench of idolatry, fornication and they with the help of God’s Holy Spirit hold the line and hold this world in check...
In years past we have sat on our hands and let the world go bye, and it has cost us, we are still paying for it today… We can no longer do it…
You know why? Evil and the evil one no longer works behind the scenes, no today he is out in the open and let me tell you, we had better be out in the open as the Salt of the earth...
But with each of these Jesus shares a condition that we have to pay attention too...
Lets go back to our text....
Matthew
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.
Jesus posses a question we have to consider........if the salt looses its taste, can it be restored? Can it be made salty again....
The answer is no....
The phrase to have “lost its taste” means literally to have become bland, of no difference at all....
There is no way to restore that has been lost… in the case of salt, there is no way to bring it back… you can replace it but it cannot be rejuvenated.
At the point, salt that has lost its flavor, it potential to do anything expect be like the dirt, to be that very thing which we walk upon
Of no value anymore......
Now think of the spiritual implication Jesus is discussing here… if we have lost our ability to be salt then we are nothing better then than the world that so desperately needs the gospel.
One early church father, Hilary of Poiters, called Athanasus of the West... said we have become no better than Judas having been laid waste by the devil himself...
Now lets move on to light...
2. But secondly we are called to be the light of the world.
Light is a wonderful thing… it allows us to always view our surroundings correctly.
I always think of years gone by when we used to squirrel hunt… you might be sitting on a ole log, in the darkness you really cannot see what is around you and it is easy to fall down.
But as the sun begins to come you start to see things, but it is not until the sun is fully up that you really see the woods and all that is around you.. And here those things that looked one way in the darkness, or low light times, suddenly look entirely different.
Light will always push back the darkness.. One small match, one pin point of light will always make a difference.
You are the light of the world and you can make a difference with the light you have.. your witness, your testimony, your presence in the darkness ( but really it isn’t you, its Jesus in you..) that is what makes it all better.
Today, we know that Jesus, the light of the world has come, Jesus died for our sins, He has redeemed us, saved us and given unto us eternal life.
Let your light shine before others so they can see what is the Son....
When you consider these two topics, salt and light. we know they both are essential in our walk before the Lord.
but as for light… what of the conditions, the warning....
So what of the warning here…
Lets look again at passage again...
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.
So the message Jesus relates here is a great truth, you are not one light, or 12… but he is speaking of the church and the church is likened to a “city’ here.. A city of lights set up high cannot be hidden.
Mathew 5:14-16
Think about Wallens Ridge up here, you can see its glow everywhere around us.. you know why? The state of VA wants all to know what is up there, it is off limits, you cannot just walk in or walk out off..
We are a city that welcomes all.... we are a light that is meant for all…
Why?
So that the world may see our good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
The gospel is meant not to be hidden, but it is meant for all to see and know that God has sent a message of Love, a message of Salvation and a message of hope for all to enjoy;
and it is not the light that is praised...
No it is the one who lit the candle...
I didn’t light my candle… oh no… Jesus did!
let your light so shine before others...
We are called to be obedient, we are called to share and we are called to help make a difference until Jesus comes again to take His church home.
There is a warning tied to these two traits of being both salt and light in our life. In relation to salt, what happens if it quiets working, what if they stop having an effect in or on our lives...
The second is light and what is never meant to to light....
And while the Old Testament called them to look
But no matter,