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*A Penetrating Life*
*Matthew 5:13-16*
In the beatitudes, Jesus has given us a compelling picture of the character of His disciples.
Now, in vv.
13-16, Jesus uses two word pictures to communicate the influence those disciples are to have in the world around them.
These followers of Christ are to have such an influence in the world that people will see their deeds and give glory to God.
They exert this influence like salt and light.
*Penetrating Influence in the World*
Before we look at these two word pictures specifically, I want to make some general observations about the words of Jesus in these verses.
* /Jesus is drawing a distinction between the church and the world/.
This distinction became clear in the final beatitude.
The world will persecute the church.
Jesus continues this distinction by emphatically drawing a line between “You” (His followers) and the “earth or world” (people in general).
* /Jesus emphasizes that the church is to influence the world in a penetrating way/.
Salt preserves food by penetrating and saturating it.
Light illuminates the darkness by penetrating it.
So the church has a preserving influence and an illuminating influence in the world.
* /Jesus emphasizes that the influence of the church in the world is to bring people to glorify God/.
The Pharisees did their good works to be seen by people for their own glory.
The church is to do good works for the glory of God.
Now with this general framework in mind, let’s look closely at the two images Jesus uses here and the implications they have for us.
I.
The church penetrates the world as a preserving influence (v.
13).
A.
You are the salt of the earth.
1.
Salt was used in the ancient near east to preserve food and
fight against decay.
2.
This is a reminder that Christians live in a decaying world.
a. Decay is the inevitable result of sin in the world.
b. Paul makes this clear in Romans 1 for instance where
he catalogs the downward spiral of godless society.
He also tells us in Romans 8:21 that the creation is
enslaved to corruption because of sin.
3.
Christians are to be like a preservative in a world of decay.
ILL: Leon Morris said it this way, “What is good in society his followers keep wholesome.
What is corrupt they oppose; they penetrate society for good and act as a kind of moral antiseptic.”
APP: There are examples from history that certainly bear this out.
England would have gone through a bloody revolution similar to France had it not been for the influence of Christians during the Great Awakening.
I believe you can see the preserving influence of Christianity in the founding of our nation.
The American Colonies were greatly influenced by the Great Awakening as well.
When you exhibit the qualities outlined in the beatitudes, you will have a preserving influence on those around you.
B.
The salt must maintain its saltiness.
1.
Pure salt does not lose its chemical quality.
However, the
salt used in Jesus’ day was taken from the mineral deposits
around the Dead Sea.
The salt was mixed with other things
that leached out the sodium chloride and left it “unsalty.”
When it lost its salt quality, it was scattered on footpaths or
on rooftops.
2.
The point of this analogy is that for Christians to have the
preserving influence on society, they must maintain their
purity.
The original literally says that if the salt loses its
salty quality, it has no power or strength.
Christians must
not lose their distinctive quality as different from the world.
When the church becomes like the world, it is good for neither the church nor the world.
The church loses its authority when worldliness sets in.
The church loses its preserving influence because it loses the power of a Christ-like life.
Research from organizations like Gallup and Barna have demonstrated that evangelical Christians are losing their distinctiveness in the world.
They talk like the world, act like the world, spend like the world, think like the world, and look like the world.
Is it any wonder that we are losing our influence in the world?
How salty are we when our vocabulary is no different from the world?
How salty are we when we trash our spouses around the watercooler just like everyone else in the office?
How salty are we when we go out of our way to entertain ourselves on the weekend and view worship as an imposition on our self-centered schedules?
How salty are we when our necklines are plunging and our hemlines are rising just like the world?
How salty are we when we laugh with the world at things that should make us weep?
Beloved I’m not advocating some kind of legalism here.
I am simply saying that Christians must be distinct.
We must be in the world but not of it.
We must retain our salty quality as followers of Christ if we want to fulfill our purpose as a preserving influence on the world.
There is nothing attractive to the world about a church that looks just like the world.
TS – Now, Jesus tells us here that not only does the church penetrate the world as a preserving influence…
II.
The church penetrates the world as an illuminating influence (vv.
14-15).
A.
You are the light of the world.
1.
Believers are light because they reflect the light of Jesus.
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.”
We don’t generate
light.
We reflect His light.
2.
This implies that the world is in darkness.
Again, it is the
spiritual darkness and blindness of sin.
The Bible speaks of
darkened hearts, darkened understanding, and how men love
darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.
3. The shining of our light in the world refers to good works.
Good works are the things we do and say because we are
followers of Jesus.
It could be verbal witness, roofing a
house, visiting a sick neighbor, giving out free food, etc. In
doing these things we are displaying the light of Christ to a
dark world.
B.
The light must be visible.
1.
Jesus uses some illustrations to emphasize that the light must
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