Salty Christians

Intro

In this day, people did not have refrigeration so they used salt to preserve food.

Several of the disciples were fishermen and were used to using salt on their fish to keep them from spoiling before they got back to shore.

Salt was a valuable commodity back then unlike today.

If it got mixed with another chemical such as gypsum, it would lose its saltiness and would be good for nothing.

Jesus taught on the Sermon on the Mount that Christians are to be the salt of the earth.

Matthew 5:13. 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.

Verse 50 in our text says “Salt is good but if the salt have lost his saltness wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves and have peace one with another.”

Jesus was saying we are to influence others around us for Christ. Salt influences. It changes the flavor of the meat. It makes us thirsty. By the way we live, we are to make people thirsty to know Christ.

Here, in this passage, we see three things that cause us to be salty Christians. Humility, Holiness, and Harmony.

1. Salty Christians are Humble. (vs. 30-41)

King James Version Chapter 9

30 And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it. 31 For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. 32 But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

33 And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? 34 But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. 35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. 36 And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, 37 Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.

38 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. 39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. 40 For he that is not against us is on our part. 41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

In verse 30-32, Jesus is predicting his death. This is the second of three times in chapters 8-10 that Jesus predicts his death and suffering.

Then in verse 33-38, Jesus teaches that the pathway to greatness is serving. The way Jesus served us was dying for us.

Despite what Jesus said about his upcoming suffering, the disciples were arguing among themselves about who would be the greatest. (vs. 34) Jesus knew that and so he taught them that to be great, you must be a humble servant.

He reiterates this in the next chapter in 10:42-45.

But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. 43 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: 44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. 45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

The disciples were striving for position, power, and prestige. But Jesus said greatness is not measured in how many people serve you but in how many people you serve.

To influence others for Christ, we need to humble ourselves and serve others. Serve in the home. It should not only be the moms who serve. Dads should also serve their wives and children by helping out when he gets home from work. Some men are like Archie Bunker. They come home from work and go sit in their chair and expect everyone to cater to them. This is not the profile of a godly father and husband. God has called us to serve.

Why did you join this church? Did you join to be served or to serve? The church is not a country club where we pay our tithes for the staff to serve us. Some people have the idea that they should be catered to as a member of the church.

Verse 36 - Jesus illustrates this matter of humility by picking up a child. He is showing his disciples that humility is caring for those no one else cares about. In Jesus day, people did not hold little children in high esteem like we do. They did not look at a child and say “how sweet, how cute, how adorable”. They saw children as insignificant. A child was the epitome of “the least.”

We are to care for the least. We are to care for the mentally impaired, the physically disabled, the aged, the orphans, the imprisoned, the sick, the poor. We are to care for the forgotten.

Paul said in Romans 12:16, “Condescend to men of low estate.” Associate with the lowly. This is how we avoid being haughty and prideful. Care for those no one else cares for. This is what humility looks like.

In verse 38, John comes to Jesus and says they saw someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name and they stopped him. Jesus wasn’t impressed. He knew that the disciples did this because they were proud. Jesus said “If he is not against us, He is for us.” Instead of stopping him, you should have encouraged him.

In the work of God, there is too much exclusivity and superiority. There is too much of a party spirit. If another church is preaching the true gospel, we are on the same team. Maybe we do things differently, but if we are preaching the gospel, we are to give them a cup of cold water in Jesus name. “Giving a cup of cold water” is cheering them on, supporting them financially, sending a card or text to say I appreciate what you are doing for the kingdom of God.”

Every year, I get a gift card in the mail from another church in our area. It just says “We appreciate what you are doing for the kingdom of God.” And that church is different than our church. Their music is not what I would prefer. But they are preaching the Gospel and people are being saved. And we need more believers who are like this. Less exclusive and more cooperative.

This is the type of humility that is displayed in Christians that influence others for Christ. Do you know how we develop a humble heart? We preach the Gospel to ourselves. We remind ourselves often of what Christ has done for us. We daily confess sin and receive God’s grace. Confession helps keep us humble.

2. Salty Christians are Holy. (vs. 43-48)

King James Version Chapter 9

43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: 48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Jesus talks about three parts of the body that often cause us to sin. The eyes, the hands, and the feet. Jesus is not encouraging mutilation but rather mortification. Mortification is putting sin to death. We are not talking about literally cutting out our eyes or cutting off our hands. The idea is to put sin to death in your body.

We are to be so serious about holiness that we would not value anything (even our eyes, our hands, our feet) over holiness.

Many people who say they are saved seem to care very little about holiness. Few preachers preach on holiness. Many sermons today are nothing more than self help sermons about how to have your best life now and be a better you.

Christ has not only saved us from something - sin. He has saved us to something - holiness.

Holiness means obedience to Christ. I am not talking about obedience to man made rules. I am talking about obedience to Christ.

I get it - holiness takes effort. It is painful. We all know what it is like to try to stop sinning and fail and then get up and try again and fail. Its’ discouraging. But we can’t stop pursuing holiness. We have to keep fighting sin.

Jesus is saying here that if you are careless about fighting sin in your life and you care very little about holiness, it may be a sign you are not saved and you are destined for hell. No sin is worth going to hell over.

We need to realize that we cannot be holy in and of ourselves. Our holiness comes from Christ in us. Holiness is produced by the Holy Spirit. Once again, confession is key. We must take time to daily confess sin to God. It may be anger, or greed, or impure thoughts, or just a bad attitude. Sin is not just what we do. It is what we fail to do. We are sinning when we don’t read God’s Word, when we don’t pray, when we don’t witness.

3. Salty Christians are Harmonious. (vs. 49, 50)

King James Version Chapter 9

49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. 50 Salt is good: tbut if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

Jesus said “Have salt in yourselves and have peace one with another.” When He says “Every sacrifice shall be salted with fire” I believe he is referring to Leviticus 2:13. 13 And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.

It says the meat offering, but the Hebrew word for “meat” is “grain.” So it is not talking about offering a bull or goat. It is offering grain. There were five offerings in the Old Testament and four of them were animal offerings and one of them was a grain offering. The animal offerings were all for sin offerings. But the grain offering was a dedication offering. You were dedicating yourself to God with the grain offering. You took your harvest and gave the best of your grain in an offering to God and salted it and then burned it up to Him.

When it says in verse 50 that we must all be salted with fire, I think it means we must all offer ourselves to God as an offering. Romans 12:1 talks about this. “Present your bodies to God as a living sacrifice.”

Now if you turn over to Romans 12, Paul is talking about working together in the body of Christ. Living in harmony. Having peace with one another.

9 Let love be without dissimulation (let it be genuine). Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 10 Be kindly affectioned one to another ||with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; 11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; 12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; 13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. 14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. 15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. 16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. 17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Why am I showing you this passage? Jesus said we must be salted with fire and that means we are to be at peace with one another. The fire speaks of the grain offering which is a dediction of one’s self to God. Romans 12 tells us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. And that is spelled out in Romans 12 as living in harmony with one another.

Being a living sacrifice is doing all you can to live in harmony with other believers. The disciples were not living in harmony with one another arguing over who was to be the greatest. They weren’t living in harmony with the man who was casting out demons.

Conclusion

Are you being a salty Christian? Are you influencing others around you for Christ? Are you causing others to desire to know Christ by how you live? By your humility? By your holiness? By your harmony?

Do you find yourself being like the disciples - striving for position, for prestige, for power? Expecting others to serve you instead of living to serve others? Do you have an attitude of superiority towards others like the disciples did with the man casting out demons in Jesus’ name?

What about holiness? Do you really desire to be holy? Are you fighting sin in your life? Are you admitting it and confessing it? I have found the more I strive for holiness, the less holy it seems I am. Do you know why? Because the more we grow in holiness, the more sensitive we become to sin. It’s like a person who is wearing a white shirt or a white dress, they are more careful about getting dirt on it because it shows more. The more we grow in holiness, the more sinful we seem to be.

What about harmony? Is there harmony in your home? Husband, are you living in harmony with your wife? Wife, are you living in harmony? Young person, are you living in harmony with your parents? Church member, are you living in harmony with other members of this church?