Salt Life

Air-soft video (Mention that this is a ministry which was started at CWC from Duane and Wilma Dishman. This ministry is open to anyone who would like to join, as long as you are 7 years of age and older. It is founded on the teachings of the Word of God and on breaking of bread and the fellowship of the saints and of praying. This is the exact same thing that we read of in Acts 2:42 and of that and the original ekklesia after the day of Pentecost! AMEN?!! )

I would like to thank all of the women who came and supported the “women’s brunch” yesterday.........it was a huge success and blessing to all who came! The enemy was already there before it began, trying to disrupt and cast doubt and worry on those setting up, and trying to ruin the atmosphere with no a/c in the front foyer. (But how many of you know that when we pray and ask the one true God to come into the midst of our situation and we partner up with Yahweh in prayer, that that which the enemy meant for bad, is turned into our good?!)

Pics from Kourtney and David Bess and little Langston Clyde (born June 24, 2021 at 10:35 pm, 7 lbs 13 oz and 21 1/4 inches long)

How many of you have ever seen the stickers on the back of vehicles, or the logo on shirts and hats, which says reads, “Salt Life”?

This is a very popular logo and line of merchandise, from a company which started down in Jacksonville, Florida, back in 2003. In the “about us” section on an internet web page, I copied the following information from the company. It reads, “Salt Life is an authentic, aspirational and lifestyle brand that embraces those that love the ocean and everything associated with living the "Salt Life". At Salt Life, we are passionate about the ocean, just like you. We are fishermen, captains, dive masters, free divers, surfers and spear fishermen with salt in our veins. From fishing, diving and surfing, to beach fun and sun-soaked relaxation, Salt Life says “I live the Salt Life”.

Now for those of you who may not know this, this describes my wife to a “T”. She could sit at the beach 24/7, 365, and never grow tired of it. For this reason, she should be a spokesperson for the “Salt Life” franchise! (In saying this, maybe I should start a line of products called, “Mountain Life”, because I am partial to the hills of Tennessee and not to the beaches!)

Anyway, in reading this company’s, “mission statement”, I was captivated by how they stated that those who adhere to their same beliefs, have “salt in their veins” and they truly, “live the salt life”!

That being said, if you will turn with me right now in your Bibles to the gospel of Matthew 5:13-16, we will begin reading right there.

Now, real quick before we read the passage, so that everyone’s on the same page as to where this is taking place and who is speaking in the passage, let me preface this text real quick for you. (As I say quite often about the Word of God, I never want to assume that everyone just knows the passage and that everyone is always on the same page of understanding.........right ?!!)

So, in this passage, Jesus is the one speaking and He is giving His amazing discourse, known as the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel.

This is early on in the ministerial portion of the life of Yeshua and it is truly the pinnacle teaching about the life of a believer in the Christ!!!

So, let’s begin reading in Matthew 5:13-16,

Matthew 5:13–16 (ESV)

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.

I want for us this morning to look at this emphatic statement that Jesus made about His followers in this passage.

Although He really made TWO declarations in this set of verses, I am going to primarily focus on the first one today, which said, “You are the salt of the earth.”

Over the past few years, I have mentioned in various teachings about the subject of salt and about this particular passage, but not in any real depth. So our focus this morning is going to be on the subject of salt and why would Jesus call us this, as opposed to so many other things He could have compared us to?

In order to begin in gaining some understanding about this passage, it’s vitally important to take a look at this set of verses from the cultural perspective of the time of Yeshua. As I have mentioned several times before in other lessons, if you want to really get the more full meaning of the scripture passages, then gaining some understanding about the day and time in which the passages were being lived out, is vitally important! The culture and time of Yeshua holds some very important background material that dramatically affects how we are to view certain scripture passages! (DOES THAT MAKE SENSE TO EVERYONE?) If you consider in just the past 100 years, the changes that have taken place in the culture of this nation alone, it will help you to understand this. Even within my lifetime, the changes in how we do things have progressed dramatically. When we were down in Florida the week before last, the house that we stayed in had a decorative antique phone sitting in one of the rooms. My daughters were enamored with how you picked up the hand piece and then turned the numbers on the rotary dial that you wanted to call! They could not relate to this, even though they know very well what a phone is, the changes have progressed so fast that it seemed archaic to them.

Well, it’s the same way sometimes when we read scripture passages in the Bible. Now that’s not to say that you can’t read and understand the Bible without studying the history and culture of those certain passages. But gaining that insight and knowledge of the culture and history of those people can dramatically affect how you see what was being said and even help you to teach and make sense of those passages when talking with others. Do you all get that?

OK, then let’s start moving forward, as I give you guys a little background info about salt from past civilizations and past cultures and the extreme relevance and value of this seemingly simple seasoning. And in mentioning the difference in the value of salt from then to now, let me give you an example of how it was used.

Let’s suppose one of you were going to come over to my house next week and do some work for me, which was to be cleaning off the lot next to me, which is covered in trees and briars and overgrowth. And in the discussion about this job, I tell you that I will definitely make it worth your while for your doing this work for me.

And let’s say that this task took you the entire week, working 10 hour work days of hard, tedious labor. And that when you were done, you come to my house to receive payment for your work and as you stand there, I hand you a box of Morton’s sea salt and say “thank you for a job well done”! how would you feel?

I think that most of you would go ballistic and want to bury me in that, now cleaned off, empty lot, right?!!

But what you must understand is that there was a time and a day and an age, when salt was valued more than gold!

And so, real briefly, let me tell you a few things about “salt” from previous ages and in the day and time of Jesus.

Salt, (sodium chloride - NaCl), the basic seasoning that we find everywhere in our culture: in every home and in every store at every gas station minimart and at all restaurants, it’s just a seasoning to us or maybe a de-icing agent, right? In fact, in our day and age, we now have access to fancy types of salt for use and for seasoning properties. Our society craves salt in just about every type of food we eat and we tend to take for granted what it might be like without this seasoning, or with limited amounts of it.

Did you know that there are food scientists who study ways to get us more and more addicted to the salty snacks we like? It’s true. According to one article that I read, “Every manufactured food and beverage product is tested among consumer groups for years until it achieves what is known as the ultimate “bliss point,” which is the ideal ratio of sugar to fat to SALT that evokes feelings of carnal pleasure. This bliss point is what keeps consumers coming back for more.” (Like Lays potato chips and their slogan, “You can’t eat just one”. It’s true, because they have perfected the art AND SCIENCE of producing a snack that literally is engineered for addictive snacking!)

But to our culture, other than being an addictive seasoning, we do not think anything at all about salt having any real value. But it was not always this way. In ancient civilizations, salt was extremely valuable.

Because of the preservative properties of salt and that it could retard and stop the process of decay in foods, salt was an extremely valuable commodity.

Especially when you consider that these civilizations didn’t have access to refrigerators, or ice boxes to store their food in, and thus to be able to have foods put back for long periods of time.

Especially in middle eastern areas like in Jerusalem, where you could have very arid, hot climates that would make foods spoil quickly.

So, with salt in their possession, these ancient civilizations could use this basic agent to preserve their foods for long periods of time.

Salt became such a necessity, that it often determined the location of the world’s greatest cities.

It was often salt, that created and destroyed empires and caused entire population shifts!

Salt became extremely valuable in terms of trade between peoples in these ancient times.

And because salt was so sought after, it became more valuable than gold and was even used as a form of currency!

In fact, the word “salary”, comes from the Latin word for “salt”.

People were actually paid for their services with salt instead of money! (Like the example I gave you a few minutes ago.)

For this reason, in ancient Roman times, when people were getting paid in salt, the phrase came into existence, when speaking about a person’s working ability, “He is not worth his salt!”

In the ancient Roman times and throughout the middle ages, salt was such a valuable commodity, that it was often referred to as, “white gold”!

Salt was also used within the Bible and ancient times as a type of binding covenant between parties.

In the ancient world, ingesting salt was a way to make an agreement legally binding. If two parties entered into an agreement, they would eat salt together in the presence of witnesses, and that act would bind their contract.

You will find the mentioning of such a contract in passages like II Chronicles 13:5, where we read, “Don’t you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?”

And in the Old Testament Law, God required salt with certain offerings.

The Bible mentions the use of salt in all grain offerings and makes clear that the “salt of the covenant” should not be missing from the grain offerings as in (Leviticus 2:13).

Salt was used as a form of final judgement in ancient Biblical times.

The Hebrew word for salt is, “melach”, a noun that comes from the root word “malach”, which means to rub to pieces or pulverize, to disappear as dust, or to season or rub with salt.

Salt, by this definition, could refer to destruction, as was a common use in ancient days.

When one civilization overthrew another, they would sometimes scatter salt on the land of the destroyed nation as a sign of final judgement and destruction.

We see this in Judges 9:45, “ The battle went on all day before Abimelech finally captured the city. He killed the people, leveled the city, and scattered salt all over the ground. “

So, the main point that I am wanting to make to you this morning, is that “salt” was of extreme value in the past ancient cultures.

And even the reason that Jesus may have referred to us as “salt” may have been overlooked by many for years by both Biblical readers and teachers, based upon one of the prime uses of salt back then.

When you read this passage in Matthew 5, it is easy to gravitate to the two most prominent interpretations of what Jesus meant by calling us “salt”. And both of these meanings are relevant and correct, as we interpret them, but I want to give you another way of looking at this passage and as to what Jesus was saying.

I have always been taught and believed that Yeshua called us “salt” because of the two main properties of salt that we recognize today, just as they did in His time on this earth. Those two properties are that salt both: 1) enhances the food that it is used to season and 2) that salt preserves food and thus prevents decay.

And both of these statements are correct and they both would have been relevant to the time that Jesus was on this earth and giving His sermon on the mount.

As “salt”, the believers of Jesus are to enhance the world around us, as we truly bring the only real quality of life to a dark and broken world.

Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, the attributes of Holy Spirit within us, should change the bitter and seemingly bland flavor of the culture around us.

For this reason also, Jesus called us “light”. Just as He called Himself the “light of the world” in John 8, He also calls His followers light as well.

Wherever we are, regardless of the situation, we are “light” shining in the darkness; we are savor to a bitter and non-desired culture and world, that is lost in utter darkness and bitterness.

Salt and light change the very nature of wherever they are introduced.

When light is introduced to darkness, the darkness is instantly pushed back and it disappears.

When salt is introduced to food, it instantly changes the savoriness of that food and makes it desirable and pleasurable to eat. It enhances it.

And salt also preserves food, when it’s surrounding that food.

Salt stops the process of decay, by keeping away all bacteria that would otherwise destroy the food and produce rot and decay.

So too, when believers surround the spiritual death of this world and its moral depravity, we stop the process of decay by having within us, the only true life giving and sustaining source and the only protection against the rotting bacteria known as sin that every non-believer is slowly being eaten up with.

And so when Jesus made the statements, “you are the salt of the earth” and “you are the light of the world”, He was declaring what His true followers were; not what we should aspire to be, not what we must try to attain, as if our works would make us these two agents.

NO.............Jesus said “YOU ARE.......” and therefore, every true blood bought saint of God is salt and is light spiritually in the world around, simply by virtue of who we are in Christ! It is not of ourselves , or our works, but simply by our being in Him!

Salt and light do not have to try and attain anything through works or merit, they are simply introduced into a place and a situation and by virtue of their very being, things change around them, just because they are there!

In saying that salt is a preservative and a flavor enhancer, (which it is), do these attributes of salt however, accurately depict what Yeshua meant when He called us salt?

OR, is there another meaning that gives a deeper and more accurate understanding as to what Jesus was saying?

You see, as I have said before, it’s important to read and study the Word for yourself, so that you can begin to see the deeper meanings that it holds.

I had this passage brought to my attention recently and when I went and read it and compared this passage alongside of another, in Luke’s gospel account, it changed the way that I saw what Jesus was saying to us in Matthew 5.

So, we are going to look at Luke 14:34-35 and I will show what I am talking about. Matthew’s gospel doesn’t share this part of the teaching and thus leaves the passage more “open ended” for our own interpretation. But when you read Luke’s gospel, he give more clarity about what Jesus was saying and what He meant. So, let’s turn to Luke 14:34-35 and go from there.

Luke 14:34–35 ESV

34 “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? 35 It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Now pay close attention to what Luke says here. “It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile”.

The word for “soil” used here in Luke, is the same word that Matthew uses in his gospel account, for the word, “earth”.

So, the soil is really what is being talked about here. But what does the soil have to do with the salt?

Well, in ancient cultures and even today, pure salt, not the enhanced and tampered with stuff like you can buy for table salt, but pure sea salt, contains many minerals that are very good for enhancing the soil for plant growth.

So, salt was used in ancient cultures, as a fertilizer for the soil.

But notice also that Luke mentions the manure pile. What purpose would salt have with manure, dung, excrement.

Well, remember that salt is a flavor enhancer as we talked about earlier, but it is also an antiseptic agent, so if you were hungry enough...........

I’m just messing with you, but seriously though, salt does have an antiseptic property to it, and for this reason, it was used on manure back then.

A human dung pile would be covered over with salt to neutralize it and stop the spread of bacteria.

But it was also used on animal dung, because it enhanced the manure and made it more beneficial for fertilizing the soil!

Salt helps break down fresh excrement for better plant absorption. The mineral also prevents dunghills from rotting and becoming useless for providing nutrients to crops.

So, what can we ascertain from this passage in Luke, when compared to Matthew 5:13?

Jesus was saying that we are salt, because of what we promote and because of what we prevent.

Salt is a fertilizer when added to the soil. It is useless as long as it stays in the box or in the container, but when it is spread on to the soil, it becomes an agent for growth and health in the soil.

When salt is used as fertilizer, it is not just a matter of throwing a smidge out there and going on, but there needs to be a proportionate amount for it to be effective. In other words, you need the right amount for the salt to be able to affect the area of soil that it is being placed in. It’s the same way with us being the salt in our community.

I don’t know the exact accuracy of this stat, but I heard a minister one time mention that whenever there is at least a 5% prevalence of true Christians in any society, then the social atmosphere of that society changes.

Not bu virtue of any certain actions or deeds on their part, but simply because of their truly being the salt to that community!

Just like salt in the soil. It doesn’t do anything but just be there, but because of what is within it, it will change the health of that soil and make it productive!!

Look at the all of the great awakenings!

So too are we when we are placed in the soil, (the world). We are agents of growth and health. We are no good to the soil as long as we stay locked up in these salt boxes called the church buildings! We are not to be afraid of getting into the soil. Many look at this and think that is dirty, that is repulsive, let the dirt come to us and seek our help!

Well, remember two things, first of all, we were ALL dirty soil at one time! And also remember what Jesus did and what He taught. Jesus went to where the sinners were and cleaned them. He said in Luke 5:31-32,

Luke 5:31–32 (ESV)

31 “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Jesus didn’t hide in the salt box, He went straight out into the soils to become the fertilizer that would enable and promote spiritual growth, as opposed to death and decay.

And when the salt was placed upon the dung pile, it would retard and stop the spreading of the bacteria and control the issue with manure.

So, salt would promote and it would hinder.

It would bind and it would loose, to use another phrase.

It would loose the spiritual growth of those who experienced it and it would bind the spread of disease, but in both accounts, the salt had to be placed within the soil.

As Christians, our focus is not to be concerned with staying in these buildings and locked in our homes, but rather, we must about the business of the kingdom as salt and thus get into the soil and promote growth in Christ when we can, and also inhibit the spread of the disease of sin and spiritual corruption by being the salt of the kingdom.

Being pure and unadulterated as salt to crucial!

It was said of the church, “The lifeboat should be in the sea, but when the sea gets in the lifeboat, your’e in trouble!

Notice what Jesus says in both gospel accounts about our being salt. “But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? and “But if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?”

The question that Jesus is asking has to do with the effective quality of the salt. And notice that He doesn’t give us an answer. He is not focused on the potential of the salt losing its saltiness, but rather expounding that if this begins to happen, the salt is worthless to the kingdom at that point.

So, can salt LOSE its saltiness? What does this mean and what does it look like? Well, first of all, from Matthew 5:13, where Jesus says, “but if the salt has LOST its taste”, the word there for LOST, is mōrainō in the Greek and it is where we get the word, “moron”. It literally means, “to become insipid, to become as a simpleton, to make foolish, to lose savour.” In other words, this word means that you can no longer function properly.

The long and short of it is this. Pure salt, pure sodium chloride, cannot “lose” its saltiness, its flavor. It is a very stable compound. Now, in ancient times, where the salt was attached to other minerals and thus impure salt, the sodium chloride could be leached out through humidity or water saturation, thus leaving the appearance of salt, but worthless rocks.

Also, when the salt was harvested and other things like sand, or other trace compounds around it were harvested with it, and the people went to use it, it was so diluted that it was worthless and thus discarded out.

This is what Jesus is saying to you and to me. If we are truly His, then we ARE salt, period.

We don’t try to be, we don’t do works to aspire to be........we just are!

And as salt we are to spread out into the soil, alongside of other salt grains (we are not meant to go at it alone), and we begin fertilizing the soil. We add to it. Not because of our works, but because of who we are and the fact that we are there. Our presence as pure salt changes the atmosphere of the soil around us.

We promote god growth and we retard and hinder bad growth.

BUT.........when we become diluted with the things of this world, we in effect, become flavorless and useless and are of no benefit to the kingdom anymore.

If you are willing to become salt, you must understand that it is only you and He together, who make up the compound of salt, nothing else and no one else.

Just like the actual compound of salt it only the two ions, Sodium and Chloride, so to are we only ourself and Jesus.

And if we try to add anything else from this world into that mix, then it dilutes the salt and renders it useless.

For this reason, Luke shows us the warnings of Jesus in the verses before statement of our being salt, where Jesus says that we must deny this world and everyone and everything in it. That He must be preeminent in our lives and He alone!

WE MUST DENY OUR OWN LIFE AND TAKE UP OUR CROSS AND FOLLOW HIM!

We must count the cost before letting Him change us into salt, because if we turn back to the impurities of the world and try to blend it with the salt, then we are of no use in the soil as a fertilizer to promote growth and we are of no use on the dung pile in preventing corruption.

We are good for one thing and one thing only, from the mouth of Jesus Himself, we are good only for being cast out and trampled upon.

The gospel message, when diluted with anything of this world, is worthless and useless!

Matthew 5 shows us what saltiness looks like in its truest form in verses 3-11 to the believer, in what we call the “Beatitudes” and then the rest of the sermon on the mount shows the practical application of the salt and the light in the soil, where it is to be used!

As a Christian, there are certain characteristics that people should see when they come in contact with the salt.

Just like we describe salt as “salty” and that it burns when it comes in contact with an open wound, so to are there characteristics of salt in the spiritual realm.

We are to be: an encouragement in Christ

comforting

agreeable in and participating with Holy Spirit

affectionate and sympathetic

have to compassionate hearts

kind

humble

meek

patient

forbearing

forgiving

loving

joyous

peaceful

good

faithful to God

gentle with those around us

and always having self-control

These are all the characteristics of salt, as listed in the Bible!

Do these describe you? Does the world see you this way as salt, or are we more like Oliver Wendell Homes said of many ministers of the gospel.

He said, “"I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not acted and looked so much like undertakers."

In other words, Mr Homes was saying that some Christians behave as if they were baptized in lemon juice!

We are called salt! We are called to promote growth while we maintain purity, just as salt does!

Jesus purified us and then made us His salt, so that we could spread His message to all of the world (that is in soil!)

Titus 2:13-14 says,

Titus 2:13–14 (ESV)

13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

We are made pure by Jesus and for Jesus and His glory and His works!

Me must live the SALT LIFE!