Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13-16: "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Listen as Jesus speaks of us and prays for us to His Father, just before His Crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension back to the Father…as He explains why He left us here and did not take believers to heaven with Him:

John 17:6-19: "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours; You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lostexcept the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Jesus left us here to be “salt” and “light”

I. We are to be “light” in “darkness.”

a) John the Baptist said of Jesus: John 1:5: “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

b) Jesus said to the Unbelieving Pharisees: John 8:12 – “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

c) Lost men and women are in darkness

Proverbs 4:19: “The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble.”

John 3:17-21: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the lightand does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

You see…Believers are to be light…and Christ’s Gospel is light

2 Corinthians 4:3-6: “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

d) Here is our mission: To Paul, following his conversion on the road to Damascus, the Lord told him, Acts 26:17-18: “…I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”

e) Listen to how the Bible describes Believers who have trusted Christ

Colossians 1:13-14: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed usinto the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

1 Thessalonians 5:4-6: “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do,but let us watch and be sober.”

1 Peter 2:9-10: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”

Ephesians 4:17-19: “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”

We are the light of Jesus…of the Gospel…in the abject darkness of sin-blinded humanity!

II. The Second Metaphor that Describes Believers is “salt.”

Matthew 5:13: "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

Luke 14:34-35: "Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

You and I tend to take salt for granted…but that has not always been the case. In Jesus’ time, and for centuries, salt was rare and expensive.

Ø Rome built a highway, the Via Salaria, just to transport salt;

Ø Roman armies were, at one time, paid in salt…which was called salarium… where we get our English word “salary” from;

Ø Over the years, superstitions have arisen about salt:

ü American Indians used ti to keep evil spirits away. “Spilt salt” meant bad luck;

Ø Scientists tell us that salt has an important connection with life itself; all body fluids of mammals are salty solutions;

Ø When Christ said “you are the salt of the earth”, He was describing something precious and expensive;

Ø Being “salt” on the earth, means keeping life itself on the earth;

Ø If “salt” disappears, life on earth will disappear;

Ø Christ challenges us to be “salt” on the earth in a time of wickedness…and what the world needs is more salt to preserve and nurture the life God gives in Christ.

Ø As God’s people, we continue the life of Christ in this world.

Ø Salt is worthless if it remains in the salt shaker.

a) Let me give you a perspective on salt…as a preservative:

At this point, approximately 2,000 years after the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, Who when He ascended into Heaven, an Angel said: Acts 1:10-11: “And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."

b) Why, in 2,000 years, has Jesus not yet returned?

Peter tells us: 2 Peter 3:1-9: “Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both ofwhich I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

Why after 2,000 years has He not yet returned???

Because God is “longsuffering [patient] toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

In His infinite love…and mercy…and grace is patiently giving men opportunity to be saved.

But, it will not continue forever:

In Noah’s day, God finally said,

Genesis 6:3: “And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever,for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years."…vs. 5 - “Then the LORDsaw that the wickedness of man wasgreat in the earth, and thatevery intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”… vs. 7 – “So the LORDsaid, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”

It is important that we take this to heart:

2 Corinthians 6:2 reminds us: For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Will the Lord continue to tarry His coming forever???

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12: “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

If you are not yet saved…now is the day of salvation…now is the accepted time.

For those of you who are saved, then our purpose here is to be the light of Jesus…to proclaim the “light of the glorious Gospel of Christ…in the abject darkness of sin-blinded humanity!

We are the alkali in the acid cesspool of this sin-immersed world!