We Care About Glorifying God.

Last week we introduced this series…Making Sure We Get It Right…by focusing on our mission…if you were here last week, repeat our mission with me…(make sure you have a brochure)

Building Lives to Know and Live for Jesus Christ!

Our job is make disciples...

A disciple is someone who believes in Jesus, is identified as a disciple through baptism and is taught how to and expected to obey the Scripture...

According to Ephesians 4, the measure of our effectiveness as a disciple making church is the evidence of believers who are growing in their ability to speak truth to one another and then live by that truth!

Disciples then go after that which is important to God, to Jesus…we are guided by the principles that He sets forth...

Another way we can define a disciple is one who is Principle Oriented...

A disciple learns the principles that are important to their teacher (Master), they adopt them as their own, and then live by those principles, eventually teaching those same principles to others.

As believers, our teacher, our Master, is obviously God…Jesus is the Master Teacher and what is important to Him is important to us…His principles become our principles!

As individuals and as a church, we are to follow what our Savior commands and expects of us…over the next 4 weeks we will examining 4 Key Principles…these principles are central to our DNA…who we are as a church…they are what guide us in all we do.

Our first principle comes from the greatest sermon ever preached…the Sermon on the Mount…Matthew 5-7

In this message, Jesus teaches his audience about what He as the Rightful King expects of His people.

If you claim to belong to the King, then there is an expectation that your priorities will line up with His. How He thinks is how you will think, how He acts is how you will act.

He told his audience in no uncertain terms…v.20…unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus was not exalting them by saying their righteousness was worthy of emulating…

Their righteousness, which the Jews sought after, was insufficient for entrance into the kingdom.

The righteousness Jesus spoke of was His righteousness that was not merely external like that of the Scribes and Pharisees, it was a true inner righteousness based on faith in Him.

In our text this morning Jesus transitions from discussing the character and blessedness (Beatitudes) of the citizens of His kingdom to describing the impact He desires his citizens to have in that same world.

Read Matthew 5:13-16

Principle #1 – We care about Glorifying God... Our primary responsibility, both as individuals and a church, is to glorify God in all things. Everything we do is geared toward proclaiming God’s wonderful character and pleasing Him. (Matt. 22:37; 1 Cor. 10:31; Matt. 5:13-16)

Main Idea: God’s Glory Demands His Disciples Live With Excellence!

When we care about glorifying God there is a motivation to do everything with excellence because we want to please Him and influence our world for Him.

Jesus is going to use the metaphors of salt and light to teach us the kind of impact He desires for us.

Disciples Who Live With Excellence Seek to Influence Their World Like Salt (13).

We must recognize the value of our influence.

“You” — emphatic…meaning, “You, you alone”… Jesus states his disciples…all believers are the only ones capable of doing this…his disciples are the only ones who can have this kind of impact on the world...

Notice he didn’t tell them…just Palestine, or Jerusalem…he said the earth…Jesus is expressing an extreme confidence in his people! Think about that…in spite of our imperfections, our Savior has confidence in us to be this kind of influence.

Why “salt”?

Salt has always been a valuable commodity in human society, especially in Biblical times.

The Romans believed that, except for the sun, nothing was more valuable than salt.

In fact, Roman soldiers were paid in salt…that is where the expression "not worth his salt" originated.

The word “salary” comes from the Latin word, “salarium” meaning “salt-money”.

Jesus' audience, whether Greek, Roman, or Jewish, would have understood “salt of the earth” to represent a valuable commodity.

Though most could not have understood His full meaning, they knew He was saying that His followers were to have an extremely important function in the world.

We must recognize the need for our influence.

Think with me briefly about what salt does...

Salt Retards Decay

Fundamental to our understanding of this metaphor is to realize that in the ancient world, the number one function of salt was its use as a preservative!

Refrigeration/freezing was not an option for them.

The only way to preserve meat was to salt it down or soak it in a saline solution…the decay and decomposition of meat was very rapid…not to mention the presence of flies and other insects that would be drawn to it…the only way to prevent this was to soak the slabs of meat in a strong solution of salt.

The implication of this is that world trends toward decomposition, in fact, I think we can see clearly how our world is actually rotting away!

When left to his own devices, man will not naturally seek God. The world is moving further and further away from God and as it does, it decays and becomes more putrid.

Perhaps you are aware now of a cartoon titled “Little Demon” that airs now depicting a 13 year old girl as the offspring of Satan and is the Antichrist. That which is evil is common place and acceptable, even laughed at.

That which is viewed as simply entertainment makes light of evil and at times celebrates it.

Believers are to function as a retardant to decay…a preservative in a decaying world...

The Christian who is “salty” will retard decay simply because they are living a life above reproach to the sin of those around them…

There are always going to be people who tell filthy stories or jokes in the presence of those who enjoy such vulgarity…however, when the believer who lives above reproach enters the circle, those conversations tend to cease…it is not that the believer is self-righteous or judgmental, but the evidence of their life makes those ungodly conversations seem shallow and inappropriate.

We need to understand that God wants believers to be like salt at every level of society...

God only knows how much crime would exist without the presence of godly believers in the legal system…the corruption that is stopped because of believers who take a stand...

Believers in the workplace who live like salt promote honesty and hard work...

Think of the impact salty believers have in the military, education, etc…

The level of depravity that would exist without believers is unfathomable…so the question we need to ask is are we salt within the arena that God has placed us?

Let’s go a step further…not only are our lives meant to reprove evil, God also wants us to elicit the best from those around us...

Salt Enhances Flavor

In Biblical times, salt was also a condiment, a spice.

Our relationship with God ought to make us a joy and delight because in spite of the presence of decay, life is still good!

Just as salt provides flavor to our food, so Christ in us provides flavor in an unsavory world.

Jesus brings a flavor that makes a real difference.

When a person comes to know Christ as savior, everything changes. (2 Cor. 5:17)

Our patterns of thinking change…Our marriages change…Our parenting changes…Our communication changes…

Because of Christ, everything we do should stand out.

We should be the most faithful, most generous, the hardest working, the most loving.

Even in the small things, we should stand out...

What kind of tip did you leave for the server the last time you ate out? Think about this…if you are in the habit of praying for your meals in public…most likely your server observed you doing so…how many servers cringe when they see a family bowing in prayer before a meal? Not because they don’t like God. But because they know they will be receiving a smaller tip. How do they respond when they see the “churched crowd” entering?

Salt Makes Us Thirsty

Jesus made people thirsty for God…are we salty enough to make people thirst after God?

Evangelism is more than just the words a person uses, it is the way they live their life.

People who get that are different.

Are the people around us rejecting the Truth because they see us living double lives?

The conversations and activities we participate in at work or school or in our free time are far from godly and then perhaps occasionally we throw in something we learned at church on Sunday morning...

Are we promoting a thirst for God because of the difference our relationship with Him makes?

How are you doing at making someone thirst for the knowledge of God?

Recognize the Danger of Not Getting this Right.

“if the salt has become tasteless...”

tasteless = is a word that was used in various ways…in relation to the mind it means “stupid, or foolish”....when applied to taste it meant “insipid, flat”

The salt back then was not like the salt we have today…the salt in Biblical times was either mined from the salt cliffs along the Dead Sea (OT referred to this as the Salt Sea) area or evaporated from the waters of the Dead Sea…either way it was contaminated with gypsum and other minerals and may have had a flat taste or was ineffective for food preservation…it was useful for only keeping vegetation off the paths and roadways…the more impure it was, the more useless it became…the more pure salt was often brought in from other places...

People would be careful not to throw it on a garden or field, because it would kill whatever was planted.

Instead it would be thrown onto a path or road, where it would gradually be ground into the dirt and disappear.

The contamination can cause it to lose its value as salt. Its saltiness can no longer function.

Jesus is not speaking of losing salvation.

However, Christians can lose their value and effectiveness in the kingdom when sin and worldliness contaminate their lives.

salt can become “tasteless” when contaminated by other minerals…believers who continue to act foolishly loose their effectiveness as salt.

We cannot be an influence for purity in the world if we have compromised our own purity.

We cannot sting the world's conscience if we continually go against our own.

We cannot stimulate thirst for righteousness if we have lost our own.

We cannot be used of God to retard the corruption of sin in the world if our own lives become corrupted by sin.

Paul put it this way…1 Cor. 9:27 “but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

Jesus is pointing us towards His disciples being free from dilution!

“Being salt” is not an imperative (command) it is an indicative (fact). We are already salt...But if you start adding all the ingredients the world loves—a dash of the love of money, a pinch of the fleeing pleasures of sexual immorality, and so on—then you start to water down your witness and taste.

There is to be a distinct taste to Christians. But if we spend five minutes laughing at a dirty joke at the watercooler, or all day Sunday glued to the television set watching our athletes run and jump, don’t think the world doesn’t notice...

Does the practice of our lives measure up to our beliefs?

Disciples Who Live With Excellence Influence Their Culture Like Light (14-15).

Salt works secretly, while light works openly...Salt works from within, light works from without...

Again Jesus employs the emphatic use of “you”....you and only you

We are to reflect the light Jesus provides.

John 8:12 “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.””

John 9 5 ““While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.””

Here the Light of the World now calls His disciples the light of the world!

What does light do?

Light Destroys Darkness

John 1:5 “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

Darkness is the absence of light. As we shine the bright light of Christ’s righteousness, darkness is driven back.

Light Detects Evil

John 3:19-20 ““This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”

How sad is it that many choose to live in the dark. They love iniquity so much they would rather wallow in darkness rather than turn on the light of Christ.

It is in the presence of light that deeds are illuminated.

David Jeremiah tells the story of the desert nomad that awakened in the middle of night wanting a snack. He sat up, lit a candle and began eating dates from a bowl beside the bed. He took a bite from one end of the first one and saw a worm in it, so he threw it out of the tent. He bit into the second date, found another worm, and threw it away. Reasoning that he wouldn’t have any dates left to eat if he continued in this way, he blew out the candle and quickly ate all the dates.

Many people love iniquity so much they would rather swallow their sins and wallow in darkness than to turn on the light of Christ.

Light Defines Christianity

Ephesians 5:8 “for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light”

Philippians 2:14-15 “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,”

At work, at school, in the grocery store, at the mall, wherever we are, we need to remember that our smile, our attitude, our behavior, concern for others, and even our purchases should reflect the light of Jesus.

We are a mirror designed to reflect Him. How are you doing?

Recognize the danger of not getting this right.

Jesus gives us two examples of how light functions...

A city on a hill cannot be hidden…everyone can see it…there is no way to obscure a city on the crest of a hill…believers are like this…they are visible…no such thing as an invisible believer.

Believers are also like the ancient household lamp…the principle function of a household lamp, and believers, is to provide illumination to all around…much like the home owner would place the lamp in the most advantageous spot, God has placed you and me in the spot He wants us to be!

You cannot function as a light the way God intends if your light is hidden because of your fellowship with darkness…listen to what God says in 1 John...

I John 1:5-7 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

The point Jesus is making here is that light is visible. Our lives and our words are to proclaim in vivid colors the power of God to change lives.

Disciples Who Live with Excellence Point Others to God (16).

Letting our light shine before men allows them to see our good works,

Good = (‎kalos‎) does not so much emphasize quality — though that obviously is important — as it does attractiveness, beautiful appearance.

What are “good works”?

all righteousness, everything we are and do that reflects the mind and will of God…all of what we do is to be beautiful and attractive…we want them to see the beauty of God…we want them to be attracted to God.

Psalm 115 1 “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.”

Everything we do is to be for His glory!

1 Corinthians 10:31 NASB95

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

The reason we do good works is not to bring attention or praise to ourselves but to God…

The word used for glory = doxology = it is to influence one’s opinion about another so as to enhance the reputation of the one spoken of...praise.

What are we doing that gives people the right opinion of God?

Our goal is to be that in whatever we are and in whatever we do, others may see God and draw the conclusion that He is worthy of praise.

Father = intimacy that is available to all who believe.

Does your life indicate an intimate relationship with God is possible and available to all who believe?

Do people see your love for God and want that same relationship with God that you have?

Matthew 22:37 NASB95

And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

What’s the danger if we don’t get this right?

The danger of not getting this right is that if people are attracted to us because of what WE do instead of WHO GOD IS AND WHAT GOD does, then what view of God will they have when we are not so attractive?

Life Step: Serve With Excellence!

Glorifying God is our primary responsibility…that is why this is Guiding principle #1. If we are not focused on making sure people have a high and biblical view of God, then we are not getting it right.

Since Glorifying God is a priority, we must remain active preservative agents by calling the world and each other to heed God’s standards.

Since Glorifying God is a priority, we must let our let shine through with intentional acts of love and righteousness that communicate God’s beauty and goodness!