Salt of the Earth - by Ray Viola

Matthew 5:14-16 by Ray Viola

Series: The Beatitudes

SALT OF THE EARTH & LIGHT OF THE WORLD

One of the things that is revealed in the Beatitudes (Matt 5.3-12) is Christian character. Character cannot be neutral, it is either good or bad. Your real character cannot be hidden. It will eventually be revealed. Character, good or bad has an influence on others. It is only as a man is salt in his character that he can exercise the influence of salt in his age.

Keep in mind the people who Jesus is calling the salt of the earth. It is safe to say that the people who were sitting here listening to Jesus were for the most part uneducated peasant men and women mixed in with a few educated or religious people.

Beloved, I want you to know my prayer and desire for our church family is not that we walk out of here with more information about the Bible, but that we are gloriously transformed by The Spirit of God by applying the truth of the Bible to our lives. Our goal this morning must be learning for transformation, not learning for information. Transformation is when we are being chiseled by the Spirit of God into the image of Jesus as we step out in obedience to His Word. Transformation is the goal beloved.

2Cor 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Ro 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We’ve become masters and consumers of information but not necessarily masters of life. Matt Chandler

Since the advent of the Internet and the access to scores of Bible literature and information, there has been an undue emphasis placed on the academics of our faith and the amount of information we know versus the application of our beliefs with the emphasis placed on you actually doing what you know.

· James 1.22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

· Mr 3:31There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. 32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. 33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? 34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

o Bible knowledge put into practice = salt and light in the world for the glory of God.

The Scriptures clearly exhort us to gather together for worship, instruction in God’s Word and fellowship beloved.

· Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

· But let us not forget beloved that being the church (ekkelsia, called out ones) is not just about what you and I do inside this building. The real proof that what we are doing in this building this morning is genuine or not is revealed by the kind of impact that it makes in the world that we live in. Being the church is all about the life that you and I live when we step outside of this building or when we walk out of the doors of our homes in the morning. It is about living for Jesus Christ in a world that is lost and heading for hell.

RJV read the text and then give this quote:

Did you and I hear what Jesus just said? He said that belief apart from application is worthless. The epistle of James pointedly puts it this way.

· James 2.19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

· Why has the church today all but lost it’s flavor or impact in the world? Our belief is orthodox but our practice is non-existent.

It is this unsuspecting group of people that Jesus is calling to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

o We are living in a post Christian era beloved…..tell the story about Bob Sierk, Jack Jensen and myself going to a restaurant last week. We passed out an invite to RTL, and the young girl and young man who served our table never heard of either Billy or Franklin Graham…..I can only imagine what they think of Jesus Christ!

I mentioned Dietrich Bonhoeffer last week. Listen to this internet account of his days during the Hitler Nazi regime in Germany.

“The story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Nazi Germany provides a case in point. While many of the ministers in Germany either put their heads in the sand while rampant abuses occurred, or even worse, joined hands with the Nazis, Bonhoeffer stood tall against bigotry, racism, cruelty, and despotism. He continued preaching until he was kicked out of his pulpit, then he kept teaching young ministers in preparation for a restored Germany. He had a chance to escape to America or England, but instead, Bonhoeffer believed that his country needed Christian influence if they were to survive the tyranny of Hitler. So he stayed. In 1937, two years before Hitler's invasion of Poland, he wrote these words, "Flight into the invisible is a denial of the call [of the Christian]. A community of Jesus which seeks to hide itself has ceased to follow" [The Cost of Discipleship, 118]. Making that declaration in a time of safety is one thing; but doing it in a time of great danger is yet another. He practiced what he preached, refusing to hide where he could lob verbal grenades at Hitler's atrocities from a safe distance. Instead, he sought to be salt and light in the midst of dark putrefaction in Nazi Germany. Himmler ordered Bonhoeffer hung a week before the Allied liberation, but the salty effects of his testimony helped to turn a broken nation around. His Cost of Discipleship continues to influence new generations of believers that know nothing of Hitler's tyranny yet still need to stand as Christians in the midst of a sinful world. “

What a tremendous testimony this man was to transforming power of the Spirit of God in the life of a sinner saved by grace. Truly, salty saints are true disciples of Jesus Christ.

But there is an horrifying new trend today. In a message preached by Pastor John Hamby he said:George Barna’s, the church statistician, says that research shows that, “… the average Christian in the average church is almost indistinguishable from the rest of society. The fundamental moral and ethical difference that Christ can make in how we live is missing. When our teens who we claim to be saved, are getting pregnant and doing drugs at the same rate as the general teenage population. Something is wrong. When the marriages of Christians are ending in divorce at the same rate as the rest of society, something is wrong. When professing Christians cheat in business, or lie, steal, and cheat on their spouses at the same statistical level as those who say they are not Christians - something is horribly wrong”

Or as Jesus says in this passage, when the church individually or as a whole loses its flavor, it is good for nothing. If we as Christian’s lose the qualities of Christlikeness that make us distinct and as a result, become like the society around us, we have lost the purpose for our very existence and are no longer good for anything. I believe that the most miserable people on the earth are people who have massive amounts of bible knowledge in their heads but are seeking to find meaning and purpose for life by living like the world and for the things of the world.
When Mahatma Gandhi was the spiritual leader of India, he was asked by some missionaries, “What is the greatest hindrance to Christianity in India?” His reply was, “Christians.”

Before we look into how salt was used in the days of Jesus and what it means to be the salt of the earth, let’s see how salt was used in other places of Scripture.

God often required that the grains and meats that were offered as sacrifices be offered with salt (Lev. 2:13; Ezk. 43:24). Sometimes, the Bible describes the covenant that God makes with His people as "a covenant of salt forever before the LORD" (Num. 18:19; 2 Chron. 13:5); because the presence of salt, as a preservative, symbolized purity and durability. It also prevented the spread of infection and promoted healing and cleansing. The Bible teaches us that, after birth, a brand-new baby was carefully washed in water and gently rubbed with salt (Ezk. 16:4).
In 2 Kings 2.19-22, there was one account of the ministry of Elisha when he poured salt into waters that were undrinkable and God healed them.

As we talk about salt this morning, we all realize that you and I really don’t think much about salt because we can get as much of it in pure form as we want. It is just that little bottle with holes in the top on the table. But as will see in a moment, the society that Jesus is speaking to was completely dependent on salt. So, if you and I lived back then, we would have a completely different perspective on salt. These words of Jesus would have hit us square between the eyes beloved.

Salt was so important that it was sometimes used for money. The Roman soldiers of Jesus’ day were at times paid with it. In fact, our word “salary” comes from the Latin word salarium which referred to the payments that were made to the soldiers with salt. We still use the phrase saying that someone either is, or is not, “worth their salt.” So salt can be said to be something of great value.

Salt was a valued commodity in the ancient world. Without any source of refrigeration, salt became the means of preserving meat from decaying, as the ancients rubbed down meat and fish to preserve it for regular use.

Thus, the idea of preservation appears to be the focus of this statement. "You are the salt of the earth," for it reminds us that the earth needs to be salted due to its inherent decay.
Jesus had no illusions about this world. He knew its true character. It is like a piece of rotten meat, putrefying more and more each day. On every hand we have the most advanced technology. Every day brings new breakthroughs in medicine, science, communications, and mass-production. And yet at the same time, the moral climate grows darker and darker. Ray Pritchard
Even as salt arrests decay in meat or fish, the influence of Christian character will have a hindering effect upon those around them. Salt never changes corruption into incorruption; it has no power to do so, but it prevents it spreading

Salt was connected with purity. The Romans said that salt was the purest of all things, because it came from the purest of all things, the sun and the sea. Salt was indeed the most primitive of all offerings to the gods, and to the end of the day the Jewish sacrifices were offered with salt. So then, if the Christian is to be the salt of the earth he must be an example of purity.

One of the unquestionable characteristics of the world in which we live is the progressive lowering of standards. Standards of honesty, standards of diligence in the workplace, standards of conscientiousness, moral standards, are being lowered day by day.
The salty presence of the disciple of Jesus Christ will have a purifying effect wherever he or she is.

Another obvious quality of salt is that it is used to lend flavor to things. Chances are that when you sit down for your next meal, you are not going to have a large bowl of salt. No, you will have your food in front of you and you will add a small portion of salt to add flavor the whole meal. The salt will do its work. It may be small or even insignificant in comparison to the element in which it is placed, but it will do its work. It will not draw attention to itself, it will make the food taste better.

You will more than likely not say, oh praise you salt for adding this flavor, will you?

Food without salt is a sadly insipid and even a sickening thing. Christianity is to life what salt is to food. Christianity lends flavour to life. William Barclay

The Bible even speaks of salt in this way. Job said, Can flavorless food be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? (Job 6:6).

In Titus 2:9 the Apostle Paul tells Christian servants that they must act in such a way “that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.”
“Adorn” is the Greek word that we get the word cosmetics from and is used to describe the arrangements of jewels in a manner to set off their full beauty. The idea is here is that the Spirit filled Christian makes the Christian life and faith beautiful to those outside.
When we speak to people about the grace of God, we're to let our speech be characterized with an attractive sparkle and amiable flavor. Paul writes, Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one (Col. 4:6).

The word you in the words you are the salt of the earth is emphatic: 'you, and you alone are the salt of the earth.'

When Jesus asserted, "You are the salt of the earth," he was signifying that Christians alone-not the government, not the educational institutions, not secular organizations-Christians alone can have the effect of purifying and preserving societies from the downward of spiral of depravity.
Jesus was not stating an opinion, but He was stating a reality. Genuine Christians are the salt of the earth. This means that the only hope of our own society being preserved from the degeneracy in which it is heading is for Christians to live like Christians in the workplace, in the home, in the school, on the college campus, in the political arena, on the sports teams, in the community. According to Jesus, we bear responsibility for influencing society by living like Christians, talking like Christians, using our money like Christians, using our time like Christians, conducting our family lives like Christians, using leisure time like Christians
It is not just when we gather to worship on Sundays or Wednesdays that we are "salt of the earth," but it is a constant reality that you are to cherish every moment of the day. Jesus does not give us an option at this point; it is a central responsibility for each and every one of us, no exceptions, to be salt to the world about us.

Being called to be the salt of the earth carries along with it a sense of accountability to God.

1Cor 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Society cannot salt itself. It can only decay. As John Stott points out, "And when society does go bad, we Christians tend to throw up our hands in pious horror and reproach the non-Christian world; but should we not rather reproach ourselves? One can hardly blame unsalted meat for going bad. It cannot do anything else. The real question to ask is: where is the salt?" [Christian Counter-Culture, 65].

Christians Like Salt Must Have Contact To Have An Influence!

As we have already noted, the Christian is to be a preserving force in the world wherever God has placed them. But the salt never did any good when it was sitting on a shelf some place and the meat was some-where else. To be effective, the salt had to be rubbed into the meat. In a similar way Christian’s are to allow God use them wherever He has placed them.
Whenever the church becomes a salt warehouse, it has missed out on the lesson that salt must make contact to have an affect. That is what is so beautiful about TFH ministry…the prison ministry…the nursing home ministry…..beloved, we need to go to where the people are and be salt.

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men."

When Jesus Christ laid down the conditions of being one of His disciples in Luke 14, her said: Lu 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? 35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

The insipid condition of salt that has lost its flavor makes it worthless for any good. There was no re-salting process for insipid salt. It was used to cover the potholes in the road so that it was constantly trampled by men.

Now because I know that there are some science buffs out there in the congregation, I want to point out that technically speaking, salt cannot lose its saltiness because sodium chloride is a stable compound. But in the part of the world where Jesus lived, salt was collected from around the Dead Sea where the crystals were often contaminated with other minerals. These crystalized formations were full of impurities, and since the actual salt was more soluble than the impurities, the rain could wash out the salt, which made what was left of little worth since it lost its saltiness. When this happened, the salt was thrown out, since it was no longer of any value either as a preservative or for flavoring. When the salt was leeched out it still looked like salt, but it lost its taste. Likewise, we lose our effectiveness as salt when we become mixed up and contaminated with the elements of our culture.

To the degree that the sinful elements of our culture have taken up so much of a residence in us that we are no longer distinct from its moral corruption and decay - to the degree that the values and priorities of the world dictate our own life-style conduct and our beliefs - then, to that degree, we've become 'contaminated salt'.
Let me ask you; are you living a life that is distinct and separate from the sinful things of this world? Do you live a distinctive life in your home and with your neighbors? Does your conversation with your friends reflect the speech of the Savior, or does it reflect the influence of the world? Are you distinct in what you watch on television, or in what you pay to see in the theater, or in what you read?

The peculiar property of salt is that even though it may have lost its pungency,… it still retains one very devastating potency. This rare and remarkable material can still …. destroy plant life on the land…. the same principle applies in the case of the Christian. Either our lives are making an impact for good and for the glory of God or they are making an impact for evil and the enemy…. The way we live, the things we say, the attitudes we entertain, the life style we adopt… are continuously producing either positive or negative results in society.

Beloved, each and every one of you are having an impact on people around you every single day. You are impacting your spouse, your children, your parents, your peers, your co-workers, your neighbors? What kind of an impact are you having?
Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15). In other words, set the Lord Jesus Christ apart in your heart as Lord over all your life. Let Him have rule over every area. When we set Christ apart as Lord over our hearts, and when we set ourselves apart for Him, the world will ask what it is that's so different about us! We will be serving as "the salt of the earth".

It all boils down to what we love most in life, doesn’t it? If you and I individually and as a church family are loving God more than anyone or anything else, we are going to have a salty impact our culture for The Lord Jesus Christ and win souls to Christ.

If you and I individually and as a church family are taking up the cross and following Jesus Christ, then we are going to make a difference in the world that we live in. We will have an impact in our culture. The first-century church turned their world upside down because they lived this way.

Beloved, one sold out, salty godly man or woman or teenager can make a dramatic difference in the world. Just like we pick up a salt shaker and sprinkle it over our food, God in His absolute sovereignty has “sprinkled” you in the family, the neighborhood, the school, the vocation that you live in to be salt for His glory and honor. Of

Remember, we aren’t called to save the world, only One can do that, and He is Jesus Christ, But we are called to make a difference.

I will be a purifying agent to hinder the spread of evil as God gives me the opportunity. That may mean speaking up at the office. It may mean refusing to get involved in certain holiday traditions. It may mean rocking the boat where you work. It may mean taking some criticism for your faith. It may mean taking an unpopular stand on public issues. Sometimes, being salt requires that we directly confront sin, and stop the spread of wickedness in a direct and confrontational way. Remember, salt stings and then it cleanses.

Are you born again? Have you received Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, my friend? There is not a believing man, woman, or child, who is able to take hold of any corrupt man and make him pure. That is not our work; we are not equal to it. Thank God, the Master is equal to it. Thank God, Jesus can and will forgive you and make you whole if you will repent of your sin and trust in Him alone as your Lord and Savior.