07. The Salt And Light Of The World (Part 1) Series

Dr. Bradford Reaves

Crossway Christian Fellowship

Hagerstown, MD

www.mycrossway.org

We have come to a portion of the Sermon on the Mount that is very fitting for our service today. As we come into this sanctuary for the first time to worship together, I can almost hear the words of Jesus’ message being directed to us here personally today as a church. I believe as we study these verses this week and next that God is using these words to Confirm, Commission, and Challenge us for what is ahead.

We are a Remnant Church - a Philadelphia if you will - holding fast to the teachings of our Lord, but living in a time where the perversion of evil is becoming more bold and more aggressive to the believer. We are also living in a day when the imminence of Christ’s return is more evident than ever. As Jesus told the Church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3:11 “I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”

Part of what we are to hold fast on this glorious day of celebration is found right here within these verses we are studying from the Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Right out of the gate, I the word that comes to mind when I hear Jesus’ words is ‘INFLUENCE.’ Jesus is telling his disciples and us that to be his followers, the Church that is alive and living by the Spirit of God is not something that is of secret or even a passive activity, but alive with influence to the people and the community around them.

Webster’s dictionary defines Influence as “the power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways; the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command; an emanation of spiritual or moral force.” (Merriam-webster.com)

WM Tayor, who founded the Brooklyn Tabernacle, said, ‘influence is the exhalation of character (David Insell, Sermon Central).

Historian Philip Schaff described the overwhelming influence which Jesus had on subsequent history and culture of the world: “This Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science…he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of schools, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.” (Credit: Sermon Central)

And as believers and the Church of Jesus Christ, we have the greatest power of influence to be bestowed on a man. Because Jesus said that we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit with the Authority of Satan and his demonic forces to go into the world of decay and darkness and rescue the souls of man from the day destruction that is nearly upon us. Yet all throughout the world, there are churches that are anemic, asleep, and so self-absorbed the world would neither know nor care if they were open or closed.

Crossway Christian Fellowship was put together for influence. You are made for influence. So that begs the question, what influence do you leave in the world? Each one of us was put here by God to do something to influence the world around us. You might be sitting here this morning thinking you don’t have much to offer, but I beg to differ. You have the greatest influence one could have and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

During a great spiritual movement in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, you lady by the name of Helen Ewing was saved. She was just a young unknown girl, but at the very threshold of her new life in Christ, she crowned Jesus as the Lord of her life and was filled with the Spirit and the Rivers of Living Water flowed from her life to the point that when she died at the age of 22, all of Scotland wept and hundreds of missionaries around the world mourned her death.