Pass The Salt And Turn On The Light

Pass the Salt and Turn on the Light

Matthew 5: 13 – 16

Matthew 5: 13

A: Christ seems to be stating quite clearly that the source of our influence is found in the person we are!!

You ARE Salt not

You HAVE Salt or You DISPENSE Salt

B: Only as Christians are salt in their lives & character can they exercise the influence of salt in their society.

C. None of us exercise influence upon other people by our words if what we say is not backed up by what we are.

D. Centuries ago the Romans contended that salt was the purest of all things because it came from the purest of all elements: The Sun & the Sea

· So if Christians are to be salt of the they must be an example of Purity

· Christians must hold high standards of purity in speech, conduct, thought and action

· Salt can not be ignored

· It has a positive influence

· We can NOT fail to recognize its presence ex: FOOD to much salt

· If it is absent we MISS it

Christian Influence

- People will be aware of it

- Not always welcome but will be recognized

Christians are PURE

II ____________________________________________________

Christ said “ You are the salt of the Earth since we are the Salt”

Since we are the Salt

Where are we to set free our preserving and purifying powers?

The Answer is found in the word Earth

We are to exercise our influence in the here and now

Our Community/ Our Jobs/Where ever we are at

Salt does it most effective work by being brought in direct contact with the substance which it is to work

So we are not to withdraw ourselves from the world but as the Apostle James says we are to stay “unspotted from the world” James 1:27

Salt as a PRESERATIVE

- Ancient times used salt to preserve stuff (Food)

- Jesus is telling is that the world around us is a state of decay, and it needs something to keep it from rotting and stinking

- If something like the meat went bad it was not the meats fault it was the PRESERATIVE that did not do its job

- Can you imagine what the world would be like without Christian Influence?

- World - PRESERATIVE

(Meat) (Salt)

Salt as an Antiseptic

- We do not gargle salt water to stay healthy! We do it for relief and to kill germs

Salt has a Flavoring Influence

- Without salt food has little if any flavor

- Christ is saying that the Christian is to life what salt is to food

- We are to lend Flavor to Life

- Most think that a Christian Life has no flavor – they are WRONG

Oliver Holmes is quoted as saying that he might have entered the ministry if certain clergyman he knew did not act like undertakers

People need to discover the JOY of the Christian Faith

It is NOT BORING……… we should be on Fire for Christ

What Happens if Salt loses is saltiness…”When Jesus referred to his disciples as salt, they were without question highly complimented.

· They did not realize how important they were prior to this statement

· Christ did not call them salt to give them an ego trip or a big head

· He desired to impress them with a solemn warning – they could lose their saltiness That is they could sacrifice their influence

· Salt- Pure sodium as we know can not lose it saltiness

· But in Jesus day they got their salt from the Dead sea which was not pure it was mixed with other minerals that affected the flavor

· In time it could become tasteless

· When this happened it was a good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled on

If Christians are not fulfilling their purpose as the salt of the earth they are on their way to disaster.

Matthew 5: 14 –16

It may well be the greatest complement to Christians “You are the Light of the World.”

With that Jesus commanded us to be nothing less that what he himself claimed to be and not only claimed but also DID

John 9:5 As Long as I an in the world I am the Light of the World

Jesus is telling followers to be the Light of the World

He is not asking us to do anything that he did not already do

AN !!!

I have a feeling that Jesus did not say passively “You are the Light of the World” Rather I an convinced that he EXCLAMIED “YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD”

Jesus did not say, “In time you will bring the light it is not by things we say or deeds we do but by the people we are that we can be the Light of the World