Our text for this morning is
Matthew 5:13-16
While you are turning there,
take a minute to think about salt.
What is its history?
What is its purpose... aside from tasting good.
Today we are going to explore those aspects and more
as we explore our
purpose in light of the call
God makes on us to be like the
Salt of this earth.
Let’s look at the Scripture together.
Matthew 5:13-16
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven
Both salt and light are used in this illustration to represent our actions on this earth.
The pastor in this illustration was not exactly a good example of either.
Salt
Today, we are going to focus on verse thirteen (13), which deals with salt.
AND unfortunately, in American society today, most of us, unless we paid attention in history class, the analogy made here using salt is lost on us.
Verse 13 (Matthew 5:13) tells us that we are the salt of the earth and that if we lose our savour, we do not have a purpose anymore.
As soon as you hear this, you may have had the same thought that flashed through my mind…
What is the purpose of salt?
Throughout most of the world’s history, salt has been used for three purposes: Flavoring, Preserving and Healing and it has almost always been valuable. Wars have been fought over it and, of course, it is essential to our bodies.
I’m sure at some point in your life; you’ve probably heard expressions like, “salt of the earth” or “not worth his salt” or used the word salary.
All of these things have to do with the value of salt.
Salt is used for Flavor
In America, the most obvious use for salt is adding flavor to our food. Almost everything we eat has sodium on the label. Processed meats, fast foods, and even canned vegetables are packed with it.
Hot sauce is one of my favorites. Unfortunately, 1 TSP of my favorite hot sauce is 10% of my daily allowance.
The same is true of religion in our society.
Many people think it is fine to pray before a meal or to thank God after winning an award, but if you start asking them to go to church with you every Sunday and most of them will change their tune.
They think that just like those who use too much salt in their food, going to church and becoming salt and light will give them high blood pressure, WHEN, IN FACT, just the opposite is true.
There have been several studies which indicate that those who attend church at least three times per month not only tend to have blood pressure which is a few points lower than those who do not, but many of them also live longer as well!
Make sure to throw that into the conversation somewhere the next time you invite someone to church.
Another attribute of salt is that it is valuable.
Salt is Valuable
Although I do not have any stock or anything with the Morton Salt Company, I can say that I really enjoyed reading the history of salt which was presented on their website. (http://www.mortonsalt.com/salt-facts/salt-history if you would like to check it out later.)
It Says…
“The first written reference to salt is found in the Book of Job, recorded about 2,250 BC. There are 31 other references to salt in the Bible, the most familiar probably being the story of Lot’s wife who was turned into a pillar of salt when she disobeyed the angels and looked back at the wicked city of Sodom.”
All things considered, they did pretty good. In fact, if I didn’t already have two containers of salt which my wife uses for cooking, I probably would have gone out and bought a package, just on a matter of principle.
The Scripture they reference in Job comes from Chapter 6 verse 6.
Job 6:6 6 Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
He seems as though he would get along just fine in America.
This website goes on to explain that the expression “He is not worth his salt” is a common expression which originated in ancient Greece where salt was traded for slaves.
AND THAT Roman soldiers were paid “salt money,” salarium argentum, from which we take our English word, “salary”.
They ALSO explain that
Salt was such a highly sought after commodity, that as animals made their way through woods creating paths to salt licks, hunters would follow them in search of food as well as salt. These paths eventually became trade routes, which, in turn, produced many towns and villages.
At the end of one trade route in Great Britain, a place called Westminster appeared. Traders would wait there for the tides of the River Thames to subside. Today, this city is known as London.
The Erie Canal was created in order to transport Syracuse salt to Chicago, and…
They, as well as some other salt companies have even stated that if the Southern Army had been able to protect its salt supplies in Virginia and Louisianna, the Civil War may have ended differently.
Think about that. Something which is present on almost every table in America has helped to shape the world as we know it. It reminds me how the first century Christians who were sprinkled among the nations helped to spread the word of God throughout the known world at the time.
The Roman government became a giant salt shaker in the hands of God. He used what was arguably the most influential country in the world at that time as one of the main tools in fulfilling the Great Commission.
Matthew 28:18-20 Says
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Up until the time when they were persecuted, very few Christians were going anywhere. Who knows if God may use the governments in various parts of the world to do that again someday?
Aside from adding flavor and being something of great value, salt is also a preservative.
During the Middle Ages salt was used to preserve food which would be needed, especially throughout the winter months.
In fact, this was done throughout the United States until the invention of the Ice Box became affordable. I know that my grandmother did not even have electricity in her house, much less a refrigerator until after WWII.
As Christians, we can help to preserve the Godly values which our country was founded on.
One older gentleman I knew once told me that when he was a child, back in the thirties or forties, he went to a small country school in our nation. He said that each day, his class would start off with a prayer and the pledge of allegiance, then; they would read the Bible together. It was one of the main tools which the teacher used to help them improve their reading skills.
They learned about the faith which was shared by most of our founding fathers, and although one particular faith was not endorsed, the fact that America was given a strong moral and even Christian foundation was taught.
Of course, things were a lot different back then. He also said that he could spend a whole Saturday in town for just a quarter and that during hunting season all of the children who were old enough to hunt could lean their shotguns along the wall in the back of the classroom until they were dismissed for the day.
Somewhere along the way in our country, we lost our savor. Somewhere along the way, something went wrong.
In the Army, we have a lot of training. Those of you who are in the military know what I mean. This month, I was able to hear a guest speaker. This young man brought up some pretty interesting facts in his presentation.
This particular gentleman worked for one of the colleges within this state. He gave out many startling statistics. One of them is that according to him, South Carolina is, or at least has been the worst state in the nation when it comes to men killing women? That information is part of the brief he gives to his students when they first arrive on campus.
This world is chalked full of statistics like that.
Did you know that according to the CDC website, suicide was the leading cause of death among all age groups in 2010? (38,364) That is an average of 105 per day. Did you know that for every suicide, there are usually 25 attempts? That works out to being almost 1 MILLION attempts per year within our nation. (959,100)
Did you know that according to the World Health Organization, one person commits suicide about every 40 seconds, one person is murdered every 60 seconds and one person dies in armed conflict every 100 seconds?
In fact, according to some research I came across while I was earning my Master’s Degree, 80 to 85 percent of all churches in America have either hit a plateau or are dying; 1 while an average of 4,000 churches close their doors for a final time each year. 2
This means that now, more than ever, just like salt, we need to maintain our savour!
I’ll take it a step further…
We need to make sure to exhibit the final characteristic of salt which we are going to look at tonight.
Salt is a GREAT tool for HEALING!
Salt is also used for healing.
Throughout the years, salt has been used in home remedies to cure a variety of ailments.
Sore throats, toothaches, postnasal drip, bee stings, mosquito bites, painful gums, poison ivy, and poison oak and minor cuts or burns to name a few.
Growing up in Florida, this was a well-known fact. If you had any kind of cut, scrape, or anything like that when you went to the beach, you were going to feel it once you got into the water. If it was on your hand, you would try to keep that hand out of the water until you were ready for it. Wading in and then slowly putting it under the water.
Of course, there was always that time or two when you’d be heading out and that big wave would splash right up and get you.
It HURT
The reason it hurt was because it was healing you.
As Christians, we need to do the same thing… work hard to heal our nation.
A better example of this is when I visited the Middle East and had an opportunity to visit the Dead Sea.
When it was time to go swimming, I just had to go. When we did, the locals told us not to get our eyes wet because it would hurt and it could cause serious damage if we opened them.
Being from Florida, I just had to go under the water. So, I closed my eyes as tight as I could and down I went. Just like they said, even though I had shut my eyes, it still burned very bad, and the worst part was that my hands were all wet and salty as well. This meant that I would just have to keep my eyes closed for a few minutes.
The salt in the Dead Sea is like no other salt in the world it has the highest concentration known to man. That is what we, as Christians need to be... Concentrated Salt.
We need to heal this dark and dying world by bringing it the Concentrated Salt of the Scriptures. We ourselves need to be Concentrated Salt healing wherever we can!
We can start by taking II Chronicles 7:14 to heart.
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Colossians 4:5-6 tells us
Colossians 4:5-6
5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
Let’s think about that passage for a minute.
We are to walk in wisdom toward them that are without. We are to use wisdom when we deal with both those who are not saved. We should also use wisdom when we are dealing with those who have backslidden; those who are not where they once were in their walk with the Lord.
We have to encourage them to serve God like they once did, but we have to be careful in how we do it.
The next phrase is “REDEEMIG THE TIME”. Did you know that God mentions redeeming the time in another passage of Scripture?
Ephesians 5:15-17 says
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Do you doubt that the days are evil?
Our society is just bursting at the seams with examples of ungodliness.
Just look at a television, pick up a newspaper, or try to look something up on the internet.
It’s not those things which are evil; it is how they are used.
Did you know that those three things, along with the radio, could be the number one tool used to win souls for the Lord?
What if we put some salt in those wounds? What if we supported Christian movies or bought Christian books or created websites, blogs, and used our social media outlets in order to tell others about God’s love and His Son, Jesus Christ?
I’m pretty sure that we could make a difference.
Thinking back on Colossians 4:5-6, we were instructed to Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
One of my favorite passages of Scripture, 2 Timothy 4:1-5 says…
4 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
Did you know that giving an answer to anyone who asks and taking part in the ministry are not just the jobs of a pastor and church staff?
As a member of a Baptist church, I challenge you tonight. Look at the Baptist distinctives. Know why you attend here and what sets us apart from every other church out there.
One of our distinctives is the Priesthood of the believer. a doctrine of the Protestant Christian Church: every individual has direct access to God without ecclesiastical mediation and each individual shares the responsibility of ministering to the other members of the community of believers.
When is the last time you witnessed to someone else? When is the last time you gave a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name? When is the last time you did something which distinctly pointed someone to the love of God through Christ?
You know, Easter is coming. The time of Christmas when we celebrated the cute little baby in the manger has past. This is the time of year when we need to think about the later part of Christ’s life when he lived without sin, and then, he died on a cross to take our punishment so that we could live forever in heaven someday with God.
This is the time to share that with others, and today, if you have never done this yourself, now is the time for you to accept Christ’s forgiveness.
He did not just die for your sins, but He also rose again to prove that he was more powerful than sin, and that death, itself, could not hold Him.
Invitation
Take a moment now, if you will. Every head bowed, every eye closed.
If you’ve been that grain of salt, clumped together inside of the shaker, scared of what might happen… now is the time to break free and show that you have not lost your savour. Show the world that Jesus is the way and help bring healing to our land. Pray that God will help you do this tonight.
For those of you who have never accepted Christ as your savour tonight, there is no better time than now.
Accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior and allowing Him to forgive you of your sins is as simple as A, B, C.
A, Admit that you are a sinner and cannot get yourself to Heaven
B, Believe that Jesus Christ is God’s only and perfect Son and that He came to earth, lived a perfect life, died on the cross to pay for our sins, and rose again in order to show that He was more powerful than even death itself.
And then
C, Choose to accept Him as your personal Lord and Savior trusting that He is the ONLY way to Heaven.
I know it may seem hard to find the words to use, but honestly, God does not expect a fancy prayer. Just a simple prayer that acknowledges Him.
It can go something like this…
“Dear Lord, I know that I am a sinner and that I have done things wrong. Please forgive me of my sins and allow me to live with you in Heaven someday when I die. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins and forgiving me. In Jesus name, Amen.”
