Introduction: Expiration dates are printed on just about everything nowadays, even on soda pop cans. One place you will not find an expiration date, however, is on salt. Ever hear anyone say, "This salt tastes old. It must not be very fresh"? Probably not. Salt never goes stale. Jesus said, "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out" (vv. 34-35). If there is no such thing as fresh or stale salt, how could Jesus say this? There are two ways salt can lose its saltiness. One is by dilution, the other by pollution. Put some salt in a glass and add water. Stir, taste, and then add more water. The more you dilute the salt, the less you will taste it. Soon it has no value as salt. Or, take some salt and add to it other things. Continue to mix in things, polluting the salt, and eventually you will not notice the salt. Its saltiness is lost to the pollution. Followers of Jesus are to be the "salt of the earth" (Matt. 5:13), but our saltiness can be lost the same way. Our testimony can be so watered down that by dilution it loses its saltiness, or so much other stuff can come into our lives that our testimony is lost due to pollution. Stay salty-that is what Jesus wants. Do not let into your life things that will dilute or pollute.
Greg Laurie writes in his book, “Why Believe?” something like this. There are four things that are true of all humans: 1. No none no matter if they are wealthy and powerful or poor and insignificant have emptiness inside. 2. Every person is lonely that nothing on this earth can satisfy. 3. Everyone feels guilty for what they have done. 4. Everyone faces death and is afraid of it. USA Today ran a poll among its readers with this: If you had to ask God a question what would it be? “What is my purpose in being here?” “Is there life after death” or “How long will I live?”
the bible is The supreme weapon we possess for spiritual success
Paul wrote to Timothy these words 1 Tim. 1:3-7 “That way you could order certain people to stop teaching false doctrine and occupying themselves with myths and endless genealogies. These myths and genealogies raise a lot of questions rather than promoting God’s plan, which centers in faith. My goal in giving you this order is for love to flow from a pure heart, from a clear conscience, and from a sincere faith. Some people have left these qualities behind and have turned to useless discussions. They want to be experts in Moses’ Teachings. However, they don’t understand what they’re talking about or the things about which they speak so confidently.” We have found out in these past few years in the wars we have fought that it is the ability to handle our weapons right that bring the victory. We can have superior weapons but if we do not use them correctly the war we engage in could be lost. One time in history was when the Defeat of the Spanish Armada. The Spanish Armada was a fleet of warships that attempted to destroy the English fleet in 1588. The English defeated the Armada, however, by sending small boats set afire to float among the Spanish ships as they lay at anchor off the French coast near Calais. About 60 English ships sank two Spanish ships and damaged over 50 more. The crippled Armada then sailed back toward Spain, but heavy winds wrecked many more ships. Out of the original number of 130 ships in the Armada, only 67 returned to Spain. So to win we must use the weapons we are given in the right way. Jesus lived here in this world and was attacked by the Devil to do wrong. I want to show what He did to resist the Devil and to help us incorporate in our lives these so we can have spiritual victory. The greatest weapon to use in our life is the Word of God. COL 3:16 “Let the Word of God richly dwell within you.” It is the Bible that must direct our thinking, saturate our hearts, and guide our wills. We must make all that we intend to be to be brought under the authority of the word of God. God’s call to us is to be trained in His word and to use it expertly. If we do not know the Word we can not use it and can be hurt spiritually. Let us follow Christ in His use of the Word in four ways; 1. Jesus was familiar with the Bible. 1. So we might ask, how did Jesus have Bible knowledge? He grew up in a godly home with two devoted parents. A boy I was with this week said it was not good just to worship and act like a Christian on Sunday but that you needed to worship everyday. He said his mother reads to them from the Bible and plays worship music at their house. We see that Mary possessed a deep knowledge of the Bible when she gave a response to the angel that told her she was to bear the Son of God. She quotes from 27 O. T. references. LK 1:46-55. Jesus grew up with a strong schooling from the Word of God in his house. 2. Jesus learned as he listened and interacted with the teachers of his day. He went to the temple when he was twelve and was so into discussion in the Word that he forgot he was to go home with his parents and they left without him. From LK 2:52 we read that Jesus grew in understanding of God’s Word and increased in wisdom. We recognize that good judgment; insight and understanding come as we are in the Word of God and not necessarily from age or experience. 3. As Jesus ministered we find that He used the Word of God in all He did. He started by using IS. 61:1. he was in the temple and when asked to read he turned right to this passage for he knew where it was. On one occasion Jesus healed a leper and used the teaching in Lev. 13:49, 14:2 to let the cleansed leper how he was to respond. One time Jesus was asked about God’s view on unbelief with the need of repentance and He used the example of Jonah. After His resurrection he explained to two men all that the Scriptures said about Him in the old testament as He walked along the road with them. He knew the Bible well enough that He was able to tell people He fulfilled all that the law and prophets said. JN 21:25 “Jesus also did many other things. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the world wouldn’t have enough room for the books that would be written.” 4.To become mighty in Scriptures will make one to become mighty in God. Because Jesus knew the Word the Devil was no match for Him. Billy Graham stated that if he were to only have three years to preach he would spend two of them studying and learning the Bible and one year in preaching. What part does the Bible play in your life today? If we do not know it we can not use it. What do you need to do today to become better equipped with the Bible? 2. JESUS committed TO MEMORY THE BIBLE.
As Jesus walked on this earth we do not see Him holding a Bible as He talked with people. There is only one time that reference is given that He had a Bible and that was when He was in the temple. He used what he had in his heart and mind. When bad thoughts or temptations come to us it is usually in the daily routine of life. We must have the Bible hidden in the heart if we are to defend ourselves rightly. 2 CO. 10:5 “We take every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ. “Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” I believe we would all agree that we live in a day when our eyes are battered with garbage that is not good for us. The only possible way to keep our minds from being swayed is to have the Word of God in them. That is our weapon of defense. We need to be talking it, thinking it, reading it, discussing it and meditating it so we can filter out the bad that comes our way. “Blessed is the man who delights in the law of the Lord.”
3. JESUS QUOTED THE BIBLE.
When Jesus spoke His words were always with a reference to the Word of God. Jesus did not quote the rabbis or the Talmud which was the Pharisee’s book of additional laws for they would not have much meaning is fighting evil. Jesus quoted the Bible. When Jesus was tempted by the Devil he did not command Satan to leave, or rebuke him, or repeat some magical formula. He used the Word of God as the weapon to clobber him. In the Gospel of Luke we find many times that Jesus used the Word. When John wanted to know if He was the real Messiah, Jesus used two verses from Isaiah. He showed John that He fulfilled the Scripture just as predicted. Jesus used a verse from Malachi to show that John would come before Him. When explaining why some would not understand the parables he taught he used IS. 6:9. he said, “Depart from me, all you evildoers” from PS 6:8. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” from PS 118:26. “My house shall be a house of prayer” IS 56:7, JER. 7:11. “The stone which the builders rejected,” PS 118:22. He used PS 110:1 to defend His divinity. That he would be crucified with criminals came from IS 53:12. There are many more but we just want to say that Jesus lived and died in the same way with the Word of God on His lips. Jesus was constant in speaking the Word of God and that is why the people spoke of Him as one who spoke with authority and not as other men.
4. JESUS ACTTED UPON THE GOSPEL.
Jesus who is the very Son of God still had to obey the Word to defeat the Devil. We receive God’s blessings after we obey. That might be why some people do not seem to be blessed in the way they act and talk. It is an act of our will to obey His Word and then we receive His promises. Jesus choose to obey the Word of God.
He knew the word of God was the food we need for our souls. Man cannot live by bread alone. As our hearts receive and put into practice the Word of god our spiritual lives mature and grow. It is Jeremiah who said, “Your words were found and I ate them and they became a joy and delight to my heart.” David said, “How sweet are Your Words to my mouth.”
Jesus knew it is more important to feed our souls than our bodies. The Bread of heaven is of much more value than the bread of this earth. We read that we need to fast from food but never is it said that we should fast from God’s Word. Job said, “I treasure the words of His mouth more than my needed food.”
Jesus knew that following God’s word helps us obey. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me.” Christ chose to devote himself to spiritual food and waited on God to provide the physical food he needed. In the wilderness God met the needs of His people everyday with manna but it was good only for that day. God provided for them for forty years.
The Bible was always Jesus’ weapon in his life for every need and situation that he faced. Jesus is our model. The Word of God is sharp and powerful for our living. There are no shortcuts, simple formulas or easy ways for us to be powerful in the Word. We have to take time to read it, study it, memorize it and obey it. We are the only ones that can make ourselves experts in the Word of God. We are not powerful just because we have a Bible we must have the Bible own us by its words being in us.
"The Scriptures were not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives." -- D. L. Moody
