The Sermon On The Mount - Salt and Light
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Welcome. My name is Adam Diaz, I am the pastor here at Abide Church.
I am also a professor and I teach Accounting, Economics, and Business courses.
Today we are going to continue our year-long journey through the “Sermon On The Mount”
We just finished the first section of Jesus sermon often referred to as “The Beatitudes.”
I preached 8 weeks through The Beatitudes and titled that mini series, “How To Be Happy.”
Jesus opens his famous sermon with 8 “blessed are” statements.
Blessed means happy, fortunate, or flourishing.
It comes as a great surprise to many that Jesus wants you to be happy.
He wants you to be truly happy, and that comes not from the world, but from Jesus himself.
Immediately following The Beatitudes is where we pick up today.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Jesus says,
[slide]
You are the salt of the earth..
You are the light of the world...
The world is corrupt, the saltiness of the church contains that corruption
The world is dark, the light of the church penetrates that darkness
Jesus is saying here’s how to live the blessed life,
now go and have an influence on the world.
As we mature as Christians, as we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, we ought to expect our life to be extraordinary to the people around us.
Not in a way where people praise us or think we’re amazing, but in a way where people see there is genuinely something different about us. There is genuinely something we have.
[Taken from "The MacArthur New Testament Commentary]
Matthew: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Chapter 21: Salt of the Earth and Light of the World (5:13–16)
Woodrow Wilson told the story of being in a barbershop one time. “I was sitting in a barber chair when I became aware that a powerful personality had entered the room. A man had come quietly in upon the same errand as myself to have his hair cut and sat in the chair next to me. Every word the man uttered, though it was not in the least didactic, showed a personal interest in the man who was serving him. And before I got through with what was being done to me I was aware I had attended an evangelistic service, because Mr. D. L. Moody was in that chair. I purposely lingered in the room after he had left and noted the singular affect that his visit had brought upon the barber shop. They talked in undertones. They did not know his name, but they knew something had elevated their thoughts, and I felt that I left that place as I should have left a place of worship.”
I tell my leadership team all the time that they need to engage people in such a way that Jesus is demonstrated. This will either draw them in, or repel them.
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
Salt
Salt
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
Salt was valuable in ancient times to Greek, Roman, and Jewish cultures
So at a minimum this would have had a positive connotation
3 Characteristics Christians share with salt
1. Flavor
2. Creates thirst
3. Preserves
Flavor
Flavor
The psalmist says:
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
As Christians, we ought to be drawing out the goodness and blessing of God in the world.
We ought to be inviting the world to taste! To see the glory of God and be satisfied!
Creates thirst
Creates thirst
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
Christians don’t put a longing and taste for God in everyone’s mouth.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
The way you live should have influence, but it will likely be polarizing
Preserves
Preserves
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Light
Light
Our light is Jesus light
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
We are only reflections of Jesus, the true light
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
Jesus is the true light.
If there is light at all, truth at all, goodness at all,
It must derive its ultimate source from Jesus
[Taken from "The MacArthur New Testament Commentary]
Matthew: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Chapter 21: Salt of the Earth and Light of the World (5:13–16)
Christ’s kingdom people are not to reflect the world but they are to influence the world; they are to be in it but not of it.
In my short Christmas Eve service I shared:
3 Characteristics Jesus shares with light:
1. Exposes
2. Guides
3. Illuminates
But because Jesus ministry extends through us, it could say:
3 Characteristics Christians shares with light:
1. Exposes
2. Guides
3. Illuminates
While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”
When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.
for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
1. Exposes
1. Exposes
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
2. Guides
2. Guides
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Christians, all Christians are like priests, that is someone who connects others to God.
The Bible tells us Jesus is the Great High Priest, the ultimate connector to God
But Christians play a roll in God’s plan of redemption
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
3. Illuminates
3. Illuminates
I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”