Red Letters

CJ DICKENSON

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BE THESE

Matthew 5:13–16 ESV

13 “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. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 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. 16 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.

Matthew 5:13–14 ESV

Matthew 5:13

I was at the store yesterday and as I was in there there was a young woman that came into the store and I will sometimes just watch people. You know I wasn’t checking her out or anything but I am an observer, particularly when it comes to human behaviour. Sometimes I will watch somebody just to get a read off of them. You can tell a lot by someones body language. And I only seen this woman for a few seconds but the holy Spirit started speaking to me a message, the message I am going to give you today.

She had a ball cap on that was pulled way down , right over her eyes, her eyes were a little blood shot, so she was probably stoned, and she wasn’t making eye contact with anyone just focused and trying to get out the door as quickly as she could.

And that is how most people live their lives, like in the shadows. Now they can come out of the shadows when they get some liquid courage in them, or if you get into a conversation about something that they know a lot about.

Let me give you another example- every time I go to serve on a Quest. I usually get on the bus with 25 other dudes, and their countenance is dark. They are a quarter of the men that they are supposed to be. Beat down, they can fake it in most settings but not in a setting like this where God is the focal point. Their hats are way down covering over their face, they are nervous. When they speak you can tell they’ve had the heck beat out of them.

But it never fails by the second or third day those men have their hats up, there is some life and energy make in their eyes, and by the fifth day they are fully alive, fully alert. Their mind is clear of all the toxin

The posers that got on the bus are living in their true identity. And when Jesus gives you your idenity back, hes giving your life back. The devil is wanted all across the world for identity theft

Jesus said you are the salt of the Earth, you are the light of the world. A city on a hill that cannot be hidden. You’re made to shine. That’s not me trying to give a rah-rah speech. That is what Jesus said.

THE PROBLEM

Do you know what the problem is?

John 3:19–20 ESV

19 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. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

Matthew 5:17 ESV

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

John 3:19-20

Mattehw 5:17

But know this about the darkness. The darkness is deceptive, the darkness will always cause you to stumble. The darkness will prevent you from seeing the reality of things. It will keep you from spotting whats truly going on when it seems like life just keeps giving you blow after blow.

Listen to me God has made you to be a preservative in a dying culture. He has made you to be a light of hope to those drowning in darkness. Now lets get into our text

Now why did the Lord use these Salt and Light as a metaphor to describe the christian? Well because it is something that people in the ancient world could grasp.

If we could get it down to a single word. the Word would be influence!

What is our influence to be?

Matthew 5:13 ESV

13 “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.

What is our influence to be?

A little boy once told his mamma that he promised to be good if she would just give him a dollar.... She said why don’t you be like your father and just be good for nothing!

That could be the description of a lot of believers to day, they are being good but being good for nonthing. they are like salt that has lost its flavour. Not good for anything except to always be trampled over by others,

Lets look at the quality of salt-

Salt is only good if the salt is pure

Now you need to understand something about salt is that in ancient days salt was a hot commodity to have!

In fact it was used as a medium of exchange, like money.

In fact the English word salary comes from this practice of using salt for payment. Have you ever heard the expression He isn’t worth his salt. Listen if anything ever happens that is catstrphic , Salt will again be a hot commidity to have

Do you remember the show that came out a few years ago called Jericho? Was a really good show, but it was about a post nuclear America. A terror organization detonated multiple nuclear weapons across the US targetting all the major cities. Washington eliminated effectively taking out our goverment, New York eliminated taking out the stock exchange- money is no good. And it tells the story of what America would like like for the survivors if it was ever hit like that. The US became the Wild west over night. Well there was a town in Kansas called Jericho that didnt get hit by the bombs. And the people had to learn how to barter and exchange. In the show the ones that were doing really well during that time was the ones that owned the salt mines....

A. Salt Seasons

Jesus said if salt loses its flavour how can it be made salty again? There is nothing worse than eating bland food. I love chicken but when my wife gives me a thick chicken breast that isn’t flavored I just assume give it to the dogs. Can I tell you that sin makes life bland and bleak. It seems like it would do the opposite. I am a sucker for comedy. I mean I like to have those deep belly laughs. There used to be a lot of good comedy. Now comedy has really resorted to shock value, it has become lewd and tasteless, vulgar. Listen there should be some slat in your soul

Most people are living bland lives today

B. Salt Preserves

Salt prevented decay, Before they had freezers salt was key alongside smoking and drying out meat to be kept in storage

Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive C. Salt Heals

Salt has an antiseptic about it. Salt has healing properties to it. As a matter of fact, in Bible times, when little babies were born, they would give that baby a saline bath. They would salt the baby with salt, that is, to hold down infection. And so, salt, my dear friend, is an antiseptic. Salt heals.

C. Salt Heals

D. Salt Burns

How can it be salty again? The Problem with Worthless salt

And, in Bible times, they got much of their salt from the Dead Sea. There’s more salt concentrated there than any other place on earth. When the sun would come out on that particular salt, it would evaporate the water, and the salt and the minerals would be left behind together. You couldn’t use that on your table. As a matter of fact, it’s polluted. It’s terrible, noxious. I have been down there to put my finger in that, just put it to the tip of my tongue. It’s bitter indeed. Salt—yes; but all of the purity of salt has leaked out and leeched out, and the chemicals, the impurities, are left. It is valueless. Not only is it valueless; it is harmful. If you would take that salt and put it on your crops, they would die. If you were to pour it down the well, the water would be poison.

What would they do with that salt? I’ll tell you one thing they could do with it: they could just cast it out on the roadway. That was the only safe place for it. You couldn’t put it on the fields where it would leak down into the water supply, and so forth. Put it on the roadway. And, because it made a very good cement, the moisture would come and dampen it and it would harden. And, men would walk on it, and it would be trampled down. Nothing would grow there. But, it made very good pavement for men to walk on. Look at what he says here: “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour”—it’s saltiness—“wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” ()

Light- You are light a city set upon a hill...

Where do we get this light? From the Lord Jesus Christ.. He is the light in our lives

John 1:4–5 ESV

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There is a false gospel in this town that focuses on what we used to be instead of the new creation. It says woe is me I am just a poor sinner. Woe is me I hope God looks past my depravity and has mercy on me. Listen that may have been true of you before you came to Christ, but listen the same Gsopel that says we were once lost, alientated from the life of God. Hating and being hated is the same gosple that says that what you once were. Now you are light in the Lord. You have been given a new heart a new mind. It says that where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. It says that you have past from darkness now made in the light. You have gone from death unto life.

People need to see your good works and thereby glorify your Father who is in heaven

Closing

SHOW VIDEO OF LLITTLE GIRL AND OLD GUY

Rogers, A. (2017). Salty Saints. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.

Mark 9:49 ESV

49 For everyone will be salted with fire.

What does the darkness do?

MOld and bacteria grow in the dark.

📷

1 John 3:21 ESV

21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;

Now don’t confuse being odd with being righteous. I am not saying that if you live for Jesus you make it into the cool kids club- oh no.... The lost world may think you weird when you put others before yourself, or you refuse to take part in the dark things

Matthew 5:10–11 ESV

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

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