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Kingdom Impact upon a Fallen World (Matthew 5:13-16)
11 Plays3 months ago
In our text today Jesus chooses metaphors of salt and light to convey the impact citizens of His kingdom should have upon society because we are different from the kingdoms of the world. So, if we attempt to accommodate ourselves to the world and permit our lives to be conformed to the molds of its kingdoms, then we shall lose our distinctiveness and our potential to impact the decay and the darkness of this world.
Let’s examine the significance of four verses found near the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, undoubtedly one of the greatest sermons ever delivered. Although our Lord’s message runs through three chapters of Matthew’s Gospel, chapters 5-7, our attention will focus only upon Matthew 5:13-16.
We will direct our attention to six observations from the text.
1. Desperation of Isolation from the Kingdom – “…the earth…the world…”
2. Declaration of the Indicative of the Kingdom – “You are…you are…”
3. Description of the Influence of the Kingdom – “…the salt…the light…”
4. Disruption through Interruption to the Kingdom – “…but if salt has lost its taste…nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket…”
5. Dedication to the Intention of the Kingdom – “…how shall its saltiness be restored? ...but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others…”
6. Deterioration into Ineffectiveness of the Kingdom – “…It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet…so that they may see your Father who is in heaven.”
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Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam Street
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Blessing
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message. If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, FBCColumbusTX.org. And now take your copy of God's timeless word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome back to Growing in Grace. Glad you're with us
Kingdom Impact: Salt and Light
00:00:46
Speaker
today. We're going to look at Matthew 5, verses 13 through 16. The topic today is kingdom impact upon a fallen world. In our text today, Jesus chooses metaphors of salt and light to convey the impact that citizens of his kingdom should have upon society because we're different.
00:01:10
Speaker
We're different from the kingdoms of the world. So if we attempt to accommodate ourselves to the world and permit our lives to be conformed to the moles of its kingdoms, then we shall lose our distinctiveness and along with it, our potential to impact the decay and the darkness of this big world.
00:01:33
Speaker
Hey, let's examine the significance of four verses found near the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount undoubtedly one of the greatest sermons ever delivered. Although our Lord's message runs through three chapters of Matthew's Gospel, chapters 5, 6, and 7, our attention will focus only upon Matthew 5, 13 through 16. So let me read those verses. It says, you are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste,
00:02:05
Speaker
How shall its saltiness be restored? It's 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.
00:02:26
Speaker
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." Wow, great words there.
The Beatitudes and Burdens
00:02:45
Speaker
So I'd like to just sort of break it down and sort of, um I don't know, share with you six observations that stood out to me the more time I spent with this text. It's like they just floated to the top. So let's look at those together. The first observation was the desperation of isolation.
00:03:05
Speaker
from the kingdom. Isn't it nice to be in God's kingdom? Well, that feeling that we get, that sense of peace and and victory and so forth, everyone doesn't share that. But certainly the preceding verses where Jesus is talking about the Beatitudes in chapter five, ah verses three, all the way down through, well, verse 12,
00:03:29
Speaker
All down through there, he mentions a couple of different times the kingdom of heaven in verse three, the kingdom of heaven in verse 10. And what he says is, you guys are blessed when you're in the kingdom of heaven. But verses 13 through 16 address the burdens outside of Christ's kingdom. You see, Isaiah 59.2 says, your iniquities have made a separation.
00:03:59
Speaker
between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he does not hear." Wow, that is so tragic, isn't it? Whenever someone is separated from the Lord, there are so many things that it it touches and and that people go through.
Invitation to Christ
00:04:20
Speaker
Here's what it says in Ephesians 4, 17 through 19. It says, now this I say in testifying the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. In the futility of their minds, they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to their hardness of heart.
00:04:46
Speaker
They've become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. Well, all of those kinds of things that describes for me.
00:04:59
Speaker
the desperation of people who are alienated, isolated from the kingdom. It's way better to be in Christ's kingdom. If you're not in Christ's kingdom to- today, I encourage you, come to Christ. Come to Christ so that you can enjoy the blessings that we have over on this side in the kingdom.
00:05:21
Speaker
But I noticed that he goes on to say a couple of things are like in the indicative mood. And what it means is he uses the word are. You are. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.
00:05:39
Speaker
What he's doing here is he's making a declaration. He's stating a fact. It's in the present tense. It's not the past tense. And it's also not saying, well, someday when Christ returns and sets up a millennial reign on this earth, that's when you guys are going to be the salt of the earth. You're going to be the light of the world. No? No, he's saying right now.
00:06:08
Speaker
And notice, too, that it's like he's telling us what is. He's not giving us a command, and he's not sort of trying to exhort us. He's actually declaring a fact. And I find it interesting that it's all based on who we are.
00:06:25
Speaker
who we are in character. That's clearly spelled out from verse two through verse 12, but it's not based on your talent. It's not based on my knowledge. It's not based on our money or our appearance or our social prominence. No, none of that. What he's saying is you guys, and it's in the plural, second person plural pronoun, and it's in the emphatic position in the sentence, which basically means I'm not counting on the government. I'm not counting on education. You guys and you guys alone are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. And I just think, wow, what an honor that we have to be called the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Roles of Salt and Light
00:07:14
Speaker
So I thought, why don't we just thirdly go ahead and describe
00:07:18
Speaker
What that means to be the salt and the light? You see, I believe that both of these two metaphors, salt and light, they describe the influence that Christ's kingdom is going to have upon the world. You see, the salt is needed. Why? Well, because the world is in decay. But the light is needed because the world is in darkness.
00:07:44
Speaker
And it's it's so amazing how balanced the Lord is. you know Salt works silently. Salt works secretly. Salt works through its character, simply who it is. you know That's why he talks about here, about the taste. you know Salt has a certain taste about it.
00:08:05
Speaker
I remember one little boy saying, salt is what tastes bad when you don't have it. And the Lord said, I want this world to have it. And so salt works silently and secretly through character, but light is not like that. Light's not silent and secret and working behind the scenes and under the radar. Oh, no. No, when you're in a dark room and somebody turns on the light, man, it's visible.
00:08:35
Speaker
Light works visibly and openly. And you know what it does? It works not just through character. I'm sure character is involved, but light also works through conduct. A little later, when I'm unpacking this passage before us, you're going to hear Jesus say that we have good works. And those good works ought to be shining brightly out there in the marketplace and so forth.
00:09:04
Speaker
I thought about how salt influences through preservation. Through preservation, salt used to be used to preserve meat, right? But it couldn't change any kind of corruption that happens. All it can do is sort of slow it down. It kind of blocks it. It retards it. So it doesn't change evil. It only tries to hold evil back.
00:09:33
Speaker
But light, on the other hand, light is not a preservative. No, light is transformational. It'll actually change. Light displaces e or darkness. Light can actually change everything in a dark room when you turn on that light. You see,
00:09:55
Speaker
God's, the gospel, will actually replace the evil that is out there. And I thought, thank you, God, that we're like salt that's holding back evil, and we have a gospel of light that actually changes evil. And so how how powerful is that?
00:10:13
Speaker
You know, salt, if you think about it, it combats decay, but it does have other qualities other than just antiseptic and disinfectant and so forth. It also promotes thirst. You know, salt makes people thirsty, but also it provides flavor. Some people say it also perks vigor.
00:10:35
Speaker
I read one article. I couldn't believe it. It said there are 1,400 industrial uses for salt. So there's a lot of things that salt is good for. But in this context, I think what the Lord is referring to is this whole idea of salt as a preservative. It's going to keep meat from spoiling.
00:10:58
Speaker
But let's also consider light because he does say, hey, your influence is not just going to be like salt. Your influence is going to be like light. You see, light illuminates.
00:11:10
Speaker
Light exposes. Whenever you've got the light, you know someone has a flashlight and you're walking through a dark area, they can guide you and direct you. Light also gives life, doesn't it? I wonder what the plants outside would be like if the sun ever did not shine. I don't think they would grow.
00:11:32
Speaker
I believe that light also contributes to happiness. There are people who live in areas where there's not a lot of light, and it can it can really weigh heavily upon them. I think light can also warm. Light warms the earth.
00:11:48
Speaker
I think that light can dry up when there's too much water. Light also helps the body produce vitamin D. There's so many things involved here, but I think the idea with light here is that it's going to be transformational. It's going to illuminate things.
00:12:07
Speaker
And so I'm so thankful that the Lord shows those two easy to understand metaphors of the difference that we are supposed to be making upon this world. That's the description of the influence of the kingdom.
00:12:24
Speaker
But sometimes we don't. So what's happening when we don't? Well, what's happening is there is some kind of interruption, and it's disrupting our purpose and what we were meant to be.
Compromise and Consequences
00:12:38
Speaker
And here's why he says, but if salt has lost its taste. And then when he's talking about light, he says, people don't light a lamp and put it under a basket. And so the whole idea of,
00:12:52
Speaker
tasteless salt is sort of strange because salt is a stable compound. It actually can never lose its taste. And so didn't Jesus know that? Of course he knew that. He's trying to exaggerate for a purpose. He's trying to say it's foolish to think that salt should lose its taste. So what he's talking about is sometimes we Christians are so foolish to throw away our distinctiveness in Christ by simply embracing more of the world. And it's sort of like maybe through slothfulness or dullness, we become just plain old bland.
00:13:36
Speaker
or insipid. We're not making a difference in the world. We're just trying to be kind of blend in and be like them. And the Lord is saying, no, no, no, I don't want you to blend in. And so yes, he knows that salt is a stable compound. He made salt. He made this world. And so that's the great thing about him. He's our creator.
00:13:58
Speaker
But he's trying to say, how foolish is it? You know, the word actually there that he used for tasteless, it's Moreno. It comes from the word moros, which we get our word moron. It's so it's like we're being so foolish.
00:14:15
Speaker
when we compromise with the world, when we embrace worldliness around us. It's almost like we're like the church at Laodicea in Revelation chapter 3, verses 14 to 21, when he says, you know what, you're you're not hot and you're not cold, you're just lukewarm.
00:14:36
Speaker
And he said, it makes me want to spit you out of my mouth. And so how terrible that is to have a disruption because of some kind of interruption of perhaps compromise. But then I think about the light, how foolish, how irrational for someone to even bother lighting a lamp, only to conceal it and to conceal it underneath a basket.
00:15:04
Speaker
Isn't that a ridiculous, hypothetical situation? Well, that's why the Lord's trying to say, the ridiculous thing is when my people don't shine. Why even bother lighting a light if you're going to simply cover it up? It's silly. It's illogical. It's wasteful.
00:15:21
Speaker
So Jesus chooses two household items in this discussion about the light. He chose a portable lamp fed by oil, and he chose a basket often used by people back then to maybe store dry goods such as grain or whatever. And so just to think about how he beautifully and so vividly weaves these two metaphors together to help us understand that there's no way we're supposed to not impact this broken and fallen world. You know, both of these have been interrupted either by contamination from the outside world or by intentional concealment by someone on the inside of the house.
00:16:10
Speaker
Either way, the result is, the tragic result is a disruption to the purpose of our very existence. We are supposed to impact this fallen world. That's who He made us to be. It's who we are.
00:16:26
Speaker
But I want to go on to say something positive about the dedication to the intention for the kingdom.
Call to Action: Godly Living
00:16:34
Speaker
He says, how shall its saltiness be restored? Of course, we've already said it can't be lost, right? But let's say that we follow the metaphor and we pretend, okay, what if it could, though?
00:16:48
Speaker
How could it be restored? And then when you follow the metaphor of light, he says, you know, really, a city set on a hill, it can't be hidden. and And if you've got a light, you would normally put it on a stand so that all in the house would be able to see. Let your light shine before others.
00:17:09
Speaker
So what is the dedication toward God's original intention for each of us while we're in this life? Well, I think the first thing would be godly infiltration. Godly infiltration. We should be living a godly life every day that will make a difference where we work, those that were around within our families. I think that God intends for our character to make such a difference. So if we've lost that godliness, the scriptures are so clear. All we have to do is come to the Lord in confession and repentance, and we can be scrubbed.
00:17:51
Speaker
and we can get rid of that contamination and be back to our purpose of being sort of like this salt that'll hold back the evil. But then there's also the restoration of the intensity of content through a return to the Scriptures, where we go back to the Scriptures that will give us the boldness that we need to make the gospel clear so that we are back to biblical proclamation. So that leads me not to a dedication of godly infiltration,
00:18:25
Speaker
at a dedication to gospel illumination. You've got the light in your hands. I've got the light in my hands if we're believers. And so what we have to do is simply turn it loose. Get it out from underneath the basket. Put it on the lampstand. Let the family, let the coworkers, let the people in your community, let the people across our world know they're living in darkness. And it's not fun when you're in darkness.
00:18:54
Speaker
You know, I read a story about a young couple that decided to take their son and their daughter to Carlsbad Cavern over in New Mexico.
The Light of Hope
00:19:03
Speaker
Well, when they got way down in one of those caverns in a very deep place, they decided, let's just turn out all the lights. So when they turned out all the lights, it just absolutely petrified the little girl.
00:19:17
Speaker
And so their daughter was so scared, but her older brother, he could feel her standing beside him. So he puts his arm around her and he whispers something into her ear that made all the difference. You know what he said?
00:19:31
Speaker
He said, don't cry, sis. Somebody here knows how to turn on the lights. Hey, we know how to turn on the light. The Lord Jesus turned on the light in our lives, didn't He? So let's turn on the light in in the lives of others who are still out there in that cold darkness. We can make a difference. That's God's purpose. That's His intention. But it does take dedication to return to that original purpose that the Lord has for us.
00:20:00
Speaker
Because if we don't, then there's this deterioration. The deterioration, and once it happens among us in our personal lives or in our witness for Christ, then we become ineffective. And the world is so, I don't know, they can just totally ignore us and say, ho hum, who cares about those those guys that just get over there in that huddle?
00:20:25
Speaker
ineffective followers of Christ have conformed to the world, and so there's no more difference between their lives and their morals and their values than those of the world. And so that's where we become ineffective. Or to stay with the light metaphor,
00:20:44
Speaker
Ineffective followers of Christ are concealing the gospel, concealing the Father, concealing the Son. There's no more discussion through our words. There's no more demonstration through our works and our actions. People don't know that we stand for the light, that we have the light, that we are the light.
00:21:06
Speaker
And so the result is the world just ignores the church. The world is indifferent to its identical way of life whenever we're not intentionally different, like the Lord designed us to be.
00:21:20
Speaker
You know, that the result would be that a church could grow intimidated. A church could grow silent in the public square as the flesh is glorified rather than the Father. It shouldn't be that way. Our Father and His Son, they're worthy to be exalted.
00:21:39
Speaker
You know, it's tragic whenever his disciples begin to follow and imitate the world rather than to lead those in the world out of darkness and into light when they permit evil and wickedness rather than preserve society from further deterioration.
00:21:57
Speaker
Listen, friends, why don't we say, God, you made us to be the salt of the earth. You made us to be the light of the world. So we're going to be who you called us to be. We are going to try to preserve against decay and we're going to bring light that will dispel the darkness that is out there.
00:22:21
Speaker
I'm telling you, it's powerful. But I do want to share with you one thing that I have observed in
Warnings and Invitations
00:22:28
Speaker
scripture. I've found at least four different passages that all four say the same thing. 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 3, 1 Timothy 4, verses 1 through 3,
00:22:43
Speaker
2 Timothy 3, verses 1 through 9, and also verse 13, and 2 Timothy 4, verses 3 through 4. What these four passages have in common, they are all New Testament prophecies that are trying to forewarn the church, to forewarn Christians that before the end comes, one thing that's going to happen is there's going to be a ah great move of what could be called apostasy or falling away.
00:23:17
Speaker
Where those who come to church, they stop going to church. Those who once used to say that they're a Christian, those who once used to sing this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.
00:23:30
Speaker
They don't want to be called Christians anymore. They don't want to let a light shine for Jesus anymore. And so I just wanted to sort of sound the alarm that those kinds of things, they're happening in American society, ah especially through this faith deconstruction movement and other things that are similar.
00:23:52
Speaker
People are beginning to embrace the world in so many ways in their lifestyles, in their values, their morals, and so forth. And I just want to encourage you, don't cross thread with what the Lord has for us as believers. I believe that those who are going to fall away never were really part of us. It's sort of like in 1 John, where John says, they went out from us because they were not really of us.
00:24:22
Speaker
If they would have been of us, they would have remained with us. And so I think that sometimes people fall away because they never were really born again. Listen, if you don't know for certain that you have been born again, that you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, that he has, you know, wiped away and cleansed all your sins, if you don't know for certain that you will go to heaven when you die, then I just encourage you, friend, please,
00:24:52
Speaker
Turn from sin now. The Bible says all have sinned and fall short for the glory of God. So all of us fall short of God's glory. We're not going to make it on our own. But the good news is that He gave His Son as a free gift.
00:25:08
Speaker
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so I just encourage you to come to him. you The Bible talks about his great love that he's already demonstrated, but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And so if you don't know Christ, I encourage you to pray and trust him now.
00:25:35
Speaker
If you will confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God's raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved.
Closing Prayer and Salvation
00:25:43
Speaker
Why don't we pray together and let me pray for those of us that are Christians. And I'll also pray for any that are listening that may not be a Christian yet. I just want you to know that on behalf of the church, we love you. We want you to come and learn more ah about our Savior. He's changed our lives. We're not trying to condemn you.
00:26:03
Speaker
We're trying to reach out a hand to try to help you and try to get the gospel that will save you and rescue you. So let's pray together. Lord, thank you so much ah for those that are listening today. For those who are Christians, I pray that you would help us, Lord, to be the salt, to be the light, and not to compromise, not to miss our calling, not to miss our reason for existence on this earth. Help us truly to have that impact upon this fallen world. It's so broken, and we can bring a healing difference in this world.
00:26:42
Speaker
And so Lord, use us. But I do pray for any that do not have a personal relationship with Christ now, that you would help them to turn from sin and turn to Christ. I thank you for the sufficiency of Christ's death on the cross, that Lord, you gave your son who was perfect to die in our place, taking the punishment for our sin. And now in exchange, you offer us forgiveness and you offer us eternity in heaven, a place where joys will never end.
00:27:15
Speaker
And so I thank you so much for salvation in Christ that is available. So help them to pray and trust Christ, inviting and surrendering their lives, inviting Christ to be their Lord and Savior. Thank you again for your salvation. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, thank you, friend, for listening today. I pray God will bless you. I pray we'll live this out. Matthew 5, 13 through 16. Have a great week.
00:27:48
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milan Street, Columbus, Texas.