John 8:12
Matthew 5:14-16
In this portion of the Scripture we find significant truths taught by Jesus to His disciples in what is widely known as “The sermon on the mount”). In the text Jesus says that we the Church are the light and the salt of the earth. As salt God uses His Church to combat the rottenness and wickedness that sin has brought into the world. As the Salt of the earth, we are called upon by God to retain our unique relationship with Him admist a world of people who don’t want to believe that He even exists.
As salt we are not supposed to lose our unique place in this world, because other folks won’t or don’t believe in our God. Just as salt impacts every thing that it comes in contact with, so should our lives make an impact upon everything that we come in contact with. Our influence here in this world, in this country, in this city , in this community, and certainly in our very homes should be a unchanging ever present force for God and for good.
Those of us who have received the impartation of the Holy Spirit ought to in turn be able to make an undeniable impact upon the world. The impartation we have received should give us the ability to influence the world for God and for good! I want to encourage you today to allow the Lord to continue to make you what He created you to be. Ye are the salt of the earth!
For salt to do what it does best there are two things that have to happen. First, the salt be at full potency! Or as Jesus puts it, “ ..but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted?” Salt is unmistakable in its nature and insoluble even when mixed with the most pervasive of solvents. In other words, salt cannot easily be watered down. You can put just a pinch of salt in a glass of water and the taste of the salt permeates the entire glass. Put enough of it in anything and it will literally take over and overpower the very thing that it is placed in. We need to have the pervasiveness of salt and the penetrating power of salt in this world that God has placed us in. We need to posess the unchanging nature that is salt for that is the source of its real power. When Jesus uses salt as a metaphor for the Church He is describing for us the very special nature that the Church ought to have.
A Christian who makes no impact on the world in which he or she lives is like salt that has lost its savor! As Christians in the midst of a sin laden, and sin filled world, we are designed by God to be the salt, the catalyst for change in the world even as we like salt overcome the world.
Yes, Smokey Robinson, there are some sad things known to man, but there is not too much sadder than a Christian who has lost His savor, or potency! A Christian with out power is as useful as the finest lamp with no power to operate it! A Christian without power is as useful as a sail without wind! The reason that many Christians have no power can be summed up in one word worldliness! We are warned many times in the Scriptures to guard against worldliness.
1 John 2:14-16 King James Version (KJV)
14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Titus 2:11-13 King James Version (KJV)
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
We cannot change the world if we allow the world to set the standard for our faith and practice. The more that the Church conforms to the ways of the world the less power we will have to change it. That is why the Scriptures tells us in Romans 12:1-3, 12 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
For salt to do what it does best the second thing that has to happen is that is must be placed in or on that which it is expected to change. Or another way of saying it is that the salt is no good if left in the salt shaker. It must come out of the salt shaker and placed on to the meat! It has to be intricately and intimately mixed with that it is designed to change. That is why we as Christians must NOT shun the world entirely, but why we must wholeheartly seek to be IN THE WORLD BUT NOT OF THE WORLD. Being in the world means that we seize each and every opportunity to influence those that are in the world for God. It is not a matter of forcing our views or values upon others. It is a matter of simply holding true to our views and values as directed by God. He is the source of our power, and the source of our ability to effect change in this world. We can do nothing of ourselves, but with Him we can do mighty things even to the pulling down of strongholds.
Being out of the shaker, means when whe leave the comfort of the four walls of our churches, we remain true to our nature as salt, by NOT allowing the world to change who and what we are. It isn’t about preaching and lecturing people about how they should live. It is about living a life so clear, open and honest that your life becomes a sermon and message that cannot be denied.
Salt does not have to try and be salt, it just is salt. Salt doesn’t need to prove to others that it is salt. It just is salt. We don’t need try to be world changers, we by our very nature are world changers. Eph 2:9:10 says this, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” And Titus 3:8 reminds us, “This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.”
I want to encourage you today to allow the Lord to continue to make you what He created you to be. Ye are the salt of the earth!