SERIES: The Everyday Gospel
TEXT: Matthew 5:13-16
MESSAGE: “Salt & Light: A Transformed People”
Our vision is to be a church for our city that seeks new life in Jesus.
“…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 5:14-16
Q: What do we learn about God’s purposes for us in this passage, and how can we apply it to our lives? We see three lessons: (1) The Salt (2) The Light (3) The Glory
1. The Salt (v. 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.”
“…in Christ’s day and for many centuries thereafter, salt was the most common of all the preservatives. There were no refrigerators in ancient times, no deep freeze units. The Mediterranean world was largely tropical. In such a climate and in the face of such conditions, salt was used to keep things from going bad and becoming rotten, particularly meat…When Jesus said that those who followed him were the salt of the earth, therefore, he was teaching that the world apart from God is rotten because of sin, but through his power, his disciples were able and actually obliged to have a preserving and purifying effect upon it.” — James Boice
“Taste and see that the Lord is good…” — Psalm 34:8
“Too often, personal effectiveness is used as a tool to build the life we want, and God is left out of the picture…. So we aren’t truly unstuck unless Christ is at the center of our lives. For Christ to be at the center of our being unstuck means that we do all that we do for him and in his power.” — Matt Perman (How to get unstuck)
“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” — John 7:37-38
2. The Light (v. 14-15)
“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.”
“Can we doubt that presently our race will more than realize our boldest imaginations, that it will achieve unity and peace, that it will live, the children of our blood and lives will live, in a world made more splendid and lovely than any palace or garden that we know, going on from strength to strength in an ever widening circle of adventure and achievement?” — H.G. Wells
“‘Homo Sapiens,’ as he is pleased to call himself, is played out. His depravity has come near to breaking my spirit.” — H.G. Wells
“For a variety of reasons, Christians have lost the vision of witness, and are slow to return to it. But in better days and other lands, the faithful and divinely empowered proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ so transformed men that they in turn become the light of the world.”— D.A. Carson
“He doesn’t say we’re like the sun or we’re like the stars, because suns and stars have light in themselves. You’re like a lamp, and a lamp cannot produce light; a lamp can only hold light. That means Jesus is implying very strongly here what’s stated elsewhere, and that is Jesus Christ himself is the light of the world, and you become the light of the world only as you are lit by him. Your light is derived. You are a lamp. You’re not the sun.” — Timothy Keller
3. The Glory (v. 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.”
“Angels glorify God whom they see; and men are forced to glorify God whom they do not see, when they mark the ‘good works’ of his saints…Since men will be sure to see our excellences, if we possess any, be it ours to see that all glory is given to our Lord, to whom it is entirely due.” — Charles Spurgeon
TAKEAWAYS: This new year, how can you be salt and light?
- Examine your why
- Abide in the Source
- Excel and exalt God
“…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.” — John 8:12