Matthew 5:13  The Salt of the Earth

 

Introduction:  In the Beatitudes Jesus tells what values God expects of His people.  In our text Jesus tells how God values His people.  The statement in this text is a great compliment.  The next time you get down in the dumps remember this compliment from Jesus Christ.  Jesus gave it not only to compliment, but to teach.

 

I.  The teaching of this text.  (God’s people are compared to salt).

            A.  Salt is common.

                        1.  Salt is found in every nation, island, ocean.

                        2.  One does not have to be rich to buy it.  (It is in every home and on every table.)

                        3.  The point is that one does not have to be great from a worldly view in order to be saved.

                        4.  One does not have to occupy a great position, possess great wealth, have great talents or

                                    fame in order to be save.  (You can be as common as salt and be saved).

            B.  Salt is tasty.

                        1.  It may be common, but it is tasty.

                        2.  A flat tasteless food can be made delicious by adding just a very little salt.

                        3.  Without it, food is tasteless. 

                                    (Sister Davis:  “Doctor, take Harold away, but don’t take my salt.”)

                        4.  The point is that it is God’s people make this world a better place in which to live. 

                                    (Law and order, better speech and dress, better morals, better industry, and economy,

                                    better education and culture).

            C.  Salt creates a thirst.

                        1.  Eating salt causes one to be thirsty and to drink water which is so necessary to life.

                        2.  Even so God’s people are a preservative to the world.

                        3.  You are no doubt familiar with God’s conversation with Abraham about Sodom. 

                                    (For ten righteous people God would have spared Sodom).

                        4.  God will destroy this world some day, but He would have destroyed it long ago had it not

                                    been for the few righteous people there are here.

                       

II.  The warning of the text.

            A.  Almost all salt in that part of the world came from the Dead Sea.

                        1.  It contained other minerals.

                        2.  After prolonged exposure to moist air, it would loose its saltiness. 

                                    (Sodium chloride would dissolve).

                        3.  The white powder would remain, but it had no salt taste.

                        4.  It was no good for salting food.

                        5.  It was taken out and thrown on the roadway where it would mix with the topsoil and harden.

                        6.  Hence it was trodden under the foot of men.

            B.  Jesus used this to warn Christians.

                        1.  A child of God can loose his distinction as a child of God.    

                        2.  He can live a worldly life like the unsaved.

                        3.  Thus he becomes of no value to God in this world. 

                                    (He does not flavor, does not create a thirst, does not preserve).

            C.  He is henceforth good for nothing but to be trodden under the foot of men.

                        1.  This does not mean that he looses his salvation, John 5:24; I Peter 1:5.

                        2.  It does mean that he is no longer accepted by either group of men.

                                    a.  Not by the saved because of he is not Christ-like.

                                    b.  Not by the unsaved because of his ungodliness.

 

Conclusion:       1.  Child of God, you are important in this world.  Remember that the next time you get

                                    down in the dumps.

                        2.  Lost friend, you can be saved.  You do not have to be great in this world.

                        3.  If you thirst for salvation, turn to Christ and be satisfied.

                        4.  Child of God, heed the warning and do not loose your close fellowship with God.

                        5.  But if you already have, return.  (Salt might not regain its saltiness, but you can regain

                                    your godliness, and your usefulness to God

 

Preached at Pleasant Hill 3-27-82 A.M.

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