Salt, have you ever thought about it? I know for most countries in the western world salt is found on about every table in some form or another. There was a time when salt was one of the most valuable commodities around, some said even more than gold or diamonds. Poor Lot's wife got turned into a pillar of salt for looking back at Sodom. Here in Matthew 5:13, Christ Jesus talks about salt during His sermon on the mount.
Matt
5:13
13 "You are the
salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be
made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be
thrown out and trampled by men.
Christ
Jesus had spent the night in prayer. Coming down from the mountain
early in the morning, He chooses the Twelve and took them back up
into the mountain where He delivered the Sermon on the Mount. From
this vantage point, overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Christ Jesus and
the apostles had a ringside observation seat.
The
fishermen had spent the night fishing. Now they were docking their
boats and crating their catch. Since there was no refrigeration, the
fish were packed in layers of salt. On board each ship was a salt
barrel. As the disciples glanced down at the ships, they saw a
familiar sight. A husky fisherman plunged his calloused hand into the
salt barrel, drew out a heaping handful of salt, and threw it into an
empty crate. Then he carefully laid a layer of fish on the salt and
continued to alternately layer salt and fish until the crate was
full. Perhaps Christ Jesus looked away for an instant to this sight
and then turns to His disciples with these words: “Ye
are the salt of the earth.”
Sodium is an
extremely active element found naturally only in combined form; it
always links itself to another element. Chlorine, on the other hand,
is the poisonous gas that gives bleach its offensive odor. When
sodium and chlorine are combined, the result is sodium chloride,
common table salt – a substance that preserves meat and brings out
the flavors of food.
I.
The timeless teachings of Christ Jesus. The
fact that Christ Jesus spoke of salt is an illustration of His
timelessness.
In
the average gallon of sea water, there is one-fourth pound of salt.
One statistician figured that all of the world’s oceans would yield
enough salt to build a wall 180 miles high and one mile thick, which
would be long enough to reach around the world at the equator.
The
world changes; but the teachings of Christ Jesus are changeless.
More scientific discoveries have been made in the last fifty years
than in the previous five thousand years. But the teachings of Christ
Jesus have never changed. They are as timeless as salt.
II.
A rotten world. Just
as fish need salt to keep them from rotting, this world needs the
salty
influence of Christians to keep it from rotting.
Moral
rot.
Alcoholism. More
than 30 percent of American adults have abused alcohol or suffered
from alcoholism at some point in their lives, and few
have received treatment, according to a new government
study.
Drug
addiction. More than 22 million Americans age 12 and
older - nearly 9% of the U.S. population - use illegal drugs,
according to the government’s 2010
National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Pornography.
As of 2003, there were 1.3 million pornographic
websites; 260 million pages (N2H2, 2003). The total
porn industry revenue for 2006: $13.3 billion in the United States;
$97 billion worldwide (Internet
Filter Review). U.S. adult DVD/video rentals
in 2005: almost 1 billion (Adult Video News). Hotel viewership for
adult films: 55% (cbsnews.com).
More than 70% of men from 18 to 34 visit a pornographic site in a typical month (comScore Media Metrix). 28% those admitting to sexual addiction are women (internet-filter-review.com). 34% of female readers of Today's Christian Woman's online newsletter admitted to intentionally accessing Internet porn in a recent poll and 1 out of every 6 women, including Christians, struggles with an addiction to pornography (Today’s Christian Woman, Fall 2003).
Theological rot.
Many
so-called Bible scholars view heaven and hell as mythological.
Many
ministers do not believe in the virgin birth.
Many
scholars try to explain away events recorded in the Old Testament,
such as the flood, the parting of the Red Sea, and Jonah’s being
swallowed by a large fish.
The Jesus Seminar was a group of
about 150 critical scholars and laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk
under the auspices of the Westar Institute.[1][2] The seminar was
active in the 1980s and 1990s. The Jesus Seminar's reconstruction of
the historical Jesus portrayed him as an itinerant and faith healer
who preached a gospel of liberation from injustice in startling
parables and aphorisms.[4][5][6] An iconoclast, Jesus broke with
established Jewish theological dogmas and social conventions both in
his teachings and behaviors, often by turning common-sense ideas
upside down, confounding the expectations of his audience: He
preached of "Heaven's imperial rule" (traditionally
translated as "Kingdom of God") as being already present
but unseen; he depicts God as a loving father; he fraternizes with
outsiders and criticizes insiders.[4][5][6] According to the seminar,
Jesus was a mortal man born of two human parents, who did not perform
nature miracles nor die as a substitute for sinners nor rise bodily
from the dead.[4][5][6] Sightings of a risen Jesus were nothing more
than the visionary experiences of some of his disciples rather than
physical encounters.[4][5][6]
III.
The Christian’s place of influence.
Salt
is salt because it is different.
When asked, “What does salt taste like?” one can only answer, “It
tastes like salt.” It is unique. The influence of the Christian
must remain a unique force in the world.
Salt
is pure.
One of the purest elements known to humankind is salt. It is easily
taken from salt pits and salt mines because it is so pure. Likewise,
the Christian should be characterized by purity.
There is no substitute
for salt.
If it loses its ability to salt, nothing can take its place. No one
can take the place of the
witnessing Christian whose life always corresponds to his lips.
Salt can
be useless. When dirt got mixed with salt, the precious salt was
treated like dirt; it was thrown on the slippery paths around
Jerusalem and other ancient cities. The saddest sight on earth is a
Christian who has lost his or her influence for Christ Jesus. They
are like precious salt being treated like common dirt.
Conclusion:
Born
Drunk was his name. He was the son of a prostitute who actually was
drunk when he was born. His friend Jim had found a new life in
Christ. Born Drunk had carefully observed Jim’s conversion. “I
want to be like Jim,” he said.
“Well,
don’t you want to be like Jesus?” asked a friend.
“I
don’t know nothin’ about Jesus, but whatever happened to Jim, I
want it to happen to me,” was his reply. After finding Christ, Jim
had become the salt of the earth!
Do
people around you see you as the salt of the earth?
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