Sermon On The Mount (IV)Sermon On The Mount (IV)

A Disciple’s Influence – Mt 5.13-16

Mt 5:13-15“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”

The Salt of the EarthThe Salt of the Earth

• Salt Preserves– As salt, we influence sinners to act better.

• Our influence on society a whole• Our influence on a personal basis

The Salt of the EarthThe Salt of the Earth

• Salt Adds Flavor

Job 6:6“Can something tasteless

be eaten without salt,Or is there any taste in the

white of an egg?”

The Salt of the EarthThe Salt of the Earth

• Salt Adds Flavor– “If salt loses its flavor…”

The Salt of the EarthThe Salt of the Earth

• Salt Adds Flavor– Our “saltiness” makes the world taste

better to God – Gen 18; Jer 5.1

Jer 5:1“Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,And look now and take note.And seek in her open squares,If you can find a man,If there is one who does justice, who seeks truth,Then I will pardon her.”

The Salt of the EarthThe Salt of the Earth

• Creates Thirst– To lead others to drink of the water of life

John 4:10-15“Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.’ She said to Him, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?’ Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.’”

The Salt of the EarthThe Salt of the Earth

• Salt Cemented or Sealed Covenants

Leviticus 2:13“Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.”

The Salt of the EarthThe Salt of the Earth

• Salt Cemented or Sealed Covenants

Num18:19“ All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual allotment. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD to you and your descendants with you.”

The Salt of the EarthThe Salt of the Earth

• Salt Cemented or Sealed Covenants

2 Chron 13:5“Do you not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the rule over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?”

The Salt of the EarthThe Salt of the Earth

• Salt Sustains Life

The Salt of the EarthThe Salt of the Earth

• Two requirements for salt to work:– 1. Must Keep It’s Flavor:

Mt 5:13“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”

The Salt of the EarthThe Salt of the Earth

• Two requirements for salt to work:– 1. Must Keep It’s Flavor

• By staying pure

The Salt of the EarthThe Salt of the Earth

• Two requirements for salt to work:– 1. Must Keep It’s Flavor– 2. Must Be shaken Out of the Salt-shaker

Jn 17:18“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”

The Salt of the EarthThe Salt of the Earth

• Two requirements for salt to work:– 1. Must Keep It’s Flavor– 2. Must Be shaken Out of the Salt-shaker

• E.g. by our words -- Col 4.6

Col 4:6“Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”

The Light of the WorldThe Light of the World

• Light Reveals

Prov 4:19“The way of the wicked is like darkness;They do not know over what they stumble.”

The Light of the WorldThe Light of the World

• Light Reveals

Eph 5:11-13“Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.”

The Light of the WorldThe Light of the World

• Light Reveals

• Light Guides

Ps 119:105“Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

The Light of the WorldThe Light of the World

• Light Reveals

• Light Guides

• Light Reflects– Jesus is the Light of the world:

John 1:9“There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.”

John 9:5“While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”

The Light of the WorldThe Light of the World

• Light Reveals

• Light Guides

• Light Reflects– We are the light only inasmuch as we

reflect his:2 Cor 4:6

“For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

The Light of the WorldThe Light of the World

• Light Reveals

• Light Guides

• Light Reflects– We are the light only inasmuch as we

reflect his:

Eph 5:8“for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light”

The Light of the WorldThe Light of the World

• Must be visible to work:

Mt 5.15

“…nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on

the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house”

The Light of the WorldThe Light of the World

• Must be visible to work:– E.g. When they see our love:

Jn 13.35

“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The Light of the WorldThe Light of the World

• Must be visible to work:– E.g. When they see our unity:

Jn 17:21“that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

The Light of the WorldThe Light of the World

• Must be visible to work:

Matt 5:16“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

• You Are the Salt of the Earth– Salt Preserves– Salt Adds Flavor– Creates Thirst– Salt Cemented or Sealed Covenants– Salt Sustains Life

• You Are the Light of the World– Light Reveals– Light Guides– Light Reflects