We are Salt

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?  it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Matthew 5:13

Much has been said about the fact that, as Christians, we are called “the salt of the earth.”  Salt does many things: it cleans and purifies, it preserves, and it enhances flavors.  As Christians, we are supposed to be having all of those effects on the world around us.

We should be having a cleansing and purifying effect on everything around us.  In the old days, when someone said something off color or used profane language, they might apologize if they realized that a Christian was there.  Just our presence should be enough to have a purifying effect.  Salt also cleans wounds.  When we are wounded by the world and by the Devil, we should find help and comfort in the presence of other Christians.

We should be preserving things.  There are things that need to be preserved.  The Bible tells us that “righteousness exalteth a nation…”  When a nation is filled with righteousness, it helps to preserve the nation.  God even said that He would not destroy Sodom if He could find but 10 righteous people.  Sadly, He could not.  Could the same be said of our area?

Salt also helps to enhance the flavor of food.  My Grandma used to put salt on almost everything.  Her main complaint when she had to be in the hospital was that none of the food had any taste because she couldn’t put salt on it.  Salt makes everything a little better.  As Christians, we should be making everything a little better.

As one extra thing to think about, salt melts things.  Maybe the Lord could use us to melt someone’s heart of stone.  Salt does many things.  How descriptive of us are these things?

The Beatitudes, Part VII

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Matthew 5:10-12

We will finish looking at the Beatitudes with the conclusion of the matter: “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

This verse sums it all up.  No matter what may happen to us, we can be confident that, if we are reviled, looked down upon, made fun of, persecuted, or rejected, our reward in Heaven is “great.”  We can do all of the things mentioned in the Beatitudes: we can be poor in spirit: we can mourn, we can be meek, we can hunger and thirst after righteousness, we can have mercy, we can be pure in heart, we can be peacemakers, and we can take persecution for His name.  We can do all of these things for two reasons.

The first reason is our reward.  We can endure a lot of things for a “reward” here on earth.  We can endure a lot of unpleasantness in anticipation of a paycheck at the end of the week.  Can you imagine how much greater than a mere earthly reward our reward in Heaven will be?

The second reason is our example.  Verse 12 tells us “for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”  If we are persecuted, we will not be the first to suffer persecution for the name of Jesus.  Think of all that Jesus endured for us.  Think of all of the wonderful examples that we have.

We need to keep obeying the Lord and doing what He wants.  We have great examples to follow and the promise of a great reward.

His Eye is on the Sparrow (Hymn)

His Eye Is On the Sparrow
Civilla Martin/ Charles Gabriel (1905)

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain
I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow, And I know He watches me.

“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

“His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”  If God can see each sparrow and knows when one falls to the ground, then surely He can see us, surely He knows us, and surely He cares for us.  When shadows and hard times do come, we can take comfort in the fact that He truly does care for us!

The Beatitudes, Part VI

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Matthew 5:8-12

We have come to the part of this passage which tells us that “… Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.”  History is full of examples of those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness.  Page after page could be (and has been) written about those giants of the faith who have been truly persecuted for righteousness.  There have been many martyrs through the ages who have suffered the “ultimate” persecution.  Their reward will be great.

Our “persecutions” are not usually in that league.  Our persecutions might be as simple as a dirty look or a little gossip behind our backs.  We might occasionally get yelled or cursed at.  Our persecutions are usually less persecutions and more annoyances.  Of course, with the course of our present world, we might be called upon at some time to suffer actual persecution.  But, whether our persecutions are great or small, we can rest assured that our Heavenly Father sees and knows about them.  He will reward us for them.

It is easy to be offended when faced with some problems and trials, but there is a great inheritance for those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.  That thought will help us endure things that we might not otherwise be able to endure.

The Beatitudes, Part V

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Matthew 5:8-12

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”  In many ways, the whole life of Jesus was like a contradiction.  He is the “Prince of Peace.”  Yet His very presence troubled people and nearly drove them to madness.  He went about “doing good.”  He healed the sick, caused the blind to see and the deaf to hear.  Yet His own people hated Him so much that they crucified Him.  He was “harmless.”  Yet one of those closest to Him betrayed Him.  This verse seems to be a contradiction also.  Our society seems to think of peacemakers as being weak or helpless.   But the truth is that often, it takes more strength and more courage to swallow your pride and not “go to battle” over something than it does to fight for yourself.

The peacemaker does not compromise the truth, just like the true Peacemaker.  The peacemaker is not a pushover, just like the true Peacemaker.  The mob did not take Jesus’ life from Him, He laid it down.  He went to the cross, endured the shame and the pain to bring us to God.  Romans 5:1 tells us “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…”  We can be at peace with God because of what Jesus did.  He is ever our example, and He is the perfect example of a peacemaker.

The Beatitudes, Part IV

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Matthew 5:8-12

Continuing on in our study of the Beatitudes, we come to verse 8, which says, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”  Hebrews 12:14 tells us to “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord…”  These verses give us an important lesson.  If we want to see the Lord in our lives, we are going to have start living a pure, holy life.  That is not always an easy thing to do.

To often today, it seems that the whole ideas of “holiness” and “purity” are, at best, downplayed and, at worst, scoffed at.  God has told us many times in His Word that we are to “be holy.”  In Leviticus, the Israelites are told to “be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.”  In the New Testament, we are told twice in the span of two verses to be holy. (I Peter 1:15, 16)  As Christians, we should be striving for holiness every day.

Of course, while we live on this earth and dwell in bodies of flesh, we are never going to be completely holy nor completely pure.  But if we would see the Lord in our lives, we should be making holiness and purity a way of life.

It is a great promise that we can “see the Lord.”  But it is a great condition to be of “a pure heart.”  May we be a pure and holy people, capable of seeing the Lord!

The Beatitudes, Part III

And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Matthew 5:2-7

We have been talking about the passage in Matthew known as the “Beatitudes.”  Any time we are given a promise and a condition to receive the promise, we should pay attention.  Today, we will look at verse 7:

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”  This goes back to the old “golden rule” (also found in Matthew) of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  If we would want to obtain mercy, we need to show mercy to others.  There is a parable in the book of Matthew about this.  An unjust servant owed his master 10,000 talents (which I believe is somewhere in the billions of dollars in today’s terms) and was forgiven.  That same servant then went to fellowservant who owed him 100 pence (which I believe is equal to a few bucks today) and would not forgive him.  How often is that us?  How often does the Lord forgive us of all our sins and of all our rebellion against God only to see us squabble with others and hold grudges against them?  How often are we guilty of that?

The Bible tells us that we should be “forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”  God has shown us great mercy.  Why should we not show others mercy?  We all need mercy.  Not one of us is sinless.  Not one of us is perfect.  We are all going to need mercy and we are all going to need a lot of mercy at one point or another.  If that is true, shouldn’t we be working on this and showing mercy to others?

The Beatitudes, Part II

And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Matthew 5:2-7

We looked at the first few verses in the Beatitudes yesterday and we will continue today.  These are all verses that give us a promise and a condition.  We would be wise to pay attention to them.

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”  When you read through the Bible, you find the matter of sin and righteousness throughout.  The struggle between sin and righteousness begins in Genesis, ends in Revelation, and is found on every page in between.  As Christians, we have the blessing of having the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ Himself through His perfect sacrifice on the cross.  But as far as day-to-day living, how much do we really want righteousness?  Do we really hunger and thirst after righteousness?  Do we really want it?  If we do really want to live a righteous life, and if we really do hunger and thirst after righteousness, we have a wonderful promise.  If we want righteousness, we can have it!  This verse tells us that those who hunger and thirst after it “shall be filled!”  What a promise!

I have heard it said that we have all of the Lord that we want to have.  We are as close to the Lord as we want to be.  And, according to this verse, we have as much righteousness as we want to have.  If we want righteousness, we can have it.  The more hunger we have for it, the more of it we will have.  We don’t have to wish for righteousness.  It is readily available to us if we just take it!

The Beatitudes, Part I

And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 

Matthew 5:2-7

When the Bible tells us that Jesus “opened his mouth,” we should sit up and listen.  This passage of Scripture (along with verses 8-12) are usually called the “Beatitudes.”  Every verse contains a condition and a promise based on the condition.  Most of them contain what would seem to be contradictions.  They are all important and we will consider a few of them today.

“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”  To our minds, mourning would not be a good thing.  But here, it says that those that mourn will be comforted.  I don’t profess to understand everything about this passage, but I think it could apply to many things.  We could be mourning for our sins.  If we are repentant, we will find forgiveness and comfort.  We could be mourning over a loss.  It is in the times of loss that God shows Himself to us and comforts us.

“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”  Again, our minds would not equate meekness with “inheriting the earth.”  We usually think of meekness as “weakness.”  The word “meek” means “Quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on… submissive.”  That doesn’t sound like the people who are going to own the earth.  The current people who exert the most power in the earth are certainly not that type of people.  But God says that it will be the “quiet, gentle, and submissive” people who will inherit the earth.  Maybe, instead of trying to conquer everything and impose our will on everything, we should work on being a little more meek.  To me, meekness implies a certain amount of selflessness.  I think that is also important.

The Beatitudes might not make a whole lot of sense to our human minds, which is why we need to approach them in faith.  We need to believe that what God has said is true and we need to act upon it.

Heavenly Sunlight (Hymn)

Heavenly Sunlight
Henry Zelley (1899)

Walking in sunlight all of my journey;
Over the mountains, through the deep vale;
Jesus has said, “I’ll never forsake thee,”
Promise divine that never can fail.

Refrain

Heavenly sunlight, heavenly sunlight,
Flooding my soul with glory divine:
Hallelujah, I am rejoicing,
Singing His praises, Jesus is mine.

Shadows around me, shadows above me,
Never conceal my Savior and Guide;
He is the Light, in Him is no darkness;
Ever I’m walking close to His side.

Refrain

In the bright sunlight, ever rejoicing,
Pressing my way to mansions above;
Singing His praises gladly I’m walking,
Walking in sunlight, sunlight of love.

Refrain

Since Jesus is the Light, if we know Him, we do walk in heavenly sunlight all of our journey.  Aren’t you thankful for that?  Can you imagine walking through the world in darkness?  Can you imagine not knowing the Lord?  As we look around us, there really are shadows around us and shadows above us.  But not of them can hide that Heavenly Sunlight beaming down on us.  What an uplifting thought and song!