Matthew 5:13-16: “Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount: About Being Salt And Light”
by
1.
INTRO: In verses 13-16 of this
chapter, Jesus gives two illustrations to teach the one truth that His
disciples are called to and must have an impact upon this world for Him
1.1.
The two illustrations:
1.1.1. Christians are to be ‘the
salt of the earth’
1.1.2. Christians are to be ‘the
light of the world’
1.2.
The impact that He intends for this teaching to have in our lives does
not have to do with proclaiming with our mouths the gospel, but rather the
fruit of a holy and God-fearing life which stands out because of how unique our
life is the people of this world
1.3.
The application to be made here is that “the degree to which we as Christians
are going to be effective as witnesses in this world is the degree to which we
allow ourselves to be Christ-like”
1.4.
In the case of both salt and light, Jesus teaches that His disciples are
already are these elements, not that
they should become them, but now they are to act consistently with what they
already are by nature
1.5.
Though it is wrong to do the things that you do for the Lord in order to
be seen and praised by men, these illustrations show that the notion that some
Christians have of wanting to be like secret agents for the Lord is wrong
1.6.
Seeing that the direct context in which these next verses are found is
the be-attitude pronounced for those who suffer persecution, we must infer that
we Christians must not make the mistake of allowing persecution and suffering
keep us from being salt and light in the world
1.7.
Concerning these verses John MacArthur writes, “In both verse 13 and
verse 14 the pronoun you is emphatic.
The idea is, “You are the only salt of the earth” and “you
are the only light of the world”. The world’s corruption will not be retarded
and its darkness will not be illumined unless God’s people are its salt and
light”
2.
VS 5:13 - “13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt
has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing
anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men”” - Jesus calls His disciples the ‘salt of the
earth’
2.1.
Salt was a
mineral that was used a lot in Jesus’ day, but in His teaching what does the
‘salt’ symbolize in reference to the Christian?
2.1.1. Some Bible scholars have argued that it symbolizes “purity”
because of its white color
2.1.2. Some Bible scholars have argued that it symbolizes “savor”
since salt was often used for seasoning
2.1.3. Some Bible scholars have argued that it symbolizes “something
that is valuable” since people in Jesus’ day traded in salt
2.1.3.1.Roman soldiers were often paid in salt because of its
value, and this is where the saying came about of someone not being “worth his
salt”
2.1.4. The greatest number of Bible scholars have believed
that salt primarily symbolizes “preservative” since more than
anything salt was used in Jesus’ day as a preservative for meats
2.2.
This world around
us is in a constant state of moral decay, and the Christian is called to be a
preservative in the world, one that keeps it from decaying and slipping farther
from the standards of righteousness that are revealed in God’s Law
2.3.
The Christian is
to be the ‘salt’ or “preservative” in this earth, but in what ways can the
Christian do this?
2.3.1. The first thing to realize is that by the very nature
of who he is, the Christian as he walks filled with the Holy Spirit
cannot but be a preservative making a difference in the lives of the
people in this world, causing them to realize their need for Christ and as an
agent to create a desire in them to know the Lord
2.3.2. Secondly, by not compromising with the wicked people
of this world in their moral and spiritual choices, but choosing rather
to walk closely with the Lord, the Christian will have a tremendous effect in
showing people the futility of living for the things of this life apart from
Chrst, as well as showing them that it is possible through Christ for a
person to walk uprightly
2.3.3. Personal Examples from John MacArthur:
2.3.3.1.“Woodrow Wilson told the story of being in a
barbershop one time. “I was sitting in a
barber chair when I became aware that a powerful personality had entered the
room. A man had come quietly in upon the
same errand as myself to have his hair cut and sat in the chair next to
me. Every word the man uttered, though
it was not in the least didactic, showed a personal interest in the man who was
serving him. And before I got through
with what was being done to me I was aware I had attended an evangelistic
service, because Mr. D.L. Moody was in that chair. I purposely lingered in the room after he had
left and noted the singular affect that his visit had brought upon the barber
shop. They talked in undertones. They did not know his name, but they knew
something had elevated their thoughts, and I felt that I left that place as I
should have left a place of worship”
2.3.3.2.Helen Ewing, “Helen Ewing was saved as a young girl
in
2.3.4. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes, “Most competent
historians are agreed in saying that what undoubtedly saved [
2.3.5. We Christians must realize that we may be the only
salt that some people are ever going to see, and if we are not salty enough,
then they may never see what Jesus is really like
2.4.
Salt can be
corrupted over time if it is allowed to be exposed to the various elements
instead of kept dry, packaged, and stored carefully, and salt that is no longer
pure now becomes an environmental problem because crops and vegetation of all
kinds cannot be planted where there is salt, so impure salt beds have to be
removed and dumped somewhere, interestingly it often ends up dumped upon roads
to resist icing or keep dust down. That
is the use written of here where it is described as being ‘trampled under foot by men’. This is salt that has become useless.
2.4.1. Jesus is implying in this then that since we
Christians have value to this world because we are a moral preservative, we
then have no value and our lives are really “useless” if we are double-minded
and half-hearted in our commitment to the Lord
2.4.1.1.This reminds me of a comment my father-in-law made to
me one time. He said that he felt like
he needed to get serious ministering the gospel to people, otherwise if he
wasn’t being useful in this world why wouldn’t the Lord want to take him home
now?
2.5.
It is interesting
that salt was required with all of the sacrifices in the Old Testament, and I
believe that this was required in order to symbolize the fact that a person
must not only sacrifice material things as part of his worship, but in order to
be pleasing to God, he himself must be salt to the world
2.6.
Another note is
that in Numbers 18:19 that an an everlasting covenant is called “a covenant of
salt”, and the gospel is an everlating covenant, so the gospel itself is a
preservative, and as we proclaim it we work as a preservative to the world
3.
VS 5:14-16 - “14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on
a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the
peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the
house. 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”” - Jesus tells His disciples that they are ‘the light of the world’
3.1.
Christians are
not the ‘light’ themselves, for that title is reserved for Christ (Jn. 1:4,9),
they are just reflectors and conduits of the light of Christ in them, but to
this world Christians are to shine as lights
3.2.
In verse 14 Jesus
implies that Christians are to be thought of as being like ‘a city set on a
hill’ and being thus we ‘cannot be hidden’, for such would be incongrous with
what we are by nature
3.2.1. Paul wrote in Eph. 2:10 about the fact that we as
Christians are created to be placed on display in this world (like a masterful
piece of art) reflecting the work of grace that He has done in our lives, “10 For
we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them”
3.2.2. Since we are meant to be like a city set on a hill,
the notion of some wanting to be secret agents for the Lord is also wrong,
therefore we Christians ought to be up front and let people know that we are
Christians and whom it is that we serve
3.3.
What is the
purpose of Christians being ‘the light of the world?’
3.3.1. First of all, the world is very dark, as as a point of
contrast the brighter we shine for Christ the more impact we will have on
people
3.3.2. When light shines it reveals things, and symbolically
this means that Christians are to be used to reveal the truth of Christ to this
world
3.3.2.1.The Psalmist wrote in Ps. 119:105 about how God’s Word
is a light to us, “105 Thy word is a lamp to my feet, And a light to my path”,
and as we are walking in the light of His Word we can also point the way to
those who are blind and lost in this world
3.3.3. Primarily, Jesus teaches here that being a light to
this world involves letting your ‘good works’ shine as brightly as possible so
that people will give glory to God for that light that is shining within you
3.3.3.1.Good works are just the things that the Lord leads us
to do as we follow Him, such as being kind, helping people, giving to others,
etc., etc.
3.3.4. Being a light also means that because of the fruit of
a faithful life, sometimes God uses a Christians to expose and uncover the sins
of people
3.3.4.1.Paul wrote in Eph. 5:8-14 about us as Christians
serving this function, “8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are
light in the Lord; walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light
consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what
is pleasing to the Lord. 11 And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of
darkness, but instead even expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak
of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things become
visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible
is light. 14 For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.””
3.3.4.2.Sometimes Christians can be misguided and in ‘the
flesh’ go too far trying to convict people and take over what is really the
Holy Spirit’s job in convicting people of sins, and thus they become
ineffective in their witness
3.3.5. We Christians must realize that we may be the only
light that some people are ever going to see, and if we do not share the truth
with them they may never hear it
3.4.
The lamp stand in
Jesus’ day was a stone that protruded from a wall upon which people would place
a candle or a lamp
3.5.
As Jesus had just
taught about the salt becoming useless if it loses its saltiness, so here He
says that a lamp only has value if it is put up on a stand so that it is able
to shine light to everyone who comes into the house
3.5.1. This world is full of darkness, and we Christians do
not have value to this world and are actually a part of the problem itself if
we don’t let our light shine for Christ as it should
3.6.
A Christian who
is backslidden and compromising with this world and refusing to shine his light
for Christ is illustrated here by taking a ‘peck-measure’ (basket for
measuring) and placing it over a lamp so that it’s light cannot be seen
3.7.
As a warning,
Jesus says here that a lamp that has a ‘peck-measure’ placed on top of it will
eventually go out completely, as also a supposed Christian who continues
compromising with the world will eventually fall away from Christ completely