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Destination: Jesus
At the Feet of Jesus
Matthew 5:16-17
Pastor/Teacher: Ken Delage
Mercy Hill Community Church
2020.04.26
WelcomeWell, good morning church. Great to be with you this morning. Go grab your Bible if you didn't have it with you already, and if you've got it, open it up to Matthew Chapter 5. Aren't you grateful to God for his mercy to us as a church, that we can still come to hear his word, to be fed by his word, week-to-week, even during a season like this? This is his mercy. I know we are looking forward to doing this together—yes, and amen, and Lord, speed the day—but we don't want to overlook the manna that he's given us during this time. We praise God for it. And, hey, if you're joining us and you haven't been a part of Mercy Hill, thank you for joining us this morning. We have been praying for you, that the Lord would meet you as we gather. It's one of the neat things about this season, that sometimes folks, whether by geography, or timing, or whatever it is that couldn't be with us on a Sunday morning, you know, in the church building can be with us in this way. And so, we're glad that you are here.
The Road to ChristSo, I don't know if you remember this, but humankind, human beings, used to have these things called roads. Yeah? Have you ever you ever seen a road? These were things that humans used to go out on when they would leave their homes. I know! I know, like, who wants to leave their home? Why would you ever need to leave your home? But they did; they would leave their house. They would actually travel and see other people. History is crazy. It's amazing. So, back in the days of Rome—because I'm pretty sure that's the last time they had roads—back in the days of Rome, they had a lot of roads connecting that empire. Roads connected the garrisons together. Roads connected the cities together. Roads connected the empire together, and throughout the Middle East, if you got on one of those roads, there was a saying about them, that “all roads lead to Rome”. And so, you might get on a road in Egypt, and if you let that road carry you along long enough, you would find yourselves in the capital city. You would find yourself in Rome. You know, the Bible works a lot like that, too. The Bible's got a lot of pages, thousands of versus, hundreds of chapters, 66 books, was written over a thousand years, by 40 different authors, but it really doesn't matter where you step in. Well, it doesn't matter what path you begin on, what place you start, because as the Holy Spirit carries you along through the pages of this book you're going to end up in one place. See, all roads in the empire might lead to Rome, but all roads in the Bible lead to Jesus. It all points to him, and that's what we're going to look at in Matthew 5 this morning. And I think it’s super important for us at a time like this, especially during coronavirus and our life being turned upside down, you know, many Christians feel as though this is a time God is calling them to draw near to Christ, and let me just add my “amen”, and yes, and let's be about that, church. Redeeming this time—whatever that looks like for you in your situation—to be about drawing near to him. May God stir that and accomplish that in us, but listen, if he does, rather, as he does that, he will do that by his Spirit through his word. Because if you want to draw near to Jesus, this is where he's found. All the roads in the Bible point to him. The living Christ is revealed on the pages of this living word.
Jesus, the Law, and the ProphetsSo, we're in the middle of Jesus's great teaching called The Sermon on the Mount, and we're going to consider two hinge verses, really, today. A whole new section is started by these verses. We're going to be in Matthew 5:17-18. Again, this paragraph that we're starting is kind of a hinge that, in many ways, opens the up the rest of the whole sermon, but certainly the rest of chapter 5. So, let's read these together; follow along as I read this out loud. Matthew 5:17 ff, Jesus says as he preaches, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Jesus begins, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.” A lot of people thought that he came to abolish these things because he was not acting like religious leaders typically acted. He was doing things like healing on the Sabbath, eating with unwashed hands, eating with unwashed people, hanging out with sinners. And people were bringing the charge to him, that he came to abolish the Law. So he said, “No, I'm not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.” Now, when he says, “Law and Prophets,” we might think, “Well, what does he mean by that?” So to the Jewish mind, at the time, they divided up their Bible, the Old Testament, into those two categories. It was either Law or Prophets. And the Law was, more or less, the first five books of the Bible: Moses wrote the Law. Right? And then the rest were, kind of, considered the Prophets. And so, when Jesus says this, that He hasn't come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, he's talking about the Old Testament; the Scriptures of the day. He has not come to abolish them, it says, but he continues, “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Fulfill them both and fulfill them entirely. Okay. So, this is what we're going to look at this morning. We're going to consider; how does Jesus fulfill this stuff? And this is an enormous subject. I will not, and cannot, do it justice in our time this morning. I hope to give you a, kind of, a preview that leaves you hungry to discover more on your own, but here's what we're going to do: we're going to actually put off to next week how he fulfills the law, because that is a beautiful and wonderful thing in and of itself. We want to consider this morning; how does he fulfill the Prophets? What does that mean when Jesus says this, because what he's doing, he's hanging a banner over his life, over all of his ministry, and saying, “Here's what I'm here to do. This is what I'm about. This is, in some ways, this is who I am. I have come to do this to fulfill the Prophets.” So, we’re going to look at that together, and as we do, here's the goal; we want to see him, to see Jesus a little more clearly as we see him through his word.
Words and PicturesSo, fulfill the Prophets; what comes to your mind? There's, kind of, two main categories and, probably, most of us start by thinking of one of them. So, the first one would be, you know, these words written by prophets predicting Christ, right? So, you know prophecies about his life about his birth, about his death, those kind of direct prophecies about the Messiah, Christ fulfills. So, we might call those prophecies of words, but there's another kind of prophecy in the Old Testament that wasn't written as a prophecy of the Messiah, so much, as a picture painted of what he will look like. And I mean this: there are types and shadows all through the Old Testament that are just there. They're pointing to him. Black and white photographs of which he would become the Incarnation. They were just pointing ahead. So, those might be prophecies of pictures. So we're going to consider prophecies of words and the prophecies of the pictures this morning.
Prophecies of WordsAlright. So, get in your little Cessna airplane with me, alright? We’re going to fly up over the Old Testament and do a, kind of, overflight together and just—there's so many ways that the Scriptures point to him—but I want to look at some of the highlights, some of the mountain peaks along the way. Now, we're going to move kind of quickly because there could be a lot to say about this. So, if you would like, just, to jot down the references as we go so that you can come back and consider these together, because we're going to look at many different texts. Okay?
So let's start way back in our Bibles when, just after creation, sin enters the world in Genesis 3. So, Genesis 3, and God prophesies to Eve right there, and says to her that one day a seed would come from her who would crush the head of the serpent. Jesus is the seed come to crush the enemy of God's people.
Then, in Genesis 17, Abraham is given this promise by God, this prophetic word from God that he would have an offspring, and that through that offspring, all the families of the Earth would be blessed. Jesus is that offspring come to bless the entire world.
Then Genesis 22. That's the time when God calls Abraham to sacrifice his own son. Abraham takes Isaac up and prepares to offer him but God offers a ram, and when Abraham sees that, he prophesies of what is to come. And he says in Genesis 22:14, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” He says there's going to be a sacrifice provided by God, one day, like this, on a mountain, and Jesus came as the provided sacrifice in fulfillment of Abraham's prophecy.
In Genesis 49 as Jacob lay dying, with his twelve sons of Israel around him, he spoke to each one, prayed over each one, and he prophesied over Judah. And he said about Judah, that he has like a young lion and that the scepter will never depart from him. The scepter; that kingly staff, the symbol of authority. And Jesus comes as the lion of Judah and the one who holds the scepter of God.
Deuteronomy 18. As Moses does his second telling of the Law, he predicts that one would come; a prophet better than him, raised up from among God's people, to whom all God's people should listen, and Jesus is that better profit than Moses.
In 2 Samuel 7, David comes to God and says, “I want to build you a house,” and God says, “I'll do you one better. I'm going to build you a house and I'm going to put your son on the throne forever.” And then God says these amazing words, he says, “I will be to him a father, and he will be to me a son.” Jesus came fulfilling that prophecy, sitting on the throne of David as the Son of God.
Isaiah prophesied in chapter 53 that Jesus would come. The Messiah would be one who would suffer and serve the people of God. He would be despised and rejected by men. He would be a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, that our transgressions would be what caused his wounding, because all we, like sheep, have gone astray. And the Lord would lay on him the iniquity of us all. Jesus came as the suffering servant and sin bearer of Isaiah.
Ezekiel 34 pictures God's people suffering under wicked leaders, wicked shepherds, and Ezekiel promises and prophesies the day when God would send a better shepherd, a good shepherd. Jesus is the good shepherd of God's people.
Friends, we've hardly gotten started. Should I tell you of the processes around just his birth? “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” (Isaiah 7); O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. [paraphrased] (Micah 5); or the mourning that would course through the land because of the slaughter of the innocents as the children were killed in the land of Jesus's birth (Jeremiah 31); how Jesus would flee to Egypt, but then, out of Egypt, I will Call my son (Hosea 11). Or should we look at some of the prophecies fulfilled in his is death? While he died, they cast lots for his clothing (Psalm 22); they pierced his hands and his feet (Psalms 22); he thirsted and was given vinegar to drink (Psalm 69). And yet, though, in crucifixion, it was very common for the soldiers to come in shorten the sufferer’s death by breaking their legs, Jesus’ legs were not broken; not a bone in his body was broken, just like the Passover lamb of (Exodus 12); and the righteous one, predicted in (Psalm 34). Even his burial, that he would be buried in a rich man's tomb (Isaiah 53), but that he wouldn't decay in that tomb, he would not see corruption (Psalm 16). Friends, what a God we serve, fulfilling all of these prophecies of word in one man, in the man, Jesus, the Messiah. A thousand years of prophecy being fulfilled in Christ, and these are just the prophecy of words.
Prophecies of PicturesLet's look at the pictures for a moment; these types, these shadows, these black and white images that we see throughout the Old Testament that are meant to make us hungry for Jesus, meant to point us to who he is, what he came to do; what is he really like?
Adam. Jesus is the better Adam. As through Adam some are born and all die, so through Christ we are reborn, but not to death, to life.
The ark. Jesus is a better ark. You know, Noah got on the ark and was saved from the judgment of God against people’s sins because he was in the ark. Oh, Jesus is a better ark, saving the people of God, over and through the judgments of God, safe in Christ.
Joseph. Jesus is a better Joseph. Joseph was rejected by his brothers, suffered at their hands, yet through that very suffering, saved the family of God. Oh, has not Jesus done better than Joseph, suffering at the hands of Israel, of the people of God, and yet saving them through that very suffering?
Moses. Jesus is a better Moses, who came to deliver us out of the land of sin, of Egypt, through the baptism of the Red Sea, through the wilderness of this life, until he finally leads us to the land of promise.
Tabernacle. Jesus is the better tabernacle than the tabernacle, a better temple than the temple, a better altar than the altar. Do you want to know where you can go to meet with God? There's only one place, there's only one person, and that is the tabernacle, the one where God and man dwell together, the God-man, Jesus Christ.
Aaron. Jesus is a better Aaron. He's a better high priest. The high priests of Aaron had to offer sacrifice for their own sins, and do it over and over, and would eventually die, themselves. Jesus came as the great high priest who offered a sacrifice; once, for all, for sin, that would work for all times. He didn't need to offer anything for himself because he was a sinless—is a sinless—high priest.
Sacrifice. The better sacrifice. Those High priests, back in the day, they would offer animals, but it's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to ever take away sin. Jesus came as high priest. He offered himself to God upon the altar of God. By his blood, sin would be taken from his people for all times. He is the better sacrifice, the Lamb of God.
Joshua. Jesus is a better Joshua; who came to lead his people out of the wilderness, into the promised land, conquering the enemies of God.
Samson. Jesus is a better Samson; champion of God's people, defeating the enemies of God's people by his mighty strength, and even—and you can go look at the story of Samson triumphing over God’s enemies through his death.
David. Great shepherd of God's people. Jesus is a better shepherd, who came to perfectly care and tend to the flock of God.
Solomon. Jesus is a better Solomon; wiser than the wisest, who knows perfectly, friend, how to care for you, perfectly what you need in all circumstances, wise shepherd, even in coronavirus time.
Elijah. Jesus is a better Elijah. He reveals God not in pictures and imprecise—true—but imprecise ways, no, he perfectly reveals the Father as the ultimate prophet of God.
Israel. The Old Testament Israel is called God's son. They were a wayward son. Jesus came as the perfect fulfillment of all that Israel should have been, and was the perfect, faithful Son of God.
Husband. Hosea talks about this husband figure, who is Christ, who loves his wayward bride and does all, costly to himself, to pursue her and bring her back to him. Behold our God, dear ones, behold Jesus; is he not worthy of our praise? Is he not worthy of our adoration? Look at Jesus. Look at this description.
Seeing the Real JesusOh, Holy Spirit, open our eyes that we wouldn't just hear, but that we would see and be amazed afresh. Listen, friend, if you've never seen Jesus, we invite you this morning. Many folks, perhaps this is you, maybe you’re on the younger side and you've never really thought about Jesus for yourself, kind of who mom and dad worship. Maybe you've, kind of, given up on him. Rejected him. Let me just encourage you; before you reject him, at least take a look at the real him. Then let us not just simply reject the watered-down Jesus of our imagination. Don't reject the impotent Jesus of your suspicions about God, or the unimportant Jesus of your own mental fiction. Oh, friend, look at who this is, consider the one, who in one person, fulfills a thousand-years-of-word picture, who is as beautiful as a diamond with different facets to the whole. You know, the Bible says that Satan's job is to blind the people from seeing Jesus. I wonder if that's true for you. Listen, you're not alone in this. This is what he does to everyone; blinds them from seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. May God open your eyes to see the real Jesus, that wouldn't be blinded to the real one. I encourage you this morning to ask God to help you see. May God help me. I want to know who this is. I want to know for myself. I want to see him myself. God says this that we’re to have eyes that see. May God give you those eyes as you ask for them this morning, that you could look to Jesus and see him, and be saved by him, and know God through him.
Future FulfillmentNow, saints, in light of all that we’ve just said, in light of all that we've just gone through, this weight of glory which is his, you might expect me to then say, “So, look, he has fulfilled all the promises of the Old Testament. He has fulfilled all the prophecies about the Messiah,” but he hasn’t. He didn't. He has not fulfilled them all. Not yet. Not yet, because he's not done yet. In fact, he lays out the time scope of his plan, of his plan to fulfill the Law and the Prophets right here in verse 18, “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” The day is coming when all will be accomplished from the Law and the Prophets, but that day is going to be about the same day when Heaven and Earth, themselves, pass away; on that great and final day. When will all be accomplished? On the last day. That's when he will finish his good work of fulfilling all the Law and all the Prophets. Friend, he’s not done yet. I want to give you just three Old Testament nuggets we can anticipate God is going to do through Christ.
Habakkuk stirs our hope by telling us the day when all people ,all over the Earth, will know God. What a day. “The Earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14)
Daniel speaks of the day of Christ's return, and he sees him coming: “[behold] I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man … his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” (Dan. 7:13-14) Oh, we look forward to a day when one comes riding on the clouds. The Son of Man comes to return and establish his kingdom that will never be destroyed.
Ezekiel points to that day when the son of David will come and reign as king over all of God's people. “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd … My dwelling place will be with them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Ezekiel 37:24-27) And don't you look forward to that day? Friend, what hope is ours in Jesus! He's not done fulfilling all the words of this book. Oh, we’ve got things to look forward to in Christ; yes, we do!
Behold ChristAlright. So, what's our application? What's God calling us to as he reveals to us Christ in this? You know, often times I think we think of application as, you know, “What should we do?” And that's good, often times we are called to action, to doing, but I think the emphasis here—at least the first thing—is less on what to do, and more on someone we should see. Behold Jesus. Behold him. Look to him. Worship him. This multi-faceted diamond, shining in brilliance. The one who stands at the apex, and the pinnacle at the center, and the crossroads of all the Scriptures. You know, we've talked about how the Scriptures point to Jesus; we haven't even gotten to the New Testament!
Now, I know Matthew 5 was talking about the Old Testament points, but the New Testament points to him. Friends, there are gems for you to discover about your Jesus, right here. This book is a treasure book. The Law of the Lord is perfect because the Law of the Lord points to Jesus. So church, let's draw near to him. And during this season, draw near to Christ. Draw near to Jesus. Your life might not have changed much during “corona”, and if so, I'd love to know who you are. [laughs] But some people's lives have changed more than others. Let us all seek to take advantage of this season, to be stirred up in our hearts, to waken out of a typical patterns of life, and to seek the Lord, to seize the opportunity to draw near to him. Let us do so by prayer. Yes. Let us do so by virtual fellowship. Yes. Let's do so by times of silence and meditation before him. Yes. But friends, let us do so by his word. Let us study it, and look at it, and read it, and meditate upon it, because it doesn't matter where you step onto the road. It doesn't matter what path you first begin on. It doesn't really matter where you start, because as the Holy Spirit carries you along, this book is going to lead you to Jesus. All the roads of the Bible point to him me. Let me say it this way: Destination? Jesus. Isn't that where we want to be? Isn't that—isn't he the one we want to draw near to? Oh, may God enable us, as individuals, to scatter, but also corporately, as a church, to draw near to the Son of God, revealed in brilliant splendor right here. We would bask in his light and enjoy the treasure that is him. So friends, let us pursue the one who first pursued us. Let's seek the one who came to seek us. Let’s love the one who first loved us, all for his name and praise and glory. Amen.
Closing PrayerLet's pray. Lord, would you accomplish this in us? I pray that your Spirit would be granted us during this season to stir up such a hunger, to start such a thirst, Lord, that we would be a people of the book because we're a people that loves you, because we're a people that wants to know you, because we're a people who wants to dwell with you and be made more like you. Oh Jesus, help us be your disciples who simply follow you. Lord, I know that, for many, this is an intimidating idea. It brings guilt at past failures, and concern that, “But, I don't understand this part of the Bible,” or, “I can't get it.” Lord, meet each of us where we are. Are you not a good shepherd? You are. Are you not wiser than Solomon? You are. You know how to care for your people. Holy Spirit, reveal Christ to us during these days, we pray. To the praise and glory of God. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
Church, I love you. I miss you. Hey, if you're feeling disconnected in any way, not connected to a care group, or have a particular need, or whatever, feel free to reach out. Alright? Reach out to me on e-mail. Give me a call. I'd love to stay connected. We're all looking for that during this season. And so, if you're feeling it, I'd love to know. I’d love be able to pray with you, for you, talk with you on the phone. But, God be with each of you this week. I look forward to seeing you as the Lord enables one day.
You Are the Light of Christ
At the Feet of Jesus
Matthew 5:14-16
Pastor/Teacher: Ken Delage
Mercy Hill Community Church
2020.04.19
Well, good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us this morning. Open your Bible, if you've got it, to Matthew 5. And if you don't normally attend Mercy Hill, let me just say thank you for being with us this morning. We really see it as one of the silver linings of this time that some folks who aren't, for whatever reason, able to join us in person, have been able to join us online and we're really glad you're here. Perhaps, Lord willing, a few of you would be able to join with us when we do get back together, Lord willing, as soon as He enables that time to come.
Total Darkness
So, we're in a series going through Jesus’ greatest sermon, His Sermon on the Mount. We're in Matthew 5. We’ll be looking at verse 14, but before I get into it, I just want to welcome another special group of guests who are with us this morning, and that's the kids. Kids, thanks for doing church with us again. You guys are, like, setting records for how many sermons you've listened to in a row. Right? I'm really glad you can be sitting there and listening with Mom and Dad and considering these things together. Hey, I want to start by asking you a question: have you ever been in a cave? Have you ever been, like, in a real cave, like, a deep cave; you go in and go underground? Now, I got to go in a cave a while back with my family; it’s called Grand Caverns. It's in Virginia, but it’s not real close to here. And, you know, you go in and they take you on a tour of this cave, and it is deep. And you walk and walk and walk, and the walls are all rocky and, kind of slimy, kind of wet. Right? And it kind of smells, I don't know, like the underground; whatever that smells like. You know what they did to us? After, like, 20 minutes of walking way deep into this cave, they turned the lights out. Let me tell you what, it was dark. I mean dark. Like, you think it's dark in your room at night, but listen, there was no night light. There was no light down the hall. There was no little glow from the alarm clock or a little moonlight, starlight through the window. We're talking no light. Total darkness. Inky, pitch blackness. You know, that can be kind of scary. All of a sudden you feel, sort of, turned around, isolated, alone. You don't know where to go, what to do. You know, the passage before us, Jesus is talking about darkness, but it's a scarier darkness. it's a deeper darkness. It's a darker darkness, because He's talking about spiritual darkness. But the good news is He's also talking about spiritual light; a better light, a more important light, a more brilliant light than the light that our eyes can see. So, this is good stuff that we get to look at this morning.
So, let's begin by just looking at His words together, giving attention to what He said, and then we'll seek to explain it and understand it. So, Matthew 5. We’ll be in verse 14 down through verse 16. Follow along as I read this. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” So, I want us to consider what Jesus said. I'm going to give us an outline that we can, kind of, follow along to help us as we go.
The Absence of Light
So, point number one, the absence of light. Jesus uses a couple of word pictures in here to describe what this light is like, and one of them is a word picture of somebody lighting a lamp in a house. Now, you know, we don't light lamps in the house very often anymore, but it's roughly equivalent to turning the light switch on, Right? I mean, you know, they would have a little oil lamp with a little wick. They’d have to actually, physically light it, and having done that, they would not cover it up because that wasn't the point. Right? In the same way, we don't turn a light on and cover it up. In fact, we put lights in the ceiling or up on a stand and it gives light to all in the house. So, why did people a long time ago do this? Because it was dark in the house! Right? I mean some things have changed but some things haven’t. Right? And so, what this is pointing to is the reality that it is dark in the world. If we are called to be lights in the world, the implication of this and the word pictures that Jesus used, is that without the light of Christ in the world, it is dark in the world. Friends, that is a long, solid, and terrible reality. Jesus said He is the light of the world over in John 8: “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” He is the only light of the world. And if there's a corner of the world, so to speak, where the light is not on, there's not an alternative light. There's no “spiritual match” that can be lit to see dimly. There's no flashlight or, you know, cell phone; where you can turn that little bright light on, on your cell phone. There's no alarm clock by the bed. There's no other source of light in the world, and apart from the light of Christ, it is inky black. It's cave darkness. And this matters. This matters because spiritual darkness obscures the most significant and important realities in life. It obscures things like: why do I exist? What's the meaning of life? What's the purpose of existence? Who am I? Who is God? What is truth? What is eternity? What should I be about in preparing for the end of my days? All of that is lost in darkness when there is no light. All of that is obscured.
The Light Inside You
So friends, before we get into the main part of the passage, which is the call of Christians to be light, I want to first ask: do you have that light inside of you? Do you have the light of Christ shining in you? Most people, who I'm talking to, can talk well about light. Maybe you've grown up in a Christian home, maybe you’ve been around Christians and you know how to talk the talk, you know how to talk all about light, you’ve heard all about light. Friends, there is a difference between hearing about light and seeing. You know, I watch these YouTube videos—I think they call it a “V-blog”, a video blog—this kind gentleman does, he just kind of tells us about his life, right? And I watch him because he's blind and he's helping sighted people understand what it's like to be blind. And I just find it fascinating to hear about the world as he experiences it. One of the things he talks about is the idea of color and, you know, people told him all about color, so he can tell other people all about color. He can say things like, “The sky is blue,” and, “The Sea can be blue,” and “Ice can be blue,” and, “Eyes can be blue,” you know. He knows all of those true things, but blue he doesn't know. Blue is just a word, just a concept floating out there. He's never seen. He doesn't know. Friends, is the light of Christ a word to you, or is it illuminating you? There is all the difference in the world. Seeing is different than hearing about sight. Looking at the sun is different than having it described to you. Friends, you cannot hope to be a light to others until Christ is the light within you. So friend, if you don't have that light within you, let me encourage you to cry out to God today and ask him to give you the light that you need, that you could see God clearly. Maybe you've experienced it where other people seem so sure, but inside you’re like, “I just don't know. I can't get there.” Call out to Him. We are not the light of the world. We can't make light in our hearts. Jesus is the light of world and He came so that you could see, so that you could have light. So, call out to Him. Ask Him for this. This is a request pleasing to God. He loves to answer these kinds of prayers, so keep asking until he does. And you'll know when He does because you'll see.
The Essence of Light
Alright. So. good. So, we talked about—the reality of this passage is that it's really calling Christians to be light in the world. Jesus knew that his days on earth were numbered, that He had less than—at least less than—three years at this point of living and ministering, and that He was equipping His disciples to carry His light in them to the world. So what does that even mean? What is light? What is Jesus talking about? Well, that brings us to our second point. So number one, the absence of light. Number two, the essence of light. The essence of light. What is the essence of light? What does Jesus mean? Well, you can see the answer in verse 16 if we read it together. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” There's a parallel in the passage. It says, “let your light shine so that they may see your good works.” Light is good works. What is the light of the believer? It's the life of the believer. It's the life, which is living out good works in the presence of others; good work seen by others. That's light, but okay, but then what are good works? What does Jesus mean there. Well, good works, this is a broad category. This is everything a believer says and does because they're following Jesus. So, everything we would say because we follow Jesus, you know, words of praise and adoration unto God; words of worship unto Him; words of encouragement to those around us; words of love and compassion; words of correction; words in defense of truth; words in defense of the weak; all of these things fall under the broad category of good works, but good works certainly tends towards the action side, doesn't it? It’s works, after all. So, these are works of worship unto God, right? Of time spent in His presence, of sacrificing unto Him. These are actions and works towards our fellow men, of loving those around us; giving generously to those who are in need; defending those who are weak; giving meaningful care to those around us; all of these things are good works that the believer is called to walk. And so, it's, kind of, just living out righteousness, publicly. If you've been with us, you know, we went through the Beatitudes, all of these Beatitudes—being hungry and thirsty for righteousness, being merciful, being pure in heart—all these things lived out in front of others. That's good works. And what the Passion says, is that those works are transformed into light. So, you do something that is a work—you're caring for somebody in need—and that care has a luminescent quality to it. That work tends to turn the light on and people can see differently. Friend, you are called to live a life that is illuminating in a dark world, that's casting light and casting out shadows around you. So, this is what the essence of light is: it is living out good works in a way that's not hiding them, but rather, that’s public, so that others may, in fact, see and give glory to God.
The Presence of Light
So that brings us to point number three, the presence of light. So, we've had the absence of light, the essence of light, and now the presence of light. What is the presence of light bring? What is the impact of it? “…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Let your light shine so they may see. What’s the effect of light? In a word, sight; that's the effect of light so that they may see. Now, what are they going to see? They're going to see your good works, but that's not all they're going to see. Because they see something in your good works—which I find profound and wonderful—they're going to see your good works and give glory to you. No! That's not what they're doing. They're seeing your good works and they're giving glory to your Father in heaven. This is remarkable, because most of those around us have decided that there is no Father in heaven; that God isn't real; that God doesn't exist; that if He does exist, He hasn't made Himself known; you know, all those arguments that are out there in a world which pushes away the knowledge of God. And someone who has spent their life pushing away the knowledge of God and convinced themselves that God isn't real, they see your good works and it is as though a light has turned on, and all of a sudden, “zapped”, is what God is like right there. That's what He's like. He's like that. Oh Glory. Oh, give glory to Him! This is a wonderful reality. See, here's why this functions: because your good works are only partly yours. They're yours in that you do them, but they're His because He empowers them. He empowers all the good works that we do; God's power lies beneath every good work. His goodness flows through every good work. His righteousness is being expressed in your righteousness. When you love, His love is seen. When you care, His care is seen. When you show concern for justice, for the poor, for the weak, then the concern of God is seen for justice and for the poor and for the weak. See, your good works are ultimately His good works.
I'll tell you what's true about me. If you see good works in me, you can be sure they didn't start here. You can be sure that those are coming from Him, that all the good that we have comes from Christ. Friends, this goes back to the idea, right? He is the light of the world. So any light worth shining is that light which, ultimately, we’re reflecting from Him. He's the source of light. Friends, Christian, what grace is ours? I mean. come on. Just consider what God has done for us. I mean, it's not like we were the likely candidates for this. It's not like we had a bunch of good works lying around when God came. No! We had a bunch of wicked works. A bunch of sin and shame. Evil. God saved us despite our wicked works and He saved us out of our sin. He saved us by Grace. He rescued us. He redeemed us by his blood. He made us righteous as a gift, for we’re justified. And now, He's kneading that righteousness into the dough of our lives. He's working it out into our lives, such that it's even seen by others. Of course, it's not perfect yet. Of course, we're not always perfect in our good works, in our righteousness, and yet, the Scripture is clear. They exist now and others may see by them (Mt. 5:16). This is a tremendous work of grace! Consider what God has done in you, dear saint, and consider this, that He's not done. Right? As much as He has brought us up out of darkness and into light, oh, so much more awaits. The best is yet to come; for you, for me, for every believer, because we're going to see Him as He is, and we’re going to be like Him, and the light that was just begun in us will be filling us. Holiness will reign in resurrected bodies, in eternity. Glory to God. How good is God to us? What cause of praise and gratitude is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He didn't leave us in darkness. He brought us to light, and He's taking His from one degree of light to another until we are with Him in glory with unveiled faces. Praise be to God.
Responding to the Call
So, how would God have us respond to this passage? So, what's the call of this passage? I think the call is relatively easy for us to discern. You pick it up on your first reading, right? We're to be that city on a hill that's not hidden. We're to be that lamp that has been lit and placed, strategically, to give light to all in the house. And then it says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” So, we're called to let the light of Christ—which He's given to us—shine through us. And I think that's probably the best way to, kind of, summarize it; allow the light of Christ within you to shine through you. Allow the light of Christ within you to shine through you. So, if you're going to allow the light of Christ within you to shine through you, what can we be about? How are you going to do that?
Stay Near to Christ
Two thoughts as we close. The first thought: If you're going to allow the light of Christ within you to shine through you, stay near to Christ. Stay near to Him. He is the light of the world. If you want to be giving light to others, you got to be receiving light from Him. Stay near to Him. Draw near to Him each day. We are but dead branches apart from the vine that is Christ. Oh, be connected to that vine on a daily basis, be drawing your life from the vine that is Christ, be drawing the light from the vine that is Christ, that His light would dwell within you. Friends, this is Christianity. This is being dependent on the Holy Spirit every day. We’re not just filled with the Spirit on day one and then we move on; no, we need the Holy Spirit of God every day. If you want to be a light in this world, then the first thing you're going to confront is the darkness that still hides in the corners. Oh, call out to the Spirit of God. Ask Him to be at work within you, illuminating Christ afresh to you day after day after day.
Let Your Light Shine
All right, so allow the light of Christ within you to shine through you by, first, saying you’re in Christ and then, second, by not hiding your light. There's the picture in here of putting the light under the basket. I am convinced that this is very tempting for most, or probably all, of us at different times to, in our concern for our own reputations, not want to draw, kind of, uncomfortable attention. And friend, make no mistake; this is not about exalting ourselves and showing off. That's not what this is. There is a “living out loud” that were called to, a working out our salvation in public and in private, wherever we are, simply, consistently, humbly, in a way that does not bring glory to us, but brings glory to your Father who is in heaven. Oh, saints, that is the heartbeat of the believer; to give glory to God who is in heaven. So, don't hide your light. Allow your works of praise to God and love for others to be seen, in season and out of season, wherever you are. You know, we talked a minute ago about all that God has done for us through the gospel. Listen, if you want to be one whose light shines, this comes from the place of gratitude. This comes from the place of amazement at what God has done. All right, so allow the light of Christ within you to shine through you by, first, saying you’re in Christ and then, second, by not hiding your light. Friends, He has done great things for us. Allow that to fuel your heart, your desire to be a light to those around us. That will fuel your desire because you will see others in darkness and you will remember what that's like, and you'll want life for their sake. But friend, it's also going to fuel when you recognize, “Oh, here's an opportunity to give glory to my Father who is in heaven. I could bring glory to Him right now by doing this.” O’ Lord, would you use us? O’ Lord, would you use us to bring glory to your name? Friends, Christian, allow the light of Christ within you to shine through you, because there is this tremendous effect at the end of it. It gives glory to your Father who is in heaven. That's worth it. That's wonderful. That's amazing that sinners like us could be used in that way. Oh, allow the light of Christ within you to shine through, that others may see, that others may have light, that God may receive glory, because our Father who is in heaven, He is worthy of all praise. He is worthy of all honor. He is worthy of all glory. May God be pleased to use us to glorify His great name.
Closing Prayer
Let's pray. Father, that is our prayer this morning; that you would use us to bring Glory To your great name. Lord, if there's anyone here that doesn't know you, I pray that they would come to see you for the first time. Would you do that? Have them call out to you, humble themselves, call out to you and meet them with the light of the world. And Lord, use us, your people, to bring glory to your name. We are a Spirit-dependent people; we can't do this on our own. We rely upon the light of the world to be life in this world. So, we invite you, Holy Spirit, fill us afresh today Lord, I pray for Mercy Hill. Fill us afresh today and each day, that we would live as lights in the darkness unto your name and your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Amen.
Friend, great to be with you this morning. Looking forward to the day when we can be in the same place together, but God is good to give us this opportunity; give Him praise for it. May he meet you this week with the light of Christ. Amen.
Resurrection Hope
Resurrection Sunday Message
Philippians 3:20-21
Pastor/Teacher: Ken Delage
Mercy Hill Community Church
2020.04.12
Well, good morning, friends. Open your bibles, if you would, to the Book of Philippians, chapter 3. It is so good to be with you again this morning. I know it's not ideal that we are in different places, but I do know that the Lord is going to meet us as we gather, even in this way, around His word. And kids, thank you for being a part of this, too. I know you're sitting there with mom or dad; thank you for being a part of this, and I have prayed that God will talk to you during this time, too. And also, friend, if this is your first time—one of your first times joining us, maybe you've never been to Mercy Hill in person, but you're joining us online—thank you for being here. It has been our prayer this week that God would meet you through this time. In fact, this is one of the advantages that this time has, the ability for folks who wouldn't otherwise be here to be with us. We are really glad that you're here.
So, which of us could have imagined the impact that COVID-19 would have? Who could have imagined three or four months ago that we would be celebrating Resurrection Sunday like we are today? I suspect every person listening to my voice hopes for the day this ends. Maybe you just want to get back to work, get out of the house, right? Maybe you miss some friends. Maybe you miss some family. Maybe you miss the gathering of believers, where we can actually come together, take communion together. Maybe you're worried about vulnerable people in your family or vulnerable friends who are, or could be, affected seriously by COVID-19. Friend, it's a legitimate thing to hope that this will end soon. That's a good hope to have this morning.
I want to point you to a better hope, a bigger hope, a lasting hope. This morning we're talking about resurrection hope. We're going to do that from the Book of Philippians, chapter 3. We're going to look at two verses together, so open your Bible, if you've got it. Philippians is in the New Testament. We're looking at chapter 3. We're going to read verses 20-21. I'm going to read from, what's called, the English Standard Version. Any version you have will work just fine as we go through this passage together. So, follow along as I read Philippians 3:20-21, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself.”
We're considering resurrection hope this morning, and we're going to consider it in three points from this passage.
Point number one: a city. A city. The passage begins by saying our citizenship is in heaven. Here is the hope for the Christian: there's a place to which we belong. A city which is our city, a place which is our place, a country which is our country, and a people who are our people. Our citizenship is in heaven and, though we live here, we are not fundamentally of here, because we have a city. Now, let me take one minute to give you just a little bit of history so you would understand how this would hit the Philippians. So, this book was written to those Christians in the city of Philippi. This was a city back in the Roman Empire, but it wasn't near Rome. It was way over in Macedonia. Now, in the Roman Empire, there were those who were born in Rome and then there was everybody else. There were those who were citizens of the city, and then there was the rest of the empire. Those who are citizens of the city had a certain dignity, had a certain place in society, had certain privileges that were afforded to them. There were lots of people in the empire but few citizens of the city. But Philippi, Philippi had been given an imperial gift, and here's how it worked: if you were born in Philippi, it was just as if you had been born in Rome itself; you were automatically a citizen. It was as good as those who were born in Rome. It came with all the rights and the privileges and the dignity of having been born in Rome. So, though you didn't live in Rome, you were Roman. So, the Philippians, they got what Paul was talking about here in terms of citizenship. They knew that though they lived far from Rome, they were Roman. They understood that though all the people around them didn't love that city, weren't a part of that city, that they were part of that imperial city. They knew that though the culture around them wasn't Roman, that didn't affect them because they knew that they were Roman. Christian, you have a citizenship in a city, too, and your citizenship is in heaven. You have citizenship in a better city than Rome. Yes, it's a great city. Yes, it's an imperial city. But unlike Rome, this is an eternal city; an eternal city fit for eternal, hope. Friend, your citizenship is in heaven, and though you now live far from that city and though you now live amongst people who, sometimes, hate that city, and though you live in a culture that is not of that city, you are still of that city. We have a place, and this ain't it. We have a place, and that place is the New Jerusalem. It's the heavenly city. You are Roman. You are of the eternal city. Christian, this means that your horizons are not determined by the boundaries of earth. It means that your identity is not defined by your identity here on earth. It means that your future is not set by your current circumstances. You have a city. And let me tell you something, there's no there's no COVID-19 in that city. There is no social distancing in that city. There's no isolation. There's no loneliness. There's no sickness. There's no disease. There isn’t even faith in that city because every eye can see the glory of God. We're talking about resurrection hope this morning. What a hope it is. Friend, I’m wondering if you have that hope this morning. Do you have hope for that city, or is your hope earthbound, earth-limited, earth-defined? Do you know that this world is passing away? That this earth is passing away and that we are passing away upon it? Our time is limited. That is a fact that COVID-19 has, hopefully, brought back into our minds. Our days are limited in this earthly city. And why would you build your hope, your best hope, your biggest hope, your most significant dreams and aspirations, in a city which will not last, in a place which cannot endure, when the promise of God is something far, far better? Christian, don't you long for that city? Don't you long for being in that city? Let us remember our resurrection hope this Resurrection Sunday. This is not our home. We have a city. Our citizenship is in heaven.
Okay, so, point number one, a city; number two, a person. A person. Read with me again, the beginning of the verse, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” From it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The clear teaching of this verse, the clear teaching of all the Bible, is that Christ will return. We are waiting, He is returning. He is coming again. And when He returns, He will return as Lord. It says, “the Lord Jesus Christ.” On that day, He will have the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee would bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father. Jesus is returning as monarch of this world, as king of kings, as lord of lords. Jesus is coming to reign. He didn't come to reign the first time; He's coming to reign when He returns. So, let me ask you this morning: are you ready for the reign of King Jesus? His reign is certain. His reign is coming. It is as certain that He will return as is your own mortality, certain. And on that day, when He comes, He will come bringing justice. He will come setting things right. He will come fixing that which is wrong and punishing wrong-doers. Let me ask you: if you've never turned to Jesus, are you rather comfortable with your sin? I think it's easy to be comfortable with our own sin. Not so easy to be comfortable with others. It's easy to see the sins of others; that misdeeds, that the wrong things that others do is as shameful, as big, and it's easy to think of our own as small and insignificant. Friend, on that day, your sin will not seem insignificant in your eyes, because your sin will not be insignificant in His eyes. He is coming as judge of all the earth. To stand before the Lord Jesus Christ in your sin is a terrifying place to stand. It is the terrifying place to stand. Let me encourage you to think on such things today, to consider such things today, that perhaps, on this day, you might turn to God and ask for His mercy, to turn to God in repentance and seek Him while mercy is available. And friend, mercy is available. It's right here in the same verse that we've been looking at. Did you notice what Jesus is called in this passage, the one who's returning? It says our citizenship is in heaven, and from it, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's got two titles He will be wearing for his people when He returns. He will return as Lord, but for his people, He will return as Savior. The hope of the Christian is that their Savior is coming. Christian, your Savior is coming. He is coming as Lord and He will set all things right. You have nothing to fear on that day. Though the wrath of God fall upon the world around you like rain, you will be safe in the ark which He provided, the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because on that day, He's going to finish his saving work that he began 2,000 years ago. On that day, He will fully and finally preserve you from the wrath of God. Here is resurrection hope, friends. Your Savior lives, and the one who lives, He's your savior. Yes, he came and died. He came and died for our sins that He could become our Savior. But friend, he did not stay dead. He rose again on the third day. He proved that he has power over the grave. He showed that your sins have been washed away and stayed in that grave that He got out of. And now He lives, and He doesn't live to be your judge. He lives to be your defender, your strong tower, your Savior. Glory to God.
We're talking about resurrection hope this morning. Listen, if you don't know that hope this morning, I want to invite you to know it. I hope you come to know it this morning. I want to invite you to know hope. I want to invite you to know Him. I want to invite you to know Jesus. Knowing Jesus; it means coming to Him, admitting who you are. What a good thing that can be; to stop hiding, to stop sweeping it under the rug, and admit who you are before Him, and repent of what you've done before Him, to admit your sin. Listen, He already knows it. He's not be surprised. He's not going to turn you away. This is why He came to die upon a cross, that He might forgive all who turn to Him in repentance. Oh, turn to Him today, that you could experience the hope that belongs to all those who have looked at Jesus as their Savior. Friends, if you stand before Jesus on that final day and He is only Lord to you, oh, what fear is yours. But friend, if you stand before Jesus on that day and He is both Lord and Savior, oh, what hope is yours. I pray that that hope is yours today.
So, we're talking about resurrection hope this morning. We talked about a city, we talked about a person, and finally, number three, we’re going to talk about a body. A body. So, Jesus is coming as Savior. What's it going to look like when He does that? What is His saving activity going to entail? What will he do? What will He be focused on? Well, that's verse 21. Look again with me. It says, “…from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body.” He will transform lowly bodies to be like His glorious body. Well, what does that mean? Well, the focus is clearly on the body and the change He's going to bring to it. So, we're talking in this verse about a real body; physical, human, actual bodies as we know bodies to be. See, the hope of the Christian is not that we're going to be, you know, spirits floating around somewhere for all eternity, the hope of the Christian is in a new and transformed body, brought about by the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. It says, He’s going to transform our lowly body. What does “lowly body” mean? Lowly body refers to everything about us which is fallen. Every impact which occurs to us because of sin, because of the fallenness of this world. All the effects that we endure are because of sin. There are the effects like aging and disease; COVID-19. Effects like weakness, frailty, imperfection, mortality, not to mention the reality that in this body, we still crave sin. We are still tempted. We are still corrupt. Oh, what lowly bodies we have in this world, but here’s resurrection hope. We're talking resurrection hope this morning, that the resurrected Christ is going to resurrect his people, and it says He will make our lowly bodies—transform them—to be like His glorious body. You know, when Christ was resurrected He was given a new body, and it says, in this verse, that it was a glorious body. He came out of the grave in a fundamentally new body. A physical body, yes, but not powered by the physical, but powered by the Spirit. A physical body, yes, but not frail, not weak, not prone to tiredness. A physical body, but not mortal. A physical body, but not imperfect. Physical, not fallen. Physical, not frail. Friend, the body of Jesus Christ, when He rose from the dead, is one fit for heaven. It's one fit to live for all eternity in the presence of, none other than, God, the Father, Himself. That's a glorious body, and that is what you are promised, dear Christian. Do you want some hope in COVID-19? How does an eternal body sound to you? Incapable of weakness. Incapable of frailty. Incapable of imperfection or disease. A body elevated. A body immortal. A body dignified. A body glorified. Glory to God. What hope is ours because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! Oh, church, let's fix our hope in Him this morning! Let's really fix our hope in Him this morning. Listen, if you're like me, your hope can get a little wobbly; a little wiggly, like a nail that used to be firmly stuck in a board, but now it's getting a little loose. May the Spirit of the Living God pound that nail in deep, that our hope would be firmly set, not just on Resurrection Sunday, but on every day of our lives, that we would walk in resurrection hope. Because, Christian, we have hope. We have the hope of a city. Our citizenship is in heaven. We have hope of a person; the person, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have hope of new bodies, transformed to be like His glorious body, fitted for an eternity with God. Let us stand firm in that hope, dear friends. Let us walk in that hope, dear friends. Let us take joy this morning in that hope, dear friends. He is risen. He is risen, indeed.
Let's pray. Father, I pray for everyone who listens to this, for everyone who is hearing my voice, that you, by your Spirit would meet them right now. And if they don't know you, that you would open their eyes to that terrible reality, and open their eyes to the wonderful reality, which is our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Take the blinders off, I pray, and draw people to you, I pray. I pray for salvation this morning. And Lord, I pray for your people, that you would fix our hope in Jesus, that when it gets wobbly that you would re-fix our hope in Jesus. Lord, that we would be a joyful people, a happy people, a hope-filled people by the power of your Spirit, because we have a city, personal hope of new bodies. How great is our God? How great is the salvation you've given us because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead? We love you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Friends, thank you for being with us today. This has been a joy to walk through God's word with you. May His word resonate in your heart all week long, I pray. Amen.
We Are the Salt of the Earth
At the Feet of Jesus
Matthew 5:13
Pastor/Teacher: Ken Delage
Mercy Hill Community Church
2020.04.05
Well, good morning, friends. It is good to be with you this morning, again, as we experience our new normal of gathering together from our living rooms and homes. Open your Bibles to Matthew, chapter 5. We're going to continue to look at our series entitled, “At the Feet of Jesus” as we go through The Sermon on the Mount together. Today, we're going to do one verse, Matthew 5:13. So, read this with me if you would. God's word: “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.”
You know, when I was in the Navy, the guys on the ship, on occasion, would call me “The Mormon”, which was weird because I wasn't. Right? Kind of strange. I'm not exactly sure what they were meaning by that except that—what I took it to mean is—if they thought of Mormons as those who didn't take part in the kind of fun sins that sailors take part in, and so they lumped me into the category of Mormon. I didn't like it. I think I didn't like it, at first, because I didn't like being teased and, at least get it right. You know? But I didn't like it because it also seemed as though I must’ve been making them uncomfortable. They must have felt a kind of constraint around me and that was coming out in this nickname of “Mormon”. I thought I was failing as a Christian to leave that impression on them, as though my purpose, my goal, was to blend in as much as possible. Of course, not to the place of sinning, but to blend in, you know? Make it knock off some of the edges.
That's why the quote that I read about this passage, from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, hit me right between the eyes. Just…oh! Well, I want to read it for you. Here's what it says. It says, “It should not be our ambition to be as much like everybody else as we can, that we happen to be Christian. Rather, to be as different from everybody who is not a Christian as we can possibly be.” It hit me right between the eyes because, according to Dr. Jones, I've been wrong. My objective has been off. My objective to blend in as much as possible has been 180 degrees out of what he says we should be doing. So is Dr. Jones, right? At the end of the day, is he in agreement with God's word, because I don't really care what Dr. Jones says, but I do care, and I know you care, what is God calling us to in his word? And for that I think we should look at it together.
So, let's consider Matthew 5:13 together in three points, and the first one we'll look at is the earth. The verse begins, “You are the salt of the earth.” So, in ancient times, and I'm sure you know this, they would use salt to keep meat from decaying. Right? So, they would rub salt in to fresh meat and that would cure it; that would kill the bacteria on it. And the meat would be preserved. It wouldn't decay or go foul. You know, that salty meat, it makes me think of good ol’ Virginia ham. If you've grown up around here or lived here for a while, chances are really good you've had Virginia ham. In fact, you might be having it next Sunday for Easter dinner. Virginia ham is the salty one, right? And nowadays, you know, we have that because some people like the taste of the salty ham, but that wasn't the reason they did it. They did it to cure the ham so that in the days before refrigeration, you could have them meat last and not spoil. So, we said that we're talking about the earth. What does this say about the earth? When Jesus calls us the “salt of the earth”, it implies that the earth is prone to decay; to moral decay. It's like a piece of meat that's left out in the sun, unprotected, untreated, and it won't take long before it begins to putrefy and spoil and become foul and smell. This is interesting because it's the opposite view to many in our culture today. Many in our culture, who hold to a kind of evolutionary mindset, believe that mankind is evolving physically, biologically, through the process of evolution, and somehow, also evolving morally from one degree of morality to another, improving generation after generation. Others see a correlation between the improvements we make in technology to improvements we make in morality; that both are increasing. With the Bible's perspective on the earth, it is not that the earth is prone to moral advance, but rather than it is prone to moral decay. Decaying and corrupting and rotting and spoiling and, not only prone to moral decay, but unable to stop itself. What piece of meat left in the sun can stop itself from rotting? It takes an agent acting upon that meat to keep it from decay, and Jesus calls that, salt. So, our world needs salt.
So number one, the earth. Number two, the Christian. The Christian. Again, you are the salt of the earth, Jesus says. Jesus begins not by calling us to something, but by calling us something; by telling us what we are, in that, you should be the salt of the earth. He says you are the salt of the earth. You, Christian. You, disciple. You, who follow after me. You are the salt of the earth. You are the salt of the earth because the Holy Spirit dwells within you; because you have been regenerated. You have been given new life, and now you have a new heart. Yes, you still have the old man at war with the new man, but fundamentally, there is a new man a new heart that God has given to you. You're a new creation. And so, on the day that you were brought from death to life, God made you, salt, dear friend. So. before you go thinking about whether you're being good salt or not, let us let us consider the reality that our maker declares that this is what we are, regardless of our week or month, that we are salt. He's made us to be this.
Okay, now salt. How does salt work? How do you get it to do its job, you know? You put it on the meat, right? You put it in the presence of decay and then you turn on the switch…no…you plug in the battery…no. There's nothing else you have to do, right? The only thing it takes for salt to oppose decay is to put it in the presence of decay, and then salt does its thing. Every time it's in the presence of decay. This means, believers, that we should be in contact with the decaying world around us. We should be rubbing elbows with sinful people, with the broken world. And it means that, as we do that, we should have a preservative, moral influence on those around us, just by being in the presence of decay. Have you ever noticed a situation, something like this, where there's a group of people standing around, you know, they're talking with each other. Maybe there's some coarse joking, some people are swearing to each other, whatever, lewd discussion whatever it is, and then somebody else walks up who's a godly person, and that conversation just sort of dies. It just stops. Or maybe a group of school-aged people are cheating on a test, until somebody with a righteous reputation takes their seat in the midst of that group, and the cheating just kind of evaporates, just sort of stops in the middle. Friends, the mere presence of salt is meant to stop decay and will stop decay. This is the whole point of Jesus’ picture in His word, that we are the salt of the earth. The world is decaying and we are called to stop, or at least slow down and reduce, that decay by our presence here. Now, salt in a wound might stop infection from growing in that wound, it might kill bacteria in that wound, but salt in a wound has a kind of reputation. Doesn't it? Like, we talk about that. Like, “Salt in a wound”, you know? It's got a reputation for pain. People don't like to get salt in a wound. Salt has a bite to it, a tang to it. It stops decay, but its presence isn't always welcome and isn't always appreciated. I don't think there's a mistake here when Jesus goes from verses 10-12 talking about persecution, and verse 13 calls us to be salt, because there's going to be a connection between these things. The world will not always appreciate the salty influence of the believer the way that it reveals fallen morality by exhibiting Christ's morality, christlikeness in the midst of a fallen and putrefying world. Here’s the thing: we’re called to be salt, not sugar. Jesus didn't say, “You are the sugar of the earth.” You know, both salt and sugar can improve the flavor of something. This is not just about flavor, though. It is about being a preservative. Yet, many a believer, and I would include myself in this, at times, has a kind of mismatch of goal, and thinks that were called to be the sugar of the earth, to make life sweet for all those around us, to just improve the taste. You know, we'll talk about God, but it'll be all about the mercy of God, the forgiveness of God, the love of God, God's plans to prosper you, all of those all of those true things about God, but somehow words like righteousness and holiness and justice get left out of their vocabulary. And then, while we might be willing to let people know we're a Christian, we tamp down our own morality as though they shouldn't see righteousness or be influenced by godliness or see a picture of christlikeness or holiness. Friend, if your friends don't see a glimpse of the holiness of God in you, where will they see it? The world needs salt.
And that brings us to number three. So, number one was the earth. Number two, the Christian. Number three, the call. I’m going to read the verse again. Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.” The call of the passage is to be salty. Don't lose your flavor. You are salt. So, be salty. You are Christians. So, live in such a way that you look like Jesus. The relationship you have with him is obvious to those around you. It means that the Beatitudes—we just got done with the Beatitudes—that these are alive in you all the time; not just in your prayer closet, not just on Sunday mornings, but that, at work, it's obvious that you are someone who hungers and thirsts for righteousness. You're pure of heart. That you're poor in spirit before your God. We're called to live out the Beatitudes, out loud, in the midst of a decaying culture. And Jesus gives us a warning here, and it is a loud warning. He says that salt which loses its flavor is good for nothing and will be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. That's a double warning; the first is a picture of judgment. It's a picture of those who thought they were salt. They didn't act like salt, and by they're not acting like salt, it was revealed that they were not, in fact, salt. There is no such thing as saltless salt. If there's one thing about salt, that's true about it, it is that it is salty, right? If it ain't salty, it ain't salt, and it's good for nothing. Counterfeit salt, thrown out; revealed to not be salt. Revealed to not be saved. There's are fearful words, and they should be in the sense of evaluating ourselves. But Jesus’ is point here is not so much to be concerned for his disciples. The warning here is he is concerned for the world. He is concerned for the earth. It is the earth which needs the salt, right? The point of the parable, the point of the picture He's writing is not about the salt. It's about the earth which needs the salt. So, go be that. Go be salty among them. When Jesus says that the salt is no longer good for anything, it means that the world, the earth, will plummet into decay apart from God's people acting as preservative agents throughout it. It has no other hope. Jesus knew he was leaving, and he left this role to his people to preserve the earth.
And that brings us back to the question we asked at the beginning: was Dr. Jones, right? He said, “It should not be our ambition to be as much like everybody else as we can, that we happen to be Christian. But rather, to be as different from everybody who's not a Christian as we can possibly be.” Friends, he is exactly right. If there is one thing true about salt, it is that it is different from everything else around. It is distinct. It is set apart. That is what the word “sanctified” means. It means set apart. Holiness means set apart, morally distinct, and different. Friends, you are called to be distinct. From those around you in your workplace, in your extended family, in your group of friends on the weekend, in the gathering of neighbors in the front driveway. Now, we aren’t called to be obnoxious about it. We aren't called to be self-righteous about it, looking down. We know. Friend, don't forget that anything God has worked in us, God has worked in us. It is by his grace that we would exhibit anything of christlikeness to the world around us, so we're not called to be self-righteous. We're not called to be hypocritical; one thing in public and another thing in private. We may get accused of all those things. May they not be true of us, but here's what needs to be true, that we're living out the character of Jesus wherever we go. That's what it means to be salty. Quite simply, quietly living out our walk with God in every context he puts us in. Perhaps it will, at times, lead to persecution. God be with us, and to God be the glory. At times, it will lead someone to salvation as they see a glimpse of the holiness of God—coupled, hopefully—with the love of God at the same time. And if that happens, then to God be the glory. And at other times—and this is the point of Jesus’ picture—it will simply be used to slow down the moral decay around us. It will tamp it down like a fire that would, otherwise, rage out of control and consume all in its path. The believer is called to tamp it down by our own life, by our own living, by our own example. When that happens, then to God be the glory. Friends, let's not forget, it is uncomfortable being salt, but let's not forget that the world needs it. Friends, when sin is slowed, that is good for people. Sin is destructive.
Kids get destroyed. The weak get harmed. Families get shattered. Lives get ruined. Cultures collapse. Humans die when sin flourishes, but humans flourish when sin dies.
So, we're called to aid human flourishing, as it was meant to be, by stamping out through our own influence, the decay around us. Friends, be salt for the sake of your neighbors. Be salt for the sake of your co-workers. Be salt for the sake of your family.
I think it's ironic that we're talking about this, this morning when we're all stuck in our homes. You're saying, “Ken, I don't go to work anymore. I don't think I'm going to see my extended family all summer because all those vacations are up in the air or canceled.” You know, God has gathered us into our own little, like, the salt shakers of our home, and positioned us around right now. We're gathered into the salt shaker. You know, I wonder if, amongst many, I wonder if one of the purposes of gone in this, in gathering us for a time being, in setting us aside for the time being, is to give us a moment to consider; how salty are we being? In the different context he has had us, are we living as salt should live, or are we tempted to lose our flavor? When God ends this time and pours us back out into the world, it's going to happen someday. I know it feels like forever; might be weeks, maybe months, but at some point, the pandemic will be over and we’ll be shaken back out into the world; when that happens, are you going to taste like Christ to those around you? Will there be a salty influence in your life, refreshed and renewed, in each context that God puts you. I encourage each of us to consider that before the Lord, and as we consider it to not forget the good news is, friend, you don't have to make yourself salty. The salt with which we live results from the saltiness of Jesus Christ within us. Friends, He is the salt of the earth, right? He is the salt of the earth. We are the salt of the earth because He dwells within us, so let us look to him to become what He wants us to be, to walk out what He's made us to be. And as we talk about this, let's not let's not miss the opportunity to say, “Thank you, Lord, for forgiving us. Thank you, Lord, for coming as salt into our decaying lives.” Oh, I needed preserving. I needed cleansing, an antiseptic of the soul, and thanks be to God that
He sent Christ into the world for us to stop the moral decay in its tracks, and has set us on a new road, where now we've gone from those who are decaying, to even called “salt” for the sake of those around us. To God be praised for such a thing as that.
You know, friend, I bet you've been praying through this pandemic, that God would do many good things through it. I bet you’ve been praying that God would save people that don't know Him, that he would take the blinders off, that people would come to know Jesus through that. May God do many great things through this time. But may one of those things be that when He sees fit to shake us back out into the world, that we would be salty believers, doing the work that salt is meant to do in every context where he puts us. May we do so, perhaps, that some would be saved. May we do so, perhaps, so that some moral decay would be slowed And may we do so regardless of the human impact, so that God, Himself, may be glorified through us; through his church. Amen.
Let's pray. Father, thank you for sending Jesus. When you saw the world decaying, judgment would have been a righteous response. Jesus was a righteous and merciful response. Jesus, thank you for coming as the salt of the earth, for being hated as salt. Even killed as salt. But doing so for us, that we would be preserved, stopped from are spoiling. Oh, help us following you. Fill us afresh with your Spirit, we pray, that we would exhibit this Christ-like quality everywhere we go. Would you receive the glory? Would you receive the honor? Would you receive the praise for this? We ask in Jesus name. Amen. Friends, I miss you. Every week I look forward to when we can do this again together, face-to-face, back in our building. God bless you this morning.