25-0126p Transcript

Preacher: Mike Mathis

As we learned (1:27) this morning, God’s people are to be separate from the world. But we are not (1:36) hermits or monks, as we know that there are monasteries that monks stay in. They have a (1:54) rigid way of doing things and that, but they more or less stay secluded.

We are in the (2:09) world, but not of the world. If we have love for one another, we show the world (2:18) hatred is not the way, as we learned in 1 John 4, 17-19. And Jesus also said in John 15, (2:33) verse 17, that he instructed his disciples that they love one another.

The world has (2:48) hate, and the world hates Christ, and it hates Christians, because they follow Christ. (2:59) In this lesson, we’ll notice Christians have an important function to perform, (3:10) and it will be in Matthew 5. John read from verse 14-16, but I’m going to start with verse 13. (3:32) Now, this lesson was a lesson that was taught on a Wednesday.

I was the teacher and (3:48) was talking about the salt of the earth and the light of the world, and we discussed (3:59) about the salt and about the light. And that’s what we’re going to do tonight, (4:10) is we’re going to study this. First, Matthew 5.13 says, You are the salt of the earth, (4:29) but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be (4:41) thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

Salt has a two-way function. It acts as a flavor booster. (5:07) Someone can eat salt on their food and is not restricted.

Taste the food, and it’s got a (5:19) bland taste to it. You put a little bit of salt on it. I thought it tasted a little bit.

(5:30) I was teaching this type of a lesson in the teen class, and one of the students, (5:43) I like plenty of salt on earth, but I had to caution this student. (5:50) In comparison to what’s in the salt shaker, do you put about half of that salt shaker (6:03) on your food? No, I don’t put that much. I said, I didn’t think you did.

It takes just a little (6:11) bit of salt, and you put it in the food to give it flavor, and it boosts the flavor. (6:26) As we learned this morning, we should have love and not hate. We should love our brother, (6:41) and we should do everything that we can to get along.

(6:51) If we don’t, if we have an attitude, boy, everything is just going wrong. (7:03) Well, this is not the type of (7:10) situation that people want to see, and we can’t draw others to Christ if we have such a (7:24) disposition that nothing is going right, and we’re just snapping at just any little thing. (7:33) And also, salt also acts as a preservative.

Did you know that (7:48) we as Christians are acting as a preservative for the world? (7:59) Have you wondered why, with all the evil that is going on in the world, that God just doesn’t just (8:16) end it all? It’s because of Christians, the righteous people, (8:25) acting as a preservative in this world, and also giving the world a chance (8:35) to hear the word and to respond to it. Jesus, along this line in Mark 9 and verse 50, says this, (8:59) salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? (9:10) Have salt in yourselves and have peace with one another. (9:17) If we have peace with one another, the atmosphere will be more (9:26) congenial to others, and if we have love for one another, we show the world that this is (9:38) the way that God wants us to act.

And if we say we love God and hate our brother, we lie. (9:55) Or how can we hate our brother whom we see and say we love God whom we don’t see? (10:08) So we need to balance that out. Salt is good, Jesus says, but then if the salt loses its flavor, (10:23) it is good for nothing but to be trampled underfoot.

(10:29) And that is really what we see when the snow hangs, spreading the salt, (10:46) and so that the snow and the ice underneath is maybe there, (10:56) but if it’s not any good, it’s just good to be trampled underfoot. (11:12) Now the next thing is the light of the world. He says here, you are the light of the world.

(11:23) A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp to put it under a basket (11:36) but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine (11:47) before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. He says you are (12:00) telling these people, and especially those that follow him, you are the light of the world.

(12:15) A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, and it’s that way with light. (12:25) Imagine, well, in that day, they had candles, and they lit these candles. Imagine, though, (12:38) after lighting that candle, you just covered it up.

Well, then the light cannot be seen, (12:49) but it is to be put on a lampstand, not under a basket, so that it gives light (13:04) to all who are in the house. We have the lights going on in here, and it gives us light. (13:19) We don’t pay any attention to it until we have a power outage.

Everything goes black, (13:28) and then we can’t see. We have a book before us, the Bible open, and what is before us, (13:35) we’re reading. It gets dark, and we can’t see what’s there, and that is not to be.

(13:52) It is to be. We should be a light, but then we need to be careful. (14:03) It says, let your light so shine before men.

I’ve read an article where, in this article, (14:19) the writer of the article was discussing the light, and he said we should shine (14:31) our lights. That is a wrong way to express that. We should let our light shine.

There is a difference. (14:45) As I said, we have the light on here. We’re letting them burn, but suppose (14:55) all that light that is lighting this auditorium was right in front of our faces, right in our eyes, (15:10) but we couldn’t see, or if we had a spotlight that was shining right in our faces, (15:17) we would be putting our hands up.

We’d be squinting because that spotlight (15:23) was shining. It was being shown into our faces, but if we let the light, (15:35) if we let that spotlight shine to illuminate the area that we want to see, (15:51) it can act as light, and I believe that is just what these Pharisees in Matthew 6 were doing, (16:13) drawing attention to themselves. They were shining the lights, but they should have let their light (16:26) shine.

But Jesus says, take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men (16:36) to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. (16:46) Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do (16:55) in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.

(17:03) Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, (17:13) do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed (17:22) may be in secret, and your Father who sees you in secret will himself reward you openly. (17:35) So he’s talking about people that draw attention to themselves, and look what I’m doing.

You know, (17:44) I’m praying. I can get out here, and out on the street, you see me praying, and you see (17:52) it’s like sounding a trumpet and letting people know, you see, you’re drawing attention to self. (18:04) And of course, the reward is not the kind that is to be desired, and they’re hypocrites.

(18:17) But he said, but when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know (18:24) what your right hand is doing. In other words, you can help someone. (18:33) It doesn’t have to be broadcasted to everybody.

You do good deeds to people, you do them. (18:46) God sees you doing them, and it’s not that you draw attention to yourself, but you do them. (19:02) And the Father that sees this in secret will reward you openly.

And then he talks about praying. (19:18) And when you pray, you should not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in (19:29) the synagogues, and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.

Assuredly, I say to (19:39) you, they have the reward. But when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, (19:50) pray to your Father who is in the secret place. And your Father who sees in secret (19:58) will reward you openly.

Now, this is cautioning about doing things just to draw attention (20:14) to self, and just to be seen of men. Yes, there’s going to be times when (20:25) somebody is going to see that you’re doing some good work, such as I have a number of times (20:41) been let know that I was seen mowing the grass for the church in West Virginia, in my hometown. (20:56) I’m just doing the work, because it has to be done.

But there was once a time that I was (21:07) walking home from town, and I had walked into town, and I was walking back home. (21:24) And this man stopped to pick me up, and he let me know that he saw me mowing the grass. (21:35) You know, you sometimes can be let know they see you doing what you do.

Now, what if (21:51) I was doing something that I should not have been doing? I did not want anyone seeing me doing it, (22:03) but I’m still seen. I will surely have been told on. I will suffer the consequences.

(22:17) But you just know that you will do good things. But these good things that you do, (22:35) these good works that are done, they should not be that self gets the glory by God. (22:54) God says, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify (23:04) your Father in heaven.

God is the one who needs to have the glory. These good deeds are to glorify (23:17) Him. So that is a good reason that we should separate ourselves from the worldly (23:34) things of the world.

That is, those things that would make us enemies of God, (23:46) or if we’re friendly with the world, we’d be enemies with God. In conclusion, Jesus prayed. (23:59) I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who believe in me through the Word.

You know, we (24:11) need to believe in Him through the Word that these disciples preach, and also (24:29) those that through inspiration wrote down. We need to believe. And Jesus was praying for (24:47) those who will believe in Him.

He prayed for us. He was praying for His disciples, (25:03) those that were with Him. He prayed for them, but He also prayed for the ones that would come (25:14) after them and through the Word that they would believe.

That they all may be one as you, Father, (25:25) are in me, and I in you. That they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you’ve (25:36) sent me. All this that we’ve discussed is for the benefit of those around us.

(25:52) We first was taught this, and we were led to Christ. And we need, as these ones who taught us (26:10) and were aligned with us, to be aligned to others and to show them the way. (26:19) But we need to be unified.

We need to be one. That is the one thing that is so important. (26:36) In a world that is so divided religiously, no wonder we have unbelievers.

No wonder we’ve got (26:46) people that just don’t want to hear what God has said because so many ugly things happen (26:56) all in the name of God. But God is not the author of these things. (27:05) And He wants us to be unified so that the world may believe that you sent me, (27:16) that God sent His Son, and He sent His Son to die for them as well as for us.

(27:28) He had them in mind when He came to this earth and set the example and (27:37) willingly let Himself be captured and taken and crucified on the cross. It was all for us. (27:57) He arose on the third day giving us hope that someday we could be with Him and His Father, (28:07) and we could live our third eternity.

And we need to be the salt of the earth, (28:21) to be a light that shines. We need to let our light shine. And we need to be an influence (28:36) to them, to lead them to God.

I’m going to offer the invitation. I see that there are (28:49) those here that have obeyed the gospel, that are in Christ. But if there is any need that you need to (29:03) make known, that the church can pray for you, and you have some need that needs to be taken care of, (29:17) why not come forward and make it known while we stand and while we sing?