Salty Light

Scripture

 “You are the salt of the earth…. You are the light of the world.”

Matthew 5:13-14, NLT

Quote

Our lives should always be the first thing to speak; and if our lips speak more than our lives, we have little power to influence the world.

~D. Martyn Lloyd Jones {Sermon on the Mount, page 143}

A couple of interesting things as we think about these challenging verses. First Jesus is talking to His disciples who in view of the world were losers. It is rag tag group of teenagers with the exception of Peter. Not one of them is a road scholar or college graduate. Not one is a millionaire or successful businessman. There are no statemen in the group, no doctors or lawyers. Yet Jesus looks at them in the eye and say, “You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.” A bit overwhelming don’t you think. Two thousand years later and I am still overwhelmed by these words.

The second thing is Jesus assessment of the world: it is in a state of moral corruption [like meat going bad] and also a state of darkness. Jones says that the Greek is emphatic and Jesus is literally saying to this small band of followers, “You, and only you are the ones who will keep this world from rotting; you, and only you will be a light in this dark world.” Again the word that comes to my mind is ‘overwhelming.’ How can a small group of Christians possibly influence the world? Believe it or not, this small group of followers did just that in less than a century.

Here is our advantage: only Christians, followers of Christ, acknowledge the real problem which is SIN. The 16 century ‘renaissance’ and the 18 century ‘enlightenment’ left the high thinkers of this world with the idea {which they swallowed hook, singer and line} that man is getting and better and all he needs is to be enlightened, he needs to know more. If we can educate him, it will solve all the problems. Now, two centuries later the liberals have to admit the truth: man is not getting better. We have no solved the problem of war {which is high on their list}, or poverty, or disease, or greed, or predijuce, and on and on. The key to their flawed thinking is that they deny the real problem which is SIN. We have war because man is a sinner by birth and choice. Man’s lust for power and money because he is a selfish sinner.

I am afraid it is not just the world that has a problem: I am deeply afraid there is a problem within the church {professing Christianity}. When was the last time you saw a group of believers at the altar weeping over their sins? It hasn’t been recent. We have become like the Pharisees, we see the sins of others but don’t acknowledge our own sin. We desperately need an ISAIAH SIX revival.

Extra

There is a possibility we will get power to our office building today. Ty and I got the porch on yesterday and we raised the entire building a cap block which was a chore. I have to go to Athens to get a shot in my knee this morning and then there is the program at 4:00 and Worship at 6:00, so I will not get a lot done today. I have made a couple of mistakes along the way but we are going to correct them later. I have decided to go with gas logs instead of the fireplace; this means we can fully carpet the den. I’ve been hard headed about this: everyone wanted it but me. I repented yesterday.

I fell again yesterday. I was backing up from the building and hung my shoe on a root. The ground was soft but I went backward and landed on my right elbow and shoulder. Now I can lay on left or right side and I don’t like sleeping on my back. By grace we did manage some quality rest last night. Matter of fact I overslept which is why I am late posting.

Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.

Remember: if you don’t get the blog for a couple of days, it is due to the move. We have internet at the new site but my building in a hundred feet from the modem and we do not know if the wireless will pick up.