Living as Salt & Light | Joy Lim

You're listening to a message to go from Exts Church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

The last time I spoke, I did a series on

the be Attitudes and following on the Sermon of the Mound.

So the Sermon of the Mound started in chapter five

of METTHEU all the way to chapter seven. Now again

we are still on the theme this year that all

may know. So even as our praying and preparing again

led to this portion of scripture not unfamiliar to most

of us, I believe, and it is a continuation of

the Sermon of the Mound, right, So we are looking

at Nettie chapter five today. So we finished the be Attitudes,

and right after Jesus was saying that blessed are you

if you're persecuted for Righteous's sake, for yours is a

kingdom of heaven. Then he spoke about being sought of

the earth and light of the world. Okay, so how

many of us here wants to be soul of the earth,

light of the world, shining for Jesus, glorifying the Father.

So if that's you, this message is for you today. Yay.

So let's take and read from Met till chapter five,

and we're again encouraging everyone to own your own bibles.

Bring your bibles to church, and you can turn with

me to Matthew chapter five, verse thirteen to sixteen. So

that will be our main text for this morning. Now

let me read verse thirteen. Okay, well, good with time.

You are the soult of the earth. So this is Jesus.

Now remember the contexts when Jesus was preaching at the

Sermon of the Mound. Is because Jesus was preaching at

the mountainside to his disciples, but there was an inner

circle of the disciples, and there was a crowd that

was also listening in to Jesus. Okay, so Jesus speaks

speaking primarily to his followers, to the Christians. By so

you are the salt of the earth. But if the

salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It

is then good for nothing, so Jesus said, good for nothing.

Jesus say, okay, it is then good for nothing but

to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

Verse fourteen. You are the light of the world. A

city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden,

nor do they light a lamb and put it under

a basket, but on a lamb stand, and it gives

light to all who are in the house. Let your

light so shine before men, that they may see your

good works and glorify your Father in heaven a man. Now,

let me read again. You can I want us to

read again, right, it's good to repeat reading the Word

of God. I'm going to read in a new living translation,

and you can follow with whatever version that you are

looking at again Verse thirteen. You are the salt of

the earth. But what good is salt has lost its flavor?

Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown

out and trembled under foot as worthless. You are the

light of the world, like a city on a hiltop

that cannot be hidden. No one likes the lamb and

then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamb is

placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone

in the house. In the same way, Let your good

deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone

will praise your heavenly Father, a man. And I pray

that today, after today, we will again cause others to

praise our heavenly Father, a man, that all may see

and know and give glory to our Father. Amen. So

these words are taken from the Sermon of Mouth, as

I mentioned. And we all know that these words or

the Sermon on the Mound is accepted by Christians as

the standard for all Christians, not just for a particular

group of leaders or parts, masters or elders or apostles evangelists.

But this is what Jesus was teaching to all his disciples,

and it is the standard of living for all true Christians. Right, okay,

So again Jesus speaking to us as disciples. Jesus is

telling us tree, I would say, Tree. From these four verses,

are Tree important well truths? Or you can say facts

or truths about ourselves. Now in these verses, if you read,

Jesus didn't say you go and be the side of

soult of the earth right or do this? He is

saying to you and I you are, so turn to

your neighbor on your left. You are, turn to your

neighbor on your right. You are Okay, now I say,

or not Jesus say so. Jesus is telling us tree

very important truths about yourself. So if any of you

here today say I do not know, I do not

know about myself. I don't understand myself. Ah, Jesus telling

you who you are. Okay, Okay. If you say, oh,

I don't know my identity, Jesus is telling you your

identity today. Three things, halle Loujah. So he tells us

that we are the sort of the earth, the light

of the world, and the city that is set on

a hill that cannot be hidden. Okay. So I'm going

to look at these tree things, the tree truths that

Jesus said that we are in a reverse way, in

a reverse order. Okay. Now, in verse thirteen he said

you are the sort of the earth. In verse fourteen,

Jesus said you are the light of the world and

a city on a hill. So I'm going reverse way

and look at the city set on a hill very quickly. First, okay.

So in verse fourteen Jesus said, we are a city. Now,

as we all know, if a city is set on

a hill, obviously it cannot be hidden. How do you

hide a city? Doesn't make my sense? Okay. So, and

so what is Jesus trying to tell us, okay, is

when we when we profess Jesus as our lord and savior.

And you know why we go to the waters of baptism,

and that was commanded, and even Jesus himself went to

the waters of baptism. Right is to declare to the

world that I follow Jesus and no turning back. Correct.

So I encourage any of you here, if you have

not been water baptized, please speak to your homes leader

or any of our leaders or pastors elders here and

we will guide you. For this is a command of

the Lord. And as you walk in obedience, I believe

the Lord will also bless you. Okay. So if we

profess that Jesus is our Lord and savior hahah, then

it becomes we are. We become conspicuous, meaning the whole

world all eyes is now on earth. Do you believe that? Now,

maybe we don't admit it. No, noa Nola, but it's true.

You like it or not, people are looking at you, okay.

So why because we become a city that is set

on a hue. No matter how you try to hide,

it cannot be hidden. Because from the moment we say

we profess Jesus our Lord, our Savior, again, all eyes

will be on us from all directions at all times.

And what are people thinking about us. Now, I'm not

saying that they're thinking bad about us, but it's normal,

right for pre believers or people of the world what

they will say, Oh, so this girl or this lady,

this man says that he is a believer a Christian.

Is his faith genuine? Have you come across that before?

Does he really believe in what he claims to believe?

Does he live it out what he says he believes.

They will analyze every aspect of our lives. They will

analyze our family life, they will analyze our home life,

They will analyze our work life. They will analyze our

dealings in business. They analyze our decisions, they analyze our choices,

and they analyze the conduct and testimony of the church

that you belong to. Do you know that all right?

So if we do not want to be conspicuous, meaning

we do not want any attention, we don't know anyone

to look at us, watch us, judge us analysis, then

don't say you know Jesus because the moment we profess

faith in Jesus, this is inevitable. From that time onwards,

we are a city that is said on a hue

that cannot be hidden. So Jesus already said you are.

They cannot run away, all right, Okay, I'm gonna move on. Okay.

So that's the first thing he said.

You are.

City said on a hill in the same verse in

verse fourteen, I'm very to remind myself slow down, joy okay,

same verse verse fourteen. Now, Jesus also said you are

the light of the world. Now I'm not English teacher,

but the word the here you are the light of

the world. Is like when we are trying to emphasize

something and only something. You are the light of the world.

So that's what Jesus is saying to us. Okay, okay.

Now he is saying that now, so meaning it is exclusive. Okay,

the word there there is actually like saying it the

so meaning there is no other light. Okay, So this

the is exclusive and we are the only light and

the world has no other light. Turn to your neighbor

on your left, you are the light. Turned to the

other neighbor, there's no other light. Okay. So when Jesus

is saying to his disciples that you are the when

you read you're the light of the world, like you're

the light of the worland. So right, But actually it's

you are the light of the world. The world has

no other light except you and I. Okay. So in

the Gospel of John chapter five, verse nine, Jesus was

talking to his disciples, and he said this, so long

as I am in the world, I am the light

of the world. So Jesus was telling his disciples. But

now you know that he is no longer in the

world as in physically, and because we are his representatives,

we represent him now in the world. And therefore in

his place we are the light of the world. And

the world has no other light. Now, if we do

not give light, there is no other source to which

the world can turn or look for light. The world

is totally dependent upon us Christians for light. All right, now,

let me give you again an illustration from the Old Testament. Again,

Old Testament, as you read, it is mirroring and shadowing

something that is going to come right in the New Testament,

and usually it is pointing to Jesus. So in the

Old Testament, way back in Exodus twenty five, when God

gave the instructions to Moses to build the tabernacle. Now,

so in this tabernacle which God has commanded Moses to

make it as a witness, and this is a simple illustration. Okay. Okay,

so he commanded him to make into compartments. Do you

remember that? So if you know the Tabernacle, the tabernacle

has the Holy of Holies right, which is where the

Art of the Covenant is kept, and then in front

of that is the Holy Place. Okay. And in the

Holy Place there are a few sets of furniture, a

few pieces of furniture, and then there's the outer courts right. Okay,

So I have a picture here. The activity can help

me to put it up. Okay, as you can see.

Now again, I'm not gool in what soul know everything,

but no little bit, little bit, just sharing with you

a little bit that I know. So in the you

can see the holy places. So today we're going to

focus on the Holy Place. So right in front of

the whole, the most holy place, which is the Holy

of Holies, we have the of the Covenant and then

the Holy Place, which we have three pieces of furniture.

We have the altar of incense, we have the table

of show Breid, and we have the golden lampstone or

in other Bible translations you will call it the candlestick.

Same so the candlestick and the limestand is the same thing,

all right, depending which one you use. Okay, So two compact,

two main compartments besides the alter courtyard. So it's the

holy place and the most Holy Place. Now there are

only three objects of furniture, as I mentioned. So now

the golden altar of incense is the one that is

immediately in front. So there will be a veil. So

I have another picture that will show you a veil.

This veil will cover the entrance to the most Holy Place, okay.

So right in front of that veil is the golden

altar of incense. Now, so that is the one that's there.

And here the picture shows you the holy holies like

as all. They didn't draw part of the veal like that, okay,

So you can see of the covenant and then the

golden alter of incense. Now the other two pieces of

furniture is what we're going to focus on. Okay. On

the the left side, which we have the is a

candlestick or we call it a lampstand, and it has

seven branches okay, I call branches are chabang okay okay,

three right, tree, left, one in the middle okay. Now,

then on its opposite side, which is the right side,

is what we call a table, and it's called the

table of show bread. Don't worry so much, okay, okay,

just no simple okay, Now these things the writer in Hebrew,

in the Book of Hebrew, it says that it contains

a message, and the message is to the Church of Jesus. Okay,

So I'm not going to go into that. But in

Hebrews it's also mentioned this, So the candlestick. Okay, So

this one the holy place, the tree furniture. So the

candlestick has always in all scripture, if you read and sturdy,

it always typifies the church. So the seven branched candlestick

typifies the church, a seven branch candlestick typifying the sevenfold

Church begotten by the Spirit of God. And this is

the same message that is brought to us in the

seven churches in Asia in the Book of Revelation. Now,

don't worry, but this is it represents the Church of God.

Now let's think about candlestick for a moment. Now, how

many of you here your house called candlestick? One can

some of us are? Some of us are, And the

candlestick is that okay. So for me, if you ask me,

I would imagine candle when got no elegacity there we

can dig all our candles outline, correct, And some of

us we do because of decoration, you know, we burn

the do the candles and all. Okay, But in those

days the candles, the candlestick has boes one okay, it

has bolls and what else? Let me see it has both,

and it has channels that is filled with oil. Okay.

So not sure about today's candle to you, just like

the candle that's it land right then is that God

oil got the boat must fill with oil and and

then there are little wicks dipped in the oil. One

and the light was provided when the oil is being

set on fire. Okay, So we set it on fire,

then it will opurn. So unless there was and so

unless there was oil in the candlestick, and unless the

oil was ignited, the candlestick will give no light now, okay, okay.

So and in the Holy Place, that's now we go

back to the picture. In the Holy Place, there is

no other source of light. This is what was the

blueprint that God gave to Moses. No other source of light. Hence,

if there was no light coming from the candlestick, there

will be no light in the tabernacle, all right, okay,

no light at all. Does it speak of us as

the church now? And this is true for us as

the Church. Remember, we are the lights. Jesus said, you

are the light of the world, and that's the light

of the world, no other light. We are the seven

branched candlestick. And we only give light when we are

filled with oil, and that the oil is set on fire. Okay,

follow me, now, what does oil usually stands for in

the Bible? You will always speak of the Holy Spirit.

So the Church, which is the candlestick, can only give

light when it is filled with oil the candlestick and

hence when it's filled with the Holy Spirit and set

on fire, everybody say fire are thewise? Just like the

candlestick in the tabernacle, the Church is just as lightless

as any other object of furniture. Remember, so until the

candlestick has oil and the oil is littered up, you

will give no light. The Church of God similar like

the candlestick. Unless it's filled with the oil of the

Holy Spirit and with fire of God, we will not

give the light. All right. So the candlestick in itself

is incapable of producing light without the oil and without

the fire. Now hold on to the thought for a while,

and let's remember what John the Baptists said of Jesus.

Now in Luke, So he turned to look chapter three,

verse sixteen, just one verse. So this was before he

baptized Jesus, and John the Baptist was talking about Jesus.

So in verse sixteen he said, John the Baptist answered,

saying to all, I think people were asking him questions.

I indeed baptize you with water. But one mightier than

I is coming, who send the straps. I'm not worthy

to lose. Take note of what John said. He will

baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Hallelujah amen.

So it is he will baptize the Jesus baptizes us

with the Holy Spirit and with fire. So in back

to the tableneckle just now, the holy place. The whole

purpose of the candlestick or the lamb stand was to

cast light. Now again cast light on the object which

was immediately oppositeed. So go back to that diagram again, elvira,

if you can go back to that diagram again, the

first one, Yes, so opposite the golden lamb stand or

the candlestick is the other furniture called the table of

show breid. So remember in this tabonckle, the candlestick has

one purpose only, which is to cast like to the

object that was directly opposite it, which is the golden

table of the show braid. Now, the show braid now

is a type of Jesus Christ who said, I am

the braid of life. Jesus said, I am the braid

that came down from heaven. So the whole purpose of

the candle steak is to give light or to cast

light onto the show bread, to do one thing and

one thing only, to illuminate the table or show bred.

And this is exactly true for the Church of Jesus Christ,

who is the candle steak. So you and brothers and sisters, friends,

we are here as the Church of Christ for one

purpose and one purpose only, hallelujah. And what is that

to do? To cast light onto Jesus, the bread of life.

And that's why Jesus said you are the light of

the world. What you like, for we're casting light onto Jesus. Hallelujah.

And we only ahah and we can only do this

when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, which is

the oil represented by the oil and with and set

on fire. Hallelujah. So again wrapping up again, apart from

the candlestick, there is no source of light in the tabernacle,

and apart from the Church, there is no light in

the world. That's why I told you to turn to

your neighbor and say you are the light of the world.

And the candlestick can only give light when it was

filled with oil and set on fire. The Church can

only give light when it is filled with the Holy

Spirit and set on fire. And the candlestick has only

one object, which is to cast light, and that was

cast light on the table of show bread. And the

Church has only one object upon which to cast light,

and that is our Lord Jesus Christ. So the only

reason you and I as Christians are here is the

cast light on Jesus, the Bread of life. This is

our sole primary purpose of our presence here on the earth.

Can anyone tell me you don't know why you're on earth? Again? Uh? Huh?

I told you, hah Okay. So if you don't know,

I don't know who I am. I don't know what

I am. I don't know what identity. I don't know

what to do. I don't know why God cally, I

don't know what God be me into this world. I'm

telling you that God is have only one purpose for

you here on earth and our burbs is the cast

like on Jesus and everything else that we do, hallelujah,

is secondary to this very purpose of which God has

called us. We are the light of the world A

man a man, hallelujah. And even as we have sung

the song today, right, I didn't. I was preparing yesterday

and this song our this is our own extra song

fire Fall. I don't know the title. I just know

sing mehever. Then after that, then I try to search.

I don't forgot the title all the right, Yeah, okay?

Then found Now then I told her what she reader?

I know who's the what she reader? Okay? After my

man say sing this song, and you know what he said,

Oh so we did. My song is oh oh, hallelujah.

Jesus said, okay, you want to be God line. I

didn't do anything, okay, okay, but whatever whatever song it's okay, yeah,

but I believe it's anointed of the Lord. Today and

later we're going to sing again as our prayer, because

if you sing this song, every line is exactly what

I believe. The song was written anointed by God in

the first place, many years you months ago, all right.

And at the end of the song, the last SIGNE

says what that every time? What I confessed that Jesus

Christ is Lord. So that is the whole point. You

ask fire to follow you aus a revival for what exactly,

so that everyone will know about Jesus. Amen, hallelujah. So

we'll get to that now. So Jesus said, now I'm

going in the reverse order, right city that is set

on the hill. Uh. And we said that. Jesus said

that you are the live of the world. Now in

verse thirteen, Jesus said, you are the song of the earth.

Now again, the word the is the meaning is exclusive.

It means that the earth has no other salt. We

are the only salt available to the earth. Meaning without earth,

the earth is tasteless, flavorless, tasteless. Okay, imagine your life

without salt. Can I know some of us have to

cut down salt. I know, I know, be not but

now no salt nongs you go, you know what, you

know what okay, but we get to cut down I'm

not talking about like health reasons, and we cut down life.

But imagine your entire life without salt, I think way said, right, okay,

all right, salt. That's imagine the earth without us Christians. Okay,

So there are various ways we can apply the significance

of salt. And I know scientists, but I think all

of us are smart enough to know some of the

obvious facts about salt. So, first of all, three things

about salt. Salt It can be used as a word disinfectant. Right,

do you know gargling salt in warm water will solve

a lot of problem? How many you do that? I

will do? That is a very long time home remedy

for a long time already. You can just gargle ur

salt in warm water. Why because it kills the germs. Right, So,

any of us who are speakers, preachers, even those of

us who use a lot of our troth, our vocal card, infection, oursers,

whatever is a good home remedy because salt is a disinfectant.

It keeps away diseases, It tends to prevent germs from

settling in the troath and causing infection. And inflammation. As

I'm saying this, this is what we are supposed to

be Church. We are supposed to be like that disinfectant

in the world around us. We are supposed to disinfect

the atmosphere, the society in which we move, the relationships

of people with us and with others. We are supposed

to keep away germs and infection, not the physical ones,

but the spiritual and the moral ones. Right. In other words,

our presence should make a difference wherever we our place.

Have you ever had people have uh, they're having conversations

of their own and they didn't notice that you were

in the room, And then after that they're like, oh, sorry, sorry,

I didn't know you were here. Then they changed maybe

the choice of words that they use or God not yep. Good.

Keep keep being who you are because it's just your person.

You're not condemning them, neither are you putting them down,

but just your presence they know, Oh yes, I need

to speak properly, I need to behave myself okay, okay,

So our presence should make a difference. Secondly, about salt,

the function of salt is to give flavor to which

would otherwise lack flavor. So what does it mean to

add flavor in the side of God. It means we

are here on the earth to commend the earth to God.

What does that mean? So means apart from our presence

in the earth, there is no other reason why God

should deal with this world any longer. In grace and mercy.

We are the only thing that makes the earth acceptable

to God. Do you know that we are the only

thing that holds back the final judgment and wrath of

God on a Christ's rejecting will. And as long as

we are in the world, our responsibility is our responsibility

is to live in such a way that we commend

this earth to God, to give God a reason why

he should continue to act in grace and mercy towards

those on earth and not in wrath and judgment. Now,

why am I saying this? Now, I'm going to bring

you to a passage again in the Old Testament very

quickly to draw from us a principle here, and that's

our role as the sot of the earth, to commend

the world to God. Now, remember the story of Lord Okay,

So Abraham and Lord Okay So they were very rich.

God prospered them. They got many, many Anna and their family,

very big man servants, many herds, many all their sheeps

and kettles and all, and to a point whereby there

were so many that their servants are the fighting. And

then they departed. Okay, okay. Now, then later on something

happened to Lord Okay, okay. So this is found in

Genesis eighteen. But we want to draw a principle from here.

This is where the Angel of the Lord came to

visit Abraham and Sarah. Okay, that time they got no,

they were all an advance in age. I think isa

ish melbornady, but not yet Okay, the son of the promise,

which is Isaac. So the Angel, which is God himself,

came and visited Abraham and Sarah, and at the time

I think Abraham didn't know, and promised that in a

year's time Sarah is going to have a son. Okay.

So that is the context. But after that there was

a conversation between God and Abraham. And we're going to

look at that conversation now because that is the context.

So let's look at Genesis eighteen, verse twenty to thirty two.

So if you have a Bible and turn, of course,

for those of us who are knew today, and we

will like you to follow. Please, you can read the

scripture on the screen now verse twenty and the Lord said,

now this is God speaking to Abraham. Okay. At that time,

the Lord said, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah

is great, and because their sin is very grave, I

will go down now and see whether they have done

altogether according to the outcry against it has come to me,

and if not, I will know. This is after God

gave the promise of Isaac to Abraham, and before they left.

Then the men turned away from there and went towards Seldom.

These were the angels of the Lord again. But Abraham

still stood before the Lord. And Abraham came near and said,

would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Now

Abraham is pleading to God Lord for his nephew, Lord,

who is staying in Sodom. Okay, so he's trying to

bargain with God. Okay, let's look at the conversation. So

would you destroy the righteous with the wicked? Verse twenty four.

Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city, would you

also destroy the place and not spare it for the

fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from

you to do such a thing as this, to slay

the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should

be as the wicked. Far be it from you. Shall

not the judge of all the earth do right? So

the Lord said, if I find in seldom fifty righteous

within the city, then I will spare all the place

for their six. Then Abraham answered and said, indeed, now,

I who am but dust and ashes, have taken it

upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose there were

five lefts than the fifty righteous, would you destroy all

the city for lack of five? So he said, if

I find they're forty five, I will not destroy it.

You can do the math, right. Yeah. Now Abraham continuum,

and he spoke to him yet again and said, suppose

there should be forty found there. So he said, I

will not do it for the sake of forty. Then

he said, Abraham, Sai, nah, let not the Lord be angry,

because if I think I'll be angryy so many times? Right,

and I will speak. Suppose thirty should be found there.

And so God said, I will not do it if

I find thirty there. And he said, indeed, now I've

taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose

twenty should be found there. So God said, I will

not destroy it for the sake of twenty haha, verse

thirty two. Then he said, Abraham said, let not the

Lord be angry, and I will speak. But once more,

suppose ten should be found, and he said, I will

not destroy it for the sake of ten. We stop here.

After that, God, when he's waiting, didn't talk anymore, and

then bye bye. Okay. But the sad thing is God

couldn't even find ten righteous in seldom right, couldn't Why

Abraham stopped at ten. I think Abraham already planned to

ask God for ten one, but he's scared, Like I think, like, okay, God,

maybe fifty test tested or not. God not angry me

forty five and forty and okay, I'm just thinking. Because

Abraham can count his family, Lord, his wife, Lord had daughters,

married and unmarried ones and married one's got sons in laws,

so you can come count sons in laws, daughters, unmarried

daughters is about ten. So Abraham was hoping that God

will change his mind for the sake of Lord and

his family. Right, So that's why he stopped at ten.

But the sad thing is the Lord couldn't even find ten.

If Lord Abraham's nephew walked in the ways of the Lord,

just like Abraham, he would definitely have that ten correct.

But he did not. And the sad thing is he

was a believer. He had all the revelations like Abraham had,

but he wasn't living in the light of the revelation

that he had. How do I know that? Now go

back tracker, backtrack five chapters in Genesis thirteen, very quickly,

Genesis the thing verse ten to the thing, and this

was the said thing about Lord. So Lord lifted his

eyes and saw all the plane of Jordan, that it

was well watered everywhere. We're all like well watered things. Right.

This is before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like

the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt.

As you go to a zoa. Then Lord chose for

himself all the plane of Jordan, and Lord journey east,

and they separated from each other. Abraham dwelt in the

land of Canaan, and Lord dwelt in the cities of

the plane, and pitched his tent even as far as

Sodom versus the Din. But the men of Sodom were

exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord. But who chose

to go to Sordom? Lord okay? And he went there

by himself? No, he brought his whole family there. Could

he did he manage to take his whole family out? No? Sadly,

he as the man of the house, let his family

in to Sordom, but he couldn't take them out. Just ps.

We are on the principle of as and as sort

right recommended of the gana stay on tra But PSI

track a little bit on this story. Right, Sometimes that

happens to us as parat it. We bring our children,

our family two place to a place where we actually

don't want them to be right, and then after that

we cannot bring them out like Lord right. So sometimes

that happens to us, and to think about it is terrible.

And imagine Lord leaving Sawdom was the angel of the Lord,

if you read the whole story, was chasing them and

rushing them leave now, leave now, leave now. And then

the angels even grab their hands and try to take

them out of the city because they promised Abraham okay, okay,

so go go go. Then Lord and his wife and

the two daughters. And Lord tried to call his married

daughters and his sons in law, but they didn't believe him,

all right, So and then they left, and sadly the

wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. Right,

So I wonder how Lord had felt at that time.

He knew when God rained down brimhail and brimstone and

all upon the city, that his family will all perish.

What was happening to his mind at that time? So

it's just as sometimes as parents, I'm just like side tracking.

We say we come to church because all of our children,

so we choose to come to church. We want to

come to church, Oh yeah, because my children wants to

come to church. Or I think this church is good

for my children. So a church is good for your children,

but not good enough for you. So you expect your

children to grow up loving the Lord and serving the Lord,

and you do not need to love the Lord and

serve the Lord. Out, Isn't it okay? Some things for

us to think about, all right? So let us not

be like Lord, because we live to regret it eternally. Amen.

Back to the principle, all right, Okay, wish I was

trying to say. God relented. He said he will spare

the city even if there were ten righteous men. God

will spare a complete city. And that proportion is still

true today. Ten grains of salt, like no one grain

is so small, right, Ten grains of salt can command

a whole service to God. And our business is to

be such that we commend this earth to God. Meaning

our presence does make a difference. Imen. Our presence causes

God to deal with the world in a way that

he would not otherwise be able to deal with the world. Imen.

Every single believer, you and I should be a single

grain of salt in his or her particular place. So

your place is different from my place. Only you can

be that grain of salt in the place that God

has called you. And God does not lum all believers

together in one place in it all of us. We

are scattered at our different marketplaces, correct right, And we

are all not together except when we come together to

worship the Lord. But we're all scattered in different places.

Just like how we do not put salt one whole

lump of salt into one dish, isn't it It will

taste awful? All we need is a sprinkle salt, and

you and I are that grains of salt in the

places that God has called us to be a man

a man. So every little grain is scattered in some

particular place, and God has put every precious person here,

I believe, in this hall, in this room, in some

particular place, to be that grain of salt in that

particular place, hallelujah. Whether it is your family, whether it

is your office, whether it is your whatever place of

employment you're in, your school, your campus, whatever place that

might be. Now you may say, but joy, I feel

lonely at times because I'm the only grain of salt there. Yes, okay,

but remember we are there to give flavor to the

place which otherwise will have no flavor. Member. When Jesus

say you are the salt of the earth is exclusive.

There's no other salt. Look around you in your workplace,

there's no other salt. You are the salt of the earth. Amen.

And that's what it means. So if we do make

an impact where we live, there's no one else that

will do it right. And that shows that there's something

wrong with us, isn't It means we are salt that

are tasteless. Have you ever tried this as salt? I

have not, because it's salt, correct, Not this a salt is?

I can only imagine send no what abouder? How to

be fas a salt?

Right?

Salt is salt? Okay? So yes, so there is something

wrong that means it's not salt anymore. But we are

called to be the thought immen imen. So if people

can carry on their lives and much jump it doesn't

matter whether we are there or not, then may be

something not so right. Okay, ah, So we've got to

get this right. And today I believe the Lord is

speaking to you and I not the condemnation, but with

his encouragement from his word today affirming us of our

role and our calling immen Harley loujjah. Now, so that's

a second function of salt we know so first one

is a disinfectant. Secondly its flavor, so is also a preservative.

We all know that, right, So, long before the days

of refrigeration, we use salt to preserve meat, right, Okay,

that's what we do. Why because salt has the effect

of holding back the forces of corruption so that the

meat will not turned bad. So we are like that

we are the salt of the earth. We are here

to hold back the forces of corruption, and so long

as we are on the earth, the forces of evil, godlessness,

rebellent corruption that are at work shall never be allowed

to come to its fullness. Do you know that we

have a place to play in this world that God

has called us because we are here to arrest and

to hold back the forces of corruption in the society

that we live in. And we are responsible whether we

like it or not. Because God said, we are the

salt of the earth. So like I said, if we

are not our job like okay, okay, so we are

in our presence, doesn't commendate earth to God as it

doesn't cause got to act differently to the world. Then,

like I said, there's something that we need to check

our hearts even this morning. Amen. So we do not

want to be sought that loses its flavor. We want

to be sought that is doing its job salty, not

saltless or tasteless. Because why because Jesus said, then you

become whate in verse the thing not I say, I

remember Amory, we read the verse you become good for

a good for nothing. So this is the time that

you can say this, okay, cannot say to one another.

I cannot all right, I cannot cannot say no, no, no, no no.

But Jesus said that we will be. So if we

don't want to be good for nothing, then we better

do something now, Okay, okay, because it's Jesus say one,

you'll be good for nothing, Oh my goodness. But to

be thrown out and read carefully trembled under foot by who?

By men? Not by God? No God, God trample personal

But it's by men. Do you know that there are

the world out there. They just want to trample the church,

you know, and bring down the name of God and

the name of the Church. So that's why we do

not want to be dead. Hallelujah. Amen. So church, Now,

as we draw to a close, and I'm drawing to

a close right now, again, let's return to Matthew chapter five,

verse thirteen to sixteen. And I think it's important when

we read these words of Jesus, we need to say

it in a way that we say that I am

the solt of the earth, all right, because we are

reading it like Jesus is telling us. Man. So now

you read it the word of Jesus's words to yourself.

Can we all do that together? Can Church? So let's

do that together. For example, in verse thirteen, when Jesus

said you are the salt of the earth, let's read

it as I am the sort of the earth. Okay,

can we do that? Let's do it verse thirteen. I

am the sword of the earth. But if the salt

loses its flavor, how shall be its season? It is

then good for nothing but to be thrown out and

trampled under foot by men. I am the light of

the world. A city that is set on a hue

cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamb and

put it under a basket. But on a lamb stand

and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may

see your good works and glorify our Father in Have

an hallelujah.

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