The Influnce of Kingdom Citizens
The Gospel of Matthew: The King and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted
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· 1 viewWalking through Jesus' teaching about His disciples being salt and light.
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Introduction: Do you have any influence on the life of another person?
J. Alec Motyer wrote, “There is no such person as a person without influence.” (The Compete Gathered God: A Treasury of Quotations for Christians).
You have influence if someone calls you dad. You have influence if someone calls you mom. You have influence if someone calls you a friend. You have influence if someone calls you, their boss. You have influence if you serve in a public office. Pastors have an influence on people. Youth workers have a tremendous influence on people. Sunday school teachers and AWANA leaders all have an influence on those they teach.
Henrietta Mears penned, “Your influence is negative or positive, never neutral.” (The Compete Gathered God: A Treasury of Quotations for Christians).
In verses 1-12 of Matthew 5, Jesus described the attitudes of kingdom citizens, and now in verses 13-16, Jesus describes the impact and the influence of kingdom citizens.
The point is simple: God’s people make a difference.
I heard a story about a mother who would tell her son as he left for school every day, “Go Mad.” Her message was simple – “Go Make a Difference.”
In this section of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is going to tell His disciples how to make a difference in their world. How they can have the greatest influence on the lives of those they encounter.
I. You are SALT of the earth – 5:13
I. You are SALT of the earth – 5:13
13 “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 but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
What do you know about salt?
1. Salt makes thirsty
The other day Debbie and I went into Coeur d’ Alene and we stopped at McDonald’s for a cheeseburger and fries. No drink. Afterward, I thought I should have asked for a cup of water. The salt on the fries made us both thirsty. So, I stopped again at the Lancaster Market and purchased us something to drink. So, refreshing!
The point is simple – Salt makes you thirsty.
If you eat potato chips, pretzels, or salted peanuts and you will need a drink of water.
Now, allow me to turn this concept of salt and thirst toward the conversations that you and I have with people. In our conversations with people, we ought to add some salt, and in so doing, people should desire to hear more from us. This is how we influence those around us.
In Colossians 4:6 Paul wrote,
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
How many of you have heard the statement, “You can’t make a horse drink water, but you can salt the oats”?
The same is true in conversations with unbelievers. We can’t make them listen to us, but we can salt the conversations that we have with unbelievers.
2. Salt adds flavor
When I grill burgers, steaks, or chicken I add salt, pepper, and garlic. These seasonings add flavor to the meat. Salt has been around for a very long time. For thousands of years, people have been using salt to add flavor to their foods.
What is the point here? It is simple, kingdom citizens add flavor to the lives of those they encounter. How?
By being friendly. By not being weird or strange. We influence people around us by adding insight to various conversations.
Back in 1983, I met an evangelist by the name of Abe Penner. Abe was telling me that every year he read books about various subjects, such as medicine, law, mechanics, history, mathematics, physics, and so on. The reason why he read so diversely was that he wanted to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation with anyone in any field of study. What a great way to add flavor to a conversation.
Christians ought to KNOW what they are talking about. Don’t shoot from the hip, and don’t pass along information that you yourself have not studied.
3. Salt is a preservative
Before the invention of refrigeration people used salt to preserve meat. Salt’s ability to preserve food was a founding contributor to the development of civilization. It helped eliminate dependence on the seasonal availability of food and made it possible to transport food over large distances (History of Salt, Wikipedia). So, how does this relate to the believer?
We live in a very ungodly world, and a lot of our values have gone down the road of moral decay. The only thing that can preserve what is holy and pure is the Christian – the salt of the earth. We must STAND up for what is biblical and seek to preserve the holy.
James Montgomery Boice wrote, “The Christian is to be a preserving force in the world wherever God has placed him. The salt never did any good when it was sitting on one shelf and the meat on another. To be effective, the salt had to be rubbed into the meat. In a similar way, Christians must allow God to rub them into the world. And this means that there must be Christians at work, Christians in politics, Christians at home, Christians everywhere else that a normal life in their own society would take them.”
Don’t Lose Your Saltiness
The last part of verse 15 reads,
but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
Jesus taught, once the salt has lost its flavor it cannot be seasoned.
How does salt lose its flavor? It mixes with other impure sources and loses its sting. Salt remains salt it just loses its powerful impact.
Deneen White writes, “So, for the Christian, for the salt of the earth, to lose his degree of saltiness, the Gospel would have to be diluted in his life. This person is the complacent Christian, the person who does not protect the Truth of the gospel in his life from the rainfall of other ideas and ideologies– This person mixes the Truth with a myriad of other ideologies.” (deneenwhite.com)
I also want to remind us that we will lose our saltiness if we get caught up in the decaying world around us. Either we stand for what is right, or we begin to decay like the rest of the world.
I believe that the point that Jesus was making was that salt cannot lose its flavor. But if it were possible, it would be good for nothing, but to toss it out and allow people to walk on it.
Kingdom citizens must always be salty. Our world (this earth) needs salty Christians. Christians who are making a difference.
· We should cause people to be thirsty for God.
· We should add flavor through our very presence.
· We should help preserve our society by our standard of conduct. I’m talking about godly behavior.
As I prepared for this message, I came across Susie Cross's acronym for SALT:
S – Saints
A – As
L – Living
T – Testimonies (redbarnchurch.com)
Want to influence others? Be a living testimony!
Finally, before we move on. Two other insights about salt. First, salt will melt the cold and ice. And second, salt will heal wounds. Just think of the implications of those two thoughts in the realm of influence.
II. You are LIGHT of the world – 5:14-16
II. You are LIGHT of the world – 5:14-16
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
1. You are the light of the world – 5:14
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Jesus said to His disciples that they are the light of the world. Underline the word “You”. I want you to personalize this verse. I would say to all of us who are kingdom citizens that we too are the light of the world. We are God’s light here on earth.
We know how dark our world is today. It’s getting darker every year, maybe even every month. Maybe every day! More and more ungodly behavior is being politized and deemed acceptable. It is even being legalized by the courts.
What I have Witnessed Through the Decades
Every Ten Years Things Have Gotten Worse
· In the 1960’s we had the sexual revolution.
· In the 1970’s we had the drug revolution.
· In the 1980’s we had the homosexual revolution.
· In the 1990’s we had the alphabet “LGBTQ+” revolution.
· In the 2000’s we had the Leftist revolution. We were told that character doesn’t matter.
· In the 2010’s we had the transgender revolution.
· In the 2020’s we had the non-binary revolution.
It seems that darkness is enveloping our society. Where is the light? Christians are called to be the light of the world. Light exposes darkness. Scripture tells us that men love darkness rather than light (see John 3:19-20).
Just comment on anything I’ve listed as darkness and see what kind of response you receive – it won’t be good. People do not like the light – it exposes them.
2. Light is not to be hidden – 5:14
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
President Ronald Regan called America, a city on a hill. What he meant was that the USA was the last hope for the world. As goes the United States of America so goes the rest of the globe.
You don’t put a city on a hill if you are trying to hide it.
3. Light has a definite purpose – 5:15
15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house
I have never met a person who buys a lamp only to put it under a basket – to hide it. No, they purchase a lamp to light up their home. Light has a very useful purpose. It was never meant to be placed where its usefulness is hindered.
Christians, the light in us is not our own. In John 1:4 we read,
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
The light in us is Christ (John 8:12), and that light must shine through us. Yes, light has a definite purpose.
In our text light has been placed on a lampstand so that it gives light to all who are in the house. Again, I believe what we are seeing here is influence.
Years ago, Christian artist Chris Rice sang a song entitled, Go light Your World. Here are two stanzas from the lyrics,
There is a candle in every soul
Some brightly burning, some dark and cold
There is a Spirit who brings a fire
Ignites a candle and makes His home
Carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the helpless, confused and torn
And hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world
4. Let your light shine – 5:16
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Let your light so shine before men. Don’t miss this. Our light is to help others around us. They need to see the light shining from us.
What is the best way for others to see the light in us? By our good works. We have been saved by grace, through faith, and that not of ourselves (not our works), however, we have been saved unto good works. Paul penned in Ephesians 2:10,
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
A List of Good Works
· Showing Kindness.
· Lending a helping hand.
· Supporting a college student.
· Providing finances to parachurch ministries.
· Listening to the lonely.
· Volunteering at a charity.
· Being quick to forgive.
· Bearing the load someone else.
· Offering encouragement.
· Giving someone a ride into town.
· Watching someone’s kids for a few hours.
· Invitation to home, church, or conference.
· Share the Good News of Jesus Christ with lost people.
It has been said that French diplomat, political scientist, and historian Alexis de Tocqueville, traveled across America and afterward penned the following words. Now, before I share them with you, I want you to know that modern-day fact-checkers deny that these words were ever written by him. However, these words have been attributed to him since the 1800s. If they are not his words, they are…
Still Great Words
I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her fertile fields and boundless forests, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her public school system and her institutions of learning, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.
It was the churches of America that encouraged kingdom citizens to let their light shine by doing good works. “America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”
God help us to allow our light to shine.
Conclusion: Here are the spiritual lessons from this message.
1. You ARE the salt of the earth – accept it.
2. You are to make thirsty, add flavor, and preserve society.
3. You are to protect your saltiness – don’t compromise with the world.
4. You ARE the light of the world – accept it.
5. You are living in a very dark world – the world needs our light.
6. You must not hide your light – let it shine. BRIGHT!
7. You are to let your light be seen by your good works.
8. You are salt and light for the glory of God.
Scripture says,
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Colossians 3:17)