Sermon Tone Analysis

Last week, we covered the beatitudes (the blessings) that Christ taught to His disciples.

Blessed are the poor in spirit

Blessed are those who mourn

Blessed are the meek

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

Blessed are the merciful

Blessed are the pure in heart

Blessed are the peacemakers

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

We go from blessings, into the attitude and effects we should have on those around us.

Salt and Light

You - spoken to someone receiving a message - this is meant for everyone hearing (pointed towards the disciples and the crowds that had gathered) and those now reading these verses.

What is the purpose of salt?

Salt is a seasoning and a preservative.

We (as Christians) are to season this earth with God’s Word - to make it more palatable, to taste better, to have flavor AND we are to PRESERVE God’s original intent for the earth, which is to be in communion with Him.

But what does it mean for salt to lose its taste?

Have you ever tasted salt that didn’t taste…salty?

Salt - Mark 9:50, Luke 14:34; how can salt regain its saltiness?

First, salt is formed from a chemical process combining sodium and chlorine into NaCl.

It should be noted that pure salt cannot lose its taste.

It takes a second chemical process to break apart the molecule, exposure to water, OR it would have to be diluted with other components to the point it had little flavor.

So, salt loses its flavor by either separation OR by contamination.

Doesn’t this fit well into the Christian lifestyle?

We can only lose our fire, our zeal, our desire to serve God when we are either separated from Him, or when we have become contaminated by the world.

In either case, salt that has lost its ability to flavor or to preserve is useless.

Salt that was worthless was still a contaminant - salt could deaden/kill land if piled and concentrated.

It was spread onto roadways and walkways to kill the grass and weeds.

We should be like salt, we are to purify - Christians should be the antiseptic to a filthy world, preserve - we draw out the unnecessary so we can keep society from spoiling, and please - the words and actions of a Christian should be desirable, regardless of where we are at.

We should not be UN-agreeable or cruel.

If we become un-salty (diluted or contaminated) we are unable to do God's work efficiently/effectively and become useless in fulfilling God’s Will.

Christ goes on to teach the disciples they are the light of the world, something that can not be hidden.

What does it mean to have a hidden light?

How easy is it to hide light?

How many of you have ever been out at night, especially on a high ridge in darkness and looked out and saw a light?

On the farm, it’s not uncommon on a dark night to be able to see the light from the Jonesville, Pennington, Woodway and Stickleyville area, and on extremely dark nights, to be able to see the glows from Kingsport.

Light has a way of carrying, it can carry on for what seems like forever.

Think of the stars - Proxima Centauri is the closest identified star to earth and it is still 4.24 light-years (5.88 trillion miles) away from earth.

Yet we still see the light!

As a matter of fact, we will still see the light for a good while, even when the star burns out.

We, as Christians should be a light that can be seen, something that is so bright it cannot be hidden.

Christ uses the analogy people do not light a lamp and put it under a basket.

What purpose would the light serve if we placed it under a basket?

It makes no sense, as placing the light under the basket would keep the light from spreading, from illuminating, from carrying out its intended purpose.

When we accept Christ as our Savior, we should be spreading the light wherever we go, illuminating the message given to us by Christ, and carrying out the great commission, seeing people come to know Him as their personal Savior before it is eternally too late.

To try to keep it bottled up inside us, and contained within us defeats the natural purpose of the light we have been given.

There can be no closet Christians!!!

Our light should be visible to others around us!

It doesn’t mean we all have to be the next greatest theologian, we don’t have to be the next great evangelist, but by our GOOD WORKS people should be able to see the light of God illuminating from us and it is then that glory and honor is given to God.

Fulfill or Abolish the Law?

The great debate, which came first the chicken or the egg?

What is the difference between Christ coming to fulfill or abolish the law?

Abolish - to annul, to make void, to invalidate.

When Christ brings up that He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, He simply meant He did not come to earth so we could remove all God’s commands from creation until His birth.

No, instead He simply points out that all the Law and Prophets POINTED to Him.

They were fulfilled (not done away with, but SATISFIED, ACCOMPLISHED) when He was born.

Jesus was accused of trying to destroy the law of God.

It seems as though we have confused Jesus’ love and forgiveness as de-emphasizing the law and penalties that go along with breaking the law.

Jesus nor His earthly life neither contradicted or destroyed Old Testament scriptures.

Instead, He became what had been implied throughout the OT.

The OT only told us how God wanted us to live.

The fulfillment through Christ SHOWED us how God wants us to live.

The Word (spoken and written about) became flesh - So Christ came not to only interpret God’s Word but to be a living example of who God wants us to be.

You see, before His birth the law was 613 written words and rules.

It could only help point to us what we were doing wrong.

It had no spirit, no life, no power to enable a person to do the law, but Christ fulfilled and completed the law in Spirit and in Life - He was literally able to put spirit and life into the worlds and rules of the law.

Now, where the Pharisees and other religious leaders found fault with Christ is that the True interpretation did not necessarily fit “their” interpretation of law.

Originally, the law only gave rules and ways of behavior.

It didn’t explain the purpose or meaning behind the rules.

Instead, the law always had to have an interpreter.

Christ explained the rule and interpreted the law, giving it its real and full meaning.

Before Christ, the law demanded righteous perfection - you HAD to live a perfect life.

So the law only pointed out our sin, and the inability for all of us to keep it perfectly.

Yet Christ fulfilled the law in every detail, and in perfect righteousness demanded by the law so that we, if we believe in Him, can be counted perfectly righteous by God.

Punishment also came with disobedience to the law.

If the law was broken, then there was a punishment.

But Christ fulfilled and completed the law, paying the maximum price of death on the cross to show the ultimate love.

He took on the punishment of the law for every person’s disobedience Himself freeing all of us from the penalty of the law IF we believe on Him.

But whoever relaxes one of these laws or teaches others to will be called the least in heaven- the law requires continuous effort to keep up.

any person who continues to break a commandment, even if it is the least commandment, shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.

And the person who continues to obey the commandments shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The point of this is, a person cannot break a commandment and ask forgiveness, then go out and break another commandment and ask forgiveness over and over.

Such a person cannot expect God to think he is serious about the commandments of God.

No man would think he is serious—why should God?

The person only deceives himself.

Christ warned all who break and teach others to break the law, even if they break only the least commandment: they shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Four significant lessons are seen in this point:

(1) All the commandments of God are important, but some are less important than others.

The man who breaks the least commandment and continues and continues to break it (teaching men such) shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.

(2) Breaking a commandment of God and continuing to break it is serious, even if it is one of the least commandments.

Such behavior teaches men that the commandment is not important.

The result: a person shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven.

(3) When a commandment is broken, a person is to ask forgiveness and repent.

He is not to continue breaking the commandment and asking forgiveness over and over.

Continuous disobedience teaches that the commandments of God are not really all that important.

It is that person who will be judged severely.

(4) The obedient person can expect great reward.

⇒ He shall be called great in heaven.

⇒ He is loved in a special way by both God and Christ.