the source and standard of salt and light

Matthew 5:13-20

By Joe Morecraft, III

 

Chalcedon Presbyterian Church

302 Pilgrim Mill Rd.

Cumming, Ga. 30040

www.chalcedon.org

church@chalcedon.org

 

 

Matthew begins Jesus’ public preaching ministry with the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7.  He instructed His disciples, v. 1, on the true nature of His kingdom and the principles by which He would administer it.  He wanted His disciples to be clear regarding the character of those Christ included in His kingdom and what effect that kingdom would have on the world around it.

Having described the character of His disciples in the Beatitudes, vs. 1-12, Jesus defines precisely in verses 13-16 the relation of those disciples to mankind at large, and the mission of His disciples to the world.  Verses 10-12 intimate that the body of His disciples, i.e., the church and kingdom of Christ, and the world of rebels are two antagonistic parties.  Now He is going to explain that relationship in more specific terms.

Mat. 5:13-16, You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again?  It is good for nothing any more, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your father who is in heaven.

            I.  (5:13-16) the mission of christ’s disciples to the world

            A. (v. 1) the ones to whom jesus is speaking

And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.

Jesus said to His disciples, gathered around Him:  You are the salt of the earth…  The word, you, in Greek is , which is an emphatic second person plural pronoun denoting “you, and you alone.”  This is referring not exclusively to Christ’s apostles but to the multitude of disciples who acknowledged His authority and received His teaching as from God not man, Matthew 7:28-29.

The point He is making is that it will be His disciples and only His disciples who will have the impact of salt and light on the corrupt and dark world.  No one else, no other group and no other human institution will be able to have this effect on mankind.

Furthermore, the tense of the verb are should be carefully noticed.  It is a present tense not a future tense or a conditional expression.  The point here is that Jesus’ disciples are already salt and light.  It is not that they will be some day, or that they might be, or that they should be, but they are.  The lines were already drawn in the days of Jesus between the church and the world, and the disciples of Christ always have, are and always will be salt and light in the world, although sometimes they are more effective than at other times.  In other words, being salt and light is not optional for the disciple. This is not a choice he makes; this is what he is by virtue of the fact that he is a disciple of Jesus.  If a professed Christian is not salt and light in his society, he has reason to question whether he is a true disciple of Christ.

            B. the metaphors for mission

            1. (v. 13) the salt of the earth

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again?  It is good for nothing any more, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

a. THE IMPLICATIONS OF “SALT” FOR DESCRIBING THE NATURE OF THE WORLD

To say that Christians are “the salt of the earth” is to imply that the world of fallen mankind is rotten, polluted and full of sinful corruption. Life in the world is putrid. It is dead in its sins and can only be preserved by a powerful antiseptic.  It can, by no effort on its own part, save itself from its corruption or death.

b. THE MEANING OF “SALT”

Salt in the Jewish home of the first century had two uses:  (1). To season that which would otherwise be insipid; and (2). To preserve food from rotting.  It was rubbed into the meat to combat deterioration. Therefore the disciples of Jesus are to add flavor to life on earth, which would otherwise be tasteless and stale in all of its activities and relationships.  And by so doing they preserve human society and culture from that disintegration and corruption to which all that is fallen naturally tends.  The disciples of Christ counteract this self-destructive tendency by the antiseptic, preserving power of the Word of God communicated and applied by the disciples of Christ.

c. THE WAY THE DISCIPLES FUNCTION AS THE SALT OF THE EARTH

Christ’s disciples are constantly combating moral and spiritual decay in a society.  They do this in two ways:  (1). By living totally different lives than the way the world lives.  That is the point of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:13-16.  They describe the character of a true disciple in contrast to the world that persecutes true disciples. (2). By prayer.  Jesus’ disciples act as salt when they pray the Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:9f. (3). By involving themselves in the life of the world with the Word of God empowered by the Spirit of God, seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness, Matthew 6:33.

d. THE MEANING OF “LOSING ITS SALTINESS”

How does salt lose its “saltiness”?  Salt from the neighborhood of the Dead Sea easily acquired a stale or alkaline taste because of the impurities in it, e.g., gypsum.  This salt was of an inferior quality and tended to spoil easily.  Pure salt remains salt, but when it is contaminated it becomes tasteless, and “good for nothing,” Ezekiel 47:11.  “Jesus, as he walked on earth, saw many Pharisees and scribes, people who advocated a formal, legalistic religion in the place of the true religion proclaimed by the ancient prophets in the name of the Lord.  Thus by and large the salt had lost its flavor in the religious life of Israel. Many ‘sons of the kingdom’ would be cast out, Matthew 8:12.”- William Hendriksen, NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY:  MATTHEW, P. 283

Therefore, “just as salt having lost its flavor cannot be restored, so also those who were trained in the knowledge of the truth but who then resolutely set themselves against the exhortations of the Holy Spirit and become hardened in their opposition are not renewed unto repentance, Matthew 12:32; Hebrews 6:4-6.  Therefore, let that which is named salt be salt indeed!”- Hendriksen, p. 283

2. (v. 14a) the light of the world: You are the light of the world.

a. THE IMPLICATIONS OF “THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD” FOR DESCRIBING THE WORLD

If Jesus’ disciples are referred to as “the light of the world,” the implication is that the world is in a state of darkness, even though it is always talking about its “enlightenment.”  Darkness symbolizes all that is opposed to God, who is light—moral ignorance, moral depravity, absence of life, directionlessness, hostility to the light.  Jesus describes unbelievers in John 3 as those who hate the light and love the darkness.  A dark person is someone in whom every intent of the thoughts of his heart [is] only evil continually, Genesis 6:5

Only the disciples of Christ can give any helpful knowledge or instruction that enlightens the world.  “You” and “you only,” Jesus said, “are the light of the world.”  There is no “light” in the world apart from the work of the disciples of Christ.

b. THE RELATION OF THE TWO PHRASES:  “THE SALT OF THE EARTH” AND “THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD”

First, Jesus said:  You are the salt of the earth, and only after that did He say:  You are the light of the world.  Why does He put it in that order?  This is an important point.  The Bible always emphasizes first what a believer is, before it describes what he does.

Wherever I may find myself, immediately that ‘something different’ about me should have its effect; and that in turn ought to lead men and women to look at me and to say, ‘There is something unusual about that man.’  Then, as they watch my conduct and behavior, they begin to ask me questions.  Here, the element of ‘light’ comes out; I am able to speak and to teach them.  Far too often we Christians tend to reverse the order.  We have spoken in a very enlightened manner, but we have not always lived as the salt of the earth.  Whether we like it or not, our lives should always be the first thing to speak; and if our lips speak more than our lives it will avail very little.  So often the tragedy has been that people proclaim the gospel in words, but their whole life and demeanor has been a denial of it.  The world does not pay much attention to them.’- Martyn Lloyd-Jones, STUDIES IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT, Vol. I, p. 163-165

c. THE ONES REFERRED TO AS “THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD”

Those whom Jesus calls to be the light of the world are those ordinary, average believers in Him, who comprise the body of His disciples, i.e., His kingdom and church.  There is no light in this world apart from the light provided by the disciples of Christ, or better, the light provided by Christ through His disciples, because the disciples are light only in a derived sense.  Christ is the sun, disciples are the moon.  The light originates with Christ and is reflected in and through the disciples. Christians are never lights in and of themselves, as if they had some help to offer the world apart from Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, par excellence. 

d. THE IDENTITY OF JESUS AS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.- John 8:12

What did Jesus mean when He claimed:  I am the Light of the world?

            (1). the claim to be fully god

This statement is one of the great “I AM’S” of Jesus.  “I am” here is emphatic.  It is also the meaning of the name Jehovah—And God said to Moses, “I am who I am”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”- Exodus 3:14.  Further, as the apostle John has written:  God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.- I John 1:5b.  And, the psalmist says of God:  The LORD is my light and my salvation.- Psalm 27:1.  Thus, Jesus is claiming to be God incarnate.  He came into this world blazing with light, with the glory of God, manifesting the sum-total of everything God is in all His perfections. Only God can call light out of darkness, Genesis 1:1f.  Therefore, if Jesus is not God He cannot be the Light of this dark world.

            (2). the way out of darkness into salvation

Jesus also said:  …he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness…  The point is that He is the light of salvation.  He came not only to impart the true knowledge of God, but He also came to save people from what their sin had made of them.  Jesus said of unregenerate and fallen human beings:  And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.- John 3:19-20.  Therefore the unbeliever lives, thinks and “walks in darkness,” hating God, and trying to use the darkness of this world to cover his sinful life from God and from himself. 

However, Jesus came to earth to set sinners free from the domain of darkness and to transfer us into His bright kingdom, which includes redemption from slavery to sin, and the forgiveness of sins.  Those whom He liberates from darkness and transfers to light, now love the light and hate the darkness—He who practices the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.- John 3:21.  They come to Jesus as the Light, repenting of their sins, beginning a life of following Him and no longer walking in darkness.

            (3). the promise OF the life-giving power of the light of the world

Jesus said that those who repent of their darkness and receive Him as the Light of the world shall have the light of life.

Light gives life.  Light signifies life-giving power.  We see this illustrated in creation, in photosynthesis.  In the presence of light, green plants convert water, carbon dioxide, and minerals into carbohydrates and oxygen.  No light no photosynthesis. No photosynthesis no life.  Jesus is the source of life.  All life comes from Him.  If you want life you must be “in” the Light, who is Jesus Christ.  If you want to live forever, you must come to Christ in faith.  As Jesus said in John 10:10—I have come that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.

i. THE MEANING OF THIS LIGHT

Light scatters darkness.  This thought necessarily suggests the communicating of knowledge, the rectifying of error, and the dispelling of gloom all of which are inseparable from a state of spiritual ignorance implying alienation from the only source of truth, goodness and beauty.  And, just as salt must be “salty” to accomplish its purpose, so light, to accomplish its purpose, must be seen.  To claim to be “light” without shining, is as foolish as building a city on a hill and then expecting  it to be unseen.  Light was meant to enlighten.  A city on a hill was designed to be seen, and anything that contradicts that design is inconsistent, self-contradictory and suicidal.  If the church is not a visible and bright church, it is not a church at all.

Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Disciples were made to illumine their surroundings:  to expose the darkness, the things in the darkness, the cause of the darkness and the cure for the darkness.  There is no other purpose for a lamp but to enlighten.  This is the reason for our existence:  to be salt and light.  If the salt loses its flavor it is worthless.  If the light does not give light it is of no value.

What is the effect of this light on the world?  It exposes the darkness and the things that belong to the darkness.  It explains the cause of the darkness.  It shows and provides the only way out of the darkness.  People who have never seen light are not aware they are in darkness.  They are ignorant of their true condition.  They cannot see those hideous and deadly monsters that hide in the darkness, such as the prince of darkness and his demons.  But the light shows people why they are in darkness, because their deeds are evil, because they hate the light and love the darkness, and therefore stand condemned before the Creator.  And light also reveals the only way out of darkness.  It is Jesus Christ who said:  I have come as light into the world, that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness.  --  I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.- John 12:46; 8:12

Light is often related to Christ’s disciples in the New Testament:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession; that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…-I Peter 2:9

God’s chosen people are to declare the praises of God’s virtues, deeds, power, glory, wisdom, grace, mercy, love, and holiness, thereby testifying to the fact that they are the children of light and not the children of darkness.  They are the children of light, not because of a choice they made, or because of something they did, but because God powerfully called them into the light and out of the darkness and made believers of them.

…giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.  For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.- Colossians 1:12-14

Darkness not only implies the absence of light, it also signifies opposition to the light, of not only being without God, but of being against God.  Therefore, Christ has delivered us from a rebel kingdom and brought us under the sovereignty of our rightful King, the Son of God’s love.

And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.- I John 1:5-7

God is light, i.e., it is His nature to reveal Himself.  In Him is no darkness at all, His self-revelation is of absolute moral perfection.  We who have fellowship with Him “must walk in the light of His holy self-revelation, and in His presence, without deceit or dishonesty in our mind or consciously tolerated sin in our conduct.  --  …if we walk in the light, God has made provision to cleanse us from whatever sin would otherwise mar our fellowship with Him or each other.”- John R.W. Stott, THE EPISTLES OF JOHN, TYNDALE COMMENTARIES, p. 75-76

…that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast [forth] the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may have cause to glory because I did not run in vain, nor toil in vain.- Philippians 2:15-16

Christians are light-bearers.  By our example and testimony in this perverted world, we are to hold firmly and to hold out the word of life to a crooked and perverse generation.  We are to hold the word of life tightly as a torch-bearer would grasp securely the lighted torch he is carrying.  Only as we hold it firmly can we hold it out effectively!  And in so doing we are discharging our vocation as the true children of God who exert a mighty influence in the midst of this dark world.

            3. (v. 16) the meaning of your shining light before men

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

j. THE MEANING OF VERSE 16

The method of shining into the world is by a visible life of obedience to God’s Word that God’s Spirit might use the witness of our lives and lips to convert the lost and bring them to live for the glory and pleasure of our Father who is in heaven.  In other words, by our lives and our lips, empowered by Christ through His Spirit, we are used by Him to bring men and women back to that position and purpose for which mankind was originally created:  Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

k. THE MEANING OF “GOOD WORKS”

What does Jesus mean by good works?  They are an attitude of heart and behavior of life that are obedient to the revealed will of God in the Bible, motivated by faith in Christ, to the glory of God.  As our Westminster Confession of Faith, 16.1,2,3, says—Good works are only such as God hath commanded in His holy word, and not such as, without the warrant thereof, are devised by men out of blind zeal, or upon pretence of good intention.  These good works, done in obedience to God’s commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith…  Their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of Christ…

l. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TERM, “FATHER”

The term, Father, denotes that new and intimate relationship that exists through Christ alone between His disciples and God, without whose gracious condescension is not only inaccessible but is a consuming fire.

            II. the standard for the church’s mission to be salt and light

Mat. 5:17-20, Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.  Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Having described the character of His disciples, Matthew 5:1-12, and setting forth their mission in the world as salt and light, Matthew 5:13-16, now, in Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus explains the standard by which a life of good works to the glory of the Father is to be defined, so we can be faithful and effective in our mission to the world:  It is nothing less than God’s moral absolutes for His disciples contained in the sixty-six books of the Bible.  As our Westminster Larger Catechism, Q. 3, declares:  The holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience.

This third point in the Sermon on the Mount is an express statement by Jesus that the coming of the New Testament era in no way abrogated the Biblical morality of the Old Testament.  Rather it fulfills, confirms, enforces, and puts into effect that moral order in the regenerated hearts, lives, and relationships of His people.  Jesus makes unmistakably clear that every detail—every jot and tittle—of Old Testament morality is binding upon the people of God in all eras.[1] 

In Matthew 5:17, the Greek word for abolish means dismantle, invalidate, abrogate, do away with.  Jesus is saying that He did not come to abrogate or invalidate any part of the Law or the Prophets, i.e.,  His teaching ministry in no way whatsoever involves the dismantling of OT morality.

When He used the phrase, the Law or the Prophets, He was focusing on the ethical stipulations contained in the entire Old Testament.  His concern was not how His life and death would affect the Old Testament law.  He was not speaking of His personal relation to that Law.  As He begins His Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, He is defining the relation of the Old Testament law to His own teaching.  In other words, He will not teach anything that will have the effect of abolishing the ethical stipulations of the Law or the Prophets, i.e., the Old Testament.  Those ethical stipulations will remain the Law of righteousness in His kingdom.

Furthermore, verse 17 informs us that Jesus came to fulfill the entire moral structure of the Old Testament.  The strong conjunction, but, indicates that Jesus came to do the opposite of abolishing the moral absolutes of the Old Testament; rather He came to fulfill them, i.e., confirm, restore to full measure, establish, ratify them. Fulfill stands as directly contrary to abolish.  Jesus came to “confirm” OT morality, not to “abolish” OT morality.  Charles Spurgeon’s comment on this text is:  “The Law of God He established and confirmed…Our king has not come to abrogate the Law, but to confirm and reassert it.”- Quoted by Greg Bahnsen, THEONOMY IN CHRISTIAN ETHICS, p. 25.

Verse 18 strengthens verse 17.  It adds that nothing in human history, not even the coming of the Messiah and the Christian era, can invalidate the Law of the Old Testament until the very end of the world, i.e., until everything in history has been accomplished.  The comment about every jot and tittle, in verse 18 of the KJV is telling as well.  A “jot” and a “tittle” were “the smallest letter and the smallest stroke” (NASV) in the Hebrew alphabet.  Benjamin B. Warfield of old Princeton Seminary wrote concerning this phrase:  “The Law in its smallest details remains in undiminished authority so long as the world lasts.”- Quoted by Bahnsen, p. 84.  John Murray of old Westminster Seminary explained that “a person’s standing (not entrance) in the kingdom of God is determined by meticulous observation of the least details of the Law.”- PRINCIPLES OF CONDUCT, p. 150

Therefore, it is clear that the purpose of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:17-20 is to root Jesus’ moral demands on His disciples in His kingdom in the unchanging moral system of Jehovah revealed in the Old Testament.  The Bible presents us with one system of morality—the “jots” and “tittles” of Biblical Law in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, which together comprise Jesus’ “perfect Law of liberty”.  Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shows in law after law, how the Scribes and Pharisees had overlooked and misinterpreted so many “jots and tittles” of God’s holy law because they were abusing it for their own self-centered and self-righteous purposes.  By clarifying His Law in this manner, Jesus is not only establishing Himself as the Lawgiver incarnate, He is teaching His disciples that in His church and kingdom there is no place for traditions, interpretations, or rules that originate with man, however ancient or popular.  In His Kingdom, His word and His word alone, contained in both testaments, is Law.  Jesus could not make His point any clearer in Mark 7:6-9, 13—And He said to them [the Jewish scribes and Pharisees],  “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me.  But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’  Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”  He was also saying to them, “You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.  …thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many such things like that.”

So then, we are not the salt of the earth and the light of the world by merely standing silently in the middle of the public square, hoping that in some way our silent presence will have some good effect on the dark and dying culture in which we live.  Jesus did not have any such mystical and irrational meaning in mind.  As long as we stand silently in the public square, thinking, living, speaking, voting, acting like everyone else in that square, we stand there not as salt and light, but as all the rest, in darkness and decay.

It is only as we live, speak, think and act in terms of our one and only rule of faith and practice, calling Christians to repent of their silence, unbiblical traditions and ways of life, and of their compromised lives with this world, instructing Christians and our society regarding God’s blueprints for life and human society, showing them how to put into effect those blueprints, by our own lives and behavior, that we will be effective as salt and light, keeping this culture from complete putrifaction and from deep darkness.

But, some of us have lost our saltiness; some of us are still largely in the dark ourselves. Like the Pharisees of old we have allowed ourselves to be contaminated by human philosophies and ways of life that dominate our evil culture.   We act more like modern westerners than Christians.

            III. the source of the church’s mission to be salt and light

Understanding our mission to be salt and light in this world necessitates our understanding of the One who gave us this mission:  the Preacher of the Sermon on the Mount.  It also necessitates understanding our relationship to Him as His disciples.

            A. the vital union between jesus christ and his true disciples

When Jesus calls us, His disciples, the light of the world, He is identifying us with Himself, as the Light of the world.  He is referring to our vital union and communion with Him, for our light comes from Him.  We are light only in His light.  We have no light apart from Him.  Without Him we can do nothing!  We are not only citizens in His kingdom, we are members of His body.  We are in Christ and Christ is in us.  He is the vine we are the branches, as He said in John 15:1-5—I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, HE takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.  You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

The One who said:  You are the light of the world, also said, I am the light of the world.  These two statements must always be taken together, since the Christian is light only because of His relationship with Him who is the Light.  Jesus claimed that He came to earth to bring “light”—he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.   Here, however, He also says, You are the light of the world. Jesus does not stop at giving us this vital life-giving and life-sustaining light, He also makes us light.  In Ephesians 5:8-13, the Apostle Paul says:  …for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.  But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.  So then, we not only have received light from Jesus, we have been made light by Jesus, and thus we are transmitters of that Light.

What Paul is saying is that because of our vital union with the living Jesus, we become, in a sense, what He Himself is.  Whatever was true of Him becomes true of us.  That is what it means to be “in Christ.”  He who is the Light of the world par excellence, not only has enabled us to receive His word, but He has become our life, so that we are reflectors of His life.  As Paul testified:  I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.- Galatians 2:20. 

Furthermore, in II Corinthians 4:3-11, he says:  (3) And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, (4) in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  (5) For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.  (6) For God who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  (7) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; (8) we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; (9) persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; (10) always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  (11) For we who live are constantly delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our moral flesh.

Paul is informing us of important truths in this text: 

(1). A person does not become a Christian, but remains blinded by Satan, until the Creator, with the same omnipotence by which He spoke the light of creation into existence, shines the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ into our hearts and lives by the faithful preaching of the gospel. 

(2). In that divine revelation of light to the heart of His people, God gives to us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  That glory-light not only enlightens us, it fills and transforms us,  as we learn in II Corinthians 3:18—But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.  The believer, beholding of the glory of Christ, who is the perfect image of God by faith, is progressively to be transformed into that image.  “The effect of continuous beholding is that we are continuously being transformed…into the likeness of Christ—increasingly so, ‘from glory to glory.’”- Philip E. Hughes, PAUL’S SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, NICNT, p. 118

(3). This glorious gospel of light is a treasure committed to us, earthen vessels, to communicate, to highlight the greatness and glory of the treasure, in contrast to our weakness, so people will place their faith in that treasure not in the clay vessels.  As Paul said in I Corinthians 2:3-5—And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.  And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

(4). As the witnessing believer experiences the fellowship of Christ’s suffering, being conformed to His death, he also experiences the power of His resurrection, Philippians 3:10.  The dying of Jesus cannot be separated from the life of Jesus, who cannot be overcome by death, Acts 3:15; 2:24, in the life of the believer in union with Christ.  Both are manifested in his “body,” i.e., his life in this world.  As the believer presents the gospel of the saving death of Christ to sinners in his witness and in his life, the exalted life of Jesus who lives now at God’s right hand will manifest itself in his ministry in the saving of sinners.  In other words, through the faithful witness of our lives and words, being persecuted for Christ, Christ Himself will work His power through us to save sinners.  In so doing, the life of Jesus, i.e., Jesus Himself, will manifest His glory in and through these earthen vessels in union with Him.  He will shine His light in and through us.

            B. the identity of the preacher of the sermon on the mount

Who is this Jesus that preached the Sermon on the Mount?  He is the son of David, the son of Abraham, Matthew 1:1.  His name is Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins, Matthew 1:21.  He is Immanuel, 1:23.  He is Christ the Lord incarnate, 3:3.  He is the baptized kingly Priest, in whom God is well-pleased, who will baptize His church with the Holy Spirit, 3:11, 16-17.  He is the conqueror of Satan, 4:1-11.  He is the Lawgiver, One greater than Moses, whose work it is to enforce, clarify and apply the Law of God, Matthew 5-7.  He is the Judge before whom all will stand, Matthew 7:21-23.  He is the one who determines the destiny of all human beings, Matthew 7:24-27.  As He said in conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount:

(21) Not every one who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father, who is in heaven.  (22) Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons and in Your name perform many miracles?”  (23) And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

(24) Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock; (25) and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall; for it had been founded upon the rock.  (26) And every one who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.  (27) And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.

If you came to this conference, as an unbeliever or a hypocrite, let me urge you to repent of your sins and come to this Christ of the Sermon on the Mount, right now this evening.  Wait no longer.  Lay aside excuses, doubts and misgivings and come to Him.  Do not let Satan place any obstacles in your way to Him.  The only thing that stands between you and the abundant light of life He came to give is your unbelief.  Lay it down.  Turn from it.  Surrender your heart and mind to the Word of God.  Believe what it says about Jesus.  Believe what Jesus says about Himself; and, repenting of your sins, humbly ask Him to be to you and in your life what He claims to be in His word.  And He will, even now.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.- John 3:16

This is the Jesus Christ, who is Light of the world.  This is the Jesus who has given us eternal life and who has brought us into intimate, vital and eternal union with Him.  This is the Christ who has condescended to use us, His disciples, in this world, to save it from total death and utter darkness.  This is the Christ whom we are to shine into this dark world by our preaching and our witnessing.  This is the Jesus who came down from heaven to give life to the world through us.  This is the Christ who came to be the firm foundation of your life.  Love Him. Worship Him.  Submit your entire life to Him.  Pray to Him to use You to accomplish His saving purposes in our nation and world.  Keep your relationship to Him clear of any garbage that would separate you from Him.  Pray that by your daily, close fellowship and communion with Him, He would reproduce in your life and family the desires that fill His own heart.  He is totally dedicated to the salvation of sinners; pray that He would make you totally dedicated to the salvation of sinners.  Pray that He would make I Corinthians 9:19-22 true of you:

(19) For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more.  (20) And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the Law; (21) to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God, but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law.  (22)  To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.

Because of his communion with the living Christ, Paul felt indebted to preach and teach the gospel of the lost.  This produced in him a readiness and an eagerness to present it to people whenever he had the opportunity.  In doing so, he would be functioning as the salt of the earth and the light of the world, knowing that there is no other remedy for this fallen world’s condition:

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.  Thus, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”

Paul was so dedicated to being used by Christ to save sinners from their sin that he was willing to go anywhere, to speak to anyone, about the Light of the world.  His presentation of the gospel to the lost was not one of icy cold intellectualism and emotional detachment, it was bold, warm, personal, urgent and intense--Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.- II Corinthians 5:20-21.

Closing Prayer:

O Lord, You are our light and our salvation, whom shall we fear?  With You is the fountain of life; and only in Your light do we see light.  With all our hearts, we pray that You would make the RPCUS salt and light in this world.  May we never lose our saltiness.  May we never hide our light.  Put this dark and dying world on our hearts, so that we, like Christ, will be so consecrated to saving sinners and their societies that we will be willing to entreat and beg them to come to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Light of the world.  Amen.

 

JCMIII

June 2008

Soli Deo Gloria