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Outline and Audio Sermons:
Dr. Walter D. Huyck Jr. D.Min.

www.thischristianjourney.com

How To Use This Outline

 

The Sermon On The Mount

Pass The Salt

Matt 5.13

More Resources On Christian Living


 

[The Sermon on the Mount, the greatest sermon ever preached deals with how we live our lives.  One part of this sermon contains the verse before us now.] 

 [A Little boy said, "mama will you give me a dollar if I am Good?"  His Mother replied, "son why don't you just be good for nothing like your father."] 

[ Many Christians are just good for nothing.] 

[Dr. James Stewart, a great British preacher, once said: ] 

[The greatest threat to Christianity is not communism, it's not atheism, it's not materialism, it's not humanism.

The greatest threat to Christianity is Christians trying to sneak into heaven incognito without ever sharing their faith, without ever living out the Christian life, without ever becoming involved in the most significant work God is doing on planet earth.] 

[This is exactly the problem Jesus was trying to remedy with this sermon. Think about the crowd to whom Jesus was speaking. It wasn't a gathering of the United Nations; it wasn't the Congress or a Parliament, or even an assembly at City Hall. It was a crowd on a hillside in a tiny spot of land called Palestine. It was a group of common people living common ordinary lives. They were under occupation; they couldn't make their own laws; they couldn't plan their own futures; they couldn't determine their own destinies; yet Jesus said to them, "You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world."] 

[You may think you are insignificant, but I can tell you if you are a Christian you can make an incredible difference in this world. ] 

[I heard about a man that was walking through a county fair when he met a tiny little girl who was carrying a gigantic fluff of cotton candy on a stick, which was almost as big as she was. He said to her, "How can a little girl like you eat all of that cotton candy?" She looked up at him and said, "Well, I'm really much bigger on the inside than I am on the outside." ] 

[That is true of all of us who are Christians. We are salt and we are light. But just what does this mean? Why does Jesus insist that we need to "pass the salt and turn on the light?" How are we to do that?] 

A.     The Dynamic of Pure Salt  (vs 13) [- Ye are the salt of the earth: . . . – Consider the importance of salt in Jesus day.]    

[Salt is a miracle - Its chemical makeup - As you know, it is chemically composed of sodium and chloride. Now pour a little hydrochloric acid on your hand, and it will be burned away in less than a minute. Drink hydrochloric acid and you will die in unbelievable agony very quickly. But when you add sodium to hydrochloride you have salt, which is one of the most common useful substances on planet earth.] 

[Salt was valuable 2000 years ago. It was more valuable than gold - You see, salt is a preservative, and 2,000 years ago people did not have refrigeration. Salt was so valuable in Bible days that it was often traded ounce-for-ounce with gold.] 

[Salary means salt money - Roman soldiers were paid in salt.  The word salary is derived from the word for salt. If a Roman soldier didn't do his job, he wouldn't get all of his salt. That's where we get the phrase, "He is not worth his salt," if someone does not do a good days work] 

[The Dynamic Of Salt (The Power or Impact of Salt)] 

1.      Salt Promotes (John 10.10; Col 4.5-6) [- Salt adds to the taste of food.  It seasons by bringing out and enhancing the taste of food. When Jesus refers to Christians as salt He is telling us that we are to add flavor to life.  Jesus promised to not only give His people life but He promised to give us an enhanced life.  Jesus said,] 

[John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.]

[How do Christians season the lives of those around them? 

[Colossians 4:5-6 5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.]

2.      Salt Preserves (Heb 10.25) [- For literally thousands of years salt was used as a preservative.  In our modern culture refrigeration has largely replaced the need for salt as a preservative.  In years gone by salt would be rubbed into meat as a way of preserving it.  Hence, Jesus is telling His people that they should be a preservative in the lives of those around them.  Christians are to prevent decay.] 

[The promoting and preserving aspects of salt are likely point toward the impact Spiritual Christians should have on other Christians.  One child of God ought to enhance the life of another child of God.  Secondly, one born again Christian ought to help preserve the spiritual well being of another Christian.] 

[The importance of the Church – Christians need to understand how important the Church, the Body of Christ is for their promotion and purification.  God said, 

[Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.]

[Our Lord is telling us that as the rapture approaches we will need the Church more than ever.  The problem in our culture today is that just the opposite has been occurring, people seem to have less and less desire to be in the Church or to find value in the Church.  Secondly, the primary purpose of the Church has changed in the thinking of contemporary Christians.  Instead of the Church being viewed as a training ground for life and faith, that is primarily focused upon the Word of God, church folk are demanding entertainment rather than ministry in their worship services.  The real problem with our cultures view of worship is that there is no Kingdom promotion or preservation in an ear tickling worship service.] 

[The importance of Fellowship – Not only do Christians need to carefully consider how they think about the Church they also need to change the way they think about their responsibility toward one another.  Christians ought to promote and preserve one another.  Christians need to be around other Christians with the purpose of building each other up and helping each other stand strong in their faith.  Instead of drawing others into worldliness and compromise with our culture we need to preserve and promote one another in our spiritual walk and lives.] 

3.      Salt Purifies [For thousands of years salt has been used to purify.  It has been used to cleanse wounds and facilitate healing.  Just as salt has long been used to purify and heal so Christians as the salt of the earth are to purify and heal in our world.  In the process of purifying salt burns or irritates.  Rub in a little salt and it  the sting of purification is soon felt.  Likewise we need to understand that in the process of purifying one another or our culture there will inevitably be the sting of conviction.  But just as a nurse or mother compassionately and tenderly administers the healing medicine of salt so ought Christians to gracefully administer the cleansing and healing Word of God.] 

[Colossians 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. ]

[Seasoned - ἠρτυμένος (Gk) - To fit, prepare, set in order, as used in Class. Gr. To prepare with seasoning, to season as with salt (Mark 9:50; Luke 14:34, to restore to salt its pungency; Col. 4:6, metaphorically a word or discourse “seasoned with salt” means appropriate, proper)[1]] 

[Christians learn to be seasoning salt when they learn to administer the truth in a way that works in purification and is received with impact.  Christians need to apply the medicine of the gospel with kindness and sensitivity.] 

4.      Salt Penetrates [- Salt penetrates when it is applied.  Salt penetrates equally well in hot and cold water. Hence, Christians are to penetrate their communities for Christ.] 

B.   The Dissipation Of Polluted Salt (vs 10) [- Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. - The conflict surrounding unsavory salt - Is it possible for salt to loose its savor?] 

[Any chemistry teacher will tell you that it's impossible, in a way, for salt to become unsalty. Sodium chloride is one of the most stable compounds in the entire universe; it doesn't change and it never loses its character.  Some have argued that Jesus statements concerning salt loosing its savor is evidence of an error in the Bible.  There are two things that will help us to understand what our Lord was really saying.] 

1.      The Chemistry of Dead Sea Salt. 

a.       [Much of the salt that was used in Palestine came from the Dead Sea, which is more than a mile and a half below sea level. The waters of the Sea of Galilee flow into the Jordan River and from there to the Dead Sea to the bottom of the earth.  Once the water gets there, there is no place for it to go. The hot sun evaporates the water and leaves behind a chunky white powder made up of a combination of salt and minerals. ] 

b.      [That powder contains enough salt to season meat or to flavor soup.  Dead Sea Salt was the kind of salt used in the regions where Jesus executed
His ministry.  Since Dead Sea salt is also mixed with minerals and is not pure sodium chloride. It's possible with a little dampness in the air for that salt to be dissolved and basically to dissipate. When that happens the "salt loses its seasoning." ] 

2.      The Constitution of Dissipated Salt [- Dissipated salt is bitter and noxious.  It is actually harmful due to the minerals in this dissipated salt it would kill vegetation, therefore, it was always thrown into the roads not in the fields.  Dissipated salt is only good for the roadway.  It is good for nothing but to be walked on.] 

[Christians need to understand that if they loose their savor that they will loose their purifying and preserving value that they will actually become harmful rather than helpful to their Church and their community.] 

C.   The Demand For Preserving Salt [- If there were ever a time for pure salt, this is it.] 

1.     The Importance for Salt [- What has happened in America:] 

    1. [1962 Prayer banned in school.]
    1. [1963 Bible banned.]
    1. [1973 Abortion legalized, in last 15 yrs half of white pregnancies were aborted.]
    1. [1980 Ten Commandments banned.]

[Note: There is more religious freedom in many of the former Soviet Union countries than there is in America today.] 

    1. [In the last 25 yrs suicides among young people have increased 150 percent.]
    1. [In 2003 two-thirds (2/3) of high school grad's confessed to drug use in a poll.]
    1. [In 2003 more than one million of our teen age girls got pregnant.  I wonder what that number might be now.]
    1. [Sodomy has gone from sin, to sickness to socially accepted.]
    1. [In 2005 it was estimated that three (3) out of ten (10) Christian men were involved with internet pornography.]

2.     The Impasse of Salt 

[The impasse of Salt - Salt must get out of the warehouse to be of use.  Salt is worthless if it never comes in contact with food. It may look nice in the shaker, but if it stays in the shaker it is worthless. You see, the church is the salt shaker and the earth is the school, the business, and the neighborhood. We need to get the salt out of the shaker onto the earth where it can do some good. ] 

[Illustration - I heard about a man that walked into the little Mom and Pop grocery store and said, "Do you sell salt?" The man said, "Do we sell salt! Just look!" The man showed the customer an entire wall of shelves stocked with nothing but salt-Morton salt, iodized salt, kosher salt, sea salt, rock salt, garlic salt, seasoning salt, Epsom salts-every kind of salt imaginable. The customer was amazed. "You think that's something. Come over here." He led the customer to a back room filled with shelves and bins and cartons and barrels and boxes of salt. The customer said, "This is unreal!" The man said, "You hadn't seen anything yet." He led the customer down some steps into a huge basement, five times as large as the previous room. It was filled wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling with every imaginable form, size, and shape of salt you could imagine. The man looked at him and said, "You really do sell salt!" The store owner said, "No, we don't, that's just the problem! We never sell salt. But that salt salesman that comes by every week, boy does he sell salt!" ] 

[Here's the point: Salt that stays on the shelf doesn't do anyone any good. It must get out and it must be different.] 

 


[1]Zodhiates, S. (2000, c1992, c1993). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.) (G741). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

 

 

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