Matthew 5:13-16 (NKJV)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.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.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT:SALT & LIGHTMatthew 5:13-16

SOM: Salt & Light Tonight we continue our Sunday Night

Series on the Sermon on the Mount We have now finished the Beatitudes

and move on to the next topic Jesus will cover

Jesus continues to talk about the kind of people that He would have you and I to be

SOM: Salt & Light The next subject is one of influence

in the world Influence is something that you and

I cannot escape from It was Charles Barkley who said he

did not want to be a role model, while Karl Malone told him he had no choice

SOM: Salt & Light Knowing all of this, Jesus wants

you and I to be the right kind of influence in the world

He knows and understands the importance of influence

Jesus wants us to be the salt and light of the world…

SOM: Salt “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.” (Matt. 5:13)

Reading from Elmer W. Maurer (chemist with the USDA)…

SOM: Salt Salt has a very distinct purpose If it loses that purpose, then it’s

value is diminished to nothing We are the salt of this world, and

we have 2 main purposes One such purpose is to preserve,

just as salt can do

SOM: Salt Just as salt is a preservative, you

and I can be used to preserve as well

Noah was a preservative when he found grace in the eyes of God (Gen. 6:8)

Lot and his family fell just a few short of being a preservative for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18-19)

SOM: Salt We too can be that preservative

in the world today It’s no secret that our world is

pushing away from God While we might long for the

coming of the Lord, those who are lost need all the time they can get to find Christ

SOM: Salt Salt is also used to give our food

flavor How many times have you

shaken some salt on food and it made all the difference to the taste?

We can be that difference to those in the world, to show them that God’s way of doing things is the right way

SOM: Salt How many are searching for

happiness, but cannot seem to find it?

How many wish they had peace when all they experience is turmoil?

How many would love to have the hope that we have that drives us to live for our God?

SOM: Light Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus not only tells us that we are the

salt of the earth (to preserve and flavor) but that we are the light of the world

Evil is always depicted as darkness (Eph. 5:11)

We are to shine our light in the darkness

SOM: Light If we live as a Christian should,

then all will be able to see our light on the hill

A lamp is not to be lit and then put under a basket

You and I should not hide ourselves from the world, because in doing so we deprive it of that light

SOM: Light Instead we are to let our lights

shine before others Some might wonder if that would

be considered boasting or having a “look at me” moment

Jesus quickly dispels that notion by what he says next

SOM: Light “…that they may see your good

works and glorify your Father in heaven”

When others see our good works, the praise and glory does not come to you and I

Rather, God is to be praised for what we do

SOM: Light God is praised because we are

His creation God is praised because He

created us for good works (Eph. 2:10; II Tim. 3:17)

God is praised because He is the means by which we know and understand how to do good works