ARE YOU A SALTSHAKER? (MATTHEW 5:13-16)
Are you a saltshaker?
(Bible
Passage: matthew 5:13-16)
WEEKLY MEMORY VERSE
Ye are the salt of the earth:
but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shalt it be salted? It is
thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under the
foot of men
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(MATTHEW 5:13)
Introduction:
When we visited my sister last year in Kentucky, USA, I noticed
something a huge block of something which licked by the horses and I asked my
sister about it. She answered it was a huge, pinkish or brownish, blocked of
salt. She explained that the horses need that for the minerals intake. That was
my first time seeing a huge block of salt and that was cool. I remember this
because of the importance of salt in the Bible and in human race.
Bible says, “you are the salt of the earth…” This sentence is always
remembered if the topic is all about Christian living or godliness. I already
knew the importance of being the salt of the earth but being the salt shaker is
another thing we should consider. The great problem in our Christian lives is
how to maintain the saltiness of our salt. Am
I salt shaker or am I the keeper of my salt?
WE ARE A SALTSHAKERS OR KEEPER OF OUR SALT…
1.
IF YOUR SPEECH IS SEASONED WITH SALT
(COLOSSIAN 4:6)
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The Bible says in Colossians 4:6, "Let your speech be alway with
grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every
man." We are told to use some seasoning with our speech.
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We are to speak well-seasoned or salted words. (1 Corinthians 13:1)
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." We are to
speak with love.
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This means we are to be ready to share by our lifestyle
and with our words. We are not to fear or be shy telling our Lord's story or
retreat from opportunities because we're afraid of what others might think or
say.
2.
IF YOU USE YOUR SALT AS A PRESERVATIVE
(MARK 9:50)
“Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his
saltiness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace
one with another.”
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We all know that there were no
freezers in Jesus’ day as we have today. The only way to preserve food, such as
meat, was to salt it away and thus prevent it from destruction and decay. The
same way in our Christian lives, Christians who obey and do His will act as a
preservative of humanity and the earth by slowing down the moral and spiritual
decay of the world around them.
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Mark 9:50 teaches
us that salt in a believer’s life is good; it’s what makes us useful and
profitable vessels or servants for the Lord. So we must be salty, not an old
salty dog, but salty in the biblical sense of manifesting the character of the
Savior.
(1) Because of its Old Testament usage, it
may speak of the salt of the covenant, the person of Christ in the life of the
believer who gives the Holy Spirit as a spring of living water (Lev 2:13; Ezek. 43:24; 1 Kings 2:20, 21; John 7:37-39).
(2) The Word of God (Col. 4:6) which seasons and gives flavor to the
believer’s life with the character and purpose of God (cf. Col. 3:16). In
essence, as believers in Christ, our lives must be filled with both the Spirit
and the Word.
Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has
become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? 35 It is useless either for
the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let
him hear.
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Again we see this important
warning: without its saltiness, salt becomes perfectly useless. It was good for
nothing, not even for the soil as fertilizer or for the manure pile. The point
is, as long as our lives are filled with and adulterated by the substitutes of
the world (like the love of money or possessions) we are useless to the Lord as
disciples or as vessels of the Lord (cf. Luke 14:33 in its context). Some explanations taken from: https://bible.org/seriespage/3-waters-jericho-purified-2-kings-218-22
3.
IF YOU DON’T LET YOUR OFFERINGS SUFFER WITHOUT THE SALT OF THE
COVENANT OF GOD (LEVITICUS 2:13)
“And every oblation of thy meat
offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking
from thy meat offering: with all thine
offerings thou shalt offer salt.”
-
This
verse teaches us that under no circumstances were any offerings to be brought
without salt. Without salt they were unacceptable no matter how sincerely
offered, no matter what the sacrifice or the cost or
how pure the motive (cf. Ezek. 43:24). It was the salt that made the offering or
sacrifice acceptable because the salt spoke of God’s covenant to save us through the person and work of Christ.
Covenants in ancient times were ratified with salt. God’s covenant is to save
us from our sins and to bring us into fellowship with Himself. The salt speaks of the person and work of Jesus
Christ poured out for us who then, as the resurrected Lord, provides the
ministry of the Holy Spirit, springs of living water (John 7:37-39). So no
sacrifice we make counts unless it is a product of Jesus Christ in us and the
control of the Spirit and His love at work in our lives (cf. 1 Cor. 13:1f). Some explanations
taken from: https://bible.org/seriespage/3-waters-jericho-purified-2-kings-218-22
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4.
IF YOU’RE A GOOD VESSEL OR KEEPER OF YOUR SALT (2 KINGS 2:20-22)
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Being a good vessel has been
hard as year passes in our Christian lives. Keeper of the salt has becoming a
struggle especially if you face tremendous trials and heartaches cause by the
pressure of this world. These verses tell us that what kind of vessel we should
be..
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THE BAD WATER
Water here is like the place mentioned,
Jericho. Jericho portrays the world which is
under the curse of God. This is a curse which only God can lift by His plan of
salvation as revealed in the Word of God. The world stands as a hindrance,
indeed, as a satanic fortification against men occupying God’s plan of
salvation and deliverance in Christ.
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THE
NEW JAR: In Scripture, believers are portrayed as mere earthen vessels containing
the treasure of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ so that the power of
salvation might be clearly seen to be of God and not of man (2 Cor. 4:6-7). Note also that Elisha
requested not just a jar, but a new jar (vs. 20), which perhaps portrays the
believer, a regenerated, new person, a new creation of God, who is to represent
the Lord in the world as an ambassador and priest of God who is to declare the
excellencies of God and His salvation in Jesus Christ to a lost and cursed
world (cf. 2 Cor 4:4-7; 5:20, 21; 1 Pet 2:9).
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THE
SALT: Observe the miracle of healing the waters. Prophets
should make every place to which they come better for them, endeavoring to
sweeten bitter spirits, and to make barren souls fruitful, by the word of God,
which is like the salt cast into the water by Elisha. It was an appropriate symbol
of the effect produced by the grace of God on the sinful heart of man. Whole
families, towns, and cities, sometimes have a new appearance through the
preaching of the gospel; wickedness and evil have been changed into
fruitfulness in the works of righteousness, which are, through Christ, to the
praise and glory of God
Some explanations taken from: https://bible.org/seriespage/3-waters-jericho-purified-2-kings-218-22 &
commentary
Conclusion:
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Matthew 5:13 tells we are the salt of the earth and possibly lose its
flavor. There might be historical explanations about salt losing its flavor but
Jesus was explaining there is salt that is useful with great effectiveness, and there is
salt that is useless and thrown away. And we as
Christ’s disciples, need to be salt that is useful, that is effective and makes
an impact and impression upon those around us. We are to be the salt of
the earth, to make others thirst after the kingdom of heaven, so they
are wanting more of the things of God.
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Imagine a Christian who is a salt less or worthless, his worldly
lifestyle makes the gospel lose its power and that person who is supposed to
represent that gospel lose his power too to be the salt of the earth. In order to maintain our flavor we need to be
a saltshaker, keeper of our salt; a vessel to be used by God to share the
Gospel.
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