Opening Prayer Pg.1
Father God we ask your blessing on this study tonight, that you would open our minds and our hearts to your word. Bring us to the realization of those matters that you would have us learn from this study. Make us aware that in this world you do not always work independently. Help us to realize that we too are vessels that you use to further your Kingdom on this earth. Jesus says that we are the Salt of the earth, and the light of the world, and it is through us that you seek to spread the word of Your Kingdom. We pray that your peace and comfort be with those of us who are sick or disabled and cannot be here tonight. We ask that you share our blessing with them. Lead us now and give us understanding as we study the teachings of Jesus, The word of God..
In Jesus Name we pray Amen
This Study is a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount which started with our study of the Beatitudes. Jesus is sitting in an amphitheater setting where he has a mountain for a backdrop. The Sermon on the Mount is the longest of any teaching from Jesus in the Bible and occupies chapters 5, 6 and 7 of the Gospel of Matthew. The Sermon has been one of the most widely quoted of any of Jesus teachings. To most believers the Sermon contains the central tenets of Christian discipleship. It is the first of the Five Discourses of Matthew, the other four being Matthew 10,Matthew 13 (1–53), Matthew 18 and the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24.
The Sermon takes place relatively early in the Ministry of Jesus, after he has been baptized by John the Baptist and has now gathered his first disciples. Before this episode, Jesus had been "all about Galilee" preaching, teaching, healing and spreading the word of God and "great crowds followed him" from all around the area.
“You are the salt of the earth,” Jesus says to his disciples, followers, and all who hear his words. In order to truly understand what he meant. Salt, in the ancient world was, of course, one of the finest preservatives. In this way it saved people from starvation. Still, there is more to it than that. It was, during the time of Jesus, a form of medicine that had a much better track record than most other options. It was the “wonder drug” before penicillin, performing miracles of healing on a regular basis. It had a religious significance, too. We only have to think of Lot's wife who, the Bible tells us, was turned into a pillar of salt during the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Salt was so important, it was even used as money! Soldiers from the Roman Era all the way up to the war of 1812 were sometimes paid in salt or brine. The Roman word for salt, incidentally was sal. The payment in salt, was a salaruim. Sound familiar? It should. This is where we get our own word, salary. So salt was a key part of the ancient world. It was what made things livable, healthy and good.
So Jesus is telling his followers in this passage how truly important they are. If being salt of the earth then they are indeed the light that leads to righteosness and away from destruction. Much as a lighthouse provides a warning of dangerous waters, It also provides vision for a way to avoid destruction. “You are the light of the world....let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to God”.
Lesson #1 Sermon on the Mount… Who is righteous? Pg.2
Mat 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
Speaking to the crowd and specifically to his disciples, Jesus instructs them on righteousness with two parables. Jesus encourages them to become the salt of the earth and to season the world around them with grace. If their savor should fail as the Pharisees and scribes, it would be worth nothing at all. Without salt human life cannot be sustained. Thoughts and affections, words and deeds, all seasoned with grace. What are we to be to others? We must not only be good but do good, That those whom we meet might know that about us, not from a secular interest but from a Godly interest.
Even though this passage is not part of the Beatitudes, it has a lot to do with the Beatitudes. The people who are said to be blessed because they are poor in spirit, because they mourn, because they are meek, these are precisely the people who, by their Christlikeness, are the salt of the earth. ‘The blessed man of the Beatitudes,’ the Lord Jesus says, ‘is to function as the salt of the earth.’ Notice that the last Beatitude changes from ‘Blessed are those who’ to ‘Blessed are you.’ The first eight statements were impersonal. Anyone who is like this is blessed. But now in v. 11, the last Beatitude makes it very specific that Jesus is talking about His disciples. Blessed are you (My disciples) when people revile you. And this ‘you’ continues into v. 13, You are the salt of the earth, connecting this verse directly to the Beatitudes. The beatitudes define the Christian, the Christian then is the “salt of the earth”. We then should be careful not to lose our saltiness lest we become useless, and be cast out and trampled underfoot.
A good biblical example from the old testament is in 2Kings 2:19. Then the men of the city said to Elisha, "Behold now, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful. 20 And he said, "Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it." So they brought it to him. 21 And he went out to the spring of water, and threw salt in it and said, "Thus says the LORD, 'I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer.'" 22 So the waters have been purified to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.
So in the case of Elisha’s purifying action, salt was not the cause of the miracle that took place. It should be viewed as a spiritual symbol that represents God’s purifying power. When Jesus says that the Christians are the salt of the earth, it doesn’t mean that we have anything special in ourselves that makes us to be like salt. It is Christ in us that makes us to be what we are. And if we are the salt of the earth, it is only because God’s power is at work in us to make us to be salt. Without God in us, we wouldn’t be anything. It is all of God’s grace that we are what we are.
Q.1 Is it confusing to Christians being referred to as salt of the earth?
Q.2 What was the effectiveness of salt that Jesus spoke of in those days?
Q.3 Do you believe this description is applicable in our world today?
Q.4 How does one go about becoming salt of the earth in such a vaporous society today?
Q.5 Does there always seem to be a need for personal fulfillment in order for one to attend to Christian activity? such as going to church, praying to God, serving others,
Q.6 Why are we not able to do this as a matter of personal righteousness
Q.7 Does this verse fit the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?
Pg.3
Mat 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Mat 5:15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
Mat 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
The doctrines which the apostles were commissioned to preach, are not to be hid or concealed from men: They are there and are maintained to declare the whole counsel of God, and shall be fortified so as not to hide from the reproaches and persecutions of men. They are to be "made a spectacle, and maintained"; to be set as in a public theatre, as an attraction, to be seen by "the world, angels, and all men", to draw men to the word of God.
As the lights of the world, we are intended to illuminate and give light to others. Christ has lighted these candles, they shall not be put under a bushel, not confined, as they are now, to the cities of Galilee, or the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but our light shall be sent into all the world. The churches are the candlesticks, in which these lights are placed, that their light may be diffused; and the gospel is so strong a light, and carries with it so much of its own evidence, that, like a city on a hill, it cannot be hid. It is clear to all those who do not willfully shut their eyes against it. It will give light to all that are in the house, to all that will draw near to it, and come where it is. For what end our light must shine - “That those who see your good works may be brought, not to glorify you but to glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Christ has lighted the candle of the everlasting Gospel, and given gifts to men for the ministration of it, not to be concealed and neglected, or to be misused as the servant did his lord's money, wrap it up in a napkin, and hide it in the earth. Ministers are not, through slothfulness, to neglect the gift that is in them; nor, through fear, to hide their talents, or keep back any part of the Gospel from anyone at any time for any purpose. As light is held high on a lamp stand, so must the Gospel shine through us so as to be a help in understanding God’s purpose in the life of all, so that all may be enlightened, and that none remain in darkness regarding the word of God, the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, their savior.
Q.1 What is the first thing needed to find objects lost?
Q.2 The “City on a hill” has at least three additional connotations, what do you think they are?
Q.3 And what is meant by putting your light under a bushel?
Q.4 Who needs to have this light?
Q.5 What is meant by putting it on “a stand”?
Q.6 Who then should it be, looking for the lost?
Q.7 Where is it that one should be looking?
Q.8 Should we the enlightened then shy away from the Joy of sharing this blessing with others?
\
Meditation Pg.4
1. Look at the metaphor of salt: You are salt, or you are nothing. As Christians we have signed up to be specialists. We have signed up to be Christians. What this means is that if we go off and do anything else, we are nothing, and good for nothing. It’s a very all or nothing scenario. Jesus says, if you have decided to be my disciple your are either going to do that or be nothing. You may go on to be a doctor, lawyer, teacher, laborer, or social worker. But the Lord’s got plenty of those, (and so does the devil). Your first and only mission is to be a true and uncompromised Christian and everything else is merely what life has offered to us. But we have chosen to be his servants. You may be a great doctor, but if you don’t do it as a clear and visible Christian you are nothing. You may be a skilled social worker, but if you don’t do it as a Christian, you are good for nothing. Any non-believer can be socially useful as a doctor, sports hero, actor, lawyer, or social worker. But only a Christian can be a Christian. If you don’t do “job one” you are nothing. If you get your kids every good thing, send them off to college, paid in full, but do not bring them to Christ and be a Christian witness to them, you are good for nothing. Any parent can give their kids material things, but only a Christian can give them Christ. Got it? You’re either salt (a true Christian) or you are nothing.
As for the light we can note something similar of this second definitiveness. The Lord says, you are THE light of the World, not merely A light. What this means is that if we do not shine, the world is darker. We are illumination which allows guidance to avoid sin.No one can take our place. If we don’t shine by living our faith and proclaiming it, the world is in darkness. The Supreme being of God has brought thru Jesus a man like us, as a perfect example of how to be a Christian and thru his life death and resurrection we are made whole and spotless before the Lord God. If that is true in your life then you must live the part. The Lord said it, We are either light or the world is dark. To many Christians You may be a guiding light, too many Christians are not. Jesus' disciples are scattered in the world—but if they are just like the world, they are not doing any good. The disciples are not to hide themselves—they are to be seen and shed light so that others may see their way. Their example is part of their message.
Closing Prayer
God our Father, be with us now as we leave this place, continue in fellowship with us and guide and protect us as we go on our way. Be with those of our group who need your healing touch. Prayer requests. …………And be with those, who are suffering persecution for the sake of their faith in You and your Son Jesus our savior. We ask that you would bring peace into our troubled world and hold harmless those innocent souls being put to death for their belief in a Supreme God and his Son Jesus, our resurrected savior. Bring us to the realization of those matters that cause sadness and grief, and make us to be a positive influence for peace in our daily walk with thee. Help us in our struggle to be useful vessels to further your Kingdom on this earth. Jesus says that we are the Salt of the earth, and the light of the world, and it is through us that You seek to spread the word of Your Kingdom. Lead us safely now and give us direction that we might be an illumination to the lost souls in this troubled world.
In Jesus Name we pray Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment