This Little Light Of Whose?

The word “PARABLE”, the Greek parabole, means “to lay alongside”. When Jesus used parables He would take a spiritual truth and lay it alongside a physical truth that one was familiar with. Many of the parables that Jesus spoke were full stories, with characters and a narrative. But some of Jesus’ parables were shorter and without a storyline. They used parabolic language – like a mini-parable.

Full parables had a story line. In mini parables,
YOU are the storyline!

That’s what we’re looking at tonight. A mini-parable, or a parabolic saying. This mini-parable comes at the first recorded Sermon Jesus ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount. This is the official beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and Jesus – bringing in a new creation through a new covenant – uses two things that were at the creation of the world. He uses salt and light.

Matthew 5:13-16 (KJV) YE ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

There are two things the world must have if it is to live. The world MUST have SALT and LIGHT.

God Made Salt. Believers Are To Be Salt.

Matthew 5:13 (KJV) YE ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

There is nothing worst than a purposeless Christian. Sadly, that’s what we see in most churches today. People come to Church like they are coming to a Walmart or a Kroger’s. They come looking to get something out of it. “What can You give me if I become a member here”? If you have that mentality, you will NEVER be blessed as a Christian.

“YE ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH”. Jesus doesn’t say that this is what you should aspire to be, but what you are right now. As salt improves what it is added to, YOU are called to improve where ever God has placed you.

Salt in the shaker does no good. It must get out of the shaker, out of the Church, and into the world to make a difference.

Imagine food without salt. Job said, (6:6) “Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?” (Job 6:6). Life is unsavory without Jesus. It’s just day after day existence, passing the time, seeking something else. Salt only works when it leaves the shaker and is put to practical use. Where ever you are, ask yourself “How can I bring Jesus into the situation I am in right now?” Whether it be work or play, the marketplace or home, how can YOU actively bring Jesus into where you are?

Jesus told us that the Great Commandment is:

Matthew 22:37 (KJV) Thou shalt LOVE THE LORD THY GOD with ALL THY HEART, and WITH ALL THY SOUL, and WITH ALL THY MIND.

You are sick and in the hospital. You can either grumble and fret, murmur and be a general pest. OR YOU CAN BE SALT. You can love God with your ALL. You can glorify God in your suffering. The Apostle said:

1 Peter 4:16-19 (KJV) Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but LET HIM GLORIFY GOD ON THIS BEHALF. 17 For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore LET THEM THAT SUFFER ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD commit the keeping of their souls [to him] IN WELL DOING, as unto a faithful Creator.

In the midst of suffering, do good anyway. Let others see the love you have for God, and trust in Him no matter what you are going through. Remember that our Lord Jesus suffered terribly. The Bible says:

1 Peter 2:21-23 (LSB) For to this YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED, since CHRIST ALSO SUFFERED FOR YOU, leaving you an example that you should FOLLOW IN HIS STEPS, 22 WHO DID NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; 23 who being reviled, was not reviling in return; while suffering, He was uttering no threats, but kept entrusting [Himself] to Him who judges righteously.

There is no life without salt. Jesus is salt. He adds flavor where ever He is. We are to do the same for His glory. Salt preserves food. If Christians will be salt, we can help preserve our nation.

Christians are to be salt, NOT sugar. They look the same, but they are not the same. Too many Christians and Churches think they are to be the SUGAR of the earth. Billy Graham talked about this, saying:

“Many churches of all persuasions are hiring research agencies to poll neighborhoods, asking “what kind of church do you prefer”? Then the local churches design themselves to fit the desires of the people.True faith in God that demands SELFLESSNESS is being replaced by a trendy religion that serves the SELFISH.”

For salt to be useful, it must be absorbed. The salt itself is willing to be consumed or expended for the good of someone else. Jesus said,

if the salt have LOST HIS SAVOR, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth GOOD FOR NOTHING, but to be CAST OUT, and to be trodden under foot of men.

How does salt “LOSE HIS SAVOR”. Salt forgets its purpose. Salt stops glorifying and following God, and begins to become addicted to the world. This is what happened with Lot’s wife. As the angels of God led Lot, his wife and two daughters out of Sodom so it might be destroyed, the Bible says:

Genesis 19:24-26 (LSB) Yahweh rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and FIRE FROM YAHWEH OUT OF HEAVEN, 25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 THEN HIS WIFE, from behind him, LOOKED BACK, and SHE BECAME A PILLAR OF SALT.

Christians are supposed to be IN the world, but not OF the world (John 15:19; 17:14, 16). Jesus warned His disciples:

Luke 17:32-33 (KJV) REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE. 33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

Lot’s wife wanted to save her old lost life. She is a picture of a believer who loves the world more than the love God. The believer looking backward is a hindrance to those around them. I wondered as I studied for this sermon,

Why salt? Why turn Lot’s wife to salt?
Why not rock, or something else?

It goes back to our focal text. Salt that is good for nothing is “CAST OUT, and trodden under foot of men”. In the ancient world, when an army defeated a city, the military commanders often used salt as an offensive weapon. We see this in …

Judges 9:45 (KJV) Abimelech fought against the city {Shechem} all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that [was] therein, and beat down the city, and SOWED IT WITH SALT.

When Shechem refused to surrender, the general totally destroyed it, then SOWED IT WITH SALT. Salt destroys the ability of the land to produce crops. A city sowed with salt was a city that would never be rebuilt, for the soil would be made unfruitful. When God destroyed Sodom, He destroyed the ability of the land to be fruitful by sowing salt there.

Deuteronomy 29:23 (KJV) [And that] the WHOLE LAND THEREOF IS brimstone, and SALT, [and] burning, THAT IT IS NOT SOWN, NOR BEARETH, nor any grass groweth therein, LIKE THE OVERTHROW OF SODOM, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, WHICH THE LORD OVERTHREW IN HIS ANGER, and IN HIS WRATH:

Lot’s wife became part of the destruction of Sodom. She was God casting the believer out, sowing salt to utterly destroy the land. The professing Christian that lives to glorify the Lord preserves the nation, influences others, and is of great value to the Kingdom of God. But the professing Christian who looks back, glorifying sin rather than the Savior, is used by God to enhance the curse of the nation.

A believer walking in the light with Jesus preserves the nation. A believer walking in the darkness is like military grade salt – he adds to the destruction of the nation.

Salt was not meant to be sown on fertile ground. Salt was meant to be a blessing. God even required salt on the offerings taken to the Temple.

Leviticus 2:13 thy meat offering shalt thou SEASON WITH SALT; neither shalt thou {allow} the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: WITH ALL THINE OFFERINGS THOU SHALT OFFER SALT.

Since YOU, dear believer, are to be SALT, and every offering to God required salt, people approached God THROUGH salt. You are the means by which people are influenced to follow the Lord Jesus. You have a choice, dear Christian:

You can be salt, and let the Lord use you to lead others to Him. Or you can look backward like Lot’s wife, and the Lord will use you to help destroy the land by sowing you where He judges.

Mark 9:49-50 (KJV) For every one shall be salted with fire, and EVERY SACRIFICE SHALL BE SALTED WITH SALT. 50 Salt [is] good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? HAVE SALT IN YOURSELVES, and have peace one with another.

Lot’s wife is a picture of the modern, progressive Christian who has decided to ignore the Word of God and blend with the world. This person may or may not be saved. Rather than blessing the community, the Church, and the country, this type of believer is killing the fruitfulness and destroying where they are scattered. They are useful in God’s judgment, but not in the proclamation of the Gospel.

God Made Light. God Made The Christian To Be Light.

Matthew 5:14-16 (KJV) YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Before God ever created the Sun or the stars, He created LIGHT. God commanded,

Genesis 1:3 (KJV) God said, LET THERE BE LIGHT: and THERE WAS LIGHT.

God created DAY and NIGHT before He ever created the Sun and the Moon. LIGHT was created on the first day:

Genesis 1:4-5 (KJV) God saw the LIGHT, THAT IT WAS GOOD: and God DIVIDED THE LIGHT FROM THE DARKNESS. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were THE FIRST DAY.

God made LIGHT, but He didn’t make the darkness. Darkness was there before the creation (Genesis 1:2). God produced LIGHT apart from Sun or Moon (see Genesis 1:14-19). The Sun and Moon were created on the fourth day. Light was on the first.

Jesus ties the Christian to the creation of Light.

Matthew 5:14 (KJV) YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Jesus does not say that the Christian is one of the lights of the world. He says that we are THE LIGHT of the world. The Christian is created by God, not by himself.

Ephesians 2:10 we are His workmanship, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS unto good works…”

A Christian does not make himself. We come to Jesus by faith and, surrendering our lives to Him, God changes us.

2 Corinthians 5:17 if any man be in Christ, HE IS A NEW CREATURE: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new

The Christian is not what the world is. We are children of light. The Bible says:

Colossians 1:13-14 (KJV) Who HATH DELIVERED US FROM THE POWER OF DARKNESS, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins:

A Christian is a person who has supernaturally been spiritually reborn into the Kingdom of God. We are “ALL CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT, the CHILDREN OF THE DAY: we are NOT OF THE NIGHT, nor of darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). You are LIGHT. You are not of this world. You are different. Your Source is God and His Word. Those who say that they are Christian, but walk in darkness, are liars. The Apostle said:

1 John 1:6-9 (KJV) If we say that we have fellowship with him, and WALK IN DARKNESS, WE LIE, and DO NOT THE TRUTH: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we CONFESS OUR SINS, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Darkness is unnatural to the Christian. Our normal state is that of LIGHT. We are THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. God has “called us out of darkness, and into His marvelous LIGHT” (1 Peter 2:9). A fish does not breath air. We do not emit darkness and call it natural. It is unnatural.

Darkness cannot create light. Christ created the believer.

Christ created the Church. Christians together are His Church. We focus on Him. We praise Him. We climb the mountain to Him and sit at His feet. Jesus did not say to the multitudes “You are the Light of the world” but those Disciples who sat at His feet. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness comprehends it not. We are His city on His hill and cannot be hid. Let His light shine.

Matthew 5:14-15 (KJV) YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. A city that is set on an hill CANNOT BE HID. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it GIVETH LIGHT UNTO ALL that are in the house.

The candle does not light itself. It must be lit by an outside Source. The Christian is lit by God. When the Church unifies, it becomes “A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid”. The purpose of the Christian is to let the light of God shine through your life. The purpose of the Church is to let the light of God shine through our collected lives.

The Light should be seen. Jesus said “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house”. Jesus uses this phrase several times throughout the Scripture. We read:

Mark 4:21-22 (KJV) – And {Jesus} said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? 22 For THERE IS NOTHING HID, WHICH SHALL NOT BE MANIFESTED; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.

A Light kept covered, or placed under a bed or in a drawer is of absolutely no use. The Christian is not to blend with the darkness. We are to shine, to let others see what God’s truth is without compromise. We are non conformists. God is our Light. God’s Word is our Light. The Christian who hears the proclamation of darkness, but does not clearly speak the truth of Light, is not pleasing to God nor fulfilling his purpose.

Romans 12:1-2 (KJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye PRESENT YOUR BODIES A LIVING SACRIFICE, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. 2 And BE NOT CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD: but be ye TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We love people, and share the love of God with all who will hear. But we do not make people comfortable with sin, with disobedience to God. I heard with delight of a Christian woman who decided to date a godless and pagan man, something she should not have done. However when this man – like all who are darkness – demanded her sexual favors since they were “dating”, she turned him down. Good for her! Had she done as the darkness asked, she would be complicit in sending this deluded man to hell.

Christians are to live so that the light of God reveals the darkness.

1 John 2:15-17 (KJV) Love not the world, neither the things [that are] in the world. IF ANY MAN LOVE THE WORLD, the LOVE OF THE FATHER IS NOT IN HIM. 16 For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but HE THAT DOETH THE WILL OF GOD ABIDETH FOREVER.

People cannot enter the Kingdom of God if those who are to be LIGHT are darkness instead. “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth [it] under a bed; but setteth [it] on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.” (Luke 8:16). As God’s Light, we are to be conspicuous. People are watching what we do. Let us be LIGHT.

Luke 11:33-36 (KJV) No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth [it] in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that THEY WHICH COME IN MAY SEE THE LIGHT. 34 The LIGHT OF THE BODY IS THE EYE: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when [thine eye] is evil, thy body also [is] full of darkness. 35 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 36 If thy whole body therefore [be] full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

How do we continue to shine for Jesus? We focus our eyes on Jesus. We look toward His Word, and commit to doing as He has commanded. We control where we look.

Once We Know The Good, We Are To Do It

Matthew 5:16 (KJV) Let your light so shine before men, that they may SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS, and GLORIFY your Father which is in heaven.

A light is only valuable when it shines. It is our purpose, dear Christian, to shine. We are to shine on both the good and the evil, just as the sun does. C.H. Spurgeon said:

“Good works are works of love, unselfish works, works done for the benefit of others and the glory of God. Deeds of charity, kindness, and brotherly love are good works. As also careful attendance to duty, and all service honestly done; together with all courses which promote the moral and spiritual good of our fellow men”.

A Christian who never does good is like a sun that never shines. It is utterly useless. The Scripture says:

Galatians 6:7-10 (LSB) Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

Those who profess Christ but never do good for Him will never be blessed. God calls us to “be ready to every good work” (Titus 3:1). Though we are not saved by good works, once we are saved we are called to DO GOOD to all. At the end of the day every Christian should ask themselves:

How did I glorify my God and Savior today? How did I serve the Kingdom of God?

The Gospel cannot be stewarded by whiny, selfish, self serving Christians. Such a Gospel is not attractive. People need to see something different in the Christian. People need to see CHRIST. What do people see when they look at you?