The NXR Podcast - THE SERMON - So The Rest May Stand In Fear

00:00:00.000 For record, I don't think I've said this yet throughout the course of our series, but it's worth noting.

00:00:06.360 It's the gospel according to Matthew, not the gospel of Matthew.

00:00:09.600 It's not Matthew's gospel. It's the gospel of God.

00:00:11.920 So the gospel belongs to God, and we don't have four gospels.

00:00:15.080 We don't have Matthew's gospel, Mark's gospel, Luke's gospel, and John's gospel.

00:00:19.540 We have the gospel of Jesus Christ.

00:00:21.960 So it's God's gospel, Christ's gospel, one gospel, but according to four different apostles.

00:00:29.120 All four inspired by the Holy Spirit.

00:00:31.240 So we have one gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, according to Matthew, according to Mark, according to Luke, according to John.

00:00:36.980 So not four gospels, but one.

00:00:39.340 One gospel through four different lenses, four different perspectives, human perspectives,

00:00:45.400 but all enshrined and protected by the divine author, that is the Holy Spirit.

00:00:50.880 So four human perspectives of one divine gospel and those four human perspectives beautified and perfected by the Holy Spirit as the divine author so that we get the human perspective without getting any corruption or sin.

00:01:07.020 OK, let's stand for the reading of God's word.

00:01:09.520 This is Matthew chapter five, verses 13 through 16.

00:01:13.900 Our very own Michael Belch preached last week.

00:01:17.560 And I don't think I've told you this yet, Michael,

00:01:19.280 but my wife and I had a chance to listen to the sermon

00:01:21.500 and you did a wonderful job.

00:01:23.260 So he preached the Beatitudes, a wonderful sermon.

00:01:27.120 And today we are continuing now beyond that text,

00:01:30.340 verses 13 through 16, talking about Christians,

00:01:34.120 disciples of Jesus as salt and as light.

00:01:37.620 I'll read the text in its entirety.

00:01:39.020 When I finish reading the text, I'm going to say,

00:01:40.800 this is the word of the Lord,

00:01:42.060 at which point I would appreciate very much

00:01:43.880 if you would be willing to respond

00:01:45.300 by saying thanks be to God.

00:01:47.820 One final time, our text for today

00:01:49.300 is Matthew 5, verses 13-16.

00:01:53.260 The Bible says this,

00:01:54.780 You are the salt of the earth,

00:01:56.220 but if salt has lost its taste,

00:01:59.480 how shall its saltiness be restored?

00:02:02.580 It is no longer good for anything

00:02:04.520 except to be thrown out

00:02:06.220 and trampled under people's feet.

00:02:08.540 You are the light of the world.

00:02:10.420 A city set on a hill cannot be hidden,

00:02:13.140 nor did people light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a stand and it gets gives light to

00:02:20.640 all in the house in the same way let your light shine before men so that they may see your good

00:02:27.880 works and give glory to your father who is in heaven this is the word of the lord all right

00:02:35.140 please be seated let's go ahead and dive in we're going to divide the text into two primary portions

00:02:41.300 today. One, looking at Christians, little Christ, disciples of Jesus as salt, and then looking at

00:02:48.200 Christians as light. Beginning with salt, I'm utilizing the late great Puritan Matthew Henry 0.58

00:02:53.660 throughout the course of this series and his commentary on these texts. I'll read what he says

00:02:59.360 in terms of Christians as salt in regards to one specific strategy or one specific effect of salt,

00:03:07.460 which is that salt has a permeating effect i'll say that again salt has a permeating effect that

00:03:15.020 is when we utilize certain spices especially salt we place it on meat or food or whatever it may be

00:03:22.060 it takes that food that was previously bland or tasteless much more mild and the salt actually

00:03:30.940 permeates the meat. It permeates the food to where the food itself becomes salted. It becomes

00:03:37.600 salty. So there's a permeating effect of salt. And as soon as we cover this with this quote that

00:03:42.860 I'm about to read from Matthew Henry, then we'll look at one of the second effects of salt is that

00:03:47.900 it not only permeates, but it also preserves. Not only permeates, but it preserves. And when we speak

00:03:54.140 of salt and its preserving effect, I think that there are two, there are arguably more, but two

00:04:00.020 primary ways of preserving and we'll look at that briefly here in just a moment so Matthew Henry

00:04:06.060 in terms of salt having a permeating effect he says the following the doctrine of the gospel is

00:04:12.100 as salt it is cleansing it is relishing and preserves from future putrefaction what great

00:04:20.740 blessings they are to the world they being Jesus disciples his immediate disciples but this would

00:04:27.680 go beyond that scope to you and I as well. Christians, what great blessings Christians

00:04:32.380 are to the world. Mankind, the world at large, was lying in ignorance and wickedness. 0.85

00:04:38.300 It was vast, a vast heap of unsavory stuff, ready to putrefy. But Christ sent forth his disciples

00:04:46.560 as salt by their lives and doctrines to season the world with knowledge and grace, and so to

00:04:54.320 render it acceptable to God, to the angels and to all that relish divine things, how they must expect

00:05:02.480 to be disposed of. They must not be laid on a heap, must not continue always together in Jerusalem,

00:05:10.580 but must be scattered as salt upon the meat, here a grain and there a grain. In short, what Matthew

00:05:18.780 Henry is saying is that salt in its first purpose, not preserving, which we'll get to here in just a

00:05:24.980 moment, but permeating, salt making things salty. The first strategy, if you will, for making

00:05:33.640 something salty is that the salt has to be evenly applied. It can't just be in a heap on one portion

00:05:42.100 of your food. I'm sure you've had that experience where you're in a restaurant or maybe it's at home

00:05:46.640 and through your own negligence, you're trying to salt your food

00:05:49.860 and the lid for the salt shaker, it falls off,

00:05:53.720 it wasn't screwed on all the way tight

00:05:55.580 and all of a sudden you have a giant pile of salt

00:05:58.540 on one portion of your food.

00:06:01.400 And that's not exactly pleasing.

00:06:05.120 It's not going to be a pleasurable meal.

00:06:07.360 If you're going to use salt and you're going to use it effectively

00:06:09.660 in a way that is pleasant,

00:06:12.080 you want to evenly distribute it across the entire dish.

00:06:16.060 You don't want to just heap up a pile of salt on one particular bite, one particular portion,

00:06:21.660 but you want it to be evenly distributed.

00:06:23.560 So salt actually permeates and makes the food salty.

00:06:26.980 It makes it flavorful, flavorful, flavorful.

00:06:30.220 It makes it pleasant.

00:06:31.420 It makes it enjoyable.

00:06:32.900 But in order to do this effectively, you can't just place all of the seasoning,

00:06:37.460 all the salt on one particular bite, but it needs to be evenly distributed across the whole meal.

00:06:43.600 And this gets to discipleship.

00:06:45.500 This gets to the topic of evangelism. 0.60

00:06:48.820 And God used persecution in large part for the Christians, the disciples in Jerusalem, in order to drive them out so that they weren't just clumped up, huddled up in one particular place,

00:07:03.260 but so that the gospel as salt permeating all the world, making it flavor, giving it flavor, making it pleasing, making it pleasant,

00:07:12.280 so that all the world, not just one city, not just Jerusalem,

00:07:15.420 but all the world would become salty.

00:07:18.020 God used in His providence not just commands to go into Jerusalem

00:07:23.500 and then even further to Judea and then Samaria and all the ends of the world.

00:07:29.380 That was the obligation, the moral obligation, the commandment that was issued.

00:07:32.800 But then God not only commanded His disciples to spread the salt throughout the earth,

00:07:37.720 but he also then providentially ensured that it would happen by giving them immense persecution

00:07:44.280 in Jerusalem and for the record the reason why it's like well but we'll be persecuted everywhere

00:07:49.780 and that's true that was my my call to worship this morning that was my pastoral prayer as we

00:07:55.500 began our Lord's Day worship service is saying that any Christian in any place in any time is

00:08:00.380 going to have enemies and so it's true that the disciples would inevitably have enemies in

00:08:06.980 opposition no matter where they went. So then it's, you know, it begs the question, well, why even

00:08:11.400 consider leaving Jerusalem, right? You're already there. You already have certain resources and 0.93

00:08:17.940 certain means and you have a community and you have all these different things. Why leave Jerusalem 1.00

00:08:22.860 if you're going to be persecuted everywhere? And of course, the simple answer is that they would

00:08:26.880 be persecuted everywhere, but not to the same degree. The height of persecution would be in

00:08:34.700 Satan's city. And this is what the book of Revelation teaches. When the book of Revelation,

00:08:41.720 I know it's exciting for the dispensationalists to think about Apache helicopters and, you know,

00:08:46.320 things like that. And like, you know, Jesus is coming. It's going to be in the next 15 minutes.

00:08:49.720 And it's talking about this and it's talking about that. Yeah, but also it's not. You know,

00:08:55.880 that's another option is it's just not. And you're wrong. You know, so always consider that as a,

00:09:01.240 plausible scenario. No, when the Bible, particularly the book of Revelation, the

00:09:07.340 revelation of Jesus Christ, is talking about a monstrous city and talking about the man of

00:09:14.380 lawlessness even. It's talking about Jerusalem. It's talking about Jerusalem. When it's talking 0.67

00:09:21.980 about Babylon, great Babylon that's going to overthrow and do this and do that, Babylon is 0.94

00:09:28.140 Jerusalem. The argument that Jesus Christ, and remember this is Jesus Christ speaking to the 0.63

00:09:33.540 apostle John to write it down, because these are things that are soon. This is the first chapter

00:09:38.640 of Revelation. These things are soon to come to pass, right? And we all know when we say soon,

00:09:43.200 that means, you know, 2,000 years or soon, actually. You know, you could consider that.

00:09:49.080 That's maybe another alternative reading of the text, is it actually meant soon. That the book

00:09:54.600 revelation made perfect sense to its heroes john is exiled on the on the island of patmos he's the

00:10:01.380 only one of the apostles who didn't die not not for lack of trying they definitely tried they

00:10:06.540 tried to boil him uh alive in oil and and it didn't work uh in part probably because of god's

00:10:13.260 supernatural grace certainly his supernatural providence uh and also in part because i don't

00:10:18.420 think it's just like kind of daniel or not daniel but shadrach meshach and abednego in the fire and

00:10:23.240 they're unsinged. I think John was singed. I think John is living by himself in a cave

00:10:29.820 on the island of Patmos and he looks grotesque. I think it was just like the Apostle Paul. He's,

00:10:37.220 you know, been shipwrecked and beaten by rods and there's arguments for his eyesight not being

00:10:41.500 very good. Like some of these guys are just, their skin is like leather. They're on their last leg

00:10:46.340 and just the supernatural promise of God causes them to just hobble along for another year,

00:10:52.180 another decade however long until God's purpose is done the reality is this it's been said by

00:10:56.540 by some of the saints of old I forget which one I read it just just the other day but

00:11:03.100 essentially you are and this isn't just for you know radical you know apostles of Jesus Christ

00:11:08.780 like John or or like Paul but for you Christian this applies to all of us do you know did you

00:11:15.200 know that you are invulnerable and and literally invincible invincible until God's purpose for your

00:11:24.900 life is done until God's purpose is done he knows the number of hairs on your head he has numbered

00:11:31.340 your days until he's done with you neither death nor life right now it doesn't matter how many

00:11:38.560 enemies it doesn't matter how many weapons are formed against us it doesn't matter what they do

00:11:43.620 you are literally invincible on one hand made from the dust and he's merciful and compassionate

00:11:50.280 and knows your frame so a creature made from the dust so so weak and so delicate that the slightest

00:11:57.480 breeze could cause you to crumble and yet at the very same time just as true to say invincible

00:12:04.200 invulnerable until the lord be done with you and so who shall we fear if god before us who can be

00:12:11.580 against us um so you know john's like they try to boil him alive and here he is you know just

00:12:19.240 just writing out another banger you know holy spirit inspired jesus christ book of the bible

00:12:24.680 uh looking like like a shriveled up slug probably that that you know since we're talking about salt

00:12:32.580 right now like a slug kids you know when you put salt on that's john he looks like a slug that you

00:12:37.600 put salt on, still breathing somehow, still writing somehow in a cave alone and changing

00:12:44.480 the course of human history. Amazing. Because until God's done with you, you can't be stopped.

00:12:50.760 You are invincible. Not because you're awesome, but because God is awesome. And that is just,

00:12:56.740 that's an undeniable fact. So John is doing this. He's writing. All of his hearers, though,

00:13:02.080 back to the point, they're going to know exactly what he's talking about. This is arguably,

00:13:06.840 now I know that there's debate and people, you know, people have good arguments and they make

00:13:11.740 their case for, for, you know, in terms of dating, right, the actual writing of different books of

00:13:16.980 the Bible. And some would say, well, I think Revelation was written in, you know, 1890. You

00:13:22.480 know, people have said that, 1890. And they make their arguments that we want to be charitable and

00:13:27.060 they're wrong. You know, and that's, you know, I'm not being mean, but they're wrong. And then there

00:13:31.920 are others who would say, you know, that every single New Testament book of the Bible was written

00:13:36.640 before AD 70, and there are different terms for this position. The label that I like to use is

00:13:42.760 the right position. So there's the right guys, and there's the wrong guys, and they're all Christians, 1.00

00:13:47.920 and we love each other, but we're not relativists. You can't have two contradicting opinions and both

00:13:53.320 be right. You can both be Christians. You can both love each other, but you both can't be right.

00:13:58.600 I am of the persuasion, if you haven't picked it up by now, that I think every single New Testament

00:14:03.380 book of the bible was written pre-8070 and the book of revelation particularly just a year or two

00:14:09.880 or three they're right on the heels right or not on the heels but right before 8070 so these are

00:14:17.580 things that are soon to come to pass and not a metaphorical proverbial soon but a literal soon

00:14:23.500 not not a 2 000 years later soon but uh this is going to happen in the next 18 months kind of

00:14:29.400 situation. And so John is writing about that, and he's talking about Babylon, the city of Babylon,

00:14:35.620 the man of lawlessness, and the beast, and all these different things. And his hearers are going 0.99

00:14:40.960 to understand that some of this pertains to the Romans, that Israel is underneath Roman occupation

00:14:46.780 at this time. But the strongest rebukes and the strongest language of monsters, you know,

00:14:57.320 lurking in the deep and a great city of Babylon that hates the Lord Jesus Christ and persecutes 0.99

00:15:03.680 him and his followers at every turn. This is not actually in reference to some future nation that 0.95

00:15:09.740 would exist. This isn't, you know, this isn't the book of Revelation talking about China or Russia

00:15:15.600 or the United States. It's not in reference to Ukraine. It's not in reference to Israel and

00:15:22.520 Palestine. And even at its own time, a lot of it is not in reference to Rome. It's in reference to

00:15:30.060 the most wicked city on the planet at that time, Jerusalem. Jerusalem. Even Jesus said, 0.99

00:15:39.420 we got to go back to Jerusalem because my time, I've been invincible. Right? You see so many

00:15:43.660 accounts in the gospel narratives where it says that they picked up stones to stone him and he

00:15:48.120 just slipped through the crowns because they couldn't they couldn't lay a hand on him they he

00:15:52.320 was invincible they could not touch him until it was his time but when it was his time what did

00:15:57.540 jesus say got to get back to jerusalem you know god forbid a prophet die somewhere else they all

00:16:05.240 die in jerusalem right a rich heritage right different cities you know you've got like uh the

00:16:10.820 you know the twin towers you know or or you know the the city of angels you know and jerusalem right 0.94

00:16:16.040 the city that hates Jesus and kills every prophet that follows God. That's their, that's their 0.95

00:16:21.080 heritage. It's what they're known for. That's, that's Jerusalem. And so, all that being said,

00:16:28.040 John knows this. This is what he's writing for. And back to the Matthew Henry quote, as salt,

00:16:33.960 God in his providence used Jerusalem, hating Christ and hating his apostles to push out that salt.

00:16:42.040 I'm sure that no one really appreciated it at the time.

00:16:45.000 If I was one of the apostles, if I'm an early first century disciple of Jesus, a Christian,

00:16:50.060 and I'm in Jerusalem like most of them were, at least initially,

00:16:53.520 I would not really like what's going on.

00:16:57.120 Just like you and I today, we don't always enjoy God's providence.

00:17:01.460 Now, in hindsight, right? Hindsight is 20-20.

00:17:04.140 We look back and we say, I wouldn't have ever done it any other way.

00:17:07.340 God is good. Let God be true and every man a liar.

00:17:10.000 It hurt like heck in the moment, but I wouldn't take it back.

00:17:16.660 God knew what He was doing. It was all worth it.

00:17:19.040 Well, so too for the first century disciples and Christians in Jerusalem, 0.99

00:17:23.860 they're not enjoying God's providence.

00:17:26.180 Because what God's providence means for them on a daily basis is immense persecution.

00:17:32.700 They're being rounded up. They're being sued financially.

00:17:35.940 They're being thrown in prison. They're being killed. 0.99

00:17:37.980 They're being flogged. All these kinds of things. 0.99

00:17:40.000 And it's not just the Romans. 0.60

00:17:42.100 It is predominantly the Jews. 0.96

00:17:45.480 And anything that the Romans do, 0.99

00:17:48.640 that they actually are responsible for, 0.95

00:17:50.940 most of that even, not all,

00:17:53.260 Nero's a bad guy, don't get me wrong, 1.00

00:17:54.840 but even a lot of that was instigated by the Jews 0.95

00:17:59.240 who hated the Christians.

00:18:00.600 And so then they would use the Romans and say, 0.99

00:18:02.560 well, we really like killing Christians, 0.99

00:18:04.700 but we don't like to, you know, 0.99

00:18:06.120 we just had our nails done

00:18:07.140 and we don't want to get our hands dirty.

00:18:09.160 And so could you do it for us?

00:18:11.720 I mean, that is, just read about the crucifixion.

00:18:14.240 That's what happened. 0.79

00:18:15.620 This is true. 0.90

00:18:16.720 This is Bible.

00:18:18.020 And we have to be allowed to preach the Bible.

00:18:20.680 Okay, so God uses this in his providence to do what?

00:18:24.480 To make sure that the salt shaker doesn't have the lid fall off

00:18:28.420 and there's a massive pile of salt in one little square mile radius

00:18:33.620 in all the earth, and then the rest of the earth is bland and tasteless.

00:18:37.020 God uses immense persecution in His providence, 0.98

00:18:43.140 in large part promulgated by Jews towards Christians in the city of Jerusalem 1.00

00:18:49.520 with unique putrid hatred of Jesus Christ 0.98

00:18:54.060 in order to push out, drive out Christ's disciples

00:18:58.380 to where they eventually go to all the earth.

00:19:01.720 And in the book of Acts, you basically see,

00:19:04.260 You can almost kind of draw a line right in the middle of the book of Acts.

00:19:07.720 The first 15 chapters, the headquarters, HQ, of Christianity, you know, Christianity, Inc.,

00:19:15.400 in the book of Acts is the first 15 chapters, the first half of the book.

00:19:19.580 It's Peter. He's the guy, right?

00:19:21.960 It's Peter, and the HQ, the headquarters, is Jerusalem.

00:19:26.740 Peter, Jerusalem.

00:19:27.840 Second half, all of a sudden, the whole thing switches.

00:19:31.620 And now instead of Peter in Jerusalem,

00:19:33.380 it's Paul in Antioch.

00:19:35.500 So that you can't even finish

00:19:36.960 one particular book of the Bible

00:19:38.420 without the literal geographic center

00:19:42.260 and focal point of the Christian faith

00:19:45.180 having shifted from a particular people

00:19:48.280 and a particular place.

00:19:50.860 And this was God's design.

00:19:52.460 None of this by accident.

00:19:53.960 None of this a mistake.

00:19:55.320 All this good and merciful and kind.

00:19:57.920 And it continues even to this day.

00:20:00.220 Even to this day.

00:20:01.140 We see persecution will ramp up in one place.

00:20:04.260 It'll drive Christians to another.

00:20:06.140 And the salt goes forth. 0.99

00:20:08.220 It goes forth and continues and continues.

00:20:10.640 And the first purpose of salt, as we see in our text today,

00:20:13.800 is that the salt makes other things around it salty.

00:20:17.920 It permeates.

00:20:19.300 That's what salt does.

00:20:20.640 It permeates.

00:20:21.560 And in order for this permeating strategy to work effectively,

00:20:25.680 according to what Matthew Henry is saying,

00:20:27.620 according, more importantly, to what the Bible teaches,

00:20:30.000 by descriptive text throughout all the New Testament

00:20:32.940 and prescriptive text

00:20:34.720 where Jesus literally gives a command

00:20:36.720 to go into all the earth.

00:20:38.820 What we see is in the permeating strategy of salt,

00:20:42.140 if you want to permeate the world well,

00:20:44.640 you've got to disperse.

00:20:46.520 You've got to spread out.

00:20:47.560 You can't put the whole salt shaker on one bite. 0.64

00:20:51.180 That's disgusting.

00:20:52.680 Instead, you sprinkle it across the whole dish.

00:20:56.420 Okay, so that's salt permeating.

00:20:58.840 It makes other things salty.

00:21:01.100 Now, salt preserving.

00:21:03.820 So two overarching categories.

00:21:05.440 Think of it like this.

00:21:06.620 Our text today, salt, light.

00:21:08.500 Okay, category one, salt.

00:21:10.580 Now two subcategories with salt, permeating, preserving.

00:21:15.060 We've done permeating.

00:21:16.200 Now we're doing preserving.

00:21:17.620 Two sub-subcategories, even further, with permeating.

00:21:21.440 There are two different ways, and arguably more, of course,

00:21:24.340 but suffice it to say, for our purposes today,

00:21:27.480 two primary ways that God uses Christians,

00:21:30.940 His people, as salt to preserve.

00:21:33.960 Not just permeate, but preserve. 0.85

00:21:36.760 Utilizing Matthew Henry again,

00:21:38.180 he says the following,

00:21:39.380 salt is a remedy for unsavory meat,

00:21:42.120 but there is no remedy for unsavory salt.

00:21:47.180 If you got a bland meal,

00:21:49.320 you can add salt.

00:21:50.780 But if you got bland salt,

00:21:52.760 then you just, you're kind of done.

00:21:56.000 You can't, you know,

00:21:56.660 if the salt loses its saltiness, it cannot be made salty again. You don't say, okay, well,

00:22:01.760 let's get more salt to make this salt salty. No, you just, if you have unsalty salt, you throw it

00:22:07.420 out. It's no longer good. It can be replaced, but it can't be fixed. If that makes sense. If the salt

00:22:14.460 loses its saltiness, it cannot be restored. It cannot be restored. It can, and in the providence

00:22:20.420 the mercy of God, it will be replaced. You can replace bad salt. You cannot restore that bad

00:22:28.380 salt. So he goes on and says, salt is a remedy for unsavory meat, but there's no remedy for

00:22:33.320 unsavory salt. Christianity will give a man a relish. But if a man can take up and continue 0.99

00:22:39.800 the profession of it and yet remain flat and foolish. So right now, Matthew Henry is describing 0.97

00:22:46.480 a professing Christian who has a profession of faith,

00:22:50.960 but not a possession of faith, right? 0.55

00:22:54.000 He's a Christian in name only.

00:22:56.300 He professes the gospel,

00:22:57.780 but he does not possess true saving faith.

00:23:01.360 So in those kinds of scenarios,

00:23:03.700 if a man can take up and continue the profession of it, 0.94

00:23:06.880 that is Christianity, 0.99

00:23:08.180 and yet remain flat and foolish, 1.00

00:23:10.660 he doesn't actually possess true saving faith, 1.00

00:23:13.640 and graceless and insipid,

00:23:15.920 No other doctrine, if the gospel doesn't do it, then no other doctrine can.

00:23:22.280 No other means can be applied to make him savory.

00:23:25.820 If Christianity does not do it, nothing will. 0.95

00:23:29.920 Now I've written in your notes the following to put a point on it, 0.98

00:23:36.040 to make it even clearer, even more practical.

00:23:39.960 What does this look like? I've written the following.

00:23:42.500 If a man should lose his saltiness, he is only good to be thrown out, as the text says, and trampled by men.

00:23:50.980 Remember that. That's at the end of verse 13.

00:23:53.480 It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

00:23:59.320 Which we read that. Let me pause for a moment.

00:24:01.620 We read that as kind of, we assume sometimes that it's hyperbolic language.

00:24:07.540 It's hyperbole.

00:24:09.460 An exaggeration.

00:24:10.760 just a poetic exaggerated way of essentially saying if salt loses its saltiness it's it's

00:24:19.180 trash it's not good for anything i don't actually think that is the correct exegesis the correct way

00:24:25.560 to read the text because what the text is saying in the latter half of verse 13 is if it's loses

00:24:33.040 its saltiness it's no longer good for anything except so it actually is still good for something

00:24:40.000 It's no longer good for its original purpose,

00:24:42.600 which is to permeate and make other things flavorful,

00:24:46.040 to make other things salty.

00:24:48.440 It's no longer good for that.

00:24:49.720 And that is, I would argue,

00:24:51.240 that's the first, the original design,

00:24:53.420 the primary purpose.

00:24:54.460 So it's true that it's no longer good for that,

00:24:56.560 but it is still good for something.

00:24:59.160 It's no longer good for anything,

00:25:00.600 second half of verse 13,

00:25:01.900 except there's something it is still good for.

00:25:04.620 What is that? 0.67

00:25:05.140 To be thrown out and trampled by men.

00:25:09.000 Okay, so back to what I've written in your notes.

00:25:11.400 If a man should lose his saltiness,

00:25:13.100 he is only good to be thrown out

00:25:15.300 and trampled by other men.

00:25:16.880 And yet, even this has its divinely merciful purpose.

00:25:22.620 Even this is a grace to us by God.

00:25:27.620 When the roads and walkways are slick from snow and ice,

00:25:32.260 which we have no knowledge of here,

00:25:34.480 but I've heard that there are magical places

00:25:36.660 somewhere in the world

00:25:37.500 where there are actually seasons

00:25:39.420 where it's not just hot every single day,

00:25:43.280 365 days a year.

00:25:44.960 Now, I don't actually believe it.

00:25:46.420 I think it's just a rumor.

00:25:47.620 But I've been told by people who, you know,

00:25:51.460 apparently are reliable that seasons are real

00:25:54.180 and that there are places

00:25:55.280 where you are not miserable every single day

00:25:58.080 when you go and get the mail.

00:25:59.880 I don't know if it's true.

00:26:02.080 Somebody needs to search that.

00:26:03.060 Is it true, Jesse?

00:26:04.120 It's true?

00:26:05.040 There actually are places?

00:26:05.940 Oh, it's true.

00:26:06.680 John said it.

00:26:07.180 it's true. There are places that are pleasant. However, here's the deal. You can't feed your

00:26:13.880 kids. So you got to, you know, it's like bad weather and bugs, like all the California,

00:26:20.180 it's so funny. You know, like you guys know, I was born, let it be said, let the record state,

00:26:25.460 I was born and raised in Texas. Okay. Those are my credentials. I was not born in California,

00:26:29.420 praise God. But born and raised in Texas, Texas bread. Thank you, dad. Thank you, mom.

00:26:35.380 but I did go to California for a little while and I know that you know maybe not the wisest

00:26:40.680 thing I've ever done in my life when I was there though the relationships and friends and wonderful

00:26:45.480 people I mean it was always funny people would literally they would say we can never live in

00:26:49.780 Texas because of uh the weather and bugs and I'm like I I get it you know and it sounds like you

00:26:59.760 know silly and then you know now we've been back for four years and I'm like oh my good I like

00:27:05.180 looking at my kids and I'm like it looks like there are some days where it's like do they have

00:27:12.040 leprosy like what happened like do we need to go to the ER and and then I remember oh we went

00:27:18.540 outside for 15 minutes and and used the swings in the backyard and an entire swarm of insects came 0.83

00:27:27.640 and ate half of my children like that i so it is true that the bugs are ridiculous um

00:27:34.060 but the benefit of texas good old flyover country with blue collar america is you got bugs you got

00:27:41.740 heat um but you can actually have more than 1.5 children and feed them um just something to

00:27:48.920 consider for the california bros um i know the weather's great but you know your 1.5 kids won't

00:27:55.200 leave quite the heritage and legacy that you're probably hoping for all right here we go back to

00:28:00.220 what i've written the roads and walkways are slick with snow and ice it is a thing somewhere else not

00:28:06.460 here but when it happens you can throw out salt so that pedestrians don't trip and fall in

00:28:11.660 parentheses i gave a couple examples steve lawson and i don't want to go into a bunch of stuff i

00:28:16.740 know some details but it's really not my place to share um although i will say this because because

00:28:21.980 is worth saying. He was a public figure, and the details do need to be made public, and it needs to

00:28:27.840 be more specific than inappropriate relationship. I think that there is a moral obligation on his

00:28:32.480 elders to speak more clearly than that, to guard against both sides of the equation. On one side,

00:28:39.860 if it really is just an inappropriate relationship, then you want to guard against a bunch of people

00:28:44.420 thinking the worst possible thing that it could possibly be, if that's not true. It's not fair to

00:28:49.820 him to his wife to that woman all the um if if you're leaving room for people's imaginations

00:28:55.700 to run wild and think that things are worse than they actually are and then on the other side of

00:29:00.760 the equation um if it actually is is bad as you can imagine we're family integrated so we don't

00:29:05.680 need details but adults in the room if it's as bad as you can imagine um then then you do need

00:29:11.560 to kind of word some of that because you also don't need to minimize the sin and say oh it was

00:29:15.860 just an inappropriate relationship. You know, they were pen pals and they wrote letters to each other

00:29:20.680 occasionally if there were things far beyond that. So I won't get any more detailed than what I just

00:29:27.420 said. There's my disclaimer. But many of you know, Steve Lawson was recently removed from public

00:29:32.540 ministry in three different scenarios, three different contexts. First and foremost, his local

00:29:38.080 church as a preaching pastor there. Also with TMS, the Master's Seminary, because he was, you know,

00:29:43.960 longtime partner with John MacArthur and the dean of a doctoral program there with a doctorate of

00:29:53.700 preaching ministry there at the Master's Seminary. So he's been removed from that platform and then

00:29:58.060 he for a long time has been a teaching fellow with Ligonier Ministries and removed there as well. So

00:30:03.200 local church, Master's Seminary, John MacArthur, Ligonier, R.C. Sproul. Removed from all three

00:30:09.640 of those platforms, and it is a great tragedy.

00:30:13.840 It is easily to utilize that for the enemies of God,

00:30:19.560 to use that to bring shame to Jesus Christ and his church.

00:30:25.060 It brings reproach upon the gospel.

00:30:28.120 It is wicked. It's a tragedy, and it's a shame.

00:30:32.420 It's terrible.

00:30:33.940 So it is a net loss.

00:30:36.360 But here's the point as it pertains to our text today.

00:30:39.640 Not because of anything in Steve Lawson, but because of everything that is found in the heart of God.

00:30:46.500 Not because his sin isn't really sinful, or it's not bad, or no, no, no.

00:30:51.940 It's not because our sin is not great.

00:30:54.140 It is because God's mercy and providence and infinite wisdom is greater.

00:30:58.320 It is only because of God, not because of man, but because of God,

00:31:02.120 that even in worst case scenarios, where you have these kinds of situations,

00:31:07.720 and people feel betrayed and they feel lied to

00:31:11.200 and for good reason, because they were.

00:31:13.840 And there's reproach that is brought to the name of Christ

00:31:16.900 and reproach that is brought to the gospel

00:31:19.300 and to the church.

00:31:20.780 Even in these scenarios, because God, not man,

00:31:24.980 but because God, despite the failures of man,

00:31:27.560 is so merciful and so wise in His providence,

00:31:31.120 even then the salt has purpose.

00:31:35.480 And what is the purpose of salt in these cases?

00:31:39.020 Well, the saltiness of this particular salt is not there.

00:31:43.560 And so it is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled by men.

00:31:47.920 And what does that do?

00:31:49.300 On a snowy day, salting the sidewalks,

00:31:52.440 it makes sure that other men don't fall the same way.

00:31:57.920 Look to the Scripture.

00:32:00.060 1 Timothy 5, verse 20.

00:32:01.720 This is in reference of elders.

00:32:03.200 It says,

00:32:03.500 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all.

00:32:08.320 So that what?

00:32:10.060 So that you just can pile on the guilt and condemnation for them?

00:32:13.980 No.

00:32:15.120 You're not trying to condemn them unnecessarily,

00:32:17.660 but they are being rebuked because they deserve it.

00:32:21.140 They deserve it.

00:32:22.220 And so you're giving the necessary rebuke and correction 1.00

00:32:24.940 and discipline that the Bible would require.

00:32:28.720 But beyond that, again, not because of the failures of men,

00:32:32.620 but because of the infinite wisdom and mercy of God,

00:32:35.680 not only does public rebukes of elders,

00:32:39.200 not only is it used by God in order at times

00:32:43.200 to bring that man in an individual sense to repentance,

00:32:47.320 but it also, that public rebuke,

00:32:49.220 is used for all the other men in the room.

00:32:52.100 On the sidelines, the third party who's watching and listening,

00:32:56.020 it's used to place in them the fear of God

00:33:00.020 and to cause them a little fear,

00:33:03.860 a little trembling,

00:33:05.160 to cause them to be that much more meticulous,

00:33:08.880 that much more vigilant

00:33:10.340 in fighting against sin

00:33:12.600 so that they too would not fall

00:33:14.960 and put Christ and His gospel

00:33:17.480 and His church to shame. 0.96

00:33:20.280 So rebuke them in the presence of all

00:33:21.940 so that the rest may stand in fear.

00:33:24.540 This is a preserving mechanism.

00:33:26.520 salt that's no longer good for permeating because it's not salty it can't make other things salty

00:33:33.880 because this salt itself is not salty and yet even then still in the province of god it has a purpose

00:33:41.160 no longer to permeate but still to preserve it could be thrown out on the ground and other men

00:33:49.060 who still are salty who have not yet lost their saltiness they can walk on this unsalty salt

00:33:56.480 and be less likely to trip and to fall.

00:34:01.760 Unsalty salt can be used to put the fear of God

00:34:05.280 in the hearts of men

00:34:06.520 so that salty salt doesn't become later on unsalty.

00:34:11.720 And that is a mercy.

00:34:13.600 You see this with elders.

00:34:14.800 That's 1 Timothy 5.20.

00:34:16.480 Steve Lawson would be an example.

00:34:18.180 You see it with church discipline.

00:34:19.700 Matthew chapter 18.

00:34:21.260 You also see it even outside of the ecclesiastical realm,

00:34:25.640 the church.

00:34:26.040 you also see it in a civil sense, even for those who are not regenerate Christians. You can look

00:34:32.520 at this not just in an ecclesiastical sense, but a national sense. This is what justice is meant to

00:34:39.080 do. This is the purpose of the justice system. So looking at another text now, Deuteronomy chapter

00:34:44.240 19, verse 18 through 21, this is no longer in reference to elders or leaders in the church or

00:34:49.240 even members in the church with church discipline, but citizens of a nation state. Deuteronomy 19,

00:34:55.780 18 through 21 says this, the judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness

00:35:02.820 and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him what he had meant, what he intended to

00:35:08.600 do to his brother. You shall purge the evil from your midst. That is the evil, not just in an

00:35:14.300 abstract, ethereal sense, but that evil person. You purge the evil person from your midst, and the

00:35:21.540 rest, everybody else, shall hear and fear, and shall never again, what does it do? It preserves

00:35:29.240 all the rest of the people standing by who are watching. They shall never again commit any such

00:35:34.700 evil among you. Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,

00:35:40.380 hand for hand, foot for foot. In this scenario, in Israel, and this should be the law of the land 1.00

00:35:46.520 in our country, in every country, still to this day, this is a timeless principle, a timeless

00:35:52.540 universal truth. If you perjure yourself by bearing false witness, accusing somebody else,

00:35:59.340 whatever the penalty would have been for that person, had they been found guilty,

00:36:04.540 then that penalty should fall on your head for falsely accusing them.

00:36:09.660 So if you accuse in a court of law, falsely accuse someone of murder

00:36:13.920 and it turns out in the final analysis that that person is not guilty of murder

00:36:18.960 and neither are you, but you falsely accuse them of murder

00:36:22.600 and the penalty for murder should be capital punishment life for life

00:36:26.840 then you, even though you have not committed murder

00:36:30.020 because you falsely accused someone else for murder

00:36:32.780 and the penalty for that crime

00:36:34.080 would have been death, 1.00

00:36:35.040 you should be put to death. 1.00

00:36:36.800 That's what the text is saying. 1.00

00:36:38.520 And if that were to occur

00:36:40.200 and the just penalties

00:36:41.760 were to be enforced,

00:36:43.820 you, the false accuser, 1.00

00:36:45.160 is now put to death 1.00

00:36:46.320 and that's a public death. 0.72

00:36:48.420 It's a public sentence,

00:36:49.940 publicly carried out.

00:36:51.240 Then the citizens

00:36:52.140 of these United States of America,

00:36:53.860 you know what they would do?

00:36:55.820 Hashtag me too

00:36:56.960 would end real fast.

00:37:00.720 How do you?

00:37:01.700 False accusing?

00:37:03.640 Playing the victim when you're actually not?

00:37:07.140 You know how to end that real fast? 0.91

00:37:09.140 All you have to do is publicly execute 1.00

00:37:11.100 a few women who have lied. 0.99

00:37:15.300 That's all it takes.

00:37:16.760 Again, you've heard me say it.

00:37:18.300 We pray for the hearts for revival.

00:37:20.640 We need the stomachs.

00:37:22.560 Because even as I preach something like that,

00:37:24.200 I can see, you know, some of you are like,

00:37:25.460 oh, did he say that?

00:37:27.760 All you need for the nation to change 1.00

00:37:29.680 is to put a few women to death. 1.00

00:37:31.040 Oh, there's got to be a better way to say that. 0.99

00:37:33.820 There's got to be a better way to say that.

00:37:35.860 There are nicer ways to say that.

00:37:38.160 The reason I say things the way that I do

00:37:39.920 is because I'm convinced there's not a better way to say it.

00:37:42.040 I think that's precisely the way to say it.

00:37:44.700 That's the way to say it,

00:37:46.040 where it hits the heart and it hurts.

00:37:49.000 And if it doesn't hurt, it didn't hit.

00:37:51.580 And we need the truth to hit. 1.00

00:37:54.460 Women sin. 1.00

00:37:56.200 Do men sin? Absolutely.

00:37:58.280 But everybody knows that.

00:37:59.240 in the year of our Lord, 2024.

00:38:01.900 The thing that seems to be contested

00:38:03.520 is whether or not women have ever committed any crime. 1.00

00:38:07.000 Everybody's happy to say, 0.99

00:38:07.880 yeah, men are trash and men sin all the time 1.00

00:38:09.640 and men are pigs. 1.00

00:38:10.640 So yeah, I don't feel as much of a pressure. 0.99

00:38:13.600 Like I need to convince the members

00:38:15.340 of Covenant Bible Church.

00:38:16.580 Did you know that men, 1.00

00:38:17.940 apart from saving grace,

00:38:19.000 which is found in Christ alone,

00:38:20.480 are totally depraved and sinners?

00:38:23.000 Everyone, like the eyes just literally 0.98

00:38:24.780 roll back in your head.

00:38:25.820 You're like, duh. 0.92

00:38:26.320 pagans know that god haters know that i can go to the the most christ-hating person on the planet

00:38:36.340 and say men sometimes do terrible things and they'll be like did we just become best friends

00:38:42.000 that's i wanted that on my tombstone when i died men sometimes do too like that's that's that's

00:38:47.960 the gospel to me that's that's my mantra for all of life but if i say the same women sometimes do

00:38:54.400 terrible things and they picked up stones to stone him would be then what the narrator at that part

00:39:02.600 of the film would say right that that's what that's how you when you're determined what needs

00:39:06.940 to be preached well uh what causes people to go red in the face and rage that's probably part of

00:39:16.500 what needs to be addressed in your particular place your particular time nothing's an accident

00:39:20.800 God placed us here and now for this reason.

00:39:25.540 So, all that being said, preserving, back to the point, salt preserves.

00:39:30.280 It preserves in the ecclesiastical realm, both with leaders like elders, 1 Timothy 5, 20, the rest stand in fear.

00:39:38.680 This salt lost its saltiness, but it can be thrown out so that other salty salts don't lose their saltiness.

00:39:45.160 Preserving leaders, also preserving members, Matthew 18, 1 Corinthians 5.

00:39:50.800 but also even beyond the ecclesiastical sphere

00:39:54.420 in a nation state as a whole.

00:39:57.020 There's still this preserving fashion.

00:39:59.220 When people receive swiftly and proportionally

00:40:04.000 and without favoritism, your eye shall not pity.

00:40:07.520 So without favoritism, without delay,

00:40:10.560 unless you do your vigilance, your due diligence,

00:40:13.400 you don't want to ever falsely accuse.

00:40:16.320 But if you do your due diligence,

00:40:18.020 the person is actually guilty of a particular sin,

00:40:21.240 and that sin also happens to be a crime.

00:40:24.000 And when that happens, justice that is swift,

00:40:27.320 it's without delay, it is proportional,

00:40:30.080 meaning it's not life for a tooth,

00:40:32.680 but it's tooth for a tooth, life for a life.

00:40:35.000 So it's proportional, and it's without bias.

00:40:38.360 Right? Lady justice is supposed to be blind for a reason. 1.00

00:40:42.080 So it's without bias, without preference, 1.00

00:40:45.260 without showing favoritism.

00:40:48.020 You're not showing favoritism to the rich or to the poor.

00:40:52.320 You're not showing favoritism to the minority or to the majority,

00:40:58.560 whether that be economically or whether that be skin pigment, regardless.

00:41:03.500 And you're also not showing favoritism to women and not men.

00:41:07.920 So not by ethnicity, not by gender, not by economic class or status.

00:41:14.280 In no way are you showing favoritism.

00:41:15.820 So it's a blind justice, a swift justice, a proportional justice.

00:41:19.480 When you get justice like that, do you know what happens in a society, a nation state?

00:41:24.460 You get less crime.

00:41:26.360 Shocker.

00:41:27.640 You get less crime.

00:41:29.760 And when you get less crime, do you know what you have?

00:41:33.060 You have the preservation of society.

00:41:37.100 So you have salt preserving.

00:41:39.820 So even saltless salt in the province of God still has a purpose, not only in the church, but even in the world as a whole.

00:41:49.920 And all of this is only cause for us not to boast in man, but to boast in God.

00:41:56.620 His wise strategy, his merciful purposes, that's salt.

00:42:02.280 Okay, light. Let's look at light.

00:42:05.080 And I will go quickly.

00:42:07.920 Utilizing Matthew Henry again, here we go.

00:42:09.820 As the lights of the world, they, that is, Christians, disciples of Jesus, are illustrious and conspicuous, meaning you can't miss it, can't miss it, and have many eyes upon them.

00:42:22.320 A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

00:42:24.940 All their neighbors have an eye upon them.

00:42:27.460 Some admire them, commend them, rejoice in them, and study to imitate them.

00:42:32.320 Others envy them, hate them, censure them, and study to blast them.

00:42:37.900 They are concerned, therefore, to walk circumspectly because of their observers.

00:42:43.820 They are as spectacles to the world.

00:42:46.400 Essentially, what Matthew and Henry are saying is this.

00:42:50.020 In reference to what Jesus says, you're the light of the world.

00:42:52.740 You're like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden.

00:42:55.320 It is worth noting that that city on a hill that cannot be hidden.

00:43:02.460 what's not in question

00:43:04.320 is the conspicuous nature of light.

00:43:09.020 Meaning that light is seen.

00:43:11.860 That's the main point that Jesus is expressing

00:43:14.480 as it pertains to our text today.

00:43:16.400 That's without question.

00:43:18.040 So it's not sometimes light can be seen

00:43:19.580 and sometimes it can't.

00:43:21.000 No, the point that Jesus is making

00:43:22.800 is that if you're light, you will be seen.

00:43:26.440 If you're light, you will be seen.

00:43:27.660 The point that Henry is bringing up

00:43:29.840 in exegeting and commentating on the words of Christ

00:43:33.740 is just not disagreeing with the point of Jesus,

00:43:36.600 but then just simply expanding it,

00:43:38.960 saying, okay, so first and foremost,

00:43:40.820 there's no debate to be had.

00:43:42.260 Light will always be seen.

00:43:45.120 But then once light is seen,

00:43:48.020 there are two different responses or reactions

00:43:51.240 from those who witness, who see the light.

00:43:54.900 And one response is that those who see the light

00:43:57.380 come to the light.

00:43:59.840 They see the light, they love the light,

00:44:02.720 they appreciate the light, they admire the light,

00:44:04.880 and they come and draw near to the light.

00:44:08.060 And then, by the grace of God, if He would be so kind,

00:44:10.660 the Holy Spirit works in regeneration, giving them new hearts,

00:44:13.780 causing them to become new creatures in Christ Jesus

00:44:15.940 with the gifts of faith and repentance,

00:44:17.760 to turn from sin and to turn in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ,

00:44:21.720 and they too themselves now become light.

00:44:25.380 That is one response that happens when people see light.

00:44:30.660 And it has happened ever since the beginning of the world.

00:44:35.040 God saves people.

00:44:38.020 Praise God.

00:44:39.380 There is a second reaction.

00:44:41.740 The second reaction, I think, is best illustrated in the words of Jesus Himself

00:44:45.660 in the Gospel according to John, chapter 3, verses 19 through 21.

00:44:50.480 And this is the judgment.

00:44:52.520 The light has come into the world.

00:44:55.100 And men loved the darkness.

00:44:58.300 they hated the light and loved the darkness because their works were evil for everyone who

00:45:05.940 does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his work should be exposed

00:45:11.800 but whoever does what is true comes to the light so that what the guy who's doing what is true

00:45:18.020 and notice just before it's the ones who are doing what is wicked that is those things which are

00:45:23.240 immoral they hate the light and want to stay in the shadows like cockroaches right and then and

00:45:29.760 then those who do what is you would think well what's the opposite of wicked those who do what

00:45:33.880 is wicked they stay in the shadows those who do what is righteous but here's the thing that which

00:45:39.900 is the good thing the moral thing the righteous thing is also that which is true good true and

00:45:46.420 beautiful. A triple braided

00:45:48.500 cord. All together.

00:45:50.860 The right thing. The morally

00:45:52.320 right thing is the true thing.

00:45:54.260 Just as easily you could reverse it and say, those who do

00:45:56.320 what is false remain in

00:45:58.400 the darkness and do not come to the light for they hate

00:46:00.260 the light and the light exposes their

00:46:02.260 falsehoods. But those who do what is good

00:46:04.100 will come to the light. So you

00:46:06.360 can say false, shadows.

00:46:08.740 Good, approaching the

00:46:10.300 light. Or as the text does say, wicked,

00:46:12.900 immoral, shadows.

00:46:14.400 True, come to the light. But the last

00:46:16.220 part that I don't want you to miss in verse 21 is this whoever does what is true comes to the light

00:46:22.020 but here why because you would think the ones who stay away from the light are the ones who are doing

00:46:28.060 wicked things and they stay in the darkness because they don't want their wickednesses

00:46:31.780 to be exposed they don't want credit for their evil deeds they want these evil deeds to begin

00:46:40.780 to continue to be perpetrated and promulgated throughout the world in back rooms and shadows

00:46:46.980 and black markets and here and there and everywhere, but they don't want to actually 0.59

00:46:51.220 own it. They want to profit and benefit off of evil without ever, without ever being held

00:46:58.760 accountable and without ever being responsible, viewed as the ones who are, are promulgating

00:47:06.700 that evil. So what do they do? Stay out of the light. They stay in the shadows so they can love

00:47:14.720 evil, do evil, benefit from evil, but without getting the credit for that evil. And so then

00:47:23.580 you would think on the flip side of the equation, those who do what is true, as the text says, come

00:47:28.120 to the light. The guys doing bad things stay out of the light because they don't want credit for

00:47:32.380 evil. The guys doing good things are going to come to the light because they, you would think,

00:47:36.460 want credit for doing good right no and that's where there's the hook in the text which i love

00:47:44.700 no those who do that which is truly good not just outwardly good aligning with god's moral will

00:47:51.880 but truly good that is doing something from faith as romans chapter 14 says uh that that apart from

00:47:58.480 faith anything that does not proceed from faith is sin the only way to do a truly good work

00:48:03.000 that is not just outwardly aligning with God's moral will,

00:48:06.160 but it's truly good.

00:48:07.500 Good outwardly and good inwardly.

00:48:10.120 A good deed, but also with good motives,

00:48:12.640 is to do it from the heart.

00:48:14.160 And the only way to do a truly good deed from the heart

00:48:16.540 is to do it with a heart of faith. 1.00

00:48:18.520 And the Christian has no faith. 0.93

00:48:20.240 Romans 3, there is no fear of God before their eyes.

00:48:22.900 Faith is a gift.

00:48:23.980 It only belongs to those with new hearts.

00:48:26.040 So those who do good, in other words,

00:48:29.060 and the true exegetical sense of this particular context, 0.53

00:48:32.080 This text are Christians. 0.97

00:48:34.180 Only the Christian is capable of doing that, 1.00

00:48:36.440 which is truly good. 0.93

00:48:37.340 But here's the heart of the Christian.

00:48:40.040 The Christian comes to the light

00:48:41.220 so that their good deeds can be seen by men

00:48:43.460 so that they get the credit.

00:48:47.260 No, so that God gets the glory.

00:48:50.540 But whoever does what is true comes to the light

00:48:52.620 so that it may be clearly seen

00:48:54.080 that his works have been carried out in God.

00:48:57.800 So even in his coming to the light,

00:48:59.800 The wicked shrink back into the shadows so that they don't get the credit for evil.

00:49:05.660 The righteous come forth into the light so that God gets the glory for their good.

00:49:13.560 A city on a hill that cannot be hidden.

00:49:16.680 Light of the world.

00:49:18.780 Everyone sees light.

00:49:20.380 That's not in question.

00:49:21.900 What always is really the only question to be asked is how will men respond?

00:49:29.800 Some will love the light, come to the light, and become lights themselves.

00:49:35.980 And this is because in the sovereign election of God,

00:49:40.120 he chooses in his mercy to draw many to repentance and salvation.

00:49:46.240 But there will also be many others who will shrink back, hate the light, and hate you.

00:49:55.940 They will hate you.

00:49:56.820 because you expose their evil

00:50:02.120 and they don't want to be exposed.

00:50:06.260 And all the things,

00:50:07.280 here's the irony that I found personally in my own life,

00:50:09.460 all the things that the wicked

00:50:11.900 are actually guilty of themselves,

00:50:13.820 they'll accuse you of.

00:50:15.420 I mean, the irony is so thick you could choke. 0.98

00:50:20.820 He's a fascist 0.98

00:50:22.860 and he wants to rule with an iron scepter 0.98

00:50:26.940 and force people to do this and do that.

00:50:32.420 But aren't you the guys who told everyone

00:50:34.860 they couldn't come out of their homes for two years?

00:50:38.820 And that by law,

00:50:40.460 they had to inject themselves with a foreign substance

00:50:43.260 that hadn't been treated any longer than six months

00:50:46.020 because nobody had had it for more than six months?

00:50:48.880 aren't aren't you the the group that's advocating in the state of california for giving a hundred

00:50:57.160 and fifty thousand dollars for each illegal immigrant to help towards a down payment on 0.95

00:51:03.220 their house meanwhile your native citizens can't even fill up their car with gasoline like 1.00

00:51:10.200 Like, I think the lady does protest too much. 1.00

00:51:18.440 Fascism? 1.00

00:51:19.920 Really?

00:51:21.340 That's what we're worried about?

00:51:23.820 That's what we're worried about right now.

00:51:26.820 Fascism?

00:51:30.180 How about communism?

00:51:34.020 How about you? 0.99

00:51:36.780 You, oh wicked man. 1.00

00:51:38.580 the real threat, the person right now 0.99

00:51:42.380 actually committing incredible atrocities

00:51:45.240 and wickedness against men.

00:51:48.600 But that's what men who love the darkness do.

00:51:54.040 They stab and they cut and they slice 0.98

00:51:59.940 and they wound and they kill 0.99

00:52:01.720 and they steal and destroy.

00:52:04.100 And all the while they say,

00:52:05.640 why did Jesus do this? 0.87

00:52:10.380 Why did Christians? 1.00

00:52:11.160 I can't believe Christians did this. 0.66

00:52:12.940 Can you believe conservatives did this? 1.00

00:52:18.240 You did it.

00:52:20.040 I saw you do it.

00:52:21.260 You did it five seconds ago.

00:52:22.820 How could you be so brazen?

00:52:25.160 How could you?

00:52:26.260 Where does the audacity?

00:52:27.620 I don't even, I'm not,

00:52:28.840 by the grace of God,

00:52:29.620 not because of me,

00:52:30.180 but by the grace of God,

00:52:30.780 I'm not even capable of working up

00:52:33.240 the levels and degrees of audacity required to utter the phrase that men in our country would

00:52:40.640 utter killing someone in cold blood and then literally pointing the person who just said

00:52:47.940 hey maybe we shouldn't kill people in cold blood and then saying why did you kill him in cold blood

00:52:51.620 while still holding the gun it's literally smoking

00:52:54.500 how could people who would do that democrats of course but who would do that

00:53:01.440 how can you do that because there is no fear of god before their eyes because men love the

00:53:07.960 darkness rather than the light because their works are evil they know they're evil they know

00:53:12.760 they're evil they're not confused they're not deceived they're not just you know lost sheep

00:53:19.740 wandering and just need to be found and need to be loved. No, they're wicked. We're talking about

00:53:26.540 wicked people who know exactly what they're doing and they don't care. And if you are the light of

00:53:33.360 the world, what they will do is they will see you and hate you because men love the darkness.

00:53:40.700 And such were all of you. Apart from the grace and mercy of God that caused you to love the light

00:53:48.140 left to yourself apart from a new nature apart from saving grace we all love darkness and hate

00:53:56.960 light and when we become light by his incredible saving grace we will be hated by men men love

00:54:06.760 darkness because their works are evil if we are individually as families and corporately as a

00:54:13.620 church if we are to be in in georgetown williamson county texas if we are to be a city on a hill

00:54:21.960 then guys you just you got to buckle up right now and you can't afford to be bushy-tailed

00:54:30.320 and bright-eyed you know characters in bambi you know just totally caught off guard so naive so

00:54:36.240 gullible it's like i i heard that there are people in our our town that don't that don't

00:54:40.540 really appreciate our church. I can't, what's going on? Of course they don't. Sitting on a hill

00:54:49.120 cannot be hidden. You will see light. Some will love it and come. Others will hate it because

00:54:56.240 their works are evil. The only way to be loved by everyone is to stand for nothing, is to be so

00:55:05.080 bland, so dull, so ineffective that you're not a blessing to anyone and you're not a threat

00:55:11.040 to anyone. But if you want to be a blessing to some, then the very edge that makes you a blessing

00:55:17.640 to one group makes you a threat to another. If we are to be potent, if we're to be effective,

00:55:24.600 if we're to be faithful to the Lord Jesus and look like Him, then we will have His reputation.

00:55:30.800 loved by many

00:55:33.160 hated by many

00:55:35.640 buckle up

00:55:36.860 that's what it means to be light

00:55:39.000 ending with this quote

00:55:41.560 from Matthew Henry

00:55:42.300 for what end our light must shine

00:55:44.280 that those who see your good works

00:55:46.940 like I use in John chapter 3

00:55:48.600 the last verse that I read

00:55:49.700 verse 21

00:55:50.300 so that people would see our good works

00:55:53.320 but they would glorify our father in heaven

00:55:56.300 that they would see that all that we have done

00:55:58.300 that is truly good and beautiful

00:56:00.120 that has been carried out in God,

00:56:02.860 that it is God and His sovereignty,

00:56:04.400 His mercy that caused these things

00:56:06.280 to come to pass

00:56:07.100 and no strength in ourselves.

00:56:10.220 So Henry says that those who see,

00:56:12.500 what's the end of being light,

00:56:14.160 the end, the chief aim,

00:56:15.280 that those who see your good works

00:56:17.180 may be brought not to glorify you,

00:56:20.440 which was the things

00:56:21.560 that the Pharisees aimed at,

00:56:23.260 and it spoiled all their performances,

00:56:25.660 but rather that they might glorify

00:56:27.720 your Father who is in heaven.

00:56:29.240 Note, the glory of God is a great thing that we must aim at in everything that we do in religion.

00:56:35.880 Let them see your good works, and I added this, Christodom as an example,

00:56:41.260 that they may be convinced of the truth and excellency of the Christian religion, that is, Christianity.

00:56:48.040 All this works at a micro level. 0.60

00:56:50.100 You, your wife, your kids, your marriage, your home, your charity, your love, your hard work, your sense of justice and being an outstanding law-abiding citizen.

00:57:03.120 All these things, civility, courtesy, the fruits of the Spirit in an individual basis.

00:57:09.000 Let men see your good works and then turn their gaze as they're drawn to the light that is in you by the grace of God.

00:57:16.180 Immediately divert their gaze to God Himself.

00:57:20.100 to Christ and say, I'm actually just a mirror.

00:57:23.900 I'm just reflecting the true light that comes from the one true source.

00:57:27.740 It is God.

00:57:28.420 Let him see your good works, but glorify your father in heaven.

00:57:31.620 That works on a micro level, but it also works on a macro level.

00:57:38.260 Corporately as a church and beyond that, not just our church, but the church, capital C church.

00:57:44.580 and then it also works even pulling back in time and in history

00:57:49.000 and in a worldwide, international level and historic level

00:57:54.480 stretching across centuries.

00:57:56.900 One great example, as I kind of worked into that quote,

00:58:01.600 one great example of the good works of men

00:58:04.320 that should avert our gaze to God

00:58:07.840 as the source of all that is good is Christendom.

00:58:14.580 I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ first and foremost

00:58:18.060 because God gave me eyes to see and ears to hear

00:58:21.100 and gave me a new heart.

00:58:22.180 He made me a Christian.

00:58:24.000 That is the ultimate true answer. 0.92

00:58:27.560 Secondarily, all right, so gave the disclaimer.

00:58:31.280 Secondarily, there are other things that give evidence

00:58:34.000 to the truth of the gospel

00:58:35.480 and the superiority of the Christian faith

00:58:38.740 against all other ideologies and worldviews and world religions.

00:58:41.660 One of them is Christendom, that Christians built the world and that every developed nation on the planet that you follow with all their innovations and all their inventions from the introduction of hospitals for the sick to cathedrals and towers and case law system with judicial processes and all these different from sanitation.

00:59:11.660 and sewers every single thing that has made the world great you know how you you can follow it

00:59:18.520 you know how you can track it historically you can track innovation on the one hand

00:59:22.680 or you could also just track the reformation

00:59:25.280 you just track the christian faith where did it go where was it received where did it prosper

00:59:34.360 oh and that also just you know just coincidentally also happens to be every first world country

00:59:39.340 on the planet.

00:59:42.640 And all the third world countries 1.00

00:59:45.000 that eat cats, 0.97

00:59:47.080 and it is real,

00:59:48.460 and worse than that,

00:59:49.780 eat people, 0.98

00:59:51.960 cannibalism, 0.98

00:59:53.380 and as a national religion, 1.00

00:59:56.480 participate in voodoo

00:59:57.900 and worship demons. 1.00

00:59:59.820 Well, those places

01:00:01.180 that are underdeveloped 1.00

01:00:02.800 and third world hell holes, 1.00

01:00:07.600 turns out that those places

01:00:09.320 didn't have, historically, for centuries and centuries, the gospel.

01:00:13.680 And when they did receive missionaries, in many cases, they ate them.

01:00:21.380 There are two different kinds of countries.

01:00:24.340 Countries that receive missionaries and have hospitals.

01:00:31.180 And then there are countries that eat missionaries.

01:00:35.320 And now they have to eat cats. 0.75

01:00:39.320 the correlation between the Christian faith

01:00:44.600 and remarkable feats of civilization,

01:00:49.160 those two dots couldn't be closer together.

01:00:51.780 That's a straight line.

01:00:53.340 That connection remains undefeated.

01:00:57.100 Here's the deal, though.

01:00:59.040 Let men see your good works,

01:01:00.440 even your ancient fathers and ancestors' good works,

01:01:03.520 even throughout history,

01:01:04.680 but then divert their gaze to your Father in heaven

01:01:09.540 as the one who ultimately is responsible for all of it.

01:01:13.020 Let Him get the glory.

01:01:15.440 That it wouldn't just be,

01:01:17.080 look at Christendom,

01:01:18.720 look at civilization,

01:01:20.800 and look at my superior ancestors.

01:01:26.200 Look at what's possible

01:01:28.360 with a particular type of person.

01:01:31.220 no it's look what's possible with the triune god as he worked through these people

01:01:40.320 god should be honored and glorified first and foremost and because we honor and glorify him

01:01:47.400 first we then from honoring god we do also honor our human fathers i think of uh

01:01:56.340 it's natural affections.

01:01:58.840 It's the order of Morse. 0.89

01:02:00.120 It's basic Christianity. 0.98

01:02:02.500 We have to be able to understand this

01:02:04.420 without immediately hurtling the insult towards someone, 0.98

01:02:08.700 you're a racist. 0.94

01:02:09.940 Which, by the way, when someone calls you a racist, 1.00

01:02:11.580 it just doesn't mean anything.

01:02:14.180 So we have to be able to,

01:02:15.080 look, this is what Paul says.

01:02:16.200 I'll use scripture.

01:02:16.880 Romans chapter 9.

01:02:18.600 The whole argument that he makes

01:02:19.960 is that it's not about circumcision of the flesh.

01:02:21.840 It's about circumcision of the heart.

01:02:23.340 It's not about being a Jew ethnically, 0.61

01:02:25.660 but ultimately it's about being born again and so he's making this whole argument he's made it in

01:02:30.220 ephesians he's made it in galatians he's made it here he's made it there he gets the romans 9 and

01:02:34.740 it and it's almost like he now has to clarify a little bit like walk it back not not entirely but

01:02:39.840 just a step back and bring a little bit of clarification because he's like man i've been

01:02:43.340 going hard in the pain against you know the whole jew thing and you know and and certain bloodlines

01:02:48.260 being superior and this and that and the other and saying it's not it's not ethnic it's not

01:02:52.300 national it's it's it's christ and it's his gospel it's spiritual and i've made that argument so

01:02:57.840 so pervasively that i need to probably clarify a little bit because i made it seem like like race

01:03:04.160 doesn't even exist and that it doesn't matter and actually as an apostle jesus christ the apostle

01:03:08.900 paul it does and then he makes his point he says so if all these things are true and it's about the

01:03:15.900 heart and it's about the spirit it's about the gospel it's not about this then what benefit

01:03:19.740 is there in being a Jew. 0.95

01:03:22.900 And you would think 0.99

01:03:23.880 that he's been building

01:03:24.680 the whole argument over,

01:03:25.760 not just the book of Romans,

01:03:26.880 but like half of the New Testament.

01:03:28.980 You'd think he's been building

01:03:29.860 the whole argument to say,

01:03:30.720 then what, if all this is true,

01:03:32.520 spiritually, and that's the crux,

01:03:34.460 then what benefit is there

01:03:36.040 physically, ethnically?

01:03:38.560 And you expect him to say,

01:03:40.240 none whatsoever.

01:03:42.160 1945, post-war consensus,

01:03:44.200 boomers, let's go.

01:03:45.720 But that's not what he says, actually.

01:03:48.180 That's what every Christian theologian has said for the last 60 to 80 years. 0.98

01:03:51.880 But believe it or not, there used to be intelligent Christian men. 1.00

01:03:56.820 There used to. 0.99

01:03:57.620 And you can read them.

01:03:59.220 It's not even that hard to find them.

01:04:00.560 You just, you have to read them.

01:04:01.660 But you can't go to conferences with present day men who tell you their interpretation of what the dead men said.

01:04:08.200 You actually have to read the dead men for yourselves.

01:04:10.300 And you'll find out that those guys actually radically disagree with everybody over the last 60 to 80 years.

01:04:17.620 And that something actually did get off track.

01:04:19.500 So this is what Paul says and said. 0.65

01:04:20.680 He doesn't say, so then what benefit is there to being a Jew? 0.92

01:04:24.000 None whatsoever. 0.99

01:04:25.140 No, instead what he says, much in every way.

01:04:28.160 For theirs are the prophets.

01:04:29.740 Theirs comes the law.

01:04:32.340 Theirs comes Jesus, the seed of Abraham. 0.98

01:04:36.340 There's much benefit.

01:04:37.560 There is a heritage.

01:04:38.460 It's rich.

01:04:39.440 It's beautiful.

01:04:40.580 And it is to be admired, commended, appreciated, and treasured.

01:04:45.300 And you can do all of that.

01:04:46.620 and be proud in a righteous sense.

01:04:49.360 Do all of that without hating other groups of people. 0.93

01:04:53.860 Crazy. 0.63

01:04:54.460 You can walk and chew gum at the same time. 0.55

01:04:56.140 You can.

01:04:56.580 You actually can.

01:04:58.600 And so, with Christodom,

01:05:01.380 let men see your good works over centuries,

01:05:04.060 over oceans and continents,

01:05:06.780 and avert their gaze, first and foremost,

01:05:09.660 not to a particular race, not to a particular people,

01:05:11.900 but to God in heaven who gave the growth.

01:05:14.840 And at the same time, you can also say,

01:05:17.180 as Paul says, what benefit is there to being an Israelite? 0.92

01:05:21.520 Well, much in every way. 0.91

01:05:23.020 This, this, this.

01:05:24.140 I can also say, well, then what benefit is there

01:05:26.600 to being a Westerner?

01:05:28.180 And in my case, particularly a white Westerner. 0.57

01:05:31.740 Well, much in every way. 0.92

01:05:33.180 For theirs are the Reformers. 1.00

01:05:34.260 Theirs are the Puritans. 0.91

01:05:35.720 Theirs is Calvin. 0.96

01:05:36.780 Theirs is Knox.

01:05:37.900 And I can be proud of that.

01:05:40.940 I can say, this is my heritage.

01:05:42.940 It's a good heritage.

01:05:44.060 And it's such a good heritage.

01:05:45.900 I want it for myself, for my children, my wife, my great-grandchildren, for my nation.

01:05:51.180 And I actually would like to see it be everyone's heritage.

01:05:54.800 I would like to see other nationalities and other peoples come into this heritage and enjoy it too.

01:05:59.360 Because it built the world.

01:06:02.600 And the source of all this greatness is not men.

01:06:06.240 And not a particular race of men.

01:06:07.840 Or even a particular nation.

01:06:09.560 But God.

01:06:10.640 Let men see your good works.

01:06:12.600 And glorify your Father in heaven.

01:06:14.060 So I can glorify the Father, first and foremost,

01:06:16.920 but also glorify earthly fathers.

01:06:19.960 And say, no, I'm not ashamed.

01:06:22.400 I'm not ashamed of the founders.

01:06:24.820 But the founders had slaves, uh-huh,

01:06:26.740 and they were better men than people today.

01:06:30.920 And that doesn't mean that there was no sins

01:06:33.900 and no injustices committed.

01:06:36.780 But it does mean that the founders

01:06:38.780 would be rolling over in their graves

01:06:40.620 if they knew that we had abolished slavery, 0.87

01:06:42.400 but we're transing kids 1.00

01:06:43.720 and murdering babies by the millions. 0.99

01:06:46.360 Okay? 0.99

01:06:48.320 I will not be taught by progressives

01:06:50.620 to hate my ancestors,

01:06:52.400 to hate my fathers,

01:06:54.440 because the Father commands me

01:06:56.280 in the fifth commandment

01:06:57.160 to honor thy father and mother.

01:07:00.200 God gives the growth.

01:07:01.740 God gives the blessing.

01:07:03.680 And we should share that blessing with the world,

01:07:05.680 but you can't share a blessing with the world

01:07:07.260 when you've been taught

01:07:08.580 and persuaded into thinking

01:07:10.740 that it's not a blessing,

01:07:11.680 but it's actually just oppression, then everything stops. And what we've been doing is not progressing.

01:07:19.340 We've been regressing for arguably 130 years, definitely for 60 to 80 years. And you know who

01:07:25.600 it's hurt? It hasn't just hurt Western countries. It's hurt the whole world, the whole world.

01:07:32.000 You want to love your neighbor? Then honor your father and honor your heritage and take all of it,

01:07:39.840 recognize that the good, all the good comes from God, and then don't apologize for it.

01:07:46.580 And just keep pushing. And let people call you whatever they're going to call you. And say,

01:07:52.880 okay, have a blessed day. And keep on going. Let's pray. Lord, bless your word to your people

01:07:59.560 for your glory. Amen. Okay, we are at the end.

The NXR Podcast - September 30, 2024

THE SERMON - So The Rest May Stand In Fear

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