Stay Salty

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern,

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Minnesota We proclaim Christ and him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone

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And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseburg in the name of Jesus Salt Mmm, gotta love me some salt.

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You'll note that salt is really good at having adding flavor to bland food Yeah, I mean

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I just think of it this way I'm kind of a guy who likes eating his eggs in the morning, right and before you put salt on your eggs

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I'm pretty sure that eggs are just pretty much chicken phlegm It's very tasteless awful, but throw a little salt on there.

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Just a smidge of pepper. Maybe a Just a smidge of cheddar cheese and whoa the thing just comes to life right salt it adds flavor to bland food

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Salt also by the way disinfects, although I don't recommend it as a disinfectant because if you've ever gotten salt into an open wound

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I'm sure the experience is one that is burned into your mind forever and ever salt also by the way preserves

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So we're gonna note that there's an important metaphor that Jesus is using here regarding salt will plumb the depths of what that is all

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About but I'm putting it here at the beginning to kind of frame our thoughts now the church father

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Methodius here's what he said about this passage and I thought it was very interesting good insight on his part

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He said according to the little bit Levitical law every gift Unless it be seasoned with salt is forbidden to be offered as an oblation.

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That's a sacrifice to the Lord Yeah, I want you to think about that. That's absolutely true in Leviticus chapter 2

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God says this regarding every single sacrifice

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Offered in the tabernacle and then eventually in the temple Here's what he says you shall season all and the all means all here all your grain offerings with salt

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You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering and with all

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Literally all all your offerings you shall offer salt

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So this rather interesting have you considered this idea that with every Sacrificial animal offered at the tabernacle every single sacrificial animal grain offering doesn't doesn't matter everything was salted all the offerings were

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Hmm see if we can figure this out Let's go back to the beginning of our gospel text though See if we can sort things out and figure out what

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Jesus is talking about with this salty stuff So here's what it says. This is quite the opening

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John said to Jesus teacher We saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to stop him because he was not following us

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Now in the annals of disciple History, there are some particularly boneheaded moves one of the biggest is when

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Peter actually tries to tell Jesus he's not going to go to the cross and die and Jesus is rebuke is along the lines of get behind me

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Satan now I would like to argue and you you can decide for yourselves whether you agree or not that this is up there as far as Like boneheaded things to say to Jesus because the rebuke that comes back from Jesus Literally invokes the fires of hell not once but several times

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You know, you don't you you don't want to rebuke from Jesus where he basically says let me remind you of that place

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So that's what he's going to be doing. This is all actually a consistent thought so teacher

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We saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to stop him because he was not following us

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Now a little bit of a note your old Adam your old sinful nature and mine is a control freak the old

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Adam Oddly enough thinks that he's the Lord of the church Remember the temptation by the serpent in the garden eat the fruit and you will be like God and so your old

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Adam thinks that he's actually the Lord of the church and your old Adams motto is whoever is not for us is

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Against us notice how the old Adam talks now this by the way, not only applies in church

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This applies in like politics how you run your household. The old Adam is all about me me me me me

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I want it my way. I want what I want and I want it now and so the old

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Adams motto whoever is not for us is Against us and so the old

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Adam thinks that when it comes to Christ Church You must get permission and approval from me or us before you can do anything

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But Jesus does not praise John's control freak actions Nope, he corrects him rebukes him and gives him a very stern and scary warning, so Jesus said

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Don't stop him and watch what Jesus does This is the freedom of the gospel

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For no one who does a mighty work in my name will soon afterward be able to speak evil of me for the one who is not against us is

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Is for us Huh in other words

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Jesus was saying to John John I'm the Lord of the church

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Not you. I'm in charge Not you and just because I've called you to be a witness and to be a mouthpiece to preach the gospel

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Doesn't mean that you get to make administrative decisions When it comes to these things

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I'm the Lord of the church Jesus says I'm the one calling the shots and by the way, those demons that were cast out by this

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Unauthorized fellow they were cast out in my name Which means

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I was the one casting him out and working through this Unauthorized fellow, you know, no no demon who leaves a human being does so of his own free will

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They must be left they must be cast out by the authority and the power and the name of Christ and John and the other

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Disciples, they're active forbidding this fellow from using Jesus's name to cast out demons

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And this is the important subtext of this it was actually damaging and injurious to this man's faith in Christ Consider how this must have went down here.

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We have this unnamed Unauthorized fellow he clearly had heard of Jesus and the text doesn't say but it's even possible and quite

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Probable that he had heard and seen Jesus maybe he was one of the fellows who was there when

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Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes and fed the 5 ,000 or maybe he was one of the fellows who saw

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Jesus cast out the demon from the child The author after the

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Mount of Transfiguration It doesn't say but we do know that he clearly has faith in Christ And he knows that Jesus is capable of casting out demons so remember earlier in this chapter also the disciples they were unable to cast out a

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Particularly difficult demon and Jesus had to personally get involved a little bit of a egg on face there

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Unsalted egg at that so his daily life and his actions this unauthorized fellow

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In his in his daily life. He encountered demonic entities in one of his neighbors or maybe even more than one of his neighbors and he took action

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Cast these demons out in the name of Jesus and this proves that he believes and trusts in Christ So the disciples got wind of this and they found the guy and Scolded him and told him you knocked that off We didn't give you permission to cast out demons in Jesus's name

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We didn't give you approval. There was no vote and so one minute

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This fellow having stepped out in faith seen the power of Christ Exercise demons out of a person believing that he had done a good work for his neighbor

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In fact consider how relieved his neighbor must have been when the demons left this fellow was saying.

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Thank you Praise God that I have been released from these demons And so this fellow thought he was doing a good work and then the next moment being told by Jesus's inner circle

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How dare you cast out a demon in Jesus name?

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You're not one of us and so after this encounter

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His faith in Jesus had to be left in Tatters and it's by what

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Jesus says next that it's painfully clear that their actions were injurious to this man's faith

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So Jesus then Gets to business with his rebuke

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Truly I say to you whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ Will by no means

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Lose his reward whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me too and Now we got to do a little do a little

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Greek work You've spent any time in the church You're probably familiar even if you don't know

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Greek with like the primary word used for the word sin in Greek it's an archery term and the word is

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Harmartia and it basically means to miss the mark and when it comes to the well the

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Discipline of archery. I am a great sinner My son can explain this to you that during our time together when he was in the

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Cub Scouts. We were at camp and I Took a bow and an arrow it to shoot at a target and somehow

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I managed to not only miss the bullseye But like hit somebody else's target a couple of hay bales down great sinner

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See to harm artia is to miss the mark found a little bit of a note here this word in this text is not harmartia

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Let me give you the actual Greek word for this use. The word is scandal leads.

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Oh It's where we get the word Scandalized from and in this context, it's better translated as fall

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Watch how it works Jesus says whoever causes one of these little ones who what?

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believe in me to scandal leads. Oh To fall this means to talk about their faith in Jesus to falter to where they fall away

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It would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea

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That's some pretty nasty business That's kind of describing the fellow who ends up with millstone around his neck and notice millstones are not known for their great buoyancy

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Right you get you get this treatment. You're going into hell headfirst with a rope around your neck and Jesus says if your hand causes you to scandal leads.

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Oh To fall cut it off It's better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell to the unquenchable fire

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And if your foot causes you to scandal leads, oh to fall

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Cut it off It's better for you to enter life lame and with two feet and to be thrown into hell and if your eye

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Causes you to and here it is again Scandal leads. Oh to fall Tear it out

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It's better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye Then with two eyes to be thrown into hell where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched

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So note this rebuke is aimed at whom? John This rebuke is aimed at John and the other disciples who scolded this fellow and told him you're not authorized we didn't give you permission to use

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Jesus name to cast out demons and So Jesus is saying to them Your actions are coming dangerously close to causing one of these little ones who believe in me

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To fall and that's not something you want to do.

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That's not a business. You want to be about and So note then also this the tenderness of Christ When he describes those who believe in him they are his little ones

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Speaking like a father speaking very paternally Protecting his children and his little ones now a little bit of a note here

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Cutting off your hands Or cutting off your feet or gouging out your eyes will not solve this problem

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Because you cannot atone for your sins by cutting off your hands your feet or gouging out your eyes

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It's important for us to recognize this that Jesus because of our sinful

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Adam and because of our control Freakiness he had to go to the cross and it had his hands nailed to the cross

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So that you would not experience the unquenchable fires of hell He had his feet nailed to the cross so again you would not be thrown into hell and Jesus although he did not have his eyes gouged out

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You must remember that because of your sins in mind There was a crown of thorns pressed into his head and if you have ever had a head wound

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You'll note this that blood always seems to find its way right into your eyes Which makes it very difficult to see and he did all of this so that you would not have to have a millstone tied around your neck and cast into the fires of hell

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So this calls us to repent Calls us to repent repent of all of the ways in which we have harmed the faith of other people by Requiring them to get approval from us

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To act in faith to Christ and then Jesus says these words

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Everyone will be salted with fire without exception Everybody will now the question is what kind of fire will you be salted with?

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You'll either be salted with the fires of hell or you will be fault salted with the cleansing sanctifying fire of the

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Holy Spirit Who convicts us of our sins? Convicts us of our false belief that we are in charge rather than the

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Lord and You will be salted then through that Holy Spirit to bear fruit in keeping with repentance and trust in Christ For the forgiveness of your sins.

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See Jesus says salt is good. The salt is lost its saltiness. How will you make it salty again?

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so to kind of Put the bookends on this what is

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Jesus talking about? It's a real simple faith in Christ is what makes you

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Salty belief in Jesus is what makes you salty it's that faith that in Christ that seasons and preserves you and It's also that faith in Christ that salty faith that makes the offering of your bodies as living

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Sacrifices acceptable to God because no offering was accepted without salt

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In the same way the offering of your own bodies is not acceptable without the salt of faith faith in Christ makes you the salt of the earth the seasoning and seasoning everything with the perfect life death and resurrection of Jesus you see salty disciples and a salty church is what the

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Lord is working by his spirit as he calls us gathers us and teaches us and sanctifies us in Jesus and a little bit of a note.

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I don't know if you've noticed that the world is really kind of bland and tasteless Utterly predictable and boring.

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It really is. It's all about me, right? But see Christ scatters each and every one of us to be salt in this world and right now think of the church then as a salt shaker everybody all the salts come together and then

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When the service is over and Sunday school is over and we head out into the world The salt is being shaken out into that bland world to season it season it with the faith of Jesus and so To season the world with Christ's death and resurrection and forgiveness whether it's casting out demons in his name or simply giving a cup of water to a thirsty fellow

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Christian or Teaching a young kid the Ten Commandments Or preaching

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Christ to those who are your friends on Facebook. It doesn't matter It's all the seasoning work of Jesus So have salt in yourselves

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That means have faith in Jesus Trust Jesus for your forgiveness your life and your salvation and treasure that gift like no other and then the words of our gospel and with these words be at peace with one another and Jesus doesn't throw these words out just flippantly.

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He throws them out because when somebody Shoots down another person's faith because they wrongly believe whoever is not with us is against us

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Then they are the opposite at peace with their brothers and sisters or fellow human beings.

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That's war So Jesus says be at peace with one another and that peace comes from knowing that anyone who is not against us

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Is for us you see because God and Christ is at peace with you

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Because Jesus had his hands and feet Nailed to the cross and he bled and died so that you might live in the name of Jesus Amen If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungs Vinger Lutheran Church You can do so by sending a tax -free donation to Kungs Vinger Lutheran Church 159 50 470th

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Avenue Northwest Oslo, Minnesota 567 4 4 and again that address is

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Kungs Vinger Lutheran Church 159 5 0 470th