July 31, 2016 Afternoon Service Beatitudes Part 4 vy Pastor Josh Sheldon

I would like to read the last portion of Psalm 40 and then we will turn to Matthew 5 to read the text for this morning. And please stand once again as we honor God's word. In Psalm 40, beginning at verse 6, In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear.

Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then I said, Behold, I have come in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do your will, O my God, your laws within my heart. I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation.

Behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart. I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.

As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me. Your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me. For evils have encompassed me beyond number. My iniquities have overtaken me and I cannot see.

They are more than the hairs of my head. My heart fails me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me. Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life.

Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt. Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, Aha! Aha! But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. May those who love your salvation continually say, Great is the Lord.

As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer. Do not delay, O my God. And I'll turn please to Matthew chapter 5. Our text this morning is Matthew 5, 13 through 16.

But I would like to begin reading at the beginning of chapter 5. And we'll read from chapter 5, verse 1 through verse 16. Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain. And when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness' sake, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth. But as salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?

It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Amen. Please be seated. Why am I here? Why are you here? What is man's purpose?

And how does God make you able to accomplish that purpose? The Confession says that man's purpose is to love God and enjoy Him forever, glorify Him forever. That's our purpose. Another answer, why am I here?

You are here to be something. Now by being something, I don't mean the way you might hear this in a TV commercial. Be all you can be, be something, be something great. That's not at all what I mean. When I say you're here to be something, I mean we are here to be what God has called us.

God calls us something. He says we are, in fact, if we're in Jesus Christ, we are something. That His word here in one of its many places that it does so defines for us. Why am I here? You're here to be something.

We'll get to that in a moment. Because in Matthew 5, verse 13, Jesus moves to apply what He's been describing in the Beatitudes. The blessed are, blessed are eight times. Blessed are the pure in spirit.

Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the merciful, and so forth. To those poor in spirit, those who mourn their sin, those who are meek, those who are constantly needing to know more of God's righteousness.

To the merciful, the pure in heart. To those who are sons of God because they are peacemakers. Those who are persecuted for Christ's sake. To those He's just described. He now tells us how all this must be manifested in us.

As manifested in us because of what we are. Why are we here? To be what He declares us to be. Now some of us might have been sitting on pins and needles so anxious to get to this part. This part where we get to the doing.

We get to the what then do I do? What does God want of me? The Lord will get there in His own good time. The specifics that come later must necessarily follow what we have here today. And what is actually preceded where we are today.

Today, Matthew 5, 13 -16. The Beatitudes, these royal proclamations by God towards the citizens of His Son's kingdom. That's what they are. And now we're told what this makes us. You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?

It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. So why are we here? To be something. And what is it I am to be?

The answer is really very simple. Salt and light. That's very, very simple. It's very much worth exploring. Because these metaphors, these salt-light metaphors, they come with a command. They both come with commands.

With salt, it's implied. And it's something like, therefore, do not lose your saltiness. Therefore, do not lose this savor that is in you implicitly because you are in Christ. Do not lose your saltiness.

With the other, with light, it's much more explicit. Let your light shine so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. That's what we're here for. This is what Jesus says we are.

Salt and light. Salt of the earth and light of the world. I want to look at these and understand what it is that they mean. How we take this metaphor because none of us are actually salt. Of course not.

We know that. It's a metaphor. But there's a literal and strong meaning behind it. Salt. A lot of theories about how children of the kingdom of heaven are the salt of the earth. And some point out that salt is a preservative.

And so the Christian witness is meant to preserve the world. Others say that salt prevents putrefaction. And so there's this positive aspect. Preservation and a negative aspect which is to prevent something.

To prevent further decay. I think one of the things we need to understand about salt. Whether salt in the ancient world which wasn't refined as it is today. So it had a lot of impurities in it. We'll talk about that in a bit.

But one of the things about salt then that's the same as salt now. Is that salt permeates whatever it's applied to. Salt permeates. It works through things. And that's why it's able to make meat into beef jerky.

Without cooking it. Without putting it in the oven. It just slowly works through and chemically changes it. So you can eat it. After weeks on the trail for example. Salt permeates. It influences. It affects whatever it's applied to.

And I think this simple fact about salt is more key. Than some of the more intricate explanations about salt. And what it can mean in Jesus metaphor here. You see Jesus is speaking to his disciples. Who just a few years after this.

Are going to be heralds of his gospel of salvation. Which is to say they. Which is to say we. Are going to spread the savor of Christ wherever they go. They're going to be salt in this way. They're going to be permeating.

Whatever they come into contact with. The way salt does. Now I heard one man explain. That salt. Is sodium. And chloride. Now I shudder to even approach. Sciences when I preach. I did poorly in science.

I got just enough science under my belt. Got just enough good grades. To go on to the next class. My wife was just reminding me that in college. I actually took a chemistry class. They made me. They forced it out of me.

I couldn't get my degree otherwise. But I'm no good with this stuff. So I say this reservedly. But I did in fact hear one man. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about. Explain that salt is sodium.

And chloride. Am I doing okay so far? I'm getting no affirmation at all. Thank you. The scientist in the front row. Salt is sodium and chloride. And the first he says. The first. The sodium. By itself.

Is of little use. And the second. The chloride by itself. He says is actually harmful. You can tell me later. If. What he says is right. But I'm kind of quoting a guy here. But together they become salt.

They became. They become a necessity of life. I heard that explanation. I was wondering to myself. Well. Could Jesus hearers have known this? Did they know. 2100 years ago. That salt is sodium and chloride.

And that chloride by itself would do them harm. If they were ever able to separate the two. If they knew that. Would they have thought of that. While Jesus was explaining it. Can we today be expected.

To know that much about salt. In order to understand what Jesus is saying. And more to the point. Are you going to ask. Are we supposed to understand it? Are we expected to understand it. In order to realize.

And respond to what Jesus is hearing. What he is saying. Well I think not. No more than we must know something of astrophysics. Or photonics. In order to know what is meant by. You are the light of the world.

I think we can grasp our Lord's meaning. Even if we don't have. Any knowledge of chemistry. It's just what I said before. Salt by its nature. Influences whatever it comes in contact with. Now William Hendrickson writes here.

The implication is clear. Just as salt having lost its flavor. Cannot be restored. So also those who are trained in the knowledge of the truth. But set themselves against the exhortations of the Holy Spirit.

And become hardened in their opposition. Are not renewed to repentance. And there he cites. Matthew 12 32. Where Jesus says that. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And Hebrews 6. Verses 4 through 6.

About those. Who cannot be renewed to repentance. Once they have denied. The working of the Holy Spirit. Which they have seen. Martin Vincent. Who wrote Vincent's word studies. Just a standard. Reference text for preachers.

Tells of a biblical archaeologist. Citing a case where houses were filled with salt. Like 62 houses were filled. Bottom to top with salt. In order to hide it from the tax man. This is in the ancient world.

And he then tells how the salt. When he finally went to get the salt out. The salt closest to the ground. Had become spoiled. It had lost its saltiness. The impurities. Diluted its effectiveness. You hear these kind of explanations.

Chemists will even tell you. Though that salt. In fact. Cannot. Chemically. Change. It can't really. Lose its saltiness. And I. Put all that before you. So that. Not to denigrate any other man's. Work.

His commentaries. His preaching. Or anything like that. But. I think the meaning here. Is very simple. I don't think we have to know. Very much about salt. Other than what happens. You know. When the kids play the prank.

And they unscrew the lid. To the salt shaker. So you go to put just a. Touch on your steak. And you get the whole. Bottle. That sort of thing. You understand what happens. Right. You brush it off your steak.

And as it brushes off. It keeps feeding through. The whole steak. Is too salty. It permeates what it touches. And I think that's really. Where the main. Meaning. Of what Jesus is saying. Here. Lies. What's he saying?

Stay useful. Stay salty. Stay what God has made you. And this usefulness. Has to do with this idea. Of influencing. The area. The sphere of influence. If you will. Where God has placed us. Stay useful.

Now salt is indeed. A preservative. We know that. And if that were the Lord's. Intent. Then what he'd be saying is. That we're the preservative. That slows the world's. Headlong rush. Into decay. But we need to ask ourselves.

Again. A question here. Before we take that meaning. Too far. Does the gospel. Preserve the world. Does our gospel. Preserve. Things as they are. I mean Jesus said. He brought a sword. That would split families.

It was said husbands. Against wives. And mothers. Against daughters. And mother-in-law. Against her. Daughter-in-law. Peter says that this world. Is wasting away. And that it will one day. Be remade.

In Thessalonica. Christians were accused. Not of preserving the world. But of turning it. Upside down. Turning it upside down. Romans speaks. Romans 8. Excuse me. Speaks of how creation. Yearns for redemption.

For being remade. Being turned the rest of the way. Upside down. In a manner of speaking. You see. The gospel. Is a destroyer. Of world's ways. It's not a preservative. It can't mean preservative. Because the world is rotten.

And we cannot want it. To be kept as it is. Salt may have been. A rabbinic metaphor. For wisdom. There's very good evidence. That 2100 years. Or so ago. When those hearers. Heard Jesus say that. That they correlated salt.

To wisdom. Lost its taste. It translates. A single word. Morino. Morino. Which can mean. To make something tasteless. It can also mean. To make foolish. In other words. To lose your wisdom. Again. Back to Vincent's word studies.

He says. The kindred noun means. The kindred noun. Excuse me. Means dull. Sluggish. Applied to the mind. It means stupid. Or silly. Applied to the taste. It means insipid. Or flat. It also means. To play the fool.

Our Lord refers to. Still Vincent. Our Lord refers here. To the familiar fact. Of salt. Losing its. Pungency. If a familiar fact. Then a familiar fact. Then. Because of the impurities. That were in the salt.

Not being as refined. As what we have. Today. But this word. My. Morino. Is used only nine times. In the whole Bible. Two in the New Testament. And the rest. In the Greek translation. Of the old. Is used here.

And is used. In Luke. 1434. In very much the same context. As here in Matthew 5. But every other. Translation. Of this word. This word. Morino. Means to be foolish. It means to be foolish. To lose. Your wisdom.

It could very well be. That that's what Jesus means here. Don't lose your wisdom. If we hold on. To the salt idea. Don't stop permeating. Don't stop having influence. But. I think the core meaning here.

Is. To remain wise. Wise in the gospel. Wise in the ways of God. Wise in our knowledge of scripture. Wise in the way we proclaim the gospel. That being. The thing that permeates. Wherever we are. And has the influence.

And that understanding. It does. Avoid the detail analyses. Of the chemical properties of salt. Christ. Is telling his disciples. To not become foolish. By not proclaiming. By not living out. This gospel.

Which is how. God receives the glory. In the first place. Is it not? Think forward. To how this sermon ends. With the flood. And the wise man. Who built his house. On the rock. And he was the. Wise man.

He was the one. If you will. Who did not lose. His wisdom. Did not become. Foolish. In both. Cases. We have the same. Key point. Be useful. Spread abroad. The works of God. By which. Men might realize.

There is a God. And repent. Don't become foolish. And allow the flavor. Of the kingdom. Diminish. In. And through you. Don't lose your saltiness. Don't lose your wisdom. Which is the wisdom of God. Don't stop permeating.

Where you are. One more point here. And then I want to move on. To light. Salt and light. Verses are sandwiched. Between two references. To the prophets. If you look at the end. Of the Beatitudes. Verses.

11 and 12. Especially. At the end of the Beatitudes. Just before. The passage we're in. This morning. It says. So they persecuted the prophets. Who were before you. And then just after this. In verse 17.

The next major. Section starts with. Do not think I came to abolish. The law. Or the prophets. The prophets. Despite persecution. Never stopped being. What they were. Never stopped. Influencing. And permeating.

The sphere. Where God had them. They never. Lost their wisdom. Their saltiness. They never stopped being. What God had sent them there. To be. And so we have these references. To the prophets. Before and after.

This section that we have here. They were heralds. Of God's wisdom. And I think that this could. Very well influence. How we look at the passage. We're in now. Like the prophets. Who were persecuted. So you will be persecuted.

Like the prophets. Who were salt. By permeating their area. Wherever they were. So too. Should we. Light. Light was first in creation. The church. First Peter 2 .9. Is those called out of darkness. And into God's marvelous light.

Jesus. We know from John's prologue. Is the light of the world. We. We know from Ephesians 5 .8. We one time were darkness. But now we are light. Light in the world. Walk. As children of light. Second Corinthians 4 .6.

For God. Who said. Excuse me. Light shine out of darkness. Has shown in our hearts. To give the light of the knowledge. Of the glory of God. In the face. Of Jesus Christ. You see where salt is from the earth.

Light. Is from without. Salt is there for the taking. Light needs to be introduced. Both are foreign. To the medium. Into which they are cast. Both are foreign. To the place. Where they are sent. And they're different.

Matthew 4 .16. Says. The people dwelling in darkness. Have seen a great light. You know you can see. A small amount of light. For an incredibly long distance. And the darker it is. The further you can see.

A smaller light. You read stories. About men in the trenches. And how careful they had to be. About even smoking in the trenches. When hundreds of yards away. There might be a sniper. Who could see just that little flicker.

And that quickly zero in on your location. The idea being. That a small amount of light. Carries. A long. Ways. Jesus here says two things. About light. One is clear. It's not meant to be hidden. They wouldn't hide a lamp.

Under a basket. Any more than we would. Turn on a light switch. To hide something. And he makes this parallel. Between us. And light. And the works that we do. He doesn't specify. What those works are.

He doesn't say. Therefore do this. And this. And this thing. That comes later. But he's not saying it here yet. He doesn't specify it. But he obviously means. Things that shed glory. On God the Father.

Such as in Ephesians 2 .10. Works that God prepared. Beforehand. That we might walk in them. Now here. Many inquisitive minds. Many anxious. Type A. Sort of people. Are saying. What works? Tell me now preacher.

Pastor. I need to know right now. What works? I want to do something. What am I supposed to do? The prophets speak of loving mercy. Doing justice. Of loving. Loving people. Of walking humbly with our God.

Christians have been responsible. For founding orphanages. For hospitals. For feeding the hungry. For housing the homeless. But here. Jesus doesn't specify any of that. James and John both say. That we must share.

That a Christian. Cannot look upon a hungry. Or a naked person. And not be stirred to help. The prophets. Moses. Psalms. Proverbs. All would commend. These kinds of works. And I say. Jesus does too. In so far.

As they're done. In a way. That only God gets the glory. Which is a more difficult thing. To accomplish. Than just giving the orphanage. A biblical sounding name. John Stott writes here. And he agrees here.

With most commentators. He says indeed. The primary meaning of works. Must be practical. Visible deeds of compassion. Practical. Visible. Deeds of compassion. As James asks. What good is it. If you see your brother.

Naked and hungry. And you see. You say to him. Be clothed. And well fed. God go with you. And Lord willing. I'll have another chance. To bless you tomorrow. And then you close your door. And sit down.

In your comfortable home. And eat your dinner. With your family. What good does that do him? And the answer. Is pretty clear. You see. I think John Stott is right. Practical. Visible. Deeds of compassion.

I mean. Prayer is a powerful. Thing. And prayer. Offered to God. The father. In the name of the son. On behalf of people. Who are suffering. Is no small thing to do. It's no small thing. And as James.

And John. And the prophets demand. It mustn't stop there. So Stott is right. As one might expect. Of John Stott. As verse 16 says. Our works are to be seen. Our works must be stamped. Made in heaven. Handcrafted by God.

Assembled on earth. By his son's disciples. But John Stott also says. Very well. It is healthy to be reminded. That believing. Confessing. And teaching the truth. Are also good works. Works which give evidence.

Of our regeneration. By the Holy Spirit. So yes. The works are to be practical. The works are to be seen. The works must do some. Physical. Some temporal good. For the person who is in need. Of the help.

But remember in all this. That just believing. Confessing. And teaching the truth. Of Jesus Christ. Is also. A good work. That brings honor. And glory. To God our father. Remember what Jesus said. In John chapter 8.

He said. This is the work of God. That you believe in him. Whom he sent. Referring of course to himself. Simply believing. Is a work of God. Simply believing the gospel. Is a work of God. Because you can't believe the gospel.

Unless God gives you a heart. Unless he regenerates your soul. And makes you able to believe that gospel. And so by believing. Just by believing. You give glory to God. Your father in heaven. Just by believing in his son.

Now God does the work. That makes you able to believe. His works are all good. And all pleasing to him. Now we might not always be. Every work we might do. Might not always be. That grand a thing. So I'm speaking in general terms here.

But remember. That if you believe in Jesus Christ. It's because God remade you. That was the reference in 1st Corinthians 4. Or 2nd Corinthians 4. Excuse me. And all that God made you. He makes. Just as in creation.

We've referred to this before. Every time he looked. And assessed his own work. He saw that it was good. It was good. It was good. It was good. It was good. It was very good. But I think there's something more here.

Something that's not buried between the lines. Waiting for someone who knows the code. To discover it. Jesus says that we're light of the world. And then immediately. He speaks of a city. Does it ever catch your eye?

He says you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. The city and the lamp have something in common. Neither one is meant to be hidden. They're both meant to be seen. But why does he speak so abruptly?

So suddenly. He brings in this idea of a city on a hill. What does that have to do with light? What does that have to do with works? What does that have to do with the glory of God our Father? Doesn't the lamp on a stand say it clearly enough?

Can't we all understand what that means? The lamp on a stand is meant to be seen. It gives light. It enlightens all in the room. And wouldn't most of us think, oh, that's the gospel. The gospel is the lamp.

The gospel enlightens. So we're that lamp. We're set on a stand. We're supposed to bring that light to whomever we can. I think we would get that. But he moves forward to this reference about the city on the hill.

You see, if you read this without that. You are the light of the world. I'm going to skip the last half of that verse. Nor do people light a lamp and the rest of it makes perfect sense. Or it makes good sense, I should say, not perfect.

It makes good sense. I think the city on a hill he's referring to was actually Jerusalem. I think it was Jerusalem. Jerusalem is up on a hill. And going up there in the Bible is always referred to as going up to Jerusalem.

And several times in Psalms and Prophets it's called God's holy hill. God didn't choose it as the place where his name would reside there in order to be hidden. The temple, you know, everything in it, Hebrews 9 tells us the temple all referred to realities in heaven.

It all referred to something that corresponded in an ultimate way, a heavenly reality. And Jerusalem was the city where the temple resided, where God's forgiveness of sin was brought to sinners through the sacrificial system.

That glorious picture of Jesus Christ once for all, fulfillment of it all. In Matthew 23, Jesus pronounces judgment and woes on the Pharisees, the men who actually ran the temple. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.

He said, for you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. So he'd been set on a hill to be seen, and seen it was, but not for the works of God, not for the purposes of sin, but for the purposes that God had in mind.

God didn't set his abode, but up, up to Jerusalem, to the holy hill, where all could see. And this temple, this city on a hill I believe he's referring to, in just a few decades after this, would fall.

It would fall to the Romans in 70 AD. And 20 centuries later, there's still only that one wall, they call it the West Wall or the Welling Wall, is still all that remains. I believe that the church is that new city on a hill that is to be seen.

I think that we are the temple of God, and it's not just my thought, of course that's what Paul says, do you not know that you are the temple of the living God? I think when Jesus was referring to that city on a hill, you are the light of the world, a city set on a hill is not meant to be hidden.

He's referring to Jerusalem, he's referring to the temple, he's referring to that whole system that was created because of the unfaithfulness by which it was administered. But we, what are we? We are now that light on a hill, you are the light of the world.

And Jesus has set us on a hill, so to speak, though not a physical hill like Jerusalem was on, but the hill of your neighborhood, the hill of your office, the hill of your family, to be seen, to be salt and light, to permeate wherever you are with the gospel, to illuminate who God is and what he has done for you in Jesus Christ.

I believe that when Jesus said that now, he was a long ways from Jerusalem, so he couldn't have waved his hand to it and people would look and say, oh there it is, it was quite a bit further away than that.

But I'm pretty convinced that this is what he had in mind and this is what he expected them to hear, to be hidden. It wasn't put there to obscure the things of God, but quite the opposite, to be a light, to show men the true mercy and righteousness and goodness of God in Jesus Christ to come, at which they failed, so that city taken away.

And the city that now sheds that light abroad, well, it's you and me. Salt, salt of the earth, as they say, light of the world. Jesus is the light of the world. But brethren, he's not here. He left us.

He's in heaven. He sent the apostles to found the church and then Ephesians 1, 3 through 14 would say he chose you by name to be in this church, to be in this city. This city. This city set on a hill and now broadcasting the light of the gospel wherever we go.

Amen. I'd like to close with John will lead us in hymn number 270. The church is one foundation.