[0:00] Matthew 5, 13-16 says, Before we jump into Matthew 5, I'd like to remind you all of the context of Matthew 5, the verses 2-12 that we've been going over the last eight weeks.
[0:43] The text has gloriously explained to us what the kingdom of God looks like, how it is radically distinct from this world. It is counter-cultural. But the context here is not as a sermon is preached to thousands of people, as commonly believed, but it's preached to Christ's disciples in this context.
[1:01] It says in Matthew 5, 2, And he opened his mouth and taught, or Matthew 5, 1, sorry. Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. So the audience here in this sermon is his disciples, not massive crowds.
[1:15] And further, we see that the kingdom of God has come because the king has come. So in Matthew 4, 17, it says, From this time forward, Jesus began to preach, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[1:32] So the context here is talking about what a citizen of the kingdom is like. What is the kingdom of heaven like? So in Matthew 5, 3 through 12, that's what this text is explaining is, What is the nature of those who are of the kingdom of heaven?
[1:49] But the nature of those who are of the kingdom of heaven are those who are, as verse 3 says, poor in spirit. Those who come before God in realization of their sin, and of their state before God, They are desperate.
[2:04] They are spiritually broken. They are bankrupt. They are impoverished. That apart from the abundant and marvelous grace of God, that they have no hope. But praise God that the king has come, and through his life, death, and resurrection, We are not helpless, and we do not stand condemned in our sins.
[2:20] Verse 4 says, Blessed are those who mourn. We are to mourn over our sins, over other sins, and the world's sins. We should be people who weep over the wickedness of the world, And over the lack of worship to our king.
[2:33] That God is so glorious and deserves to be praised, but so often he's not because of the sin in the world. We are meek. Verse 5, blessed are the meek.
[2:45] We cannot do any good apart from God. We should humbly approach God, and humbly approach others. We should be less concerned about ourselves, and be more concerned about others. Verse 6, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
[2:59] Because God has taken our heart of stone, and given us a heart of flesh, we can now praise him as he should be. We have hunger and longing and thirst to know Jesus Christ more.
[3:12] And because of this conditional heart, that from verse 3 to 6, this orientation of the heart goes from ourselves to Christ. And from that, there is an overflow of God's grace and abundance in our lives.
[3:25] We see in verse 7, blessed are the merciful. Because Christ came and died for us, we have been given mercy. That we are not rightly judged for our sins, but Christ's mercy was washed on us.
[3:36] And because of that, we should be people full of mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, that our lives should be blameless before a watching world. And the world sees us, they should see purity.
[3:49] They should see the king represented in us. And then verse 9, blessed are the peacemaker. We should be people full of peace, preaching peace to others. Because Jesus Christ came and died for our sins, there's no longer a chasm between God and man.
[4:04] We're no longer lost in our sins, but God has reconciled us to himself. He has brought peace between God and man. Because of that, we have the gospel. This is the ministry of reconciliation, that we can preach peace to others.
[4:18] And ultimately, because of this life is so unusual, and so odd, so counter-cultural, those who are poor in spirit, those who are weeping, those who are humble, those who are thirsting for God, not themselves, those who show mercy and peace, those who are pure in heart, because it's so unusual in the world, they won't like it.
[4:36] And they might hate you, they might persecute you. As 2 Corinthians says, we are an aroma of Christ. Our presence is either life to those who believe, or death to those who don't believe.
[4:48] The way we live is a testimony to others. It's a display, you could say. So as Caleb greatly encouraged us to remind us last week that a citizen of the kingdom is a citizen of the kingdom, but we're also rewarded for the way we live and the way we act and who we are, that one day we will be face-to-face before God, and that we are sojourners and exiles in this earth heading toward a promised land, that we have an inheritance from this temporary transient world.
[5:17] So in light of us being children of God, let us live confidently in the life to come. We are bound for a promised land, we have an inheritance. So that's the context we're coming to in Matthew 5, 13 through 16, is that we are citizens of the kingdom.
[5:32] This kingdom is radically different than the kingdom of earth. This is radically different than the world. But we are to live in the world. We're supposed to be in the world, but not of the world. So that's what we're going to be discussing here.
[5:43] Here, my main point or purpose statement, you could say, is not, we can't break it up and say, here's the points of the sermon, but I think every part of the sermon brings us to what this statement says.
[5:57] Those who are citizens of the kingdom of God are to be salt and light of the world by experiencing, proclaiming, and displaying the supremacy of Christ in all things to all people.
[6:10] I'll repeat it one more time. Those who are citizens of the kingdom of God are to be salt and light of the world by experiencing, proclaiming, and displaying the supremacy of Christ in all things to all peoples.
[6:28] So let's read, hold on. With this in mind, let us dive into Matthew 5, 13 through 16. As we approach this text, pretty much the flow of this sermon is, I'm going to discuss what the you are statements are, where it says, you are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world.
[6:45] I'm going to talk about what's important about using you are, and the way the statement is constructed. Then I'm going to talk about the importance of the use of earth and world, and how these are meaning the rottenness of the world, that the world is ultimately opposed to God, and we're in a world where we're trying to witness to a world that hates us.
[7:02] And then I'm going to talk about the statements themselves, because that's ultimately what this sermon is about, is that you are the salt of the earth, and you are the light of the world. How does that affect the world? So first, the way the statement is constructed says, you are the salt of the earth, and you are the light of the world.
[7:18] In this passage, the two you are declarations, are modifiers of the phrase, or the phrase of the world and of the earth modify the you are statements. But the you are statements are emphatic.
[7:30] In that saying, it means, you and you alone are. So in this text, you can read it as, you and you alone are the salt of the earth, and you and you alone are the light of the world. Also, the you are is not stating what we should be like, it's stating what we are.
[7:47] So John MacArthur points out, our stress is rather being than doing. So we are not to be the salt of the earth, and to be the light of the world. As disciples of Christ, we are the salt of the earth, and we are the light of the world.
[8:02] So if we are not being the salt of the earth, and the light of the world, then we are not being disciples. Let us sink in. If we're not being the salt of the earth, we are not being disciples. The terms earth and world imply that of all of fallen humanity.
[8:18] 1 John 2, 15-17 says, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes, and the pride and possession, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
[8:35] And the world is passing away along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God abides forever. In John 17, Jesus prays, I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
[8:50] I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. What we see is that in 1 John and in John, he's warning us that the world is going to hate us, and we should resist from loving and desire the things of the world, which are ever before us.
[9:11] That the world does not like God. The world hates God. The world is opposed to God. We should take that and heed that, that we're living in a world that is rotten, that has a tendency to pollute and become correct, that is sinful and bad.
[9:23] The desires of the world tempt us every day. So, how did this begin? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and then he created man. At the very end of creation, he said, this is very good.
[9:36] Then he put in creation, he put man in the garden to live before him, to worship him and obey him. But the serpent, the cleverest of all the creatures, comes in the garden.
[9:48] And the serpent tempts Adam and Eve. And Adam and Eve are tempted by three things. They're tempted by the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.
[9:59] They desire the fruit, they want to take part in it, and they want it to be like God. And what they did was they desired it, they took part in it, and they wanted to be like God. And because of that, they fell.
[10:11] Because of that sin entered the world, they corrupted everything. And since the sin corrupted everything, from that you see in Genesis 3, Genesis 6, with Noah in the ark, you see in Sodom and Gomorrah, you see in Babel, that this corruption continues.
[10:27] And it continues today. Today, we are tempted by the things of the world. So, the question remains, if we're living in a world with all these temptations, how do we resist conforming to them?
[10:44] How do we stay holy, completely separate from the world, and devoted to our king? What do we do? How do we continue those things? The world's vision, the world's dream, is to get rich, marry the perfect spouse, and to retire early and enjoy life.
[10:59] That is the vision. That's the American dream. How do we resist these lies? How do we interact with the world and not become part of it? I think Jesus describes well, I think Jesus describes well in Luke 14, 26 through 27, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
[11:25] Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. I think that's a commission almost for us that, not even just family, but those who don't hate Netflix, those who don't hate Facebook, those who don't hate school, those who don't hate our work, if anything takes precedent over God, if we love anything over God, then we're in sin.
[11:50] That is idolatry. And I think the command here is that we're not disciples when we love things over sin. We're disciples when we love God above all things. So, these things, I don't think are necessarily bad.
[12:03] I think family is wonderful. Books, school, work are great things ordained by God. But that's the problem is when we put them in the place of God. I think a good statement in the morning we should pray is, Christ, you are more valuable and more important in my life than dot, dot, dot.
[12:24] Whatever that struggle is, whether that is social media, whether that is friends, whether that is spouse, whether that is whatever is in the place, fill in the blank. Because in our lives, Paul describes it well, Whatever gain I had, I count it as loss for the sake of Christ.
[12:38] Indeed, I count everything as loss because it's surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. So with that, we have the you are statement. That we are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. And that the world hates us and the world is tempting us to conform to the simple desires of the flesh.
[12:54] Now let's come to the first you are statement. You are the salt of the earth. In history, salt was seen as something very valuable. The Greeks called it theon. I think I said that right, theon.
[13:06] And it means divine. The Romans saw it as the second most important thing. The only thing above that is their God of Son. And then the Romans actually paid their soldiers in salt for their work.
[13:17] The idea of you're not worth your salt is from Roman society when they would pay their workers, their soldiers. So obviously we see that the people hearing this sermon would process that when Jesus says, You are the salt of the earth.
[13:29] That they're saying that you're valuable to the earth. But there's so much more impacting in that statement of, You are the salt of the earth. I read John MacArthur's commentary in preparation for this sermon.
[13:40] And he gives four reasons. And he says one of them is the primary. And I read a few other things. I think his was the best way of saying it. So I'm going to borrow, if you will, from him the four things.
[13:52] First off, salt has a strong flavor. It is flavorful. You put salt on food, and that food that's kind of tasteless becomes stronger. In the same way, Christians bring a divine flavor to the world to bring blessing to them.
[14:07] In Matthew 5, 44 through 45, Jesus says, Love the world. Love your enemies. And in that, you'll be bringing a blessing to them. And God uses the analogy that both the righteous and the unrighteous get rain.
[14:20] Salt, when placed on a wound, stings. Christians, in their obedience to God, and in their representation of God, it can be an aroma of death.
[14:34] It's condemning in some way because Christians are living holy before the world, and the world's living completely opposite of them. John MacArthur says, Christians are to sting the world, prick its conscience, and make it uncomfortable in the presence of God's holy gospel.
[14:48] When the world hears of the holy and just creator, create the heavens and the earth, and that man, every man, has sinned against God and turned from him, it hurts.
[14:58] It stings. Because they don't want to submit to the Lord. They want to live for themselves. Because most people, their own idol is themselves. Their own image they're making is of themselves. So it stings.
[15:08] It stings because at the end of the day, they're going to be judged for their sin, or they're going to believe in Jesus. And they're either going to reject that truth or accept it. Third, salt, when consumed, causes thirst.
[15:21] When you have salt, it gives a natural thing that you want water. In the same way, when Christians are testifying of what they believe, they're proclaiming the good news.
[15:32] It is salty to those who hear it in the fact that they see their spiritual dehydration and pressing danger of death. That they haven't had water in a long time, and without this living water, they will die and perish for their sins.
[15:50] And finally, which I believe is the primary use of salt in this passage, is salt preserves food. We live in a world where we have a refrigerator, so we're able to preserve stuff just by opening a door and putting it in there. But they had to put salt on things to preserve their food, to keep it lasting longer.
[16:05] I believe in Matthew 5.13, this is the primary use, that as salt of the world, our influence matters. As we go from this church building, and as we go our separate ways to our jobs, to our schools, that our influence in the jobs and schools has an effect.
[16:19] We're a preserving, we have a preserving effect on these people. We deter moral degradation. We help prevent the world's rotting more and more because of our influence, because we stand for truth, we stand for righteousness, which can help have effect to change things in this world.
[16:39] So, we are to prevent the world's rottenness to have a powerful influence here in this world. We are God's children, and we are temples of the Holy Spirit. We represent and manifest God's presence to the world.
[16:50] So, as we experience God personally, He is experienced by those who interact with us. We are to represent God's presence on this earth through the power of His Holy Spirit. So, in the way we interact with all those we see, we should be a fragrance, a smell.
[17:07] Our influence in this world should be a blessing of our selfless love. It should be a sting of our bold witness. It should cause others to see their desperate need for salvation. And ultimately, it should preserve humanity by deterring moral and spiritual corruption and improve society.
[17:24] We are God's salt. So, the best example I've ever, I think, seen of this is, as I was growing in my walk with the Lord, it was probably around 2010, I met this one young man, he was like 8.
[17:37] I watched him grow up, but as he's grown up, he's like 18 now, but when he was 16, I watched his influence change in business. Because he'd go into business, he'd live righteously before the people, and people would notice when he comes.
[17:50] He'd walk in the door, and people would start modifying their language when he walks in the door, because, not that they just don't want to offend him, but they felt wrong talking bad around him. So, in the same way, when we walk in the room, people should know what we represent.
[18:02] We shouldn't be undercover, or hiding under a basket. We should be salt. They might not like it, and we can still honor them in how we live our lives, but we can't hide what we stand for, who we are.
[18:15] God's presence lives in us, and should shine through us. So, my question is, in light of what it means to be salt, does your life embody saltiness?
[18:26] Would you say your influence in the world is salty? Do you have a tendency to conform to the world, rather than stand for truth? Do you hold your brothers and sisters accountable for being salty to each other, or to the world?
[18:40] And, what impact does your presence have where you're at right now? The rest of verse 13 says, But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
[18:51] It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown away, and trampled under people's feet. This is used three times in the Gospels. It's used in Mark 9.50 and Luke 14.34.
[19:04] And then, each time it's used, it's an exhortation for a Christian to be a Christian by resisting temptation, by loving God above all things, and by having an impact in this lost and broken world.
[19:16] In our walk with the world, we're supposed to resist temptation, resist the enticement of our evil desires. We're supposed to turn away from the things the world offers.
[19:28] But sometimes, we fall in seasons where we experience temptation. We experience those seasons where we fall, and we start doubting the love of God. And sometimes, we turn from our first love, and start living completely counter-cultural to what it means to be in the kingdom of heaven.
[19:43] But brothers and sisters, what is great news, is that we have a Savior. We have one who mediated for us. He walked before us. He came, he lived perfectly, he died, and took our sins on him, and he rose again from the grave.
[19:56] And because of that, we have the privilege of confessing our sins. 1 John 1.9 says, if you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[20:08] So, if you're there, if you're at that point where you are struggling, be encouraged. We have a Savior who died for us, and if we run to him, and pray, and confess our sins, he can cleanse us, and move us forward, to act more like a citizen of the kingdom.
[20:26] Second, you are statement. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. So here, the author uses two illustrations to help us understand this example.
[20:36] First off, he says, you are, so our being is light. We are lights. But then he said, he describes in two illustrations. My goal here is to come back to those. I think it will help us really understand what it means to be light to the world after we understand what it means to be a light.
[20:51] So I'm going to chase the trail of what it means to be a light, and then use these illustrations to better support that. The Bible uses light and darkness to represent righteousness and unrighteousness.
[21:02] It talks about light being truth. It talks about light being righteousness, light being life-giving, peace, godliness. Then it talks about darkness being blind, lost, wickedness.
[21:14] The emphasis here in the text of you are the light of the world is you and you alone are the light of the world. There is a singular light, not multiple lights in this text. Ultimately, light is from God.
[21:26] First John says, God is light. So all light is derived from God, but it's ultimately manifested in Christ himself. Christ is the light of the world, John 8, 12.
[21:37] Jesus perfectly manifested the light of the glory of God in himself, and it is his light that offers the way of salvation. So in some sense, we're not the light, but we are the light because the light lives within us.
[21:49] We have the spirit of Christ. So the way we live should shine Christ's light in our lives. Christ should be shining from our living. So he, but ultimately, Christ is the light that shines in the darkness and darkness cannot comprehend it.
[22:05] It is by his light that those who are lost are found. We were once lost. We were once captive to our sins. We once believed the lies of the world and we identified with who he used to be.
[22:16] But that light shined in our hearts and opened our eyes to the glory of Christ and realized that when we believed in Jesus, we died in him and now we're identified in him. The spirit of God has caused us believers of Jesus to be born again and the power of spirit has made us lit, if you will.
[22:36] So now we have the spirit inside shining from us. God's presence has come and dwells in us. We are God's temple and as the light of the world, our job is to make the gospel known.
[22:50] We are to make Christ known to the world. So now we come to these two illustrations that will help us better understand what it means for the light to shine out of us. First illustration, a city on a hill cannot be hidden.
[23:05] When you think of building a city, you think of building it on a river, building it on the ocean so you can do trade or building in the middle of a state so people can get into and from it to do their business in America.
[23:19] In Israel, they would build their cities on a hill because they were in a place that was often invaded. They were kind of the bridge for all the other nations around them that were superpowers to go through.
[23:29] So in building this hill, it gave them a superior advantage when an army came, though the armies are usually a lot bigger than the Israelites. But why does this matter to the text is that when you're a traveler and you're going to this city, if it gets night and you can't see, if one person lights a light at that city, it can be seen from miles away.
[23:49] People can see that light and they know that they're heading in the right direction. It's like the light at the end of the tunnel after a long journey. In the same way, this text uses the word city. It's not talking about a soul light.
[24:00] It's talking about all these different lights in one place shining so bright that from miles and miles away, people can see this light and know that that's the way to go. In the same way, we are the city of God.
[24:13] We are the city here at Christ's family shining our lights. Each of us individually have been lit if we are believers of Christ. And if we move forward, we are those who proclaim the ecstasy of him who called us out of darkness into this marvelous light.
[24:27] So let us shine our lights brightly into the world, whether it's our workplace, whether it's our school. And I just imagine, like, think about if we all, to the best ability we're pursuing Christ and shine our light, it could have such a massive impact.
[24:40] But I also want to encourage you right now. I've never been part of a church that is so gospel-oriented, shines our light so bright already. There's people new coming here almost every Sunday. Either they've been witness to or someone's bringing to church, but the effort is that our church is mobilizing.
[24:55] Our church is going out and telling people about the hope they have in Christ. So be encouraged, guys, that you guys are a church that shines. And that is a beautiful thing. It is something that's filled my heart with so much joy to see a church that is growing because we shine such a bright light.
[25:10] Second illustration. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to all the house.
[25:21] In the first century, surprise, there was no electricity. But they had clay lamps. The way they lit their house was they had a lamppost right in the middle of the house and they'd get a clay lamp and they would fill, it was like, it wasn't really big, but they'd fill it with oil, put a wick in it, light it, and they'd bring it over to this lamppost and put it in and that lamppost gave light to the whole room.
[25:43] So the whole room was lit up because it's one little lamp, but it takes effort to do that. So the author's just analogy is people don't light this light to put it in a basket. I have to spend some time putting oil on a lamp, putting a wick in it, wasting my wick and lighting the lamp.
[25:59] So because of that, it's not something that's going to be done for no purpose. In the same way, as Christians, we're not called to become saved, enjoy the blessings of being a Christian but not tell others about Jesus Christ.
[26:11] If Jesus Christ has came and changed your life, if you've been lit by the Holy Spirit, we're not saved to not go, we're saved to go. Going is our purpose, and shining bright is what we're called to do.
[26:23] We are lights of the world. But also, Synology brings an even more abundant part of it is that this one little light lit the whole room. So as a Christian, are you the only Christian in your workplace or in your school or in one of your classrooms?
[26:39] Is there somewhere you go that you just don't feel like you have much encouragement by fellow brothers and sisters? Well, be encouraged because the light of Christ is in you, and that light can light the whole room, and the darkness cannot comprehend that light.
[26:51] The darkness cannot overcome that light. It might be able to tempt you away from Christ, and then you're putting your light under a basket. But if you're following Christ, you're in this workplace, you are shining. So be encouraged that you can shine bright no matter where you're at.
[27:04] You are the lights of the world. Verse 16 says, 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.
[27:16] In this section, I think the text offers us a command and then offers us a motivation why we do that command. The command I see here is that we are to shine our lights before others so that they may see our good works.
[27:31] The motivation is that they would see these good works and they'd give glory to God. So first, the command. As Christians, we are to shine our lights that by our lives that our lights are shining.
[27:45] So in our gathering here today, in our singing, in our preaching, in our living, in our breathing, in our cups of coffee, and whatever we do, our light should be shining. Another way you can put this is in our experiencing, proclaiming, and displaying the supremacy of Christ in all things, all people.
[28:02] That's how we should live our lives, that whatever we do and whatever we say should be that of sharing Christ to the world. We should shine so brightly that the world questions why do you act like that?
[28:14] Why are you loving? Why are you doing this? Why are you doing that? It should bring curiosity. And again, they might hate that curiosity, but it should be there. If you will, turn your Bibles to Philippians 2, 14 through 17 with me.
[28:31] Philippians 2 helps us better understand the how of it. The text commands us to shine our lights before the world. How? How do we shine our lights? We are light, we're supposed to shine a light, but how does that happen? I think this text offers us some insight on how.
[28:45] Philippians 2, 14 through 17 says, do all things without grumbling or questioning that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world holding fast to the word of life so that in the day of Christ I may be proud and that I did not run in vain or labor in vain even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith.
[29:13] I am glad and rejoice with you all. Paul first commands the Philippian believers here that their life should be one of good conduct that represents him well in our attitudes and in our living.
[29:28] So when people look at us they're not like that guy has a bad attitude at work. He's always grumbling and always complaining about how all the things go wrong but we should do things even when we don't feel like it even when things do go wrong in a way that honors Christ.
[29:41] Further what we see is that when the world sees this conduct when they see that we are honoring Christ even in the worst situations why is he doing that?
[29:54] It gives a testimony that we are children of God and it makes us look blameless. They can't point fingers at us saying well that guy cussed three times the other day or that guy is over there yelling all the time is he really representing Christ or that guy is doing this.
[30:09] The point is that when we're not grumbling and complaining the world will see us and they will be wow that guy handled that situation so well he really is different than me. Why did he not cuss in that situation?
[30:20] Why did he not do this or that in that situation? And in our conduct we shine light in the world but the text goes further it says you shine as lights in the world holding fast to the word of life.
[30:35] 2 Corinthians says 3.18 says And we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed to the same image from one degree of glory to another for this comes from the Lord who is spirit.
[30:50] We have been given the word of life and this word serves as a window into the glory of God. When we get in the scriptures and when we meditate on who the Lord is in the scriptures we get to know him more and we get to know his promises more.
[31:03] And in the text it talks about how we are transformed by beholding God's glory. As we experience God in the text and know he is more and more an object of our affection the object of our faith grows our affections grow but we also start shining light better and we are transformed more and more into Christ likeness.
[31:24] 2 Peter 1 says And we have something more sure the prophetic word to which you will do well to pay attention to. In this text Peter is reflecting on the time he spent with Jesus and there was one day that Jesus took him and two other disciples up a mountain and Jesus transfigured he changed and glory shined all around him and when he did this from the heavens roared the voice of God talking to Peter and Jesus and then appeared the prophets but during this time Peter is reflecting back on that experience and saying that was wonderful there was majestic glory but he now has something more sure the prophetic word which will do well to heed to.
[32:06] This copy of God's word is so beautiful and glorious that it is more sure that Jesus or Peter's experience with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration.
[32:17] That is such a marvelous truth and it should humble us. Further in the text 2 Corinthians 3.18 says the word transformed. That is the exact same word which only appears three times in scripture that is used on the mount of transfiguration that when Jesus transfigured into the glory his heavenly glory.
[32:37] So this idea that we're being transferred one image of glory to another and we're being conformed to Christ is the way in which we become more like God more representing him well but ultimately we're going to shine his glory shine who Christ is in our lives more.
[32:53] So let us come to the word and let us behold our king and let the word transform us from the inside out and change the way we live and make us love our Lord more. If you'll take your bulletin the quote on it is by Charles Spurgeon Spurgeon says nearness to God brings likeness to God the more you see God the more of God will be seen in you.
[33:33] So brothers and sisters let us see God let us be like Paul who said that his life was poured out as a sacrifice offering of his faith.
[33:45] Let us be like Romans 12 1 that our bodies our lives are being presented to God as a living sacrifice that the way we live and think is to honor God that our lives our breathing and being is for Christ.
[33:58] Finally the rest of Matthew 5 16 says so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven. The word here glorify is the word doxodzo and what it's saying here is this word here is the same word we get the word doxology from.
[34:16] And Stephen Lawson has a really enlightening description of it. He says the word glorify doxodzo is the word from which we get doxology. your life becomes a worship service. Your life becomes a living doxology to God when the light is shining from you.
[34:30] We are made to worship God in spirit and truth. Also John Piper famously said mission exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate mission not missions because God is ultimate not man.
[34:42] When this age is over and countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God missions will be no more. Therefore our motivation in our mission to be the church and our mission to be salt and light and our mission to experience and proclaim and display the supremacy of Christ in all things all people should be the glory of God.
[35:04] Should be that the one who came and died and saved us is one we're living for. That because he's deemed it worthy that a sinner should be saved because of his life, death and resurrection in the same way that he is worthy to live life for.
[35:17] Ultimately our breath our living our motivation to be salt and light in this broken world is to bring everlasting praise and honor and glory to our king who we will be doing in eternity past or eternity future.
[35:32] So ultimately one day when we die and we are believers in Christ we'll be raised again and we'll be with Christ eternally praising our king and worshiping him eternally. So let's do it now let's praise him now and let's shine brightly now.
[35:45] So in closing when we realize our spiritual poverty before Yahweh and the wickedness of the world we come humbly before Yahweh hungering and thirst and be solely satisfied in him and not wickedness.
[35:57] From our exclusive love for God we'll be merciful pure in heart and peacemakers. People will hate us for sharing about the peace of God brought about through the blood of Christ but take heart our Lord Jesus has overcome the world so let us be encouraged and bring about a salty preservation to the rottenness of this world and let us individually and corporately shine bright the light of Christ in his dark and perverse world.
[36:21] Feel prayer with me. Pray with me. Sorry. Let us pray.