SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/25/2020 11:11 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “Being Salt”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:13
Message of the
verse: “13
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how
can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to
be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.’”
I want to begin with a truthful
quote from John MacArthur; truthful in that he is telling a story about Oliver
Wendell Homes reason why he did not enter into the ministry. “Oliver Wendell Holmes reportedly once said
that he might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen he knew had not
looked and acted so much like undertakers.
Sometimes the world is turned away from the church because Christians
are hypocritical, self-righteous, judgmental, and truly boring by any
standard. But even when the church is
faithful—indeed, especially when it is faithful—the world does not value
whatever taste or aroma it sees in Christianity. Paul reminds us that Christians are an ‘aroma
from life to life’ and ‘a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being
saved,’ but are an ‘aroma of death to death’ among ‘those who are perishing’ (2
Cor. 2:15-16).”
I don’t think that I have ever put
salt in a wound, but I understand that it stings, and because of this some
interpreters believe that Jesus meant to illustrate just the opposite characteristic
to that of flavor. However Christians
are to sting the world, we are to prick its conscience, and make it
uncomfortable in the presence of God’s holy gospel. A tall order, but possible with the work of
the Holy Spirit in our lives.
The analogy certainly has merit, for
when we look at the church today in general we will find that it frequently is
so concerned with trying to please, attract, and excuse that its witness
against sin is obscured and pretty much lost.
Now we may be so concerned that we don’t offend others that we fail to
confront them over the fact that they are lost and unless they come to Christ,
confessing that they are sinners and that they sin, they will spend eternity in
hell. MacArthur adds “A gospel that does
not confront sin is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
In his commentary John MacArthur
tells of a couple who came into his office to receive marriage counseling
before they got married. He found out
that the woman had put in for a divorce of her current husband because he was
unfaithful, and she was not sleeping with the man she wanted to marry. She and her boyfriend both said that they
were believers and though that God brought them together. MacArthur told them that God had not brought
them together because of the sinfulness that they were living in. They stormed out of the office and were
offended by what he said, but he was only telling them what was in the Word of
God. He then goes on to write “The
church cannot stand for the Lord if it does not stand for His Word, and when it
stands for His Word its witness will often sting.”
There is another element that salt
does, and that is that it causes thirst.
This happens partly because it increases the body’s craving for water,
salt tablets often are given to those who hard work in excessive heat. I am very familiar with this having worked in
a foundry where in the summer temperatures could climb well over one hundred
degrees and working in that heat for eight hours or more brought on thirst and
we often used salt-tablets. If we did
not drink a lot of liquids then this could cause much trouble. I remember one time I went to see the nurse
because I seemed to be overheated and she would not let me leave until my pulse
was down to the correct level that is what heat can do to a person without
drinking enough liquids. So what does
this have to do with us being salt in the lives of the unbelievers? We as believers must show unbelievers their
need of being hydrated as in their case they are having spiritual dehydration
and this causes a great deal of danger in their lives if they are not taking in
the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps a person may see our peace in trying circumstances, or our
confidence in what we believe, and thereby be persuaded to try our faith. As we look at what the world is going through
at this time this is a good time for believers to show their faith and not be
fearful.
Lord willing we will try and get to
exactly what our Lord was saying about believers being salt in our next SD.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I have to
remember that when I give out the gospel that I show people from the Word of
God that they are sinners and that there is a way to have their sins taken
away.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust that
the Lord will give me people to talk to about the gospel as I live my life
today and continue to give me opportunities.
6/25/2020 11:46
AM
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