It's been said of Western philosophy that the intellectual history of the Western world was saved by the intellectual contributions Of the Apostle Paul in particular. and of Christianity in general. It's also been said that it was the advent of Christianity. that saved Western culture From pure Barbarianism. What is our responsibility as Christians?
What influence should we have by God's grace upon the world around us? This is Renewing Your Mind, and thank you for being with us on this Lord's Day. Today, R. C. Sproll concludes our time in the Sermon on the Mount.
How or why did the advent of Christianity save Western culture from pure barbarianism? Let's join Dr. Sproll now. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its flavor, How shall it be seasoned?
It is then good for nothing. but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket.
but on a lamp stand, And it gives light to all who are in the house. Let you and your light so shine before men. That they may see your good works. And glorify your Father. In heaven.
There's a subtle shift here in the Sermon on the Mount from what went previously, the beginning of the sermon, Was that list of Beatitudes that our Lord gave? And in that list he pronounced his benediction or his blessing upon those who experience certain things, such as Sorrow. And Persecution And morning. And now He moves away from Pronouncing His benediction. to announcing Responsibilities.
And these words, of course, are addressed in the first instance to the disciples. And he looked at them and he said, You are. Are the salt? of the earth Now, this is not merely a complimentary announcement by Jesus.
Sometimes we use this language when we want to speak highly about a certain person. We might say of that person. Oh, he or she is. the salt of the earth. It's a wonderful thing to be Called by such high esteem.
But Jesus is using this a steamed title for a reason. He's telling people who are his disciples what they are. And being what they are defines What they are to do. And so, when we look at this metaphor of salt. We want to ask ourselves what was the primary function of salt in the ancient world.
Well, there of course were more than one thing that salt was used for in antiquity. one of which is same thing that is used today And that is to give zest. Or tang. To food. And secondly, and in the ancient world, Most importantly, salt.
was used as a preservative. People didn't have Refrigerators or freezers in the ancient world. And so, if they wanted to keep their food from decaying, becoming rancid or rotten. They covered it with salt. to inhibit Decay.
And Rottenness. Thirdly, salt was used Two provoke A sense Of Thirst. And so, how does our Lord use this metaphor for his disciples and by Extension For us. In the first place, his disciples Are supposed to be the kind of people that add zest. To this world and to life.
That we are to be that time. that makes life More Delicious. We are not called to withdraw from the arena of this world. We are not salt simply of the earth, but we are salt for the earth. That we may add this.
tasteful zest to life itself.
Well Sometimes Christians are conceived as being Sour pusses. People who are no fun to be around because they seem to be simply dour. and not adding any joy. Or zest to life of all people. We should be the most filled with a love of life.
And that we should have a contagious sense of the joy of living. That we should add spice. to life in this world. And the salt within the salt shaker won't add any zest or spice or taste to anything. Unless it comes out of the salt shaker.
And what Jesus is saying here is that you're supposed to be salt, and you're not supposed to keep your salt in the shaker. It has to be used. But I think more than the metaphor of zest. The principal point of Jesus' use of the term here. is with respect to the salt's function as a preservative.
I don't know if you've ever thought about it, but one of the tasks of the church. Is to help keep the world. From destroying itself. By its own internal corruption. We hear again and again criticisms of historic Christianity.
saying that Christianity has brought Warfare and pain to the world. It's brought division by its religious zeal. That in all fairness is a serious distortion. of the historical record. If you look at the history of Western civilization, you will see.
That by the time Christ came to this planet, the golden age of Greece. had turned to rust. And that empire gave way to Rome. And Rome's end was in the same depth. of pagan corruption.
It's been said of Western philosophy that the intellectual history of the Western world was saved By the intellectual contributions. of the Apostle Paul in particular and of Christianity in general. It's also been said That it was the advent of Christianity. that saved Western culture From pure Barbarianism. And if you look over the influence of the Christian church, particularly in the West from the first century.
Till this day, you will see. That the Christian church, more than any other institution, was responsible for the inauguration of higher education. The whole university system. was the brainchild of the Christian Church. It was the Christian church that brought in.
The High Era Of the arts. throughout history. In music. In painting. And in literature.
We look at our culture today in the United States. And we've had historians say that we are living In the post-Christian era.
Some have described our culture As neopagan Others have gone further. And describe it. As Neo Barbarian. would slaughter their own unborn children at the rate of one and a half million. A year.
A nation that tolerates that kind of corruption. Cannot last. And at the same time, as the church is trying to be salt. To help preserve our culture. Is it the very time?
That the culture is doing everything in its power. to remove the influence of the church. From the main stream of American life. We still have some protection from persecution. We still have freedom to meet for worship.
But that freedom is limited by the unspoken sense that as long as we keep to ourselves, And stay out of the public square. We will be tolerated. But the minute we take the message of Christ. End to the Arena of the Public Square. We run head on.
into the resistance. of the pagan culture. When the settlers came to this country, and were met by Native Americans Wars broke out between the natives And the settlers, you know the history? You know that the Indians were subdued. And instead of being exterminated, They were allowed to continue to live in America.
But only under very strict restrictions. as they were placed upon a reservation. To be placed on a reservation was to be placed in a position of isolation. Outside of the main stream of cultural life. I'm afraid that that is very much the lot of the Christian church in our day.
Is that we are allowed to exist? As long as we stay. on the reservation. If we were salt, like the disciples were salt. If we ventured as boldly into the public square as Paul did, And the early church We would also experience Jail and beatings and persecutions.
Make no mistake about it. We have been taught. To keep the salt. in the salt shaker. Where it will do no harm.
Or But in spite of the resistance of a culture that is decaying and corrupting, the only thing that keeps it. From self-destruction. is the influence of Christ. and his people. And we are called not to wring our hands and groan about how.
Things are going to the dogs, but we are called To preserve. What is worth preserving. in the world around us. Finally, salt is that which provokes thirst. And we are.
to provoke thirst. from those who watch us, that they might be thirsty. to drink of the waters From which we have drunk Jesus says If the salt loses its flavor, How shall it be seasoned? That's a rhetorical question. The answer of which it can't.
Now, some critics might come to this text and say, wait a minute.
Sodium chloride that we call salt doesn't lose its saltiness.
So, why would Jesus speak about salt that loses its saltiness? He's speaking. To the experience of people in the first century in Palestine, where their primary source of salt was from the Dead Sea. And the salt of the Dead Sea. was mixed with many other minerals, many of which would contaminate The purity of the salt.
And leaching would take place where people would go down thinking that they were harvesting salt until they tasted it and realized that the salt itself had been leached out of the content.
So what do you do with that that you thought was salt? That has no saltiness. You put salt on it? Yeah. We don't put salt on real salt if we have salt.
And you add salt to the salt, it doesn't become any more salty. Because that salt doesn't absorb the new salt, it just stays at the same level of saltiness. But Jesus is talking to his people, and he said, You are the salt of the earth. But you can't allow that salt to be leeched out. You can't allow it to be Destroyed.
Bye. contaminating minerals. And if we're not the salt of the earth, it's probably because. We've allowed the world. To contaminate us.
Dear friends, if your life is no different from your secular friends, then That should be a signal that goes off in your head and says, Well, maybe I'm not a Christian after all. Maybe I'm just a Christian in name. Maybe I'm playing. Christianity But I'm not being. A Christian.
That whatever Christianity I thought I had Has leeched out. And is worthy only. to be trampled underfoot by men. The second image that Jesus uses here is somewhat strange. He said, You are.
The light of the world. Isn't that strange? Because when we look at the I am s of Jesus. It is Jesus who's the light of the world. It is Jesus who came into the darkness, and the darkness couldn't overcome him.
But now, do you see that our Lord is taking that title, Light of the World, and transferring it? to his disciples, saying now you Are the light of the world. Obviously, the light that Christ brings to this world. originates in himself. The light that we have is borrowed light.
It is a reflection. of his light. But that if we have his light in us, That light cannot be hid. It will be made manifest. When I was in college, my best friend in college and in seminary was a young man who was born and raised in the mission fields of Soudan and Ethiopia.
His father was a pioneer missionary for fifty years. among primitive tribes, many of which He was the first white man they had ever seen.
Well one day. My friend showed me a photograph. It was a group picture. of 25 or 30 natives from this animous tribe to which he had ministered and he said Before he handed me the picture, he said, RC. There are twelve natives in this picture.
Who are Christians? See if you can identify it. And every person In the picture was dressed the same. The Christians weren't holding Bibles. None of them had halos over them.
But it was one of the easiest tasks anybody had ever given me. I said, this one, this one, this one. They weren't seated together. This one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one. And in, and.
30 seconds. I identified. Twelve Christians. And I got 12 out of 12. Yeah, why?
It was obvious. These people had been rescued from the darkness of animistic religion. where the only gods they were aware of were Evil spirits to be feared. But there were twelve people in this picture. who were simply radiant The joy And the light of Christ was written plainly.
in their countenances. You couldn't miss it. They were reflecting. The Light of Christ. Where they had come out.
of abject darkness. See, again, just as the salt preserves. Against the antithesis of that which decays and rots and corrupts.
So the light Brings truth to bear. and rescues people. Out of darkness. You remember the motto of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, post Tenebrasse, Looks After Darkness. Light.
Calling attention to the fact that during the Middle Ages, the darkness of this world. had cast a huge shadow. Over the church itself. And it all but eclipsed the gospel. And when the gospel was recovered.
The light burst. On the scene But Christ came into a world that was completely engulfed by darkness. And he said to his people, Don't be like a foolish housekeeper. Who when he lights the candle Or the torch. covers it with a bushel basket.
Of course, nobody in the ancient world Was that stupid that they would take their lantern or their candle and put a bushel basket over it? Because a candle covered by a basket. Has no value. Could even start a fire. But it certainly did not give light.
He said, but no. The householder would take that candle and put it on a candlestand. And the light of one candle Would light the entire house.
Now, of course, Jesus was speaking of. a house that only had one room. But only took one candle. To dispel the darkness. From That room.
And so He said Let your light Shine like that. Not undercover. Not concealed from view. But not the light that I have put in you Shine. into the darkness of this world.
That men may see your good works. They will see your contribution to a dying world. They will see your mercy. To the widow To the Orphan To the imprisoned To the sick. To the dying Not So that you will receive the applause of men.
But that God Maybe glorify. You know, that's the reason for. Our Christian lives It's to glorify God. What is man's chief end? Man's chief end is to glorify God.
And to enjoy him. Forever. Bach understood it when he wrote S D G at the end of every one of his compositions, Sola Deo Gloria. These musical works are not To the honor and to the glory of Johann Sabash and Bach. But I'm offering them.
As praise. For the glory of God. His musical works. Work great works. And they have been listened to.
By the whole world.
So that whatever we do. Whatever we achieve is to be done. For his glory. to manifest his light. That's who we're supposed to be.
The salt of the earth. In the light of the world. May that be true of each of us. I'm glad you joined us for this Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind. What you just heard was a sermon from doctor RC Sproul's extensive series through the Gospel of Matthew.
The sermons were brought together to form his helpful expositional commentary. And for the final Sunday, if you'd like to add this volume to your library, request your copy when you give a donation at renewingyourmind.org or by using the link in the podcast show notes before midnight tonight. Thank you for supporting this daily outreach of Ligonier Ministries.
Well, next time, we'll start a new series in Paul's letter to the Romans.
So I hope you'll make plans to join us next Sunday here. on Renewing Your Mind.
