When you're the light, you don't spend all day talking about how dark stuff is. You turn it on. Dr. Tony Evans says what we have on the inside ought to show on the outside. Having internal Christian character is where you start, but the earth ought to feel it, see it, and be affected and infected by it.
This is the Alternative Broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. As Christians, our lives are meant to make a difference for God's kingdom. But how do we do that without becoming obnoxious or annoying? Today, Dr.
Evans takes us to Matthew chapter five to show us how to live in a way that influences the people around us as God intended. Jesus' sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, is His kingdom manifesto. It's his statements about what the kingdom is and how the kingdom works and what kingdom people ought to look like. His theme is seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, Matthew six thirty three, and then you get the stuff. All these things will be added to you.
Far too many people in God's kingdom has flipped it. They want the stuff, and if they have time left over, they'll seek the kingdom. Jesus sets forth that there's a certain kind of character that makes up kingdom men and kingdom women who pursue kingdom goals, who operate under the regime of the Lord Jesus Christ. He pronounces a blessing on them. Blessed be!
A blessing is enjoying, experiencing, and extending the goodness of God in your life. And so, having discussed. The character of kingdom people. He then moves from Matthew one to twelve down to verse thirteen to sixteen to talk about the impact of kingdom people. What does it look like when these folk with kingdom character make a kingdom difference, impact?
And he uses two very simple analogies to make a staggering point. You are the salt of the earth, and you are the light of the world. That's his mantra, if you will. You are the salt of the earth. In the Greek text, the "you" is in the emphatic position.
In other words, you and nobody else. You're it. If you want things to be better, it's banking on you. He's talking about his disciples, his avid followers, not just. Folk in general, not even just Christians, but those who have developed this kingdom mindset, this kingdom orientation, and therefore make a kingdom impact, you are the salt of the earth.
Notice, you're not the salt of the shaker. You're the salt of the earth. Salt likes to hang out with other salt because it's comfortable in the shaker. But it does not do any good for the meat if the salt is in the shaker. You are the salt of the earth.
He pictures the earth as a decaying piece of meat that needs to be preserved by being salted down. In biblical days, one of the reasons for having salt was to act as a antibacterial agent or a bacteria or virus repellent.
So they would salt down foods before the days of refrigeration, and still some folks in the country do it today. They will salt down the food in order to preserve it from the decaying process, to limit it, hinder it, delay the process of it being decomposed. He says, "You are the salt of the earth." So if the earth is decomposing around you. It could be because the salt's not located there; it's still hanging out in the shaker called the church. He says, "You are the salt of the earth." Roman soldiers would get bags of salt as they would do their work and get their pay, but then they get bags of salt to take home for the wife to salt down the food in order to preserve it.
When a Roman soldier didn't do a good week's worth of work. He would not get a full allocation of salt. That's where we get the phrase "so and so's not worth their salt." In other words, what they're doing is not worthy of the salt they're receiving. They're not worth that salt. Is God saying of you and me, we're not worth our salt because we're not salty?
You are the salt of the earth, and you are, he says, the light of the world. Verse fourteen: A city set on a hill. That cannot be hidden. Light, light. Last time I checked, light only has one job description, and that is to shine.
You are the light. You're not the light of the sanctuary. You're the light of the world. The world, the earth, is pictured as a dark place. As a place under the rule of Satan, in fact, the Bible says that this world lies in the hands of the evil one, and it says about this world, it is the kingdom of darkness.
That is because of its rejection of Jesus Christ. I hope you heard me. It's not its rejection of God. God is not the problem. The Sermon on the Mount is about your submission to Jesus Christ.
Because what makes you a Christian is not your belief in God. What makes you a Christian is your commitment to Jesus Christ. See, that's what separates you. You go to work talking about your belief in God; everybody's going to agree with you on that one. You talk about Jesus Christ.
Now you've been very specific. And that's where the division comes. That Jesus says in Matthew ten is where the sword is drawn, because men will accept God, but don't get that specific. And God does what He does only through Jesus Christ. You are the light of the world.
He says you are a city set on a hill over in Israel. You have a lot of little hills, and you got houses sitting on top of the hill. In the biblical days, they were made of white limestone. And so you could actually travel at night from little town to little town by looking at the hills, because you would see the white limestone lit up by candles inside the house, because they were elevated and they were illuminated. And so, because they were elevated and illuminated, you could make it in the dark, because you would see the light.
He says, "You are a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden." In other words. You're not supposed to be a private Christian. You're not supposed to be a secret agent Christian. You're not supposed to be a CIA representative and a covert operative. All manner of language can be used on television and in movies.
All manner of jokes can be made. All manner of crud can be pushed on us and on our children, and we remain silent about Jesus Christ. He says, "You're supposed to be the light of the world." What good is light if it's off? What good is is light if it's not illuminating anything? Let's say we turned out all the lights in this room and covered all the glass that let light into the room.
That means the room would be dark. It would be pitch black. And if the room is dark, there's going to be chaos in the room. Cause we're gonna be bumping into each other. Folks gonna be making folks mad.
We're gonna be bumping into chairs. We're gonna be tripping over cords. We're gonna be walking into walls. We're gonna be walking in the darkness. Why?
Because we can't see. There's no illumination in the room, and the darkness will create chaos in the room because we can't see each other. We can't see where we're walking.
So darkness will rule. But if there's somebody here who knows where the light switch is, they're not going to be spending a whole inordinate amount of time talking about how dark the room is. They're going to be trying to find their way to the light, because whoever controls the light runs the show. Because you have the solution. We're living in a world of chaos.
It's getting worse every day, every month, every year. And Jesus is saying, "But you're the light. When you're the light, you don't spend all day talking about how dark stuff is. You turn it on. You are the light of the world.
Are you light on your job? Are you light in your community? Are you light with your friends? Are you light where you work out? Are you light with your family, or are you as dark as they are, talking about how dark everything else is?" You are the light of the world.
Why are you the light? Because Jesus is the light of the world, and because you know Jesus Christ, you're supposed to be illuminating something that's dark. You're the light of the world. He says in verse 15. Nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light.
To all who are in the house, he says, "Nobody hides a light. You don't cover a light up so that there is no illumination from it. That's contradictory to its purpose. You don't take a light and put it under a bed. That's a contradiction.
The whole point of a light is to shine." Have you ever done like me? I've done this, and I'm sure that there are folks who've done this.
So, have you done this? Gotten up in the middle of the night to go use the restroom and not turn on the light because you thought you knew where things were, and your baby toe hit the edge of the bed. Has that ever happened to you? I'm talking about your picket toe. Your picket toe ever, or you left something out on the floor that you forgot about, like a shoe, and tripped and tripped.
Then maybe I'm the only one that's done that.
So if this only applies to me, I understand. But all that could have been avoided if you just turned on the light, because because everybody got got a light, a nightstand light. If you'd have just turned on the light, you could have avoided all that. But because you chose to do it your way in the darkness, you didn't get the benefit of the light. He says, "Nobody has a light; not to use a light.
You have a light to utilize a light. You are the light of the world. You are to be a visual Christian, and that's why he says in verse sixteen, 'Let men see your good works, not just hear your good words.'" Doctor Evans will have more about how we can serve the world better when he continues our message in just a moment. First, though, you only have a few more days to take advantage of our special offer on Tony's current teaching series, The Kingdom Life. These six messages will give you a fresh perspective on the purpose God has for your life, the impact you can make, and the blessings that come from putting His kingdom first.
We're offering all six full-length lessons on CD, USB flash drive, or instantly downloadable MP3s as As our thank you gift, when you make a contribution to support Tony's ministry here on the radio and around the world, and as an added bonus for a limited time, we'll also include Dr. Evans' "One Life Under God" paperback, a companion to the series that explores the keys to spiritual growth, developing a kingdom mindset, and discovering God's purpose for your life. Visit us today at TonyEvans.org, or. Give us a call day or night at one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two, and let one of our team members help you. That's one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two.
I'll repeat that information for you after part two of today's lesson. Here's Tony. We talking about sight and sound. You ever look at your television and the sound worked, but the picture didn't come on. You only getting half a blessing.
You don't want sound; you want sight with sound. You want to be able to see what they're talking about. He says, "Let men see your good works, not hear your good words." Now, let's get something straight. He didn't say, "Let men see your good things." Because you don't have to be a Christian to do a good thing. Non-Christians do good things all the time.
Non-Christians feed the poor. Non-Christians build hospitals and orphanages. Non-Christians are philanthropists. You don't. You can do a good thing and not be a Christian.
But he didn't say do good things. Not for Christians. Not for disciples. He says, "Let men see your good works." Well, you say, "Well, what's the difference between a good work and a good thing?" Ephesians two ten. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.
Which he hath created beforehand that we should walk in them. A good work is a beneficial action that helps someone else for which God gets the credit. It is a beneficial action that helps someone else for which God gets the credit. That is a good work. In other words, it's not a good work if God's not a part of it.
It's a good thing. It may be beneficial, but companies do good things. Businesses do good things. Atheists do good things. What makes it a good work is that yes, it benefits others, just like a good thing does.
But it is attached to God. It's not done apart from God, and it's done for God's glory and to advance God's cause. It is not exclusive of God. In the name of His Son, the Sermonizer here, Jesus Christ, He says, "Let men see your good works." See your deeds that benefit others, and that speaks to the quality of your service too. I mean, if the president was coming over to your house and he wanted to spend time with you and your family, things that have never been cleaned would get cleaned.
Things that have never been dusted would get dusted, because of who's coming. See, when you do things for the glory of God, you don't do it sloppily. Why? Because it's a good work, and you want God to get a good name out of your good work. That's why when you go to you go to stores that have couture, that have designers, the designer's name is on it, and those are specialty places.
They they offering you coffee and soda and you know cookies because it has a name tied to it. Has a name, and that name is big, and that name is special, and so they do special things because that name is attached to it. You go to a restaurant, there's two kind of waiters. There's one kind that you want to leave you alone. The service is bad, the attitude is bad, the way they talk to you is bad.
You hope they come to you occasionally, if at all. Then there's that good waiter who's doing a good work. Because they're coming, they're making sure you're taken care of, and they make sure you're served well, and they make sure the food is hot. They make. Do you need anything else?
They they are there to go out of the way to serve you in the name of the company that they serve. And so you'll say about the bad when I don't know if I'm going back there again. You'll say about the good work I'm going back there again. Why? Because the work was good and it gave the company a good name.
He said, "Let men see your good works." And glorify your father, not their father, your father, because he's not talking about Christians that you're impacting. He's talking about the non-Christian world. But he says if you do this thing right, even they will have to respect it. Even if they don't buy you, they don't buy your faith, they don't buy your religion, but they can't ignore your good works. To glorify means to advertise, put on display, highlight, make a big deal over.
That's what glorify means. It means to make a big deal of something.
So let's get this straight. Jesus said, "If you will confess me before men, I will confess you before my Father." He said, "If you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father." Here's what many Christians have missed: When you trust Jesus Christ as your sin bearer, that takes you to heaven. But when you follow Jesus as your Lord, that brings heaven to you. A lot of folks who are on their way to heaven will not see heaven till they get there because they live a Christ-denying life. He says, "If you are unwilling to identify with me before men, if you get all squeamish, you praise me in church, but you don't know me at work." You praise me at church, but you don't know me in the neighborhood.
I am not part of the equation of your life. But then you're calling on my father, wanting my okay, when I'm an embarrassment to you before your non-Christian friends. Says you deny me before men. I deny you before my father. I died for you.
I rose for you. I gave you a free ticket to heaven, and you don't want to be associated with me. Cause you got baptized. When you got baptized, you were saying, in essence, "I'm willing to go public. I'm willing for you to know me as a Christ follower." Yes, I'm gonna do it kindly.
Yes, I'm gonna do it lovingly. Yes, I'm gonna do it appropriately. But I'm gonna do it clearly. If you were accused at work of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you, or would you be found innocent of all charges? Because there's not enough clarity, either sight or sound, to declare where you stand.
It ought to be clear that you follow Christ. It ought to be clear that you're committed to Him. It ought to be clear. It ought not to be a fog. People ought not to be unclear who you're voting for.
You're not to be an undecided Christian. You're not to be a Christian independent in the sense that I'm independent from my allegiance to Jesus Christ. And it ought not to be. A secret thing, you know. Our gathering here—it's I like to call it like a huddle in a football game.
Eighty thousand people—they want to know, having huddled, can you now score? They want to know what you're going to do about eleven other men on the other side of the ball daring you to go public with your private conversation. They want to see your impact, not just hear about your meeting. Folks leave church on Sunday and say, "Woo! We had church yesterday." All you telling me is you had a fun huddle.
Our huddle was fun. Oh boy! You should have heard how the quarterback called the play yesterday. He called some plays yesterday. You ought to hear how the crowd sang yesterday.
Ever okay? You just told me about the huddle. I want to see what difference huddle makes. Because if you losing yardage after calling the play, I'm not impressed with the play you called. I want to see some first downs and some touchdowns.
Because you were in the huddle. Cause you are the salt of the earth, and you are the light of the world. We're not just just be known by buildings and property and land and and activities or programs. We should be known by impact. You've heard me use it before.
The bola. The bola. You know, bowling is sophisticated today. Bowling pants, bowling shirt, bowling gloves. Bowling, you know, three fingers in the ball, cock the ball, come down the alley, twist the risk, kick the leg.
You can look good as a bowler. You can, you can have it. You can have it down. You can have the style down. But if that ball's in the gutter, you're a failure.
And you're a failure because there was no impact. You ain't hit nothing. You just look good going nowhere. If the pins are still standing, no matter how expensive the attire, no matter how fancy the ball, no matter how glorious the bag. You're a failure.
The measure of our ministry and the measure of your life is not how fancy we look, not how nice we appear. It's whether those pins are still standing or not. Whether there's been impact. You are the salt of the earth. Individually, as families, as a church, you are the salt.
We are the salt. You are the light of the world. Stop looking for it apart from you. That is apart from disciples. Our problem is we've got Christians who are not yet disciples, visible, verbal followers of Jesus Christ who unapologetically proclaim their faith in walk and talk, coming off of the character of the beatitudes.
Dr. Tony Evans talking about how believers are wired to make an impact for the kingdom, but that's something that only happens when we're willing to do it. He'll return with a closing comment about that in just a moment. Today's message was called "The Impact of the Kingdom," and it's available as a part of Tony's current six-part series on the Kingdom Life. Remember, you can receive all six full-length lessons in this collection on CD, USB flash drive, or digital download as our thank you gift when you make a contribution to support this ministry.
And for a limited time, we'll also include Dr. Evans' "One Life Under God" paperback. Which complements the series by helping you understand how to put God's kingdom first, so you can live out His purposes for your life. Don't wait too long to request this special package. The details are online at TonyEvans.org, or give us a call at one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two.
Our resource center is available twenty four hours a day, so there's no need to wait. Again, that's one eight hundred eight. Hundred three two two two, or online at TonyEvans dot org. Doctor Evans says that God not only wants us to live an eternal life, but to live a life that's about eternity. He'll explain the difference tomorrow, and I hope you'll join us for that.
Right now, he's back with this final illustration. In closing, a man who had recently been married, they were driving to their honeymoon. He pulled out to pass a car, not seeing another car coming around the curve. Bam! Head-on collision.
He came to his senses, dazed. He looked over. His new bride was unconscious, bleeding from the head. But it just so happened that as he came to, he saw a sign: "Office of Dr. Bill Smith." Oh, how fortunate!
He was hit right there at an office of a doctor.
So he quickly went over to the other side of the car, picked up his new bride, drugged her to the door, knocked on the door. An old man came to the door. He says, "Are you are you Dr. Bill Smith?" He says, "Yes." He says, "Come on, do something. My my wife is dying." The man said, "I'm sorry.
I don't practice anymore." The man looked at him and said, "Well, if you're not going to practice, take down your sign. Don't purport to be a doctor and then not practice. Don't purport to be a follower of Jesus Christ and not practice. Don't say I follow Jesus Christ, but..." There's no activity. Don't say I love the Lord.
He heard my cry. Don't say He's a bridge over troubled waters. A rose of Sharon. Don't say He's bomb in Gilead. Don't put up a sign.
And then tell me you don't practice—that's a contradiction. God is looking for some men and women who go public, who put up the sign, "I'm a visible, verbal follower of Jesus Christ," but then who make an impact and practice for the glory of God.
