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Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's Word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in.
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We're going to be in Matthew, chapter 5, beginning with verse 13. Jesus had just given the most famous portion of all the Scriptures, the Beatitudes. And right after he finished that, he's speaking to masses. You have peasants, you have wealthy people. You have all different classes of people, male and female. And he looked at the crowd and he started this portion of the message with this statement. You are. The biggest question you can ask in life is, who is God? But the second biggest question we ask in life is, who am I? And the challenge with these two questions are that we can only answer the second after answering the first, because ultimately, only God knows who you truly are, and only God knows exactly who you can become. You see, David's brothers just saw a shepherd boy, but God saw a king. You know, people will define you based on your circumstances, based on your weakness, but God defines us based on his power to redeem. Pay attention to what I'm saying. You are more than any given situation. You're even more than your mistakes. Jesus looked at the crowd and gave them heaven's perspective. He said, you are meaning you are more than the worst decision you ever made in your life. You are more than what your parents may have said. You're more than what others may still say. If I'm frank with you, one of the secrets to my longevity in ministry is that I have let both Jesus and the Scriptures define me even when others decline me. So it doesn't always matter what folks say. I've learned to look up, say, well, Lord, what do you say? So Jesus looks at the crowd. He says, I know the Romans are taking advantage of you. I know many of you are poor. You don't have the resources, and people look down on you. And some of y' all haven't even showered in a month or so, and. And all the rest. But he looked at them and said, you are the salt of the earth. This is important. Now, Jesus is telling us how God sees us. But the question is, how do you see yourself? The great historian Carter G. Woodson said this. If you can control a person's thinking, you don't have to worry about his actions. When you determine what a person shall think, you don't have to concern yourself about what they might do. You see, if I see myself as just a waste of time, if I see myself as a loser, a slacker ugly, unwanted. What's true about those things I might think about myself is that they actually in themselves become a self fulfilling prophecy. You know, in its purest form, all humility is it's simply the extent which we allow God to tell us who we really are. And if God says I'm beloved, I am beloved. If God says I'm wonderfully and marvelously made, I'm wonderfully and marvelously made. If scripture says I am the righteousness of God, guess what? I am the righteousness of God. If it says I'm a new creation, then I've been made holy and beloved and true. Even though folks may not always agree, I've learned to agree with what God has said. The humblest prayer we can pray is, heavenly father, you are the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and shape my life in your way. So Jesus looked at the crowd again. Soldiers would compel them to carry their belongings for a mile. And sometimes, you know, the taxes were over the top and people were going to jail for not being able to pay the Roman taxes. But Jesus looked at these people and said, you are somebody, you are the salt of the earth. Now since table salt is so prevalent, so available today, we don't really understand what Jesus was saying and how the first century audience took what he was saying. But salt was a major, major commodity in the ancient world. And salt was used for a very long list of super important things. But if I could top the list, salt was primarily used to preserve food, which in the Middle east and in hot environments before refrigerations, this kept families from starving in the scarce and winter months. So the way you preserve meat is you'd salt meat and then you might even smoke the meat. But in seasons, you know, certain seasons the animals were out and about and you could catch them and hunt and kill them, but in other seasons, not so much. So you had to have a stock of meat for the scarce times. Also, salt was used to cure leather, and leather was used to keep people warm in the cold months. Salt was also used to heal wounds. Matter of fact, saline solution is still used today. And of course the obvious, salt was used to flavor food. But what I want you to know is salt was so important that nations even fought salt wars. There were salt taxes, meaning you could pay your taxes in salt. There were even salt roads that led to the salt mines that spawned that great nation, empire Mali in West Africa. So what I'm telling you is salt at that time was many times as valuable as gold. And Jesus looked at this Crowd, torn garments. Some of them just got off work from the farm. Without stuttering, he said, you are the salt, the earth. You are immensely valuable. Back then, Roman soldiers were often paid in salt. The Latin word we translate salt is the word sal. So the word soldier comes from the Latin word sal, dare, meaning to give salt. So again, a soldier was paid in salt. So the term saldir, you know, actually being a soldier was connected to salt. And the word salary is derived from the Latin word sal. The salt word solarium, meaning payment in salt. Even today, it's an insult to say to someone, you're not worth your salt. So if God sees you as salt, why do you see yourself as anything less? Jesus said, you are, yes, you. You might be sitting there feeling broken, busted, and disgusted, but God says, you are the very salt of the earth. We covered the fact that it was valuable, but salt was often also rare. St. Augustine said, God loves each of us as if there was only one of us. But if you know anything about economics in the world, rarity is typically what drives the value of a commodity. And what you need to understand is no one has the same fingerprint. No one has the exact eye color. That's why we can use these retinal scans and biometrics and the rest, because no one's eye color is exactly the same. No one's heartbeat is exactly the same. No one's walk is exactly the same. No one's sense of humor is exactly the same. You were born original and original, so do not dare die trying to be a copy. You, You, You. You. You. Not they. You. I know what they did to you. I know what they said. You are the salt of the earth. This may surprise you, but all parts of the ocean are not equally salty. In fact, most coastlines were too brackish at this time in history for salt making to be economical. So as the rivers ran into the ocean, the salt, it would get diluted. And for that reason, every salt line was not fit to produce salt. And because of this, salt had to be carried inland by merchants. So salt, again, you might think, no big deal, but it was huge. You're the salt of the earth. But then he said, Jesus said this, but if the salt loses its flavor, you were designed to have a certain amount of flavor. Now, salt exposed to the sun and the rain will lose some of its saltiness. But most likely, Jesus was pointing to something that everyone in that region understood. I don't think he was pointing to regular salt, but dead Sea salt, which was full of bromine I mean, it's the greatest intensity of bromine in those waters than any other place on the planet. And it also had many other contaminants that over time would degrade the salt. So Jesus said, you are something, but be careful about becoming contaminated by other things in this world. You hear what I'm saying? That will cause you to decrease in value. But if the salt loses its flavor, it's okay to lose a battle or two, but never lose your flavor. You know, in my life I have lost a few battles, but I will never lose my fight. Pay attention to what I'm saying. My goal is to be as ornery and as annoying to the devil as I was 40 years ago. And may the only person in this room be mad that's mad at me. Be him. But if, meaning this is something that can happen. He called them salt, but he's saying watch it. If the salt loses its what? Flavor. Did you know that most chemicals today are just water soluble salts? That's all fertilizer is, most chemical. Fertilizer, Fertilizers. And what does salt do? It accelerates growth in life. But the absence of salt accelerates death and rot. A salty pulpit and a salty church is more important than you ever imagined. As a human body dies without salt, without us in our communities, in our families, on our jobs, the people there would likewise quickly begin to degrade and die. Salt is necessary for growth in life. And if a message is never salty, you'll never grow. But if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? So I was off. Well, not off, but I was freer than normal much of August and I had a chance to visit some of your social medias counts. Let me read it one more time. But if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? Pay attention to what you say on emails and all the rest. Especially I don't understand why people think just because they talking about politics they can be mean. If we are as bitter and as toxic as the world, the world has no place to run for shelter after things in it only get worse. If we lose our preserving and healing motivations, We'll lose our intended flavor and warmth. Watch what Jesus says next. He kind of sneaks it in and he says it so politely you almost miss it before you realize he just hit you between the eyes. He said, if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? Watch this. He just called them salt. Right it is then. Good. For what? Nothing. Jesus is saying if we're not careful, we can end up Saved, but good for nothing. Because we are as bitter and as angry as everybody else. Six of y' all gonna say amen there. Here's Grandma's good advice. Please taste your words before you spit them out. He said, it is good for nothing. Speaking of salt, who we are, but watch this. But to be thrown out and trampled under feet by men. The quickest way to become spiritually powerless and irrelevant is to lose the very qualities that God gave us to make us different and distinct. Don't be afraid of being different. Be afraid of being just like everybody else. If everyone in a conflict is thinking alike, someone's not thinking. So then Jesus goes on and gives us another illustration. He said, you get the salt piece. I think y' all got it. He said, okay, but watch this. He said, you are the light of the world. So according to Jesus, we're to be what, salt and what fire? Salt has a lot of important benefits, but light is even more essential. It's our primary way of perceiving the world. That's why when you see light in the Bible, it's often a metaphor for knowledge. Because by light, we see and we move and do the things that we do. But he's saying here, as sun causes plant life, and then at night, the moon lights up the sky, too, reflecting the sun. The moon gives ocean life. Jesus was saying, you are the salt of the earth. You're not only valuable, but you're also light. Meaning you're absolutely necessary. Hmm. You and I are the only Bible that some people will ever read. But then Jesus continues, because when you're salt and light, everybody's not gonna like it. Somebody's gonna have something to say. So he continues, but as he continues, because we're moderners, we don't understand exactly what he's saying. He says, a city in the ancient world that made what made a city a city and not a town was the fact it had walls. In fact, the terms translated Hebrew into Greek. Where we get city actually means walled area. So he begins to say, y' all gonna be salt and light, but I'm also gonna protect you. He says, a city set on a hill. Walls are designed to protect the inhabitants from outside attack. Proverbs 25, 28 says this. Whoever has no rule over his spirit. How many know some folks like this? Don't look at nobody. Stop it. They can't control their temper. They can't control their mouth. Pay attention. The fruit of the spirit begins with love. The nine characteristics of the fruit. They're not different fruits they're nine characteristics of the same fruit. It's a fruit of. Not fruits. Fruit singular of the spirit. Starts with love, it ends with self control. Do you know the Holy Spirit comes in your life to help you control yourself? The highest form of government is self government. Is that what I'm saying? You don't have to say every little thing you feel like saying. Every observation you have to make doesn't need to be made. Loose lips. All the Navy knows that whoever has no rule over his spirit is like, watch this. A city broken down. In other words, a city necessarily has walls. Because it's like a city broken down without walls. Our prayer should be, jesus be a fence over all the things I say and all the things I do. Zechariah 2 and 5 says it this way. And then I'm going to speed and try to end this because we have a baby dedication coming up in a couple moments. Just take an extra 10 minutes today. Just hang on there. We're community, let's honor that. But verse five, God said this. He said, for I says, the Lord will be a wall of fire around her and will be the glory in her midst. God's walls will be or may be assaulted, but they will never collapse. How many of you like me, love the scripture? No weapon formed against you shall prosper. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but you gotta read it carefully. God does not promise no weapons will be formed. He just promises that they won't prosper, meaning they won't succeed. So people gonna say stuff and do stuff. But God knows how to vindicate the righteous and the just. All right, so 5 and 14, let's move on. Matthew, let's go back. So what did Jesus say? We are a walled city. God does not erect walls to restrict us, but to protect us. Please stay inside the parameters of God's word when you make your your life choices. A city set on a hill. Watch this now. Notice Set meaning God has placed you in certain places. People just feel you're called if you're preaching somewhere. No, you're called to your job, you're called to your block. You called to your family. You have an assignment, a divine assignment, to be the light of the world wherever you may find yourself. I just happen to be standing, standing behind a pulpit. But the best pulpit is what you're doing in your life. It says, a city that is set on a hill. Watch this cannot be hidden. When God's truly reigning in your life, the difference is easily seen. So what Jesus is telling his disciples, he's saying, listen I need you all to put your big boy pants on. He's saying, you cannot follow me and avoid scrutiny. It comes with the territory, as the ancient philosopher said. He said that the only way to avoid criticism is to say nothing, do nothing and be nothing. Let them criticize you all they want. At least you tried. At least you made an effort. Here's what I find. Often our critics are people with no legs trying to tell others how to run. They ain't never done what you do in a minute in their life. They got all this advice about what you should do. Nor do they, because they have common sense. Light a lamp and put it under a basket or a bushel in the old King James. In other words, hiding light defeats light's purpose. Once again, God placed you in your family. I know you don't like them, but God placed you. In your family on the row you're in, the church you're in, the job you're in. So you can use your voice and God given resources to be a light that others can see. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand. Meaning pay attention here because people get falsely modest on this point. Meaning we must be intentional about letting our light shine. False modesty. I'm not talking about genuine modesty, but false modesty in a believer's life is religious and demonic. If you want to stand out of the crowd, give people a good reason not to forget you. Love them like they never been loved. Give them wisdom like they ain't never heard. Pray for them when other people rejected them. Comfort them when others are throwing stones at them. But watch this. And if we position ourselves properly, meaning not under a bushel, we put it on a stand, we put it high. You know, we. We hang it from a ceiling. It gives light to all who are in the house. This is why we as a church move from a hidden back street to the corner we are on now. It took 20 years for us to do it, but we started from the bottom. Now we're. Forget my attitude. God is just so good. But this brings me to my focus today and I'm done in just a couple verses. The biggest risk a person can take is taking no risk. I'm not talking about being reckless, certainly not talking about walking over people and like people do and violating God's principle. I'm just telling you, if you have the courage to do what it takes to get and stay in the right position, your circumstances will eventually do the rest. The light is light. But if it's not positioned properly. It can't light the whole room. And until you're positioned properly, you will not be able to be the light God needs you to be. So God wants to position you many times. God wants to promote you in order for you to be a greater light to those around you. Let meaning we can stop it. We could be falsely modest. We could be so prideful that we think proud people are the people that are always talking. But sometimes the proud people are the people who feel so self important they can't make a mistake. It takes humility to step out. And there's a possibility folks might laugh. Sometimes our low self esteem is really about pride. We won't try anything, do anything, because we thinking about ourselves all the time. All I'm thinking about is me. Not the God who assigned me, called me. I'm just thinking about me. The word pride conveniently has I right in the center of the word. Let your light watch this. It didn't just say sign, it says shine. It says so shine. God wants you to not just shine, but so shine before men. God does not say though. He wants us, you know, to, you know, set ourselves up so, you know, we're constantly telling people how great we are, but he wants us to position ourselves so people can see how good and great he is. Now, please don't mishear me. All of us struggle at times, but also sometimes people need to see that. You know, I had to share with my kids. You know, you can see, you know, you see me 30, 40 years old by that time. I'm doing things mostly right. But you know, they just see mom and dad, they like perfect. No, dude, no. I didn't start where I was. And sometimes you need to let people see your faults and your failings. Stop telling your kid you so perfect. Then they think they gotta be so perfect. No, they made mistakes. You made mistakes. Well, you made mistakes. They're going to make mistakes. But scripture says, it says though the righteous fall seven times, they shall rise again. So part of letting your sh. Your light shine is being willing to say that God's using the earthen vessel that I didn't get here because I'm perfect. I got here because I worship a perfect and a faithful God. Sometimes my testimony is not that I got everything right. My real testimony is the fact that I never quit. Let your light so shine before men. If I could put that in the common vernacular, you got to work with what the good Lord gave you. More people are depending on you than you realize. Don't turn it down just because a few people are watching. Turn it up. I like the way Mark Twain said it. He said, dance like nobody is watching. Love like you've never been hurt. How many of y' all know how hard that is? Sing like no one is listening, but live like it is heaven on earth. He said, listen, let meaning God's not going to make you. You can hide it if you want to. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works. Good works sometimes get a bad rap in the church. Good works are not the root of faith, because that's a problem, but they are the fruit of faith. If you have genuine faith, it's going to show up somewhere at some time in your life. And life is too short. Short for you not to do something, join something, be a part of something great. And the greatest thing any of us could ever do is walk humbly with our Creator. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works. And watch this and glorify your Father in heaven. This is important. This is the first reference to God being our Father in the entire Bible, I'm told. It's certainly the first reference in the New Testament. But based on context, we see that God is Father only to those willing to shine. He's Father only to those willing to reflect his light. A turtle makes forward progress only if he sticks out his neck. And I feel like. And I felt like as I was preparing today, that God was saying to Esau, don't rest on your laurels. Take a new step of faith. Do something you never done. You know, listen. You know, there were 12 apostles rowing in the boat, but only one of them walked on water. And the reason Peter walked on the water is because he got out of the boat. And you have to take a step of faith. Faith. We talk about the next level, but what's hindering us from the next level is us taking the next step. The next level will not come without the next step. I said, the next level will not come without the next step. The next level will not come without the next step. The next level will not come without the next step. Sometimes the next step is an apology. Sometimes the next step is generosity. Sometimes the next step is a kind word. What God is saying to each of us. He's saying, thank God for the Bible you have under your arm or actually on your phone and all the rest. But God's saying, I want to see it in your life. I don't just want it in your heart. I want it Working out through your hands and your feet and what God is asking each of us to do. And right now is coming to your mind. That thing he wants you to do. Take that step. Get out of the boat. Let the 11 criticize you for going out into the water and starting to sink. But what you need to know is when he called on that name, Jesus grabbed him and they both walked together back to the boat. Don't be so proud that you can't risk somebody making fun of you or ridiculing you. The price of leadership is criticism. The cost of making a difference is criticism. People criticize what they don't understand. But take that step and your Red Sea will part. Pay attention to what I'm saying. Take that step, he said to the man at the pool of Bethesda. Take up your mat and walk. Dude had tried for years to walk. He had to risk failure one more time. But as he risked it, he got up and he walked and he took up his mat and did just what Jesus said. Listen to me. Listen to me. God's telling you to do something. And the only way you're going to break through is not me praying for you. It's not going to be a song sung from this stage. It's going to be you taking the next step. You get anything out of that.
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Thank you for joining us. Until next time, remember, you have what it takes in Christ to live big. We also invite you to partner with Derek Greer Ministries in bringing the life changing and impactful teachings of God's Word to the world. Get started by visiting Derek Greer.com by clicking the link in the description.