← The Church of Eleven22
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All right. Good morning. Good morning. You are extra loud this morning. Way to go. Way to go. You're making up for two weeks ago, so good job, man. What a service so far. You don't know this because you don't know what I'm preaching, but I do. So what we've experienced so far in this worship experience is living out of what we're going to talk about in the text. If you got your Bible, go to Matthew, Matthew, chapter five. We're gonna spend six weeks in what is known as the Sermon on the Mount. Okay? Today we're talking about Salt and light, city on a hill. That's what we're talking about. And I want you to see this is what's happening in this worship experience. We have worshiped God in song. We're gonna do that some more at the end. We have celebrated here at San Pablo and at every campus a couple of few people that are gonna renounce the ways of the world, the sins of their past, anything dark and demonic that they've ever been connected to, anything. And they are going to dedicate their whole life to Jesus being their Lord and Savior. We have commissioned some folks to go plant a brand new church that we've gathered in this place to connect with the living God. Not just so we could do it again next week, but so that we could go out and make a difference in this world. This is what this whole passage is about. And if you're brand new to Bible study even, you're going to hear some familiar language in this passage. If you've ever heard somebody called the salt of the earth, you know he's the salt of the earth that comes from what Jesus is gonna say here. If you ever grew up singing this Little Light of Mine, anybody sing this Little Light of Mine growing up, alright? These are all the Baptists with their hands up comes from this passage. Now one of the things I do wanna point out to you is that this is just one sermon by Jesus, okay? We're gonna, it's gonna take us six weeks to go through it. It took Jesus, I don't know, 10 minutes to preach it, 15 minutes to preach it. And it was just one continuous sermon. And so you gotta remember last week, he starts with the gospel, he starts with the Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are you when you realize that I don't bring anything to this equation of my salvation except that I'm spiritually bankrupt and I'm not just a bad person that needs to do better. I'm a Sinner that needs a Savior. And when you realize that, you begin to mourn. That doesn't mean you're just sad about events in your life. You mourn your spiritual condition, that we have been separated from God. And when you get to that place, blessed are you when you turn over the reins of your life to another master, to Jesus. And then God begins to work in and through us to transform us from the inside out. And then the thing that he ends with is, blessed are you when you begin to follow in the footsteps of Jesus to such a point that the world doesn't. He's not into you. Blessed are you when you are persecuted for the name of Jesus. Blessed are you when your priorities are his priorities. And that does not align with the priorities of this world. So this world reviles you and says lies about you and looks at you and says, what is wrong with you? Calls you names, because we don't align with the way this world lives. And then immediately following that, he's going to say, you're the salt of the earth. Here's the problem with preachers like me. The list is long. Don't say, Amen, Gretchen. But here's the thing. This is just one sermon. And oftentimes when preachers like me preach, we take a passage and we just walk through the passage. And it's not like Jesus did the blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kind of evil against you. All right, you guys go and think about that, and we'll talk about the next thing next week. No, no, no. Right on the heels of being persecuted, of being reviled, when things are not going your way, on the heels of that, he immediately then says, you are the salt of the earth. This is why this matters. Okay? Do you know when people are watching you most? It's not when everything's going your way. It's when things are not going your way. I mean, if everything's going awesome and you think, well, because my life is awesome, then I'm going to be a living testimony to everybody. Well, in that case, people don't actually want your God. They want your awesome. And they might try to use your God to get to awesome, and then being awesome is actually their God. If life is just all about Cadillacs and cotton candy, then people will do whatever it takes to get that thing. The real testimony of the real believer is, especially when your life is hell, especially when the circumstances of your life, when you are being reviled by this world, when the circumstances are not going your way. And yet you can display what the Bible calls a peace that transcends all understanding. That's when your co workers, that's when your teammates, that's when your roommate leans in and goes, how are you even doing this? And your honest answer is, I don't know how to explain it. The Bible would say this way, I have a peace that transcends understanding. Like, I know it doesn't make sense on paper, but I still know the one who holds the whole world in his hands, and he's still got me in his hands. And as I look into the future, I, I know that he's in charge, not my circumstances. So it's not okay, but I'm going to be okay. And so Jesus, after firmly establishing that we are saved not by turning over a new leaf, but turning over control of our lives to Jesus, now he's going to talk about how we should act. The majority of the Sermon on the Mount, most of it is, what does the gospel infected life look like? I want to be clear, I got to say this over and over, because the moment we start talking about our activity, there's something wrong with our broken human brains. And we will begin to believe that activity determines our identity. And the gospel is exactly the opposite. So he establishes the gospel. That's what the Beatitudes are all about. And then he says, because you have turned the reins of your life over to a new master, then come God begins to transform us from the inside out. And it is going to have an impact on this world. Matthew 5:14, you are the salt of the earth. Not you ought to be, not start acting like it. But Jesus is going to begin with identity, because identity precedes activity. And so he says, you are the salt of the earth. Well, what does that mean? Well, salt does things. In the first century, the primary reason people would use salt was to preserve meat. They didn't have freezers in the first century. One of God's great graces to us is refrigeration and freezers. Amen. I have three stand up seven foot tall freezers full of wild game meat. Because my Bible says, in Acts 10:13, rise up, kill and eat. James says, be not merely hearers of the word and deceive yourself, but do what it says. So that's what I do. Well, they didn't have this. And so what they would do is they would take salt, they would pack it into meat to preserve the meat from decay. Let me put this on the bottom shelf. What the church is supposed to be Is we are supposed to be people that have been so transformed by this world that our attitudes and actions in this world fight against decay in our decaying society. And we have a decaying society. I don't have to spend any time convincing you of that, right? Marriage is in decay, morality is in decay, families are in decay. All kind of things are in decay. And so what we are supposed to do as people who follow after Jesus is we fight against hate and injustice and racism and that we fight for the least of these. We fight for mental health, we fight for the special needs, we fight for the unborn Anywhere where God's way is being undermined, Christians are supposed to step into that space and fight for every image bearer of God. Friday night, Was it Friday? Yeah, Friday night when I saw thousands of you at night to shine. I mean, it was like an 1122 event. And we were just cheering on the special needs folks in our community, cheering on every image bearer of God. That's what salt looks like. That's what salt looks like. This is what we're supposed to do. Salt also makes you thirsty. You ever eat something salty and it makes you real thirsty? Here's a part of what Jesus is saying. You were supposed to live in such a way that, that people see your life and get thirsty for God, that salt makes things better. Salt makes things taste better. Have you ever noticed that ever eating an unsalted fry, what Marxists do or something that ain't adds flavor to this world? You see, there's one of two roads you can live on. You can live. You can listen to the voice of this world, the enemy. And he's trying to bait you down a road that leads to death and destruction. Jesus is a good shepherd and when we follow after him, it leads to life and life abundantly. And Christians should be enjoying life more than anybody else. Listen, if you find a Christian, they're not hard to find. And it looks like they were weaned on a pickle, you know what I mean? Their face is just like all the time. They're not doing it right. We are supposed to enjoy life more than everybody else because we know the giver of life, man. I've had a couple of incredible meals this weekend. This is one of my favorite places to point this out. This past week I was in Colorado with a few friends and I ordered an elk loin steak. You ever had an elk loin steak? And so I cut into that thing, man, and I put it in my mouth and ate it and I enjoyed it more than the pagans that were sitting next to me. Now, I don't know that they were pagans, but we were in Colorado, so the chances are pretty high. And here's why. If you don't know the God of the universe, if you don't know it, then the best you can get out of a steak is the steak. The best you can get out of this is what it tastes like. But when you're a believer in Jesus, then your worship does not terminate on the steak sitting on your plate. Your worship rolls up. I know the one that came up with the idea of elk. I know the one that gave us the opportunity to have this. And last night, for Valentine's Day, Gretchen and I went to Three Forks and we sat there and I got a. What did I get? A bone in ribeye. Praise. Oh, my goodness. It's a handle, man. You pick that thing up, you're not supposed to because it's fancy. And not only do I get to enjoy the bone in ribeye cooked medium rare, which is every time you order something medium rare, you're just pointing back to the resurrection. You realize this. Y' all don't know. In the old covenant, no blood. In the new covenant, medium rare. Praise God. That's gospel meat. Wrap bacon around it, and then you're basically in heaven. That's what that means. Okay. Not only am I enjoying this steak to the glory of God, I'm getting to sit here with my bride of 26 years, who in God's sovereignty orchestrated our lives together. That I'm not just sitting with some random person that I happen to be married to. No, no, no, no. That God orchestrated this thing. So it's not just the steak that I'm eating, but it's the company that I'm with. And it doesn't just terminate on the night. It rises up to say, God, you were so, so, so good. And when I sing you songs and when I share my faith and when I eat this steak, it's for your glory. We are supposed to add flavor to this world. That's it, man. And our church should make our community better. Our church, like everywhere from Orlando to Jessup, ought to be better because the church of 1122 is there. You see, we are for our communities. We are for our cities under the glory of God. Because we are salt. And we should be salt in our homes, in our communities, through our churches, and we should be salt in this nation. Sometimes, recently sometimes, people will be a little critical. People are always critical. People are critical about this. They'll say, pastor, it seems like you're getting a little political. No, no, no, no, no, man. I am theological. And the moment politics begins to get out of its own lane and try to get into the lane of redefining theological things like redefining marriage or transing our kids or calling the murder of innocent babies health care, then we need to be salt in those areas and push them back into their lane. Because this is what we have been called to do, that we are salt in our schools and in our homes and at Walmart and the voting booth. We are to prevent decay for the glory of God and for human flourishing. This is what we've been called to do. But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. Here's what he's saying. Non salty salt is useless. It's just little white specks of nothing. Non salty salt is useless. The Bible knows nothing of the fruitless Christian. Like the Bible doesn't even have a category for the Christless Christian. And there's a lot of that these days. People that try to proclaim the banner of Christianity, they just don't follow after Christ. And then Jesus says, well, the only thing you're good for is to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Now, you couldn't go to Walmart and buy salt in a salt shaker back in the day. The way they got salt is they would go down to the Dead Sea, and the Dead Sea is the saltiest place on earth. And part of the reason that it's dead is because it has all inputs and no outputs. That's a whole sermon right there in and of itself. And so they would take leaves and branches and that sort of thing and go saturate it in the Dead Sea, and it would get salt all over it. And then they would take those branches and then they would wipe it on their food or wherever they needed salt. And when it ran out of salt, they would throw it away. And here's the thing about salt. Salt must be scattered to work. Salt in a salt shaker does you no good, does it? It's just future good. But if the salt never leaves the salt shaker, it's not doing any good. The salt is not supposed to just salt the other salt. The salt is supposed to be applied to the places that need salt. This is why the church is to be sent that we're supposed to serve. We're supposed to go on Those mission trips we're supposed to pray for and share our faith with our one more that we're supposed to be active in our community, locally and nationally. Like, God didn't save you and salt you for you to just sit at church. God saved you and salted you so that you could be salty in this world, that we could be sent out to make a difference in this world. And now Jesus is gonna shift gears. You're not supposed to mix metaphors, according to my 9th grade English teacher. So apparently Jesus wouldn't have done good in that class, so he's gonna give you a new one. You are the light of the world. What a promise. Because Jesus says he was the light of the world, and now he looks at us and says, you are the light of the world. Well, how is that possible? Because if Jesus is in you, the light is in you. And that light is meant to shine in dark places. And again, he didn't say you ought to act like light. You ought to start trying to be light. He said, you are the light of the world. Again, identity precedes activity. And if you're not being, you ought to be. And the reality is light pushes back darkness. We live in a dark world. And so where the Christian is supposed to be is in the darkest places of this world so that we might push back darkness. Third illustration he uses, just in case you're a little slow on the uptake. All right, this is for the public school kids. Ready? That was me, so save your emails, all right, Whatever. So he says, you're salt. You're light now. You're gonna be a city. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. And by the way, if you remember, we talked about this a ton. A part of what Matthew was trying to do is connect the dots that Jesus is the greater Israel where the people of God failed. Jesus is going to accomplish what they did not do. And they were supposed to be salt, light. And literally he calls them a city on a hill. But they were just worried about their own city instead of the whole world. They seeing how they were set apart unto the glory of God and pointing people to the glory of God. And so he says, you are a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. Verse 15. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. All right, I know y' all don't think about this because you don't work at church. You just come here. When you come here, one of the common conversations about the church happening amongst people like me that do this full time. Is this question, is the church for church people or non church people? Is the church for Christians or is the church for lost people? Now, maybe you've heard there are no dumb questions, but there are dumb people that ask questions because the premise of that question is dumb. The church is not about you. The church is not about lost people. The church exists for the glory of God. That's why the church exists. It's his idea. And so God is glorified when lost people get saved. And when saved, people live, sent. This is why this church is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. The church is for the glory of God and we are to live our lives on display so that people would be drawn to him. And the reality is, is that every church has a tendency to turn inward and forget about living outward. This is what it's like. Who would light a lamp and then cover it up? I mean, think about the way a light works, okay? Some of your lights have been on the whole service. Don't worry about it, okay? When you turn a light on, you don't aim it at you. You can't see anything except the light. This is what so many Christians do, this is how so many churches live, is everybody just thinks the light is all on them. And the reality is, is that Jesus is the light. And what we are supposed to do is shine it into dark places as we push back darkness. If we make it all about us, then immediately, immediately we go wrong. You see, God did not save you for you. God saved you to put on display Christ. That's right, Christ. And by the way, I've told you this 10,000 times. You want to grow in your relationship with Jesus. You want to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. To the very first disciples, he didn't say, follow me and we're going to do a book study. Follow me and I'm going to teach you some songs. Oh, no, no. He says, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. The number one way to help you deepen your relationship with Jesus is you get real serious about the Great Commission. You get real serious about helping other people discover their relationship with Jesus. And too many times, man, too many times, people that know Jesus or claim to know Jesus, they are the light and they put a basket over it. Who would do that? All of us have a tendency to do that. So what's the basket covering your life? I'll give you a few. One is Pride. One is pride. The moment we make it all about us. The moment the believer thinks, oh, we are distinct from this world and you don't have empathy and care for the world, but disdain for it. Watch yourself. There is no way you can simultaneously look down your nose at other people you and fix your eyes on Christ Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith. It's impossible. It is a basket that we put over our head. Listen, people are not our enemy. We have an enemy. He is the devil. And some of them have been captivated by him. But our battle is not against flesh and blood. We need to see every other image bearer on this planet, regardless of what they believe or how they vote or what they believe in. Whatever. As duped or tricked by this enemy as. And we are a part of the rescue mission. And the only reason you're not them is by the grace of God. The second one is fear. The reason we don't share our faith, the reason we don't stand up for what God says is right and true, is fear that we bow down to the applause of man. This is why Paul says in Galatians 1:10, am I now trying to win the approval of man or of God? For if I'm trying to win the approval of man, I cannot be a servant of Christ. Can you imagine if you had a conversation with the Apostle Paul about why you don't share your faith? Think about this. The Apostle Paul, who was imprisoned and beheaded for sharing his faith, who had the audacity at one point to say, to live as Christ, to die is gain while he's in jail. He's like, they say, hey man, we're going to kill you. He's like, thank you because I'm about to go to heaven. Nevermind, we're going to let you live. Cool. You got a hymnal. Because I need to lead this jailer to Christ. That's freedom, right? And then you're like, well, the reason I don't share my faith, Paul. And he's like, ooh, I know. Is it because you're afraid you'll be fed to the lions? No. Is it because you're afraid like your family might be jailed forever? Not exactly. It's awkward. That's it. It's awkward. They threw rocks at me until I was dead one time and then got back up and went and finished my sermon. But you're afraid of a little awkwardness. What that means is you have the fear of what everybody else thinks. And it's like taking this light and putting A bushel over it. So sometimes it's pride, sometimes it's fear, and sometimes it's just distracted by comfort. We just start acting like the world, man. We wake up every day and we forget that we're a part of the rescue team. And everything we're worried about is how is God going to serve me today? We just worry about all the things around us. One of my favorite books, I quote it all the time, I'll keep quoting it all the time, is a book by Dr. John Piper called don't waste your life. Because quite honestly, the average American Christian is wasting their life. He says this life is war. That's not all it is, but it is always that. I have no idea what that means. That's the most John Piper thing I've ever read in my life. But I love it, man. He says life is war. It's not all it is, but it is always that. And our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. And it's not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. Prayer gives us the significance of frontline forces and gives God the glory of a limitless provider. So let me ask you this. What if God came to you tonight, showed up in your room, however that would look and said the answer is yes. And you said to what? Everything you've prayed for all week. How would this world be different? Would you one more be saved? Would prodigals come home? Would there still be unreached people groups in other places? Or would the answer be no? Because I've prayed that the gospel would make it to them. Would marriages still be torn apart by divorce and sin? Would people still be addicted? Would there still be people that hate other people just because the way they look? Or would the only thing that ever happened in your life is the food would nourish your body and you'd get a good parking spot and it would. The sun would be out tomorrow. You see, if our prayers are not absolutely intimidating to us, they might be insulting to the almighty God. He goes on later in the book to say this. He gives a little confession, which makes me feel a little bit better about myself, Dr. Piper says I am wired by nature to love the same toys that the world loves. I start to fit in. I start to love what others love. I start to call earth home. And before you know it, I'm calling luxuries, needs, and I'm using my money just the way unbelievers do. And I begin to forget the war. I don't think much about people perishing missions and unreached people drop out of my mind and I stop dreaming about the triumphs of grace. And I sink into a secular mindset that looks first at what man can do, not what God can do. It is a terrible, terrible sickness. And I thank God for those who have forced me again and again towards a wartime mindset. Jesus says, you are the salt of the earth. You're the light of the world. You're the city on a hill. And so if you have a bushel over your light, you need to take this thing off so that your faith can be applied to this lost world. Verse 16. He 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. So let me ask you, are you being salty and light like at home and at work and in your community? Are you? Jesus is saying, all right, since it is by grace that you have been saved, not by works, get to work. Not so that you will be saved, but because you have been saved. Now listen, the gospel is not anti effort, it's anti earning. But if you've been run over by the grace train, it ought to change everything about everything about everything. My favorite illustration of this is the movie Saving Private Ryan. If you haven't seen it, you should see it. All right, Spoiler. If you haven't seen it at this point, I can't spoil the movie for you, okay? This is what happens. There's a kid, Private Ryan, got a bunch of brothers. They all got killed in World War II. So the government decides, not because of anything Private Ryan has done, but just because they just want to grace his family. They're going to save Private Ryan. So Tom Hanks, I can't remember his name. Captain Miller, that's what it is, but I just call him Tom Hanks. So they commissioned Tom Hanks and a bunch of guys to go find and save Private Ryan. So that's what they do. They go behind enemy lines, they fight like crazy. They save Private Ryan. When they're coming out of this one battle, Tom Hanks gets shot up. He's over this bridge, he's laying on a car, he's like, about to die, and he grabs Private Ryan by the scruff of the neck and he says this. Earn it. Earn it. Now can you earn your salvation? No. And Private Ryan didn't earn his salvation. They didn't. Tom Hanks didn't show up and give him a test and say, if you do good, then I'll save you. He already saved him. He already rescued him from the battle. What he is saying is, I'm doing for you what you could not do for yourself. I'm getting you out of this hell. I'm getting you out of this war zone. So whatever you do, don't waste your life. Live the rest of your life like me. Laying down my life for you had some meaning to you. Earn it. Okay. Then you get to the end of the movie, and now Private Ryan's old. He's a grandpa. And they go back to visit the grave of Tom Hanks, who laid down his life for Private Ryan. And his kids and his grandkids are kind of all running around. And he looks at his wife and every grown man in here, bro, if you don't cry at that, it's because you're not a man. And he looks at his wife and he asks her this question. And he's old, man. He's at the end of his life. He. He is evaluating from the moment that Tom Hanks saved him to the moment he is now. And he looks at his wife and he goes, tell me I was a good man. Tell me I was a good man. And here's what he's saying. Because somebody loved me enough to lay down their life for me. Please tell me I didn't waste my life. This is what the gospel does in and through us. It's not anti effort, it's just anti earnings. We don't do anything to earn our salvation. But the moment that we get saved, we walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus. And we are about the King's business, not just our business. That's what he's saying. And so Jesus says, listen, man, you're salt, you're light, so live in such a way that people see your good works and give glory to God and. And amen to that. Amen to that. But here's the one thing I'll give you. Here's the one thing I'll give you is I'm not disagreeing with Jesus. Good gracious. I work for him. But just doing good things will never be enough. You've gotta See this in the context that I showed you earlier. Cause people do good things for people all the time. If you're in your neighborhood and your neighbor didn't bring his trash can up, and you bring up the trash can, and never once have I ever seen that, and then people go, thank you for bringing up my trash can. Could you tell me about this hope that you have in Jesus Christ? They're just like, oh, he's a nice guy. You should be a nice guy. We should do kind things, for sure. But if you'll remember, the context is, blessed are you when others revile you and you are persecuted and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You're the salt of the earth. In other words, when life is kicking your teeth in because you're a follower of Jesus, that's gonna be the saltiest opportunity you ever have. When everything around you is not the way you would want it to be. When you were walking through extreme pain because you are a Christian, this is when people will look at you. When your life puts on display that you have a treasure that is not what this world treasures, but you treasure Christ above all things. This is the darkest moment of your life. And yet you're shining the light of Christ the brightest. It reminds me of Philippians chapter 2. Paul writes this from prison. I was a youth pastor for about 15 years. The majority of the Scriptures I memorized, I memorized from the NIV 84, the new international version. I don't preach from it because it's a thought by thought translation instead of a word for word like the ESV. But in Philippians 2:14, before I would go on any trip with our teenagers, I made them all memorize this verse. Couldn't memorize it. Couldn't go on our trip. That's what we do. Here's what it says. Ready? Do everything without complaining or arguing. Selah. That's a verse. So the moment they were coming to me, like, eh, I don't have, you know, my water's cold in my shower, I be like, ho, ho. Is that a complaint? Well, let me check. Does this fall in the everything category? You know what it does, so shut up. That's what I would say. My mom doesn't let us say shut up. Okay, you're still complaining. Shut up times two. And then there's a promise attached to this verse. Philippians 2:14. Do everything without complaining or arguing. That you might shine like stars in a crooked and depraved generation. Let me tell you what this means. When you're at work and your boss is the worst. I mean, he's a jerk. Everybody knows it. You know it. Cause you work for him. And you're at the water cooler and everybody is gossiping and slandering. They're not talking. They're talking about him instead of to him. And then you just decide, I'm not gonna join in this conversation. You're being salt. You're being light. The Bible says it's like taking the sun and putting it in the middle of your office complex when everybody else is complaining. You gotta work on Saturday. And you're not complaining that you're doing everything without complaining or arguing. You were so set apart. And people are like, hey, listen, why don't you talk junk about Tammy? Everybody knows Tammy's the worst. And you'll be like, I'm not disagreeing with you, but I have a different king. And he says that that's not how I'm supposed to use my mouth to curse other people. What I'm supposed to do is give blessing to other people. The Bible says people will look at you and you will be different. And so Jesus is going to say, all right, after he said, you're saved by grace, this is what the Beatitudes are about. And then he's going to tell us, and this is how we ought to act. We ought to be salt, we ought to be light. We ought to be a city on a hill. So after he tells us to get to work, to be salt and light, and before next week, we're going to talk about how to do life. Like, if you're a follower of Jesus, we do everything different. We do marriage different. We do money different. We do forgiveness different. We do sex different. That's what we're going to talk about next week. So tell all your perverted friends, be here. It's the craziest thing when word gets out that I'm talking about sex at church. We have high attendance. What do they think I'm going to say? It's usually stop. It's usually what it is. But whatever, we'll talk about it next week. So what he wants to do as like a sandwich between, all right, here's the gospel and here's how you ought to act. He's going to root this thing back in the gospel so that we realize that it is not our performance that earns our right standing before God. It's our right standing before God that drives the way we act. So in verse 17, he says, do not think that I have come to abolish the law or prophets. What Jesus is saying is everything I'm telling you is rooted in the word of God. And let me tell you what a lost world is going to be doing to you, especially in the season right now. There are going to be some. What some people call progressive Christians, which, by the way, there is no such thing. Those are called lost people. People that stand in authority over the word of God. And they're going to say, jesus never said anything about that. Jesus said everything in this book that he wrote. Because you cannot divorce the Holy Spirit, who all scripture was breathed out by God. You can't divorce God the Spirit and God the Son. And so Jesus is saying, everything I am doing. I didn't come to abolish the law or the prophets, but I, he says, do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. Here's what he's saying. When I say to you, blessed are you who are poor in spirit. I'm not lowering the bar by which you come to know God. The Bible says, be holy or perfect as he is perfect. And when Jesus showed up, not only did he fulfill every promise and prophecy, but by his life, he fulfilled every righteous requirement. So that when he went to the cross, he didn't merely die for us, he died instead of us. That's what we sang. You stand by my side and you stood in my place. This is why he is worthy of his name, because his name means Savior. He is fulfilling the righteous requirement. Listen, there are many, many churches, many liberal denominations and apostate churches. And again, there's no such thing as a liberal Christian. Those are called lost people. These are people that stand in authority over the word of God and try to tell it what it means and what we do. If you turn the reins of your life over to Christ and call him your Lord, that means king. And that means the king is in authority over you. And of course, there's things in there you don't like, because we're crooked and depraved, of course. And the least loving thing you could ever do is try to mold the word of God around what you want instead of submitting and surrendering your life to the Word of God. Now, don't be mean about it. This is the sword of the Spirit. This is not a sledgehammer to beat up Tammy next to you in your cubicle. This is not what it is. But the world says we do money and sex and marriage and divorce and oaths one way, and God's word says we do it a different way. And so listen, sometimes people will lament that churches close every day. Not me. Not me. The book of Revelation makes it very clear. You move away from the word of God, you move away from Jesus. And when you do that, he'll say, hey, I'll take my lampstand back from that church. Those aren't actually churches. They're just civic organizations that gather together and do nice stuff. And what they will do is they will take the ethic of the Sermon on the Mount. Here's we ought to treat people without submitting and surrendering to the salvific lordship of Jesus Christ. And Jesus says, that's not what I'm about. The reason that we do these good things is in the name of Jesus. And so when they close their doors, no problem. Tell me who you are. We need more campuses. That'll be a Bible believing Jesus, exalting people, serving kind of church. That's what we're going to be about. And then he doubles down. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. And then he's gonna end with the gospel. Because if you read the Bible and you think I could do that, then you're being disillusionable. Because what's gonna actually happen when you read the Bible and the call of Jesus is, be perfect for I am perfect. Be holy, for I am holy. And you think, uh, oh, well, I can't do that. So Jesus makes you feel worse here. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And you go, well, I'm screwed. The Pharisees and the scribes were professional do gooders. That's what they did. There's 613 laws in the Old Testament. And they were like, that's not enough. We're gonna add more. Anybody grow up in a house that added rules to God's rules? Like anybody grew up in a house? Like, you can't cuss in our house. I hope you did all right. I know some of you didn't, but you moved here from New York, so whatever. We didn't even grow up in church. But not only could we not cuss, but we couldn't say words that sounded like cuss. Words we can't say, darn it in my house, right? This is how good the Pharisees were like. They added rules to the rules to the rules. And their problem when they showed up is that they didn't think they needed a savior cause they thought they were righteous on their own. By definition that's self righteous. And now Jesus has the audacity to say if you're trying to earn heaven, that unless your right activity exceeds that of these professional do gooders, you will never enter the kingdom. Kingdom of God. Here's what he's saying, is that a right standing with God is not based on your activity, it's based on you trusting someone to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. And so when Jesus shows up on the scene, he accomplishes every promise, every prophecy. He was tempted in every way that you and I are tempted. And yet every single time he does the will of the Father, that his slate is perfectly clean, that the record against him is a perfectly righteous life. And then 2nd Corinthians 5:21 says, and God made him who was without sin to be sin. And on the cross he took on the full payment for our sin. He took on the full sin debt that every single one of us owe. And for anybody that believes that when Jesus on the cross, when he pushes up on his nail pierced feet and and says it is finished, that somehow that counted for me, then he takes on the payment for all of my sin. Every time I wasn't saw it every time I wasn't liked, every time I was afraid to share my faith because of pride, because of comfort, because of fear, whatever the thing, whether I broke God's laws with intent or without intent, every sin that I ever, ever, ever committed were against an almighty eternal God. And because God is just, that requires an everlasting punishment. And if I believe that when Jesus said it is finished somehow that counting for me, then he is imputed or credited or takes responsibility for all of my sin and I get credit or the Bible word is imputed with all of his righteousness. This is what Jesus is saying, that we are not saved by our good works, we are saved by Christ's finished work. However, we are saved from for good works. In Ephesians chapter 2, Paul will say it this way. For by grace you have been saved through Faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we would walk in them. Again, the gospel is not anti effort, it's anti earning. So if you know Jesus, you are salt, you are light. You are a city on a hill. So let me ask you, are you. Are you, like, at work this week? Are you pushing back darkness because you are following after Jesus, or are you indistinguishable from everybody else at work? Hey, you stay at home moms. What a high and holy calling. There's no higher calling, quite honestly, to raise little disciples that you made. And I know it's hard, but are you just like all the other stay at home moms, complain about everything and start drinking wine at 1 o'? Clock? Or are you salt and light in all your mama groups? If you're a CEO, do you do it just like everybody else does it? Or are you significantly different in the way you leverage the opportunity that God has given you? Or are you just being like everybody else? If you're a coach, if you're a teacher, is your scoreboard the exact same scoreboard as everybody else, or do you have a completely different scoreboard because Jesus is your king and not the season? This is how we are called to live. Are you salt and light now, you know the hardest place to be, salt and light? It's at home. Let me tell you, dude, you go on a mission trip with us, you'll be the saltiest version of you you've ever been in your life. I mean, you'd just be salting up everybody. All right? You get up in the morning, you study your Bible. You had to do all this study to even go on our trips. You show up in this place, you're going to pray like you've never prayed. You're surrounded by believers. You just. I mean, it's just all right. And then walk into our own homes and clock out. You ever notice that? Yeah, man. It starts at home. It starts at home. Pastor Olson wrote a book that comes out right now, and it's called Daddy Set the Church on Fire. Now, his dad was not an arsonist. That's not what it means. Okay? His dad was a worship leader, and so. And his dad was not perfect. Pastor Olson would tell you that there was a lot of things that his dad was battling, but a part of what his dad did is he was sought. And listen, man, if you're the parents of little kids, even teenagers. Way more is caught than taught. If you're the parents of teenagers, listen. Teenagers have never been good listeners. They're incredible imitators. And your salt and light at home first might be the greatest ministry that you've ever had in your life. And I say this all the time, and you have no idea what hangs in the balance. You have no idea what hangs in the balance. You see, when Olson's dad, who was a worship leader at the church that Olson grew up in, he had no idea that what he was raised, that little boy that aggravated the life out of him at home would turn into the man that we know as Pastor Michael Olson, who has led us and tens of thousands of people all over the world in into worship. And here's what Michael says in his book. He says, my dad would sit alone in the front room of the house and begin to open his heart. He found another gear as he swayed back and forth on the bench, his shoes set aside so he could feel the pedals with his toes. He played the organ. And I could hear him talking to God through the music from my upstairs bedroom. And I'd stay awake for as long as my eyelids would allow. And eventually they would give up and I would fall asleep to the vibration of the wall next to my bed. Later in the book, he says these days, at just the right time, when I climb the side steps up to the piano as Joby is turning the corner towards the close of his sermon, and after I push all the right buttons and turn all the right knobs and my hands drift down to the keys in front of me, the first thing I think about is my dad. As you know, I came by the spot behind those keys honestly, and most of that has to do with him. And then later on, he says, and I hope my boys see how important it all is, the worship of God, how much it's worth. I hope I can help them see it the way my father helped me, despite our grave imperfections. I hope they understand how that legacy has shaped their them and how it can propel them forward as they live the lives God lays in front of them wherever they may lead. And at the end of their attempt to describe how I spent my energy and passion, as they look back, I hope they're able to smile the same way I do when I think of my dad standing with Christ's scarred hand of affirmation on his shoulder. And maybe at the end of the conversation when they try and sum it all up, they Might say daddy set the church on fire. And so. Amen. So Michael has written a bunch of songs that were all came out of him writing this book about his dad being salt and light in their home and the impact that it has on him and how he now wants to be just that. Salt and light to the ends of the world. Yes and amen. But it starts right at home. So what I've asked Michael to do is he's written a bunch of songs and one of them is called He Made Across His Throne the Jesus. When he talks about his glory, he doesn't talk about it when everything's going good, he talks about it in the most painful moments of his life. And so I've asked him to just sing this over us. So listen to the song.
- [49:40]
B
He made across his throne Embracing it agony, the Lord of life would choose to die to prove his love for me. He made across his throne, raised high for all to see and from that throne his dying breath secured my victory. He made the thorns his crown that pierced his sacred head and from his brow the blood that flowed brought life back from the dead. He made the thorns his crown. O blessed diadem. O hail the king who's suffering draws nations back to him. King of kings, Lord of Lords.
- [51:02]
A
You.
- [51:03]
B
Suffer save the world. Lamb of God, slain for all, you shall reign forevermore. His stripes he made a ro from lash upon his back, tattered and torn, weathered and worn his flesh from hell's attack. His stripes he made a robe in humble royalty and with those righteous stripes we're healed from all infirmity. King of kings, Lord of Lords, you're suffering save the world, Lamb of God, slain for all and you shall reign forevermore. He made the grave bow down.
- [52:42]
A
In.
- [52:43]
B
Reverence to the king. For what was once the final blow is now where life begins. He made the grave bow down, now let his people sing. O hell, where is your victory? O death, where is your stay? I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, your suffering save the world. Lamb of God, slain for all.
- [53:39]
A
And.
- [53:40]
B
You shall reign forevermore. King of kings, the Lord of Lords, you're suffering, save the world, Lamb of God, slain for all and you shall reign forever more. And you shall reign forever more.
- [54:35]
A
Amen and amen and amen. You can stay standing and Michael knows this. It's not good as anybody, man. We're not just clapping for you. We are. We are encouraging you. I'm so glad you caught the fire from your dad and you share that fire with us because that's what it's supposed to look like, man, this whole thing is just a big relay race. You realize that we're just passing on the baton to the next generation. And the next generation and the next generation. Tomorrow night, we'll be doing a book release party right here. Love for you to come join us. You can hear all the stories behind it and all of that. And what I hope is that it is an encouragement, encouragement for a bunch of busted up, broken people like you and me. That God could use us in ways that we could never even think or imagine or dream. The kind of impact that we could have if we would just turn our lives over to him. And then he would look at us and we would hear this. You're salt, you're light, you are a city on a hill. And that is just rooted in the good news of the gospel. And we believe that the gospel, the man's response, that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna make much of him. You see, a big part of what we do is, again, salt. And the salt shaker is useless. But what we do is we come here and we get all salted up again. And one of the ways we do it is by worshiping. Because worship is war. And worship helps us be ready for the war out there. The Bible says in the 40th Psalm, verse three, he says, he put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. And look what happens when the church praises God. And many will see in fear and put their trust in the Lord. So we sing and we bring our treasures. We bring our first and our best. Because what we're telling this world is I'm doing money the way Jesus said do money, not the way the world says do money. And it's all his and a part of my act of worship as I bring, bring to him my tithe, my offerings, my first and my best. And I can't do this without you, God. We pray. And what's really cool is Jesus says, whatever is going on in your life, you can pray about the little dinky things. Why? Because he's a good God and those things are not little and dinky to him, because you're not little and dinky to him. He laid down his life for you. So he says, cast all your cares upon me because I care for you. And we use prayer as the wartime walkie talkie to say, God, I know some areas that I need to be salt and light in a city, on a hill, and I cannot do it without you. So would you fill me with your spirit. And you come and you kneel before your king to receive your kingdom assignment for this week. So we're going to sing, we're going to bring, and we're going to pray. Let's respond.