The Imperatives of Influence
Matthew 5
· 13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
· 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
· 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
· 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Intro: Matthew chapters 5-7 is known as the Sermon on the Mount. In this chapter, Jesus dealt with a wide variety of subjects. He preached on just about every topic under the sun.
He hit everything that moved. Go look at it. He preached on the Beatitudes. Murder. Adultery. Divorce. Oaths. Retaliation. Love. Giving of alms. Prayer. Fasting. Money. Judging. False teachers. False professions and more.
The part of the message that I want to focus on tonight is known as “The Similitudes.” (vs. 13-16)
In these verses, Jesus compared His disciples to two elements - Salt and Light.
Both of these elements are interesting because they are:
A. Specific in their Assignment
In both places, Jesus said to His disciples – YE ARE THE…
Not ye are like salt and light; He said YE ARE THE SALT…YE ARE THE LIGHT.
It’s not a choice; it’s not an option; it is an assignment.
B. Simple in their Analogy
If Jesus said Ye are the diamonds of the world, or the rubies of the world, that might present a problem.
Salt is found in the ground.
Salt is not a rare commodity.
Salt is cheap, affordable, found anywhere and everywhere.
Candles are about as common as anything you can imagine.
There is not a civilization on the planet that doesn’t know what a candle is.
They know how to make them. They know how to use them.
They are not complicated or expensive.
Candles are simple and easy to make and easy to use.
The truth I find in these two simple analogies is that we are without excuse to not be the salt and the light.
Every child of God is the salt, and the light.
Regardless of your age, where you live or how long you’ve been saved.
C. Significant in their Alteration
These two common elements have a common denominator; when they are introduced, they make a difference.
Adding salt to your food brings about a delightful transformation.
Adding light to a darkened house has a significant effect on the environment.
Both the salt and the light are important because though they are simple, they have a significant impact.
In this passage, there are two clearly defined categories of people.
Those that have influence, and those that do not.
Last week’s message on Tributaries was about the collective contributions of others into your life.
The message tonight could almost be Part 2 of that message from last week.
The definition of INFLUENCE according to the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary is:
· IN'FLUENCE, noun [Latin influens, influo, to flow in; in and fluo, to flow.] Literally, a flowing in, into or on, and referring to substances spiritual or too subtil to be visible, like inspiration. Hence the word was formerly followed by into. Influence denotes power whose operation is invisible and known only by its effects.
Every Christian in this church service is either one or the other.
God intended for every single Christian to be an agent of change.
You are either having influence or you aren’t.
The Imperatives of Influence are:
I. Fearlessness
I speak of this often, but probably not enough.
The level of fear and intimidation in God’s people is mind boggling.
We have the truth, we have been delivered from eternal damnation, God is our Father, and we are afraid.
We have access to the very throne room of the Creator, and God’s people are many times to scared to do anything.
We have all heard many messages on salt and light.
I have preached on it and alluded to it many, many times throughout the years.
· 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel,
But I want to point out something that is so simple that it is ridiculous.
I want to make a statement that is elementary but profound – light is not afraid of the dark!
Salt is not supposed to be afraid of food.
Salt is not worried about whether anyone likes salt or not.
It has one job – change the taste of the food.
That’s it!!
In recent years, I have observed a heightened degree of intimidation from the world.
The faithful few have been stifled, subdued, and silenced by a secular society for an extended period. The church has retreated in response to church closures and progressive, woke ideology, to our shame. The Christians in this nation have concealed themselves behind the security of their steepled structures for too long. The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth, must resume proclaiming the truth. It is time for the saints of God to stand up and confront the world with courage and audacity
We have been given a window of grace and an open door of renewed liberties and we need to go on the offence!
This is not the time for fear.
The days of being politically correct are over.
The need to tiptoe around blatantly unbiblical social issues is past.
It’s time for the church of God to let their light SO SHINE!
Illuminate the world with the Gospel.
Blind the devil with the brightness of our testimony and witness.
Chase away the shadows of evil with a godly and holy glow of righteousness.
Now is the time to dispel the clouds of satanic deception.
Now is the time to drown out the lies of the wolves in sheep’s clothing with a resounding voice of unified truth.
It’s time to put the light back in the cities that are on the top of the hill.
· 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
The Imperatives of Influence are:
II. Faithfulness
A. Faithful to fulfil the Expectation of Influence
God intended for every single Christian to be an agent of change.
Let me oversimplify this point: salt is worthless if it doesn’t salt anything.
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?
The secret to making a difference is simply never forgetting that is what we are supposed to be doing!!!
We must be faithful and consistent in fulfilling the job that was given us to do.
When salt is placed in a location, it is put there with an expectation of making a difference.
It is put there with the expectation of having a noticeable and profound effect.
When a light is put in place, it is put there to make a difference.
It is supposed to CHANGE the environment in which it was place.
Likewise, when God put the church here, it comes with a very clear and unquestioned mandate.
The church was put here for such a time as this to bring about a noticeable and profound change.
· The salt is not placed on the table to live comfortably in a nice, pretty saltshaker.
· The salt was not purchased for it to be an ornament on the shelf for all to admire.
· The salt was not put the scene to add to the décor of the atmosphere.
The salt has one purpose – the salt has one clearly defined expectation – to be an agent of change.
The Bible is clear. Jesus was bluntly plain: “…if the salt have lost his savour…it is thenceforth good for nothing…”
Let me expound on that – If salt is not an agent of change, it is absolutely worthless.
The word SAVOUR in verse 13 means to make flat and tasteless; foolish; to be or act foolishly
In other words, it is pointless. There is no benefit; it doesn’t make sense.
QUESTION: I wonder how many Christians Jesus would look at tonight and conclude that they were “good for nothing?”
B. Faithful to fulfil the Extent of Influence
Jesus clearly detailed the extend of our influence in verse 13 and 14.
· 13 Ye are the salt of the earth…
· 14 Ye are the light of the world.
The extent of our influence is not our family. Or our home.
The extent of our influence is not our church or local ministry.
It is not even our community.
The expectation and the extent of our influence is THE EARTH and THE WORLD.
It is a global influence.
It is an influence upon which the sun never sets.
Around the clock and around the world.
The extent of our influence has no boundaries and it has not limits.
God put the church here to change the world.
We cannot ever lose sight of that.
NOTE: How does a candle light the world???
By lighting up your city – vs. 14.
How do you light up your city?
By lighting up your house. – vs. 15
If you and I will be faithful to influence ALL THAT ARE IN THE HOUSE.
And every house will be faithful to influence THE CITY THAT IS SET ON THE HILL.
Together, we can LIGHT THE WORLD!
The Imperatives of Influence are:
III. Fruitfulness
Verse 16 is crystal clear. One of the IMPERATIVES OF INFLUENCE is good works.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
We find the word “good” used twice in these verses.
The salt is either “good” or “good for nothing.”
The light shining before men translates into a person’s “good works.”
There is no way we will have any influence without producing a strong, healthy crop of fruit.
Jesus was unmistakable in John 15 why we are here:
· 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
· 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
· 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
These exact sentiments are echoed in our text.
· 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
There is no greater “good works” than winning the lost to Christ.
There is no greater manifestation of fruit than bringing forth the lost into the fold.
· Jude 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
Conclusion: These verses underline three key truths that we should take away from this message.
A. Our Position of Influence
God put us here where we are to influence others.
Salt and light has no control over where they are placed; they are agents of change regardless of where they’re put.
B. Our Power of Influence
We can fulfill our duty or we can fail.
We can be salt that has savour, or we can be salt that has lost its savour.
We can let our light so shine before men, or we can hide it under a bushel.
In order to succeed, we must be Fearless, we must be Faithful, and we must be Fruitful.
Without these three things, we will have no power or influence on anything or anybody.
C. The Purpose of Influence
The purpose is simply that others may see our good works and glorify our Father.
It’s not about making us look good; it is all about glorifying HIM!
QUESTION: Are you salt with savour, or salt that has lost its savour?
Are you letting your light shine, or are you hiding it under a bushel?
Comments