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Sermon on the Mount: "Change Agents" (Matthew 5:13-16) · Clifford Baptist

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  Speaker A: Welcome to Truth for the Journey from Clifford Baptist Church, 635 Fletcher's Level Road in Amherst. Please join us today as Pastor Jeffrey Campbell leads us in an in depth study of the Sermon on the Mount. Today's scripture is Matthew, chapter 5, verses 13 through 16. And the sermon is entitled Change Agents.
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  Speaker B: This is the third sermon in this series that we're working through in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew, chapter number five. If you have been with us, hopefully the challenge of being the blessed, those character traits that we carry, and we've looked at that for a couple of weeks now, here is kind of where the rubber meets the road. It's one thing to sit around and talk about it, it's another thing to do it right. Sooner or later, you've got to put feet to the path. You've got to put what you've learned into action. And so tonight, it is going to be a clear call. And this is for you and for me as the church, as believers tonight, very familiar words. I'm not going to give you anything you've never heard before, okay? Just a challenge to be the salt and light of this world and of this earth and what that really means. And so tonight, when we think about those two items, I've titled this message tonight. Change agents. And ultimately we are called to be those agents of change in this world that stand out, that are different simply because of Jesus. Because we have Jesus and because we have Jesus. Not that we're better than anybody. I'm not better than anybody. I'm just. By God's grace and his mercy, I'm saved. And because of that, God calls me and you to be the agents of change in this world. Here's the message of the night. You ready? You have no choice. You have no choice. You know, I know. I'm going to use this as a joke. We often have signups, right? Sign up if you want to do the. There's no signups. If you want to be the salt and light of the earth, you are commanded. And I truly believe this is one of the things that we will have to answer for one day. When we stand before a holy God is what we did with Jesus. And that scares me to death. As agents of change in this world, what did you do with Jesus? And so with that, as we begin tonight, Matthew chapter number five. Some of life's greatest leaders sought change and saw it through. Sometimes what makes a leader great is when they enact change. Change. And it is for the good. There have been world leaders that wanted Change. And it never was accomplished. There have been business leaders that sought change and never saw it through. But the Christian is commanded that we must be the change agents to which change comes to this world. God working through his people. It is the story of throughout God's word. If you go back to the days of Israel, Israel was the change agent, was the nation that God wanted to minister to the world. And today, you and I, as the church, we are the change agents in which God wants to minister to the world through. It's not necessarily the job of Israel anymore. It is the job of the church and. And the job of believers. So tonight, if you hear me say the church and believers, I'm talking about that in the same context. I believe if you're a believer, you should be in the church. And if you are the church, then you're truly a believer in Jesus Christ. The church is not a building, it is the people. Right? And so how do we become those change agents? Two examples tonight. You know them, Salt and light. So let's look at verses 13 and 14. Matthew, chapter number five, verses 13 and 14. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Point number one. Tonight you'll get four of them. Two simple words. You are those two words carry a charge to the disciples and others that will gravitate to the mount, that will hear this, but also some 2,000 years later, for you and I who read this, it is a great reminder of who we are to be. We are to be these agents of salt and light as the men that are closest to Jesus hear what Jesus says. Here's what they don't know yet. Jesus, he will later say, I am the light of the world. Right? You understand that? Jesus says, I am the light of the world. But here's what's going to happen. Jesus will be taken out of the world. And so before he ever tells them he's the light of the world, he's going to tell them, you are the light of the world. And they must become the light of the world because he's going to be gone. Off scene. These men would have to distribute the message that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. How many of you understand that verse? How many of you believe that verse. And as believers of that verse, we are called to share it and be examples of that verse. When people see our lives, these disciples plus those who gathered round were called to a higher standard, the blessed life. A life that would make them poor in spirit and pure in heart, and peacemakers and persecuted. They would be merciful and meek and mournful. They would hunger and thirst for righteousness for his name sake. And then on the heels of that, Jesus says, you are to be the salt and the light. No questions asked. When we think about what we are to be, there's a lot of things we are to be as believers. I believe we are to be good examples, good parents to our children. I believe that we are to respect people whether we agree with them or not. I believe we are to work hard and earn our keep. And in this world, we are to be that example. We are to be a lot of things. I know if you look at the things that you have to be every single day, many of you have to be moms and dads and influencers and good workers, and you got to take care of home and you got to take care of. There's a lot that we have to be. But as Christians, you are to be the agents of change in this world. We're going to talk a little bit more in depth about how they change, but we have no choice here. If we want to witness, if we want to win the world to Jesus, we must live up to those standards. We you are the light, and you are the salt. You must live up to the standard. You can't change if you fit in. You can't change if you just get in that crowd and you just filter in there and there's nothing different about you. You will not change people that way. And so very poignantly, Jesus tells these disciples, you are to be the salt and you are to be the light. There's a second point to this in verses 13 and 14, and I'm going to reread those verses again. Ye are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. The first point was you are. The second point is this. You cannot. There are some things that you must do, but there's also some things that you cannot do. Let me talk about salt for just a minute. Salt In Jesus Day was a great commodity in our day. How many of you have a salt shaker sitting somewhere on a table, on a stove? I believe every house has one, right? We all understand that. Just this afternoon, I had some pizza and I had some cucumbers. Kevin, Walter, that cucumber was pretty good. Thank you for that. But here's what I had to contemplate as I sat down for dinner. Do I put salt on my cucumber or not? Absolutely. You do, Absolutely. You gotta do it. And some of you use vinegar or Italian dressing or whatever. I'm not gonna get into that. But you gotta put a little salt on it, right? So we understand what salt does. Salt is a commodity in Jesus Day. Here's the way that salt was used. Number one, it was used for payment. How many of you have heard that they are worth their salt? Has anybody ever heard that old saying that they're worth because it was a form of payment? In Jesus Day, if you served, you more than likely received part of your payment in salt. Think about that today. The second thing, it was used to preserve. And so there were no refrigerators, no freezers around. So salt was used to put on their meat and preserve it. So some of us, if we saw what that looks like in that process, we would turn our nose up and run. But it does preserve. And the third thing that salt does is it was used to add flavor. That's my favorite use of salt. It adds flavor. So we understand what salt does. Salt is a change agent. And as that salt is used, then it changes everything that it touches. But these two agents, so. And then we talk about the light of the world. What does light do? What does light do? When you walk in this room tonight, somebody had to turn the lights on. It was not me. Tonight, it dispels darkness. That's what light does. It takes the darkness away. And so light changes a room, light changes a home. Light changes. So many things change. And here in Jesus Day, it was not the push of a button and boom, there was light. It was a candlestick. And which we're going to get to in just a minute. When we think about these two agents, we are either changing those around us or we're not. You are either the salt, the light, or you're not. And when we think about that, Jesus says, we cannot do a couple of things as salt. We cannot lose our savor, our taste, our saltiness, our effectiveness. We cannot do that. How does salt lose its effectiveness? Let me ask you this. How does a Christian lose their effectiveness? Well, we could probably list some things, right? We can list some things. But the greatest way that a Christian loses their effectiveness is if they look like the world. If they do what everybody else is doing and they fall in that crowd, then you lose the effectiveness you have in your witness and testimony. And so when we understand that salt can lose its effectiveness, we also. If we're the light, the Bible says, Jesus says, we cannot be hidden. Verse number 14, very plainly, if you look at that, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. You cannot hide. It took me till I was in my 30s to do this. I'm going to be honest with you. To have the guts to stand up for Jesus instead of fly under the radar in the world, it's hard. It's hard in your hometown to do that. Because you know what? Just like Jesus, people either love you or hate you. When you stand up for Jesus, people will either love you or they will hate you. But here's what we're told. You can't hide from that. You can't be scared of that. We are to be that city on a hill that is shining for Jesus. And so when we understand that salt can change something, just like I grabbed it tonight and put it on my cucumbers, man. In order for salt to change something, it must touch it. It's got to come in contact. So here's what I'm going to ask you, Church tonight. Who are those people that you are touching in your circle that need the touch of Jesus, that need to be changed, that need your saltiness? Not that you're the friend or the relative that just pats him on the back and say, everything's going to be okay. You know, I agree with everything. No, no, no, no. Sometimes we got to pump the brakes and say, look, this isn't right. Because Jesus said salt changes things. When it touches our food, when it touches the ground, I don't know. On a snowy day, if you throw that salt, if you leave a bag of salt in the house on a snowy day, it does you no good. But if you just simply take that salt and you cast it out and you let that salt touch the ice, it dissipates it. The salt must touch the ice. The salt must touch the meat. The salt must touch the food. The salt must touch what it's going to change. And there are people that are in our circles that we are touching every single day that need us to be the salt, the earth. What does salt do when it changes? Something when it comes in contact with it, when it touches it, it changes it for the good. How many of you also know that salt burns? You ever put salt on a cut or got it in a wound? What does that do to you? Listen, listen, guys. Sometimes salt has to sting a little bit. Even though it hurts in the moment, it's actually helping in the long run. And sometimes we're afraid to be salt because we don't want to get in that confrontation. We don't want to be the stinging agent. Somebody's got an open wound and we don't want to address it. That open wound of sin can be changed if we are the salt. And so salt is useful in so many ways. It changes everything it touches. What a challenge. Here we are reminded in verse number 13 that we cannot lose our savor, we cannot lose our taste, we cannot lose our effectiveness, because if we do, you might as well cast it on the ground and trample over it. The world is trampling on Christians tonight because we don't want to be the salt. We would rather just fit in. The other thing that Jesus says is we cannot hide. As the light of the world, we cannot hide that, because when we hide, we become of no effect. We're not good for anything. As the salt is trampled. A hidden candle has zero effect on the room or the area around it. Some of you may sit here tonight and say this, I don't know how to do this, or I've lost my effectiveness. Here's what I hope you will see. All you have to do is to begin to touch those around you, and Jesus can use you in that way. Praise God. We've got a team in Alaska tonight. Praise God. We got a team going to Egypt, but praise God. Mission work calls us to our neighbor, our homes, our workplace, everyday life. If we can't be the salt here, then we definitely can't leave and go be the salt and light somewhere else. There are things that we are, but there are also Jesus things. It says things that you cannot do. You cannot lose your effectiveness as a believer, as a Christian. And you cannot hide yourself. You cannot hide that light, because we will see the ramifications of that in just a second. Jesus has not accidentally planted you where you are. He has planted you there for a purpose. That was hard for me coming out of school. I didn't know what I wanted to do. Every stage of my life, I see the hand of Jesus because I couldn't. I couldn't have. I couldn't have made it happen that way. You know, that's what my life. Look, if you were to trace my life from 18 to 42. Here's what it looks like. That's what it looks like. And here's what I want to tell you. In every stage of my life, Jesus planted me at a clock factory to get an education and to start work. But that's where I met my wife. I would work there five years and I would move on to another job on third shift. And, man, third shift is for the dogs, right? But God would allow me to do ministry in the daytime and work during the nighttime. Yeah, I'm crazy now. You gotta know why I got so much energy, right? I have to get it all out during the day. I don't have the night to get it out. But during that day, I was able to provide at night. But also I was able to do ministry. I was able to help with teenagers and young people make impact. I was able to go up every Friday and have lunch with my kids as they went through school. My oldest son's a senior this year. It seems like so long ago, but every stage, God has planted me. And I believe right now, God has planted me here in Clifford. And here's what I want you to know. He plants us here to be the salt and light. I've got this written somewhere else in my notes, but I'm going to go ahead and say it. There's no accident that Clifford is halfway between Lynchburg and Charlottesville. There's no accident Lynchburg might be one of the brightest cities for Jesus in all of our state. We're not to bask in their light. We are to bask in the light of Jesus and produce light in Clifford, Virginia. We are to change, be the change agents in our community. And so I'm grateful that God has planted us here, but you are part of that, just as I am part of that. And God has not put us together by accident. God has put us together for purpose. But here's what the church cannot do. The church cannot sit on its hind end and say, okay, we want you to do the work, Lord, and we'll just fling the doors open. No, we've got to touch different areas in the name of Jesus. We've got to be the light. We gotta live our life knowing that Jesus is gonna take care of us. He has not made accident. He has put us together for his glory and that he will use us for his glory. But we cannot lose our effectiveness and we cannot hide our light. Look at verse 15 and 16, the beginning of verse number 16. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men. Point number three tonight is this. You must let your light shine. I'm going to ask an open end question, just rhetorical. Don't answer it out loud, please. But here's the question. How dark is this world? I'll take that answer. Very, very dark. We could sit here and just say, how dark the world. But here's the question of the church is, are we being the light? Now we can sit on our pews and shake our finger at how the dark the world is. But we're called to be the light to the dark world. Here's what Paul says to the Ephesians. Have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness. He also says, we wrestle not against flesh and blood. One of the things that you wrestle against is the rulers of the darkness of this world. He says, you are sometimes in darkness, but you are the light of the Lord. Light in the Lord walk as children of the light. John 3:19. Children love darkness more than light. That's what the Bible says. It also says, light shineth in darkness. And the darkness comprehended it not. Do you get the picture? The Bible says the world's dark. And here's what also the Bible says. The dark world does not like the light. It will not like the light. Before the birth of Jesus Zacharias. Part of Zacharias song is this to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. To guide our feet into the way of peace. Jesus says, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Then he says, you are the light of the world. The words we just read say this. You are the light of the world. Now remember, he's on a mountaintop talking to those disciples and others that are gathered around there. He's talking to them, telling them, you are the light of the world. I've called you. You are following me. You are now the light of the world, and you are to be that light as he unwraps this for them. In verse number 15, he uses the example of a candle that nobody puts it under a bushel but on a candlestick because it gives light into all that are in the house. Again it touches those that are close. How many of you remember this little light of mine? I almost sung that. Tonight we teach it to our kids. We learned it as kids. We understand that you're singing it right now in your head. This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. Right? Hiding under a bushel. No, I'm going to let it shine. We sang that as kids, and we need to live that out as older Christians today. What happens when you take that candle and you put it up a little higher on a shelf? That's the example Jesus used. Don't bring the candle and set it on the floor. Don't do that. Take that candle and set it up. And when you set it up, it brings light to the whole room. It lights up the entire house. That's not saying when you walk into the room, you should say, hey, look at me. No, but when you touch those people that are closest to you, you bring light into the whole house. It is the opposite of being hidden. It is being put on a candlestick. And you give light to those that are around you. Others bask in what Jesus is doing in your light, in your life. They witness it. They hear it. They're watching at what Jesus is doing in you. And the light inside of you should have an effect on those that are in the house. Our light must shine before men. And I want you to Understand verse number 16, the beginning of it. That is our great command as believers. Let your light shine before men. What position tonight describes you? Are you the light of the world or are you currently under a bushel basket? If I had to describe my life in the terms of lights, at one point in my life, I was like that little child that walks in the room and they grab the light switch and they just flick it, right? And sometimes it's on and sometimes it's off. And I just use this as a visual because that light. How. And what do you do when the child does that? What do you do as the parent? What would you do? Yeah. Yeah. You gotta stop, right? Stop. And sometimes when our life is flickering like that, it's on and off and on and off and on and off. Here's what Jesus says. Stop. Just go. Be the light to the world. Quit flickering. Quit doing that. Shine your light before men. Let your light shine. There are times that I've lived my life like that. We need to give light to all. And in my Bible, I circled that word, all that are in the house. Because here's the truth. Even though I'm a pastor, there are people in my family that I sit down at dinner with that don't know Jesus, that don't Know Jesus. There are people that come in here on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings that sit in church and they don't know Jesus. God forbid, if we don't shine our light before men. You must let your light shine. You can't hide it under a bushel. We must be light that dispels darkness. There's one more point tonight. The end of verse number 16. Here's what it says. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Let your light shine before others is the command that Jesus gives. But Jesus would be giving up of his life. He would be physically leaving the world. In order for the light to continue in the world, the disciples had to shine. They had to be the light because if they weren't, Christianity would be gone. That's the reality. Now look, stay with me here. I'm not trying to bash the church, but we sit here and say, oh, this generation, this next generation, we're watching our churches die. We're watching churches right around us. They can't find a pastor. And here's what that tells me. Church, we need to be the light. It is a call to shine the light before men. The disciples of Jesus must carry on that. And today we have that commission as well. We don't do it for our own benefit. We don't shine for anyone to notice us. But everything we do must point to Jesus that he gets the glory. When others see the works of Jesus in your life, they know it is Jesus working. They know it's Jesus working. I know there are some people that I used to go to school with when they see me. You're a preacher, that's a good thing. And here's what I want you to know. When somebody notices the change in your light, they see the light. In your life, they see the light. And that's our job, to be the light to the world. But we must point to Jesus. Our lives should be testimonies of the life changing power of Jesus. And he gets all the glory. And so as I boil this down tonight, here's what I want to ask Clifford. I want to ask us as a church. I don't want to look at the world, I don't want to look at other churches. I. I want to look at our church. And so tonight, Clifford, how is God working through us collectively? I'm not going to ask you how have you, how have you let your light shine in the past? Here's what I want you to know. God's been faithful to this church for a long time. And the people of this church have been faithful to God for a long time. But that can all change when the church stops being the light and stops being the salt. Remember a couple things. For me or with me. Excuse me. Salt preserves. And so the church must preserve the truth of God's word. If a church doesn't preserve the truth of God's word, lean into the truth of God's word, it can't shine the light of Jesus. Clifford, tonight, if we understand that we live a life that reflects the light of Jesus, that's what we must do. Here's the example that I have the full moon on a dark night. How many of you can go out there on a full moon? And you don't need a flashlight to walk your dog at night because the light's there. But that moon, it seems to be shining bright. But the moon is not shining. The moon does not produce its own light. The moon reflects the light of the sun. And so tonight, that's what we're called to do. It's not for our glory. It's not for our good. It's for the Lord. And we're called to be the full moon in the dark night and just reflect the light of Jesus. That's what we're called to do. But here's the audience. What is the audience? We're called to be the salt of the earth and the light to the world. Are we ready for that? How would Jesus use 12 men to change the world? How can God use Clifford to be the salt and light? The salt of the earth and the light to the world? Do you believe that? I believe he can use a little place called Clifford with people that want to be the salt and want to be the light and want to be agents of change. To go into this dark world and change the world. I believe that with all my heart. But tonight, Listen. That challenge does not rest on the pastor's shoulder. It rests on everyone here. When we are the light and we are the salt. I wrote this three words in my notes tonight, and I want to share it with you. I'll just write this little paragraph. I'll share it all. I wrote this about Clifford Baptist Church. I believe God can use us in this day. You may sit here and say, I'm not super talented. I don't sing and I don't preach. But God has gifted you to share your light. And here's the three words I want you to hear. Every person counts. The Lord needs us all. Spurgeon says these words and I'll use this to close tonight. The Bible is not the light of the world. It is the light of the church. The world does not need the Bible. Excuse me, the world does not read the Bible, it reads Christians, you are the light of the world. We're called to be that reflector of the light. And so tonight, in a moment of just coming before the Lord, I'm just gonna pause and then I'm gonna pray. And during this little time, I want all of us, since it takes every person, I want all of us just to just to do a self evaluation before a holy God and just say, lord, am I the salt and am I the light? And if I'm not, what needs to change that my light may shine for you and my effectiveness may reach and touch others. If that is a church's desire, God will use them to change the world. How can he use you tonight? Let's pray together. God, tonight, in just a moment of silence, I just want to give every person in this room just a chance to reflect where they are, where they stand with you, who's around them. Lord, maybe there's a name or a person that pops in their mind that, that they need to be the light to God. In a moment of silence and reflection, Lord, I just want to pause and say, lord, just meet your people here tonight, Lord, and challenge us and recharge us to be the light to this world. God, I pray that you bring to mind and heart those people that we can touch with your love, with the example of living for you in this world, Lord, it doesn't take a super talented person, it just takes a faithful person. So, God, tonight, Lord, where our faith is weak, Lord, we pray that you will make it stronger. God, I pray, Lord, that you will make the light shine bright through each person that is represented here tonight in a clear call. God, you remind us tonight who we are to be. And in this moment of reflection, God, I pray, Lord, if we are not having an effect and touching those and dispelling darkness around us, God, I pray, Lord, that individually you will change what is going on in our life, that we are able to do that. For some, it may take courage and boldness to do that. God, I pray, Lord, that you will give them that strength to do that. For some it may be opportunity. Maybe everybody around them is saved. Lord, I pray that you branch them out into this dark world and give them opportunity in other places to reach people for you. Lord, maybe tonight it's our own doing. Maybe we've Put the bushel basket over the candle. And whether we're ashamed or embarrassed or scared, we don't want to let that light shine. And so, God, tonight I pray that you will reveal and remove those things that hinder our light to shine to those around us, God. The reminder is this. If the salt loses its taste, its effectiveness, then it will be cast on the ground and trodden under feet. Lord, I pray that you will not make us useless to you, God. That you will make every person useful to bring you glory and to do the good works that you would have them to do, that their light may shine and shine brightly for you. Give us opportunity, Lord, I pray. Give us conviction in the areas that need to change tonight. God, I pray that you will lead us individually and you will lead us collectively as the believers that are gathered at Clifford Baptist Church to be the light and the salt to the world and to the earth, Lord. Expand our borders. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.
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  Speaker A: You've been listening to Truth for the Journey from Clifford Baptist Church. You're always welcome to visit Clifford Baptist Church for Sunday School at 9:45 worship at 11:00am and Wednesday evening worship at 7:00pm Join us again next Sunday for Truth for the Journey.